Around the Empire: Yankees news - 6/29/21

NY Post | Peter Botte: After manager Aaron Boone stated several times that the season was on the line entering this homestand, the Yankees failed to live up to that level of urgency. The team fell to the Angels, 5-3, and were playing catch-up the entire night beginning in the very first inning. The Yankees have been preaching patience throughout this season, but they’re well aware now that they have to break out of this pattern of falling apart every two weeks.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Last night, the Yankees redeemed a wrong from the organization’s past by hosting Gwen Goldman as a bat girl for their game against the Angels. Goldman penned a letter to the Yankees as a 10-year-old 60 years ago asking to be a bat girl for the team, but then-GM Roy Hamey denied her, claiming that young girls had no place in the dugout with the men. Brian Cashman and the team redeemed this request for Goldman as part of their annual HOPE Week initiative.

FanGraphs | Devan Fink: In a season full of odd disappointing results, Gleyber Torres’ power outage is near the top. Torres was the Yankees’ leading power hitter in his first two years as a major leaguer, but his power stroke has seemingly vanished since last year. It’s been well noted that Torres did not come into camp in a suitable shape last year, but the drop off in his slugging has only continued into this year, prompting major concerns over just what it is that he’s doing wrong right now.

NJ.com | Mike Rosenstein: Chris Gittens only got a cup of coffee in the majors filling in for Luke Voit, but he’s doing his best to earn a ticket back to the Bronx. Gittens went on a 10-for-19 streak since getting demoted back to Scranton, crushing three homers and driving in 11 runs — earning him the Player of the Week award for the Triple-A East division in the process. The roster flexibility may not favor Gittens at the moment, but given New York’s complete lack of production from the position outside of Voit, a hot Gittens being a call away can only be a good thing.

Finally, after Monday’s game the Yankees demoted Brooks Kriske back to Scranton. Kriske was called up after Zack Britton and Wandy Peralta needed to go on the IL, but with Justin Wilson and Darren O’Day eyeing a return from their rehab assignments, Kriske’s spot was bound to be temporary.