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.)