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Around the Empire: Yankees News - 1/9/20

Boone expects a big year from Stanton; Inside Rachel Balkovec’s road to history with the Yankees; A look at how the 2019 Yankees infield fared with OAA.

MLB: ALCS-Houston Astros at New York Yankees Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Brendan Kuty | NJ.com: Giancarlo Stanton struggled with injury throughout the 2019 season, but Aaron Boone went on MLB Network radio to express his confidence in the slugger heading into the 2020 season. It wasn’t the best year for Stanton after a very poor postseason showing in 2018, but Boone is expecting a big bounceback performance by the former MVP.

Nicole Brodeur | Seattle Times: Rachel Balkovec, who was hired by the Yankees as the first woman to ever be brought on as a full-time minor league hitting coach for a pro team, had an incredible journey to the pinstripes. Brodeur’s story is a great read on what she had to overcome to even get interviews despite a more than qualified resume. Fortunately, Balkovec was finally able to get others to see her worth and experience, and now she’s helping the Yanks.

Mike Petriello | MLB.com: Outs Above Average, a Statcast metric to measure outfield defense, now includes infielders as well, and the new stat paints a not-so-pretty picture for last year’s Yankees. The Yanks posted a -18 OAA as a team last season, good for 28th in the league. This article explains how this stat is calculated, and even uses Gleyber Torres as a specific example to explain how OAA arrives at a certain number.