It was a night when the game was on more as background than anything else, so as I pulled my pork shoulder out of the pressure cooker during the third inning, I didn’t really notice what was going on in Oakland. A bit later while dicing an onion I took off my glasses for a moment to wipe away some tears and watched as Giancarlo Stanton pounded a home run deep into the stands in left and then punctuated the blast by spiking his bat into the turf, more in exasperation than celebration.
I shredded the pork, popped it under the broiler for a few minutes while I warmed some tortillas on the comal, then called the family for dinner. Still, I had no idea.
The Yankees built a rally in the fifth inning, but my family and I were sitting in the dinning room with our carnitas tacos, so I didn’t see the string of hits that led to all the scoring; I only knew that it was 7-0 and that the tacos were delicious.
Back in the kitchen to pack up leftovers for tomorrow, I peeked at the game and noticed that Domingo Germán was still on the mound. After he gave up 15 runs in 5.1 innings over his last two starts, this was at least as surprising as the offensive outburst, but, I told myself, these were the A’s — not just a bad team, but an historically bad team.
Not until Germán struck out Esteury Ruíz for the last out of the sixth did I realize what was going on. Kind of. The camera zoomed in on Germán as he strode off the mound, and my eye was drawn to the game summary that popped up onto the screen: Oakland 0 0 0. He was throwing a no-hitter?!?
I caught up with the rest of the baseball world when the game returned from commercial break and I heard Ryan Ruocco cast superstition aside and tell us that Germán had retired all eighteen batters he’d faced. Inexplicably, the pitcher who had once been so lost was pitching a perfect game.
For the next nine outs, I hung on every pitch. But here’s the thing — there was no drama aside from the constant references to Don Larsen and David Wells and David Cone (and Mike Mussina). There was nothing dramatic happening between the lines. Germán’s final three innings went like this:
0-1 fly out
1-2 strikeout
0-1 groundout
0-1 pop out
0-1 groundout
3-2 groundout (seven pitches, the only hint of apprehension)
1-2 groundout
0-0 fly out
0-0 groundout
Germán needed just 25 pitches to get those final nine outs, and seven of them were spent on one batter. When Ruíz swung at Germán’s first pitch with two outs in the ninth, the contact was good enough that I imagined a base hit between shortstop and third, but when the camera view switched, there was Josh Donaldson calmly taking the long hop.
Germán had quickly spun around after releasing his ninety-ninth and final pitch, likely fearing the same result I had, but now the ball held him like a magnet. As Donaldson fired across the infield, the ball pulled Germán, who now saw what was coming. The ball popped into Anthony Rizzo’s glove for the 27th and final out of the game, and Domingo Germán slowly spun between the mound and first base, the zero on his back suddenly significant. His arms stretched out in celebration for a brief moment until first his catcher, Kyle Higashioka, and then the rest of the team engulfed him. It was a moment.
Fifteen minutes later, after Meredith Marakovits had interviewed Germán and then Higgy, no one had left. In this moment no one was worried about Aaron Judge’s torn ligament or Josh Donaldson’s anemic bat or Carlos Rodón’s rehab assignment. It was the purest regular season celebration you’ll ever see, as every Yankee on the roster stood smiling on the Oakland Coliseum turf not wanting that moment to end. Germán and his catcher stood shoulder to shoulder and posed for a picture, and then their teammates filled in around them for another. After the last photo was snapped, Germán brought the game ball to his lips for a kiss and then pointed to the heavens.
It was perfect.
I've missed a bunch of games this year. I am happy I got to see this one. Since MLB network became a thing they have done a good job dropping in on games when a no-hitter was in the works. Who knows how many close calls I've seen over the years. I'll look fondly on last night's game forever.
I also really wasn't paying attention until the end of the 6th, when a cousin excitedly messaged me what was going on. Then I was hooked. I felt a little tension when Bride was up in the 8th - that 3-1 count had me nervous. German had been so so sharp, and then he lost the plate a tiny bit, and I wondered what might happen. But the second strike was a beauty right down the middle of the plate and Bride was completely fooled. The rest was relaxed. A great, great performance!
