We all know that the Yankees have had a ridiculous number of players on the injured list this year.  It’s way out of hand and it’s a testament to Brian Cashman that they have one of the best records in baseball at this point in the season.  But SU says that there is something wrong with the strength and conditioning program for the players that must be contributing to all of the injuries.

For example, whoever heard of a “core” injury before this year?  SU did not.  Luke Voit, an avid weight lifter, had a core injury and now a sports hernia.  He may need surgery.  Last night, Gleyber Torres goes out for a “core” injury.  Aaron Hicks was out for a long time with a back injury earlier in the year and now has a shoulder issue.  Judge had the oblique injury.  Stanton had the bicep injury earlier in the year.  To SU, these all sound like issues that come up from too much weight lifting.  And if that’s not the cause, then how do you explain it and is the team investigating?  It’s more than bad luck.  There is something wrong with how they keep the players fit.

If Torres is out for an extended time, the Yankees will be putting out a spring training type of line up every game now.  The silver lining is that the players who are taking advantage of their opportunities are not the free swingers but rather guys who put the ball in play and hit to the opposite field.  What a concept.  Maybin, Tauchman, Ford, Romine are all contributing.  SU is almost disappointed that Sanchez is coming back now.  He kills them in the middle of the line up.

Note to ESPN: your Sunday Night Baseball broadcasts are unlistenable.  It’s like having 3 Al Leiters talking at once.  SU had to turn off the sound last night and I never, ever do that.  Cut back A-Rod’s caffeine intake and have Jessica Mendoza stop with the technical talk.  So many words, so little quality anything.  SU enjoyed the silence.

SU is fine with the Yankees not making any moves at the trade deadline.  And it’s not because they don’t have the need to add a pitcher or two.  SU’s perspective:

• The starters are clearly running on fumes at the moment.  Paxton has not figured out NY, Tanaka is in a bad stretch, CC is breaking down and Happ is hapless.  Only German gives you confidence right now.
• Full disclosure: SU has no confidence in Chapman.  Mariano looked good in Cooperstown.  Maybe he can be a September call-up?  Chapman walks the first batter in every appearance, cannot throw his fastball for a strike and is not getting many swings and misses anymore as virtually every reliever throws as hard as he does.   All of the Yankee relievers are gassed as the starters can’t go more than 5 innings, and the Yankees keep winning thanks to their offense.
• Chad Green is pretty bad.  Nice guy but the League has figured him out.

However, SU is in it for the long-term, and I agree with Cashman not to trade some of the top prospects.  The hope here is that Severino and Betances both return and that would be ideal.  SU prefers that they stay the course.  Now, the Astros just added Greinke today and that is another tough right-hander to face in the playoffs.  Verlander, Cole and Greinke.  The Yankees undoing will ultimately be having too many right-handed batters.

Apparently, the Yankees were willing to trade Andujar for a pitcher – interesting.  But this kid Garcia who was just promoted to AAA as a 20-year old is worth keeping and let’s see what he can do.

SU says stay with the program.  Others may disagree and say go for it all this year.  What say  you?

Full Disclosure: SU stayed up until 1:20 am last night to watch the end of the Yankee game.  I was going to pack it in when they took the lead at 14-12, but the wireless went out and the thought of waking up in the middle of the night and being unable to find out who won the game was too much to take.  Wild game.  It was a great win for the Yankees but some causes of concern:

• German had nothing all game which was fine.  He’s been great.  But it was troubling to SU that Boone did not take him out earlier.  It was clear he could not throw any pitch for a strike.  He finally gave up the 3-run home run to make it 8-2.  That was avoidable.  Bad job there.
• Chapman was throwing around 95 mph for most of his inning.  SU is right about this: he no longer is lights out.  Always lets the first guy on base.  He cannot throw his fastball for strikes.  SU says watch for the stint on the IL coming up.  Something is wrong with him.
• Britton was no better nor was Ottavino but they have generally been good so you just have to acknowledge the occasional bad game.
• SU likes the offense but I must admit that in a ballpark that is not a band box like Minnesota, there were so many home runs (again) last night and a number of doubles that just missed.  What is going on with the ball?  And can the Yankee hitters please run it out?  Even Judge was caught admiring one of his blasts that just missed and he should have been on 3rd base in the 8th inning.

This brings me to my biggest concern/complaint.  Gary Sanchez.  He is hitting .100 for July and is pulling everything.  Now, truth be told, he has hit a few hot shots to the left side that were caught or turned into a double play but SU says: HIT TO RIGHT FIELD.  You are capable of it.  You have done it in your career.  Boone puts him right in the middle of the line up and he is a rally killer.  Now, mercifully, it looks like he sprained his ankle last night and should go on the IL which will help him.    Watching LeMahieu hit should be an inspiration for his teammates like Sanchez.

