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Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Stupid question, don't mind me, I'm just a dumb fan, but.... can anyone explain why Aaron Hicks isn't batting second?

I realize that Gary Sanchez was cover boy for the official 2017 Yankee spring merchandising orgy, the team's version of Fashion Week, and - also - as the YES men constantly remind us - any moment now, he'll go molten, like Trump on the toilet and tweet out 10 homers in a week, just like last August, when he was suddenly christened Chief Dingo of the Wompadoop Tribe. The hits will come, they assure us, everything will be so great that I'll be tired of winning, and, oh dang, Gary jeeeeuuuuuuuuuuust missed that last pitch, the one he popped out to short left.

Gary is hitting .248 - not all that far from his .275 career minor league average - and if his HR numbers are low (6), it's because he missed a month and has only played in 30 of the Yankees' 55 games. His on-base percentage is is .336 - eighth highest among Yankee starters. (Yep, even Castro and Didi - They Who Never Walk - have higher OBPs.

Gary is a slugging catcher, and before this season is done, I believe he will prove to be a worthy one. But lately, when the Yankees fall behind, we seem to be waiting for two particular hitters to start something, and both their names are Aaron, and it sure would be neat if they didn't usually come to bat in separate innings. 

Last night, Aaron Hicks went 2-3 with a walk - reaching base 3-out-of-4 times, elevating his on-base percentage to .439, second in the AL behind some guy named Trout. Fat lot of good it did us.

In the second inning, Hicks scored from first on a single, making a mad dash to third that provoked Mookie Betts into throwing a ball away. But then Chase Headley and Chris Carter, as usual, stranded a runner on third. (It proved to be the night's fatal moment, though we didn't know it at the time.) 

In the fourth, Hicks and Didi Gregorius were stranded when Headley tapped into a double play. In the sixth, Hicks was eliminated when Didi grounded into a DP. In the eighth, Boston retired him. He didn't get a crack at the ninth inning, because - HEY, WHEN YOU BAT SIXTH, YOU GET FEWER CHANCES. 

Time after time, Hicks reached base, so the bottom third of our order - alias the Washington Deep State Swamp - could leave him wriggling out there like Jim Comey in a Rose Garden gala. Meanwhile, Gary went 0-5 with two strikeouts. 

Now, I recognize that a) nobody should draw vast conclusions from one game, and b) any minute now, Gary will start launching things into the stratosphere like Kim Jung-un, and c) I am just a stupid fan, sitting at home and hugging my Yankee kewpie, searching for meaning in a meaningless void, but but BUT... I ask one humble question: What The, like, Fuck? If King Gary were a base stealing threat or even a slightly fast-runner, my lizard mind might comprehend why he's hitting second. And when the Yankees were scoring 6-8-10 runs per game, nobody gave a barking crap who batted where. But lately we are dying - sucking the water out of cactus roots - for each and every run. And I don't know why why WHY our best hitter that is not named Aaron Judge is batting sixth? Can somebody tell me? Or tap the fucking mirror, or speak the incantation, or do something to vault me into the nearby alternative universe, where Hicks is hitting second, and we won last night. Jeez. 

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't know, maybe you should ask baseball expert Naomi Campbell.

Parson Tom said...

You raise good questions. There are so many more to ask about the field management of this team.

Did you notice, for instance, that Boston brought in its top reliever, other than Kimbrell, for the 7th inning, not the 8th. In the 7th, we had our heavy hitters coming to the plate. Once they were neutralized -- as they were -- some less effective hurler could come in to face the Talented Mr. Headley and the good-field, no-hit Chris Carter. (The homerun last night involved as much skill as the stopped clock that is correct twice a day; the ball hit his bat. He did show nice hustle getting down the line on that sharply hit groundball to 3rd, but slow is slow.)

Now I ask you, is there any chance that Girardi ever deviates from his preordained pitching plan for the 7th, 8th and 9th innings?

Just as he marries himself to a lineup that can only be changed by Papal decree, so go his calls to the bullpen. Joey Blue Binders strikes again.

Alphonso said...

First of all I told you, at the very moment it happened, that the game was over when Headley struck out in the first inning with one out and Hicks on third. We were already down one run and, with our new normal being an allocation of 2 runs per game, we cannot leave RISP with one out. We just can't do it.

And Headley is a 100% sure thing; to make an out without making contact. To make an out without moving the runner over or, in this case, home.

