May 5th, 2022: Pitching, Infield Defense, Chase Rate, Catching, Mailbag

Pretty incredible the Yankees are sitting on a +49 run differential a month into the season. Only the Dodgers (+57) are better, and the Angels (+27) are a distant second in the American League. It’s still early enough that run differential is only descriptive, not predictive, but in the games the Yankees have played, they’ve played extremely well. Here are Friday morning’s thoughts Thursday evening since it’s an off-day and there’s no reason to make you wait.

1. Weekday observations. The winning streak was going to end at some point and I’d rather it end the way it did (close game with plenty of chances to tie it up and the other team being given no opportunities to blow it open) than with a blowout. Frustrating loss, for sure, but the Yankees were in it right until the final pitch. Start a new winning streak Friday. All you can do. A few thoughts on the last few games and the Yankees in general.

Pitching dominance

25 games into the season Yankees pitchers have a 2.60 ERA (3.14 FIP) in 224.1 innings. Justin Verlander won the AL Cy Young with a 2.58 ERA (3.27 FIP) in 223 innings in 2019. The scoring environment is much different this year than it was in 2019, but the pitching staff has collectively performed like 2019 Verlander to this point, just for a frame of reference. They’ve been great.

How great? The Yankees have played 25 games and in those 25 games they’ve allowed …

• 8 runs once (when Luis Severino took the no-hitter into the sixth, then things unraveled)
• 6 runs once (Vlad Guerrero Jr.’s three-homer game)
• 5 runs three times (including once because of the automatic runner in extra innings)
• 4 runs three times
• 3 runs three times
• 2 runs or fewer 14 times

No more than two runs allowed in more than half their games! Incredible. The Yankees haven’t played the toughest schedule (more on that in a bit), but they’re facing Major League hitters, and they are shutting them down night after night after night. A few more numbers on the staff:

• ERA: 2.60 (2nd in MLB)
• ERA+: 143 (2nd)
• FIP: 3.14 (5th)
• FIP-: 80 (2nd in MLB)
• K%: 24.8% (6th)
• GB%: 45.3% (8th)
• Exit velocity: 87.8 mph (6th)
• Barrel rate: 5.4% (1st)

Two things have stood out to me. First, the contact management, as shown in the ground ball rate, exit velocity, and barrel rate allowed. Strikeouts are great, nothing bad can happen when you strike the hitter out, and strikeouts are a must in this era (particularly in the late innings of close games). But limiting hard contact is necessary too, and the Yankees are excellent at that.

The Yankees are alongside the Braves, Brewers, Dodgers, and Giants on the exit velocity and barrel rate leaderboards. Smart, innovative teams that really know what they’re doing with the guys on the mound. Last year (really in 2020, though it was hard to notice during the short pandemic season) the Yankees started to seek out and emphasize sinkers and changeups. This is why. Those pitches are conducive to soft contact.

And it’s not as simple as throwing sinkers and changeups (and sweepers). It’s using them in ways that maximize their effectiveness, and the Yankees seem to have mastered that. Clay Holmes is going to show hitters an upper-90s sinker and a slider that averages five more inches of break than the average slider, and oh by the way they’re going to look the same until they’re about 15 feet in front of the plate (GIF via Rob Friedman):

Not too long ago the Yankees were playing catch-up. They adopted the north/south elevated fastball approach only after other teams used it to great success. Now they’re at the forefront. The idea of contact management has always been around, but now teams are starting to really figure it out, and the Yankees were in on it before so many others.

The second thing that has stood out ties into the first thing. It’s the evolution of the pitching staff, and the individual pitchers themselves. Jameson Taillon threw 20 cutters Tuesday night, far and away the most he’s ever thrown in a start, and it’s a pitch he didn’t begin to embrace until this Spring Training. Severino, Gerrit Cole, and Nestor Cortes are now using cutters too. Mike King looks nothing like the guy he was a few years ago. So on and so forth.

