OK, but did Chandler Redmond pull his hamstring while jogging around the bases?

Hitting a baseball isn't easy.

This didn't age well.

Everyone has a bad day once in a while.

Yankees are seven games back in April.

 I can't say I saw that coming.

Rizzo is a better player, but I always liked Voit.

 The Star-Ledger tracking an ex-Yankee who isn't Joey Gallo.

Next lesson for Brito: Compile a comprehensive list of IHOPs and Denny's in the Scranton Wilkes-Barre area.

My problem with Gleyber remains the same.

Sure, he's off to a good start and he might have turned it around permanently.

What bothers me is the strong implication that, at the age of 26 years old, he finally decided to take his trade seriously. 

I understand the 2019 season may have distorted the young man's opinion of himself. Also, everyone else's opinion of him. I thought he was on his way to being an MVP candidate instead of a Joe Charbonneau flame out.

My observations are that he got "fat and happy," entered the 2020 COVID season out of shape, didn't work on his defense, then spent two years swinging for the fences.

Now he seems to acknowledge all of this.

So what were you doing the past two seasons?

Why do the fans know what you're doing wrong the whole time?

Potential!

It's not even that I disagree. It's just that I've heard it before.

 

Clint Frazier had legendary bat speed and was compared to Mike Trout.

Greg Bird was going to win a batting title.

Kevin Maas just needed to fix that one hole in his swing.

Josh Satin batted .400 for the Mets for about three weeks in 2013. I only remember because Lupica proclaimed it wasn't a fluke.

Heck, even quickly-forgotten Gary Sanchez was on the fast track to Cooperstown after about 100 at-bats in the big leagues.

 

So, yeah. Volpe seems to be the real deal with poise, smarts, power, speed, and good fielding.

But potential is just that ... and, in the history of baseball, most of it goes unrealized.

If you're betting, you're not thinking.

We've had this discussion before ...

... as Japan wins its third WBC title (out of four ... I looked it up).

It would appear that Japan takes it more seriously than the US (no excuses; it's the point of the article) and, while it's fun to celebrate the immense baseball talent throughout the world, no one can seriously conclude that the best pro baseball is being played on a daily basis in Japan.

It isn't the point of the WBC and it shouldn't be the conclusion.

The WBC exceeded all expectations in terms of fan interest and player commitment.

But as for the style of play?

The final game had four solo home runs and 13 pitchers.

Let's face it: Tampa Ball has taken over the world.

Players and fans seem to enjoy the WBC very much.

I'm not sure how a beatdown of Team Canada enhances Trout's legacy, but the whole thing seems to be beneficial for the sport in general.

Last year, Trout his 40 home runs in 438 at-bats. An OPS of .999. Yawn.

I have trouble believing that MLB players were unaware of Trout's greatness. Like most observers, they may have become used to it.

Damn, Cap'n.

Aaron Judge thinks he's the GM.

While some may see this as noteworthy praise for a young player, one can also see it as an insult to Kiner-Falefa, your teammate and starting shortstop.

I'm over here now.

I'm a professional:

"Lindor has not found the restrictions difficult to adjust to, and even said they’ve even been enjoyable to work with.

'It’s fun,' he said. 'I know I can’t go past second base. I don’t have to look at the card. Before I was looking at the card, like, "Am I gonna be on the other side? Am I staying on this side?" So now it’s like, I got my limits that I can’t go to. So I know lefty and I know he’s gonna pull the ball, I play behind second base a little bit more to the right.'”

Seriously, people. These changes aren't difficult.

Pitchers pitch and batters bat.

It's "the unknown," like that Matthew McConaughey movie where he went into a black hole and found a man-made tesseract which he used to communicate to his daughter back in time but the robot didn't survive the trip into the black hold and then his daughter solved time travel and saved humanity.

"Yet preparing hitters for this change is tricky. They’re used to being able to call time whenever they desired. A particularly stressful plate appearance might have previously entailed stepping out of the box several times. Adjusting their uniform. Taking a few deep breaths. Undoing and redoing the Velcro on their batting gloves. Maybe repeating all of the above."

When you write it down that way, it sure sounds exciting.

 

"Which, of course, is exactly why this rule was put in place: MLB wanted to cut out as much of that dead time as it could. But it means there’s a lot for batters to change—as much psychological as physical."

Get over it.

 

"And given the reactive nature of hitting, it’s more difficult for hitters to know how the clock will feel than it is for pitchers, who have been practicing with the timer all spring. Of course, there’s no replicating the environment of pitching in a real game, with all the attendant stressors that might cause someone to need more time. They can’t simulate a real game even with a sim game—and certainly not with a bullpen or live BP. By using the timer in all of those contexts, however, pitchers can still get a feel for how their delivery works (or not) against the clock."

It all sounds so very stressful. My advice is shut up and hit.

"For hitters … it’s tricky. They can’t set the pace of any given plate appearance the way a pitcher can. While a pitcher can work quickly or slowly, a hitter can only slow him down, and now, he won’t even be able to do that. That’s a hard dynamic to practice. Of course, hitters can use the timer in live BP, too. (Many teams are.) But most hitters already know they can take swings without stepping out of the box in BP. It’s specifically the context of hitting in a faster game situation that feels tricky—and that can’t truly be replicated in any practice or drill."

