A lot was discussed on the Sweep Thread yesterday that also served as the Rays-Astros game thread.
I think arc brought up Hicks has declared himself ready to play in the ALCS. About three weeks ago most thought he was done until February because any further damage now might lead to TJS..
If Hicks were activated it would probably knock Wade off the roster. The Yanks will almost certainly deactive Voit to activate another pitcher and go with a three man bench. CC is the guy, if the shoulder has recovered to take the 13 slot for pitchers. Basically CC for Voit. Not sure who the 13 pitcher would be if CC can't go. But I'm certain they go with 13 pitches for the 7 games.
If we just focus on the bench it is probably easier to look at. Hicks activated would mean two of three bench would be OFs. Can't see that. I doubt they drop Maybin to keep Wade. Wade is too versatile to drop as he can play IF and OF.
At this point, I doubt Hicks is activated. His bat would be questionable and would you really start Hicks in CF and sit Gardy? Gardy is easily Hicks equal in the field except for Hicks' arm. They could play Gardy in LF, Stanton to DH, EE to 1B, DJLM to 3B and sit Urshela, who isn't hitting. So in effect you are swapping Hicks probable weak bat for Urshela's currently slumping bat. That would upgrade the Yanks outfield defense with Gardy-Hicks-Judge. Not sure that DJLM at 3rd and EE at 1B is the equivalent to Urshela, Didi, Torres and DJLM. I would not want to upset what we saw of the infield in the ALDS.
I think the Yanks do not activate Hicks, but what would Cash do?
2. *IF* Team feels Hicks is ready to play, Voit loses roster spot to Hicks. I like Voit, but 1B is covered by DJ and Edwin. Or drop Wade, as IF is covered, because DJ can play 2B and 3B, and Torres can play SS, and addition of Hicks covers the OF.
3. Stanton to the bench. Not hating on the guy, but his defense is only adequate and he has yet to make an offensive impact as a Yankee. I like seeing his name in the lineup because of the amazing potential he has, but he simply hasn't hit much over his two seasons. He has done a good job taking walks, but so will Hicks, who adds speed and some left-handed balance (when facing RHP).
With Hicks in CF and Gardner in LF, Yankees OF defense is very strong.
ALDS Roster
* Did not play
Pitchers
Zack Britton
Luis Cessa*
Aroldis Chapman
Chad Green
J.A. Happ
Tommy Kahnle
Jonathan Loaisiga*
Tyler Lyons
Adam Ottavino
James Paxton
Luis Severino
Masahiro Tanaka
Catchers
Austin Romine*
Gary Sanchez
Infielders
Edwin Encarnacion
Didi Gregorius
DJ LeMahieu
Gleyber Torres
Gio Urshela
Luke Voit*
Tyler Wade*
Outfielders
Brett Gardner
Aaron Judge
Cameron Maybin
Giancarlo Stanton
Loaisiga did pitch in the DS... just an inning, but he did have an appearance.
Expecting Hicks to jump right in and have more of an offensive impact right now would be a tall order. I think if Hicks manages to wind up on the roster, you're using him as the 4th OFer and a defensive replacement/PR. I don't think he'd be in the lineup unless Stanton is just not hitting his way out of a paper bag... which is certainly possible, but I just think it's unlikely.
Link - ( New Window )
The only way I see it is if they keep the pitchers at 12 (which feels unlikely) and opt for Hicks over Voit. Wade's defensive versatility is too valuable if you've only got a 3 man bench.
Yes, all stadiums have indoor cages and mounds.
ESPN - ( New Window )
Link - ( New Window )
Damn, I'm tempted to sign up for the site just to read the rest of that report!!!!
It will be tough to live up to that article. Puts high expectations on a 16 year old. Hope he can handle the pressure and stay healthy. It will be fun to watch his growth.
Quote:
Hicks is a much better OF glove than Maybin. Wade is basically a designated runner in this series.
If you are using Hicks as the defensive replacement, late game for Stanton, then yes Hicks is far superior to Maybin. But at this point, Maybin is a better bat.
If that is the case, Wade stays and Maybin sits. There is no way the two bench guys are strictly OFs.
What a set of choices and decisions. Who looks best batting right now, taking into account Rays/Astros pitchers, may decide this.
Expecting Hicks to jump right in and have more of an offensive impact right now would be a tall order. I think if Hicks manages to wind up on the roster, you're using him as the 4th OFer and a defensive replacement/PR. I don't think he'd be in the lineup unless Stanton is just not hitting his way out of a paper bag... which is certainly possible, but I just think it's unlikely.
ITA.
