SU note to Yankee fans: relax.  You are not catching the Red Sox – not with 3 of your starters on the DL.  It’s just too much to overcome for any team.  Luke Voit has given them a nice jolt and he should play everyday until he proves he no longer deserves to do so.  Bird is just lost.  David Cone showed a stat the other night that in 2018, Bird is hitting under .100 when he puts a pitch over 95 mph in play.  For his career, he hits .268 in those situations.

You would expect the hitting coaches to fix that but clearly they have not been able to.  SU says why not have him work with the AAA batting coach who probably knows his swing?  Something is off and it just may not get fixed in 2018.

The Yankees traded for Andrew McCutchen to shore up the outfield.  This tells SU that Judge may never come back this season.  Anything to not play Shane Robinson in any game is an improvement and a move worth taking.  If Clint Frazier was healthy, this could have been avoided but he just started a rehab assignment yesterday and who knows if he will be back?  I don’t think McCutchen has much left in the tank but worth a couple of minor leaguers.  Brett Gardner is in .235 territory now although he is due to hit .450 for a few weeks now as he was at .200 for August with 5 rbis.  If there was ever a .255 lifetime hitter, it’s Brett Gardner.  Solid guy in the clubhouse, good outfielder and a nice complimentary outfielder.  But SU is ready for a change there next season and would like to see Clint Frazier get his shot.

The goal now is to get the home Wild Card game and figure out who starts that game.  You have to figure it will be Severino – you go down with your best arm but on a short leash.  Full transparency: SU is not feeling it this year.  The magic from the first half of the season left with the injuries.  The Didi injury was huge – he is such a key part of the line up.  I still don’t trust Stanton in a big spot in the playoffs.  I have enjoyed the season and they will get to 100 wins so no complaints obviously.  Just not feeling it and do not want to be embarrassed by the Red Sox in the playoffs.  The problem is that even when fully healthy, you have a line up that relies too much on the home run and against a top pitching staff, that becomes harder.  Then, how do you score?  TBD.

SU is ready for the start of the college football season this weekend with all eyes on Michigan – Notre Dame.  SU actually enjoys the Michigan hoops season more than football – less stressful and the expectations are more manageable.  For Harbaugh, anything short of a Big Ten championship is seen as a failure, and this year’s schedule is tough with Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin and Michigan State also on tap.

The usual suspects are in the conversation for the national championship – Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia.  But the games are wide open and much more unpredictable vs. the NFL.

This is a public service announcement to ESPN from the Editorial Board at SU.  Stop allowing A-Rod to have more than one cup of coffee a day.  He is absolutely unlistenable.  It’s bad enough that the games are 3 and a half hours of minimal action.  We watch Severino labor through 5+ innings and 105 pitches against a AAA quality roster in the Orioles.  We then watch the Yankee relievers have to throw a ton of pitches to finish the game.  Glayber Torres makes and error with 2 outs and no one on.  The Orioles end up scoring because Chad Green can’t get one out.

A-Rod goes on and on about the error and how it ruins the rest of the game and how Boone wants to use his pitchers.  Seriously: the kid is 21 years old and is not a finished product.  He plays with a bad hip and he occasionally loses his concentration.  We get that and we live with that.  The relief pitchers actually need to get people out too.

SU never, ever turns off the sound – although I have made the exception with Al Leiter when they ask him to show the circle change up grip on YES broadcasts.  But I must admit that I did turn it off in the 9th inning last night.  Just couldn’t take it any more.  STOP TALKING!  And I like A-Rod.  But it’s pure torture.

Severino has still not earned the right to pitch the Wild Card game.  For whatever reason, he is very hittable.  SU says you go with Happ right now to pitch that game although Tanaka has the post-season pedigree.  The Yankees have cut into the Red Sox lead which is great but they are not going to catch them.  However, it’s good to make them feel a little uncomfortable.

Gotta love Luke Voit and what’s with his inter-locking grip on the bat like a golfer?  See, that was something that A-Rod could have talked about that we never hear about.  What are the physics of hitting a baseball vs. a golf ball?  Maybe Voit has something there?  SU feels badly for Bird as Voit’s success comes with the inevitable discussion about Bird’s failings.  This is starting to feel like a Wally Pipp story.

