The "Sky is Falling" Yankees Twitter After One Loss Needs To Stop
Listen, I get that the Yankees are eight back in the loss column of the Boston Red Sox, and catching them is very unlikely. That sucks anyway you slice it because that means despite being on pace for 100 wins, the Yankees will be forced to play in a one game all-or-nothing game to see if they advance in the postseason. That sucks for sure and no team wants to be in that game, especially after enduring it last year. Still, the Yankees are playing better baseball of late. After every loss tons of people on Twitter, including myself, succumb to the “sky is falling” twitter despite the fact were 32 games over .500. Now it’s easy to forget we’re that good of a team when you see the Red Sox record, but I’m writing this to say we have to stop this shit together and just get to September and get everyone back. Even including last night’s loss to the Marlins, they are 11-5 over their last 16. Who are they playing those games without?
-Aaron Judge
-Gary Sanchez
-Didi Gregorius
-Clint Frazier
-Aroldis Chapman
Who has been getting semi-regular playing time with them out?
-Shane Robinson
-Luke Voit
-Austin Romine
Now I’m not writing this blog to complain and say injuries aren’t fair. Injuries happen to every baseball team. The Astros were just without Springer, Altuve, and Correa for a period of time, Cleveland as well and the Dodgers. The Red Sox have had their fair share too as they’ll continue to remind you. Injuries happen to everyone. Now is it unfortunate that the Yankees have lost their MVP outfielder, the best hitting catcher in the league, their reliable shortstop, their star closer, and a 4th outfielder who is good enough to start on a ton of teams and could easily be playing right now over Shane fucking Robinson? Yeah, the timing is brutal, but you just have to deal with it.
The Yankees lost a baseball last night to the minor league Miami Marlins. It sucked, but it’s not the end of the world. Boone showed once again he has no concept of when to pull pitchers, leave them in, who to put in, and everything else that goes into managing a pen. He has no clue. Lance Lynn was clearly done in that sixth inning and should have been pulled well before he served up a 3 run homer to Miguel Rojas.
The fact that he was left in to face one more batter after the home run is simply mind-bottling. That cost the Yankees another run last night. With the Yanks down 5-3 heading into the bottom of the 7th inning Boone went with Chance Adams, a rookie who hasn’t pitched out of the bullpen in three seasons, to hold the Marlins down. Chance didn’t do well, and gave up four runs. After the game, Boone explained his thinking of using Chance in that spot. He said that if it were a one run game he would have went with Chad Green. So with Boone’s rationale, the Yankees offense, having just scored 28 runs in three games over the weekend, was incapable of coming back from two runs so using his better relievers was out of the question, but one run was another story. That’s our manager, folks. I’m writing this blog to tell everyone to remain calm, but Boone is still a significant issue. I genuinely think he flips a coin when deciding his bullpen choices. The crazy thing is that Larry Rothschild, the pitching coach and a guy who has been in this sport for decades, just sits there and doesn’t give him any advice. Or maybe he is giving advice and it’s just horrible advice. Either way, it’s a problem.
The other part of this team that is an on-going problem is Greg Bird. Listen, I’m wrong about a lot of things on Twitter because I mostly shoot from the hip and am not afraid to criticize and upset my friends on the team, unlike a certain Boston writer. Well, I’ve been dead right on Greg Bird and I’ll be right about him until he’s off this team. Greg Bird is a complete waste of a roster spot. Since hitting the grand slam on Sunday that gave the Greg Bird apologists a rock hard erection, he’s jumped right back on schedule going 0-13.
This strike out he had last night was astonishing. The ball bounced three feet in front of home plate. His at bats are non-competitive. He’s hitting .202 on the year, and an even worse .127 this month. His OPS in August is a dreadful .459. It’s embarrassing he is starting at first base for the New York Yankees. Justin Smoak on the Blue Jays cleared waivers and is available to be traded. They won’t do it, but for the Yankees to just say no thanks to the ‘Greg Bird Show’ the rest of the way and bring in Smoak would be the happiest I’ve been in a long time. Greg Bird is the reason I am angry all the time, even when I’m not watching the Yankees. The day they cut ties with him I will film myself popping champagne.
There are two on-going issues with the Yankees that are in no danger of getting fixed: Aaron Boone and Greg Bird. The rest I’m not worried about. I’m not worried about Pedro Martinez trying to stay relevant on Twitter by calling the Yankees lazy. Hey dude, they’re without all of their star players except Giancarlo, sure they’re not going to have the same fire they had in May. No fucking shit, man. Still with the lack of usual players in the lineup, they’ve won 11 of their last 16 and are fighting every night. Boone lost the game last night, not the players for a lack of energy. Fuck Pedro Martinez. Everything will be fine. In the words of my pal Aaron Rodgers: R-E-L-A-X