Yankee fans are reeling this morning after Freddy Freeman’s 2-out, game winning grand slam last night. SU says score 1 for the Dodgers but this is a best of 7-game series, and plenty of games to go for the Yankees. Of course, there are some concerns:

1. Aaron Boone had a great series vs. Cleveland in handling the bullpen. As long-time Yankee fans know, that is unusual for him. He returned to form last night with a few puzzling moves that came back to haunt him. Pulled Cole too soon and you can’t do that if the game goes beyond 9 innings. The Yankees don’t have enough quality relievers this year to go into extra innings and that came back to bite him. Cole is your ace; SU says ride him longer as he won’t pitch again until game 5.
2. Cortes instead of Hill? SU knows Nestor is on the roster to face Ohtani and he did get him out. Boone was bold walking Betts to put the winning run on 2nd base to score on a single. Not many managers would do that. The 2nd guessers will say Hill was the obvious choice given how well he has pitched in the post-season. Cortes has good numbers against Ohtani – probably going back to when he was on the Angels. Not sure how relevant that is now. Now, what does Boone do next time? Trust Nestor? Go to Hill? We may find out as soon as tonight.
3. Yankees continue to not hit with RISP (1 for 8 last night). However, they did manufacture a run in the 10th and Jazz is coming to life finally in the post-season. He is streaky and that bodes well for the Yankees now. He can actually steal a base.
4. Judge continues to struggle but SU says this. He is not good coming off long layoffs, and he did get a hit last night before just missing one in the 9th and popping up (“JUST got under it”). SU says he breaks out tonight and is good for the rest of the series. Jazz and Judge will lengthen the productive part of the lineup.
5. SU did not like running for Gleyber in the 9th inning. He is fast enough and perhaps makes that play at 2nd in the bottom of the 10th that Cabrera could not come up with. Stop over managing please.
6. Finally: SU would have left Weaver in for the bottom of the 10th. He had not pitched for a week, and his pitch count was manageable. You had the lead there – go with your best to win it.

Bottom line: advantage Dodgers in any close game. Yankees need a blowout win tonight to get the split in LA. The offense has yet to really break out and SU feels this is the night – finally. No need for the Yankees to panic and this team has shown it’s resilient.

SU is excited about the Yankees returning to the World Series after a 15-year absence. As SU said at the start of the year, the goal for 2024 was getting there. If they win it all, it’s gravy on top but this was the year to play in late October. It was funny seeing Hal Steinbrenner in the celebration – hardly ever see him in person or hear from him. He did look a little pained talking about Juan Soto and his home run as that probably will cost him another $150 million on the contract. SU worries that if they win it all, Hal is satisfied and let’s Soto just walk.

It’s up to the Mets now to do their part to have a subway series. No doubt FOX is rooting for the Dodgers of course as that will generate more national interest in the World Series.

SU has to make this observation. I get the analytics and how you play the percentages. But in both the Royals’ and Guardians’ series, how do you pitch to Stanton or Soto in certain situations? Soto has been locked in for every game – even his outs are generally hard hit. He is focused and his level swing on balls even high in the zone are such an advantage. The same with Stanton – so many big home runs in the post-season. It’s funny as it feels like many of his home runs in the regular season are late in blowout win games. Not in the post-season: he is money.

Judge has been ice cold in both series. Doesn’t it make sense to pitch around Soto (read: WALK HIM) and take your chances with Judge with men on base? Last night in the 10th inning was typical. The Guardians screwed up a force at 2nd base which resulted in Soto coming up against a right handed reliever with runners on 1st and 2nd and 2 outs. SU says you walk him there to load the bases and pitch to Judge who is swinging at every low and outside pitch in the playoffs. Sure, you could walk him but Soto is too locked. The common thinking is that you only put a guy on if it’s 2nd and 3rd but what’s the difference?

Same with Stanton in the 6th inning. Two outs and a man on base. Jazz on deck who is hitting .121 in the post-season and is almost an automatic out. It is so obvious. And it wasn’t just Vogt on the Guardians. The Royals’ manager was doing the same thing. SU says you cannot expect the National League manager in the Series to do the same – or can you?

Props to Aaron Boone who made all the right moves in this series with his relievers. Now, he got a little lucky as no-one expected Mark Leiter Jr. to be so effective. He was huge in 2 of the wins. And let’s be real by the way: in the 10th inning, if the Yankees don’t score, it would have been Tim Mayza coming in to pitch the bottom of the 10th inning and we could all have gone to bed then. The guy with the 9.00 ERA released by Toronto – he is clearly who you want to pitch in the ALCS. Sigh.

