After Sunday’s 8-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, Cody Bellinger‘s return and Carlos Rodón‘s second start back were chief among the Yankees‘ top developments. Here are some highlights of what Bellinger, Rodón and Aaron Boone said following New York’s three-game series victory.
Bellinger’s first game back
Playing for the first time since July 25 when he suffered his left hamstring strain and one day later went on the 10-day injured list, Bellinger emerged healthy.
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“I felt really good,” Bellinger said. “Honestly, I felt like 100 percent. Running after those balls and on the bases, I felt really good.”
Bellinger’s 1-for-4 afternoon at Yankee Stadium saw him rebound from an 0-for-3, two-strikeout start with a leadoff single in the seventh inning.
“OK — I think he was expanding a bit early on in his first couple, and then he got into a 3-1 count against a tough lefty to square it up against and smokes the ball up the middle,” Boone said. “So, that was good to see … a good way for him to kind of finish in his first game back after it felt like he expanded the zone more than he wanted to, got himself into a good count and was able to sting one against a tough lefty there at the end.”
Three at-bats later, Jazz Chisholm Jr.‘s two-out home run to right field scored Bellinger and padded New York’s 7-2 lead against Toronto (64-68).
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“I felt all right,” Bellinger said. “I felt like I was a little jumpy early on, and in that fourth at-bat I was able to settle down a little bit. It’s obviously nice to get some results in the first and obviously to get the win as well.”
Through 103 games this season, Bellinger is slashing .259/.349/.418 with 11 home runs and 53 RBI.
He gets Monday off before the Yankees (74-56) begin a three-game series against the Houston Astros with Tuesday’s 7:05 p.m. opener in the Bronx.
Rodón’s room for improvement
Building upon last Tuesday’s 3-1 win at the Baltimore Orioles, in which he threw 39 strikes on 66 pitches over four innings, Rodón again went four frames Sunday.
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His second start back from an IL stint that sidelined him from the Yankees since June 28 due to left elbow inflammation was a 76-pitch, 42-strike outing with two runs (one earned) one two hits while striking out two and walking two.
“It’s good,” Rodón said. “Obviously, there’s some things I want to refine and obviously be in the zone a little more — crisper with strikes and just attacking and getting ahead. So, there’s things I can work on.”
Rodón is in line to start Saturday’s 1:05 p.m. game against the Boston Red Sox, a four-game series that stretches from Friday through Monday at Yankee Stadium.
“Obviously, hopefully, totally built up,” Boone said of Rodón’s ramp-up period. “I think he’s in a really good place. I think his stuff, physically, is where it needs to be — and, hopefully, he just continues to get a little bit sharper as he does build up here and expect him to be a key contributor in our rotation moving forward and what we hope is beyond the regular season.”