None of this sounds tricky.

Whatever your job is, anywhere in the world, I can almost guarantee you are faced with trickier challenges on a daily basis. In all likelihood, you've climbed the learning curve and have figured it out by now, but that's my point. Five or six at-bats to figure it out, tops.

Heck, I think a lot of retired people are facing trickier decisions this Monday morning.

The easiest task I can imagine in a workplace is, if I was a batter in a baseball game, standing in the batter's box. They even outline it with chalk.

Still a lot of discussion about a very bad baseball player.

“The Minnesota market is different than the New York market. The Texas market is different than the New York market. I always just wanted to play baseball, have fun, hang out with the boys. That’s my goal, just to play baseball and win games. I don’t really like it being more than that. I guess this is more my vibe, you know what I mean?”

I remember last year when Gallo said the same thing about the Dodgers. Had an early two-HR game, or whatever. Then he hit .159 with the Dodgers.

More from the referenced article about Gallo:

"I took pride in the fact that I still played. I was still diving for the Yankees, running into walls for the Yankees, running hard for the Yankees. I knew I was getting traded. But I still had the pride, the integrity for the game, the respect for the fans, respect for the organization. I’m still going to go out here and bust my ass. I’m not going to just cash it in."

I mean, I guess it's accurate. I don't recall any behavior that qualified as quitting. He was the worst player I've ever seen intentionally given a starting role on a team for an extended period of team. I also think when one examines his career, there's no reason to think he's going to rebound in Minnesota. But if he wants to pat himself on the back for not literally quitting, I guess that's better than nothing.

 

 

Tom Verducci has nothing to do.

I'd say Judge's breakout season was 2017 and I don't think he will ever have a better season than he had in 2022. It's a very high benchmark.

Baseball players are graded on a curve.

IKF was not great in 2022. I would say he was a disappointment in the field. A slick-fielding shortstop who hits .260 with 20 stolen bases, 66 runs, and 48 RBI is not bad at all. He just wasn't good enough in the field. Not bad in the field, but not great.

Having said that, he was better in every way than Donaldson (besides home runs) ... and IKF was paid 1/4th Donaldson's salary.

Good usage of his time from September 16th to February 21st, though.

To my knowledge, I have never met a person who has ever watched the WBC.

For one thing, it's not a big stage because not a lot of people are going to watch. More than a regular season Angels game for sure, but not a lot relative to entertainment events.

Furthermore, I can't imagine that anyone watching would be unaware of Trout's excellence. Like, I'm enough of a baseball fan to watch the WBC, but I  am mostly unaware of the decade's best player.

I suppose Trout keeps a relatively low profile, and in some ways this inhibits his worldwide popularity, but still: How is the WBC going to change his legacy or X Factor in any way?

The rest  of the article is just "Trout is great" and, for different reasons, comparing Trout to Ernie Banks and LeBron James.

The unmistakable rhythms of baseball.

 What else are you going to talk about in the off season?

"Necessity."

 No baseball player is "necessary."

Ah, yes, the question everyone has been asking: Should Billy Wagner be in the Hall of Fame?

No.

Billy Wagner should not be in the Hall of Fame.

I know it's symbolic for the Mets and Cohen to pump up the payroll.

But I'm going to engage in a little thought experiment.

When you thought Correa was signing with the Giants, did you think it upset the balance of the NL West? 

Or did you think the Giants were a third-place team who would maybe battle for a wild card?

The Mets were already a good team, in a surprisingly tough division if you think the Phillies are legit. I'm not so sure they are, but who knows?

I think Correa is better than Escobar and the Mets are hoping Correa comes through in October.

It's not that big of a deal in the scheme of things.

I would be very surprised if the Mets won more games in 2023 than they did in 2022.

Is $1 million a lot?

The over-reaction on both sides to the Correa signing is bizarre indeed.

The Mets didn't sell one million tickets in one day, the sold $1 million worth of tickets.

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 single-day tickets. Just guessing $100 average ticket price. No big mathematical analysis here.

Not 10,000 season tickets, just 10,000 single-day tickets. Like, more than you'd expect to sell probably in the middle of December, but it's not like you have to rush if you're planning a family outing in May.

The Other Team in New York

We weren't even talking about the Yankees: 

 "What really just happened for Mets fans, like '’Twas the Night Before Christmas' a few nights early, can be traced back through 50 years of Mets history, all the way back to when Yogi Berra was their manager and once said this, famously and for all times in baseball:

'It ain’t over ‘till it’s over.'"

 Yes, Yogi Berra is probably most well-known for being a manager of the Mets.

Also, next time you write a story, just re-read it first. Now imagine the story without the opening paragraph.

Better? When the opening paragraph doesn't add anything? It's just, "it's almost Christmas, am I right?"

 

"Once George Steinbrenner, on the other side of New York baseball, became the most flamboyant owner in all of sports in the 1970s after he signed Catfish Hunter on New Year’s Eve and signed Reggie Jackson to what felt like the biggest deal in the world before the 1977 season -- $3 million over five years -- and then signed Dave Winfield to a 10-year contract after that. Steinbrenner was the one in the center of the baseball bullseye."

Let's talk about the Yankees from 35 years ago.

