It was just a two-game series against the Marlins, a team the Yankees should have swept easily. Instead, we blew them away in Game 1, thanks to a stellar outing by Severino and a barrage of hitting, and then were blown away in Game 2, thanks to a disastrous outing by Tanaka and a paucity of hitting. How to explain this dichotomy?
The most concerning issue is Tanaka. He’s always been prone to the home run ball, but last night was ridiculous. Obviously, he had nothing on his pitches and the Marlins took advantage. Or is his problem something deeper, as in injury? I see Kaenle is suddenly on the DL with arm tendinitis, not that he was that integral to the team’s success, but arm trouble at this time of the year never bodes well. Maybe Tanaka just had an “off” night as did the offense.
Either way, the Yanks seem to be unable to get on a roll. It’s early. It’s cold. I understand all that. But unless we start reeling off some back-to-back wins, we’ll be in the hole in the division and it’ll be tough to gain ground.
(Sorry to be the voice of doom this morning. I’ll feel better after a few wins in a row.)
Desperate times call for desperate measures. Though I am not one to eat ice cream when it is cold outside, I sit here with a scoop of Mocha Mud Pie in my Yankee snack helmet. I hope the sometimes magical qualities of this helmet-ice cream combination gets them rolling tonight and over the weekend.I should also make some Mookie Betts cookies and impart the same curse I put on Judge and the Yankees last June to him and the Sox. A fan’s work is never done.
Haha, Audrey. I remember those Judge cookies so well. Mocha Mud Pie ice cream in the Yankee helmet? Whatever works. I think we should all do a healing dance, first of all, to get all the players off the DL. Then we need to wave a magic wand and get some wins!
Hey Jane is it still too early to start getting worried about Gray? He’s had an 8.27 ERA so far and his peripheral stats suggest he’ll be better but not much more. He has over a 4 ERA since joining us last season. He has to get better if we want to contend. And while I’m not big on Romine, Boone should’ve had him catch him last night. Maybe he would’ve been better or maybe not but the numbers are there to suggest perhaps so.
No, it’s not too early to worry about Sonny boy, Leo. Even the Yankees are worried about him. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/21/sports/baseball/yankees-blue-jays-sonny-gray-.html?rref=collection%2Fissuecollection%2Ftodays-new-york-times&action=click&contentCollection=todayspaper®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=8&pgtype=collection Seems like he hasn’t been the same pitcher he was before we signed him. Not good. Gary Sanchez’s two passed balls weren’t making me happy either, but I hope he’ll improve with the warm weather. In general, this has been a team struggling to find its way so far. They need some forward momentum!