I also want to say, in the three innings I actually watched, his curveball was filthy. I missed the two disaster starts, and I hope he keeps on commanding that curve like he did last night. If he can do that... wow.
I was busy watching something else when I got the alert. Saw the last three innings. Normally I ignore late night West Coast games as they play havoc on my mornings. The terrorists do not believe in sleeping in.
Well, no no-no today.
[4] At least for the Yankees ...
Sigh ... can Donaldson just suffer an unfortunate truck washing incident or something?
Falafel!
FALAFEL!
Should have caught it. Whoops.
Wow. I don't think I've every seen that. The Center fielder leaped, and catches the ball well over the wall.. but the ball knocks his glove off and over the wall, for a HR!
Between the late hour and an early meeting this morning, I didn't even try to start watching the game.
I would sooner have bet on a Higgy inside-the-parker, a Volpe cycle, or Lou Gehrig showing up in uniform than the headlines I saw this morning.
[11] Trust us ... it was pretty surreal for those of us who *watched* it ...
Throw fucking strikes!
Sigh ... Frankenstanton *probably* shot NOT be our right fielder.
And Schmidt was doing so well for a while. Shit.
Good baserunning from Bader.
AGGRESSIVE!
THAT'S THE VOLPE I WANT TO SEE!
Sigh ... Trevino has ABSOLUTELY turned back into a pumpkin.
I didn't watch last night, except for the first couple innings. I almost never stay up for west coast games. When I checked the score in the morning, I was delighted... but not as delighted as when I looked at the headline!
I had told my son after German's last start, "Domingo is an enigma." My son replied, "Are enigmas terrible at pitching?" I pointed out that he'd had some absolutely terrific starts, and not *just* the ones where he cheated... I feel vindicated.
Josh! Looks like I woke up just in time.
And maybe Donaldson is... useful?
Dude ... you were hitting .135.
You have NO right to show boat.
[22] No. See the above.
THIS IS MY VOLPE!
I’m starting to think that maybe the A’s aren’t a good team.
I think you need to run Volpe EVERY time he gets on base (essentially).
YES!
OUCH ... that had to hurt ... maybe that "hurt"???
Gleyber comes through.
Yum.
Hits w RISP!
[26] Hmmm. You may possibly be right.
OWWWW ... again!
Double digits!
FALAFEL!!
DOUBLE DIGITS!!!
That's OK Tony, good at bat.
Jeez. Go figure. I mean: Go Figure!
Ballgame!
Aw crap rain delay.
Nestor is doing bullpens.
Postponed.
Game on!
Sounds like game 2 is in doubt, so let's root for a win in #1
No Bader and no Stanton... after an off day. WTF?
Hot and hazy here. Still getting smoke from Canada.
[43] < 100 degrees here for the first time in nearly 2 weeks!
rbj - where is here?
Maryland-ish?
I think?
Newport News. Apparently the smoke has reached North Carolina as well.
Nice catch Bauers.
I just like saying NOOTBAAR!!!
Crap. Ballgame over.
Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand queue the shitty D
I disapprove this 3rd inning.
GAME OVER MAN, GAME OVER!
It's at least nice to see a team easily plate 2 out runs with singles. What a fucking concept.
Finally
Ooooof ... beatdown time
I didn't realize the cards were so good. 14 games under 500!
I guess Severino is just going to *wear* this one.
MOAR GRATE D FROM CABRERA!
I guess it doesn’t matter who we have on the mound.
Christ, what a shitshow.
More vaunted defense.
Yay, a run.
And it’s tarp time. Might as well call the game.
Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut ... they haven't ... for SOME dumb reason.
And we’re back
And now we aren’t. More rain delay
And back again.
How bad are things when our number 5 in the batting order is IPK?
Finally over.
You would never guess it.
Our 2nd highest player WAR is...... Volpe (1.8)
READY FOR TWO???
Volpe!
Finally turning it on!
(I think it's about time to move back to the leadoff spot).
