They played taps for the 2018 Yankees last night.  The team pounded out another 5 hits for the 2nd game in a row and for the 3rd time in 4 games, the starter only lasted about 3 innings.  It’s not the formula for success – clearly.  So, what went wrong?  And what needs to be fixed for 2019?

• SU says this year’s team reminded me of the 2004 team.  You had your new, over-priced and under-performing slugger back then in A-Rod, and a great offensive team with Gary Sheffield putting up crazy numbers plus Jeter, Posada in their prime years.  But pitching?  Do you remember who started the pivotal game 6 at home?  Jon Lieber.  And game 7?  Kevin Brown.  And who was in the bullpen losing every close game in extra innings?  Paul Quantrill.  An imperfect team with not enough pitching.  2018?  Exact same thing.
• Goal #1 for next season: learn to hit against the shift.  Mark Texeiria lost his way at the end of his career just pulled everything.  He refused to change and the team suffered.  Teams are daring you to take the single and put the ball in play.  The Yankees should either teach this or get new batting coaches who do.  And while they are at it, get some Spanish speaking batting coaches as the team has some young players who do not speak fluent English.  Get with the times and put together a staff that looks like your team’s roster.
• Do not go out and sign some stud starter for $30 million.  See the David Price mistake in Boston.  This is the offensive version of trading for Giancarlo Stanton.  The Yankees have some young up and coming starters in the minors.  Let’s nurture them and get them in the mix.  SU is much more comfortable going that route.
• Luke Voit is a great hitter but his fielding is pretty scary.  He is a great DH.  So, here is the dilemma.  You don’t need to clog up your roster with Stanton and his $30 million salary when you are now managing to a payroll budget.  You do not need the extra 15 home runs and 30 rbis that he provides over some other solid player.  SU won’t kill him for coming up short again in the 9th inning last night as I had no expectations.  My only hope there was that he didn’t hit into a double play and kill the rally.  In any rally situation, my hope was to sustain the inning and maneuver around his expected lack of production.  Fine – he is who he is in the clutch.  There is still a chance to move him in the off-season and eat some of his salary.  SU is not saying Bird is the answer as he may not be cut out for NY.  But Clint Frazier is ready, Gardner is a free agent and he may move on.  Cashman has some interesting decisions.

CC blasted Angel Hernandez after the game but I thought he called a perfectly fine game for both teams.  Was this CC’s last game?  Sanchez came close in the 9th inning – put together an excellent at bat there.  SU would give him one more year to turn it around.  He may be ready now to make some adjustments.

Bottom line: SU enjoyed the first half of the season – a lot.  But the second half was a grind – perhaps it was the injury to Judge.  You have to design a team that can get past Houston and Boston.  The Red Sox put the ball in play.  They had some flare hits last night but there was constant pressure with people on base.  That is the formula.  SU says batting average still matters as does hitting with RISP.  The all right-handed line up is not the way to go.  Get some balance for next season.

OK, let’s hear from you.  SU is disappointed but by no means devastateted.  I just did not see this roster as being championship material.  The team has actually regressed from last year.  If you are managing to a payroll, Stanton is a big problem.

Of course, those are the famous words of Joe Girardi, former Yankee manager, and probably someone who would not have sent Severino back out to the mound in the 4th inning.  The evidence to SU was clear: his velocity was way down on the fastball; he was throwing almost no sliders; and there were few swings and misses.  Combine that with all of the hard hit balls to the warning track, and maybe, just maybe he was not on last night.

Did he get to the bullpen too late for warm-ups?  Everyone denies it but SU agrees with Ron Darling – something happened there.  SU’s theory is that Kevin Brown actually got into his body in the clubhouse and forced him to pitch like Brown did in game 7 in 2004.  But he also expended a lot of energy in the Wild Card game and it’s possible that after a long season, his arm and body did not respond in time.  Severino’s post-season numbers are bad – time will tell if he can overcome that or if he becomes David Price.  SU will not give up on him.