Btw, Tauchman has been great and now that Maybin is rehabbing, it’s a tough call for Cashman what to do.  SU says Tauchman gives you another left-handed bat (which they desperately need) and he is red hot.  He is 13 for 29 against lefties this year to boot.  SU would play him ahead of Gardner while he’s hot.

Bottom line: SU says this season is all about reaching the World Series.  You don’t have to win it but you have to make it.  The offense is great but the starters inability to pitch past 6 innings is catching up with the bullpen now given that the top line guys may be tiring.  The next week will be interesting to see what Cashman does.  SU is fine with Severino and Bettances being added to the mix assuming that they can get there with their rehab program.

I don’t know if you caught this from yesterday’s Yankee game when Aaron Boone was ejected in the first game of the doubleheader.  But through the combination of a smallish crowd and excellent microphones on the field, we get to hear the full exchange with the umpire starting with Brett Gardner being called out on strikes and banging his bat in the dugout.  SU provides a warning to its younger subscribers that some of the language here is a bit salty.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/aaron-boone-savages_n_5d313f62e4b020cd9941307a

No doubt “the Savages” and “Tighten This S**t Up” will be the new rallying cries for the team as it heads to the post-season.  Good stuff.

Did you read that the Yankees may put German in the bullpen soon if they acquire another starting pitcher?  SU knows that they want to protect his arm for total innings pitched this season but he has been their best starter.  Surely there is another option here.  Go to 6 starters?  Limit his starts to 5 innings?  You don’t want to roll out CC and Happ ahead of German – that is nuts.  Right now, SU slots him in right behind Tanaka in the playoffs unless Paxton can be more consistent.   SU says don’t overthink the situation.

Finally, SU does acknowledge that Eduard Encarnacion has shown signs of coming out of his prolonged slump but we need to see more before I say I was wrong.  But happy to do it if he can earn it.

SU is a long-time Novak Djokovic fan going back to 2011 when he figured some things out and embarked on a sustained run of excellence.  Despite a 2-year hiatus in 2016 – 2018 when he went a bit too far into the world of mindfulness, he has competed with the all-time greats of Nadal and Federer in impressive fashion.  Consider: over that time period he is something like 20-9 vs. Federer and 20-10 against Nadal.  SU agrees that Federer is the GOAT – he just is with his style of play and great career record.  But history will put Djokovic on equal footing with Federer and Nadal when all is said and done – and deservedly so.

Both Nadal and Federer always get the maximum crowd support, and yesterday among the 15,000 spectators in Center Court, Djokovic probably had a handful of supporters.  It’s hard for a team to win on the road in a hostile environment, but SU says it’s even harder for a single competitor to pull it off.  The British are not as raucous as the NY fans which cheered every Djokovic service fault back in the 2015 US Open finals but they love, love, love Fed.  Djokovic, to his credit, was prepared and is very into visualization.  He is an incredibly thoughtful and smart dude, and goes beyond just physical preparation for these types of matches.  See some of his post-match comments:

https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/articles/2019-07-14/djokovic_it_was_the_most_mentally_demanding_match_ive_played.html

But SU says what made this win even more impressive is that Djokovic is also the President of the ATP Men’s Players Council and the Men’s Tour is going through a lot of turmoil.  They are firing the ATP CEO and there is a major battle underway regarding the splitting up of prize money.  Djokovic is in favor of giving the lesser players a bigger share for winning in the early rounds of tournaments while the top stars like Federer and Nadal feel that the fans come out to see them and they should be getting their fair share.  On top of that, one of the Board members, Justin Gimelstob, beat up his ex-wife’s boyfriend and had to resign.  Djokovic is still close to him and takes a lot of heat from the media over that.  There were some contentious press conferences in the early rounds of the tournament and a 7-hour council meeting right before the start of the tournament.  This is a huge distraction.  So, he’s not just focusing on his own game these days.

SU has said it before: for fans of men’s tennis, this is a golden era not to ever be repeated in terms of greatness.

Regarding the Edwin Encarnacion watch, he knocked in 3 runs Friday night which will ensure that he will be in the line up now for the next 3 weeks.  It is painful.  Still hovering around .215.

It is still way, way too early to assess how good RJ Barrett will be in his career.  He has had two pretty terrible games in the summer league and you don’t want to jump to conclusions.  SU has watched some of each game.  He is clearly trying too hard, forcing the action, turning the ball over and shooting terribly.  For SU, what is troublesome is his shooting form – just doesn’t look very smooth.  No doubt he will be a slasher and a creator but in the NBA, you do need to shoot it well unless you are Simmons on the Sixers.  Iggy Brazdeikis looked great last night for the Knicks – 30 points – and is someone to keep an eye on.

