Last night brought everything - the full Monty, the punchbowl turd - a nine-inning horror reel of bad October omens. It was a Fellini movie, a Rube Goldberg loss machine, a PT Barnum exhibit featuring every nightmare, every Babadook, currently slithering around the Yankiverse.
For your consideration...
1. We blew a 5-0 lead. Early on, talking with Stang, we cheered the notion of a laugher. We'd cuff around this sickly NL wild card wannabee, put up double digits, maybe even let Aroldis pitch an inning! Yeah, right. The laugh was on us.
2. Frankie Montas continued to channel Sonny Gray. For some reason, likely linked to an angry memo from Cashman Castle, the YES team keeps insisting that Montas is our 2nd or 3rd starter in the postseason. God help us. At this pace, Montas shouldn't even make the playoff roster. Sonny Gray II.
3. Isiah Kiner-Falefa botched a key grounder in the eighth. Look, I get it why Boone keeps playing the guy: We've got this far with IKF, he always hustles, flushes the toilet, calls everybody "sir" and "ma'am," and the manager wants to show loyalty. In many ways, it's heart-warming. But Kiner-Falefa does not seem to be getting better. The season is grinding him. Oswald Peraza deserved a shot, and it's now clear that he won't get it. This is not going to end well.
5. Injuries. Jose Trevino took a foul to the knee. Marwin Gonzalez suffered dizzy spells. The Yankees will pooh-pooh them. Who knows what to believe? But this we do know: Last night Oswaldo Cabrera, who had never before played 1B, was out there. Ronald Guzman, where are you? This is nuts.
6. Jonathan Loaisiga - gulp - couldn't hold the eighth. Walked the leadoff man. Again, we keep telling ourselves he's the same Johnny Lasagna from 2021, but - no, he's not. Boone's strategy is to get to the 8th and then lock games down with lights-out pitchers. But we don't have them.
7. Boone. 'Nuff said. You can't predict baseball, Suzyn. But don't we all know that, come October, we'll be raging over a fatal decision he made. If Ron DeSantis ran this team, Boonie would have woken up this morning on Martha's Vineyard.
8. Last night, for Scranton, Zack Britton went 0.1 inning. He walked one and gave up a hit. So much for his fabled comeback. Maybe if he had another month? The old Zack, coming back? Nope.
9. Miguel Castro had a worse outing in Double A: 0.1 inning, two hits, an earned run, a walk. Another one bites the dust.
Milwaukee is six games over .500, fighting for the last wild card birth in the NL. And here's the reality: We are like El Chapo. At any moment, we can collapse and lose five straight. Calling Mr. Judge. We need another 2-HR game. What's the problem?
If they make the WS, do they plan on starting Fabulous Frankie Montas in game 8?
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ReplyDeleteCashman is an idiot. Montas is a loser. Holmes is not a closer. Cole is not an ace. Marwin is not a first baseman, nor is Cabrera. Donaldson is not the Donaldson he used to be. IKF is not perfect, but who is? Stanton is not the Stanton of Miami. Judge is not the Savior. Nobody can single-handedly make this team win with this pitching staff.
ReplyDeleteWe are doomed. As every Cashman-Steinbrenner team since 2009 has been doomed. As every one will be until most of us are dead and buried or our ashes are scattered in the wilds of Scranton.
ReplyDeleteDear kindly judge, your honor, my parents treat me rough
With all their marijuana they won't give me a puff
They didn't wanna have me but somehow I was had
Leapin' lizards, that's why I'm so bad
Right, Officer Krupke you're really a square
This boy don't need a judge, he needs an analyst's care
It's just his neurosis that oughta be curbed
He's psychologically disturbed
I'm disturbed
We're disturbed, we're disturbed
We're the most disturbed
Like we're psychologically disturbed
Hear ye, hear ye, in the opinion on this court
This child is depraved on account
He ain't had a normal home
Hey, I'm depraved on account I'm deprived
How the fuck did anyone NOT see that when you take Montas out of that cavern he used to pitch in that he would become less than ordinary?
