As many of the SU faithful know, SU is not a fan of Giancarlo Stanton.  He started slowly this season and even when he started to hit home runs many were with no-one on base or when the game was out of reach.  However, once Judge went down with an injury in July, we needed to see if Stanton would step up.

Clearly, he has done so.  He has hit a lot of home runs of late and with both Judge and Sanchez on the shelf, this is the guy who needs to supply the power.  While many of his home runs are solo shots, that’s not his fault as Boone has him hitting 2nd in the line up even though the bottom of the order these days features sub – .220 hitters.

Is he the “generational player?”  SU is not ready to go that far but he has earned the praise for his last 3-4 weeks of power and average.

Don’t look now but Oakland has caught Houston in the AL West.  This is not good for the Yankees.  They would much prefer to face Oakland vs. Houston in the wild card game with their stable of stud starters.  I know the goal is just get into the playoffs but with Boston awaiting in that first round Divisional Series, well, it would be better to at least have an easier Wild Card match-up.

Interesting comments from Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray about switching the major tournaments from best of 5 sets to best of 3.  Their point is that young fans don’t have the attention span to sit through 4-5 hour matches similar to what other sports are experiencing with the younger fan demographic.  Roger Federer disagrees and would prefer maintaining the best of 5 format.  SU would agree with Djoker and Murray.   Part of the problem is that the servers take so long to serve it just prolongs the matches even more.   Sports need to change with the times.  SU likes the serve clock that the US Open will be using and baseball would also benefit from that.  Speed it up!

Finally, the Ohio State investigation should be wrapping up soon.  SU says Urban Meyer will be suspended for 2 games.  No way they do the right thing and send him packing.  Thoughts?

Let’s face it: having Tiger Woods in the mix on a Sunday for a major is still riveting TV.  Love him or hate him, he makes it all so much more exciting.  Yesterday, he pretty much missed every fairway and green on the front 9 and still shot a 64.  He was right there at the end.  SU has always been a fan.  I don’t let the personal stuff with athletes get in the way.  Porn stars?  Won’t talk to the other players?  Too standoffish?  Get over it. Otherwise, aside from Aaron Judge, there would be no one to root for.  He is still only 42 years old and if you look at the rest of the field and some of the older guys still playing, he can still compete at a high level for another 6-7 years.  Hopefully he will make the Ryder Cup roster and we go from there.

You probably missed it but this Greek phenom, Stefanos Tsitsipas, almost ran the table to win the Rogers Cup in Toronto.  He beat Thiem, Djokovic, Zverev and Anderson before losing to Nadal in the final.  This dude is only 19.  Tennis is really set up now for the next generation.  It will be interesting to see how long it takes them to supplant the Big Four who are still dominant.  Time to renew your subscription to the Tennis Channel!

As for the Yankees, after getting destroyed by Boston, they have quietly taken care of business winning 6 of 7 against bad teams.  Now, CC has an inflamed knee and is on the DL.  PAGING SONNY GRAY.  He was terrible yesterday giving up 5 hits in 1+ innings to make a 7-0 game uncomfortable.  It’s either him or one of the rookies.  SU says Boone will go with Gray first.  Cross your fingers.  I do give Boone credit for sticking with his players and letting them work out of trouble or get one more start.  He did that with Zach Britton on Saturday (it was a mistake) and continues to put Bird out there game after game.

Finally, Ronald Torreyes is back!  He is the ultimate good luck charm for the Yankees.  What took them so long?  Enough of the Tyler Wade experiment.  Torreyes can actually hit and deserves some starts now that he’s back.  Greg Bird is ready to go off now – just a hunch.  We need a lengthy rain delay tonight after the 2nd inning.  It’s worth the trade-off of deGrom for Severino.  Let the bullpens battle it out.

After months of “not ready to resume baseball related activities”, Jacoby Ellsbury had surgery on his hip and will be out the rest of the year.  He is 34 years old with the body of a 65-year old.  He is still owed $21 million a year for two more seasons.  Seriously, this could be the worst free agent signing of all time.  This one is on Brian Cashman.

Clint Frazier is still on the concussion protocol and apparently Michael Kay said something on his radio show about his situation, i.e., whether he is that injured.  Frazier fired back on Twitter and really let him have it.  SU says it’s really too bad as this was his chance to play everyday.  Shane Robinson is not good and now Stanton has some hamstring issues.

Zach Britton is not impressing so far.  Either he is one of those guys that is so intense that he can’t function in NY or he is still on the mend from his Achilles injury.  His pitches are all over the place.  Props to Sonny Gray who pitched a solid 3 innings for the win last night when everyone assumed he would give up a run and blow the game.  SU says he will be in the mix down the stretch as a starter.

