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The Yankees still have some things to accomplish even after clinching a postseason spot

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(Presswire)

Saturday night, the Yankees clinched a spot in the 2018 postseason with a thrilling walk-off win against Orioles. Well, maybe thrilling isn’t the best way to put it. The game was pretty dull up until Aaron Hicks yanked his walk-off double into the right field corner in the 11th inning. That was fun. The rest of the game? Meh.

Anyway, the Yankees are indeed going back to the postseason. They’re locked into the Wild Card Game because the Red Sox have already clinched the AL East title, so that’s a bummer, but at least the Yankees are in. Get into the postseason and you can win the World Series. The Yankees will be one of the final ten teams standing. That’s pretty cool.

Now, just because the Yankees are locked into the Wild Card Game, it doesn’t mean they can coast during this final week of the regular season. Well, they could, but I wouldn’t advise it. There are still some things to accomplish and some boxes to check this week. Here are five.

Clinch homefield advantage

Fun fact: The home team is 5-7 in the Wild Card Game all-time. That said, I can’t imagine any fan wants their team to play on the road in the Wild Card Game. Teams are built for their home ballparks and few teams are built as well for their home ballpark as the Yankees. The home/record records:

Yankees at home: 53-28 (+101 run differential)
Yankees on the road: 43-32 (+64 run differential)

Athletics at home: 50-31 (+59 run differential)
Athletics on the road: 45-31 (+77 run differential)

The Yankees are a good team on the road and a great team at home. And the 2018 Athletics are not the 2017 Twins. The Twins sold at the trade deadline last year and still made the postseason because the rest of the American League stunk. They made the postseason by default. This year’s Athletics are an excellent team and no pushover. The Yankees will need as much help as they can get in that Wild Card Game, and that includes the short porch and the Yankee Stadium crowd. The magic number for homefield advantage is four.

(Also, clinching homefield advantage means avoiding a brutal travel schedule. If the Wild Card Game is in Oakland, the Yankees have have to travel from Boston to Oakland after the end of the regular season, then potentially go right back to Boston if they advance to the ALDS. Making a round trip cross country to play one game? No. Just no.)

Pick a Wild Card Game starter

The Yankees are in a good spot when it comes to picking a starting pitcher for next Wednesday’s Wild Card Game. They have three good candidates in J.A. Happ, Luis Severino, and Masahiro Tanaka. I would much rather have one great candidate like first half Severino than three good candidates, but I can’t complain. I’ll feel pretty good — as good as you can feel in that situation, anyway — no matter who gets the ball.

“We will pick whoever is best qualified at that time, regardless of the following series,” said Brian Cashman to Pete Caldera over the weekend when asked about the Wild Card Game starter. “It’s all hands on deck for that one game, to find a way to survive it … Whatever is in our best interest, we’ll try to do.”

Two weeks ago RAB readers said Tanaka should start the Wild Card Game. Happ would be a fine choice as well. Severino? If he continues to pitch like he did last time out, it would be awfully tough for the Yankees to give the ball to someone else. Whoever it ends up being, the Yankees have to make a decision reasonably soon, and get that pitcher lined up on however many days rest (normal rest? an extra day?) this week.

Get Judge at-bats and Chapman innings

In seven games back in the starting lineup, Judge is 4-for-22 (.182) with six walks (.357 OBP) with seven strikeouts. The plate discipline is still there — the loss makes it easy to forget, but Judge’s ten-pitch battle against Eduardo Rodriguez that turned an 0-2 count into a walk before Giancarlo Stanton’s grand slam Thursday was a masterful at-bat — but the timing is not. He looks like a hitter who missed closed to two months.

Judge has put 15 balls in play since returning as a hitter and he has more fly balls and line drives (eight) than grounders and pop-ups (seven), so that’s good, but he’s not hitting the ball with much authority. He roped a 112.1 mph line drive in his first at-bat back. Since then he has only five 90+ mph batted balls, and his average exit velocity is 85.9 mph. His spray chart with exit velocities:

Yeah, not great. Judge has swung through some hittable fastballs since returning, which isn’t the most surprising thing in the world. He had a long layoff and jumping straight from batting practice and simulated games to live MLB pitching ain’t easy. That’s why Judge needs as many at-bats as possible the rest of the season. There’s a delicate balance here because the Yankees don’t want to overload the wrist, but yeah, Judge needs at-bats.

As for Chapman, he’s made three appearances since returning, two good and one not-so-good. His command was nonexistent — similar to Judge, Chapman not having good command after a month on the shelf isn’t surprising — in his first game back, and his velocity was down the last two times out. In fact, his 96.3 mph average fastball velocity Saturday was his slowest average fastball since June 2012.

“I felt good. The speed wasn’t where it usually is, but my command was much better and that’s really important,” said Chapman to Dan Martin over the weekend. “(The velocity being down) doesn’t worry me at all. I know the speed is there. It’s just a matter of getting out there and my getting rhythm back. Maybe after two more outings I’ll be back to being the pitcher I’ve been.”

