Once upon a time, the mighty New York fucking Yankees were always led by their shining star in CF: Joltin' Joe, The Mick, Mick the Quick, Bernie, even Johnny Damon, for a blip in time. If you wanted to gauge hope with the Yankiverse, you looked at CF. "Put me in coach," John Fogerty sang in 1984, the year that Omar Moreno patrolled our sacred ground. Even with Omar the Out-Maker, we could close our eyes and know Fogerty was singing to us.
In this millennium, the Yankee CF buffet turned into a salad bar, thanks to what I call "Aaron Hicks & his Hot Licks." We've endured - (if you're squeamish, look away) - Melky Cabrera, Curtis Granderson, Bubba Trammell, Jacoby Whazzizzname, even - gulp - last night's keeper of the key: Gardy, himself.
It's been a toxic wasteland, which is why the Yankees are shamelessly promoting Jasson Dominquez, the 17-year-old bonus baby they're comparing to Mickey Mantle and Mike Trout - a kiss of death for any prospect. They call him "The Martian," because - aw, damned if I know - but let's be honest here: With that kind of ink, he can never meet expectations. Another Jackson Melian? Another Jose Tabata? To quote Bill: It just doesn't matter. IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER.
So... CF? Let's dismiss the abyss. That ship has sailed. For the last quarter century, the Yankees have been led by their shortstop. It began with Jeet, who begot Sir Didi, who has now turned over the sacred chalice to Mr. Gleyber Torres. (Not without issues, though: "Like a good Gleyber, Torres is there..." the worst John Sterling call in history?) Make no mistake about the importance of Aaron Judge, DJ LeMahieu or even Gerrit Cole: The Yankee future hinges on whether Gleyber can hit and play SS simultaneously.
Thus far in 2020, the lost time colony or Roanoke, he has not.
But but BUT... last night, he did.
Gleyber went 2-4, raising his paltry average to .234, with his 2nd HR of the season. Later, he doubled-in in two runners with two outs - something the Yankees haven't bothered to do this year. He fanned once, because - hey - on this team, everybody fans once. (But wait... Gary Sanchez did not strike out last night! He's on a roll!)
Today, we wonder if last night's Gleyber is truly here, or it was just a cat turd mirage on the welcome mat of our psyche. Let's not forget: Torres is 23, three years from peak foliage, and last year, he whacked 38 HRs with a .278 average. Those are MVP stats. He is destined to bat second, because he's better than Judge and certainly more tread-worthy. He is the central cog in the Yankiverse, and best of all, he replaces either Tyler Wade or Thairo Estrada, two lingering disappointments, who must always bat ninth.
Last night, Gleyber's hits produced what might be the season's most important victory. Of course, we can say that about any win. This weekend against Baltimore is critical; so could be the final weekend of the season, against the miserable Redsocks. The Yankees have been a horror show since the Subway Series was ditched due to flu and rain, and rescheduled as a bunch of seven-inning pot luck suppers.
If Gleyber hits, we have a chance. Because the juju gods might be reading, and we don't need another popped gonad, that's all I'm gonna say.
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So, upon my return to the US of A, I finally had the chance last night to listen to the Master on the radio like (I've always assumed) a good Yankee fan should.
His sweet, sweet baritone washing over me, dispersing the fog of jetlag, bringing me home. It was heaven, I tell you. HEAVEN!
Until... Gleyber homered. That's when I heard it, felt it, HATED it. The "IT IS ... GONE" part of the call had way too many periods for what (upon video review) was a no-doubter off the bat. The "It Is Gleyber Day" felt like it were describing a Monday at the office. The "Like A Good Neighbor" slow and halting as if he were reading it off a mirror.
What gives? Has the Master lost a step? Is this the beginning of the end? Has he lost the desire, the drive, the *Love*?
Is the bug from earlier this season still with him?
Has baseball become (shudder) predictable and he knows how this year ends?
Or was I too wild eyed in my expectations and, like seeing the Mona Lisa in person, was disappointed?
It's probably me. Better be me.
There's a sketch Leonardo made for the Mona Lisa at a museum in Glens Falls. No crowds. The downside is you have to go to Glens Falls.
Whatever doubts I had about Gleyber and Miggy--and they weren't all that serious--are being dispelled. They are the great-hitting youngsters they appeared to be the previous couple of years.
And don't pooh-pooh that .234 BA. Compared to half the lineup, that's All-Star material.
Are you rooting for Sanchez to hit below .100? He's already locking up the worst average in baseball for this year, but I really think he can do better.
As long as Boone persists in batting Voit second, and worse, Hicks in the 3 hole, we are doomed.
You are absolutely right in suggesting, INSISTING, Torres belongs batting second. This would be a much better lineup:
DJ
Gleyber
Frazier
Voit
Du
and the rest of whatever, whoever.
I believe that someone other than Boone is making out these lineup cards - some MBA moron who is flouting a century of thinking.
Shame we haven't got another 60 games to play.
I think Torres and Andujar will be alright.
About Sanchez, did you hear Suzyn telling the Master that the coaching staff was trying to get Sanchez to make more contact? Apparently, it is working because he's striking out less than half the time lately. But did it take 3 years of hitting .180, .230, and .120 for them to wake up and tell him to make more contact? Really? I guess that's how long it took them to get Cashman's permission to give some non-home run hitting advice. Wouldn't want to fuck up that great home run swing.
The Hammer of God
@RichieAllen I know the reasoning for hitting your best batter in the 2 slot is sound on paper. But does it really work out that way on the field? How many three run homers have we hit this year? Does the strategy of putting your best hitter second prevent or reduce three run home runs? All we know for sure is that, in the first inning, it obviously does.
