by Paul Semendinger
July 7, 2023
***
THE YANKS GOT TWO...
Hits (that is).
Two.
CUBS 3
YANKEES 0
The Yankees went up against Jameson Taillon, a former Yankee having a very poor year. He gave up one hit and no runs over 8 innings.
In his return, Carlos Rodon pitched well for the Yanks, but he gave up two runs (in 5.1 innings)... but the Yankees didn't score any.
Anthony Volpe is proving that Chicken Parm is not an appetizer. It works later, not at the start. In two games, he's now 0-for-8 as the leadoff hitter again.
The Yankees, as a team and as a franchise, are mired in a never-ending struggle to try to figure out something... anything. They grasp at straws. They miss most often.
Since July 1, 2022, the Yankees are just 91-83. Their winning percentages over that span is .514. That's what an 83 or 84 win team plays at. This is who the Yankees are. This isn't a small sample size - it's now been more than a season of mediocre play.
A few weeks ago, seeing this softer part of the schedule coming, I thought the Yankees might go 9-4 over the final 13 games heading into the All-Star Break. I was worried that a hot streak would be a mirage to fool the Yankees and their fans into believing that this team was something it is not.
I shouldn't have worried. In the first 11 games since I wrote that, the Yankees are 5-6.
AND BY THE WAY - for all the talk of, "All they have to do is make the playoffs...", if the season ended today, the Yankees would not be in the playoffs. They are now one game behind the Blue Jays for the final Wild Card spot..
Tim Kabel will have the full recap in the morning.
Only Volpe and Torres are having solid ABs. LeMaheiu & Rizzo are really hurt or got in very bad hitting stance habits due to their injuries. When you are an analytically based operation, if things don't go according to plan, there are no other ways to do things. Personally, I'd throw analytics out in terms of letting those algorithms make the offensive decisions, put Rizzo & LeMaheiu on the IL, put McKinney at 1B, put both Florial & Pereira in the OF, DFA Cordero, recall Peraza, put Torres at 3B (like he was supposed to be in 2017), and see which combination is better in terms of Peraza & Volpe of who plays where. Florial in LF, Bader CF, Pereira…
Check the standings, gang. The ball club formerly known as the New York Yankees just fell out of the 3rd wild card spot. Boone messing with Volpe again. Just when the kid was beginning to figure it out, Boone puts him at leadoff the last two nights. WHY??