Babe Ruth isn't walking through that door.

"After the New York Yankees tied the series with a win in Game 2, being back home with their ace on the mound should have been their recipe for a lead in the American League Division Series."

"Should have been."



"That wasn't all Severino's fault. Some of it was Lance Lynn's and Chad Green's.

But above all, it was Aaron Boone's."

Above all, it was Aaron Boone's fault.

I can instantly think of 52 people I'd blame/credit for this loss before I'd get to Aaron Boone:

• All 25 players on the Yankees roster
• All 25 players on the Red Sox roster
• The GM who got rid of Eovaldi
• The GM who acquired Eovaldi

OK, to be fair, he's talking about the 4th inning only ... but he's not talking about the 4th inning only.


"It didn't take a strong pair of glasses to see that Severino wasn't fooling Red Sox hitters in the first three innings. He'd given up three runs, and the amount of hard contact indicated that the 24-year-old was lucky it wasn't worse.

Even with the bottom of Boston's order due up in the top of the fourth, Boone was thus taking a chance simply in allowing Severino to return to the mound. After he allowed a leadoff single to Brock Holt—his first step toward the first cycle in postseason history—the hook should have come out immediately."

Sure, I guess.

In retrospect, Severino should have been pulled a little earlier, I suppose.

It would have been nice if the "ace" could show some guts. If he can't beat the Red Sox, trade him to an NL team.


"By the time Boone called on Green, Lynn had allowed another hit to put two runners on with only one out. Despite Green's best efforts, three more runs scored, and whatever hope the Yankees had of mounting a comeback was all but gone."

Right.

So Green was ineffective (despite his best efforts) ... just like all five Yankee pitchers and one Yankee backup catcher/pitcher ... but Green would have been Pedro Martinez if he had just been brought in earlier.

Was Chad Green going to pitch six shutout innings and also pinch hit for Andujar and belt a couple of home runs?

As for "high leverage" situations, Green has a pretty noticeable track record of playing poorly in the highest leverage situations.


"The long leash he put on Severino might have made sense if this was the same Severino who dominated throughout all of 2017 and most of 2018. But everyone is aware Severino struggled (5.57 ERA in 12 starts) in the second half. And while he refused to break, he definitely bent in his four innings in the Wild Card Game.

Boone's decision to make Lynn the first man out of the bullpen is equally baffling. If he was going to bring in Lynn, it should have been with clean bases at the start of the inning. Once that ship sailed, Boone's first move should have been for a pitcher accustomed to dominating in high leverage."

You know what?

The only thing Boone could have done wrong was waste his top pitchers instead of saving them for Games Four and Five.


The Red Sox schooled the Yankees by playing smart professional baseball. The Yankee All-Or-Nothing Heroes can learn a lesson by watching how the Red Sox approach their at-bats against a hard-throwing strikeout pitcher.


Is it just me, or is there a pattern where people stretch all credibility to blame the Yankee manager whenever the Yankees lose in the playoffs?


The Yankees aren't a great team. They're a good team, but not a great team. They may even turn it around and win the World Series, but that would be a very surprising outcome.

The Red Sox are better than the Yankees and have been all season.

Maybe this is difficult for people to acknowledge because they fall for the marketing campaign?

I really don't know.


It just seems to happen a lot that everybody is ready with the excuses (abbreviated warmup session?) instead of just acknowledging the relative lack of talent.


A team loses 16-1 and you think a fourth-inning pitching change was the difference in the game?

This is utter nonsense and I think it lets the players off the hook.

Totally the manager's fault.

They should have hit-and-run or bunted. Small ball always works when you need to push across a run or two ... or fifteen.

If Boone had removed Severino an inning earlier, the Yankees would have lost by thirteen runs instead of fifteen runs.

He strikes out way too much.

A lot of hit at-bats are feeble giveaway at-bats.

I can't say it was a mistake to sign him, but he did not have a great year.

"For all their emphasis on cutting-edge analytics and their professed desire to get younger, more athletic, and yes, more economical, the Yankees still are susceptible to the seduction of the bright, shiny object.

Case in point: Giancarlo Stanton."

Come on.

He's a good player, he hit right around 40/100, he's young and probably about to hit his prime.

He stayed healthy, he played good in he outfield, and he was good with the press.

He just strikes out way too much.


"The 2017 Yankees came within one victory of going to the World Series, and if there was one area of their game that didn’t need shoring up, it was offense.

Last year’s team led the major leagues in home runs with 241. They were second in runs scored with 858, second in on-base percentage (.339) and third in OPS. (.858).

Still, confronted by a need to improve their starting pitching, the Yankees found they could not resist adding Stanton to their already high-powered offense when it became obvious that the Marlins, and their frugal CEO, Derek Jeter, were looking to dump the remaining 10 years of Stanton’s 13-year, $325 million contract despite his winning the N.L. MVP last season with a whopping 59 home runs."

Starting pitching?

For improved starting pitching, you need starting pitchers.

Who was available?


"In fairness, the 2018 free agent crop for starters was not a strong one. The biggest-ticket item, Yu Darvish, had a disastrous, injury-ridden season for the Chicago Cubs, making just eight starts and going 1-3. Most of the others — Tyler Chatwood, Alex Cobb, Andrew Cashner — had seasons of similar futility without being injured. Only Jake Arrieta had a decent season for the Phillies. The Yankees were probably wise to avoid investing in that market."

Right ...


"But about a month after the Yankees parted with Starlin Castro and two minor leaguers for Stanton, the Houston Astros were prying Gerrit Cole away from the Pirates for a minor league outfielder (Jason Martin), two mediocre relievers in Michael Feliz and Joe Musgrove, and a decent third baseman, Colin Moran.

Cole, for the record, pitched seven brilliant innings of three-hit ball, allowing just one run in Game 2 of the ALDS between the Astros and Indians Saturday afternoon.

Certainly, the Yankees, with their re-stocked farm system, could have put together a comparable package."

Oh, what a bunch of baloney.

After the games are played, it's real easy to proclaim that Gerritt Cole is better than J.A. Happ. Gerritt Cole was the answer to a World Series title the whole time. If only the Yankees had stayed focused on Gerritt Cole and not been distracted by the shiny HR-hitting object. 


Why don't you let this play out?

Over this season and actually the next ten seasons?

Stanton could light Price up tonight and lead the Yankees to a World Series title.

Maybe he'll hit four in one WS game and six overall, shattering every WS HR record.

But it doesn't even matter. Stanton's performance of lack thereof has nothing to do with Gerritt Cole.

The Yankees could have traded for both Stanton and Cole. It wasn't an either/or decision. They demonstrated that with the acquisitions of McCutchen and Happ.

They just decided Cole wasn't worth the price.

We'll never know if that was the right call.

Maybe Cole would have shut down the Red Sox in Game One of the ALDS. Maybe Cole would have gotten shelled at Fenway.

Ha, I was at this game.

11. Yankees rally after kid runs on the field
Sept. 18, 1993

Neither team qualified for the postseason in '93, but they did provide a memorable September moment nonetheless. The Red Sox held a 3-1 lead with two outs in the bottom of the ninth when Boston pitcher Greg Harris hit Mike Gallego with a pitch to put a man on first. Mike Stanley followed with what appeared to be the game-ending flyout to left, but timeout was called after a kid ran onto the Yankee Stadium field.

Stanley, given another crack, singled to left. Wade Boggs followed with a two-strike RBI single that cut the lead to one, and Dion James followed with a walk. And then it was the Yankees' hero, Don Mattingly, who walked off the Red Sox with a two-run single through the right side. New York, much to the Red Sox's dismay, scored a most improbable win -- with a little help from the home faithful.

Boone gave a good press conference. What else do you want?

"In his rookie season as a manager, Aaron Boone's Yankees won 100 games.

And we still don't know if he can really manage."

That's an attention-grabber.


"But we do know this: He’s got guts. Either that, or the people making his decisions for him do."

That's what I was thinking.

The rather absurd notion that Boone made this decision.

This sentence kind of puts the brakes on the rest of the article.

The only interesting insight that could be provided by a sports journalist is whether or not Boone made this decision himself.


"Because by choosing Luis Severino to start Wednesday’s one-and-done Wild Card game against the Oakland Athletics, Boone has put himself directly in the crosshairs in what will essentially be the first important game he has ever managed."

1. But we don't know if he chose Severino in the first place.

2. You just dismissed the entire regular season as unimportant.

"But of all the rookies and second-year players on the Yankee roster, none will be under a more unforgiving microscope than the first-year manager. And if the Yankees fail to get past Oakland, Boone will be easy to convict in the court of public opinion.

That is ridiculous, of course."

