SU has done the math. They have played the Rays 13 times this year including the playoffs and they are 3 and 10. So tell me: who is the better team? Is the fact that they are down to an elimination game with their 5th starter ready to go tonight a surprise? SU says no – you are what your record says you are and after an uneven regular season, here we are. Observations from last night:

1. When Stanton hit yet another home run, SU was a bit surprised by all the laughing and joking in the Yankee dugout between the players. The score then was 8-4 in the 8th inning. I mean, are we playing to enjoy the Generational One’s success or are we trying to win the series? Where is the determination and fight? Not a good look to the loyal fan base who likely feel that they care more than the players.
2. If the Yankees lose the series, game 2 will be the focus and the decision on how to use JA Happ. Apparently, Happ had voiced his objection to Boone before hand.
3. Tanaka is a free agent. After 2 bad post season appearances, is this the end of his Yankee career? He was bad last night.
4. As SU pointed out a while back, the Yankee bullpen is not a strength this year. There should be no rush to take out the starters as the relievers are not consistent. Green got roughed up last night once again. They will need to ride Jordan Montgomery tonight for as long as possible OR go to Garcia early. But Boone does not have the pitchers to mix and match his way through the game.
5. What to do with Gary Sanchez? SU says he will be back in there tonight. And of course, there will be RISP in every one of his at bats.

SU is not feeling it. The Rays team is together, they have fun and their line up puts the ball in play. SU noted that the Yankee hitters are showing a lot of outward frustration in their failed at bats. Gardner is guessing up there and seems to need to get a head start on his swing at his age now. Other than Stanton and I guess Hicks (hard to even say that), who do you trust now to get a big hit? Luke Voit is struggling big time and as we know in a short series, there are few at bats to turn it around.

The loss of Paxton is huge but the Rays have a ton of pitchers on the IL also. Bottom line: as a Yankee fan, we have seen this scenario so many times since 2001. Down in the series and all of the flaws exposed. The injuries have been an issue but with a $250 million payroll, you cannot use that as an excuse. They have to feel that they have the advantage if they can get to a game 5 with Cole going. The Rays will go with an opener tonight. Buckle up for another 4-hour slog.

Is SU wrong? Are we on the verge of seeing 2 dramatic wins for the Bombers? Or another night of frustration, an early deficit and guys hitting into the shift? Inquiring minds want to know.

CB Bucknor has a long track record of being a terrible home plate umpire – for many, many years. He is inconsistent and players and managers have complained year after year covering different generations. SU asks: why put him behind the plate for a playoff game in 2020? The answer is probably seniority as I believe that is how umpires are assigned to these games. I mean, even Angel Hernandez is working the playoffs and he is equally bad.

If you watched last night’s Yankee game, there were so many calls where the pitch fell outside of the TBS box on the screen. Now, SU says that the box is hard to see to begin with, and after a while, I could not tell if the “red” circle meant the pitch was in the box or the yellow one was as Bucknor missed so many calls. Of course, the announcers declined to discuss it in any detail. But let’s be clear: that is NOT the reason that the Yankees struck out 18 times in this game. It was the Rays’ pitchers who seem to all throw in the upper 90s. Bucknor made those at bats more difficult but the Yankee hitters are fully capable of flailing on their own.

SU says the bigger story was Aaron Boone and not allowing Garcia to pitch beyond 1 inning. He brings in Happ to start the 2nd inning instead of starting the game, and lost what was probably his best long relief option in Garcia after 1 inning. That led to having to bring in Loaisiga in the middle innings and he allowed 2 key runs in combination with Ottavino who is painful to watch this year. As SU has said frequently, Boone is not a good in-game manager and this move really back-fired. This means that game 4 will have Montgomery starting or an opener – neither is ideal against the Rays. The Yankee bullpen is not set up this year for an opener scenario. The better move was to let Garcia go as long as he could last night. Happ was clearly not happy in his post-game comments but did admit that his lousy outing was on him – as we all know it is.

The Generational One is on fire. SU must admit that he is, by far, their best offensive player now and the Rays will start to pitch around him. The problem is that both Judge and Voit are cold. Judge, in particular, looks out of synch. Sanchez should not start tonight – but SU is pretty sure he will be in there with Tanaka on the mound.