Seeing Chapman sit mid-90s rather than upper-90s/low-100s can be alarming, though in this case, I’m not worried. He missed a month and is still rebuilding arm strength. Two bullpen sessions and one simulated game wasn’t going to get him back into midseason form. The Yankees have six games remaining and, since Chapman pitched yesterday, it seems he has three appearances remaining at most. He and Judge need reps this last week to get back to where the Yankees need they them to be going into October.

Rest whoever’s hurting

Well, the Yankees were in good shape health-wise up until two days ago. Now Didi Gregorius has torn cartilage in his wrist and Aaron Hicks has a tight hamstring. Both are day-to-day at this point. Gregorius will be reevaluated tomorrow and Hicks is going for an MRI today. If all goes well, both could return to the lineup later this week. I sure hope that happens. Aside from Didi and Hicks, the Yanks are healthy.

Does that mean everyone on the roster is 100%? Oh hell no. No one is 100% in September. Everyone’s nursing something. Stanton’s still dealing with his tight hamstring. Brett Gardner’s been icing his right knee after games on-and-off for a few weeks now. Dellin Betances has that cut on his finger that keeps opening up. He says it doesn’t affect his pitching, but he seems to be bleeding every time he’s on the mound, and that can’t be fun.

Point is, some players are nursing injuries, and if the Yankees can get them some extra rest and extra treatment in hopes of getting them healthy for the postseason, they should do it. There’s a balance that has to be struck, for sure. The Yankees can’t go into hangover mode just yet because they need to secure homefield advantage, but if there’s an opportunity to deal with those aches and pains, they should do it.

Prepare regulars for postseason roles

Inevitably, some players will see their roles changed in October. Lance Lynn is probably going to move to the bullpen, for example. He pitched out of the bullpen in the postseason plenty with the Cardinals, so it’s a role he’s familiar with, but it still would be good to give him a tune-up game in relief before the season ends, you know? You don’t want him doing it for the first time in a potential elimination game.

Gardner had been relegated to bench duty before Hicks got hurt last night, and if Hicks returns later this week, it stands to reason Gardner will be the designated pinch-runner in the postseason. Do you know how long it’s been since Gardner pinch-ran? Last June. He’s pinch-run five times total since 2012. It’s not a role he’s familiar with and it’s not easy to come off the bench cold like that. A few tune-up pinch-running appearances this week would be worthwhile, assuming Hicks returns.

(Mike Stobe/Getty)

Also, with Gardner in center/on the bench, Andrew McCutchen is now the everyday left fielder, and he has 59 career big league innings in left field. All 59 have come within the last two weeks. He’s still learning the position — McCutchen’s looked fine out there overall but has taken some interesting routes at times, which is to be expected — and the more time the Yankees give him out there, the more comfortable he’ll be.

There are some other minor considerations here as well. Will Greg Bird make the postseason roster, even as a bench bat? If yes, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to give him some at-bats this final week. Are Chad Green and David Robertson (and Zach Britton?) going to be multi-inning options in the postseason? Making sure they’re sufficiently stretched out seems worthwhile. Little things like this will help get the Yankees ready for October.

* * *

A case can be made the Yankees should give Justus Sheffield a chance to show he belongs on the postseason roster this week, though, realistically, I don’t think there’s enough time for that to happen. Best case scenario this week is three appearances, right? How well would Sheffield have to pitch in those three appearances to get the nod on the postseason roster? There are too many guys ahead of him on the depth chart, I think, but I do hope to see Sheffield pitch a bunch this week.

The Yankees have punched their ticket to the postseason, so they know they’re in. Now they have to clinch homefield advantage and make sure the Wild Card Game is in New York. They also have to get their players ready for the postseason, which means picking a Wild Card Game starter, getting Judge and Chapman ready, and preparing players for their October roles. The Yankees know they’re going to the postseason. Their work during the regular season isn’t done yet though.

Yankeemetrics: Two not enough, Sox celebrate (Sept. 18-20)

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(USA Today)

Neil Walker, the Clutch Home Run Corker
For at least one day, the Yankees staved off an embarrassing AL East championship watch party in the Bronx as they rallied for a 3-2 victory in Tuesday’s series opener. The Yankees won despite just three hits, the second time this season they’ve pulled off that feat at Yankee Stadium (the other game was September 1 vs Detroit). The last time they won multiple home games with no more than three hits was 1998.

Before we get to the late-game dramatics, let’s recognize the gutty performance of J.A. Happ, who pitched out of several jams while holding the Red Sox to one unearned across six innings. Happ has a 0.54 ERA in three starts against the Red Sox this season; that’s the lowest ERA by any AL pitcher against any opponent this season (min. 3 starts and 10 IP).

