CLEVELAND — Things are looking up for the Yankees. They have won three in a row. On Saturday night, their ace Gerrit Cole bested reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber. They’re finally hitting home runs again.
Still, there are players who are sitting on seats with varying degrees of warmth just 20 games into the year. If they don’t pick it up, and fast, the could be finding themselves more familiar with a seat of a different kind: the bench.
Here are three of them:
Why: Going into Saturday, Frazier had just one hit in his last 19 plate appearances. He also misplayed a Franmil Reyes liner Friday over his head that then bounced off the wall and back over his head. Bottom line: Frazier is plenty talented and he probably deserves a longer leash than the Yankees are going to give him. But it’s becoming abundantly clear that Frazier may already be in a kind of platoon with the 37-year-old Brett Gardner despite Boone declaring Frazier the Yankees’ starting left fielder at the start of spring training. He didn’t help his case Saturday night, striking out twice and walking once before getting subbed out defensively for Mike Tauchman.
Why: Hicks certainly helped his case Saturday, blasting a solo home run to tie things at 1-all in an eventual 2-1 win over the Indians at Progressive Field. That it happened from the left side, where Hicks had been 4-for-41 (.097) to start the season was just as important. But a question. Boone has described Tauchman’s defensive ability as “elite” in all three outfield spots. If that’s the case, do the Yankees consider him a better center field defender than Aaron Hicks? And if THAT’S the case, is there an argument to be made that Tauchman should begin getting some at-bats against right-handers.
Why: Kyle Higashioka just keeps hitting. On Friday, hitting coach Marcus Thames explained that he believes Higashioka (.353, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 17 AB entering Saturday) has been stepping to the plate with more confidence than ever. It’s shown since he took the full-time starting job away from Sanchez in the playoffs last year, leading some to wonder whether the Yankees would tender Sanchez a contract in the offseason. Sanchez, with his monster power and cannon arm, is the more talented of the two, but might Higashioka be the steadier after all? It’s worth examining.
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