SU continues to be puzzled by the reliance on the all-right handed line-up. Only Hicks is in there. Gardner has been benched and the only conclusion is that he can no longer get around on a 95+ mph fastball. Frazier can hit those – but only occasionally.

Tonight is the key game. We are in a 2 out of 3 game series and Tanaka really needs to be economical with his pitches tonight. Boone has to let him face the line up for the 3rd time through. His bullpen is not good enough to justify taking him out.

It is an interesting series. The Rays are feisty, younger and put the ball in play. The Yankees are all about home runs and strikeouts. The good news is that there is a 7 pm start tonight and SU can avoid dozing off for 15 minutes in the middle innings.

Thoughts on Bucknor? Boone? Electronic umpiring?

The Yankees continued their recent offensive onslaught last night and all of a sudden, their line-up is starting to look circular. A few observations:

1. Stanton: he has homered in 3 straight playoff games and actually last night’s and the one before were hit in meaningful situations. SU says he is clearly thriving without fans in the stands to boo him. He does seem more relaxed. Naturally, he is due for a pulled calf muscle now as he is not used to running to first base so much. But the roster is deep and he can be replaced easily.
2. Bullpen: face it, this is not the strength of your team. Chapman needs a minimum 3-run cushion in 2020 to notch a save. Green is not a lock down pitcher and Boone just won’t use Ottavino in any stressful situation. Not a winning formula and Boone needs to find 1-2 others he trusts and fast.
3. Boone: man, he is not a good in-game manager. SU is concerned – especially with no off days this series. If he pulls Garcia and Tanaka after 5 innings, they will not have enough pitchers to finish the game.
4. Bad Blood: in the 9th inning, after the Stanton grand slam which face it, we were all shocked by, Urshula took a huge swing and miss on the next pitch. The pitch after that knocked him down. Gleyber got knocked down next on a pitch. The Yankees retaliated in a measured way by having Gleyber steal 2nd base after he singled with a 6-run lead. That was a better move than throwing at one of their hitters in the bottom of the 9th inning and giving the Rays a spark heading into game 2. But this is something to watch tonight.
5. Time delay: As referenced by long-time subscriber, J. Levine, if you follow the games on mlb.com in their Game Day feature, there is about a 5-second delay between what’s happening on the field and when you see it on TV. SU tried it for an inning but it made me jumpy. But you can impress your friend with texts about what happens if you watch and follow this way.

This series is just getting started. No doubt Boone will pitch Cole for game 5 on 3 days rest. Garcia starting tonight is a risky move and SU likes him a lot. But he is a real youngster and if he gets rocked early, I guess you bring in Montgomery quickly. Glasnow for the Rays throws hard and has a good record vs. the Yankees. Let the fun begin.

SU hung in there last night until 1:20 am to watch the end of the Yankees – Indians game along with several other members of the SU intergalactic subscriber base.  This game was not one for the time capsule although since it was an elimination game for Cleveland, there was a lot of drama.  A few points:

• Joe Torre was always great in the post-season figuring out how to get the remaining outs from his bullpen.  Aaron Boone?  Not so much as in “what are you doing?”  Once he brought in Chad Green in the 5th inning and then Britten in the 6th, well, even 3rd graders could see that this formula was not going to work.   SU is available to script the next game for Boone if called upon as I am experienced preparing 3rd and 4th grade girls rec basketball substitutions for a full game.  What was he thinking last night?  Ultimately, Loaisiga got the key batters and came up short.  SU says you have to pitch Ottavino – especially with Kahnle out for the year.  Note for the next series: do better.
• Boone also made some curious decisions late in the game with pinch runners and pinch hitters.  He pulled Voit in the 7th for Wade as a pinch runner but then didn’t have Wade try and steal.  Of course, that spot came up in a huge spot in the 8th inning and he then put up Frazier to pinch hit vs. a tough righty instead of Mike Ford or just leaving Wade in to hit.    Boone is a great communicator (apparently) but his in-game moves are lacking.  Paging Don Zimmer.
• A-Rod predicted what was going to happen several times last night.  The Sanchez passed ball in the 9th inning on a slider from Chapman on strike 3 to end the game was classic.  Of course, all Yankee fans were way ahead of him.  I must also give A-Rod props in the top of the 9th when he said Sanchez had a good shot to hit a sac fly to tie the game.  Really?  I am sure the stats said around the horn double play or strikeout there but OK, he was right.
• Sanchez did have a wind-blown home run to right field and another short fly to right which showed SU that he might, finally, be trying to hit to the opposite field.
• Aaron Hicks, SU’s prediction for the big series, is just terrible hitting left-handed.  3rd in the line up?  Er, no.  Move him down as far as you can.