Finally, SU does note that once I said that Stanton has been really good, he immediately goes into a slump.  A-Rod says it’s because he’s at 299 home runs and maybe it’s better that he gets that at home this week.  Really?  Does any Yankee fan even care?

Do not lose sight of Sonny Gray.  While his strong outing last night came against what is basically a AAA line up in Baltimore, he can still be an effective pitcher.  And he certainly has not lost any confidence:

“If I can throw the ball like that, I know I can get anybody out. I’m one of the best starting pitchers in the league, and I truly believe that. It’s that belief that will keep me moving forward, and continue having success from here on out.”

OK, while he may be slightly delusional, at least he has not allowed his demotion to the bullpen to beat him down.  SU gives him credit for that.  And I am telling you that Gray will be in the mix in October.  It may not come as a starter but he will pitch some important innings.  SU is not a Lance Lynn fan – he has a 5.00 ERA for a reason (as does Gray of course) but his best years are behind him.

While Gray is rising to the personal challenge, Greg Bird is stuck in a 7 for 67 slump and is shrinking while Luke Voit is taking advantage of his chance.  Voit reminds SU of Shane Spencer back in 1998 when he had an incredible 5 weeks down the stretch.  Voit is going to get every chance to play every day down the stretch this year and Bird will need to stay ready.  The reality here is that Aaron Judge may never come back this year.  Broken bones in the wrist area are tricky and there are lots of examples of players who were expected to return but never recovered to that point.  SU can envision line-ups with Stanton in right field, Voit at first and Bird at DH.  It’s possible but won’t happen unless Bird can figures things out.  Otherwise, Boone will go with Walker.

Bird has benefited from “Chase Headley” treatment in 2018 from Aaron Boone.  Headley, long an SU fave, was allowed to play every day by Girardi for weeks on end doing nothing.  Boone gave Bird similar treatment but in the end, decided to give Voit a shot and has now said that “performance matters” this time of year.  SU agrees.  Plus this is New York: you have to produce.

Finally, the US Open is upon us.  SU says the return of many players from injury has really jumbled the seedings and some of the projected matches.  Wawrinka plays Dimitrov in the 1st round tomorrow, and Djokovic could play Federer in the quarterfinals.  On the men’s side, most players are now healthy and this should be a great tournament.  For either Djokovic or Federer to win, they would likely need to beat the other and then Nadal in the finals.  That is a tall order.  SU will go with the Djoker on the men’s side and not Serena on the women’s side.

Finally, SU caught a few minutes of the Giants’ exhibition game Friday night.  Eli looked good and you can envision how the offense with Barkley in there will be quite effective this season.  Of course, Beckham has yet to play and you can’t minimize his personal disruption to team chemistry.  SI has the Giants going 8-8 which seems optimistic but if the defense is improved and the offensive line is better, that could happen.  A lot of “ifs” though.  SU’s official and fearless NFL predictions are yet to come.

SU has not been following the Urban Meyer saga that closely but the resulting 3-game suspension was about what I expected.  No doubt, he deserved a longer punishment or even dismissal but he had maintained enough separation apparently from the assistant coach that the Trustees did not feel the need to bring the full hammer down here.  SU was surprised that the AD got a 2-week suspension as he is very highly regarded nationally.

So, what if Urban Meyer was the Maryland coach with a .300 winning percentage?  Would he be gone in about 3 minutes?  No doubt DJ Durkin who has been temporarily sidelined at Maryland will be on the way out soon enough for what is a much worse situation with a player dying in summer practices.  SU has never liked Meyer going back to his Florida days.  If you read the report here, he immediately erased his phone texts from a year ago once he got word that the story was coming out in the press about his assistant coach.  It’s a black eye for Ohio State and SU would expect he will be roundly booed this season – but only on the road of course.  He is still a god in Columbus as winning puts you on a pedestal.  However, we have seen the mighty get taken down the last few years – Paterno, Pitino.  SU still maintains that he is NFL bound at some point soon and this may just accelerate his move to the pros.

What do you think about the 3-game suspension?  Appropriate?

