Around the Empire: Yankees news - 6/28/22

MLB.com | Thomas Harrington & Nick Aguilera: With three days left in the first phase of All-Star Game voting, Aaron Judge is shockingly the top vote-getter in the American League, and both Jose Trevino and Giancarlo Stanton will likely find themselves advancing to phase two, the runoff round (Judge can skip this if he gets more votes than any other AL player). Perhaps the most interesting case for the Yankees is that of Anthony Rizzo, who trails the Mariners’ Ty France by over 107,000 votes for runner-up at first base, but France just landed on the IL, opening a possible runoff slot for New York’s favorite lefty.

NJ.com | Mike Rosenstein: Judge is the frontrunner for the AL MVP, but manager Aaron Boone deserves some special recognition for perfectly balancing the superstar’s playing time and rest as we approach the halfway point of the season. Much has been made about Judge’s last two days off being followed by multi-home-run games, but overall Boone has adeptly managed his time in center, right, and DH, and kept the team’s best player on the field so that he can have the big moments like his three walk-off hits this season.

Fox Sports | Jake Mintz: The baseball world was captivated by Yankees-Astros on the weekend, as the AL’s two best teams collided in a back and forth series that felt like the postseason had come in June. The two teams were separated by just a single run over the four games, two of them featuring dramatic comeback wins by the Yankees — or incredible collapses by Houston’s bullpen, depending on what side you’re on. If last weekend served as an ALCS preview, we’re in for something special come October.

New York Post | Ryan Dunleavy: Over the winter, there was a vague sense that a reunion with Rizzo was inevitable, despite most fans likely preferring a pursuit of Matt Olson or Freddie Freeman. As we move into July, Rizzo hasn’t quite matched Freeman’s campaign for the Dodgers, but when the price-focused Yankees can pay significantly less for a similar level of production, the front office has to consider that a win.

Sports Illustrated | Gary Phillips: Despite all the innovations that have come from pitching labs, there’s few things that fool hitters more than velocity, and Michael King surprised even himself hitting 100 mph twice on Sunday. The Yankee righty once sat 89-92, but the famous “gas station” and embrace of the relief role has seen the radar gun tick up slowly and surely on his four-seam fastball.