The Dog Days of Summer...

 

2 Losses and the Sky is Falling…

I know, I know…it’s just a momentary bump in the road but I dislike consecutive losses, especially those of the one-run variety as it means a timely hit here or there could have meant the difference between winning and losing.

Last night, the Yankees lost to Blake Snell and a bevy of Tampa Bay Rays relievers in St Petersburg, Florida. Admittedly, I could not tell the difference with the stadium crowd or lack thereof with the “fan-less” games of 2020 versus a normal Tropicana Field audience. Credit Masahiro Tanaka for a great performance. There were goose eggs on the scoreboard (run column) when he departed after five innings. Masa only allowed one hit while striking out five Rays. A brief pause here to say that if the start of the season is an indicator, I want the Yankees to re-sign Tanaka over James Paxton if we can only have one of the pending free agents back next year. I like Paxton and I continue to feel that he has the higher ceiling among the two arms but Tanaka is more consistent and capable to delivering the goods like last night when it matters the most.

Photo Credit: Chris O'Meara, AP

The loss was attributable to Adam Ottavino. He remains one of my favorite relievers but he is always going to have one of those games where control issues raise their ugly head. Last night was one of those nights. He walked two of the first three batters in the bottom of the eighth inning and a wild pitch advanced the runners. The Rays were able to pick up an easy and, ultimately, game-winning run on a sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Michael Perez. Otto will be fine. He’ll just take a page out of the Mariano Rivera playbook and forget about last night. For the game, there were only four combined hits, evenly split between the two teams, so it wasn’t the most exciting game to watch unless you love to watch dominant pitching and ice cold bats. Aaron Judge, off to a blazing start this season, struck out three times. 

The best advice about the loss was offered by Tanaka after the game. “I think there’s going to be games like this where both teams aren’t really able to score. So you just kind of have to leave this and just go into tomorrow. I think it’s really important for us to just kind of move forward. Just kind of change the mood.” True, today is a new day. The Yankees (9-4) hold a three-game over the Rays and, WTF?...the Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees send ace Gerrit Cole to the mound today. He’ll be opposed by his former Pittsburgh Pirates teammate, Tyler Glasnow. Today seems like a good day to start a new winning streak. Not to take anything away from Glasnow, whom I feel is an excellent pitcher, but, win or lose, I am always over-confident when Cole is on the mound and damn proud of it.

Photo Credit: Rob Carr, Getty Images

It was cut-down week for MLB as teams had to pare down the rosters from 30 to 28. Granted, he wasn’t playing and when he did, the results weren’t terrific but I was still very surprised to see Miguel Andujar among the cuts. Sure, it gives him some time to work on the finer points of outfield play and shake the rust off his bat. One hit in 14 at-bats is not going to help your cause when you are battling for a valuable roster spot. I know he’ll be back and hopefully the time away allows him to reset and return as a valuable contributor. My position remains the Yankees are stronger with Miggy on the roster than not so I am hopeful the “vacation” in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania is positive and productive.  Infielder Thairo Estrada and reliever Nick Nelson accompanied Andujar to the alternate site while former Anaheim, I mean Los Angeles, Angels pitcher Nick Tropeano headed the other direction to join the big league club. Note: As a relatively new Anaheim resident, I find it more ridiculous than ever now that the Angels call themselves “Los Angeles”, a city that is nearly an hour away.  Okay, 30 miles but have you ever driven in Southern CA traffic?  I love Los Angeles and if I had a job that allowed me to live in downtown Los Angeles or out in one of the beach cites, I’d be there. But where I live near Angels Stadium is NOT Los Angeles even if everybody around here wears Dodgers (not Angels) caps. Sorry, I digress. Welcome to the Bronx, Nick! I hope you make the most of your opportunity with the Yankees.

