Yankees' Isiah Kiner-Falefa: Sitting in second straight
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Kiner-Falefa is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Nationals.
Kiner-Falefa had been receiving fairly steady playing time at third base over the past two weeks, but he looks like he'll fade into more of a utility role moving forward after the Yankees called up infield prospect Oswald Peraza from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday. Peraza will draw a second straight start at third base Wednesday while Kiner-Falefa remains on the bench.
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Yankees' Isiah Kiner-Falefa: Increasing production
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Over Kiner-Falefa's past five games, he has gone 6-for-21 (.286) with five RBI and a stolen base.
Kiner-Falefa has notched at least one hit in each of the five contests and has picked up at least one RBI in all but one of them. While the recent numbers don't make him a must-add fantasy asset, they're a vast improvement over his previous eight games, when he hit just .192 with a single RBI. Kiner-Falefa's theft Sunday was his 10th of the season, giving him double-digit steals in three straight campaigns, but his other numbers (.253/.321/.366 slash line, six homers, 34 RBI and 36 runs) keep him off the fantasy radar outside of deeper formats.
Kiner-Falefa will start in left field and bat sixth in Sunday's game against the Astros.
Kiner-Falefa will make his sixth consecutive start Sunday and appears set to take over as the Yankees' primary option in left field while Jake Bauers shifts to first base as a replacement for Anthony Rizzo (concussion), who was placed on the injured list Thursday. Even though the lefty-hitting Billy McKinney would make for a natural platoon partner in left field, the right-handed-hitting Kiner-Falefa will stick in the lineup against Astros right-hander Jose Urquidy on Sunday. Kiner-Falefa has recorded exactly one hit in nine of his last 10 games and is getting on base at a .371 clip during that stretch.
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Yankees' Isiah Kiner-Falefa: Homers in loss
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Kiner-Falefa went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in Friday's 7-3 loss against the Astros.
Kiner-Falefa's fifth-inning blast off Astros starter Hunter Brown was his sixth of the season and first since June 29. The utility man led off and started in right field in place of a resting Aaron Judge for the Yankees. Kiner-Falefa has now handled the leadoff role in two of the four games since Gleyber Torres was moved down to the three-hole in the Yankees' lineup. If Torres' position in the batting order holds, whomever gets regular work for the Yankees in the leadoff spot should prove to be a quality source for runs scored.
Kiner-Falefa is starting in left field and batting leadoff Wednesday versus the Mets.
It's his first start in more than a week and the first time this season that he's batted higher than fifth for the Yankees. Kiner-Falefa did reach base in both plate appearances off the bench Tuesday and has reached eight times across his last 15 trips to the dish.
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Yankees' Isiah Kiner-Falefa: Heads to bench Sunday
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Kiner-Falefa is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Cubs.
He'll sit for the second time in the series and could be at risk of moving into more of a part-time role while the Yankees have been deploying designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton in the corner outfield more frequently of late. After posting a 1.029 OPS over an eight-game stretch from June 28 to July 5, Kiner-Falefa has fallen back to earth of late with an 0-for-5 showing over his past two starts.
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Yankees' Isiah Kiner-Falefa: Strong showing in doubleheader
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Kiner-Falefa went 4-for-7 with two walks and three runs scored over both games of Saturday's doubleheader versus the Cardinals.
Kiner-Falefa went 1-for-4 with a walk and a run in Game 1, then followed it up by getting on base in all four of his plate appearances in Game 2. He's been in the lineup for six of the last eight games after initially losing some playing time to Harrison Bader. Kiner-Falefa's unlikely to have one steady spot in the lineup -- he played in right field and center field Saturday and has also seen time in left field and at third base over the last week. The versatile 28-year-old is slashing a reasonable .260/.306/.387 with five home runs, 22 RBI, 26 runs scored and eight stolen bases through 187 plate appearances this season.
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Yankees' Isiah Kiner-Falefa: Homers, drives in three in win
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Kiner-Falefa went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBI in Thursday's victory over Oakland.
Kiner-Falefa got the Yankees on the board with a solo shot off Hogan Harris in the second inning, tying the game 1-1. He'd drive in two more runs on a sac fly and a base hit later in the contest. Kiner-Falefa is now 6-for-15 (.400) over his last six games while starting sporadically in a utility role. He's now slashing .247/.288/.380 with five homers, 22 RBI, 23 runs scored and eight steals through 178 plate appearances this season.
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Yankees' Isiah Kiner-Falefa: Losing playing time with Bader back
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Kiner-Falefa is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Mariners.
Kiner-Falefa will sit for the fourth time in five games and appears to have moved back into a reserve role in the wake of Harrison Bader's recent return from the injured list. The Yankees still have openings at the corner-outfield spots with Aaron Judge (toe) on the shelf, but Billy McKinney and Jake Bauers appear to be manager Aaron Boone's preferred options in left field and right field, respectively, at the moment.
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Yankees' Isiah Kiner-Falefa: Gets breather for Game 2
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Kiner-Falefa isn't starting the second game of Sunday's doubleheader against Boston.
Kiner-Falefa will head to the bench after he went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts during Sunday's matinee. Billy McKinney will take his place in center field and bat sixth.
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Yankees' Isiah Kiner-Falefa: Out of lineup Friday
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Kiner-Falefa isn't in the Yankees' lineup Friday against Boston.
