Around 3:30 on Friday afternoon, Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt was out in left field at Busch Stadium, hitting groundballs to his grade-school son in what was his first visit to his old haunt.
Goldschmidt returned to the Yankees dugout a half hour later to share memories with the St. Louis press. The seven-time All-Star discussed his hot-and-then-cold 2025 season there as well as his six successful seasons with the Cardinals, which included four postseason trips and an NL MVP award.
However, before that
Regarding his damaged right knee, Goldschmidt gave a very encouraging report.
“I’m prepared to leave,” he declared.
Due to an injury sustained during Tuesday night’s game at Yankee Stadium when he slipped on dirt in foul zone after overrunning a foul pop that he ultimately caught, Goldschmidt was uncertain to go on the 10-day injured list going into Thursday’s off day.
Prior to being substituted in to play first base for the final two innings of a 4-3 victory, Goldschmidt missed Wednesday’s game, rested on Thursday, and then was once more left out of the Yankees lineup on Friday night.
Goldschmidt is likely to start on Saturday night and/or Sunday afternoon now that he is back in action.
During his pre-game press conference, manager Aaron Boone stated that things do appear to be going well. The night before his test, we kind of feared the worst. We then considered the possibility that it would still be a brief IL, but it appears that we will be able to prevent that.
Outfielder Cody Bellinger started at first base for the third time this season after Goldschmidt was benched and Ben Rice caught for the third time in four games and the fourth in six.
Bellinger went to left to replace rookie Jasson Dominguez, who is still a work in progress defensively, and Goldschmidt was called off the bench to play first with the Yankees ahead by a run going into the home eighth.
With Giancarlo Stanton receiving a day off and Aaron Judge still not fully recovered from a flexor strain in his right elbow, which is his throwing arm, the Yankees lineup also featured super utility player Jose Caballero starting in right.
Judge did some long tosses before to his tenth consecutive start at designated hitter after his 10-day IL stay concluded on August 5 after 10 days. Before being allowed to return to the field, he still needs to throw to bases from right, which should happen sometime during this two-city road trip—either this weekend in St. Louis or the following week when the Yankees play two games against the Rays in Tampa.
The trainers and Judge will eventually reach a point where we can determine the day we’re planning on it, according to Boone.
Three of the nine players on the Yankees’ injured list are moving closer to leaving the IL, while the two active guys are improving.
Amed Rosario, an infielder/outfielder, has been out with a left SC joint strain. He had anticipated that his time on injured leave would be no more than 10 days, and that is still the case. He will probably be activated for the game at Tampa on Tuesday.
Due to oblique strains, right-hander reliever Fernando Cruz and left-hander starting Ryan Yarbrough began their rehab assignments with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Thursday night.
Cruz had a poor 21-pitch, one-third-inning start, giving up two runs on two singles and a walk, while Yarbrough gave up just one run across three innings in a 37-pitch outing.
Cruz will make another appearance for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday. On Tuesday or Wednesday of the following week, he will either come off the injured list or pitch in the minor leagues for the third time.
After making his second minor league start on Tuesday, Yarbrough is likely to get one or two more before rejoining the Yankees as a starter or long reliever. The Yankees will eventually have to choose between giving Yarbrough his job and continuing to use 6-foot-6 rookie right-hander Cam Schlittler.
Since being called up to the major leagues for the first time on July 9, Schlitter, 24, has made six starts and is 3-4, 1-2, and has a 3.94 ERA. Yarbrough, 33, has made eight starts from May 3 to June 18 and is 3-1 with a 3.90 ERA in 16 games this season, including a 3.83 ERA.
