Been a long time since a Yankee win conjured up the kinds of symptoms worthy of a Fox News roundup: "... ear swelling, rectal bleeding, droopy face, nasal secretions, spontaneous rooster cawing and the gleeful chattering of suicidal thoughts."
It's hard - no, it's damn near impossible - to imagine this team - this snake-bitten, ill-fated 2025 Yankee bullpen - lasting deep into October.
Ahead by nine, win by one. Against a second-division meatball, playing out a lost season in a half-full stadium. Wow.
Listen: In game after game, even in victories, this Yankee team is sending coded messages to its fan base:
We are doomed. Situation hopeless. It's time for football.
Last night, as Minnesota reclaimed what should have been a laugher, YES man and former Cashman stooge Joe Girardi discussed the ways to manage a postseason bullpen. He said the key is to mix and match, to not overuse the same pitchers night after night, so the opposing team does not see them too often. If that happens, their hitters will break through.
Yep, good thinking, there, Joe. One problem, though. Joe was imagining something that does not currently exist: a Yankee bullpen with depth. Come October, if Luke Weaver throws a scoreless inning in game one, it's guaranteed that he'll be back in game two. And game three. And four, if necessary. He'll pitch until his sphincter explodes, because that's what Aaron Boone does and - to be honest - it's not his fault, because Cooperstown Cashman built for him a house full of ticking time bombs.
Listen: There is no way our bullpen will last three rounds of postseason play. Forget the final week of October. We'll be lucky to get through the final week of September.
Ahead by nine, win by one. Jeeze.
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12 comments:
You are 100% correct, El Duque.
We just have to score 10+ runs every game. That's easy enough.
I was at the game. My buddy, a casual fan, talked trash after we got up 10 to 1. I warned him: I've seen us blow huge leads the past few years and this bullpen is from hunger. Oh to be blissfully ignorant. I've watched this team too much
Hey, the important thing was that this group of 20- and 30-something millionaires was able to get its beauty rest! Sleep is very important for people that age, and allows them to function fully the next day. Except for the bullpen, of course.
In the post game, an uncomfortable looking Adam Ottavino was talking up Leiter. I sometimes wonder if, like boone, they are given talking points. But then again, you pitch one scoreless inning and you are a savior, bound for glory in the playoffs,
Leiter looked fluid.
Since July 1, the Yankees bullpen has a 5.84 ERA, which ranks 15th in the AL and 29th in baseball. Only the Coors Field-addled Rockies' unit has been worse.
The combination of a leaky bullpen + Aaron Boone making the pitching decisions seems fatal to me.
For the sake of optimism, I looked up the second-half bullpen ERAs from the last 30 World Series champions to see if there were any that started with the number "5".
2023 Texas Rangers: 5.01 ERA
2019 Washington Nationals: 5.24 ERA
2000 New York Yankees 5.83 ERA
1997 Florida Marlins 5.27 ERA
So it has been done.
It's hard to imagine this group of jokers being the ones to win a ring this year, but I guess anything can happen.
Boone
To opposing lineups, he's a boon.
"Mark Leiter Jr. stepped into chaos Tuesday with New York’s once-comfortable lead slipping away. By the time he walked off the mound, the veteran had delivered the most important outs of the night, stopping what could have been a stunning defeat."
I will not argue with Pinstripes Nation. Leiter gave up a scary sac fly and a bunt single, but he did end the Twins' rally and then blanked them in the seventh.
I'll take it.
Doomed, Embarrassment, definitely this bunch of loser Yankees. Does not make me feel good to reply like this. Let,s face it, the Yankees are a bunch of losers.
Truly frightening stat
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