Thursday, September 24, 2020

Crapping the bad: Yanks pick Buffalo and the Blue Jays for sloppiest game of 2020

Rather than relive the complete agony of last night's 14-1 Yankee debacle - a loss with genuine playoff implications - Sherman, set the Wayback for the bottom of the fourth/top of the fifth - arguably the worst inning of this miserable season.

In the fourth, we're down just 3-1, Masahiro Tanaka gives up a solo HR to Danny Jansen, a weak-hitting catcher whom the Yankees cannot solve. Next, Craig Biggio's kid hits a grounder that Cruel Hands Luke Voit bats into right center. Single. Ruled too hot to handle, a friendly call by the official scorer. 

Then Luke botches a pick-off attempt. The ball clanks off his glove and rolls 20 feet. He fetches it, and his throw to second beats the runner. It bounces off Gleyber Torres's glove. Three fuck-ups on one runner. But wait, there's more. 

Bo Bichette walks. The next guy hits a DP grounder to Gleyber, who waits on the hop, and the relay to first is late. A force out, another reprieve granted by the Yankee defense. Randall Grychuck singles, making it 5-1, and a tight game just flew out the window.

In the top of the fifth, the Yankees outdo themselves. Clint Frazier walks, and DJ LeMahiue singles. Two on, no outs. Aaron Judge draws a walk on a questionable 3-2 call. On YES's virtual strike zone, it looked like strike three, but we'll take it - especially since Judge has done almost nothing since returning.

Bases loaded, no outs, heart of the order coming up. Most pivotal moment in the game thus far. Giancarlo Stanton fans on four pitches. Voit pops out. Gleyber flies to right. (In the early innings, we scored on a similar situation because of a passed ball; we almost got a wild pitch here, but Jansen blocked it.) 

Okay, so it's a stinker, right? Every team has them. While I missed the radio broadcast driven by Jeep, I am sure that John Sterling made two critical points: 

1) That it's only ONE game in the loss column, ONE game.

2) Unlike other sports, tomorrow's game will have different pitchers, and thus be an entirely different battle. 

This is supposed to lift our spirits.  

Well, here are some reality checks.

1. The Yankee IF has two major defensive liabilities: Gleyber at SS and Voit at 1B. If the season were longer - that is, if the season were normal - we would have to in July find a SS, switch Gleyber back to 2B, move LeMahiue to 1B and make Luke the DH. (This would force Stanton to play LF or - better - the Yankees to eat his contract in a trade. Remember how the world accused Derek Jeter of helping his old team with the Stanton salary dump? They don't say it anymore, do they?)

2. Gary Sanchez is NOT on the verge of, any minute now, breaking out. When it comes to Sanchez, the Yankees sound like a doomsday cult, constantly looking for signs that the end is near. If Sanchez draws a walk, the YES team says this could be JUST THE WALK that he needed to get back on track! Long ago, Sanchez morphed into a John Mayberry-as-a-Yankee territory: The point where the aging slugger's HR is a bad thing, because it assures him another 100 at bats before the Yankees make a move. Sanchez needs a new team, a new town, a new position maybe. This isn't working. Kyle Higashioka should be our starting catcher. It's that simple.

3. Tanaka might rise to the occasion in Game Two of the playoffs, but who knows which version will show up? We have Gerrit Cole and a handful of dice. And the "bridge" to our late inning bullpen - itself, sketchy - is a mine field. Luis Cessa, Tyler Lyons - dear God. Last night, David Cone opined that the Yankees might end up pitching Eric Kratz in a post-season blowout. (By the way, Kratz pitched last night, of course.) Can you imagine that? The YES men are actually suggesting that a position player will pitch next week, when the Yankees are so far behind that they want to - gulp - save Jonathan Holder? Wow.

Last night, I had an epiphany. It dawned on me that all I really want is for this season to end. You want to talk about signs? That's a bad one.

13 comments:

  1. I can't agree with this article more...but let's not forget to get rid of Mr. Rogers Boone and get a real manager. Oh ... I forgot, a REAL manager won't wear the Cashman puppet strings. Billllly ... come back to us ... if only.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can't agree with this article more...but let's not forget to get rid of Mr. Rogers Boone and get a real manager. Oh ... I forgot, a REAL manager won't wear the Cashman puppet strings. Billllly ... come back to us ... if only.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amen, Duque, amen!

