The Yankees Make Winning So Difficult

Hey everyone, the newsletter is going out today before the Rays series ends and before the trade deadline Thursday night, because I won’t have time to finish it later. My daughter Taylor is getting married Friday afternoon, the rehearsal dinner is tonight, and there won’t be a writing window. I imagine, given the circumstances, you understand. Lets get to it. 

Wednesday night almost proved my burgeoning theory that I need to have a TV, an iPad, and an iPhone available when I watch this team because I’m bound to throw the remote through the big screen and/or slam a device or two to the ground in a fit of anger.

The Yankees are maddening, and perhaps the perfect encapsulation of that was Austin Wells forgetting there were only two outs in the bottom of the ninth of a tie game Wednesday and jogging back to the dugout, only to be tagged out, rather than standing on second base as the potential game-winning run. Just when you’ve seen every stupid thing possible in a Yankees game, they drop the bar a little lower in this Aaron Boone era of sloppy, brain dead, fundamentally-devoid baseball.

I swear, they turn watching baseball into a task more difficult than landing a man on the moon. Why does everything have to be so hard for this team?

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When they beat the Rays 5-4 in 11 innings, they became the only MLB team in the modern era to erase deficits in the eighth, ninth, and 10th innings before winning in the 11th. Yes, that’s one of those random database stats we get these days, but it does illuminate how hard they made beating the .500 Rays, who after the game traded the pitcher who had started this game, Zach Littell, because they know they aren’t going anywhere and are selling before Thursday’s 6 p.m. trade deadline.

Obviously, the Yankees aren’t going to sell. While we in the Maiorana family will be transporting flowers and candles and whatever else to the wedding venue, then going to the church for rehearsal, having dinner after that, and then enjoying an out-of-town guest welcoming event later at a brewery, Brian Cashman will be hunting for pitching.

He has already acquired third baseman Ryan McMahon, utility man and head cheerleader Amed Rosario, and outfielder Austin Slater in the last few days, less than 11 hours from the deadline, he still hasn’t added what he needs most - arms. I’m sure he will do so today, but is it going to be enough to drive this team to a World Series title? I highly doubt that.

First of all, he can’t replace the entire bullpen, though I wish it was possible. Tell me how this team could win in October against the best teams with a volatile, opposite-of-trustworthy closer like Devin Williams? Every time he takes the mound - and this was true even when he started pitching better after his disastrous March/April - I just expect a harrowing ride that could end up in a crash.

The next-best guy, Luke Weaver, has started to look like the nothing pitcher he was before he came to the Yankees; Jonathan Loaisiga is a trainwreck; Ian Hamilton flat out stinks; Mark Leiter Jr. is still on the injured list but he wasn’t very good when he was healthy; Fernando Cruz is out perhaps another month; and Tim Hill’s arm is probably ready to fall off after so much use (an AL-high 52 appearances).

If Cashman had any sense, he’d include Williams, Wells and Anthony Volpe in the trade talks, and maybe even float Paul Goldschmidt’s name, though no one is taking on a slumping 37-year-old first baseman hitting .239 with three homers and a .606 OPS against right-handed pitchers.

OK, Volpe has hit a few homers lately, and he had a big one Wednesday to tie the game in the ninth, but he also made his MLB-leading 16th error. The kid is close to unplayable, but Boone remains his staunchest advocate. Yes, it would be very early to give up on Volpe, and there’s no logical replacement on the team or in the minors which is why he’s not going anywhere, but I’ve reached my rope’s end with him.

As for Wells, his 15 homers and 56 RBI are decent, but he’s hitting .212 with a .272 on-base, and defensively he’s thrown out 16 of 44 base stealers which is not great. The Yankees have catching depth in the system - hell, in the last couple years they’ve traded away a few and still have some developing - so I’d be fine moving on from Wells. Again, he’s not going anywhere because Boone and Cashman love him.

Williams? Hey, maybe there’s a National League team that would bring him in for the stretch run because when he’s on, he can be great. Unfortunately for the Yankees, he hasn’t been great with a 5.01 ERA and has caused many of us to invest in heart medicine.

I sound like a crazy man because thanks to Toronto’s four-game losing streak which ended Wednesday, the Yankees have pulled back within four games in the AL East and they lead the wildcard chase by 2.5 games. They’re right in the middle of the playoff chase so of course none of the guys I’d like to launch to the sun are going anywhere.

But the reality is that Cashman is going to carve into the farm system Thursday and trade prospects to bring in pitchers who likely aren’t going to make enough of a difference to win a championship, and a big part of me is thinking that he shouldn’t.

July 28: Rays 4, Yankees 2

➤ What a dud of a performance to open a big pre-trade deadline series against a sinking but still pesky and irritating division rival. The offense went scoreless over the final eight innings and allowed Tampa Bay - a team that has been playing terrible lately - to cruise to victory.

