NFT: Yankees-Braves game 1

In comment 14005243 section125 said:

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In comment 14005233 Eman11 said: Quote: In comment 14005209 section125 said: Quote: twice tonight by batting Torres 9th. Bird is a basket case right now. Might need to let Drury play 1st... I'm not sold on Boone yet but I don't get this comment at all. Gleyber had three hits and scored two runs tonight where he was batting. Had Torres been batting 8th, he would have been up with runners in scoring position instead of Higgy and Romine... I think Boone has to stop with the wild swings in the batting order. Get a set lineup and leave it. Swapping Hicks and Gardner is one thing. Moving Torres from 5th to 9th is another. I also think STanton needs to bat 3rd and put Didi 4th.

You can't just say that after the fact because the game could've played out completely differently if he batted 8th. The lineup doesn't turn over the same way without his hits leading up to that point nor do we know if he scores the runs he did or who makes outs where.

Just because Higgy came up in a big spot with Torres batting 9th doesn't mean it would've played out the same with a different order. We could very well have ended up with Higgy leading off two innings batting 9th or the big spot could've found him there instead of 8th.

Bottom line is Torres did his job from the 9 hole and everyone else needed to do the same regardless of where they were batting.

In comment 14005245 Eman11 said:

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It's not about who deserves to hit ahead of him. He does great in the 9 hole and ended up leading off two innings in that spot tonight with hits, and turning the lineup over. Maybe he gets pitched to differently tonight batting someplace else and doesn't score those two runs. Like I said, I'm not sold on Boone yet but don't have a problem with where he batted Gleyber tonight as he did well where he batted. I have more of a problem with Bird,Walker and others not coming through when they had their opportunities regardless of what spot in the order they batted. IMO, there's no way you can predict ahead of time what spot will get the key at bat on any given night.

Hitting great in the 9th hole is fine, but it also means the 9th place hitter gets less PAs than everyone else over the course of a season. For a guy who's already proven to be one of the 2 or 3 best hitters on the roster, that's dumb. In addition, that's great that he led off innings with hits and by getting on base. It would be even better if as one of the team's best hitters with RISP, there were people on base when he came up. Batting the 2 worst hitters in the lineup in front of him doesn't help that cause.

Yes, other people need to come through in their opportunities. But sorry, there's no way to excuse the 2 worst hitters in the lineup batting ahead of one of the best hitters in the lineup. There's no excuse for that. Shit, Boone had the fucking pitcher batting ahead of Torres last week. If he desperately wants Torres ahead of Judge, bat him second. Batting Torres 9th gives the order depth, but it comes at the expense of shitty hitters getting more PAs than him and there being no one on base when he comes up.

This isn't me overreacting to tonight's game. I said last week Bird needs to bat 8th or 9th if he's going to be struggling like this as he increases his at-bats. Higashioka should bat 9th EVERY damn time he's in the lineup.

Was Drury called up. In the 10 he should of had pitch hit for Bird.

hits with people on base? He had to pretty much steal a run by himself with good baserunning. I like Hicks first and Gardy last. Torres is one of our best, most clutch hitters, he should be batting 5th or 6th. Earlier in the year you didn’t want to disrupt whatever mojo he had going early on in his career as a rookie. Now we know he can handle the pressure, in fact he thrives in it. Hitting him ninth behind Bird and Romine, chances are he is always hitting with nobody on base. I think he already has 5 3-run homers, let’s give him as many AB’s with man on base as possible. I don’t think hitting him 9th is it.

In comment 14005255 mitch300 said:

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Was Drury called up. In the 10 he should of had pitch hit for Bird.

why is Neil Walker even batting. This is just mind blowing how he is still on this roster

In comment 14005190 Greg from LI said:

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The luck that team has never fails to irritate the piss outta ne

Same here fucking sick of that team and the luck they have

In comment 14005259 Jim in Hoboken said:

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hits with people on base? He had to pretty much steal a run by himself with good baserunning. I like Hicks first and Gardy last. Torres is one of our best, most clutch hitters, he should be batting 5th or 6th. Earlier in the year you didn’t want to disrupt whatever mojo he had going early on in his career as a rookie. Now we know he can handle the pressure, in fact he thrives in it. Hitting him ninth behind Bird and Romine, chances are he is always hitting with nobody on base. I think he already has 5 3-run homers, let’s give him as many AB’s with man on base as possible. I don’t think hitting him 9th is it.