Credit goes to the players, first and foremost. Pitching coach Matt Blake and his assistants and the analytics staff deserve credit too, no doubt, but in the end the players perform, and they’ve executed at an off the charts level this year. Cole, Cortes, Severino, and Taillon are making the cutter work. Severino has an improved changeup too, and is a more complete pitcher now than he was when he got Cy Young votes. These guys are all making themselves better.

“(They are) maximizing their potential,” Aaron Boone told Dan Martin about the pitching staff. “For the most part, the biggest thing is the players themselves. They’ve been pliable and been able to buy into things.”

The Yankees led the American League in adjusted ERA and were second in adjusted FIP last season, so what we’re seeing now is not a blip. It’s a continuation of last year, and really more than that, because they’re building on that success. Offense is down league-wide and that has played a role in the Yankees pitching looking so good. Even relative to the rest of the league, the staff has been dominant. The pitching gets an undisputed A+ after 25 games.

The improved infield defense

Improving the infield defense was a priority this past offseason and it was necessary. The infield gave the other team too many extra outs and forced pitchers to throw too many extra pitches. The Yankees improved the infield defense by importing Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, re-signing Anthony Rizzo, and moving Gleyber Torres to second base full-time. The numbers:

• Infield OAA: +3 in 2022 after -11 in 2021
• Infield DRS: +13 DRS in 2022 after -32 in 2021
• Ground ball BABIP: .214 in 2022 after .246 in 2021

The infield defense is improved according to both the numbers and the eye test. I’m not telling you anything you didn’t already know. What you may not know is the Yankees have drastically cut back on their infield shifts. They’re near the bottom of the league in shift rate now. Here are their shift rate numbers (this is plate appearances with the shift):

Not too long ago the Yankees were one of the shiftiest teams in the game. Now they’re near the bottom of the league. They do still shift a lot against lefties. Going from 61.2% four years ago to 55.1% this year isn’t that big a drop, though the rest of the league is shifting more often, so the Yankees have dropped from 4th in the league to 16th. Pretty crazy.

Shift research extraordinaire Russell Carlton found evidence teams were shifting too much two years ago. They were beyond the point of diminishing returns and were hurting themselves more than helping, particularly against righties. Did the Yankees key in on that and decide to cut back on their shifts? They did reduce their shifts against righties much more than their shifts against lefties, so that tracks.

New first base coach Travis Chapman took over infield coach duties from bench coach Carlos Mendoza this year and he could be behind the decline in shifts, though a) the Yankees were already reducing their shift usage, and b) Chapman wouldn’t be able to do something like this on his own. The front office would have to sign off. Maybe he suggested it and the higher-ups bought in?

Whatever the reason, the Yankees are shifting much less this season, and their infield defense has improved a great deal. The change in personnel obviously helps. I’m sure positioning helps too, and reducing shift usage could equal better positioning. The 2016 Cubs didn’t shift much at all. The 2021 Braves started shifting midseason. There’s no one right way to do this, but what the Yankees are doing is working.

The swing happy Yankees

I put this on my list of things to write about Monday thinking it would be a good off-day topic, then Justin Choi beat me to it. Such is life when you blog twice a week. The Yankees as a team have a 29.8% chase rate, sixth highest in baseball and comfortably above the 27.8% league average. Last year they had the second lowest chase rate at 23.8%. The +6.0% year over year increase is the largest in MLB (by a lot).

On an individual level, every single regular is chasing more pitches out of the zone than last year. Here’s a graph from Choi. The yellow dots are Yankees hitters:

They’re all above the trend line, some by quite a bit, meaning they are chasing more pitches out of the zone this year than last. Donaldson (21.4% to 28.9%), Kiner-Falefa (30.6% to 37.1%), and Joey Gallo (19.0% to 27.9%) are the biggest culprits. All new (or new-ish, in Gallo’s case) to the Yankees. Trying too hard to impress their new team? Maybe. Kiner-Falefa admitted to it.

