Around the Empire: Yankees news - 6/5/21

NJ.com | Mike Rosenstein: In case you haven’t realized, the Yankees are in need of a center fielder. With what seems to be a season-ending injury to Aaron Hicks and not many options behind him, the Yankees have had to shuffle the outfield in ways that isn’t always ideal. With that said, who could Brian Cashman target as replacements? Some names include Ketel Marte and Bryan Reynolds.

WFAN | Ryan Chichester: Yankees third base coach Phil Nevin has been out with COVID-19 since mid-May, but thankfully he is slowly making his way back to the team. However, COVID wasn’t the only thing that he had. Nevin also developed a staph infection in his bloodstream, which was discovered with the help of pitching coach Matt Blake.

Baseball America: BA has added Yankees prospect Oswald Peraza into their top-100 prospects list, ranked right at No. 100. The full report is understandably behind a paywall, but the short version is that his top skill is his ability to put the barrel on the ball. In the field, the soon-to-be 21-year-old is very athletic at shortstop with excellent range, a quick transfer and strong arm. Most recently, Peraza was named High-A East Player of the Month for his excellent May in Hudson Valley: .323/.400/.570 with five homers in 23 games.

Finally, in the latest roster news, the Yankees optioned Nick Nelson down to Triple-A Scranton last night. A corresponding call up wasn’t made at the time, so we’ll be waiting to see who gets the green light to head to the Bronx. Is this finally the time for Chris Gittens to make his debut?