Meatball Ron with a meatball.
Sigh.
Meatball!
We are going to use every Pitcher on our roster!
Just you and me, cult?
Looks like it ...
Can we just turn Donaldson into a relief pitcher?
Please?
Sun's out ... guns out ... indeed!
LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUKE!
After the 1st game, I'll take the split.
See you tomorrow!
Thanks for that out.
Foolish.
I’ve only got one question. Why isn’t this whole team having chicken parm every night?
Thanks Gerrit.
Crap. mLB app is flaking out on me.
Oh, so the Cardinals can argue balls and strikes.
Is defensive indifference still a thing. I haven't heard Kay mutter that stupid phrase in a while.
I started following the Yankees in 1965, the Horace Clarke days. At the time, we had an oddly graceful but terrible hitting shortstop named Gene Michael. Gene had a career BA of .229. Right now, we have 6 starters with a worse BA.
So the offense is only mostly dead.
Good work, bro. Fall behind each batter 3-1 and get hammered.
Yeah, I'd say that's game.
The Bronx Bummers.
Thanks for the jinx, Kay.
Watching this team him makes me want to drink methyl alcohol, just so I go blind.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ... send in the clowns!
Is this team hung over?
Standing outside in the rain for the last 2 1/2 hours would have been more pleasurable than staying inside and watching this game.
Considering our talent, it is almost beyond belief how badly our offense has been performing. I refer you back to [89]. This ain't Cashman's fault.
Congrats to Judge and Cole
[99] Well, it's not NOT Cashman's fault.
I mean, **I** blame Hal *more*, but at a certain level, it IS Cashman's fault. He IS in charge of baseball operations.
His trades and free agent signings have, well ... how is Montas doing?
Carlos Rodon??
Sure do love Donaldson at the plate ... don't you???
10 STRAIGHT!
Orioles have four All Stars, Yankees only two.
Ah, vaunted defense again.
I love good terrible error. Fucking bollocks!
Well ... no 11th.
[103] Well, they're better than the Yankees, so ...
Hicks is gonna homer at some point.
I’m not above accepting gift outs.
Ugh ... booing Hicks IS a bit much.
[101] Just before the season started, ESPN 'experts' made their predictions. More saw the Yankees making the WS then any other team. Not that these guys are wizards at prediction, but on paper, we looked like the best team in the AL. I'm pissed that we didn't sign Benintendi, but we were in decent shape until the injuries piled up. More than anything, we have 6 starters playing at or below replacement level. And yet, we are 8 games above .500. I mean, I'm sick watching these guys play, and Cashman could have done better, but (on paper) we had enough to win.
Lastly... imagine how you would feel if you were a fan of the other NY team.
Do Boone-y's lineups EVER make sense???
[111] Well, **I** wasn't buying it.
Injuries HAVE hurt ... but, injuries to Bader and Stanton SHOULD be factored into the mix (obv. Judge's injury was a fluke ... but Judge being injured is NOT).
What about LF?
What about 3rdbase?
Maybe we can start IKF there ... OOPS!
And, of course ... none of that touches my points about trades and FA signings.
[113] Oops, forgot C ...
"Maybe we can start IKF there ... OOPS!
x2
ENTER TEH FALAFEL!1!
Dammit. A Hix homage by our former ss. His 3 initials stick me in moderation. I forget!
Oh, Paulie ... **I** know how this is going to end up.
Badly.
And HICKS! runs down Volpe!
Getting Higgy wit' it!
Aaaaaaaaand?
Thrown out at 3rd.
Great baseball! Boooooooooooooo!!!
Vaunted baserunning too.
This?
Not. Be. Good. Team.
Sigh ... FranK.
Not a good German.
Volpe!
I'm just saying this ... I *sorta* don't want to see that from Volpe, because I think that lead to his bad habits earlier in the season.
Selling out for power as opposed to simply swinging to drive the ball and letting his natural power work through his swing.
Higgy!
Not that he sold out, but ... I don't want him to chase *that* outcome.
