There it was: Michael King's pitching arm (or maybe the Yankee season?) - dangling limply, as he walked off the mound. Today, the worst news: Fractured elbow. (Worse than TJ surgery? Dunno.)
Horrified thoughts...
1. King belonged in the all star game. Thus, if you believe every arm has a finite number of pitches in it, before the gaskets blow, this could have happened in Wednesday night's big stupid game. On an emotional note, we're lucky: An all star game injury - we'd never get over it.
2. Unless El Chapo or Jonathan Loaisiga regain their stuff, we are done-dog, big-ass, up-Shit Crick screwed. There is no bridge to Clay Holmes, not even a rope. Wandy Peralta? Lucky Luetge? Be serious. And based on last night, there is no sign that Aroldis is turning the corner.
3. King's injury reminds us of the vulnerability of bullpen rifles. I'm looking at Holmes, who is throwing more high-stress innings than ever before. Last night, I suffered a panic attack that we'd lose both.
4. The Yankees need to call up the National Guard from Scranton, and I don't mean another Manny Banuelos or Brian Weber. It's time to uncork the W's - Waldichuk (3.47 ERA) and/or Wesneski (3.51.) Both are 24, and both throw hard. (I say this with the confident idiocy of a fan on his couch; I defer to the coaches. But we need somebody. Just sayin...)
5. I suppose our best fairy tale hope lies with Albert Abreu, who sometimes looks dominant. (BTW, Suzyn loves him.) But Abreu belongs in Webster's under the definition of "erratic." When he's off, he's really off. Between him and Chapman, no lead will ever be safe.
6. Is it the curse of Scott Proctor, or the folly of Aaron Boone... but are we fated to watch every viable bullpen lug nut get overused until he breaks down? We thought it was Joe Torre's malady. Then Joe Girardi's. Is it just the Yankee way?
7. Maybe we can trade for some of Boston's bullpen aces? Looks like they really shut down Toronto last night.
We knew the second-half wouldn't be like the first. But a double-header sweep, and now this? Are you kidding me, juju gods? You should be ashamed...
First up: Ron “Nacho” Marinaccio
ReplyDeleteDoesn't look good right now. Really sorry to lose King. And really sorry for him as well. Do pitchers come back from this? Ever?
ReplyDelete"It's time to uncork the W's - Waldichuk (3.47 ERA) and/or Wesneski (3.51.) Both are 24, and both throw hard"
You would think.
That said, at least one of the those two (if not both) is trade bait. Does it hurt or help to expose them to MLB hitting? It could lower their value.
Who would have thought that Gallo's garbage time HR would prove to be the difference?
Castillo? Robertson? To replace Sevy and King. Does this mean trading for Soto isn't on the table anymore?
Last, I think I saw Aaron Judge give Gallo some advice on the pitcher just before Gallo got his HR. If so, that's pretty cool.
Maybe the Red Sox will trade Garret Whitlock back to us. (I kid. I kid.)
ReplyDeleteWhat if I told you…
ReplyDeleteWe had a RP in SWB who has:
2.17 ERA
Converted 10/11 saves.
struck out 59 men in 37 innings
has a WHIP of 0.99
has held opposition hitters to a .151 BA
Long Island boy from Fordham
already has a mustache.
Submitted for your approval: Greg Weissert
Born 2
ReplyDeleteWhy don't I know who this is? They never mention him.
Well... Greg Weissert C'mon Down! Uh... UP!
I don’t know Doug, he was a low level, unheralded draft pick out of Fordham who worked his way up through the system. The team seems to have no use for this type of player. Of course, there’s a long list of players who have pitched well, even dominated at AAA only to fail at the MLB level. But with our Pen in disarray, isn’t he worth at least a look-see?
ReplyDelete"Stress fractures occur when muscles become fatigued and are unable to absorb added shock. Eventually, the fatigued muscle transfers the overload of stress to the bone, causing a tiny crack called a stress fracture."
ReplyDeleteWeissert is indeed an intriguing option for all of the above reasons.
IS there lingering bad blood between our front office brainiacs and David Robertson?
He would be my choice for a trade for another arm at this point. If of course an appropriate deal can be reached.
Can Steve Hamilton still throw the Folly Floater? Can Mariano be enticed out of retirement? Can Ronny Marinara step back into the pen with the same effectiveness he had before his injury?
ReplyDeleteThe answer to these and other pinstripery questions, tonight, on "Soap."
@AboveAverage, but is it a stress fracture? I didn't see anything about that. I just saw it described as a fracture.
ReplyDeleteThe only other time I can recall something like this is when a guy broke his arm throwing a pitch and it turned out to be bone cancer or something like that. That one was career ending, I believe.
RE. possible replacements, I would go with internal options. As you guys have pointed out above, we've got several hard throwers in the minors. I think we've even seen one of them once or twice. He pitched great, looked dominant, and then got sent down again.
