Boy oh boy, it sure is fun beating up on the most historic franchise in the game. Last night’s Braves and Yankees game was a beatin’ as the lineup put a spanking on Luis Severino, tallying 11 runs. They’ll look to do the same on 24 y/o rookie Randy Vasquez. In 3 games and 19 tallied innings, Vasquez is carrying a sub-2 ERA that wreaks of so much luck that I’m surprised the umpiring crew hasn’t checked his pants to see if he’s got a horseshoe up his keister. Put it mildly, Randy’s about to enter into a world of pain that will likely start by annihilating that .182 BABIP against and the 94% left on base stat. Charlie Morton will be the rubber rep for the Braves tonight and I hope he’s ready to finish strong.
A Transaction Overlooked
I was a little sloppy yesterday and didn’t get to transaction number 2 that took place yesterday.
Someone in the thread said it best: Forrest Wall likely needs some reps at the moment as I’m fairly certain he’ll be the pinch running du jour in the playoffs. And Alex Anthopoulos continues to do good deeds, rotating almost the entire 40-man onto the MLB active roster at one point or another, which is a serious pay raise for all involved. Lucas Williams is the latest in this trend to benefit from a prorated $750K salary and I’m sure he appreciates it even if he gets no PT.
Braves Lineup
Nicky Lopez still in and Vaughn Grissom is still out. I think it’s worth noting what Snitker said to Peanut yesterday in a pre-game interview.
Yeah, Vasquez has been extremely lucky this year. There’s a pretty substantial gap between his wOBA (.274) and xwOBA (.340). He’s due for some regression at some point. Let’s hope that begins tonight against the Braves!
My goal for Morton tonight is for him to throw more strikes than balls. So far, through two, he’s done, but barely.
He was actually really good. They say misery loves company…the converse must be success breeds success.
That first base call was bogus. Lopez beat out the infield single.
That is one limp pinstriped lineup this year.
yeah, I really don’t understand how so many seemingly obvious calls go against Atlanta even with replay.
maybe it happens with other teams too, and I just don’t notice because I’m concentrating on my team.
That’s ten consecutive scoreless innings by Charlie in his last two starts. This weeks five is a lot better than last week’s.
Charles has his good curveball today.
Yup, and he’s getting ahead with his heater tonight, especially against their banjo hitters.
That’s 11 consecutive scoreless innings for him now, but he was a helluva lot sharper tonight.
And he seemed to know where the fastball was going
Aside from three home runs, the offense has hardly done anything the last two nights, and it didn’t matter at all. These Yankees are genuinely a bad baseball club – their expensive, aging lineup honestly feels even more moribund than the Mets did, even though the Mets’ free fall was more spectacular.
Ububba, when’s the last time both New York baseball clubs have been wretched at the same time?
It would be 1992. That’s the last time both clubs finished under .500.
In The Bronx, it was just after the Stump Merrill Era ended. They’d brought in Buck Showalter, but were still overloaded with guys like Roberto Kelly & Mike Gallego. It was just before GM Gene Michael brought in culture-changing players like Jimmy Key, Wade Boggs & Paul O’Neill.
In Flushing, it was the beginning of the very brief Jeff Torborg Era & the year of a failed spending spree (Bret Saberhagen, Eddie Murray, Willie Randolph & Bobby Bonilla, whom they’re still paying). It also served as rich source material for the book, “The Worst Team Money Can Buy.”
Back then, you could sit in the Yankee Stadium RF bleachers for $5.50. Rapper Grandmaster Melle Mel (of Grandmaster Flash & the Furious 5) was out there at every game. There were no assigned seats out there, but all the bleacher regulars sat in their same seats, just like they were regulars in a bar. You didn’t dare sit in their seats. And at “bat day,” all those people would beat on the railings the whole game, a real nuthouse.
Recap is up: