BIG DECISION

Coming into this season we all knew there would be a difficult choice to make this off-season, and that choice would be to either resign Masahiro Tanaka or James Paxton. Both pitchers will want a lot of money so I think its realistic to think only one may come back next year, but do you bring back the fan favorite who before this season had REALLY good postseason numbers or do you bring back James Paxton who’s had some memorable moments in a Yankee uniform and some not so memorable moments. All in all I think only one will come back next season.

INSERT MONEY INTO MACHINE

What started out as a depth signing has turned into the teams MVP in just two years, he won the batting title this year albeit in a shortened season but nonetheless he is the first player EVER to win a batting title in both the NL and the AL, he of course won it in Colorado. LeMahieu has turned himself into a mainstay in this lineup and our best hitter, if you’re Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner you HAVE to bring back LeMahieu, money has to be thrown at him and a lot of it, you can’t afford to lose his bat in the lineup.

CONTRACTS

Giancarlo Stanton and Zack Britton both have player options that I would expect they would both opt in, Britton currently has a 13 million dollar player option for next year and unless he feels he deserves more money which he might, he should be around in Yankee pinstripes for at least one more year. Brett Gardner currently has a 10 million dollar Team Option set for this off-season meaning that the Yankees could very well part ways with Gardner, which I hope doesn’t happen but money may be a little tight this off-season and so many players will be Arbitration eligible. Pretty much everyone else is Arbitration Eligible or is still under team control. I will have all coverage for the off-season on Instagram so turn on post notis so you don’t miss a thing!! LGY!!

GAME 1

Game One of the series would consist of two of the best pitchers in the league, a matchup between Gerrit Cole of the Yankees and potential 2020 AL Cy Young winner, Shane Bieber. Recently, the Yankees’ bats have struggled. Likewise, the Indians have been the comeback kids recently, as three of their last four wins have come off of walk-offs, including a 3 run comeback vs the Pirates, following a four run comeback in the 10th vs the White Sox. This game fits the bill for me of this series being a toss-up. Will we get the hot Yankees bats in this series? Or will we get the Indians comeback kids story? Either way this series has potential to be one of the best series’ from the Wildcard round.

GAME 2

Game two features Masahiro Tanaka of the Yankees and Zach Plesac of the Indians. Masahiro Tanaka has had a lot of success in the postseason in his career, so this game will be very close as well. No matter who wins this game they will have to grind for it, not only in this game but in this series. This will also be an elimination game, so we will see who comes out with the higher intensity for Game Two.

GAME 3 (if necessary)

Game three features a question for Yankees manager Aaron Boone as well as the fans. Who starts Game Three? I personally think J.A. Happ will get the start because he is a veteran. Plus he had a number f big starts for the Yankees. The Indians would use Carlos “Cookie” Carrasco. I would not be surprised to see this series go the distance. I personally think if the Yankees bats can get on a roll, then they can win this series. However, the one definitive I predict is that this series goes to 3 games.

GAME 1 W (6-5)

In Game 1 of this 3 game series, Jordan Montgomery took the bump looking to stay strong for the Yankees. The Yankees bats were going up against Martin Perez who shut the offense down going 6 strong innings, allowing 0 runs on 3 hits, and striking out 7. However, the Yankees bats wouldn’t be denied against the Red Sox bullpen. In the 7th inning, Gary Sanchez got the scoring going for the Yankees as he lined a 2-run double into right field that bounced over the wall for a ground-rule double. Now down 4-2 headed into the 8th, Giancarlo Stanton came up to bat and he roped a double to left field, scoring Aaron Judge all the way from first. In the 9th down 4-3, Gary Sanchez, on an 0-1 count lines a home run over the monster to tie up the game at 4. We would head to extra innings where with the new rule the Yankees would score in the 11th on a Luke Voit single. Their lead wouldn’t hold up though as the Red Sox tied it in the bottom half of the inning. In the 12th, Dj LeMahieu doubles to right which scored Aaron Hicks and gave the Yankees the lead again. This time they would hold on to win 6-5.