We shouldn't trade for some over-the-hill leftover from ten years ago. Think: what would the Tampons do? First order of business would be to get rid of the clutter. Trade Chapman and Gallo, or DFA them. Bring up all of those guys with the "W" last names. Marinaccio will be here soon also. They're all getting old in the minors. They should've been up here TWO years ago or more. But what do I know? Unlike HAL & Cashman, I'm not trying to make the Yankees fall on their faces down the stretch run every year.
Awful. Loved that guy. Sounds like this is less bad than TJ time, but who knows?
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, all the "Ws" on board! Waldichuk, Wesneski, and Weissert, the new Fordham Flash, c'mon down!
ReplyDeleteMajor-league history is full of guys who came up and shined for a month or two, which is all we need. And no, they could NOT be worse than Torrents Chapman.
Incidentally, was it something in the water last night, or just the joy of being back from the All-Star break? Or has MLB once again fooled around with the baseball?
ReplyDeleteThe winning teams averaged almost 9 runs a game. Even take away the Red Sox' hilarious meltdown, and they averaged 7.5 runs a game.
The Sox, incidentally, have now been beat by a combined 55-8 in their last three games.
Heheheheheheheheheheh.
Oh, and Doug K.? I love you, baby, but Juan Soto was never on the table.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping that it was only a stress fracture.
ReplyDeleteAlso - Robertson is having a solid year and if he could be had cheap it would just add another solid arm to the pen.
Bullpen needs to be bolstered
Rotation needs to be bolstered
Soto needs to be holstered
Gallo needs to be relieved from NYY duty before the stress fractures his soul.
Chapman too as it is so nerve wracking and sad to watch.
GettR' Done SON!
It's not just just the Yankees who blow reliever's arms out, it's the need of the job. Why The Tampons have had a, hehe, whole stable full of guys who, hehe, throw ninety nine on the DL this year. The Brain will need to strain to patch this team together. It is doable.
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ReplyDeleteDave Dravecky.
Broke his arm throwing a pitch, turned out to be the big C. Had to have it eventually amputated.
Come on stress fracture!
"IS there lingering bad blood between our front office brainiacs and David Robertson?"
ReplyDeleteI believe he was the ringleader when the Yankees decided to not share their playoff bonus with a lot of the clubhouse staff etc.
It was perceived as a dick move. (And it was a dick move). Bad PR as well. Whether or not that created bad blood I couldn't say.
""I believe he was the ringleader when the Yankees decided to not share their playoff bonus with a lot of the clubhouse staff etc. ""
ReplyDelete""It was perceived as a dick move. (And it was a dick move). Bad PR as well. Whether or not that created bad blood I couldn't say.""
If all of that is true then in fact it was a dick move and I do not support the Yankees trading for him.
CC Sabathia was banging the Robertson drum really loudly pre-season, insisting that the Yankees sign him.
I just figured it was a reliable arm to stick into the 7th or 8th inning.
Hell I'll go pitch for the Yankees and share all of my prorated salary to the clubhouse staff, etc.
Make it so, Doug.
Make the necessary calls.
GettR' Done, SON!
They're all dicks. One of the guys he'd be replacing fired a gun into a garage where a woman was huddling in fear of her life.
ReplyDeleteThen there's Domingo "Slapsy" German and Luis Polonia, convicted of statutory rape...who we brought back for the stretch drive in 2000.
Sad to say, the personal lives and beliefs of many ballplayers are appalling. Most truly believe they got where they are through hard work and God's blessing alone, and have limited sympathy for others. Their most fervent political belief is that they shouldn't have to pay taxes. They have no trouble with cheating for years, signing a huge contract...then getting off the juice and fucking over the fans and owners of the new team they signed with.
And I'm only talking about the better ones.
If Robertson is still as good as his stats look and he can be got cheap...get him.
@Hoss, I still can't get over that Domingo German got that long of a suspension for a slap. Yes, he happened to do it in front of all the rich assholes at some MLB fundraiser dinner, but come on, it was a slap. Not a punch, not a kick. He didn't bite her ear off or choke her.
ReplyDeleteAnd that German got suspended without pay for that period of time, doesn't that mean that he couldn't give any money to his girlfriend and their child? German, who was probably the Yankees's best pitcher in 2017, was suspended for the playoffs, causing the Yankees to lose in 7 games. So who really got punished in the end?
The effing integrity of the game was on the line because of the cheating scandal with the ASS-stros and the Red Sux. None of those buffoons gets a single game suspension, or even a fine. Wow!
I actually liked Luis Polonia. Was shocked when he got arrested for banging an underage girl. And disappointed when they immediately traded him away to the A's. I was glad for Polonia when he came back to win that WS with the Yankees. And he did contribute with a few clutch hits, if I remember correctly.
@ Horace...you forgot the biggest hypocrite of all. The highly sanctimonious and convicted teenage sexual assaulter Chad Curtis.
ReplyDelete