"You ask Brian Cashman what has surprised him about his baseball team in April, which has already seen the Yankees start 3-6 and then play the way they have since, and he says, 'A-Rod would be the surprise.' "
"Biggest surprise" is an odd compliment. He thought ARod was going to stink. So he's surprised that he's doing okay.
"He means A. Rodriguez, the designated hitter and occasionally fill-in infielder who has hit four home runs this month after spending last season in the penalty box for being the top star juicer of Biogenesis. Two of those home runs came last Friday night against the Rays, when the Yankees badly needed a win, not to turn a season around, just April."
Oh! He means Alex Rodriguez, the Yankee player.
I thought he literally meant "a rod." That is why I was confused. What is so surprising about a rod and why is he mentioning this to a sports writer?
But if you ask a dumb question, you might get a dumb answer.
"So Rodriguez, everybody’s All-America, is the biggest surprise to his general manager, at this time when the last nine games look so vastly different than the first nine, and when there is so much on the line, for Cashman and the Yankees and the people who own them. But there have been other surprises, as well, starting with Cashman’s starters."
I think Lupica is so unable to write favorably about a winning team, that his entire paradigm has shifted to chat up the underdog Yankees. After 20 years of derision, that took about two weeks.
I mean, the Yankees are 10-8.
ARod is hitting .250 and striking out once every three and a half at-bats.
The starting rotation is 7-6 with three good pitchers and two bad pitchers.
"This isn’t about who 'owns' the city in baseball or who rules it now that the Mets have started hot and look like they are going to be contenders, not just for this season but maybe for a long time. That is something for the stands and the media, unless you really think that Yankee players and Mets players feel they are engaged in some epic battle for the heavyweight baseball championship of New York City."
What??????????
What the hell did you just say???????
So after DECADES of pushing this nonsense about which baseball team "owns" New York, you've just swept aside your entire foundational premise in one paragraph.
I need a drink.
"Right now the Yankees — whose farm system hasn’t produced a star starter since Andy Pettitte — have four starters under the age of 27."
Chien-Ming Wang was a star until he got hurt. Almost won a Cy Young Award.
"If Tanaka’s arm holds up — and that’s an 'if' as big as Yankee Stadium — and if Sabathia’s legs don’t give out, this has a chance to be one of the best rotations in the American League, certainly the best in the AL East. Without Max Scherzer, who got his stupid contract from somebody else."
Well, there's your trouble.
You're relying on Sabathia. 0-4, 5.96 ERA, has not won a game in a calendar year, has been a liability for three seasons in a row.
Still, it's fascinating, if somewhat alarming, to see Lupica's sudden change of heart. Go Yankees! Mets are so last week.
"This has been the Mets’ April, hands down, however the rest of this weekend plays out at the Stadium. They have Harvey and they win an entire home stand and are putting noise and fun and life into Citi Field, really for the first time. But the Yankees have made some noise, too. The position players are still old. But in front of your eyes, the pitching has gotten younger. A lot younger. As young as the guys across town. You want the real baseball surprise in New York this April? There it is."
Tanaka and Pineda are not surprises. Eovaldi and Warren are hardly trustworthy in the long run. Nova will come back and hopefully regain some of his early form. Sabathia had one good game and a whole bunch of postgame excuses in his other games ... get used to hearing them.
The Yankee team ERA is pretty good, but a lot of that is the bullpen.
So Eovaldi is the only surprise so far. He has a horrible WHIP of 1.7 and has managed to keep his ERA in the low 3.00s ... for now. I wouldn't get too excited about him.
Besides, Lupica, the last thing this team needs is your curse. If an ignoramus like you praises a player, I'd sell that stock right away.
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