It's rare to have everything laid out in front of the Yankees - their season, their reputations, their well-being - neatly arranged into two 9-inning contests, tonight and tomorrow.
All we need to do: Beat Toronto. Once. That's all. I'm not asking for a series. One game. Don't need to impress Tyler Kepner. I'll take a garbage win, where the BJs play soccer, or fling the ball around like Boston. One victory. A Toronto pitcher who can't throw strikes. An off-night for Vlad Jr. We can lose the rest, fall into a crevice, eat bad clams, suffer wardrobe malfunctions - don't care. One game. One. It's the loneliest number that you'll ever hear.
Also.. . a Judge HR. One. Tonight, please. It's Game No. 154 - the delineating event that Ford Fucking Frick once laid out in order to undercut Roger Maris. It's probably why Maris isn't in the Hall of Fame, a historical injustice, which perhaps became a curse upon all those who followed him - in this case, the muscled blimps who later broke his record. Judge needs one homer, one, tonight, please? Hit No. 61, and the Yankiverse shall be a peace. Tonight, please...
1. Is it me, or does Luis Severino increasingly look like a bullpen lug nut, rather than a No. 2 starter? Last night: Brilliant through three, and then... it's Putin, touring the New York State Fair. Last night, he missed giving up a grand slam by the length of Lindsey Graham's - nope, not going there. Yank fans have waited - and waited, and waited - on Setback Sevy, and - yes, he seems a fine teammate and all, but No. 2 starter? Nope. He's a bullpen start, and we've got a problem.
2. Last night, Toronto unveiled a neat little strategy to beat the Yankees: Pitch around Judge and fear no consequences - because, basically, there are none. The next four Sluggos are ground ball machines, and if either Rizzo or Gleyber do get on base, it's the comedy team of Josh & Gio, which represents a dry-rot we haven't seen in our lineup since the summer of Pronk and Lyle Overbay.
Can someone explain to me why Donaldson bats fourth? He's hitting .226 with minimal power (15 HRs in 452 at-bats; that's the power ratio of Marwin Gonzalez) and to see him as a legitimate cleanup hitter, somebody needs to build a time machine and set it for 2017.
As for Stanton: Look, I get it that we have no choice but to play him. Just suck it up, and write him into the lineup. If we have one chance in October, it's that Giancarlo goes on a whopping, red hot tear. But right now, he's sad. You can see in his eyes: he's going to whiff, and he knows it. He has - OMG - the Aroldis grin, that Mr. Sardonicus smile, which says, "This isn't happening, it's just a dream, haha, and please, somebody, tell me how to get to Connecticut."
3. Right now, the Yankees need Oswaldo Cabrera higher in the order, maybe leading off. It sure would be nice to have somebody on base when Judge appears. Last night, we kept hearing the same Michael Kay barker cry: "Stick around everybody, because leading off next inning will be Aaron Judge!"
4. Tonight, it's Tailion. Tomorrow, Gerrit "Little Game" Cole. Why, why, why... is it always Cole, and why does he always seem to falter? Our bullpen is down to stems and seeds (Chapman and Britton, the Comeback Codgers.) Frankly, it's ridiculous to be so worried about a series - it's almost impossible for us to blow this - but, damn, if we know anything about the 2022 Yankees, it's that they can turn into pumpkins on a moment's notice. We just won six in a row. This is madness to say, but we can lose the next six.
But not if we win tonight. Tonight.
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ReplyDeleteYes, I believe Lucky Luis is still very much a number 2 or 3 starter. Look, he was out for 2 months. He needs to build up innings. Not much time left but perhaps 2 more starts will help. It has to. Who would they replace him with? Taillon has become an unreliable pitcher and home-run machine. Nestor is good but rarely goes more than 5-6 innings now. Surely not Montas (if he's even healthy enough to pitch). German? Maybe, but I don't trust him in a big game, especially with his history of arm problems and innings pitched. Certainly not Clarke Schmidt. So that leaves no one. Sorry, but we gotta roll the dice with the guy who has pitched well in and won several big post-season games.
ReplyDeleteAaron Judge has been walked 23 times this month, and 20 of those times he's been stranded on base. Opponents are going to keep pitching around him until the rest of the lineup punishes them for it.
ReplyDelete2021 Gary Sanchez
ReplyDelete.204/.307/.423 (.730 OPS)
27.5 K%
11.8 BB%
2022 Giancarlo Stanton
.211/.295/.450 (.745 OPS)
29.9 K%
10.9 BB%
Anyone else notice how these guys have become the same player at the plate?
