Around the Empire: Yankees news - 5/13/23

Sports Illustrated | Brady Farkas: Aaron Judge has the propensity for some monster games, and he had one on Saturday. Judge hit a pair of home runs that were vital in the team’s comeback against the Rays, and in doing so he tied Alex Rodriguez with his 29th multi-homer game in pinstripes. Judge and A-Rod now co-own the fifth spot on the franchise list, with just a handful of legends ahead of them in Ruth, Mantle, Gehrig, and DiMaggio. The Babe is quite a bit ahead of the pack, but there’s a very real possibility that Judge could surpass the rest by the time his career is done.

NY Post | Joel Sherman: The comeback was a thrilling game to watch, but they were in that position in the first place because Nestor Cortes got rocked from the get-go. Unfortunately, that’s been all too common of late for Cortes: he’s allowed 21 runs in his last 25 innings pitched, and the majority of that damage has occurred once the lineup turns over for the third time. That was true again against the Rays, and Cortes is well aware that he’s been hitting a hard wall in his starts. The Yankees need him to turn it around and be the guy that could be relied on to be a crafty pitcher that can go deep, especially considering how futile the rest of the starters outside of Gerrit Cole have been.

The Athletic | Brendan Kuty: (subscription required) Clay Holmes’ saga has been one to follow in New York — a meteoric rise out of nowhere and a massive swoon since the second half of last year has gotten him into and out of the closer’s role for the Yanks. He’s still working the later innings, and he’s gotten a couple of solid outings since, but even before that Holmes had a vote of confidence from the GOAT closer: Mariano Rivera. Rivera has been wowed by Holmes’ sinker, and had some advice for Holmes last season while he was going through it. Even if he blows a game or two, Rivera stressed that the reliever has to trust his stuff and power through the times where the results aren’t matching.

NY Post | Dan Martin: Gary Sánchez may not be a Yankee anymore, but he’s still got plenty of friends and supporters in the current locker room. Now that Sánchez is in the Mets organization and looking to earn a callup back to the majors, several of his ex-teammates vouched for him. If he ends up managing it with the Mets, they would get to see him in town on the regular again.