Taking Stock of the Yankees at the One-Third Point of the Season

I hope everyone has enjoyed their Memorial Day weekend, and the Yankees taking two of three from the Padres had to help, right? We have reached the one-third point of the baseball season, a time where we traditionally take stock of the teams we follow because now it’s no longer a small sample size - the things we’re seeing are starting to outline the arc of the season. I thought I’d start today with a comment on each of the primary players who have played for the Yankees thus far. Not all, but most.

Aaron Judge: Year one of the $360 million contract has gone great as he’s second in MLB with a 1.013 OPS and is fourth in home runs with 15.

Anthony Rizzo: Second on the team in homers (11) and RBI (32) and he’s hitting .304. His defense has been a little suspect lately, though. Believe me, he’s not the same fielder he was when he was with the Cubs. Let’s just hope the neck injury he suffered Sunday isn’t an issue.

DJ LeMahieu: It’s been a grind for him with a .251 average which is way below his career mark of .296. His defense remains stellar no matter where the Yankees play him.

Harrison Bader: Since he returned from the IL he has energized the offense, though he’s been in a bit of a slide the past few games. On defense, he’s nearly unparalleled in center field.

Gleyber Torres: If you can get past the mental mistakes he makes, Torres is having a nice year. He has nine homers, 25 RBI and his 89 total bases are third behind Rizzo and Judge.

Anthony Volpe: The rookie is really struggling right now both at the plate (.198 average, .280 on-base) and in the field (six errors, and it should be more if not for some ridiculous official scoring). Patience is key for the Yankees here; they need to let him play through it, but he’s been a hard watch recently.

Oswaldo Cabrera: Speaking of hard watches. Look, he was a fun story last year and his defensive versatility is useful, but he can’t hit (.201), plain and simple. He belongs back in Scranton. He has 45 total bases in 149 at bats. If you’re wondering, that’s laughable.

Jose Trevino: His defense has remained outstanding, but he’s not hitting the ball anything like he did last season and now he’s on the IL. He has 32 total bases, lowest on the team besides Kyle Higashioka who has 30.

Kyle Higashioka: Look, he’s the backup catcher so we really can’t expect much, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be pissed about a .203 average (which was .173 before his big game Sunday). I’m ready to see what Ben Rortvedt can do and if he’s the better player as the backup, say goodbye to Higgy who is now 33 years old.

Willie Calhoun: There’s been some occasional pop in the lefty bat, but he’s another guy who has no business being on the team.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa: His transition to the outfield has gone well, but outside of a little spark here in the past week, his offense has been terrible. Still, I’d much prefer IKF to Cabrera in the super utility role because he’s just as athletic, and he puts the ball in play.

Giancarlo Stanton: Hey, he played 13 whole games before he got hurt. Obviously the Yankees miss him and need him but his never ending injury issues have grown so tiresome. And you know once he returns, he’s most likely going to be useless at the start which has typically been his MO when he comes off the IL.

Gerrit Cole: He got off to an amazing start but has not been good in four of his last five outings and the long ball is starting to become a problem, two more Sunday meaning eight in the last five starts. His ERA has climbed to 2.93 and he needs to get back to being an ace.

Nestor Cortes: I’ve said his before: When he’s hitting his spots he’s terrific, and when he’s not, it’s batting practice. His ERA is up to 5.30 which, as you know, ain’t good.

Clarke Schmidt: Maddening. He clearly has the stuff and the pitch mix, but his command his so erratic and he struggles to put hitters away. He has been better in his last few starts, but his ERA is still an ugly 5.58, his WHIP is a horrendous 1.600, and five Yankee losses are pinned to his record.

Domingo German: If this guy wasn’t such a knucklehead he’d have a chance to be a legit piece to this rotation. He has pitched some nice games and his ERA is 3.75, second-best among starters behind Cole.

Jhony Brito: There were some flashes, and then there was some horror. All in all, you can do worse in MLB with your fifth starter, but his 1.488 WHIP and low strikeouts per nine (6.7) won’t play.

Luis Severino: He’s healthy, for now, and his first two starts have been great. If this is who he’s going to be, and if Carlos Rodon ever gets on the mound and pitches the way he did last year, now the Yankees would have something cooking. Those are two big ‘ifs’ though.

Michael King: Aaron Boone has used him in a multi-inning role and King has thrived with a 1.88 ERA and 1.081 WHIP. The only problem is Boone always seems to give him two days off between appearances.

Clay Holmes: He’s been deployed in high leverage late-inning situations and for the most part he’s done the job, but his 3.27 ERA needs to be better considering the importance of the innings he pitches, and I don’t like that 50% of the runners he has inherited have scored.

Ron Marinaccio: So good last season, but right now he’s struggling. His changeup isn’t as effective and it’s getting hit and his ERA is up to 4.10, worst of all the relievers. Last year it was 2.05.