 

"The Yankees went deeper into the playoffs this past October than the Mets did, making it to the American League Championship Series before being swept by the Astros. The Yankees then spent with both hands and brought back Judge, their big man, on the biggest deal they’ve ever made, and just signed left-hander Carlos Rodón . Even with all that, the Yankees feel like the Other Team in New York, at least for today, because of what just happened with Correa."

I think Lupica is the only person keeping score of the Battle of New York.

Notable, of course, is the lack of derision in paying luxury taxes, hiring mercenaries from all over the world, treating the rest of MLB like a farm system, it's not how much you spend, it's how ... but that's very typical.

No one really wants to dismantle the Yankees. They want to emulate the Yankees.

The man with the six-year slump.

"Jason Heyward, the former All-Star and five-time Gold Glove Award winner who has struggled offensively for most of the last six years, has signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the team announced Thursday. The agreement includes an invitation to spring training."

I think we should all get past these childish analyses.

Aaron Judge is a movie star. He will move massive amounts of merch and put fannies in the seats. He's the only Baby Boomer who made it (no offense to Severino). He's the face of a $billion corporation.

Also, he's earned it.

When you're casting "Taken 3," you would be a fool to replace Liam Neeson.

I truly don't know why these analyses of a contract's "worth" don't take these factors into account.

I know the hardcore angry fans who point out the subpar playoff performances and the unfortunate tendency of modern-day fans to take of the role of Comptroller for the Yankees: "They could have spent this money on two mediocre starting pitchers and a lefty reliever. This 'asset' will be de-valued by year seven."

I'm not even sure that's accurate.

In 2030, I'll bet half the fans in sold out Yankee Stadium will be wearing #99 jerseys.

 

 

Revisiting a prediction from September.

 

I'm going to guess eight years, $350 million, not the Yankees.

Nine years, $360 million, yes the Yankees.

Mike Lupica's lack of ethics is predictable and tedious.

This is Mike Lupica a couple of weeks ago, elevating the status of Jacob deGrom in the free agent pool, particularly vis a vis Aaron Judge.

Lupica acknowledges the risks associated with age and health, but basically concludes that you want this dude throwing effortless 100 MPH fastballs at awestruck batters.

He quotes his lone remaining MLB source Buck Showalter at length.

Then when the news of deGrom's signing blazes across the twitterverse (when is the last time Lupica has been first with breaking MLB news, by the way? Like, 1988?), Lupica instantly dismisses the signing.

Tweet number one points out that the Mets won 101 games in2022 and deGrom only won five (the Mets actually won six of his starts, which isn't much of a difference, but it's at least comparing apples to apples).

Tweet number two elevates the previously mentioned risks and mocks the Rangers for the size and length of the contract.

We already know how Lupica would have reacted if deGrom had re-signed with the Mets. It would be the 30th year in a row the Yankees need to look out for the superior Mets.

Have you tried ebay?

Just one iceberg sunk the Titanic.

"Five hundred sixty-nine home runs, 3,020 hits and one positive steroid test. That is the Hall of Fame candidacy of Rafael Palmeiro in one sentence."

I think PED-heads wll eventually make the HOF because a lot of them are already in. But I read "one positive steroid test" as "hundreds of false negatives because cheaters find ways to evade capture."

 

"He is infamous for wagging a finger at Congress two months before he flunked the drug test.

'If I could do it over, I would have handled the Congress situation differently,' he says. 'The pointing of the finger ... that was not my personality. That was not me. That was the advice I was given.'"

You sound like an unrepentant cheater who doesn't really take responsibility for any of his own behavior.

 

Without an infield shift, Rizzo is going to bat .300.

Because he's short. Get it? "Big" is an ironic description in the headline.

I mean, Jose Altuve certainly plays baseball for the Astros and the Astros make the playoffs a lot. So there's that. 

In the 2022 playoffs, he has not come up big:

"Altuve, who has been such a terrific postseason player in his career, somehow started the ’22 postseason by going 0-for-25."

"Somehow."

 

"He hit in a big October game the way he has so many other times in his career, and he reminded everybody of something, as if anybody needs reminding at this point in Altuve’s career:"

And yet, here we are.

 

"He has been one of the best players of his time, and one of the great second basemen of all time."

I guess you can sit on an article for a couple of weeks and wait for Altuve to finally get a hit. Which he did. Truly compelling stuff.

 

"Listen, everybody knows what happened with the Astros in 2017, even as they keep winning. Altuve and his teammates are always going to hear it in New York, and they’re sure never going to love the Astros in Los Angeles. But the team is the same as the guy who leads off for Dusty Baker and is still out there at second: They don’t go away."

Everybody knows and nobody needs reminding. 

Maybe the Daily News could therefore make better use of their resources by reminding their readers that the clocks are turned back next Sunday.

 

I think I understand Manny's sense of humor.

No, he isn't actually planning a comeback. He is saying that the Yankees offense was so bad vs. Houston, he couldn't possibly be any worse.

Congratulations on your participation trophy.

There's something noticeably unsettling about the players on this team who are positive to the point of being delusional. I don't know why he's so proud of himself for not pouting and the bench ... and whatnot:

“I thought I bounced back from being benched,” he said. “It’s a tough, tough place. And I was able to make the routine plays and whatnot. I could have folded and let things beat up on me or could have just sat on the side and not worked. But after I got benched, I was out there early every day. Just wanted to help the team in any way possible. I had an opportunity in Game 1 and Game 4 and I was able to play good defense — way better than the LDS — and swing it when I had the opportunity.”

