Friday, April 22, 2022

The Yankees just split a road trip against two of baseball's weakest teams, and other joyful observations

The Yankees are averaging three runs per game. They rank 25th out of 30 in MLB. In other words, it's worse than you thought...

1. Clutch hits have been a rarity for so long now that I cannot remember a Yankee team known for its grit and intensity. With a game on the line, who do we want coming up?

I guess DJ LeMahieu - the 2020 model, not last year's. After that, yeesh, Anthony Rizzo? I dunno. But Judge and Giancarlo do not vault to the top of my preferred list, and therein lies a problem. 

2. If the Yankees fail to sign Aaron Judge next winter, it will be a mark against the franchise's once great tradition - but a highlight for its growing reputation of corporate frugality. Maybe Hal Steinbrenner can serve as a global beacon for fiscal responsibility, leading the nation in the fight against inflation! 

3. The guy I originally considered the key to the Gary Sanchez/Geo Urshela trade - catcher Ben Rortvedt - has been disappeared by Thanos. Damn those infinity stones. He's already missed April - a strained lat - with no word on when he'll return, and - worst - we still don't know if he's any good. 

I mention this because Kyle Higashioka has failed to follow up on his big spring training, when he belted seven. Everybody loves Higgy, but there's a lingering suspicion that he's a much better backup than a front-line catcher. Three back-ups aren't going to solve our problem. Wait, didn't someone say Kiner-Falefa can catch?

4. Yesterday, Joey K. Gallo singled in the ninth - woo hoo! - lifting his BA to .135. He's an easy target, but overall, the Yankees are hitting .220 - that's 20th among MLB teams. You know who hit .220? Wayne Tolleson. In 1987. We are a team of 1987 Wayne Tollesons.

5. Among the true outcomes, we rank 15th in HRs, 13th in walks, an 12th in strikeouts. We are on a pace to fan 1.446 times - most in team history - with Giancarlo leading the way, with 19. Last year, around now, we were squawking about the Ks. Who imagined that we'd add Josh Donaldson (17 thus far) and Gallo (16) to the whiff parade? 

6. This is a huge existential threat to the game. The Orioles are on a pace to strikeout 1,670 times - more than 10 per game. The lords of baseball are tinkering with pitch clocks and over-shift bans, but neither will solve the sport's emerging malaise. 

The game is dying because balls are not being put into play.

7. Looking for hope in the Yankee farms? Good luck with that. Miguel Andujar - remember him? - is the only Scranton Railrider hitting above .240. (he's at .278.) The infield Oswalds - Peraza and Cabrera - are hitting .179 and .158, respectively. Remember all those prospects we touted through the spring? None have broken out. But... it's early, right? 

16 comments:

  1. I'm hoping this cheating letter is severe enough that Cashman will have to fired. Right now that's the only thing that gives me hope for the future.

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  2. Celerino,

    Beautiful thought. A total immolation.

    Hopefully, Hal is compromised in the letter as well and be suspended like his Dad was. Then he can concentrate on his true loves, soccer and polo ponies.

    Can you still play 3rd? We could use you

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  3. any one of hal, cashman, or boone is enough to derail any hopes they have of sniffing a world series. collectively, they form an almost impenetrable barrier to a world series. they are a mount everest of incompetence standing in the way of true winning. one can only hope that they are all run over and flattened by the same mack truck as they cross the street.

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  4. Serious question for one of you stat people, possibly Zachary.

    Is there a way to look at the cumulative left-on-base statistic for the Yankees over the last 22 years, as opposed to every other team?

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  5. I don't watch much any more. And this clutch hitting malaise has been going on for years. That I'm here still means I care but it's hard, and it stinks.

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  6. Clutchless players. No need to add big bats. Hal is a penny pincher. The Gm brings in stiffs and over the hill players. Same old sad story.

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  7. Watching this franchise is like watching my hero, my Dad, slowly losing his abilities for 7 years leading up to his death from dementia.

    I loved him and there was really nothing that I COULD DO ABOUT.

    Much like watching my one true sports love slide into the abyss.

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  8. 13bit

    2000-2022, Cumulative Runners Left on Base (LOB)

    1. Red Sox 25537
    2. Phillies 25046
    3. Yankees 24912
    4. Braves 24830
    5. Dodgers 24621

    This doesn't tell us a whole lot. I would suspect the best offensive teams in baseball have the highest LOB just as a result of having the most baserunners.

    1998 Yankees: 1203 LOB
    2021 Yankees: 1097 LOB

    That is a result of the 1998 Yankees having more total baserunners than the 2021 squad (.364 OBP vs .322 OBP).

    Even looking just at 2010-2022, the teams with the most LOB are the Red Sox, Dodgers, and Braves, while the teams with the fewest LOB are the Blue Jays, Orioles, and Marlins. Good teams have more baserunners and therefore more LOB.

    You probably need a LOB% metric (individual runners left on base/total baserunners), which I think you'd have to calculate by hand because I don't see it on any of the baseball sites: FanGraphs, Baseball Savant, Baseball Reference, etc.

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  9. Interesting stuff, Zach. And yes, Duque is right: this is killing the whole game. And nobody—not the players, not the managers or coaches, not the front offices—seems to understand or care.

    Sorry to hear about your dad, Archie. Few things harder than getting your parents through those last years.

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  10. Also, I seem to remember the 2019 team as being fairly clutch.

    Maybe it was the juiced baseballs that seemed to be in play that season. Or...maybe it was the fact that Judge missed 60 games with injuries, and Stanton, almost the entire season.

    The lineup was always filled with hustling young guys trying to break in. Hmmm...

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  11. Thanks, HC,
    Hopefully, I will just die with my boots on.

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  12. Great point HC, and I believe there is some truth in that. But I’m mostly old school, at least insofar as I believe in always hustling, going all out on every play, and never being complacent about losing. It galls me to see Stanton jogging on the base paths or in the field, hacking at the first pitch like he can’t wait to sit down again.

    I’m curious as to what the impact of that infamous letter would be. I’m thinking it might be a big deal for a a few days and then fade from view, nothing that’s going to cause heads to roll.

    Enjoy the game on Amazon Prime tonight, and remember to bet early and often!

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  13. ArchA - make sure those boots are long lasting and comfortable. Given your name, I'm thinking that they don't need to be fire resistant. SO - any idea when the letter will drop? It hopefully will be newsworthy enough to make for some interesting fodder

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  14. Above A,
    I do have a pitchfork, but as you angel aficionados know, it is to be used only to spear Satan and other snakes.

    So look out Yankee Brass.

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