Ridiculous.

Yet, the central theme of my column.

I approve of this decision.

Felz Stat of the Day

Number of HRs in 2018:

Greg Bird: 11

Luke Voit: 14

David Wright can't play baseball at a professional level anymore. Last night's appearance was symbolic.

"Understand this right off the bat: The fact that the Mets are so bad is what made David Wright Night possible in the first place.

Had the Mets not been mired in fourth-place in the NL East, headed for a second straight sub-.500 season and the 12^th in their last 14 without October baseball, and playing the even more pathetic Miami Marlins, there’s no way they would have penciled David Wright into the three-hole in their lineup or entrusted him with playing third base, even for a couple of innings."

Seems reasonable to me.

"The sad fact is that after the cruel tease of an 11-1 start, a cameo appearance by a once-great player in an inconsequential game is what will be remembered as the highlight of the Mets’ 2018 season. And, what passes for meaningful September baseball in Flushing these days.

The Mets could pile on all the sentiment they like, but the truth is that over the past six years, they failed David Wright even more egregiously than they have failed their masochistic fan base."

The Mets failed David Wright?


"After the 2012 season, when Wright batted .306 and finished sixth in the NL MVP voting, the Wilpons and GM Sandy Alderson convinced Wright to sign a seven-year, $138 million contract extension based on the contention that the future was bright for the Mets."

You could probably stop reading the article right now as 7-year/$138M is irrefutable proof that the Mets did not fail Wright.


"All Wright had to do, of course, was wait one more season and he might have scored $200 million as a free agent, perhaps with a team that truly had a future."

Or Wright could have gotten hurt and been unable to play baseball, leaving $138M on the table.

Also, the Mets made the World Series in 2015.

So it sounds like the Mets upheld their part of the bargain.


"In return, he became saddled on a team that has gone 475-495 since then, seen at least one of those promising arms, that of Matt Harvey, flame out due to injury and overindulgence, and most poignantly, unexpectedly reached a World Series only after Wright had already developed the spinal stenosis that would prematurely end his career."

By "on a team," you must mean "on the disabled list of a team."

"They were cheering what David Wright promised them when he committed himself to the Mets back in 2012.

The fact that the promise was broken was not David Wright’s fault. Turns out the Mets’ commitment to winning was never as strong as David Wright’s commitment to the Mets."

This narrative is untrue.

The Mets spent a lot of money on a lot of good players, they made the World Series three years ago, and they have stuck with most of their talented young arms to this day. Some of these investments haven't worked out, but that's how it always works.


I think insurance has covered most of Wright's salary due to injury ... but have you seen Wright's stats since his big free agent signing?

It's not Wright's fault that he got hurt, but he gave the Mets about one year's worth of cumulative production over the last six years.

Overrated, in my opinion.

"The answer begins with Gary. Ron calls Gary 'the greatest docent of Mets history,' but encyclopedic knowledge isn’t necessarily a virtue. What really matters is that he gets the difference between a perceptive detail and a useless piece of trivia.
  ...


Before most weeknight games, Gary arrives at the park between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. and sequesters himself in the booth, poring over piles of stats and scouting reports, none of which he really needs because he remembers everything. His voice is a classic broadcaster baritone, with far more range and texture and glee than your standard Fox Sports 1 drone. His home-run call — a simple unfussy 'It’s outta here!' — has this tingling rise to it; in big moments it soars up a note or two higher than you expect. In one tidy little aria before a Nats game in July, he marveled to me over the sweeping impact of 'the shift,' the game’s current bête noire, a tiny tweak in baseball’s pH — one middle infielder moving just 50 feet to the right or left, overloading one side with three gloves — that has disrupted a century of balance."

OK, I'm not going to pick apart the whole article ... but Gary Cohen is a constant stream of useless information ... and I'm not sure what the gripe is with Yankee announcers, who could not possible be more boring and mechanical than Gary Cohen.

Felz Stat of the Day

Gardner playoff stats:

Overall playoff: 121 AB, .215 BA.

WS: 10 AB, .000 BA.

Judge was 0-for-4 and the Yankees only scored 3 runs.

It's going to happen and I don't care.

The Yankees are not going to sweep the Red Sox anytime soon. Even if they do, they're not catching the Red Sox.

The Yankees are going to play the A's in the Wild Card game and I don't even care if it's a home game.

Like it or not, the reamining games are exhibition games where the goal is to get players sharp for the playoffs.

Expect to see a lot of Sonny Gray and Stephen Tarpley.

My opinion is their opinion.

"'That pennant race led to the manifestation of the wild-card system, which has been so great for baseball,' said Bud Selig, Commissioner Emeritus of Baseball. 'When you win 103 games, you should be rewarded.'

Now, 25 years later, playing in their second new ballpark since that year, the Braves are poised to return to the postseason after a four-year absence with a 7 1/2 game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East. The Giants will miss the playoffs for the second consecutive year. Maybe one day, they’ll meet again in the postseason, as they did  in 2010, but never again will they have the feeling of the summer of ’93. 

'Unfortunately, we won’t have that because of the fail-safe of the wild card scenario,’ Smoltz said. 'Every (team) in the league played the same schedule back then. Now, I personally don’t understand it? How can how you have a sport play 162 games and the schedules are not the same? It’s just mind-boggling to me.'

Says McGriff: 'Life ain’t fair now. The Rays have to play the Red Sox and Yankees 19 times, while Oakland plays them six times. So Oakland goes to the playoffs instead of Tampa because of the schedule? It’s not right.'"

I disagree with the, ahem, "Commissioner Emeritus of Baseball."

I agree with Smoltz and Mc Griff. Not that baseball has to be "fair," but the Wild Card has ruined pennant races.

Sluggish team wins 11-0.

"Sluggish" may be overstating it.

They had a full Stadium against Toronto in mid-September.

They also got their 91st win.

They are "sluggish" in the sense that their offense is almost entirely station-to-station, HR-or-K, all-or-nothing. It's fun when it works and "sluggish" when it doesn't.

The buzz will be strong in October if they advance. It's not hard to imagine with the return of Chapman and Judge, contributions from Didi and Sanchez, and peak performances by Happ and Tanaka.

There is no Hall of Fame for Friends.

But if there were?

You'd be unanimous First Ballot, sport!

Tanaka's home/road splits.

Home: 4-5, 4.03 ERA.

Road: 7-0, 3.31 ERA.

My conclusion is that the Yankees' best chance in the Wild Card game is to start Tanaka on the road in Oakland.

There's an Abbott and Costello routine in there somewhere.

Who's in left?

Field.

Yes, left field.

I already told you.

It's a fluid situation.

At some point, if the Yankees are going to advance in the playoffs, all of the pitchers in the starting rotation are going to have to start games.

All of these games are important, and the starting pitchers are going have to pitch well.

Rickey!

I saw Rickey play a minor league game with the Newark Bears. The guy just loves baseball.

Who cares?

It's amazing that we're still talking about this.

Even more amazing that Girardi is still talking about this.

Hey catcher, a little more catch and a little less err.

Look at the bright side ...

"It’s not the first time Sanchez’s defense has been questioned. With the two passed balls Wednesday night, the 25-year-old has 13 passed balls on the season, tied for the most in the major leagues with Martin Maldonado. The Astros’ catcher has 13 in 102 games this season, Sanchez has the same in 59 games.

With the two wild pitches, Yankees pitchers have thrown 37 wild pitches with Sanchez behind the plate."

If he was an NHL goalie, he would have a very good save percentage.

There is no reason to completely give up on Bird.

He's young, cheap, and actually has good power numbers for his career.

But I'm ready to give up on him for the remainder of 2018.

That did not last long.

Voit injects energy into previously lifeless Yankee lineup.

Yankee lineup lifeless vs. White Sox.

Sonny Gray isn't bragging nor is he delusional.

He is explaining the hyper-positive mindset which he is trying to maintain as he attempts to rebuild his career.

Hi, Mike.

If you want to talk about a player on the Mets, then talk about a player on the Mets. You don't write for any New York newspapers anymore, so there's no reason to talk about the Yankees:

"The ace of the Yankees staff, Luis Severio, threw 100 pitches on Saturday, didn't make it to the sixth inning and got his 16th win anyway."

You make it sound like a bad thing.


"Because of the lousy month Severino just had, it was treated as if Severino was back on the road to Monument Park."

"It was treated" this way by whom? Where?

Nobody did this anywhere except in Mike Lupica's head.


"By the way, it's worth noting that before Severino hit the skids around the All-Star break, a lot was being made of the fact that Pedro Martinez had helped Severino become a better pitcher -- helped him out with 'stuff.' "

If this is "worth noting," then you either don't understand the meaning of the word "worth" or you don't understand the meaning of the word "noting."