Down 1-0 in the seventh with two men on base, Neil Walker snatched the hero’s cape as he drilled a 3-2 pitch from Ryan Braiser into the second deck in right field, flipping the score for a 3-1 advantage. It was his third go-ahead homer in the seventh inning or later, the most by any Yankee this season. It was the team’s 18th go-ahead home run in the seventh inning or later, the second-most in a season in franchise history, trailing only the 2009 club (21).

That blast was also Walker’s 10th of the season as he became the 11th Yankee to reach double digits in 2018. That ties the major-league record, done by four other teams: 2017 Astros, 2016 Twins, 2015 Astros and 2004 Tigers.

(USA Today)

Luuuuuke and the Return of Severino
The Yankees kept Boston’s celebratory champagne corked for a second night in a row, routing their rival 10-1 on Tuesday. Also, significant is the fact that it kept the Red Sox at 103 wins with 10 games remaining, so that they won’t be able to match the 1998 Yankees 114-win season.

The Bombers beat up on their favorite punching bag, David Price, clobbering three home runs off him while scoring six runs (four earned) in five-plus innings. In four starts against the Yankees this season, Price has a 10.34 ERA over 15 2/3 innings. That would be the highest ERA by a Red Sox pitcher against the Yankees in a single season (min. 4 starts). Oh, and did I mention that Price really really doesn’t like pitching in the Bronx …

Luis Severino took another step forward in his slow climb back to #AceSevy as he overcame a lack of fastball command to mostly shut down the Red Sox lineup, allowing one run across seven strong innings. In contrast to Price, Sevy really really likes pitching against the Red Sox in the Bronx recently:

Miguel Andujar jump-started the dinger parade early with a homer in the second inning to put the Yankees up 1-0. It came on a 1-2 pitch from Price, his 12th homer when behind in the count, which leads all major-league players this season. The solo blast was also his 25th of the season, giving the Yankees a MLB-best four players with at least 25 homers this season.

Even more impressive is Andujar’s nearly unprecedented combo of two-baggers and longballs this season.

  • He is one of five AL rookies, aged 23 or younger, to hit at least 25 homers and 40 doubles. The other four: Nomar Garciaparra (1997), Ted Williams (1939), Joe DiMaggio (1936) and Hal Trosky (1934).
  • And he is the only rookie third baseman (at least 50% of games played at the position) in MLB history to reach those totals in a season.


Luke Voit stole the headlines, though, with a monster 4-for-4, 3-RBI night that included two homers off Price. In 70 games with the Cardinals, Voit never hit more than one homer in a game and never had more than two hits in any game. In 29 games with the Yankees, he already has two multi-homer performances and three games with at least three hits. And to celebrate the huge performance by the chest-hair-pimping first basemen, we’ll give him our Obscure Yankeemetric of the Series. Here is the list of Yankees with at least four hits, four runs scored and three RBI in a game against the Red Sox

  • Luke Voit (Sept. 19, 2018)
  • Graig Nettles (Sept. 29, 1976)
  • Hank Bauer (May 10, 1952)
  • Lou Gehrig (Sept. 23, 1933)
  • Babe Ruth (Sept. 28, 1923)

All good things come to an end
It finally happened. Needing a sweep to prevent a cruel division-clinching party by their blood rival at The Stadium, the Yankees snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as they allowed the Red Sox to rally late for a 11-6 victory. This is the Red Sox 10th AL East title in the Divisional Era (since 1969) and the first time they’ve clinched it with a win against the Yankees.

(Newsday)

Masahiro Tanaka, coming off back-to-back scoreless outings, was hit hard by the Red Sox lineup early and often, giving up four runs in the first three innings and got the hook with no outs in the fifth. This continued a string of poor performances against the Red Sox this season: in four starts, he has a 7.58 ERA with 29 hits and six home runs allowed over 19 innings pitched.

With one swing of the bat in the second inning, Luke Voit set two home run records when he bashed a 93-mph pitch deep over the center-field wall. It was his 10th homer in pinstripes and he became the 12th Yankee this season with double-digit dingers, the most such players for any team in MLB history. The two-run blast was also the Bombers’ 246th home run in 2018, setting a new single-season franchise record.

Giancarlo Stanton broke out of his slump with a grand slam in the fourth inning that turned a 4-2 deficit into a 6-4 lead. Yes, the lead would disappear quickly, but he still deserves a shout-out, so here’s a #FunFact stat to chew on:

As mentioned above, that advantage lasted only a couple innings as Chad Green surrendered a game-tying homer to Jackie Bradley Jr leading off the seventh. Green has allowed nine homers in 71 2/3 innings this season; entering 2018, he had given up four homers in 76 1/3 career innings as a reliever.

Dellin Betances tried to clean up Green’s mess in the seventh, but after loading the bases, he coughed up a tie-breaking sac fly to Xander Bogaerts. It was the first sac fly allowed by Betances in more than two years (August 30, 2016 vs Royals).