GAME 2 W (8-0)

In game 2 of this series, the Yankees wouldn’t need extra innings, as they sent J.A. Happ on the bump and he tossed 8 innings, allowing 0 runs on 4 hits, while striking out 9. The bats would have to face Chris Mazza, and they got it going early with the bases loaded. Gio Urshela hit a sac fly and after that Clint Frazier would single home Luke Voit making it 2-0. In the 4th, Kyle Higashioka would single home Frazier making it 3-0, followed by a Tyler Wade fielders choice to make it 4-0. The Yankees bats were on tonight as they scored 8 runs on 11 hits. This win made it 10 straight wins for the Yankees.

GAME 3 L (10-2)

The Yankees looked to sweep the series in game 3 as they would send young Deivi Garcia to the bump, and it did not go so well. He only lasted 3 innings, allowed 6 runs on 8 hits, and struck out just 2 Red Sox batters. The offense wouldn’t do too much better as they scored 2 runs on only 3 hits. Overall I would say it was a good series; You can’t win every game.

INJURIES:

First things first, injuries. The Yankees are no stranger to injuries as last year the Yankees had 31 different players on the IL for 39 different IL stints which just so happened to be the most in the MLB. Coming in to the 2020 season, many Yankee fans including myself thought “no way we can have THAT many injuries again…” and I certainly thought that the Yankees looked a lot more lean and fit when we opened the season. The first big blow to the Yankees happened on July 26th, when Tommy Kahnle hit the IL with a UCL injury in his pitching arm which we would later find out required Tommy John Surgery, meaning we won’t be seeing Kahnle until late 2021 at the earliest. After that it kind of went downhill, Giancarlo Statnton who was having a great start to the season went down with a hamstring problem running the bases, which was a big blow to the Yankee lineup, but perhaps the biggest blow to the Yankee lineup came when Aaron Judge who was the MVP front runner in the AL went to the IL with a calf problem as well. Judge came back for 1 game and went back on the IL after messing up that same calf. Gleyber Torres who was struggling to begin the year also went on the IL, even though he was struggling he is still a big part to our lineup. Gleyber is however expected to re-join the Yankees this weekend in Baltimore. DJ LeMahieu also had a brief IL stint with a thumb problem. That’s just the lineup, on the pitching side, James Paxton who had a brutal first two starts of the year, but was coming to life went on the IL with a left flexor strain. Zack Britton who was the Yankee closer while Aroldis Chapman was on the IL with COVID-19, went to the IL after injuring his hamstring while trying to make a play. Before the doubleheader in Baltimore, we got the news that Gio Urshela who was just starting to get things going would head to the IL with a bone spur in his right elbow, also Johnathan Loaisiga is sidelined with a non-COVID medical condition. Hopefully all these guys are FULLY healthy before the playoffs.

OFFENSE:

The offense has been a weak spot, to say the least during the Yankees recent struggles. In the last 14 days, the Yankee offense has been bad, the team has a slash line of .309/.359/.668 while amassing 11 HR with 37 RBI. Hopefully, when our big guys get back in the lineup those numbers will go up. I believe that the Yankees bats have changed their approach at the plate which has caused their bats to go silent.

GERRIT COLE:

Before you guys question me, Gerrit Cole has been good this year yes, but his last couple of starts have not been good, but I wouldn’t be worried Yankee fans, Gerrit Cole will turn it around and lead our pitching staff.

BULLPEN:

While the starting pitching has been good during these struggles, the bullpen hasn’t. Aaron Boone hasn’t really used Adam Ottavino as much which I don’t think is really good, Chad Green who has been probably our second best reliever behind Britton has had a bad few outings. Our bullpen is going to have to step it up if we are going to make a world series push, I do believe the Yankees will turn it around come playoff time and make a deep run in the playoffs.