Not a GOOD inning, but good enough, which I will take.
Regarding Volpe’s big swing, he’s always reminded me of Dustin Pedroia, another little man always swung as hard as possible. It worked him.
On another note, the booing of Hicks is a bit silly. I’ve never been one to bemoan the lack of class shown by the Stadium crowd, but I feel like they should move on. This team has bigger things to worry about.
[132]
Yeah ... I wanted Hicks cut (and or moved) but this *is* silly, even if he *was* a bit of a doof.
Putting the ass in "Not Classy"
Great. But can they plate Stanton?
[132] Siiiiiiiigh ... it's NOT the the SWING ... it's his set-up and approach at the plate.
If he lines up through the middle ... it's OK, because he has enough power to drive the ball up the middle and into the gaps.
However, if his left foot bails out into the bucket ... he will hit ground balls, pop ups and strike out at a horrible rate.
Whoo-hoo! Donaldson to save the day!
[134] This is a trick question, yes?
What a pathetic fucking joke. 2 harmless pop ups. The 3-1 pitch Josh sent sky high was especially wonderful.
Sigh, not even walking the terrorists can help this team
Volpe!
Wait ... if you ... WALK ... the terrorists ... haven't they ALREADY won???
Quick! Take the terrorists out again!
Sigh, not even walking the terrorists can help this team.
Lean into one, Stein.
Thunderstorm about to start. It terrorizes the terrorists.
Fuck! DJ batting .220.
[145] PERFECT!
Perhaps you be struck by lightning and THE QUICKENING will occur!
[146] I don't know *what* is wrong with Oontz ... but he is very, Very, VERY bad this year.
The Yankees are usually in the top 5 in team OPS. Always in the top 10. This year, tied for 22nd/23rd.
Bad read by Cabrera
If they bunt ... I hope they **don't** score.
OH ... LOOK ... NO BUNT = RUNS!
I approve.
Harry, keep the change
Bader!
Oh, Falafel.
NEVER MAKE THE FIRST OUT AT 3RD BASE!
YES!1!
SEE YOU ON THE 4TH!!!!
Unexpected win!
Remember when Mateo was going to be Jeter's replacement?
My faith is restored (almost).
Hmm, weather delay, apparently lightning.
[160] Yeah ... it seems like he would have been OK, if the team had given him the chance.
He's a damn fine fielder who hits ... enough.
4th is a GO!
I know this will break some brains, but ... Volpe should be leading off at this point.
Gleyber gets the fireworks started!
Gleyber Day! Kabooooooom!
EVERYBODY GLEYBER NOW!!
I don't think they're getting this one in without at least ONE more delay(s).
From Hell's heart, Hicks stabs at thee!
Hicks deserves that, and probably another.
Rats, tied.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand ... tie game.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
GLEYBER!
Gleyber!
That ... was weird ... but I'll take it!
Gleyber with great baserunning!
4 runs on 3 hits ... a true 2023 Yankees experience!
Phew!
Trevy with some insurance.
Nah, Gleyber is safe.
Bader with a RISP hit.
More Runs then Hits but hey... who am I to complain.
Nice win.
Evening!
Of course ... the news today ...
"Major League Baseball has announced Yankees relief pitcher Jimmy Cordero has been suspended for the rest of the season for violating the league’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy."
Is he signed for next year or will he (hopefully) be a FA?
Where did all the gnats, or midges or whatever they are come from the last 2 or so days???
Gift out
CI
5 scoreless from an emergency starter is very acceptable.
Josh!
Ruh roh, hope the camera guy is ok. Get the ambulance.
Waving to the crowd is a good sign.
Second run.
Cue the Clown Car music!
I parked my car in my driveway at 2-0. Finally turn on game 15 minutes later and it's 4-2. Wtf?!
Good Lord, what an awful at bat from FranK.
Takes a first pitch fastball right down the middle then feebly waves at two sliders off the plate.
UGH.
Sorry, I had to walk the terrorists with the wrong team at bat.
Damn ... thought it was out.
Siiiigh.