Boone blew that decision but in a 16-1 game, come on.  It’s a footnote.  Lance Lynn is a mediocre pitcher who was due for a bad outing.  Green was not good in game 1 and same last night.  The Yankees have a rested bullpen for tonight of their top line guys and you hope CC gives you 5 innings.  But a few points:

• Did you see the Red Sox steal 2nd base up 10-0?  And did you see a batter hit on a 3-0 count up 10-0?  Hmmm.  No doubt a reflection of Alex Cora.  CC takes not of those things.  Something to watch for tonight.  You don’t want to put extra runners on but you can also fire up your team by hitting someone.  Hey, it’s baseball.  It’s all about pettiness.
• Too many right-handed hitters in the Yankee line-up as pointed out by SU time and time again.  Didi is not healthy – no power in his hands with that injury.  Word is Neil Walker may start tonight at 3rd base.  If you do that, then put Stanton in the outfield and DH Andujar.  I am telling you McCutchen, aside from the occasional walk, is done.  SU would much rather have Andujar’s bat in the line up and why do you panic now in the playoffs?
• There is no truth to the story that Angel Hernandez got into the wrong car after the game to go back to his hotel.  Word is the driver called into MLB Advanced Media to confirm that it was the right car and not the one next to it.  Seriously: that was embarrassing.  Truth be told, the first 3 calls were very close but the DP was obvious.  But no worries: he will be behind the plate tonight.  What could go wrong?

SU’s goal at the start of the playoffs was not to be embarrassed and humiliated against Boston.  Well, that was embarrassing last night.  The problem is they will roll out too many right handed hitters again tonight.  However, Hicks should be back.

Anyone feeling confident in Yankeeland?

Answer: in a 5-game series that is tied 1-1, this is huuuuggggeeeeee.  The winner is one game away from the series while the loser has to win 2 in a row.  SU has said that a 5-game format gives a lesser team like the Yankees a better shot vs. the Red Sox than if they were playing a 7-game series.  Some thoughts this morning:

• Alex Cora is either a genius or will go down in history as mis-managing his way through this series with his bullpen moves.  SU asks why so many starters pitching in relief?  You won 108 games – did you ever have to do that in the regular season?
• Did you see the stat that Tanaka has historically one of the lowest post-season ERAs in history?  Sooo, why take him out after 5 innings in game 2?  Sure, it worked out with Betances although he did give up one run.  If Severino is lights out through 5, do we see this happen again tonight?
• SU believes that if hitters keep seeing the same pitchers game after game in relief, they will figure things out.  There is a downside to keep rolling out all of the relievers.  SU is concerned.
• And I continue to hate that Boone takes out Andujar after 5-6 innings for defense.  He is a reliable hitter and these games are too close for the most part to remove him.  Just a matter of time before that costs him.
• Severino is up and down vs. Boston but clearly better at home.  Porcello is much better at Fenway vs. the Yankees.  Tonight is really a toss-up.
• Finally: Chapman terrifies me.  His ERA against Boston is 8.57 or something like that.  Britten is no sure thing either.  SU says no lead is safe here late – for either team.

Note I did not criticize Stanton.  He continues to fly under the radar with his ineffectiveness.  But ready to be proven wrong.

SU caught the 2nd half of the Giant game yesterday – that was great fun.  I don’t think there was one punt – just touchdowns and interceptions.  A guy making a 63-yard game winning field goal is similar to all of the pitchers today throwing 100 mph.  The game has changed and kickers are stronger and more athletic (or the chemists in baseball and football continue to be a step ahead of the testers).  Gano made that one with 10 yards to spare.  Btw, it’s not healthy to watch a full Giant game – kills some portion of your brain cells after 3 hours.

Let’s get right to it:

• Red Sox bullpen is pretty terrible for a team that almost won 110 games.  Wow.  You have to roll out your game 3 starter to pitch the 8th inning?
• Stanton is not a generational player.  Wait, let me repeat it as I should have never said anything nice about him earlier in the year.  My bad.  Overpowered and overwhelmed by the moment.  And looks all the smaller when compared to Judge who showed his greatness even though he is just coming back from injury.  I am telling you – $30 million a year for the next 10 years is a big problem.
• RISP hitting was not surprisingly the difference.  Killed them tonight but has been an issue all year.  If the Yankees are going to win, need to be a bit more clutch.  And I think the young guys will rise to the occasion.  The trick is to navigate around Stanton in the line up.
• If Hicks is done for the series with his hamstring, that is huge.  He has been solid and is one of the few left-handed bats.
• Game 2 is must win vs. Price.  And they need to win in 4 games as you won’t win the Happ vs. Sale match-up.

Team battled back from 0-5 and SU is heartened by that.  Runners on base in just about every inning.  SU will stick with the Yankees in 4 prediction.  Key is to get into their bullpen every game and early.

Anyone care to disagree?

