1. The opener, a 7-3 loss against Tampa, when we found ourselves down 7-2 after three innings. Hideous.
2. The game three loss in Tampa, 4-1, when we couldn't touch Alex Cobb with a tennis racket. Painful.
3. Tuesday's 4-1 bomb against the White Sox, when Pete Kozma messed up a DP grounder, leading to a three-run HR. Putrid.
4. Last night.
Stop me if you've heard this one. We fell behind from the git-go, we sucked, we sucked worse, and then we sucked even more, with Fidel Castro muffing a little league pop fly, as the floorboards were caving in. Nobody hit with runners on base. Nobody did nada. It was arguably the Yankees' worst game thus far in 2017, and - after winning eight in a row - we have now lost two-out-of-three to teams that were listing below .500. Across the Yankiverse, listen carefully, and you'll heard one tiny, stomach-turning sound.
Uh-oh.
Once again, we find ourselves on the precipice of that dreaded equalizer - the bugaboo that has haunted Yankee teams throughout this decade: We get hot, win a few, and then undergo the "market correction," a nice, fat losing streak.
It hasn't happened yet, but with the still-unpredictable Michael Pineda pitching today, and Boston looming on the horizon, it's easy to imagine us dropping five out of six, launching May Day alarms across the Bronx by late next week. April still holds enough games to become a losing month, and watching this team sputter so hopelessly last night erased the confidence boom from last week against the hapless Cardinals. It's downright amazing how fast hope can disappear in the face of a few Yankee losses. We can win eight straight, but we're still the team that hasn't won a post-season game in five years, and need anybody here be reminded that last season the Retrieval Empire finished 4th in a five team division?
Deepening today's glance into the abyss is the fact that, thus far in 2017, our newly heralded farm system has sucked air. We hoped a few stud prospects would be crushing their leagues, forcing promotions to the Bronx. Aint happening. James Kaprelian is gone until 2019. Clint Frazier is hitting .196 at Scranton. Gleyber Torres is hurt at Trenton. Jorge Mateo is hitting .254 at Tampa. Only one player - 21-year-old 2B Thairo Estrada at Trenton - is having what could be called a breakout April, hitting .344. (Another 2B, Chan Ho Park, is hitting well at low-A Charleston, but he's repeating a season there and also making nearly an error per game.) Last year, Boston's decimated its system by trading for Sale, Pomerance, et al - yet their top remaining prospect, 20-year-old 3B Rafael Devers, is murdering the Eastern League at .355. If that continues, we could wake up in July not only with Boston in first, but with the Redsocks actually possessing a more fruitful farm system. What the fuck? Well, the Yankees will still have the most buoyant, sycophantic media in baseball, touting our top brass for Cooperstown. And we always drink that Kool Aid, don't we?
Of course, it's early. Way too early to celebrate a winning streak. Way to early to measure the bridges. Still, two out of three. It's amazing what a few bad games can do to hope. And if we go to Boston having lost - say - five of six... well, shhh, listen: There's that sound again.
Uh-oh.
The reality is a .500 team -- does anyone really expect more? REALLY? With this starting pitching? With a lot of unproven kids and veterans who are on the downside of their careers?
ReplyDeleteAs I have maintained for the last six months - and I'm not alone here - as long as they keep playing the young ones and continuing to clean house and build toward THE FUTURE, I'm fine with a crappy record this year. Winning is nice. Dynasty building is much nicer. We need to be patient. We need to keep building and then, in a year, Prince Hal needs to open his change purse and buy some pitching. We will win again, but this is the real 2017 Yankees. Wake up, kids, we're home...
ReplyDeleteSmall sample size we don't know anything about our farm yet. We haven't gone a sustained losing streak. Just stop with your BS. This site lacks any real analytical look at baseball and is just a reflection at the loud minority of irrational Yankees fans. Just stop.
ReplyDeleteNever.
ReplyDeleteirrational minorities need love too, you know.
ReplyDeleteWho is this Ralph Letizia and who does he think he is? Coming into our house, a place named after a senile Jewish man and with content comprised of; poetry, an evil black swan, studio quality songs of John singing with musicians, and overly dramatic reactions. How dare he look for things like wRC+ and all those other nerd analytics.
ReplyDeleteRalph Letizia, initials RL. Interesting, I know another man with those initials. So how about you beat it Randy Levine.
ReplyDeleteBaseball is easy, comedy is hard. When you do comedy, you'd not sitting at the grownups table anymore, and that's sometimes how it rolls here.
Why focus on dry analytics when we can post pictures of car accidents, debate whether the haircut ban should be lifted and, as Leinstery points out, listen to music, read poetry (and brilliant parodies of Bill O'Reilly)?
Irrational lives matter, Mr. Levine.
Do you have a mouse, Randy?? errr, pardon me, Ralph?? I mean one other than the one grawing at your brain....Soooo sorry we annoy you, Sir - - but there's a way to remedy that: one click will do it - - if you're computer literate....so vote with your mouse - - go somewhere where the youngsters living in their mom's basements will discuss fWAR, bWAR, UZR, and all that other crap, to their lil' heart's content. This site's not meant for you, Sirrah - - you're FIRED, Ralph/Roger/Randy/Roadrage/Rapist/Ripper/Rumpster/Roy Cohn!! Get thee to a nunnery - - and leave us to our punnery....Sirrah.
ReplyDeleteLB (No J)
P.S. - - IF we are a reflection AT the loud minority of irrational Yankees fans - - must mean we are in the MAJORITY, not?? BTW, we HAVE "gone (sic) a sustained losing streak plenty of times - - in the last five seasons. We know the feeling; so BEEEDIT, or we'll send the lovely IBS Lady for a talk with you (but just remember, I want her back - - she's MINE, I tell you!!)
Must really anger you that we won today
DeletePLUS - - two outta' three AIN'T good - - especially when those two are losses - - c'mon, guys!! Start bombing (Pittsburgh, NOT Syria or Korea). LB (No J)
ReplyDeleteNo, Randy (err, sorry, Ralphie), IF you spent more time on this site, you would see that pretty much ALL of us regulars are fans of the Yankees' TEAM - - just not so much fans of their (MIS)-management....Most of us are fortunate enough to have been around to see the likes of Mantle & Maris play, and watch the Core Four's entire careers - - so we know what the TEAM is capable of, when managed properly.
ReplyDeleteYou are truly a fool, if you think any of us actually root AGAINST the team....hang around if you like - - perhaps you might learn something (unless, perchance, you think the first 93 days have been SOOOOO GREAT - - then, I doubt it). LB (No J)
OMG- this has been my favorite comment response so far this season, I love ya Guys,,,, It is High, It is Far, It is Forevvvvvver!!
ReplyDeleteJesus, you miss one day of coming to the blog and look at what you miss.
ReplyDeleteLB(No J), you are doing stellar service today, beyond the call of duty. If Michael Jackson can get a knighthood, sir, you surely deserve a Lordship.
This Letizia fellow obviously got lost somewhere in his travels through the intertubes. Why he's here, we'll never know. The only other possibility is that he's a Russian bot sent to spread disninformation and destroy our fandom through boring statistics and schoolmarm scolduggery. The response has been appropriate, in that case.
That we choose to enjoy the game of our youth without the burden of absurd calculations is part of our freedom as Yankees fans. If we lose that enjoyment, obviously the terrorists win. Nobody wants that.