Yankees happy to have Ryan McMahon, and feeling is mutual
New York Yankees third baseman Ryan McMahon against the Philadelphia Phillies at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. Credit: Brad Penner
On the day after the Yankees filled a significant hole by trading for Colorado third baseman Ryan McMahon, they were looking for a bit of instant impact.
McMahon was in the starting lineup for their 9-4 loss to the Phillies on Saturday afternoon, batting eighth and playing third base. He went 1-for-3 with a walk and made the best defensive play of the game, a diving backhand stab on Otto Kemp’s drive down the line in the eighth inning.
“Obviously not the outcome we wanted, but it was exciting for me personally,” the nine-year veteran and former All-Star said.
Before the game, he was asked about putting on the pinstripes for the first time and replied, “It’s going to be really exciting, right? I mean this is every kid's dream. You know, when you're 9, 10 years old, hitting baseballs in the backyard, you're picturing yourself in Game 7 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. So it's going to be pretty cool.”
He’d gotten the impression he was being shopped by the Rockies before the deal was consummated and added he “couldn't pick a better spot if I hand-picked it myself.”
McMahon said he felt welcomed by the fans calling out to him as he warmed up. When the Bleacher Creatures in rightfield did the first-inning roll call, he looked toward them, tapped the interlocking NY on the uniform and pointed to them. He said it was all impulse and was grateful that teammates reminded him to look for it.
McMahon entered play on Saturday batting .217 with 16 home runs and 35 RBIs for the Rockies, who had the worst record in baseball at 27-76. In his last 39 games before being traded for a pair of Class A pitching prospects, he hit .241 with an .819 OPS and 10 home runs. Overall, he had 127 strikeouts, the most in baseball, and he struck out his first two times at-bat Saturday. But in the sixth inning, he singled to left-center.
“I wish it came earlier, [in] a bigger spot, something like that, but just glad it got out of the way,” he said of his first hit as a Yankee.
In the eighth, he made a sensational stop on Kemp’s smash down the line, came up throwing and rifled a long, crisp throw to first base for the out.
“That's a really special play . . . and you see the big third-base arm,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He's a good player and [I’m] looking forward to him really helping us.”
Said Aaron Judge: “We made a big acquisition to get McMahon here and it’s going to help us win a lot of games.”
McMahon wears No. 19, which was Boone’s number as a Yankees player. When asked about that, the manager joked, “I must be his hero.” McMahon said he chose it because “my dad wore 19 in high school and Charlie Blackmon, one of my favorite teammates of all time, wore 19. So when I saw this available, I jumped on it.”
McMahon arrives with major expectations for a team that has lost 23 of its last 37 games and is sliding in the standings. The Yankees have gotten almost no offensive production from third basemen since Jazz Chisholm Jr. was moved to second base full-time and the team has been plagued by costly miscues in the field.
“I don't think I've even thought about that,” McMahon said of the expectations. “They brought me in to play third base, play baseball. That's something I feel confident in. So I'm going to go out there, try to do the best I can do.”
Notes & quotes: Among the Yankees pitchers on the injured list, righty reliever Mark Leiter Jr. (fibula head stress fracture) likely is closest to returning to the active roster. Boone said he will throw at least two more bullpen sessions before going on a minor-league rehab assignment . . . Righthander Luis Gil (lat strain) will throw a bullpen session this weekend and is expected to make another minor-league rehab start next week. Boone said the 2024 AL Rookie of the Year should be an option for the big-league club after that . . . Lefthander Ryan Yarbrough (oblique) has begun his progression to throwing off a mound, Boone said . . . Fernando Cruz (oblique) is in a stretch of playing catch in five of six days and then will progress to a mound.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
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