The 28-year-old Kiner-Falefa has one more year of team control left but he knows he may have fallen out of favor in the Bronx. The club has Peraza and Anthony Volpe coming up and they may choose to go in another direction with someone like free agent Carlos Correa.

Though fans might remember him for the October defense, Kiner-Falefa is happy with the character he felt he displayed in what could have been his final game in pinstripes.

“I’m definitely happy with not giving up and still working, even though I could have just quit and sat on the side and just been a grump and, and whatnot,” he said. “I was just happy that I kept my head up and just waited for another opportunity and didn’t botch any balls tonight.”

I don't see a strategic way out. Find players who come through in the playoffs.

That's why the got Rizzo and Donaldson.

Build a team around Judge and Oswaldo?

Hope that Oswaldo gained some experience and the .083 postseason batting average is not indicative of future performance?

Maybe that happens. I'll believe it when I see it.

A catcher who can get a hit once in a while would also be a change for the better.

Because I don't think it's impossible that Cashman, Boone, and Judge are all gone for the 2023 season. The Yankees won't be better, but the expectations will be lower, and in a perverse way, that will provide the fans with some relief:

"The more immediate curiosity is what Hal Steinbrenner does with the damning data. This will be the Yankees’ sixth failed attempt at a world championship in the Boone/Judge era. Something has to give. The blowback from fans will be unlike anything the Yankees have experienced in years.

You didn’t have to be an expert in public relations to know why the crowd started heading for the exits in sixth inning on Saturday. Yes, sixth. The fans were voting with their feet.

The Astros had just taken a 5-0 lead, but the Yankees still had 12 outs to manage a comeback, two more chances for Judge to hit a monster home run. But the ticket buyers had seen enough.

They knew the Yankees weren’t rallying against a team that’s beaten them 8-of-10 times this season."

I think there is an organizational arrogance and stubbornness that manifests itself negatively. The same can be said for the players who make unbelievable and endless excuses.

The Astros have beaten the Yankees eight out of ten this season, including a no-hitter. The Astros have not lost a single game in the playoffs this year. 

It's not the ump, the wind, bad luck, the banging of trash cans five years ago.

"Woulda"

Has a warning track fly ball ever garnered so much attention?

It was a 345-foot fly ball, for crying out loud.

Maybe lots of things. Maybe the Astros "woulda" pitched him differently if he was playing at Yankee Stadium.

 

I don't know when the excuses started to infiltrate the Yankees' culture.

The Yankees would have won if the roof was closed.

The home run that wasn't really a home run.

Maybe if you want to blame Cashman for something, blame him for this.

The flip side of the experience coin.

Every player who establishes himself as a reliable playoff veteran had to start somewhere. When Chapmas fell off the face of the Earth, most Yankee fans couldn't identify the other lefties in the bullpen. Peralta became an ALDS hero; Luetge didn't even get into a game.

Still a lot of chatter about Saturday's game.

I thought the Ramirez bloop should have been caught. Definitely not an error. One of four plays in the game that I thought should have been made by Yankee fielders which were not made. None of them were identified as errors.

So ...

The chatter is that Aaron Hicks should have been in left field at the start of the ninth inning.

Do y'all mean this Aaron Hicks?

Or this Aaron Hicks?

Facts that are verifiable.

In the second half of the 2022 season, so-called "closer" Clay Holmes amassed four saves and pitched to a 4.84 ERA.

Eleven walks and four HBP in 21 innings.

He's the Perfect Guy to enter a game with men on base, don't you think? Too bad Chapman flaked out or maybe we could just blame him again and get the funny grimace on his face as he walks off the mound.

In all seriousness, at least Schmidt made the batter actually hit the ball. It wasn't the Chapman/Holmes Special they learned from A.J. Burnett and latter day Dellin Betances. Walk, walk, HBP, wild pitch, wild pitch, wild pitch. Three runs without swinging the bat.

I was actually surprised to see Holmes appear in Game One in a high leverage situation. Why was I surprised? Because he basically stinks.

Also, he isn't the closer and hasn't been for a while. There is no closer for the Yankees because no one is dominant enough to be reliable in the ninth inning.

Where have you all been?

Has Luis Severino been in a coma over the past two months, or something?

Chad Green is injured; Michael King is injured; even what's-his-name Scott Effross is injured.

I suppose in retrospect Lou Trivino could have been pushed to get out a few more betters.

Wandy Peralta has been great so far in the playoffs, a true champ. He also left the game with two runners on base in the ninth inning, didn't he?

OF COURSE, in retrospect, extending Peralta would have been a better decision. A team can only either Win or Lose. A better decision would have been Domingo German or Nestor Cortes, for that matter. Or not shifting vs. Ramirez. Or throwing a fastball instead of a slider. If Peralta had stayed in the game and given up a three-run home run to the next batter, it's not a worse loss, it's just a different Last Pitcher to blame.

Sorry, folks, have any of you ever watched a baseball game before?