MLB nixed plans to further reduce rosters from 28 to 26 so the 28-man roster will remain for the duration of the season.  Teams still get an extra man for double-headers, even those of the seven innings variety temporarily in effect this season. Mike Ford is clearly the big winner with the decision to stay at 28 players. When Ford is having a good time, I am having a good time. I love watching that guy succeed as his happiness to be a Yankee can be so infectious.   

As awful as James Paxton and J.A. Happ have been this year, you wonder when Clarke Schmidt will make his Major League debut. I’d take Schmidt over Happ right here, right now. I know he’ll encounter bumps and bruises along the way in his continued development, but that’s okay with me. I’d rather take the pain knowing there are brighter days ahead than pinning my hopes on an aging pitcher on the fast track to his post-playing career. 

A couple of days before the roster cutdown, the Yankees designated catcher Chris Iannetta for assignment and outrighted him to the alternate training site. Last evening, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic tweeted that Iannetta has been placed on the restricted list. No details were provided. The restricted list is for players who are out of organized baseball, for whatever reason, and are not free agents. It could be for leaving the team without a valid reason (failure to report to the alternate training site), temporary unpaid leave for personal reasons or some other cause. I think the Yankees will be fine with or without Iannetta although those Yankee fans melting down about Gary Sanchez and his slow start might think differently. 

The MLB trading deadline is just a short three weeks away. It remains to be seen how active teams will be this year but I am hopeful the Yankees can pick up some pitching help.  I am not sure who will be available since the worst teams in the American League (Kansas City Royals and Seattle Mariners) are only 5 ½ games out in their respective divisions. Hard to determine who will be sellers although you’d think finances play into the equation with the lost revenue this year. The Yankees should provide a friendly helping hand to the Cleveland Indians and take the salary of Francisco Lindor off their hands. It would be a very generous move by the Yankees…wink, wink. I am sure speculation will start heating up about certain players in the coming weeks.

I’ll admit it was good to see Didi Gregorius during the recent series with the Philadelphia Phillies but I don’t pine for his return. I wanted him to stay, yes, and I was disappointed when he left, but once he did, he was just another ex-Yankee to me. I am appreciative for his time in Pinstripes but life moves on. I wish him well in Philly and if he ever has an opportunity to rejoin the Yankees, fine. Until then, he is just another player. My shortstop is Gleyber Torres and he has my 100% support even if his bat has been a little slow to come around this year. I know at the end, he’ll be there. I can’t believe there are still Yankee fans who cry for Joe Girardi and, what’s his name again?, Robert, no, Richard, um, Ronald (yeah, that’s it!) Torreyes. Give me Aaron Boone and Tyler Wade…I’m good.

I hope it’s a Cole-fully wonderful day for you and all Yankees fans. As always, Go Yankees!

Capuano Can't Hold Lead as Yankees Fall to Blue Jays

Brian McCann and Francisco Cervelli turned an early 1-0 defecit into a 2-1 lead with a pair of singles and Chris Capuano looked good for the first five innings, but since the latter ultimately collapsed in the top of the sixth and the bullpen didn't make things any better afterward the Yankees' had their three-game winning streak snapped by the Blue Jays today, 6-3, ruining their chance of a weekend sweep.

Prior to that disastrous sixth frame, after surrendering an RBI hit to Edwin Encarnacion in Toronto's half of the first, Capuano really was dominating for the Yanks, allowing just three total knocks while at one point retiring eight in a row.

Nonetheless, thanks to a couple of walks and a Stephen Drew throwing error the Jays had the bases loaded with no out just after the contest's midpoint, a set-up that soon resulted in a two-run double by Danny Valencia and a sac fly by John Mayberry. 

Then in relief, Chase Whitley was taken deep to right by Jose Bautista and David Phelps let another cross the plate to double the visitors' advantage, bringing the score to 6-2 before a Derek Jeter line-drive in the ninth brought New York a little closer.

Roberts' 9th Inning Homer Wasted in Extras as Yankees Drop Third Straight to Rays, 4-3

Going into this season's trade deadline, it's common knowledge that the Yankees have a lot of holes to fill. 