The first inning is big. It's the only inning where your hitters know for sure who is on the mound and they can prepare for him. In later innings, relievers come in and throw only one inning at a time these days. It's even harder to prepare and harder to hit because of that. On the other hand, many good starting pitchers can struggle in the first inning. It's very often the best chance (and maybe only chance) for scoring against an elite starter. So if your best hitter is second, at most, you can have a two run home run in the first inning. You've mostly conceded the threat of hitting a three run homer. Also, if the leadoff man doesn't get on base, then you're left with a solo homer by your best hitter.
Seems to me that we'd be better served doing it the old way. Best two hitters 3rd and 4th and put two guys in 1 and 2 who will do their darnedest to get on base. Of course, the first two guys have to actually do their job in getting on base, if they just swing for the fences and hit .120, it doesn't work. Batting your best hitter in the three slot maximizes the chance that at least one guy will be on base for him in the first inning.
The Hammer of God
I expect he’ll dip below the Sanchez Line sometime in the next week or so.
Platoni,
I can't speak to the other things you wrote but as far as John knowing how the season will end I think he'd be the first to tell you that, "You can't predict baseball." :)
---
As to Gleyber. I read that he is going back to his original approach. Basically free swinging until there are two strikes and then trying to put the ball in play by shortening his swing. This is GREAT news if true.
Hammer,
Agree 100%
Doug K.
The juju gods accept your sacrifice: expect 10 out of the next 15.
Small-sample bed-wetting--what passes for "analysis" on this blog.
Whole team goes on DL. Year after year after year.
"Small sample!"
Team plays .250 ball for a month, against a punch of palookas.
"Bedwetting!"
No, son. Just telling it like it is.
HC66--I'm talking about THIS post--the hand-wringing about Torres. But every time any player goes into a moderate slump, someone on this blog is ready to slash his wrists. It's a "thing" here.
Well, first off, we are natural-born hysterics, hand-wringers, and calamity howlers. You just have to accept that.
But, second, I think we've been so spooked in recent years by the weird and awful decline of so many players in The Dynasty That Never Was.
I mean really: Sanchez goes from young Johnny Bench to a guy struggling to keep his average above .100 and catch pop-ups? Judge can't stay on the field? Severino, Andujar...
You have to admit that, just because you're paranoid it doesn't mean there aren't people out to get you. Sure, we would've panicked when the Babe had his first bad couple weeks in New York. But Cashman's Yankees give us ample cause to go off half-ahem-cocked.
Everybody gets hurt. Nobody gets better. Let's hope that's not true for Andujar and Torres, at least.
And that should have read, "Bunch of palookas." Although, "tomato cans" would also be accepted.
You know Hoss, the first time I read that, I saw "bunch of palookas", not "punch". Anticipation is everything, I suppose. Great minds think alike.
I'm getting so tired of the small sample size argument. Since 2010, a period of ten years, we haven't even made it to the World Series. This year is not over yet, but it really would take a miracle for this team to just make the playoffs, let alone win it all. We've seen disaster after disaster, implosion after implosion, injury after injury. Exactly how much of a sample size will be large enough to accurately predict looming disaster?
After the implosion of Gary Sanchez, I've come to believe that any disaster is possible on this team. To see a great talent like that, hitting for a lower average than most pitchers. It's astonishing. I don't think I've ever seen or heard of anything like this on any other team. He has a chance to set the major league record for the worst batting average of all time by an everyday player. I hope no one says this is just a small sample size.
The Hammer of God
Hammer of God--You're tired of the "small sample size argument"? What does that mean? I wasn't referring to the last ten years. I was referring to Torres's slow start this season. Try to focus.
My own hysterics, hand-wringing and calamity howling has been inversely proportional to my expectations of how I thought this team should be performing, especially Sanchez, and even more so considering how this so-called “season” started out. I don’t mind saying I was comfortably smug, a character flaw I’ve developed into a finely honed skill as a Yankees fan.
To see the depths to which this team has sunk has been a shock, and I may not recover from that state easily. I want names, I want heads on a pike because, dammit, I’m entitled to some answers!
Where is The Boss when you need him? George would have canned Boone weeks ago and traded Sanchez for Benito Santiago by now (he’s still alive, isn’t he?)
So, sample sizes be damned, small or large. I’ve had great expectations for this half-assed joke of a year, (with or without asterisk) and the bottom has fallen out so far and so fast that I feel it’s only fair that I’m ready to leap off a tall building.
PS: this team, and Sanchez and Torres in particular, are not in what Anonymous referred to as a “moderate slump.” Both these guys are like a dry alcoholic who fell off the wagon - a really big fucking wagon. There’s nothing “moderate” about a guy hitting, in Torres’ case, .234 after last year’s accomplishments. Especially after 45 games. And don’t get me started about Sanchez. I’ve been his biggest fan and shock doesn’t go far enough to describe my response to his failings this year. There are no vacancies in the patience department this year.
What I was referring to was: "Breakdown or sudden decline of almost every major Yankees player counted on to kickstart the next dynasty"—with the term "dynasty" devalued in 21st terms to mean 2-3 pennants and at least 1 ring.
Was I premature to add The Gleyber to this list? I sure as hell hope so.
But when you've been holed up inside fending off the Zombies for the last four years, and all of a sudden your best bud turns to you at the dinner table one night and says:
"You know what I'd really love to have for supper? Brains!"
...well, you tend to get suspicious.
Exactly, we're not really jumping off the cliff about Torres yet, but with the sheer # of players on this team for a decade or more whose careers have simply fallen off the table or had numerous injuries, it's pretty tough to be optimistic about anyone coming out of a season long slump.
The Hammer of God
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