Too Little Too Late, But Yankees Are At Least Closing Well

Good morning everyone. I’m asking for a little help in spreading the word about Pinstripe People. If some of you - maybe all of you - can pass along the subscribe information this week to just one person who you think would be interested, that would be great. Maybe it’s a son, daughter, wife, husband, aunt, uncle, cousin or friend. You can give them my personal email which is [email protected] so that they can contact me direct and provide their email for me to plug in. Or you can send them the easy subscribe link and have them do it themselves, which takes like 20 seconds. That link is: https://salmaiorana.beehiiv.com/subscribe. If you get more than one person, great, and think of how that would spread the word and build up this community we have going! Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. So, let’s get to it.

Wouldn’t it have been nice if the Yankees had played like this for most of the year? They went down to Pittsburgh and won their fifth series in their last six, and they have won 14 of their last 20 games which is the best mark in baseball in that stretch, if you can believe that. That’s even better than the best team in MLB, the Braves.

Now, it must be said that the Yankees have been in a soft part of their schedule. Four of the series victories have come against the Tigers (two), the Red Sox and the Pirates. There was the one great sweep against the Astros, and the only other playoff-bound team they faced was the Brewers, and that’s the one series loss. But hey, you play who’s on your schedule, right? And if you remember, their struggles with non-playoff teams throughout the year are a big reason why they won’t be going to the postseason, so for this team, any win is a good win.

Also, I’ll recognize that there’s far less pressure for the players when you’re in the position the Yankees put themselves in with all their terrible play in the first five months of the season. Even though they continue to pretend that they’re still in the wild-card chase, we all know they aren’t as they sit 6.5 games out with 12 left to play, so for the most part the pressure is off them.

You can play much freer when every at bat or pitch thrown isn’t a critical situation amidst playoff-chasing anxiety and we’re seeing that play out in these September games.

Still, all that said, it’s been good to see the Yankees show a pulse because there are certainly teams out there who would have completely tanked the rest of the season once it became obvious a playoff berth wasn’t happening.

The two goals they now hope to achieve are both in reach: To avoid finishing in last place in the AL East, something they have done just once (1990) since divisional play began in 1969, and finish above .500, something they’ve done every year since 1992. That’s the second-longest streak in MLB history, topped only by the Yankees’ incredible 39 in a row from 1926-64.

As I’ve written in the newsletter before, I’m not really rooting for those things to happen, solely because I don’t want Hal Steinbrenner to put too much stock in what has happened this month. The Yankees need change, significant change, and I feel like tone deaf Hal will look at this nice stretch the Yankees have had and mistakenly believe that things will be OK in 2024 if the team has fewer injuries, and its so-called stars bounce back and have more representative seasons.

If the Yankees find their way back to last place and under .500, Steinbrenner would have nothing to lean on with the fan base which will be screaming for change, starting with Aaron Boone being given a one-way ticket back to the ESPN broadcast booth.

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

Sept. 15: Yankees 7, Pirates 5

➤ The Yankees were 0-50 this season when trailing by two or more runs in the ninth inning before stunning the Pirates with four runs to pull this victory from the jaws of defeat. It was quite a finish.

➤ They were down 5-3 but DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge singled and Gleyber Torres walked to load the bases. Naturally, the useless Giancarlo Stanton stalled the rally by fouling out, but then Estevan Florial - normally a free swinger with a high strikeout rate - worked an impressive walk after being down 0-2 in the count. That forced in a run. Then came the play of the game. Anthony Volpe, who has really been struggling in September, hit what should have been a game-ending double play grounder. However, Florial did the same thing Oswaldo Cabrera did Thursday in Boston to disrupt a double play; he ran right through the bag at second and Pirates second baseman Ji Hwan Bae was surprised, had to alter his throw, and wound up skipping it past first baseman Alfonso Rivas and two runs scored. Oswald Peraza and Cabrera then singled to push across the fourth run.