"On the same Saturday, the ace of the Mets and the whole sport right now, Jacob deGrom, pitched a complete game against the Phillies, struck out nine and lowered his ERA to 1.71 while picking up just his eighth win of the season to go with seven losses. Forget about the won-loss record. deGrom isn't working on his 'stuff' with Martinez. He's been pitching like Martinez all season."

This is accurate.

Everyone knows that deGrom is the best pitcher in the whole sport right now.

I don't have any idea why this obvious observation presents an opportunity to disparage Luis Severino. I surely don't know what Pedro Martinez has to do with anything.

I also don't know why the word "stuff" is in quotation marks.


"Even if deGrom ends up winning just 10 or 12 games this season -- Felix Hernandez once won the AL Cy Young Award at 13-12 in 2010 -- he is producing one of the great pitching seasons in Mets history. deGrom has pitched like an heir to Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden."

R.A. Dickey, how soon they forget.

Also, when a last name begins with a lower-case letter, that letter should be capitalized when the name is the first word in a sentence.

This is not good "writing."


Then the rest of the article makes a bland Cy Young case for deGrom ... a rather interesting debate only in the sense that it's an extreme test of the importance of wins in the minds of the voters ... but no further mention of Severino.

So what was the point of ripping Luis Severino?

You really just can't help yourself?

I think the all-or-nothing game has gone a bit overboard, but I also think baseball will be fine.

Baseball is always in trouble ... and the players are always paid too much ... and there is never enough pitching.

I also don't think hit-and-runs are going to save the game, nor bunting, nor eliminating the shift, nor the effective marketing of Mike Trout.

If kids don't like baseball, then they don't like baseball.

It's not an action sport. It's potential energy, not kinetic energy. I'm into each pitch because it sets up the next pitch and builds the tension or breaks the tension.

I agree that the Three True Outcomes have gotten out of hand and made the game more boring, but if you read this in-depth article, a lot of it is old men yelling at the kids to keep their skateboards off the sidewalk.

No mention of Irabu.

I didn't see the ceremony, but I hope the Yankees paid some homage. Irabu is ridiculed and dismissed by a large portion of the fan base, but he won 13 games that season and deserves some recognition at a team reunion.

The Yankees have a better chance of winning the World Series than they do of winning the division.

This should be plainly obvious, but most analysts don't seem to be able to figure this out.

"Andy Pettitte knows a little bit about how Luis Severino was feeling the last month. The former Yankee ace felt the weight of New York’s expectations on his shoulders before. He has struggled under the brightest spotlight and he has come through.

So the big lefthander who helped carry this organization to four World Series titles and was part of another in 2009 had some empathy for the Yankees current young ace, who is going through the worst month of his young career.

'It’s gonna happen. He’s got great stuff. He’s a No.1,' Pettitte said before the Yankees’ 11-6 win over the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium.

'He’s gonna be just fine. Sometimes it builds up and in New York you get an awful lot of attention and a lot of media coverage, so he just has to keep his focus as narrow as he can and things will turn around,' Pettitte added. 'He’ll be fine.' "

"... as long as he takes human growth hormone, he'll be fine."


"And while Pettitie was encouraging, his presence was a reminder of how urgent it is for Severino to get back on track. The Yankees celebrated their 1998 World Series championship team before Saturday’s game. Jorge Posada, Joe Torre and Mariano Rivera reminded everyone that the key to long runs in the playoffs and winning a World Series is good pitching."

Ha ha ha.

Thanks.

Because if it wasn't for the presence of Andy Pettitte at Yankee Stadium on an August afternoon, I would have forgotten about the Yankees' number one crisis at the moment.

I also would have forgotten about the importance of ... good pitching.


"Whatever the main issue is, the Yankees have to get him right. Saturday, they watched as the ’98 team celebrated a reunion. Pettitte, David Cone and David Wells were there on the field to remind everyone that the only way the 2018 Yankees have a long postseason run in them is if they get their pitching in order."

I could say the 1998 Yankees prove you need bench strength to win the World Series ... or a high team on-base percentage ... or a flawless bullpen ... or lots of other things.

We all know the 2018 Yankees are not nearly as good as the 1998 Yankees.

The good news is that they don't have to be as good as the 1998 Yankees to win the World Series.

Not too much to argue about in this analysis of Yankee retired numbers ...

... but a glaring omission in the category of "HOFers who are not properly honored."

Dave Winfield.

The Greg Bird dream is dying.

I used to think he was a right-handed Andy Phillips. Now I think he's a right-handed Chris Carter.

• Bird 2018, still starting: .211/.302/.396, 227 AB, 9 HR, 24 RBI, 67K.
• Carter 2017, run out of town: .201/.287/.370, 184 AB, 8 HR, 26 RBI, 76 K.

I'm not sure how he'd get fatigued. It sure isn't from running the bases, ha cha cha.

Get rid of the Wild Card altogether and see how the Yankees like it.

"Here goes: Major League Baseball is proceeding with a playoff system that is just not fair to the New York Yankees. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and fans of all ages: The system is holding the Yankees down.

This is the seventh year of the current postseason format, but the potential Yank-apocalypse has spawned a wave of East Coast commentary about how the system must be changed. The Yankees could win 100 games, so the argument goes, but their terrific season could come down to one game: the sudden-death, wild-card game. How about some RE2PECT for the Yankees?"

You're protesting too much.


"Oh, it’s not about the Yankees? We did not hear all these insistent cries for reform three years ago, when the Pittsburgh Pirates won 98 games, and their postseason experience was one and done."

Yes.

But no one remembers because no one cares about the Wild Card in the first place.


So the conclusion that the postseason format is unfair to the Yankees is, indeed, "poppycock."

The Yankees, assuming they lose their division, shouldn't be in the playoffs in the first place.

Panic!

Chapman is slumping, Torres is slumping, Tanaka had a bad game, questions arise! Arise, I say, like a zombie from the grave:

"As the ball left Ronald Guzman’s bat, the Yankees righthander never looked up or turned around to watch the ball. Tanaka’s head dropped, his shoulders drooped as he stared at the ground for a few seconds while the Rangers’ first baseman rounded the bases.

After being the Yankees’ best pitcher over the last month, Tanaka could not find it Friday night, getting lit up for six runs on six hits in five innings. He took his first loss in 15 starts, dating back to April 17, with the Yankees’ 12-7 loss to the Rangers at the Stadium."

"First loss in 15 starts" sums it up quite nicely.


By the way, Porcello and Eovaldi got rocked back-to-back against the lowly Orioles.

So you know what that means when October rolls around?

It means the Red Sox are in good shape when they score 19 runs.

The AL will have a Wild Card game. This is true.

I wouldn't say it's inevitable that the Yankees will be one of the participants in the Wild Card gamge:

"Starting Monday, they need to begin finding some answers.

They have the second fewest innings pitched by their starters since the All-Star break, behind the Rays — who purposely don’t use a starter on some days. Miguel Andujar’s two errors on Sunday night and Gleyber Torres’ mindless plays over the last week bring up concerns about the young Yankees’ focus and defense. The lineup was silent for most of the weekend without Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez and it needs to find a way to score while they mend.

Sunday night also had to raise concerns about the bullpen, which has allowed at least a run in 12 of the last 15 games. Aroldis Chapman walked three, and then J.D. Martinez’s single scored two runs before Andujar’s error on Xander Bogaerts’ grounder to third — his second error of the night — allowed the Red Sox to score the tying run.

So right now, the Yankees leave Boston needing to change their focus."

Aside from the emotional turmoil and realization that they're not as good as they thought they were, I don't know what they're going to do differently strategically.

Some of the young players are going through growing pains, but that was one of the objectives of the 2018 season.


"Instead of expending all their energy on chasing the Red Sox, the Yankees need to put their house in order and prepare themselves for a fight in the Wild Card game.

They have time to get themselves ready."

I don't know what this means.

Like, Bird hits another ground ball to second base. Does he jog to first base because the Red Sox are 9.5 games up?


"Before you bemoan the myth that the Yankees cannot beat losing teams, their actual record is 36-19 against teams below .500. They have struggled against the Orioles, going 6-6 and do have seven games remaining against them."

Well, yeah.

Most people understand that the Yankees didn't get to 30 games over .500 by losing to everybody. The observation is that the Red Sox built a divisional lead by playing even better than the Yankees against bad teams.

 

"They can give their starters extra rest and maybe that will help get Luis Severino back on target and it would certainly keep CC Sabathia healthier and sharper down the stretch.