Expecting Hicks to jump right in and have more of an offensive impact right now would be a tall order. I think if Hicks manages to wind up on the roster, you're using him as the 4th OFer and a defensive replacement/PR. I don't think he'd be in the lineup unless Stanton is just not hitting his way out of a paper bag... which is certainly possible, but I just think it's unlikely.
I am not worried about Stanton. He's tied with Judge for walks in less plate appearances. Yeah he is only 1 for 6, but if he continue to work counts and gets walked in front of Torres, arguably the Yanks best postseason hitter so far, that's all you can ask for. The hits will come.
Gary has been struggling the most so far.
Ray's have a legit shot to pull this off.
It's one game. Even with Gerrit Cole on the mound, even on full rest. He's in uncharted innings territory, and everyone handles this level of pressure differently. His last win or go home game was back in 2015 and so it's not predictive, but he didn't pitch well. Dinks and doinks and fluke hits can occur. Smart money is on the Stros this game, but that doesn't mean the Rays can't win. Of course they can.
I don't see why activating Hicks and playing him would send Urshela to the bench? Is he saying that puts Gardner in left, Stanton at DH, EE at first, and DJLM at 3rd? That's so much shifting over what has worked. Activate Hicks and let him be the backup CF and defensive replacement for Stanton. Maybin can still hang out and give hugs.
Freddie Freeman isn't going to sleep for weeks barring a miraculous comeback by Atlanta.
When it was only 2-0 still, Molina hit a ground ball that should have been two, but Freeman booted it and got no one out.
Horrendous, horrendous inning for Atlanta. The 10th run scored on a strikeout that got away from the catcher, too.
Those poor fans...paying good money to see your team effectively lose the game in a half inning.
Who knows, though... Atlanta has all 27 outs to play with still. Maybe they'll chip away and make this a game.
Link - ( New Window )
I'd be surprised to see Hicks make it unless he really is 100%. CC over Lyons shouldn't take any processing power.
Seriously? Doesn't that just seem unimaginable only 4 years later?
Seriously? Doesn't that just seem unimaginable only 4 years later?
And the year before that, the O's were in the ALCS. Which almost seems unfathomable given how bad they are and have been the last couple of years. Heck, even in 2016 they won 89 games and at least got to the play-in game. That was only 3 years ago.
That's what happens with teams like those. They get a tiny, tiny window and they have to capitalize - otherwise, they probably won't get another one for a while. The Royals actually managed to get to the WS in back to back years and were able to atone for the 2014 loss the next year; but most smaller market teams like that just won't get these sustained windows teams like NYY/HOU/LA have opened up where they get a few cracks at it.
They have tough decisions to make on this.
I do believe they go with 13 pitchers and add CC, dropping Voit. Encarnacion is the backup at 1st.
If they add Hicks, I think they drop Maybin and keep Wade as he plays all OF positions and 3 IF positions.I cannot see anyway they keep 5 OFs.
Now if they start Hicks, it would affect the lineup up and down.
This is what I'd expect should Hicks start:
DJLM 3B **
Judge RF
Gardy LF
Encarnacion 1B **
Stanton DH **
Torres 2B
Sanchez C
Gregorious SS
Hicks CF **
** - position change from ALDS
Bench:
Urshela, Wade, Romine
FYI - Urshela can play 1B
SPs: (3)
Paxton, Tanaka, Severino
BP: (10)
Chapman, Britton, Ottavino, Kahnle, Green, CC, Happ, Cessa, Lyons, Loaisiga
As I said, I believe they go with 13 pitchers. If not, I think they keep Voit and sit Loaisiga. While Loaisiga has better stuff, Lyons seems a bit less volatile.
Judge RF
Gardy LF
Encarnacion 1B **
Stanton DH **
Torres 2B
Sanchez C
Gregorious SS
Hicks CF **
that's getting pretty close to the Death Star idea, although not batting in the order you would have thought back when. Who knew Gardy was a 3?
Judge RF
Gardy LF
Encarnacion 1B **
Stanton DH **
Torres 2B
Sanchez C
Gregorious SS
Hicks CF **
that's getting pretty close to the Death Star idea, although not batting in the order you would have thought back when. Who knew Gardy was a 3?
If Didi had been hitting, he'd be in the 3 hole and Gardy at #9. But Gardy works the count hard, makes the pitchers throw a lot before the big guns and tires them out.
Neither would I seeing what that lineup did against the Twins and what that infield looked like the other night. You might strengthen the OF defense, but you weaken the IF defense. Also, I think you slightly weaken the total offense. While Urshela has been as cold as Voit, Hicks just takes too long to get going.
I don't think so. He had three hits vs the Twins and batted .250.
I'm ok with activating Hicks but don't want the lineup changed.
