Good news for Yankees and Phillies fans on Friday night. Neither team played. Which is rare for Major League Baseball. Games are almost always played on Friday nights.
The bad news? That they play each other in a two game series on Saturday and Sunday. No matter wha the outcome, somebody’s weekend is going to be ruined.
These are two not very good teams that were supposed to be much better. Plus the managers are intertwined—Joe Girardi was the last Yankee skipper to win a World Series crown—way back in 2009. When GM Brian Cashman let Girardi go, he opted for the more serene Aaron Boone.
The problem in New York is that the same level of success which Girardi reached in his final season, has been duplicated by Boone, with the former third baseman and star of the dramatic 2003 ALCS win over Boston, now piloting a sinking ship.
Whenever there is a glimmer of hope for the Yankees, something goes terribly wrong. First it was the dominant streak where the team was winning consecutive series and took down the AL West leading Chicago White Sox in three games at Yankee Stadium. The pitching and hitting were in sync and the Yankees made up ground on the Red Sox and Tampa Bay, perched above them in the AL East standings.
Just as suddenly, the wheels came off of the bicycle and the Yankees were being beaten every which way by Tampa and then by Boston in a three game sweep at home. It wasn’t pretty. In fact in was virtually unwatchable.
The tonic for the Yankees’ revival was a trip to the Twin Cities. The Twins, thought to be a top tier team, one which could rival Chicago and Cleveland for AL Central supremacy, were wallowing in the division basement.
New York beat up on Minnesota in the first two games of the series. The bats came alive. The pitching was what it was supposed to be. And the Bombers jumped out to a nice lead on the Twins in the final game of the series.
Up 5-3 entering the bottom of the ninth, Boone brought in his closer. Aroldis Chapman had one blown save in 13 appearances, and the team bailed him out with a dramatic win in that contest.
Except the roof caved in. With the swiftness of a Chapman fastball, in nine pitches, the game went from a 5-3 sure victory to a stunning 7-5 loss.
Chapman could not get anyone out. He surrendered a two run bomb to Josh Donaldson. Then with another man on base, slugger Nelson Cruz crushed a Chapman pitch to straight away center, well over 400 feet from home plate. Game over.
Yankees announcers had noted that Chapman’s pitch velocity was still in the mid-to-high 90’s. Except that is slow for him.
I had watched Chapman pitch versus Boston and I thought something was wrong with him. He labored on the mound and somehow escaped a serous threat. He didn’t look the same as the vintage flame-throwing Chapman.
Perhaps it is mechanical. Cole said his recent pitching woes were the results of bad mechanics.
Maybe the lingering effects of a recent illness were still with Chapman. Or even lingering effects from a previous COVID-19 infection.
Whatever the reason(s), the bad outings by Chapman are of great concern for New York. He has been the most reliable pitcher on the staff, a key to Yankees wins. He is a probable All-Star, along with Cole and Aaron Judge.
There are names on the Yankees pitching staff whom I have never heard of. Some are doing a credible job.
Help is on the way. Zach Britton, the former Baltimore closer and set up man to Chapman, has been pitching in rehab games. He was put back on the 26 man roster this weekend. His 2021 debut comes at a critical time if Chapman is hurt.
And while some of the slackers in the Yankees lineup have started to hit and raised their batting averages over .200, the run production and lack of clutch hitting is still a problem. New York leads the majors in grounding into double plays and not driving men in from scoring position. Those are killer stats.
First base is an absolute mess—no production almost all year. The most recent occupant, Chris Gittens, is 0-12. Luke Voit is injured with no timetable for his return. Mike Ford has been designated for assignment. Jay Bruce retired. Only when D.J Le Mahieu is playing at first base can the Yankees anticipate any real production—and his productivity is about 80 points from where it was last season.
Second base is no better. Roughned Odor is hitting below .200 and either swings and misses or takes good pitches. Gleyber Torres is starting to become more consistent with the bat; yet he has only 3 home runs thus far. His fielding and throwing at shortstop is subpar.
Gio Urshela is a great glove. His bat has become inconsistent. He is hampered by lower leg injuries.
Miguel Andujar, a converted third baseman, is now the left fielder. He can hit and is a work in progress. Brett Gardner is the sometime center fielder. Aaron Judge, normally the right fielder, has been playing more center fold recently.
Gary Sanchez catches 3/5 of the starters. His average has been rising. His base running is atrocious.
Jordan Montgomery has been okay. He is a third or fourth starter at best. Jameson Taillon is very inconstant. Domingo German has been adequate, too, but inspires no fear. Corey Kluber’s status is unknown.
Luis Severino is working his way back from his Tommy John surgery. He could rejoin the team by July. That could be too late for this season.
This is a very average team. The lineup is not hard hitting like championship Yankees teams. Do the names Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez, Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada and Paul O’Neill sound more imposing? You bet they do. So does C.C. Sabathia, Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera.
