About Last Night: The Yankees Defeated the Diamondbacks 7-1
By Tim Kabel
September 23, 2023
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The Yankees opened their final home series of the season against the Arizona Diamondbacks last night. They won the game and are now two games over .500 for the season. They have a realistic shot of extending their streak of winning seasons past 30. That may not be a lofty goal, but it is certainly better than having a losing season for the first time in 30 years. After the Yankees finish this series against Arizona, they will close out the season with six road games against Toronto and then Kansas City.
At this point in the season, the focus is not on making the playoffs, as that is virtually impossible. Instead, it is on finishing the season in a respectable manner and answering some questions for next season.
Quick Stats -
Aaron Judge became the first player in Yankees' history to have multiple three-home run games in the same season.
Giancarlo Stanton is now batting .187 for the season with 24 home runs. He will be an albatross for the Yankees for the remainder of his contract, unless they can find a way to trade him.
Aaron Judge has six multi-home run games this season. That is the fourth time he has done that in his career which ties him for the major league career lead in that category.
Aaron Judge had 14 total bases last night, which is the most by a Yankee since Curtis Granderson in 2012.
The Yankees are 78-76 with 8 games left in the season.
Aaron Judge is third in the American League with 35 home runs this season in only 100 games.
On September 22nd, 2003, Alfonso Soriano hit his 13th leadoff home run for the Yankees, which is a Major League record for one season.
The Big Story -
Last night was an example of what might have been for the New York Yankees this season and what certainly could be for next year. Aaron Judge had four hits, including three home runs and drove in six runs. Austin Wells, Anthony Volpe, Oswaldo Cabrera, and Oswald Peraza all had hits. Peraza also played sparkling defense at third base. Those players could all be very big parts of the 2024 team.
Luke Weaver, who will most likely not be a part of the 2024 Yankees, pitched a solid game, and Jhony Brito, who finished it out, did as well. Brito could be a part of the 2024 team in some capacity. This is the type of game that makes you regret what didn't happen this year but also look forward to what 2024 could bring. We can't do anything about this season, but we can certainly be optimistic looking forward to next year.
Player of the Day -
Aaron Judge had an amazing game, in which he proved what a truly great player he is. His absence due to injury this season was one of the major reasons the Yankees will not make the playoffs. It also demonstrated that they need to have contributions from other sources.
Notable Performances -
Oswald Peraza had two hits, including a double and multiple dazzling plays at third base.
Jhony Bruno and Luke Weaver put forward solid pitching efforts.
Better to Forget-
Giancarlo Stanton was hitless with two strikeouts before singling in the eighth ending last night.
My Take -
As a Yankees' fan, it is disappointing that the team will not make the playoffs this season. Well, that does happen. The Yankees do make the playoffs more often than not and certainly more often than most other teams. Let's imagine how things could have been:
Imagine if the Yankees had signed Carlos Correa to play shortstop instead of waiting for Anthony Volpe. Correa is finished for the season with plantar fasciitis. He batted .230 this season with 18 home runs, 65 RBI, and 0 stolen bases. He has five more years on his contract with an annual average salary of $33,333,333. What a bargain. Volpe, who is a rookie, is batting .209 with 21 home runs, 60 RBI, and 24 stolen bases. Volpe is 22 years old. Correa is 29 years old.
Imagine if we had not seen Jasson Dominguez at the Major League level this season and had no idea what he could do. Now, imagine that he still suffered the torn UCL, and we weren't going to see him at all until next season. That would be a lot worse than the scenario we have.
Imagine if we still had Aaron Hicks on this team instead of getting a look at Everson Pereira and seeing Oswaldo Cabrera close out the season in a solid fashion.
Imagine if Dillon Lawson was still the Yankees hitting coach as opposed to Sean Casey.
Imagine if Josh Donaldson was playing third base instead of Oswald Peraza.
Imagine if we weren't getting a look at Austin Wells, and the catching options for next season were limited to Kyle Higashioka (34-years-old), Jose Trevino, who spent the entire second half of the season on the IL, and Ben Rortvedt.
Imagine if Michael King and Clarke Schmidt were not performing well in the starting rotation.
Imagine if Gerrit Cole and Aaron Judge were not locked into contracts for next year and beyond.
Ultimately, this season was a disappointment, but even within that disappointment there are positive signs and good omens for next year and the future of this franchise.
Next Up -
Today, the Yankees will play the second game of their last three-game home series of the season against the Arizona Diamondbacks at 1:05 p.m. Carlos Rodon (3-6 5.90 ERA) will face Arizona's Zach Davies (2-5 6.81 ERA).
Speaking of the reverse happening....Hicks line in Baltimore not too shabby all of the sudden either (.292/.389/.454/.843). I was out on him too but it does make you wonder.
The 2 that got away will always be Harper & Seager for me. So many misplaced payroll dollars of late & these 2 are elsewhere with nary an effort.
If the "might have been" for the Yankees success is based on Judge hitting three taters, 6 RBIs and 14 TB per night, I'm putting my money on "would not have been." Consider from another angle: Judge is at 4.1 WAR having played only 100 games. Assume he plays at that rate for all 162, and he's at 6.6 WAR. If the Yankees are 2.5 wins better because of a healthy Judge, then they are . . . only 14.5 games back, 4.5 out of the last Wild Card slot. Heck, let's make Judge totally healthy and repeat his 2022 MVP season of 10.6 WAR. Then the Yankees are still a half game out of the Wild Card (an…
I brought this up months ago, before the trade deadline... I don't believe it is a lock that Gerrit Cole remains a Yankee after next year. He has an opt out. The Yankees have made a lot of bad decisions regarding roster, injuries, personnel, etc... these last many years. Cole might wish to play for an organization that operates differently.
That is going to be the big story one year from now.
If the Yankees don't change their approach in meaningful ways, 2024 will not be a success and that would make Cole's decision that much easier.
Imagine if they had a GM that knew what he was doing?
Tim you really had some rose colored glasses with 20/20 hindsight on when you wrote that bit about Correa and Volpe. In 2022 Correa slashed .291/.366/.467/.834 with 5.5 WAR while the Yankees' stop gap, IKF, slashed .261/.314/.327/.642 with a very generous 3.0 WAR (mostly thanks to generous official scoring and Anthony Rizzo's glove work at 1B saving him from many throwing errors). Yes, Correa was injured this year and was a lot more expensive than Anthony Volpe.. And acquiring IKF saddled the Yankees with Josh Donaldson's bloated salary and weak production for two years. That should figure in your accounting also.
But Volpe has been terrible at the plate and has a questionable future if he does not change his…