Can't lay off that slider down and away. A ton of strikeouts. Very poor on-base skills. Occasional power and nothing else.
We better pray that this is just an off-year for Giancarlo. He's turning 33 in a month and we still have 5-yr/$160M to go.
Last night was pathetic.
ReplyDeletePathetic.
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ReplyDeleteStanton hits better when he plays the outfield.
ReplyDeleteStanton will not be playing the outfield.
Stanton will not hit better.
I only got a C in Logic, part of my Philosophy minor, but even I can figure this out.
ZacharyA, I believe The Glass Giant either has a serious injury that is being hidden from us, or that he's stick-a-fork-in-him done for baseball. Either way. I feel badly for him and us.
ReplyDeleteFuck.
Stanton is a waste. He's lucky to be a big dude with power ability ( most likely enhanced by the new PED's that are technologically advanced to make them harder to detect). If another average- sized player hit with his closed, ridiculously off-balance stance, they'd hit .150.
ReplyDeleteMaybe back a few years ago he closed off his stance to better hit the outside pitch, but his stance now is so closed that instead of falling towards the pitcher when he swings, he lunges over the plate and can't hit the middle-to-inside pitch unless the pitcher makes a location mistake. He hits all arms and his swing is not conducive to harnessing his lower body, hips and legs. Unless he gets some better advice (or listens to that advice) he will keep regressing as a hitter.
Why did we pitch to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the 10th with first=base open? The guy is a beast and besides his run would not count. Always believed in the philosophy of not letting their best player beat you, I guess Boone does not agree.
ReplyDelete@ mik...Boone defies percentages and logic all the time. He is a horrible manager. The ironic part is that they tout their analytic team as the most advanced in MLB. Yet he seemingly defies the numbers consistently. Unless he is really following their analysis to a tee in which case they need to hire a better group of people.
ReplyDeleteZach,
ReplyDeleteShould we start calling him "Gary" Stanton?
I mean, a name change is nothing new for him.
If the Yankees want to win tonight they should go with the following line-up...
ReplyDeleteJudge RF
Rizzo 1B
Torrez 2B
Cabrera LF
Peraza SS
IKF 3B
Bader CF
Trevino C
Donaldson DH
Maybe having Donaldson bat in front of Judge will get him better pitches to hit.
Gotta let Peraza hit. Give him ABs.
Also the combination of Cabrera thru Bader is our best chance to build a run.
That said, this is a bad line-up because they are a bad team.
Losing Carpenter and Benintendi really makes them thin.
100% with you mik.
ReplyDeleteSickening to watch Stanton and Donaldson back to back in the middle of the lineup. Stanton is purely a guess hitter, and should be easy for any smart pitcher to get out. That’s why he struggles against the outside slider, he thinks “fastball”! Loved Carl’s analysis, but very skeptical Stanton will ever change or get better. He will be an embarrassment to the team and the sport in a few short years, and Cashman will have have to belly up to the table and eat that salary. Bon appetit you prick! Donaldson? He is washed up, like dead jellyfish on the shore.
Need to temper our expectations for Severino. What the hell, you know Boone will just pull him in the 3rd inning of a playoff game and put in Lucky Luetge instead.
The longer the Judge pageant goes on the worse it will be for everyone. Beginning to think maybe he stays at 60.
El Duque put it succinctly: a walk and a homer, please…
born2
ReplyDeleteJeter should be named GM just because he knows how to find a sucker to take Stanton's contract.
So they don’t get to play the Sox or Pirates in the playoffs?
ReplyDelete@Carl...substitute Ca$hman for Boone...
ReplyDeleteThe fourth and fifth spots in the lineup were complete holes last night. Judge will do it!
ReplyDeleteAmen, mlk. I was saying the same thing last night: do NOT pitch to Impaler, Jr. The argument that other guys in their lineup have good stats, too, doesn't hold water. Don't let their beast beat you.
ReplyDeleteBut that's not part of Boone's strategic thinking. Foolish of me, I know, to think that he HAS any strategic thinking. Plus...the Yankees are, once again, flat.
I know, I know: one would think that grown men might be automatically motivated to continue an existence in which they are constantly showered with money, women, wine, and song. But in this great land of superannuated children, apparently not.
That's where the manager comes in. You can't be a good field manager and you can't motivate the team in the clubhouse? You're just taking up space.