With Aaron Judge back, Brett Gardner should be the odd man out of the outfield picture

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(Adam Glanzman/Getty)

Somewhat surprisingly, Aaron Judge made his return to the Yankees lineup last night. He’d been taking batting practice and hitting in simulated games, so it was clear his return was imminent, but I’m not sure anyone expected it yesterday. It seemed like Judge would return against one of the lefties tonight or tomorrow, if anything. I’m glad he’s back. Now Judge can begin getting back up to speed at the plate.

“Another one of those we’ll put under good problems to have,” said Aaron Boone to Chris Iseman over the weekend when asked how he’ll align his outfield once Judge returns as a full player. “There were times this year we wondered who were going to play on certain days. So looking forward to those guys being all in the mix.”

Now that Judge is a full player again, the Yankees have five players for four lineup spots (three outfield plus DH): Judge, Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks, Andrew McCutchen, and Giancarlo Stanton. The Yankees will go from playing Shane Robinson and Neil Walker in right field to playing two MVPs (McCutchen and Stanton) and an MVP runner-up (Judge) in the outfield. Pretty cool.

And that is what should happen, really. Boone played it cool and indicated everyone will remain in the outfield/DH mix going forward but, clearly, Gardner should be the odd man out. Love the guy, he’s a heart and soul Yankee, but he is hitting .207/.286/.303 (62 wRC+) since the All-Star break, and, at age 35, it might not be a slump. It could be permanent age-related decline or just fatigue that will require an offseason’s worth of rest. I mean:

Judge has to play as much as possible going forward. There are only 12 games remaining in the season and he’s been out two months now with the wrist fracture. He needs as many at-bats as possible to get back up to speed at the plate. That’s the easy part here. When doling out outfield/DH playing time, Judge has to be the priority. There are a few other things that have to be considered here as well.

1. How is Stanton’s hamstring? We haven’t heard much about it lately. Stanton has been the designated hitter in 13 of the last 16 games — he played left field three times in a four-game span last week — and, prior to last night, McCutchen had started every game in right field since the trade. I feel like McCutchen would’ve had a DH day at some point had Stanton’s hamstring been completely okay. Seems like he’s still somewhat limited in his ability to play the field.

2. Who plays left when Gardner sits? Last night it was McCutchen, who went into the game with five innings worth of big league experience in left field, all within the last few days. He admitted the other day he is not comfortable out there, which isn’t surprising. Stanton didn’t seem to comfortable in left when he first made the move in Spring Training. Eventually he figured it out. McCutchen doesn’t have “eventually.” He has 12 games.

Should Judge play left field? Eh, he has a lot on his plate already. Asking him to adjust to a new position on the fly while working to regain his timing at the plate feels like an unnecessary complication to me. Let him focus on hitting. McCutchen in center and Hicks in left is an option, though McCutchen is so bad in center (-65 DRS from 2014-17!) that any gains from familiarity will quickly be given back. As long as Stanton’s hamstring is an issue, I guess McCutchen is in for a crash course in left field. (Gardner can replace him for defense late in games.)

(Mike Stobe/Getty)

3. The Yankees haven’t clinched anything! This is kind of a big deal. The Yankees are limping to the finish right now and they haven’t clinched anything. Not a postseason spot and certainly not homefield advantage in the Wild Card Game. Until that happens, they should play their best players, and Gardner is not one of their best players at the moment. Hicks, Judge, McCutchen, and Stanton are best able to help the Yankees get things clinched.

Gardner’s slide since the All-Star break makes this a relatively easy call for Boone. It’s not the move he or the Yankees want to make, they’d rather have a productive Gardner raising hell atop the lineup and pushing everyone else for playing time, but that is not the case. We’re past the “give him some time to see if he figures things out” point of the season. Judge is back and he needs to play, and the other three outfielders give the Yankees the best chance to win.

“At this point in the season the last thing I want to do is make it about me. It’s about the team, and we are trying to win games and going into the postseason trying to stay alive,” said Gardner to George King. “Whatever role they see me in, I will be ready.”

The Yanks are fighting for the top wildcard spot because their best players haven’t been at their best for weeks

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(Mike Stobe/Getty)

Eleven losses in the last 19 games and recent series losses to the White Sox, Twins, and Blue Jays. The White Sox and Blue Jays series were at home too. The Yankees are 29-25 since the All-Star break and during that time they’ve a) bombed out of the AL East race, and b) seen their lead on the top wildcard spot trimmed from eight games to 1.5 games. It’s three games in the loss column when you include the tiebreaker, if that makes you feel better.

This weekend’s series loss the Blue Jays was not a bummer out-of-nowhere series loss like that Texas series back in May. It was more of the same from a generally underperforming Yankees squad that has become more and more lifeless as the season has progressed, to point where they are now thoroughly unexciting even while threatening the single-season home run record. How do you manage that? The 2018 Yankees have, somehow.

