Andrew’s One Good and One Bad (Game 2, World Series)

Andrew’s One Good and One Bad

By Andrew Hefner

October 27, 2024

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Last night was tough. Although not nearly as heartbreaking as Game 1, I struggled to see glimpses of the Yankees team that appeared just a week ago in the ALCS. There was no plate discipline whatsoever, and another rough outing by Rodon is what set them back early. The Bronx is expecting magic this coming week and after what I saw last night, there needs to be some big adjustments made coming back to New York.

Let’s take a look at One Good and One Bad from Game 2 of the 2024 World Series.

The Good

The only thing that impressed me last night (besides Juan Soto) was the New York Yankees bullpen once again showing out in full force. After an extremely rough outing from Carlos Rodon, leading to him being pulled from the game early, the combination of Tim Hill, Clay Holmes, Jake Cousins, and Mark Leiter, pitched 4.2 innings with 2 hits and no runs given up.

The bullpen started the first part of this postseason with an outstanding 0.72 ERA but has since slipped in the recent extra innings outings in both the ALCS and World Series causing that number to swell. Lucky for them, the outing last night was not like that. I’m cautiously optimistic about Clay Holmes again, as when not put in a tight game or closing role, he seems to fit into the regular bullpen rotation nicely. I think if Aaron Boone can realize that he belongs there, things could begin to look up for Clay soon.

The bullpen will get a much-needed off day during the travel day, and with Luke Weaver not going into the game last night, he will be able to work on Monday night with two days of rest. Clark Schmidt isn't necessarily known for his endurance so the expectation would be that the bullpen may have to go 4+ innings on Monday. Hopefully, there is a nice repeat of what we saw last night for many games to come.

The Bad

Four hits in the World Series is laughable, especially because thee of them came in the last inning. It was an embarrassing night for all parts of the Yankees offense (besides Soto who, per usual, had himself a nice night) as there was just no real approach at the plate.

Aaron Judge went down on strikes three times again as well and with no support from the key guys in the lineup, the Yanks are simply not going to win games. The same could be said for Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells. Although neither of them struggled quite as mighty as Judge last night, with one out and the bases loaded in the World Series, a run needs to be manufactured. There were multiple chances in that 9th inning to tie the game and there just was nothing going on in the bottom of the order. Breaking balls are hurting the Yankees more than I have ever seen as no one could seem to make any quality contact all game, much less get the bat on the ball in the first place. Yamamoto has nasty stuff, but not to the point where he could go 6+ innings on 86 pitches in the World Series of all places. I feel like I say this often but the Yankees offense needs to go back to the drawing board once again, as whatever is happening now is simply not sustainable.

Onto the next. There is not much favorable to look back on from the first LA portion of the World Series, but three games in the Bronx just might be what the Yankees need to get back into it. Just winning the first game at home can make a huge momentum shift in this Series, so the Yanks really need to put their best foot forward and put on a show for the home crowd.