Also have to acknowledge that Gleyber Torres has had some post-season. He finds a way to get on base in front of Soto and is even running the bases with purpose (btw, SU does note that Soto runs hard to 1st base on every routine ground ball – good for him). The Yankees win with production from the top of the order and then pray for anything from the bottom half. Volpe is locked in and is hitting to right field – huge for him.

Hard to say it but the Yankees have the better starters for the World Series over either the Mets or the Dodgers. Does not mean they will win but would never have thought that.

This was a great series and Cleveland played the Yankees tough. They put the ball in play and run the bases. And it shows that if you expose your relievers to the opponent in every game, it will catch up to you.

Veteran (translation: older) baseball fans will remember Arizona Diamondbacks reliever, Byung-hyng Kim, in the 2001 World Series with the Yankees when he blew 9th inning leads to the Yankees in games 4 and 5 at Yankee Stadium. There were dramatic home runs by Tino Martinez, Scott Brosius and Derek Jeter in those games that totally turned around a series that the D’Backs were dominating. Manager Bob Brenly kept rolling him out for multiple inning appearances and the Yankees finally figured things out.

Well, last night Luke Weaver did his best Kim imitation. He has appeared in every Yankee playoff game so far, and often in multiple innings appearances. No matter how dominant a reliever might be, if you keep putting them out there game after game, the opposition will start to get used to facing him. That is also a challenge for Cleveland as their starters don’t go deep in any games.

Full disclosure: SU was playing tennis and only saw the bottom of the 9th inning and the 10th (after listening a bit to John Sterling on the radio which is still just too painful. Why does the listener have to pay so much attention to the crowd noise to know what really is happening?). The Yankees went from being up 3-0, to allowing Cleveland back into the series with clear momentum going into game 4. Now, baseball is not like basketball. A different scenario in the NBA where a late 3-pointer can change the series and real momentum as the teams face off in the next game with the same exact players. In baseball, it is about the next game’s starting pitcher. The Yankees will roll out Gil who hasn’t pitched in weeks and was pretty much running on fumes down the stretch. SU sees a 90-pitch outing over 3 innings with lots of walks tonight. It will still be a winnable game for the Yankees if they can hit with runners in scoring position (1 for 8 last night) but no way to expect that. As SU has said on many occasions, they need a lot of home runs to win. This team is not built for singles and doubles.

SU still says the Yankees have the advantage with Rodon going in game 5 and Cole at home in game 6. No excuses. You have to figure Weaver will not be available tonight. Someone will score a lot of runs tonight – SU’s guess is Cleveland is that someone. Clay Holmes is the closer – what can go wrong? Buckle up Yankee fans.

Meanwhile, the Mets are on the brink of elimination vs. the Dodgers. SU says they will not go out quietly this evening, and will force a game 6 back in LA. Do not count them out.

SU is perplexed. MLB Clubs have access to all of the latest analytics, stats, video, scouting reports, etc. If you watch Yankee games, the following are true:

1. They hit a lot of home runs.
2. 6 – 9 in the lineup has done nothing for weeks and weeks.
3. You can also throw Wells in there at cleanup who has been in a terrible slump for a month now.
4. They cannot hit with runners in scoring position. At all.
5. Stanton is red hot.

Soooo, you have Stanton coming up in the 7th inning with no-one on base and 2 outs. Why would you pitch to him? Just walk him. Instead, he belts a 430-foot home run and you knew he was going to do it. He just missed in the 1st inning with 2 on and 2 outs. Again, later in the game, he flied out to the warning track in right field. Jazz has done nothing and after that, nothing. It seems crazy to me that managers are ever pitching to him right now.

Boone may be tempted to move Stanton up to clean-up in the lineup or perhaps you slot Rizzo in there? Wells is clearly struggling and he might be more relaxed hitting lower in the order. SU says the Yankees’ inability to hit with RISP is going to catch up with them.

SU does give a lot of credit to Boone for finding a way to get Gleyber untracked this year. Clearly moving him to lead-off was a brilliant move. Everything he hits now is solid and he is a different player – and will be a difference maker if anyone in the lower part of the lineup can get on base for him.

This will be an interesting series. Rodon was an ace last night – so many swings and misses – and hopefully he has figured out some things. The Guardians didn’t use their top relievers but had some chances late. I guess 5 wild pitches and a ton of walks is not a winning formula. Cole in game 2 is huge for the Yankees as you count on him to be the guy. They will need to continue to hit home runs.

