ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The chance for Giancarlo Stanton lastly arrived.
His first at-bat in five-plus months simply didn’t flip right into a second, however what Aaron Boone noticed in it was one of many few issues he preferred in the Yankees’ 1-0 loss to the Rays in Sport 1 of the ALDS on Saturday night time at Tropicana Subject.
With the Yankees trailing by a run within the prime of the ninth, and Rays righty nearer Bryan Baker getting into from the bullpen, Boone despatched Stanton as much as pinch hit for the left-handed-hitting Ryan McMahon to guide off the body.
Stanton, who final took an at-bat April 24 due to three separate calf strains, ended up placing out on 5 pitches. The veteran slugger fouled off the primary pitch, took two balls and a strike, then foul-tipped a 96 mph fastball on the inside third into the catcher’s mitt for Strike 3.
“Baker’s clearly had a terrific yr,” Boone mentioned. “Actually powerful, actually reverse [splits] man. So not that I used to be going to hit for lots of my lefties there, however felt the specter of Giancarlo — I assumed he had a very good at-bat. I assumed he was on all [five] pitches. I assumed he was seeing the changeup properly. I assumed he bought a superb swing off proper out of the bat.
“I preferred what I noticed. He took the fitting at-bat. He simply didn’t clip it. So yeah, I’m going to take my shot with a hitter there and bought [José Caballero] to run for him and we’ll take our shot proper there.”
Stanton had been 5-for-7 with one strikeout in his profession in opposition to Baker, with the potential to tie the sport on one swing, although it didn’t come to fruition.
Ryan Weathers additionally made his first look since Aug. 22, relieving Gerrit Cole within the sixth inning and getting three groundouts to first base in opposition to three left-handed hitters.
“I felt tremendous wholesome,” Weathers mentioned. “Felt good. Stuff was popping out actually good.”
The lefty, who spent the final month-plus rehabbing a left forearm flexor pressure, indicated he ought to be accessible for Monday’s Sport 2, particularly as a result of he solely wanted 9 pitches to retire the aspect Saturday.
The Yankees left Weathers off their roster for the wild-card collection to offer him extra time to construct up, hoping it will enable him to be accessible extra usually within the ALDS.
The opposite lefties within the Yankees bullpen are closely used setup man Brent Headrick and the soft-tossing Ryan Yarbrough. Headrick misplaced some velocity late within the season, wanting like he is perhaps operating out of fuel, whereas Yarbrough is totally on the roster to supply some size if the Yankees get into a troublesome spot.
So as to add Weathers, the Yankees took veteran utility participant Amed Rosario off their roster to go together with 11 pitchers and 15 place gamers.
The righty-hitting Rosario was on the wild-card roster in opposition to the Pink Sox, however the Rays have fewer left-handed pitchers and the Yankees have already got Paul Goldschmidt, Heliot Ramos and Stanton as right-handed pinch hitting choices. As a result of Anthony Volpe is extra of a menace on the bases and provides higher protection at second base (and probably third), Rosario grew to become what Boone described because the “odd man out.”
“Robust name, due to how vital he’s been to our crew,” Boone mentioned. “However he understands, too, and he’ll be the identical Rosie he at all times is so far as what he means to the crew and in that room.”
