Around the Empire: Yankees news - 5/20/22

The Score | Tom Ruminski: It was a weird day in Baltimore on Thursday — the game featured some blown leads, a wild ninth inning comeback, and a walk-off homer. In the midst of that was a small blowover with the umpires, after home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez tossed Anthony Rizzo from the Yankee dugout over a comment he made after a pitch to Giancarlo Stanton. Rizzo was upset that Gonzalez called the pitch to Stanton a ball after calling two of the same pitches to Rizzo strikes, and apparently his comment got overheard and earned him a quick hook out of the game. Rizzo felt in the postgame, however, that Gonzalez doubled down on the second strike call “out of spite” to prove that it was his strike zone, and thus was annoyed when it changed immediately in the Stanton at-bat.

Sports Illustrated | Max Goodman: The Yankees lost a game on Thursday for the first time in five days, but they suffered a potentially worse loss in the process. Chad Green exited the game in the middle of the sixth inning after throwing just 11 pitches after throwing a pickoff attempt to first base, and reportedly experienced some discomfort in his right forearm. Green later said that he felt some gradual discomfort throughout the appearance, but on the pickoff something felt off and he “had a self-talk with myself and decided it was best not to move forward.” The Yankees have mostly avoided injuries so far this year and Green has fallen down the totem pole a bit, but he’s still an important piece of the bullpen puzzle — having him out for some time would be a blow to the team.

NY Post | Jon Heyman: Giancarlo Stanton is the most powerful batter in baseball — and that’s a fact. No-one hits the ball harder than Stanton, and he does it at a rate so consistent that it’s simply otherworldly to watch when he’s on. He goes through his cold streaks, sure — he’s had one this season already — but he also scorches the ball when he’s right and he’s shown that for most of this winning stretch that the Yankees are playing. Stanton became the first visiting player to launch a ball over the new left field wall at Camden, and considering how difficult it proved for this lineup filled with power hitters, it may be quite a while before someone else matches that feat.

NJ.com | Mike Rosenstein: Yankees catching prospect Austin Wells recently went on the Injured List, and High-A Hudson Valley needed a replacement for their top hitter. Fortunately, the Yankees have a deep core of catchers coming up through the system, and took the opportunity to promote Anthony Seigler from Low-A Tampa. Seigler was the Yankees’ first-round draft pick in 2018, and he played for Hudson Valley last year before Wells took the starting job this season.