SU went to the US Open Qualifying rounds again this year.  This is a great value.  Admission is free and you can walk around with minimal crowds.  I watched on just about every court, saw Djokovic, Del Potro and others practicing and saw some of the Next Gen Americans in action.  It’s a great day for any tennis fan and the level of play is just a notch below the top stars.  A must see!  The new Armstrong stadium is great but very windy and incredibly loud as the LIRR and #7 train run right outside.  This will be a factor for the tournament for players who can’t handle the noise.  But hey, it’s New York – what do you expect?

Big Yankee series in Baltimore this weekend.  SU wants Torreyes in for 3 of the 4 games.  It’s also do or die for Bird I expect.  The pressure will be on.  And Sonny Gray is starting one of the games!  Look for 3 relievers to warm up with him before the game.

What is going on in the Bronx?  Last night, Chapman lasts only 6 pitches due to knee soreness and if you listened to his post-game comments, this is not a good situation.  He hadn’t pitched in the last week so this is not from over-use.  SU says the DL is in his future.

Meanwhile, David Robertson is having shoulder soreness and was not available last night.  SU has done the math and that means Betances is your new closer unless you suddenly trust Zach Britton.  As Joe Girardi used to say, “It’s not what you want.”

SU has officially had it with Greg Bird.  I have come to agree with long-time subscriber, S. Goldman, that Bird is an average hitter at best who belongs in the 7th or 8th spot in the order.  Aaron Boone has given him every chance to claim 1st base as his own.  Last night, he went 0 for 6 and if you watched the last at bat, he was standing about 8 feet from the plate.  Still struck out.  He needs an extended break.  SU says he may be the type of player who needs to be motivated and a stint on the bench is in order.

The timing is right.  Didi is on the DL and Torres is now playing shortstop.  Let’s put Walker at 1st base and Torreyes at 2nd for the next several games.  Stanton can play right field or throw Tyler Wade out there.  Or put Voit at 1st and Walker in right.  SU says Torreyes should play every day now – guy can hit and is fresh.  This is the right move.

The Yankees need to wipe up before the key West Coast trip against Oakland and Seattle.  Show some fire and get some hits with RISP.  I must say that while their batting averages are pretty bad this year, check out Houston – just as bad.  It’s a sign of the times in baseball.  SU says napping during games is also a sign of the times.  Zzzzzzz.

As many of the SU faithful know, SU is not a fan of Giancarlo Stanton.  He started slowly this season and even when he started to hit home runs many were with no-one on base or when the game was out of reach.  However, once Judge went down with an injury in July, we needed to see if Stanton would step up.

Clearly, he has done so.  He has hit a lot of home runs of late and with both Judge and Sanchez on the shelf, this is the guy who needs to supply the power.  While many of his home runs are solo shots, that’s not his fault as Boone has him hitting 2nd in the line up even though the bottom of the order these days features sub – .220 hitters.

Is he the “generational player?”  SU is not ready to go that far but he has earned the praise for his last 3-4 weeks of power and average.

Don’t look now but Oakland has caught Houston in the AL West.  This is not good for the Yankees.  They would much prefer to face Oakland vs. Houston in the wild card game with their stable of stud starters.  I know the goal is just get into the playoffs but with Boston awaiting in that first round Divisional Series, well, it would be better to at least have an easier Wild Card match-up.

Interesting comments from Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray about switching the major tournaments from best of 5 sets to best of 3.  Their point is that young fans don’t have the attention span to sit through 4-5 hour matches similar to what other sports are experiencing with the younger fan demographic.  Roger Federer disagrees and would prefer maintaining the best of 5 format.  SU would agree with Djoker and Murray.   Part of the problem is that the servers take so long to serve it just prolongs the matches even more.   Sports need to change with the times.  SU likes the serve clock that the US Open will be using and baseball would also benefit from that.  Speed it up!

Finally, the Ohio State investigation should be wrapping up soon.  SU says Urban Meyer will be suspended for 2 games.  No way they do the right thing and send him packing.  Thoughts?

Let’s face it: having Tiger Woods in the mix on a Sunday for a major is still riveting TV.  Love him or hate him, he makes it all so much more exciting.  Yesterday, he pretty much missed every fairway and green on the front 9 and still shot a 64.  He was right there at the end.  SU has always been a fan.  I don’t let the personal stuff with athletes get in the way.  Porn stars?  Won’t talk to the other players?  Too standoffish?  Get over it. Otherwise, aside from Aaron Judge, there would be no one to root for.  He is still only 42 years old and if you look at the rest of the field and some of the older guys still playing, he can still compete at a high level for another 6-7 years.  Hopefully he will make the Ryder Cup roster and we go from there.

