About Yesterday and Last Night

by Paul Semendinger and Dale Mather

June 9, 2023

***

The Yankees played a double header yesterday.

They lost the first game 6-5.

They then won the nightcap 3-0.

Quick Stats Game 1:

• Luis Severino gave up 4 runs over 5 innings, allowing three homers

• Luis Severino's ERA on the season is 5.75

• Kyle Higashioka had two hits

• Anthony Volpe pinch ran

• IKF hit a fielder's choice ground that was a clear error but was ruled a hit

• Giancarlo Stanton looked terrible at the plate

• Anthony Rizzo went 0-for-5

• Willie Calhoun homered

Quick Stats Game 2:

• Randy Vasquez picked up his first career win

• 2B - W Calhoun, J Bauers (6)

• HR - G Torres, B McKinney

• RBI - B McKinney (1), G Torres 2 (27)

The Big Story of Game 1 (by Paul):

The White Sox jumped ahead 2-0. The Yankees tied it at 2-2. Things were looking better. Luis Severino then gave up two solo homers to put the Yankees down 4-2. The Yankees battled back to tie the game at 4-4 in the fourth inning and then went ahead 5-4. The Sox scored two runs in the top of the seventh to go up 6-5. In the bottom of the 9th, Josh Donaldson pinch-walked. Anthony Volpe pinch ran. IKF grounded into a single. The typing run was on second, the winning run at the plate. Gleyber Torres then popped out. Anthony Rizzo then grounded into a game-ending double play.

Hot take of the day - Giancarlo Stanton is not and should not be a clean-up hitter any longer. I understand the Yankees don't have any other choice right now, but he is clearly not the hitter he used to be.

The Big Story of Game 1 (by Dale):

It's hard to find a bigger story than Aaron Judge being on the IL again (and, I guess, the air quality being so poor) but Luis Severino's struggles continued and that's something to be very concerned with considering the Yankees are without Nestor Cortez for a while. Carlos Rodon pitched to Oswaldo Cabrera and Jake Bauers yesterday in his first attempt at live hitters all with a blood orange sky. Everything seems to be okay today with Boone reporting no lingering issues. Maybe Rodon will be back sooner than later.

The Big Story of Game 2 (by Dale):

Pitching was the story in the night cap with Randy Vasquez, Ron Marinaccio, and Clay Holmes keeping the White Sox hitters off balance all night. Yankees pitchers stuck out 7 batters while only walking 3. The game was a little shy of 2 and a half hours and seemed to be over before it started.

Player of the Game, Game 1 (by Dale):

Willie Calhoun playing lead off really paid off, with him belting a 2 run home run and collecting 3 RBIs. He started his day with a game tying single in the second inning and followed that up with a game tying 2 run home run in the 4th inning. With Willie swinging a hot bat Boonehead chose to pull Willie in favor of IKF who did manage a single of his own.

Player of the Game, Game 2 (by Dale):

Randy Vasquez shut down and shut out the White Sox offense, and gave the Yankees just enough length to line up the bullpen perfectly to secure the win. Vasquez was masterful today and has earned himself another start.

Notable Performances, Game 1 (by Dale):

Jake Bauers collected 2 doubles on the game and Kyle Higashioka also had a double and 2 hits. In his first at bat back up with the Yankees Billy McKinney cracked a triple and scored on Higgy's double.

Notable Performances, Game 2 (by Dale):

Ron Marinaccio delivered a career high in innings throwing 2 2/3 of no hit ball. He recorded 4 strikeouts and only allowed one base runner on a walk. He was as dominant as his stat line suggests.

Gleyber Torres and Billy McKinney both chipped in with home runs, while Willie Calhoun and Jake Bauers finished off very impressive offensive games with a double each.

Better to Forget Game 1 (by Paul):

On paper, when looks at the back-and-forth, it seems like it was an exciting game, but it lacked energy and was not a fun game to watch. Maybe it was the empty stadium. Maybe it was the grey skies. Maybe it was the fact that Luis Severino didn't look good. Maybe it was the fact that the Yankees of today are a bunch of replacement level players surrounded by some over-the-hill veterans. Without Aaron Judge, these Yankees feel a lot like the Yankees of 2013 and 2014. That's just not inspiring.

Better to Forget, Game 2 (by Dale):

The fact that the Yankees dropped a series they should have swept. Even with some replacements in the game, the Yankees had plenty of opportunities to win the series. Having said that, the offense still looks stale to me. Look for the Yankees offense to come alive again the next series with the Red Sox.

My Take Game 1 (by Paul):

In the first game, the Yankees had the following players as starters: Willie Calhoun (rf), Jake Bauers (lf), Oswaldo Cabrera (ss), and Billy McKinney (cf). That's where this team is. They have replacement player after replacement player starting. It's unbelievable.

By the way, Billy McKinney's start in centerfield was the first of his career. The Yankees have a fascination with playing players where they have never played before.

Great teams often have great depth. The Yankees of 2023 don't have any depth. It's a shallow pool of long-shot high hopes candidates playing game after game. How the Yankees win at all is often a mystery to me.

Luis Severino does not look good. At all. The Yankees also have very little depth in the starting rotation. Nestor Cortes is injured and it seems that it might not be a minor injury. Let's hope for the best. Right now the Yankees' rotation is Gerrit Cole, and pray for smoggy air to cancel the next four games. (To be fair, Domingo German has looked pretty good and Clarke Schmidt has put together a few good starts in a row of late. But still...)

My Take, Game 2 (by Paul):

The lineup was again uninspiring. No one would have believed at the end of last season that the following players were starting game for the Yankees, not in Spring Training. but on June 8: Willie Calhoun (dh), Isiah Kiner-Falefa (cf), Jake Bauers (rf), Billy McKinney (lf), These are our 2023 Yankees.

It seems that Giancarlo Stanton is so fragile that he can't even be a DH for both games of a double header. The designated hitter position used to be a place that was considered a "day off." For the Yankees, being the DH is now considered hard work. In that first game, Stanton went 0-for-3 with a walk. It wasn't as if he worked really hard and was running a lot of bases.

My Take, Game 2 (by Dale):

It was nice to see the Yankees eek out a win with an absolute gem of well pitched game. I still can't help but wonder how many wins they can put on the board with Judge and Bader both out. Donaldson and Stanton are still trying to get their timing right When you couple that with DJ's strikeouts and some youngsters hitting. 200ish, I am really concerned. I sure help they score against the Red Sox.

Next Up: The Yankees and Red Sox will renew their rivalry tonight with Gerrit Cole 7-0 (2.82 ERA) taking on former Yankee Garrett Whitlock 2-2 (5.62). Will Cole stay unbeaten, or will Mr. Whitlock continue his mastery of the Yankees? Either way I am excited to have the Red Sox in town.