The infamous Sunday lineup.

No one expects Chisholm and Dominguez to play every game.

Both of them are playing pretty well recently, so it doesn't make a lot of sense from that perspective.

But it also demonstrates a major disconnect between the decision-makers and the fan base.

The lack of urgency.

The insistence that the team is pressing instead of pondering the possibility that the team is slacking.

They'll start playing great as long as Boone takes the pressure off. 

The Yankees are not in first place anymore. They're in the midst of another six-game losing streak and Boone is comfortable leaving it up to Max Fried to avoid a weekend sweep by the Mets.

You really ought to read the room and put your best foot forward. 

A boy playing a man's game.

Pre-IL and post-IL, Weaver has been bad.

Five home runs in last eight innings pitched.

Has the league figured him out?

Or is it just a short-term blip due to rust and injury? 

This is the 10,000th time the word "agressive" has been tortured and abused to describe a stupid play by Anthony Volpe.

You kind of have to watch the play in question to believe it.

I can't find much discussion of the term "clutch fielding," but I believe in clutch fielding, and Volpe is a choker in all aspects of baseball:

"The sixth-inning grounder was hit to Anthony Volpe's right, and as he pursued the bouncing object on the Rogers Centre turf, the Yankees shortstop had a split second to read the play. The tying run would score, Ernie Clement was digging hard for first base and Nathan Lukes was chugging into second representing the potential go-ahead run.

Volpe went for the gold, banking on a miracle putout at first base. It backfired; his throw arrived late and Lukes grabbed a free base. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. made the Yankees pay with a hard go-ahead two-run single that rocketed under Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s glove at third base – the deciding runs in New York’s 5-4 loss to the Blue Jays on Monday night."

I also like the pointless ritual of postgame monitoring of his response to bad games. Is he contrite? Did he learn?

The daily deer-in-the-headlights look of the perpetually "young" player.

This guy is going to be described as an up-and-coming rookie with a big upside after twelve years on the bench. 

“'We’re going to be aggressive, try to make plays and back up the pitcher,' Volpe said. 'So that’s baseball. It happens. We had a lot of opportunities after that, too. I feel like we still took good at-bats and put good swings on the ball.'"

"We."

After I screwed up in the field, my teammates almost came back to win the game.

"That's baseball! It happens! What are you gonna do?" 

Again, you have to actually see the play to understand the lack of baseball intelligence and instincts. It's on display from the Yankee shortstop every day. He benefits from a widespread presumption that shortstops are intelligent.

There was no play at first base. The runner is nowhere to be seen as the camera pans across the field and the first baseman catches the ball. The runner is a few steps past the base, down the first base line. 

The Yankees have wisely dropped him in the lineup.

Pretty soon, he's going to be benched.

The Volpe Experiment is over. They gave him a shot and he couldn't do it.

 

I also have a new favorite stat of 2025. Still don't think Volpe is a choker?

In tie games, Volpe is batting .101 in 69 at-bats.

Within one run? .169.

Withing two runs? .188.

Etc.

When the score of the game is within 4 runs, Volpe is batting .205.

But when the margin is >4 runs, Volpe is batting .364. 

 

The Yankees probably score more runs per inning when they are not gifted a runner on second base.

"The Yankees' bullpen wasted Carlos Rodon's efforts, and the team's extra-inning woes continued, as New York fell 5-4 in the 11th inning.

New York entered the 11th batting .770 with a .270 OPS while driving in one run in extras all year. So, of course, the Yankees would push across a run, but it happened without a hit. After Cody Bellinger moved Aaron Judge -- the ghost runner -- to third on a sharp groundout, Judge scampered home on a wild pitch.

But it wasn't enough as the Yankees allowed two runs as the Reds clinched the three-game series."

I'll presume a misprint with the .770 batting average. It should be .170.

The Yankees are lacking in fundamentals and they don't care.

They can still win a lot of these games, maybe even in October. Judge comes through with a bases-clearing double and everyone is happy.

But they will have to do it the hard way. They refuse to do the easy things.

I did not read this Mike Lupica article.

It is probably behind a firewall, anyway.

The headline must be clickbait: "Are this year's Yankees better than last year's team?"

No.

Last year's team had superstar Juan Soto and made the World Series. Also, the Yankees just got shut out three games in a row. So your timing is bad.

I laughed when I saw the headline because it reminded me of a Lupica article from one week ago where he compared the 2025 Mets to the 1986 Mets.

Aside from the fact that Lupica compares everything to the 1986 Mets, it's funny because the Mets haven't won a game since then.

So do me a favor, pal: Don't talk about the Yankees. Ignore them. You're the one who claimed the Mets had taken over as Kings of the City, so the Yankees are just a boring afterthought for true baseball fans. The Yankees are unworthy of your attention, so it would be perfectly appropriate for you to stop paying attention instead of making up nonsense articles about nothing.

Baseball accomplishes nothing.

"Two things can be true. Anthony Volpe is only 24 years old and still has room to grow as a player. Anthony Volpe was also an overhyped prospect who has major flaws in his game and might need to be accepted for who he is."