GAME 1: 1-0 L

Masahiro Tanaka got the ball for the Yankees opposed by Blake Snell of the Rays. The Yankees could only muster up 2 hits all game, from DJ LeMahieu and Mike Tauchman. Blake Snell who was still on his pitch limit restriction only worked 3 innings but allowed 0 runs on 0 hits and struck out 5. On the other side for the Yankees, Masahiro Tanaka got the ball, and he too dominated, he worked 5 masterful innings allowing 0 runs on 1 hit and striking out 5, he was also on a pitch limit as he is still working up his strength. Luis Cessa then came in for the Yankees and worked 2 innings allowing 1 hit and 0 runs, then Aaron Boone turned to a well-trusted righty, Adam Ottavino in the 8th, and he did not have his best stuff as he allowed 2 walks, and the only run of the game on a sac-fly to Michael Perez which came after Ottavino threw a wild pitch to put runners at 2nd and 3rd with only 1 out. The Rays bullpen which is arguably the best in the MLB came in after Snell and worked 6 flawless innings, allowing 0 runs on 2 hits and striking out 4 over those 6 innings. The Yankees also left 17 runners on base in this game.

GAME 2: 8-4 W

Saturday saw a doubleheader being played and game 1 featured 2 of the games best taking the bump, Gerrit Cole for the Yankees, and Tyler Glasnow for the Rays. Glasnow came out and got a 1-2-3 inning, then Gerrit Cole took the bump for the Yankees and after a leadoff single to Yandy Diaz, he struck out the next three batters including a 98 MPH fastball that got Yosi Tsutsugo looking. The Yankees bats forced the young Glasnow to throw a lot of pitches, as his command wasn’t the best throughout his start, oftentimes resulting in 3-2 counts to the Yankees hitters. That plan worked for the Yankees as lasted 2.2 innings in the first 7 inning game of the doubleheader, in those 2.2 innings, Glasnow threw 71 pitches and 40 of which were strikes. Glasnow allowed 4 earned runs on 5 hits and a big blow being a 2-run home run off the bat of Mike Ford who the Yankees on the boards, later on in the inning, Gio Urshela would tack on a 2 RBI double which chased Glasnow out of the game. Meanwhile, on the Yankees side, Gerrit Cole looked to have his best start of the year, but he just couldn’t finish it off as he went 4.2 innings, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits, all 3 runs coming in the 5th inning. Cole also added on 10 strikeouts to his very dominant start.

GAME 3: 5-3 L

In the 2nd game of the doubleheader, it would be a bullpen game for both teams as the Yankees sent out young Michael King to toe the slab opposed by submarine pitcher Ryan Thompson. The Rays wasted no time in scoring as Michael King walked in the first run of the game, after that the game didn’t get much better for the Yankees until the top of the 7th when Dj LeMahieu roped a 2-RBI double to make it a 5-3 game with 2 outs for arguably the Yankees best player Aaron Judge. Judge facing Nick Anderson one of the games best closers worked a 3-2 count and was putting up a great AB, Nick Anderson tried the jam Judge on the next pitch but missed his spot and Aaron Judge drove one deep to left-center, and it was caught right at the wall by Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, the whole Yankee dugout and I’m sure Yankee fanbase thought Judge got all of that one but he didn’t. Giancarlo Stanton got hurt in this game and will likely land on the IL, so 2 big losses for the Yankees in this game.

GAME 4: 4-3 L

James Paxton took to the rubber in game four of the 4 games set looking to bounce back from his rough first 2 starts of the year, opposed by Rays ace, Charlie Morton. In the first Mike Ford DH’ing for the injured Giancarlo Stanton, gets hit on his elbow with the bases loaded which brought home the first run of the day. James Paxton looked locked in early even with his fastball velocity down from last season. Paxton was cruising through 6 innings until Mike Brosseau hit a 2-run home run to cut the Yankee lead down from 3 to 1. Brandon Lowe was the next batter and he hit a game-tying solo home run to right-center field, and as he was walking back to his dugout he was starring down the Yankees bench, after that Aaron Boone pulled Paxton and in came Holder, Holder got the final 2 outs in the 7th, then he worked the 8th and got into a bases-loaded jam, but luckily he got Hunter Renfroe to bounce into an inning-ending double play. The Yankees didn’t do anything at the top of the 9th, and going to the bottom of the 9th, Zack Britton came in and got into some trouble, then came Michael Perez who took over for Mike Zunino the last half-inning. Perez who was the hero from game 1 of the series got a sinker low and singled to the right field to walk-off the Yankees. Besides that Paxton struck out 11 in 6.1 innings allowing those 3 runs on 4 hits. The Yankee offense left 20 runners on base today which isn’t good vs the arms that the Rays threw out there after Morton’s injury, which I hope Morton is okay. The Yankees drop the 4 game set vs the Rays (3-1). The Yankees will be back in action on Tuesday, August 11th as they host the Atlanta Braves!! LGY!!

