Right now - 4/21/22 - let this news herald from the snowy mountaintops and fruited plains, to the ships at sea and toll booths along the Thomas E. Dewey Thruway, to the tornados of Topeka and the sinkholes of Sarasota, and to lizard aliens in far regions of the galaxy:
The scientists and shamans got it wrong. You CAN have enough pitching.
For now, the Yankees do.
For now.
Savor this moment, comrades. It won't last. Intrinsically, we know that nobody EVER has enough pitching. It's one of Zeno's Paradoxes, an unwritten law of Newton: It is mathematically impossible to have ENOUGH pitching - (unless you're working of a math text from Florida, perhaps) - and yet, have you noticed?
The Yankees have now endured three crapola outings from Gerrit Cole. We're talking about three starts that should have pushed our bullpen into Defcon 5 - and yet, it's still standing.
The Yankees have endured:
a) A complete meltdown by Joey K. Gallo, offensively and defensively.
b) The continued implosion of Gleyber Torres, whose path might follow those of Gary, Clint, Birdie and Miggy.
c) The bumpy arrival of Josh Donaldson.
And yet, we've still had pitching, pitching, pitching - enough to send JP Sears to Scranton.
How long will this last? Dunno. When that liner hit Jordan Montgomery last week, I instantly figured him out for the season. Now, he looks like a solid No. 2 starter. Whenever Luis Severino pitches, we expect him to grab a gonad and disappear into a helicopter. But last night, he battled through tough innings and prevailed. Then there is Jameson "The Unbearable Weight of Massive" Taillon and baseball's version of Mysterio - Nasty Nestor Cortez. How far can they go? Dunno.
Which brings me back to Cole. (And, by the way, if you're wondering what's gotten into me, this optimism? It's a TWO GAME WINNING STREAK, BABY, THAT'S WHAT! WOOHOO.) If Cole turns out to be a 2022 washout, we're screwed, tanned testicles or not. No matter who steps up, we will eventually face a reckoning of blown leads and - worse - blown elbows. The Yankees cannot withstand such a loss. But Coles' woes Tuesday stemmed not from velocity but control. Guy couldn't throw strikes. Let's remember that, in a normal reality, these would be the final hours of spring training. Time is a flat circle, and space is Woody Harrelson's beer bottle. And ever since Cole brought that kid's sign - Yankee Fan for Life - to his Yankee unveiling, I have loved this guy. Fingers crossed. He just needs a solid outing. That's all. Right? (Tell me I'm right.)
How long will this little fling last? My guess is we'll be screaming for Sears - or Cashman's head - by May 1.
But jeeze, let's be wise here. Right now, right this minute, we have something the juju gods never bestow upon our like: The Yankees have pitching. So, let's go... Sweeeeeeeep.
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50 comments:
This post could have done without mentioning the name of Wily Mustache Man of the Bronx. Please, for the love of gawd, jinx any of the other four starters. See if I give a shit. But not Him. He is one of the few Yankees that are still fun to watch.
Two game winning streak my ass. It's the Tigers. Get a grip.
And the first of those wins was a gift.
Too much pitching you say? Or even enough? Just you wait.
Sorry, I forgot to say "fuck."
Fuck.
The Yankees only have two pitchers on the roster with an ERA over 3.75.
Gerrit Cole (7.11)
Jonathan Loaisiga (6.35)
You can't predict baseball, suzyn.
I'm stuck in the Yankee>Cashman MultiVerse of Madness, where a win is a loss, and a loss is a win,,,, URRGGGG!
Torres odd man out in Rest Roulette.
Higgy and Donaldson not starting...Trevino and Gonzalez are...
“My guess is we'll be screaming for Sears - or Cashman's head - by May 1.”
We’ve been screaming for his head for the last several years. Being a MLB GM isn’t a lifetime appointment like the pope. He is well past his expiration date.
I really miss Sears.
Those fond days of perusing the catalogue for pictures of sporting goods and sinful looks at women' "unmentionables" at age 13.
Someday we may all miss JP in that way.
Funny you should say that about Ca$hman being past his expiration date, borntorun999 (George Reeves, Clark, Kal-El, etc). Not a day goes without me turning to my wife and saying, "Jeez Hon - Doesn't Ca$hman look like a cross between an over ripe mango with a bad case of toe fungus? WHAT GIVES!" Ask her - she'll tell you.
DJ and Hicks are over .300. A meaningless stat, as we all know, and Hicks is on the way down from his heady heights. But still.
And Rizzo is hitting. And we got four runs without a homer. Unless you count Boone.
Love seeing Sevvy, too. Sure, something will probably snap in the next start or two. But I love seeing his fire and toughness.
As for Gerrit Cole...well, I liked the fire he showed in that complete game win over the Astros last season. Which in today's game is like pitching 16 scoreless innings.
