Last night brought one of the most unforgettable plays in this millennium, as a once Cleveland-castoff, Gio Urshela, converted a game-crushing hit into a Yankee DP. It came in the final hour of history's longest game, with no physical eye-witnesses, aside from a sicko fan beating a drum in the streets, and a home audience snoozing on couches across the East.
We will discuss Urshela's play all winter. It will be the stuff of posters, autographed glossies and pre-game video clips. On IT IS HIGH, I am hereby declaring a moratorium on talk of Miguel Andujar ever playing 3B for the Yankees again. Urshela is our guy. Period. Depending on the next two weeks, he might even become a candidate for IT IS HIGH Great Yankee (TM) status. I don't want to jinx him. But that play deserves to belong to the ages. If the Yankees go all the way, it could become the single-most remembered event of 2020, replacing the national toilet paper scare.
The last two nights in Cleveland brought redemption to several Yankees, who might yet salvage a positive memory of this incredibly awful year. Some candidates...
Gary Sanchez hit a key, albeit wind-blown, HR to right field - (good omen? it wasn't a rocket to left, he went with the pitch?) - and a critical, game-tying sac fly, when the entire Yankiverse would have gone to Vegas betting for a strikeout. It is a Yankee fairy tale: the possibility that Sanchez might resurrect his name through the vortex of October. But the playoffs involve one-third of the 2020 schedule, and Sanchez - at .147 - can only rise. Last night, he did. Keep calm and Gary on?
In the two-game set, Gleyber Torres went five for seven, walked three times (.800 OBP), homered and drove in three. In any rational universe, he'd be the series MVP. But nobody can erase Urshela's play (and his grand slam.) Gleyber looks like a player with a second chance, something the NYC meat-grinder rarely grants. If he continues to hit, the Yankees have a lineup far superior than anything Tampa faced this year. (More on the Rays in the following days.)
Giancarlo Stanton homered each day, justifying his fifth-place slot in the order (Or for that matter, playing as the expense of Clint Frazier.) Again, if Stanton is hitting, the Yankees are a different beast. Hell, they are the fucking Babadook. Add a revived Brett Gardner - maybe platooning with Frazier - and the Yankees have nine tough outs - unlike anything they fielded since the first days of August.
But it will Urshela's play we remember. Twenty years from now, if we're still ticking, they will announce him at Old Timers Day, that play will flash on the Jumbo-Tron, and young fans - our children or grandchildren - will shake their heads in amazement. What a play. Gio!
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Agreed, and all good.
Though I still didn't like Michael Kay, after the game, announcing that Andujar was gone. There is still the outfield, there is still DH. I guarantee, if we trade El Matador, he will come back to haunt us. Probably with Boston, somehow.
We have go find room for Miggy. He's too good to give to someone else. Where? Who knows, right now. Remember, Stanton will be injured for at least 75 games next year, and Judge probably 50, minimum. Gardy may not be with us any longer. Hicks will no wa, y stay healthy for a full season.
Mig will have plenty of opportunities. It's a given.
Sanchez is doing what he needed to do to get the brass to say, "See? He's coming around." That's not great news if he isn't actually coming around. I'll take any production he can put out this postseason, but he's still a negative defensively and I still think he's a .220 hitter at best. Now, if all those hits are home runs, that's one thing. But they won't be. Still think we need a replacement there.
All that said, it was nice to beat up Justin Bieber and then outslug the Native Americans last night. We have a lot to prove next week.
Well, for once, the offensive philosophy of walk and hit a home run prevailed, albeit aided greatly by Cleveland's suddenly wild pitching. Our own arson squad bullpen lived up to its reputation admirably, blowing leads left and right, blowing the tie game, only to have Cleveland's bullpen one up our flamers.
With Sanchez, it appears that he is trying harder to make contact, and it's working. I'm glad he's finally woke up. He seemed to turn it around when it appeared that he might lose the starting job to Higashioka. The real acid test will be Tampa though. Look what Tampa pitching did to the Blue Jays offense.