“You don’t want to go through it, especially when it’s late like this, but we’ve still got plenty of baseball left to get hot. It’s all about what team is hot,” said Aaron Judge, forever the optimist, to Bryan Hoch following yesterday’s game. “If we can get hot here in the last two weeks and take that into the playoffs, we’re going to be in a good position.”

The Yankees have used up pretty much the entire cushion they built in the first half, and now they’re in a mad dash to the finish to clinch homefield advantage in the Wild Card Game. They have 13 games remaining, ten of which will be played against the Rays (four games) and Red Sox (six games). The Athletics, meanwhile, have 12 games remaining. They’ll play nine of them against the Twins (three games) and Angels (six games). Yikes.

The Yankees are where they are right now because, quite simply, their best players have not had the seasons expected of them. Judge gets a pass here because he was so good before the fluke wrist injury that has sidelined him two months now. Everyone else though? This isn’t what anyone expected:

  • Gary Sanchez: Hitting .188/.284/.408 (87 wRC+) in 334 plate appearances overall and is 9-for-47 (.191) since returning from the disabled list (the second time).
  • Luis Severino: A 3.46 ERA (2.99 FIP) in 179.1 innings isn’t bad by any means, but he has been one of the worst pitchers in baseball (6.35 ERA) since the All-Star break.
  • Giancarlo Stanton: Not counting his partial rookie year, he’s on pace for his third worst AVG (.265), second worst OBP (.341), third worst SLG (.501), and second worst wRC+ (125 wRC+).

Dellin Betances, the team’s best reliever, has been generally awesome this season but has had some hiccups lately, including yesterday. Didi Gregorius has been great overall despite that ugly May and the recent heel injury. Masahiro Tanaka has been very good overall and ace-like for more than two months now. The first half wasn’t pretty though. Sonny Gray? Oy vey. Don’t even get me started on him.

On one hand, the fact the Yankees are 91-58 despite Sanchez being terrible, Severino’s second half, Stanton falling far short of expectations, and all that other stuff tells you how strong the rest of the roster has been. Where would the Yankees be without Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres? Good gravy. I don’t even want to think about it. Aaron Hicks, David Robertson, Jonathan Holder, J.A. Happ … they’ve all helped pick up the slack.

On the other hand, the American League is so top heavy and competitive — the four best records in baseball belong to AL teams, and the Indians are not one of those four despite already clinching the AL Central title — that the Yankees have no shot at doing anything meaningful in the postseason without getting more from their stars. They might not host the Wild Card Game without getting more from those guys.

Whose fault is it the Yankees’ top players are underperforming? The blame should always start with the players. In Severino’s case, it’s possible he’s feeling the effects of last year’s career-high workload. Wouldn’t surprise me one bit. Stanton is presumably dealing with a ton of pressure in his first season with the team, which would be a lame excuse, but an excuse nonetheless. Gary? He doesn’t have an excuse. Unless he’s been hiding an injury and playing hurt all year, there’s no good reason for him to have a season like this.

Of course, there were times Sanchez and Severino and Stanton produced at a truly elite rate earlier this year. Severino was brilliant in the first half. Stanton hit .288/.360/.549 (142 wRC+) from May 1st through August 31st and did much of that with one good hamstring. Sanchez hit .292/.396/.681 (185 wRC+) during a 31-game span from mid-April through mid-May. That success was a long time ago though. Same for Severino.

Look around at the other top AL contenders and they have key players having the best seasons of their career. Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez for the Red Sox. Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez with the Indians. Alex Bregman with the Astros. Matt Chapman with the Athletics. Not necessarily career years, those guys might get even better going forward — that is especially true for Lindor, Bregman, and Chapman — but this is their best season to date.

The Yankees don’t have a single player like that. Maybe Gregorius and Hicks? I mean, yeah, definitely Gregorius and Hicks, but they’ve been more comfortably above-average than star-caliber. Imagine how good the Yankees would be if Sanchez and Stanton were performing up to their career norms, and Didi and Hicks were doing what they’re doing? Imagine how much easier it would be to deal with Severino’s struggles if Gray wasn’t a mess?

What’s done is done. Can’t go back and change it. The only thing the Yankees can do it be better going forward, and the first step in being a better team is getting the best players to actually be the best players. We all love Andujar and Gleyber. Things were much better when they were like the fourth and fifth best players on the team though, not the best and second best. Those two have done a lot of heavy lifting lately. The Yankees’ best players haven’t played up to snuff for weeks now, in some cases months, and the result is a small margin for error in the standings.

“We’ve got to play better, clearly. We’re not playing our best right now, but the history of this game is littered with stories of teams that went into the playoffs in different scenarios — limping, playing great — the bottom line is you’ve got to be playing right when it counts,” said Aaron Boone to Coley Harvey following yesterday’s game. “Don’t mistake that for, ‘This is okay.’ Still believe at my core that we have everyone in that room to do something special. We’re getting pushed around a little bit right now because it’s difficult and we’re not quite at our best. This thing ain’t even close to done.”