SU loved the way the Mets bounced back. The next 3 games are in Citi Field and you wonder if the Dodgers might be a bit intimidated coming to New York and playing in the cold at night. The Mets are sooooo loose and relaxed. Sure, their relievers are a bit scary but they do hit with RISP and you believe that they will.

The MLB Playoffs have come to New York for the next week, and the pressure is very different for the two New York teams. For the Mets, they are playing with house money. They have far exceeded expectations given where they were back in May, and barely making it into the post-season as one of the Wild Card teams. This has been a great run and now they play the mighty Dodgers. While losing 9-0 in game 1 was obviously not the desired outcome, remember this is a best of 7-game series and you can handle a blowout loss on the road. No problem. Get the split in game 2, and then you have the next 3 games in New York. The Dodgers are on an impressive pitching streak right now, but streaks come to an end. No worries. Back to work.

For the Yankees, the theme has to be “no excuses.” You have home field for the ALCS and you are basically set up pitching wise for this next round vs. the Guardians. True: Cleveland has a lockdown bullpen, and you would like to have the lead or be very close after 5 innings. On the other hand, the Tigers showed what happens when you see the same relievers game after game. You start to hit them. SU has the reputation of always being pessimistic about the Yankees but it is with good reason. They did not get many style points in the series vs the Royals but as we know, the goal is to advance. Stanton is hitting and luckily the Royals’ manager did not figure out that after Stanton in the Yankees’ lineup, there is no one that should scare you. So he pitched to him with RISP. Not smart.

SU suspects the Guardians will have a better game plan there. While Judge looked lost for much of that series, SU saw enough positive signs in the last game that I predict he will break out this series. Boone may want to move Stanton to cleanup and Wells either 5th or further down in the order. This will be a hard series for the Yankees as Cleveland will put the ball in play, run and play good defense. For the Yankees to win, they need to hit home runs. And a lot of them. Plain and simple.

Rodon in game 1? Ugh. He is certainly better at home and that may be the strategy here, and avoid having him pitch in Cleveland. SU hopes to see Gil start one of these games. The expectations from the fans are huge and all of New York wants to see a Subway Series (as opposed to the rest of the country). The Mets will have fun. The Yankees? Buckle up.

SU sees both series going the full 7 games. Here’s hoping for a Subway Series. Why not?

Let’s face it: the Yankees are not the Mets. They are not going to string together 4 – 5 hits in a row late in the game against the opponent’s top relievers. The Yankees live and die by the home run. They are not capable of stringing together a series of hits to generate runs. Guys like Giancarlo Stanton require 3 singles in a row to score him from first base (SU has learned that he is just now crossing 1st base from his grounder in the 8th inning last night).

The Yankees need Soto, Judge and Stanton to start producing or else they will be bounced by the Royals in a few days. Now, the good news is that they play much better on the road this year for whatever reason. The bad news is that Seth Lugo is starting for the Royals tomorrow night and he is tough on them. They could easily be down 2-1 with Cole going on Thursday. SU is seeing a game 5 Saturday night – do you roll out Rodon again for that one? And where is Gil? Look for Gil to be the first reliever in the game tomorrow night should Schmidt run into any trouble.

MLB is loving that these series are all tied at 1-1. The National League series are actually more interesting as these are teams that don’t like each other. No Big Papi hugs at first base for the Mets/Phillies or the Dodgers/Padres. SU believes that the Padres have poked the bear now and that will not help them in the long run vs. LA. That series will get more chippy and more batters will be hit in the next few games.

The Mets are the team of destiny. Truly. They don’t even show up for the first few innings but man do they finish. Citi Field will be rocking today and tomorrow. It would help if Diaz can regain some of his form to close out the games – he is the difference maker.

Buckle up NY fans.

SU says despite all of the Yankees’ flaws as a team this year, going into the post-season as AL East Division winners, they have to be one of the oddsmakers’ favorites to win it all. They will potentially have the best record in the AL, feature the dynamic duo of Soto and Judge, and be reasonably healthy going into October.