Most importantly, however, they can start by being cautious with the returns of Judge, who said Sunday he still had pain in the bone in his right wrist that he fractured, and Sanchez, who is on the disabled list with a groin injury for the second time. There is no rush now; it’s most important to make sure they are ready for September and October."

At least Ackert suggested something concrete, but I still don't see it. The long-term health and effectiveness of their players is a primary objective regardless of the AL East standings.

This was the biggest series of the season, a make-or-break series which broke the Yankees.

The Yankees didn't strain their starting pitchers or rush their players back from the DL.

Maybe it will be good in the long run to knock these guys off their pedestal. Maybe Torres and Andujar need to eat some humble pie and this will all be forgotten as they parade down the Canyon of Heroes in early November. Or maybe they get knocked down and can't get back up.

This team faces some challenges, both mentally and physically.

Everyone can acknowledge that the Red Sox are better ... if that somehow helps the Yankees play better in August and September, then I'm all for it. I fail to see how this realization changes anything.

Field better, work the counts, play some fundamentally strong baseball, get Judge and Sanchez healthy (and Ellsbury ha ha ha), and perhaps the young players need to adjust to the grind of a long season.

The focus and expenditure of energy should be the same as always. Each game and each at-bat is the focus.

Of course the Yankees can't concede the division.

I'm not even sure what it means to concede the division.

They're all privately aware of the reality, but there are a lot of games to play, and you may as well try to win them.

Boone went as far as to say Boston is the best team in the AL.

Just how much honesty are you expecting from the Yankee players and manager?

The Real Yankee Crisis.

It won't be difficult to contend in the NL East for the foreseeable future.

I have no idea why Reyes is still on this team, but I understand why the pitchers are still on this team:

"Steven Matz, one of the core four of pitchers the club refused to part with due to delusions of grandeur that they can contend in 2019 with this roster as currently constituted, got lit up by the Nationals. He didn’t make it out of the first inning, allowing eight hits and seven runs and recording just two outs."

Snark is easy enough when a baseball team loses by 21 runs, but the Mets surely don't have delusions of grandeur just because they held onto their pitchers.

1) The 2019 team won't have the roster "as currently constituted." Current is 2018. 2019 is an entirely different year than 2018, also known as the future.

2) The quickest path to contention is good starting pitching, even if Matz stunk it up today.

3) As for contending in the NL East in 2019, what is that going to require? 83 wins or so?

They're only 12.5 games back now.

I'd say 2018 contention is a pipe dream, but this current roster with a productive Cespedes, Bruce, and Conforto? That team would be in contention. If you're a .500 team in the NL East, you're in contention.

Mr. Net Negative has 6 RBIs vs. the Mets today ..

... and it's the third inning.

Too many armchair GMs.

Makes sense to keep good starting pitching and build around it. It's easier than finding good starting pitching. All these armchair GMs would trade deGrom for prospects and then, in a couple of years, trade the prospects for a starter.

One of these things is not like the other.

"He was saving games when most of the country was sleeping.

He was becoming one of the greatest closers in baseball history despite his own general manager refusing to watch him.

He was the West Coast version of Mariano Rivera."

Well, no.

The playoffs, and World Series in particular, separated Mariano from Hoffman and all others.


Trevor Hoffman's WS ERA is 9.00 (very limited sample size).

Mariano's WS ERA is 0.99 ... which is worse than his ALDS ERA and ALCS ERA.

I'd take Bumgarner.

Very insightful column.

The reason the Yankees aren't going to acquire Bumgarner is because the Giants aren't going to trade him.

Felz Stat of the Day

Andujar has 30 doubles in 336 at-bats.

This is Mattingly territory.

Actually, at this pace, Andujar would crush the Yankee record.

No excuses, but this is what I originally thoght.

Earlier in the game, Sanchez "doubled" down the LF line but stopped at first.

It isn't an excuse.

If you can't play properly, get out of the game.

I also don't think Sanchez has demonstrated a willingness to work hard, to improve his defense, to hustle, or even to get into peak physical condition.

I just think yesterday's performance in particular was a combination of laziness and injury.

The Return of the Passed Ball.

I never thought Austin Romine would outplay Gary Sanchez:

"But that wasn’t his only lackadaisical play. The Yankees were trailing by a run in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded and two out when Sánchez hit a sharp grounder to Rays second baseman Daniel Robertson, who flipped it to shortstop Willy Adames. Running from first base, Aaron Hicks got to second before Adames could step on the bag. But because Sanchez was jogging to first base, Adames was able to throw him out to end the game."

My initial impression was that Sanchez was jogging because his groin is not 100% and he was following the instructions of his coaches and his trainers. Maybe not.


"For much of the last month, the question shadowing the Yankees was whether they could overtake the surging Boston Red Sox in the American League East and escape the nail-biting proposition of a wild-card playoff game. But as the Red Sox inch further and further ahead, a hint of concern is creeping in about whether the Yankees will be able to hold on to one of the two wild card slots.

Not too long ago, such a question would seem ludicrous. But after Monday night’s loss, the Yankees’ wild-card cushion is down to seven games."

Yeah, it's funny how the whole world spends so much time worrying about the Yankees' playoff rotation when the first step is to make the playoffs.


"There is some reinforcement coming soon for the Yankees, with second baseman Gleyber Torres expected to rejoin the team for Wednesday’s final game of the three-game series. A 21-year-old rookie, Torres has been on the disabled list since July 5 with a right hip strain. Torres was in the vicinity Monday night, playing for the Yankees’ Florida State League team in Tampa.

Outfielder Clint Frazier isn’t expected to be available for the Yankees anytime soon, although the team received encouraging news on him Monday: Frazier received a diagnosis of post-concussive migraines, the team said, and Boone called it a 'better-case scenario.'

But the bigger issue right now is what to do with their catcher who is batting .188, struggling defensively and showing a disconcerting propensity for not hustling."

I'd be hard-pressed to think of a player who improved at this particular disconcerting propensity.

I'm expecting no improvement in defense or attitude, but a lot of talk about how his defense and attitude are improving.

I've noticed he can't field and he can't run.

Always has demonstrated a lot of power and he will hit a lot of HRs at Yankee Stadium. He strikes out too much, like everybody else. The rather prominent predictions of a batting title seem fairly ridiculous, but so are lots of predictions.

Bird is young and cheap.

He hasn't accomplished nearly as much as several other Baby Bombers and I suspect a 14 at-bat hot streak is just a bad hitter having a good 14 at-bats.

Having said that, Lou Gehrig is not sitting on the bench awaiting his turn.

There is simply no reason for the Yankees to not stick with Bird.

Your weekly David Price Report.

"You have to say that July started out great for the Yankees, a Sunday night game at home, just like the kind of game they will play this Sunday against the Mets, an 11-1 victory over David Price and the Red Sox that made you wonder if Price would ever beat the Yankees in a big game, here or anywhere, on the first night of July or the last weekend of the regular season at Fenway."

Can I get a copy-and-paste job at the Daily News?


"The Yankees and Red Sox were still right there with each other at the top of the American League East, with the Yankees actually two games ahead in the loss column when the Red Sox left town. And since then, the Yankees have played the way they did at the start of the season, when they were 9-9 and then 10-9 at the same time the Red Sox were starting 17-2. Through Friday night, the Red Sox had lost one time since that Sunday night game. The Yankees? They ended up hanging on in the 9th on Saturday against the Mets, or would have been 8-8 since July 1."

"Hanging on in the 9th" is the same thing as "winning."

"Almost losing" is the same thing as "winning."

"Would have been 8-8" is the same thing as "9-7."

The Yankees have been hanging in there with a scorching hot Red Sox team. The Yankees have also done their part by beating the Red Sox head to head.

There is no move that Cashman can make that can prevent the Red Sox from winning.


"So now what does Brian Cashman do as his team moves up on the non-waiver trade deadline? Maybe they really can outscore everybody through October, the way they eventually did against the Mets Saturday afternoon. Or not. A month ago I thought the Yankees were the best team in the league. Not now."

A month ago, Lupica was wrong. The Yankees are not better than Houston or Boston, and I can only imagine Cleveland calmly laughing in their clubhouse at the notion of a 3-team AL Powerhouse.


"We’ll never know for sure how serious the Yankees actually were about adding Manny Machado to the stick they already have in their batting order. It would have been a dramatic and interesting play, of course, we’ve gone over that, and a statement from Cashman that he really did think his team could slug its way past the Red Sox, Astros, Indians."

I think most people with brains never took the notion seriously.

The Orioles trading Machado to the AL East?

The Yankees trading prospects to the AL East?


"The Yankees have a perfect right to think that the past three weeks look a lot differently if Torres and and Sanchez had been healthy. So no one would suggest that they aren’t still on track to win 100 games."

