Bronx Bombers Back in Action

Boggs diagnosed with prostate cancer; Schmidt, Hamilton return to pitching staff; Cortes “unhappy” with demotion to bullpen, but nonetheless dominates

Yahoo! Sports | Sean Leahy: Yesterday, Wade Boggs announced through the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. The former third baseman, who was an integral part of the Yankees’ 1996 World Series champions, then took to his Twitter to pledge that he will “ring the bell.”

We wish Wade the best of luck as he sets out to tackle the most important fight of his life.

MLB Trade Rumors | Mark Polishuk: The third round of injury reinforcements arrived for the Yankees, as Clarke Schmidt and Ian Hamilton followed Anthony Rizzo and Luis Gil and rejoined the Yankees active roster yesterday. While Hamilton did not make an appearance, Schmidt got the start, spinning 4.2 scoreless frames to help power the Yankees towards a series win over the Cubs. With the bullpen in flux for pretty much the entire season, their return, along with Gil’s on Friday, provide can help stabilize a bullpen that has arguably been the number one thing holding the team back.

To create space on the roster, the team designated Nick Burdi and Phil Bickford for assignment. Burdi was already in the minors but Bickford was on the active roster. Both players have the right to reject an outright assignment to Triple-A.

New York Post | Greg Joyce: Schmidt’s return to the rotation meant that one starting pitcher had to go to the bullpen, at least temporarily. So far, that seems to be Nestor Cortes, who came on in relief behind Schmidt yesterday. While he was “upset” to be demoted from the rotation, Nasty Nestor declared that he is “never going to back down from a challenge” and is eager to contribute “in any situation.”

While Cortes understandably prefers to be in the rotation, his ability to work out of the ‘pen — as demonstrated by his 4.1 hitless innings — has the potential to be game-changing this October. In the meantime, the plan is for Cortes to make a start against the Red Sox during the upcoming four-game set from Thursday to Sunday. Beyond that? We’ll see.