New York

Yankees

But not before the Yankees got people in the gates and sold some food. Ranger Suárez and Will Warren were scheduled to start tonight’s game. Suarez will go tomorrow, with Connelly Early following on Monday, but the Yankees have decided to push Warren back to Monday against Cleveland and keep Cam Schlittler in line to face the Red Sox on four days’ rest.

The Yankees obviously didn’t have much warning about this or they wouldn’t have sent down J.C. Escarra after Friday’s game. In fact, Aaron Boone was asked about Wells during his pregame availability tonight and said nothing about it. Escarra figures to face righties, with Ali Sánchez getting the call against lefties, until Wells returns.

The Yankees could have saved themselves (and us!) a couple of transactions if they weren’t in such a hurry to demote Escarra after last night’s game. He figures to be the team’s primary catcher against righties until Austin Wells returns.

The Yankees finally have a right-handed catcher on the roster in Ali Sánchez, who was promoted today, so it looks like Wells is going to more sitting against southpaws. Wells is hitting just .166/.278/.255 overall this year, and he’s come in at .100/.179/.160 versus lefties.

The Yankees have José Caballero in right field and Anthony Volpe at short against left-hander Ranger Suárez. Boston is throwing another lefty in Connelly Early on Sunday, so there’s a good chance that Jones will sit once again.

Sánchez provides New York with a bit more offensive upside against left-handed pitching from their backup catcher spot over J.C. Escarra, who was shipped to the minors following Friday’s contest. The 29-year-old journeyman has appeared in 50 games between five different teams since 2020. He’s the textbook definition of a journeyman backstop in the modern era.

The odds of Domínguez returning to the majors in short order have increased exponentially with Aaron Judge hitting the injured list with a stress fracture in his rib cage. The 23-year-old former top prospect figures to rejoin the Yankees in a couple days after wrapping up a rehab assignment. He may never blossom into the franchise-altering cornerstone many scouts and evaluators envisioned, but the raw talent is certainly there for him to make a fantasy impact in deeper mixed leagues.

The 31-year-old backstop really struggled offensively during his time with the Yankees, slashing a woeful .177/.235/.258 with zero homers, seven RBI and a 15/5 K/BB ratio in 68 plate appearances. The expectation is that the Yankees will promote Ali Sanchez from Triple-A on Saturday to take Escarra’s spot on the active roster.

Weathers had a little extra velocity tonight, averaging 96.4 mph with his fastball, but he gave up two homers, seven hits and 11 hard-hit balls in all. He allowed two runs in the third after a potential double play ball resulted in only one out, as Anthony Volpe, probably overly cautiously, didn’t feel comfortable trying to make the initial throw to second with a pulled over Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ceddanne Rafaela both running towards the bag. The last two runs came on a Willson Contreras homer with two outs in the fifth. Chisholm seemed to have a real shot at handling the single to his left that kept the inning going, but he alligator armed it. Although he obviously deserves a significantly better record, Weathers dropped to 2-4 with a 3.86 ERA. He’ll face the Guardians next.

The Yankees certainly can’t ask Rice to step it up with Aaron Judge out, but they do need him to keep doing what he’s doing. He’s tied for fourth in the majors in homers and sixth with his 45 RBI. Only Yordan Alvarez has a higher OPS.