The Raiders as a team had just six, and the 24-year-old had two of them. Robertson was the only corner on the roster to register an interception. But Las Vegas has done so much work to overhaul the group that he might be expendable. Lately, Bader is the danger, and May has looked a lot like October for him. Now he’s giving pitchers the boot, a reversal of fortune that Cashman has to be relishing all these months later.In a lot of ways, Amik Robertson was the only bright spot in the cornerback group last season. That seems to be a strange place for the Yankees’ hottest hitter at the moment, unless you consider that moving him up would then make the bottom half of the lineup a virtual wasteland that allows the Rays’ pitchers to buzzsaw right through it. But even with Stanton (hamstring) still on the shelf, Boone had Bader at seventh for Thursday night’s game, wedged between Jake Bauers (.154) and Jose Trevino (.218). 3 hitter Anthony Rizzo, guys that make up the primary run-producing segment of the batting order. That’s usually Judge’s job, or Giancarlo Stanton, or the No. Things aren’t going your way, when you have a guy like that in the lineup that can ignite it with a big three-run homer, it’s special.” He brings that energy, man, and you need that when you’re playing 162. He goes up there with a plan and he executes it. Just his at-bats, his approach at the plate. “He’s a Gold Glove centerfielder that’s hustling around the bases. With margins that tight, Bader can be the difference this time around in the Bronx, whether doing damage or flashing stellar glovework. The Yankees dropped two of three, but were only outscored, 15-14, and blew a 6-0 lead in Sunday’s finale with ace Gerrit Cole on the mound. He went 6-for-11 (.546) in that series with a pair of homers and seven RBIs. The Yankees could use some of that against the division-leading Rays, and based on his wrecking-ball weekend at Tropicana Field, Bader should be a catalyst for more. Then we just really replicated that energy. In the series, we were just kind of staying in the pocket, taking good at-bats, and when the game presented situations for us to pounce, I think we delivered. “We’re trusting ourselves and we’re taking confident at-bats. “I think we’re in a position where we’re game-planning really well,” Bader said. They also have smacked 17 homers in the past nine games after hitting eight in the previous 13. Before Thursday’s series opener, the Yankees had scored at least seven runs in four straight games for the first time since 2019. It didn’t hurt that Oakland’s franchise is mailing in this season before switching addresses to the Las Vegas strip, but the Bader Effect is real. But Bader evidently discovered something during last October’s power surge that goes beyond merely using the same model bat his buddy and former University of Florida teammate Pete Alonso has relied on (Bader got the idea from a bat Alonso gifted him years ago that was displayed at his home).įast forward to now, and Bader already has a pair of three-RBI games, one that included Wednesday’s homer in the Yankees’ 11-3 rout of the A’s. No one envisioned Bader becoming the engine of the Yankees’ offense, however. The manager was scraping together whatever he could find for the makeshift lineups, and writing in Bader nudged the Yankees a little closer to feeling whole again. “Guys feed off him a little bit, too.”īoone was hoping to just get a real centerfielder back rather than wearing out newbie Isiah Kiner-Falefa, a calculated risk at the largely unfamiliar position, as the Yankees also waited on Aaron Judge (activated on Tuesday). “Just the energy and professionalism he brings to the table every day,” manager Aaron Boone said. 734 OPS and hit five home runs in 86 games a year ago. As a point of reference, Bader has a career. 429 (12-for-28) with two triples and the 11 RBIs were his most ever for a six-game stretch. Entering Thursday night’s game with the Rays at the Stadium, Bader’s three homers since rejoining the club gave him eight in his past 17 games (counting the postseason).
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