Fenway. Four games. Two on national TV. A divisional race at stake. This time, the nutjobs will be throwing balls at our outfielders, spitting at our wives. Whatever lights blink in centerfield, they won't be from this planet. Moreover, the bullpen guards will want to fight.
We still have time to catch Boston, but not if we blow this. Nope. Lose this weekend, and the AL East is Tampa's and Boston's to luxuriate over. The Death Barge will spend another August/ September chasing the final wild card slot - the NYC equivalent of Hogwart's Golden Snidget.
Also at stake: The existential future of this franchise. For better or worse, the front office seems determined to wade deeper into Big Muddy - trading prospects for immediate help at the Aug. 1 deadline. A few wins in Boston could amplify that madness - even as the victories might come, ironically, via the prospects they eventually trade. (Estevan Florial, Hoy Park... farewell?)
But topping our Official List of Current Yankee Nightmares is the bullpen, once touted as baseball's best. Unless Jonathan "Patient Zero" Loaisiga returns with full command - (many don't, after quarantining two-weeks) - the Yankees have no late-inning option beyond the doe-eyed warhorse, Chad Green, and whomever just Uber'ed-in from Central Pa. To beat Boston, somebody must pitch the ninth. That's a problem.
Last night, Aroldis Chapman pitched a scoreless inning, with his customary leadoff walk and 10 near heart attacks. He later picked off the runner, so there's that. But it's no way to survive - walking them and picking them off. On June 6, El Chapo's ERA stood at 0.39; he was enjoying the greatest season of his 12-year career. Today, it stands at 4.28. That, my friends, is a fucking meltdown.
In the last four outings since his pre-All-Star nervous breakdown, Chapman he has given up only one run. Still, every inning seemed to last 1,000 years. Last night, after El Chapo recorded the final out, Michael Kay giddily shouted, "THE STARE IS BACK!" referring to the glare Chapman gives vanquished batters. Maybe. But I still see Chapman staring into The Abyss. And when you stare into the Abyss... well, we know what Freddie Nietzsche had to say about that, right?
The Abyss stares back.
We can't beat Boston without Britton and Chapman climbing out of The Abyss. Right now, they remain differing versions of a train wreck. They have today to figure it out.
One thing that I'll happily harp on (again) is that there's no reason to carry non-MLB level relievers, even if our supposed kingpins are limping. Nelson, Kriske...you know who they are. These guys are not effective relievers and are only good when we have a 10-run lead, and even then it's dicey. We have nobody else, anywhere? It seems hard to believe, but also seems to be true.
ReplyDeleteWhen are Lasagna and Nestor coming back?
And why are these guys in Scranton instead of Nelson and Kriske? Yesterday, they combined for a no-hitter:
Luis Gil 6 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K (win) — easily his best outing thus far in Triple-A
Reggie McClain 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K — ERA down to 0.55 in 33 IP
Stephen Ridings 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K — annnnd that’s the no-no!
Luis Gil just got to aaa and McClain has been terrible in the two shots he got with the Mariners and the Phillies. Calm down
DeleteWhich means they're probably better than Nelson and Kriske.
DeleteWe still have time to catch Boston!? We still have time to catch Boston!?
ReplyDeleteIf perchance we do catch Boston, that will just make it easier for them to beat the snot out of us!!
Dantes, we need to talk about the IIHIIFII...C ethos. Rationality is not really our thing. Emotion. That's our thing. Projection. Hope and despair. And drinking. Ouff, so much drinking. Those are our things. The essence of fandom, if you will. I'm sure you could do a graduate thesis on pareidolia and other illusory and delusory phenomenon as found in IIHIIFIIC, but where's the fun in that? Just roll with it. If you want the tedium of rationality and datum, go hang out at Fangraphs.
ReplyDeleteI will leave you with the sage words of the great 13bit: Fuck everybody. I love you all.
I'm with JM. Coney was raving about Luis Gil, who is 23, and has been in pro ball for 6 years.
ReplyDeleteWe can't throw him in for an inning or so, here and there?
I say it's now or never. Let's find out what we have, at least.
ReplyDeleteel chapo's meltdown was preceded by his overuse by that brainless fuckwad in the dugout posing as a manager.
maybe in five years after he has been leading a shit team like the pirates or royals (or maybe even a aaa team) to the basement he might learn a thing or two about baseball, but right now he's a terrific broadcaster who is playing these retreads and castoffs (the office boy's meat) because he has no choice.
it won't be long before the murdoch propaganda rag will be touting boooooone's genius
What are they supposed to figure out? The laws of biology that accounts for their diminished velocity? Britton's sinker used to sit at 97. Now it tops out at 92. Chapman used to sit at 100, woth sports to 104. Now he sits at 98. Duque, you need to figure out your soft spot for Cashman, with HIS soft spot for big names on the down side of their physical abilities.
ReplyDeleteWith spurts
ReplyDeleteDon't let your mom see you with your 'spurts' before dinner. She might go blind.
ReplyDelete