It’s the playoffs. At this point of the season, it’s all about the team, and players need to get over any perceived slights. I mean Joe Torre batted A-Rod 8th back in 2006 in the playoffs against the Tigers when he wasn’t hitting.
Aaron Boone has some decisions to make on the Yankees now that game 1 is in the books. SU wanted Matt Carpenter in the line-up and as we saw last night, er, well, maybe not such a great idea. He has now been up 6 times in the playoffs and all ended in strikeouts. In a short series, Boone needs to make the decision and the right one is to sit him. He is rusty and over matched.
Next, what about Josh Donaldson? He is a very good fielder. There is no obvious replacement at this point other than IKF who won a Gold Glove as a 3rd baseman. SU says just bat him 8th or 9th but get him out of the middle of the lineup. And, by the way, late in the game when you need a hit, do not be afraid to pinch hit for him. He will get over it.
SU listened to Boone in the post-game interview. The Yankees have not used German at all in the post-season. Surely he is more experienced than Clark Schmidt who has now lost 2 games. Boone made a vague comment that German was the long man. But last night you were tied 1-1 in the 6th inning with a chance to steal a Verlander game, and the strategy was to pitch Schmidt and then Montas? I guess the strategy was to steal the game and not use your best relievers.
They (obviously) should move Bader up in the order. He is one of the few hot hitters and in baseball, you ride the hot streaks. SU would also put Oswaldo Cabrera back in the lineup as you just need to have more left-handed batters. I know this will shatter Brian Cashman’s dream of fielding only right-handed hitters but 17 strikeouts was an embarrassment last night. And most of those strikeouts occurred in the last 6 innings. I mean they could not put the ball in play.
What about the umpiring? SU asks: is the box shown on television accurate and the same one that MLB uses to evaluate umpires? If so, that was a truly awful performance last night and once again helps make the case for electronic umpiring. The missed calls were low, high, inside and outside – equally for both teams. I actually think (hope) that the box was not accurate which is possible.
Bottom line: the Yankees win this series if they hit a lot of home runs. As in a lot of home runs. This team cannot string together hits or score via singles and doubles. Houston has far superior starters and relievers, and the relievers seem to all be right-handed. It’s just a bad match-up. SU is committed and emotionally invested but I must admit that I tuned into the Knicks’ overtime last night for mental relief. Tonight’s game becomes HUGE as otherwise, you need to win 4 out of the next 5 to win the series and that is not happening. SU does believe that Severino will come up big but the question is can the Yankees score?
Sports Update Intergalactic 
Forget about the lineup, Carpenter should not be on the roster. If he was not ready to play the last week of the season (obviously not meaningful games but useful as an opportunity to see real pitching), he was not ready for the playoffs. This was made clear in limited opportunity vs Cleveland. Yet they kept him on the roster and started him in game 1 even though it meant compromised defense in left field. And what we got was more of the same. I like the guy. I like the story. And he was a key contributor for a couple months during the season. But he hadn’t played for 2 months, looked bad against Cleveland and then you start him against one of the best pitchers of the generation. It makes no sense. His only value was as a left-handed threat off the bench to maybe prevent the opponent from making a pitching change (although that’s less of a thing now with the 3-batter rule). But he’s not even valuable for that. Last night, the Astros went to their righty closer in the 8th inning TO FACE CARPENTER. Viewers could see that Carpenter isn’t ready. Dusty Baker could see it. How does Aaron Boone not see it?
No idea why Schmidt is the guy in high leverage moments.
Not sure what to do with Donaldson. You probably just drop him in the order.
The balls/strikes calls were terrible. I don’t know if that’s the same box they use to evaluate the umps but how different can it be? And there were plenty of mistakes in both directions so there’s no way the calls look good under any system. One of the amazing things to see was how good a sense of the zone major leaguers have. 90 mph pitches with movement and they generally know exactly where every pitch crossed the zone. You could see the batters’ reactions (both teams) with each of the missed calls. The bad calls could have been responsible for 1/2 of the strikeouts. It went both ways so I don’t know if it made the difference.
HOLD EVERYTHING MR. SU.
This was one game arguably against the best pitcher in the American League. Yes, they were absolutely embarrassed. Yes, Schmidt wasn’t the answer and should not be used unless they are either up or down by 7 runs and u just want to save, if possible your better relievers. Is anyone old enough to remember the Yanks being down 2 games to none in the World Series? I do.
This is mostly a very seasoned team that snapped back to life with 2-3 weeks left in the season. They will prove this during the rest of the series.
Carpenter came out hot at the beginning of the season. I expect him to bounce back against a lesser pitcher than Verlander.
I do agree with moving Bader up inthe lineup and dropping Donalsondown in the order.
Look between having Verlander on the mound coupled with the worst calling balls and strikes I’ve ever seen it made him a lights out pitcher. I did not see the game he pitched against DSeattler but he gave up alot of runs.
I’m sure Boone would have batted hicks instead of Carpenter last night if he was available. What dees he have… a Booboo on his thigh. C’mon. I expect carpenter to be in the lineup and will improve his “at bats.” Including Judge, what happened to the Yankees patience at bat? I believe last night will have straightened them out and return to being more patient. Hopefully, there is a different Umpire behind the plate. If there is any doubt in people’s minds about going to a computer driven balls and strikes call last night was proof to the max.
Lastly, what'[s the status on Lemihieu?
Take a breath and let’s see what happens tonite.
Yankees 6 Astros 4
Looks like Boone read your column.