With Michael Pineda set to miss most of summer and the entire infield struggling to hit above .250, it's obvious that a solid starter and a reliable bat would be much appreciated, although after tonight the Yanks just might have one more kind of player to acquire.

A long reliever.

Yes, that notion sounds a little dumb, but after Jose Ramirez blew another game this evening it just might become legitimate, as the Bombers fell to the Rays again, 4-3.

To start off his top of the twelfth outing, Ramirez actually retired the always-dangerous Evan Longoria and James Loney, a success that quickly went for nothing, as the youngster would go on to walk Brandon Guyer and surrender an RBI Single to Logan Forsythe that broke the tie.

That sudden and painful collapse wasted a pair of scoreless innings the Yankees had gotten from the struggling Shawn Kelley, as well as a huge, game-continuing solo home run from Brian Roberts in the bottom of the ninth. 

Prior to those seemingly momentum-shifting occurrences, David Phelps also gave the Bombers 5.2 frames of two-run ball (solo homers from Matt Joyce and Kevin Kiermaier), almost matching the line of the Rays' Chris Archer, who, besides an Brett Gardner triple and Derek Jeter groundout in New York's half of the third, was great in his 21-out performance.

Still, as I said earlier, everything the Yanks did in this one ended up being worthless, as they dropped to an ugly 2-7 in their last nine contests, 2.5 games out of the division lead, and 3 games out of the second and final wild card spot, again proving that things are not actually getting better for them.

CC solid as Yankees embarrass Red Sox in rubber game, 14-5

CC Sabathia threw 6 innings of two-run ball and David Robertson came back to the get the last 3 outs tonight as the Yankees blew out the Red Sox in this series' rubber game, 14-5. In this performance, CC wasn't all that sharp, as he threw 106 pitches in those 6 frames, but in the end he still put up a quality start, helping him improve his 2014 record to a nice 3-2. 

Anyway, the Yanks offense obviously was good in this W, scoring 7 runs in their first three at-bats thanks to an RBI Double from Alfonso Soriano, a 2-run Double from Yangervis Solarte, Mark Teixeira's first home run of the season, and a pair of singles from Brian Roberts and Jacoby Ellsbury. That total of 7 runs would stay in the box score until the top of the seventh, when the Bombers put up 5 more on another two-run hit from Solarte, a ground-rule double from Ellsbury, and a 2-run Single from Jeter.

Besides those guys, Carlos Beltran, Brett Gardner, and Brian McCann, though they didn't drive in runs, also contributed to this big win, going 1-for-6 with a double and a run, 0-for-4 with 3 walks and 4 runs, and 1-for-5 with a walk respectively. That one hit from McCann, interestingly, came with the shift on, when #34 just sorta poked a slider down the third base line.

Yankees beat Orioles in Jeter's last home opener, 4-2

Hiroki Kuroda threw 6.1 innings of two-run ball and Adam Warren and Shawn Kelley followed him with scoreless frames of their own today as the Yankees won their 2014 home opener over the Orioles, 4-2. When Kuroda left this one in the top of the seventh, the O's were threatening with runners on first and second, but then Middle Relievers Matt Thornton and David Phelps came in and pretty much saved the game, inducing back-to-back groundouts. 

Anyway, the Yankees offense, as it should be, was solid in this win, crossing the plate those four times thanks to Double Play from Derek Jeter with a man on third, a duo of RBI Singles from Yangervis Solarte and Jacoby Ellsbury, and a bases-loaded walk from Kelly Johnson. That RBI from Solarte, amazingly, was his sixth of the year in just five games, something that, in my opinion, simply wouldn't be done by Eduardo Nunez.

Besides those guys, Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Beltran also played pretty well this afternoon, going 2-for-3 with a walk and 1-for-3 with a walk respectively. Nothing fancy by any means, but still, definitely something helpful.