I'm fine with that and have no problem moving Torres up in the order.

The only thing I was pointing out is there's no way after the fact anyone can say he would've come up with runners on or in one of those big spots. It's not Groundhog Day where we can replay it and change a few things but keep a few others exactly the same.

Who's to say that big spot does come up where it did if it weren't for his earlier hits batting 9th and turning the lineup over a couple of times? That's my only point. I'm not against him batting higher only he hit where he did last night and just saying if he hit someplace else last night he gets up in those big spots instead of Higgy,Walker or Bird is a case of selective thinking. The game and would've be different without his earlier hits.

In there for 7 games out of 10, I’d be in favor of sending Bird down to AAA for a final reset to see if he can get his shot together.

No panic, but this division race is proving to be too important to allow him 2 months of spring training on-the-fly.

that was frustrating to watch. As far as the Red Sox go they aren't lucky they're really good. The Yankees need to trade for a professional 1B. Bird needs to be in AAA until next year. Walker needs to be DFA. Call up Wade for that role.

Tough loss. Bird and Romine's AB's with the bases loaded were fucking awful. Especially Bird's. Not even a competitive AB. Gardner's AB against Minter was terrible too.

Shit happens. Just a frustrating one to drop - especially when Hicks' double should have won the game.

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162 games is going to ensure nights like last night arniefez : 8:50 am : link : reply that was frustrating to watch. As far as the Red Sox go they aren't lucky they're really good. The Yankees need to trade for a professional 1B. Bird needs to be in AAA until next year. Walker needs to be DFA. Call up Wade for that role.

And what happens when Wade struggles? Send him to AAA and trade for a veteran 1B? and when that guy slumps??

Same bullshit. Different day.

more chances for Boone to afford him to fail.

I said it last night, but Neil Walker is a guy you just have to hide on a team no one really cares about. He can't swing it here.

ones that drive people nuts. 0-12 with RISP. A wicked sideways bounce that kept Didi from scoring the winning run. Judge clips the wall in his jump and the ball ticks off his glove.

Boone is doing just fine and I'm sure he is mixing the order to find the best one, but moving Torres between 5th and 9th is nuts. Need to place the best hitters in a position where they get the majority of the ABs. Right now Bird and Romine are just not getting the job done consistently. Bird probably should not have been brought up when he was only hitting .210 at SWB. Thought that after Friday night he'd turned the corner.

Good news is that baseball is a marathon not a sprint. Trailing Boston by 1 or 2 games is not a problem and Boston is not going to magically fall apart. Head to head I think the Yanks are better.

In comment 14005363 arniefez said:

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that was frustrating to watch. As far as the Red Sox go they aren't lucky they're really good. The Yankees need to trade for a professional 1B. Bird needs to be in AAA until next year. Walker needs to be DFA. Call up Wade for that role.

Not true at all.

If you need a good example of why patience is warranted, look at Stanton. He was TERRIBLE in April (.218 BA, .304 OBP, 3 HR), passable in May (.264 BA, .330 OBP, 6 HR), good in June (.298 BA, .373 OBP, 8 HR) and is off to a good start in July.

Bird essentially missed the first two months of the season- only getting in 5 games in May and has been playing "catch-up" on his timing and swing since. He needs time and ABs. Keep in mind he only has 101 ABs so far this season.

Let's also be honest with ourselves- last night was really the first time that we can say he hurt the time and might have cost them the game (though it might not have even been necessary if Hicks double didn't bounce into the stands).

How soon we forget the Bird was in a similar situation last season, where he struggled on his return from injury- but got hot just in time for the playoffs.

I think that old mantra applies to Bird- "you're not going to hit .300 this season kid- so just hit .300 the rest of the way."

The Yanks might need to take some unusual actions to get Bird going. I am sure that the Yanks will have him work through the All Star break. In fact, one option to try and "jump start" him MIGHT be to send him to AAA before the game on Sunday, July 15 (the last game before the break).

He would have to be in the minors for 10 days- which would mean they could call him up on the 25th- after they play the Rays. Sure, he misses the Mets series and Rays series- but that won't make or break the team- they could call up Austin for those 2 series.

