Tim Locastro has a place on the 2022 Yankees. Somebody should tell the 2022 Yankees.

Last night, the seemingly impossible happened: 

The Yankees scored a run, using - I'm not making this up - small-ball.

You weren't hallucinating. It happened in the seventh. Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled. He ran on a pitch, taking second on what would normally be Jose Trevino's DP grounder. The Hyphen then took third on DJ LeMahieu's bouncer to first. He scored on a wild pitch. 

Somewhere, Billy Martin raised his snifter and smiled. 

A perfectly tooled, base-to-base, tack-on run. 

The kind that haunts us every October. 

But this isn't about The Hyphen. It concerns outfielder Tim Locastro, who pinch ran in the eighth for Giancarlo Stanton. The O's eyed Locastro indignantly. Under no circumstances would they let him steal second. No way. 

It. Simply. Would. Not. Happen. 

So Locastro stole second, not even close. This stressed the pitcher, who walked Josh Donaldson. Two men on! Something roiling, right? Well, no. Gleyber and Gallo struck out. Look, this is the real Yankee world, people, not The Babe Ruth Story. Not every anecdote has a happy ending...

But right now, the best Yankee late-inning weapon not named "Rizzo" is also the last guy on the roster and the player most likely to get bus fare to Scranton this weekend, when the rosters shrink. That would be a shame. Locastro is one of four Yankees with two SBs - (Aaron Hicks, Anthony Rizzo and The Hypen are the others) - though he has come to bat only 5 times this  season. He has not been thrown out. (Hicks was, once.) 

Frankly, there is no excuse for the Yankees failing to use a player their own propaganda outlet is calling "the fastest runner in baseball." Lately, YES has pushed a new stat called "feet per second," which sounds made up in a marketing pitch session - where Locastro has reached a "sprint speed" of 30.8 per second, the highest in MLB. We've come a long way from Bullet Bob Hayes racing Homer Jones, and while this stat sounds bogus, I'll accept it, if it keeps Locastro in Gotham.

I believe he should platoon with Gallo in left field, especially against wipe-out lefties. He can field any OF slot, and while Gallo and Hicks must succeed or fail on their own, the Death Barge should have no compunction about giving Locastro a shot. 

Nothing boosts a fan base like an underdog over-achiever. (Anybody noticed a guy named Nestor?) And nothing bugs me more than when opposing teams bring in their super-stealer pinch runner, while we have nobody comparable. 

We have Mr. Sprint Speed himself. And we CAN score the old way. How many pitchers does Boone need?