Point one is Volpe is bad. "Still has room to grow" is an interesting way to put it, but he's just, you know, mostly bad at playing baseball at a major league level.

Point two is Volpe is bad.

"He isn't bad."

He's bad.

"But he also isn't good."

Correct. He isn't good. Which means he is bad.

"Here's the thing, though. Flipping out over Anthony Volpe accomplishes absolutely nothing."

Of course it accomplishes nothing.

Neither does staying calm about Volpe's inabilities to play major league baseball.

Neither does watching baseball or commenting about baseball or scanning the box scores or predicting the future outcomes of baseball games or reminiscing about Jeter and Mariano and Willie and Mickey and the Duke or collecting Aaron Judge Superman bobble head dolls.

It's up to the players to figure out how to play baseball competently.

The fans can do whatever they want.

I wish I had influence on Anthony Volpe's ability to play baseball.

What shall I do? Flip out? Stay calm? Put a Volpe jersey in the freezer? Pray? Maintain a ridiculous blog? 

"If fans and media members are still out there complaining about how he hasn't fulfilled his top prospect pedigree, then they're either in denial or haven't watched enough baseball."

You aren't saying he's fulfilled his top prospect pedigree, are you?

"Newsflash! So many prospects do not pan out. It's the unfortunate reality of the sport. It's not Anthony Volpe's fault the Yankees anointed him the shortstop of the future after just a handful of games at Triple-A. They put a ton of pressure on him. At times he's lived up to the billing. Most times he's been a disappointment."

Sure.

Of course most prospects do not pan out.

So ... that's it? The fans should just have low expectations and then they won't be disappointed?

I can agree with that, if that's your point.

But that's also not what fans generally choose to do. 

"The sooner fans realize Volpe is a solid defender and bottom of the order bat that can do damage in spurts, the better off everybody will be. We've written him off as a future cornerstone piece of the organization long ago. That's not a knock on him, either. He has value on this team. He's not going to turn into what everybody thought he would be just because you keep yelling about it."

Fan is short for fanatic. You may regulate your emotions as you wish. Others choose to vent. 

Also, I WISH Volpe was (a) a solid defender, and (b) THE YANKEES WOULD BAT HIM AT THE BOTTOM OF THE ORDER.

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, PLEASE STOP BATTING HIM FIFTH. HOW MANY TIMES ARE YOU GOING TO BAT HIM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ORDER?

Phew.

That felt good.

Another counterpoint: Who is "better off" if the Yankee fans lower their expectations for Volpe?

The fans are better off? Volpe is better off? The Yankees are better off?

Because, while ranting and raving accomplishes nothing in terms of on-field results, blithely accepting incompetence and amateurism from major league baseball players also accomplishes nothing.

"He might become the one everybody envisioned. But chances are he won't. And that's fine."

It's fine if the Yankee put bad baseball players on the field. Gee. Maybe you just haven't watched enough baseball.

"The Yankees don't need him to be a superstar. They just need to keep him out of the spotlight and let him find those promising rhythms, which we've seen plenty of this year."

I have not noticed too many "promising rhythms," but I also wasn't paying attention to his walk up music. Is it Sly and the Family Stone?

It's also a bogus argument: "Volpe doesn't need to be a superstar." 

As if that's the problem. 

As if he's dazzling us with clutch performances and fundamentally sound play and racking up a nice 30/30 season, but we're just so spoiled that we demand 40 home runs and 100 RBIs.

Volpe has been cut far more slack than any other player I can think of. If the Yankees had sent out Jayson Nix for two-and-a-half years, the fans would be loud and restless.

I agree with keeping Volpe out of the spotlight, I'll grant that much.

The bench is out of the spotlight. Somerset is out of the spotlight. Running errands for Francisco Lindor is out of the spotlight.

"Plus, this entire offense hasn't scored in week. It's not just on Volpe."

Judge was booed, if that makes you feel better. 

The booing didn't accomplish anything, but it's just fans doing what they do. 

 

1-for-18 with RISP isn't going to cut it.

Especially when the one hit doesn't score a run.

"Scoring position," huh?

 I know, I know. It's an infield single and therefore an abomination to the fundamental meaning of this particular stat.

 We all see the same thing.

1-5 in extra inning games and a truly amateurish inability to get the ghost runner home. MLB is giving you a run. Why won't you take the run? 

Which tracks with a new batch of young players who just don't know how to play the game. All these fundamental errors add up. They can do the tough stuff reasonably well, but they can't do the easy stuff.

I also don't think this is the game to slag on Volpe. It wasn't his fault. He had a sac bunt (hooray!) and, you know, put the ball in play at least. Stole a base in a clutch spot.

But when he grounded out to end the game, he looked like he was going to cry.

This isn't working, kid.

You're two-and-a-half years into the majors and the Yankees have given you a lot of slack. They've given you the starting shortstop job for two-and-a-half years, including the playoffs.

Stop squeezing the bat so tight.

In clutch situations, you're obviously getting in your own way.  

You need to chill out and start playing like a bored veteran.