Over in San Diego, Josh Hader with the negative WAR in 2022 and a recent history of buh-lowing it for Milwaukee in playoffs, just blows away the Dodgers. 

Who would have thunk it? 

Everyone, apparently.

Everyone knows everything in hindsight.

Yes, predictions are stupid ...

 ... I heard another host on WFAN who declared that he didn't think the Guardians thought they could beat the Yankees.

This isn't going to be pretty.

Please add to the list ...

• Their shortstop's continued disappointments in the field.
• Aroldis Chapman.
• Josh Donaldson styling out of the box, costing the team an out (again), and getting away with it.
• Both Holmes and Severino openly defying their manager in postgame comments.

Clarke Schmidt is a Yankee. He's a teammate. He's ... good. He was one strike away from being a hero. Real teammates support him in the dugout and in the locker room. He might go from goat to hero tomorrow.

A team that acts like losers doesn't deserve to win.

Let's have a collective fever dream in which Clay Holmes in October 2022 is a reliable closer.

Severino is hot after the game, but he should keep his mouth shut. Mariano Rivera isn't walking through that door.

Victory lap for Gerrit Cole.

A list of high-profile pitcher who Cole outpitched his important week:

• deGrom (arguable)
• Scherzer
• Castillo
• Verlander
• Kershaw
  

Chapman wasn't going to be on the roster anyway.

It gives Boone an excuse to pile on, but it's also obvious that Boone had legit gripes with the guy for a long time.

I think we can all agree it's time to give someone else on the Yankees a chance to give up a walkoff home run in the playoffs. Step right up, Scott Effross.

No one likes losing.

 I recall a saying that you can lose but you don't have to act like a bunch of losers.

Remarkable.

 Brian Cashman at his press conference.

Bad news for Aroldis Chapman.

If you can't throw strikes, you can't pitch.

He has no place of the postseason roster.

I have a confession to make.

I don't care all that much about any of these individual records or milestones. The 62nd home run, the 248th strikeout ... I was listening to the Yankees game when Willy Adames broke the Brewers' single-season home run record ... for a shortstop. Baseball immortality. The fan who caught the ball should hold on to it and sell it at a later date for $20.

All impressive accomplishments in their own right, I just don't personally get all jazzed up about tracking the moment when it happens, stopping the game, saving the ball, etc.

 

This article is more of an indictment of what Sports Illustrated has become, dragged down by its own earnestness, unable to adjust to the modern world of sports reporting.

A bunch of SI writers explaining to me their opinions regarding the single-season home run record.

As if their opinion counts more than anyone else's.

As if their opinion counts more than Roger Maris Jr.'s opinion.

 

MLB doesn't need to do anything, actually. 

If people want to ignore the PED records of Bonds and the other two, they may do so.

Nothing is impossible ...

 ... but I can't see how the Yankees can win in the playoffs without a legit closer.

It looks like a normal pitcher throwing normal pitches in a normal way.

Blame the ump.

Thirty-one home runs allowed this season, and they're all bad luck or somebody else's fault.

It requires reading between the lines, but it seems obvious that his teammates don't really have his back.

Joey Gallo Update: Still Not Good at Playing Baseball at a Professional Level

Since joining the Dodgers, Gallo has hit six home runs in 96 at-bats. That isn't horrible. It's more or less the same thing he did with the Yankees.

Is it worth 45 strikeouts, a .177 batting average, a .295 on-base percentage, bad fielding, and bad baserunning?

No.

No, it isn't. 

Call it the Quadruple Crown.

Judge is .001 away from the league lead in batting average.

He leads he league in home runs, runs batted in, and runs scored.

While Stanton is still waiting to get his timing back ...

Rizzo gets three hits in his first three at-bats.

Stanton hits a lot of home runs. He has been struggling to get his timing for the past five seasons.

Box Score

 I thought I was misreading. DeGrom gets 13 strikeouts in five innings.

It is still a team game.

Judge had a hit and a walk. A tiny-sample-size .333 batting average and .500 on-base percentage.

Odd that the headline is that "Judge was shut down," as if he's literally going to hit a homer-per-game.

You know who was shut down?

Giancarlo Stanton.

The four-strikeout "golden sombrero" for the second game in a row.

Batting literally 100 points lower than Aaron Judge, .312 vs. .212.

"There are no more turns. This is the final stretch and the Yankees are limping towards the finish line, literally. The Bombers have pinned their hopes on getting players like Anthony Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu and Luis Severino back and turning back into the dominating team they were in the first half of the season."

I'm not sure anyone expects them to start playing .700 ball again, but last night was a reminder that this team is not very good.

Also ... don't forget about Benintendi!

What happened to Montas?

Fifteen walks and five HBP in forty innings since joining the Yankees. To go along with a 1-3 record and 6.35 ERA.

Clutch

I can find his batting average with RISP. It's .372.

I can also find his batting average with two outs and RISP. It's .410.

How many have put the Yankees ahead or tied the game? A lot.

What is the Yankees' record with he hits a home run compared to when he does not? Somebody certainly has done the research and I'm sure the difference is stark.

Today's starting lineup.

Andujar in LF, Hicks on the bench.

Why were the Yankees so hesitant to do this in April, May, June, July, August, and the first week of September? 

Embarrassing performance vs. Rays in series opener.

