Around the Empire: Yankees news - 5/4/22

Justin Choi | FanGraphs: The Yankees haven’t been the best in the league in terms of plate discipline, but it hasn’t mattered all that much (as my colleague Sam also alluded to yesterday). The team has the best wRC+ in baseball, and they also own the sport’s best record at 18-6 after reeling off 11 wins in a row. New York also leads the league in average exit velocity, hard-hit rate, and barrel rate. Hitting the ball hard leads the results, which is exactly what the Yanks are getting.

Randy Miller | NJ.com: Joey Gallo has been a little banged up recently and hasn’t been in the lineup the past couple of days. The outfielder has been sidelined with right groin tightness since Saturday night’s game in Kansas City. He could be an option off the bench, but Gallo says he’s “good.” He even petitioned Aaron Boone to be in the starting lineup on Tuesday, but the manager gave his left fielder another day to get better.

CBS Sports: Speaking of injuries, Domingo Germán has been on the 60-day IL since mid-March, but threw a 30-pitch bullpen last week and is progressing well. The righty starter has been on the IL with right shoulder impingement syndrome, but Aaron Boone said he has “no issues to this point” in his recovery. It’s currently unclear if Germán will join the rotation or bullpen upon his return, though if the pitching staff remains healthy, it’d be tricky to find a spot for him.

NY Post | Michael Blinn: Aaron Judge continued his hot hitting on Tuesday with a monster home run in the sixth inning. The solo shot got the Yankees on the board and precipitated a storm of scoring by the Bombers an inning later, but at the moment it was a crucial game-tying blast. The moment was made even better when a Toronto fan caught the ball and, instead of tossing it as is the traditional home team reaction to a road team homer, immediately gave it to a young Yankees fan sitting nearby him. Kudos to them for a good deed, and that should be a moment that the young fan will never forget.