Around the Empire: Yankees news - 5/1/19

New York Times | James Wagner: Aaron Judge is currently not playing, and while we all miss him dearly, he is still helping the team while sitting on the sidelines. When the Yankees were about to begin their West Coast road trip, Judge was given the option of resting in New York or coming with the team. He chose to travel with the team, where he’s been a source of hitting advice and leadership, even when he can’t get on the field.

ESPN | Coley Harvey: On Tuesday night, CC Sabathia recorded his 3000th strikeout, becoming just the 17th pitcher to reach that number. In honor of him reaching the milestone, here’s a look back at several other significant ones from his storied career.

Beyond the Box Score | Matt Provenzano: In his last three stats, James Paxton has been about as good as any pitcher in baseball. His fastball made him into a good pitcher to begin with, but the way he’s been throwing his cutter and curveball, he could be on the road to a potential career year.

Fangraps | Sung Min Kim: Domingo German struggled in 2018, but anyone who saw him pitch could tell you that his stuff wasn’t the problem. A lack of control led to the vast majority of his struggles last season. This year has come with improved results. He’s done this mostly without making major changes to his repertoire, but it’s some minor mechanical tweaks that may helped him to this excellent start.

NJ.com | Brendan Kuty: The one downside to the Yankees playing well lately is that some people who have filled in admirably are going to lose out on playing time and/or get sent down when the team gets healthy. One such scenario is what will happen to Gio Urshela once Miguel Andujar returns. Despite Urshela’s play, it would be silly to assume he’s now a better hitter than Andujar. That’s why the Yankees might have to get creative once Andujar returns, especially since they can’t send Urshela to the minors.