SU gives out props to long-time SU subscribers, A. Grossman and B. Rosano who both predicted Yankee wins last night in the wild card game.  Clearly, they had more confidence in the team than did SU which failed miserably in its losing prediction.  However, nothing ventured, nothing gained, and SU is always fearless in telling the sports world the truth.

Yankee manager, Aaron Boone, passed his first test as a post-season playoff manager.   But what did we think of these moves?

• Bringing in Betances in the 5th inning and having him pitch 2 full innings.  Wow, risky in that he is never brought in for the middle of an inning and when he has pitched more than one inning, he is usually bad in the 2nd inning.  He was great last night and made Boone look like a genius.
• Removing Andujar after 5 innings for defense.  He lost 2 additional at bats and the score was only 2-0 then.  SU did not like that move.  At all.  It should not be repeated.  He is your best hitter.  OK, he makes the occasional bad throw but against Boston, you will need the offense.  Take the risk.
• Starting McCutchen over Gardner.  Let’s be real: going forward, Gardner is a bench player and pinch runner.  Boone likes McCutchen’s on base percentage.  Gardner had his chances.  I can’t argue with the move but I do feel badly for Gardner.
• Removing Severino in the 5th inning.  SU did not have a problem with that – he had thrown a lot of pitches at that point and they were starting to hit him.  But note for the Red Sox series: the Yankee bullpen is not lock-down solid this year.  Even Chapman is a question mark and Britten makes you buckle up.

For the record, I was not surprised that Stanton hit a meaningless (for the most part) home run in the 8th inning.  His buddy Judge is the much more clutch performer.

For SU, the Yankees now go from a favorite in the wild card game to the underdog vs. Boston.  They should feel much less pressure and the Red Sox need to rise to the challenge and fulfill expectations for a record breaking season.  SU will boldy predict the Yankees winning in 4 games but I will say this.  If it goes to 5 games, SU does not trust Chapman to close it out.  At all.  It would be crushing to have him blow the series in the 9th inning.  The Yankees need to split in Fenway and then close it out in NY.  Having a lead in game 5 in the 9th inning would be much too stressful and Chapman has had his share of meltdowns in Fenway Park.

I also think the 5-game series format is a big assist to the Yankees as the better team wins the 7-game series.  And the Red Sox are the better team for sure.

OK, let’s hear what you think for this next series.  Be bold.

SU is not into predicting scores for individual games but we have received several requests now to put our reputation on the line for the Wild Card game tonight.  As mentioned earlier, SU is not confident for this game.  Starting Severino is not ideal given his 2nd half of the season performance and his abbreviated outing last year in this game.  Not every pitcher is cut out for the post-season.  Some get too amped up or are just too intense.  Look at Clayton Kershaw – not nearly as good in October.

I also don’t think the Yankees are good at making the adjustments for the train of relief pitchers that the A’s will throw out there tonight – especially with their all right-handed line up.  And players and teams get tight in the post-season – see the Cubs who scored 2 runs in 22 innings and will now be at home for the duration.

So, based on all of this, SU sees the Yankees falling 4-2 in a painful game to watch.  Clearly, I hope I am wrong but SU is not paid the big bucks to be a homer.  We call it like we see it.

OK, I know many of you like to put your own predictions out there with the hope of gaining international acclaim if you are right.  Have at it!

SU is back from vacation and has some rapid fire thoughts for you:

• Very worried about the Yankees’ chances in the wild card game.  If Oakland does full reliever on them, it’s not good.  During the year, the Yankees rarely hit well when faced with a succession of hard throwing relievers, and Oakland has a bunch of them.  The team is not built to score without the aid of home runs.  True, they have been hitting better of late but we all know that can come and go.  Can you move runners, hit away from the shift, steal a base?
• SU thinks the Yankees will go with Severino.  Boone likes the idea of the shutdown ace who throws 99 mph.  But he will be on a short leash just like last season.
• Boone will start McCutchen but I would go with Gardner.
• I am not making any predictions but this is a much tougher match-up than the Twins in 2017.  I am not feeling confident.
• Caught some of the Ryder Cup in the morning hours.  It’s funny how bad Tiger Woods’ record is in team competition.  Something like 9-19 in pairs play and he lost in singles on Sunday.  The US captain’s job is just ripe to be second guessed.  Really can’t win.  The US team hasn’t won in Europe in something like 25 years.  But a lot of fun to watch the intensity of the players.
• Which week will the Giants bottom out?  OBJ is just about ready to go nuclear with frustration.  He is doing his best to hold it in but he is going to erupt soon.  They are pretty unwatchable.  Eli has no time to throw.  Period.
• I still think college football is much more enjoyable although the NFL had some high scoring games yesterday.  Still too many penalties and replay takes way too long.

