Thoughts From The Wrong Side Of A Subway Series Ass-Kicking

Daniel Shirey. Getty Images.

Yeah that wasn't fun in the slightest. My bleeding Yankees took a subway ride over to Citi Field the last two days and got their asses handed to them. 9-7 on Tuesday which would have looked a lot worse if Aaron Judge didn't exist and 12-2 last night in a game that was never close. Every concern I had about the Yankees five days ago when I wrote this blog continues to somehow get worse and worse. Here are some running thoughts through my dumb head that will hit like crack if you hate this team. 

-The Yankees 4-9 in the lineup is a fucking disaster right now. Once you get by/pitch around Volpe, Soto, and Judge there's really no fear you're going to get hurt. Scariest part is right now is I don't know what's going to change anytime soon. Who is stepping up from the group of Verdugo, Gleyber Davis, LeMahieu, Trevino, Wells, Ben Rice, and Oswaldo? Not exactly the Avengers right there. 

-The Giancarlo Stanton hamstring injury was inevitable, but man did it come at a bad time. As much as Klemmer wants to incorrectly say Stanton was having a bad season, Giancarlo was very much doing a very nice job in the middle of the order driving runs in. Losing him and not having Jasson Dominguez ready to slot in has been a killer. The Martian is currently on the mend for a few months with a significant oblique strain. Their next best option was signing J.D. Davis. Woof. 

-After their June 14th win over Boston the Yankees were 50-22. Things were moving along, all systems go. Fast forward two weeks and you've got J.D. Davis hitting cleanup, trying to protect Aaron Judge in the lineup. Life comes at you fast. While in theory he should help the team's bizarre inability to hit left handed pitchers, anytime you're relying on a guy who got DFA'd by the A's to help you out with the heart of your order, you've got issues. In no world should he be hitting cleanup for the New York Yankees. 

-Gleyber Torres is unwatchable. Well, I guess he is if you're one of those people who go on Youtube and just watch car crash compilation videos. He should absolutely be the guy stepping up right now, but instead he's maybe the weakest link of them all. In a contract year Torres had the runway in front of him to command a $150M deal. Now does anyone give him anything more than a prove it one year deal? His OPS+ is 78, meaning he's 22% worse than the league average hitter at the moment. Torres was benched following Tuesday's game after not running out a ground ball in the 8th inning. He claimed his groin was tight, but if that's the case he should be on the IL. His benching lends me to believe he's plenty healthy enough to play, but is just carrying the worst mentality ever right now. At least he seemed to take the benching in stride…

This team could so greatly use his 2022/2023 production right now. They're desperate for it. Instead Gleyber has turtled. Figure it the fuck out dude. I'd honestly phantom IL him with this "groin injury" and let him fully reset. Call up Jorbit Vivas and inject some more young blood into the lineup. 

-Austin Wells should be playing 80% of games moving forward. Trevino is pathetic right now with how he controls the running game. It's embarrassing to watch. For most of the season his offense was actually very productive, but over his last ten games he's 3 for 25. Wells over his last 24 ABs is is hitting .292 with a .838 at bats. Austin Wells also gives you pretty much the best of everything at the catcher position when compared to Trevi. 

Pop time: 1.96 vs. 2.07

Arm speed: 82.0 vs. 76.1 

Exchange time: 0.66 vs. 0.64

Wells should be the guy until we see something different from Trevino. 

-Please never ever DH Jahmai Jones again. Dude was hitting 5th the over day. He's a vibes guy and a pinch runner. The fact that they benched Rice for Jones after how he looked against Max Fried on Sunday is asinine. 

-Ryan McMahon should be a priority and Cashman should be pushing to make that move sooner rather than later. Just get it done. It's the exact fit they need to lengthen the lineup. 

-The starting pitching doesn't concern me yet. They were bound to regress a little from how incredible they were to begin the year, but I think this is just a hiccup for the group. Cole is very much still in spring training mode. If there was any real concern with his arm he wouldn't have continued to pitch in Tuesday's game. No one knows their body better than Cole. If there was something wrong he'd say something instead of pitching through it. Just going to take some time to get him back online to Cy Young Cole. Be patient there as hard as it's going to be. Luis Gil would be a higher concern with how he's looked the last two starts, but I'm confident he'll get back in business shortly as long as he's not tiring out. Rodon last two starts have had him leave balls over the heart of the plate like he was throwing BP. Good offenses jumped on him like they should. He's been way more good than bad this year, he'll be fine even if the strikeout numbers are a thing of the past. Nestor and Stroman continue to hold down the fort and are doing a hell of a job in the back of the pen. 

-The bullpen is a fucking disaster. Cashman is going to need to hope Scott Effross is elite when he returns shortly and THEN he'll need to find two more arms at the deadline. No more of hoping Blake can tap into a guy and unlock something no one else can. You can't build the heart of your bullpen like that. Go get Tanner Scott and someone else who isn't a dumpster diver option. Use some of the real arms you've got in the minors like Beeter and stop fucking around. Getting rid of Dennis Santana And Victor Gonzalez was a step in the right direction, but man is this far from pretty. 

-Let's end this string of thoughts with a positive? It's unbelievable to watch Aaron Judge everyday. The fact that this dude has 30 homers after the miserable month of April he experienced is nonsense. 1.145 OPS. 217 OPS+. 

He's a living God. 

Baseball is such a long season. Your highs feel euphoric and make you feel on top of the world. When this team was cooking in April and May it was like nothing else. No drug could make me feel better. Mets fans are currently experiencing that in full flight. This recent 2-8 stretch though? Makes me wish that asteroid nearing Earth in a few days would actually change course and smack us right in the face. Being a diehard baseball fan is a legit sickness that we all sign up for. It's a game of runs and the Yankees will reverse the plague at some point, but right now it doesn't feel like that's coming anytime soon. Thankfully they're still 52-30 and still a game up on the O's for the division. As bad they look right now, they can absorb this slide thanks to their hot start. Eventually that grace period will run out and they'll need to have fixed themselves. How quick that happens is anyone's guess. Fun times.