 

 

I think it will be tedious and lame to complain about Giancarlo Stanton for the next 100 games.

He will hit some home runs, more than most, and do little else.

But there is just no way he should be batting fifth vs. righties. I think he should be platooning with Rice and reduced to a pinch-hitting role vs. righties.

I guess Goldschmidt got the day off today, so maybe it's not going to be a typical lineup for the rest of the year. 

Lots of gaffes, mistakes, bad cutoff throws, not hustling, not covering first base in the fifth inning of Game Five of the World Series ...

The Yankees are in first place and they are playing well overall.

There's also this unsettling feeling that they haven't learned their lesson.

Volpe bad throw, Goldschmidt doesn't keep the ball in front of him, Dominguez bad throw, LeMahieu can't catch the cutoff throw (no advance), Grisham lazy play on a Red Sox single, Volpe caught off guard on the non-tag at second base, Volpe with a horrible cutoff throw home on a play where the runner was going to be safe anyway, but still ... if the guy is going to be safe, don't throw it; and if you're going to throw it, don't throw it 15 feet away from home plate; this is the major leagues ... Dominguez with a baserunning "gaffe."

Lose the game by one run.

Let's check in on Gary Sanchez.

Not too good.

Three hits in 30 at-bats, all singles.

A slash line of .100/200/.100. 

 

I prefer closer by committee for 4-6 weeks.

"The Yankees are expected to place Weaver on the injured list Tuesday with Fernando Cruz slated to be activated. Williams figures to slide back in the closer role. The two-time All-Star hasn't given up a run in 11 of his past 13 appearances, lowering his ERA from 11.25 to 6.23 over the span."

I'm not sure it even matters. A great player will be replaced by an inferior player.

I just personally still don't trust Williams ... and while it's contrary to my general belief that roles don't matter much, I think the recent successes listed above are not proof that Williams is ready to close ... rather, they're proof that he can excel in the setup role.

Franciso Lindor has his Mets Moment.

Just a reminder that I was a sportswriter in New York during Dwight Gooden's heyday in 1984.

I don't think it's completely crazy to put deGrom in the Hall of Fame, but Mike Lupica doesn't make the case:

"What Yankees fans saw with deGrom back in the big city on Wednesday night is what Mets fans saw across town at Citi Field when his starts were known as deGrom Day and you didn’t want to miss one of them; when they were as much a pitching event as Dwight Gooden’s starts once were at Shea Stadium when he was young, and he was the Mets ace who looked like the best pitcher in the world."

DeGrom wasn't that good vs. the Yankees last week, by the way. It wasn't must-see TV.

As for aces that energized Mets fans, let's put Matt Harvey and R.A. Dickey in the Hall of Fame.

"Jacob deGrom pitched seven innings against the Yankees and looked as if he were on his way to a win before Cody Bellinger took him out of the park in the seventh and made the game 2-2. But while he was out there, he looked like everything he ever was as a Met: Nine strikeouts, one walk, three hits. He was the same dazzling presence on the mound that he has always been when blessed with good health, something that hasn’t happened nearly often enough."

He looked like he was on his way to a win until he gave up a home run.

In that case, he really does remind me of Dwight Gooden.

"But look at what deGrom has been able to do when he has been injury-free, the laundry list of achievements that nearly give off a beam of light: Two Cy Young Awards, a season when he finished with an ERA of 1.70, the all-time leader in K/BB at 5.40. He’s twice led the world in strikeouts, led once in bWAR. He has 1,728 strikeouts (in 1,425 innings) for his career against just 320 walks. With everything that has happened to him already, his lifetime ERA stands, and proudly, at 2.51."

There's a HOF case for deGrom. His career WAR is quite high. His K:BB ratio is the best of all-time. Lupica listed deGrom's achievements and didn't even mention Rookie of the Year.

The problem is, the voters don't care too much about those particular stats.

K:BB ratio is a funny one. The Top Twenty is commingled with HOFers and mediocre pitchers.

It's a ratio. Which is the point, isn't it? The HOF is for accumulators.

 

The bigger problem is the whole "when he has been injury-free" argument. Because then you're just speculating. 

Don Gullet, Tony Conigliaro, and Mark Fidrych might have made the Hall of Fame.

 

My other gripe goes something like this.

1. Lupica is just infatuated with the Mets. He'd never write such an article about two-time CYA winner Corey Kluber (116-77, 3.44) or Hyun Jin Ryu (78-48, 3.27 ERA).

This article is for MLB, not SNY.

I'll gladly concede that deGrom had a better career than Kluber or Ryu. But did he have a better career than Tommy John? Curt Schilling?

2. While deGrom was good the other night, he allowed two runs in seven innings. Carlos Rodon pitched better the next day. So did Nathan Eovaldi. Nathan Eovaldi's return to the Bronx!

DeGrom's start was, like, the 10th-best start in the majors that day, yet Lupica was going to praise it to high heaven no matter what actually happened in the game.

"Looked like he was headed for a win until he blew it in the seventh inning."

Using that logic, Gerrit Cole won Game Five of the World Series last year.