Suggestion: go with a 6-man rotation.  Consider the facts:

• Sabathia pitches much, much better now with more rest.
• Tanaka always pitches better with more rest.
• Severino has nothing to lose.  I say he’s gassed this year and would really benefit from fewer innings and more days off in between starts.
• Happ has a disease.  Surely he could use more time off.

If the Rays can start short relievers, let the Yankees move to the 6-man rotation.  It makes perfect sense.

Question: if Chapman continues to struggle, this will be a repeat of 2017 with Girardi who ultimately took him out of the closer role.  Would Boone dare to do that?  Betances is scarily lights out and Robertson could close as well as Britton but SU would not trust him.  Let’s monitor what the great communicator does here.

The Yankee offense is just not good.  There are so many automatic outs now in the line up.  It is what it is for the rest of 2018 but SU says enough of the home run or bust approach.  Let’s get some players who can hit for average.  In fact, can we bring back Ronald Torreyes?  Neil Walker is smoking hot at .218 – this is as good as he’ll get.  Plus Torreyes is a good guy in the clubhouse.  Surely better than Tyler Wade who is “Mr. Potential.”

Actually, SU thinks a better name for the Red Sox sweep of the Yankees would be from the Naked Gun movie: The Final Insult.  Full transparency: SU stayed up through the end of 9 innings – the full 4 and a half hours of a regulation game – but then when I saw Jonathan Holder warming up to pitch the 10th, I knew it was all over.  I had watched – and listened –  enough.  SU is an A-Rod fan but listening to him and the rest of the ESPN crew for 4+ hours is painful.  And no discussion about pace of play?  David Price makes Steve Traschel look like Jim Kaat.  He literally takes over 30 seconds between pitches.  This game had minimal action and it wasn’t so tense that you were on the edge of your seat.  Face it: baseball has a pace of play problem and many games, like this one, are unwatchable even if you are a big fan like SU.

SU did not see every inning of every game this weekend but that doesn’t stop me from having an opinion based on nothing:

• No doubt Aaron Boone is a good communicator and commands the clubhouse.  But can we once in a while put a runner in motion?  When you are not hitting home runs in bunches, you have to find other ways to win.  Bunt against the shift?  Nada.  And I don’t mean sacrificing.  The Red Sox ran wild on the Yankees all series long.
• The absence of both Judge and Sanchez in this series was not a factor.  OK, maybe one of them hits a solo home run somewhere along the way but they are just more stirkeouts in the line up.  Not a factor.  And keep in mind that Boston was missing Sale and another starter, Rodriguez.
• Chapman’s meltdown is really another of several bad outings for him of late.  This time they no longer had Chasen Shreve to bail him out like he did in the Met game a couple of weeks ago.  He also threw almost 40 pitches and really, most of them were not close to the strike zone.  SU says watch for the DL stint coming up.
• Red Sox manager Alex Cora is a baby.  Needs to get over himself and not crave the camera so much.  The bean balls between these two teams are not done yet.  More fireworks to come.
• It looked like the Yankees lacked fire this series.  Maybe.  When you don’t hit, that’s how it looks.  A bigger issue is that for this team, a 5-inning start would be considered a “quality start.”  This is a season long problem and the bullpen is showing signs of wear and tear now having to account for so many innings every game.
• The Yankees have won a lot of games late this year and their bullpen until recently, was lights out.  You can say that’s not sustainable over a full season and it’s showing up now with late game meltdowns and losses.  Britton and Betances were both not sharp and threw so many balls to get through their innings.

It’s all about the wild card now, getting home field and then hoping you can be competitive against the Red Sox in the Division Series.  SU would have to say that if that happens, the season was not a success but acceptable.  The A’s are only 4 games behind Houston and even closer to the Yankees.  As SU has said many times, this is a young team and that youth showed over the weekend.  Boone loves to bat Torres clean-up – really?  Is he ready for that?  Andujar had a couple of miscues in the field but he will get better over time with that.  Bird continues to disappoint; have to hope he learns to hit to left field.  Stanton hit the ball hard – not his fault this weekend.

Bottom line: time to level set your expectations for the rest of the season.  SU refuses to go negative; won’t go over to the dark side.  But I am also not going to watch 4-hour games.

So, Yankee fans, what say you?

SU says too much is being made about the Yankees recent ups and downs, and getting destroyed in Boston last night.  The reality is that the team has one of the youngest rosters in baseball.  Consider:

• The infield has Bird, Torres, Didi and Andujar.  Didi is the wily veteran of this group.  Last night, Bird made a mis-read on a grounder late in the game and Andujar was slowing throwing on two plays.  It’s something he needs to work on and SU is sure he will figure it out – it just may not be in 2018.
• Holder, who got lit up, is basically a rookie as well.  Of course, Boone left him in the game way too long.
• Sanchez is young as are Judge and Severino.

