From Bryan Hoch:
The Yankees’ clubhouse carried the familiar funky aroma that it did a year ago, bubbly and brew splashing the walls late Tuesday night as they gleefully toasted their return to the postseason. José Caballero proudly hoisted a jewel-encrusted championship belt, signifying the walk-off hit that punched the team’s ticket.
Aaron Judge grinned broadly amid a frenzied circle of teammates, who led a chant of “M-V-P!” as they doused the captain in cold spray. And Jazz Chisholm Jr. said what’s obvious to anyone who has watched this team over the last calendar year: It expects this celebration to be the first of several to come.
“We want to win the division. This isn’t it for us,” Chisholm said after the Yankees clinched their playoff spot with a 3-2 walk-off victory over the White Sox at Yankee Stadium. “This is only a small step. Step two is winning the division, and step three is winning the World Series.”
Well, that went from being one of the most frustrating losses of the season to being one of the most unlikely wins.
The White Sox are not a good team, but their pitching is at least DECENT, including their bullpen, and they totally shut the Yankees down in this one. The Yankees had plenty of opportunities to score, and just keep failing. Boone also made a weird choice by pinch-running Caballero for Rice in the 8th inning, but then not having Dominguez pinch hit for Rosario, despite Caballero obviously going to take over for Rosario at third to keep him in the game, so Dominguez could have moved to left field, Bellinger moved to first, and Goldschmidt would have been available to pinch hit in the ninth against the White Sox’s lefty closer. Just terrible managing.
Also terrible was the sixth inning, where Judge and Grisham miscommunicated on a flyball, and it dropped in for a single, and then Gil gave up a home run to the next batter. I think Gil is PROBABLY the right guy still to pitch Game 3 of the playoffs, but ooph, he makes it hard to enjoy.
Volpe and Wells surprisingly led off the ninth inning with back-to-back singles, but then Trent Grisham continued a terrible night overall by grounding into a double play, leaving the Yankees one out away from a terrible loss. However, following an intentional walk to Aaron Judge, Clay Bellinger drew a walk, and on the walk, the pitcher threw the ball away, and Volpe scored from third to tie the game. Then Caballero won it all with a ball that the White Sox center fielder, Michael Taylor (who entered as a defensive replacement hilariously enough), decided to play on a hop to try to throw Judge out at the plate, despite him not having any chance at getting Judge. He OBVIOUSLY should have dove for the ball. If he couldn’t get it, the game was over anyways, so what did it matter? It was almost like Taylor was saying, “I’m not going to risk hurting myself for this shitty team.”
Featured image is Caballero leaping into the air as he approached first base, as he could see that it was going to drop in all the way.
That AB by Caballero was a fine example of a hitter battling to just put the ball in play when a single wins the game. Most of these guys would still be trying to hit it into the seats in that situation.
Have no fear, after one spring training he’ll be reprogrammed into Volpe lite.
Doesn’t look like Waldo has a role here next year.
Waldo’s versatility makes him the kind of player that can fill in for any injured regular. For instance, with a career 80 OPS+ and mediocre infield defense, he could step in at shortstop if Volpe got hurt. Or, as an alleged “switch hitter” who is bad from the right side of the plate and also a poor corner outfielder, he could fill in for Dominguez.
Heh, “Clay Bellinger”.
By the way, I don’t say this often enough, but I love the recaps Brian. I may not watch games anymore, but I certainly read every article on this site!
When he’s sucking this much, he gets his dad’s name. 🙂
“The White Sox are not a good team, but their pitching is at least DECENT, including their bullpen, and they totally shut the Yankees down in this one.”
But whoever we face in the playoffs will probably have better than decent pitching. Boston leads with Giolito, Bello, Crochet, Whitlock, and Chapman. The Yankees need to do much better than last night to advance.
The big problem is that if the Red Sox AREN’T the second Wild Card, it’ll probably be the Tigers. So the Yankees are going to have to face a Cy Young-level pitcher no matter what. It does not bode well for them.
First time Fried Rice
https://bsky.app/profile/riveraveblues.bsky.social/post/3lzm57wfwgu25
Been hungry for Fried/Rice all season. Wonder what took so long.
Their best possible lineup has Rice behind the plate, Belli at first, and Dominguez playing left.
Maybe but we won’t see it.