One last thing about the batting averages this year. All around baseball, there are guys hitting under .200. The Indians had some guys hitting .120 or .140. It appears these microscopic batting averages are the new normal, for this year at least. So Sanchez hitting .140 was not mindblowing stuff, relatively speaking. It was the quality of his at-bats and the ridiculous approach at the plate. As long as he takes professional at-bats and does the team thing, as he did in this game, I can't complain.
The Hammer of God
I saw Brooks Robinson and Graig Nettles. Urshela is in their class
And dont forget D J Lemahieu's great situational hitting. He just poked the frisbee thrown by Hand. After last year's game tying homer against Houston status, I elevated him to beloved immortal status.
A great third baseman, whom we got for free.
To whom must we give credit?
I'd add Cletis Boyer to all time great Yankee fielding third basemen, all time great fielding third basemen
Alphonso,
"A great third baseman, whom we got for free. To whom must we give credit?"
1) The Cleveland GM
2) Señor y Señora Urshala
3) The commenters on this blog who, for years, advocated getting him.
Years!
Doug K.
I wish Michael Kay were gone--part of the tag-team of the worst radio-TV play-by-play announcers in baseball, who rose to their current emininence by kiss George's fat ass.
From Pinstripe Alley. I agree. Others?
The Yankees are making a mistake by benching Clint Frazier
Gardner’s Game One explosion aside, Frazier offers superior offensive potential and should start in left field going forward
By Andrés Chávez Oct 1, 2020, 4:00pm EDT
The New York Yankees hung 12 runs on the scoreboard in Game One of the Wild Card series against the Cleveland Indians, and at Progressive Field, no less. Offense was not an issue, at least in Tuesday’s game, and Gerrit Cole kept Cleveland batters at bay for seven innings.
Manager Aaron Boone decided to start veteran Brett Gardner over Clint Frazier in left field, and the former responded with a huge night at the dish, going 2-for-5 with a double, a home run, two runs and three RBI.
As good as that production was for the Yankees, the best lineup moving forward includes Clint Frazier in left field and Brett Gardner on the bench.
Boone clearly doesn’t think that way, as he penciled Gardner over Frazier in the lineup for Game Two last night. Is that really the right choice?
This is not a knock on Gardner, as he has been a true warrior for years, wearing the pinstripes with pride and representing the organization in an optimal way on and off the field. But, at 37 and fresh off a .223/.354/.392 regular season, he should be a reserve. Meanwhile, Frazier revamped his game, his swing and even his defense, and he needs to start. After all, he slashed .267/.394/.511 and was fourth among Yankees’ position players with 1.3 fWAR, in just 39 games.
Yes, Boone is riding the hot hand, as Gardner hit .394/.524/.667 with a .500 wOBA and a 225 wRC+ in 13 games from September 11th to September 27th, the final day of the regular season. But Frazier, over that same time span, slashed .235/.375/.471 with a .365 wOBA and a 133 wRC+. Those aren’t bad numbers.
Is it fair to make decisions over six games?
Much has been made about Frazier’s slump to end the season: In his last 25 plate appearances, he had only one hit and a horrid .050/.240/.050 line, with a 44% strikeout rate. But is it fair for Boone to send him to the bench based on six games of poor results?
If that’s the case, then we should point out the fact that Gardy hit no extra base hits over those same six games, a span of 18 plate appearances. It isn’t like he lit the world on fire in that exact timeframe.
That .050/.240/.050 slash line Frazier had is from September 20th to September 26th. From September 12th to September 19th, over a span of seven games, he went 11-for-32 with three homers, a double, a triple and a .440/.531/.920 line with a .570 wOBA and a 274 wRC+. Are we just going to ignore those numbers, even though they came in a stretch immediately before his “slump”?
At this point, it is hard to say that Gardner’s floor is higher than Frazier’s, because we saw Gardy’s rock bottom at the beginning of the season and it wasn’t pretty. But one thing is clear: Frazier’s ceiling is much higher than Gardner’s, and one game won’t change that fact.
Because of his youth (compared to Gardner), his max-effort play, his improved eye at the plate, the thump on his bat, and his overall offensive potential, Clint Frazier should start at left field from this point forward.
Comparing Gio to Brooks Robinson or Graig Nettles is the dumbest fucking thing I've heard here. And I've heard some pretty brain-dead stuff that passes for informed opinions, Assholes for Trump notwithstanding.