The team’s in-zone swing rate is unchanged from last year and sits right at the league average (65.7%), so the Yankees are not swinging more in general. They’re only swinging at more pitches out of the zone, which ain’t good. The league hits .265 with a .435 SLG on pitches in the zone. It’s .149 and .203 on pitches out of the zone. It’s not rocket science. Chasing out of the zone is bad.

The Yankees are second in runs per game (4.76) and first in wRC+ (122) because they hit the absolute crap out of the ball. They rank first in exit velocity (by 0.9 mph), first in barrel rate (by 1.0 percentage points), and first in hard-hit rate (by 3.9 percentage points). Not coincidentally, they also lead baseball in homers and are second in SLG behind the Coors Field-aided Rockies.

A month into the season, I think all those chases out of the zone are something to monitor more than freak out about. The Yankees strikeout (22.9%) and walk (9.1%) at rates are in line with the league averages (22.7% and 8.7%), though they have a few very high strikeout hitters, so it’s not an even distribution throughout the lineup. It’s a lineup of extremes in both directions.

Cut the season into thirds and the Yankees had a 31.3% chase rate in the first third, a 30.7% chase rate in the middle third, and a 29.0% chase rate in the last third. So, progress? Given the track records, I think we’re going to continue to see the team’s chase rate come down. And that’s exciting because the offense has been really good, and fewer chases will make it even better. Gonna keep an eye on this moving forward.

The good and the bad of the catching situation

The season is a month old and at some point the Yankees will need some offense from their catchers. I’m not asking for prime Mike Piazza, but Kyle Higashioka and Jose Trevino have combined for a .156/.214/.208 (28 wRC+) line in 25 games. That is very, very bad. Here are the least productive positions in baseball so far this season:

1. Rockies 2B: 2 wRC+
2. Tigers 2B: 7 wRC+
3. Pirates RF: 8 wRC+
4. Astros C: 12 wRC+
5. White Sox C: 16 wRC+
6. Royals SS: 17 wRC+
7. Red Sox 1B: 18 wRC+
8. Guardians DH: 19 wRC+
9. Diamondbacks C: 20 wRC+
10. Yankees C: 28 wRC+

“I think both have been tremendous back there, but we also expect them to hit,” Boone told Martin earlier this week. “In Jose’s case, you look at the quality of his at-bats and feel he’s hit the ball and not been rewarded. Higgy will get his power stroke going here. Their impact behind the plate has been tremendous, but we need those guys to contribute.”

Yankees catchers rank first in FanGraphs framing (+1.8 runs) and second in Statcast called strike rate (50.6%), and they’ve thrown out five of nine base stealers (56%). That’s great! But Boone always paints a rosy picture, so for him to say the Yankees need more from their catchers offensively is telling. Higashioka and Trevino have fallen short of even the most modest expectations.

Higashioka and Trevino have been great defensively and awful offensively. Both things are true, and wanting the Yankees to correct the latter is not unreasonable just because they're winning. Important at-bats in big games will find those dudes. It is inevitable. Ben Rortvedt is on the mend and maybe he’s a solution. We’re not gonna find out until he actually gets on the field though.

Higashioka has a 31 wRC+ after coming into the season with a career 63 wRC+. Trevino has a 23 wRC+ and he came into the season with a career 66 wRC+. Maybe this is just a matter of waiting for those two to get back to their career numbers, but a) their career numbers stink, and b) backup catchers tend to get exposed with more playing time. You don’t want to get caught waiting for regression to the mean that isn’t coming.

For now, the rest of the lineup has picked up the catchers, and the Yankees are so committed to framing and defense that I wouldn’t be surprised if they stick with Higashioka and Trevino (and Rortvedt) all season, offense be damned. World Series contenders should strive to be the best possible team, and this pretty clearly is an area that can be upgraded. I’m not saying it’ll be easy to address, but it’s possible to have good defense behind the plate without punting offense.

(Now excuse me while I stare longingly at Donny Sands’ .306/.458/.403 (143 wRC+) batting line with a measly 6.3% swinging strike rate in Triple-A with the Phillies.)