➤ Cam Schlittler’s third start was average at best and the first inning was a killer. He got the first two outs easily, then couldn’t put away Jonathan Aranda and finally walked him on nine pitches. And four pitches later it was 2-0 because Junior Caminero crushed a homer to left. Schlittler then walked the next two men before he finally got out of the inning, but by then he was already in trouble because he used 33 pitches.

➤ To his credit, he did settle in and over the next three innings all he allowed were four singles, but then there was more trouble in the fifth with a walk and two singles which produced the go-ahead run and ended his night. From there, the Yankees bullpen did pretty good work until the eighth when Weaver allowed a leadoff single and Hill came on and gave up two singles and a sac fly which made it 4-2.

➤ The Yankees only offense came in the first inning when they answered the Rays’ two runs because, like Schlittler, Rays starter Drew Rasmussen struggled with his command. He gave up three straight singles to Jasson Dominguez, Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton to load the bases, then walked Jazz Chisholm and Ryan McMahon, both on 3-2 pitches, to force in two runs. That was the extent of the Yankees offense as they had just three hits and two walks the rest of the way.

What they said in Monday’s clubhouse

• Boone on Schlittler: “One of his calling cards is his ability to fill up the strike zone. The fastball is big and real. It’s fine-tuning the secondary (pitches). That’s what has been a work in progress for him. I feel like in these first few games, he’s done a decent job with it, actually.”

• Bellinger on the Yankees being 4-6 since the All-Star break with the trade deadline looming: “Obviously, we would like to be probably in a better spot, but this is kind of where we’re at right now. I think ultimately for the guys in this locker room, it’s kind of out of our control. … We have no idea really what’s going to happen, so we have to focus on what we can focus on. That’s all we really can do.”

July 29: Yankees 7, Rays 5

➤ As I said above, this team makes everything so hard, doesn’t it? They fell behind early again, this time with their ace on the mound. They rallied very nicely to take the lead, tacked on a run late, and then nearly pissed away the game in the ninth with Williams’ continued inability to pitch clean, uneventful innings, obviously not helped by yet another error by Volpe. Alas, they won.

➤ Max Fried battled to give the Yankees 6.2 innings which the overworked bullpen needed, but it was another so-so start which continued a sluggish July for him. He finished the month with five starts, the Yankees lost three, his ERA was 5.54, his WHIP was 1.380 and he had just 21 strikeouts compared to 11 walks. Sorry, that’s not good enough.

➤ In the first inning he gave up a single, then Volpe made his first error of the night on what should have been at least a force at second, maybe even a double play. Fried got two outs, so the inning should have been over if not for Volpe, and of course that came back to bite Fried when he served up a two-run triple to Jonny DeLuca, both the runs unearned. Then he got tagged for a solo homer by Aranda in the third and it was 3-0, but thereafter, he was very good until giving up a run in the seventh. He got the first two outs, but walked Nick Fortes. Boone went out to get him, but Fried convinced him that he could finish off Taylor Walls. He didn’t as Walls doubled in a run that made it 6-4.

➤ Bellinger started the Yankees comeback with a three-run bomb after Rays starter Joe Boyle had walked Wells and Ben Rice. Then in the fourth, the Yankees put up three more and they actually did it without a home run. Dominguez singled, stole second and scored on Volpe’s single. A Rays error put men on first and second and Volpe then stole third and when the throw went into left for a second error he scored. It was a very Yankees-like fielding inning for the Rays. Later, Goldschmidt - who has really hit a wall - delivered a two-out RBI to make it 6-3.

➤ Volpe homered in the eighth to give Williams a little more breathing room in the ninth with a three-run lead, but he and Volpe together nearly blew it. Josh Lowe led off with a triple, Jose Caballaro walked and Lowe scored on a fielders’ choice grounder to McMahon at third who almost threw it over Chisholm’s head. After another forceout grounder to McMahon, Yandy Diaz hit a routine grounder to Volpe and what should have been the game-ending out wound up in a throwing error on which Volpe was not helped by Goldschmidt. Eventually, the Rays had men on second and third before Williams struck out Aranda to end it. Exhale.

➤ This was a very good day in that the Orioles swept a doubleheader from the Jays, and Toronto’s fourth straight loss enabled the Yankees to crawl within four games. They were 6.5 out heading into Sunday, so this has been a positive development, though there’s still a lot of catching up to do.

What they said in Tuesday’s clubhouse

• Volpe on his fielding butchery: “I’ve got to make those plays, obviously. I’ve never really experienced something like this. But I’ve got really good guys around me. I know what I’m capable of. It’s obviously frustrating, but it’s not discouraging. I know the standard I have for myself. I’m going to keep pushing until I prove it to myself every day.”

• Boone, continuing to defend Volpe: “We’ve got to get over it. We’ve got to get through it. One thing for certain, he’s really, really good out there. He’s clearly had some struggles, we can’t be indecisive there (on the play in the ninth). We’ll get through it, but obviously there’s been some tough moments here. But for a very talented defender, he will get through it and we’ve got to get him there.”

