From Bryan Hoch:
There is an expectation of greatness each time Aaron Judge comes to bat, a presence that casts a large shadow upon the Yankees lineup. It provides a cool, comfortable place for Paul Goldschmidt to operate, plugging away in the early stages of a resurgent season.
Goldschmidt may own the most-overlooked .361 batting average in the Majors, obscured by Judge’s nightly exploits.
Make no mistake: Goldschmidt can deliver in the big spots, too, belting a three-run homer Friday that powered the Yankees to a 3-0 victory over the Rays at Yankee Stadium.
“It’s a long season; I’d love to get a hit every time,” Goldschmidt said. “I’d love to hit as high an average, as many homers, as many wins as we can. We know there’s going to be ups and downs, so I think for me, a big part is really just not paying attention to it. It’s showing up and trying to put the work in to be prepared to help us win every day.”
Max Fried didn’t require much support, not on a night in which the freshly minted American League Pitcher of the Month limited Tampa Bay to one hit over seven scoreless innings. Fried improved to 6-0 with a 1.01 ERA as Devin Williams and Luke Weaver finished off a one-hit shutout.
Max Fried can’t possibly keep THIS level of pitching up, but fuck, he sure is good, huh? I’m particularly impressed by how he picks on bad offensive teams. He clearly wasn’t REMOTELY worried about Tampa Bay, and just went at them all night long, and if he walked a guy, whatever, as he knew he’d get the next guy. This approach won’t work if he’s facing a really good lineup, but for bad ones, it’s just dominant.
Meanwhile, the Yankees had another one of those awful RISP games, but at least Goldschmidt hit a three-run home run, so it’s all good.
Devin Williams looked great in the eighth (like his old self, honestly), and Luke Weaver was effortlessly dominant in the ninth. Again, not a good hitting team, but still.
Featured image is Fried on one of his strikeouts where he had the batter totally flummoxed.
Uh oh, Schmidt a very late scratch. That does not sound very good at all.
The funny thing is that the Blue Jays JUST signed Spencer Trumbull, so he’s not an option if Schmidt is legit hurt.
Schmidt says it is just minor left side soreness. And that he plans to start on Tuesday. I imagine we’ll be seeing an IL stint instead.
Yeah and Jazz’s njury was nothing also.
Didn’t Chisholm JUST say exactly that?
Yep, that’s why I expect the IL.
Plus, Schmidt had a long IL stint with an oblique just last season.