On the schedule

The Yankees are 25 games into their season and they’ve played seven games against teams projected to win more than 84 games. Those are the seven games against the Blue Jays. The rest of the schedule has been pretty soft. In the American League, only the Rays (.440) and Twins (.460) have had a lower opponent’s winning percentage than the Yankees (.480).

I’m not saying this to discredit their 18-7 record or the 11-game winning streak. I’m just laying out the facts. You can only play the teams on your schedule, and to date, the Yankees have played not great teams (a lot) and won (a lot). This is meaningful for two reasons. First, they’re wins in the bank. Here’s what the Yankees have to do to reach certain thresholds from here on out:

• 100 wins: 82-55 (97-win pace)
• 95 wins: 77-60 (91-win pace)
• 93 wins: 75-62 (89-win pace)
• 91 wins: 73-64 (86-win pace)
• 86 wins: 68-69 (80-win pace)
• 81 wins: 63-74 (74-win pace)

With the new 12-team format, it would have taken 91 wins to qualify for the postseason last year*, and 95 wins to clinch a first round bye. Based on preseason FanGraphs projections (which are inherently conservative), it will take 86 wins to get to the postseason and 93 wins to get a bye this year. That’s why I picked those thresholds.

* The Astros sit in the final Wild Card spot right now and are on pace for 91 wins.

Point is, the Yankees have given themselves a great head start. 86-win ball from here on out gets them to 91 wins and puts them in the postseason mix. Play at a 91-win pace the rest of the way and the Yankees are looking at a first round bye, or they'll at least have put themselves in position to contend for one. This is good progress a month into the season:

And second, the Yankees struggled against those quote-unquote teams you’re supposed to beat last season. They had the remarkable ability to play to their opponent’s talent level. Didn’t matter if it was the powerhouse Astros or bottom-feeding Orioles. No matter who the Yankees played in 2021, it was a tough, hard-fought game that could have gone either way.

The Yankees went 11-8 against the Orioles, 2-4 against the Mets, 3-3 against the Tigers, and 4-3 against Cleveland last year. That’s a .526 winning percentage against four teams that combined to lose 56.1% of the games they played against the Not Yankees. When the time comes, you have to beat great teams, but the road to the postseason is paved with wins against mediocre to bad teams. The Yankees didn’t beat them enough last year. This year, they are.

FanGraphs projections say the Yankees have the fourth toughest remaining schedule in the AL (second toughest by opponent’s winning percentage), but in the short-term, it’s still favorable. They get the Rangers this weekend, the Blue Jays yet again next week, then 14 straight games against the Orioles and an underperforming White Sox team. The schedule-makers gave the Yankees an opportunity to start hot this season and they are taking full advantage. Keep it going.

“It’s only 11 games. We’ve got more work to do,” Aaron Judge told Martin earlier this week.

Miscellany

I am once again asking the Yankees to bat Aaron Hicks leadoff and DJ LeMahieu in the middle of the lineup. Hicks is running a .397 OBP (he’s been on base 11 times in six games since coming off the paternity list) but he’s also hitting for zero power (.317 SLG!). Use him to set the table, not drive in runs. The high OBP, low SLG skill set fits the leadoff spot perfectly. LeMahieu’s contact bat breaks up the high strikeout guys (Giancarlo Stanton, Gallo, the current version of Donaldson) in the middle of the order nicely. Let’s make it happen, Boonie … Gallo is a streaky hitter and he’s on a hot streak now, going 7-for-23 (.304) with a double and three homers in his last seven games around the minor groin issue. The Rangers rank 30th in HR/9 (1.39), 30th in HR/FB (18.3%), and 27th in barrel rate allowed (9.4%). Calling it now: Gallo’s gonna put a hurtin’ on his former team this weekend … And finally, the overall impact of the designated pinch-runner can be overstated (Michael Kay talks about Homer Bush and his six stolen bases like he was the linchpin of the 1998 Yankees), but, in an individual game, he can make a world of difference. We saw it Monday, when Tim Locastro pinch-ran for Stanton in the top of the ninth, stole second, then scored the go-ahead run on a single. As an everyday player, I wouldn’t be a fan. As a pinch-runner/fourth outfielder, Locastro is a weapon. Being a quality bench player starts with accepting and understanding the role, and he does. “I’ve been in this role a long time, like six or seven years. I just try to stay ready to go,” Locastro told Martin. It’s impossible to tell he tore his ACL last July, isn’t it? Locastro is running very well.

