It's hard to say what best epitomized last night's Yankee tragicomedy, but I hereby nominate this sorry swing by Anthony Volpe, ending the 8th with two runners stranded.
Look carefully. Savor the pain, as if wriggling a bad tooth. The ball lands a foot off the plate, with Volpe flicking like Lee Trevino from a sand trap. Strike three. Inning over. Threat extinguished. It's still April, too soon to push the red button. But we can start worrying about Volpe. It's year three. It's later than it seems.
I won't pin last night's loss on Volpe. The entire batting order - save Aaron Judge and Ben Rice - did next to nothing. (The lone hit, a single, came from Paul Goldschmidt, whose one HR came on March 29, the 20-9 laugher against Milwaukee.)
We keep waiting for someone, anyone, to step up, before Judge cools. In theory, Cody Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm should start hitting. In reality, we might be witnessing the horror of a meltdown season. What if Volpe, Austin Wells and The Martian are simply not the future stars we sought? Add an ever-flailing Oswaldo Cabrera, and this lineup resembles the LA Angels during their wasted Mike Trout washout seasons. Gaze into the abyss...
Scattered notes on last night:
1. Somewhere out there - in a place that calls itself Somerset, though it is actually Bridgewater. New Jersey - DJ LeMahieu began his rehab. He went 3-3 with a HR, playing 2B for five innings. Good for him. We can close our eyes and dream, right? Still, he's two weeks away, at least - if he doesn't tweak something. And last year, he hit .204 with 2 HRs. He's 36. It's New Jersey. And it's a long, hard road back.
2. The Master, John Sterling, is going to host a talk radio sports show on Saturdays. At last, hopefully, we will know his Homer Hollers for the new Yankees, right? Maybe. You can't predict radio, Suzyn.
3. Yesterday, Giancarlo Stanton took batting practice. Hooray. My question: Did he run the bases? The best line about Stanton I've heard came in yesterday's comments from HoraceClarke66:
"Giancarlo is a month away, and always will be." I think he nailed it.
4. Statistically, the Yankee starting rotation is the 4th worst in baseball. Congrats to all. Eventually, this deficit will kill the Yankee bullpen. We can blather about young arms on the farms, and maybe delude ourselves into thinking the Yankees have a magical touch, but we are already past the Carlos Carrasco Phase and heading into the Allan Winans Countdown and then, Brandon Liebrandt, Charlie's kid, who is 32.
It's later than it seems.
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42 comments:
The idea that DJL is going to Save Our Season is ludicrous.
I’m heading for the bridge, where it is a cold short drop into the waters of the Harlem River.
Make sure your bag lunch is water resistant
Yeah, it's a damned shame about Volpe. But a bigger shame is that Cashman passed on about 250 viable shortstop free agents (Lindor, Seagar), and our own, homegrown Peraza, and decided this was the answer in his eternal quest to create his own Jeter.
Brian Cashman could not create breakfast out of a bowl of poured cereal and a quart of milk.
Yes, time to face up about Volpe. He should be treated as what he is: a weak hitting, glove first SS. He should be dropped to #9 in the order and PH for as needed. Let him play his way in to being an essential player. If he doesn’t, trade him in a year or two, before he turns into Gleyber Torres.
Oh I forgot, there’ll be no baseball in 2027.
Volpe should've been traded over the winter. His value is plummeting faster than Keith Moon's lead balloon. I think he should be a .300 hitter, but he needs a personal hitting coach to provide much more intensive guidance. He's got the wrong approach, and the stupid torpedo bat only made it worse.
Much as it pains me to admit... Volpe is as you all described. That last at bat was as pointless as anything I have ever seen. I used to have his AYG-HAB at TBD. It BD It's 2.1. Time to look for a replacement.
Also, here's a radical idea, stop with the R L R L crap and bunch hitters who can actually hit, together. That way when one of them gets a hit the next guy might too. This would lead to something called scoring runs. I know, crazy right?
Yep, it should've been Cory Seager, a lefty bat. Would've solved a helluva lot of problems. Like Cashman wouldn't have had to trade four pitchers for Juan Soto.
BTW, Artful Dodgers let him walk away, but still won the World Series last year without him. So more than one way to skin a cat. Everyone else is gettin' it done, but Cashman keeps ploddin' along with his bullshit.
I don't like hitting Judge #2. 4 for 4 last night but nobody on base to drive in. You hit him in the #2 slot and he basically becomes a quasi-leadoff man. If the bottom of the lineup is a wipeout, as Duque says, all the more reason why Judge shouldn't be in the #2 slot.
