1. They still can't shake hateful Tampa, a team comprised of Junior Caminero - the emerging nation - and a Travoltian roster of 2nd-chancers: Drew Rasmussen (30), Shane McClanahan (29), Jonathan Aranda (27), Jonny DeLuca (27), et al. Before you snicker, remember: they swept us. Postseason tie-breakers... ouch.
2. It's not an A.I. hallucination. (I don't think so, anyway.) Yanks are making contact. Across MLB, only two Yanks rank in the top 40 for Ks, and one is Aaron Judge, (14th), who doesn't count. Jazz Chisholm comes in at 37th. As a team, they are 11th - not bad, considering that they lead MLB in HRs. This love of contact could play against Spencer Jones getting the call.
3. Perennial SB king Jose Caballero is facing competition. He's 3rd - behind Washington's Nasim Nunez and Cleveland's Jose Ramirez (huh?) - with 12. (He's been thrown out at least twice trying to swipe third.) No opposing player threatens Cabby's reign. That role belongs to Anthony Volpe.
4. If you look at OPS by position, only three Yankees make the top 10 lists. They are Judge, of course, (1st in RF), Ben Rice (1st at first) and Cody Bellinger (3rd in LF, rising with a bullet.) Jazz and Stanton? Nope.
5. Last year, Judge chased a triple crown. He still might, but - well - nope. He's tied for 2nd in HRs, 27th in RBIs, and he's lost at sea in BA, hitting .256. A couple Player of the Month awards could change that.
6. Yanks have three starters in MLB's top 11 for ERA: Cam Schlittler (2nd), Max Fried (8th) and Will Warren, (11th.) With Cole and Rodon returning, pinch me.
7. For all that's tormented them, Redsock fans still haven't experienced the inevitable, out-of-body, meltdown by Aroldis Chapman. His ERA is 0.92. Ahh, but one of these days... hahahaha!... the Cuban Water Cannon shall reappear!
8. It's taken 35 years, but we may finally be free of Jose Altuve. He's hitting .248 with 3 HRs and 8 RBIs, and he's not covering ground at 2B. Don't want to jinx his downfall. But the juju gods look tired of his act.
9. Speaking of future Hall of Famers, Roman Anthony is hitting .233 with 1 HR and 5 RBIs. He ranks 124th in OPS, at .682. Coupled with the troubles of Jackson Holliday, it might be time to reassess the bullshit annual Number One prospect rankings, which MLB's state-run media trowels out to the thirsty public. (Also, Bobby Witt Jr. might not be the MVP we anticipated two years ago. And then there is Volpe...) Keep that in mind when they turn their hype cannons on George Lombard Jr.
10. In 2024 - while Witt, Holliday and Anthony were okaying their bronze plaques - Ben Rice was ranked as the Yankees' 12th top prospect by Baseball America. Behind Roderick Arias and Chase Hampton. Not knocking them. Just sayin'...
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13 comments:
Speaking of closers like the Water Cannon, I was a little stunned to discover that Craig Kimbel is still alive, still pitching, and is now with the Mets. That is truly absurd. He of the "vulture looking for carrion" stance as he looks in for the pitch, blew yesterday's lead for the Metsies, allowing the Angels to tie the game and then win in extras (Oswald Peraza the hero, of all people).
Kimmy really annoys me. He might be a wonderful human being, but that fucking vulture action...Christ on a bike.
As for Tampa, yeah, kind of hard not to notice, ain't it? We win, they win. We lose, they lose. One and a half games between us, which is nothing. Guess we'll have to beat some teams that don't suck.
We are peaking - if I may use that word - too early. Seems familiar.
And we are still giving the millionth chance to both the flightless Bird and Cammy Duvet. These guys need to be replaced. The only reason they're still here is because the Brain traded for them and he is a genius who never admits his mistakes. The fact that he did nothing to improve the pen last winter is yet another indication of his general hubris. Bednar is not the closer we need, either.
Volpe sucks. Boone is an idiot. Jazz needs to go, but won't. So it goes.
Me, too, JM. And to think, he almost blew that 2018 playoff game to us. If only Stanton hadn't kept swinging at balls way out of the strike zone. If only Gleyber had run coming out of the box.
I would agree, Bitty. Except...a lot of the team doesn't really seem to have hit its stride yet. I don't mean that many of these guys will actually be good; I just mean they HAVE to be better than this.
Grisham HAS to hit higher than .155, doesn't he? Wells has GOT to do better than 5 ribbies in 25 games, doesn't he? Jazz HAS to do better than a .618 OPS...doesn't he?
Bellinger seems to just be getting cranked up. Even Judge, good as he's looked at times, isn't at full Judge. And those pitchers, coming back...I thought for sure the Yanks' pitching would self-destruct long before that happened.
Forgive this cautious optimism. I know it only provokes the juju entities. But still...
I know that Jesus could walk on water. But can he ride a bike on water?
" Who never admits his mistakes." Hmmm, now who does that remind me of? Oh yes, the gilded autocrat.
I'm just guessing, but I think probably.
Happy with the first month of the season.Yes, we know certain players will rise, but others will fall. And the there’s the June swoon… waiting so patiently
I, too, love the smell of napalm kool aid in May, Hoss…,
Had trouble publishing comments today. Not a tech genius, so don't know why.
Well, it finally worked! Wow, that was effed up! Effing technology! I feel like taking an axe to my computer and throwing it out the window. Sometimes I feel ... sometimes I feel ... like I've been tied to the whipping post, tyyyyyyyiiiiiiiiieeeeeed to the whipping post.
Despite my sloth, I looked up Jasson Dominguez's minor league stats for this year. He did end up getting some right handed at-bats before his call up. Against lefty pitching, he had 19 AB/.368 BA/.429 OBP/ .684 SLG/ 1.113 OPS with 1 HR/3 doubles/7 hits/2 RBI.
Small sample size, of course, but with more hits right handed since coming up, it looks like he's hitting better from the right side at this time. Must've been practicing. I thought he looked better right handed during spring training. He'd tweaked his stance, with the way he holds his bat, so he's in ready position a bit earlier.
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