2. 2022 draft prospect: Tennessee RHP Ben Joyce. The 2022 MLB Draft will take place during the All-Star break and the Yankees hold the No. 25 pick. Here are the draft prospects we’ve already profiled. Some will be players the Yankees are reported to have interest in, some are players who fit the team’s M.O., and some are players I happen to like.

Joyce went viral last week for throwing a 105.5 mph fastball, the fastest pitch ever recorded by a pitch tracking system at any level and in any league. In that outing last week Joyce threw 28 of his 33 fastballs at 103 mph or better, according to Wes Rucker. He is very likely the hardest thrower on the planet. Here are Joyce’s current draft rankings:

• Baseball America (subs. req’d): No. 131
• FanGraphs: Honorable mention outside top 69
• Keith Law (subs. req’d): Not in top 100
• MLB.com: No. 125

Joyce missed last season with Tommy John surgery and this year he’s allowed two earned runs in 21 relief innings with 38 strikeouts and six walks. He started the season without a defined role and has since emerged as a go-to high leverage guy for the best team in the country (Tennessee is 41-4). Here’s some video and here’s part of MLB.com’s free scouting report:

Joyce has averaged 101 mph and touched 104 this spring, with his fastball arriving on a flat approach angle from a low slot that makes it extremely difficult to catch up to when he works up in the zone. His heater features some armside run but can straighten out and get hit when he doesn't command it well. He gets some ugly swings-and-misses with his mid-80s slider when batters gear up for his fastball, though he struggles to throw it over the plate, and he dabbles with a low-90s changeup that features nice fade at its best.

Scouts aren't sure what exactly to make of Joyce, who missed most of two years in 2018-19 while dealing with shoulder, elbow and growth-plate issues and has little track record. He throws about 85 percent fastballs, usually works on three days or more rest and rarely pitches in close games or Southeastern Conference contests. He has a strong 6-foot-5 frame but still has to prove that he's durable and can keep his delivery in sync.

That part about rarely pitching in close games is outdated now, and Joyce’s slider has become more consistent as the season has progressed. He’s a pretty fierce fastball/slider reliever who may not be far from the big leagues. An aggressive/desperate team could take Joyce and put him in their bullpen in September, similar to the White Sox with Garrett Crochet in 2020.

Joyce is a senior (he started out in junior college before transferring to Tennessee) and seniors almost always receive below slot bonuses. Eight seniors were selected in the top three rounds last season. Their bonuses and slot values:

• RHP Gavin Williams, Cleveland: $2.25M bonus ($2.93M slot)
• 1B Kyle Manzardo, Rays: $747,500 bonus ($1.08M slot)
• LHP Matt Mikulski, Giants: $1.20M bonus ($1.47M slot)
• LHP Russ Smith, Brewers: $1M bonus ($1.44M slot)
• LHP Andrew Abbott, Reds: $1.30M bonus ($1.37M slot)
• RHP Brendan Beck, Yankees: $1.05M bonus ($1.31M slot)
• RHP Domenic Hamel, Mets: $755,300 bonus ($755,300 slot)
• RHP Kevin Kopps, Padres: $300,000 bonus ($587,400 slot)

On average, those players received 79% of their slot value. Another eight seniors were taken in the fourth round alone, and those guys averaged 66% of their slot value. Hamel was the only senior in the top four rounds to get full slot value. Joyce is likely to sign below slot because the vast majority of college seniors sign below slot. They have little leverage.