And why the hell is Volpe hitting so high in the order? Most of the time in the 5 slot. Crazy, eh? He was #6 yesterday, but still too high, I think. He probably should hit 8 or 9. BaBoone, following orders.
That was another playoff preview last night. 2-0 lead in the 6th, fumbled away by BaBoone's stupidity and poor infield defense. That's how they'll blow it. I thought that's how they'd blow it last year, but they made it to the World Series before blowing it. And yes, they ended up blowing it that way (5th inning, final game).
And Holy hellfire, is there any team that goes down quicker in the 9th than the Yankees? Their offense sure makes closing out a game against the Yankees look like a Sunday picnic, eh? But Yankee pitching makes closing out a game against the other team's hitters look like threading the Clashing Rocks.
Oh and it's time to DFA Mark Leiter Jr. There has to be someone better, somewhere. Somewhere.
Three outs on four pitches in the 9th! I missed a pitch somewheres. I thought they made out on three pitches. Which would be one of those baseball no-no's.
The man pitches in every freakin' game. Every freakin' game.
Volpe hit a few homers with that stupid torpedo bat early on in the season. All of a sudden, he's the #5 hitter. WTF, BaBoone, WTF? What the hell is BaBoone's goddamned problem?
A few decades ago, all ballplayers wanted stability. If their manager fumbled everyone around in a different lineup every day, the players would've called for crucifixion.
He's no Tony the Tiger.
Don't worry. The ace is pitching today. We don't need to waste time thinking the Yankees might win for a few innings.
Yeah, it'll be a short one! I'll just catch the first couple of innings, then go for lunch!
Just another thought about that last game. Volpe should've charged that one hop soft liner. He kind of let it play him. And of course he got the in-between hop. If he charges it, maybe he catches it on the fly with a dive or he plays the short hop. A really good SS would've had that one. Hell, Jeter would've had that one, and he was a good SS but not a great one. Piece of cake for Omar Vizquel.
I don't know who the infield coach is, but for a long time now, I noticed that Yankee infielders seem very reluctant to charge the ball. They all stay back and let the ball play them. Wait for the big hop. Meanwhiles, the batter is gettin' mighty close to first base. The epitome of it all was that 5th inning World Series mental blunder by Rizzo.
Years ago, you charged the ball most of the time, if it was a slow hopper or soft liner. Do or die, but at least you took charge and made the aggressive play. Now, they just passively wait for it.
Judge with a rare mistake in the field too. Too aggressive on that one. Should've played it on a hop. Too many blunders and too little hitting by everyone else can make you antsy and try to do too much on your own.
To paraphrase B. Kliban, we are blind and our dog is dead.
PG&E are replacing several power poles/ transformers just outside the house. This means no power for the next six hours. Guess I’m gunna miss watching Rodon’t’s gem today 😔
Relying on Rodon is Risky
You guys need to check out "The Athletic" and their astute article on the brilliance of Cashman's farm system. Ken Rosenthal has either entered into senility or else he's being "taken care of"... Really sickening.
As Tolkien once wrote, “What is The Athletic but a thatched barn where brigands drink in the reek and their brats roll on the floor with the dogs?”
Judge now batting .424 with OPS OF 1.270…somebody better dump a bucket of water on him because he is on fire!
Plus, as an added bonus—-Little Carlos appears to be dealing
Um it's to time give Volpe a break on the bench for a bit
Today’s designated whipping boy (and justifyingly so) Anthony Volpe has struck 3 times already. Yes Joe, he needs a break, and so do we.
Jesus I know he's only 23 but good gawd for every clutch rbi it's 50 awful at bats that follow
Rosenthal has always been delusional. 🙄
Volpe = #9 hitter.
Boone = idiot.
Don't forget, rodent is always 1 bad play in the field behind him leading to total meltdown.
Rosenthal is a rodent.
Coles Left handed Twin
Rodent wins one. Judge is inhuman. Boone is an idiot.
Two out of three...
They should sit Volpe for a week.
All those who say they saw 15-and-10 coming 25games into the season, please look in the mirror and admit (at least to yourself) that you are lying.
Your Tolkien quote was so beautifully used. Damn, I'm jealous! 😈😭
Well, I predicted 96 wins for the year, so I'm Deadeye Dick right on target so far. Excusez moi whilst I pat meself on the back....
I am surprised they've been playing this well. But I can't see it lasting, not with this lineup.
The world isn’t what we want it to be
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