From Bryan Hoch:
This is only the first checkpoint of a postseason journey the Yankees hope will stretch deep into October. But if they had to choose an opponent to send home first, few would be more satisfying than the Red Sox.
For the second consecutive year, that’s exactly what they did. Their celebration reflected that, with corks popped and bubbly spraying in every direction.
Luis García Jr. hit an early homer and Cody Bellinger delivered a three-run dagger late as the Yankees trounced the Red Sox, 9-2, on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, sweeping the two-game American League Wild Card Series.
“Being able to celebrate with your teammates after a playoff series win, it doesn’t get old,” said left-hander Max Fried. “This is what we start practicing in February for. This is where we want to be. So it’s just about playing our game, having fun, and hopefully we’ve got a couple more of these we can do.”
I am certainly not going to suggest that this season will end up any better than last year, but you have to admit that they are in MUCH better shape heading into Tampa Bay this year than they were heading into Toronto last year.
First of all, of course, they kicked the shit out of Boston in these two games, dominating them on the pitching side of things, and then beating up their “Best in baseball” bullpen in both games (including Garrett Whitlock, who is one of the best relievers in baseball, but has now shown a surprising propensity for choking in the big game, with him giving up a go-ahead home run in the 2021 ALCS, the Yankees beating him in Game 2 last year on an Austin Wells hit, of all people, him blowing the WBC this year, and now the Yankees kicking the shit out of him in Game 2).
Last year, they had to start Luis fucking Gil in Game 1 of the ALDS. This year, they’ll have either Carlos Rodon in the middle of a hot streak (against a Rays team he just handled easily a few weeks ago) or Gerrit Cole (who also pitched well against Tampa Bay recently), their steadiest postseason performer not named Cam Schlittler.
Plus, with Spencer Jones and George Lombard Jr., they have two guys who don’t seem to choke the same way as the other Yankees do. It isn’t to say that either guy is some stud, but their approach is just so much different than the other Yankees.
They’re going to have to figure out what to do in the outfield, though, as I don’t know how much longer you can keep Grisham in center field when the dude’s hamstring is clearly dramatically slowing him down. Perhaps Grisham in left, Belli in center, Jones in right? You can reasonably argue that Grisham, even slow as fuck, is still better on defense than Ramos, which is really saying a lot about how much Ramos sucks on defense. But, before the game, I noted that there were likely going to be some bloop hits, and sure enough, there was a bloop double when the game was scoreless that could have fucked the Yankees, but Max Fried battled back and got through it.
Fried was awesome. That’s why he gets the featured image even on a night when the Yankees’ offense showed the fuck up again for a second night. Sonny Gray was really good, too. Chad Tracy twice took out his starters before they completed five innings when they had only allowed a single run, and both times it backfired horrifically. That was fun.
Anyways, can’t ask for much more than sweeping the Red Sox and outscoring them 18-2!
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Leaning a bit more towards starting Caballero in the outfield, at least in Tampa. Even without the chip he still carries on his shoulder against the Rays, he would hit their righty starters no worse than Ramos or Grisham, he can cover more ground than Grisham (and tolerate the turf more), and he can take better routes than Ramos. So as long as he can keep an ice cold focus and not get carried away trying for homers, he could be a real asset.
Also, it would be nice if someone on the Yankees would make it clear that Grisham’s slowness is due to the hamstring. Dude is slower than CATCHERS right now, and they’re saying nothing, making it seem like the dude is just lollygagging out there. Just odd to hang their own guy out to dry like that.
And doing it in the postseason.
Sure, he’s slow but he also gets terrible jumps.
The Rays series is portentous.
i would like to dissuade people in the future from describing winning two consecutive games in a best of three as a sweep. it’s an abuse of the term and a slippery slope. will game 163s also be a sweep from now on?
I’ve heard “they got mopped” after a four-game sweep. So maybe a best-of-three set that goes only two could be a “dusting”?
Small sample size, of course, but the Red Sox kind of sucked.
“I think I’m the best pitcher in the American League going through the order a third time. I think that’s a fact. I would have liked to have been trusted in that moment.”
Red Sox pitcher Sonny Gray
Is it possible that Tracy took out Gray because he saw the “sticky stuff” cheating and got him out before he was called out publicly by the umpires?
Where’s the Sonny Gray cheating thing coming from? What’s the source?
Images of the game with a bunch of gunk on his neck. And he touched his neck REPEATEDLY.
And it seems he did it each time he asked for a new baseball.
MLB was satisfied
They were also “satisfied” with the Astros players after their cheating in 2019. MLB is a for-profit org that will do anything to protect their brand. Admitting players cheat would be bad for the brand. They knew about steroids and did nothing until they had no choice.
I know it was only 2 games so far, and there are a lot of streaky players at the bottom of the order (I don’t believe Volpe is some sort of different player whose history doesn’t count because he is at 2b now), but this offense seems different than previous playoff runs, even the Soto run.
I mean the rotation is top notch now thanks to Schlittler, but if the offense can stay functional and the streakiness doesn’t turn, this team could be real.
When our rookie OF ran out of the box after striking out, then stole 2nd and went to 3rd on the error and then scored when our rookie SS knocked him in, I was thinking that this is NOT the same old Yankees we’ve been watching for the past 4-5-6 years.
Yeah. Jones’s hustle was awesome but it was also what the Yankees should have been doing for years now. And it was an interesting contrast with Bryce Harper, who on basically the same play yesterday was slow out of the box and barely even jogged toward first. He was out by a mile but didn’t have to be. The Phillies were down 6-2 and there were two outs, but if he had extended the inning there Bohm might have hit another one out to make it close, and maybe the game proceeds differently and the Phillies come all the way back. Instead they’re eliminated.
