I’m finally catching up on some reading and I just got to Marly Rivera’s piece on Gerrit Cole and Kyle Higashioka. The Yankees drafted both out of Southern California high schools in 2008 and they were evaluated by the same scout, David Keith. When Cole threw to Higashioka in an MLB game for the first time this past season, they sav...
2020-10-27 14:15:46 +0000 UTC View PostSome news: I’ve decided to put together an Offseason Plan post. Here are my 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 posts. I didn’t do one last ...
2020-10-23 13:09:17 +0000 UTC View PostIn a 60-game season with a 16-team postseason field ripe for weird and random stuff, the two No. 1 seeds will meet in the World Series. Go figure. First time that's happened since 2013. Lifelong Dodgers fan here. Go Mookie & Co. Beat them Rays. Now here are today’s thoughts as the Coles and Tanakas have a sushi date night.
1. 2021 arbitration projections. ...
2020-10-20 14:10:52 +0000 UTC View PostAaron Boone and Brian Cashman held their annual end-of-season press conferences earlier this week and, as usual, Cashman’s comments boiled down to “we’re going to evaluate our options.” Gary Sanchez at catcher next year? We’re going to evaluate our options. Gleyber Torres moving off shortstop? We’re going to evaluate our options. Bring in pitching? We’re going to evaluate our options. Business as usual. Cashman has perfected the art of saying a lot of words without saying much a...
2020-10-16 14:40:05 +0000 UTC View PostHow terrible is this ALCS? I badly want both teams to lose. I've concluded the best outcome is the Astros beating the Rays, preferably in soul-crushing fashion, then the Astros losing the World Series again, also preferably in soul-crushing fashion. Tampa winning is the worst case scenario because it would give owners across baseball another reason to cheap out. This is a no-win ALCS either way. Not sure I'd watch if I didn't have to for CBS. Let's get to today's thoughts.
1. Ge...
2020-10-13 04:03:59 +0000 UTC View PostA fitting end to one of the least enjoyable Yankees season of my lifetime (to be fair, a lot of the non-baseball stuff factors into that). The Yankees are going home early (again) because their closer gave up a back-breaking homer (again) and because they were outmaneuvered by the opposing team (again). The Rays absolutely posterized the Yankees this season and 2020-10-10 15:11:39 +0000 UTC View Post
The Yankees live to play another day. They outlasted the Rays in Game 4 last night to force a winner-take-all Game 5 tonight. If you didn't watch, the game was definitely closer than the 5-1 final score would lead you to believe. It wasn't until late that the Yankees started to pull away, and there were a few butt-clenching moments before that. Let's get to today's thoughts as Luke Voit predicts a vi...
2020-10-09 14:58:35 +0000 UTC View PostThe 2020 Yankees really have perfected the art of responding to adversity in the least inspiring way possible. They followed all the pitching hullabaloo of Game 2 with a thud in Game 3, and now they're on the brink of elimination. They have three wins in 13 tries against the Rays this year and must now beat them twice in a row to advance to the ALCS. One game at a time though. Win tonight and give the ball to Gerrit Cole tomorrow. Here are today's thoughts.
1. Tanaka hammered. 2020-10-08 14:48:41 +0000 UTC View Post
If there is anything we've learned about the 2020 Yankees 64 games into the season, it's that when they win, they look like they're never going to lose again, and when they lose, they look like they're never going to win again. The Yankees were never going to go through the postseason undefeated but they beat themselves more than the Rays beat them last night, and that's hard to swallow. Their attempt to out-Rays the Rays was a disaster and Tyler Glasnow was the first opposing starter to get ...
2020-10-07 13:20:56 +0000 UTC View PostThree games, three wins this postseason. Usually that means an ALDS sweep, or maybe a 2-0 ALDS lead after a Wild Card Game win, but this year it means a 1-0 ALDS lead after a Wild Card Series sweep. I'll take it, whatever it is, especially since the Yankees are playing their best baseball of the season right now. "It's one game. We gotta win three," Aaron Boone reminded everyone after last night's win. Let's get to today's thoughts as 2020-10-06 14:51:52 +0000 UTC View Post
UPDATE: The Yankees have announced their ALDS roster. No. 1 has been updated below.