ReplyDeleteIndeed, ranger. The data was cleverly buried, deep, deep within the "Splits" section of Montas' baseballreference page. It took me all of five seconds to find it—a busy, HOF general manager can't be bothered with nonsense like that.
ReplyDeletePlus, everyone was talking about how fatigued his arm had seemed of late. Huh.
People should remember that IKF is really playing out of position. He won a Gold Glove last year at third base. He should be there instead of Donaldson who needs to learn first base if he hasn't already.
ReplyDeleteIn reference to that human cum stain Ron DeSantis, sending Boone to Martha's Vineyard would be his first rational decision as Boone should be learning the craft of managing a baseball team in the Cape Cod League not on the job in NYC with the Yankees.
Last night is what happens when you constantly go for the "acceptable" rather than the best.
ReplyDeleteCastillio was this year's Verlander. (And, if we end up playing Seattle in the playoffs he will beat us at least twice.)
Freeman was a better solution that Rizzo (who is a good player but is older and broke down as older players do)
I will give Rizzo extra points for being a Judge whisperer. I believe that he is partly responsible for Judge's MVP worthy year.
The downside is he is probably telling him that loyalty to a team only goes so far and that Judge needs to make his best deal wherever that takes him.
Showalter was by far best in class and would have given the Yankees the focus they needed. Also he would have lit a fire under their classic underachievers (Gleyber, Stanton, Hicks,) or chucked them. Instead we get Boone.
Also move IKF to 3B. Play Peraza at SS, let Donaldson DH and BENCH Stanton. And tell Stanton that when a trade comes up in the off season he'd better waive his no trade clause or get used to sitting on wood. (Sadly he might prefer to never play again and just cash the checks. I don't get a lot of heart from him and ,as we all know... you gotta have heart.)
In addition- last night I had a dream (well five actually) but this is the one I’d ever be able to share here :). :
ReplyDeleteJeff Bezos buys the Yankees in the off season.
Jeter is put in charge of the club.
Jeter - in a press conference with Bezos said, and I dream quote:
“I told you you’d be seeing a lot more of me. And although many of you have questions such as who the new GM and Manager is going to be - all I can only say at this time that we’re working on it.
DREAM WORK MAKES OUR TEAM WORK!
Cashman sucks!
ReplyDeleteAgreed! Doug K, I love all of your suggestions. But Brian Cashman will never do them, because Brian Cashman is all about proving the genius of Brian Cashman.
ReplyDeleteA savvy, independent manager who speaks his mind? Perish the thought! Risk more of HAL's money? No, no, no, no.
Yes, Castillo was the guy to go for. Or if you decided the price was too high—hang on to Monty, Sears, Waldichuk, and bring in Robertson.
@Hoss, Indeed, all they had to was hang on to all of these young pitchers they had, Sears, the two W's. The way that the game is played today, with the roster bulging with hard throwing pitchers, almost any decent looking young pitcher can come up from the minors and look pretty good up here for 1-3 innings at a time. They had all they needed and just threw most of it away on a guy who only pitches well in Oakland.
ReplyDelete@AboveAverage, It would be so great if Bezos or Elon Musk would buy the Yankees and hire DJ as the GM. But HAL has been on the record that he'll never sell. And I think he is telling the truth on that point, unfortunately.
@Doug K., Yep, I agree with your suggestions too.
ReplyDeleteAnd they've got to stop with this stupid business of hitting Judge leadoff. If he needed a home run or two for the record, I could see doing it near the end of the season, but it makes zero sense to do it right now. He is not a leadoff man. It's better for the team if he hits 3rd. And I don't like to see Judge running the bases after hitting a single in the leadoff spot. It's unnecessary wear and tear for a guy who has had injury problems in the past. What's going to happen if Judge gets hurt, have the idiots thought of that? That 1 in 10,000 chance of winning a championship will be down the drain.
If Bezos, or especially Musk, purchased the Yankees, I'd switch my allegiance after close to 60 years to the other side of town. Fuck Bezos and especially Musk!
ReplyDelete