In yesterday’s Round Up, we highlighted the fact that the Yankees were one game away from tying the major league record for most consecutive games with a home run. Thanks to home runs by Aaron Hicks and Giancarlo Stanton yesterday, they are now tied with the 2002 Rangers for that record. Here is every home run from the historic streak.
Pitching Performance of the Day
Drew Pomeranz took the loss yesterday as his opponent, Jon Gray , threw six scoreless innings and was followed by three scoreless innings from the bullpen. However, we’ll give the nod here to Pomeranz who has 11 strikeouts to Gray’s six because Pomeranz is worth a longer look.
Pomeranz has an ugly 6.79 ERA in 14 starts this season, but the underlying numbers indicate better days may be ahead. His SIERA and xFIP both sit at 4.44 in large part due to a healthy 25.3 percent strikeout rate. It’s not hard to figure out where the extra K’s are coming from as Pomeranz’s velocity has spiked this year with an average fastball velocity of 92.2 mph, which is the highest it has been since 2015.
His issues have been walks and limiting hard contact. He’s made progress with the walks this month with a June walk rate at a respectable eight percent after having walk rates of 9.8 percent in March/April and 13.4 percent in May. He is also giving up too much hard contact as evidenced by an xWOBA of .356, which is not good. But it’s still better than the .400 wOBA he has allowed. The good news is he’s missing a lot of bats and not pitching to contact that’s ending up being hard contact, and his .366 BABIP will turn around and allow for some positive regression.
Hitting Performance of the Day
Michael Conforto went 3-for-4 with a home run and double while driving in two and scoring twice. The home run was an impressive 414-foot opposite field shot. I would have to agree the team’s designation of Conforto as underrated. Conforto ranks seventh among NL outfielders in WAR and eighth in wRC+, yet he is not one of nine NL outfield finalists for the All-Star game. Three Cubs, Albert Almora, Jr., Jason Heyward and Kyle Schwarber , along with Nick Markakis have no reason being finalists ahead of Conforto. I’ve long thought we should look at the past calendar year stats for All-Star selections so that an entire half season of baseball is not ignored when handing out this honor. If you go back one full year, Conforto ranks fifth in WAR among NL outfielder. Underrated, indeed.
Game of the Day
When the White Sox took a two-run lead in the top of the seventh, their win expectancy sat at 82.9 percent. But Mookie Betts led off the bottom of the seventh with a home run, and Eduardo Núñez tied the game in the eighth with a two-out RBI single. Andrew Benintendi led off the ninth with a double, but the next two batters were retired. Xander Bogaerts was then intentionally walked with Benintendi standing on third, and Bogaerts then stole second. With first base open, Jackie Bradley, Jr. was also intentionally walked, which set up Marco Hernández to be the hero with a game-winning two-out single. Here’s the game graph courtesy of Fangraphs.
What to Watch for Today
The Yankees will look to take sole possession of the home run record against Clayton Richard . The Yankees have been significantly worse against left-handers like Richard this year, though the extended absences of the now returned Aaron Judge and Stanton likely contributed to that significantly. Richard has a 1.78 HR/9 this season, so the Bombers’ chance to get the record is high.
Player News
Daulton Varsho picked up three hits, three RBI and a homer in a win over the Angels on Thursday.
Varsho has only played in seven games this year, but they’ve been seven good ones. He’s homered three times already, and his slugging percentage is a remarkable — and entirely unsustainable — .727 over 22 at-bats. Varsho has been a mediocre offensive player in his two seasons with the Blue Jays, but it’s possible at the age of 28 he’s having a breakout campaign. Far from a guarantee, but possible.
Taylor Ward hit a two-run homer in a loss to the Blue Jays on Thursday.
Ward, 31, gave the Angels a 2-0 lead with a two-run homer off Chris Bassitt in the first inning. He’s now gone deep in two of his last three games, and it ‘improves’ his slash to .181/.224/.391. Ward has been one of the most hot/cold players players in the sport over the last few years, so fantasy managers who can afford to make some roster moves may want to look at Ward while the going is good.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. picked up three hits and scored twice in an 8-5 win over the Angels on Thursday.
Guerrero also drew a walk. It gives the first baseman multiple hits in back-to-back games, and it’s the third time in May that he’s reached that mark. That’s helped raise his average from .268 to .295, and the only thing fantasy managers can be disappointed with is his .432 slugging percentage. That number should continue to climb as the season unfolds, but Vladdy Jr. has had some inconsistent seasons when it comes to power production.
Chad Green picked up his first save of 2025 with a scoreless ninth against the Angels on Thursday.
Green got the save after Jeff Hoffman worked in back-to-back games — and struggled — in the first two contests against the Angels. He struck out two and looked the part while needing just nine pitches to get through the inning. Hoffman should remain the closer, but Green is on his tail if the struggles were to continue.
Chris Bassitt allowed five runs — four earned — while working six-plus innings against the Angels on Thursday while picking up a win.
Bassitt allowed three runs over the first two innings on a pair of homers, but settled down over his next four frames. He came out to work the seventh, but ended up being charged for two more runs after leaving the contest. The 36-year-old veteran has forged a 3.35 ERA and outstanding 49/8 K/BB ratio over the first quarter of the season, but this wasn’t him at his best. He’ll get the Rays next week if the rotation order stays the same for Toronto.
José Soriano allowed three runs over five innings while not factoring in the decision Thursday against the Blue Jays.
Soriano left with a 4-3 lead, but it was erased quickly after his departure. The 26-year-old was not exactly dominant in his outing with eight hits allowed and four free passes, but he did strike out six to help balance things out a smidgen. Soriano takes an even ERA of 4.00 into a scheduled start against the Padres in San Diego on Tuesday. There should be better options for that one.