Then you double-check and realize this clip is from three weeks ago.

Cashman and Boone get the loss they asked for.

Hicks should never play another game for the Yankees. But I have said that multiple times this season after multiple "nightmare" performances.

At some point, Boone's positivity becomes delusional and contradictory to what you saw with your own eyes. 

A great jump on the ball that he dropped. By the way, Hicks hadn't had a good jump on a ball for five years and the "cannon arm" reputation is built on a YouTube clip from twelve years ago.

Stanton had an impressive 12-pitch strikeout. A truly impressive feat during his current 5-for-45 slide.

Gleyber got his occasional home run, but I'm more impressed with the four balls he hit to the warning track this week.

Hicks, of course, is also one of the prime examples of Cashman stubbornness. The size of the contract is not a huge deal by today's standards. Hicks never lived up to it, but there was no particular need to rush him out the door 

Now he's a shell of a major league player. The idea that he's going to turn it around is absurd at this point. He's a symbol of Cashman's self-destructive tendency to throw good money after bad.

I'm going to guess eight years, $350 million, not the Yankees.

Judge's decision to reject Cashman's offer results in an extra $140 million.

One factor in rejecting the Yankees is that Judge is not convinced that Cashman can build a winning team around him.

In the unlikely event that the Yankees win the World Series this year, I retract these predictions. 

In that case, Judge signs with the Yankees and is named Captain and signs an immediate lucrative endorsement deal with Gateway Kia, the discount Kia giant.

Judge has stolen 15 bases in 17 attempts.

If voters want to stubbornly give the MVP to Ohtani, I don't think anyone will really care too much, but the closer you look, the more astonishing Judge's season has been. 

Willie Randolph isn't walking through that door.

Of course it's ridiculous to put Gleyber in the leadoff spot. His on-base percentage is .289. His baserunning, while described by some as "aggressive," is actually just baffling and idiotic.

It's conceivable that Boone is hoping to spur Gleyber to take a different approach at the plate and squelch the HR-or-nothing tendency that has ruined him. But Gleyber should have learned that three or four years ago.

Besides, where else are you going to bat Gleyber? 

Who else is going to bat leadoff?

LeMahieu, of course, but not lately.

The problem with LeMahieu is probably his foot injury ... or it may just be an extended slump ... but the reasons why don't matter too much with one month left in the pennant race.

If I was making the lineup, I'd probably put Judge 3rd and Stanton 4th and hope for the best.

But if the non-Judge batters are going to combine for zero hits, the lineup configuration doesn't really matter.

The starting lineup for the biggest game of the year.

 Gleyber benched, Hicks in left field.

Judge has 51 HR and is batting .363 with RISP.

I actually don't care one bit if he isn't a vocal leader.

In a game in which he made two fielding errors and struck out twice, Donaldson was jawing with the opposing team's pitcher. One thing I know about leadership in MLB: .220 hitters can't be leaders.

LeMahieu is batting .189 with RISP this season.

Hicks has a .303 slugging percentage for the year.

The long-awaited return of Stanton has resulted in 3-for-31 and about 100 runners left on base.

Everyone already knows what the rest of the weekend will look like. 

The Yankees won't get shut out three times in the Tampa sweep ... three shutouts in a row isn't likely ... they'll manage five or six runs over the next couple of games.

Torres will hit an opposite field home run and we will once again be reminded that he is at his best when he gets behind the ball and goes to the opposite field.

Stanton will hit a home run and it will mean he's getting his timing back.

Donaldson will get an RBI single and it will be the hit that finally gets him going. It will also be the only hit the Yankees have with RISP this weekend. One-for-the-weekend with RISP.

Boone will say that he was encouraged by the "traffic" and good at-bats because the Yankees hit a few balls that died at the warning track. The sweep is disappointing but they're trying hard and will have to pick it up.

Showdown with the Rays

Like most Yankee fans, I think the Boone-era Yankees have a tendency to back down.

So the once-inconceivable descent into the wild card round seems like a strong possibility at this point.

That felt like a playoff preview as the Rays close in.

Five games on the loss side.

The same old weird story with Cole. A delayed start to the inning; an error by the shortstop; followed by an ill-timed "one bad pitch," which somehow wasn't his fault.

In a 3-2 loss, the offense deserves most of the blame, and that blame is spread around.

But Cole gets derailed by the littlest things all the time.

Also, I'd like to point out that nothing magical happens when the calendar flips to September. The Yankees haven't put August "behind them" just because the calendar says so. 

It's September and Mantle and Maris are walking through the door.

Joey Gallo hits an occasional home run.

His so-called big resurgence with LA is a .196 batting average, three home runs, and 22 strikeouts in 46 at-bats.

Six extra-base hits gives him a nice slugging percentage ... for now.

But if LA really wants this, they can have it.

Only ten players in MLB history with multiple 50-HR seasons.

Does not include Barry Bonds or Hank Aaron.

I kind of figured he had "peaked" in his rookie year. Lots of players peak early and lots of Baby Bombers certainly peaked early.

Yankees are only up six games on the loss side. When Judge downplays the personal accomplishment because his team lost, he sounds sincere.

"He should know better" is the mantra for Gleyber Torres.