    In regard to Sanchez, he seems to have added a new element to his game: committing catcher's interference with the batter, thanks to his new catching stance.

    He did it for the second time in three games last night, taking a serious whack off his gloved knuckles that kept a two-run Jays inning going. I don't say this with any malice or glee, but a few more of those and he is going to break a hand.

    (Jacoby Ellsbury must wish he was still out there to perform his magic DI trick.)

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  4. What to say about this team in general? They seem lackluster and dispirited even before the playoffs begin.

    Is it the whole weirdness of the Year Without Fan? Is it Buffalo?

    I don't know, but they sure don't look like a team motivated to play deep into October. The White Sox aren't exactly a juggernaut, but they have plenty of hot young pitching, and it's hard to see the Yanks taking another one after Cole. And further down the line, TB, the black hole that is eating the game we love looks to be just peaking now.

    Worst of all is seeing all the terrific young talent on all these teams—as compared to our prematurely rotting roster. The Yanks, by contrast, seem to have gone straight from adolescence to senility, as someone once said about America.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This "slugger" obsession aint workin.Too many of them in the lineup. Been that way for years. And pitching wise we only want big hard throwers. My theory is little egg head Cashman is trying to compensate for...something. I mean what is that imbecilic rappelling up buildings all about?? Any shrinks out there can help me with this? 3rd from the bottom in fielding this year!!! I'd like to see how many teams won a World Series with that kind of crapy defense. My guess is none. And what happened to you build the club on defense up the middle? Picks is nothing more than OK in center field and Torres and sanchez simply stink with the glove. DJ of course is great.

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  6. Buffalo is about 25th in terms of HRs. It's a ballpark where power hitters go to die.

    We sure did.

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  7. 1. Dirty Sanchez needs to go. Period, End stop. Story over. Until we replace him with a good catcher, we will never win again.

    2. Amen, indeed, Duque.

    3. I HATE streaky teams. the great teams are consistent - a trait, like "being clutch," that is more rare than one might think. A good team will show up, grind it out, and find a way to win, even on a bad day. Not saying blowouts done happen, but the Yankees have found a way to lose their hitting on a regular basis for 20 years now. Limp dick syndrome via the batters box.

    4. Where's my pangolin sausage?


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  8. A few things...

    Actually, only one thing. As you've all said, Duque is 100% right. And, Steve (loved your work on Blues Clues BTW) is right as well. 13 Bit? He's right! JM? Also right! Hoss? I still like Frazier and Gleyber (on second) as young guys with a future but what the hell, you're right too!

    Doug K.

    ReplyDelete
  9. @Steve I agree, Cashman has a kind of Napoleonic syndrome going on. Bigger, harder, further, higher. Pretty easy to see that. The club is a total mess. When Hicks goes down with another one of his patented injuries that come out of the blue, we'll have (GASP!) nine right handed hitters in the lineup. Nine. Think it'll be tough to hit those right handed relievers other teams will throw at us? On the other hand, our defense sucks, I agree. And our pitching ain't much better. After Cole, our starting staff is a coin toss. And even Cole has shown a disturbing tendency to give up dingers. Our bullpen, as we all know, is an arson squad, led by arsonist in chief, Aroldis Chapman. He also has shown a tendency in recent years to give up moon shots with the game on the line.

    The Hammer of God

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  10. Hammer is right!

    Doug K.

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  11. I have said this before; If the yankees start Sanchez and Stanton in the payoffs, we have no chance.

    When they make contact with the ball, it usually kills a rally ( think double play ).

    When they strike out on two consecutive pitches in the dirt, it is embarrassing.

    The team is lifeless ( except for LeMahieu, Urshela, Frazier and Hidashioka); Judge must be paying hurt ( he looks like it ), and Gerritt is, of course, totally into it. But if his opponent gets two runs on one mistake, we probably lose.

    But, as someone ( above ) pointed out; Boone is not a real manager. He has no guile and he has no grit. He would not dare sit Stanton and Sanchez.

    But the infield should be Gio at third, Wade at short, Torres at second, and DJ at first , with Luke the DH. Sanchez should observe, and Stanton can stay the fuck home.

    And, without injuries, none of this will happen.

    And we will again lose.

    Clear as a bell.

    ReplyDelete
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