About two weeks ago I started a similar thread when they were in the midst of an ugly 3 weeks of baseball. Now in the last week, the starters are untouchable, the relievers are getting it done again and the lineup has started to hit. The weirdness of baseball.
So, it starts with the starting pitching. If the opponent cannot score, you have a good chance of winning. Garcia's 3 runs last night were the most by a started in over a week. Even Happ has looked competent.
The bullpen after pooping the bed in Buffalo has been stifling(sans King's 9th last night), although there is something wrong with Ottavino.
The lineup has started to hit, beyond Voit and DJLM. Frazier has been good and before his demotion Andujar finally was hitting. Probably getting Wade, Tauchman and Estrada out of the lineup helps(along with Gardy who actually started to make some contact this week).
So going forward(keeping fingers crossed) what will the lineup be?:
DJLM (2B)
Judge (RF)
Voit (1B) - They may flip Voit and Torres
Stanton (DH)
Torres (SS)
Frazier (LF)
Hicks (CF) - You could swap with Urshela
Urshela(3B)
Sanchez (C) - I am tempted to put Kratz here
What do you think Cashman/Boone come up with?
Judge (RF)
Voit (1B) - They may flip Voit and Torres
Stanton (DH)
Torres (SS)
Frazier (LF)
Hicks (CF) - You could swap with Urshela
Urshela(3B)
Sanchez (C) - I am tempted to put Kratz here"
Hicks will bat higher because he's the only LH bat in that lineup. Whether we like that or not.
Sanchez won't bat 9th because they like a higher OBP/speed guy there - a poor man's leadoff batter to have a restart on the batting order from the 9 spot. My guess is Urshela or even Torres there.
That said, if everyone's hitting your lineup will work just fine.
He scorched one 113 mph last night, just happened to be right at someone. Don't be silly.
Beyond that Devi, has really helped to stabilize the starting pitching. Hopefully he can continue his success (its a lot to put on a rookie)
Part of it is that the bullpen wasn't going to suck forever. They had a few lousy weeks, now they're pitching more like themselves.
And yeah, Deivi Garcia has given them a big boost. He's been great, and Happ has been surprisingly effective.
Finally, I think they got way too complacent. It was obvious that, with the expanded playoffs, that they really were treating this as a sort of long-term spring training. When they dropped down to .500, I think it was a bit of a kick in the ass for them.
Now that players have returned from injury, they are rolling again.
The reason why they went on a losing streak and have now stabilized isn't that tough to figure out.
I am with you on Sanchez. If Cashman and Boone believe in him, I believe in him too. Call me crazy. Yankee scouts and execs know a shit ton more than yankee fans. They rarely get shit wrong.
We were able to deal with the injuries last year because the backups stepped up. Well, that's a tall order for this length of time. What did you expect, to keep losing players to the DL and still win?
Judge should stay in the 2 - I like that spot for him.
Hicks profiles best to me as a 9 hole hitter. I like him leadoff, too - but nowhere near as much as LeMahieu, so DJ has to stay there.
Sanchez is just confounding. I feel like he's maybe shown some tiny signs of life recently. But, if it's me, I'm probably hitting him 8th at this point.
Of course, Luke Voit has been off the charts and the pitching flipped the switch too recently
I'm sure the FO will be, too. DJ wants to be here, and I know the org wants to keep him. They'll get it done.
Always happy to eat crow when it's because I thought a move would backfire and it instead was enormously positive.
Judge should stay in the 2 - I like that spot for him.
Hicks profiles best to me as a 9 hole hitter. I like him leadoff, too - but nowhere near as much as LeMahieu, so DJ has to stay there.
Sanchez is just confounding. I feel like he's maybe shown some tiny signs of life recently. But, if it's me, I'm probably hitting him 8th at this point.
Going to be really hard to take Hicks out of the leadoff spot with a .370+ OBP. He's been really effective already, and to my eye, the underlying metrics would seem to suggest that he could go on a tear really soon. His walk rate is light-years ahead of his already good career average (admittedly, at an unsustainable level) but he's also not had any luck on the pitches he's put in play in spite of hitting the ball as hard as he ever has in his career.
Just my opinion -- I like him right where he is.
Always happy to eat crow when it's because I thought a move would backfire and it instead was enormously positive.
They didn’t even have a full time position open for him when they signed him. Full credit to Cashman for that one. DJ has as slump proof a swing and approach at the plate as anyone I can recall
Always happy to eat crow when it's because I thought a move would backfire and it instead was enormously positive.
I thought Luke Voit was going to suck after his first 5-6 games here. Hah.
He was a 27 year old and his 2017 season in StL, though abbreviated, was really nothing to write home about - he started slow in 2018, too - and his first handful of games here, he really didn't do anything. I was like.. alright, so Shreve is gone and that's great, but...
If you told me he'd have more HR's than Mike Trout in an abbreviated 2020 season, I'm pretty sure that's not something I'd ever have believed.
