It's especially rewarding to top off a Yankee victory by reminding yourself that a) the universe is stacked against you, b) the juju gods hate you, and c) the slightest scent of hope should inspire a vomitous burst of negativity. This is what happens when one of the pillars of your childhood - the Yankees, as the greatest dynasty in sports - devolves into a poorly run money mill.
So, last night, celebrating the Yankees 3-1 victory over Philly, we had to wonder, "Okay, universe, how do you plan to ruin THIS?"
The answer: Cody Bellinger had suffered the first tweaked hamstring of his 10-year career. Today, it will be scanned like Epstein phone texts. The results will determine whether Belli will miss weeks... or months.
Hammies are the Springsteen of injuries: You think the show is over, and then they play five more songs. Bellinger could be out through August, and that's not counting the chance of setbacks, the kind that long ago turned Giancarlo Stanton into Mitch McConnell. Belli probably won't miss the rest of the season. But nobody knows.
What we do know is that Spencer Jones, at 25, just received from the universe a mystical, if not miraculous, reprieve. He is the logical outfield answer, beyond Max Schuemann, an overachieving everyman who plays hard but cannot inspire long range hope.
For years, we wondered what Jones would look like in a hitting streak. I think we gave up hope of knowing. I think Jones was ticketed for a trade next week, and we would never see what might be.
Suddenly, he has a month to show us.
Last night in Scranton, Jones went 0-2 with 2 Ks (his signature stat line.) In 194 at-bats this year, he has 14 HRs, 10 SBs, a .273 average and a .942 OPS. (And 72 strikeouts.) He's left-handed like Bellinger. He's fast like Bellinger. He's got power like Bellinger. But he's no Bellinger - more a Joey Gallo.
A month from now, we might regret having one more chance to decide Jones' future. But at least we should know. Bellinger's hammy should have scuttled any Yankee plan to trade him.
For years now, we've fantasized a Yankee outfield featuring Jones and Jasson Dominguez, home grown stars supplementing the twilight seasons of Aaron Judge. I had given up hope. It was never gonna happen. Well, last night, the Martian homered. He went 1-4. He hasn't gotten hot. He BA is mired in the .230s. He hasn't shown what he can do.
Suddenly, the two most hyped Yankee prospects of this millennium have a month to show themselves. The worst thing that could happen? Well, it happened. But damn... it could be interesting.
It would SEEM like giving Jones a crapload of playing time makes sense. But this is the Cashman-Boone Yankees. Wanna bet he splits OF time with Rosario and Schuemann and maybe even Caballero. I'd like to see two out of three of them gone, but nope, not yet, anyway.
ReplyDeleteThey'll still send Jones off in some kind of piss poor trade and solve none of the roster problems by the deadline. Watch.
Correct, JM. They will still trade Jones in the next 8 days and pick up some scrub or over-the-hill outfielder as a placeholder for Belli.
DeleteHave to agree with you, JM. That's CashBrain's way.
ReplyDeleteYardbarker has a proposed deal: Apparently, the PIttsburgh Pirates are interested in Camilo Doval. The Yanks might be able to pry away Mangum, a so-so outfielder. That kind of deal would probably put both Jones & Dominguez on the bench or in the minors. Hey, it would actually be a good deal for the Yankees. Don't get me wrong. But whoever they get, Dominguez has to play full time. Jones can be a 4th outfielder or play part time. Mangum can play part time. Maybe spell Grisham some of the time. Grisham is waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy overplayed.
I’ve already spoken to Boone this morning. They’re moving Caballero to LF and put Volpe in everyday at SS.
ReplyDeleteWasn’t that easy?
LOL+1
DeleteDoval sucks big time, but take a look at the guys all over the league who come into games late to try to hold leads, sometimes to try to get the save. Guys come into games with whopping 7 ERA's. There are closers with 6-7 ERA's getting regular work. Doval is actually GOOD compared to a lot of those suckers. He's got a sub-5 ERA. You can laugh, but that is like a dominant pitcher compared to a lot of these guys who suck even worse.
ReplyDeleteThe Martian certainly got the bat head out on that homer yesterday. 97 mph fastball inside. Bang, zoom! Perhaps he reads this here blog! He's been hitting much better from the right side this year. It started during spring training and then again in the minors. Perhaps the batting coaches are better in spring training and in the minors than on the Yankee major league club.
ReplyDeleteThey have to get Dominguez's left side going as well. His lefty swing has struggled all year, even in the minors. From the left side, he's not getting the head out. Swinging way late on fastballs. Especially when they're inside.
Philly's best pitcher goes tonite, and it's hapless Will Warren for us. Look for a brutal beatdown, Philly style.
ReplyDeleteWe got lucky in two games so far. Philly is still daydreaming about the All-Star Game and played like shit yesterday. Numerous errors and errors that were not errors. You know Don Mattingly won't stand for that.
There are a bunch of teams that should be interested in Doval: Pirates, Nationals, Athletics, Brewers, Marlins, White Sox, Rangers, Rockies. All horrendous bullpens that blow ten run leads in one or two innings. No lead is big enough for these teams. Doval would be right at home with any of them. Hell, he might even be their closer, their best reliever.
ReplyDeleteDoval: 4.86 ERA Ex: Compare to Luis Morales (Athletics) 14.46 ERA. He's only got a few games, but still, this is typical of the relievers on these teams. Mostly terrible, even worse than Doval.
