Yankees Notebook: Special Judge home run balls, DJ LeMahieu and Matt Carpenter injury updates
TORONTO — As Aaron Judge chases history, it’s not just the Yankees that have to deal with it.
Before the slugger comes to bat, the Yankees’ bat boy runs out two stamped baseballs to the home plate umpire. Every ball he sees as he is one home run away from Roger Maris’ American League and Yankee single-season record, is now numbered so that a historic home run ball can be authenticated.
So every opposing pitcher has to use a new ball whenever he comes to the plate. On Saturday, Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta threw one of the specially marked balls out. Pivetta wasn’t protesting though, he was pleasantly surprised that the special Judge baseballs are no different than the others.
“They’re the same baseball and they feel the same. Yeah, the only difference [Saturday] is the regular game balls were rubbed up more than those balls,” Pivetta said. “I think that’s just like, they have certain people rub up the balls and maybe sometimes somebody doesn’t rub up as much or as the other.
“I’m pretty picky about the ball,” Pivetta continued. “It just so happened to be one of those balls at the time. But I mean, I need a good ball throw at the end of the day. It makes sense to do this and as far as the hardness or softness of the ball is the same.”
So Monday night when the Yankees go into Rogers Centre for a three-game series against the Blue Jays, right-hander Kevin Gausman will have to use the special baseballs.
“I think it’s the right way to do it,” Pivetta said. “They are no more inconsistent than the regular balls. I mean they are all pretty different so this doesn’t make it any harder.”
Judge leads the majors — by a wide margin with Kyle Schwarber at 42 — with 60 homers, but he’s going through a home run drought. After hitting No. 60 on Tuesday night, Judge has gone five games without a homer. He’s only had a home run drought that long four times this season.
HOLDING OUT HOPE
Matt Carpenter was out of the walking boot Sunday, but clearly limping. The Yankees, however, are still holding out hope that the slugger who helped spark their season can get back in the lineup before the regular season ends on October 6.
“I think we’re holding out hope to that but we’re still a ways from even having an idea if that’s going to be possible or not,” manager Aaron Boone said before Monday night’s game against the Blue Jays. “Obviously a lot depends on how his week unfolds. He’s just starting to do a lot of weight-bearing things. So, we’ve tried to keep that in-play with how we maneuvered the roster and stuff, but we’ll just have to see how each day and where we are this time next week.”
Carpenter, signed as a free agent after opting out of a minor league contract with the Rangers in May, was a huge left-handed boost to this lineup. After hitting seven home runs in 418 plate appearances over the 2020 and 2021 seasons, the former All-Star crushed 15 homers in 154 plate appearances over 47 games with the Yankees and drove in 37 runs. He hit .305/.412/.727 with a 1.138 OPS before fracturing his left foot on a foul ball Aug. 8.
LEMAHIEU TEST
DJ LeMahieu has to find out if he can manage and contribute with the painful inflammation in his second/big right toe area that has had him on the injured list since Sept. 5. So, the infielder will ramp up his workouts this week.
“He’s gonna do a little more here these next couple of days. He’ll be hitting early tomorrow and probably testing it more intensely. So we’ll see,” Boone said. “Again, that will be in the hands of the medical team and DJ about when that day we work him back in is, but I know the plan is to up the intensity here these next couple of days.”
LeMahieu had said he hoped to play in one of the games here, perhaps Wednesday’s series finale. Boone said he does expect LeMahieu to be back in the regular season — just to see if he can contribute.
“I feel like he’s gonna come back. Yes, in some way, shape, or form and then we’re gonna see what we got,” Boone said.
