After all the heroics of last night's exercise in fan torture—and it should be noted that Steve Cohen bit the bullet and gave Mets fans a pair of games in the sunshine, complete with refunds (I know, I know: Uncle Stevie has more money than Hal. But then his family didn't get two subsidized stadiums from the city. And Steve Cohen earned his moolah the old-fashioned way: he stole it, fair and square.)—what remained was still a couple of chilling statistics.
After 10 games and some 184 plate appearances, over 55 percent of the Yanks' starting lineup—the Big Five, Trent Grisham, Jazz Chisholm, Austin Wells, José Caballero, and Ryan McMahon—still does not have a single home run.
Nada. None. Zippo. Zero.
This should not be a surprise. Ryan McMahon, for instance, has played almost his entire career in Colorado, and is lifetime, .259/.810 hitter with 90 homers at home...and .215/.659 on the road. What?
Trent Grisham, before his 34 homers and less-than-HOF .235 last year, never hit more than 17 homers in a season, and batted beneath the Mendoza Line 3 times in 6 years. Jazzy is a lifetime .247 hitter who strikes out more than once a game. Who knew?
Somehow, Brian Cashman could not anticipate any of what they are doing this season.
Meanwhile, over in Queens, the Borough of Mercy, the Metsies hung up another significant zero: Luke Weaver and Devin Williams still have not surrendered a single run, in a combined 10 games and as many innings, while running up 2 saves, 1 hold, 1 win, and zero—that number again is, zero—losses.
Mets starter Clay Holmes, it must be said, has surrendered all of 2 earned runs this season, leaving his record at 2-0, 1.42.
Hey, I can't truly say that I miss Williams or Holmes, at least. But all three of these arms would certainly bolster our already teetering, No-Name Bullpen.
And then there is the other big zero in the story: what the Yankees got back for them. You guessed it.
Nichts. Rien. A whole lotta nothin'. Not even a magic bean or two.
This is how Hal & Pal's Yankees operate. Acquisitions made on the basis of flawed or ignorant analyses, followed by simply letting the players in question walk off the team.
But hey, at least Volpe isn't going anywhere!
Nada Nunca, Baby !
ReplyDelete1.This post echoes the depths of my tortured soul.
ReplyDelete2. And all so effin’ predictable.
3. Oh yeah - boone sucks.
I.was more than surprised that the Yankees had the second highest offensive WAR (what is it good for?) in the Majors last year out of their 7-9 hitter. As the late, great Howard used to say, "How do ya like that"?
ReplyDeleteEvery time I hear Volpe's name, I twitch a little bit...
ReplyDeleteAmen, Hoss! Great article! Great title, too! The Mitsubishi Zero was a great fighter plane. It was better than anything we had, at least until our P51 Mustang came out. The Zero was light and fast, had great maneuverability, and was a joy to fly, by all accounts. Contrast that to our Corsair, which was big, heavy, and flew like one of those large, clumsy sea birds. But the Zero's speed and finesse came at the cost of having no armor. Our birds were built like flying tanks. The Corsair flight instructors came up with the strategy of flying high and then basically dive-fighting, in order to compensate for its lack of speed and agility.
ReplyDeleteI woulda tried to keep Holmes. He was a decent pitcher for us, though frequently injured or pitching through back issues. If we had kept him, I'm sure as day that he wouldn't be doing half as well for us as he's pitched for the Metsies. Holmes is another one that shows up our lousy coaching. He signs with the Mets, and he looks 200% better than he was here. What's that say about our pitching coach?
ReplyDeleteWhenever the Yankees play the Mets, one thing that stands out is that the Mets look much better coached, both with the bats and on the pitcher's mound. Better, more solid fundamentals, and intelligent play. As opposed to stubborn, bull-headed, sloppy play typical of the Yankees these recent years.
ReplyDelete