Around the Empire: Yankees news - 7/2/23

Newsday | Erik Boland: An old friend will toe the rubber for the Cardinals today for the second time in his career, but it won’t be nearly as abrupt as the first go-around. Jordan Montgomery was dealt from the Yankees just as the trade deadline expired in 2022 and just before his teammates were about to begin a game against the Mariners. It was a quite a shock and the lefty admitted that it wasn’t easy to pitch against them only four days after getting traded last year, though five shutout innings were more of a salve. Monty agreed that his start today should be more straightforward, albeit still “weird.”

Also, this is a small note, but Anthony Rizzo confirmed that he feels better after getting plunked on the elbow on Thursday in Oakland. He was out of the starting lineup for the game that didn’t happen on Friday due to the rain, but he played both ends of yesterday’s doubleheader.

Hudson Valley Renegades: Top free agent addition Carlos Rodón made his third rehab appearance yesterday and first in High-A after two in Double-A Somerset. With the Patriots down in Maryland this week, he stayed in the tri-state area by shifting over to Hudson Valley and thoroughly dominated the poor Wilmington Blue Rocks (the Nationals) by striking out eight across 3.1 innings of shutout, one-hit ball. The lefty threw 58 pitches, and per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, he is expected to make his long-awaited Yankees debut on Thursday against the Cubs.

Associated Press: This was already noted in yesterday’s Baby Bomber Recap, but the story didn’t really begin making rounds elsewhere until midday yesterday. So we’ll refresh it! The Yankees’ Low-A Tampa Tarpons manager Rachel Balkovec was ejected by first-base umpire Isabella Robb after arguing a call in the top of the ninth innings during Friday’s game. It’s probably the first case of a female manager getting ejected by a female umpire in professional baseball but regardless of certainty, it’s cool to see both Balkovec and Robb in these male-dominated roles.