Yankeemetrics: Sweepless in Seattle (Sept. 7-9)

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(AP)

Ace Tanaka
The Yankees made sure that there would be no hangover from their miserable blowout loss in the series finale at Oakland, as they rebounded to beat the Mariners on Friday night, 4-0.

The win improved the Yankees to 53-29 all-time at Safeco Field, the best record at the ballpark by any team. They completely dominated the Mariners, who had just four baserunners (three hits, one walk) thanks to another gem from Masahiro Tanaka. It was the first time the Yankees blanked the Mariners while giving up no more than three hits since May 14, 1996 … Dwight Gooden’s memorable no-hitter in the Bronx.

Tanaka was stellar, tossing eight scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts and no walks. Only one runner reached third base, and he retired 13 batters in row between a first-inning two-out single by Robinson Cano and a sixth-inning leadoff double by Mike Zunino. Tanaka is the first pitcher in franchise history with a 10-strikeout, no-walk scoreless outing against the Mariners. It was his fifth career double-digit, zero-walk game; the only Yankee with more is Mike Mussina (7).

The brilliant performance also extended his run of dominant ace-like performances since the All-Star break. His 2.30 ERA in the second half of the season is the third-best among AL pitchers (min. 30 IP), behind only Blake Snell (1.42) and David Price (1.78).

Gleyber Torres gave Tanaka some early run support with his 23rd home run of the season in the second inning, a two-run bomb that also was his 100th career hit. Torres (21 years, 268 days old) is the youngest Yankee to reach the century-hit milestone since a 20-year-old Mickey Mantle in 1952. He also matched Mantle on this home run leaderboard of franchise legends:

Longballs FTW
The Bombers used their two trademark offensive weapon home runs and almost-homers (sac flies) to beat the Mariners on Saturday night, 4-2. They lead the majors in both categories (232 homers, 51 sac flies) — and by large margins. Entering Sunday, their 34-homer lead was nearly the same as the difference between the second-place teams (Dodgers and A’s, 198) and the 15th place team (Phillies, 165). And their six-sac fly lead was the same as the difference between the second-place Pirates (45) and the eighth-place Diamondbacks (39).

(AP)

Andrew McCutchen got the deep-ball party started when he cranked a leadoff homer in the top of the first. McCutchen is the third different Yankee to hit a leadoff blast this season (Gardner has three and Hicks has one). The last time they had a trio of players each with at least one leadoff homer was 1995, when four guys — Tony Fernandez, Bernie Williams, Luis Polonia, Wade Boggs — did it.

After Seattle tied it up in the third, Giancarlo Stanton put them ahead again in the fifth with a sacrifice fly to right, his 10th with the team. He is one of four Yankees to hit double-digit sac flies and 30 homers in a season:

The Mariners quickly knotted it up again in the bottom of the fifth, but Austin Romine finally gave the Yankees the lead for good with a solo blast in the seventh. It was his first career go-ahead homer in the seventh inning or later.

(USA Today)

Dellin Betances survived a shaky ninth inning for his third save of the season. He loaded the bases with one out and then struck out Denard Span and Kyle Seager swinging to seal the win. Opponents are 5-for-50 (.100) with the bases loaded against Betances in his career, and he’s whiffed nearly half (28) of them (58). That .100 batting average allowed is the lowest among all active MLB pitchers (min. 50 batters faced).

(AP)

WTF loss to the Mariners
All streaks must come to an end, right? The Bombers domination of the Mariners was snapped in abrupt fashion on Sunday, losing 3-2 on a fantastic game-ending catch by Mitch Haniger with the Yankees potential game-tying run on base. Prior to that loss, they had won seven in a row against the Mariners, and were going for the season series sweep. It would have been the first time ever that the Yankees swept a season series against an AL West team since divisional play began in 1969.

The big story of the game was another RISP-fail showing by the offense, which went 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position. That included a no-out, bases-loaded situation in the fourth inning that resulted in a single run scored when Andrew McCutchen took ball four on a full-count. The Bronx Walkers’ 14 bases-loaded walks are tied for the fourth-most in MLB this season, while their batting average and slugging percentage both rank 23rd.

(USA Today)

CC Sabathia battled through a rough first two innings but was able to limit the damage (two runs) and retired 11 of the final 13 batters he faced. Sabathia’s 2.24 ERA in 15 career starts at Safeco Field is the third-lowest at the ballpark among all pitchers with at least 10 starts there, behind Bartolo Colon (1.98) and Dan Haren (2.00).

Giancarlo Stanton — along with making the final out of the game — ended the no-hitter version of this game early with a first-inning double, his 30th of the season. Round number alert: he is the first Yankee with at least 30 homers and 30 doubles since Robinson Cano in 2012, the first Yankee right-handed batter to do it since Alex Rodriguez in 2008, and the first Yankee DH/outfielder to achieve both marks in a season since Hideki Matsui in 2004.