This all means that you will have dumb plays, losses of focus and bad outings from a young roster.  It doesn’t mean that they won’t be a factor in October.  It does mean that they are not necessarily built to win in 2018.

SU won’t panic.  Last night was tough to watch and the Red Sox had so many extra base hits.  Credit to them – tip your hat and move on.  The Yankees need Severino to be good tonight which I am thinking is a big ask given his recent performances.  Chance Adams will likely get the start tomorrow.  Gray’s implosion on Wednesday really screwed up the pitching for this series now.  It’s interesting how “unclose” these games have been with the Red Sox.  They all seem to be blowouts for one side or the other.

SU is hoping for a clean game tonight – win or lose.  Let’s see how Boone gets the train back on track and how he uses those exceptional communication skills with the youngsters.  Stanton hit a home run when the game was out of hand but not his fault.

Any chance for the division title needs a win tonight.  Otherwise, full speed ahead for the wild card.

Let the Lance Lynn Era begin.  SU predicts this will last for one start.  Lynn will get rocked and Gray will come in and will pitch lights out.   You just know it and then you are back to square one.  OR with Happ on the DL with his disease, both Lynn and Gray will be in the rotation.

When you stack up this rotation against Houston or Cleveland, it doesn’t give you the warm fuzzies.  As Joe Girardi likes to say, “It’s not what you want.”  Nope.

Sonny Gray is taking a beating this morning from all sides following yesterday’s bad outing.  The fans are demanding that Lance Lynn be put into the rotation and Gray sent packing.  Even Aaron Boone seemed to be hinting that a change was coming in his post-game remarks.  SU is not on board with the move:

• OK, Gray was bad yesterday but he was decent in his last few starts.  Plus what else are you going to do with this guy?  He does not pitch out of the bullpen – has always been a starter.  SU says keep him in the rotation but with a short leash.
• I am telling you that Lance Lynn is not the answer.  He was good yesterday but he has not been good for several years.  SU says have both Gray and Lynn both warm up for the next start and have one of them on call throughout the first part of the game.  The reality is that neither of these guys is the answer or can be trusted.
• Gleyber Torres made two mental errors yesterday.  His head was not in the game.  But he is still only 21 and these things happen.  He also hit 2 home runs and is probably your best hitter right now.  Give him a pep talk but do not discipline him.
• The injuries call out for Stanton to do something, anything.  He struck out with the bases loaded early and then struck out on 3 pitches in the 9th inning.  Clearly, not feeling generational in the heat yesterday.  SU says let’s see what he’s got this weekend.  But they should move him down to clean-up.  What’s the point of him batting 2nd when your 8th and 9th hitters are Romine and Robinson?  And tell me why Robinson is playing again?  Better off having Walker as the DH and putting Stanton in the field.

Things do not look great heading into Boston but baseball is not a momentum type sport.  Anything can happen here.  Look for Bird to hit at least two home runs over the Green Monster – he seems to be finding a left field stroke.  Sale is out and the Red Sox are not putting out any Hall of Famers this weekend.  SU will take a series split and move on.

Will Urban Meyer have to step down?  SU says no way.  Ohio State has no track record of doing the right thing (see Republican Rep. Jim Jordan and his history as an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State).  SU says winning trumps all else.  He will be suspended the first two games of the season against bad teams and will then return in all his glory.  But perhaps, perhaps, it puts him one step closer to the NFL for his next move.

Wait a minute, the Nationals just scored again vs. the Mets.  The score is now 500 – 4.  What an embarrassment.  They need to show some pride.  This is a big moment for Callaway who does not want to be a one and done manager.

But moving on.  SU has been monitoring the Yankees’ moves over the past week.  My thoughts:

• Lance Lynn: SU is not a fan.  He hasn’t been good for several years.  Hard thrower but his fastball is very straight.  He reminds me of Joba Chamberlain.  And not in a good way.  But… maybe he will be like Phil Hughes and when used out of the bullpen, his speed goes up into the high 90s.  Can’t see him as a starter.  I guess he is the Tommy Kahnle replacement.  And what happened to him?  SU suspects his pitch speed never returned this year and that is why he is languishing in the minor leagues.
• JA Happ: they gave up nothing basically other than Drury who also didn’t have a position.  No downside here – even if he’s a rental which is likely the case.  Andujar is the future and SU is glad they kept him.  If Happ can produce, good move given what you gave up.
• Adam Warren: He’s a nice guy and a good soldier.  His stats seemed to look better than he actually pitched this year.  I think the Yankees think he is brittle and can’t stay healthy.  SU does not have a problem moving him out.  It clears room for Justus Sheffield to be brought up.
• Zach Britton:  Good move.  He will settle in and be a factor down the stretch and in October.  SU predicts he will get more prime time activity late in games and very soon – starting this weekend.
• Loss of Tyler Austin: let’s face it: he was never going to get a real shot as he didn’t have a position.  This should be good for his career and SU hopes he can take advantage of it.

