Around the Empire: Yankees news - 5/30/23

New York Times | Tyler Kepner: Luis Severino has returned, and Carlos Rodón is on his way. That was enough to have the Times dig into the Yankees rotation moving forward. As the article notes, “no lineup would relish facing Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, a full-strength Carlos Rodón and Severino in a short series.” The piece also notes the return of Domingo Germán to the rotation (which happened last night). On the surface, third place in the AL East is nothing to write home about. But there are reasons to think the ceiling is much higher than that.

Sports Illustrated | Joseph Salvador: This story just will not go away, although this headline perhaps obscures more than it reveals. Toronto right-hander Chris Bassitt threw out his opinion that Aaron Judge was lying when he talked about glancing into the Yankee dugout right before hitting a monster home run that set off accusations of cheating and pitch tipping.

For what it’s worth, Bassitt admits that the Jays were tipping pitches, that relaying tips was not illegal, and that it wasn’t realistic to expect Judge come out and admit it. Hopefully this means we’ve heard the last of it. I’m sure some new nonsense will crop up when the Yanks and Jays meet again.

NJ.com | Max Goodman: Anyone who follows the Yankee farm system is aware of Estevan Florial’s systematic destruction of Triple-A pitching recently. Despite his performance, a call-up to the Bronx is highly unlikely. Andrés will be examining Florial’s case later today, but for now, check out Goodman’s look at some of the reasons we probably won’t see the once highly-touted prospect in pinstripes this season, barring some unforeseen events.

In case you missed it, Harrison Bader left last night’s game in Seattle with right hamstring tightness. He’ll go for an MRI today to see if he needs an IL stint, though the team’s initial read was optimistic.

Finally, some really good news. Giancarlo Stanton is coming back. Big G begins his rehab today at Double-A Somerset, joining Josh Donaldson and Tommy Kahnle. When Stanton went on the IL with a balky hamstring, he was swinging a hot stick, with a 132 wRC+ in the early going. The Yankee lineup could be getting a lot longer very soon. You can’t get back soon enough, Giancarlo.