In that way, he gets an extra 4 days of work while his teammates are off. It will still be live game action, but in a lower stress environment. Add in a few days there after the break, and he MIGHT be able to find some adjustments that help him click. Most of all, he needs those extra 20 ABs or so over the break to keep working.

The reason I've been hesitant to say much about Bird to this point is that I do believe he has proven to have the ability. However, at a certain point he's got to start showing consistent improvement or else they need to have a contingency plan. They're a World Series contender - having a replacement level player at first, which is what Bird is right now, isn't going to cut it

that Bird's foot/ankle is bothering him again.

In comment 14005457 Greg from LI said:

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The reason I've been hesitant to say much about Bird to this point is that I do believe he has proven to have the ability. However, at a certain point he's got to start showing consistent improvement or else they need to have a contingency plan. They're a World Series contender - having a replacement level player at first, which is what Bird is right now, isn't going to cut it

Man, did you miss the point badly.

The point is that you have to give ML hitters time and ABs to work out of slumps. Stanton basically slumped for about a month and a half (maybe a little more). Bird has been up for just over a month- and was almost two months behind everyone else.

Bird will eventually find the stroke and timing he needs- but he needs all the ABs he can get.

In comment 14005465 bceagle05 said:

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that Bird's foot/ankle is bothering him again.

I don't think that's it. Last night, I watched several of his AB's closely- his timing is off is what I saw most. In his last two AB's, if you go back and watch, you will see that he is out in front of everything- even the FB. if the ankle was the problem, he would be late, because he would have a hitch.

Another clue was the spray chart that YES put up during the game- something like 70% of the balls in play hit by Bird go to 1B or the slot between 1B and 2B. In other words, he is trying to hit the ball hard, but in loading up, he is getting to the ball too soon and just hammering it into the ground to 1B.

He needs to stop trying to kill the ball, and work on his timing mechanism. Whatever his timing mechanism is, it is way off.

Greg Bird does not. He's flashed MLB ability, but never for an extended period of time, and thus it is not necessarily a fact that he will, in fact, hit at a high level for more than short stretches.

as I'm just jumping into the thread now...but Torres in the 9 spot has go to stop. No matter if a left or right is on the mound. Four times he led off an inning last night after the Higashioka spot in the order came up with men on base. We are actively choosing to hit one of our best hitters 9th. He's not a recent call up anymore. He's earned it. Move him up.

why Drury is here if he isn't going to hit for Bird against the lefty with the bases loaded.

I'm still hopeful for Bird, but the leeway that a career .220 hitter is given by this organization is astounding.

In comment 14005378 arcarsenal said:

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Tough loss. Bird and Romine's AB's with the bases loaded were fucking awful. Especially Bird's. Not even a competitive AB. Gardner's AB against Minter was terrible too. Shit happens. Just a frustrating one to drop - especially when Hicks' double should have won the game.

Regardless of the shitty year Sanchez is having Romine is going to be exposed as a everyday player he’s a nice back up nothing more. I even heard people say trade Sanchez and let Romine be the everyday catcher lol

And under normal circumstances that might be a good idea, but in a lineup missing Sanchez and with Bird hitting like poop they really can't justify hitting him 9th.

we're getting too cute with the lineup. Put the best hitters at the top. Period. Just read Axisa point out how ridiculous it is to put Didi in the middle of Judge and Stanton and he's right. And the game ends with Did striking out against a lefty with Stanton on deck.

This is a Girardi-esque lineup where an ancient Jeter hits #2 all year and rookies have to "earn their place." I thought we were beyond that. With Sanchez out Torrers should be hitting no lower than 5th

Yeah, I didn't understand the lineup last night.

I would have rather seen something like...

Hicks
Judge
Torres
Stanton
Andujar
Didi
Bird
Higashioka
Gardner

.

Rafael Severino

this may have been mentioned but first time I've seen it.
Link - ( New Window )

In comment 14005616 dune69 said:

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Rafael Severino this may have been mentioned but first time I've seen it. Link - ( New Window )

NY Post had an article on it this morning with a little more detail.

another Severino ... - ( New Window )

but I kinda like it. He's a run producer, and Hicks/Gardy and Judge are on base quite a bit.

Let's try this again. I'll make it easier for you this time.

1. Trade for a professional 1B.

2. Send Bird to AAA.

3. DFA Walker

4. Call up Wade for the Walker role.

In comment 14005678 arniefez said:

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Let's try this again. I'll make it easier for you this time. 1. Trade for a professional 1B. 2. Send Bird to AAA. 3. DFA Walker 4. Call up Wade for the Walker role.

