We knew it would be the injuries. (Fun fact: It's always the injuries.) And yesterday, we got to witness, firsthand, the drop-off point from Jonathan Loaisiga. We lost our best reliever and replaced him with The Amazing Kriske. What did we think would happen? (Only Kriske knew!)
The Amazing Kriske
(via Mustang)
We knew it would be the slumps. In this case, it's Gleyber Torres and Gio Urshela, both hurrying back too soon, neither resembling a MLB infielder. The Yankees won 13-straight games without them. Now, with the order restored, with the sparkplugs stashed deep onto the bench, we face the Correction - returning players shaking off the rust. What did we think was going to happen?
We knew it would be the strikeouts, the bane of all homer-happy lineups. In the last week, it seemed as though every opposing starter flirted with a no-hitter in the early innings. Against Baltimore, we couldn't solve pitchers with ERAs over 6.00. And every potential rally brings the likelihood of a K or a DP ball. We are that kind of a team. What should we have expected?
We knew who Joey Gallo was. We knew what he was. He's currently batting .131 and striking out 50 percent of the time. But we knew what we were getting. Last year, Gallo hit .181. His lifetime average is .206. I realize BA is an outdated stat, but, frankly, when it comes to free-swingers like Gallo, I think it's all you need to know. Batting average was the reason Dave Kingman isn't in the Hall of Fame. When a guy is hitting .190, he is a millstone. Gallo is doing exactly what we should have expected. Another strikeout machine was the last thing this lineup needed, especially if it makes the post-season.
Yesterday, Toronto overturned the Yankee boat to display all the gaping holes in the hull. It did not look like a fair fight. A young, ascending team beating up on old men. Compare the lineups, and you'll cringe.
2b: Semien (37 HRs) over LeMahieu.
ss: Bichette (.291) over Gleyber.
3b: Draw (Biggio v Urshela, no maybe not Gio's current version)
c: Sanchez over Jansen.
lf: Gurriel beats Gallo.
cf: Dickerson over Gardy.
rf: Judge over Hernandez (but not by much: Hernandez has 25 HRs and is hitting .292)
dh: Springer over Giancarlo.
They're a stronger team. They're a stronger team. And unless someone steps forward - hello, Mr. Cole? - they will overtake us.
The Yankees will finish fourth in the AL East. A truly sad situation.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason the Yankees will finish fourth is because it's mathematically impossible for Baltimore to overtake us.
ReplyDeleteYankees are not a playoff team - no way they even deserve a wildcard - no pitching - no hitting - no defense.
ReplyDeleteEverybody says fire Cash Boone etc - How about the Analytics Dept - Yanks are supposed to have one of the largest and best? Anal Depts - I don't think so - overhaul the analytics dept!!
Lowest Single-Season Batting Averages in Yankee History
ReplyDelete(non-pitchers, min. 100 PA)
LF Joey Gallo .130 BA in 2021
1B Babe Borton .130 BA in 1913
3B Bill McKechnie .134 BA in 1913
1B Mike Hegan .136 BA in 1967
RF Jesse Barfield .137 BA in 1992
C Joel Skinner .137 BA in 1987
C Gary Sanchez .147 BA in 2020
2B Stephen Drew .150 BA in 2014
SS Jim Mason .153 BA in 1975
SS Dick Howser .153 BA in 1968
Can Joey hold onto the record with 25 games to play?
Gallo only needs 38 strikeouts to set single season record. The list of the all-time "leaders" in this stat includes several Cashman acquisitions: Stanton, Judge, Mark Reynolds (owner of record Joey is chasing), Chris Carter, and Curtis Granderson. Maybe this is where the GM looks for talent.
ReplyDelete- MelquÃades
If I have this right, since The Challenge we're 2-6 and have scored 30 runs.
ReplyDeleteThis is so much like 2017 it's creepy. We're soaring with replacement players who are exciting, hungry, and doing anything to win. Then we sink with regulars back from the IL who are boring, seem indifferent, and doing everything to lose.
I should've seen that coming but thought, "Nah, they won't make that same mistake AGAIN."
Silly me. At this rate, we'll be lucky to get to 85 wins total. If the pitching staff gives up eight runs with regularity, we won't get that far.