DeleteJust received this text from Cashman:
ReplyDelete“Two players seeing action in today’s game in Philadelphia will be dealt before the deadline. They will be packaged as part of the same trade. I’ll be with the in Chicago.”
with the team in Chicago
DeleteAA....I think you actually intercepted that text. Spy style.
DeleteI cringe, knowing what Cashman has done in the past. Not looking forward to his "improvements."
ReplyDeleteWe're thinking that keeping Spencer Jones would be an intelligent decision because they lack outfield depth. But Cashman always does the opposite of what we think. Ergo, we should expect Dumbass to deal away Jones, Dominguez, maybe some of their best pitchers in the minors, maybe George Lombard Jr. too. Dumbass has already traded away all their catching prospects, so that's one thing he won't be able to do. I hear the Yankees are regarded by other major league clubs as a development factory for pitchers and catchers. Sold out of catchers for now, though.
ReplyDeleteI checked out Jake Mangum's stats. He is listed as a 30 yr old CF, switch hitter, lefty throwing arm. Looks like a career minor leaguer who got promoted within the last year or so. He hits .300, but with very little power. Only 5 homers in more than 600 at bats so far. I would make this deal in a heartbeat, Doval for Mangum. If there is baseball next year, we can put Mangum in CF, let Grisham walk. Mangum can be a part time player with Spencer Jones. Dominguez continues to play RF. And Judge will DH to protect his right elbow and rib. Bellinger continues to play LF. Stanton is released.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I'd do. But here's what Cashman will do. I don't think Cashman will get Mangum. Because Cashman likes home runs, and Mangum supplies virtually zero power. Cashman will re-sign Grisham to play CF next year. Stanton will DH. Judge will play RF and Bellinger in LF. And Dominguez & Jones will play in AAA because "we want them to play every day, and there is no room on the roster for them here, we have a numbers problem, we have too many great Hall of Fame players here, they would never get any playing time here".
I wish Spencer the best. He needs to make more contact and swing level. However, he swings up and strikes out. Exactly what the Yankees stress, launch angle.
ReplyDeleteThe umps now love to screw Caballero. He had to jump very high to catch a liner in the webbing of his glove and it fell out on the way down. He picked it up and would have had a double play by tagging the base runner on second and then stepping on second for the force out of the base runner coming from first base. But the ump says Cabellero intentionally dropped it and ruled it a catch and a dead ball, only the batter is out. Terrible call. Definitely not intentional and I don't think that's a play where the ump could infer intent. What if the ball falling out hits Cabellero's foot and rolls a 100 ft? Which is what almost happened. It was almost a fucking disaster. If he accidentally kicked it, and the base runners took off, would the umps still say that it was a catch and a dead ball? I think not.
ReplyDeleteAustin Wells is doing burrito reviews, according to bleeding yankee blue. He gave a Philly Cheesesteak Custom Burrito a 92 score out of 100. What should we rank Wells as a catcher? I'm thinkin' like 1 out of 100 for offense. 65 out of 100 for defense. So passing grade for defense, but not exactly Johnny Bench. Miserable, historic fail, nowhere to go except up, for offense.
ReplyDeleteHey, come to think of it, Austin Wells played the World Baseball Classic. Think he's still got a hangover from that? It's either that or he got some kind of concussion syndrome, neck compression and he's playing injured.
Or Wells just sucks?
DeleteI have fantasized no such thing!!!
ReplyDeleteNight game tonight. Another reason to hate MLB and These Our 2026 New York Yankees.
ReplyDeleteFrom the Yankees PR Dept.:
ReplyDeletePrior to tonight’s game, the Yankees made the following roster moves:
• Placed INF/OF Cody Bellinger on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain.
• Recalled OF Spencer Jones (#78) from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
At the very worst, Jones is a 4th outfielder, and there's nothing wrong with that. I'd rather go with Jones than Grisham as the 4th outfielder. They can get a cheap young player for CF, like Jake Mangum. Dominguez plays RF, Bellinger LF next year, Judge DH. Simple, eh? But you know Cashman won't do that. Yankee management doesn't even like cheap players. They like to spend a ton of money for ineffectiveness. That way, they keep the payroll high and stable, and they ensure that they won't win a championship. All the boxes checked.
ReplyDeleteActually, Mangum isn't young, but you get the point.
DeletePretty funny, guys. Yeah, this is what I was saying. NOT that Bellinger would cap a thoroughly underwhelming year with a debilitating injury, but that we didn't have the OF depth to deal Spencer OR The Martian.
ReplyDeleteWe still wouldn't, even with Mangum—who, as Hammer notes, we would better off having than Grisham, who himself just missed the dread hammy injury recently.
I love the rumors about CJ Abrams—the guy who Jazz Chisholm should've been. Get him and stick him at short, and put Lombard at second...and maybe Jazz in center? Or turn Abrams into a CF, and put Lombard at short, while dealing Jazz and having Caballero, Cabrera, and McMahon hold down second and third between them?
ReplyDeleteMore pipe dreams, I know. But still.
I wouldn't put Lombard at second. He has a cannon arm and tremendous range at SS. Maybe third base. But he doesn't have the power of a traditional 3B. The Yankees won't get Abrams, but if they do, he should stay at second.In my opinion, putting an infielder in the OF, especially CF, is not a good strategy other than short-term.
Deleteye gods, what an awful lineup
ReplyDeleteP Goldschmidt (R) 1B
B Rice (L) DH
A Rosario (R) 3B
J Domínguez (S) RF
A Volpe (R) SS
T Grisham (L) CF
M Schuemann (R) LF
J Caballero (R) 2B
A Sánchez (R) C