So, why is SU not so optimistic? Aside from being down on this team for much of the year (although they did exceed my 90 wins prediction), there are some real concerns:

1. Back end of the bullpen. Weaver has been a revelation and it seems very possible that Boone will use him like Torre did Mariano for 2 innings in close games. Clay Holmes is the X-factor and he is basically terrifying. He certainly cannot be relied on to close games but can he even be trusted in the 7th or 8th inning? No doubt he will be on a tight leash.
2. Pitching around Soto and Judge. There is just no way that teams will pitch to them in the post-season – even if it means putting men in scoring position. Wells was terrific for a long stretch but he has slumped badly in September. The reality is that he may just be tired starting so many games at catcher which is a demanding position. There is no way you pitch to Soto and Judge. SU can see Boone moving Stanton to cleanup and while he has been good in the playoffs in his career, his role will be even more important this year. Can he come through consistently?
3. The injury to Nestor Cortes is big. The Yankees have a lot of confidence in Gil and he was lights out in the first half of the season. He now throws a lot of pitches to just get through 4 innings and that puts more strain on the bullpen. Nestor would eat some innings. Maybe Clarke Schmidt will step up big. No way you pitch Stroman. Will Rodon justify the big contract now? Cole is a lock but some concerns beyond that.
4. Verdugo or Dominguez in left field? Unfortunately, Dominguez did not take full advantage of his opportunities in September and he is a liability in left field (apparently). Boone will go with Verdugo as a veteran but you can’t expect much from him. Volpe has struggled but Rizzo is showing signs of life.
5. Don’t underestimate the importance of the trade for Jazz Chisholm. They have played so much better with him on the roster as it allowed the Yankees to not play DJ LeMahieu. No way DJ is on the roster for the post-season. Good guy but it’s been a long 2-3 years now.
6. The Guardians have a lockdown bullpen. They are a scary match-up in the ALCS if they get that far. Houston is always a threat for the Yankees but they have handled them well this year – not as worried. SU is more concerned about the winner of the Tigers-Orioles matchup. Detroit is red hot and the Orioles have some experience under their belts now. from last season in the playoffs.

Bottom line: the Yankees need to at least make it to the World Series for this season to be considered a success. SU is not feeling it. Just too many flaws in a flawed American League.

Meanwhile, the Mets have been red hot but now the weather is causing them to potentially have to play a doubleheader vs. the Braves on Monday and then fly West for the Wild Card game. That is not right or fair. No way Milwaukee will be motivated to play them this weekend and they will no doubt rest some of their starters. That benefits them while Atlanta faces a Kansas City team that is about to clinch the Wild Card. They may also rest some of their players although they are playing for home field for the Wild Card series which is important. Exciting weekend on tap here and the Monday scenario is very interesting.

Oh, that has to be an easy one. Deshaun Watson, quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, is in the middle of a 5-year, fully guaranteed $230 million contract.

SU is not even basing this on the fact that he is not a good dude. His off-the-field actions are well-documented. And I give him a bit of a pass yesterday (no pun intended) as he had no time to throw the ball with his offensive line. But SU says even in the best of circumstances, he is not an elite quarterback and this type of contract in the NFL is a killer for the whole roster. It can set your franchise back several years if you screw this one up. Consider that to be the case here. Too bad as the Browns have a good defense. Just brutal. It makes the Giancarlo Stanton deal with the Yankees look pretty good (which it ain’t).

Speaking of the Yankees, SU was very, very disappointed (did I say very?) in Nestor Cortes complaining that he was brought in as a reliever on Saturday for the first time this year. He promptly pitched 4+ innings of great relief and got the win. And he still complained. Disrespected, blah, blah, blah. As a Yankee fan, the team’s biggest weakness going into the playoffs is the bullpen. Has he not been paying attention? If Nestor can be effective pitching 2-3 innings a game in the playoffs, that is huge. You have to figure Boone will roll out Cole, Gil and Rodon for the first 3 games of any series. Cortes would not be starting anyway. Isn’t it better to get him used to doing this in the regular season in September? Why is this so hard? Team first. “Happy to do it if it helps the team.” Bad look for Nestor who is a good guy. Do better.

While an American did not win the US Open this year, it was a great showing by the American men and women. SU roots for players no matter what their nationality – I have never gotten caught up in the “USA, USA” stuff. But it appears that we finally have some great talent to root for who are in the primes of their careers. Emma Navarro is only 23 and Coco is just 20. Tiafoe, Fritz, Paul, and even Shelton are right there.

Speaking of Ben Shelton, SU thought he was a bit of a punk last year at the Open with the hang up the phone gesture after winning a match. Not my style for sure. But he is definitely maturing and handles himself very well on the court now. SU was at the Tiafoe-Shelton match this year – might have been the best match of the Open. SU will be rooting for Shelton from here on out – he showed me something – including a much better backhand. Of all the American men, he will have the most upside looking to the future.