Interesting analyses on Stanton, Carl Weitz and 999. I think you're both right. And PEDs may well be a factor. Apparently the very NATURE of most steroids is that there is no test for them—at first. They are generated new for the first time by BALCO-like labs, from theoretical textbooks. Takes a while, then, for the tests to catch up with them. It would not surprise me if Stanton were juicing.
ReplyDeleteSo why isn't it still working? Maybe an injury—and chronic injuries are another sign of PEDs, of course.
I can't say I'm sorry for the man. He is making more money than almost any human being in history. And what's more, i doubt his motivation. The mysterious All-Star Game is a case in point. It seems to me that he was all-fired to get out to LA, party with his latest squeeze, and see the glitterati.
Why is it that I feel if the game had been in Cleveland this year, Stanton's long injury would have kicked in earlier?
Stanton's closed stance came about after he got beaned in the face several years ago. Had a traditional stance before that. He thinks the closed stance protects him a bit I guess. I remember closed stances were kind of popular in the 80s. Winfield, Schmidt, Keith Hernandez. I think theory was to keep head, and shoulders especially, in. Keep upper body from flying open. But I don't recall anyone as severe as Stanton, and like Carl I think Stanton's production is likely to fall of a cliff soon. Age eats at production anyway, but Stanton is just a brute strength, all arms, guess hitter. Unlikely to age well. Is not aging well.
ReplyDeleteGotta say, I differ with our Peerless Leader over Maris going to the Hall.
ReplyDeleteHelluva ballplayer, who had to endure a lot of crap. That said, he had 3 truly outstanding years—hitting between Mickey Mantle and Elston Howard at his peak—and 3 other, quite good years. That was it.
If he is HOF, then Don Mattingly should be, too. Baseballreference lists the closest batter to him as Bob Allison, Hank Sauer, Jay Buhner, Jesse Barfield. Outstanding ballplayers all—NOT Hall of Famers, in my never-humble opinion.
HOF can be very subjective sometimes, but all factors considered Maris does NOT belong there.
ReplyDeleteMaris was a great Yankee, but I agree with the others, short of HOF
ReplyDeleteAnd if we're gonna review former Yankees who fell short of the Hall, I'd start with Bernie Williams, Thurman Munson, and Ron Guidry.
Especially Munson Zach, considering he was a C.
ReplyDeleteI mean, it can get crazy, particularly when you get into the, "If...then..." part of this.
ReplyDeleteI mean, guys like Rabbit Maranville are in the Hall. Certainly, Maris is more deserving than him. Or every single juicer in there.
(Bernie has made the strong point that, if he was not juicing, and played that well against juicers...)
Yankees who I think ARE missing?
ReplyDeleteJorge, for one. Best catcher in the AL for 10 years—save for a juicer in Texas.
Gene Michael—in the executive wing.
Bob Meusel, maybe—lifetime .309 hitter, doubles and triples machine, great throwing arm.
I'd put in Munson—as good as, or better than, Fisk at his best, and career truncated by horrible accident.
On the bubble: Charlie Keller. Missed almost 2 years, at the peak of his career, due to the war. Another two years when he was clearly ready to go the bigs, but the Yanks kept him in Newark. A bad injury meant he never played a full season after 29, but 6 terrific hitting seasons, and was considered a very good outfielder.
Also on the bubble: Elston Howard. Did not make it to the majors until 26, due to military service and racism. Then, had to play behind Berra for another 3 seasons. But 1958-59, 1961-64—incredible. MVP, 2 Gold Gloves, all-star in 9 different seasons, 10 World Series.
Hell, scratch that bubble. If Munson goes in, Ellie should, too.
I have Elston ahead of Munson as a player, but there should be leeway for great players, players who were important to their teams. It's not the Hall of Homeruns or the Hall of bWAR or fWAR. It's Fame that matter. Munson's tragic passing earns him a place. Ray Chapman and Carl Chapman should go in together. Rizzuto and Pee Wee. Gene "Stick" Michael because he created the last great Yankee dynasty. The Hall should memorialize great players AND GREAT BASEBALL STORIES.
ReplyDeleteIIHIIFII...C should be in the Hall too. I love you, Commentariat. [sniff sniff]
Elston Howard should be in the hall (I actually thought he was already). My Yankees jersey is 15 so you can guess how I feel about Muncon. Keller and Meusel are both probably not in the hall because most of the rest of their teams are in. Guidry should be in. Similar career stats to Koufax for the doubters and a magical 1978 as Winnie pointed out earlier this week.
ReplyDeleteMr. Sardonicus! I WISH that he was the manager!
ReplyDelete