You probably missed it but this Greek phenom, Stefanos Tsitsipas, almost ran the table to win the Rogers Cup in Toronto.  He beat Thiem, Djokovic, Zverev and Anderson before losing to Nadal in the final.  This dude is only 19.  Tennis is really set up now for the next generation.  It will be interesting to see how long it takes them to supplant the Big Four who are still dominant.  Time to renew your subscription to the Tennis Channel!

As for the Yankees, after getting destroyed by Boston, they have quietly taken care of business winning 6 of 7 against bad teams.  Now, CC has an inflamed knee and is on the DL.  PAGING SONNY GRAY.  He was terrible yesterday giving up 5 hits in 1+ innings to make a 7-0 game uncomfortable.  It’s either him or one of the rookies.  SU says Boone will go with Gray first.  Cross your fingers.  I do give Boone credit for sticking with his players and letting them work out of trouble or get one more start.  He did that with Zach Britton on Saturday (it was a mistake) and continues to put Bird out there game after game.

Finally, Ronald Torreyes is back!  He is the ultimate good luck charm for the Yankees.  What took them so long?  Enough of the Tyler Wade experiment.  Torreyes can actually hit and deserves some starts now that he’s back.  Greg Bird is ready to go off now – just a hunch.  We need a lengthy rain delay tonight after the 2nd inning.  It’s worth the trade-off of deGrom for Severino.  Let the bullpens battle it out.

After months of “not ready to resume baseball related activities”, Jacoby Ellsbury had surgery on his hip and will be out the rest of the year.  He is 34 years old with the body of a 65-year old.  He is still owed $21 million a year for two more seasons.  Seriously, this could be the worst free agent signing of all time.  This one is on Brian Cashman.

Clint Frazier is still on the concussion protocol and apparently Michael Kay said something on his radio show about his situation, i.e., whether he is that injured.  Frazier fired back on Twitter and really let him have it.  SU says it’s really too bad as this was his chance to play everyday.  Shane Robinson is not good and now Stanton has some hamstring issues.

Zach Britton is not impressing so far.  Either he is one of those guys that is so intense that he can’t function in NY or he is still on the mend from his Achilles injury.  His pitches are all over the place.  Props to Sonny Gray who pitched a solid 3 innings for the win last night when everyone assumed he would give up a run and blow the game.  SU says he will be in the mix down the stretch as a starter.

Suggestion: go with a 6-man rotation.  Consider the facts:

• Sabathia pitches much, much better now with more rest.
• Tanaka always pitches better with more rest.
• Severino has nothing to lose.  I say he’s gassed this year and would really benefit from fewer innings and more days off in between starts.
• Happ has a disease.  Surely he could use more time off.

If the Rays can start short relievers, let the Yankees move to the 6-man rotation.  It makes perfect sense.

Question: if Chapman continues to struggle, this will be a repeat of 2017 with Girardi who ultimately took him out of the closer role.  Would Boone dare to do that?  Betances is scarily lights out and Robertson could close as well as Britton but SU would not trust him.  Let’s monitor what the great communicator does here.

The Yankee offense is just not good.  There are so many automatic outs now in the line up.  It is what it is for the rest of 2018 but SU says enough of the home run or bust approach.  Let’s get some players who can hit for average.  In fact, can we bring back Ronald Torreyes?  Neil Walker is smoking hot at .218 – this is as good as he’ll get.  Plus Torreyes is a good guy in the clubhouse.  Surely better than Tyler Wade who is “Mr. Potential.”

Actually, SU thinks a better name for the Red Sox sweep of the Yankees would be from the Naked Gun movie: The Final Insult.  Full transparency: SU stayed up through the end of 9 innings – the full 4 and a half hours of a regulation game – but then when I saw Jonathan Holder warming up to pitch the 10th, I knew it was all over.  I had watched – and listened –  enough.  SU is an A-Rod fan but listening to him and the rest of the ESPN crew for 4+ hours is painful.  And no discussion about pace of play?  David Price makes Steve Traschel look like Jim Kaat.  He literally takes over 30 seconds between pitches.  This game had minimal action and it wasn’t so tense that you were on the edge of your seat.  Face it: baseball has a pace of play problem and many games, like this one, are unwatchable even if you are a big fan like SU.

