Yankee fans are used to it by now. The relievers in the 5th through 8th innings are generally good but whoever is in the 9th, it’s time to buckle up and strap in. And it doesn’t seem to matter who that guy is.
One thing became clear last night – “crystal” clear as Jack Nicholson said in A Few Good Men. Aroldis Chapman is no sure thing right now, and cannot locate his fastball for a strike. Last night, his confidence in the fastball seemed to decrease with every pitch. Paul O’Neill was all over it. SU says it doesn’t help that Chapman takes about 2 minutes between each pitch – not sure if that is his issue or the inability of Sanchez to clearly flash the signs. My guess is that Sanchez kept calling for the fastball and Chapman was shaking him off.
In the final at bat, O’Neill’s call was spot on with Freddy Freeman up. Peralta kept throwing change ups and O’Neill basically said that Freeman would have to look to hit to left field as he had to protect against the fastball. Sure enough, Freeman hit a long fly to left field for the final out – which by the way took a long time for Gallo to get to it.
The question for Yankee fans is this: can you trust Chapman anymore in the 9th inning for this season? SU may be criticized for looking at the glass half empty with an 11-game winning streak. But Boston is right there and Oakland and now Seattle are in striking distance for the wild card. Tampa Bay is equally hot these days and a 4.5 game lead will not be easy to overcome. If the Yankees are the wild card and play Boston, as a fan, if the game is close in the 9th inning, can you live with Chapman potentially ending the season for a 3rd straight year?
SU says the answer is no – we will not let that happen. The answer for Boone is to start grooming Loaisiga to be the closer in September and use Chapman in low stress situations (not sure what that is to be honest as he creates stress but you get my drift). No closer is perfect but he seems to be the best choice for the 9th inning right now.
Also, Joey Gallo may indeed hit a hot streak in September – I suppose it’s possible – but why do you have him sandwiched between Judge and Stanton now – your 2 hottest hitters? As a fan, you only hope for a walk from him. Put Rizzo in there and move Gallo down to 7th or 8th in the line up.
It looks like Urshela is close to returning. I am done with Odor. He does hit the occasional home run and I give him credit for learning to play 3rd base but no way does anyone leg out a routine grounder to 3rd base last night against any other 3rd baseman.
Four in Oakland and then 3 in Anaheim. The Yankees do not play great in either of those parks historically. The starters have been really good for a long time now. Love the meaningful games in September and October. SU was certainly not expecting this just a month ago. Enjoy the ride.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
Chapman, unfortunately has turned into a head case. Mechanical is easier to fix. An injury is easier to fix. When it comes to the mind just look at an Ex AllStar 2nd basement from Minny who came to the Yankees. He started off pretty good and then,,,,,Knobloch was toast. I believe this is what Chapman has become. He’s thinking way to much. Too bad.
If Odor makes a normal routine throw to first with two outs in the 8th, are we even having this discussion???
Excuse my typo, I meant 9th, same question:
Watching the game with my son last night, I was wondering if it was possible for a manager to be fired after a 10-game winning streak. What Boone did in the 9th worked out but it was also inexplicable. He had Peralta warming up. Why? Presumably in case Chapman didn’t have it. And then it became clear that Chapman didn’t have it and Boone did nothing. So what was Peralta warming up for? In Boone’s eyes I guess Peralta was warming up in case Chapman let the lead shrink to 1 and loaded the bases. That’s insane. Peralta was not set up for success and we could have very easily have had two relievers with confidence problems. It’s hard to complain after a win and there will always be nail-biters. I just can’t understand Boone’s thinking.
Gallo hasn’t impressed. But I’m not going to take him out of the lineup. The lineup is clicking and Gallo (even he’s not hitting) contributes to that. I was never a huge lefty/righty fanatic but it became clear over the past 2 years that they could use some balance. Gallo helps with that. Remember when we complained that lineup had a bunch of righty hitters who strike out in a row? Now they have a lefty hitter who strikes out just as much (more?) to mix it up. It seems to be working. Let’s stick with it.
The Yankees are the only team I watch regularly so I don’t have regular exposure to the NL East.. Can I say this? The NL East stinks. I’ve heard about how each NL East team was playing well as the Yankees started a series with them. You know why? Because they probably just finished a week against other NL East teams. In the real world, none of these teams are impressive.Some of the records aren’t terrible, but I’m convinced this is only because they play each other so much. The stats don’t lie. All of them have losing records against teams that are >.500. And the AL East has been a beneficiary of this (particularly those in the wild card chase) since they’ve matched up with the NL East . The AL East is 50-22 in interleague games and that includes the Orioles who account for half of those losses.
No. He is following the Chuck Knobloch path to mental destruction. I don’t know how you fix the mind in sports. Just look at Simone Biles. Her mental problems aren’t the same however once your mind is distracted enough it often manifests and you become a different person/athlete.
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