Literally the only time Luke hasn't hit since coming over was last year when he had the core injury. He was nowhere near 100%. Hell, he's not even 100% now. He's got a bad foot and he's still crushing the ball.
So, that's one I was definitely happy to be wrong as hell on.
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I love Torres in the 3 hole and Voit in the 5 hole. I think you could flip them, but ideally, that's where I think they fit best.
Judge should stay in the 2 - I like that spot for him.
Hicks profiles best to me as a 9 hole hitter. I like him leadoff, too - but nowhere near as much as LeMahieu, so DJ has to stay there.
Sanchez is just confounding. I feel like he's maybe shown some tiny signs of life recently. But, if it's me, I'm probably hitting him 8th at this point.
Going to be really hard to take Hicks out of the leadoff spot with a .370+ OBP. He's been really effective already, and to my eye, the underlying metrics would seem to suggest that he could go on a tear really soon. His walk rate is light-years ahead of his already good career average (admittedly, at an unsustainable level) but he's also not had any luck on the pitches he's put in play in spite of hitting the ball as hard as he ever has in his career.
Just my opinion -- I like him right where he is.
He hasn't been hitting leadoff, though. He's been in the 3 hole.
He's not a free agent until after the 2022 season. He's arb eligible the next 2 seasons.
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In comment 14974178 arcarsenal said:
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I love Torres in the 3 hole and Voit in the 5 hole. I think you could flip them, but ideally, that's where I think they fit best.
Judge should stay in the 2 - I like that spot for him.
Hicks profiles best to me as a 9 hole hitter. I like him leadoff, too - but nowhere near as much as LeMahieu, so DJ has to stay there.
Sanchez is just confounding. I feel like he's maybe shown some tiny signs of life recently. But, if it's me, I'm probably hitting him 8th at this point.
Going to be really hard to take Hicks out of the leadoff spot with a .370+ OBP. He's been really effective already, and to my eye, the underlying metrics would seem to suggest that he could go on a tear really soon. His walk rate is light-years ahead of his already good career average (admittedly, at an unsustainable level) but he's also not had any luck on the pitches he's put in play in spite of hitting the ball as hard as he ever has in his career.
Just my opinion -- I like him right where he is.
He hasn't been hitting leadoff, though. He's been in the 3 hole.
I've been thinking of that as a tactical result of the injury ravage, and that a pro forma playoff lineup with Judge/Gleyber/Stanton healthy would naturally have Hicks as leadoff hitter. I could be wrong.
Poor communication on my part -- "where he is" was based on my own assumptions of an obvious full-strength lineup, which was dumb.
Said better - I like him hitting leadoff. I love the idea of stacking on-base guys ahead of DJ. He excels at putting the ball in play, flair for the big hit, and hits to all fields / can't be shifted against.
Hicks
Judge
DJLM
Torres
Voit
Stanton
Frazier
Urshela
Sanchez
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he's a FA after this year. Normally I'd say he's as good as gone but does he sign a 1 year deal to get another shot at a big payday? Do we offer him a 1 year deal?
He's not a free agent until after the 2022 season. He's arb eligible the next 2 seasons.
Ahh, i didn't realize he had another 2 years. Nevermind then.
DJ can probably slot in effectively 1, 2 or 3.
I personally really like Gleyber in the 3 hole - I think that's his best spot, but I could see him batting cleanup in some iterations.
There's a lot we can do here - all good problems to have.
Yeah it is concerning hard to argue. If he was hitting 220 or around there like last year you still live with because he’s still knocking in more runs than most catchers. But this 130 shit is crazy.
Judge
Hicks
Stanton
Voit
Frazier
Torres
Urshela
Sanchez
Plus, with my history, now that I semi-trashed Gary he will bat .400 the rest of the year......
Judge
Hicks
Stanton
Voit
Frazier
Torres
Urshela
Sanchez
While Sanchez has not hit at all, putting him in the 9 hole isn't wise. Remember that when the lineup flips over during the game, you are effectively putting a guy who makes an out 17 out of 20 times up in front of your best hitters. Don't give away outs right before your best bats.
It sounds counterinuitive, but put him in the 7 or 8 hole, with a high OBP guy in the 9 hole. In the 7/8 slot, you've let your best hitters come to bat, and if he makes the 3rd out, so be it - the best hitters have come up and you still have strong OBP guys coming up before your best hitters.
It sounds odd, but I think Hicks in the 9 hole with his high OBP works well. Urshula's OBP isn't as high, but a better hitter for te 8 hole than Sanchez.
Let's not forget that Higgy has been hitting well of late. The Yanks may even put Sanchez on the bench so they can use him late in any game where they need a power threat as a PH or as the emergency C.
Judge
Voit
Stanton
Frazier
Torres
Urshela
Sanchez/Higgy
Hicks
Higgy should be playing more the next couple weeks and see if he can sustain the offense. His average is up to 250. Kratz is batting 321, so he warrants some consideration too. But it's hard to put a guy with Sanchez' potential on the bench.