Thoughts to celebrate a three (3!) game streak...
With MLB's worst record, the A's sit 15 down in the AL West, 13 in the wild card. So, was our three-game open bar real... or was in Memorex? Tonight, Tampa: Frying pan, meet fire.
2. True to his haunted past, no sooner did Aaron Hicks club his first HR of 2023 then he tweaked himself. A barking hip. Damn.
I don't know what Hicks did to piss off the juju gods, but this is Curse of Oak Island-level shit. It goes beyond Auric G's mathematical sequencing: "Mr. Bond, once is happenstance; twice coincidence; three times enemy action." This is declaration of war. Hicks gets hot, Hicks gets hurt. The poor guy has the Scott Proctor gene. If he goes 4-4, he could die.
It's time to do the Gary Sanchez mercy thing: Let him go. Let him try somewhere else. Whatever he did to the juju gods, they aren't letting up. Mr. Steinbrenner, let this poor man go.
3. With Hicks' injury, here are the updated top 10 Yankee left field rankings.
1. Oswaldo Cabrera (now .193 - just 7 below his listed weight)
2. Jake Bauers (.154, but he sure hit one the other night.)
3. Willie Calhoun (aka : Calhoun I)
4. Isiah Kiner-Falefa (one point behind Oswaldo)
5. Aaron Hicks. (See above.)
6. Kole Calhoun (RISING WITH A BULLET: a 35-yr-old scrap-heaper, now 11-for-22 with 3 HRs at Scranton, bats LH, Calhoun II)
7. Estevan Florial (.280 at Scranton, just disregard the 34Ks in 82 ABs)
8. Franchy Cordero (9 for 18 at Scranton, no HRs)
9. Giancarlo Stanton (out until June)
10. Jasson Dominguez (two hits last night at Somerset, now hitting .200!)
11. Elijah Dunham (25, .243 at Scranton, ho-hum)
12. Brett Gardner (stay by the phone, Gardy!)
13. The waiver wire (new names daily)
14. George Santos (says him)
15. Your name here. (Contact: B. Cashman)
4. Why are we still so enamored with Anthony Volpe (and maybe Oswaldo?) They remain the lone Yankees in the starting lineup without a defined ceiling. Yesterday, Volpe's grand slam once again ignited hopes. Can he hit, say, .280 with 15-20 HRs? I'd take it.
5. Getting back to the Norfolk Tides, where the O's enjoy a rising tide. Last night, their lineup included four guys, each hitting over .300.
Colton Cowser, OF, age 23
Jordan Westburgh, 3B, 24
Joey Ortiz, SS, 24
Lewen Diaz, 1b, 26
Add to this Connor Norby, 2B, hitting .280 - he's 22.
Thanks to eight years of tanking, the O's are stacked. Come August, if they feel like dealing, they should be in a great position to fortify.
In other words, Baltimore is for real. (And Oakland was not.)
Could the Boooooone led Yankees beat the Norfolk tides in a 3 game series?
ReplyDeleteProbably not.
I think there's money to be made if Norfolk changes its name to the Tide Pods.
ReplyDeleteWaiting patiently for Hicks to get a contract extension now that he's got a home run and had a hit or two before that. He's obviously "turned the corner."
JM - I think you meant, "torn his corner"
ReplyDeleteHe turned the corner before he tore it. Not that it matters. Cashman is so excited that his lousy long-term signing hit a homer. Which reminds me of that theory about an infinite number of monkeys on an infinite number of typewriters for an infinite amount of time. Eventually, one will type a Shakespeare play. That's Hicks' homer.
ReplyDelete"Much to Do about Nothing"
ReplyDeleteso, Anthony Volpe looks like a major league player -- from the 1960s before nuclear fitness regimens and the 12 ways of Wonder Bread. Like most of you, I thought an infusion of youth and speed was going to help my team, but basically this guy is Fred Stanley/Jim Mason with an uppercut swing. I dont believe that everybody has to be a lumberjack to be any good in baseball, but at the same time, I don't think Walter Mitty should be shortstop for the Yankees.
ReplyDeleteDeivi Garcia was shoved into an Uber and sent back to Scranton after yesterday’s game.
ReplyDeleteWeissert / Ramirez can’t be recalled yer by rule. Krook is on IL. Only other eligible 40 man roster candidate is Randy Vazquez, who has not looked good in AAA. Their could be an injury designation coming or…something else?
