I'm not sure why I feel this way, but I'm surprised to see Tauchman go.

Ace Cole.

 I'm not sure if the ball is deadened, but it might be. It makes a big difference with fly ball pitchers such as Cole.

I like how deGrom is also batting .545.

That means the Mets will contend for the World Series. Clearly.

 The Yankees will contend for the World Series ... and the Mets are better than the Yankees.

K:BB Ratio.

 "After Sunday, the Yankees had a collective .642 OPS, the worst in the majors; They scored 55 runs, tied for the least in the American league with the Tigers, who have played one more game than the Yankees. Their slugging percentage (.346) was second to last in the big leagues and their 16 home runs were tied for 19th.

'They strike out too much, they are hitting too many ground balls and I think the main culprit (of their offensive problems) is they are horrible in situational hitting,' one scout said."

I'm not sure this is fixable.

I think it's possible that the Baby Bombers may have fraudulently pumped up their numbers vs. Baltimore over the past few years.

Good pitchers now have to book on these guys and, while everyone in the ballpark knows that Gleyber is getting set up for an off-the-plate off-speed pitch, he gets fooled by it anyway.

 

The prototypical players who strike out a lot ... Giambi, Dunn, Jack Clark, etc. ... they usually had power and patience. A lot of strikeouts, a lot of home runs, a lot of walks. Makes sense if you think about it.

This is the situation with the current roster:

• Frazier: 14 Ks, 4 walks.
• Stanton: 18 ks, 4 walks.
• Judge: 15 ks, 5 walks.
• Hicks: 14 ks, 4 walks.
• Even Urshela: 13 ks, 3 walks.

Small sample size? Perhaps.

Also could be a sign of a broken approach.

 

We know how this will end because we have seen this before.

Yankees bullpen gives up the lead in the top of the ninth, Bruce wins it with opposite field hit in the bottom of the ninth, endless camera shots of his parents celebrating in the stands, fans go crazy and get ready for the next phase: Monument Park and Cooperstown.

Defend Aaron Boone while you're at it.

"One of the best early-season lines about the Yankees belongs to Yogi, just because so many of them do. It was April of 1998, and the Yankees were coming off losing a heartbreaking division series to Cleveland the year before, when Joe Torre’s Yankees couldn’t defend the title they’d won in 1996. Mariano Rivera couldn’t close out Game 4 and then they lost Game 5 and went home.

Now they started ’98 by losing their first three games. I was with Yogi at a television taping, and asked if he had any advice for his friend Torre.

'Yeah,' Yogi said. 'Tell him to win some games.'"

I've bailed out of this article after one paragraph..

1998 Yankees.

1986 Mets.

Willie, Mickey, and the Duke.

Darryl, Dwight, and Mookie.

Alex Rodriguez broke up with Jennifer Lopez.

I get the gist of it, and of course it is true. 

A bad team is worse when judged against high expectations. The entertainment value and narrative of the Baby Bombers is dreadful. The gutlessness this team displays is undeniable and not an illusion.

I also already know Lupica won't show any guts. "This might happen, that might happen, the Yankees have time to turn it around."

Right.

Things will happen and even more things might happen.

If they Yankees win the AL East, Lupica told ya so. If they don't, Lupica told ya so.

The fans angrily calling WFAN show more guts when they prematurely claim the season is over. 

At least they take a stand.

Oh, and the manager undoubtedly avoids all criticism.

Why?

Just because it's Lupica Land and he decided that Boone is a good manager.

Maybe he also needs access, but that doesn't seem likely in the modern era.

Is Mike Lupica really attending postgame Zoom calls?

"He was obviously very upset, and rightfully so."

I'm a bit impressed that Boone did this before another inevitable loss to Tampa. The rule is to chew out your team the day before they face a last-place team.

Boone's team is full of gutless under-performers, who are therefore difficult to root for.

This isn't because of a 5-8 start. This is a continuation of last season. An inability to win big games, endless strikeouts, no hitting with RISP, bad fielding, bad baserunning, a dying dream for the Baby Bombers.

Four games out and in last place for a team that was hyped as the Dodgers of the East.

Fans are back!

Tip of the cap to Terry Francona

I also liked this bit:

"I can promise you we will never make a lineup out from somebody's tweet the night before."

An assortment of Mike Lupica puns to follow.

You called him out, then you changed your mind.

"After the game, Kulpa, in the pool report, acknowledged he made the wrong call, saying, 'that guy was hit by the pitch in the strike zone. I should have called him out.'"