* * *
The ALDS has finally arrived. It feels like the Yankees ousted Cleveland just yesterday, and it also feels like the Yankees haven't played in a month, somehow. Four days between series is an awful long time. Not complaining though. I'll take the rest whenever we can get it.
Here's what we know about the five games in five days ALDS schedule:
The Wild Card Series is over and MLB has three spicy LDS matchups coming up: Yankees vs. Rays, Astros vs. Athletics, and Dodgers vs. Padres. Three series featuring teams that do not like each other at all. MLB must be thrilled. The Yankees and Rays will begin their series Monday night (8pm ET on TBS). Here are some quick between-series thoughts.
1. ALDS roster adjustments. The...
2020-10-03 16:22:56 +0000 UTC View Post
Y'all enjoy that game last night? Nothing like a casual Wednesday night game that ends six hours after its scheduled start time. At four hours and 50 minutes, it was the longest nine-inning game in baseball history (regular season or postseason), and that doesn't even include two separate rain delays totaling 76 minutes.
There was a run scored in every inning except the third inning and bo...
2020-10-01 14:52:04 +0000 UTC View PostThings went so well for the Yankees in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series last night that Josh Naylor went 4 for 4 with two doubles and a home run, and Cleveland still lost by nine. Gerrit Cole dominated, the offense was relentless, and the Yankees now have two chances to win one game to advance to the ALDS and the Southern California hub. Twelve more wins to glory. Let's get to the thoughts.
1. Cole's dominance. Man does it feel good to have a true ace in the postseason. M...
2020-09-30 15:25:51 +0000 UTC View PostUPDATE: Finally had a chance to add thoughts on the Wild Card Series roster. Item No. 1 below has been updated.
* * *
The Yankees open the best-of-three Wild Card Series in Cleveland later tonight. It is their fifth ever meeting in the postseason. The Yankees won the 1998 ALCS and 2017 ALDS, and Cleveland won the 1997 ALDS and 2007 ALDS. 2017 was a good time, eh? Everyone was terrified of Cleveland's pitching going into that series too and it was meltdown city aft...
2020-09-29 14:19:20 +0000 UTC View Post
The 2020 regular season is over and it took all 60 games to determine the Yankees will go to Cleveland for the Wild Card Series. It'll be Gerrit Cole vs Shane Bieber in Game 1. Must-see television. Here are some end of season thoughts as D...
2020-09-28 15:36:12 +0000 UTC View PostBig news on this week's R2C2 podcast: CC Sabathia admitted his feud with Jackie Bradley Jr. was made up and partially inspired by Aaron Boone. Sabathia says he picked a guy on the other team to hate to fire himself up and Bradley became that guy on the Red Sox because he had a good at-bat against him as a rookie, and Boone raved about him while in the broadcast booth. It was nothing personal, just ...
2020-09-25 15:19:06 +0000 UTC View PostUPDATE: Made a bad copy and paste error that accidentally chopped out a chunk of today's post without realizing it before I published. My bad. It's fixed now.
* * *
The Yankees have clinched a postseason spot and maybe it's just me, but it doesn't resonate the same way this year. It's a weird and short season, and there are SO MANY postseason spots. Clinching one felt like an inevitability most of the year. It is the first step toward winning the World Series thou...
2020-09-22 13:25:47 +0000 UTC View Post
Two weeks from today the Yankees will either be picking up the pieces following an early postseason exit, or they'll be on their way to the Southern California bubble for the ALDS. The magic number to clinch a postseason spot is four. Could happen before the next post. Let's get to today's thoughts as I revel in the majesty of a five-homer inning.
1. Postseason schedule. <...
2020-09-18 15:04:42 +0000 UTC View PostThanks to this weekend's sweep over the Orioles (and no thanks to the Mets), the Yankees go into tomorrow's three-game series opener with the Blue Jays a half-game back of second place in the AL East. The difference between second and third place is pretty big. It's the difference between a Wild Card Round meeting with the Athletics, Rays, or White Sox, or a meet...
