Saturday, September 5, 2020

Tied for second, fading fast, all the Yankees might glean from this wretched season are some long overdue answers

Yesterday, Miguel Andujar went 2-4 with 2 runs and an RBI, his first of 2020, lifting his MLB beautistics to .176 with 0 (zero) HRs. Two years ago, he chased Joltin' Joe DiMaggio. Now, he chases Thairo "the Pharaoh" Estrada. Worse, until yesterday, Miggy's Yankee prospects were confined to the LF/DH dung heap, a location that mysteriously has attracted all Yankees, Railriders and the former cast of Glee. However... beginning tonight, for at least the next two weeks, Miggy's exile into the red rocks of Central Pennsylvania has ended: Two years after finishing second for AL Rookie of the Year, he'll get his true tryout at 3B.

That's because Gio Urshela is no longer "a happy fella." (The other day, though, John Sterling labeled Gio "a top Yankee," so there's that.) He's out with a bone spur, and though the YES men (and women) swear on the Bible that he'll soon return, that's a little like Trump saying the vaccines will be handed out on Halloween night. When it comes to reporting injuries, the Yanks have a worse record than Baghdad Bob. There is no guarantee Gio will return in 2020. Suddenly, for better or worse, the job of playing 3B is Andujar's. And I'm all for it. In this wretched mini-season, maybe that's the best we can hope for: An answer on Andu.

Meanwhile, Gleyber Torres drove to Baltimore yesterday to watch the Yankees pee themselves in the second game. Today, for better or worse, they will activate him to play SS and become the team's Jeter, (a de facto role that's been handled by DJ LeMahieu.) Before he tweaked a drumstick last month, Gleyber had been lost in a trainwreck of a season: .231 with one HR and six RBIs. Maddeningly, he seemed to be heating up, just before the injury. (That's the Yankee way.) Gleyber looked uncomfortable at first, raising questions of whether he can play SS and hit. Now, the job is his. In this wretched mini-season, maybe that's the best we can hope for: An answer on Gleyber. (Plus, maybe a better Homer Holler than, "And like a good Gleyber, Torres is there." That's gotta go.)

The Death Star is now tied with Toronto for second place in the AL East, though the teams seem headed in different directions. Last night, our once-vaunted bullpen blew yet another lead. It's laughable, recalling the YES spring propaganda that touted the team's trove of young arms - a vast stable of hard-throwing kids, the envy of MLB, a sleeping giant of fireballing prospects, each on the verge of a promising career! Remember?

What a joke.

Last night, Aaron Boone put a cherry on it. He brought in Clarke Schmidt, a starter throughout his minor league career, to launch his MLB career with two runners on and a game in the balance: His first major league appearance, in a high-pressure role, trying to cork-up a rapidly leaking team. Here you go, rook. Hey, you ever relieved before? Watch the runners. Hope you're warmed up. 

At times, this miserable little season cannot end soon enough. 

Tonight, Gerrit Cole pitches. Thus far, there is no other way to say it: He has been a disappointment. Maybe it's not his fault. Maybe it's just the cloud that hangs over this team. Everything - everything we do goes sideways. Maybe all we can hope for from 2020 are answers, even if they're not the ones we want.

19 comments:

ranger_lp said...

You mean Gerrit "Iron Mike" Cole...

Anonymous said...

I already got my answer on Andujar during "summer training" this year. He hit a couple of home runs off Gerrit Cole on high 90's fastballs. Hit 'em out to right field, I think. Proved his shoulder injury had healed.

The Hammer of God

13bit said...

What's a person to believe anymore?

Anonymous said...

A few things...

1) Schmidt. Yes, Duque nailed it. Way to screw up two rookies with one move. Leaving Devi one out short of his first win and putting Schmidt in an impossible and unfamiliar situation for his MLB debut. WTF!

2) I'm becoming more and more convinced that it is time to clean house from the top down. It's not the injuries. It's the getting guys who have the injuries. We all know the list. They are all chronic. Really bad team construction. Really stupid managing that seems to lack all situational awareness. Burn it down.

3) Last... Looking for Mr. Gleybar.