If it is any consolation, that run, in retrospect, would have only yielded a tie. And we are not winning tie games, either.

As to why Hicks is batting so low in the order; it is because our manager still regards him as our " fourth outfielder." A guy who is playing because Ellsbury is hurt. He doesn't have the contract for hitting second. That takes $20 million per season.

Girardi sucks. This team sucks. Get used to it. We are going down.

Anonymous said...

SANCHEZ BATTING 2ND IS NOT WORKING MOSTLY BECAUSE HE HAS HOME RUN ON HIS MIND EVERY PLATE APPEARANCE RIGHT NOW...... MR. DUQUE IS CORRECT!..... AARON HICKS SHOULD BE THE NUMBER 2 MAN WITH THAT OBP......

Anonymous said...

ALPHONSO ON THE BUTTON...
HEADLEY

JM said...

Poor Headley. His April churned up such hopes, but here he is, back to earth with a horrific thud. Did you notice when he comes to the plate, he always looks scared? Or is that the expression he usually has on his face? It's painful either way.

Question: why does Girardi still play Carter? OK, solo HR, great. But not at the price. Jose Cardenal would be better.

This is turning into a shitshow. Somehow, we're still in first, but two more games...I dunno.

JM said...

Oh, and Anonymous...I agree. Naomi is the answer.

Ken of Brooklyn said...

AMEN to all of this!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I am becoming an ABC guy - - anybody but Carter...he hit his tater, now we can relax when he come to bat - - it will probably be another 70 ABs, before the ball hits the barrel of his bat, again.

I am also - - and have been for years - - an anybody but Cash-Puss guy - - watch - - he'll trade one or two of our gems for a broken-down innings-eater - - or a wild kid who's three years away for the Bigs.

Moreover, I am ABJ - - emphatically, anybody but Joey: he has no sense of the capabilities of his players, and he NEVER talks to them about fundamentals, and is so damned hide-bound in his categorizing every player and every reliever, especially, that at this point, I am certain we can conclude he will NEVER learn. As long as he is in charge on the field, we will be a whang-away, station-to-station team. Barf. LB (No J)

Anonymous said...

ARE ALL NEW YAWKERS LEFT WING LIBERAL ASSHOLES?

Rufus T. Firefly said...

Obviously, Joey Binders must have read this article before he made out the lineup card today.

joe de pastry said...

And Carter with the RBI single, and 3 zeroes on the board for CC.
Maybe the worm has turned.

Rufus T. Firefly said...

And Carter just made the master call out the site name.

Parson Tom said...

Kudos to Mr. CC Sabathia. He has finally turned himself into Andy Pettitte. Beautiful sweeping sliders that look really slow and really tough to hit. Great location. Lots of movement and change of pace. It's been a tough three years prior to this, and now with 7 wins, including tonight's gem, he's won 5 in row, including six after a loss. If only he can stay healthy ...

And even if not, he's won my respect. He's driven us crazy a million ways, first for not being the absolute best and then for being injured and drunk and awful. But he stuck with it, which I suppose any of us would have done for >$20MM a year, and I'm enjoying watching the big man pitch.

Anonymous said...

HEY THAT WASN'T ME ABOUT THE "LEFT WING LIBERAL ASSHOLES"!
YOU GUYS KNOW I WOULDN'T PUT IT THAT WAY....
SOMEONE IS PLAYING BABY GAMES.....BUT I DON'T CARE....WE WON TONIGHT!

AND OF COURSE, GIRARDI READ EL DUQUE'S POST THIS MORNING....
AARON HICKS SWITCHED TO 2ND !
WE WIN!!!

Anonymous said...

HAHAHA!...YES RUFUS...I WAS IN THE CAR AND HEARD THE MASTER SAY,
" IT IS HIGH, IT IS FAR, IIIIIIIT ISSSSSS ......IT IS CAUGHT!"
I ACTUALLY THINK HE SAID "IT IS" TWICE TO BUY TIME!....INCREDIBLE!

Anonymous said...

I know that wasn't you, all-caps - - you have better style & manners than that....someone's trolling us again.
To the troll: Chuck you Farley!!
also: I may be a left-wing liberal, but I don't answer to asshole (the orange blob has a patent on that) - - and I ain't from New Yawk.

I don't like crow, but every time I take a strong position, the players prove me wrong - - so the crow won't taste QUITE as bad....and it DOES certainly appear that Joey just might be reading our humble blog. LB (No J)

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