"Torres didn’t come close to touching second base because his footwork was so poor. The so-called neighborhood play on double-play grounders usually resulted in outs until 2016 when those plays could be challenged for the first time.

Torres didn’t get to the majors until 2017, so he should know better.

...

Torres has had a much better season this year, hitting .242 with 18 homers and 50 RBI in 115 games, but he’s hit .168 with two homers and four RBI over his last 25 games since July 31. He was 0-for-4 in Monday’s loss."

Is it a "much better season," though?

Eighteen home runs is a lot for a second baseman, but that's it.

Horrible with RISP. 

Way too many strikeouts, double plays, and pop ups.

Everyone knows the problem. His swing is too big. The result is 18 home runs. Not enough. He should know better.

A baseball article from 1997.

Nothing excites the MLB community more than the short-lived success of ex-Yankees.

Gallo and Montgomery getting a ton of coverage for good starts with their new teams.

It reminds me of when Gary Sanchez hit a grand slam in his first week with the Twins. They can keep him. What a slob.

Phil Hughes made one all star game, and only one.

I'm selling all my Gallo and Montgomery stock right now. Come see me in two years when Gallo is DFAd because he struck out 120 times in 200 at-bats.

"Left-handed pitching!" 

Montgomery is not the second coming of Andy Pettitte. He's the second coming of Eric Milton.

OF COURSE Montas has to play better. I'm not convinced he will.

But I also think Bader will be the starting CFer in the playoffs, while Montgomery had no role on this team in the playoffs.

Speaking too soon.

For the guy who has 10 strikeouts in 19 at-bats and happened to connect on a couple of home runs early on. 

I can't say for sure what the future will hold, but I'm confident that Gallo stinks.

In any case, I'm baffled by the local infatuation with Gallo. Not a good player, never really was. The NY Post in particular. Devotes a lot of ink to Gallo, but never catches up with Andrew Velazquez batting .179, pontificating about Velazquez's mental well-being or his ability to handle pressure.

Red Sox pitchers almost combine for a "Maddux."

Nine inning shutout on 117 pitches.

Time of game: 2 hours and 15 minutes.

At Fenway, Sunday night prime time, Yankees vs. Red Sox. History would suggest they'd get through five innings in 2 hours and 15 minutes.

I conclude the Yankees didn't show up to play.

Gleyber 0-for-Fenway.

Yankees can't get the ghost runner home.

It wasn't your imagination.

I like Andujar well enough. I'm not anti-Andujar.

But it's time to put up or shut up.

Prime time, 27 years old, pennant stretch, complained about getting sent down, shoulda won the rookie of the year four years ago.

Time to let your bat do the talking.

"Step up" and make the Yankees keep you on the postseason roster.

The best way to beat the Yankees is to stand in the batter's box with the bat on your shoulder.

Eight walks and one HBP in eight innings, and I'm hearing about bad umpiring and trouble with the release point.

This isn't Little League.

Make the other team earn it.

Loser's Lament

Gleyber steps it up on Giancarlo's absence.

Three strikeouts and a rally-killing GIDP from the cleanup spot 

I didn't find it perplexing.

"If they missed that, they will get a very up close and personal look at Montgomery on Saturday night when he pitches against his former teammates. In a trade that is still perplexing for how it weakened the Bombers’ pitching depth, they sent Montgomery to St. Louis for Harrison Bader, a tremendous defense center fielder who is on the injured list and in a walking boot for at least another week."

Montgomery just isn't very good.

Benintendi in LF, Bader in CF, Judge in RF, Stanton DH, Hicks on the bench, Gallo in another city.

The team is better now.

 

"The fact is, however, despite running into a rough stretch his last few outings, Montgomery had been a fairly solid starter for the Yankees. The 29-year-old homegrown lefty pitched to a 3.94 ERA over 502.2 innings in his five-plus seasons in the big leagues. This season, Montgomery had a 3-3 record because of poor run support and a 3.69 ERA. The lefty’s numbers were a little deceptive, as his xERA 4.11 indicates some very positive luck."

Easily replaceable, as thest statistics attest.

Besides, those 502.2 innings are over about 100 starts, and I'm not even making that up. The exact number is 97 starts. A 22-20 career record, playing for teams with 100+ wins ... it's not just poor run support.

If you want to be a coach, be a coach.

 Coaches don't make $10 million, but it sounds like a good time to transition.

Benintendi is paying homage to Gallo.

0-for-4 with 3 Ks.

Since joining the Yankees, Benintendi is 1-for-17 with 6 Ks.

Stagnation

Montgomery has a 22-20 career record in 97 career starts. He simply hasn't figured out a way to consistently get past the fifth inning.

Donaldson will receive more scrutiny.

A different triple crown for Judge.

 HR, RBIs, and Runs.

Anyone is better than Gallo.

Benintendi is a good fit for this team.

My gripe is with the prevailing sigh of relief. The notion that the Yankees acquired a "professional hitter" and "professional hitters" will steamroll through the Astros in the playoffs while dunderheaded sluggers will strike out on three pitches every time.

Great pitchers are great pitchers.

So I'm rooting for the Playoff Moment where Benintendi slaps a game-winner to left field. In a spot where Hicks would have swung for the fences and come up with a patented big whiff. Maybe Benintendi will even yank one into the bleachers for a walk off. There are many examples of this.

