The New York Yankees have won four of their last five games, extracting a victory over the Oakland Athletics on Saturday by a score of 7-5. The Yankees posted 11 hits, striking out seven times, but saw consistent offense for a change.
The Athletics are a superior team at the moment, sitting 44-20 on the season, but the Yankees have crawled back of the AL East race with their most recent “W.” Thanks to another Gary Sanchez home run and a dominant performance by Gio Urshela, the Bombers are 5.5 games back from the Boston Red Sox and five games back from the Tampa Bay Rays. They are well within reach of inserting themselves right back into the playoff picture, but they need to remain consistent and string together a few wins over quality teams.
The Yankees are waiting on big-time reinforcements:
Luckily, the Yankees have support on the way, as starting first baseman Luke Voit is working his way back from a right oblique strain he suffered on May 26. The 30-year-old has been dominant with the Somerset Patriots, going 3-for-4 with a home run, double, and three RBIs on Friday.
Voit is working his way back quickly, but he must remain healthy once he finally returns to the top team. He’s only enjoyed 12 games this year with the Yankees, recording a .182 average and one home run over 50 at-bats.
In addition, the Yankees also received good news regarding starting pitcher Luis Severino, who has been working his way back from Tommy John surgery last year or so. He suffered a grade 2 groin strain two weeks ago in Brooklyn during a minor-league assignment.
The Yankees are excited to return Severino after two years of dealing with an injury, and luckily the groin strain won’t keep him out for a considerable amount of time.
Severino has already begun throwing just a week after the injury, and was playing catch before the Yankees’ game against Oakland. Traditionally, a groin strain of this nature can take 3 to 6 weeks to heal fully. Realistically, Severino will likely see his return date pushed back a month or so, which could’ve been much worse considering how bad the injury looked in the first place.