"Right now" can mean just about anything.

Hey, look! It's Mike Lupica on Yankees.com:

"For now, it looks like a tweet that should have been heard ‘round the world -- or at least the world of Yankees fans, considering that it involves the best player they’ve got right now."

The best player the Yankees have right now is Aaron Judge. Some would argue Didi Gregorius.

So I'm assuming Mike Lupica is not writing an article about either of them because there isn't much to say about them while they're on the IL.

So it's active players ... best players so far this season. Best Yankee players for the first 40 games of the 2019 season.

Who could it be?

Off the top of my head, Top Five, in order: German, LeMahieu, Sanchez, Chapman, and Kahnle.


"The Yankees were on their way to 100 wins and they were still chasing the Red Sox hard last August, so hardly anybody noted or long remember the news we got that day on Twitter from @BlueJaysPR:

'Minor league trade: Gio Urshela has been sent to the Yankees for cash considerations.'"


I'm sure you were on top of it at the time, Mr. Twitter.

Whenever Lupica is wrong, it's "we."

But this is incorrect..

While Urshela has obviously far exceeded expectations and might be the Value MVP of the whole league ... no, I have not researched the rest of the league ... he is not the best player on the Yankees right now.


"So nobody paid much attention to Urshela -- now 27, out of Cartagena, Colombia -- who, in a season when the Yankees tried to line up guys on the injured list the way they line up Old Timers on Old Timers’ Day at Yankee Stadium, has turned out to be more important and indispensable than anybody they have."


I simply don't consider him the most indispensable player on the Yankees.

His replacement wouldn't field as well and obviously wouldn't be hitting .341 ... but a lot of people not name Tyler Wade could have been almost as productive.


"Even the guy who knows everything on 'Jeopardy' couldn’t have seen this coming."

Jesus.

If I may, let me put a [sic] on Jeopardy ... I think it's customary to include the exclamation point.

Good pop culture reference, though. I'll check out the Sports Reporters podcast to hear it 20 more times this summer.


"There have been other unlikely heroes in the American League so far. Michael Chavis, who had five RBIs for the Red Sox on Sunday as they were sweeping the Mariners and has injected life and pop into Boston’s batting order when it badly needed it, comes right to mind."

Does he?

Does Michael Chavis come right to mind?

You had to look that up on the Internet. You're not fooling anyone.


So you've got two unlikely heroes in the AL so far.

Name a few more and then you can pretend you pay attention to the entire AL and not just the Red Sox and the Yankees.


"But there has been no more unlikely hero in baseball so far than Urshela for the Yankees."

Domingo German.

Urshela has 15 RBIs and 2 HRs. 11-for-27 with RISP is AMAZING ... and it's also only 27 at-bats.

German is a #6 starter who leads MLB in wins. I'd say that's unlikely for a player whose under/over for 2019 wins was probably 1.5.


"And understand: It’s not as if he just fell into Cashman’s lap. The GM had first tried to get him away from the Indians when the Indians had him. Could not. Liked his defense."

Content notwithstanding, that is some outstanding writing right there, chopping up one simple thought into 4 choppy sentences and one unnecessary colon. Well done.


"The Yankees shouldn’t be as close to first place as they are after all the injuries they’ve had, to Stanton and Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks and Luis Severino and Dellin Betances and everybody else. "

Agreed.


"There have been other guys who have hit. But their best hitter and their biggest star has been Urshela, who grew up worshipping a soccer star, Cristiano Ronaldo, as a kid in Colombia, and dreaming of being one himself. Now he’s a baseball star in the spring of 2019 at Yankee Stadium. Obviously his manager recognizes an unlikely star like this when he sees one. Takes one to know one."

I have no freaking idea what Cristiano Ronaldo has to do with any of this ... and I guess describing Boone as an "unlikely star" is referencing a HR he hit 16 years ago? ... but Lupica just jinxed Gio Urshela.

It was nice knowing you, Gio.

Say hi to Tony Womack, Sonny Gray, Josh Satin, and every Mets team since 1986.