It's just as likely Benintendi goes 0-for-4 in a small sample size playoff game vs. a top notch pitcher.

In terms of winning the World Series? I just don't think this really moves the needle.

Predictable result, sure.

I am not sure why Boone is getting criticized for this decision. Yes, his explanation is convoluted and contradictory. He's an MLB manager, after all.

But this is the only thing Gallo is good for. A pinch hit hail mary home run when you need a home run. The guy he was batting for has zero home runs this year. There were already two outs in the eighth inning.

I suppose the shocking revelation in this article is that Gallo has the second-highest strikeout rate in the majors.

Who the heck is first?

This gets tedious for sure, but viruses are contagious.

You want the vaccine so you don't spread the virus to other people who aren't world-class professional athletes:

" 'I’ve tried to talk to as many doctors, medical professionals as I could and figure out as much as I could, and for me just decided that the potential risks outweigh the potential benefits of doing it,' Goldschmidt said after Sunday's loss in Cincinnati. 'It stinks that I can’t play in Toronto and can’t play these next couple games. I hate that part of it, but that’s unfortunately a consequence.' "

Doctors and medical professionals did not tell you that the risks outweigh the benefits.

" 'I just feel healthy. I don’t feel like I needed to get it,' Arenado said. 'I’m not trying to do a political stand here like I’m a spokesperson for this stuff. I’m not. I’m just choosing to do what’s best for me and my family. And I mean no harm, but it’s unfortunate I’ve got to miss two games.' " 

No harm, dude.

As long as you feel healthy.

She deserves this.

Quite a few of her vocal tics and "mother hen" tendencies drive me nuts. But those kinds of complaints are unavoidable if you listen to too many Yankee games on the radio. She is definitely a trailblazer and her genuine love of baseball crackles through the radio.

Humble pie sounds about right.

Long-forgotten if these teams meet in October, but there is no doubt the Astros deserve the benefit of the doubt.

I don't think home field advantage is a big deal, but you might as well try to get it. What more can you accomplish in the regular season?

My observation is this.

Let's say the Yankees can't hit Cristian Javier. This is a real thing. It's a legit problem.

He's the guy who is going to beat the Yankees in the ALCS and keep them from getting a ring. This assumes quite a bit, but let's just say for the sake of argument.

Then the remedy is to trade multiple prospects for the guy who will pound Javier in the playoffs, thus avoiding catastrophe, and leading the way for Giancarlo Stanton to hit a triumphant eight home runs in the World Series vs. Los Angeles.

So my question is: Who's the guy?

Because a lot of people are foolishly convinced it's Benintendi.

Now this scenario requires so many assumptions, it enters the realm of imagination.

But my point is that there's no reason to think Benintendi or Happ or even Soto are going to get three hits and two home runs in this Most Important Game vs. the Astros.

Of course anyone is better than Gallo.

Of course any of the players mentioned would improve the team and therefore improve the chances of winning.

But there is simply no specific player that is likely to solve this particular problem.

Because Javier is good.

Sorry, but that's how it works. The Yankees will have to beat good teams if they are going to win the World Series.

Jeter with all the cuss words.

 I always knew he had an edge, baby.

Viruses are contagious.

I know most kids and healthy people are not going to die from Covid. You don't want it, but you probably won't die.

The point of the vaccine is to stop the spread so you don't kill grandpa.

From a pure baseball standpoint ... if the Orioles can win ten in a row ... if the Reds can play .500 since a 3-23 start ... why can't the Royals get back in the wild card race?

It's not likely, I'd agree with that, but you're truly supposed to try. It's the basis of professional sports.

Don't look now ...

The Orioles are two games out of a wild card spot.

Also, one of the few teams to beat the Yankees in a series this year.

The logic collapses.

A baseball team absolutely regulates what a baseball player can do with their body, just in case you hadn't paid attention to the collective bargaining agreement.

Realmuto is probably prohibited from skydiving and karate, amongst many other physical activities.

Not against the law, but against his contract.

Countries also put many restrictions and requirements on visitors. In fact, I'll bet my bottom dollar Realmuto already has his Tdap vaccine. Canada can't tell him what to do with his body!

So you think it's not worth it for you personally? Do what you want. I wouldn't expect an entire country to change its rules just for you.

You'll survive without a three-game road trip to Canada; and the country of Canada will continue to get along quite nicely without a visit from J.T. Realmuto.

 

Funny how the lineup rules have changed.

 " 'He’s reserved, quiet. Jeter’s been blessed with great talent around him. So he’s never had to lead,' Rodriguez said in the interview. 'He doesn’t have to, he can just go and play and have fun, and hit second. I mean, you know, hitting second is totally different than hitting third or fourth in a lineup because you go into New York trying to stop Bernie [Williams] and [Paul] O’Neill and everybody. You never say, "Don’t let Derek beat you." That’s never your concern.' "

Obviously, these comments didn't age well. 

Also, it's not breaking news that this interview strained the relationship.

Why does ARod have a reputation for being well-spoken and intelligent?

Flavor of the Month.

Not a bad player by any means. It's just interesting how the pendulum has swung back a bit to favor players with high batting averages and no power.

Yeah, .279 is a high batting average nowadays ... and 16 home runs per year is not a lot nowadays.