OK, big series on tap now in Boston.  No Judge, no Sanchez.  This is the time your true generational players step up and show everyone that they are the man and need to be feared.  Will Giancarlo Stanton do that?  SU says it’s highly doubtful but is ready to be proven wrong.  Let’s speak plainly: when you are paid $30 million a year, these are the games when you are expected to produce.  A-Rod often struggled in these games – especially in October.  Stanton likely has little experience with this given that the Marlins rarely contended.  Of course, I would love to see him come through.  Just not feeling it.

Will he?

Given the injuries, SU says a 2-2 split would be a victory this weekend in Boston.  You really can’t hope for more than that.  Actually, a couple of early inning rain delays would work in the Yankees’ favor where the starter can’t return.  That would be ideal with the new bullpen which is loaded.  Also worried Severino will get lit up again.  His slider has disappeared and he can’t win with his fastball alone.

The really good teams don’t make a big deal about injuries – they play through it and view the situation as an opportunity for a bench player to make his mark.  SU says that over the years, the Yankees have adopted that approach.  There is no hysteria, no gnashing of the teeth.  The Red Sox usually do it the opposite way and focus on their bad luck.

The injury to Aaron Judge is bad but could have been worse.  It sounds like a minimum of 3 weeks but likely longer as he will need time to to rehab a bit.  So, what are the options for the Yankees?

• Timing is everything.  Clint Frazier is the obvious choice but he is in another concussion protocol.  Bad luck for this dude.  Not sure how long he is out for but he just started this latest one last week.
• Next up would be Billy McKinney but they just traded him for Happ yesterday afternoon.  Can you believe that?
• Then there is Jacoby Ellsbury who has still not resumed baseball activities down in Tampa.  SU suspects that they have him mowing the practice fields down there and putting the baselines down each morning.  He is not an option.
• Tyler Wade can play the outfield but he is still over-powered by Major League pitching.
• They added this guy Shane Robinson to the roster yesterday.  He will probably get some at bats.

Bottom line: with both Judge and Sanchez out now, this is no longer a home run hitting machine.  They need to hit and run, move runners along and hit against the shifts.  It will be interesting to see how they adjust.

SU liked the Happ trade.  Drury will likely become an every day player in Toronto but he was blocked in NY.  McKinney has a lot of power but doesn’t hit for average and he never would have made it up here.  Happ is a rental and has good career numbers against the Red Sox.  SU doesn’t love him but you didn’t give up anything so worth the risk.  Clearly better than Cole Hamels.  That would have been a disaster.

We will see if the Yankees’ generational player, Stanton, now rises to the occasion and becomes “the man.”  SU will be curious on that front.  Sonny Gray was good again and you have to hope his thumb is ok.  He is emerging now as hoped for when they got him last year.  Btw, German was taken out of his minor league start yesterday and was holding the same spot on his arm where he had surgery previously.  That’s too bad.  But as they say, “next man up.”

SU liked the trade for Zach Britton.  It accomplished two goals:

1. First, he is probably the best pitcher that is truly available to the Yankees right now.  Ideally, they would have acquired a starter but other than deGrom, no one out there is worth the prospects it would take.  None of the guys included in this deal are considered to be top prospects and let’s face it, the Yankees are not great at developing their own pitching prospects who will become starters.  True, Severino is a stud but Sheffield came via Cleveland and the others are not sure things.
2. Equally important, the trade for Britton prevented the Red Sox and Houston from getting him.  They both need a top line reliever and the Yankees have taken Britton off the market.

It also provides some insurance for Chapman whose knee has to be a concern down the stretch.

Now, consider this: if Tommy Kahnle can somehow regain his form, would the Yankees ever consider doing a Tampa Bay and lining up all of their relievers in a key playoff game?  They almost have enough of them now to throw out a top group of pitchers.  The reality is that they are likely better than most of their starters.  Just a thought for October.

Look for Cashman to pick up a catcher in the coming week as well.  Romine is certainly serviceable but Sanchez is supposed to be out “several weeks” and there is no way they bring him back too soon again.  If Romine gets hurt, they are really short at this position right now.

The return of Torres is huge.  He can actually put the ball in play.  What a concept.  Big game today – cannot lose another series to the Rays.