Questions and Observations

  Question: The New York Yankees are still in third place in the AL East. Why? 

Observation: Because the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles are all playing all at a pace equaling the Yankees May record into June, which was tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best in that month.

Observation: The Yankees play as great as number 99. That would be Aaron Judge, who came off the IL and ignited the team with his home runs and fielding, as he took away a number of potential home runs and crashed through a gate in right field at Dodger Stadium on Saturday night to prevent an extra base hit. 

Observation: Yankees fans are now holding their breath, as evidently Judge possibly broke the great toe on his right foot, crashing into the concrete at the base of the fence while making that spectacular catch. Depending upon the severity, Judge could be headed to the IL again. I know about broke great toes—my son broke his R great toe in a freak accident and it took a month plus for him to get back to near normal.

Question: If Judge is out again, how will this affect the Yankees? 

Observation: The team survived a scare when first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who hits behind Judge in the batting order, was out for two games when he injured his neck on a pickoff attempt. Number two starter Nestor Cortes is headed to the IL with a shoulder injury—that does not bode well. Center Fielder Harrison Bader remains on the IL, recovering from a hamstring injury. 

Observation: Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Donaldson and Tommy Kahnle returned to the club after lengthy stays on the IL, Jose Trevino came back just before the trio and Domingo German finished his 10 game suspension for having too much sticky stuff on his pitching hand. All of this is good, as Donaldson flashed some long-awaited power with two home runs on Friday night and Stanton started to show his power stroke when he hammered a double on Sunday. Kahnle is a welcome addition to an already overused bullpen, which still ranks among the top in baseball, but which may lose another pitcher if reports are true about Ryan Weber suffering a serious injury to his elbow. 

Observation: It is going to be a struggle to catch the other teams if the Yankees lose any more starters to injury or more arms go down on the pitching staff. New York relies on Clay Holmes, Mike King and Wandy Peralta to close games. When Kahnle is added to the mix, that is a fourth big arm, one which could be bolstered by the return of Ian Hamilton. Right now, the Yankees rely on ace Gerrit Cole, German, Luis Severino and Clarke Schmidt. Cole has had his ups and downs this season. Cole is 7-0, has a 2.82 E.R.A. Severino looked good in his first start at Cincinnati but was clubbed by the Dodgers. German pitched a gem versus Los Angeles, but is he a reliable pitcher who gives the team length before using the bullpen? Schmidt seems to be okay at times, yet he is hit hard the second and third time an opposing lineup faces him. Can the team make it through July before Carlos Rodon, the second ace they traded for, finally is free of his injuries?

Observation: Let the kids play. Anthony Volpe, the heralded shortstop, has struggled mightily recently. He had a two hit game on Sunday in LA, including a homer. Oswaldo Cabrera also had struggled and was sent down when the trio of players was activated. Except he had to make a U turn at Newark Airport and fly back to the West Coast, where he was inserted into the batting order and came through with a home run. If the team could just find room for Oswald Peraza, who is raking Triple A pitching, the Yankees would have a robust bench to fill in when needed. 

Observation: Get used to the names Jake Bauers and Isaiah Kiner-Falefa. Those two guys are actually hitting the ball much better—Bauers stroked two into the Dodger Stadium seats on Saturday. IK-F is now manning centerfield and looking comfortable. 

Observation: Can Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu find enough playing time with Donaldson in the picture? Torres has been streaky and he is playing better lately. Le Mahieu has become mind-boggling. He seems overmatched at times, which is puzzling since he is a two-time batting champion. Their productivity is key to New York putting runs on the scoreboard—whether Judge is healthy or not. 

Question: Will the umpires stop calling balls outside of the strike zone as strikes? 

Observation: For if this trend continues, Manager Aaron Boone will get thrown out of more games protecting his players. 

