TORONTO — There will be a few more nights like Friday for Joe Girardi, when for all the hints that the New York Yankees re-whatever-it-is seems to be ahead of schedule, he’ll stare at the state of his corner infield and think “the future really can’t get here fast enough.”
Specifically, Greg Bird – healthy – and whoever will ultimately be the team’s third baseman.
On a night when Aaron Judge celebrated his second consecutive American League Rookie of the Month selection by blasting another home run – blasting the operative word for his 403-foot, opposite-field shot that was delivered with a Jeter-esque inside-out swing but with a turbocharged exit velocity of 112 m.p.h. – it was a fielding miscue by low-energy first baseman Chris Carter that proved the clubhouse talking point.
It was a reminder that the highway to a future dynasty still has some unpaved sections. Carter led the National League in home runs last season but spent the off-season as everybody’s Plan E, eventually signing a modest $3.5-million deal with the Yankees to serve as insurance against the health of Bird, the 24-year-old fifth-round pick in 2011 who missed last season after undergoing shoulder surgery and is currently in the middle of an injury rehabilitation assignment after bruising his ankle on May 2.
[snippet id=3319157]
The Yankees have acquired players who have led their league in homers before: Babe Ruth in 1920, Johnny Mize in 1949 and Alex Rodriguez in 2004. Carter is not in their league; soon he may not be in any league, except maybe one in Japan or Korea.
OK, that’s a bit much. As Girardi noted following Friday’s 7-5 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, Bird wasn’t exactly ripping the cover off the ball when he was healthy. After co-leading the Grapefruit League with eight homers alongside Bryce Harper, Bird had one homer, three runs batted in and a .100 average at the time of his injury.
There’s no point, either, in bemoaning the lack of offence from third baseman Chase Headley (.232), because Headley is a placeholder at a spot that is an organizational work in progress: mega-prospect Gleyber Torres could end up there (one published report said it could be as early as this summer), but the Yankees might also shift Starlin Castro to third and have Torres replace him at second. (Then, everybody waits and sees whether the Yankees sign Manny Machado in two years.)
“(Headley) had a great first month, struggled in May, and he’s been OK in June,” Girardi said, shrugging. “Chris? It’s been a battle for him, No doubt about it. But it was a battle for Bird, too. I mean … we’d like more but they’re trying. We’ll keep trying.”
Carter ended an 0-for-18 slump with a ground-rule double off Blue Jays starter Francisco Liriano in the third, when the Yankees had the bases loaded only to see Matt Holliday hit into a tough double-play. But it was Carter’s mis-step in the field in the eighth that allowed Justin Smoak to reach on what should have been a bounce-out into the shift. Castro, playing in shallow right field, picked up Smoak’s bouncer but Carter was slow getting to the bag. First base umpire Eric Cooper called Smoak safe, determining that Carter – who eventually got to the bag – hadn’t actually stepped on it. Girardi asked for a review, the play stood, and it was Smoak who ended up scooting home on Devon Travis’ sacrifice fly with the Blue Jays’ seventh run.
“I just turned a different way than I usually turn,” Carter said.
Added Girardi: “We missed some opportunities early, and a defensive miscue cost us a run.
“To me, it looks like (Carter’s) foot is against the bag, but I guess there wasn’t evidence to overturn it. If they’d called him out, it would have remained out. But because he called him safe, it stayed safe.”
[relatedlinks]
The game ended with a matchup that Blue Jays fans might want to get used to: closer Roberto Osuna on the mound with a big crowd standing and Judge standing menacingly at the plate.
Osuna crushed this first meeting, as Judge fouled off two 95-m.p.h. fastballs before Osuna pumped another 95-m.p.h. pitch – this one a higher four-seamer – past a swinging Judge. Chances are that Headley and Carter won’t be around when the Yankees are in full bloom – and the jury is still out on Yankees starter Michael Pineda.
Pineda, coming off five quality starts, was rocked early by the Blue Jays and still doesn’t inspire total confidence despite being among the league leaders in strikeouts per walk and fewest walks per nine innings – but Osuna and Judge will likely be seeing a lot of each other for a long, long time even after the rest of the supporting cast arrives.
