1. Artificial intelligence is going to destroy us.
2. Vladimir Putin is an asshole.
3. It'll be a year before Philadelphia fixes I-95.
4. Anthony Volpe is struggling.
Since this is a Yankee fan blog, let's go directly to No. 4.
Volpe's BA is now .186 - Joey Gallo Country - a level where it's hard to keep falling, because one lousy bunt single per week will maintain it. He leads the Yankees in Ks with 77 - 14 more than the runner-up (who is Aaron Judge, so we live with it.) He sees nothing but curve balls, up and in, and they might as well be deer ticks, considering how he flails at them. Volpe he hasn't hit since spring training, when the tabloid ink fairies blessed him, and his "once upon a time" began.
We wanted so badly to believe in that old Yankee magic show...
In March, the Yankee brain trust - seduced by the Greek chorus of Gammonites - ruled that Volpe could skip Triple A and vault straight into Cooperstown Monument Park. Some didn't even try to hide their view that he was the Second Coming of Jeter - a terrible weight to hang on any rookie. (Witness the lead noose worn by "The Martian," Jasson Dominguez, since his heralded signing.) Not only did Volpe bypass Scranton, but he leapfrogged Oswald Peraza, who had rightfully earned a shot as Yankee SS, based on his 2022 performance (.259 with 19 HRs in Triple A.) But Peraza started slowly and tweaked a gonad, and Volpe - the local hero - electrified the Gotham publicity machine in a way not seen since Greg Bird, Gary Sanchez, Clint Frazier... um... Estevan Florial?
Everybody wanted to believe.
Now the question is whether the Yankees have irreparably damaged Volpe's confidence, as they did with a lost generation of former future stars.
Now, their hands hold the plug - ready to pull it at any minute.
We're a month from the all-star break, barely two until the trade deadline, when there is a decent chance that either Volpe or Peraza will be dealt. The Yankees have incredible needs and nothing to trade. Nobody wants Jackie Donaldson. Nobody will take Willie Calhoun. They'll demand Volpe, Peraza and Dominguez, (now hitting a meager .210 at Somerset.) And the Yankees will not do what other teams would consider: Retooling for 2024. Once again, they will go all in on the final wild card slot, because that's what the Yankees do.
Truth be told: I dunno WTF to do about Volpe. The other night, in the ninth against Boston, he blasted the game winning HR, though it curved foul at the last-minute. Then he made the final out. If that ball had stayed fair, we'd be still chanting his name. But it didn't. The fairy tale is coming to an end.
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45 comments:
There is no disgrace in a young player being sent down for some retooling, especially one who basically skipped AAA. I’m not sure why this is even an issue, except as an example of why the hype train should be permanently derailed. I just hope there is a coach somewhere in the org who can help Volpe be the best player he can be.
I’m most afraid that Duque is right in wondering if the team will do something stupid at the T/D, like trading Peraza or Volpe in a desperate attempt to clear the very low bar of the final WC spot. Last night we watched the 2000 WS on Yankee Classics. My wife, a fan but not obsessive as most of us, suddenly broke out with her longest and loudest rant ever, comparing the 2000 squad to the current version. As Dylan wrote, “ every one of them words rang true, And glowed like burning coal”. It was a scathing indictment of the current roster construction vis a vis the 2000 edition. Wished I would’ve taped it.
They have given Volpe plenty of time and he needs to work on things out of the glare.
If he has all the intangibles that we have heard so much about, he will come back better than ever.
Send him down.
Bring Peraza up and plug him in.
Trade Torres after the All-Star break and bring Volpe back up and put him at 2B . Get a young well scouted pitcher or someone's 4th OF who is really an OF and can hit around .250 in return for 1 1/2 years of Torres at Arbitration rates. In reality, we are not going to sign Torres long term , so pull a T Bay and trade him now.
I rest my case.
It would be one thing if you didn’t have a replacement, but Peraza should be given look. Maybe give Volpe some time at 2nd & 3B now at AAA.
Haiku Tuesday:
Enough on Volpe
There is more wrong with this team
Our coaching staff sucks
Haiku Tuesday:
2023
Quite painful for you and me
WATCH OUT FOR THAT TREE !
Haiku Tuesday:
Hal and Cash and Boone
Silent Screams and Broken Dreams
Judge is all we got
Haiku Tuesday:
Is no one else here
OH NO my dog just farted
Time for more coffee
I have to agree with all of the above. I will add that if a young player's confidence is such that he falls apart because he was sent down (especially players in their early twenties) then perhaps it was never really there. And just what in the hell IS going on with The Martian? Is this more of the same ineffective coaching philosophies that has lasted for over twenty years? It started with the inability to develop starting pitching, now the virus has spread into positional players. With the exception of Judge, players who are planted in Yankee farms inevitably contract some kind of wilting fungus and go to the burn pile. WTF, we're the East Coast Angels. We ARE good at turning starting pitchers into middle and long relievers. Count your blessings!😱
Glad to see no EBD. I just tried reading comments on the last post and was bored to tears. No wit, no humor, just harangues.
