Around the Empire: Yankees news - 6/14/22

New York Times | Tyler Kepner: The Cubs have won a World Series more recently than the Yankees, but their divergent paths since that 2016 championship in Chicago have underscored just how remarkable it is that the Yankees haven’t had a losing season since 1992. Although the Cubs were once at baseball’s highest point, they now seem destined for a second-straight under-.500 campaign amid a rebuild. Even in the lean years, the Yankees competed and stayed roughly in the mix. In this piece, Kepner examines the Yankees’ tremendous success thus far in 2022 while musing on a rough stretch in Cubs history.

Yankees Magazine | Alfred Santasiere III: Yankees Mag recently released a long profile on the team’s top prospect, Anthony Volpe. If you have the time, it’s an excellent look at how his connections to the team date back to both his grandfather and great-grandfather, how his youth career evolved from U-12 Baseball World Cup champion to Yankees No. 1 draft pick (despite seriously considering Vanderbilt), and how he reworked his swing in 2020 despite no professional games due to the pandemic cancelling the minor league season.

SI.com | Max Goodman: Clarke Schmidt talked to Goodman about this somewhat-unusual year in his development process, as he looks to be healthy for a full season for the first time in quite awhile, and yet he finds himself in the MLB bullpen rather than a Triple-A rotation. Although he still considers himself a starter long-term, he’s glad to be able to not only contribute high-leverage innings at the major league level, but also to pick the brains of Gerrit Cole and Clay Holmes. As Goodman notes, the latter in particular can’t be done in Scranton.

MLB.com | Michael Charles: Spike Lee, Mike Tolin, and Randy Wilkins’ new Derek Jeter documentary, “The Captain” will begin on ESPN on July 18th, but the first episode of seven premiered on Sunday night at the Tribeca Film Festival (with Jeter speaking and in attendance). Wilkins detailed his vision for the doc at the premiere, as he hopes that it will lift some of the mystery that surrounded the Captain during his 20-year career. Jeter is hoping that it will make him more open as well.