Three games against the Nats! Baseball's third worst team. A true tomato can. Hey, is Clayton Beeter in the rotation?
I guess Boston won't be so smart-mouthy today, as the solo-homer Yanks last night not only belted two more solos - (they lead the world in that grand category) - but they won a solo home game! (I now understand why Jazz Chisholm thought he could win the Home Run Derby; he knew there would be nobody on base!)
In their quests for a wild card berth, the Yanks and Redsocks are now tied in the loss column, at 60 - as the Yanks notched Win Number Two v Boston.
Can you feel the surge, the euphoria, the excitation? Not sure who'll pitch for the Nats - they're 23 games behind Philadelphia in the NL East - (wait, is Adam Ottavino still going?) - but expect close games and - of course - solo homers.
Last night, Trent Grisham contributed two. He has 25 HRs on the year, and 50 RBIs. Of course, he bats leadoff, so it's not his fault if nobody is on base. (Listen: I like Grisham, love how he lopes after long flies and always gets there, right on time. Next winter, he'll get a big contract from somebody - probably a bidding war between us and Stevie Cohen. Would Cooperstown Cashman re-enact the Aaron Hicks experiment? You never know.)
But here's the rub: All this last weekend, when you studied the two lineups, it just didn't seem fair. Boston offered a batting order of ascending young stars, top to bottom. The Yankees countered with - well - Anthony Volpe? Ben Rice? The Martian...?
So... here comes Washington. Should we dare hope for a sweep? This is how the modern Yankees toy with us: Lose to good teams, beat the cupcakes, make the postseason, crap the bed. It's happen again, in slow motion. Howl, howl, howl...
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24 comments:
Hey, we've won 6 out of 9!!
Whoo!
Can we call the Nats the Natsies, like the Metsies?
25 hrs, only 50 RBI’s…only the Yankees
Did he cross home plate twice each time ?
This weekend series is a great example of why I hate the Manfred expanded postseason so much.
I checked FanGraphs on Thursday and then again this morning to see what Playoff Odds they spit out for the Yankees.
(THU) 97.7%
(MON) 95.9%
The Yankees just rolled over and lost 3/4 to their direct competitors for a postseason spot in late August, and their Playoff Odds.... barely moved at all.
What the hell?
In a pre-2012 world, the Yankees would be OUT of the postseason picture right now. Their playoff odds would've taken a huge hit. Their sloppy play would threaten to prove very, very costly.
But in the era of the Manfred postseason, I guess these media-hyped regular season series don't matter at all. Who cares that they lost ground on the first Wild Card spot? There are two other spots for the Yankees to stumble ass backwards into.
Exacerbating the problem is that the AL teams behind them are barely trying. The Rangers have gone 9-13 since the deadline, the Angels are 8-13 since the deadline. The Guardians are freefalling, in a 3-10 slide and back under .500. The Rays are 16-29 since the start of July, one of the worst teams in the AL. The Royals seem like the only team interested in challenging the Red Sox, Mariners, or Yankees for a Wild Card spot, but they're 18-32 against playoff-positioned teams. They feel like frauds too.
The 2025 Yankees keep reminding me of the 2008 squad, which had the same exact 70-60 record at this point. The 2008 team never felt good enough and when they missed the postseason, I remember thinking, "Yeah, I get it. They need to do better to be worthy of a postseason ticket." (Same with the 1986 Yankees, for the old timers.)
I'm frustrated that any team can play as poorly as the Yankees did this weekend (or as poorly as the Yankees have played for MONTHS) and still get handed a participation postseason spot.
That was Dwight Evans stat line every August.
But he should be in the HOF. /s
Zach, Zach, Zach. Sure, you're right. But there are 32 regular season games left. We could catch the Jays. (lol!) We could get beat out by the Royals. A lot can happen over 32 games. For instance, Volpe was benched yesterday and will be benched today. See? Things change. Which was a pretty good movie with Don Ameche, who was so identified with the role of Alexander Graham Bell that for a while, slang for the telephone was "the Ameche."
But, I digress. Naturally, Boone is still our manager. So you know some of those games will be lost due to managerial incompetence. And sure, Judge is batting in the .100s since coming back from his injury, "cured." And of course, Wells will be in the lineup sometimes, which will lower our chances of winning. But, hey. That's baseball, Suzyn.
Now just ignore everything I just wrote, except for the part about Don Ameche, and have yourself a large cocktail once you hit lunchtime. You've earned it, following this sad excuse for a team.
Grisham!
"The center fielder’s fourth multi-homer game of 2025 put him in rare company with franchise legends Mickey Mantle (1960) and Joe DiMaggio (1939), who each had four such games in a season while manning center field."
Grisham has 25 and 51. So there.
Amazing that Volpe has 65. How did that happen?
Need clarification of "Should we dare hope for a sweep?". For the Yanks or the Nats?
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving , hysterical, naked,,,, MOLOCH INDEED!
Welcome back. We've missed your analysis and perspective. Spot on as usual.
If they don't go 6-1 this week there's really no point to paying attention in Sept and Oct. Probably not much point anyway, but if they can't beat up the tomato cans it really is over.
Also, a PSA: the RailRiders are hosting the SMets this week. 6 big games. Scranton's heroes currently have a 3 game lead over the evil Syracus-ians in the International League second half standings. At stake is a postseason visit to Jacksonville to take on first half champ Jumbo Fish. Winner of that 3 game series claims what, before MLB's hostile takeover of the minors, used to be called "The Governor's Cup". Exciting week ahead for the best team in the organization.
Agreed. Welcome back, Zack.
Bitty, the Nats will always be the Natsies in my Heart of Hearts.
Great post, Zach. And just to riff on it, the Yanks have also adapted the strategies of those "small-market" (read, "undercapitalized") teams that simply try to make the playoffs every few years and then hope to steal a championship.
Hence trading four young pitchers for a one-year rental of Juan Soto. Hey, it almost worked: Yanks got great AL playoff match-ups, then were fortunate enough to run into a Dodgers team that was badly injured. Had it not been for that Fabulous Fifth, they might have actually pulled off a championship, and Hal & Pal would still be doing a victory lap while telling us that Soto did his work, and now would be replaced by those great kids, Spencer & The Martian.
Winnie, if you say "The Natsies" fast three times...
And Ken - I recently got the facsimile edition of Howl's drafts. Really interesting.
Gents, there are lies, damn lies, and then there are statistics
That was some wild party at Sharon's house.
"Probably not much point anyway"
Same as it ever... was.
Are you referring to this evening's starting pitcher?
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