So, Duque, can you just block that sucker? I realize he/she/it/they will be back under another guise, but it's a start.
Meanwhile, I am touched by the poetry of AA.
As far as this team goes, maybe it's time we cawww-aw for Super Chicken.
Haiku Tuesday:
Non stop EBD
Can you just block that sucker
Touched by poetry
As the Toecutter said in Mad Max, she has a pretty face but no sense of humor, and what happens when you lose the face?
@ Kevin, Agree on Volpe's confidence. If he really has it, a demotion won't make a dent. My take on him right now is that he won't or can't make adjustments. So he's likely another mechanical player.
I hope that's not the case with the Martian, that they're trying to turn him into another .180 home run hitter. That was the thing I feared most.
They don't develop players here, whether pitching or positional. It's got to be the coaching. And maybe sometimes they select the wrong draft picks too.
Duque, I don't know if any GM would demand Volpe, Peraza and Dominguez. Maybe Peraza. If I was a GM, I'd have soured on Volpe by now. But who knows, maybe it's all on the coaching staff here. They have a fabulous record of ruining everyone they touch.
Wonder how Juan Soto is doing in Friar Town. There was a time last year when I would've traded the entire damned farm system for Soto. I know he got off to a very slow start this year. When they played the Yankees, Soto seemed to heating up. And just then he got injured and missed the last game of that series. Can the Yankees cause injuries just by looking at a player?
Soto seems to have rallied a little. He's put to .869 OPS, and leading the NL in walks.
Agree with all of you here. And look what we've come up with:
—Yanks can't draft the right players
—Yanks can't develop players
—Yanks can't trade for players
—The only exception is Judge, the man who went to his own trainers and coaches. And still gets hurt too much.
Hmm...there's seems to be a trend developing before my eyes...can't quite decipher it...can you guys help me out? Because, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that all this means the Yankees are run by a bunch of incompetent boobs with only an incidental interest in winning.
Don't know any haiku, but how about a bedtime ditty?
"Cash is a genius that I know
Because the writers tell me so."
Haiku Tuesday:
Snatch up your ban hammer
Smash it down on EBD
Do it today
Haiku Tuesday:
Nicely done Hammer
Rappel Rappel straight to Hell
Down Down Down Cashman
What surprises me is that when they did away the shift I thought BAs would go up 20-30 pts. How could they not, but it seems like it's gone the other way. It just goes to show that there is no coaching in the minors. Nobody hits behind runners, no one goes to the opposite field, it's painful to watch. Those 2000's Yankee/Red Sox games lasted forever, but at least they were fun to watch.
That's a great point, Celerino. Baseball in general—and the Yankees in particular—seem fanatically devoted to a brand of baseball that is going to destroy the sport.
Mr. Firefly:
I would be honored to have a beer with you down in Moosic. The week of August 24 is Iron Pigs week you know. Let me know the day you're going and I'll check the boss' schedule. Maybe we can put something together.
Haiku Tuesday:
No more small ball Norm
Exit Velo Long Ball Porn
Shameful Angry Scorn
On a side note, the Mets have signed Luke Voit to a minor league deal.
Hope they have a good weight room in triple-A.
And to complete the triad...from Tom Slick:
"He won't quit because you know there's no such word as fail to"
That's not a Hal quote...
Love the Haiku.
When do the goat yoga and origami classes begin?
Hal spends too much time slapping his Thunderbolt Grease-Slapper.
Please feel fre to delete it is not in the standard of the very good posters on here but I was bored and fed up with this farce of a Yankess team so I tried to do something constructive
I'm moved to poetry in the style of Rabbie Burns Ayrshire farmer womaniser and drunkard
Aye Josh Donaldson sign o the Yankees strife
Wi a 143 average and a troublin life
Hal the stingy owner coonts his pennies sair
While fans anguish in deep despair
Maw Boone the mainiger glakit and dour
Tries tae rally the laddies but the team's just tae poor
Stanton ay hurtin maistly sat doon
Leavin a team well truly in gloom
Puir wee Florial trapped in Scranton never to be free
Nae call-up in sight a richt sad decree
His talents unseen hidden away
In the depths o' minors where he'll alwaiys stay
Volpe oor great hope noo jist swings for the fences
But the curveball wiles leaves him in suspenses
Soon tae bi sent doon again anither grand hope bites the dust
Unable tae hit it his dreams begin tae rust
Readin ma pals posts on IIHIIFIIC
Sharin laughs friendship and fun sae deep
Tho the team may be dreich wan thing I can say
I thank the guid Lord for makin me a Yankee fan every day
What some of the words mean
Glakit
https://www.scotslanguage.com/articles/view/id/5074
Dreich
https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/dreich
@ Scottish Yankee fan, Hey man, I Love it! Hard to decipher some of it, but it looks and sounds great. Sort of like that short story by Robert Louis Stevenson "Thrawn Janet". Didn't know what I was reading half the time, but it was still scary as hell.
@ Mildred Lopez "Snatch up your ban hammer"
No can do at this time. I can't bring down the hammer on anyone without receiving a Fedex package from Heaven. (Did you know they have a Fedex office in Heaven?)