Kewl.

Let's get back to David Price.


"But still: When Price (him again) beat the Tigers 1-0 on Friday night, the Red Sox were 69-30, which sort of means this:

They no longer needed to even play .500 ball the rest of the way just to get to 100 wins."

Let me summarize:

The Yankees are 3 games back on the loss side, but will not catch the Red Sox if the Red Sox continue to win 70% of their games.

David Price.

The Yankees will probably need to add an impact player, but I can't think of who this player would be.

David Price.

Criticizing someone who speeds up the interminable HR Derby.

My idea is to set up a pitching machine that unleashes ten 100-MPH pitches per minute for five minutes.

Hit as many HRs as you can.

So no one blames Aaron Hicks.

There is nothing to apologize for here.

Let's set the stage: Two runs down, one out, eighth inning, runner on first, full count. Do you send the runner? Yes.

If you don't send the runner, Hicks will ground into an inning-ending double play.

If the pitch is in the strike zone, Hicks should make contact, even if it's just a foul ball.

If Hicks strikes out on a pitch outside the strike zone, it will most likely be an off-speed pitch in the dirt, and Judge will be safe at second.

"Sitting around and waiting for a HR" seems like the winning strategy if you know 100% that the next batter will hit a HR ... and if you knew 100% when your batters were going to hit HRs, managing a winning baseball team would be very easy.

Also ...

Judge was safe.

We have no idea if Stanton would have hit a game-tying HR in different circumstances.

Attention is currency.

If you're wondering how Kylie Jenner can (supposedly) be worth $900 million, look at this nonsense.

A mediocre AA ballplayer goes 1-for-4, and that warrants a newspaper article?:

"Somehow, Tim Tebow keeps finding a way to counter his critics by doing something unexpected."

I'm ready to be wowed.


"The former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback was named to the Class AA Eastern League All-Star team despite a rather unremarkable .270 batting average, five home runs and 33 RBI this season for the Binghamton (N.Y.) Rumble Ponies, a New York Mets affiliate."

Unremarkable, but that doesn't stop me from remarking.


"Tebow, 30, was in the East squad's starting lineup Wednesday night, batting ninth as the designated hitter. In his first at-bat against West starting pitcher Beau Burrows, Tebow hit an opposite-field double."

Waiting to be wowed.


"Tebow grounded out to shortstop in the fifth inning, flied out to left field in the seventh and, representing the go-ahead run in the bottom of the ninth, struck out swinging."

Wow!


"The East pushed a run across in the ninth and the game ended in a 4-4 tie."

WOW!

Wilmer Flores is so good, the Mets should consider starting him ... I mean, trading him.

"Wilmer Flores has done this enough times now that perhaps it would behoove some contending team to actually offer the Mets a decent prospect or two for Walkoff Wilmer ahead of the upcoming trade deadline.

Flores came up as a pinch-hitter in the 10^th inning on Monday and promptly did what he does best, ripping a home run off the left-field foul pole to end the Mets’ 4-3 win in the opener of a doubleheader split against the Phillies at Citi Field, while also establishing the record for the most game-ending RBI in franchise history.

What started out as the ultimate feel-good story when Flores had cried on the field after nearly getting traded to Milwaukee just ahead of the 2015 trade deadline – and then clubbing a game-winning home run two days later – has developed into something of a cottage industry for the 26-year-old utility man.

Even if he doesn’t have a true defensive position, it’s hard to argue with his repeated results late in games."

It's easy to argue with.

Maybe a contending team could use Wilmer Flores.

Expecting him to just sit on the bench until it's time for a walkoff HR?Very dumb.

It's just a weird statistical blip and everyone knows it is.

Why did I click on this article?

He fooled me on the MLB website:

"One of the reasons, but not the only one, that the Yankees will be actively seeking a starting pitcher or two before the non-waiver Trade Deadline is because of the way one of the starters they already have, Sonny Gray, has pitched for them so far.

Gray came to the Yankees from Oakland, and always looked pretty good to them out there. Only now he is in New York and Yankees fans act as if he is not only pitching as badly as he has lately, but also vandalizing Monument Park between starts."

For what it's worth ... and it isn't worth much ... Lupica was, like, a HUGE Sonny Gray fan.



"Gray gave up five runs and six hits and threw two wild pitches in the two innings he pitched in the New York's 6-2 loss in Toronto Friday night, after starting a game against the Red Sox last Saturday night that the Yankees ended up losing, 11-1. His record is now 5-7 this season, with an earned run average of 5.85. Gray was 4-7 last season after the Yankees acquired him from the A's, even if he did get two starts in the postseason, one in which he pitched a solid five innings against the Astros in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, a game that Yankees won late."

We all have access to baseball-reference.com, but what does last year's ALCS have to do with ... anything?

In fact, you haven't written anything yet.

Skip the three-paragraph intro if you're going to just repeat things we already know.


"But the problem they have, tied in to Sonny Gray's problems, is that a lot of the starting pitchers who may be available seem to be different versions of the same Sonny Gray the Yankees liked as much as they did when he was pitching for somebody else."

That's the problem in a nutshell, with the Yankees and every team in MLB.

Which is why the Mets should hold on to both deGrom and Synderrggaarrdd.

You can trade them for 10 prospects, 2 of which become MLBers, 0 of which become All Stars, but even if you somehow put together a playoff lineup, you will never be able to replace two top-notch starters.


"Different shades of Gray, basically, if not 50 of them."

His first name is a pun, too. So many decisions to make when you're a professional baseball columnist. 

But 50 Shades of Gray is too good to pass up ... and also timely. Lupica sure has his finger on the pulse of pop culture.


"But there is only one starting pitcher out there -- unless the Giants decide to deal Madison Bumgarner -- who could change everything for the Yankees this October the way Justin Verlander changed everything for the Astros last October and that is a guy they don't have to worry about in New York because he's already pitching in New York:

Jacob deGrom."

"There is only one starting pitcher out there ... other than Madison Bumgarner."


I mean, look, I know the target audience on MLB.com is beyond the New York Metropolitan Area, but that was a pretty big buildup to tell us the Sky is Blue.

Will it happen? DeGrom to the Yankees. I doubt it.

But every single caller to WFAN sure has an offer for the Mets. The first thing I heard this morning was deGrom-for-Stanton. That's probably the highest price I've heard, with the lowest being, say, Andujar and Ellsbury.

One thing these moronic callers have that Lupica doesn't have: the guts to put their offer on the airwaves.

This is all we get from the weasel:

"Will the Mets trade deGrom (who is still only 30)? No one knows that."

OK, so what do you know?

Did you try asking Buck Showalter?

Bird is still young and has a decent amount of power, I suppose.

This doesn't mention a 3-pitch strikeout with bases loaded and one out with the game on the line. 

I don't actually know if an infield shift was on at the time.

I'm the Braves had to play at normal double-play depth, but I guess it doesn't matter when the batter can barely hit a foul ball:

"The Yankees have to be close to losing their patience with first baseman Greg Bird, who’s hitting .198 in 31 games since coming off the disabled list following ankle surgery. After hitting two homers in Saturday’s win, he’s 1-for-8. He entered Monday hitting .171 (7-for-41) in his previous 15 games.

'I've just got to do better,' he said late Monday night."

 I don't know if they "have to be" losing their patience. They seem to give this guy a lot of slack.

At best, he can platoon with, like, the equally horrible Todd Neil Walker. It's a bit of a shock if either of them even put the ball into play.

Bird is 25 years old, has accumulated 400 career at-bats, and has a career WAR of 1.0.

Judge is a five-tool champ.

Judge almost made a game-saving catch that would have been one of the best catches I've ever seen.

Diverting attention from the error that set it up. An error from the star second baseman maybe needs to grow up a little.

I can't think of one Yankee second baseman Pat Kelly who played fundamentally sound defense.

Charge the ball, glove on the ground, hunch over the ball, get into a position to throw.

Maybe there's a youtube clip of Willie Randolph.

Actually, there probably is not a youtube clip. Because winning fundamentals are routine and boring.

Rhetorical Question

Why does Buck Showalter still have a job?

You can maybe "man up" in Scranton.

"Thus far as a Yankee, he's 9-13 in 27 starts with a 4.68 ERA, including 5-5 with a 5.44 this year as the biggest Achilles on an American League power. The Yanks are 7-9 when Gray starts, 46-18 when anyone else starts.

'I feel like we're the best team in baseball four out of five days,' Gray said. 'To come out and do that ... it just sucks.'"

Congratulations to Sonny Gray for self-flagellating himself in the post game locker room.

