So, the Yankees June slump has come and gone. And the July trading deadline has come and gone too.
Sadly, things don’t break down into nice monthly intervals in the real world or in the sports world.
So, between the beginning of the month and the 9th of this seventh month, the Yankees won 1 and lost 6. Between then and the 26th, the Bronx Bombers went 5-7. Finally, it did appear that they had turned the corner in the last 5 days of July with a 5-0 sprint to end the month.
Continue readingThe New York Yankees had a sensational month in May. They went 21-7 and dominated the league and their division.
Aaron Judge, who had struggled in April, bounced back with strength. Juan Soto continued at the high level he set in April. Their starting pitchers exceeded expectations. The bullpen had as much depth as anticipated.
Continue readingInjuries? The Yankees got ’em.
Nestor Cortes; Luis Severino; Albert Abreu; Anthony Misiewicz; Wandy Peralta; Tommy Kahnle; Ryan Weber; Luis Gil; Lou Trivino.
And Frankie Montas, and Keynan Middleton just made it back before the end of the season.
And Ian Hamilton by the middle of September.
No surprise then that the patched up Yankees rotation and bullpen struggled in September and in game 162 in October.
Thank goodness for Gerrit Cole.
Let’s take an overview of the stats…
Continue readingAt the end of August, Brian Cashman (Yankees’ General Manager) said “It’s been a disaster of a season. We’re embarassed by it”.
This came, of course, with the Yankees’ usual gift for hyperbole. It was what the less thoughtful fans wanted to hear, and it just built things towards the inevitable firestorm.
For Hal Steinbrenner, and those at the financial helm of the Yankees, it had of course been disastrous. They looked like they were going to miss the post-season (they still had an outside chance when the statement was made – and that would be a tremendous financial loss. They had cut Aaron Hicks, and Josh Donaldson was about to go down the same route. They would carry the can for those poorly chosen signings and their contracts.
But they have finished the season over .500, and were just about to pull themselves up by their bootstraps with a 17-11 last month plus of the season, and move above the old enemy, Boston Red Sox into 4th place in the American League East.
So, really not good, but not a disaster. It gave them a chance to look at some developing young players (not everything went smoothly as we shall see), and to re-examine their priorities. Some fans will still spit and cuss, but that’s a given. Here’s the batting stats for September and October.
And there was rain… New York rain.
Yesterday, there was no game. Today, a 51 minute delay, but there was a game.
For 3 hours and 2 minutes we sat out in the rain. Before the game, at least we were able to have friendly conversation with Ed Alstrom, the Yankees organist of the day. That chat and the free food in the Stadium suites was more enjoyable than sitting in the rain and watching this game.
Continue readingMike Jerzembeck.
Mike Jerzembeck?
Mike Jerzembeck was introduced to the crowd at Old Timers’ Day at Yankee Stadium, and a large percentage of the crowd (including those in the row near me) seemed to collectively go “who?”. Especially since Old Timers’ Day concentrated on the squad of players who played for the Yankees in 1998, and Jerzembeck was one of them.
Now, the 1998 Yankees are one of less than a handful of teams who are considered when the question is raised as to who is perhaps the greatest club Major Leagues history so to even be a minor figure in that story is quite something…
(Having been commissioned to be at Yankee Stadium for the home games during September, I kept a diary to submit to my publishers. I am now able to present some of my writings on the games here).
Before tonight’s game, the Yankees, who had been told in no uncertain terms in August by General Manager Brian Cashman that their season was a disaster, then had one of their best runs of the season winning 8 of their previous 10 games. Indeed, one of the two they had lost was due to a walkoff. They were pretty much in contention for every game.
So, you thought the July Yankees could not get any worse in August?
Wrong! 10 wins -15 losses in July, 10-18 in August.
At the beginning of the month, they had been deliberating whether to buy or sell at the trade deadline. At the deadline, they really did neither. Their only change was to bring in right-handed relief pitcher Keynan Middleton (from the Chicago White Sox) for another right-hander from their farm system, Juan Carela.
And by the end of August, as they were out of contention and the rosters were due to expand, they decide to do a little cleaning house. Predictably but expensively, they cut Josh Donaldson. Also going through the out door was Greg Allen, who wasn’t being used much, but did bring something to the team. More surprisingly, they placed Harrison Bader on waivers.
Let’s see what else happened:
So, continuing on with this theme of the Yankees appalling collapse in July – It is not appalling because the Yankees have a divine right to success. It’s is appalling because the Yankees’ roster is not the roster of the Kansas City Royals, or the Oakland Athletics. It is appalling because going into the season, it appeared that the Yankees had a roster which was the envy of everyone, and had a starting rotation which looked like one of the best, if not the best in the Majors.
Gerrit Cole – Carlos Rodon – Nestor Cortes – Luis Severino – Frankie Montas — and if injuries arose Domingo German and Clarke Schmidt to fall back on.
Injuries came – and too many. Even then the bullpen held up the weight, but by July the relievers were over-tired, and with Aaron Judge injured the team was going nowhere but down.
The Yankees needed to see a massive improvement in their performance in July, Instead, they went 10-15 on the month.
The Yankees wanted to narrow the gap on the teams ahead of them in the wild card race. Instead, they slipped out of contention and finished the month in fifth place in the American League East.
The logic had been that psychologically the Yankees were struggling without their captain, leader, and best player, Aaron Judge. His time out of the team went on and on and it was the 28th of July before he returned.
But the Yankees need to be more than just a one-man club, however significant that absentee was.
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