1. Jhony Brito crashed with a toxic cloud worthy of the Southern Railway Co. He started the night as an exciting 25-year-old with an enticing future; he finished as Vidal Nuno III.
That shot of him seated in the dugout - shell-shocked, as the totality of the disaster became clear - belongs in some Yankee museum of the grotesque. (Imagine the opposite of Monument Park.)
Of course, he'll get another start. What choice do we have? Starting at Scranton last night was Ryan Weber, age 32, who went 5 innings and gave up 4; his ERA now sits at 9.26. Carlos Rodon has a bad back, and who knows when Setback Sevy Severino will return? Even Will Warren, who had started strong at Double A, got blasted last night: 3.2 innings, 5 earned runs.
It took the Yankee pitching staff only 13 games to be so strung out that Boone called on a position player. It's mid-April, and we are already desperate for Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortez to pitch deep into starts. I don't want to do a Chicken Little. The sky is not falling, but the sea levels are rising.
2. Harrison Bader says he's almost good to go. Soon, he'll start a rehab assignment in the minors.
That means Cooperstown Cashman must finally decide the fate of Aaron Hicks' contract. I think we've all has ruled on Hicks: He cannot hit, and he's lost steps in the field. But his contract is still strong as a rock. It belongs in that reverse Monument Park.
Honestly, I still don't know what to make of Bader. He looked great last October, against Cleveland and Houston, (aside from one botched fly.) But his offensive numbers in St. Louis - a career .245 with little power - don't rouse goosebumps. His Gold Glove will move Judge back into RF, Stanton into a DH totality, and cause Franchy Cordero and/or Oswaldo Cabrera to lose playing time.
Is Bader the guy who hit .333 with 5 HRs in last year's post-season? Or the one who batted .217 - no HRs - in September?
For the record: Jordan Montgomery has started three games for SL this year. His ERA is 2.45. How much of a disaster was that trade?
3. What a sad and hopeless night. I turned on YES in the bottom of the first, and had to press my nose to the TV, because I couldn't believe my eyes. Entering the 4th, I wondered if we might be no-hit. It's been a while since the Yankees were so completely wiped out of a game in the first inning. In modern professional sports, it's rare to see a team so humbled.
4. Tampa is officially becoming scary. I wonder whether the Rays are a great team - or this is just early season craziness?
I do know this: In recent years, whenever the Yankees rattled off a big winning streak, they soon balanced it with a bunch of losses. Is Tampa a different kind of team?
We don't play them until May 5. Surely, by then, they will have returned to earth, right? Or is the season a microcosm of last night? Are we simply playing for a wild card, but just don't know it?
A few more starts like this and The Martian will be traded for Kluber or Greinke or Bumgarner, you fill in your favorite has been.
ReplyDeleteCashman is remarkably terrible.
ReplyDeleteBoone is an idiot.
Hal ain't yer pal.
Wild card? We should be so lucky.
The Rays haven't played any strong team yet...give it time...it's how you play in October not in April...
ReplyDeleteBrito's gotta get the ball down. Pitch better. That's it.
ReplyDeleteYoung pitchers oftentimes can't fix what they're doing wrong on the mound during a game. That's how games like last night happen. It might have helped to have a much more experienced pitching coach. But who knows.
The guy who came in next after Brito was just as bad.
Of course Brito has to get more starts. You can't send a guy down after one terrible start. Not when he's given you two good ones already and the rest of the rotation is in shambles.
Tampa Bay is for real. I don't see them falling on their faces this year. Someone will have to come out & play great just to have a chance at beating them in any one particular game. Tampons always emphasize the fundamentals, both physically and mentally. When do they ever make stupid decisions and bad mistakes? This year, it seems never. Last year, they had an off year. Seems like this year they came out with a purpose to prove last year was a fluke. This being baseball, you'd think they'd have to lose at least 40 games this year, right? With a lot of lousy teams all over baseball, maybe not.