➤ It was the rare night where Gerrit Cole wasn’t sharp. He grinded through five innings allowing six hits and three walks, but only two earned runs. He just wasn’t putting batters away, especially in the highly uncharacteristic first inning when he walked three men and needed 29 pitches. He was fortunate only one run scored. In the second he gave up three singles and threw another 22 pitches but again only one run scored, and then he threw three scoreless before Boone pulled him.

➤ Scary scene in the sixth. The Yankees had just scored twice to take a 3-2 lead on RBI singles by LeMahieu and Aaron Judge so Cole was actually in position to get the win. But Anthony Misiewicz got knocked around, literally. Three men reached base on him, the last being Bae who hit a 100 mph liner that struck Misiewicz on the head and caromed into right field. Thankfully Misiewicz was OK, though he was carted off the field and sent to a hospital.

➤ All three of his runners wound up scoring to make it 5-3, but Zach McAllister, Nick Ramirez, and Clay Holmes blanked the Pirates the rest of the way, allowing just two more hits.

➤ Every Yankee in the lineup reached base at least once - even Stanton who drew a walk - and six different players scored runs, two by Volpe. This was a lineup that featured six players hitting .220 or worse, three of them under .200.

BOX SCORE

Sept. 16: Yankees 6, Pirates 3

➤ Luke Weaver, who was signed off the scrap heap earlier in the week, got the spot start and after a tough first inning he gave the Yankees four decent enough innings as he gave up three runs on four hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. Weaver was a 2014 first-round pick of the Cardinals who has bounced around quite a bit - the Yankees are his third team this season - and he has a career 5.19 ERA. It’s unlikely that he’ll be in the Yankees 2024 plans, but at least he’s a warm body to finish the year.

➤ Good start for the offense in this one as they accepted three walks from wild Pirates starter Luis Ortiz in the first inning and mixed in an RBI double by Austin Wells and a two-run single by Florial for a 3-0 lead. Florial tore it up all season at Triple-A while not being on the Yankees’ 40-man roster which is why he was never called up until they could open a spot late in the year due to injuries. He has been an enigma for several years, a former top prospect who has become the classic Quad-A player. But in his defense, the Yankees have never really given him a chance and in his very limited playing time he couldn’t hit MLB pitching. My sense is the front office has determined he’s not a player worth moving on with now that he has reached arbitration eligibility in 2024. But with Jasson Dominguez out probably until mid-2024, if Florial keeps playing well at the end here, they should bring him back in the spring and give him a legitimate chance to win the center field job because right now, they have no one on the roster who can step in.

➤ Stanton hit one of his patented missiles for a home run that made it 4-2 in the third, and after the Pirates got within 4-3, the Yankees bullpen just took over the game as Jhony Brito, Ian Hamilton (back from the IL) and Holmes retired the last 15 men in order. Brito was nine up, nine down, and he’s really making a statement for a possible spot in the rotation next year. In his last six appearances, all out of the bullpen covering 17 innings, his ERA is 1.06.

➤ Cabrera hit his first homer since June 3 in the eighth to make it 6-3. I had pretty much given up on Cabrera this year, but he’s been very good lately. Sunday he has hit six-game hitting streak snapped, during which he batted .364, and there’s no doubt that his fielding versatility is helpful. I like this kid so much because of his cheery demeanor and attitude, so I’d love for him to find the consistency he needs at the plate to become a contributor next year, but I’m just not sure he can ever be more than a utility player.

BOX SCORE

Sept. 17: Pirates 3, Yankees 2

➤ A pretty sleepy finale in every way. The Yankees had only four hits, two of which came in the sixth when Florial singled and came home on a double by LeMahieu. And one came in the seventh, Volpe’s 21st homer of the year which briefly tied the game at 2-2. That was pretty much it.

