NYY:
1. Brett Gardner (L) LF
2. Giancarlo Stanton (R) DH
3. Aaron Hicks (S) CF
4. Greg Bird (L) 1B
5. Gleyber Torres (R) SS
6. Miguel Andujar (R) 3B
7. Neil Walker (S) 2B
8. Austin Romine (R) C
9. Shane Robinson (R) RF
Luis Severino: 14-5, 3.08
CHW:
1. Yoan Moncada (S) 2B
2. Yolmer Sanchez (S) 3B
3. Jose Abreu (R) 1B
4. Daniel Palka (L) DH
5. Avisail Garcia (R) RF
6. Nicky Delmonico (L) LF
7. Tim Anderson (R) SS
8. Kevan Smith (R) C
9. Adam Engel (R) CF
Lucas Giolito: 7-8, 5.97
Giolito leads the entire AL in runs allowed, so there's no excuse not to put runs on the board. The big story tonight will be whether or not Sevy can get back on track. We'll find out if he's been tipping his pitches or if it's another issue.
Kind of wish Boone would tinker with the lineup a little less, but it is what it is. Not the end of the world.
Bring out the brooms because we need this sweep.
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He doesn't block balls in the dirt well. He has a laser arm, frames pretty well, and calls a good game.
I dont disagree. But that weakness has cost us multiple runs in singular games multiple times and Im pretty sure cost us 1 or 2 actual victories last year. That part is inexcusable to me.
Agree with both of you. He has cost us multiple games with that weakness and the jogging to first is little league stuff. While frustrating at the same time, the Gary Maniloaf headline in the Post a few weeks ago did me me laugh for a second. That being said, he can hit like crazy when he gets hot and that alone puts him ahead of Romine in the long run.
Good to get the real Sevy back.
The slider was nasty once he got a good feel for it and he was still pumping some 99mph gas 100+ pitches in which certainly alleviated any concern I had about his velo.
Get 6 more outs and lets go home.
Just bring Ford up! Yeah, they cannot afford to have Bird bobble throws and put up with a .220 BA. Problem is, Cash is the one who said he likely to be the best hitter in the organization.
I don't understand the urgency to keep batting him in those spots. Move him back down a little, let him play every day, and see what happens.
I am still a believer that he's going to be a good hitter but we do need to start seeing some consistency now that he's healthy and has been able to play pretty regular for a good stretch here.
The deal with Bird is that if he isn't an elite hitter he's a liability. He's an average at best 1B maybe below average and he can't run at all. So if he doesn't hit to an elite level he's a net negative.
If this is all the Yankees get out of him for the rest of the season hopefully over the winter they'll bring in someone to compete with him.
arniefez : 10:50 am : link : reply
Bird's on scholarship
Both the Giants and Yanks are accused of having guys on scholarship which is ironic since your posts seem to belie a very limited intelligence that would likely know shit about scholarship particulars.
Kenny Singleton then noted that he a conversation with Bird about just that. They specifically talked about going the other way instead of trying to just hit everything as hard as possible (and into the shift). Singleton then noted that Bird said that would be his priority going into the off-season.
This is important for a simple reason- the Yanks need Bird to use the whole field. One of the reasons that Jeter amassed so many hits over the years was that he was willing to simply dunk the ball into RF if the pitch was away and just get on base. Bird has attempted to hit everything hard- resulting in a LOT of meaningless grounders on pitches away that he tries to hit hard.
If Bird is willing to take those hits to LF, teams will have to pick their moments for the shift instead of automatically employing it.
Bird needs to figure out when to simply take the ball the other way, and when to drive the ball. It comes down to better approach. How often have we seen Bird flail away at the breaking ball down or down and away- he can't hit it because he is trying to hit it as hard as he can- which means trying to pull it. If he is willing to just go with the pitch to LF, he will get hits- and force pitchers to adjust how they approach him. Only by turning breaking balls into opposite field hits will he force pitchers to throw more FB. Then he can sit on the FB and try to get the ball in the air to RF.
I think Bird simply needs more time. So do many of the other young bats. Andujar is showing signs that he is willing to start taking more walks- but that comes down to pitch recognition and laying off the breaking pitch away. Torres needs to lay off the high FB and swing less early in the count- but that also comes with experience.
I also think that both Bird and Sanchez should spend some time this winter working with an sports-based guy who works on the mental approach to the game. Teams have a book on both, but both appear to be struggling to accept how to adjust to what they are given- and both appear to have lost a great deal of confidence. They need to re-work their mental approach to allow them to accept and focus on success. Many teams and players have done this- it isn't magic or a shrink- it is just someone who fixes their mindset and improves the ability to accept what needs to change to be successful.
It cracks me up when a poster reincarnates themselves and spews the same tired information and is called out almost immediately.
Arnie/Randal Graves finds a way to have a wrong take on every subject - apparently across sports other than baseball and football.
After watching Mattingly, Tino & Tex if you think Greg Bird is a good 1B you're not being honest. If he doesn't hit he's worthless.
Truth.
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but watch Higashioka and Romine try to catch this staff; they're not that much better. That's because almost everyone on this staff can throw pitches that flat-out move. Sevy, Gray, Chapman, Betances, D-Rob...all have wipeout breaking stuff that's difficult for anyone to catch. That doesn't mean he can't be better at it, but Sanchez's defense is not as bad as the PBs make it seem to be.
Truth.
Or perception....in reality Romine is better (not all star quality) at moving (Higgy is not and truly an AAA catcher) but Sanchez' arm is so much better than both. When he gets his stroke back, nobody will worry about the occasional misplayed ball.