There seemed to be a lot of 70% swings in that game, especially with 2 strikes. I don’t know if it was a change in approach, coincidence, or just an illusion but it would be great if they could keep doing it.
Cole to start game 1 vs Rays
Kirchner The Yankees routinely get criticized for being too analytical. But this is a decision that plainly goes against the numbers.
Rays this season vs. RHP: 4th best OPS
Rays this season vs. LHP: 25th best OPS
Yeah. Plus Rodon has pitched better than Cole lately.
It’s probably just the wrong move outright, but let’s say you think Rasmussen shuts them down, then you have Cam/Fried/Rodon/Cam in the next four games, with Rasmussen only pitching one more time.
They’d have the pitching advantage in three of those four games, right?
So Cole as a sort of sacrificial lamb makes SOME sense.
Plus he’s been on ice for awhile. I’m cool with this approach.
Smallish sample Rodon has been better. Rodon also has a 7.53 era over 7 playoff starts and 8 games, Cole is 2.77 over 22 starts. Rodon may be more likely to get steamed and self destruct.
It’s a coin flip IMO
Yeah, one of the whole ideas of GETTING Cole was to get a guy who could kick ass in the playoffs (for too many years, the Yankees had overall very good teams that didn’t have “that” guy in the playoffs, leaning instead on dudes like Sevy, ancient CC – who once very much WAS that guy in his prime, but obviously WASN’T that guy by 2017 and JA Happ etc.), and there definitely seem to be guys who routinely step it up in the playoffs and Cole seems to be one of those guys.
So, agreed, I don’t think it’s a crazy decision by any means. I still think Rodon was probably the better call, but this is a fine move, too.
All good points in defense of Cole, but I would still prefer Rodon – he’s less prone to home runs, he seems like he’s been in a very good mental place, and if he pitches around Caminero and Diaz he could be pretty dominant. For Cole, I’d have a very quick hook even if he looks great. Have him face no more then 19 batters (take him out after Diaz’s third PA), and put Rodon in for two turns through starting with the lefties (walking Caminero, of course).
Gonna be 99 at Dodger stadium.
Today I learned that Cam Schlittler pitched a scoreless inning against the Red Sox when he was a freshman with Northeastern back in 2020.
https://www.mlb.com/gameday/huskies-vs-red-sox/2020/02/21/607243/final/box
Hoch It’s possible Aaron Judge could be included on the Yankees roster, even if he’s not ready to play Game 1.
“We’re looking at the days, and so it’s more, is he going to be available at some point in this series potentially as a player,” manager Aaron Boone said. “That’s what we’re kind of weighing, and then seeing where he’s at now these last few days, having taken live BP. We’ll see how [Friday] goes.”
Judge has taken BP but still hasn’t run.
I’d sign up for a Kirk Gibson-esque PH moment for Judge followed by limping around the bases.
I just don’t see Judge providing any benefit over Stanton in the same role, and would rather he not risk his recovery this early in the playoffs. In the unlikely event that these Yankees make it to the World Series, it would be sad if Judge had hurt himself in the ALDS and was unable to show us his Kirk Gibson impression.
I like Rodon fine, and he’s been better lately, but he’s still Carlos Rodon, which is fine, but he’s not Gerritt Cole. I’d need to see Rodon look a lot better than Cole for a lot longer than this to believe when the chips are down that Carlos Rodon is a better pitcher than Gerritt Cole.
That’s the argument for using Cole. A bad Cole and you’re probably still in it. A bad Rodon and you’re probably not. To me it’s a coin flip.
Absolutely. If Cole gets bombed, you can live with it because it is not common and that’s baseball. If Rodon gets bombed that’s on you because we’ve all seen him implode in the past. There’s an element of mental toughness that isn’t accounted for by just saying “Tampa is much worse against lefties”. I think they made the right decision on ordering in the wild card series, and I think they made the right decision here as well. I’m as shocked as you are.
That said, they both get one start max in the series. However, I’d rather give Cole the guaranteed start than Rodon.
Yankee projected arbitration numbers:
New York Yankees (9)
Clarke Schmidt (5.148): $4.5MM
Luis García Jr. (5.142): $11MM
Ryan Weathers (4.066): $3.1MM
Fernando Cruz (4.035): $2.3MM
José Caballero (3.170): $3.7MM
Anthony Volpe (3.142): $4MM
Luis Gil (3.119): $2.3MM
Heliot Ramos (3.103): $3.2MM
Austin Wells (3.031): $2.6MM
You probably gotta DFA Cruz, right?
Everyone else comes back.
I imagine you tell Cruz to agree to take, like, half that or he gets DFAed.
Judge is still out. Stanton still on. Weathers added, Rosario removed.
Escarra over Sanchez might have made some sense.
The fascinating thing to me is whether it makes sense to bring Escarra on TOP of Sanchez instead of, say, Fulmer.
You could pinch hit for both Wells AND Sanchez that way.
Wells playing relatively well probably makes that all a moot point, though. As if they are not even pinch hitting for Wells period, then there’s no need for a third catcher.
FWIW Cole’s arsenal performs better at Tropicana Field than at Yankee Stadium. Not every pitcher sees a noticeable difference with his stuff when he pitches indoors (Rodón is someone who gets a bump on his fastball but not his entire arsenal), but Cole benefits across all his pitches, Blake said. The stats confirm this. In Cole’s career, opponents have a .568 OPS in a dome and a .665 OPS outdoors. For Rodón, opponents have a .655 OPS in a dome and a .676 OPS outdoors.
https://x.com/chriskirschner/status/2106371749533122891?s=61
Francessa
https://x.com/talkinyanks/status/2105811037916196945?s=61
This is such a big game. Kind of exciting!
Portentous.