Thurs AM BRB (4-8-21)
This Day in Music (4-8-1977)
English punk band The Clash releases their debut self-titled album. The group would go on to become one of the most iconic bands of their era.
Photo Credit: Associated Press via NJ.com
It’s still early yet, but with each passing day it becomes more and more apparent that the Yankees have a shortstop problem. While fans spent most of the afternoon fretting over the status of a “sore,” Aaron Judge, the Yankees biggest problem reared its ugly head at the worst possible time. With two outs and a runner on third in the top of the 10th, the Orioles Anthony Santander (San-Tan-Der, people) hit a routine ground ball to Yankees SS Gleyber Torres, and we all know how routine GB’s to Gleyber tend to go. Throw in the dirt, non-natural 1B Jay Bruce makes a poor effort to scoop the ball and the Orioles have the lead. Though backup catcher Kyle Higashioka was able to keep the game alive in the bottom half of the frame with an RBI single, the Orioles had already earned their teflon life. Pinch hitter Chase Sisco grabbed an RBI single of his own in an 11th inning that shouldn’t have happened, and the Yanks couldn’t answer. With this deflating loss, the Yankees are now faced with a difficult decision. There’s no doubt Gleyber Torres is a special talent at the plate, and by all right and reason should have the athleticism to feature prominently in any infield in baseball. Yet, it’s becoming painfully clear with every costly error at a critical juncture that the young star is in over his head at short. Compounding this issue is the fact that the Yankees have no ready-made replacement at the position. For now this is an issue Torres must figure out how to correct, but, the longer the problem persists, the less likely it seems that he’ll be a long term answer at shortstop.
On top of Gleyber’s defense, the Yankees are going to need to re-learn the art of situational hitting. Too often will the team lead off an inning with a hit or two before watching the next three batters all volley between window shopping and Super Mario Baseball power swings. The complete disregard for situational, strategy-based baseball has become absolutely mind-numbing. The team got a brief, but quality outing from debuting-Yankee Jameson Taillon and once again received terrific performances from every bullpen selection Aaron Boone made. At a certain point, the players in the lineup need to take it upon themselves to do what they can to steal a game. 13 hits and only three runs is inexcusable no matter how you slice it, and this isn’t an issue to blame on the batting order. Yes, analytics play a role in micromanaging the approach (or lack thereof) players take at the plate in today’s game. Yet, I find it hard to believe that the likes of Giancarlo Stanton, Clint Frazier and Aaron Hicks walk up to the plate thinking about crap like launch angle. They certainly don't appear to stop and take stock of the situation at hand, noting when either a single or well-placed ground ball can be just as effective as a dinger. There’s something palpably wrong with the game today when I, admittedly as the fan that I am, felt most confident in Kyle Higashioka being up with the game on the line. “Thank God,” I thought, “the one player in this lineup who won’t try to do too much in this situation.” Sure as shit, Higgy Stardust got the job done. It seems preposterous to say, but if the Yankees want to win games like Wednesday’s, they need to study the approach of their backup catcher.
To close the Yankees rant edition of the BRB, let’s have a nice, relaxed chat about Aaron Judge. Should be easy, right? Prior to Wednesday’s game it was announced that Judge, after electrifying The Bronx on Tuesday with a 3 for 4 night, was not in the lineup due to what manager Aaron Boone called “left side soreness.” Reports stated that the Yankees did not see it necessary to evaluate Judge at this current time, and we know how that story usually ends. It’s hard to blame fans for allowing cynicism to get the better of them in this instance, this is only the fourth consecutive season where the Yankees have had to deal with the on-again, off-again nature of their star slugger’s health. The situation must be incalculably frustrating for Judge himself, who by all accounts adopted new training regiments and worked closely with the Yankees new training guru Eric Cressey to insure he [Judge] would be at top physical-condition for the season. We also have to consider the fact that we may all just be jaded into making a mountain out of a molehill in this instance. It’s possible the Yankees just wanted to give Judge an extra day before battling his mortal enemy, the Tropicana Field turf. It’s possible that the palpable relief of seeing Judge in the lineup on Friday will come. For Yankees fans, it’s equally possible that this is yet another game of chicken where the organization strings the media along with reports of “he’s fine,” until he most certainly is not.