Observation: There is a lot more baseball to be played. And it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Minnesota is the only team over .500 in the AL Central. Texas has the second best record and is in first place in the AL West. The Braves lead the NL East over the Marlins. Milwaukee is struggling to stay ahead of Pittsburgh while the Cardinals are becoming more entrenched in the NL Central basement. And who thought after 60 games the Dodgers and Diamondbacks would be tied for first in the NL West while San Francisco and San Diego are wallowing behind the co-leaders?

Question: Are the Mets good or bad or what? 

Observation: The team swept the Phillies. Then Toronto came to Citi Field and swept New York. Pete Alonso leads the majors in home runs. Outside of Brandon Nimmo, the offense is sluggish. Star infielder Francisco Lindor is hitting a paltry .213. The catching situation is so dire that the team acquired Gary Sanchez and his bad defense and low average—he fits right in with this team. The starting pitching has to be much better or the team will not even make the Wild Card. A trip to division-leading Atlanta is either going to be a wake up call or push the team further away from the post-season. 

Question: Do I hear impatience with Manager Buck Showalter?

Observation: I hear rumbling amongst the Mets fans..

Questions: Has anyone noticed that the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals both involve 1 seeds from the West playing 8th seeds from the East, and that both 8th seeds are from South Florida? And that the owners of the hockey teams both are West Point grads?

Observation: No NHL and NBA team in the same city (let’s assume region here as the Heat plays in Miami while the Panthers reside in Sunrise, which is Broward County) have ever both won league championships in the same year. Golden State and San Jose couldn’t do it in 2016. The Nets and Devils failed in 2003—the Devils won while the Nets lost to San Antonio. The hockey team won again while the basketball team lost in 1994 with the Rangers and Knicks. In 1972, both made the Finals and both lost. In 1992, Michael Jordan’s Bulls won while the Blackhawks lost to Pittsburgh. Both Philadelphia teams lost in 1980. Boston had the Celtics rise as victors again while the Bruins fell to the Flyers; that happened again as the Celtics won in 1957 and 1958 while the Bruins were beaten by Montreal. 

Question: Can the Heat down heavy favorite Denver? 

Observation: If you had asked that question after Game 1, then no. However, with Miami continuing to be resilient, refusing fold when falling way behind in the first half of Game 2, the Heat reminded us that they got to the Finals by playing dominant basketball. And it didn’t have to be all orchestrated by Jimmy Butler. Bam Adebayo can shoot. The gunners outside can make three pointers. The zone defense can be puzzling. So the Heat are back in Florida with the series knotted at 1 all. With a chance to actually go ahead at home.

Question: How good is Nikola Jokic? 

Observation: The Denver big man was a second round pick and he has become a beast. He went out and delivered a triple double in the Nuggets’ Game 1 win. He scored 41 points in the Game 2 loss. He makes his teammates better with his uncanny passing.The guy deserved the two M.V.P. trophies he received. Now the world is getting to know how good he is. If he continues his dominance, he can add Finals M.V.P. to his resume. 

Question: How good is Vegas? 

Observation: Their style of play is wilting the Florida Panthers. While the heat outside the arena is in the upper 90’s, the Golden Knights are cooly marching towards a Stanley Cup should they continue to play like they have been. (Who would have thought Las Vegas would have risen from the dry gulch town it was to the glitz and glitter it possesses without air conditioning? And who would conceive of ice hockey in June in Vegas?)

Question: Are the two best teams playing in their sports? 

Observation: The answer is yes. Miami rolled through the top seeds in the East. Florida beat the top two teams in their Eastern Conference. Vegas won the West as a top seed. Ditto Denver. The oddsmakers would say go with the chalk on these two events.

Question: Is it fair to compare Rose Zhang with Tiger Woods? 

Observation: We all know how good Tiger was when he burst on the scene. Both he and Rose dominated collegiate golf while at Stanford for two years before leaving to join the professional ranks. What Rose did was win a pro Tournament in her first start. Tiger finished 60th as he began his PGA career. Don’t start to compare. It’s too early. But she does have one leg up on the greatest golfer ever. 

That’s it. I’m out of questions and observations.