Bottom line: the Yankees escaped game 2 despite themselves and now face the Rays in San Diego.  Keys to that series:

• Assuming the games are prime time as MLB will want to feature this series, they will start around 4 or 5 pm PST in the twilight with shadows all over.  That means a lot of strikeouts.  Good for Cole in game 1 but also good for the Rays in every game with their hard throwers.  This will be a key issue.  Not good for the Yankees.
• These teams truly hate each other.  Good for MLB and the fans.  No more big hugs at first base and yukking it up.
• The Yankee bullpen is terrifying.  No longer a strength.  Either pitch Ottavino or take him off the roster.
• Stanton will not see another fastball until April of next year.  Buster Olney said that scouts were texting him last night wondering why the Indian pitchers kept throwing him fastballs as he clearly cannot hit a curve.
• The winner of this series will win the World Series.  Sorry Dodger fans.

Feel free to share your thoughts today.  SU has spoken.

SU watched the whole Yankee game last night but did follow the debate on Twitter.  Did I miss anything?

I must say that the first round 2 out of 3 games format for the Wild Card round is great.  Yes, it likely doesn’t give enough credit for the Division winners but the pressure is on to win today.  Good for MLB to try some new things in 2020.  The Yankees looked like world beaters for one night.  They put the ball in play and what do you know?  Good things happen vs. swinging for the fences mindlessly.  Cole was the real deal and that seemed to relax the Yankee hitters.

Gardner started over Frazier because he was hitting .391 for the last couple of weeks.  Note to the YES Network: the announcers go so overboard not sharing meaningful statistics (enough of OPS!) that SU had no clue and I watch a lot of Yankee games.  There is so much effort to not show Sanchez’s most recent struggles that all stats are off the table.  Anyway, Gardner looked like he was 10 years younger at the plate.

I must say that A-Rod was very coherent for much of the game with his comments.  He does come prepared.  SU loved the Generational One’s meaningless home run with a 10-run lead.  “Maybe it will get him going.  Maybe it will relax him.”  Zzzzzz.  Come on.  There are no fans in the stands and no-one to boo him.  SU would not mind seeing Clint Frazier get a shot at the DH slot in one of these games if Stanton does not perform.

Of course, in baseball, tomorrow is another day and a new starting pitcher.  SU is still terrified by Chapman late in the game – especially if Sanchez is put back behind the plate (which he should not be by the way).  He is a passed ball waiting to happen and it’s not all his fault as neither he nor Chapman know where the 100 mph fastballs are going.

8 games on tap for today.  Pretty incredible.

SU says do not hand over the NBA championship to the Lakers just yet.  Sure, LeBron and Davis are superstars and LeBron gets every call but Miami is a true team and different guys step up for them in every game.  Definitely worth a look tonight for fans who have tuned out the NBA for whatever reason.  Best in the world.

The crack SU team has been running statistical models for this first round against the Indians.  Using multiple regression, analytics and frequent coin flipping, SU has determined that the Yankees will win this first round in 3 games.  Things to watch out for:

• Big series for Aaron Hicks.  For no particular reason
• JA Happ comes up big in game 3
• Gary Sanchez only starts one of the 3 games
• Chapman blows a save in either game 1 or game 2

How are others feeling?  Weigh in here and have others praise you for your accurate predictions.  Or not…

You are a large market MLB franchise and coming off a 10-game winning streak to turn your season around.  With a week to go in the season, do you put your foot on the accelerator and look to sprint to the finish line for the best possible seeding for the playoffs?  Or do you do the opposite, ease up and go through the motions?  In fact, do you ease up to the point where you risk a first round match-up with the #1 seed, Tampa Bay?

