The wolf is at our door.
Sadly, the Yankees are the hamster, scampering in desperation for three brutal months. Since Aaron Judge went out with a fractured rib, our lineup has been a toothless caravan of Ks and botched RBI opportunities.
Take last night. In the early innings, they twice failed to score a runner on second with no outs - the fundamental low bar for championship teams. The Yankees fail so regularly, so comfortably, that fans expect to fail when a runner reaches 2B.
Where have you gone, Paul O'Neill? Is there nobody who can smash a water cooler? Have we all just gone out sailing on Lake America?
As we await Boston, and the possibility of a wipeout weekend, the state of the Yankees is cold and bleak.
Catcher: Despite the YES team's dutiful claims of hope, Austin Wells remains the worst hitting catcher in baseball, especially clueless against lefty pitching, which is the new normal. Last night, he went 0-3 with three Ks. The usual...
Infield: Our future is an unraveling ball of twine held together by George Lombardi Jr., who last night made his sixth error in six games. He's on the back cover. Beginning tonight, the spotlight will burn hotter than ever. It killed Anthony Volpe. Is it coming for Lombard?
Outfield: Aaron Judge says he will return without playing a minor league rehab game. He'll go straight to RF, where he will exercise caution on balls that would otherwise demand that he dive. What could go wrong?
Rotation: Our strong point, though the loss of Ryan Weathers might require a regular bullpen start, and Carlos Rodon is still Carlos Rodon. Generally, we can expect six innings and three runs.
Bullpen: The loss of Francisco Cruz - elbow - really hurts. Brent Headrick is showing strain, and the once-limitless succession of young arms from Scranton is no more. Last night, we used 35-year-old Justin Topa, signed from the scrap heap barely a week ago.
Everywhere, a meltdown, waiting to happen.
The wolf is at the door.
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18 comments:
Yeah, I knew they were going to lose last nite. Bastards! Evidently, the Yankees are now the springboard and stepping stone of every hopeful playoff team.
I fully expect a Red Sox sweep. Hard to imagine this crappy Yankee team winning even one lousy game.
If you're the optimist, I suppose there's hope for maybe one win, just like against the ASS-stros. But the odds are against us....
Aaron Judge: I've been sayin' for years that he should not dive for balls unless it's the 7th game of a World Series. Too fucking bad Boone is too blind to see that. If I was managing, I'd have ordered Judge never to dive. (Hey, Yogi Berra said that he never saw Joe DiMaggio dive for a ball. What that really tells you is that Joe D. was pretty smart.) If we ever get to World Series Game 7, I would've told Judge "okay, now you're free to do whatever cuz it's do or die now".
Judge said that he thinks he got hurt when he had to dive under Jazz Chisholm, who ran too far into right field to make an over the shoulder catch, in order to avoid a collision. Judge should've just run over Jazz, like The Martian did later on.
Judge is just not too smart of a professional athlete. He had the exact same injury (back in '2018?), but tried to play through it. After a month, the pain became "unbearable". What did he learn from the first time it had happened? Apparently, nothing.
And it is once again an indictment on Boone. I thought there was definitely something wrong with Judge. If a fan knows there's something wrong, but a manager does not know, what's that say about that manager? Yeah, this guy should not manage a Little League team, let alone the New York Yankees.
This is going to make it easier to feel okay about not paying as close attention from this point forward.
This Yankee team is so bad at clutch hitting, that you could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times they had a single with a man on second (and actually scored the run). I'm talking about for the whole fucking year, not just the last week or the last month. Recently, I remember they got a home run with a man on second. Yeah, that's great, but unless you're hitting a home run with a man on second and nobody out at least 90% of the time, you're no good. So one fucking home run and nothin' else, in a whole year, with a man on second, that's pretty fucking atrocious.
Look at the Brew Crew, seems like they bang out 22 hits every fucking game. Now that's a lineup!
So, Yankees 2 back of carmines on Monday? ✔️
HOG - your prediction for the next 20 days or so, upon Duque's - GOD BLESS HIM - optimistic post, may be coming true. I would not be surprised if we tank tank tank. You can almost count on the Cashman--Led Yankees to always choke when it counts the most. House of Cash is a House of Cards. Bad month to stop sniffing glue.
