It’s official now. When the Yankees lose another close game in the 9th inning as the result of a bullpen meltdown, you can no longer call it “bone-crushing.” SU says that when it happens on a weekly basis, even when the team is generally playing well, you almost expect it.

Last night’s loss in the Field of Dreams game – which by the way was a great success for MLB on so many levels – was, unfortunately for Yankee fans, something we saw coming. SU’s take:

1. First of all, what planet has John Smoltz been on for the past several weeks? His comments “I fully expect the Yankees to be in the post-season” and “I knew it was just a matter of time before they started hitting” make no sense. They are still playing mostly low scoring close games, and they are winning them at a pace that is hard to sustain. Also, they have to pass either Boston or Oakland to get a wild card spot and that is no easy feat.
2. Aroldis Chapman is out so Boone is managing the closer spot by committee. Now, truth be told, Chapman is no sure thing in 2021. Not even close. Zach Britton has allowed runs in 9 of his last 16 outings. Um, not exactly your lockdown closer. Last night, the White Sox had all right handed hitters coming up in the 9th inning. SU has run the numbers: right handed hitters do better against left-handed pitchers than they do vs. righties. Maybe, just maybe, you bring in Loaisiga there? But Aaron Boone has proven all year that he is just not a good in-game manager. SU acknowledges that Loaisiga could have also blown the lead in the 9th inning but don’t the analytics say he should have been in there?
3. Britton has had a great career but he has no idea where his pitches are going this year. He almost always walks the lead-off hitter or hits him (last night, he waited until the 2nd batter – 9th place hitter – with an 0-2 count and by the way, almost hit him as well) to walk him and then Smoltz basically called the home run right before it happened. Britton can no longer be trusted – sorry. SU says no lead is big enough for any of the Yankee closers now and that is the problem when you play low scoring, close games. No margin for error.
4. The silver lining is that the Yankees have endured so many of these killer losses that the players – and the fans – can move on more quickly. The trick is to assume the worst while it is happening and then if you get a positive outcome, it’s a nice surprise. Much better for mental health.
5. The bad news is when you are battling teams for that final wild card spot, you have less room for error and all of these blown save games in the last month will surely come back to bite them.

Judge really showed up big time in the spotlight – good for him. He needs to go on a hot streak now. Even Stanton, and admit it – no way you see that coming – hit a home run in the 9th for the lead. So unlikely – SU is sure even he was surprised. The key to that inning was clearing Joey Gallo who walked. I do not understand how this is the Yankees’ type of hitter, and why he would bat higher than 7th in the line up. He really is Dave Kingman from the left side for you old timers. Swing for the fences every time up with no regard for the situation, who is on base, how many outs, etc. Of course, he has plenty of company on this team. SU says the Yankees are an incredibly low-IQ baseball team. Hit into the shifts, get thrown out on the base paths, poor fielding (looking at you, Odor) and worst in the AL with RISP (.222). That means you need to put more guys on base in order to score runs as you will fail more often to get a hit (SU has run the numbers and this is true).

Loving Tyler Wade right now. He is – finally – taking advantage of his opportunities. The key is whether Boone will keep him in the line-up every game – somewhere – as he is playing great. No guarantee of that as Boone has to play Stanton every minute and Gallo will get the nod over Wade because…. (actually don’t know the answer to that).

Help is on the way for the starting pitchers. Cole, Montgomery, and maybe Severino and German. The great Heaney experiment can continue on some other planet with heavier air so the ball won’t clear the fences so easily.

SU sees the Yankees as a long shot for the wild card. Oakland is better and probably has an easier schedule and the Red Sox are getting Sale back soon and just kill the Yankees this year. But happy to be proven wrong.