I just watched an NBA playoff game on TV. The game has a total of 43 personal fouls. Based on the reaction of the players, zero of the fouls were actual fouls.

"It appeared the lack of an interference call wouldn't make much of a difference in Sunday's outcome after Abner Uribe retired Giancarlo Stanton on a pop fly for the second out of the inning. But everything fell apart for the Brewers from that point on.

Verdugo advanced on Anthony Rizzo's walk and scored the go-ahead run on Gleyber Torres' single to center. Oswaldo Cabrera walked to load the bases before Jose Trevino singled home two runs. Elvis Peguero replaced Uribe and threw a wild pitch that brought home Cabrera. After Anthony Volpe walked, Juan Soto hit an RBI single.

Volpe and Soto executed a double steal while Judge was at the plate receiving a chorus of boos from the American Family Field crowd. Judge capped the seven-run outburst with a two-run single that extended the Yankees' lead to 11-4.

The Brewers never recovered from the missed call."

Just being honest about it, one bad umpire call is not worth ten runs. Get the third out and then score more runs than your opponent.

"Star."

I'm not sure what's the worst offensive stat for Gleyber:

• Two RBIs for the season.
• Zero RBIs since April 6th.
• .150 BA with RISP.
• .000 BA with two outs and RISP.
• Two extra-base hits this season.
• Zero home runs this season.
  
• A .212 slugging percentage

Also, he's a bad fielder.

Also, he's a bad baserunner.
 

I must admit Jahmai Jones isn't exactly Rogers Hornsby ...

I was still hoping Gleyber would be benched two games in a row.

At some point this season, Gleyber will hit a home run ... have a multi-hit game ... make a clutch fielding play.

But I'm also convinced that this early season slump is more signal than noise.

I don't even think a benching would necessarily send a message, resulting in an attitude turnaround. I just legitimately think Jahmai Jones gives the Yankees a better chance to win a Sunday afternoon game vs. a division rival. Maybe he could turn a 6-4-3 DP once in a while.

Yankee Highlight Reel

Soto sends Yankee Stadium into hysteria with 3-run shot.

All Star second baseman sends Yankee Stadium into hysteria with a .224 slugging percentage.

I understand the sentiment and I also think the pendulum will swing back a bit.

But if the solution is "pitch like Greg Maddux," you may as well tell all the batters to "hit like Ted Williams."

The year when he batted .400.

Do the Yankee infielders practice double plays?

I can cut (fraudulent) Gold Glover Volpe some slack for botching the GIDP ... but is anyone going to take action when we're putting the worst-fielding second baseman in the league out there every night?

"Just bobbled it" Girardi says.

"Torres said that his first instinct was to try to look Naylor back to third, which contributed to the bobble.

'I missed it for a couple seconds, and when I got the ball, it was too late,' Torres said."

Quite the history of clutch defense, am I right? 

Instinct is not an actual thing. Practice is a thing. When people seem to have a "natural" ability, it's because they practice a lot. When people seem to have instinctual abilities to make the correct decision, it's because they have the poise which is a result of preparation. A lot of preparation.

Gleyber was a bad-fielding shortstop. He hit 38 home runs one season, so it was a worthwhile tradeoff. When he moved to second base, the idea was that he would be more comfortable in the field (I see no evidence of this) and also more comfortable at the plate (I see no evidence of this).

The errors he makes aren't just physical errors. He throws the ball wildly on double plays because he's rushing when he doesn't have to rush. On this game-changing play where he was trying to look Naylor back to third base prior to fielding the ball, a good professional ballplayer would have cut his losses and gotten the out at first base.

I'm serious.

The Yankees might still win this game if Gleyber just allows the run to score and gets the sure out at first base. It's a tough pill to swallow, allowing the tying run to score. Then you'd have to play an eleventh inning. We want to win right now. But playing an eleventh inning is better than losing in ten.

 

Also, my man has zero home runs this season.

Hitting home runs is the only thing he's good for.

So what's his function on this team?

Defending DJ LeMahieu seems like an odd thing to do, doesn't it?

Oswaldo has obviously been fantastic and fun in the first two weeks of 2024. It is encouraging that he may be a keeper.

But Yankee fans are worried if there's a spot for DJ LeMahieu?

I know!

How about second base?

Maybe put a player out there who can turn a double play once in a while.

It's crazy to constantly hear all the wishcast theories about why Gleyber is going to get his act together. He's moving to second base instead of shortstop. It's a contract year. Proximity to Juan Soto. Inspiration from his teammates at the World Baseball Classic. A new approach to hit the ball to the opposite field rather than endless warning track fly balls.

It isn't happening.

He isn't very good.

2019 was a mirage.

DJ LeMahieu is better.

Lots of players are better.

Mike Lupica is behind a firewall nowadays.

So I can't (won't pay money) to read this article.

But I know it's the same article he has written for 40 years.

Mookie Wilson, Mookie Wilson, Mookie Wilson.

The Mets run the city (how is that working out, by the way?), Alex Rodriguez is a steroid fraud but Robinson Cano is a great guy, Jason Giambi is a steroid fraud but Josh Hamilton's home run derby at Yankee Stadium was a greater moment than Lou Gehrig's speech, and the Yankees' GM is a perennial stupid dum dum head.

 

There's not much to add about Gooden at this point.

The Mets' ownership disowned him for a long time because he was a drug addict.

Uniform numbers mean something to players and fans, and the Mets gave #16 to some real slobs in the post-Gooden era.

I'm happy for him to get his number retired. He deserves it.

Which reminds me: The Yankees should do the same for Winfield, so this doesn't happen. Look at the record, simple as that.

 

Against the slumping Marlins.

"On Tuesday against the Marlins, in his first home start of the season, the 31-year-old hurler showed the Yankees what they paid for. For six innings, Rodón breezed through Miami’s overmatched lineup, punching out six without allowing an earned run. He commanded his trademark, high-spin heater to the arm-side part of the plate, back-footed the slider to right-handed hitters, mixed in his changeup to tally whiffs and induced early-count weak contact with his new cutter."

Against the slumping Marlins.

 

"But perhaps more important than the final line was how Rodón looked atop the hill: loose, easy, free. A year ago, pitching looked like a laborious chore. He rarely appeared comfortable in his new surroundings, the pitching version of trying to sleep on a bad hotel mattress. His starts were a struggle to endure, not an opportunity to shine.

It’s early days, but that dynamic feels different now. On Tuesday, Rodón was floating, flowing. Granted, not every start will be this easy — the worst-record-in-baseball 2024 Marlins are a pitcher’s best friend — but six scoreless is far better than eight runs and no outs."

I agree.

It is better than eight runs with no outs.

I also think his body language might slip the next time he gets slammed.

Not "dope."