SU is happy for the USA Women’s World Cup team.  Just fun to watch this team play and they came through this year with a lot of pressure on them.  Good stuff.

Clearly Edwin Encarnacion did not get the SU message.  0 for 8 the last 2 games.  But good to read that he’s not feeling any pressure to do better.  That’s nice.  Average must be down to .120 now with the Yankees but life is good with a guaranteed contract.  When Luke Voit returns, watch out.

Aaron Boone must be happy to lose that last game vs. the Rays.  SU questions the logic of resting both DJ Lemahieu and Glayber Torres on the even of the All-Star Break.  Chances are that Torres won’t play at all, and LeMahieu is going to play one game in 4 days.  What am I missing here?  It’s fine to give guys a day off but not before a break and not against the 2nd place team.  And how do you bat Sanchez and Encarnacion back to back when Sanchez is slumping and Edwin is always slumping?  Puzzling…

Did you see Justin Verlander go off today about the juiced baseball?  Basically said that Commissioner Rob Manfred and MLB had Rawlings just make the ball tighter to help improve the offense.  He used some colorful language to make his point.  Is that really true?

SU has no problem with Kawi Leonard deciding on where he wants to play next.  He was traded to Toronto and brought a championship to that franchise.  Of course, he forced the Spurs to trade him as he wasn’t a free agent yet.  He was under no obligation to stay for another season with Toronto although SU says in terms of future success, that was the smart move.  But he’s from Southern California (home of all the earthquakes) and he wants to play there.  All good.  He’s a free agent and that’s how it’s supposed to work.

But now Paul George, who is not a free agent, wants to play with Kawi and Kawi wants to play with him.  Reports are, by the way, that Leonard first asked Durant about playing for the same team.  Then Kawi recruited George who told OKC they had to trade him — and it had to be to the Clippers.  GMs have it tough now.  You have the traditional recruiting of college kids, trades and free agents.  But now even when you have a star under contract, he can force your hand because he wants to play with his buddy.  SU says it kind of sucks.  I guess the good news is that the Clippers will have to give up a ton of draft picks and players of equal salary value so they will be limited in a similar way that the Lakers are now with LeBron and Davis.  For SU, I  hope they both miss the playoffs next season although unlikely of course.  And don’t forget all the Clipper players who were comfortable there and will now be traded to OKC.

SU says: make your mark with a team and win your championship.  Teaming up with your buddies just feels wrong.

Speaking of feeling wrong, SU is not happy with the Edwin Encarnacion trade.  Once Luke Voit returns, he creates a logjam and limits the at bats for Voit and Urshela.  It’s like having another Stanton out there wildly swinging for home runs and batting .200.  This is not how the Yankees have amassed a great record so far.  They don’t need him.  Naturally, SU checked his Yankee stats:  .140 batting average with 4 home runs and 7 rbis.  And yet Boone keeps slotting him into the line up 3rd, 4th or 5th.  If you need to play him (which you don’t), bat him 8th.  The dude is 36 and maybe, just maybe, his best days are behind him.

The Mets are in freefall.  Joe Girardi is warming up in the bullpen to take over.  You do have to feel a little bad for Brodie as Diaz has been awful – just hard to have anticipated that.  But they need to decide if they will be sellers and soon.

SU is not an expert on Achilles injuries (although I did tear mine about 5 years ago) but if you are the Knicks, how do you not offer Kevin Durant a max deal?  Were they seriously making their move this coming year?  Durant would have brought Kyrie.  Now they are both going to Brooklyn joining Caris LeVert and some other young players.  This will be a fun team for the next several years.  SU is all in.

But wait: the Knicks have signed Julius Randle for – 3 years, $63 million.  Sigh.  The action is in Brooklyn.

Meanwhile, despite Aaron Boone’s managing, the Yankees did sweep the Red Sox in London.   SU was curious today.  You have JA Happ and CC both lined up to start but instead, you go with the Opener Line up and throw the rookie Tarpley out there who has probably not started a game for the last several years in the minors.  Of course, he is lit up in the 1st inning.  Then, with the big lead, it’s Chance Adams time?  Let’s get the tying run to the plate in the 8th inning.  SU says: try and win the games.  You had 2 days off before the series and a day off on Monday.  Try and sweep the games against your biggest rivals – they count double head-to-head.

They won anyway, of course, and the Red Sox are reeling.  No bullpen at all.  And I get the logic that it’s a long season and sometimes you lose a game in order to win the war.   But not today when you had rested starters.  Was he afraid to pitch them in a fly ball friendly park?  Could be as Happ has already given up about 100 home runs this season.

Very curious.  Each game was 4 and a half hours plus.  Crazy.

