The Yankees have been a very entertaining team of late, albeit for reasons most fans want to forget. Here’s a list of the good, bad, and ugly.
- Yankee’s third baseman Gio Urshela has 15 RBI this season. Projected out, that total reaches 90 for the year. Count that one as good.
- Brian Cashman must be losing his mind because he surely has lost his touch. The trade has nothing to do with the three hits Mike Tauchman had last night in his debut with the Giants. But it has everything to do with the journeyman reliever, Wandy Peralta, who he received in return. Count that one as ugly.
- It’s deja vu all over again, as Yogi Berra liked to say, as Yankees’ right fielder Aaron Judge has missed the last two games due to another one of those mysterious and unexplained ailments. This time it’s “soreness,” and something Spin Doctor Aaron Boone wants nothing more to do with – offering only “I’m not saying anything more” to the media. Call this one a what the hell?
Domingo German – All that he was in 2019 and more - Domingo German is the second-best Yankees starting pitcher. Earning his second-straight win, German tossed seven shutout innings on only 92 pitches in a 7-0 victory over the Orioles. German is looking like 2019 was merely the jumping-off point for his career. Count this one as a wow!
- Gary Sanchez and Kyle Higashioka will split catching duties over the next four games including today. Boone’s reasoning? We have day games following two night games. Bullcrap and everyone knows it, Aaron. The puppeteers have pulled their strings on you again. Count this one as embarrassing.
- With Judge down, Boone was forced to move Clint Frazier over to the right-field slot. Frazier responded with his first home run of the season, and it wasn’t a cheapie. Count this one as hopeful.
- If the Yankees truly cared about their fans, they would consider offering a ticket package similar to the Pirates offer at the PNC field. Their package is unique in that it gives the fan their choice of games to attend, instead of the usual locked-in set of games. How many times have we held tickets to a game when suddenly something comes up, and it’s too late to call a friend or re-sell the tickets – meaning we eat them. Pirates fans can claim their tickets tonight, for example…Count this one as we can only wish.
Aaron Hicks has the Yankees still holding on – or is it his salary? - I’ve already hit on Yankees’ GM Brian Cashman, but gosh-darn-it he’s worth a second try. Stepping down is not part of Cashman’s oversized ego, so it rests with Hal Steinbrenner to see a change is necessary. Only a continued barrage from you and I can make it happen. Count this in we can only wish category, too.
- While Aaron Hicks continues to do God know what for the Yankees 150th worst batter in the league and still mired in a 3-23 slump), Gleyber Torres is showing signs (9 for his last 27 .333) of waking up. Count this one as a hopeful.
- The Yankees always knew Jonathan Loaisiga had the right stuff, and more and more he is becoming Boone’s go-to guy in almost any situation. Count this one as good and much needed.
- Corey Kluber‘s win the other night was a picker-upper for both the Yankees and Kluber. Kluber’s ability to throw 150-175 innings this year is still very much in question, but throwing effortlessly as he did, pounding the strike zone – with confidence – was significant. Count this one as a hopeful, too.
Luke Voit – Missed more than the Yankees ever realized - The Yankees can only sit back waiting for the return of Luke Voit to their lineup, and more significantly perhaps, to their clubhouse where his “always-on” personality blends with his leadership traits. Voit is one of those players who adds an extra dimension to the Yankees lineup, and for now, he is sorely missed. Count this one as hopeful, too.
Yankees: They Come Cheaper By The Dozen These Days
A quick scan of the items above tells me most fall on the hopeful side for the Yankees.
While reeling off thirteen in a row like the Oakland A’s just did (how the hell did they do that, anyway), the Yankees only need to accomplish what Joe Torre always preached – and practiced.
Get to .500, and from there you take it in fives. Get to five over, then ten, fifteen, and then twenty, where cumulatively his Yankees had themselves a .600 winning percentage, which is almost assuredly a division winner, or at least a top spot in the postseason.
Aaron Boone is under the gun as he should be while hitting coach Marcus Thames isn’t – but should be. Brian Cashman continues as the anointed untouchable of Hal Steinbrenner – and these are all things the Yankees players need to overcome.
At times, the Yankees seem listless on the field, as though they believe in the myth of themselves where there’s always another twenty games to catch up and to blow the competition away.
Forget thirteen in a row, when is this team going to spin off six in a row?
Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.
