From Bryan Hoch:
Every pitcher wants to get ahead in the count. Gerrit Cole has never done it more than he did on Thursday.
Cole threw 22 of 23 first-pitch strikes (95.7 percent) over six strong innings, striking out eight to lead the Yankees to their fourth consecutive victory, a 6-1 win over the Orioles that completed a series sweep at Camden Yards.
“It’s great to get ahead,” Cole said. “I think sometimes we got ahead even out of the strike zone, which means I think we’re doing a good job being unpredictable.”
That 95.7% first-pitch strike rate was the highest of Cole’s career; his previous best was on April 25, 2017, while with the Pirates, when he threw 22 of 24 (91.7%). It’s also the highest by any Yankee since at least 2000 (minimum 20 batters faced), according to research by MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.
The idea that Cole is executing more efficiently than even the 26-year-old version of himself is an intriguing development, especially considering Thursday marked his 16th start since returning from Tommy John surgery.
It has been months since Cole, 35, expressed any concern about how things might feel with his repaired ulnar collateral ligament; he has likened his mindset to having a fresh set of tires for the second half of a road race, and he’s putting the hammer down.
The Yankees have been needing their starters to be perfect, and, well, fuck, they’ve practically BEEN perfect for weeks now (except for when Will Warren pitches, of course). It’s pretty crazy.
Gerrit Cole was outstanding, even with a bizarrely long first inning. Ryan Yarbrough, too, was excellent.
The offense did a little bit of, well, you know, hitting, so that was cool, too.
Spencer Jones is going to make it difficult on them to send him to the minors when Cody Bellinger returns, and this was after Jones had made it VERY easy the past week or so.
For the first time in forever, they are as close to the Tampa Bay Rays as they are ahead of the Boston Red Sox (four games behind the Rays, four games ahead of the Red Sox). Cue them getting swept by the Blue Jays, Astros, and Red Sox in Yankees Stadium over the next week plus (FOUR GAMES against the Red Sox to end the month. Argh).
Featured image is Cole “celebrating.”
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On why the Yankees didn’t stopped winning when they stopped hitting:
Brian’s been talking about the deadened ball – that could be a reason why the Yankee offense has had such a hard time breaking out. It’s not a hit and run offense, it’s a power offense, for the most part.
But that same factor is exactly what frequently suddenly breaks a great pitching performance. So it could well explain why the pitching has been so CONSISTENTLY excellent.
If that’s true, than the B may largely compensate for A.
Of course, that would make Warren look that much WORSE!
Having some fast guys who can beat out weak ground balls is a useful hedge against a dead ball and excellent pitching.
Which is to say, guys like Lombard can still hit when they’re not hitting. Just like Judge refined his approach to allow his “misses” to become bloop hits to right, Lombard’s approach allows his “misses” to become infield hits to the left side.
Also, on the current debate: who has more potential, Ramos or Spencer? Obviously, it’s night and day.
But Brian’s also right – if you can just send Spencer down for two weeks and bring him back up, then – why not?
(The plan has the added advantage of giving him a spell down where he gets the real coaching that made him a prospect, resulting – one can hope – in some period of relative immunity to the degenerating effects of the major league coaching staff.)
If you are trying to catch Tampa Bay and win the division – which at this point would also come with a first round bye and home field advantage – then you want your best 26 man roster throughout the rest of the season. That should not include even one week of Ramos over Jones.
Might not be bad for him to stay in touch with the AAA coaches, but it sounds like Spencer has also been talking to Teacherman Schenck, and I suspect that’s how he made the adjustments before yesterday’s three-hit game.
Heliot is a career 834 vs LHPing. There a role for him to platoon with Grisham (career 720 vs LHPing) or Spence.
And there’s Jasson who’s 1 1/2 younger than Spence. Jasson never had the advantage of going to Vanderbilt which has a great program so is more in need of coaching. Too bad for him he’s a Yankee. I still don’t know what to make of Spence. He’s probably never going to hit for a high BA or seriously cut down his strike outs, so he needs to be a 40 home run guy. Defensively it’s all Spence.
• Recalled INF/OF Max Schuemann (#30) from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
• Placed INF Ryan McMahon on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to 8/20) with a left thumb sprain.
There’s *really* no reason to carry both Schuemann and Rosario.
Not even the shadow of a reason.
It is simply unreasonable.
Belli is not ready to return, so why NOT Schuemann for a couple of days until Belli is ready?
McMahon going on the IL thankfully saved Spencer Jones’ roster spot.
Why would they care about losing Rosario? He’s a free agent after this year, he can’t play third, and with Bellinger back Heliot won’t be playing every day so he’d be the RHB off the bench.
OTOH
P Goldschmidt (R) 1B to be replaced by Garcia?
A Rosario (R) 3B Since Fluharty is an opener Rosario probably won’t be in long.
H Ramos (R) LF
B Rice (L) DH
G Lombard Jr. (R) SS
T Grisham (L) CF
S Jones (L) RF
J Caballero (R) 2B Move to 3b when Jazz replaces Rosario?
A Sánchez (R) C
Who will pinch run for Goldschmidt when he’s intentionally walked to lead off?
Hoch Max Fried will throw a side session tomorrow, setting up a potential live BP. Returning in the minimum 15 days is still in play, Aaron Boone said.
Cody Bellinger will play LF tonight for @swbrailriders. He’ll be off tomorrow and could be activated with the Yankees on Sunday, Aaron Boone said.
https://www.statmuse.com/mlb/ask/ben-rice-last-30-games