From Bryan Hoch:
Aaron Judge knew about the comments — of course he did.
Not much happens at the corner of 161st and River without crossing the Yankees captain’s radar. So when a 25-year-old Red Sox rookie named Hunter Dobbins remarked that he’d rather “retire” than wear pinstripes, Judge took note.
“I’ve only heard Ken Griffey Jr. say that, so I was a little surprised,” Judge said after the Yankees’ 11-7 loss to Boston on Sunday evening at Yankee Stadium.
Dobbins made the comments in a pre-start interview with the Boston Herald, saying that he’d had his Bronx debut circled on the calendar for a long time, while adding: “If the Yankees were the last team to give me a contract, I’d retire.”
Judge’s memory is correct: Griffey did say that, part of a decades-old grudge against longtime principal owner George M. Steinbrenner, who supposedly once chased a young Griffey from the dugout while his dad was an active player.
Dobbins? His dad was a Red Sox fan, which should automatically endear the 25-year-old hurler to the population of greater New England. It didn’t win him many friends in the right-field bleachers, though, where Judge took him for the first of his two homers on Sunday.
Judge cracked Dobbins’ sixth pitch over the Bombers’ bullpen for a two-run homer, then added a two-run blast in the ninth. He’s now tied with the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani for second in the Majors with 23 home runs, trailing the Mariners’ Cal Raleigh (26).
At the end of the day, the Yankees’ pitchers all sucked (besides Devin Williams) for three straight games. What more can you do when your pitchers all sucked? Carlos Rodon was having a nice night, until he walked the #8 hitter in the fifth, and I noted that that wasn’t the end of the world, but it was concerning, and sure enough, that was the sign that headcase Rodon was back, and he allowed a home run to tie the game at 2-2, and then opened the sixth inning with a HBP and a walk, and he was clearly struggling. But he SHOULD have been able to work through it, so I have NO problem with Boone keeping him in the game. He then gave up a home run, and then Fernando Cruz ALSO chose to suck (I worry that Cruz’s injury has affected him somewhat), but even as Cruz sucked, he still go two Ks and had two outs when Boone went to Tim Hill. I get bringing in Tim Hill with the bases loaded and no or one out. You’re hoping for the groundball double play. But when there’s TWO OUTS, there’s SO many better options than Tim Hill.
And it didn’t work out, and suddenly it was 7-3. Jonathan Loaisiga had a good inning, so, of course, Boone pushed him for a second inning, and he sucked, giving up the third and fourth home runs that he’s allowed since he’s returned in just ten innings pitched.
Then Brent Headrick sucked, as well, to make it 11-5.
And due to the vagaries of the schedule, the Yankees are right back in Boston next weekend, and Yarbrough and Rodon will get to face these guys AGAIN. Rodon has been DOGSHIT against Boston as a Yankee, and it really pisses me off that just when you start to think that MAYBE Rodon isn’t an irredeemable headcase, he has a game like this.
The offense was fine. You’d have preferred them to score more runs, but, well, fuck, 7 runs is a lot of fucking runs, ya know?
The featured image is the umpire’s view of Narvaez’s go-ahead home run off of Rodon.
Ghosts of Sid Fernandez, who would so often shut everyone down and then crumble in the 5th or 6th. Rodon, Warren – too often over the past week. The staff has to be able to help them with that.
Anyone see anything Rodon changed, something he can learn from?