The late, great Yogi Berra had it right for this year’s Yankees. The wild card lead over Oakland is down to one game. Despite a terrific regular season record, they could end up on the road for the Wild Card game in a stadium where they don’t play well. SU, which always has its finger on the pulse of the Yankees, has some advice for Aaron Boone on how to right the ship. Starting tomorrow:
- You have two outfielders who are past their prime: Gardner and McCutchen. SU has never loved Gardner but he has earned the right to play most days. And SU had already beaten the rush and started not liking McCutchen almost from day 1. This guy is well past his prime and yet, he needs to play every day? Why? SU says platoon them – Gardner against righties and McCutchen against lefties. They are both in their 30s and it will help them to stay fresh. McCutchen is another hitter who when he gets a hit, you almost want to fall over out of shock.
- I am sorry: Stanton is overrated and I regret my posting from several weeks ago saying he was better than I thought. At $30 million a year, he is not. SU checked the stats last night: did you know that with RISP, he is hitting .238 with 3 home runs? Think about that: your big slugger with RISP (which is a lot) has 3 home runs. Did you know that Andujar has 6 and Gleyber hast 8??? Bat him 6th. Even if he ends up with 38 home runs and 100 rbis, that is not a $30 million season for someone who is mostly a DH. Nope.
- Many will disagree with SU on this one. I believe Bird is ready to break out. Last night, a double to left field and just missed a home run his first time up. I liked having Voit DH and Bird at 1st base last night. Go with that line up for a few games and see what happens. You need some pop from the left side of the plate in this line up. It is so obvious now.
- Crazy to say this but they miss Romine in the line up. And Walker. They have both driven in important runs during the middle part of the season. But I know you have to play Sanchez.
- Boone should encourage/force/beg his players to hit to the opposite field. You don’t appreciate it on TV as the broadcast doesn’t show it enough but every team shifts against every Yankee hitter. There are gigantic holes in the infield. If you really want to play deep into October, start now.
SU has enjoyed the season but I am losing interest now down the stretch which is very unusual. To me, it feels like the hitters are mindless at the plate and never give a thought as to where the fielders are or how many outs there are or who is on base. Actually, Andjuar and Torres do it. The rookies. And Didi as well. But not your sluggers or your generational players. If they lose the Wild Card game, SU will move on. Boone will be back – not his fault – but I would get new hitting coaches.
So, is SU the only one feeling this way? Am I too hard on a 100-win team? Can they get hot?
Sports Update Intergalactic 
When your team is 30 games above 500 halfway through the season it is not asking too much to go another 15 games above 500 for the 2nd half of the season. Did you know that the Yankees and Mets have the same record since August 1st? Every team has injuries. To say that without Judge we are a mediocre team is ridiculous…. on paper. However that seems the be the case. At least Judge with an average around 275-280 is 40-50 points better than half the team. He gets singles and doubles to go along with his home runs. Hicks and either McCutchen or Gardner playing together in the 1 and 9 holes isn’t that bad. The duo don’t get as many hits as we would like them to but they always seem to be on base around 40% of the time. isn’t that what a #9 hitter is suppose to do? I’ll take my chances with Hicks in the #1 slot.
Torres should be batting in the 2 hole, then Stanton then Andujar and then Didi and then Sanchez/Voit/Bird… take your 2 of 3 pick. Maybe Walker replaces either Gardner of McCutchen depending on what arm is throwing against us.
The bottom line is that we are not hitting and I am more amazed on how we actually played during the first half of the season.
Good point about the first half of the season. They won a lot of games coming from behind late earlier in the year. You don’t see that anymore as their average with RISP is poor for such a winning team. The bullpen was also rock solid in the first half – didn’t give away any leads.
We are where we are because of the one hot streak where we beat up on everyone (including Houston and the Red Sox) on the road. Seems like years ago. Odorizzi no-hitter 7+ innings, come-on. I know there were some really good defensive plays but give some thought to you at-bats. I hate the new baseball, all or nothing. Sure winning is the bottom line and sabermetrics might increase your odds of winning, but ultimately it is just entertainment and if you lose your customer, you are dancing in the dark by yourself. I still watch almost every inning of every game but I won’t miss it when it’s over because it is just not that entertaining, I am just hooked from 50+ years of routing for the Yankees. I blame my father!