My advice to anyone associated with baseball, as you review a season's worth of Sonny Gray excuses:

1. Pay no attention to post game comments.

2. Stop associating baseball ability with willingness to be contrite.

3. Never use the phrase "personal catcher" again.

The New York Backpage Battle.

The Red Sox come to the Bronx this weekend in a battle for first place.

The Mets invade Miami in a battle for fourth place.

Do not ever be snarky.

This guy was anointed way too early … I don’t know why he got the job in the first place … and I think the general take that his team lacks talent is ignoring some obvious flaws in the managing.

But I know one thing … as long as you are polite to the writers, the writers will let you off the hook.

As soon as you utter one sentence of derision, the writers will turn against you.

The lack of fundamentals has gotten out of hand.

This is embarrassing:

"Amed Rosario was in the batting cage, an hour before the Mets would take BP on Monday, working on bunting as part of a teaching session that involved three coaches, as well as manager Mickey Callaway.

And much like the baserunning clinic that first-base coach Ruben Amaro conducted last week, as players gathered around him at each base, you couldn’t watch without thinking that players shouldn’t need such basic instruction at the big-league level.

All of which begs the question: what’s going on with the Mets’ player-development system? Aren’t players getting this type of instruction in the minors, particularly in spring training?

...
 

Meanwhile, on Sunday Callaway said he didn’t consider having Dom Smith drop down a bunt in the ninth inning, with the go-ahead run on first and the Dodgers in an over-shift, because the young first baseman had never bunted as a minor-leaguer.

Records show that Smith did bunt once, executing a sacrifice as a Class-A minor leaguer in 2014, and, in truth, with the bunt being de-emphasized as a strategy all around baseball in the last few years, there are surely plenty of former first-round draft picks who haven’t bunted in the minors.

The point, however, is that somebody like Smith should at least be doing bunt drills during spring training as a minor-leaguer, and Backman says he only recalls pitchers being asked to take part in such drills during his years with the Mets."

Dom Smith doesn't know how to bunt?

Gary Sanchez is fat.

Aaron Boone sure doesn't like to get to the point:

“Maybe it’s a time that we make sure he’s staying proactive with the conditioning so that when he does come back he’s in the best possible place so that he can be physically sound the rest of the way.

“That’s something that we’ll attack aggressively in these next two, three, four weeks while he’s down, hopefully putting him in a good place.”

Put down the fork and get on an elliptical.

Oh, and do me a personal favor. Make an attempt to catch the pitches when the bases are empty. Maybe then it will become a habit.

Did he do something wrong? Is he being benched for doing something wrong?

“I’m just having a couple of days for me to relax and enjoy the game. I’m available to come from the bench. It’s OK, something that I understand. It’s something that will help me and I agree with that.

I'm watching the game from the dugout to see how the other pitchers, the rival pitchers, are working against us so I can see how they’re doing and take advantage of that . . . I see one day . . . I do very well and the other days it doesn’t happen.’’

Even when you're in the starting lineup, most of the time is spent in the dugout watching the game. This isn't backyard wiffle ball with two batters alternating.

Sometimes, it's good to be wrong.

I though they were both shot.

I'm right and everyone else is wrong.

"The New York Yankees are on pace for 111 wins as of Wednesday. The archrival Boston Red Sox are on pace for 107.

Even if they maintain that pace—an admittedly massive "if"—one of them will face a one-and-done wild-card playoff at best.

Is that justice?"

It's Sweet Injustice.

Besides, if the Wild Card team doesn't like it, there are a couple of things they can do:

1) Win the division.

2) Win the Wild Card game.


"On its face, the renewal of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is a great thing for the game. Two ancient foes with large, vocal fanbases crossing swords. What could be better?

Here's one thing that could be better: a club with triple-digit victories not being subjected to sudden death."

What would be even better is two ancient foes with large, vocal fanbases crossing swords all year with no safety net.


"The do-or-die wild-card play-in has undeniably provided drama. It's an instant Game 7; just heat and serve."

It's cheap thrills. I can't recall any of the Wild Card matchups except when the Yankees were involved.


"It's not all about the Yankees and Red Sox. Over in the AL West, the defending champion Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners are also on pace for 100-plus victories. Two of the four best teams in baseball, at least by current record, could be shoved into the wild-card crucible where one costly error or errant pitch can tip the scales."

You make it sound kind of ... dramatic and great when you put it that way.


"The point, though, is that it was unjust then and unjust today. The playoffs should be about the best teams competing under the brightest lights, not a top World Series hopeful going home because it ran into an ace in the smallest possible sample of one game."

"Running into an ace" sounds like a perfectly great reason to topple a World Series hopeful ... who should have won the division.

If the teams stay on course, the September pennant race will be great.

It would be even better without the Wild Card.

It would be schoolkids at the beach checking the out-of-town scoreboard every evening.

It would be a real pennant race.

In the month of June, Stanton has played in 16 games and struck out in 15 of them.

"Stanton struck out twice in Sunday’s 3-1 loss to the Rays, both in crucial spots. He has a .608 OPS with runners in scoring position, and is 4-for-34 in “late & close” situations."

Yikes.

The Dark Knight of Cincinnati.

Matt Harvey update.

With Cincinnati: 6 starts, 1 W, 2 L, 5.04 ERA, 30.1 IP, 30 H, 17 ER, 8 BB, 24 K, 7 HR.

Still stinks.

Cowardly and gutless.

This guy may just be trying to drive the price down.

Greg Bird looks like he should be a good hitter.

This is the only reason I can think of that he is batting third in this Yankee lineup.

Underachiever.

It's a tough label. Maybe he's just slumping. Gardner and Didi just slumped and they weren't called underachievers.

Perhaps the most unusual aspect of this situation is that Sanchez's backup is hitting .344.

This probably won't go on much longer, but he brings up some good points.

He can't play and he's a bad guy:

"4. Those able to pardon both those things have a hard time — rightly so — forgetting the only reason Reyes was available for his encore as a Met is because he was a pariah in the sport following a domestic-abuse suspension handed out by MLB in 2016, the details of which remain chilling."

It doesn't ruin my day if the Yankees use five pitchers.

"Over the past 18 months, baseball commissioner Rob Manfred has been all but begging major league players for ideas and input on ways to make the product better. He seems ready to discuss even radical ideas, whether it’s some restrictions on defensive shifts, a pitch clock or maybe -- eventually -- an electronic strike zone.

 Here’s a fundamental change that would improve the game on many levels: Limit managers to the use of four pitchers per nine innings, with exceptions built in for injuries and blowouts."

Define "injury" and "blowout" for me.


"Major league baseball desperately needs to get off the growing front-office addiction to relief pitchers, which is helping to destroy important components of the game."

Funny, I actually think it's a natural strategic evolution which makes the game better.


"Among those: the essential pre-eminence of starting pitchers, who need to be marquee-worthy not only for the teams and their marketing departments but also for the players’ union; the scoring of runs by means other than a home run; and batters making contact and putting the ball in play."

1. The "essential pre-eminence of starting pitchers" is diminished, I suppose. On the other hand, the few remaining studs are worth more than ever.

2. The scoring of runs by means other than a home run?

3. Batters making contact and putting the ball in play [sic]? As opposed to, of course, the recent explosion of players putting the ball in play ... without making contact.

Point #1 I largely disagree with. I agree that it's hard to market a middle reliever, but the top relief pitchers have been marketed as superstars for a long time. Sure, you might be disappointed if you show up in a Rivera tee shirt, but the odds of seeing your favorite players are still better than 1 in 5.

Points #2 and #3 both boil down to superior pitching overall. Superior due to specialization and the realization that it's better to go full throttle for a shorter period of time.


"None of this is meant to challenge the analytical wisdom behind the parade of relievers overrunning the sport. It's been demonstrated beyond any doubt that there are statistical advantages in the growing number of reliever/batter matchups and in the strategy of yanking the starting pitcher before he's exposed to the opposing lineup a third time. Smart people are making smart decisions to create effective seven- and eight-man bullpens."

Which side are you on?


"But this trend is affecting the game in ways that will never attract the young fans baseball wants and could also alienate longtime fans.

Few starting pitchers concern themselves with getting through five or six innings these days. Rather, they're increasingly trained to throw as hard as they can, and when their work is finished, they're followed by relay teams of relievers who also throw really, really hard. The number of pitches of 96-plus mph has more than tripled in a span of just four years, and quite frankly, a lot of hitters -- especially older hitters -- are getting crushed."

Oh, the ineffectiveness of older hitters is the problem. Maybe we can pitch underhanded to Adrian Gonzalez to make the game exciting for the youngsters.

I can see where this is headed, but it's a dumb solution to a non-problem.