➤ Carlos Rodon had the longest outing of his heretofore unimpressive Yankees career. He lasted 6.2 innings and struck out 10, but he gave up single runs in the third and the fourth (that one came courtesy a solo homer by ex-Yankee Miguel Andujar down the right-field line) and then the winning run in the seventh. Jared Triolo hit a one-out double and then with two outs he scored when Jason Delay hit a ground ball off the third-base bag, a bad break for Rodon. That was Rodon’s last batter, and the Yankee offense could not get it back. Wells’ double in the ninth gave them hope, but Volpe and Peraza struck out to end the game.

➤ This is the Rodon the Yankees need from the start next season. He showed exactly what the Yankees saw in him during their free agency chase, an upper 90’s fastball, strikeout stuff, and excellent control as he had no walks.

BOX SCORE

 ➤ Sept. 18, 1993: What we remember most from the 1993 season is that this was the season when the Yankees started becoming the Yankees again. Coming off four consecutive losing seasons, the Yankees finished 88-74 and in second place behind the eventual World Series champion Blue Jays.

With two weeks to go, New York was within three games thanks to a remarkable break that led to a stunning walk-off 4-3 victory on this day over the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. Down 3-1 with two outs and no one on base in the ninth, Mike Gallego was hit by a pitch. No problem for Boston pitcher Greg Harris because he induced the next man, Mike Stanley, to hit a lazy fly ball to left field for what should have been the final out.

However, just before Harris delivered the pitch, umpire Tim Welke called time because a fan had run onto the field and that play did not count.

“I called time well before Harris had even finished his windup,” Welke said. “But he couldn’t hear me. I waved my arms trying to be as visible as possible. You just kill the play and 99 times out of 100, the pitcher hears you or detects the motion. I know what it’s like to be frustrated by something that goes against you, but if Stanley had hit a home run it would still be no play.”

The Red Sox were livid, but it didn’t feel like it would be a seismic moment, until it was. With a new life, Stanley singled to left, and when Wade Boggs singled home Gallego, the Yankees were within 3-2. Dion James then walked, and up came Don Mattingly with the bases loaded and Donnie Baseball ripped a single through the right side that plated the tying and winning runs.

“We were all set to get the fan in here and congratulate him,” Stanley said. “He’ll probably be on Letterman Monday night.”

“I thought if (Stanley) got on, I was going to get up,” Mattingly said. “Boggs would get on, Dion would get a knock and it would be me.”

For Mattingly, who famously made the postseason just once in all his years with the Yankees, he was finally in a tight pennant race in 1993 so this was a big deal for him.

“When Donnie was coming up, I was able to reflect for a moment on how special that was, that Donnie was able to be up and hit in that situation, something that he has waited for for so long,” manager Buck Showalter said.

Unfortunately, the next day began a five-game losing streak that killed the Yankees’ hopes of catching Toronto and they finished seven games out. Still, a corner had been turned and after the 1994 strike wiped out the postseason, Mattingly and the Yankees finally made it to the postseason in 1995.

After a day off on Monday, the Yankees will be back at Yankee Stadium this week for their final homestand of the year and will play two series against teams that are in desperate fights to secure wild-card playoff berths. Thus, we have the sad state of affairs of the Yankees relegated to the role of playing spoiler.

First up are the Blue Jays, a team I certainly hope the Yankees can irritate and perhaps expedite their elimination from the race. As you know, I don’t like the Boy Band from Toronto and it had been fun seeing them crumble lately, but they got very right over the weekend with a three-game sweep of the collapsing Red Sox.

Toronto is now sitting in the second wild-card spot, a half-game ahead of the No. 6 Rangers and 1.5 games ahead of the Mariners who are now on the outside looking in thanks to their own little swoon of late.

The pitching matchups are as follows: Tuesday at 7:05 on YES it’s Clarke Schmidt (4.65 ERA) against Yusei Kikuchi (3.81); Wednesday at 7:05 on Amazon Prime it’s Michael King (2.77) against Kevin Gausman (3.40); and Thursday at 7:05 on YES it’s Gerrit Cole (2.81) against Jose Berrios (3.49).