Well, we know the answer now.  The Yankees now have to face the Cleveland Indians in a best of 3-game first round series.  SU hasn’t paid that much attention to the other teams this year but I did just look up the records and ERAs of the Indians’ starters for the series.  Pretty impressive:

• Shane Bieber – 8-1 1.63 and the likely Cy Young winner
• Carlos Carrasco – 3-4 2.91
• Zach Plesac – 4-2 2.66

OK,  so maybe the Yankees will defy the odds and win the series.  But SU is troubled that the team couldn’t muster enough motivation to fight for a better seeding.  The Indians must have one of the better starting staffs in the AL.  And the Yankees will roll out the almost entirely right-handed line up except for Aaron Hicks and his .220 average.

SU is not feeling it.  But ready to be surprised.  Are others feeling more confident?

SU must say that this past Sunday was a perfect sports viewing day in a year when there have been few.  Consider:

• NFL games (although if you are a NY football fan, there are restrictions built in as to whether you want to expose children to Jets and Giants games)
• US Open – unfortunately, the final round was not as compelling as the earlier rounds.  And by the way, is every young golfer going to start doing PEDs and bulking up?  And is every golfer going to now take 20 minutes before every shot like Bryson DeChambeau?
• Yankee game
• Italian Open Tennis semi-finals – OK, SU along with 6 other people globally watched that match but it was quite entertaining
• NBA playoffs – I must admit that I dozed off and forgot it was on last night.  A man has his limits…
• NHL Finals Game #1

Anyway, a welcome distraction for average sports fan.  So many NFL injuries yesterday – I guess the injuries that usually occur in the exhibition games all got crowded into week #2.

The Yankees had their 10-game winning streak stopped but all of a sudden, Aaron Boone is a genius and the Yankees are considered among the favorites come playoff time.  SU says this saying is true: “You are not as good as you look during the winning streaks and you are not as bad as you look during the losing streaks.”  The truth is somewhere in the middle.  People are cheering now that Gary Sanchez has punctured the .150 mark for the season.  He still can’t catch either Britten or Chapman late in the game which is terrifying nor can they be counted on with a 1-run lead.  The Yankees will need a minimum 3-run cushion late in the game in any playoff game.

The National League seems quite interesting for that last playoff spot.  A lot of teams around the .500 mark.

NBA observation: in a typical year, home court is huge in the playoffs.  And why is that?  Because the refs call fouls very differently for the home team in playoff games.  Not sure why unless you say the home team is being “more aggressive” and drawing fouls.  Anyway, in the bubble this is no longer a factor.  Thus, every game is played on a level playing field and it’s not that unusual to see teams come back from an 0-2 or 1-3 deficit to win the series.

Any comments from the SU intergalactic subscriber base on the MLB playoffs, NFL, Big Ten football?  The floor is yours.

Well, suddenly the USS Yankees ship is cruising to the playoffs with a chance to be almost fully healthy.  From SU’s standpoint, a few key things have happened:

• The starting pitchers are finally giving them some length on a consistent basis.  Rookie Devi Garcia has been key as he has stepped into Paxton’s spot in the rotation nicely.  That makes Happ the 5th starter and takes the pressure off of him to actually perform.  He has been much better of late as well.  Right now, all five starters are doing well and Boone can avoid the “opener” pitcher which just burns out the bullpen.
• The bullpen is no longer a strength for the Yankees.  There is no way that Boone can have faith in Ottavino and Green runs hot and cold.  The key is to limit their innings and get a big enough lead.
• The offense has come alive.  Voit is a legit MVP candidate and LeMahieu is back to his normal hit machine ways.  Gleyber Torres started to hit but there is concern with his legs as he continues to sit now.
• Boone is smartly alternating between Judge and Stanton on their returns.  As we all know, they will strike out 65% of the time and you may as well minimize those at bats.  SU has major doubts about them in the playoffs.  Note to Boone: Clint Frazier needs to play every day.  Including in the playoffs.  Find a spot for him.  Bring Brett Gardner in for late inning defense if you need to.
• And Gary Sanchez?  After Higashioka’s 3-home run outburst last night, SU says you have to play the hot hand.  They let Austin Romine go last off season to free agency but Higashioka is a better defensive catcher than Sanchez and he can hit a bit.  Sanchez is a lost cause.  SU would let him go this off-season or else sit him until he starts hitting to right field.  Boone has to make it clear that pulling the ball is no longer acceptable.  SU knows he will now go on a hot streak but really, you do not need a superstar at every position.  You need some guys who are paid less and quietly go about their business.

