Consider:
1. Over Cole's final five regular season starts, he gave up 17 earned runs — nine homers — over 29.1 innings. His ERA: 5.22. And with the exception of his last Texas start, most were big games (Toronto, Boston, Milwaukee, Boston...) We kept waiting for him to shut down a lineup. He kept messing up.
2. Cole's most recent playoff start - last October, the wild card against Boston - was a certifiable disaster: He didn't make it to the third inning. Brutal loss. End of season. (Shades of Scherzer last night.)
3. Over his final six starts, Nestor Cortez surrendered only five runs - one homer - over 33.1 innings. On the season, Cortez's ERA (2.44) is a full run below Cole's (3.50.) Over his last two starts - against Baltimore and Boston - Nestor gave up 2 hits over 13.1 shutout innings. How the fuck can they overlook this?
4. Oh, and Luis Severino is simply coming off of a 7-inning no-hitter. In 16 innings since returning from the injury list, he allowed three runs. For the season, his ERA (3.16) also beats Cole's. WTF?
Alas, one stat apparently overrides all the others: The Yankees pay Cole far more money. Thus, he's the ace - just as Josh Donaldson will be the 3B, Aaron Hicks the LF, and Giancarlo Stanton the DH. Wait and see.
In his heyday, Joe Torre used to say that October is no time to make friends. Once the playoffs began, veterans held no extra sway. Thus, Tino Martinez was benched, and Chuck Knoblauch banished to DH. I wonder if Boone has the same outlook, or the same command of his lineup?
Scattered thoughts:
1. After day one, one thing is clear: Whomever has the strongest bullpen, that's the team to beat. The Cards couldn't close. Cleveland and Seattle could. And the Mets were left holding the Scherzer card too long. (Their Gerrit Cole?) Do the Yankees have a plan for innings seven-through-nine?
2. Luis Castillio pitched 7.1 shutout innings yesterday, crushing Toronto at home. If the Yankees had been willing to give up Volpe or one of the Oswalds, he could have been ours. Instead, we have Frankie Montas. Over time, I wonder how that decision will age?
3. Weird listening to Michael Kay and A-Rod call yesterday's Phillies/Cards game. Entering the ninth, Kay asked, "Do the Phillies have a rally in their bones?" Later, in the Mets game, Coney was analyzing exit velos. October...
Someone here said last week something like: Vlad Jr. will regret flaming about not in our house.
ReplyDeleteYep.
Does Kay have anything original and non-irritating in his bones?
ReplyDeleteTo paraphrase the famous Lloyd Bentsen comment:I remember Joe Torre. I saw Joe Torre manage. Aaron Boone, you’re no Joe Torre!
ReplyDeleteThe more I think about the team the worse I feel about our chances. Cole, Donaldson, Stanton, Hicks, Chapman….these are terrible players to rely on. What can we realistically expect from LeMahieu and Carpenter? Are the Oswald Bros ready to contribute? I mean REALLY contribute…the bullpen is a numbing farrago of broken down spare parts. The starting rotation gives away homers like hotcakes at an all you can eat breakfast buffet.
But again, there is Boone. We are saddled with arguably the worst game manager in the Bigs. I doubt he vould manage a fart after a baked bean dinner. Even if the team plays to the height of expectations, he will find a way to tear it all down.
Sorry for the negativity, but I’m just not feeling it. Maybe writing it down will help me expunge it.
Enjoy the autumn weekend!
I have a feeling that Stanton is getting hot for the playoffs. Sure he gets himself out of sync, or gets hurt and looks bad, no horrible. But he's not a choker like Chapman. Stanton over the past few games looks like he's seeing the ball, and making the ball scream, SSS be damned. Look for Stanton to be the surprise of the play-offs.
ReplyDeleteOnly the Dodger fans have the right to be feeling smug, yet they have their issues as well. Let's keep a stiff upper lip, Brit style.
Amen, guys. No, this Yankees team is not going anywhere.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, the reason is the same old, same old, as it has been since 2004: not enough starting pitching. And, this year, not enough bullpen, too.
But always, always, always: not enough starting pitching to win it all. And leading with Cole just makes it worse.
NO!
ReplyDeleteHorace....very true but it all emanates from the incompetent, aloof and Bloated Front Office. A completely farcical group of people labeled as management.
ReplyDeleteAnd BTR, you have every reason to be negative. Negativity is what binds us all together on this blog. If the Yankees ever won the World Series, we would worry that Cory Lidle had been reanimated and was steering the team float down the Canyon Of Heroes.
I can only wish we had Corey Lidle in this rotation. But really, Nestor is good, Sevvy is good if he's well, even Taillon can be good. It's Cole, given the role of ace by dint of his salary, who's the problem. If he was our number three or, better, four, he'd be great. He's just not a great number one. Or a good one.
ReplyDeleteThe real problem, as always, is that salaries determine pecking order instead of merit. Which is the American way and the Yankee way. But not a very effective way.
Carl, LMAO!
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ReplyDeleteMichael Kay and A-Rod call yesterday's Phillies/Cards game
Nothing would make me reach for the TV clicker faster...
Which game is Fabulous Frankie Montas starting?
ReplyDelete@btr999, Yeah, you hit the nail on the head. There are some atrocious players on this ball club, who make incredible salaries based on past performance (of almost a decade before). And Yankee management always puts these overpaid, underperforming guys in the spotlight. How can they possibly win the championship? It's about a 1 in 10,000 chance. If all these underperforming guys suddenly wake up and play great for a month ....
ReplyDeleteCincy didn’t want Peraza or Cabrera they wanted Volpe/Dominguez plus more, the Yanks couldn’t match. Rondon would’ve been a good plan b but didn’t seem available
ReplyDeleteCole should start game 1. He's the most likely to give us a long quality stsrt, and with our bullpen we cant afford to run out someone who will only go 5 to 6 innings. I know he didnt do the job last year but that's irrelevant. And we've got to hope he solves his homerun problem because if he doesn't we are not going to win anyway even if he is demoted to bo. 2 or 3
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