Here is the issue: if your primary rival in the American League is the Houston Astros, and they feature hard throwing right-handed starters, you want your line-up to have some left-handed hitters. You also want your line-up to have contact hitters. The sure-fire way to lose is to roll out a line-up of free swinging, hit for the fences right-handed sluggers who strike out a lot.
Tauchman was a great find by Cashman and he has quietly been an everyday player since the All-Star break. He was experiencing calf pain for a few days apparently but the Yankee trainers still rolled him out there on Sunday. Just another curious move on a team with a ridiculous number of injuries. We got to see Clint Frazier out there the last couple of days. Wow, is he a bad outfielder. Nothing is picked cleanly. He has not hit since being demoted back in July and SU does not see him on the post-season roster. Too scary to put out there. Maybin has an injured wrist but apparently can play a bit. The answer is likely the Generational One, Stanton, who will be returning shortly. But as we know, he is a big strikeout machine as well from the right side. That leaves Didi and Gardner. Unless Jacoby Ellsbury has had a miraculous recovery, SU is not thrilled about the team’s October chances. And note to Boone: Urshela must play every game at 3rd base in the playoffs. That is your best line-up. Let Voit sit.
Somewhere Paul Quantrill was smiling last night. Tie game, bottom of the 9th, Boone puts in Chance Adams. He is your pitcher if you have late dinner reservations. Quantrill did that for Joe Torre in the 2004 Boston series, and Adams is automatic this year. He cannot pitch a scoreless inning. Hey, it’s September and if you don’t care about best record, just a loss. But wait, they do care.
SU did enjoy the Yankees putting Boston officially to rest for 2019. As noted back in November, the Red Sox starters would struggle health-wise this year due to overuse in the playoffs and World Series by Cora. I guess the world championship is worth it but some of the starters paid the price.
Great US Open men’s finals. Medvedev is the real deal as he can play different ways against different opponents. SU was glad to see both Nadal and Medvedev come to the net time and time again to shorten points and take advantage of the receiver standing against the back wall. Baseline tennis is fine but having a more varied game is what you ultimately need. Serena came oh so close again but like Federer, when you are older, sometimes your nerves betray you in the biggest moments. What worked for you when you were younger is now a disadvantage.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
Tauchman has been a great find and losing him is a double whammy. He’s contributed nicely but his offense is replaceable. The problem is that his absence makes Stanton’s presence that much more likely and this is a bad thing. Stanton is a huge hitter with big numbers who makes the lineup worse.
The US Open Mens Final was amazing. I’m not a huge fan and get bored by the baseline game. These guys were all over the court. It was fantastic. Interesting to compare to the Wimbledon final. That had huge drama but it was all about the score and tie-breaking and pressure. But the points were much less exciting.
Stanton plays in outfield if he can and Voit sits so Urshela can play. That has to be the formula. Otherwise if you sit Urshela you have too many carbon copy right handed swingers (Judge,Encarnaction, Sanchez, Voit and Stanton) who will K a lot against Verlander, Cole and Greinke. Houston looks really tough this year so homefield is big for us.