‘GREAT PLAYERS GET BOOED’
Fans let cocky Manny hear it as Yanks top Pods:
YANKEES 5 PADRES 2
Every time Manny Machado walked to the plate Monday in the Bronx he was booed loudly and passionately. Seven months ago, the same Yankees fans were begging their team to sign the superstar infielder. Now, with the majority of their own pinstriped superstars sidelined by injuries, this fanbase has gotten behind this group of scrappy B-Bombers, who beat Machado and the Padres, 5-2.
“I get booed everywhere I go,” Machado said. “Great players get booed. It happens.
“A boo’s a boo,” Machado said, when asked if he noticed the boos were louder than normal. “We took the L. That sucks.”
The Yankees met with
Machado this winter as he took a free agency tour around the country. The meeting was mostly at Machado’s insistence and the Yankees never even made a contract offer.
Instead, Brian Cashman focused on building depth. The Yankees GM added a stellar utility infielder and bulked up his bullpen. Knowing that it takes seven to eight starters to get through a season, Cashman worked hard on building up his corps of starters.
While the Yankees (35-18) rebounded from a 10th-inning walk-off loss Sunday at Kansas City and beat Machado and the Padres (28-26) without a true starter, Monday’s game showed starting pitching depth is still the main concern for the Bombers.
Gary Sanchez (who has driven in 21 runs in his last 23 games), Clint Frazier and Brett Gardner each homered for the Yankees. David Hale, who allowed two runs on three hits in four innings, picked up the win.
The past few weeks, Yankee scouts have been out looking for starting pitchers before the July 31 deadline. A team talent evaluator was in attendance for the last simulated game that free-agent lefty Dallas Keuchel threw, a team source confirmed. After the MLB draft, teams can sign Keuchel without having to give up a pick.
But how quickly James Paxton, CC Sabathia and eventually Luis Severino can get back will help determine which path the Yankees take. They were forced to use two “bullpen days,” over the last three games.
It worked out well on Monday.
Chad Green was impressive in the first inning, striking out the side to “open,” the game. Then came Hale, who was followed by Adam Ottavino, Tommy Kahnle, Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman, who each pitched a scoreless inning.
“It started with Greenie. That’s overpowering, dominating Greenie, when he’s at his best, right there. That’s three hitters, some good hitters in there, obviously. He set the tone,” Aaron Boone said. “David Hale comes in and struggles a little bit, rides his pitch count up. We needed him today, we absolutely needed him today to get through those middle innings. He settled in and got real pitch efficient and then we were able to roll the guys out.”
The “opener,” and bullpen day worked perfectly on Mon
day, but the concern is how it will affect the Yankees’ pitching down the road. The bullpen has been stretched thin over this last week.
“We’re OK. Today we needed David Hale. Period. Even if it was going to be a rough stretch, he was going to have to get us through the middle innings. Today was a good reset day for (Luis) Cessa and we’ve got (Joe) Harvey here now, so we should be OK,” Boone said of his bullpen going through this stretch of 10 straight games without a break. “Obviously, I love handing the ball to (Masahiro Tanaka) Tuesday.” And there is help coming. Paxton was cleared to return from the IL and is expected to pitch on Wednesday. Sabathia is expecting to throw a bullpen session on Tuesday and Boone said there is a possibility he could start on Sunday.
Severino may also finally be back in the Yankees’ long-term plans.
Severino was scheduled to see the doctor to be cleared to begin his throwing program. The right-hander, who has been shut down for six weeks with a Grade 2 lat strain, said he has not felt any discomfort in about three weeks. He will now basically have to go through a full spring training of at least six weeks to get back.
With scouts fanning out looking for pitching, help is coming one way or another.