NFL week 1 is just about behind us. SU observation: not playing your starters in the exhibition games makes total sense – I get that. But so many teams are just not ready for week 1 – see NY Giants (who may not even be ready in week 18 this year). Not sure there is a better way but some ragged performances this week.

It has been sooooo long since American men have been in the mix on the ATP Tour. While the USTA may have had some initial concerns with the early exits of Alcaraz and Djokovic, and the absence of Nadal at this year’s Open, the extended runs of Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe to the semi-finals have been great for American fans. Tiafoe, in particular, is very entertaining and an easy guy to get behind.

On the women’s side, Emma Navarro is another player who you can root for. 2 years at UVA and she has vaulted into the top 10 of the WTA rankings now. She plays a very clean game and at 23, has her head on straight. Coco Gauff needs a reset. A few SU observations:

1. Allowing on-court coaching is a good idea. It is interesting to watch how players interact with their teams. In singles, the challenge as a player is to problem solve on your own – it’s an individual sport in singles. Alcaraz has a running conversation with his coach and team in every match, and you wonder if that hurts him in the end? Clearly, he is uber talented but you would think he could make some of these decisions on his own. Coco Gauff seems to have a lot of issues with her team and to the average fan, it has to be a net negative. I guess every player reacts differently but receiving constant direction and commentary would be annoying in my book.
2. The USTA is allowing too many people in each day. The National Tennis Center footprint is just not big enough and it becomes challenging to physically move around without shuffling along behind a lot of people. Hope they re-evaluate that next year.
3. The men’s game is definitely in transition now. Nadal will be gone next year most likely, and Djokovic is not playing many tournaments anymore. Plenty of talent in the pipeline and the game will be fine going forward – just different.
4. The winner of Medvedev vs. Sinner tonight is the likely winner of the Open. SU will be rooting for Tiafoe but those are really tough match-ups for him.

Yankees’ closer, Clay Holmes, below his 11th save last night – just a killer for the Yankees. Boone has to remove him from the closer’s role now and either do it by committee or, SU says, put either Gill or Schmidt in there as they are both returning this weekend. Gill may be the better option as he has pitched a lot of innings. The offense has actually been a bit better of late. The bullpen will cost them in October for sure. Let’s see if Boone finally makes the move. There are many on Twitter who are ready.

No.

In other news…

But seriously, who are we kidding? We have a sufficiently large body of work now that has to convince anyone paying attention in the Yankees’ front office. SU says no lead under 5 runs is safe going into the 9th inning with the bullpen in general and especially with the closer. Holmes leads MLB with 10 blown saves – a staggering number for a team right up there with the best record in baseball. You can pretty much say now that if the Yankees fall short of winning the AL East, it is on Holmes. He is a good guy and takes responsibility but apparently not cut out for this role.

The trade deadline is behind us. Mark Leiter Jr. is clearly not the answer although he is good for extra innings if you need to end the game quickly. SU says that they need to take one of the starters and put him in the bullpen. Gill is the more obvious choice given concerns over his innings pitched this year coming off surgery but he is likely their 2nd best starter in the playoffs behind Cole. Nestor Cortes would be interesting as his velocity will go up pitching out of the bullpen. Even Clarke Schmidt would be an option.

The battle for the AL East title will go down to the wire with Baltimore and it makes a huge difference. SU can easily see teams not pitching to Judge at all in the post-season, and the lineup really tails off after him. The return of Jazz Chisholm is a difference maker but we will have to see if he can avoid surgery.

For the Yankees, this is a winnable pennant year. No other team is that scary but they need to lengthen the effectiveness of the lineup and fix the bullpen before October. Unclear that either will happen.

For the 17 people that watch the Tennis Channel (globally), this was a crazy match point the other night between FAA from Canada and Jack Draper, the #1 UK player these days. Draper had the match point and was serving and volleying. Take a look: you have to watch about 45 seconds into the video to see the side angle.

It screams for umpires to have access to video replay on these types of plays – not in the rules today. But…. SU says that an experienced player actually knows what happened. If you watch Draper, he almost reaches out with his hand to catch the ball after hitting it as he knows it his racket and then hit the ground before bouncing off the net cord for a winner. The ball would have had underspin and not bounced so far forward off the net if he hit it cleanly. But it had overspin because it hit the ground off his racket.

He needed to ‘fess up there but decided to take the win. That will cost him in the locker-room longer term. Missed a chance to display good sportsmanship.