The only reason this team is still in wild card position is the 13 game win streak. Now that they've come back down to earth, with major assists from Cashman and Boone, they are returning to status quo. I think we can kiss the wild card game goodbye. Unless we get a bunch of injuries again, which would put guys like Greg Allen, Velasquez, and Gil back into the mix.
ReplyDeleteThe Hammer of God
ReplyDeleteI am rooting for a sweep by Toronto - I want blazing headlines decrying the death of the Yankees. I want Cashman as the new GM for the Pittsburgh Pirates or Washington Nationals. I want to put Booooooooone back into the broadcast booth (the job that used to be called retirement).
I want a total teardown from all these useless spare parts and a rebuild with drafted talent, supplemented with careful additions. Burn the place to the ground.
I want mayhem, destruction, and utter humiliation for this once great franchise that is being led by a soulless bean counter, an intern, and an incompetent stooge.
Amen, Dick Allen!
ReplyDeleteAnd JM, I believe we are actually 2-7 since The Streak.
Sick Dick Allen: ever consider getting a life in which you invest that much moral passion in something important, like global warming or child abuse,, of which you were evidently a victim?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous..what makes you think Dick Allen isn't active and passionate about other interests? Most here consider this strictly a sports blog not a social opinion site. I don't subscribe to that theory nor do a few others but why extrapolate his comments about the Yankees into a lack of social concern ?
ReplyDeleteSpringer over Stanton? Better check your stats. Springer has been injured a lot.
ReplyDeleteRight on cue.
ReplyDelete@anon re. DickAllen's comment: "I want a total teardown from all these useless spare parts and a rebuild with drafted talent, supplemented with careful additions. Burn the place to the ground.
ReplyDeleteI want mayhem, destruction, and utter humiliation for this once great franchise that is being led by a soulless bean counter, an intern, and an incompetent stooge."
I think DickAllen is absolutely right. This is what I've been advocating for this entire season. I don't see any reason to say "someone who can blurt such an upchuck of venom about that and now about who is managing a corporate sports entity is obviously some sort of twisted human being". I don't see any "venom" or anything "twisted" about calling the three stooges (Prince Hal, Brainless Cashman, and puppet yes man Boone) what they really are. Prince Hal has amply demonstrated that he only cares about counting beans and maintaining the status quo. Cashman and Boone are inept at their jobs (but very good at maintaining the status quo). See a pattern here?
Yankee fans are tired of this garbage. One World Series championship in more than two decades. Enough stupid moves by management to fill a library. There is no end in sight to the stupidity either.
The Hammer of God
Hammer of God -- still waiting for your sermon to Firefly, the Poisoner-in-Chief of this blog. Or are you afraid to offend one of your fellow Animal House frat brothers lest you lose your fraternity pin?
ReplyDeleteHammer of God: Predictably, you elide most of--and hence fatally mangle--the point of my previous comment about the inseparability of sports and the larger society. Please check back when you have assimilated this key point so you can address it honestly rather than dodging and distorting it.
Finally, "Burn the place to the ground. I want mayhem, destruction, and utter humiliation." About a sports franchise--or anything, for that matter? This along with his favored "little cunt" locution, is the raving of a lunatic. But he's a fellow frat-boy, so you serve as shill rather than critic for arrant psychopathy in this case--he gets off sermon-free, along with Firefly, the other psychopath. I think you need to turn in your clerical robes--you're a bust as an ethical arbiter and counseler. But you make a great flack for your frat brothers.
Pizza Pit, RIGHT ON CUE! You used to post this one under "Anonymous," Sock Puppet Master. You're really losing it, you senile old fart! Remember to change those diapers, asshole!
ReplyDeletePS, just because you're paranoid, that doesn't mean everyone doesn't hate you.
ReplyDelete"this otherwise friendly site"
ReplyDelete"Get a life Antoine/stat boy/stat baby/buck's puckered hemorrhoid/ total fucking loser asshole."
LOL! More irony-deficit disorder, you senile old fart! Just remember which sock puppet name to use--dementia can be cruel!
Meanwhile, Firefly has never posted a coherent or insightful comment on baseball--just this obessive abuse. What a credit to the blog! What a sad testimony to the ravages of old age!
Change those stinking Depends already, Sock Puppet Man!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO7IBsn-IUg
ReplyDelete