I get a hammer with someone's name on it. Then and only then can I proceed. If I did whatever I wanted, that would be called going "rogue". Lucifer, the last guy to go rogue in Heaven, got his wings clipped and was demoted. Me, I don't even have a pair of wings. I get four wheels, a ride in a Dodge Challenger Hellcat to the chosen destination. On the fateful day, it arrives, usually driven by one of the office boys from Heaven. I always tell the office boy to "shove over, I'm driving".
Thanks for the kind words Hammer
Thrawn Janet is a classic I am glad you have read it.
Here are some of the words that might be hard to understand in wat I wrote
Coonts is just counts Scots shorten lots of words but for some unknown reason elongate others
Sair is just sore but it rhymes with pair
Glakit a stupid idiotic often annoying person with zero personality who seems to walk about in a permanent daze a glakit person can be described as when they walk into a room you feel like someone has just walked out. You usually find when buying something in a shop the person at the caxh till is often glakit and looks like they have never worked the cash register or seen money or a crdeit card before. It is one of those old Scots words that is almost a whole paragraph in a single word when somebody is telling you about someone and they describe them as glakit you know so much about them from just that one word
you pronounce it Glaaykit
Dour is very glum and hangdog word is enlogated when spoken rhymes with poor and has rolling R so sounds like dooourrrr
Sat doon is just sitting down by rhymes with moon and again said elongated doooon
Richt is just right but is said gutteral c like a German word
Dreich is a great word usually to describe the weather sort of horrible day the sky the colour of the pavement (sidewalk) but it can describe a feeling of hopelessness and greyness and general misery like I had big plans to go out today but just felt so dreich when I got up I didn't bother. Pronounced Dreeeccch
If I read the poem out how I normally sound you would struggle a bit to understand me as I speak very fast and I sound more like I speak Gaelic than English but if I slowed down I think you would understand the poem ok
I hate my accent and how I sound but my American friends on facebook all seem to love it for some reason
The office boys in Heaven learned how to drive in Sunday School. Anyway, I keep telling them to send one of the office girls next time. But they must think that would be too distracting to my job. Oh well, at least I get to drive the Challenger Hellcat.
@ Scottish Yankee fan, Thanks very much for the glossary! Yes, it helps greatly!
Anybody else read Scottish Yankee Fan's comments in Irvine Welsh language?
Haiku Tuesday:
Stat twerp spewing hate
That nobody agrees with
But it's not her fault
We Americans love the Scottish accent. It's got character.
The standard American accent is ... boring, bland. Maybe that's why I also like the southern American accents. The only one that I found impossible to understand is the West Texas accent.
Brilliant, Scotland! Just wonderful!
Best tribute to a Scottish poet since "The Poet Ewan McTeagle."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W9p_NFm6qk
Just re-read Scottish Yankee fan's poem with the glossary he provided. Fabulous! Encore, Encore!
Mildred,
Just emailed you, so now you have contact info.
@Scottish Yankee Fan, BRAVO! I agree with Hammer, to my ears it's the very voice of Character. I used to love listening to Sir John Young Stewart, aka Jackie Stewart do Formula One commentary. Great wit, and a fairly decent driver!
JM is just upset because I corrected him two days ago when he erroneously stated that Peraza is out of options. I was perfectly civil about it, but civility is not its own reward here in the know-nothing Frat House. There are so many baseball savants on this blog who have no idea what they're talking about.
Volpe needs retooling at bat — and in the field. Best place for that is Scranton. I think he will thrive at second rather than short. Dump Gleyber at the trade deadline and bring up Peraza at short and Volpe at second if he shows some improvement at Scranton. When in doubt, the mantra should be “Go with youth. Don’t trade for retreads.”
Perhaps Volpe is simply not that good a hitter. His only good minor league hitting numbers were in A ball. In AA and AAA his numbers were anemic. So Cashman the idiot promoted him on the basis of a good spring training, which is a notoriously unreliable indicator of future MLB performance.
The Yankee management's stubborn fealty to an obviously failed experiment with Volpe is a bizarre eclipse of reason and experience by marketing hype. The incompetent gated-community racists who run this team are just DETERMINED that the most prestigious position on this team NOT be occupied by another guy who looks like the poor losers of the birth lottery who collect their garbage or mow their flawlessly emerald green lawns. That's what's going on here--with both the Yankee brass and elements of the fan base.
Judge struggled at every level, even the majors, when first promoted. But he adjusted every time. Our man Sanchez never made the final adjustment. MLB pitchers feasted on him .
Obviously Volpe needs work. He's got some power and if he could cut his strikeout rate and learn to walk and bunt he might become an above average SS.
He's not Jeter. We can't believe our own bullshit.
Perraza may have cooled off but he's earned a chance. Send Volpe down and bring up Perraza.
This team really isn't very good and needs some retooling. We need some major moves snd money spent in the offseason. Our prospects are not the answer
Didi took over at SS and I have to point out that he is quite black. Beware confirmation bias!😱
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