But his ERA for September was 5.13. After a pretty good start against Baltimore on Sept. 14, he finished the season with three straight washouts and then that classic in the Boston play-in.
We're talking 7 straight sucky starts now, which is a lot for a pitcher of this caliber. Or was he ever really of this caliber?
Those lats were made for snappin'.
That's what they're gonna do.
One of these days those will snap all over you.
Wow, has Joey Gallo devolved into a terrible outfielder or what? His inability to cut off a ball costs us the first run of the game. But hey: "He brings a ton of value."
And wow, what a big fat fuck Pineda has turned into! And how effortlessly he retires our awful lineup!
I know, I know: we can't expect guys making tens of millions a year to get up for an afternoon game after a night game. It's just not humanly possible.
This team has a terrible record in day games, and even worse in day games after night games, a reflection of their lazy, feckless manager. No fire, no urgency, just going through the motions. In such a game, as HC pointed out, a sloppy play like Gallo’s can make all the difference.
Meanwhile, Tov (for "Tons of value") Gallo, down to .118—BEFORE this at-bat, gets "barrel on ball"...fouls ball off foot. Get "barrel on ball"...pops out to third baseman in foul territory.
Could it actually be that, for whatever reason, he's done as a ballplayer? Happens for some guys very quick and very early.
And...Gonzalez can't hit a flyball far enough to score DJ from third. Yeah, you don't want to put on a play with that guy up there...
I think it’s time for a IIHIIFIIC intervention. Joey Whiffs needs some help. Time to reach out to the JuJu gods. It’s at emergency levels…
Yanks are playing a getaway game with emphasis on getaway…
And of course Trevino followed Gonzalez with a 400 ft, would’ve been easy sac fly…
It may be that Gallo just can’t hack it in NY. I don’t saying stuff like that because I can’t offer a concrete reason why, but it does seem to apply to some guys.
Note to Aaron Hicks ... don't stop and admire your blasts until you are damn well sure they are going over the frickin fence.
Has anyone told them that they have a charter? They don't have to make a certain flight?
They ALL do that, Bern. As you'll recall, it led to TOV Gallo running into an out on Opening Day.
Judge seems openly tired. Vitamin deficiency?
And Pineda got away. Five shutout innings. All of three singles. Against a hugely mediocre pitcher who was on our team for years. Great effort.
Stanton ice-cold. Last 7 games : 207/.233/.241 with 13 k’s
Montgomery is the first Yankees pitcher to complete six innings this year.
Joey Whiffs day would not be complete without a strikeout…
Poor Monty, he can’t buy a win a million bucks.
Yanks got a break…
Well, they consider this extended spring training, so okay on limiting the starts.
But I don't care if they consider it Christmas break, holy shit the hitting stinks!!!
Looked over on the Mets' channel between innings. Old friend Thairo Estrada is starting for the Giants. He's only hitting .239, but he has 2 homers and 9 RBI, which in our lineup would make him a giant among mere mortals.
What was the break?
Another rally killed…
Un-fucking-believable
Gianrallykillo…
Yeah, Giancarlo has gone into another of his frequent swans. Just amazing, though: swinging for the fences all the time, every time, this team cannot produce a flyball when they need it. Incredible.
This team has score 9 runs in three games against the Tigers—2 of them when the pitcher dropped a pop-up.
I'm rooting for Miggy to get to 3K this inning.
If you notice, too, one of the things that kills them is trying to pull EVERY pitch. Even Rizzo, who has been one of our few bright spots, today insisted on trying to pull a ball that he could easily have taken to the opposite field and produced a run.
This team is badly run, period. Small thing, but did you notice that Torkelson, their .172 hitting star of the game, pulled both his hits to left field. This despite the fact that our pitcher was throwing inside...and Joey G. was playing nearly in center.
Neither Boone nor anyone else seems to have their head in the game, it all feels very rote.
And oddly enough, Boooooone and I are thinking the same thing: bring in a lefty to pitch to the next three righty hitters. Genius.
I remember in 2019 (I think) when these guys went an ungodly number of games without scoring zero runs in a game. Perhaps an entire season. It was a point of pride. They'd claw and scrape for a run, always finding a way.
This season? They're about to have their third blanking in two weeks. What a shit team.
Well, well, well.
Thanks, Lucas for making us both look good.
And then...
3-0 might as well be 13-0…
I'm not watching or listening, but I'd be willing to bet the Motor City faithful gave them an earful when they walked Miggy.
These guys suck new post for commiserating.
13 games, 3 shutouts. And 2 in the last 4 games, both to nothing pitching staffs. Unbelievable.
Hi Dick, they sure did! When Miggy walked off the field he tried to calm them done, pointing at the scoreboard.
A Pro.
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