Around the Empire: Yankees news - 5/26/22

Anthony Franco | MLB Trade Rumors: The hits just keep on coming. After nearly escaping April and May with a relatively healthy roster, news on the injury front has been absolutely brutal over the last week or so. No loss, however, looms larger than Giancarlo Stanton, who has hit the 10-day IL with a calf strain ankle inflammation. Stanton has been one of the best hitters in the majors this year and has been a perfect compliment to Aaron Judge’s MVP campaign, so losing him at this point is a huge loss for the lineup. It should also be noted that with the return of Kyle Higashioka and Joey Gallo from the COVID-19 IL, third-string catcher Rob Brantly has been designated for assignment, but this is clearly secondary to the loss of Stanton. Quick, someone get Aaron Judge some bubble wrap stat.

Mark Polishuk | MLB Trade Rumors: And now it’s time for the bullpen’s turn for a major injury. Just under a day removed from placing Aroldis Chapman on the injured list, another big-name reliever has hit the IL. This time, it’s Jonathan Loáisiga, who is reportedly dealing with some shoulder inflammation. This has been a particularly rough stretch for Yankees pitchers, as the last week alone has seen Luis Gil and Chad Green go for Tommy John surgery and Aroldis Champan hit the IL with Achilles tendinitis. Unfortunately for Loáisiga, this is not the first time he has dealt with shoulder issues throughout his career, so this is definitely going to be a story to keep an eye on.

The corresponding moves to help the pitching staff involved calling up JP Sears for his spot start yesterday and recalling right-hander David McKay, who threw his first big league inning since 2020 during the Sunday doubleheader. With Sears (and fourth outfielder Estevan Florial) optioned following his outing, familiar face Manny Bañuelos is also on the taxi squad and could fill in during the upcoming four-game set in Tampa.

NJ.com | Randy Miller: It’s no secret that super prospect Jasson Dominguez got off to a particularly rough start at the plate this season. In fact, one rival scout was quoted as saying his development had taken a huge step back this year. Well, as Andrés noted yesterday, Dominguez has started to turn some heads once again, as he’s hit .370 with four home runs and 14 RBI over his last 14 games entering play on Wednesday. Thanks to that hot streak, his average now sits at .268 and his OPS sits at .794.

In this write-up from Miller, Rachel Balkovec, the Low-A Tampa Tarpons head coach, talks about the “mindset adjustment” Dominguez has made, and how that adjustment is already starting to pay off for the youngster. (Note: Dominguez did leave Tampa’s doubleheader yesterday early due to a foul ball off his foot, so hopefully he won’t need an IL stint, too.)

Sports Illustrated | Max Goodman: Chad Green has been a rock in the Yankees bullpen for a while now, so it was devastating to see a longtime Yankee suffer a devastating injury right before he entered free agency. In this exclusive with Max Goodman, Green opened up about how he felt the day after the initial injury, what he hopes to get out of the rehab process, and how disappointing it is to no longer be able to contribute to the success of this team.

NJ.com | Brendan Kuty: If you haven’t noticed, I’m a sucker for human interest stories, and given, well, everything, I think we can all use a bit of cheering up. Unless you’re living under a rock, you likely know by now that Jose Trevino played the role of unlikely hero in the Yankees’ extra-innings win over the Baltimore Orioles. It turns out that, beyond just the emotions of the game itself, yesterday was also an important game for Trevino: it was his late father’s birthday.

In his emotional postgame remarks, Trevino discussed how his father raised him to be a life-long Yankees fan and how special that moment was to him. In this editorial, Kuty discusses Trevino’s heroic moment, what Trevino’s heartfelt post-game comments meant to him, and how, sometimes, there is crying in baseball.