Tomorrow evening is the opening of NBA free agency.  The latest rumors have Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant wanting to play together, and the Knicks and Clippers represent the two best places for that to happen.  SU is not loving how the NBA stars and their agents are able to dictate where they play and create these super teams.  While the Warriors played that game, they already had a nucleus in place with Thompson, Curry and Draymon, so it was just a sweetener to what was already a great home grown team through the draft.  LeBron’s agent engineered the trade of Davis to the Lakers – he’s a bad dude.  And now the League is faced with the three top free agents of this summer – Kyrie, Durant and Leonard – shopping themselves in pairs.  I suppose if you are the recipient of one of these signing deals you like the system but SU continues to be partial to teams that grow the roster through the draft and thoughtful signings and trades for supporting pieces to put together a line up that has staying power.  Clearly, the Knicks are not capable and SU can understand the potential glee from fans to make that happen now.  The Nets are more interesting as they may allow Russell to leave and sign Irving to take his place.  That feels like a wash to SU though.

The result is a few super teams and a lot of teams that either immediately move to rebuild mode or try and squeak by into the playoffs each year.  Not ideal.

SU has decided that Yankee fans will not be allowed to complain for the rest of the season.  Can’t have it.  For Cashman, the goal is to acquire one more starting pitcher who can stand up to Houston in October.  That will be the challenge – getting by Houston.  It doesn’t matter how many wins they end up with in the regular season.  SU says success this year is defined by making it to the World Series – you don’t have to win it all but I think you have to get there.

SU is pretty certain now that Cashman is putting out misdirection on Clint Frazier.  The word is that he is seen as the Yankees’ starting left field in 2020 and will not be traded.  SU says that the Yankees actually believe that their top prospect, Estevan Florial, who is just now returning from a broken wrist, is the guy they see for the future and Frazier will be dealt.  So, it almost feels like the reason they are leaving Frazier in the minors now rather than have him replace Stanton during July is not to have Frazier struggle in the majors.  He has already shown he can hit up here – his trade value is high right now.  They will keep him in Scranton in order to not risk a slump up with the parent team.  He will be gone by August 1st — but not for Madison Bumgarner.  If they move him, you need a younger guy with fewer injuries.  Not sure who that is but pretty sure the Yankees know right now.

Agree?  Disagree?  Knick fans: what say you?

SU is an NBA fan and these days, even more a fan of college hoops.  I tuned into the NBA draft last night – mostly to see if the Michigan players who declared for the draft got selected.  I was happy to see Jordan Poole actually go in the 1st round to the Warriors (good spot for him given their style and all the injuries although he will be in the G-League next season) and then Iggy Brazdeikis actually got picked by the Knicks in the 2nd round.  SU can check him out in White Plains at the County Center in the G-League next year.

But here is the issue: who are these other guys?  Sure, we know about the Duke players and even the North Carolina ones who went high up in the 1st round.  The problem is that so many freshmen opt out after one year and we never get to watch them to any great degree.  It was interesting to hear some of the commentary on ESPN regarding how certain players were whatever number in the ESPN 100 coming out of high school and then dropped down come draft day.  SU’s conclusions:

• The talent evaluators are just not that good.  It’s even worse in college football when you hear about the 5-star players who declare for a school and then turn out to be a bust.
• If players are going to opt out after one year, then let them go right from high school to the NBA or the G-League.  SU is not sure what the point is to play the one year in college.  They are clearly not there to get the education.  At least in the NBA they will get paid.  Sure, Zion Williamson was a phenom this year and by the way, Coach K had 3 of the top 10 picks and still didn’t win it all.  But you feel like others probably peaked last night on the draft stage and it will be all downhill from here out.
• Most of the guys picked last night are not going to make it in the NBA.  SU was thinking back to previous drafts and some players are just never heard from again.  Some leave too early and it costs them.  Others hang around for a few years but the League sours on them quickly for the next big shiny thing.
• Is the ability of the top 10-12 players really that much better than the next 20-30?  Or even 50?  Guys are athletic but if they can’t shoot (which by the way is a problem for a large percentage of the group), they will not make it in the NBA.  Better to play in college, hone your skills and show what you can do.  Let the top 15 go directly to the NBA each year if that’s what they want to do, and I will enjoy watching the next 40-50 top players in college.

There is a case to be made on both sides and SU gets that.  But I should be able to recognize more of the players as a fan.  There were players from Auburn and Tennessee who I watched in the NCAAs but the Kentucky players were a mystery to me.  The NCAA and the NBA need to fix the system.  The G-League was a good start.

Yankee fans feeling good this morning after they knocked around the Astros last night.  But let’s see how they do against Verlander and Cole.  That will be the true test of the all right-handed line up.