The game not on your schedule, the one played at 2 p.m. at Yankee Stadium before no crowd, came with implications. For the rest of the regular season. And especially for the postseason.
Luis Severino threw 24 pitches in a simulated game to Estevan Florial and Giancarlo Stanton, who was marking the one-month anniversary since being placed on the injured list with an Achilles injury. Afterward, Aaron Boone declared that Stanton would be activated Thursday when the Yankees begin a seven-game road trip in Oakland.
Boone also said that Severino worked at 95-96 mph throwing without signs of being restricted by a lat malady that has kept him from the majors since July 13. Severino remains annoyed that the Yankees placed him on the 60-day injured list. But the loose plan remains for him to return Sept. 13 in Boston and make five regular-season starts.
Since Severino would ideally pitch second or third in the Yankee rotation and Stanton would hit fourth in the lineup, it accentuates their importance to, yes, help with Job 1: sealing the AL East title. But at this moment, all Yankee decisions are about being positioned best for October.
So that Zack Britton was moved from a scheduled bullpen Wednesday to instead beginning his minor league rehab at Low-A Tampa has positive resonance, but so does Matt Carpenter arriving in the clubhouse still not bearing weight on his broken left foot, which was instead propped up on a scooter to enable him to maneuver around.
This is part of every playoff-bound team’s focus, fighting the late-season clock to regain vital players for October. This is how I would rank the currently IL-bound Yankees in order of importance:
1. Luis Severino
He has moxie and stuff — just the combination you would want in the postseason (though Severino’s playoff record to date is unimpressive). Gerritt Cole might give off the whiff of something missing, but if he is upright he will start Game 1 of a playoff series. The contest is still on for who follows.?
Nestor Cortes emits the Jimmy Key vibe that he will not be overwhelmed by a huge situation. The Yankees remain hopeful that Frankie Montas rights himself and maximizes his stuff to be a serious consideration. But I think the Yankees would love to see Severino return fully to start Game 2 because of, well, stuff and moxie.
2. Clay Holmes
The Yankee bullpen worked best this season when Holmes was impenetrable in the ninth inning. He lost his control and the overpowering success of his sinker in his final 10 appearances before going on the IL with a back injury. Was that ailment there on some level causing him to become Pittsburgh Clay Holmes? He is due back Monday against the Angels. If he is the first-half version again, the Yankee pen will navigate closer to a pecking order rather than the current jigsaw puzzle.
3. Giancarlo Stanton
He has eight homers in his last 10 postseason games, so his potential impact is obvious. Stanton increases the Yankee menace quotient.
4. Matt Carpenter
This was quietly a huge loss for the Yankees. He had become way more than a surprise fringe benefit with a .305 average and 15 homers in just 154 plate appearances. His lefty bat and long at-bats strengthened and lengthened the Yankee lineup.
One stat I follow all season is hitting with two strikes. Few do it well. The MLB slash line with two strikes was .170/.243/.266 for a .509 OPS. I monitor it because I think all pitches become closer to two-strike pitches in the postseason with the removal of bad pitchers, greater intensity and even more precise scouting reports. Aaron Judge, DJ LeMahieu and Stanton are among the better two-strike hitters this season and Isiah Kiner-Falefa has brought batting average. Josh Donaldson has been among the worst in the sport with .117 average and 115 strikeouts in his 253 plate appearances that reached two strikes.
The best OPS in the majors (minimum 100 plate appearances with two strikes)? Carpenter at .900. This version of Carpenter projected as the kind who handles postseason pitching. But Boone said he is still a few weeks from even bearing weight on his foot. The clock is ticking against Carpenter having enough time to get the work necessary to be ready for the postseason.
5. Zack Britton/Scott Effross
The Yankees have a lot of intriguing arms to use in the pen, especially if they are in the midst of getting the 2022 best out of Jonathan Loaisiga and Lou Trivino. Britton and Effross would provide Boone more options and both are due around the same time that Severino is projected to return. So lots of pitching decisions loom.
But first can Britton come all the way back from Tommy John surgery in a year? There is a scenario in which the Yanks have the two best relief sinkerballers in the lefty Britton and the righty Holmes — or neither. It is tenuous.
6. Harrison Bader
This is partially about embarrassment since Bader has not played while the pitcher he was traded for, Jordan Montgomery, has a 0.35 ERA in four Cardinals starts. But it is more than that. The Yankee defense would go up a notch if Bader can return to center flanked by Andrew Benintendi and Judge. Florial and Aaron Hicks have essentially played themselves into non-players and the Yanks already were worried about running Judge down as the regular center fielder.