Gio is good. But comparing him to Brooks is like comparing Paris Hilton to Sophia Loren.
Richie Allen--the other question is: Is Gio for real over the long run with the bat? If you look at his minor-league numbers and MLB numbers with Cleveland, you wonder: is this a born-again buried treasure or a flash in the pan?
I note that you never disputed his glove. And we can both agree he's got good leather, even when he doesn't sport it an S&M club for adventurous men.
But his bat? Is he, will he continue to be, a 20/70 guy?
I haven't got a clue.
He's in his prime - what do you think?
But I like what I see. He's only had, really, one season of at-bats, so we will know a lot more when the league breaks him down next year.
RichieAllen--One thing I don't like about players like Urshela and--forgive me!--LeMahieu is that they're slow and lumbering. So many of the best young teams now emphasize the dynamism of youth and speed and athleticism. Guys like Urshela and LeMahieu impart a decidedly undynamic affect to a team, like chess pieces being moved around. I know that's a rather amorphous consideration, but it feels real to me somehow.
Richie, I agree, in the sense that Nettles did.
At the time of Nettles' amazing 1978 World Series in the field, somebody asked him if he was as good as B. Robby. Nettles thought that over for a moment, then basically said, well, he'd played pretty well for the last five years or so. But Brooks Robinson did that for 16 years and if he (Nettles) could do that, well, ask him then.
It was a pretty fair answer, and it's much the same with Gio. No, he hasn't done it for 16 years, or 10 years, as Nettles did. But at his peak moments, such as last night? Well, that's pretty damned good.
Gio has been damn good, Hoss, and that’s a great acknowledgement by Nettles about Brooks. There may have been better hitters than him, like Brett and Schmidt, but with the glove, there was none better. I saw him play and nobody could barehand a dribbler down the line as consistently and effectively as that man. He was the original.
As for Anon’s slighting DJ: that is pure blasphemy. I mean, for fuck’s sake, the guy has won batting titles in both leagues and to put him down, to even suggest Gio is in the same stratosphere as DJ just doesn’t make the least sense. DJ has been hands down the best player on the Yankees since they signed him and Brain would be a fool to offer him less than five years. If he can give Hicks seven, DJ should get five, even at his age. He’s a rare late bloomer and should get better with age (and hopefully we can say the same about Gio in a few years). DJ should easily get 100MM for five years. If he has a great playoff, he might even get 5/125MM.
Gio, on the other hand, won’t be a free agent til after the ‘23 season and he’s making peanuts (2.4MM) - no need to do anything but give him arb raises for the next three years. Let’ see if he keeps up this level of excellence.
Gritty Gritner: __2020 .223 .354 .392 .747 -- 108 OPS+
Gritty Gritner career: .259 .343 .401 .743 -- 101 OPS+
So the old man (36) had a horrible year? Shitty BA to be sure.
But he bested his career numbers.
And the guy has always been about D and running.
RichieAllen--I was not equating Urshela and LeMahieu on the level of their strengths; to the contrary, I was talking about a shared weakness--they are both SLOW, LUMBERING types, no athletic dynamism or speed. I would try to trade LeMahieu now at his peak value or not re-sign him if his contract is up (not sure what the deal is there). He's reaching an age where annual declines in performance are overwhelmingly likely.
My point above is that I'd rather see a team made up of young, speedy, athletic types like Frazier and Andujar. I think this fosters a nonquantifiable team dynamism that the Yankees typically lack because Cashman doesn't have the guts to let young talent develop.
NOBODY, I mean, NOBODY wins with speed.
NOBODY.
But give me five guys like DJ and I can almost guarantee a championship.
We must respectfully disagree on that point. DJ may not be a speedster, but speed is not worth as much as a 363 BA. Not nearly.
I will grant you that young talent needs to be better developed. But DJ's a free agent after this season. 5/110 - someone will give it to him and I hope Brain does.
Nobody wins with speed? Speed can affect every aspect of the game, offensively and defensively.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/managers-view-what-role-does-speed-play-in-todays-game/
Moreover, I'm talking about an intangible here--the FEEL of a team: young, athletic, explosive, brash. This is something that teams like Tampa Bay or even Miami have all over the Yankees.
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