The Dodgers and Mariners might end up grappling in the World Series, but let's take comfort in knowing that the Yankees - with three players whacking more than 30 HRs apiece - won baseball's true title:
The regular season Team Home Run Derby.
Neither Trent Grisham (.235) or Jazz Chisholm (.242) chased the batting crown, but both contributed to the most important Yankee stat: Homers. Grisham hit 34, Jazz hit 31.
But with the exception of - say - Aaron Judge (and maybe Cody Bellinger), whenever a Yankee player strode to the plate this year, they were swinging away!
So went the '25 Bronx Bombers - MLB's Three True Outcome all-stars.
First in HRs. (274)
First in walks. (639)
Third in strikeouts. (1,463)
(They finished first in slugging percentage [.455] and tenth in batting average. [.251])
In the recent postseason, the Yankees had six players - Judge, McMahon, Volpe, Bellinger, Chisholm and Rice - tie for the team lead in HRs... each with one (1). As a team, they finished sixth in HRs, tied with Detroit.
As of this posting, they are fourth in '25 postseason strikeouts (with 66 out of 235 ABs).
Look... I get the Yankee HR thing. The franchise is synonymous with sluggers - Ruth, Gerig, Mantle, Maris, Jackson, Judge. One year, when old George tried to win with speed, I recall Whitey Herzog saying the Babe would be spinning in his grave.
The Yankees are supposed to lead Creation in HRs. This season, they hit about 80 more than their AL East torturer, the Blue Jays. But if you live by the HR/W/K continuum, you die by it, as well.
The Yankees lost to Toronto because the Blue Jays relentlessly served singles into the outfield and, with the exception of one game, they didn't botch plays in the field.
So, as the days grow shorter and the winds turn colder, another slugging Yankee team has gone home, and the banjo hitters play on. I wonder if, in our lifetimes, the Yankees will figure out what everybody else knows: It's the little things that win rings.
The Home Run Derby happens in July. Nobody cares about it in October.
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13 comments:
Pitching was the single biggest reason the Yankees lost the ALDS.
The Yankees staff allowed **34 runs in 34 innings** (8.47 ERA) in the ALDS. That's where any autopsy should begin. We've given $380M to Max Fried and Carlos Rodon, and they collapsed in the biggest moment. Everyone outside of Cam Schlittler and three relievers were terrible.
The Blue Jays hit .338/.373/.601 (.974 OPS) against the Yankees staff in the ALDS. (They also outhomered the Yankees 9-4.)
I'm guessing this wonderful Jays offense is doing well in the ALCS too, right?
Ah wait. Through the first two games of the ALCS, the Jays are hitting .131/.232/.197 (.429 OPS) against the Mariners staff. Guess that strategy of piling up singles doesn't work when you're facing a quality pitching staff, eh?
My biggest beef with the Yankees batters is that they abandoned their patience+power approach, which was so successful in the regular season. They displayed the strikezone control of Little Leaguers, and drove the ball with the same power as my grandmother.
The Yankees averaged 1 HR per 20 AB in the regular season. They averaged 1 HR per 39 AB in the postseason.
They just completely choked what made them successful in the first place.
And do NOT tell me that power + patience can't work in October.
We JUST watched the Dodgers put up a .237 BA last October, but still win a title (they hit 27 HR and drew 74 walks in 16 games).
We're currently watch the Mariners, who batted .244 in the regular season (20th in MLB) and are batting .217(!) this postseason, put themselves in a position to win a pennant.
Vlad Guerrero Jr went 9-17 (.529) with 3 HR, 5 R, 9 RBI vs. Yankees in the ALDS.
In his other 8 career postseason games, he's 3-29 (.103) with 0 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI.
Yankees pitching staff should be sent to Nuremberg.
In the series again the BJ’s, it was indeed the pitching that dragged them down. But ElD is correct; reliance on the HR makes you prone to K’s, and leaves you with nothing when you need to manufacture runs. This is also why we fail in extra inning games.
A one way ticket to Ice Station Zebra would also work.
I think the real key to the Jays series was, we sucked.
That pretty much covers it.
I think you're all right. No, the Yanks did not hit many home runs in the postseason. But I think that was, in part, because they abandoned the "patience" part of power + patience, as Zachary mentions. They seemed to constantly be swinging on the first pitch, or early in the count...
...At the same time, guys like Jazz, Grisham, Wells, and of course, Volpe, just aren't good hitters, period, no matter how many stats they may hang against awful pitchers on awful teams. Goldschmidt was done, and McMahon can't hit anywhere outside that Rocky Mountain High.
It was a team just lacking in lineup to go any further...
...At the same time, yeah, the pitching also collapsed. You insist the postseason is a crapshoot, and then you acquire guys who get dinged up during October. Yeah, keep lowering the odds against you.
And yes, the bullpen was weak and erratic. Cashie's August acquisitions mostly flopped, and there was bad luck with the Weaver injury.
But the stupidest move of all, I think, was getting Mr. Soft Toss for a closer. Oy.
He buys and/or trades for bad players. He goes to The Dollar Store for talent. He knows nothing about talent. His eye for pitching talent is abysmal. He knows nothing about player development. And, worst of all, he thinks he's a genius. But he and Hal are buddies, so we are stuck with him for life. How many ways can we all say the same three or four things? We are learning the answer to that question now.
Pretty much everything was awful. Outside of Judge, Schlittler and a few relievers, the whole team played like shit. They barely beat Boston, then proceeded to get their butts handed to them by the Jays. The latter was highly predictable: they got their butts handed to them by the Jays the entire year, from start to finish. So it's not just the hitting and pitching, it's the managing, coaching, Cashman, it's everything.
They got most of those home runs against bad pitching. When you get into the playoff crapshoot, you are usually facing good pitching every game...
Nice to see the Mariners go up 2-0 on the Jays. Shame the Brewers lost a close one. Did anyone else check out that double play off the near grand slam. You can watch sports your whole life and still see something for the first time. If you haven't here is a link. It was wild.
https://www.mlb.com/video/quinn-priester-in-play-out-s-to-max-muncy?t=nlcs
What happened to the conspiracy theories about the Blue Jays cheating at home?
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