Friday, April 6, 2018

At the critical 3% of the season mark, the Yankees need a few grinders

It's easy to blame the bullpen for this year's three crushing, hideous Yankee defeats. Opposing lineups now have devoured each of our vaunted power arms, and look - LOOK, DAMN YOU! - look at these torture chamber stats.



At this rate, Betances and Robertson together are projected to lose 64 games. I believe I speak for the Yankiverse in saying, "That's unacceptable!" 

Fortunately, Chasen Shreve is having a Hall of Fame season... yet to allow a single hit in his one inning of service in 2018. Expect to see Shreveport this weekend, because at the 3% mark of the season, whomever is sponsoring this season's "Yankee call to the bullpen" should demand their money back. 

Amazingly, there is some happy talk today among the palace courtiers, because Dellin Betances threw a scoreless inning.




Frankly, I dunno. If you watched Dellin's scoreless masterpiece, you probably took a heart pill. It came against the bottom of the O's order, the 9th batter flailed at several pitches out of the zone, Betances walked a batter on balls that weren't close, and the runner - Anthony Santander - stole the lone base of his famous two-year MLB career. That's mojo? I guess it's a start. But does anyone want Betances in an actual close game?  

But wait... let's dismiss this mili-micro-nano sample, and hone in on one consensus truth about the 2018 Yankees: We can certainly stomp teams into the ground. When the Big Three all homer, or we rack up 11 runs, we'll win and put up numbers. By sheer brute force, this lineup should be able to bludgeon the Rays and Jays, who will be selling their classic rock vinyl in garage sales by mid-June. But do we have grinders, batters who deliver in big moments?

Hate to be micro-scapegoating here, but last night, Brandon Drury failed spectacularly in one brief test. He pinch-hit for Miguel Andujar in the ninth, with the Yankees down by three. There was one out, Tyler Wade had just walked on five pitches, and if Drury reached base, the Yankees would bring the tying run to the plate. The first two pitches were far out of the strike zone. Then, inexplicably, Drury swung at a ball nearly in the dirt. Instead of a 3-0 count, it was 2-1. He fanned on the next two pitches, and the threat was neutered. 

I don't mean to throw a loss on Drury's back, especially for one pitch. But damn... this was hardly a "quality" at bat, the kind that inspires confidence. Should Boone have given the "take" sign? Should a manager even have to? A smart player would force a struggling pitcher to throw a strike. What was Drury thinking? Had he belted a two-run homer, it wouldn't have been much better than a walk. (In fact, a walk would arguably have unhinged the pitcher even more than HR.

Minor moment. Certainly not the fulcrum point. I wonder if Boonie even gave Drury a talking-to. It shouldn't have to be said. But the 2018 Yankees have yet to win a ball-buster game, and Boston has won several. At the vaunted 3% of the season mark, we have yet to see a championship spirit to this team. We just guys looking to put up numbers. Who knows, maybe by the 5% mark, we'll see something?

15 comments:

  1. Our staff is mediocre. Our relief corps is less than mediocre. I project we win no more than 85 games, but my heart of hearts say 83.

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  2. I DON'T KNOW WHAT INNING THEY WERE WATCHING BUT DELLIN SUCKED LAST NIGHT IN HIS 1 INNING "MASTERPIECE".

    STILL WILD, AND ALL OVER THE PLACE, HE CAN'T GET HIS FASTBALL OVER THE PLATE.

    HE HAD TO THROW SLIDERS ON ALMOST EVERY PITCH.

    YOU ARE RIGHT, THE ROOKIE BATTERS BAILED HIM OUT.

    WE CAN'T EVEN THINK ABOUT BRINGING HIM INTO A CLOSE GAME OR ONE WE ARE LEADING, NOT YET, NO WAY....BOONE WOULD NEED A LOBOTOMY TO EVEN THINK THAT.

    ......AND WE ONLY GOT 4 FUCKING HITS LAST NIGHT..... 4!

    I'M GETTING REAL CROTCHETY.

    THIS QUICK START BY THE METS AND RED SOX HAVE ME ROPE SHOPPING.

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  3. We must not forget that the second half of the season will bring us glory days. By then three quarter of the teams will be tanking and selling off. And that's where we come in. The Yankees will win more series than before the all-star break and we will rise to our beloved one game lottery playoff casino. Home advantage, unfortunate loss because of erratic bullpen I am afraid.
    There is thought behind the 91 wins prediction.

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  4. I wonder what who we could get for Betances and Chapman? Is Rocky Colavito available?

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  5. Not to mention the demoralization of Andjuhar.....having Drury pinch hit and striking out.

    " I can do that, he is thinking...!"

    Once again, if this kid is so good, "Where is the flash?"

