Around the Empire: Yankees news - 6/16/21

MLB.com | Anthony Castrovince: Yesterday afternoon, Major League Baseball made its much-anticipated announcement detailing how the league will begin to enforce preexisting rules on the use of foreign substances by pitchers that have long been ignored. According to the new guidelines (which go into place on June 21st), starting pitchers will be checked on multiple occasions throughout the game, while relievers will be checked either when the inning in which they entered ends or when they are removed from the game — whichever comes first. Offenders will be suspended for 10 days with pay — only PED and domestic violence suspensions withhold pay — but teams will be unable to fill that roster spot.

In an amusing note, the guidelines do lay out specifically that “The use of foreign substances is not subject to challenge using the replay review system.”

Yahoo! Sports | Ryan Morik: Yankees GM Brian Cashman spoke to the media before the game yesterday. Although acknowledging that the team’s rough performance “invites the scrutiny on us all,” Cashman nonetheless refused to point fingers when asked if manager Aaron Boone’s job was on the line, saying, “We’re in this together. We made this bed, and we’re gonna sleep in it. And we’re gonna make sure that we find a way to fix this together.”

While Morik focused his piece on the coaching staff, Randy Miller of NJ.com noted that Cashman has indicated that the team plans to be buyers, not sellers, at the deadline at this point in time, and that he has already been having conversations with other teams.

CBS Sports | RotoWire Staff: Amidst a flurry of moves within the Yankees’ minor league teams, the organization announced that Luis Gil, one of the team’s top pitching prospects, has received a promotion to Triple-A Scranton. The 23-year-old dominated the competition in seven starts for Double-A Somerset, posting a 2.64 ERA and 50:13 K:BB in 50 innings.

This could be a significant move for the 2021 Yankees, as Gil is currently on the 40-man roster and is now only one step away from the Majors. If the influx of pitcher injuries that many of us anticipate does indeed arrive — or even if he just continues his hot performance — we might see Gil on the mound in the Bronx sometime this summer.

New York Post | Justin Tasch: Boone told reporters yesterday that Luis Severino’s MRI revealed a low grade 2 groin strain that will shut him down for about a month. Because of this setback, the 27-year-old ace, who has been recovering from Tommy John surgery, won’t be back until the end of July at the absolute earliest.

NJ.com | Mike Rosenstein: According to Jon Heyman, Cole Hamels has been throwing off a mound and been building up to a potential showcase with teams at some point this summer. Although the 37-year-old is clearly not the type of pitcher he was in the late 2000s/early 2010s, when he was a top-of-the-rotation starter and a borderline ace — he made only one start last year, throwing only 3.1 innings before a shoulder injury ended his season — he is exactly the type of high-risk/high-reward pickup that the Yankees have built their 2021 starting rotation on. With injuries already mounting and ineffectiveness creeping in, it’s not too much of a stretch to think that the Yankees wouldn’t take one more swing for the fences.