Saturday Links: Bumgarner, Spring Training, Best Tools, CC

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MadBum. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty)

The Yankees and Mariners continue their three-game weekend series later today. Much later today. It’s a 9:10pm ET start. Literally the latest game on the schedule today. So it goes. Here are some links and notes to check out in the meantime.

Yankees were “in the hunt” for Bumgarner

According to Nick Cafardo, the Yankees were “in the hunt” for Madson Bumgarner prior to the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline, but the asking price was too high. My guess is that asking price included Gleyber Torres plus more, possibly a lot more. Bumgarner strikes me as one of the least likely to be traded players in baseball. I think it’s far more likely he signs an extension than gets traded. Never hurts to make the call though. Wouldn’t surprise me if the Yankees check in again this winter.

Bumgarner, who turned 29 last month, has a 3.07 ERA (4.08 FIP) in 105.2 innings since returning from a fluke finger injury (a comebacker broke his pinky in Spring Training). As good as Bumgarner is now and has been throughout his career, he’s starting to show some of decline. Strikeouts are down, walks and homers are up. Six straight 200+ inning seasons from age 21-26, plus all those deep postseason runs, might be catching up to him. Felix Hernandez threw a ton of innings early in his career and he started to lose it age 29. Hmmm.

2019 Spring Training schedule released

Never too early to look ahead to next season, right? Right. A few days ago MLB released the 2019 Spring Training schedule. The Yankees open Grapefruit League play against the Red Sox on Saturday, February 23rd, next year. The spring home opener will be Monday, February 25th, against the Blue Jays. The Yankees close their 32-game spring schedule with an exhibition game at Nationals Park on Monday, March 25th. Opening Day is Thursday, March 28th. Here is the team’s spring schedule.

The Yankees have not yet announced their 2019 reporting dates. The last two years the Yankees had pitchers and catchers report ten days before the Grapefruit League opener and position players six days before the opener. Based on that, pitchers and catchers will report Wednesday, February 13th, with position players reporting Sunday, February 17th. Those are just my estimates. Official reporting dates usually aren’t announced until mid-to-late November sometime, after the awards rush.

Law’s best MLB tools

I missed this last week, but Keith Law (subs. req’d) released his rankings of the top tools at the Major League level. Several Yankees rank among the various categories. A recap:

  • Chad Green: Fifth best fastball (behind Max Scherzer, Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander, Jacob deGrom)
  • Aaron Hicks: Third best throwing arm (behind Andrelton Simmons and Brett Phillips)
  • Aaron Judge: Second best power (behind Joey Gallo)
  • David Roberson: Third best curveball (behind Corey Kluber and Aaron Nola)
  • Giancarlo Stanton: Third best power (behind Gallo and Judge)

No real surprises here nor any notable omissions. Maybe Luis Severino’s fastball? He does have the best average velocity among starters again. Well, whatever. Last year I made a kinda sorta bold prediction and said Green would top Law’s best fastball rankings this year. Came close. He’s top five.

Sabathia nominated for Clemente Award

Earlier this week MLB announced each team’s nominee for the 2018 Roberto Clemente Award, which is given annually to the player who “best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.” CC Sabathia is the Yankees’ nominee this year. Here are the 30 nominees. Three Yankees have won the award: Derek Jeter (2009), Don Baylor (1985), and Ron Guidry (1984). Current Yankee Andrew McCutchen won it while with the Pirates in 2015.

Amazingly, MLB turned a prestigious award intended to honor community involvement into a popularity contest. The Roberto Clemente Award winner will be selected via fan vote. Here’s the ballot. The winner will be announced during the World Series. Among other things, Sabathia and his wife run the PitCCh In Foundation, which promotes and supports educational and athletic activities for inner city youth. During Thursday’s off-day Sabathia gave away roughly 1,700 backpacks with school supplies to kids in the Bay Area, near where he grew up. Pretty cool. Congrats to the big man. Just getting nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award is an honor.

Yankeemetrics: Gleyber Day Weekend (Aug. 31-Sept. 2)

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(Newsday)

Bad Dellin
Even in a season in which they’re on pace for their best record in a decade, the Yankees continue to find new ways to lose games. On Thursday night they suffered one of the most shocking upsets of the season as they coughed up a two-run cushion in the top of the ninth inning and lost 8-7 to the Tigers.

It was the first time they lost a home game they led by multiple runs at the start of the ninth since August 27, 2012 against the Blue Jays. Every other team had at least one such loss in that span. Going back further, the only other time in the last 15 seasons — since 2004 — that the Yankees lost a game in the Bronx they led by at least two runs entering the ninth was June 28, 2012 vs the White Sox.

