PANIC ROOM
Debut disaster shouldn't be ignored
IN WASHINGTON, after the Nats lost a close one to the Mets, they joke, midsentence: “... time to panic??”
In San Francisco, with Matt Cain and Jake Peavy already banged up, they ask, while trying to act with the cool of defending champs: “Time To Panic??”
And in The Bronx, with a characteristically ugly Opening Day transpiring, they don’t ponder as much as they declare. They don’t smile as much as they cry: “TIME TO PANIC!!”
It is of course not time to panic, no matter how lousy the Yankees looked in their 61 loss to Toronto at Yankee Stadium. Every team deserves time to be proven guilty of noncontender status.
However, this isn’t a repeat of 1998, 1999 or 2009, to pick three relatively recent seasons in which the Yankees lost their first game and won the season’s last game. This Yankees club launched its campaign with major concerns, and those concerns would have existed no matter what occurred Monday.
Let’s focus on Monday. Of the many components that went wrong for the Yankees, which will evolve into real headaches, and which will wind up as mirages at which folks will laugh by October? Here’s a breakdown:
Masahiro Tanaka: Back on March 17, at Disney World, the righthander threw so well against the Braves that veteran catcher A. J. Pierzynski, who began 2014 with the Red Sox and faced the Japanese import in an April matchup, said he wouldn’t have known Tanaka was physically compromised if not for the headlines.
On Monday, you would have needed to be visually compromised to not appreciate that Tanaka was physically compromised.
Maybe he’ll figure out how to best use his new, downgraded repertoire. Nevertheless, it’s hard to envision Tanaka returning to his pre UCL-tear status without undergoing Tommy John surgery. The fears here are obviously REAL.
Didi Gregorius: His Yankees debut went about as well as Fred Dalton Thompson’s presidential campaign. What in the world was he thinking, trying ( and failing) to steal third base with the Yankees down by five, Mark Teixeira at the plate and two outs?
The cheery Gregorius immediately owned up to his terrible decision, and from everything witnessed in spring training, it’s going to take more than one highprofile mishap to wipe the smile off Gregorius’ face. Also from everything witnessed in spring training, he’s going to be an excellent fielder. This will be a MIRAGE.
Mark Teixeira: He looked annoyed, understandably, when Gregorius’ boneheadedness took the bat out of his hands in a big spot. But many, if not most, Yankees fans likely figured Teixeira wasn’t going to deliver, anyway. The 34yearold went 0for3 with a walk, and coming off injuryprone 2013 and 2014 seasons and an underwhelming spring training, the pessimism about him sure seems REAL.
Stephen Drew: Twice, Alex Rodriguez started innings by getting on base ( a thirdinning walk and a fifthinning single). Twice, Drew followed A-Rod by not even advancing his teammate, flying out to right field and flying out to second base. The 32yearold is trying to rebound froman epically brutal 2014.
Don’t give up on him yet. Not after he seemed to find a groove during the final couple of weeks of spring training. For now, Drew deserves MIRAGE status.
Carlos Beltran: He looks so old out there, doesn’t he? He has transformed fromthe athletic hare to the methodical tortoise. Of course, the tortoise won that race, and Beltran was a very good player as recently as 2013. And on Monday, Beltran nearly went deep on Drew Hutchison, flying out to Jose Bautista at the warning track, and he ran to snare a Dalton Pompey fly ball to right field. He has earned the benefit of the doubt and its accompanying MIRAGE label.
Joe Girardi: It speaks highly of him that he could miss the playoffs for two straight years and somehow improve his standing in the organization. That’s because he got the most out of what he received, with the Yankees outperforming their run differential, and he stayed positive.
On Monday, however, Girardi grew testy over pregame questions about Tanaka’s velocity. The questions were wholly validated by Tanaka’s performance. This year could challenge Girardi’s resolve, and that of Yankees ownership, like no other. That’s why this issue is REAL.