Yanks will do well this year to get the wild card. They better win the championship this year because the window of opportunity with this current group of players is almost closed. Next year will probably require a massive makeover to stay relevant. Cashman won't be up the job.
Ranger, as Yankees fans we know that only too well (for the past 14 years)
ReplyDeleteOakland may have a few more SP available to trade.
ReplyDeleteThat's worked for Asshman in the past right?
Where's Jeff Weaver when you need him?
Who knows what we'll get out of Harrison Bader. I still think that deal was strictly a preparatory move to negotiate the big Judge contract during the winter. They probably saved 40 or 50 million, at least. If they'd gone into the Judge negotiations without anyone in the outfield, that would've been like going into battle from a kneeling position. Judge's agent would've felt empowered to ask for more and Cashman would've felt like he had to give more to avoid losing Judge. HAL's accountants loved what the Bader acquisition would do and that's why Cashman got the new extension on his contract. And it turned out that they were right, financially speaking. They got Judge re-signed, for what is probably close to a bargain price.
ReplyDeleteSo whatever Bader does is icing on the cake for management. He's already served his purpose. Which was to save a bunch of money for ownership/management. From a baseball standpoint, it was a crazy trade. Look at it this way, if they turned around and tried to trade Bader for a starting pitcher, would they get a pitcher like Montgomery? Nope, maybe another Montas, someone's damaged goods, but not even close to Montgomery. Bader will probably hit a bit and play pretty good defense when he's not hurt. But he's always been a very mediocre hitter, around .250. What makes you think that he'll turn into a much better hitter here? The playoffs last year, he had a hot streak, small sample size and all. Perhaps he hits a few more homers here. Yankee coaching loves to emphasize launch angles & exit velocity. So maybe he hits .220 with more power.
I remember when Bader first came off the IL for the Yanks last year, he had a few good games. He got hits with guys on base, drove in runs with singles. Batting coaches probably took him aside after that and told him: "Look here, kid, we don't hit singles here with guys on base. We hit home runs or nothing at all". And sure enough, his batting average took a big drop. Then the playoff home run streak happened. Small sample size and all, but look for a microscopic batting average and much increased power this year from Bader. That's what happens with most guys on this club.
ReplyDeleteHow you play in April helps determine who and how much you have to play in October.
ReplyDelete13-0 is a new record for season starts. That doesn't bode well. Tampa doesn't have a long and ugly history of collapsing later in the season, so right away they have a commanding divisional lead.
Looking forward to whoever we play in the best of five wild card round! Should be really exciting. Especially when everyone on the Yanks suddenly can't hit anymore.
What will we get out of Bader? Good CF, .245 BA with limited power, and he will be back on the IL later this year. Same as in STL.
ReplyDeleteWhither Hicks? Probably on the bench, say g’bye to Haystacks Calhoun.
And speaking of withering, so what to do with Brito? Even if we wanted, we can’t send him down, there’s nobody else. The barn’s pretty empty, populated with unready young colts and broken down nags. I would pitch him again in relief this series. I didn’t see the the first inning, but the PC’s need to look at what happened pitch by pitch and get to work.
Wow, Dominguez already being sat in Somerset. Don’t want to play him too much ‘cause he might, you know,, get better. Good to know the organization’s trademark stupidity extends all the down through the minors as well.
On a lighter note, Nate the BB’s band, The Open Doors, will be playing in Brooklyn later this spring. One guitar, baby, vocals, and Nate Rose on the skins. Ain’t got got no bass. Keyboards? That’s for blouse wearin’ poodle walkers.
Here they are, if you dare: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RxekgYIL0g
Bornto,
ReplyDeleteJasson is struggling mightily at the plate.
It makes sense. A couple of weeks ago he is hobnobbing with the big boys in a first class environment and playing well.
Now he's back in AA riding the mostly air conditioned bus and staying in a Motel 6.
He is probably a combination of depressed and pressing. He will straighten out and then, some time after that, go up to Scranton.