SU did not see every inning of every game this weekend but that doesn’t stop me from having an opinion based on nothing:

• No doubt Aaron Boone is a good communicator and commands the clubhouse.  But can we once in a while put a runner in motion?  When you are not hitting home runs in bunches, you have to find other ways to win.  Bunt against the shift?  Nada.  And I don’t mean sacrificing.  The Red Sox ran wild on the Yankees all series long.
• The absence of both Judge and Sanchez in this series was not a factor.  OK, maybe one of them hits a solo home run somewhere along the way but they are just more stirkeouts in the line up.  Not a factor.  And keep in mind that Boston was missing Sale and another starter, Rodriguez.
• Chapman’s meltdown is really another of several bad outings for him of late.  This time they no longer had Chasen Shreve to bail him out like he did in the Met game a couple of weeks ago.  He also threw almost 40 pitches and really, most of them were not close to the strike zone.  SU says watch for the DL stint coming up.
• Red Sox manager Alex Cora is a baby.  Needs to get over himself and not crave the camera so much.  The bean balls between these two teams are not done yet.  More fireworks to come.
• It looked like the Yankees lacked fire this series.  Maybe.  When you don’t hit, that’s how it looks.  A bigger issue is that for this team, a 5-inning start would be considered a “quality start.”  This is a season long problem and the bullpen is showing signs of wear and tear now having to account for so many innings every game.
• The Yankees have won a lot of games late this year and their bullpen until recently, was lights out.  You can say that’s not sustainable over a full season and it’s showing up now with late game meltdowns and losses.  Britton and Betances were both not sharp and threw so many balls to get through their innings.

It’s all about the wild card now, getting home field and then hoping you can be competitive against the Red Sox in the Division Series.  SU would have to say that if that happens, the season was not a success but acceptable.  The A’s are only 4 games behind Houston and even closer to the Yankees.  As SU has said many times, this is a young team and that youth showed over the weekend.  Boone loves to bat Torres clean-up – really?  Is he ready for that?  Andujar had a couple of miscues in the field but he will get better over time with that.  Bird continues to disappoint; have to hope he learns to hit to left field.  Stanton hit the ball hard – not his fault this weekend.

Bottom line: time to level set your expectations for the rest of the season.  SU refuses to go negative; won’t go over to the dark side.  But I am also not going to watch 4-hour games.

So, Yankee fans, what say you?

SU says too much is being made about the Yankees recent ups and downs, and getting destroyed in Boston last night.  The reality is that the team has one of the youngest rosters in baseball.  Consider:

• The infield has Bird, Torres, Didi and Andujar.  Didi is the wily veteran of this group.  Last night, Bird made a mis-read on a grounder late in the game and Andujar was slowing throwing on two plays.  It’s something he needs to work on and SU is sure he will figure it out – it just may not be in 2018.
• Holder, who got lit up, is basically a rookie as well.  Of course, Boone left him in the game way too long.
• Sanchez is young as are Judge and Severino.

This all means that you will have dumb plays, losses of focus and bad outings from a young roster.  It doesn’t mean that they won’t be a factor in October.  It does mean that they are not necessarily built to win in 2018.

SU won’t panic.  Last night was tough to watch and the Red Sox had so many extra base hits.  Credit to them – tip your hat and move on.  The Yankees need Severino to be good tonight which I am thinking is a big ask given his recent performances.  Chance Adams will likely get the start tomorrow.  Gray’s implosion on Wednesday really screwed up the pitching for this series now.  It’s interesting how “unclose” these games have been with the Red Sox.  They all seem to be blowouts for one side or the other.

SU is hoping for a clean game tonight – win or lose.  Let’s see how Boone gets the train back on track and how he uses those exceptional communication skills with the youngsters.  Stanton hit a home run when the game was out of hand but not his fault.

Any chance for the division title needs a win tonight.  Otherwise, full speed ahead for the wild card.