So, Yankee fans, feeling confident?  Let us know what you think.

Yesterday was a busy day in the SU universe when it comes to comments.  We wanted to highlight the comment which came in late in the day from relatively new SU subscriber, J. Levine, as shown below:

SU says you probably shouldn’t slide head first into any base.  Didi Gregorious tore some cartilidge in his wrist on Saturday by sliding into home plate and may miss the playoffs now.  This would be a huge loss for the Yankees as he is probably the best hitter with RISP on the team facing either a left-handed or right-handed pitcher.  Big, big loss if he can’t go.  They can slide Walker in or Echeverria but neither is close to his value.

We have seen Gardner slide into first base trying to leg out infield hits and others have done it as well with several dislocating their shoulders.  Maury Wills always went feet first.  SU thinks it was Ricky Henderson who started the head first trend.  But at home plate with the catcher’s shin guards ready to give you a concussion and jam your fingers?  Ouch, ouch, ouch.  Anyway, Didi is going to make it a go but if he can’t, this could hurt the team’s October chances.  And by the way, why do the Yankees not try and win every game now?  Pitch Cole in the 6th inning?  Home field for that wild card game is important.  Tampa Bay will make the next 4 games their personal playoff to have the Yankees play that game on the road or even still try and catch the A’s.

SU knows many on this blog are not Tiger Woods fans.  “Anyone but Tiger” is their mantra.  SU is a fan – he makes any tournament so much more interesting.  Kudos to him for coming back from back surgery and winning a tournament for the first time in 5 years.  He was very emotional – so out of character but good to see and good for the sport.  OK, so he banged some porn stars along the way and cheated on his wife.  Clearly that makes him presidential material in this country.  The next step will be to see if he can win majors again and you have to think that 2019 will be the year.

Let’s face the truth: after watching the Yankees and the Giants this weekend, we can come to the same conclusion about the offensive production for both teams.

The Giants’ offense has been reduced to throwing quick passes to Barkley and hoping he can break 17 tackles to gain a few yards.  Eli was running for his life all night and took a beating for an older QB.  As Joe Girardi would say, “It’s not what you want.”  SU says Eli has always functioned better in a no huddle offense.  Why is it necessary to huddle up time and time again which just gives the defense more time to decide on what stunt they will be using on that play?  Better to keep the defense off balance and push the pace.  Eli can no doubt call as good a game as any offensive coordinator.  It’s not necessary and he is a smart guy.  Of course, if they don’t fix the offensive line soon it won’t matter either way but it seems obvious to me.

As for the Yankees, there are some interesting things going on here by Aaron Boone that you may have missed:

• He is stretching out the relievers.  Lately, Green and Robertson have gone 2 innings and 40+ pitches.  SU believes that they think Chapman won’t return and they need to find 4 innings (or more) in a playoff game out of Green, Holder, Robertson, Britten and Betances.
• Neal Walker is getting all of the pinch hit spots which means Bird won’t make the post-season roster.  As a young player, this will likely kill his confidence for ever performing well in NY which means he will be gone next year.  Now, you can say he had his chances and did not produce.  But SU says what are you going to do if Voit gets hurt in the next couple of weeks or goes on a cold streak?  Bird has some legit post-season experience and looked good in the one game he has played in 2 weeks.  He deserves a shot. Btw, Walker has done nothing of late.
• SU asks why does Stanton fly under the radar?  Relatively new SU subscriber, S. Greenberg, commented that Stanton is like A-Rod.  An overpaid superstar who underperforms in NY.  As we all know, A-Rod took a beating from the fans and the media, but no-one even comments on Stanton (other than SU of course which speaks the truth).  Stanton will get all the at bats and you know every big game will come down to him.  Perhaps Judge’s return will help – SU is not confident about that.
• The Yankees cannot score without the home run – especially with the bases loaded.  They seem to be incapable of hitting with RISP this year.  Sanchez needs to bat much lower in the order.

Question for Yankee fans: is it better to just lose in the Wild Card game or should they win and then risk getting humiliated by the Red Sox?  It’s actually a tough one.  If they lose home field for the wild card, will be a moot point.