Who was the 2020 Covid home run king?
Also, as long as there are baseball card conventions and airport Ramadas, he will never starve.
But last night, after watching him mosquito-slap one ball and throw away another - (a veritable Clint Frazier fielding display, then to be pulled by Aaron Boone, a rarity) - who here does not think he's done at 1B, at least this year? From here on, no more debate, no more squawking... it's Andrew Rizzo.
Personally, I hope Luke has a comeback year in 2022, wherever he plays. And maybe he has a comeback weekend in Boston or Toronto. The Redsocks' Sunday starter will be LH Eduardo Rodriguez, and maybe Luke will DH. But for three years now, he's been a linebacker playing first, and that cannot happen anymore. He looks like a circus strongman, and, lately, he's been swinging a dead mallet. I won't blame him for the failure of Gleyber Torres at SS, but a DH playing first didn't help. Barring an injury, I don't think we'll ever see him play 1b again in a Yankee uniform.
Friday, Gerrit Cole v. Yankee killer Nathan Eovaldi. WTF with Eovadli? How did the guy come to hate us? You'd think we traded him for a butt plug, when all we did was not re-sign him. Still, a major fuck-up by Cashman. But this game is on Cole: If he pitches as he did against Cleveland, we're screwed, and it's over. We'll be three behind Boston with eight to play. This is the absolute most critical game of 2021, and we'll have our ace. No excuses. I hope Cole's dad shows up and brings the sign.
Saturday, Nasty Nestor v Nick Pivetta (9-7, 4.63). One of those 4:10 p.m. starts, which the Yankees seem to fumble away. That could put an evening shadow between the mound and home plate - a nasty shadow. If we won Friday, I like our chances here, because Nestor looks like the type who thrives under pressure. He reminds me of Luis Tiant and Bartolo Colon; in three years, he'll be one of those tubby, froglike pitchers who defy the portrait of a professional athlete. A strong outing on the national stage could create the Legend of Nasty Nestor. But if we're already down one game - that is, if we lost Friday - Boston will be on stilts. The rout could be on.
Sunday, Jordan Montgomery v. Eduardo Rodriguez. Though Monty's the better pitcher, momentum will be everything, by then. We're ahead 2-0, I like our chances. If we're down 0-2, forgetaboutit.
If we're tied at 1-1, it'll be on Monty, and who knows? But we have our best three pitchers locked and loaded, ready to go. No excuses.
I hate it that we will apparently miss Chris Sale in this series. I think Boston wants to save him for a wild card game - if we're lucky enough to make it. We won't have seen him. That would be a problem - one I'd like to have.
Finally, there is the matter of Aroldis. He can dominate. Or he can kill us. Same with Mean Chad Green. Hell, same with everybody in the bullpen. A little surprised that Boone went with El Chapo last night. I understand him wanting Aroldis to stay sharp, but I thought it a perfect chance to try Domingo German. He will be a "break glass" emergency pitcher in Boston.
But not Luke. I do not think we will ever again see him play 1B for the Yankees.
R.I.P. Glove of Stone.
Joey Gallo, an otherwise strong fielder, sure did a nice Bobby Abreu imitation approaching the wall last night.
ReplyDeleteEvery time Voit shows up onscreen, my wife says, "Sausage." Because to her, he looks like one.
ReplyDeleteI prefer thinking of him as a cartoon. Dye his hair and let him grow a (dyed) beard and he's Bluto. The one from Popeye, not Animal House.
But I will say that he can whiff with the best of them. You can feel the breeze from the Bronx down here in the East Village. (Special mention to DJ for lunging and missing at a pitch three feet out of the strike zone last night. He's pressing, and can look terrible.)
So we're down to the last nine. Not a tomato can in the group. Boston keeps wearing those horrific uniforms because they're "superstitious," according to ESPN, a typically lame excuse. And maybe because they're considering changing their name to the Boston Daisies or Sunflowers. But that does injustice to those flowers. The yellow Boston is sporting, along with the incredible lack of any graphic design whatsoever, is putrid, and they look like the worst team in the beer league. For that alone, we simply have to beat them. It's aesthetics.
JM, perhaps you might tell us how many runs the Yankees have scored since we opened up the bet to the blog.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we ought to consider a special prize of Old No.7 to the one who correctly guesses the final number.
And while we’re on the subject of this year’s Dick Stuart Award (formerly known as The Stone Hands Trophy), does DJ look a little lost out there in short left?
ReplyDeleteGreat analysis, Duque. And I agree: this largely turns on what Cole gives us in Game 1. Of course, with this team he could easily lose, 1-0, too.
ReplyDeleteI dunno. Boston is streaking, but they have just been playing tomato cans (Albeit in the case of the Metsies, a tomato can we failed to open.) Their pitching ain't great, and if our hitter really did get back in a groove with that 8th inning last night, we could shine.
But again: the 2021 Yankees never disappoint to disappoint.
The biggest off-season decision for Coops—unless there is a lockout—will be deciding what to do about 1B.
ReplyDeleteRizzo had been a model of consistency before Covid hit, a Gold-Glove first baseman and terrific hitter, who was also a great clubhouse presence.
The 2020 mini-me season sent his numbers tumbling, and his superstitions this year may—may—have been what infected half the damned team. More importantly, Rizzo will turn 33 next year. Giving him a huge, long-term contract just doesn't make sense.
But I agree with Duque: sticking Voit back out there should not be an option.
Which leaves...what, exactly?
A more dynamic GM would search out a new 1B somewhere, through a trade or the free-agent market. Our boy Elroy will probably settle for sticking DJ there. And a DJ/Gleyber/Velazquez-Wade/Gio infield wouldn't be the worst option. Far from the best, though...
I used to look forward to the hot stove season. No more. Just more pain scenarios to contemplate.
ReplyDeleteAnd you didn't mention that Voit is now a guarantee strikeout ( just throw 4 consecutive sliders ) or, should there be a runner on first, he'll add to the total of double plays into which the Yankees have hit this season.
ReplyDeleteHe kills rallies for us and starts rallies for them.
You might also throw in his tortoise-like speed.
Boone better wake the "F" up and make you prescient.
No more Voit.
Wade has a better chance to make the defense do something.
"Finally, there is the matter of Aroldis. He can dominate. Or he can kill us." That pretty much covers the entire universes of pitching possibilities. You learn something every day.
ReplyDeleteVoit is pretty quick... when compared to Ford, or Colon, or me. Rizzo on a two year deal. Gio, a nice backup for a championship team, not a starter, PLEASE🙏! Gleybor gone. Wade isn't a starter, The Squid could be a starter for a team that is loaded on offense. The Yankees are a team that was put together on a prayer that wasn't answered. Every team should expect that one or two players will have off years (positional). Depending on how you count starters we had 4-6 players who augered it in. Many of those players didn't have a long pedigree, Cashman and Hal SHOULD HAVE PLANNED FOR IT.
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