Tuesday, February 12, 2019

If Luis Severino was tipping his pitches last year, blame belongs to the Yankee coaching staff

Theoretically, the reason for Luis Severino's dreadful, rotten, flea-bagged second half of 2018 was body language. Before throwing a fastball, he does something. He twitches. He fidgets. Maybe he scratches his billiards. He does something. The Redsocks supposedly saw it and knew when fastballs were on the way. Once they broke the Sevy Code, he was done. 

Some of this may be wishful thinking. It's a great excuse - and hope for the future - if Severino simply needs to adjust his twitchy testicles tomfoolery. If that's all, we can ignore his last 55 innings, when opposing batters hit .323 with 13 home runs. Think about that: He transformed all opposing batters into Mookie Betts. If it's simply body movement, then he didn't fall off the face of the earth, and he still has a future.

But here's a thought on a cold day: When a guy is found to be tipping pitches, it means somebody on the other team was watching him more closely than his own coaches. 

Last time I looked, Larry Rothschild - who survived the purge of Joe Girardi - is the supreme being assigned to guard against such events. If Severino was tipping pitches, it would have been nice if somebody on the Yankees noticed it before the Redsocks did.

Within the Yankiverse, if Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton represent the majestic towers of power, Severino and Gary Sanchez are the mysterious, alligator-laden catacombs, deep beneath the streets. Both were supposed to become stars. Last year, both fell apart.

I understand why Brian Cashman decided to keep them: He would be trading them at a particularly low period of value. But if either stumble this year, the team's chances of overtaking Boston will hit major turbulence. 

For reasons I cannot fully explain, we are still considering Severino the ace of the staff, and Sanchez remains our starting catcher. 

But make no mistake: The Yankee "resurgence," if one is coming, must be balanced on the backs of two players, neither of which did much in 2018. And the coaches who watched them fall apart will be back for more. 

11 comments:

ranger_lp said...

#FireLarryRothschild

Joe Formerlyof Brooklyn said...


Lots of stuff we all visit and revisit on this site might (or might not) be debatable.

The headline here is NOT. If this guy was tipping pitches, it was the job of the staff to figure it out.

If he was, they didn't.

If he wasn't tipping ......then there's another problem.


JM said...

I agree and have been pounding this pulpit for months now. Quietly. Usually in my own home, when my wife isn't listening. Once, I think, in the comments on IIH. Whatever.

I've been sick as a dog, but I've improved to being sick as a warthog, which is still pretty sick, believe you me. A cold that almost went away but came back as bronchitis or some kind of horror from Sputumville.

Michael Kay and that guy with the beard that he broadcasts with were on TV the other day loudly condemning a season ticket holder for complaining that the Yankees are cheap for not signing Machado and/or Harper. They said we won 100 games last year and management has improved the team with Paxton and Mr. Zero in the pen, plus that infield lugnut with the name I can't remember because my brain is still mush. They claim that the braintrust just didn't think these big contracts were worth the money.

What kind of fucking idiots do they think we are? Or are they really that stupid?

Yeah, yeah, I know the answer to both. Assholes.

Carl J. Weitz said...

John M...take a DNA test. You might be part Phlegmish.

I couldn't agree more about Rothschild (especially) and the hitting coaches. Among the worst in MLB. I've been screaming about this for years. The bolated front office (I might patent mark this phrase), not only makes too many player personnel gaffes but with coaches as well. Larry is incompetent,and worse, appears to be aloof and distant with his pitchers.Every time he visits the mound he always seems to have a certain look of contempt on his face as if he is thinking " I have to get off my ass and walk 100 feet. I wonder how many more days until retirement." No doubt the pitchers pick up on this and tune him out.

13bit said...

I’m done

Mediasavvy said...

I said it last year and I'll say it again: the weakest part of this team is its manager and his coaches.

Sorry, Boone was the least qualified candidate the Yankees considered. Indeed, his only qualification seemed to be that his Daddy was a manager and he grew up in the same, rich, white, gated communities as the Yankee leadership.

And if we were going with that much inexperience in the top job, his bench coach was equally uninspiring. As for the rest of the coaching staff, none have distinguished themselves......

Leinstery said...

If he was tipping his pitches and four months later he's still not sure if he was or not, Rothschild should be executed.

Anonymous said...

IT'S FEELS LIKE WE DON'T BELIEVE IN HAVING COACHES ANYMORE.

ROTHSCHILD DOESN'T ADD ANYTHING, AND DOES ANYONE EVEN KNOW WHO OUR HITTING COACH IS?

IT'S PRETTY CRAZY THAT I KNOW THE NAME OF THE BULLPEN COACH (MIKE HARKEY), BUT I AM NOT SURE WHO THE HITTING COACH IS....

IS IT MARCUS THAMES?...ALAN COCKRELL?...ARE THEY STILL WITH US, OR GONE?

WHETHER THEY ARE STILL WITH US OR NOT, WHOEVER WAS OR IS OUR HITTING COACH, SUCKS.

HE HAS NO IDEA HOW TO CONVEY TO OUR HITTERS HOW THEY NEED TO MAKE CONTACT WITH RUNNERS IN SCORING POSITION.

AW, FUCK IT.

HoraceClarke66 said...

WHAT???!!!

What am I hearing? Outright talk of treason????

Everyone knows or should know that all Yankees managers, coaches, trainers, and ESPECIALLY executives are above reproach!

No matter that nearly every player of consequence last year took a major stride backwards or got hurt—El Matador and El Conquistador being the big exceptions. No matter that our farm system dropped in a single year from in the top three to somewhere near the bottom.

That was all because we brought up so many young stars, or traded them for stars, such as Sonny Gray.

Severino collapsed in the entire second half, showed up late for his playoff start against the Red Sox, then got bombed?

So what? Pitch tipping!

Nope, couldn't be anything like drugs, or a tired young arm worn to fraying. Nope, nope, nope.

By the way, I GUARANTEE one or both of those problems will sideline our "ace" for a significant portion of this year.

Just don't tell the coaches! Then they'd have to do something!!

HoraceClarke66 said...

And hilarious, John M.!

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