Around the Empire: Yankees news - 6/28/23

New York Post | Jared Schwartz: With Aaron Judge on the injured list, the entire offense slumping as a collective, and the starting rotation struggling to go deep into ballgames, the Yankees bullpen has been the heart, soul, and backbone of the team. From the elite arms like Clay Holmes and Michael King to the secondary and tertiary options like Nick Ramirez and Jimmy Cordero, this unit has been the arguably the best relief corps in baseball and is the main reason the Yankees have played roughly .500 ball in the month of June. Learn more about it here!

New York Times | Benjamin Hoffman: This July may see something that has not occurred in three decades: an All-Star Game without a member of the Yankees making an appearance. While Judge and Gerrit Cole likely to earn spots on the AL All-Star team (few others have a legitimate case), there’s a good chance neither will get a chance to play: Judge, after all, is out indefinitely with a toe injury, and every year, starting pitchers get named to the team but do not pitch because they’re not sufficiently rested. If the Yankees do not appear at all in the game, it will be just the third time in baseball history.

MLB.com | Thomas Harrigan: Speaking of the Midsummer Classic, the latest results of the Phase 2 vote for the All-Star Game starters came out yesterday. Most of the AL results show clear favorites at this time, with the sole exception of the outfield. Mike Trout, Randy Arozarena, Judge, and the also-IL’d Yordan Alvarez all sit within six percentage points of each other; one will ultimately find himself on the outside looking in.

NJ.com | Randy Miller: With the Major League Baseball amateur draft coming up soon, we’re right in the midst of mock draft season. The Yankees will have the 26th overall pick, and Marcus has been providing excellent pre-draft coverage (look for more later today). At the moment, many mock drafts predict the Yankees will draft Sam Stafura, a high school shortstop from Westchester County in New York who is known for his work ethic and who has a commitment to Clemson. If that situation sounds familiar, it’s because it’s vaguely similar to current starting shortstop Anthony Volpe.

ESPN | ESPN News Services: Yesterday, Yankees hitters roughed up Toronto Blue Jays starter Alek Manoah, scoring 11 runs in just 2.1 innings. While this would be notable in itself, what really made this particular performance stand out is the fact that the Yankees played the Oakland Athletics last night; Manoah started not against the Major League team, but against the Florida Complex League Yankees, a rookie ball team consisting mostly of players between the ages of 17 and 19.

Check out our already-published Baby Bomber Recap for more.