From Anthony Castrovince:
They crammed in crowded 4 and D trains, packed the Bronx’s sports bars and streamed through the Yankee Stadium gates, ready to lend their voices to the comeback cause. But it took all of three batters for those pinstripe-clad fans to be quieted, all of three batters for the seemingly unstoppable Dodgers to assert themselves in one of the most intimidating road environments in sports.
Sparked by – stop us if you’ve heard this one – a Freddie Freeman home run and steered by an exceptional outing from Walker Buehler, the Dodgers’ 4-2 triumph over the Yankees in Game 3 on Monday night put them on the verge of a World Series sweep.
Okay, we all know how pathetic the Yankee hitting has been. We also know that Carlos Rodon is prone to collapsing.
However, Clarke Schmidt? That dude has shown NO signs of collapsing this season, INCLUDING in the playoffs, and then he went out there and just shit his bed big time on national television. He pitched like he was scared shitless of the Dodgers, and it was so pathetic to watch. Hopefully he grows from this for next season, because there is NO reason for him to be pitching this scared.
The game was sadly over as soon as Freddie Freeman hit ANOTHER home run in the first inning (it’s the featured image). Freeman has been outstanding, and is obviously going to be the World Series MVP, but could someone at least PLEASE acknowledge that he clearly isn’t hurt anymore. It’s, like, fuck, people, we all have eyes! We can all SEE that the dude is finally healthy, and yet it’s still, “The nearly hobbled Freddie Freeman” like his sprained ankle is still an issue when it is CLEARLY NOT AN ISSUE ANYMORE. Dude hit a TRIPLE in Game 1. Would he make it to third on that hit if his ankle was actually bothering him? No! He’s healthy, and when healthy, he’s a very good hitter. Good for him. He deserves all the flowers. He’s been amazing. But don’t sell me on this fucking, “Oh, Freeman is doing this all playing hurt. He’s like Kirk Gibson!” He’s not like Kirk fucking Gibson, people!
Anyhow, the one thing the Yankees have left going for them is that hey, Gil and Cole aren’t terrible starters for Games 4 and 5, maybe the Yankees get it back to Los Angeles, and then, ya never know (I mean, we all know how this is ending, but we don’t KNOW know).
And soon, we won’t have to watch Alex Verdugo anymore. A full offseason for Jasson Dominguez will hopefully bring about a different look for the Yankee lineup next year. If Soto re-signs, this team could obviously go right back to the World Series next year (and with a full season of Luke Weaver, they probably will win more of the games that would otherwise be blown by Holmes). Austin Wells could take a step forward as a hitter. This is still a good team, but not as good as the Dodgers. Maybe they will be in 2025.
https://x.com/RiverAveBlues/status/1851079558973308967
I was surprised they sent him. I saw him hitting third and expecting a stop-sign, but he kept running and I knew he was dead meat at the plate. I was more surprised that Stanton made it as close as it was. Any other runner makes that. But Stanton? Dumb send. But when you’re struggling to score runs I guess they have to push the envelope a bit.
https://x.com/RiverAveBlues/status/1851064529553179125
These three games would have been really humiliating if it had been me, and not other people in baseball clothing.
(Actually, the people buying the baseball clothing don’t look like they’ll feel humiliated, either, so… whatever.)
Getting outhit or outpitched – it happens.
But just missing balls hit to third, or screwing up plays of no special difficulty in left field, or getting picked off first, or getting thrown out at home with Stanton just passing 3rd when an outfielder gets the ball (amazing it was that close, actually) – that should NOT happen.
And making these boneheaded managerial moves time after time, game after game – that should NOT happen.
It’s embarrassing. Loyalty has to be earned.
They’re not earning it.
It looks like the Yankees of mid-to-late June playing a World Series championship squad. I don’t know if I’m more embarrassed by the Yankees’ performance or Fat Joe’s.
Positive thoughts for today
1) they got to the WS! That’s a pretty good season!
2) they aren’t getting swept by the Mets
3) they didn’t get shut out (TV feed referenced to “last dodger shut out at Yankee stadium was 1955” and “last time Yankees shut out in WS was game 6 2003”. That latter one was the dumbest stat of the night as they’ve only played in 9 WS games since then.)
Negative thoughts:
1) their manager is an idiot and even the 1998 Yankees might have been hamstrung if this guy made decisions
2) they are going to keep him
As manager since he “took them” to the WS
3) their arrogant and past-sell-date GM will still be around
4) Soto might leave making 2025 unwatchable
5) it is clear beyond the shadow of a doubt that they cannot develop their own young hitting talent. And that’s been a problem for a decade. Wells and Volpe are just the most recent. Just wait until next year when Jasson can’t hit either.