If you look at the pitchers tonite, this looks like a mismatch in favor of the Yankees. But if there is a mismatch, the Red Sox are Goliath and the Yankees are David. But unlike David, these Yankees have got no offense. No battle plan. No "conviction", despite that blabbermouth fool Boone always using that word.
God helps those who help themselves. Not those who sit around sayin' "que sera sera ... whatever will be, will be ... que sera sera".
I take no pleasure in delivering this horrible news. In fact, it hurts like hell. That's where we are as Yankee fans, in hell. Don't shoot the messenger! I'm just tellin' it the ways I sees it.
From what I read about the condition, Judge's injury is caused by the muscles in the upper chest pulling in different directions. Does diving have anything to do with that? I can see how throwing and batting could do it, but don't know about diving. At any rate, I don't think it would help.
But your point about Judge's self-care is right on the money. If he had the same thing before, how did he not realize he had it again? Playing through some injuries is possible, but this...
Tomorrow and Sunday are both day games, so I can watch. For how long in either case, I don't know.
Nice checkmark, Rufus.
Impactful
Bold
Potentially truthful
JM - Daytime, self-medication might help and I don’t mean DayQuil
The Elias Sports Bureau has (surprisingly) no official stat on most consecutive games with an error by a shortstop, but Lombard has set the modern Yankee record.
Diving is basically crash landing. In the case of Judge, who wears his glove on his left hand, the right hand and arm takes the brunt of the crash landing, then the ribs. Certainly, he must've had a weakening inside that rib due to the throwing and the bat swinging. That's the root cause of it, but the dives definitely don't help. A sudden impact can be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
Judge was stupid for working out all winter after the right elbow injury last year. He wanted to be ready for the World Baseball Classic. None of that helped either. I'm sure the non-stop stress had a role. It's a stress fracture. A type of repetitive stress injury. At some point, the bone simply cracks. He's lucky that it's a non-displaced fracture. If he continued to play through it, it could have become a displaced fracture, which likely would require surgical intervention.
Every time he dives, his knee also makes a big crash landing. Same knee every time too. You don't have to be an orthopedic doctor to know that ain't good.
Same with the base stealing. If I was managing, I'd have ordered Judge not to steal, unless I give the sign. For all these guys, I would give the steal signs. Fucking Boone just let's 'em do whatever they want. What a fucking manager we got here. Boone thinks the Yankees are a "turnkey" business operation and all he has to do is unlock the door and flip the "closed/open" sign every morning. A fucking clown show, authorized and abetted by the Head Clown, Brian Cashman, who is in turn authorized and owned by the Owner Clown, HAL.
Lombard needs to take extra reps on the ground balls, infield practice. You perform the way you practice. Perfect practice makes perfect. Go back to the basics, fundamentals. What a surprise that his fundamentals start to break down when he's with the big club, eh? The coaching and managing on this team are fucking toxic. Again, all goes back to Boone. He's responsible for his coaches.
Remember the musket training scene in the movie "Glory"?:
Col. Shaw (played by Matthew Broderick)(addressing a Private): You're a good shot, soldier. Now, reload.
Col. Shaw (to his Major): Give me your Colt revolver, Major. (Firing his Major's Colt in the air next to the Private) Faster! ... Faster! ... Faster! ... A good man can fire three aimed shots in a minute.
Col Shaw (addressing his Major whilst shaking the Major's Colt revolver): Teach them ... properly, Major.
Major (taking his pistol back): Yes, Sir.
Not a huge Rolling Stones fan, but I just heard this one on the FM station, called "Doom and Gloom":
I had a dream last night that I was piloting a plane
And all the passengers were drunk and insane
I crash landed in a Louisiana swamp
Shot up a horde of zombies, but I come out on top
What's it all about?
Guess it just reflects my mood
Sitting in the dirt
Feeling kind of hurt
All I hear is doom and gloom
And all is darkness in my room
Through the light, your face I see
Baby take a chance
Baby won't you dance with me
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