From Bill Ladson:
For a few innings, it looked like the Yankees could breathe a sigh of relief when it came to watching right-hander Luis Gil.
After getting roughed up in his previous two starts, Gil was having his way with the Reds in the early going on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. But he lost his confidence by the fourth inning as New York was edged by Cincinnati, 5-4.
Before his start against the Orioles on June 20, Gil was pegged by baseball experts as a possible Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award candidate in the American League. He had a 2.03 ERA and had already won nine games.
It has been rough ever since. Going back to his start against Baltimore, Gil has allowed 16 runs in 9 2/3 innings (14.90 ERA) in his last three starts and has seen his ERA jump to 3.41. He had allowed seven runs in 55 1/3 innings over his previous nine starts (1.14 ERA).
Gil fell apart in the fifth inning, of course, but the fact that he was quite good through four innings simply HAS to be taken as somewhat of a good sign. I agree that it likely wasn’t fatigue, as he was throwing hard in the fifth, he just had no control tonight, and yet was still able to be very good through four innings. That he fell apart in the fifth inning was very bad, but it was more in keeping with the sort of things we saw from Gil early in the season. Tons of pitches, and tons of walks. That he was able to work past that early in the season gives me hope he can work past it now, as well.
This wasn’t like the Baltimore or Mets games, where he was just HAMMERED. He pitched really well right up to the fifth. Boone, for some godforsaken reason, decided to punt the game with a rested bullpen, down 3-0, and brought in Caleb fucking Ferguson, who promptly gave up a two-run home run and a double. The other relievers pitched much better, and the offense scored a little bit.
Ben Rice simply HAS to be the cleanup hitter going forward. The Verdugo experiment must be over. I’d also bat Volpe 5th or 7th for a little bit, depending on whether Gleyber leads off, or LeMahieu. LeMahieu, by the way, continued to hit the ball hard (a 101 MPH liner, and a 98 MPH liner), except for when it mattered the most, at which point he hit one of his patented groundballs with Ben Rice on second with no outs, and the Yankees down just two runs, that led to Rice getting thrown out at third, because the Yankees are all terrible baserunners. Blech. Still, the fact that he is hitting the ball so hard has to eventually lead to some hits. He’s not just hitting weak groundballs anymore. He’s making strong contact. It just isn’t going for hits just yet.
Featured image is sad Luis Gil.
Now that the Yankees have entered the Find Out part of the season I don’t have much to say, but the fact that on July 4–a day with no other major sports event, a day on which even the Euros and Copa play no matches–there are no national baseball broadcasts is a travesty for the game.
There is no reason MLB shouldn’t own 4th of July the way the NFL owns Thanksgiving and NBA owns Christmas Day. Rob Manfred remains, always, The Worst.
(Though the way Goodell is horning in on the NBA’s turf on Christmas Day, I’m shocked he doesn’t have a pads-optional Dolphins workout scheduled on NBC opposite the hot dog eating contest.)
Vertugo OPS+ last four years were 123, 107, 102, 100. This year 95. So the downward trend continues.
If the Yanks or their fans expected anything other than an average hitter, then they were stupid. Of course average in LF is so much better than last year.
He’s not the problem. The real problems have been Gleyber, DJLM and Boone. ( And cashman, though he did get Soto. )
gleyber is hitting, time to move him up. 412 over the last week. or DJ. I am fully confident that he can hit 300 before getting hurt again.
Yeah, that’s the DJ way. Get hurt, suck while you take forever to get back to being a good hitter, then get hurt again.
oh good, it’s rodon day.
last 13.2, 20 earned runs.
at this point it seems clear that we got spotted a bunch of wins and the team is best described as an ace, a couple hitters, and a prayer.
I guess i’ll just have to adjust my expectations accordingly and hope for the best. hopefully they’ll call some guys up and some people get hot so there’s a reason to watch.
i will anyway, but normal people.
Was that a pitcher you expect a decent offense to struggle against so mightily?
Aaron Judge, named AL Player of the Month for June, also won it in May. BTW, Bryce Harper also won back-to-back NL awards May, June.
Volpe leadoff now and forever. Rice sits of course. Davis cleanup, Jones DH.
If Boone managed the Yankees in 2006 O’Neil would’ve been strictly a platoon hitter forever.
It just doesn’t make ANY SENSE. Why in the fuck do they not just fucking give Rice a goddamn real shot? All he has done is be the third-best hitter on the team since he’s gotten here, why the fuck won’t they just let him be?!
It’s true, and it’s unbearable.
Boone’s such an asshole.
How can this particular policy of his jibe with his being a players’ manager?
The only negative on Rice’s statcast page is that his bat speed and hard hit % are a little bit pedestrian … but he has such a good swing that he gets a lot more out of it.
Boone isn’t doing this on his own. It is CashBoone at work. Said it last year, Cashman is a saboteur.
you have to keep them rested until they’re sufficiently cooled off.
Is there a Booney rule that Verdugo 208/551 last 28 days and193/578 vs LHPs this season can get the day off?
RAB:Brett “ Judge had the 2nd highest wRC+ in baseball last year and he’s the 8th most improved hitter this year.”
Statistically dubious.
The Yankees: Do they just regular suck, or are they the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked?
Kay saying Gil panicked after the triple. You could see it on the bench.
Oh, 100%, I’ve been noting that the Baltimore game clearly shook the shit out of him. He was pitching scared against the Mets.
The key, really, is that they need to score some runs for him early, to calm him down, but this team can’t score, so it won’t happen.
So crazy. All these guys have pitched for years, how can they not be used to the fact that sometimes somebody connects.
No idea if this makes anything more hopeful – or less.
Interesting, though, if Kay is calling out the players that, among other things, he has to interact with from time to time.
Now he’s being brutally honest with the starters, relievers and batters. Volpe 220 OBP last 3 weeks.
Kay?
Yeah on his radio show, other than defending Boone he’s been pretty truthful today unlike on broadcasts.
Rice OBP 364, Volpe 311, Volpe last 28 day 220, last 7 days 103!! Let Rice lead off. If not Rice anybody but Volpe.