By Andy Singer
April 30th, 2024
The Big Story
Fresh off of a huge weekend in which the Yankees demolished the Brewers in Milwaukee, the Yankees faced their toughest test of the season as they began a 4-game series against the Orioles on Monday night. It was absolutely a playoff atmosphere, and I'm sad to report that the days of Baltimore being a home game away from home for the Yankees are long gone. I can still remember games not too long ago in which the number of Yankee fans in the stadium far outnumbered those rooting for the O's. Not anymore; O's fans made themselves heard, and it came through all night.
Monday night was a classic pitcher's duel, and unfortunately, the Yanks came out on the wrong side of it, losing 2-0. Clarke Schmidt did his job, going 5+ innings with just a first inning blemish on his record, but the offense went 0-8 with runners in scoring position, leaving 10 men on-base. The offense wasn't quite as hapless as it seemed, but it couldn't capitalize when it counted.
A Deeper Dive
A Pitcher's Duel
While Clarke Schmidt certainly wasn't dominant on Monday night, he put together what was easily his most impressive start of the season against a potent Orioles lineup stacked with potential All-Stars and MVP candidates. Schmidt scattered 3 walks and 3 hits, including a homer on the first pitch he threw, but he also got 5 big strikeouts while allowing just a single run. After 5.2 innings, Schmidt wanted to finish the 6th inning, motioning for Boone to stay in the dugout, but Boone made the right call to pull Schmidt given his propensity to run out of gas in the 6th inning.
More critically. Schmidt leaned on his sinker for much of the night in big spots, and the pitch had tons of life on it. On 8 swings, O's batters whiffed 4 times, including on big strikeout pitches to Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman. Schmidt still went to the cutter as his primary pitch, and though it wasn't quite as effective as his sinker, Schmidt used the pitch effectively to limit hard contact in conjunction with his slider and knuckle-curve.
Not to be outdone, Grayson Rodriguez was excellent as well for the Orioles. He went 5.2 while scattering 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 3. The Yankees made Rodriguez work, but he did a good job of keeping balls off of the barrel of the bat, allowing an exit velocity of just 85.7 MPH. In fact, the Yankees just missed on a couple of occasions...
Judge Just Missed Twice
Judge's final line wasn't that impressive: 1-4 with a strikeout. However, he had a chance to break the game open in the 5th and 7th innings with a runner on base in each inning. Both times, Judge drove good looking balls to the opposite field. Both pitches moved just off the barrel of the bat. Here were the results:
5th inning:
7th inning:
Both shots went right to the wall, but exit velocities of just under 100 MPH indicate that Judge caught both balls just out towards the end of the bat. The Yanks almost had another 4 runs off of Judge's contributions. Judge made three great swings after a first inning strikeout, but only had a single to show for it instead of 2 homers and 4 RBIs. As John Sterling used to say, "That's baseball, Suzyn."
Giancarlo Stanton is SLOW
Remember all the talk about how much more athletic Stanton looked in Spring Training? I don't want to hear it anymore. Austin Wells should have had two hits on the night. Late in the game, he pulled a ball right over the 2B into RF. Sure, Stanton had to make sure the ball got over the second baseman's mitt, but that's a ball a big leaguer should advance to 2B on. Instead, the RF threw out Stanton embarrassingly at 2B, and it goes down as a fielder's choice for Wells in the box score. I won't post the video here, because it's just too painful, but you can look it up for yourself. That was a dagger in the heart.
Player of the Game
We don't have many options, but Clarke Schmidt was excellent and did everything he needed to do to win this ballgame. When you allow 1 run in 5.2 innings, you should get the W. Good game by Schmidt.
Better to Forget
Volpe went 0-4 and booted a ball in the 8th that gave the Orioles an insurance run.
My Take
It's a frustrating loss, but the game was close the whole way. Baseball is hard, and though we are all scarred by the offensive woes from last season, the Yankees came very close to breaking the game open in this one, but ran into a pitcher who effectively missed the sweet spot of the bat. Sometimes, that happens. That said, the Yankees really need a good series here to solidify their place in the AL East. They have three more in this series to prove they're for real.
Looking To Tomorrow
Nestor Cortes takes on Dean Kremer in game 2 against the Orioles in Baltimore at 6:35. Let's hope for a better outcome.
Schmidt again proved why he is right now a very solid #4 or #5 SP. I just wish they'd teach him how to pitch, but that's not the Yankees Way. They believe in throwing all your pitches to every batter.
Wells looks like he's coming out of it, but then Stanton takes away a hit from him. If Verdugo is still on the Paternity list for tonight's game, I'm making Wells the DH and sitting Stanton.
Schmidt looked quite good, he made me begin to believe that he can be a valuable starting pitcher in the bigs. made me begin to believe that he is beginning to believe.
he worked up and down a bit, as well as in and out
As you said, baseball is hard, and you can't win every game. My biggest concern though was the 0-8 with RISP. Hopefully better execution with RISP tonight!! Also, not that it mattered, but if we/they want Schmidt to get over the hump and pitch longer, last night was a great opportunity to build his confidence and let him pitch deeper. He only gave up 3 hits and 1 run through 92 pitches, 5.2 innings. At 28 years old, I'd stop babying him and let him work through it and give us 110-120 pitches. Just my 2 cents!
And yes, Stanton looked like he stopped to play the piano he was carrying.
Great thoughts.
That is baseball.
As a hitter, you want to barrell up.
As a pitcher, you want hitters to miss the barrell.
Yesterday, the pitchers did their job.
Aaron came close twice, but close doesn't count.