[199] Obviously rbj is to blame for tonight.
Stanton's OPS is actually lower than Donaldson's. Both are below .700, bogh are basically useless.
[0] Fantastic write-up, Hank.
I was on holiday in Hawaii and mostly ignoring the Internet. My wife, unable to resist news and social, told me the news.
Wow.
Wish I coulda watched some while lazing by the pool.
[202] It's the lowest in Faber history!
Let’s go Sevy.
Sigh.
Jebus, tune in **1** batter late, miss the first run.
That’s a strike, blue.
This has not been a promising start from Sevy.
I’m predicting no CG for Sevy.
Is he hurt?
I'm predicting 2023 is NOT the year the Yankees win their first World Series since 2009.
[211] He's not *well*, in any case.
I sorta want the Yankees to go on a good ol' 10 or 15 game losing streak ... so it's clear they aren't in this.
Sell what they can, dump Donaldson, bring up the kids and just let them play.
Hopefully Rodon will be better tomorrow.
Well, at least Deivi Garcia's plane fare won't be wasted ...
Double digits.
GREAT NON-MOVE, BOONE-Y!!!
Gunnar has four hits in four innings, Yankees have one.
Alex, I’ll take “Series Splits that Actually Feel Like Sweeps” for $500.”
This is a team that's a) not well constructed b) isn't exciting c) doesn't draft well d) unbalanced e) unlucky and f) stubbornly refuses to take a hard look in the mirror and make the hard decisions to bring about change.
And ... oh, yeah, no fun to watch (at least without Judge).
Oh
My
God
That about sums it up.
14-1!!!
COMEBACK ON!
Or ... not.
Ugh.
[220] Ha! Good one.
[221] And Severino sucks anymore.
And Bauer is injured. Sevy isn’t.
Grumble.
Today's news!
July 7: LHP Nestor Cortes transferred to 60-day IL; OF Jake Bauers placed on IL; OF Franchy Cordero recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre; LHP Carlos Rodón reinstated from IL
Rodón comes off the injured list to make his Yankees debut on Friday after missing the team’s first 88 games of the regular season with forearm and back issues. Cortes, who is scheduled to continue throwing live batting practice sessions this coming week, can now be activated no earlier than Aug. 3. Cordero is starting in right field on Friday.
Oh, joy ... it's Franchy time again!
Rodon's start tonight signifies....something.
Huh ... Volpe has smoked 3 balls in his last 5 at bats ... 3 outs.
LOL.
FranK
Watching the offense is torture.
Michael Kay said all that needs to be said: “The Yankees are scoreless in four innings against a guy with a 6.93 ERA.”
Wait ... a batter can hit the ball where the fielders *aren't*???
Is that even LEGAL???
The most mind-boggling thing about this offensive malaise is that neither Rizzo nor Stanton have accidentally run into a pitch and put one over the fence. Even when completely lost, you’d think they’d get lucky once in a while, just from muscle memory or something. It’s weird.
Equally mind-boggling:
Estevan Florial currently at AAA: .295, 21 HRs, .992 OPS, 18 SBs.
Good start for Rodon
Ian Hamilton is the new Yankees' Aroldis Chapman ... the sweatiest man on the field!
[237] The *only* possible excuse I can give is ... *maybe* they know they'll trade him before the deadline and don't want to spoil what they think is an illusion???
But all **I** know is ... I don't need to see more Franchy.
[232] ANOTHER well hit ball from Volpe ... LOL
This isn’t a hot take, but don’t you feel like we’re looking at McKinney’s ceiling right now? And the same for Bauer? Why not just put Florial in left for the next thirty games just for fun? Heck, at this point why not put Jasson Dominguez in right? It wouldn’t be possible for the offense to get worse, so why not?
[243] see my [214]
I'm TOTALLY on board.
I was thinking that about Florial, and almost added it to the post. Maybe they’re hoping he keeps raking so they can trade him. They’ve made up their minds and don’t want to expose him.
Third run, game over.
Not so much Wisdpm.
