About Yesterday: The Yankees Shut Out the Twins 5-0

About Yesterday Afternoon: The Yankees Shut Out the Twins 5-0

By Tim Kabel

May 17, 2024

***

The Yankees shut out the Twins yesterday 5-0 and swept the series against them. The Yankees outscored the Twins 14-1 in the three-game series. The Yankees were 5-1 on their road trip and now come home to play the Chicago White Sox. The Yankees have the best record in the American League and are the first American League team to win 30 games. Only the Philadelphia Phillies have a better record. As they used to say on Wagon Train, “Keep those wagons rolling.” 

Quick Stats – 

·       The Yankees became the first team in the American League to reach 30 wins.

·       Clarke Schmidt has allowed three runs or fewer in each of his nine starts.

·       Clarke Schmidt is now 5-1 with a 2.49 ERA this season. Michael King is 3-4 with a 4.31 ERA with the Padres. Remember how many people were upset that the Yankees kept Schmidt and traded King?

·       Aaron Judge had six extra base hits in his last two games. 

·       The Twins were one of the hottest teams in baseball going into this series. The Yankees held them to one run for the entire series. 

·       Clarke Schmidt did not allow a run in back-to-back starts and pitched 8 innings for the first time in his career yesterday.

·       Apparently, Hal Steinbrenner wants to keep Juan Soto in the Bronx for the rest of his career and is open to negotiating during the season. Soto’s agent, Scott Boris is surprisingly open to that concept. Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope it gets done.

·       On May 16, 2006, the Yankees overcame a 9-0 deficit in the second inning to win the game against the Texas Rangers 14-13 when Jorge Posada hit a game-winning two-run homer with two outs in the 9th inning.

Big Story – 

The Yankees’ starting pitching has been very good this season. The starters are now pitching deeper into games and the team is in first place. By the way, they will be getting Gerrit Cole back relatively soon. That is a good problem to have. The question will be, who will be removed from the rotation when Cole returns? That question doesn't need to be answered today. Perhaps, the Yankees will utilize a six-man rotation for a while. That will give the starters additional rest. They have many options. Hopefully injury does not play a role in the decision-making process. If the starting pitchers keep performing the way they have been, it will be a difficult decision when Cole returns but it is better to be in that position than to have pitchers in the rotation who are struggling.

Player of the Game – 

Clarke Schmidt was dominant again, pitching 8.0 innings while allowing 3 hits, striking out 8, and walking 0. He has become a very reliable pitcher and a key member of the starting rotation.

Notable Performances – 

Anthony Volpe had two hits, including his 6th home run of the season.

Aaron Judge had two doubles and six extra base hits in his last two games.

Better to Forget – 

Juan Soto is in a bit of a slump. It happens. I certainly wouldn't worry about it.

My Take –  

I have often written that with Aaron Boone as the manager, the only way the Yankees will win a World Series is to “Boone-proof” the team. In other words, there has to be system in place to prevent Boone from sabotaging whatever success the team may have.

Right now, the Yankees seem to be successfully Boone-proofing. They are playing so well that there is no need for strategy and multiple in-game decisions by the manager. Despite that, Boone almost blew a 6-run lead on Sunday. Currently, the team is rolling along quite nicely. Boone can sit in his office, make jokes, brag about knowing who the player was in the “Name that Yankee” contest, and blow bubbles.

Unfortunately, this method of Boone-proofing may not work long-term. Remember 2022? The team had a tremendous start but then faded horribly in the second half. The same thing could happen this year. When the team starts to go into a bit of a tailspin, and they play close games, that's when the manager has to make big decisions. Boone has proven during his tenure as the Yankees’ manager that he is not very good at big decisions. Apparently, he is very good at telling jokes, playing trivia games, doing impersonations, and blowing bubbles.

It is hard to ask a team to be so good that it can overcome an ineffective manager. Unfortunately, that is the task before the 2024 Yankees. They are playing so well, that they seem destined to make the playoffs. I know it's early, and it could be a repeat of 2022 and perhaps even worse. The playoffs are not guaranteed but, they do seem likely.

The playoffs will become the issue. The games will be more competitive, and the pitching will be tougher. There may be the need for crucial in-game decisions. That would be a problem. The Yankees will have to focus on getting out to quick leads in the playoff games to avoid such things. We have all seen what happens when Aaron Boone has to make big decisions in crucial games. It is not pretty.

One way of preventing this may be for the Yankees to add a significant player or two at the trading deadline to become such a juggernaut that they can roll over the opposition even in the playoffs. This is all down the road but, as long as Boone is the manager, we need to think about these things.

Next Up – 

Tonight, the Yankees open a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox at 7:05 PM at Yankee Stadium. Nestor Cortes, (1-4, 4.02 ERA) will face Chicago’s Mike Clevinger (0-1, 5.40 ERA). The White Sox are the worst team in the American League. The Yankees need to win this series. A sweep would be nice.