BILLY MCKINNEY "MAY SURPRISE US"

Stories about comebacks and guys that everyone doubts are good stories... especially when they succeed.  

The other day I wrote about how the Yankees were taking a chance on Billy McKinney, offering him a major league contract as a way to move players around in the wake of the Aaron Judge injury.  At the time, Facebook was a tizzy and of course the doubters came out of the woodwork.

Now that guy Rich Grobarcik and I are on the same page for sure. McKinney is a decent player. I think the problem with McKinney is that he wasn't given a decent shot, or, he just wasn't ready. But guys like McKinney are solid athletes. Sometimes you just gotta let things gel. 

Last night it was McKinney who made things happen for the Yankees. The New York Post writes:

“I was a little disappointed that I never got to get a hit in Yankee Stadium as a home player. I played here as a road player,” the 28-year-old McKinney said. “Getting the home run means a lot.”

McKinney tripled in the opener and homered in the fifth inning of the nightcap, continuing the torrid stretch he had been on with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

He hit his homer, on a high 94 mph fastball from White Sox starter Mike Clevinger, into the bleachers in right-center field.

“It was cool. I was pretty fired up,” he said. “Glad it went out and glad we got the win.”

The bottom line is we just need to see the consistency from this guy. There's a lot of factors that go into that. Does Boone decide and rest the guy today? If so, it breaks momentum. Will they let McKinney settle in and see what he's made of? It's like a Jake Bauers. No one knew this kid and he's been consistent and showing us all what being hungry for an opportunity means to the individual player. It's beautiful.  

This I guess is a "tip of the cap" post. McKinney has always been a kid I liked watching play. I will leave you with this, from BYB's old buddy Dave Goode, who also commented on Facebook about Billy:

He did Dave... the certainly did.

Happy Friday, Go Yanks!