Maybe something else - it could be trade time
ReplyDeleteVolpe really jacked that grand-slam ball. Which, I know, means nothing in and of itself.
ReplyDeleteBut he's a good glove, has stolen 11 bases already without being caught, and has noticeable power. No, he's not Derek Jeter, and chances are he never will be.
But there are exactly 5 men in the history of the sport who have more major-league hits than Derek Jeter. Their names are Pete Rose, Ty Cobb, Henry Aaron, Stan Musial, and Tris Speaker. All of them played 2-4 years more than Jeets did, and two of them played before the erasing of the color line.
So, there's considerable wiggle room there....
.280 with 15-20 homers for Volpe in his rookie year would indeed be awesome.
ReplyDeleteBut even .250 with 15-20 homers, 65 stolen bases, and a good year in the field would also be terrific.
Then we just need to get the Oswaldii going.
Unfortunately, the team has opened a 40 man spot by moving Loaisiga to the 60 day IL and adding Ryan Weber to the 40 man. Weber has posted a rather uninspiring 5.77 ERA at SWB, but he will be in uniform tonight and ready to come in when the Rays take a 6-0 lead in the 3rd inning.
ReplyDelete"Cannon Fodder" Weber. A great choice.
ReplyDeleteBTR, do you really think they can keep it that close into the 3rd?
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed, Ruf!
ReplyDeleteGet ready to be swept by the Tampons. They play better here than in their own park. Maybe Yanks win one game by some kind of miracle, but I wouldn't count on it.
ReplyDeleteVolpe has balls-not-dropped voice. It’s kinda weird. No swagger. Jeter at that age was not taking names and handing out gift baskets afterwards.
ReplyDeleteFun fact, in his career TB starter Rasmussen has pitched 14 scoreless innings against the Yanks.
ReplyDeleteRead ‘em and weep: (Bauers ahead of Bader…Boone does something stupid every game. EVERY game!)
A Volpe (R) SS
A Judge (R) RF
A Rizzo (L) 1B
D LeMahieu (R) 3B
G Torres (R) 2B
J Bauers (L) LF
H Bader (R) CF
J Trevino (R) C
W Calhoun (L) DH
Florial has a .406 OBP. This shows excellent discipline at the plate. If he can sustain this for another month or so, he would have to be considered a serious candidate for promotion given his speed and defensive skills. The strikeouts don't really matter as along as he can get on base at that pace. The power guys can't drive in runners who aren't there. Volpe has been awarded the leadoff spot with an abysmal OBP of .300. Surely even the cognitively challenged Yankee "brain trust" can see the problem with this arrangement.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThey can’t see the problem because they caused it.
And in other news, the brain trust has apparently decided that Bader, currently hitting at a 414 clip is best suited to bat seventh.
ReplyDeleteYou can't make this shit up.
The YESmen had him at over .500 for the last six games. I'm surprised bonehead didn't rest him because he's tired from running the bases.
ReplyDeleteJohn’s out for the series and probably the road trip…. He sounded so weak yesterday.
ReplyDeleteThis game is disgusting.
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping the master is OK.
Herein we see the difference in playing the A’s and playing the Rays.
ReplyDeleteGiven Volpe's history in the minors and his performance so far this year--all of which show a meh OBP in significant sample sizes at upper levels of competition--he should be demoted to sixth or seventh in the batting order, and someone with a better track record should lead off. The pickings aren't great, but LeMahieu, Bader (at least during this hot streak--his OBP history is impoverished), even Torres would make more sense. For now Volpe's BA is south of the Mendoza line, and his OPB is lousy as well--.292 is well below league average of .320--which is a low bar, given that OBP operates on a different scale than BA. Volpe's persistent placement in the leadoff spot is more about merchandising and star-making machinery than sound baseball judgment.
ReplyDeleteSad, so sad, it's a sad sad situation and it's getting more and more absurd.
ReplyDeleteTo quote Sir Elton when he reviewed this games box score.
The litany of silly mistakes and poor play are akin to waterboarding.
It won't kill ya, but it's very unpleasant.
1965 called and wants its Yankees back.
I am going to start to follow the Somerset team.
ReplyDeletethey are 19-10 and have some fun players.
Warren is 3-0 and soon to be bumped up after last night Tanner Maytt too-Tiny .640. ERA.
Cue ominous music--The Martian did not play last night.