Around the Empire: Yankees news - 6/16/23

NJ.com | Max Goodman: When the Mets walked the Yankees off on Wednesday night, Nick Ramirez was on the mound. That Ramirez was in to pitch the tenth inning, and Albert Abreu in to pitch the ninth before him, highlights a potential concern as we head toward the dog days of summer. The Yankee bullpen has been outstanding in 2023, but key pieces like Wandy Peralta, Clay Holmes, and Michael King are all on pace to set career highs in appearances and innings pitched. That fact of the matter is that all three rested while the Yankees lost in Queens because the trio had been worked hard lately, and Aaron Boone felt he couldn't stress their arms any more than he already had. It’s enough to make one wonder if the current state of the team’s bullpen usage is sustainable.

New York Post | Joel Sherman: When Aaron Judge injured his toe in Los Angeles, it immediately became clear that the Yankees would need their other veteran bats to step up in their captain’s absence. So far, those vets haven’t really been up to the task. Anthony Rizzo just endured a 1-for-24 stretch. Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu are both mired in slumps. Josh Donaldson hit a few home runs in his return from the IL, but he too is still searching for consistency. On paper, the Yankees have enough talent on hand to at least score some runs without Judge, but in practice, it’s not happening.

NJ.com | Bridget Hyland: In former Baby Bomber news, Gary Sánchez may have finally resurrected his career. Sánchez bounced from the Twins, to the Giants, to the Mets, and to the Padres over the course of the last several months, and is at last raking in San Diego. The catcher slammed six homers in his first 13 games with the Padres, looking like the ferocious, power-hitting backstop we all hoped he’d be for the first time since at least 2019. Who knows if he can keep it up, but it’s nice to see Sanchez putting it all back together for a stretch.

MiLB: Some interesting prospect news; right-hander Chase Hampton has been promoted to Double-A Somerset. If you haven’t heard Hampton’s name, you should get familiar now. Unheralded after being drafted by the Yankees last year in the sixth round, Hampton has shot up prospect rankings, now slotting in sixth on Baseball America’s updated list. Hampton has seemingly experienced a velo jump with the Yankees, and is in possession of a deep arsenal that includes three respectable secondary pitches. He leads the Yankee system in strikeouts with an eye-popping 77 across 47 innings, to go along with a 2.68 ERA.