    Another bum, I fear.

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  6. I hear you, ALL-CAPS. This season already has the foul stink of another 1986-style, Mets-Red Sox World Series Gotterdammerung.

    And during my sojourn in Washington Bizarre-o Land, I seem to recall one of those out-of-town game accounts and "box scores" conveying the information that Gerrit Cole's first outing was a 2-hit, 11-strikeout masterpiece, in which he pitched the nearly unobtainable (for our guys) 7 innings. Oh, and Ohtani was last seen hitting .429, with a win under his belt already.

    Meanwhile, Andujar and Tyler Wade are now 3-24 with all of 3 ribbies and no homers between them.

    Could it be that we were, somehow...WRONG???

    Maybe the worst thing is that, in many ways, this season is proceeding exactly as planned.

    Right now, we're averaging 5.3 runs a game—not bad.

    We're also hitting almost 2 homers a game. And yes, between them, at their current rate, Giancarlo and the Judge would just exceed the M & M Boys' 115 home runs in a season.

    And yet, we're 4-3, and barely able to open up the numerous patsies in this, the Tomato Can Division. Pitching, pitching, pitching...

    Right now, we're looking at 90 wins, and maybe—MAYBE—scrambling into that one-game Wild Card play in. Oy.

    Of course, the Times is always willing to run a big spread on our losing, and they needed the normal soccer space to trumpet the big Mets win.

    Soccer 51, Yanks 47. The way we're playing, I'd like to read more Soccer.

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  7. Fear not, Hoss, the Times Sports Section makes good cat-pan liner (having said that, the Gray Lady is worth a subscription for other reasons).

    Remember this, though: all the commenters on this entry are within a game or two on their season predictions (unlike the Gammonites who suck up to Cash-Puss)...all we're haggling over is whether we will have home-field advantage (or not), in the Fabulous, Oh, So Significant Bud Selig One-Game Wild Card Playoff. LB (No J)

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  8. This team sucks. Like every single "superteam" ever assembled. Boone is totally clueless and Gary Sanchez is the antithesis of clutch. How many times, with runners in scoring position, has he popped or grounded out? he does it at a 95% clip.

    I said back when they entered the offseason if they fired Binders they needed to hire internally and that rocking the boat would fuck them up. Well Cooperstown wanted to let everyone know this was his team so he hired an unqualified puppet and got an extra rightfielder who hits homeruns and can't be relied on to drive in a runner when losing.

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  9. Amen, Leinstery.

    As we might have said back in my youth: "E-way uck-say."

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  10. Andjuar STINKS. "But he's a good hitter" they say. Guy looks like a Dominican Refsnyder out there.

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  11. I dunno, Leinstery. It looks more like all-around suckitude, to me.

    I don't know just what Boone or Cashman is supposed to do about this level of ineptitude.

    The trouble is, we all sucked up the Kool Aid and thought that an Andujar was a can't miss. I went around for months telling people, 'Oh, this guy is going to rake!' I didn't mean his lawn in New Jersey. Torres, the second coming, couldn't even make the team.

    We were told all these guys were "can't miss" prospects. So far, they've all missed.

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  12. Well, so much for the first all nighter of the year.
    A grand slam, why not,
    So tomorrow there will be a total recall from the coal mines and probably four scrap heap finds by the Cash.

    For the first time this year - so that took a whole- 91 sounds challenging.

    Better walk the puppy now.

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  13. WHAT A FUCKING DISASTER THIS NIGHT WAS.

    4 INJURIES, AND A LOSS.

    WE CAN'T HIT IN THE CLUTCH. (LEINSTERY IS RIGHT ABOUT SANCHEZ).

    SAME SHIT... WE ARE HORRIBLE IN EXTRA INNING GAMES BECAUSE WE RELY ALMOST SOLELY ON THE HOME RUN TO SCORE.

    ....AND CAN WE PLEASE CUT JONATHAN HOLDER IMMEDIATELY AFTER THIS GAME?...WHY DID HE EVEN MAKE THE ROSTER THIS SEASON?...WE SAW LAST SEASON, HE CAN'T CUT IT!

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  14. Agreed, ALL-CAPS.

    I understand about most of the injuries...but Wade left with "flu-like symptoms." Huh. Unless that includes active, projectile vomiting, I think you have to suck it up in games like this. Not that Wade was such a loss.

    Actually, the bullpen had a pretty good game, all in all. Nine innings of shutout ball, and it's your seventh guy out of the pen who cracks? That's just going to happen.

    HOWEVER...how the hell do you throw that 85-mph crap right over the plate, just seconds after the previous hitter nearly put the ball in the upper deck off you? Mr. Holder needs to return to Dunder Mifflin land.

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