About Yesterday Afternoon: The Yankees Laid an Egg

About Yesterday Afternoon: The Yankees Laid an Egg Against the Cardinals 14-7

By Tim Kabel

September 2, 2024

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The Yankees are clearly gearing up for the stretch run and the playoffs. (That would be known as sarcasm.) The Yankees followed up the loss of the series against the Nationals by losing a series to the Cardinals. Although the Yankees did rally from a 7-2 deficit to tie the game, they immediately fell behind the Cardinals again before ultimately losing 14-7. This was a sloppy, poorly played game. The Yankees did score seven runs, so the offense was not horrible, but the pitching and defense were dreadful. The best thing you can say about this game was that it was a day game, so no one had to stay up late to watch it.

Quick Stats – 

·       Aaron Judge has now gone six games without hitting a home run. Forgive me for not panicking.

·       Giancarlo Stanton hit his 426th career home run, tying him with Billy Williams for 52nd place on the career list. He also passed Hank Bauer on the Yankees’ career home run list with 159.

·      The Yankees are 39-39 since June 1. That is basically half a season of .500 baseball. Considering that this stretch occurred in the middle of the season, the Yankees certainly have the potential to finish the season on a sour note. Going 39-39 is not a rough patch, it is their identity.

·       Jordan Walker, who entered the game batting .143 had five hits, including his first home run since last season. 

·       On September1st, 1931, Lou Gehrig hit a home run in his sixth consecutive game, and it was his third Grand Slam in four days.

Big Story –

There was a lot of talk before this season began and at the beginning of the year that this Yankees’ team would be different and significantly better than last year's team. As you recall, last year the team finished with a record of 82-80. Well right now, their record is 79-58, which is better than last season. However, they are 39-39 since June 1st. As noted above, that's a half season’s worth of games. So, the Yankees have been a .500 team for half of this season. They still have 24 games left to play. Those 24 games will essentially define this team. If they get on a hot streak and play very well to finish up the season and head into the playoffs, that would be wonderful. However, if they finish those 24 games at 12-12, they will essentially be limping into the playoffs and will only have made it there by virtue of their hot streak at the beginning of the season. As that noted sage, Aaron Boone, frequently says “it's all right there in front of them”.

Player of the Game – 

Jazz Chisholm, Jr. was 2-3 with 2 stolen bases and 3 runs scored.

Notable Performances –

• Anthony Rizzo returned from the IL to go 2-4 with an RBI.

• Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run home run.

Better to Forget  -

Pretty much everything after the National Anthem.

My Take –  

Yesterday was September 1st. That is the day that rosters can expand. Unlike the old days when you could expand the roster all the way to 40, teams can only add one additional pitcher and one additional position player. Naturally, the Yankees recalled Jasson Dominguez, their top prospect. After all, Alex Verdugo is ranked as one of the worst left fielders in Baseball. Therefore, by definition, anyone would be an upgrade over Verdugo. The fact that Dominguez is the team's top prospect and has been on a hot streak after recovering from injuries only made his case stronger. So of course, he was recalled and, in the lineup yesterday... Wait! He wasn't recalled?  In fact, the Yankees decided against recalling Dominguez and will continue to stay the course with Alex Verdugo. 

Instead of recalling Dominguez, the Yankees recalled someone named Duke Ellis. Duke Ellis sounds like the name of a Big Band leader in the 1940s. Duke Ellis has been released a couple of times this season and has a total of four career at-bats at the Major League level. He is the position player equivalent of the fellows the Yankees usually acquire to pitch in the bullpen. Aaron Boone’s explanation was to say that “Dominguez was in the conversation and is still in the conversation.” I guess it's a good thing to be in the conversation, but it is far better to be in the Major Leagues, and it is even better than that to be in the lineup. Well, apparently Verdugo was motivated by the looming presence of Duke Ellis because he collected his monthly quota of two hits and one RBI on the 1st of the month. This is such a head-scratching move that Meredith Marakovits reported that when Duke Ellis was summoned back to the field by his manager at Scranton, Shelley Duncan, Ellis assumed that he was about to be released. Even he couldn't believe he was being recalled.

Since the Yankees are in the process of adding people to the roster and making changes, I have a question. Why is DJ LeMahieu still on the roster? What purpose does he serve? Rizzo will probably play every day at first base down the stretch. If he needs a day off, Oswaldo Cabrera could certainly handle that. LeMahieu will not play over Jazz Chisholm, Jr., Gleyber Torres, or Anthony Rizzo. Even Aaron Boone would not send LeMahieu up to pinch hit. Well, actually he would. He has already done so a few times this season. It makes no sense to keep LeMahieu on the roster. Additionally, Trent Grisham should be removed as well. Now that they have the one and only Duke Ellis, they don't need another weak-hitting outfielder with speed.

The Yankees have two dozen games left in the regular season. They have more questions than answers at this point. They are inconsistent and cannot beat the teams they should be able to beat. They have been a mediocre, .500 team for three months now. The manager and presumably, the general manager, continue to stick with players who have proven they cannot get the job done, such as Alex Verdugo, DJ LeMahieu, and Trent Grisham. All these ingredients do not add up to a recipe for success in the postseason. If you plan on buying playoff tickets this season for the Yankees, you should get them for the first series they play, and for one of the first two or three games. Otherwise, your ticket might be as worthless as the comments made by Aaron Boone after every game.

Next Up 

Tonight, the Yankees will open a three-game series against the Texas Rangers at 8:05 PM at Globe Life Field. Gerrit Cole, (5-3, 3.86 ERA) will face the Rangers’ Andrew Heaney, (4-13, 3.95 ERA).