Giancarlo, Sanchez, Didi, Hicks, Gardner, Bird, all really haven't started hitting....another day , another rain out, thanks to the Astros for playing dead vs the Red Sux
Check out this article by Joel Sherman. It shows that under Cashman's analytics-driven approach, the Yankees throw fewer fastballs than any other team. https://nypost.com/2018/05/29/yankees-fastball-avoidance-could-end-up-burying-them/ I have to wonder if this is part of Sonny Gray's problem. He's spent his whole career pitching one way, and now he comes to the Yankees and has to pitch the Yankee/Cashman way. Since breaking balls take more out of a pitcher's arm than fastballs, I also have to wonder if this is part of the reason why Yankee starters have trouble pitching deep into games.
I think Cashman's a good GM, but I don't agree with that approach. A good fastball should be the top pitch of a starter. Obviously, quality secondary pitches are needed to keep hitters honest, but it all starts with the fastball.
Is anyone really surprised? Any time you hear about a pitcher with a tender elbow or forearm, you almost know that TJS can't be far behind. This means Montgomery is out for this season and probably for next season, too. You have to feel sorry for the kid.
Not surprised, but was hoping for the best like Tanaka in 2014. Sucks for the kid, but it is what it is.
Do you recall whether the Yankee doctors recommended Tanaka get TJS? I seem to remember that they did, but he wanted to try rest and rehab.
IIRC, they recommended rehab. Here's an article about it. https://www.mlb.com/news/tanaka-has-partial-ucl-tear-rehab-recommended/c-84063568
Several points: 1. Joel Sherman is an idiot -- it's really important that we start with that. The fact that he references "the eyeball test" with nothing to back it up is Exhibit A. 2. Pitching analytics focus on what balls batters hit/miss, not what pitch the pitchers like. 3. This approach really is what fits the staff, in terms of effectiveness. 4. The Yankees pitchers really don't have trouble pitching deep into games, relative to the rest of the league. There's basically no difference between the Yanks and the rest of the league leaders except for Cleveland, Houston, and Washington. 5. If you look at all the rate stats, the strategy seems to be working. Go look at K/9, BAA, etc. They're doing really well in those categories which, not surprisingly, reflects in their W/L record.
Thanks for weighing in, Brian, but shouldn't you be spending your time on the phone trying to trade for another front-line starting pitcher? LOL. We'll see how it all works out. This team has the talent and depth to make the post-season without breaking too much of a sweat, but I wonder if their approach will work in the post-season. Maybe I'm skeptical after watching those Yankee teams in the 2000s that sailed through the regular season and then fell apart in the post-season. What has saved the current team is Andujar and Torres, not the pitching. By the way, Andujar's grand slam the other night shows he's a smart player. The pitcher was wild, having just hit a batter and walked the next guy. Andujar knew the first pitch was going to be a 3-0 type fastball, and he was ready for it.
Pitching was nails last night from Gray to Chapman. Robertson looking more like the reliever from last year.
You mean that team whose pitching staffs threw fastballs far more frequently and had far worse results? Checks out. Keep in mind, the Yankees uber-hot streak in May came against the best of the best in the AL. They beat the Angels (2x), Sox, Astros (2x), and Cleveland.
No, teams built for the regular season, not the post-season. By this I mean, deep but sort of mediocre pitching staffs, too many one-dimensional hitters, and not enough grinders. I fear that here. The only pitching studs are Severino and Chapman. There are too many big power/high-K guys. I don't know if Cashman will be able to get another front-line starter, because you know any potential trading partners are going to try to make him overpay. Andjuar and Torres are keys for the offense because they seem to be pure hitters. Never forget that playoff baseball is a different game than regular season baseball. There are so many lousy teams in the league now, and they'll all be sitting home in October.
In honor of the subway series, I give you famous Mets of yore: http://abc7ny.com/sports/ex-mets-star-lenny-dykstra-says-he-was-kidnapped-by-uber-driver/3575885/
Your post entirely ignored the second part of the post which is that the bulk of the Yanks' insane hot streak earlier in the year was against the best teams (offensive and defensive) in the AL. So what's the issue? And what is a grinder, exactly? Someone who gets their uniform dirty? Someone who sees lots of pitches? (The Yankees are second in all of baseball in pitches per plate appearance.) This team is at or near the top of MLB for OBP/SLG/OPS, they are league average for # of K's, they're near the top for sac flies. Their pitching staff is (believe it or not) near the top for ERA/ERA+, for WHIP, and K/9. In other words, I don't know where you are getting this perception that we have one-dimensional hitters who don't grind, and that the pitching staff is mediocre. There's nothing that backs this up. At all. So how does one "build for the postseason" instead of the regular season? And if you can define that, what evidence is there that the Yankees are not doing that? There are good reasons why they have the (as of right now) best winning percentage in all of baseball a third of the way through the season.... and it's not that they've had a cakewalk schedule while everyone else hasn't. Please keep in mind that all of this was in response to that completely inane Sherman article about the staff not throwing enough fastballs... like that is some baseball truth that fastballs are better because of [insert platitude here].
The postseason is a crapshoot. Any team that reaches the playoffs can win it all. The best team in the regular season doesn't always win 11 playoff games. In a way it's good because if you knew what was going to happen, why watch? This doesn't mean the Yankees should be complacent and not try to upgrade the weaknesses on their roster, they absolutely should to increase their chances of a deep October run.
Let's revisit this in October. I wish I was as certain as anything in life as you seem to be about everything. I disagree on Sherman. He's OK. The best, in my view, are John Harper (NYDN), Bob Klapisch (not sure where he is now that Gannett has taken over the Bergen Record) and Tom Verducci (SI), who incidentally agrees with you on fastballs.