GAME 1: 5-1 W

Jordan Montgomery who hadn’t made a start since his Tommy John Surgery in 2018 got the ball for the Yankees, and he struck out the first batter he faced, then got the next two guys to ground out to end his first inning of work. Montgomery retired the first six batters he faced until he left one up to second year man Michael Chavis, and Chavis didn’t miss it, which gave the Sox a 1-0 lead. After that Montgomery settled in and went 5.2 innings, allowing just that 1 run on 5 hits, while also striking out 5. A very impressive start from Montgomery in his first appearance in a while. The bats got going after the Chavis solo homerun, as in the bottom of the 3rd Aaron Judge hit a 2-run homerun to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead, that was also Judge’s third straight game with a homerun. Later on in the game, in the 4th inning Gio Urshela hit an opposite field homerun to extend the Yankees lead to 3-1, that was Gio’s first homerun of the year after a very promising 2019 campaign it was good to see Gio get one. Onto the bottom of the 8th inning where Brett Gardner finally gets going as he hit a towering shot to right field which made the score 5-1, which was the final score to game 1.

GAME 2: 5-2 W

Onto game 2 of the series where Masahiro Tanaka who got struck with a line drive from Giancarlo Stanton during summer camp took the bump for the Yankees, and in his first inning of work Tanaka had 2 strikeouts, allowed a soft hit single, and got a fly out. Moving to the bottom half of the inning, Aaron Judge launched a homerun to left center field off of Zack Godley to notch his 4th straight game with a homerun! In the second inning Tanaka did more of the same as he did in the first inning as he stranded a runner of first, then in the bottom half of the inning the bases were loaded for Gio Urshela who hit one that hit the top of the center field wall and bounced over for a grand slam! that made it 5-0 Yankees in the 2nd inning and that is all Tanaka needed as he fired 2.2 innings of 1 earned ball notching 3 strikeouts as well, Tanaka then turned the ball over to the bullpen as Aaron Boon used, Luis Avilan, Nick Nelson who made his ML Debut and didn’t upset as he fired 3 innings, striking out 4 and allowing 0 hits, Nelson also struck out the first batter he faced on just THREE pitches. Avilan fired 1.1 inning of 0 hit 2 strikeout ball, a good outing for him as well. After Nelson, Boone turned to David Hale out of the pen who surprisingly tossed 2 innings, 2 hits, 0 run ball striking out 3. Many Yankee fans were wondering why Tommy Kahnle wasn’t used, and it was annouced after the game that he wasn’t available due to a UCL problem and that he would likely need Tommy John Surgery….Get well soon Tommy!!

GAME 3: 9-7 W

Onto game 3 where James Paxton got the ball, looking for a bounce back start after only going 1 inning in his previous start vs the Nats. It was clear early that the Yankees needed to hit tonight as Paxton set down the first two batters but allowed a double to J.D. Martinez and then a 2-run homerun to the very next batter Xander Bogaerts who was torching the Yankees all series long with his bat and his glove. The Yankees faced Austin Brice who is the first ever MLB player to be born in Hong Kong, and the Yankees failed to capitalize on an error from Jose Peraza early in the game. Onto the bottom half of the 2nd inning where Aaron Judge would crush a ball into the second deck in left field to get the Yankees on the board and it just so happened to be a 3-run homerun, as Aaron Judge tied Alex Rodriguez for hitting a homerun in 5 STRAIGHT games! After that Paxton didnt have his stuff as he allows another 3 runs to the Red Sox now a 5-3 Red Sox lead. Gio Urshela went 3/4 tonight with an RBI, also Gary got a big RBI double to tie the game at 5. Later on in the game with the Yankees down 6-5, Luke Voit hit a line drive homerun to left field to tie it up. Michael King served up a solo HR to Rafael Devers to give the Red Sox the 7-6 lead, Michael King went 3.2 innings allowing 2 runs on 2 hits, striking out 4. After King, Ottavino came in and tossed 1.1 inning allowing 1 hit and striking out 2. In the bottom of the 8th, down 1, D.J. LeMahieu hit a single to tie up the game which scored Mike Tauchman who walked and then stole second all with 2 outs. After that LeMahieu single, Aaron Judge came up and he LAUNCHED one to left center field seats over the bullpen to give the Yankees a 9-7 lead, and that’s all Zack Britton needed as he cam in and got 2 groundouts along with a strikeout to seal the game!

