Yankees’ Recent Match Highlights Tense Moments
ATLANTA – In a surprising repeat from a week ago, the Yankees seemed to have deciphered the signals from pitchers, conveying them to their batters during a crucial rally.
This led to a heated exchange between Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Braves manager Eddie Perez.
During the thrilling sixth inning of the Yankees’ 12-9 win, Chisholm and Perez had a brief confrontation, with cameras capturing Perez gesturing towards his head.
Chisholm appeared frustrated, later sharing his feelings with teammates about Perez’s remark after returning to the dugout.
While Chisholm chose not to elaborate post-game, Perez explained to reporters that he was merely telling Chisholm to “think” after observing him signaling from second base. He denied implying anything disrespectful about Chisholm.
Manager Aaron Boone admitted he wasn’t fully aware of the situation, stating, “I’m not completely sure [what was going on].” Video footage suggested Chisholm was using hand signals reminiscent of those from the Yankees, similar to what the Mariners had done previously.
Amidst this, Volpe contributed a sacrifice fly on a 3-1 fastball in a four-run rally that brought the Yankees closer at 7-6.
Due to a bicep issue that led to a bullpen game the night before, the Yankees faced some pitching challenges. However, rookie right-hander Schlittler managed to throw a bullpen session on Saturday, hoping to return to the rotation for a game against the Blue Jays on Tuesday.
Schlittler downplayed his bicep pain, describing it as “very insignificant” and expressing trust in the team’s caution to ensure he is ready for Toronto.
In other news, Max Fried is on track to throw a bullpen session on Sunday, with a start in the series finale against Toronto in sight if all goes well.
Schlittler didn’t feel the bicep discomfort stemmed from his MLB debut performance, where he averaged a fastball speed of 97.9 mph.
Meanwhile, Boone observed Lewis Gill’s recent rehab outing, noting his fastballs were in the 95 mph range. Once Gill recovers adequately, he will continue his rehabilitation with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The Yankees announced they promoted catcher Rafael Flores to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Flores, 24, had an impressive Double-A season, hitting .287 with an .841 OPS and 15 home runs over 87 games, raising his trade value.
“I think he has a chance to be really good,” said Boone about Flores. Additionally, right-handed pitcher Alan Winans was called up, resulting in Rico Garcia’s designation for assignment. Garcia had a brief stint, pitching 53 times over 2²/₃ innings on Friday. Yerry de Los Santos also began rehab for elbow discomfort at Double-A Somerset.
As for the draft, as of Saturday afternoon, the Yankees successfully signed 14 of their 19 draft picks, including all of their top six selections.