I think as a late inning replacement in the OF he would make their D stronger by taking over CF and moving Gardy to left for Stanton but that's about the only spot I'd be comfortable with Hicks right now.
Quote:
Been as cold as Voit?
I don't think so. He had three hits vs the Twins and batted .250.
I'm ok with activating Hicks but don't want the lineup changed.
I think as a late inning replacement in the OF he would make their D stronger by taking over CF and moving Gardy to left for Stanton but that's about the only spot I'd be comfortable with Hicks right now.
Totally agree. Wonder what section225 was thinking.
Quote:
In comment 14620681 Jay in Toronto said:
Quote:
Been as cold as Voit?
I don't think so. He had three hits vs the Twins and batted .250.
I'm ok with activating Hicks but don't want the lineup changed.
I think as a late inning replacement in the OF he would make their D stronger by taking over CF and moving Gardy to left for Stanton but that's about the only spot I'd be comfortable with Hicks right now.
Totally agree. Wonder what section225 was thinking.
Thinking about what? Urshela being cold? Yeah he has been cold. BA dropped from .329 to .315 in Sept. Now if he had 3 hits against, they were quiet.
Urshela batted .189 last 30 days.
That said I'd trust Urshela before Hicks at this point.
Yanks stats last 30 days - ( New Window )
I think anything they get from him at the bottom of the order is gravy as they have plenty of O, and it's his glove at 3rd that I'm counting on and I think the Yanks do too.
If he was a late season call up, had a good month then slumped in September I'd be worried about his bat but he's hit well all year, even with the September dip. .319 is not too shabby for a #9 hitter, and I think he's got a few more hits in him.
I think anything they get from him at the bottom of the order is gravy as they have plenty of O, and it's his glove at 3rd that I'm counting on and I think the Yanks do too.
If he was a late season call up, had a good month then slumped in September I'd be worried about his bat but he's hit well all year, even with the September dip. .319 is not too shabby for a #9 hitter, and I think he's got a few more hits in him.
I think you are splitting hairs on cold, yeah numerically Voit was colder. Fact is he was cold and dropped to the 9 hole. Yes, he had three hits and batted .250 vs the Twins. No RBIs despite being up several times with RISP. Believe me I'm a Gio fan and sometimes little hits get a player going. And hopefully if Hicks makes the roster it is to relieve Stanton late and the IF is left alone. But if Hicks is starting, then Urshela is sitting because there is no way Encarnacion or Stanton is sitting for him. The IF has to be DJLM, Didi, Torres, EE with Stanton as DH. There is no doubt I'd rather have either Urshela or Maybin at the plate over Hicks at this point this year.
I still think if CC is added, Voit sits. If Hicks is added Maybin sits.
Anyway I noticed this morning that this is the first decade in 100 years where the Yankees don’t have a World Series appearance. They made it in the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and 00’s. I’m sure you all were aware of that and I guess it’s not a total shock but as someone who otherwise doesn’t really care that’s enough of a reason to pull for the Yankees a little bit. Cool streak and they have one shot to keep it going.
Quote:
Quiet or not three hits in his first three playoff games is still three hits. Voit has had what, one hit in weeks? No way is Urshela as cold as him despite his September numbers.
I think anything they get from him at the bottom of the order is gravy as they have plenty of O, and it's his glove at 3rd that I'm counting on and I think the Yanks do too.
If he was a late season call up, had a good month then slumped in September I'd be worried about his bat but he's hit well all year, even with the September dip. .319 is not too shabby for a #9 hitter, and I think he's got a few more hits in him.
I think you are splitting hairs on cold, yeah numerically Voit was colder. Fact is he was cold and dropped to the 9 hole. Yes, he had three hits and batted .250 vs the Twins. No RBIs despite being up several times with RISP. Believe me I'm a Gio fan and sometimes little hits get a player going. And hopefully if Hicks makes the roster it is to relieve Stanton late and the IF is left alone. But if Hicks is starting, then Urshela is sitting because there is no way Encarnacion or Stanton is sitting for him. The IF has to be DJLM, Didi, Torres, EE with Stanton as DH. There is no doubt I'd rather have either Urshela or Maybin at the plate over Hicks at this point this year.
I still think if CC is added, Voit sits. If Hicks is added Maybin sits.
Fair enough and I didn't really mean to split hairs there it's just for me, the way I remember Voit finishing out the year he was more than just cold. He was freezing and really going bad. He even look out of it mentally.
Gio to me just looked like he was scuffling. He clearly wasn't going as good as he was during the year but I never felt his struggles were close to Voit's. Just how I saw it and if you or anyone else saw it differently that's fair. Different strokes.