2020-09-14 22:13:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Tomorrow the Yankees will begin their most important series of the season and, as we all expected, it's against ... the Orioles? The Orioles. 2020 sucks, man. Anyway, here are Friday morning's thoughts Thursday evening since the Yankees were rained out tonight and there's no reason to wait.
1. Deivi's control. The best part of this season has been Deivi Garcia, hands down. The kid dazzled again last night, holding the Blue Jays to two runs on five hits and no walks in s...
2020-09-11 00:02:41 +0000 UTC View PostWith 14 losses in their last 19 games, the Yankees are in the middle of their worst 19-game stretch since a 5-14 span in June 2017. Their lead over the Orioles for the No. 8 seed is down to 1.5 games and FanGraphs has their postseason odds at 88.8%. Those tend to drop quick, folks. They can go from 95% to 80% to under 50% in less than a week. The Yankees need to get their act together, he says stating the...
2020-09-08 14:08:50 +0000 UTC View PostKnow what's weird? The regular season ends in three weeks and two days. It feels like it just started! Because it did just start, obviously. The Yankees have played 36 games and they only have 24 more games to go. I hope we never experience another season like this for many reasons. Let's get to today's thoughts.
1. Time for a shakeup. The Yankees have lost four games they led with no more than six outs remaining in the last nine days. They lost three such games all las...
2020-09-04 14:46:36 +0000 UTC View PostAm I the only one who found the Yankees losing on a walk-off home run in Yankee Stadium so absurd that I couldn't even be mad about it? Only in 2020. Sarah Langs says the Yankees were the first team to lose on a walk-off homer by a "visiting" player since 1899. How ridiculous. Anyway, here are my trade de...
2020-09-01 16:48:09 +0000 UTC View PostWith all due respect to Addison Russ, the trade deadline came and went Monday without the Yankees making a notable addition. Second straight year the Yankees did nothing at the deadline, though at least last year they added Edwin Encarnacion in June. "We went up to the last few minutes. Whether we were close or not doesn't matter. I am comfortable not doing what was being asked for us," Brian Cashman told 2020-08-31 23:42:18 +0000 UTC View Post
How's everyone doing? I hope you're all well. The Yankees are mired in a 13.5-game losing streak but I dunno, feels kinda insignificant right now. Since they have yet another off-day today, here are Friday morning's thoughts Thursday night. Thanks as always as the support. (Enough people asked for them, so you get paragraph breaks now.)
1. Judge's setback. Five innings. Aaron Judge hurt his calf, lobbied to stay off the injured list, got four extra days off his feet bec...
2020-08-27 23:34:31 +0000 UTC View Post
Couple stray trade rumors have appeared within the last 24 hours. Andy Martino reports the Yankees have been in touch with the Indians about pitching and Jon Morosi says they have interest in Taijuan Walker. The Yankees have ma...
2020-08-25 14:21:32 +0000 UTC View PostThe Yankees are not playing this weekend because the Mets are dealing with two positive COVID-19 cases, yet the team still managed to make news. Yesterday the Yankees announced three players will be put on the injured list:
The Yankees have not yet announced timetables for their returns -- there was no media availabili...
2020-08-22 14:57:10 +0000 UTC View Post
The trade deadline is 10 days away and it is extremely weird there have been no rumors at all. I don't just mean the Yankees either. It's quiet with all 30 teams. MLB Trade Rumors has become MLB Injury Update. I hope the action picks up over the next 10 days -- rumors are fun! -- but I really have no idea what to expect. Maybe everyone is waiting for someone else to break the seal and make that first significant trade ami...
2020-08-21 13:44:45 +0000 UTC View Post
Ten wins in 10 games at Yankee Stadium this year -- that ties 1951 and 1987 for the longest unbeaten streak at Yankee Stadium to begin a season in franchise history -- and 10 straight wins (and 15 wins in the last 16 games) against the Red Sox. Man are they bad. The rivalry has not been this one-sided in a long time. Anyway, let's get to today's thoughts.
1. Judge's injury. Health is a skill and it is becoming increasingly clear Aaron Judge does not have it. He is on th...
2020-08-18 14:31:34 +0000 UTC View Post