Plus Aaron Bonne hasn’t exactly been Joe Torre. When the umpire rung up Odor on a horrendous called third strike on Sunday night, Boone remained calm while his coaches went ballistic—including Phil Nevin who had an IV port in his arm as he continues to recover from COVID-19.
The media came down on Boone. As did the fans. They are frustrated. Which they have a right to be.
Remember this—there are significant injuries to Aaron Hicks, Voit and Kluber. Severino isn’t ready yet; he may have suffered a lower leg injury, which might hinder his timely appearance. Britton is just coming back. And like I said, absent maybe Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, the latter starting to heat up again after another trip to the IL, who is a real threat in this lineup?
Of course, GM Brian Cashman made a big mistake when he let Didi Gregorius leave for Philadelphia. His left-handed bat and slick fielding in addition to his uplifting demeanor, are sorely missed. Seemingly too many moves Cashman has made lately have not clicked. Odor; Kluber, Taillon, Bruce. The list seems to be unending.
Another source of blame is Hal Steinbrenner, the son of the bombastic late George Steinbrenner. George would have gone ballistic with this atrocious start. Hal is a bottom line guy. He wants to have no luxury tax and make as much money as he can. Cashman follows his orders, which leaves a less-than-competitive team. Hal and Brian haven’t provided a winning formula.
It appears to be a lost season unless blockbuster trades are engineered. Don’t count on it. And don’t count on the reinforcements showing up to rescue the day. It has been a disheartening season thus far.
Meanwhile, the best pitcher in baseball is playing for that team in Queens. I watched Jacob deGrom strike out 11 San Diego Padres in a 3-2 Mets victory on Friday night. He also drove in two runners. The guy is unreal.
Unfortunately, he is dealing with right oblique issues. Which is why deGrom came out of the game after 6 innings, having surrendered only one hit. When the Mets fans chant M.V.P., they aren’t dreaming. If he remains healthy, he is the best player in the N.L., and a major reason why the Mets are in first place in the NL East. The excitement thus far is at Citi Field, not at Yankee Stadium. The crowds will grow in Flushing as the season progresses, not in the Bronx.
I saw that the Dodgers have a 13 game winning streak versus Pittsburgh, which included three road wins this week. I believe the Yankees are better than the Pirates. Same with the Twins and Baltimore Orioles. Probably the Arizona Diamondbacks, too. I cannot say for certain about the Detroit Tigers, as Detroit swept the Yankees a couple of weeks ago.
What I don’t believe is that the Yankees are better than AL East rivals Tampa Bay and Boston. Or the Mets, Phillies and whole lot of other teams. Which is another way of saying that this team was overrated.
MLB is cracking down on pitchers who use foreign substances. Complicating the Yankees dilemma is the fact that Josh Donaldson was the player who questioned if Yankees ace Gerrit Cole used a particular substance to enhance his pitch spin rate.
Cole did not acquit himself very well at a pre-start press conference. What he did do was dominate Donaldson with two strikeouts when he faced the Twins this week. Along with a stare down.
Which brings up a question about Chapman. Could he have been doctoring the ball and is now afraid of being caught. Will that make him into a normal reliever, rather than the fearsome pitcher he had become?
I know that there is a lot of other stuff going on in the sports world. The next round of the NBA Playoffs is underway and Phoenix looks to be in command over Denver. The Clippers put themselves in another 0-2 deficit. Philadelphia has started to make the Atlanta Hawks look ordinary by taking a 2-1 lead.
The juggernaut Brooklyn Nets lost a game in Milwaukee which was winnable. Reserve Bruce Brown, in the lineup while James Harden cannot play, took too many shots at the end of Game 3 and committed too many fouls and had key bad defensive plays. The ball belongs in the hands of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, who looks like his unstoppable best player in the NBA self. Brooklyn can win without Harden. It is just harder to do with Bruce.
Montreal now draws the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup semi-finals. The Islanders have looked awesome with series wins over Pittsburgh and Boston. Now NYI meets the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
Don’t count Coach Barry Trotz’s team out. He won in Washington and the Capitals were too cheap to pay him for that. Washington has not won a series since Trotz left for New York.
It is fun to see the Isles winning. They keep postponing the inevitable close of the Nassau Veteran Memorial Coliseum for NHL hockey. The Islanders will be in their new arena by Belmont Park next season. Seeing the banners hanging from the Coliseum rafters reminds me of the glory days on Long Island. Those were some teams.
Novak Djokovic downed Rafael Nadal, the master of clay, in a thrilling French Open semi-final. Too bad that wasn’t the final.
My editor is off for a few weeks as her family celebrates her daughter’s wedding and then she takes a much needed vacation. Mazel tov.
No blog next weekend. While I have been writing this week’s entry, the Yankees surrendered 4 runs in the first inning, with Philadelphia chasing Taillon in the process. Ugh.
Be glad I don’t carry on more about the travesty. Otherwise, blah, blah, blah. Again.
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