Yes.
When they lose, they assert with certainty that the playoffs are a crap shoot.
When they win get to the WS (and don’t win it), they’ll assert that it’s suddenly not a crap shoot, but indisputable proof of how brilliantly they run their nuthouse operation, how right all their choices were.
For me the most frustrating of those negative thoughts is #5 since it’s a hitting philosophy that pervades the entire organization but has proven ineffective especially in the playoffs. But I’ll save my mindless rant until the off-season. So yeah look for it tomorrow.
7-6 in the post season currently and outscored 46-43. They are who they are. A slightly better than .500 team who made it in to the World Series on 2 magma-hot months in April and May and faced two teams who weren’t much better. The Dodgers are kicking their ass in every sense. The Ohtani & Yoshi acquisitions, starting pitching, a competent first baseman, a solid fundamentally sound defense, and timely hitting from the lineup from 1-9. Yankees have more walks+hits than the Dodgers, but they just continually shoot themselves in the foot.
Hopefully tonight we see a LLLLRRRRR batting order.
We’ll see an L for sure.
Ha! Good one.
What the hell happened to Wells? He struggled early but he was making decent contact and as the season went on he started to look pretty, pretty good. Then a total abyss. Never seen anything like it. July and August he OPSed 938. That’s pretty effing good. September it was 111/411 and in the playoffs it’s 093/315. It took the league 275 ABs to figure his kryptonite?
Volpe OTOH is what he is. Hopefully he can become a league average hitter with great defense, I’m not sure his ceiling is above 90 OPS+.
These are our two young guns plugged for the next 10 years. I can’t imagine how any system could project Wells going forward.
You HAVE seen things like it. Volpe did EXACTLY the same thing after his hot start screeched to a stupifying halt.
But it didn’t USED to happen. And I don’t think it’s a new norm. It’s something with this organization. (Or IS it a new norm around MLB? Inquiring minds want to know, without doing the work!)
Jomboy: The Yankees watched 24 four-seam fastballs go by for called strikes tonight
That’s the most by them in a single game this season.
It’s the 2nd most by any team this season (Nats had 27 on May 4th)
Katie Sharp: And only one other team has done that in a postseason game since 2008 (Red Sox in 2017 ALDS Game 1 vs Astros)
Just seems to me there’s something endemically wrong about their hitting approach and has been since Boone took over.
Boone playoff record 21-22. Will that give Cash or Hal pause? Nah!
Hal wants to fire Boone; Cashman says to Hal, Boone goes I go. Hal, accept that offer. (This is a fantasy – Hal will be counting the $$$$ from all this post season).
Andrew Means at Pinstripe Alley hs a breakdown of Yankee WS failures. This one play that let Ohtani get to third was a demonstration of how fundamentally bad Boone’s team is.
Jake Mintz over at Yahoo Sports broke down this ugly play and rightly noted that Torres made the larger mistake here. Soto’s double clutch and so-so throw hurt, but the way that Torres stabbed at the ball with his glove put him in a bad spot to actually get it (and that kind of defensive lapse from Torres is nothing new). There were also fair questions about shortstop Anthony Volpe, first baseman Anthony Rizzo, and pitcher Tommy Kahnle all not being in the right spots for this play, either.
i’m shocked to hear about so many defensive miscues!
They’ve played Volpe* nearly every game in 2023-2024. He is a bad hitter. Maybe another hitting coach can help, because the one they have seems to help no one.
The third base coach and his bad send, well, I believe he is also the base running coach. 🤔
* They won’t do that with anyone else, making it doubly strange.
Yankees dead last in baserunning both major systems. Something’s gotta change.
The Yankees handling of Volpe has been consistently bizarre.
Our genius manger outsmarting Roberts once again has flip flopped Jazz and Stanton to totally render LA’s bullpen game useless.
RAB If I wasn’t so sure the season will end on a Verdugo ground out to second, I would say it will end with Stanton on deck after being needlessly moved down to fifth. Congrats on doing exactly what the Dodgers wanted you to do. May this be Boone’s final lineup as Yankees manager.
What? Stanton and Soto are the only two guys hitting. Moving Stanton down? That’s a new level of idiocy. Even for Boone.
Fredo Boone.
Fundamentals? We ain’t got no fundamentals! We don’t need no fundamentals! I don’t have to show you any stinking fundamentals!
A friend posted that he’s selling two tkts for tonight’s game for an $800 loss.
Tonight is, surely, all about loss.
BTW, a Hollywood ending isn’t the Dodgers sweeping the Yankees, it would be the Yankees winning 4-straight after being down 0-3.