Memorial Day weekend has arrived, and while in the true world it serves because the unofficial starting of summer and a probability to get away for an extended weekend, within the baseball world it serves as the primary real benchmark of a 162-game marathon.
Over the primary two months of the season, it might be difficult to know which early numbers are an indication of things to return and which might be written off as being a small sample size that can even out because the season goes on.
But Memorial Day weekend gives teams a probability to return up for air and evaluate where they and their players are, nearly a 3rd of the way in which through the season.
With that in mind, listed below are three trends the Yankees have established heading into the vacation weekend, with a take a look at whether or not they are real or not:
Aaron Judge could give his 2022 season a run for its money
Starting in spring training, at any time when questions on personal expectations were posed to Aaron Judge, most were prefaced by a caveat that it was unrealistic to think he could repeat his 62-homer season from 2022.
And more often than not — whether he said it or his face did — Judge’s response was, “Why not?”
Over the past two weeks, that answer has come to mind as Judge has returned from his IL stint and gone on a tear. He’s batting .288 with a 1.032 OPS and 14 home runs.
“I’m not gonna compare, especially to one of the crucial historic seasons ever,” Kyle Higashioka said. “But he’s pretty much as good as anyone’s seen him this yr. We love seeing that from him. He’s special to look at.”
OK, we’ll compare just barely.
Last yr, entering Memorial Day weekend, Judge was batting .313 with a 1.065 OPS and 17 home runs. But one disclaimer: Since the lockout pushed back the beginning of the season, those numbers were through 45 team games. This yr — adding within the 10 games he missed while on the IL — Judge’s numbers entering the vacation weekend are through 52 team games.
It still stays unrealistic to expect anyone to hit 62 home runs in a given season. That’s what makes it so monumental when it does occur.
But Judge looks primed to place together one other monster season, even when it could not rise to the historic, record-breaking level.
The Yankees are using a closer-by-committee
Clay Holmes entered the season because the incumbent closer, though Aaron Boone did say in spring training the Yankees wouldn’t be afraid to make use of him within the eighth inning if certain matchups dictated it.
Still, it has been notable how much the Yankees have truly mixed and matched the late innings this season. Not including a three-inning save from Deivi Garcia, the Yankees have used six different relievers to record saves.
Holmes still leads the team with five saves, but only certainly one of them has come since April 14. In between Holmes’ fourth and fifth saves, the Yankees got saves from Wandy Peralta (three), Michael King (three), Ron Marinaccio, Ian Hamilton and even Ryan Weber.
“I like [Holmes] not strictly within the ninth,” Boone said recently. “There’s going to be days where it does line up where he’s closing the sport. But I like putting him in situations that we feel he can thrive in.”
Moving forward, expect to see more shared ninth-inning responsibilities, with one wild card: If the Yankees get to a degree where they feel comfortable using Michael King on back-to-back days, he could grow to be an intriguing and consistent closing option.
They’ve been getting closer to potentially using King on back-to-back days, but remain cautious about rushing that process in light of the broken elbow he suffered last July.
For now, King stays precious as a multi-inning threat who can pitch every few days.
“I feel, at its best, you bought lots of really good, complementary options that complement each other with who they’re more equipped to get out and who they’re more dominant, potentially, against,” Boone said. “While you match those things up, it puts you in a great spot. Especially after we’re whole, I feel like now we have 4 or five guys I’m really comfortable handing the ball to within the ninth inning in the event that they’re in the appropriate situation.”
Anthony Volpe’s hot-and-cold start
When the choice was made to have Anthony Volpe break camp with the massive league team, the Yankees knew that struggles could be inevitable. They occur for nearly every rookie, no matter his prospect rating or how well he did in spring training.
The 22-year-old Volpe is now batting .199 with a .649 OPS and 7 home runs. The facility has been an even bigger factor than some expected, and his baserunning instincts have been evident in going 13-for-13 on stolen-base attempts. With positive defense at shortstop, he ranks fifth on the team with 1.2 bWAR.
But after Volpe was getting on base at a solid clip early within the season — he ended April with a .333 on-base percentage — his OBP has fallen to .284.
Two things to bear in mind: Volpe was a slow starter during his minor league profession, and the Yankees consider he has the baseball IQ to make adjustments well and the mindset to not get bogged down by the struggles.
So though we’re not expecting Volpe to rise all the way in which as much as be among the many league’s hitting leaders, he should finish the season along with his batting average and OPS a great bit higher than it’s now — perhaps along the lines of .240/.750.
Wish to catch a game? The Yankees schedule with links to purchase tickets might be found here.
Spring awakening
For a man who was so out of sight over his first year-plus with the Yankees that social media believed he may not actually exist, Ben Rortvedt has delivered a solid first impression.
The 25-year-old catcher, who got here over from the Twins last yr together with Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa within the trade for Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela, was called up last week when Jose Trevino landed on the injured list with a hamstring strain.
Rortvedt has began two of the Yankees’ six games since then, and has made essentially the most of the opportunities. He went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored in a win over the Reds on Saturday, and in Thursday night’s loss to the Orioles, he walked in each of his plate appearances before being lifted for a pinch-hitter.
Boone was also impressed by Rortvedt’s work behind the plate, which included getting incorporated into the Yankees’ sign system, attempting to stop the Reds’ running game and learning to catch some latest pitchers on the fly. That included the sinker-balling Holmes, whom Rortevdt caught for the primary time ever within the ninth inning of a 4-1 game with the shadows in effect at Great American Ball Park.
“[That] was somewhat different,” Rortvedt said with a smile.
Trevino is anticipated back before long — potentially by the point the Yankees begin a road trip on Monday in Seattle — but Rortvedt has made himself a more intriguing option, if nothing else.
After all, had Rortvedt not been injured for all of camp last yr after the Yankees acquired him, they could not have ended up trading for Trevino at the top of that spring training.
“His ability and athleticism behind the plate [stands out],” Boone said. “He’s compact like Trevy somewhat bit, really good receiver, really good hands and may really throw. Good athlete back there. All those things are why we got him. It’s good to see him healthy and contributing.”
Stand-up guy
A big portion of the fan base appeared to be celebrating last Saturday when the Yankees designated Aaron Hicks for task.
The move was destined to occur in some unspecified time in the future this season, barring an enormous turnaround from the veteran outfielder, but that didn’t make it any easier for Hicks to swallow.
He appeared shell-shocked and still had tears in his eyes as said his goodbyes and exchanged hugs with teammates within the visiting clubhouse at Great American Ball Park before heading back to the team hotel to await his next instructions — the Yankees are within the midst of a seven-day period during which they need to either trade Hicks or place him on waivers (which is able to end in his release).
Hicks’ final three seasons with the Yankees were mostly brutal, due to injuries and underperformance.
For essentially the most part, though, he didn’t run from his struggles, remaining available and honest (perhaps an excessive amount of so, from the team’s perspective) with reporters — including on Saturday, when he agreed to talk with The Post for a number of minutes before heading out of the clubhouse along with his bags packed. From this reporter’s perspective, at the least, that was much appreciated.