The batters have to figure this out and adjust (or hit against the freaking shift once in a while). Did you know the total MLB batting average is just .246?

Yeah, the balls will surely be put in play by over-the-hill batters if the pitchers are all out of gas. Sounds like an over-correction and not lots of fun.

Felz Stats of the Day

• Gary Sanchez is batting .194 this season.
• Greg Bird is batting .221 in his career.

Pitcher's can't hit.

I'm surprised that Tanaka's injury is drawing so much attention. I doubt it will be a tipping point, and it shouldn't be. This argument should have been settled a long time ago:


"Sure, these are professional athletes and they should be able to run 90 feet once in a while without injuring themselves. 

But why take the chance anymore? Why is MLB still putting players of such importance at any unnecessary risk if it’s at all avoidable?

The Players’ Association for years has been in favor of an expanded implementation of the DH to both leagues because it would translate into several more high-paying jobs, but there hasn’t been much indication recently from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred towards the NL finally making the switch.

Please spare me the baseball purists’ argument that such a move would eliminate too much of the strategy from the game, or that Bartolo Colon once leaned into one and ripped a home run for the Mets. Entering the weekend, pitchers also were hitting a collective .113 this season. How exciting.

Ask any Yankees fan if they’d rather see Boone execute a double-switch or have Tanaka available for every start the rest of the season, especially with Jordan Montgomery already undergoing Tommy John surgery this week.

It’s a simple answer. And it’s a common-sense change that’s long overdue."

Tim Tebow has a future career in politics.

I have no idea what his actual opinion is regarding whatever he's talking about:

“I think when people believe in something and they stand for that, I don’t knock them for that. Even if I agree with some or disagree with some, I appreciate it when people have convictions and they stand for that. I think it’s important how we do that as well. So I think there’s a lot of players that I’m friends with that have been on both sides and I understand it and I think what’s more important is to know their heart and where they’re coming from and where the conviction stands in their heart and what they really want to share."

I think Bumgarner is my favorite player.

" 'You just gotta find a way to get a guy in, bases loaded and no outs,’' said Bumgarner, who fouled off a hittable 2-0 fastball. 'There’s no excuse for it, pitcher or not. Or at least a better opportunity than striking out.' "

I would honestly say that the only player on the Yankees’ roster who understands this is, like, Ronald Torreyes, and he’s in the minor leagues.

I think Gary Sanchez, for example, is disappointed when he strikes out with RISP and less than two outs, but it’s hard to tell the difference, because he’s always disappointed when he strikes out and slowly trudges back to the dugout.

I think nearly 100% of all major league batters think of this situation as a chance to get 4 RBIs, regardless of the score, regardless of the game situation. The hitting coaches and managers can explain that you can get 1 RBI the easy way … maybe even 2 easy RBIs with the shifts … but it simply doesn’t register.

Four is better than one, coach. That’s how I get paid.

The Boston Daily News.

"By the way?

We keep hearing about the Yankee starting pitching, and I happen to think it’s better than what the Red Sox have, even though the Red Sox have Sale, Price and Porcello at the top of their rotation.

Maybe one of these days Price will make you believe he could ever get a game off the Yankees in a big moment. He just hasn’t done it yet."

Mike Lupica writes about David Price more than he writes about any player on the Yankees or the Mets.

He also writes about the Red Sox as if he was writing for a Boston newspaper.


"After this season, Major League Baseball needs to take a look at the Wild Card system, as a way of making it more fair."

Get rid of it.

"There is great fun, for sure, in having do-or-die games in both leagues for the two Wild Card teams.

So often games like that have provided great drama."

Cheap thrills.

"At the end of it, if you have won 95 games or 100 or more than that, you should earn the right to do more than go up against a hot starting pitcher and lose to him the way you can lose to a hot goalie in hockey in a one-game season."

Boo hoo. Sports aren't fair sometimes.

If you want real drama, imagine the 2018 season with no wild card.Every game would be precious and you'd check the out-of-town box scores for three months.

I think it's great when a 100-win team misses the playoffs.

When Lupica complains about this situation, I can't help but think he's just worried about his beloved Red Sox getting knocked out by Seattle in a one-game playoff.

Mike Conforto missed a cutoff man.

Happens just about every game, but I guess it can't hurt to remind pro ballplayers that they're expected to execute the fundamentals. Conforto is maybe identified as a player who can shrug off the criticism, or whatever, but it sure seems like a misdemeanor in the scheme of things.

In order to have a career-defining moment, you need to have a career.

"Six years ago today, Johan Santana threw the first and only no-hitter in Mets franchise history. It took him 134 pitches, the most controversial foul ball Carlos Beltran had ever hit and a career-defining catch by Mike Baxter."

Just for kicks, I looked up the "career" of our favorite Archbishop Molloy product:

.228/.333/.331, 4 HR, 28 RBIs.

Career WAR of 0.4.

So, yes. That time he made a nice catch in a big spot was undoubtedly the highlight of a career full of lowlights.

This game proved the Yankees need better ... defense.

The Cy Young Award front-runner faces the Yankees' #5 starter (maybe #6 or #7, depending on how you look at it) and each of them allow one HR and that's about it. The other runs allowed by German were arguably not his fault.

But, yeah, even if he got bombed out of the park ... as mentioned in the article ... a better gauge would be Severino vs. Verlander.


The Yankees' rotation is not great. The Yankees should probably not be the favorites to win the World Series. But this particular game was not a great demonstration of the difference between the Astros' rotation and the Yankees' rotation.

Fast Forward to the Playoffs.

Other than #4, I wouldn't be surprised if all of these things are wrong:

"Even though the baseball season is barely two months old, it is not too early to draw some conclusions about this fun-to-watch (but otherwise possibly doomed) Yankee ballclub and they are these:

1. They will very likely win 100 games and, because of the extraordinary competitive imbalance in baseball, could even possibly surpass the team record of 114 set in 1998.

2. Presently leading the majors in homers, slugging and OPS, they are on pace for 272 homers, which would easily break the 1997 Seattle Mariners' all-time record of 264 homers in a season.

3. They are also on pace to become the first team in history with four players hitting 40 homers or more.

4. They are not going to the World Series with this starting rotation."

Let's see:

• The Yankees will probably not win 100 games, forget about 115.
• The imbalance of baseball is not extraordinary in any way. It's lame how everyone gets worried about this whenever the Yankees are good.
• They are not going to easily break the all-time homer record.
• At least one of the players on pace to hit 40 HRs will get hurt.
• Starting rotations may not even matter in the playoffs anymore ... and the other teams are worried about their lineups and bullpens.

No one knows what will happen in the playoffs, even if one can semi-accurately predict what will happen in a longer stretch of games (June - September).

What bugs me about this subject matter is that it's not really a baseball analysis, it's a pointless search for a problem. Which is what many fans like to do.

The Yankee starters are not great, but it may not matter. Or they may pitch great in October while Chapman sits on his hands in the bullpen.

"That means that I'm vey outspoken."

Teixeira just seems like one of those Hall Monitors who lack self-awareness. He rushed to dump on Girardi and Cano. I'm not sure what he's paid for, actually. He says he's paid to speak his mind, but I haven't heard say anything interesting or informative.

Thirteen hits, zero runs.

Brace yourself for this one ...

PED users are already in the baseball HOF. I am 100% sure of it. A lot of time is being spent discussing the potential future occurrence of something that has already happened.

 

Lupica tries to reconcile his hatred of the Yankees/ARod with his unwillingness to admit he was wrong:

"It is not as if Robinson Cano is the first Yankee or former Yankee to end up in a story, or even a suspension, about performance-enhancing drugs. Fact is they could start to think about fielding a team on Old Timer's Day for guys like Cano."

So could every team.

"He goes for 80 games now. Alex Rodriguez, who gets treated like the mayor of baseball on television now, went for a whole season once, after lying about his own use of baseball drugs from here to Cooperstown and back. Roger Clemens was one of the stars of the Mitchell Report. And Andy Pettitte says he used human growth hormone, but only to get better and be an even better teammate. Jason Giambi was one of the BALCO All-Stars back in the day."

I like how Cano is suddenly a "former Yankee" instead of a "current Mariner."

The Mariners gave this guy $240 million and hoped he would be the centerpiece of a resurgence of Seattle baseball. While he has played quite well in Seattle overall, they haven't even made the playoffs during Cano's tenure.

Aside from that, you can easily list all the Seattle Mariner offenders ... including ARod Himself, for cryin' out loud.

Remember when Bret Boone drove in 141 runs?

Remember when 37-year-old Edgar Martinez put up a .324/.423/.579 slash line and drove in 145 runs?