After going 1-for-7 with two runs scored and two stolen bases during the Yankees' previous series against the Mets, Kiner-Falefa will sit out Friday's series opener against the Red Sox. Kiner-Falefa started the two previous games in center field but will be replaced by Billy McKinney, who will bat seventh.
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Yankees' Isiah Kiner-Falefa: Runs wild in Subway Series
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Kiner-Falefa went 0-for-3 with a run scored and two stolen bases in Wednesday's 4-3 extra-inning loss to the Mets.
The utility player manufactured a run in the seventh inning via his wheels along with some shaky defense by the Mets. After reaching on a Jeff McNeil throwing error, Kiner-Falefa swiped second, went to third on Francisco Alvarez's throwing error, then caught reliever Brooks Raley napping on the mound and executed a straight steal of home. Kiner-Falefa has seen action at third base, shortstop and all three outfield spots this season but is getting his starts lately in center field, and over his last 16 games he's batting .296 (16-for-54) with eight runs, nine RBI and four of his eight stolen bases on the year.
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Yankees' Isiah Kiner-Falefa: On bench again Sunday
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Kiner-Falefa is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Red Sox.
Kiner-Falefa is on the bench for the second straight game and may have ceded the primary center-fielder role to Billy McKinney, who will stick in the lineup for the fifth game in a row. Both McKinney and Kiner-Falefa will see their opportunities in center take a hit as soon as Harrison Bader (hamstring) is cleared to return from the 10-day injured list.
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Yankees' Isiah Kiner-Falefa: Swipes bag in loss
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Kiner-Falefa went 2-for-4 with a run and a stolen base in a loss to Boston on Friday.
Kiner-Falefa was one of only two Yankees with multiple hits in the contest, and he used his legs to generate the team's final run when he reached on an infield single, stole second base, advanced to third on an error and crossed the plate on a wild pitch in the seventh inning. The utility man could have had a slightly better stat line, but he was thrown out trying to steal in the second frame. Kiner-Falefa has six thefts on nine attempts on the campaign, but that's not enough to make him a viable fantasy asset in most formats, as he's slashing a mediocre .239/.281/.355 with three homers, 15 RBI and 16 runs overall through 147 plate appearances.
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Yankees' Isiah Kiner-Falefa: Four hits Tuesday
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Kiner-Falefa went 4-for-5 with four RBI and a run scored in Tuesday's win over the Mariners.
Kiner-Falefa singled home two runs in the first and another two insurance runs in the ninth and had the fourth four-hit game of his career. He's had a complete revival at the plate lately and from May 16 is slashing .382/.417/.765 with three homers, 12 RBI and 10 runs scored. Prior to his recent surge, he'd recorded just two RBI and had just two extra-base hits while hitting .179/.229/.205 over his first 31 games this year. It's not realistic to expect his power surge to last, but he has certainly added some value to his name in deeper leagues and AL-only formats.
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Yankees' Isiah Kiner-Falefa: Emerges as main left fielder
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Kiner-Falefa will start in left field and bat seventh in Sunday's game against the Padres, Pete Caldera of The Bergen Record reports.
Kiner-Falefa is manning left for the third straight game and the sixth time in eight games. He appears to have taken over as the primary option at the position in the wake of his surprising power surge thus far in May; he's maintaining a .785 OPS on the month and has collected seven extra-base hits, including three home runs. Kiner-Falefa could be at risk of falling into more of a part-time role once the Yankees possibly bring back both Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring) and Josh Donaldson (hamstring) from the injured list next weekend.
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Yankees' Isiah Kiner-Falefa: On surprising power surge
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Kiner-Falefa went 2-for-4 with a home run, a triple, two total runs and two total RBI in Wednesday's loss to the Orioles.
Kiner-Falefa got another start in left field -- his third in four days -- and was a key cog in New York's offense, tripling and scoring in the third inning and swatting a two-run homer in the fifth. He's now gone deep three times over his past 15 plate appearances, a surprising stretch given that he homered just four times across 531 trips to the plate during the entirety of last season. However, Kiner-Falefa isn't starting Thursday against Kyle Gibson, as Greg Allen is instead manning left field and batting ninth.
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Yankees' Isiah Kiner-Falefa: Another start in left field
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Kiner-Falefa is starting in left field and batting eighth in Wednesday's tilt versus the Orioles, Erik Boland of Newsday reports.
Kiner-Falefa has now started three of the last four games in left field and all of them have come against right-handed pitching. Both of IKF's home runs this season have come in his last five games.
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Yankees' Isiah Kiner-Falefa: Goes deep Saturday
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Kiner-Falefa went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's extra-inning win against Cincinnati.
Kiner-Falefa plated the Yankees' second run with a solo shot to left field in the fifth inning. It was the utility man's second homer over his past two starts after failing to go deep in his first 31 games this season. Kiner-Falefa has never hit more than eight homers in an MLB campaign and went deep just four times in 531 plate appearances last season, so it's unlikely that the sudden surge in power is anything more than an aberration.
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Yankees' Isiah Kiner-Falefa: Pops first homer
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Kiner-Falefa went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double, a solo home run and two additional runs scored in Tuesday's 6-3 win over the Blue Jays.
Getting the start at third base and hitting eighth, Kiner-Falefa gave the Yankees a 3-0 lead by taking Kevin Gausman deep in the fifth inning. It was the first homer of the year for the 28-year-old utility player, who has a meager .200/.256/.275 slash line through 87 plate appearances.
