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Russell Westbrook caps historic season with MVP award

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Our view: Kickball incident a black eye

<p>Back on June 1 Tyler Wade said how excited he was to be chosen as the future Ben Zobrist-like utilty man for the New York Yankees.</p><p>Now, it looks like the future has turned into the present.</p><p>With Yankees second baseman Starlin Castro injuring his right hamstring while running out a grounder against the Chicago White Sox Monday night, YES Network pregame and postgame analyst Jack Curry tweeted during the Yankees&#8217; game that he was &#8220;hearing&#8221; Wade would be added to the 40-man roster and will join the team in Chicago on Tuesday. Pinstriped Prospects Trenton Thunder beat writer Matt Kardos also reported Wade was getting the call to The Show.</p><p>Wade was pulled from his game in Syracuse ahead of the bottom of the fifth inning after an hour-and- 44-minute rain delay, which the RailRiders ended up losing 5-2. The Yankees made the move official Tuesday afternoon.</p><p>&#8220;At the end of the day, I want to be in the big leagues,&#8221; Wade said earlier this month. &#8220;Our team right now in the big leagues is a very talented team and it&#8217;s going to be an exciting time for them and I want to be a part of that. I want to help the team in any way possible. Giving guys days off once a week and then me being able to get in the lineup four or five times is huge. I&#8217;m just excited about the role.&#8221;</p><p>Wade has played second and third base, shortstop and every outfield position for the RailRiders this season. While he has committed a team-high 13 errors this season, the 22-year-old has looked impressive all over the diamond, and especially in the infield.</p><p>And as good as Wade&#8217;s been in the field, his bat has been even stronger.</p><p>He&#8217;s batting .366 over his last 25 games &#8212; prior to Monday &#8212; with eight extra-base hits, 16 walks and 25 runs scored and 9 RBI. Most impressively, Wade&#8217;s 24 steals tops Triple-A.</p><p>&#8220;My job as a lead-off guy or wherever I&#8217;m hitting in the lineup is to get on base and use my speed,&#8221; Wade said. &#8220;My mentality basically stays the same &#8212; find a pitch I can handle and put a good swing on it.&#8221;</p><p>Wade has been so impressive this season that Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson said last month that he wouldn&#8217;t be surprised if Wade one day took a player&#8217;s job at the next level, instead of just being a utility player.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;d be a guy that you&#8217;d think of like a Pete Rose or a guy that&#8217;s not high on the skill-set (not) like an Aaron Judge or a &#8212; we have another kid down in the minor league system &#8212; (Miguel) Andujar, these have with the big skills, big bodies, strong, like Clint Frazier,&#8221; Jackson said. &#8220;You look at them and go, &#8216;Oh, wow.&#8217; Tyler, he&#8217;s got a big heart. You&#8217;re going to have hell stopping him.&#8221;</p><p>Wade brings massive position flexibility to the Yankees&#8217; roster and will add speed and pop wherever manager Joe Girardi decides to play him. Wade has five home runs and 16 doubles this season.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By DJ Eberle</p><p>djeberle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach DJ Eberle at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @ByDJEberle</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Tyler Wade gets promotion to New York Yankees