Ian Hamilton: He was a pleasant surprise in spring training who brought that success into the season with a 1.23 ERA in 16 appearances before he got hurt. The Yankees need to get him back soon.

Wandy Peralta: The ultimate Swiss Army knife who can be used in any situation, even as the closer. He has allowed just one of 10 inherited runners to score, and that’s a big key for me when I evaluate relievers. Did they come in and put out the fire? Peralta usually has.

Jimmy Cordero: Obviously he has great stuff, but there’s way too much inconsistency with him and though Boone doesn’t have much choice now, I’d be using him earlier in games rather than later.

Albert Abreu: Also has great stuff and when he’s on, he can be effective. When he’s not, he gets lit up. His role should be the go-to guy in a one-sided game to eat innings.

Here are my observations on the three games against the Padres.

May 26: Padres 5, Yankees 1

➤ Most of you probably missed this one because it was another Apple TV game. Let me tell you that you missed nothing. Padres starter Joe Musgrove has been awful this season, but all he needed was to face the Yankees who were pathetic on offense and he was back to looking like the Musgrove from 2021-22 when he had a combined ERA those two seasons of 3.06.

➤ Musgrove retired the first 11 men he faced, and then Rizzo and LeMahieu both singled on plays where Padres’ fielders got glove on ball but couldn’t hold on. However, the threat died when he retired Bader to keep the game scoreless. From there, the only run he allowed came in the sixth when Torres singled, took third on a Judge double and scored on a Rizzo groundout. That was the Yankee offense.

➤ Randy Vasquez made his MLB debut for the Yankees and he wasn’t bad. He blanked the Padres for four innings but with two outs in the fifth he hit Jake Cronenworth with a pitch and Juan Soto followed with a massive two-run homer and we didn’t know it then but that’s all the Padres would need. Of course, they got more because Marinaccio - who just hasn’t been very good lately with a 9.00 ERA in his last eight appearances - gave a two-run bomb to Fernando Tatis. Marinaccio made a great pickoff to first in that inning for the second out, but then he walked Austin Nola who is batting .135 this season. Just a brutal mistake because that brought Tatis up and he put the game out of reach. Just a total fail.

➤ Tatis certainly enjoyed himself. He pimped that home run to the hilt, flung his bat toward his dugout, and hot-dogged it all the way around the bases. He then generally made an ass of himself out in right field, though, I guess it was warranted because the bleacher bums were ragging him for his steroid suspension last year. “It’s loud, it’s New York, you’re going to hear everything,” Tatis said. “But just giving a good time to the fans. You’ve just got to learn how to embrace it and how to just give them some good feedbacks.”

➤ Aaron Hicks officially became a former Yankee because he passed through waivers without anyone claiming him and the Yankees released him. Now he’s an unrestricted free agent and I’m dying to see if there’s a team that thinks it can resurrect him, thinking that what Hicks needed most of all was to get out of New York.

BOX SCORE

May 27: Yankees 3, Padres 2 (10)

➤ This was a very nice performance from Severino, 6.2 innings allowing just one earned run on one hit, a homer by Tatis in the fourth. That’s what the Yankees have to get from Sevy when it’s his turn because this rotation is really lagging right now with Cole hitting a speed bump and Cortes still trying to figure out what happened to his mystical powers. Sevy’s velocity and command were outstanding and it’s just too bad he walked Nelson Cruz in the seventh and then got burned after he was out of the game by a Torres error that eventually led to the second run scoring.

➤ The point that I made in the last newsletter about the bullpen allowing inherited runners to score happened again. King came in with two men on and gave up an RBI single to No. 8 hitter Ha-Seong Kim that put the Padres ahead 2-1. King can’t let that happen.

➤ Fortunately, LeMahieu answered right back in the bottom half with a solo homer off Michael Wacha who, for whatever reason, continues to own the Yankees. Of course, the Yankees bailed out Wacha with a terrible decision by third base coach Luis Rojas in the first inning. LeMahieu doubled down the left-field line to drive in one and for some reason, Rojas decided to waive home the plodding Rizzo all the way from first and he was gunned down by a mile, killing a potential bigger inning. Yes, the Padres made a nice play, but I’m sorry, you can’t be sending Rizzo there. It would have been second and third with one out, instead it was two down and then Bader whiffed.

➤ Good job by Peralta to get out of a jam in the eighth and then after he walked Trent Grisham in the ninth he picked him off. And then Holmes in the 10th went 1-2-3 with the automatic runner at second, helped by a successful challenge by the Yankees to overturn a safe call at first as LeMahieu made a great play to nip Tatis.

➤ In the bottom half, it was left for Kiner-Falefa to walk it off. He wasn’t a bad guy to have up there because he puts the ball in play and that’s what he did, singling down the third base line. I hated the Bader bunt, but luckily he ran hard and avoided a double play so pinch runner Greg Allen was on third with only one out. Bader then stole second to take away the double play, and IKF sent everyone home with his first walk-off hit as a Yankee. In his last nine games he’s 7-for-24 with three homers, a triple, and six RBI.