Baby Bomber Update

Bird - Long gone.

Judge - Injured again.

Sanchez - Didn't hustle.

Gleyber - Made another bad error.

Severino - Injured.

Don't call him Frankie.

Do not read this article by Mike Lupica.

I thought numerology, bad puns, and stupid pop culture references were the lowest of the low. Now Lupica is comparing ballplayers based on biological data:

"He is nine inches taller than the late, great Joe Morgan. He is nearly a foot taller than Jose Altuve. Rogers Hornsby was 5-foot-11. Robinson Canó, whom we thought was on his way to the Hall of Fame once, is 6 feet. Bill Mazeroski was 5-foot-11, and Nellie Fox was 5-foot-10. Jackie Robinson was 5-foot-11. Robbie Alomar was 6 feet. Jeff Kent was 6-foot-1. I am probably excluding other star second basemen. But you get the idea."

You have lost your mind.

Matt Harvey still has a grip on NY media.

Only player less intimidating is Tim Tebow.

It's Mr. Lindor to you.

"If I I’m Steve Cohen and Sandy Alderson, I don’t let a new contract for Frankie Lindor become a thing."

Aside from the abominable construction of that sentence ... think about how that reads ... I don't think anyone calls him Frankie. Maybe they do and I'm unaware of this. I have never heard it anywhere else.

Also, well ... let's just say you're hyping the guy because he signed with the Mets.

You're spending someone else's money. 

Is Lindor worth, way, $400 million?

When Mike Lupica talks about Aaron Judge, he's really talking about Pete Alonso and Alex Rodriguez:

"We all know what Judge can do when he can stay on the field. He hit 52 home runs and set the all-time rookie record for home runs that Pete Alonso would break two seasons later. To put that in some perspective, you know how many other hitters in Yankee history not associated with performance-enhancing drugs — we’re talking about you, Mr. On-Again with Jennifer Lopez — have hit as many as 50 homers in a season?"

Yes. I do know.

 "Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris."

Easy Yankee Trivia for $200, Alex.

"We do keep hearing chatter about Aaron Boone, because that comes with the territory. We are talking here about the Yankee manager who became the first in the history of the team to win 100 or more games in his first two seasons. Now we hear about how much money is being spent on the players he manages, as if that is some sort of marker on the job he is doing. Really? The Yankees have probably spent around four billion dollars on baseball players since the ’01 World Series and have played in two since then and won one."

I'm not hearing many complaints about Aaron Boone. I have some of my own. 

"And if you think it was Boone’s decision to pull Deivi Garcia after one inning of Game 2 against the Rays, you also believe that Alex and Jennifer are going to make it to the altar someday."

Alex Rodriguez joined the Yankees in 2004. Seventeen years of this.

"Maybe this is the season when they are healthy together all season long and dangerous together all season long. Here is another thing to know about Judge and Stanton: Before them, there was only one time when the Yankees ever had two players on the same team with 50-homer seasons on their resumes, because the same year that Judge hit 52 in New York Stanton hit 59 in Miami."

Andruw Jones and Alex Rodriguez were Yankee teammates. 

"Stanton came here from somewhere else. Yankee fans look at Aaron Judge as their own. Not so long after Jeter left the stage, he came along to turn all of 2017 into a Home Run Derby. The next two years after that he combined to hit 54. Still plenty of time for him to punch his ticket to Monument Park. Not sitting next to the Aaron who manages the team."

Aaron Judge has the same first name as Aaron Boone.

Get it?

As we learn firsthand various economic theories.

Supply and demand, conspicuous consumption, sunk costs ... in other words, it's a step in the right direction, but it's going to be too expensive for normal people.

The word hype is a derivation of the word hyperbole.

Am I the only person not bothered by Frazier's attitude?

A seemingly bad concussion derailed his ascent ... and he probably strikes out a bit too much ... actually, he strikes out way too much ... but his status as a starter in Major League Baseball is way overdue:

"Reflecting recently on his journey, Frazier said he wasn’t ashamed of what he said or did in the past because they were relatively trivial and those moments shaped him. He said he felt that he had grown up — also with help from people like his girlfriend or the Yankees outfield coach Reggie Willits — and that he was truly part of the team.

Although Frazier said he toned down his personality because he grew tired of being the topic of conversation for reasons unrelated to his performance, he said he still kept some flair. 'A little bit more of a mild version rather than like a Tabasco hot sauce,' he said."

What did Frazier do that was so bad?