After the No. 25 pick the Yankees hold the No. 61 ($1.187M slot), No. 100 ($611,100 slot), and No. 130 ($456,300 slot) picks. Joyce is more than a radar gun reading (his low arm slot creates a vertical approach angle that drives analytics folks wild), though the Yankees are pretty good at developing hard-throwing fastball/slider guys, so I’m not sure they’re itching to use a high pick on a reliever. Joyce would begin to make sense at No. 100. Before that? Eh.

Mailbag Questions of the Week

Sandeep asks: LeMahieu has played well at every infield position but shortstop. Any reason not to try him there? At the very least it gives the team a little bit more flexibility for resting guys.

I remember Aaron Boone saying he would be comfortable putting DJ LeMahieu at shortstop in a pinch when they first signed him a few years ago, but it hasn’t happened yet. LeMahieu played some short in the minors and has only four innings there in the big leagues, all in emergency situations and all coming years ago. He hasn’t played the position regularly in a long time.

LeMahieu turns 34 in July and shortstop is a young player’s position. His defensive value is largely tied up in being sure handed. When the ball is hit to him, he catches it, and his highlights are usually nice scoops on hard-hit balls. When’s the last time we saw LeMahieu make a highlight play on a ball he really had to range to his right or left to get? That’s not his strength.

If the Yankees had to put LeMahieu at short for a few innings in an emergency, I think he’d be fine. Not sure I’d want him there on any sort of regular basis though. His range isn’t great and it’s a position where you need quickness and athleticism. Give him enough games there and I could see LeMahieu being a negative defender even with his hands and smarts.

Matt asks: In your rapid fire thoughts from today, I saw the bit about Robinson Cano. Seeing the highlights he had home runs at the old Yankee Stadium. How many active hitters are left in the majors that have home runs at the old Yankee Stadium? Pujols and Miggy come to mind. But it seems we could be coming to the end of that era of players who even played in the old stadium.

Last month I noted there were only 20 players on 2022 Opening Day rosters who played at the old Yankee Stadium, and 12 of the 20 are pitchers. Here’s the home run leaderboard at the old Yankee Stadium among active players:

1. Robinson Cano: 31 (could sign with another team and remain active)
2. Miguel Cabrera: 2
3. Albert Pujols: 1
4. Joey Votto: 1

That’s it. And if Brett Gardner signs, the list wouldn’t change. He didn’t hit a home run at the old ballpark. Cano might be done, Pujols said he’s retiring after this season, and Cabrera and Votto are both signed through next year. Justin Verlander is probably the favorite to be the last active player to have played at the old Yankee Stadium, but don’t sleep on David Robertson. He’s been great for the Cubs and could still have a few years left in him.

Any guesses on who’s hit the most home runs at the new Yankee Stadium? It’s Mark Teixeira. He’s the leader with 113, but it’s not completely out of the question that Aaron Judge could pass him this year. Judge is second on the list with 90. Cano hit 82 homers in the new park, Gardner hit 78, and Gary Sanchez hit 74 to round out the top five. The most by a player who never played for the Yankees is (who else?) Jose Bautista. He hit 19 homers at the new Yankee Stadium.

Ray asks: is it time to change the rules for when starting pitchers qualify for a win? FanGraphs notes the average SP pitcher now throws less than 5 innings. Almost no SP goes 5 early in the season. Cortes pitched brilliantly, went 4.1 innings, hit his pitch count and got pulled — and Holmes gets the win. Doesn’t seem fair. MLB is changing other rules to adjust to the times, why not this one?

Other than the pitchers themselves, does anyone care all that much about pitcher wins now? I think they’re cool for historical milestones (300 wins, etc.), otherwise they’re not all that relevant in the modern game. Dropping the minimum to four innings to qualify for a win could work, and hey, if it makes pitchers happy, go for it. I don’t think it will change the way the game is played.

Moreso than wins, I think there should be a conversation about changing the number of innings needed to qualify for the ERA title. Right now it’s one inning per team game. James Smyth was nice enough to graph the number of ERA qualifiers throughout baseball history:

Only 39 pitchers qualified for the ERA title last year, and while it was a weird year coming out of the pandemic season, there were only 61 qualifiers in 2019 and 58 in 2018. Drop it down to 0.2 innings per team game and the minimum drops to 108 innings. There would have been 113 qualifiers with that rule last season.