BOX SCORE

May 28: Yankees 10, Padres 7

➤ What a weird game. This was supposed to be a pitchers’ duel between Cole and Yu Darvish, and both of them stunk. Cole pitched into the seventh, but he gave up six runs - five earned - on four hits and three walks including two more home runs. He needs to get his shit together because with this rotation, he has to be good or great when it’s his turn.

➤ But hey, he was way better than Darvish. After Cronenworth homered off Cole in the first, Judge matched it in the bottom half. And after the Padres scored twice in the second thanks to some abysmal fielding, brutal throwing errors by both Bader and Higashioka to allow Jose Azocar to score on a Little League home run, the Yankees put up seven runs in the third.

➤ What an inning that was. They sent 11 men to the plate and had eight hits including RBI singles by Volpe, Judge, Rizzo, and IKF, and RBI doubles by Higashioka and Calhoun. Darvish was charged with seven of the runs in a miserable start that jacked his ERA up from 3.67 to 4.61. I liked Higashioka hitting two doubles in that inning, making up for what he admitted afterward was his “Little League play.”

➤ A little bothersome was the offensive coma over the next four innings as the Padres bullpen retired 12 men in a row before the Yankees tacked on two key runs in the eighth when Bader homered and Higashioka singled in the 10th run. Those were big because Cole got tagged for a two-run homer by Odor and Cordero gave up a Cole run on a groundout in a three-run seventh, and then Holmes had no command in the ninth and walked two, though only one of them wound up scoring.

➤ Rizzo hurt his neck making a tag on a successful pickoff throw from Higashioka and had to leave the game. What sucked is he wouldn’t have gotten hurt if Tatis had dived back to the bag, but I guess he’s too cool so he retreated standing up thinking there’s no way Higgy could get him and Rizzo’s head jammed into his thigh. Boone said afterward it looks like he’ll be fine. These are the Yankees so until we see him back out there, we shouldn’t believe Boone.

BOX SCORE

➤ May 29, 2016: The 2016 season was certainly forgettable for the Yankees. Their 84-78 record tied their worst (also in 2014) since 1992 and it led to one of only four years since the MLB strike canceled the 1994 season where the Yankees have failed to reach the postseason.

This day sort of encapsulated that season because even though the Yankees beat the Rays 2-1 in Tampa, they were horrible on offense. Jake Odorizzi was no-hitting them one out into the seventh, but then he walked Brett Gardner and gave up a two-run homer to Starlin Castro. That wound up being the only hit New York managed, meaning this was the first time since July 10, 1914, that the Yankees won a game while getting just one hit.

On that occasion, Charlie Mullen had the only hit, and RBI single in the third inning against Cleveland that was enough for a 1-0 victory. It came in the second game of a doubleheader that was shortened to six innings because of darkness.

Nathan Eovaldi got the win for the Yankees, backed by three perfect innings of relief from Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and a then-useful Aroldis Chapman. The win improved the Yankees record to 24-25 so by that standard, 2023 has been better, at least so far.

The Yankees (32-23, seven games behind the Rays) just finished playing one oddly mediocre team and now they head out to the West Coast to start a six-game trip against another - the Mariners (28-25). Last year Seattle ended its 21-year playoff drought which was the longest in the four major professional sports and there were big things expected for this team in 2023.

Instead, they stumbled out to an 11-16 start and have only recently been playing closer to expectation which, I guess, is probably a bad thing for the Yankees. They’ve won six of their last seven, albeit against the A’s and the now regressing Pirates who they walked off in the 10th inning Sunday on a three-run homer by Eugenio Suarez.

Julio Rodriguez is their big star, but the 2022 rookie of the year who hit .284 with 28 homers and 25 steals last season has been curiously quiet. The center fielder was hitting just .204 as of May 21, but he’s had a great week and is now hitting .242 with an on-base of .307 and he has nine homers.

Outfielder Jarred Kelenic, who was looking like a bust trade acquisition from the Mets a couple years ago, is having a breakthrough season with 10 homers, and they also have power bats in third baseman Suarez, catcher Cal Raleigh, and ex-Blue Jay Teoscar Hernandez who has had success against the Yankees.

Despite their record, the Mariners have pitched great. Their 3.53 ERA is third-best in MLB led by starters Luis Castillo, Bryce Miller, Logan Gilbert and George Kirby. This will not be easy for the Yankees offense.

All three games will be on YES with 9:40 starts. The pitching matchups are: German (3.75) making his return from suspension against Miller, the Mariners dazzling rookie who throws 100 mph and has a 1.15 ERA in his first five MLB starts; Cortes (5.30) will face Gilbert (3.60) ; and Schmidt (5.58) gets the unenviable task against Castillo (2.69), the same Castillo who has dominated them in four career starts, two of those last season, one of which I saw in person at Yankee Stadium when he was still with the Reds.