Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Yank fans better enjoy this, because it cannot last.

 Another shutout. Another stress-free ninth. 

How crazy is this?

1. We're winning without production from Aaron Judge. Last night, he blinged an 0-4 - which normally means the team falls apart. Instead, the heart of the order came through. 

2. Max Fried looks unbeatable. Last night, he skated. He's 32. Last season, his 2.86 ERA and 19 wins - most in AL - amounted to a career year. Could he beat it?  

3. Even the comedy team of Headrick & Hill finished with a poetic flourish. 

Headrick & Hill
To Victoryville! 

4. Who needs a bottom third of the lineup? Last night: a healthy 0-12. 

5. Giancarlo seems to be running wild. Last night, he took second on a wild pitch that barely skipped away, then head-butted the ball from the SS's mitt. It was the kind of play that usually costs him a month on the IL. Listen: He'll soon get hurt. We all know this. But it's nice to see him go for broke.

6. I keep saying this, but the April schedule offers a string of tomato cans. There is no reason why the Yankees should not be in 1st around May 15, when Carlos Rodon could return. (With Gerrit Cole on the brink.)  

7. It's almost - well - I don't wanna jinx this, but - criminey! - it's almost going too good. There. I said it. Should we be worried? Jeepers, yeah. I mean, there's gotta be a correction looming. For the rest of this season, the Yankee staff will not throw 3 out of 4 shutouts. This is not the 1964 Dodgers. But we have one option: Enjoy it, while it lasts.

8. Over the years, West Coast trips have haunted us. Maybe the way to exorcize those demons is to start the year there, get it out of our system? 

9. I sorta feel sorry for MLB umpires, who are watching their reputations get shredded by the new ABS system. They are also losing control. (Everyone thought the robot umps would end rhubarbs and ejections; if anything, they seem to be contributing to them.) I wonder if there won't be a backlash against the murderous, flesh-chopping machines. Nobody is challenging their scoreboard displays, which do NOT show the travel of a ball across the three-dimensional plane. Are we seeing true balls and strikes, or are we seeing simple mechanized versions of the strike zone, which do not make them necessarily better than the human component. Thank you for your attention to this matter. ED

PS: According to late report, Carlos Rodon tweaked a hammy during his rehab, and it will probably mean missed time. Seriously, and this isn't a knock on Rodon, but is anybody surprised? Of course it was gonna happen. The Yankees simply do not go through an entire spring training without injuries. 

11 comments:

JM said...

Even the great Keefe gets a little carried away. Slumping in Seattle? That was a tad premature.

Fried and Cam are legit. Warren is still in progress, but he's getting there. Weathers...well, he did handle Seattle pretty well.

The thing is, pitching is really the key, as it always is. And we've got two, maybe two and three quarters quality starters right now. Cole will help. Rodon is always a crap shoot.

Hey, remember that Wells guy? He wasn't bad sometimes.

JM said...

Whoops, didn't see this until just now:

Yankees' Carlos Rodon injures hamstring while rehabbing elbow

AboveAverage said...

We’re clearly in a “winning in spite of management” phase. Coupled with Judge looking so lost and awful at the plate - one could even say that we are in our “Aaron-less” phase of 2026.

Now I must admit that I’m rooting for CAM to come out strong today. because it would be fun to see him emerge as the real deal.

ranger_lp said...

C.B. Buckner is making Ángel Hernández look like a HOFer...

BTR999 said...

The team has been very, very quiet about Rodon so far; it wouldn’t surprise me if he is going to be out for the season.

Meanwhile, enjoying a good start, but getaway games like today seem to be the team’s Bête noire.

AboveAverage said...

They were all business during Saturday’s get away game in San Francisco. So hopefully Cam and Co. can rise to the occasion and take care of business

Publius said...

2020's Yankees.

Start well (you are here), flounder, recover, get eliminated by a sounder team.

BTR999 said...

AA, from your lips to boone’s ears.

JM said...

Exactly. The script doesn't change. Even Judge's potentially lame start fits right in. Just how it goes.

AboveAverage said...

Then Boone is due to get tossed out soon. However as we all know it will be much harder to get all worked up into a spittle lather when ABS is in the house

JM said...

He could argue with a robot. It's not beyond him.