So we need a new HR call for him? OK... but it's not as easy as it sounds. Once you get past the cheapies like "Gleybar raises the bar!" and "Torres hit that to Juarez" (Sort of like the Voit to Detroit one.)

Side note: How about, "Gary the blind squirrel Sanchez finds a walnut!"

But back to the issue at hand...

Gleyber hits one like the Babe! Brrrrr.

Sorry.

Maybe the Gleyber Day one isn't as lame as it sounds.

Doug K.

DickAllen said...

First off, we don’t need to audition AnDujar - 3B was his jon until he got hurt. Then, suddenly another pumpkin became Brain’s darling as if finding a bargain at Homegoods proved conclusively that he’s a genius. Don’t get me wrong: I like Gio. He’s a good fit somewhere, probably in Kansas City as a result. As for me, Miggy is the man until proven otherwise. No way Gio has the capacity to do what we know Du Can Do. There should never have been a “true tryout” this year. Stick him there and leave him alone.

Same with Frazier. Stop fucking with him and simply let him play.

Boone is a nice guy, but he’s no manager. Sticking with a 21year-old rookie just so you can get him the win as he approaches 100 pitches is exactly how Sevy got hurt. It was a dumb fucking move - the kid was tapped out and Boone let him hang himself and the team. For what? A feel-good stat? Bad bad bad game and career management.

And I won’t even comment on the Schmidt insertion. Maybe they just had no arms left.

Gleyber played nearly his entire career at SS - how could anyone think that turning him into a 2B was a good idea? This is just another example of Analytical Stupidity that seems to think that just because he’s a ball player he can play any position. Can play 3B? Why not LF? It’s the Zobrist Effect. The Swiss Army Knife, one-player-fits-all approach and it’s just plain stupid. - put a guy where he belongs and leave him alone to develop. Why waste all his minor league training only to duck with his head at another position he’s never played?

Let the kids play. Get a real manager. Dump the analytics MBAs.

Piiax said...

Well It certainly seems like the Yankee cloud persona is getting Cole down, but cheer up, maybe he'll adjust to the Bronx sickness, ha. Something is really wrong with the team. Girardi did amazing well considering, considering there wasn't the toughness of the previous generation. He tried to make up for it and of course he was fired. Imagine, firing him to keep Sanchez happy!. But there is something missing in Yankee land and has been for a long time.

Anonymous said...

We need to fire Cashman and re-hire either Bob Watson or Stick Michael. ,,, yeah , I know , but they couldn't do worse.
The Archangel

Rufus T. Firefly said...

last five hitters in tonight's lineup are all below the mendoza line.

Glad I have other things to do besides watch the game.

Publius said...

LeMahieu is being rested.

Pocono Steve said...

Good to see that Stanton is now running "at 80 percent." This way he'll only get 80% injured in the process!

Pocono Steve said...

Cole should be paid in pennies.

Anonymous said...

The worst thing about the Yankees taking a drubbing: four or five innings of Michael Kay WHINING.

Publius said...

Anon's right. Kay's whining is annoying. Sterling is much better in a Yankee drubbing. You can tell he's disgusted, and respect it... "These fucking brats." Kay's more "C'mon, guys, c'mon! You might miss the playoffs!"

DickAllen said...



In the immortal words of Michael Ray Richardson: “The ship be sinkin.”

HoraceClarke66 said...

Amazing how bad Cole is. I thought Mussina was a classic choke artist—little did I know. I was all for signing Cole, I admit—but as with Stanton, this shows how little I know.

Brain doesn't seem to think character matters in baseball, and doesn't have any way of assessing it, obviously. Big mistake.

Right now, I have to point out that Cole is about what Bob Shirley did lifetime for the Yanks. I think I will call him that from now on.

JM said...

Cole is fine. He had a bad stretch last year, too, but the season was long enough for him to make people forget. He's not God. He is a great pitcher.

Anonymous said...

@ JM I can only hope. And the fact that we have a great pitcher but still get our butts handed to us by the Orioles, that speaks volumes about this team, and the way it was built.

The Hammer of God

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