July 30: Yankees 5, Rays 4 (11)

➤ I came very close to testing my theory about needing a TV, iPad and iPhone. What a nutty night this was, and somehow, they rallied three times to pull out the victory which kept them four games behind the Blue Jays and still one ahead of the Red Sox.

➤ Will Warren pitched well, six innings of six-hit ball with just one run allowed, and then Brent Headrick and Yerry De los Santos were excellent, too, which was certainly a surprise. But that one measly run held up until the eighth inning because through the first seven the Yankees were absolutely feeble as they were shut out on two hits. It was at this point, though, when this game went completely off the rails.

➤ Trent Grisham’s season of his life continued as he tied it with a solo homer in the eighth, and then singles by Rice, Bellinger and Stanton gave them a 2-1 lead. But here, the failure to tack on burned them as Chisholm flied out and Dominguez hit into a double play. I pretty much knew that was trouble, and it was.

➤ On came Williams for his nightly Russian Roulette routine. Folks, you can’t have a closer who does this so often. Technically it’s only his second blown save of the year, but we all know there have been at least four or five other games that he cost them a victory. He wasted no time blowing this one. Leadoff walk, stolen base, and then Josh Lowe crushed a go-ahead homer. Just ridiculous. This is the fourth time in his last six outings that he’s allowed a run. That’s piss poor for a closer, as is his 5.01 ERA.

➤ Williams was bailed out by Volpe who homered again, tying it in the ninth. Of course, it’s never all good with him and he also made his MLB-leading 16th error, though this time his misplay didn’t haunt the Yankees. Wells then singled, leading to perhaps the stupidest play of the season, and for the Yankees, that is really, really saying something. Grisham tried to bunt with one out and the Rays made a great play to get him. Wells ran to second, but inexplicably thought there were three outs, so he started jogging back to the bench and was tagged out. I mean, it’s almost impossible for a team to be this stupid and fundamentally crippled.

➤ In the 10th, Weaver failed, too. Granted, he had to deal with the free runner, but he gave up a walk, a single and a bases-loaded sac fly, and that sac fly could have been a two-run double if not for a very nice catch at the wall by Dominguez. Bullet dodged on that one. The Yankees tied it when Bellinger ripped a clutch RBI triple, but they left him at third as Stanton struck out in sickening fashion when all he needed to do was hit a fly ball, and Chisholm grounded out.

➤ Hill, the grittiest reliever on the team, pitched a scoreless 11th and then it was the Rays’ turn to puke the game away. They intentionally walked Dominguez and reliever Kevin Kelly committed a brainless balk to move the runners to second and third. McMahon, who failed to get a bunt down on the pitch before the balk, calmly got back in the box and hit a routine fly to center to win the game. I guess the Yankee Way hasn’t poisoned him yet because he simply tried to put the ball in play rather than try to hit the ball to Staten Island, and he succeeded. No doubt, that was a crazy win, but you almost felt like taking a shower after it was over.

What they said in Wednesday’s clubhouse

• Bellinger: “It took everybody, right? Just a crazy game overall.”

• Wells: “Just thought there was three outs. Very embarrassed and disappointed for sure. I think I was just being an idiot. You let the guys down when you do that. You give away an out like that in a big spot, so it’s disappointing.”

• McMahon: “It just feels good to come through. For the team, every win matters right now in this chase. This is a very dangerous team, I’ve seen it playing from afar plenty of times, they're never out of the game.”

After finishing the Tampa Bay series Thursday afternoon, the Yankees head down to Miami to play a Marlins team that was expected to be one of the worst teams in MLB, easily a 100-loss outfit, but instead has been one of the most surprising at 52-55. No, they aren’t going to the postseason as they still sit seven games out of the third wildcard spot in the NL, but they’ve been a plucky club and they’re perfectly capable of getting the Yankees fits.

Here are some of the Marlins top players to watch:

➤ LF Kyle Stowers: He came from the Orioles in a trade last year and the Marlins sure won that deal. He was an All-Star and he has a team-high 23 homers, 63 RBI and .959 OPS.

➤ C-DH Agustin Ramirez: He was the main piece that went to Miami last year in the trade that brought Chisholm to the Yankees, and he’s been very good with 15 homers, 24 doubles and 46 RBI.

➤ 2B-SS Xavier Edwards: He leads the Rays with 107 hits and 17 stolen bases, has a .360 on-base and plays cleanly in the field.

➤ RP Anthony Bender: He’s been a lockdown setup man with a 1.83 ERA and 0.970 WHIP in 44.1 innings.

The pitching matchups were not available when I was finishing this, but the games are as follows: Friday, 7:10, YES; Saturday, 4:10, YES; Sunday, 1:40, YES.