SSTN Mailbag: Verdugo, Leiter Jr., And The Catching Platoon!

I love the comments section on this site. I have long talked about how much I love and appreciate the community that all of us have built here (writers and readers alike), and yesterday was a prime example of why I feel that way. Our Editor-In-Chief, Paul, and I had a difference of opinion regarding the general quality of baseball being played in MLB this season and the meaning of 95 wins as it relates to the Yankees. On other sites, such discussions often meander off-track as people jump in and blow the conversation in a million directions. Here, we had a respectful difference of opinion where we each made our point, and left it to our readers to digest and offer their own take. The discussion maintained civility and, I think, made for a really interesting relay of opinions and statistics. If we all thought the same way, reading and interacting with a blog like this would be boring, so I'm thankful for the way we are all able to interact with one another here.

To return to the core point of the discussion for a moment though, one of the things that more generally came out during our back-and-forth is that many fans are more heavily weighting the Yankees' record since the calendar turned to June. I, too, have been frustrated by the team's play this summer, but I also think that context is critical. ProfRobert was kind enough to let us know that the Yankees have a .453 winning percentage in their last 64 games. That's awful for a team that hopes to be in contention, but we can slice numbers like that up any way we want over the course of a season to make our point. The Yankees had a terrible June/July, a swoon we've seen all too frequently from the team since 2021. Unlike previous years though, the Yankees have largely righted the ship. It may not feel that way, but the fact remains. Since the day the the Yankees traded for Jazz Chisholm Jr., a date that I think will prove critical when we look at the team's performance throughout the season, the Yankees have gone 18-11. That's a .621 winning percentage. That record includes series wins against the Red Sox, Phillies, and Guardians.

The Yankees are a flawed, occasionally frustrating team. Every single team has flaws every year. What makes this team feel worse by comparison comes down to the fact that they don't play clean baseball and it remains crystal clear that the owner is far more concerned about payroll limits than he is about winning a championship. The front office can't change who owns the team, but they can use the coaching staff to manage the roster effectively. As obviously talented as this roster is (even for all of the holes), it never feels like the Yankees' coaching staff is able to consistently get the most out of their players. I think that's where a significant amount of angst comes from for a lot of fans, because I feel it too.

In my opinion, those feelings don't change the fact that 95 wins would be an accomplishment. After 14+ years without a World Series though, I think we all want more. About that, we all agree.

As always, thanks for the great questions and keep them coming to SSTNReadermail@gmail.com. In this week's SSTN Mailbag, we'll talk about Verdugo's recent mini-resurgence, Mark Leiter Jr.'s struggles, and the catching duo! Let's get at it:

Mike asks: There have been a lot of reports about Verdugo's allergy to his batting gloves. Since getting special gloves, Verdugo has played pretty well. Was that all of his issues at the plate, or do we still need to hope for Dominguez to round into form?

Well, there are two points here worth discussing. Number one, I think Dominguez is ready to contribute. I noted a couple of weeks ago that Dominguez's line drive and contact rates were going up, and it was a matter of time before the production came. I also wrote about and displayed the AAA pitch maps that showed just how frequently AAA pitchers have pitched away from Dominguez. He's stopped jumping at bad balls off the plate, and he's beginning to do a lot of damage. Particularly given the low bar Verdugo has set in LF offensively, I think it's very likely that Dominguez is able to hit above that threshold right now and into the playoffs.

The other question, and some might say the primary question, is about Verdugo and the allergy. Honestly, I have no way of knowing how the allergy was really hurting Verdugo at the plate on a day-to-day basis. It is interesting to think about in the context of Verdugo's declining year-over-year numbers despite playing at ages where we should see either stability in numbers or progression. If that's really where Verdugo's struggles this season originated, then we should all have some hope for rebound.

However, we're still talking about a miniscule sample size. Verdugo has 8 hits in his last 20 at-bats against competition that wasn't exactly playoff quality. Of those hits, we've got 7 singles and a wall-scraper home run. I'll take anything I can get at this point from Verdugo, but 7 singles in 20 at-bats isn't enough to make me say that Dominguez isn't needed this season.

Come playoff time, I want the best players on the field, regardless of development or salary. If Dominguez gives the Yankees a better chance to win, Dominguez should play. If Verdugo's better, than let him play. Let's see what September brings. I'll be fascinated to see how this plays out.

Brian asks: What do you make of Mark Leiter Jr.'s struggles since coming over from the Cubs? I know he was one of your targets, but he doesn't look like a high leverage reliever so far.

The Yankees needed more guys who can strike out opposing batters in the bullpen, and Leiter has at least done that, striking out 18 in 11.2 innings with the team. Honestly, I think the Yankees leaned way too hard on him when he first came over. This is a guy who had an elbow injury earlier in the year, and they asked him to pitch 2 high-leverage games basically straight off of the airplane. He's again been leaned on very heavily in August, and to me, he just looks like he needs a breather.

Leiter's control and command with his fastball has been inconsistent, and I chalk it up to being a bit tired. I think if the Yankees could give him a few days of rest, he'll turn the corner. He lives on some margins since his fastball doesn't blow people away, but he can attack hitters with multiple looks, and his curveball is much better than I ever realized. The stuff is there, and though he's had some tough outings, I'm not totally out on Leiter.

Let's hope the return of some injured relievers help the Yanks lean on Leiter a little less in September so that he's ready for the playoffs.

David asks: What should the Yankees do about the Trevino/Wells split? Wells is supposedly the starter, but Trevino plays half of the games. It doesn't seem right...

It's not right, and it's reaching the point of ridiculousness. Wells was quietly turning into one of the best all-around catchers in baseball, on a roster that has multiple under-performing infielders. Trevino's arm, never his strong-suit, has backed up to the point of being useless in the run game, and his bat has always been light. Yes, Trevino has better splits against left-handed pitching, but Wells does almost everything better than Trevino outside of maybe calling a game and framing.

Juan Soto has platoon splits; are we going to start platooning him too? No, because that would be ridiculous, and we've reached the same place with Wells. If Cole wants his personal catcher, fine, it gives Wells a built-in day off, but otherwise, Wells is good enough that he should be receiving 80-90 percent of the starts behind the plate.