Around the Empire: Yankees news - 8/7/23

SNY | Garrett Stepien: Sunday was another nightmarish day for Yankees left-hander Carlos Rodón. After completing 2.2 innings and allowing five earned runs (including homers against Jake Meyers and Yordan Alvarez), he had to leave the game with hamstring tightness in the middle of an at-bat not before throwing a couple of warmup pitches.

A round of boos showered him as he left to the clubhouse. After the game, Rodón’s ERA in the Bronx is 7.33, as the Yankees look for answers in the rotation after Gerrit Cole, Clarke Schmidt and Nestor Cortes. Rodón is now scheduled for an MRI on Monday. According to SNY, the pitcher said he was confident he would avoid the injured list, but players have a long history of underestimating physical issues.*

“I feel confident that everything is OK,” Rodón stated. “Obviously, we won’t know until that imaging comes. But I’m confident that I’m available, whatever they need me to do.”

*Afternoon update: Uh-oh! It sounds like Rodón indeed underestimated the physical issues. He’s heading to the 15-day IL.

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: We all know Giancarlo Stanton won’t win a 100-meter dash at this point of his career. However, he was both painfully and hilariously slow on a potential run-scoring play on Saturday: Manager Aaron Boone explained what we all kind of figured about Stanton and the play:

“Yeah, G’s good,” Boone said. “I just didn’t think he got a great round on third and got a little careful over there. Look, ball, two outs, hit in the gap like that, you got to take your chances.”

He was out by a mile and a half, but all things considered, it makes sense to play it safe on his part: he is the team’s hottest hitter and extremely prone to lower-body injuries. It’s good to know he is OK after that awkward run, but with the way the Yankees handle injuries, you never know.

NJ Advance Media | Max Goodman The Yankees rotation is not going through its smoothest time at the moment. Rodón and Luis Severino are struggling badly and the latter got injured on Sunday, plus Domingo Germán isn’t with the team, Frankie Montas hasn’t returned, and the club didn’t really address the area before the deadline.

Only Cole and Schmidt have shown both effectiveness and consistency as of late. Cortes, who pitched four dominant innings on Saturday, is eager to join that group.

“I’m trying to help Gerrit [Cole] and Schmidty [Clarke Schmidt] out,” he said on Saturday. He could be the key to the group, the one that gives the Yankees not two, but at least three reliable starting pitchers to navigate the stretch run. That’s not ideal, but it’s definitely better than two.

After returning from a long absence due to a shoulder issue, the lefty is determined to help. Cortes’ fastball even showed increased velo and the rest of his stuff looked crisp.

The last bit of news is that righty Jhony Brito was demoted after entering in relief of Rodón and throwing 1.2 innings. The Yankees will likely add a fresh arm later today.