Takeaways from yesterday.
1. Nick Torres, the '25 Mexican League MVP, didn't exactly break down any fences. He botched a pop fly that let Toronto's only run score. And in the 8th, ahead 3-0 in the count, he crushed a belt-high meatball, right over the plate - for a routine grounder to SS. Meh-ico.
2. Cody Bellinger has a bad back. He'll miss a few. The Death Barge is pooh-poohing it, as they always do. The old lumbago. Nothing to worry about.
Listen: There is no such thing as a "minor" bad back. Nothing ages an athlete more rapidly. Moreover, I don't recall it being mentioned last year.
3. Yesterday, Paul Blackburn became the first Yank pitcher to last into the fourth inning. But he was damn lucky to make it. He gave up two singles, putting runners on first and third with one out, then was lucky when a line drive turned into a double play.
4. Spencer Jones finally put the bat on the ball, without homering. He flied out to CF and then hit a grounder to SS that was botched on the throw to first. Jones ended up on second, and a run scored. This is why you don't want 200 strikeouts from a hitter. When you put the ball into play, strange things happen. Jones is 3-for-10 this spring with two HRs and four Ks. (The Martian yesteday didn't play.)
5. Mr. Potato Chip, Giancarlo Stanton, expects to appear in his first spring game on Tuesday. Distressing news over the weekend: Stanton says that, on bad days, his tennis elbows are so bad that he cannot open a bag of chips. If so, I wonder what the Yankees, realistically, can expect from him. He has 463 career HRs. Doesn't look good for 500.
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Can’t distinguish fact from fiction when it comes to Yankee injuries.
The other thing - and I wish this were a stat somewhere - but how meaningful have his home runs been? Some home runs are a lot more meaningful than others, and the best hitters tend to produce them. Think Reggie, the Mick, Babe and others. And then there are some that are part of an ongoing vanity project.
Any guy who still plays when he can't open a bag of chips must have enough money to employ someone to open his chips.
The stats book says all homers are created equal, but some homers are more equal than others. I remember questioning Judge's home run meaningfulness and his general clutchness last year or the year before. One thing is true: if a guy hits a lot of home runs, it's gonna help overall. Even if it does nothing but fuck with the opposing pitchers' heads. Besides, when "Elbows" hits them, they're so much fun to watch.
We had visitors from out of town this weekend, so I missed some posts. Including Hoss's post about retired numbers, and other people's comments the past couple days. I'm still catching up, but Lindy McDaniel definitely needs his number retired.
If the guy cannot open a bag of chips, (and I've no reason to believe that he's exaggerating, and even if he is exaggerating, he's only exaggerating slightly), then this guy is totally disabled, done, ka-put, stick a fork in 'im. The man should NOT be playing, or attempting to play, major league baseball. If he will not retire due to the remaining salary on his contract, then management has to put him out to pasture, a la Jacoby Ellsbury. A guy who cannot open a bag of chips cannot be clogging up the roster. It's that simple.
But they're going to play a guy who can't open a bag of chips over young, physically able players like Dominguez and Jones. How many games will Stanton be able to play this year? And if he does ever play, how effective could he possibly be? The absurdity of this hubris is truly mind boggling. It's so crazy that I'd be laughing my ass off if it wasn't so pathetic. Yankee management is absolutely delusional.
I remember Stanton hitting quite a few meaningful homers in the 2024 postseason. I also recall just last summer, when Stanton delivered a key, go-ahead pinch-hit two-run home run in the 10th inning in August. I'm sure he's had other key hits, but my head is too cluttered to recollect.
That may be true, Carl, but his ration of "homers that mean nothing when nothing is on the line" to "meaningful hits" is askew.
There's no stat for meaningful home runs, except the Championship rings on a player's hand(s). You remember the big ones forever. "[T]he best hitters tend to produce them." Yes, and that's why they're champions.
Hall of Fame has lots of guys who were accumulators, guys who hit a lot of home runs over a long period of time, but never won a championship. Yet, a lot of guys who hit big home runs in big spots to win championships are not in there. At the least, the Hall of Fame should celebrate winners as much as accumulators. But it doesn't, so it's not worth an anthill, in my book.
They didn't win in 2024 and lost in utterly disgraceful fashion on the biggest stage. Hell, I don't even want to recall 2024.
The Martian already has more clutch hits than Judge and Stanton. Hard to believe, but I think it's true.
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