by Paul Semendinger
May 13, 2024
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I'll start today by bringing up a brilliant idea for a new stat from reader Robert Malchman:
You know what stat I'd like to see? Exit Velo/At Bat. So if you strike out three times in a game (all swinging and missing) and hit one 120 mph home run (on the first pitch), your EVAB would be 30. It would be a nail in the coffin of Three True Outcomes because it would put front and center the "swing hard in case you hit it" type of player.
I think this is BRILLIANT. Absolutely brilliant.
Sure, a guy can hit a ball a gazillion miles-per-hour, but if he whiffs the next 45 times, what does that prove? I sent this idea as a tweet to a few savy baseball people on Twitter. I'm eager to see what they'll say.
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The Yankees keep winning series. What's been fantastic is that over the last two series, Juan Soto has been ordinary. He's been nothing special. And yet the team keeps winning.
The biggest hit yesterday was Gleyber Torres' home run just as the Rays were making a game of it.
Teams win when all of the players perform and contribute. "You're having a bad day? I'm having a good day. Let's go!" If the Yankees become that kind of team, good things will follow. They're heading on that path.
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Yesterday's game was a great example of how "momentum" is nothing more than a talking point. The Yankees were up 6-0. By definition, they had all the momentum. But then the Rays came back and were on the verge of taking over the game. By definition, they had all the momentum. Then Gleyber Torres homered...
If momentum can change so quickly, it isn't anything that can be of value.
Momentum is when you're doing well. It doesn't have any staying power. It's nothing more than something announcers like to talk about.
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The 90-minute John Sterling radio program on WFAN on Saturday was amazing and wonderful. It was a gift to hear him again. Fan after fan called in to thank him. It was well-deserved and just so touching.
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Should we be concerned that Nestor Cortes isn't pitching well? He might be the odd man out when Gerrit Cole comes back.
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Artemesia Publishing is giving away two free copies of my new book 365.2: Going the Distance. Take a look and get on their mailing list to find out about all of their great books.
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I don't think most people realize how many hours it takes to write books and run a site like this.
The Gettysburg book I am writing is, absolutely, a full time job. I have spent countless hours working on it. It's daily work that consumes days and weeks and months. More details to come soon! Writing is a labor of love. Books don't just happen. I should have a draft of the first volume of my Gettysburg book completed within the week. This book is something else - unlike anything I've written before. But it is been a long process getting this far (and I'm only on Volume One of Three.
Websites like this also just don't happen. I figure we have posted over 10,000 articles here since we started in 2017. Think about that. I am very proud that we do this for free. There aren't many sites that give away this much free content - especially ones that don't have a gazillion ads.
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I also think that we have the most reasoned, thoughtful, smart, and well articulated comments (by and large) on any Yankees site - probably on most sites of any type on the Internet. The points made are respectable (primarily) and reasonable. Our readers treat each other with respect - even when disagreeing. Thank you for that.
I think we have the best community here. Absolutely and 100%.
I do take issue, though, when readers resort to name calling. We can disagree with a manager, an owner, a player, a writer, or whatever, but the name calling is juvenile and unnecessary. As I have said before, when one has to resort to calling someone else a name, that, by definition, means his argument is weak. A strong argument doesn't need to resort to name calling.
Disagree. Debate. Discuss. It's all good. It's great. We're passionate about the Yankees. But stay respectful.
Caleb Ferguson pitched poorly last night. He hasn't done very well as a Yankee. But he is a human being and not something else. Even if the word used to describe him isn't a swear, or even an inappropriate word, per se, resorting to that type of name calling is unnecessary. I don't think anyone wants to be called any such word.
If you don't want people to use the word in reference to you, don't use it in refrerence to someone else.
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I am very pleased with the 2024 Yankees so far. This team has been very fun to watch. I am cautiously optimistic. 2022 stung hard. I'm not ready to believe until... maybe until the last out is recorded and the Yankees are the 2024 World Champions of baseball.
Aaron Boone has failed too many times to make me believe that he suddenly has the answers. When trouble comes, is comes fast and the Yankees don't seem to have the answers. And they cannot seem to anticipate the problems before they come. That, at least, has been the past. Hopefully that has all changed.
Oh, we can only hope.
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Luis Gil has been such a bright spot for the Yankees. He has amazed. He's been terrific. I remember a pitcher named...
Joba Chamberlain.
The Yankees moved Joba in and out of the bullpen.
I hope they don't do that with Gil. Starting pitchers are much more valuable than relief pitchers. The Yankees have a bright young starter in Gil.
Leave him alone and let him pitch every fifth day. Period.
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I am not a fan of the City Connect Uniforms. Here's an article that lists them all.
I hope the Yankees never get one of these.
But to be fair, a few are not terrible. I don't mind the City Connect uniforms for the Mets, Mariners, or Braves.
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Let's Go Yankees!
Eventually the Yankees will have a City Connect Uni and my suggestion would focus on something with an "Empire State Building" theme.... or Manhattan Skyline theme to reflect the "Greatest" city and a great baseball team! Traditionalist will not like this, but we are in the 21st century!
According Hal in his interview on Kay's radio show last June, he said he has yet to be approached about it by anyone. I just remember all the hate MLB got when they redid the Yankees tops for Player's Weekend along with names on the back. Brett Gardner had the best answer when asked what he wanted on the back.. 'I'm a New York Yankee, we don't have names on the backs of our uniforms'.
Sure, a guy can hit a ball a gazillion miles-per-hour, but if he whiffs the next 45 times, what does that prove?
it proves that he's ferdangsure not hitting for average.
the prof's suggestion was a most interesting/sagacious/humorous attempt at highlighting the relative lack of worth of wasting ABs on a player who will provide 15 jaw-dropping HRs amidst an infuriating 600 Ks.
Stanton, over a course of a dozen seasons, provided the jaw-droppers as well as a more general offensive value, hitting for a decent average and drawing walks so as to present an above-average OBP as well as RBIs.
but recently. Stanton has become one of the Two True Outcome set.
Hits Hard but Less Filling
the walks…
"If you don't want people to use the word in reference to you, don't be that word."
There, FIFY. Caleb T. Ferguson pitches like crap. If he doesn't want to be known as a Norm MacDonald joke, he should either pitch better or find another line of work.
Glad you like EVAB. I'd love for someone with time on their hands to calculate them. I bet that contact hitters would do better than Three True Outcome mashers.
Yes Paul, occasionally we readers/commentators come up with good, relevant stats. Love the EVAB stat, as much as I like my own KBA, which replaces the K Rate.
Some of us readers/commentators are uber focused on a certain thing, like me with Blake and the Yankees pitching brain trust or me always believing that when Boone was hired, he was more of a figurehead than a real manager. But Boone knew what he signed on for. So, yes Paul, we are both right. Everything is under Boone's ledger, but most of the decisions are not really Boone's. We both can be right.
As for Gil, there is no way that Cashman & his gang let Gil in 2024 get even…