Just how lovely was it to not only end the Red Sox division title hopes in Boston, on a shutout, with a silenced deflated crowd, where Babe Romine has the game winning HR to the opposite field against their best starter..
A little more postseason talk after Tauchman's season injury. We sort of started one on the game thread with dp making up a rotation for the playoff. Keep those fingers crossed on Severino, Betances with Montgomery on the periphery. They will be pitching the next couple days. I just do not see Montgomery helping this season unless CC is done and it appears Boone very much wants CC on the roster.
Let's focus on the 5 game division series. I think they go with 12 pitchers and 13 fielders in the 5 game series.
SPs(3)
Paxton
Tanaka
Severino
RPs(9)
Chapman, Betances, Ottavino. Britton, Kahnle, Green, German, CC, Cessa
(Gearinn is looking good - some one to keep an eye on)
Catchers:(2)
Sanchez
Romine
OF:(4)
Judge, Gardner, Stanton, Maybin
(If Boone's report on Stanton is good(why would it not be) he is making good progress in Tampa and will be up next week)
IF:(7)
DJLM, Torres, Didi, Urshela, EE, Voit, Wade (he is also a back up OF)
In my mind, Gardner appears to be tired at the plate. He had a slight slump mid August, came out of it, but looks to be having trouble again. His fielding is impeccable. He needs a break - maybe 2 or three days soon. This is where the Tauchman injury is another concern. Maybin will need to play CF and he is nowhere near Gardy or Tauchman in the field.
Can Wade play CF? He should have a strong arm as a SS.
If Sevy is healthy and good to go I see him adding to the rotation and them going with four starters, not him eliminating German from a start and only going with three.
Yeah that's a good point. If he continues to pitch the way he has lately,he'll be on the roster. I'm not sure he'll get a start but I definitely think he'll get a spot.
Yeah, I suppose Happ over CC or Cessa makes more sense. I think Boone's vision is blocked wanting CC on the roster. Cold hard fact, CC is marginal, at best. At this point I trust him less than Cessa, except CC won't have stage fright....
FWIW, Stanton coming back healthy is the difference between panic in the OF vs a solid OF roster because of Tauchman's injury.
Those umps in Oakland effed up. The league had already said his delivery was legal and reiterated last week(When they also said the ump in the Dodger series was wrong to call timeout in the middle of a play.)
I don't think that's crazy at all. Ford is a professional hitter who really seems to know what he's doing up there and has great at bats. He's come through plenty for them and I could see them wanting his lefty bat on the roster.
Ford has done well and is a viable option if Voit is injured. But Voit is a high OBP player with considerable pop himself and playoff experience at the MLB level. I have no doubt that Voit is auditioning a little bit, but Ford only goes if the hernia recurs. Not sure the RH/LH matchups mean anything anymore with advanced metrics...Voit does have considerable problems with high FBs, that is his hole and that is Verlander's bread and butter. But Torres and Sanchez have the same hole(I suspect most hitters do).
IMHO
Well, with no Hicks, if Stanton can't go and Tauchman isn't ready, they pretty much have to have Frazier as the 4th OF behind Judge, Gardner, and Maybin. There are no other options. They aren't playing Tyler Wade over him.
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not hard to envision a scenario where Frazier is a realistic/desirable option in the outfield for the postseason.
Well, with no Hicks, if Stanton can't go and Tauchman isn't ready, they pretty much have to have Frazier as the 4th OF behind Judge, Gardner, and Maybin. There are no other options. They aren't playing Tyler Wade over him.
yup. There was no hidden editorial from me there, just amazing how things can change in 2 weeks.
I'm hardly Frazier's biggest fan, but I'd happily see him get the postseason roster spot over a guy like Wade.
Agree with your postseason roster, with one change. Like I said last week too...Happ should be on your roster. He is a lefty, has bullpen experience in his career, and now has even had a few consecutive great starts. I just can't see what CC brings over Happ, other than leadership. And CC can do that while on the bench, without being on postseason roster.
2) I think the Stanton contract ( the portion the Yankees pay) and performance will work out fine in the long run. But I went back and looked at articles about the "book" for pitching to him, Sanchez, Judge, etc.