SU is excited about Big Ten football starting in late October.  It’s the right move.  Give it a shot and if there is an outbreak, then you shut it down.

SU is not understanding why MLB is holding playoffs in a bubble in Southern California with the fires blazing out west right now.  Do they know for sure that the fires will subside in the next 2 weeks?  Come to New York.  There are 2 great fields and the coronavirus numbers are weigh down here.

Men’s tennis returns in Europe on clay for a few weeks.  I must say that watching best of 5 set tennis on clay is torture.  The points are way too long.  SU will be watching to see if long-time fave Djokovic can get his head together to compete now.  I would not be surprised to see him upset in the early rounds of the next few tournaments.

Finally, while NFL week #1 was not kind to both the Jets and Giants, SU says the first week is not an indicator of things to come for any team.  There were no exhibition games and history says the 2nd week looks very different.  No time to abandon ship.

Oh, and finally, finally, please vote.  No excuses.  Too much on the line this year.

It’s times like these that we roll out the classic quote from former Knick and Net basketball player, Michael Ray Richardson.  The Yankees’ boat is taking on water at an alarming rate these days and if you check the standings this morning, the Baltimore Orioles are only a half game behind for the last, final spot in MLB’s NHL style playoff format for 2020.  And even in the loss column.  Look a little more closely and the Detroit Tigers are 1 game behind and also even in the loss column.

Last time SU checked, both the Orioles and Tigers are in major rebuild modes.  The Yankees were the odds on favorites to win the World Series this year.  So, what went wrong?

• Injuries: so yes, they have had a lot of them – but just like last season and they still won over 100 games in 2019.  Both Judge and Stanton missed major parts of the season – just like this year.  The difference is others stepped up big-ly vs. this year when it’s been very small-ly.
• They miss Didi.  SU mentioned this during the winter.   Miss his left-handed bat, presence in the clubhouse, skill at shortstop.  Gleyber Torres has been equally bad at the plate and in the field.  Maybe the expectations were too high for a youngster to move to short and continue to hit?  Maybe Didi was a keeper?  SU says this was a big miss by Cashman.
• Gary Sanchez: perhaps you have seen Sanchez’s video on his approach to hitting?  Actually, it’s just a pamphlet.  Ignore the shift, ignore that you will get 80% low and away sliders and swing for the fences no matter the situation.  Sometimes the Austin Romines of the world are just fine on a stacked team.
• Bullpen: look, Tommy Kahnle’s injury was a loss but come on – lots of guys to step up.  A collective failure in 2020.
• Aaron Boone: SU gives him a pass.  Not his fault.  Who do you suggest he put out there?  Makes no difference.
• Hitting Coaches: Long-time subscriber, A. Grossman, has always preached about the importance of the batting coaches and he did again yesterday in his comment.  SU says the hitters are professionals and it’s up to them to be accountable.  But clearly a new voice is needed in 2021 it seems.
• Brian Cashman: SU has felt that the all right-handed line up is a problem for a few years now.  Hated the Stanton trade from the beginning.  Cole has been mediocre but SU is OK as it’s not my money.  He will be better and could be a difference maker in a 2 out of 3 game series in the first round.  But if anyone, this season is on Cashman as it’s his roster and farm system.

Can they turn it around?  SU says unlikely.  Success will be making the 8th seed and losing in the first round given where they are right now and with all of the injuries.  Missing the playoffs completely will be the ultimate embarrassment.  Stay tuned.