J.A. Happ threw his worst start in pinstripes, allowing five runs on 10 hits, including three game-changing homers. It’s hard to do all that while getting no more than 13 outs. The last Yankee to give up at least 10 hits, five runs and three bombs in an outing of 4 1/3 innings or fewer was Carl Pavano on May 11, 2005. Ugh.

Giancarlo Stanton had a historic night as he finally went deep for his 300th career home run, a two-run shot in the third inning that gave the Yankees a brief 2-1 lead. He became the fifth-fastest to reach the mark in terms of games (1,119).

Stanton is also in an exclusive club in terms of his age and power/on-base ability. Among right-handed batters, the only other players to compile at least 300 homers and an OBP of .350 or better through their age-28 season are Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols and Jimmie Foxx.

The goat of the game was Dellin Betances, who surrendered consecutive home runs in the ninth inning as a 7-5 advantage quickly became an 8-7 loss. This was the first time in his career he allowed multiple homers in a game. Obscure Yankeemetric Alert: Since 1925, only one other Yankee pitcher allowed back-to-back game-tying and go-ahead homers in the ninth inning of a game: Catfish Hunter on April 18, 1976 against the Minnesota Twins. Betances had been lights-out over the past three months before Thursday’s implosion:

Dellin Betances Since May 27
IP R HR Batters
Faced
Thursday 1 3 2 6
Previous 35 Games 33.2 2 1 129

Early Gleyber Day Celebration
The Yankees rebounded from Thursday’s crushing loss with another crazy comeback win on Friday. They finished August with a 17-13 (.567) record, which was their worst monthly record of the season — but that still put them in elite company. The last time the Yankees had a win percentage of .567 or better in each of the first five months of the season (combining March/April) was 1998.

Down 3-0 and without a hit through the first 5 1/3 innings, the Yankees exploded for four runs over a four-batter span in the sixth thanks to a trio of homers — a two-run shot by Brett Gardner that cut the deficit to 3-2, a game-tying solo homer by Aaron Hicks and a go-ahead blast from Miguel Andujar. Andujar’s dinger was his fifth that either tied the game or gave the team a lead in the sixth inning or later, which leads all Yankees. Oh and he put himself on this graphic too:

The Yankees would need another rally, however, after Zach Britton suffered a meltdown as he tried to protect the one-run lead, yielding a game-tying single in the seventh and a sac fly in the eighth. It was the first time in his career as a reliever that he surrendered a go-ahead sacrifice fly.

Britton was saved from goat status by the clutch hitting of Gleyber Torres, who delivered a game-winning bases-loaded two-run single in the eighth inning. It was his fifth game-tying/go-ahead hit in the eighth inning or later, the most on the Yankees this season.

(AP)

Two is enough
The comeback mojo continued on Saturday as the Yankees overcame another sluggish start offensively and rallied to win, 2-1, despite getting only two hits. This is the third time in the last three seasons they’ve won a game with no more than two hits; before this stretch, it hadn’t happened since 1994.

Oh, and there’s this stat too: Their three wins with two hits or fewer since the start of 2016 are the most of any team.

But what made this win so unique is the fact that the Yankees also struck out 10 times. Obscure Yankeemetric alert! Saturday was the 18th time since 1908 (as far back as we have complete boxscore data) that they won a game with two or fewer hits, but it was the first time they also had double-digit strikeouts.

For the second straight night their first hit was a game-changing homer, this time it was a two-run blast in the fifth inning by Gleyber Torres. His 22 homers are the most in Major-League history by a second baseman age 21 or younger in a single season.

Masahiro Tanaka battled through a shaky first inning during which he loaded the bases with no outs and escaped with only one run on the scoreboard. His ability to pitch out of tough situations and limit the damage has been an underrated part of Tanaka’s season. He’s held batters to a .100 batting average (4-for-40) with runners in scoring position and two outs, fourth-best among MLB starters (min. 40 batters faced), behind a trio of Cy Young contenders: Blake Snell (.063), Chris Sale (.073) and Aaron Nola (.094).

(Getty)

Not enough muscle
The Yankees finished off their homestand with a dud, an 11-7 loss that featured a bunch of heart-wrenching warning-track outs but ultimately too many big deficits to overcome. The Yankees were 33-13 at home in the first half of the season; since the break, they are just 15-11 in the Bronx, and 23 of the 26 matchups have come against teams that entered gameday with a sub-.500 record.

Lance Lynn was awful again, getting rocked for six runs before he was yanked in the fourth inning. His last four starts have been a disaster, especially when compared to the promise he showed in his first three appearances as a Yankee:

Lance Lynn as a Yankee
IP Runs WHIP
Last 4 Games 18.2 19 1.98
First 3 Games 16.2 1 0.96

Miguel Andujar went 3-for-4 with a double, pushing his batting average up to .301 and his slugging percentage up to .530. The only Yankee rookie in franchise history to finish a season with at least a .300 batting average and a .530 slugging percentage (min. 300 PA) was Joe DiMaggio in 1936 (.323 BA, .576 SLG).