Thursday, April 26, 2018

For better or worse, Yankees are stuck with Sonny

New catcher, warmer weather, patsy opponent... same old Sonny Gray. 

Four innings, three runs, leave with bases loaded, ERA near eight, everyone pissed. Yes, another crapola outing by - (move over Mr. Sulzberger) - "the Gray Lady." And yes, we can whine to our Russian friends on Facebook, or direct fiery rivers of psychic bile toward Randy Levine's red cranial pubis, but it's like unearthing a new Scott Pruitt EPA scandal: Nobody wins, no whales are saved. In 21 innings, he has delivered 5 wild pitches, 16 walks and 18 earned runs. Abysmal? Of course. Terrible? He deserves to be held down and butt-branded by that ex-Smallville sex cult strumpet, Allison Mack. But save your breath. He's not going anywhere. 

Aside from the fact that Sonny wears the Cooperstown Cashman Cloak of Protection, the Yankees have no one to replace him. This is why Cash in trade talks last winter dangled Clint Frazier to anyone who returned calls. At virtually every position, except one, the 2018 team has youngsters ready to step into openings. The problem is starting pitchers. There, the mountain has collapsed like Kim Jong Un's test range in North Korea.

Check out the numbers at Scranton:

Chance Adams (23): 4 starts, 18 innings, 4.82 ERA.
Daniel Camarena (25): 4 starts, 17 innings, 6.35 ERA.
David Hale (30): 3 starts, 14 innings, 3.52 ERA.

Josh Rogers (23), 4 starts, 24 innings, 3.00 ERA.
Brady Koerner (24), 2 starts, 14 innings, 6.75 ERA.


Statistically, in our small sample, the best bet is Rogers, who is only getting his feet wet in Triple A. None are on the MLB roster, which would grease the wheels for a promotion. At the MLB level, Domingo German isn't stretched out, and Luis Cessa always seems to climb to the precipice and turn back. At Double A, Justus Sheffield and Dillon Tate need more seasoning and, frankly, are too valuable to start the MLB clock ticking on service time. The forecast may be cloudy, but the outlook is Sonny.

Last night, the YES machine spun Sonny's debacle by claiming he showed great movement on his pitches. There is a little truth to that: His pitches floated like Frisbies; they just weren't near the plate. Also, he showed some grit in the fifth inning, when he shrugged off a hard liner to his pitching arm and struck out the next batter... then failed on a 3-2 walk and was replaced by Mean Chad Green. Another four-inning night. Same old Sonny. But let's not kid ourselves. He's here to stay.

10 comments:

  1. meanwhile, James Kaprielian makes steady progress in his recovery.

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  2. I didn't watch the game but I enjoyed reading through the bile here and in the NY Post. The most telling stat to me was that he was lifted after 4 innings and 104 pitches.

    Unbelievable.

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  3. Kaprelian WILL definitely be the one that got away.

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  4. All that is well and good but the exciting news is that if the season ended today we would qualify for a one game playoff with Toronto to qualify as the second wildcard enabling us to play a one game away game to qualify for the (Whatever they call series before the ALCS)Which could qualify us for the ALCS and then of course the World Series!

    PLAYOFFS BABY!!! Playoffs.

    Doug K.

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  5. Well, you are wrong about the weather. It was foggy and cold.

    Sonny threw maybe one first pitch strike and, if he did, I blinked and missed it.

    That is why he labored through 104 pitches in 4 innings. He walks everyone.

    He has no command of anything, except his " meat ball."

    The thing I don't get: was he this bad from day 1? I remember him pitching a few decent outings when he first arrived. Or was I seeing things?

    But the truth is; it is like watching someone progress, rapidly, from the first stages of dementia into full blown Alzeimers, wandering around the Henry Hudson Parkway at midnight in pajamas.

    His pitching reminds me of Betances's pick-off moves to first base.

    And Rick Ankeil comes to mind.

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  6. Fire that a-hole cASSman!!!!!

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  7. Why exactly is it that we all talk about Toonces' head problems, but Sonny Gray is just bad? Better presentation in the postgame interviews? Skin color?

    Anyway, here's the cloudy fact on Sonny—and I LOVE "the Gray Lady"—which is that he has never really been the same pitcher since his injury after a terrific, 2015 season.

    Yeah, he was pretty good in Oakland before we got him last year—3.43 ERA in 16 starts—but not as good as he had been in 2015. 2.73 in 2015, including three CG, two shutouts.

    Sonny's head/arm, Drury's migraines—is there ANY due diligence being done about the physical condition of these guys Coops picks up? Or is that what makes them such "bargains"?

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  8. David Hale is on your Stanton/Scranton list. But he be gone now.

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  9. Rothschild told Toonces just to rare back and throw. New strategy apparently.

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