And another gift out and the Cubs burn their challenge.
They’ll still win though.
"
This is a team that's a) not well constructed b) isn't exciting c) doesn't draft well d) unbalanced e) unlucky and f) stubbornly refuses to take a hard look in the mirror and make the hard decisions to bring about change.
And ... oh, yeah, no fun to watch (at least without Judge).
"
[243] Look .... if your answers are Jake Bauers and Billy McKinney and Franchy Cordero???
You're asking the wrong questions and are doing it wrong.
2!!!!
2 HITS, BABY!!!!!
WE ROCK!
I miss the Boss, he’d have fired everyone for the last three games.
Volpe is the embodiment of Yankee problems.
He should be pounding the ball into the ground and beating out infield hits, then stealing his way into scoring position.
HRs are nice, but we don't need them from him.
Whoever taught him to lift the ball should be fired...that's probably the entire hitting skills staff, but....
The Yankees vaunted offense showed that it is a triple threat. They did Jack and diddly and squat.
[253] Disagree ... he *has* power, he should be concentrating on a) barrelling the ball and driving it and b) working the count to maximize his greatest offensive threat ... his baserunning.
I DO agree that his biggest problem is selling out for "homerun" power, but he had two AT'EM ball line drives to the outfield last night that could have easily gone for 2 doubles or more.
I don't want to see him hitting worm burners. This isn't 1968.
For example, from last night ...
"The Yankees definitely got the short end of the stick tonight when it comes to maximizing their hard-hit balls, with a total of 11 off Taillon, and just a single in the first inning. However, all of those hard hits won’t amount to much if they’re pounded into the ground. For instance, in the fourth inning Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton came up and both smashed balls at 109.9 and 107.3 mph, respectively, both groundouts, both with negative launch angles. "
There's a nice groundout out from Volpe!
Stantonian!
FRANKENSTANTON!
Blind squirrel....nut.....etc.....
Donaldsonian?
Donaldson's obligatory once-a-week homer!
That back and forth about Boone-y saying "I'm not going to give up on any of our guys ... we believe they still have it ... it's up to us to unlock it"
And all I could think about was Aaron Hicks, who had a 48 OPS+ with the Yankees this year and has a 136 OPS+ with the Orioles ... after the Yankees decided he didn't still have it.
Perhaps the problem is the people being entrusted to "unlock" things?
DARTH!
The hard part of the cycle is out of the way. Hmm, looks like a home run.
A triple?
From FranK???
Damn ... I guess I'll settle for a HR!
amazon Pri$# FUCKING sucks!
[268]?
You don't have mlb.tv?
[271] I'm in Rochester. They must have some bs blackout rules. MLB channel is showing Toronto vs. Detroit.
Huh ... weird ... I don't even have to login into Amazon Prime to get the game.
I'm getting the YES feed.
Cole for the 8th.
MLBN here.
Boone got greedy.
Oooooooooooooooooh, Cole ... not the last pitch you wanted to make.
Sigh.
Lame.
[274] He had to save our relievers for the All-Star break!
Two down
Win!
Sweet. It beats losing.
Combined no-no for the Tigers.
With one out in the ninth, the BJ hitter showed bunt. Boo. Belt wound up striking out, the baseball gods don’t like such things.
Correction, lined out.
Nestor out until August, at best. Bauers out for at least 10 days.
Frankenstanton had his hardest hit of the season on that moonshot ... 118.1 mph ... and also his weakest homerun ... ever ... off the RF pole ... at 91.3 mph
[283] Well, that was locked in when they moved him to the 60 day DL.
See [228]
Boy, oh, boy the radar does *not* look promising for today's game.
One batter in and you get tossed?
WE GOT ONE GODDAMN GAME BEFORE WE GET A BREAK ... AND YOU'RE THAT FUCKING BAD ALREADY????
LOL!!!
Lotsa ground balls from Volpe the last 2 days ... not so many ground ball hits.
There goes the no no and shut out.
Volpe!!
Belly to belly
Of course.
