Have Yank fans seen the last of DJ LeMahieu? And nine other takeaways from last night.

 1. There's no humane way to say this. Yesterday, the Death Barge pulled the plug on DJ LeMahieu. He probably won't be back. Maybe never. His 2024 numbers are staggeringly bad: .204 with 2 HRs, and coupled with a clear decline in fielding. Awful. 

The Yankees have him for two more seasons, at $15 million per. Next winter, he might be held up as the poor-mouth excuse for not signing Juan Soto. 

I still recall the clutch HR he hit against cheating Houston in the 2019 playoffs, which led to Lil Altuve's walk-off on Aroldis. Damn. Maybe he'll come to Tampa next February, conjuring the usual crapola of spring renewal. I'll try to believe it. But he's in a four-year slump. Generally, careers don't survive them.

2. Was last night the official coming out party for Austin Wells? YES flashed a graphic comparing his 2024 to the rookie seasons of Yogi, Thurman, Bill Dickey and - gulp - Gary Sanchez. He's right up there with the - um, gulp - greats? If Ben Rice can return to catching - he seems the type who can - we could be set at that position for years. 

3. After receiving massive condemnation, the Yankee bullpen has thrown 13 straight zeros. (Four came from converted Nestor Cortez.) It's nice to see zeros. But nobody's kidding ourselves here. No lead is safe. No lead will ever be safe. As currently constructed, this is not a world champion bullpen. 

4. WTF, Baltimore? This was gonna be their year. They had the great young catcher, the game's biggest prospect, the team of ascending stars - and they're following the spiral of Toronto in recent years. Despite our horrible August, they never gained on us. Crazy. Over the last 30 days, Adley Rutschman is hitting .193, and Jackson Holliday, in his second go-around, is .178. Did we overestimate them? (Note: We still face them in three games late this month.) 

5. So, we blew out KC - like old times, right? But if the Yankees have shown anything this season, it's that they can run ice cold at a moment's notice. How can you ever feel confident about this team? 

6. Isn't it fun to see The Martian in CF, flanked by two greats - an OF that could play together for years. Close your eyes and dream. Last night, it worked. 

7. Funny how when a player faces a career threat, his bat perks up. So it is with Alex Verdugo. Fine with me, especially when teams throw RHs against us. But we're at the point of the season where a guy's numbers, flashed on the JumboTron, tell us everything. Verdugo sits at .237, with a lame 12 HRs. I like the guy. I really wanted him to succeed, and maybe he'll whack a few against Boston this weekend. But his time has run out.  

8. Long ago, we'd look at Bobby Witt Jr. and see him someday in pinstripes. But we haven't had those feelings in this decade. Close your eyes, and you see him playing for the Dodgers, or maybe the Mets. 

9. Seth Lugo tonight, v Stroman. We're ripe for a loss, and then a rubber game that sets up another series loss, after we took Game One. I'm sorry, but you can't NOT think of it.

10. Anthony Volpe got in last night as a pinch runner. He's played in 143 games, out of 144. He could use a rest. And it's nice to see Oswaldo out there. The guy seems to have finally figured out MLB pitching. They mustn't let him die on the vine.