He may well be invaluable contributor during the long long season when he gets hot and some of our others are not hitting well. But he is statistically easier for pitchers with good control to handle than some of our other players. That matters in a playoff series. He also does well with repetition. He may be a guy ( and ditto Severino and Betances) that is added after the first series or not at all.
Getting through 164 games with a top record is going to be valuable for several years as the Astros and Dodgers much less the Braves are not going to get worse or have less depth next year.
Regardless of Division, we are in a race for MLB best record during this era of Yankee baseball. So Stanton will be a contributor. But between the defense and the hot and cold zones in his swing he may not be as good a playoff series contributor when the opponent has good pitching.
Oddly, the same kind of reviews of player strengths and weaknesses gives kudos to Judge who has changed his approach to offset the book on him in 2017 and then changed it again for 2019 and then again with the oblique injury. This guy is a very very good all around player. One of the best in baseball
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In comment 14569921 bigbluehoya said:
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not hard to envision a scenario where Frazier is a realistic/desirable option in the outfield for the postseason.
Well, with no Hicks, if Stanton can't go and Tauchman isn't ready, they pretty much have to have Frazier as the 4th OF behind Judge, Gardner, and Maybin. There are no other options. They aren't playing Tyler Wade over him.
yup. There was no hidden editorial from me there, just amazing how things can change in 2 weeks.
I'm hardly Frazier's biggest fan, but I'd happily see him get the postseason roster spot over a guy like Wade.
Clint is the far superior offensive player. He can also run, one of the faster players on the team.
Wade can play IF or OF and is far superior defensively and really rivals Gardy in pure speed.
I think this a closer toss up than you would think. I'm hoping that Clint can get some playing time and they can sit Gardy a few days. If he could just play MLB average OF, it would be a no brainer and I might take him over Maybin.
Absolutely no way Cortes would make the postseason roster over Cessa right now. Of course a lot could change in the next 3 weeks. But they do the same thing...long men out of bullpen. But Cessa has been way better. He has a sub-4.00 ERA and Cortes an ERA over 5.00! Not even a debate. And Cessa is the WAY hotter pitcher. In fact in the 2nd half of the season Cortes' ERA is doubles Cessa's...Cessa has 2.87 while Cortes has 5.53.
I trusted Happ last year and he fell flat on his face in the playoffs. I know he's pitched very well lately and is making a case for himself but it's not like he can add that to a stellar post season start last year and he gets the nod by seniority or a "he's proven in postseason" type of thing. If anything he's shown he couldn't get it done.
German has great stuff and has done it all year and IMO has earned a start by what he's done for the whole season. Let's see what he does with a start he's earned and deserves.
My premise on this thread was more about the 5 game ALDS where you do not need a 4th starter. But long run maybe they do need the 4th starter so that at the start of the ALCS they are not without the #1 and #2 starters.
Of course, by then I expect Severino(knock on wood) will be stretched to well over 80 pitches.
German has great stuff and has done it all year and IMO has earned a start by what he's done for the whole season. Let's see what he does with a start he's earned and deserves.
They plan on starting CC with German coming from the pen in relief this week. Keep an eye on this. This could be "the opener" that Boone said he would consider. I like the idea of CC's soft toss followed by German's hard stuff..of course that could also be a double explosion in the face.
Honestly, after his tremendous April, German's been mediocre for the most part.
Honestly, after his tremendous April, German's been mediocre for the most part.
Major split discrepancy. Yes not as dominant after the hip flexor. With his slight build and lack of previous innings, he may very well be running out of gas. His FB velo seems a bit down. His place maybe BP ALDS and a home start in the ALCS depending on how the ALDS unfolds.
Maybin is likely the backup CF, but for a game or so Judge could be used there. Hard to believe an afterthought pickup AAA player could mean so much.
Not too many were cheapies either. He seems to cluster them also. Lack of focus causing lack of control???
FWIW, the analytics folks will probably have a reason and possible solution for next season for him to work on.
I'm ok with Happ on the roster, but I'm still not ready to give him a start. But we'll see how the season wraps up.
I suspect German is just tired as he’s passing all limits of IP he’s thrown before.
I suspect playoff rotation is:
Paxton
Tanaka
Sevy (with German and Green ready as part of a quasi-bullpen game)
Happ