Maybe we should just say the top 100 pitchers in innings qualify for the ERA title in a given year? Corbin Burnes won the ERA title at 2.43 last season. Expand it to the top 100 in innings, and it would have been Carlos Rodon with a 2.37 ERA. Does that really matter? Nah, not really. Like pitcher wins, the ERA title is just a cool personal thing, not something teams strive for. They’d rather 150 innings with a 2.75 ERA over 200 innings with a 3.50 ERA.

Ov asks: I don't remember the last time a team started off so badly. Are the Reds really as bad as their record dictates? Connecting this to the Yankees ... any real trade deadline targets if the Reds keep this up?

The Reds lost Thursday and are now 3-22 with a -87 run differential this season (the Royals have the second worst run differential at -39). President Phil Castellini, son of owner Bob Castellini, taunted fans (i.e. his paying customers) at the home opener by saying “Well, where you gonna go?” when asked about their frustration with the state of the team. Since those comments the Reds are 1-20 and have been outscored 151-58. Pretty sure this is the worst team since the 2003 Tigers. (The Reds are the first National League team to win fewer than five of their first 25 games since at least 1901.)

You know what really sucks about this? The Reds went 83-79 last season and would have made the 12-team postseason field. Get a shortstop and an outfielder, beef up the bullpen, and they’re in the mix for a postseason spot in a middling division this year. Instead they cut payroll, dumped a bunch of good players, and are now on pace for 142 losses (they won’t actually lose that many, right?). Here’s what Joey Votto recently told C. Trent Rosecrans:

"This is awful to experience each and every day. We're competitors, professionally. We're competitors. Our job is to win. To go out and get smacked around every day is anti-everything that we're about. For me, it's an awful and embarrassing experience. You have to keep going. But when you're in the middle of it, it's definitely embarrassing."

Pretty much every Reds player who’s spoken to the media has sounded miserable. It’s a toxic environment right now. Reds fans deserve better. They crowdfunded a “Sell The Team Bob” billboard and are wearing paper bags to games. It’s a passionate fan base and a historic franchise. I feel for them.

Cincinnati’s roster has been picked mostly clean at this point. Luis Castillo (who is working his way back from a spring shoulder issue) and Tyler Mahle (who has a 7.01 ERA and 3.21 FIP) are the obvious targets. Those guys are pretty talented. Get them away from that mess and into an organization that knows pitching, and they could have a real impact.

I’d ask about Jonathan India, the reigning NL Rookie of the Year. The No. 5 pick in the 2018 draft hit .269/.376/.459 (122 wRC+) with 34 doubles and 21 home runs (and 12 steals) last year. The Reds play him at second base, though India played third in college and in the minors, and the Yankees don’t have an obvious long-term solution there. This is a decent foundation:

I’d also ask about catcher Tyler Stephenson, who was sixth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting last year. Catchers who can hit are rare and he put up a .286/.366/.431 (111 wRC+) line in over 400 plate appearances in 2021. The framing numbers are just average and the Yankees prioritize framing, but maybe don’t completely punt offense at the position?

Given the Reds’ behavior this past offseason, saving money is a priority. What about taking on what’s left of the $22M owed to Mike Moustakas this year, the final year of his contract, to lower the prospect cost for India and/or Stephenson? The Yankees don’t even have to keep Moustakas (who’s been very bad). Eat the money and release him. Just use him to get the good young players.

India and Stephenson are both 25 and under team control through 2026. They play positions of need and are long-term building blocks. Gotta ask about them. As terrible as the team is, I assume the Reds plan to keep India, Stephenson, righty Hunter Greene, and lefty Nick Lodolo and build around them. In that case, there’s not much else on the roster that makes sense for the Yankees other than Castillo and Mahle.

(Send your requests for Tuesday's random Yankee series and questions for Friday's mailbag to RABmailbag at gmail dot com.)