Shit
Bugger ... I run out to the gas station and both sides score 3 runs while I'm gone.
I see Boone-y is making ALL the right pitching decisions today.
Jebus.
Even worse.
Sweet baby Jebus.
Radar does not look good.
Ahahahahahahahaha ... rain delay ... perfect.
[300] see [286], it's been looking ominous all damn afternoon.
They might squeeze this in if they hurry before the main line hits ... after that, it's game over.
Ah, crap ... they have to wait 30 minutes before restarting ... even if they can, I don't know they can finish the game before the REAL rain starts.
This is a bad, bad loss.
And we are bad, with the Yankees still sucking
Just the perfect ending to a terrible, horrible, very not good first half.
See you after the All-Star break.
Just disgusting. So much for our vaulted bullpen.
Draft tonight, how is Cashman going to blow that as well?
And the hitting coach has been fired.
Makes sense, but the Yankees problems are deeper than that.
[309] Same way he always does ... 1 pick at a time.
[310]
Here's MY take ... it can be two things ... hitting coach MAY be a scapegoat for deep disappointment over the first half of the seasons AND deserve getting fired for what he's done with the team's hitter.
What single positive thing, offensively, can you point to from the Yankees this first half?
Volpe starting to turn it around, maybe?
That's great, but that's because he sat down with a MiLB buddy of his over lasagna and looked at the tape.
NOT because of the hitting coach, so ... WTF was our hitting coach when the necessary changes were SO obvious???
Fire him.
I don't think it will change things, but ... who knows?
The ESPN story on Lawson's dismissal has the whole story of this season in one compact paragraph (emphases mine):
"New York is fifth in the majors with 129 homers, but 18th in runs and its .300 on-base percentage is tied with Detroit for 26th in the majors."
This is why I'm sick of the defense that under-performing sluggers as "paid to hit home runs, dummy."
No, they're paid to win goddamn ballgames. Somebody who can't work a count, can't shorten up and make opposite-field contact when appropriate, and who has never once even attempted a true sac bunt is ipso facto not one of the 750 best baseball players in the world, and should not be a major leaguer.
Lookin' at you, half the Yankees. There are guys here who could hit twice as many doubles in a season if they didn't devote every at-bat to the five-run home run. I would take that trade-off.
And everyone knows a coach is not the root of this problem. An organizational attitude is. The Yankees have a front-row seat to smarter, sounder baseball approaches every day in the teams that keep beating them.
#getoffmylawn
I'm not sure what practical benefits the firing will have -- do they need someone new to tell them that they aren't scoring any runs? that they shouldn't swing for the fences on 0-2 counts? that three batters in a row shouldn't swing at the first pitch?
But this could be a reality check. Sometimes players respond when confronted with the reality that their performance is costing people jobs and changing the trajectories of lives. None of us has the information or the knowledge to judge Lawson's performance or how responsible he is for the offensive malaise, but his name is on the product, so to speak.
There was an article in the Athletic a few weeks ago outlining the Yankees' organizational approach to hitting. They've instituted fairly regular hitters' meetings in which an individual player will talk in depth about a specific at bat, explaining what he saw from the pitcher, what he was trying to do, which pitches he was looking for, and he'll explain if it was successful or not. Apparently -- no irony intended -- this was a process that the organization felt was going to help them win a World Series.
Apparently the whole thing was triggered by Judge, who realized that even after his historic season, he still wanted to get better, and the rest of the team needed to get better. It actually made sense to me, and it's why I wasn't as bothered by some that it was a minor league teammate and not the hitting coach who correct Anthony Volpe's batting stance. I like the idea of a collective approach, essentially having a team of hitting coaches helping each other.
I don't know what to think about Sean Casey, but it seems like this is a slight move to balance analytics. He seems a bit old school to me, but not necessarily in a bad way.
But as some have mentioned here, this an organizational issue, and I don't think the organization has suddenly decided that on-base percentage is no longer important. The players on this team -- players who have performed well by that metric in the past -- simply aren't getting on base.
Will this change that? Who the hell knows.