It was a really frustrating weekend against the Red Sox, seeing the Yankees lose a home series they very much could have won. We’ll never know for sure, but it felt like the day off yesterday was rejuvenating for the club, as the Yanks were firing on all cylinders Tuesday night in Kansas City.
Max Fried went deep into the game to give some extra relief to a weary bullpen, and the offense jumped all over an impressive rookie. By the end of it, the Yankees were on top 10-2, the second team in the AL to the 40-win mark behind Detroit.
If I may be so arrogant as to quote myself, I did say that for Noah Cameron, the underlying info we had on him suggested that something bad was just around the corner, and that bad thing might be Aaron Judge-shaped.
Well, the Captain came up in the first.
I think a lot about how Judge has set such an impossible standard for himself, that he is the greatest peak hitter we may have ever seen. We see him go deep twice on national television and we’re all like “yeah, he would.” We haven’t become numb to his greatness, but we have accepted that his baseline is seemingly “the best right-handed hitter of all time.”
But even with that, 469 feet kind of just leaves you stunned for a moment. One of the things I’ve always loved about Judge, going back to that bomb in Seattle in his rookie year, is how many of his home runs inspire speechlessness.
You shouldn’t be able to hit a baseball here — the ball bounces to the A in “Fame”. ESPN’s Jeff Passan said that he’d never seen it happen. Aaron Judge hit a baseball there.
The other big story was Austin Wells, who hasn’t exactly taken a step forward after last season. He’s above average at the plate, and while I did expect him to be one of, if not the best catcher in the AL, I’m not going to hold him accountable for Cal Raleigh’s unbelievable campaign.
Still, there’s been an air of disappointment for me. Wells is not reaching base at a level he should be, down almost 35 points last year. Even with a lefty on the bump for KC, he was hitting ninth for a reason — yes, the Yankees have a deep lineup, but you’d think on talent he’d be closer to the middle than the back.
So with all that context, it was pretty great to see Wells drive in five on the night, including arguably the biggest hit of the night. A three-run shot that gave the Yankees a 5-1 lead shortly after the Royals got themselves on the board put New York firmly in the driver’s seat on the night.
Meanwhile, as said above, Max Fried was exactly what the club needed. The bullpen looks shaky, Carlos Rodón had his first bad start in a couple months on Sunday night, and Fried was the stopper he’s been all year. The Royals are always a tough team to strike out, once against the second-hardest team to sit down in MLB. So, Fried went back to his roots tonight.
Eleven groundouts were the order of the day for Fried, against zero fly outs. The Royals go up to the plate wanting to make contact, and Fried let them — albeit without super heavy sinker usage, preferring his four-seam around the shadow zone to induce balls on the ground. It helps that he’s always a pro about fielding his position, too.
Jonathan India did take a changeup to dead center that would have been impressive if Judge hadn’t hit his ball so damn far. Still, when you have a lead as big as what Fried was working with, I don’t mind him laying the ball over the plate once in a while. It’s a shame his ERA had to go up ever so slightly, but he still completed seven breezy innings of six-hit, two-run ball.
The Yankees tacked on with five in the sixth as Cameron left the ballgame and first Royals reliever Taylor Clarke got pummeled. Cody Bellinger got to reach a personal milestone in the process, as his single to make it 10-1 was his 1,000th career hit.
Yerry De los Santos covered five of the last six outs for New York, though he did need a little help from Tim Hill to get No. 27 and nail down the victory. All told, it was a much-appreciated second rest day for the Yankee ‘pen.
Clarke Schmidt will be tasked with keeping the good vibes going tomorrow, and the Yankee lineup will have a tall task in the AL’s ERA leader, Kris Bubic (1.43). The offense has been clicking though, so it’s on the pitching side to keep up. Game two in this series comes at 7:40pm Eastern.
