OK, sports fans, which of these statements is the most scary?
a) “Pitching now for the Yankees: Dellin Betances.”
b) “Pitching now for the Yankees: Aroldis Chapman.”
c) “We have put on hold any further discussions about trading Carmelo Anthony.
d) “Anything with the words “Tyler Clippard” in the sentence.
For Yankee fans, they now lead the League in blown saves with 18 this year coming from what was supposed to be the strongest part of the team. Something is clearly wrong with Chapman who refuses to throw anything but straight fastballs. He has a slider. SU suspects his arm or shoulder is not right and that throwing that pitch is painful. If that is the case, well there are lots of pitchers these days (for whatever reason you want to cite) that can throw in the high 90s. Hitters can adapt if they are not worrying about any other pitch (except for Mariano Rivera’s cutter). SU is actually no longer that distressed by the blown saves; I have come to expect them. My preseason 80-82 record is in sight.
Betances finally had a good outing last night and Clippard is clearly no long in the mix for anything but mop up duty as he has fallen in the depth chart. The Pineda injury is huge but also an opportunity for the young guys. I never had playoff aspirations for this season and would still play the youngsters as much as possible. So, help me with last night’s line up. Frazier is coming off a hot weekend and a left-hander is on the mound. If you are not going to play him, then send him back down. Instead, Girardi starts Ellsbury in center who shockingly goes 0 for 4. SU says put Frazier in every day and see what you have there. Bird is due for some type of rare bone adjustment surgery and will be out 6-8 weeks unless the latest cortisone shot takes hold. Feel badly for this guy.
Long-time SU subscriber A. Grossman is still optimistic and has been all season. His recent comment:
“Here we go… right out of the box. Hitting bean town with most of our players back, well rested and hopefully off to the same torrid start we had bck in April/May. We better or this once very exciting and optimistic season will really be a disappointment. Why? Because for 2 solid months we were arguably one of the two or three best teams in baseball for all the reasons that get you to the playoffs. Balance, power, hitting singles, fielding and better than average pitching. It wasn’t for a week or two that made us a team to reckon with. You were looking at 50 games…. a solid quantity to draw solid opinions. Yes, the season is long, but youth should prevail over age in the long run. We just picked up a hot hitter in Triple A from another team. Maybe we should immediately bring him up and see what he has at the big league level. Stop babying all these players for too long. I’ve never seen that nurturing in any of the other leagues like its done at the MLB level.
I’m sticking with 90 wins. Go Yankees.”
Thoughts? Will we be smiling come Monday morning?
So, Steve Mills is the new Knicks President and they have a new GM. Is this guy Perry the one who put a hold on Melo trade talks? Surely at this point Melo is looking forward to a trade. Why would he want to be part of another 25-win season?
SU is back from Las Vegas this week and took in a couple of NBA Rookie League games. It was fun seeing these players walking around the hotel and in the restaurants (although one has to wonder if Las Vegas is the best place for 19-year olds with lots of down time between games). SU observation: these guys cannot shoot. The half-time score of one game was 26-21. Stay in School. Learn how to shoot the ball – it will help you in the NBA. Everyone can run and jump but you have to be able to make an outside shot. Otherwise you are destined for a life in the D-League (or G-League as I believe it is called now).
Sports Update Intergalactic 
Every loss seems like a bad loss- errors, mental miscues, a different pitcher failing every game. Need to split this series but don’t see how with these pitching matchups- a shame to waste Severino against Sale- should have pitched Tanaka but he sucks (even more) in the daytime. With three lefties going in the series, would bet that Frazier plays the last two games- maybe Girardi wanted him to have a game to see how LF is played in Fenway.
I had the same reaction about the Sale match up. I assumed he would pitch Mitchell that game as it’s unlikely they beat him. I think it’s unfair to expect Judge to have a 2nd half as good as the 1st half and therefore some others need to step up. Sanchez has been mediocre; perhaps last night gets him going. Gardner had his hot stretch for the season. It’s amazing how he is truly a .260 hitter which consists of red hot and ice cold weeks of the season. If Hicks could possibly return, that would help a lot. Anything to not have to play both Gardner and Ellsbury every game is important. It’s a toss up now which contract is worse: Chapman or Ellsbury.
Yankees pitching is falling apart. Starters and relievers. It’s been tough to watch. Especially when it’s the guys who were supposed to be reliable. In the World Series Chapman pitched when he had nothing left in the tank, sub-90 mph, and still managed to get people out. Maybe you’re right and he’s having a problem with the slider. At least Betances got it together and nobody walked the bases loaded but in tight games it only takes one person to blow it.
I think Sanchez has been better than mediocre. Not going to blame him for the team’s troubles. Ellsbury is tough to watch. Really one of the worst signings by Ashman.
I’ve written in here many times but I’ll do so again. No team wants to trade for Carmelo Anthony. This isn’t an issue of the Knicks looking for too much in return. Does anyone actually believe that in this case the Knicks are trying to make a really great deal? They lose out in trades all the time. This isn’t about that. It’s an issue of him being a net negative to just about any team. Houston? They are looking to make a serious run this year. Why would they ever want him there? His much discussed no-trade clause is serving one purpose right now and that’s a boost to his ego. Otherwise it would be obvious to all that he’s unwanted across the league.
Tebow.
Bye bye Clippard. At least that is one less problem to worry about. Sounds like the Yanks gave up a good prospect in that deal.
2017 – 2018 hoops prediction: The Nets will have a better record than the Knicks.
The Nets are interesting. I like Lin and Caris LeVert to start with plus Russell is intriguing. In the Eastern Conference, anything is possible. The Knicks will be bad for a while. I agree with you.