Austin

Slater

He takes the place of J.C. Escarra, who was sent down last night. Slater, who suffered a hamstring strain just a few days after being acquired by the Yankees, figures to get some outfield starts against lefties,

Slater was injured last night in just his third appearance since arriving in a trade with the White Sox. This might mean some extra playing time for Ryan McMahon against lefties, since José Caballero and Amed Rosario will be needed more often in the outfield. Caballero might have been sent down to make room for Aaron Judge if not for Slater’s injury.

Slater left Monday’s game with a hamstring injury, so José Caballero, really the only candidate on the roster to be sent down, will get to keep his spot with Judge back. Judge, out since Sept. 26 with a flexor tendon strain, will return as a DH initially, limiting Giancarlo Stanton’s opportunities for at least the next week.

Not ideal. Slater appeared to tweak his hamstring during his first at-bat of the contest while reaching on a fielder’s choice in just his second start since coming over from the White Sox at last week’s trade deadline. His absence would remove a lefty-mashing weapon from New York’s outfield mix.

It’s a bizarre lineup from Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who appears to be trying to shake things up on the night before Aaron Judge is eligible to be activated from the injured list. Not only is Rosario near the top of the order behind veteran leadoff specialist Paul Goldschmidt, but Austin Slater is batting fifth behind Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton with lefty Patrick Corbin on the hill for Texas.

Austin Slater, in his Yankees’ debut, is making what will likely be a rare start against a righty, with Cody Bellinger moving from right to center. Ben Rice is leading off in Grisham’s place, with Paul Goldschmidt following in the two hole.

The move was reported a few hours ago and is now official. Slater will be a short-side platoon partner in the outfield with Jasson Dominguez and Trent Grisham and while that role will provide little fantasy value, it’s a solid real-life move for the Yankees.

There’s no word yet on the return, but this would appear to crush any hopes of Spencer Jones being called up by the Yankees any time soon. It also seems to imply that Aaron Judge (elbow) could spend a lot of time at designated hitter once he returns from the IL. Slater can play anywhere in the outfield and is tremendous against left-handed pitching, so he’s a natural short-side platoon partner for Trent Grisham and Jasson Dominguez in the outfield.

With Aaron Judge likely to return from his elbow injury as a DH, at least initially, an extra outfielder, preferably one who hits right-handed, seems like a good idea for the Yankees. Bader, who struggled during a previous stint with the Yankees in 2022 and ’23, is going to be sought after by several teams after exceeding expectations by hitting .255/.336/.441 to date. Slater would probably be a fallback option. Olney didn’t mention Baltimore’s Ramón Laureano, but he’s another player who would make a lot of sense for the Yankees.

Austin Slater will take over in left field on Tuesday night against the Blue Jays. Baldwin is presumably day-to-day for now. It doesn’t sound like a significant concern.