Jay Buhner had three straight 40-HR seasons which I don't consider legit, but which most holier-than-thou writers ignore as they gleefully pounce on the Yankees for the Ken Phelps trade.

Nelson Cruz?

 

"So it's not just a former teammate of Cano's like Mark Teixeira saying he's not surprised by what happened to Cano. No one should be surprised about Cano. Or anybody else. As one big baseball executive said to me once, 'They use this stuff because it works.'
 
Now he loses $12 million of that. You'd have to be a dope — literally, figuratively — not to make a deal like that for yourself."

Ha ha, right. Lupica is such a punk. Suddenly, out of nowhere, when the circumstances change, Mike Lupica is the Voice of Pragmatic Reason rather than the Hand-Wringing Keeper of Baseball's Soul.

The same goes ARod, Clemens, Giambi, Pettitte, McGwire, Sosa, Palmeiro, Bonds and all the others ... at least they're not dopes.

Which also means Lupica has wasted column space on this topic for the past 20 years.


"[ARod] went to Bosch and Biogenesis for the same reason that Cano surely went to whomever he went, here or in the Dominican Republic: He went looking for something that would work for him. He ended up with a $270 million contract with the Yankees. Cano ended up with a $240 million contract from the Mariners after the Yankees wouldn't give him the years or the money he wanted. A-Rod lost a 10th of that money, or thereabouts. Cano loses a fifth of his contract with the Mariners. Again: You'd have to be a dope not to make a deal like that, in a game Cano now says he wouldn't cheat for anything"

12 divided by 240 is 5 percent, not a fifth, you squid. A fifth is 20 percent.

But it doesn't matter, anyway, does it?

Math isn't Lupica's strong suit. Neither is ethics. Neither is sportswriting.


Lupica got caught, simple as that.

He was wrong about Cano. The Yankees were smart to avoid signing Cano.

So that's the first thing that's impossible for Lupcia to admit. The Yankees were right, which means Lupica was wrong.


It's also impossible for Lupica to admit the obvious truth about his decades-long dismissal of the "BALCO All-Stars": He is not really upset about PED use at all.

He just picks and chooses based on his personal tastes and uses his column to hammer out personal grudges.


Lupica hates the Yankees.

In particular, Lupica enjoys ridiculing Yankee decision-makers.

So Cano was "supposed to" embarrass the Yankees by leading Seattle to the Promised Land while the Yankees descending into irrelevance in a Mets Town Renaissance.

It didn't work out that way and, to add insult to injury, now Cano is revealed as a PED fraud.

Lupica's only way out?

Immediately soften his stance on PED users.

 

The Red Sox are paying JD Martinez $24 million this season.

"Through the first quarter of the season, adding J.D. Martinez to the middle of the Red Sox lineup has been way more important than adding Giancarlo Stanton to the middle of the Yankees lineup."

J.D. Martinez is not an unknown entity.

He wasn't first in NL MVP voting 2017, and the expectations for his offensive output are certainly somewhat lower than Stanton's.

But Martinez was 14th in NL MVP voting, despite playing half the season in the AL

Perhaps that demonstrates typical boneheaded inconsistency by the voters ... I don't feel comfortable using MVP votes to support of reject any argument ... but it also demonstrates general awareness of Martinez's abilities.

Has Martinez been way more important than Stanton?

Probably a little more important.

Stanton has been kinda underwhelming, but also kinda productive in terms of HRs, RBIs, runs,

I think for $24 million, the Red Sox were expecting a great player.

It's May and we're talking about the Yankees' playoff rotation.

Things must be going really well.

"Is this the kind of rotation you'd love in the playoffs? Against Boston? Or Houston? Or even Cleveland? The three starters with the American League's lowest ERA -- Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Charlie Morton -- all pitch for the Astros, with Dallas Keuchel (3.10) ranked 12th. The Indians also have three starters -- Corey Kluber, Mike Clevinger, and Trevor Bauer -- in the AL's top 10 in ERA. (Severino is the only Yankee with at least 40 innings pitched who is in the top 30 in ERA.)"

Five months from now, we have no idea if the Yankees will make the playoffs or who will be in their rotation. Injuries or unexpected ineffectiveness could suddenly affect all five Yankee starters.

The best news, though, is that, if the Yankees make the playoffs, their opponent will be another professional baseball team in the American League.That team also has weaknesses in their starting rotation.

Verlander sure seems to have the Yankees' number. Last year, the hero was what's-his-name ... the guy whose father pitched for the Yankees ... Lance McCullers.

Verlander is intimidating, but maybe he has a bad game ... or maybe he's the one who's suddenly ineffective after too many innings.

"ERA on May 15th" is not much of a predictor of October performance.

Giancarlo Stanton has made one error this season.

He has played eight games in the outfield.

That's because he's a DH.

Maybe all the sportswriters will remember this simple fact when Stanton loses a few balls in the Florida sun during next year's Spring Training.

David Price.

Mike Lupica talks about David Price a lot. He has mentioned David Price is almost every Sunday column he has written since the baseball season started. I'm not sure why. I'm not even sure why Lupica is talking about the Red Sox so much in the New York Daily News. But Lupica has some sort of unusual infatuation with David Price.

The Reds have a .270 winning percentage, so you have to bring your A game when you play the Reds.

In related news, the Mets unveiled a new theme song.

Felz Stat of the Day.

Jason Vargas has an ERA of 13.86.

Maybe the Mets can take a chance on Matt Harvey after he clears waivers.

Why not? Start with a 7.00 ERA.

Feinsand joins the parade of fools, explaining dubious rationale for the Yankees acquiring Matt Harvey:

"Jordan Montgomery could be out as long as two months with his left elbow strain, and while Domingo German might be an adequate fill-in, the idea of Harvey taking his act across town to the Bronx is too juicy to ignore. There's nothing Harvey would love more than to prove the Mets wrong by thriving with the Yankees -- and there's nothing the New York media would love more than the ex-Met and tabloid staple remaining in the Big Apple. Doc and Darryl did it; why not the Dark Knight?"

Robin Ventura did it, too. Mike Stanton. Shane Spencer. Rickey Henderson.

Lots of players played for the Yankees and the Mets. Probably 100+ players have played for the Yankees and the Mets.

I don't know why I randomly picked those four, they just popped into my head ... I also don't know why Feinsand randomly picked Doc and Strawberry or what they have to do with Matt Harvey -- just another NY sportswriter living in the past.

"There's nothing Harvey would love more than to prove the Mets wrong by thriving with the Yankees ..."

How about just thriving with the Mets?

That would have been easier.

Be better than this.

Peter Botte imagines a scenario where Matt Harvey signs with the Yankees, regains his pitching prowess, and helps the Yankees win the World Series ... this year.

I mean, I could conceivably imagine a team taking a chance on him, sending him to the minors, and then perhaps he figures something out and re-creates himself as a modern-day Scott Proctor or something like that.

No Dark Knight or $100 million contract, just a (dubious) "veteran presence" in the bullpen as he battles Brian Boehringer for a mop-up job.

Who knows? That could even be with a future playoff team, so he finds himself pitching in important October games ... and I suppose, at some point, it could even be with the Yankees. Strange things happen in the business of baseball.


But the New York Yankees in 2018?

So ridiculous, it's unprofessional to float the idea.

The Yankees have no reason to pursue Harvey. Cashman isn't focused on playing games with Mets fans.


I also think Botte is misinterpreting a fundamental point: "Harvey Day" is no longer a thing in Queens any more than "Joba Day" is a thing in the Bronx.

Most Mets fans have already disengaged emotionally from Harvey ... Harvey's DFA is not a nightmare ... the Yankees can have Harvey if they really want him,

The Braves will pick him up and he'll win 20 games.

Nah, but that would be kind of funny.

Tim Tebow Update.

At AA, Tebow is batting .242 with 1 HR and 8 RBIs in 66 at-bats.

33 strikeouts in 66 at-bats.

My statistical analysis reveals that, when extrapolated to the major-league level, Tebow would strike out 175% of the time.

Gardner 2018.

I know it's not an apples-to-apples comparison. Ellsbury is paid too much, isn't well-liked, hasn't built up slack with the fan base, etc.

But imagine the outrage if Ellsbury had Gardner's stats on May 1st.

If I told you the Braves had 15 hits in a game ...

... how many runs would you think they scored?

They scored three runs.

The Brandon Drury Fan Club will be disappointed.

Including Brandon Drury, that totals one person.

Thought about Refsnyder while discussing the ascension of Didi.

Refsnyder has not driven in a run since 2016, at least 106 at-bats. I could probably investigate the game logs and figure out the last time he had an RBI. It seems almost impossible to go this long without driving in a run.