Thoughts after Game 3 of the 2022 ALDS

Look out, he’s managing. (Getty)

Not sure you could script a worse way to lose a postseason game. According to ESPN, the Yankees were 167-0 – 167-0! – when taking a multi-run lead into the ninth inning of a postseason game prior to Game 3 on Saturday. I don’t think this is the kinda history they were hoping to make this October. The updated ZiPS odds with Gerrit Cole starting Game 4:

“Move on,” Aaron Boone said when asked how you bounce back after Game 3. “It stings right now and it's raw. You're frustrated because you're so close to the end there, but we got to turn the page. It's not allowed to be the case. We got to come out here. We got Gerrit going tomorrow. We expect to come out here and win.“

The Guardians won Game 3 without using any of their top three relievers, so if they have a lead after 5-6 innings in Game 4, forget it. The season’s over. Just an absolute worst case scenario loss. Cleveland has a rested bullpen heading into Game 4 and the Yankees have used most of their top guys the last two days. Cole will have to pitch well and pitch a lot in Game 4.

You know what really stinks? The 1-2 slider Clarke Schmidt threw Oscar Gonzalez that went for the walk-off hit wasn’t even a bad pitch. It was the best pitch he threw the entire at-bat! This one was actually down and away:

It was the best slider Schmidt threw Gonzalez and it was also the fourth straight slider Schmidt threw Gonzalez. He threw three straight breaking balls to the previous batter (Josh Naylor) and two straight breaking balls to the batter before that (Jose Ramirez). Schmidt threw 12 pitches in Game 3 and one was a fastball. Everyone in the ballpark knew a slider was coming*. Of course Gonzalez got his bat on it.

* I mentioned a few weeks ago that there have been some questionable pitch selection decisions lately and this was one of them. After three straight sliders to Gonzalez and nine straight breaking balls overall, don’t you have to show a fastball? I’m just an idiot behind a keyboard, but maybe waste a heater to at least get the batter thinking about something else.

After the game Boone said Clay Holmes was not available – actually, he said he was only available in an emergency, and Boone told Andy Martino that meant after every other pitcher had been used – which I get so soon after the shoulder injury. I even mentioned Holmes might not be available in the last post. And with Holmes unavailable, this was apparently Boone’s plan:

• Lou Trivino: 1 out
• Jonathan Loaisiga: 2 outs
• Wandy Peralta: the last 7 outs???

If you know you're staying away from Holmes, then you must get more out of Trivino (seven pitches!) and Loaisiga. They weren’t pulled because they got hit around. They were pulled for matchups, and the matchup lanes have to go out the window in that situation. You have to spread the last 10 outs among those three guys more evenly to maximize their effectiveness.

“(Holmes) was down there available, but we felt like it was – we were putting him in a tough situation,” Boone said. “Part of the thing with him being available for this series was not really in a back-to-back situation yet. He just hadn't thrown any live or anything. So while he was pretty good today and I fully expect him available tomorrow, it just felt like we needed to stay away there … It was really the emergency situation (only).”

Holmes said he felt good and had told the Yankees he was ready to go. “Those decisions aren't mine, but I was preparing to pitch if my name was called,” Holmes said (video). On one hand, yeah, players are always going to say they’re available and it’s on the manager to protect them from themselves. These guys are maniacs. They’ll pitch until their arms fall off.

On the other hand, Boone said Holmes was available in an emergency, yet he did not deem the ninth inning of a postseason game with the tying and winning runs on base to be an emergency. He’s always managing for tomorrow. The most generous read here is Boone did not communicate the situation to his players (that they were staying away from Holmes even though he felt ready to pitch) prior to Game 3. I thought his whole thing was good communication?

Know what else? Evidence is mounting Boone is losing the clubhouse. Holmes made it a point to say he was available in Game 3 and Luis Severino wasn’t happy either. "He's our closer, so of course I was surprised (he wasn’t used). I don't know if he was down. There shouldn't be people down in the playoffs. That's something you guys need to ask Boone or (pitching coach Matt) Blake to see what was going on there,” Severino said (video).

Severino wasn’t happy when he was put on the 60-day injured list and, a few weeks ago, Aaron Hicks mentioned Joey Gallo credited Dodgers manager Dave Roberts with “wanting to get the most out of his players,” a thinly veiled shot at Boone. It takes a lot – A LOT – for players to publicly question the manager. Now it’s happening. The Yankees seem to be reaching their limit.

There’s usually no coming back from players questioning the manager, but the Yankees are so stubborn and so unwilling to admit they’re wrong that they’ll probably trade Holmes and decline Severino’s club option rather than hire a new manager. The best case here is Boone managed his bullpen poorly in Game 3 with Holmes unavailable. This is so much worse than that.

1. Rapid fire thoughts. I can’t take Isiah Kiner-Falefa anymore. The Yankees spent the entire season telling us he’s a good defender and he’s just not. He is unreliable and he botched two plays in Game 3, most notably a potential double play ball in the first inning (video), and both misplays led directly to runs and extended innings. The Astros are going to their sixth straight ALCS because their rookie shortstop hit an extra-innings home run. The Yankees are down 2-1 in the ALDS with their rookie shortstop left off the roster. There’s a reason those two teams are where they are. Unless the Yankees rally to win the World Series, I’m not sure I will ever forgive them for passing on that free agent class and sticking Kiner-Falefa at short during Aaron Judge’s final year of team control, and whatever’s left of Gerrit Cole’s and Giancarlo Stanton’s primes … Speaking of Judge, he went way deep in Game 3, hammering the kinda middle-middle fastball he’s missed a few too many times the last few weeks. He hit another ball to the warning track later in the game that I thought was gone off the bat. Oswaldo Cabrera doubled and smashed a two-run homer as well, and he pimped the hell out of it. Judge and Cabrera were a combined 0-for-16 with 12 strikeouts in Games 1-2. They came out of it in Game 3 and it must continue for the Yankees to have any chance of winning the ALDS … Luis Severino was not good in the first two innings (he left a lot of sliders in the middle of the plate) but he settled down very well after that, and maybe would have completed six full innings if his shortstop could make a play. He threw 56 pitches in the first two innings and 50 pitches in his final 3.2 innings, and he retired 13 of the final 15 batters he faced (the two base runners were infield singles). I thought Nestor Cortes was worse than his line in Game 2. Severino was better than his line in Game 3, I feel … And finally, what is Aaron Hicks doing on the roster if he’s not going to pinch-hit for Tim Locastro or replace Cabrera defensively? I can’t blame Cabrera for not catching that Luke Maile bloop to start the ninth inning rally (or the Jose Ramirez bloop in Game 2) because he’s played 11 career games in left. He’s played pretty well wherever the Yankees have played him and he’s doing his best. It’s not his fault the Yankees stuck him out there and don't bother to replace him defensively in the late innings. What is Hicks’ role if not to pinch-hit for Locastro or play defense late?

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