While I am not FMIC, I say that 1 and 2 are absolutely wrong- but I do agree with 3 and 4.

but NFW in Hell am I giving up on him this season.

Walker can be traded in a heartbeat. He is worth something decent.

I'm for giving Wade a shot, but Drury can do most of Walker's job and he's a proven MLB player.

but he's not on scholarship and the Yankees aren't in development mode. They're in win every game mode. He's a 90 OPS + hitter in his last 290 PA's. I know he's been hurt. He might still be hurt for all we know. Enough for this year. I'm sure he'll get at least another few weeks but at the trade deadline this has to stop.

I mean do we even know if he is a Top notch MLB player?, is he a Kevin Maas? We really don't know.
2015 157 AB,261 AVG,OBP343
2017 147 AB, 190 avg,OBP 288
Maybe the Yanks should send him down and get a True spring training. Austin was doing better than Bird is doing now. Yes, when Bird was called up Austin's numbers went down. However, when he was the primary 1B he did fine.

if you send him to AAA. It shouldn't be completely out of the question. He's not good enough to say no way to that option.

- Down the stretch run in 2015 when the team was trying to make the postseason, it was Greg Bird who had the highest OPS on the team in September among the regulars... not guys named Beltran, A-Rod, Ellsbury, Gardner, McCann, Headley, Gregorius, etc.
- Greg Bird had the highest OPS on the team during the 2018 postseason... not Judge, Sanchez, Didi, etc.
- He's the best defensive first baseman on the team by a mile.

He's had so few ML plate appearances over the past 4 seasons due to injury, that's it's unreasonable to expect him to be 100% locked in now. However, I don't understand the team's need to speed up his rehab assignments as others have mentioned. And as I've said numerous times already, he needs to be batting 8th or 9th until he shows improvement.

Frazier, Sheffield, Florial, Loaisiga, and Gray. Yeah....that's not going to do it.

In comment 14005756 Greg from LI said:

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Frazier, Sheffield, Florial, Loaisiga, and Gray. Yeah....that's not going to do it.

If that's not enough, then fuck it. That would be enough for any other team not named the Yankees... THREE Top 100 prospects, plus a young starter with good upside and another starter to plug into the rotation right away.

after the trade deadline would be for 1 month. He'd be back when the rosters expand at the latest.

Heyman says Happ is atop the Yanks trade target list... FWIW.

Walker at 2B. That’s awesome.

In comment 14005769 arcarsenal said:

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Heyman says Happ is atop the Yanks trade target list... FWIW.

If they get anybody, I'd hope it's Happ. Should be among the cheaper options, plus he pitches in the AL East. I think that counts for a lot.

Happ has been lights-out against Boston since going to Toronto. 2-0, 2.33 in 3 starts in 2016, 2-0, 1.90 in 4 starts last year, a no decision where he pitched 7, 4 hits, 1 run in his only start against them last year. Sign me up.

The guy is signed for forever, I imagine we just have to hope he turns it around and view him as a fifth starter.

Loaisiga was sent down after yesterdays game.

In comment 14005573 arcarsenal said:

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Yeah, I didn't understand the lineup last night. I would have rather seen something like... Hicks Judge Torres Stanton Andujar Didi Bird Higashioka Gardner

He's never going to bat four righties in a row vs a right handed pitcher, nor should he with three left handed bats in his lineup plus a switch hitter.

I love Andujar but against a righty I'd put Didi behind Stanton in your lineup, then Miggy, then Bird.

Thought he was a little gimpy last night around the bases.

In comment 14005814 bceagle05 said:

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Walker at 2B. That’s awesome.

Another head scratcher from Boone. He just loves cooling off his own guys when every other manager I've ever seen rides his hot bats.

I just don't get it. He's done it to Gary 2-3 times already and at least once to Judge as well.. Miggy too.

has hip flexor stiffness - out for precautionary reasons. My initial reaction was the same as yours.

In comment 14005943 bceagle05 said:

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has hip flexor stiffness - out for precautionary reasons. My initial reaction was the same as yours.

Ahh ok, thanks for the update. My scalp was getting sore from all the head scratching I was doing.

Smart move if he's feeling anything anywhere.