GAME 1: 4-1 W (6 innings)

Newly acquired Yankee Gerrit Cole got the ball for the Yankees opposed by Max Scherzer of the Nationals who finished 3rd in the NL Cy Young in 2019. The bats got going early as Giancarlo Stanton crushed a 2-run home run to center field. Gerrit Cole left a fastball right down the plate to Adam Eaton in the bottom of the 1st and he crushed one to right-center field for a solo home run. Later on in the game, in the top half of the 3rd inning, Aaron Judge doubled home Tyler Wade from first base! Nothing much happened after that as the rain came in the top of the 6th which ultimately finished the game. Gerrit Cole tossed 5 innings allowing just 1 hit, the home run to Adam Eaton. Cole also struck out 5 in his Yankee debut! A very promising game from the Yankees.

GAME 2: 9-2 L

James Paxton got the ball for the Yankees as he was originally supposed to be opposed by Stephen Strasburg, but he was ultimately scratched due to nerve issues in his hand, so Erick Fedde got the ball for the Nats. In the bottom half of the first inning, Paxton allowed a triple to former Yankee Starlin Castro but was able to escape the small jam. The second inning, however, was really when the game started to get out of hand, as Paxton failed to record an out in the 2nd inning, allowing three runs. I felt that the Yankees could come back down just three, and they got two runs back, but unfortunately, those were the only runs they scored as Victor Robles and the Nationals piled on to their lead. Jonathan Holder looked good out of the pen, going an inning and a third with 2 hits allowed and 1 strikeout. Michael King I thought looked good out of the pen in place of Paxton for about an inning or so, his final line-3.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HR, 10.80 ERA.

GAME 3: 3-2 W

Youngster Jonathan Loaisiga took the hill for the Yankees in the third and final game of the series. Patrick Corbin who the Yankees were rumored to have interest in during the 2018-19 MLB Off-season got the ball for Washington Nationals. I thought Loaisiga looked great in his first game of the year. His pitch count was a little high for my liking, but he went 3 innings, allowed just 1 run on 2 hits, and struck out 3. After David Hale’s inning of work, the Yankees’ big boys in the bullpen came in (Adam Ottavino, Chad Green, Tommy Kahnle, and Zach Britton), and man, they were they great! They combined to go 5 innings, allowing ZERO runs on just 3 hits, and they struck out 5 including Kahnle striking out the side. On the other side of the matchup, Patrick Corbin looked like an early Cy Young favorite as he was dominating through 6.1 innings until Gleyber Torres got the Yankees on the board with his first home run of the early season (2-1 Nats). Corbin went 6.1 innings, allowing just 1 run the being the home run on 2 hits, and he struck out 8, but the Nationals bullpen came in and they did what they were accustomed to last year and that is blowing the game, Luke Voit homered off of Will Harris who replaced Corbin to tie up the game at 2. Then in the 8th inning Gleyber Torres delivered in the clutch and got an RBI single off of Sean Doolittle to score Pinch Runner at the time, Aaron Hicks. That helped the Yankees win their first series of the year, Britton was close to blowing the save but luckily Emilio Bonifacio slid off the third-base bag as Gio Urshela kept the tag on him. All in all, this was a good series win for the Yankees!