The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
A dose of sanity for the Yankees’ rotation
BOSTON — As Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona walked out to take his frazzled starter from the game Sunday afternoon, Trevor Bauer wheeled around and threw the baseball over the center field fence at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
It was a childish, unprofessional meltdown by the Maybe Yankee and when the Indians manager got to the mound he appeared to ask Bauer, “What the (fbomb) is wrong with you?”
Before Domingo German brought a dose of sanity Sunday night to what was promising to turn into an insane weekend, manager Aaron Boone probably wanted to ask the same question of his entire Yankees’ starting staff.
A week ago, before the Yankees landed in the Twin Cities, their trade deadline pursuit of starting pitching for the postseason had been a priority. Still, with doubledigit games leads on the Rays and Red Sox, there was a clinical sanity, a sa
bermetric lucidity, to it all. Then all hell broke loose. The Twins battered the Yankee starting pitching. Boston battered the Yankee starting pitching. And by the time the Red Sox had trounced the Yankees on Saturday, they had taken the first three games of this late July series by a combined score of 3813.
It was an epically bad week for Yankee pitchers. The 73 runs and 23 homers they allowed were the most in a sevengame stretch in American League history. It was Gopher Ball City.
Suddenly, the New York tabloids like the Daily News were screaming: “Code Red Sox.” There was Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild, willing to fall on his sword, saying, “It’s my responsibility to get it right.” Yes, suddenly, what seemed like a logical priority had become, well, “Code Red Sox.”
Can anyone get an out? And who can the Yanks bring in, pronto, before the July 31 trade deadline?
Six innings and three earned runs is considered a quality start in major league baseball. German didn’t reach that, but three runs over 51⁄3 innings? Considering no Yankee starter had gone more than 41⁄3 since Masahiro Tanaka on July 20, German’s performance felt like Don Larsen’s World Series perfect game.
“It definitely felt good to get this one,” Boone said after the Yankees avoided the fourgame sweep with a 96 victory. “Obviously, it has been a difficult weekend for us, and it was difficult even finishing it off. Obviously, that’s a happy room.
“To go to two really tough places and go home with three wins in your pocket, we’ll take it.”
To go 34 in a road trip when you allow 44 runs in four games at Fenway after 27 in three at Minnesota is a tribute to the Yankees’ explosive lineup. So maybe German’s performance calmed the alarmists and panicstricken. Good. It doesn’t change the fact the Yankees still need pitching help before the calendar flips to August.
“We’ve got to do better than we did this last week,” Boone said. “I’m also confident these guys will do
better. That this was only one bad week.”
In June, Toronto righthander Marcus Stroman was asked about playing in New York and the Long Island kid told reporters, “You hear rumors all the time. I’m from New York and I’m a New York boy. That kind of says everything for itself.”
The Yankees were in hard on Stroman. The Blue Jays, however, were hunting for prospect Deivi Garcia in return. Cashman reportedly wasn’t budging.
Well, Stroman went to New York on Sunday alright.
The Maybe Yankee became the Definite Met.
In a surprising move, the Mets, who have been painted as pitching sellers, acquired Stroman and cash considerations in exchange for former UConn pitcher Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson, solid pitching prospects. The deal had heads being scratched. Stroman is a ground ball pitcher and the Mets have statistically the worst infield defense in baseball. Had they acquired Stroman to flip him? No, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported, the Mets are unlikely to sign Zack Wheeler to an extension and either Wheeler or Noah Syndergaard will be the one dealt. Stroman, for his part, tweeted he is “crazy excited for this part of my journey.”
The bottom line? Stroman isn’t a Yankee. Syndergaard or Wheeler? The Mets don’t make major deals with the Yankees. And Madison Baumgarner? The growing narrative is he is more likely to stay in San Francisco.
Sunday didn’t dawn with great promise. After allowing five earned runs in 41⁄3 in the 95 loss on Saturday, CC Sabathia was placed on the 10day IL with right knee inflammation. Unlike in May when he was comfortable believing the big lefty could get a cortisone shot, miss a start and be back quickly, Boone said he wasn’t sure how long Sabathia may be out. So that’s a concern among a slew of concerns.
James Paxton, four runs in 31⁄3 innings. Sabathia, six runs in four. German, eight runs and nine hits in 32⁄3. J.A. Happ, six earned in 31⁄3. Instead of turning it around the next time through the rotation after leaving Minnesota, it got worse. The Red Sox lit up Tanaka for 12
hits and a dozen earned runs in 31⁄3 in the 193 rout Thursday and then got to Paxton for nine hits and seven runs in four innings in the 105 win Friday. Sabathia’s ineffective performance actually improved the starters’ ERA over this horrible stretch.
The Yankees needed German (132) in the worst way and he answered beating Chris Sale. He did not allow a hit until the fourth inning. Andrew Benintendi followed two hitters later driving a curve to right field for a tworun homer.
“I thought he was really good,” Boone said. “The one mistake with Benintendi, he had him to two strikes and probably was a pitch you want to go out of the zone with. He left it up for him. Other than that, he filled up the strike zone, great poise in a game we really wanted he delivered the goods for us. The moment wasn’t too big at all. I knew he’d be in command of his emotion.”
Luis Severino hasn’t pitched all season because of his right lat strain. If he makes it back by September, can he have No.1 in the rotation stuff again? And how about Dellin Betances and his right shoulder impingement? If he’s able to get back and get right, could we see Boone go to a the newage opener and a string of relievers in October?
Or do the Yankees go to the next tier down at deadline with Detroit’s Matthew Boyd or Texas’ Mike Minor?
Which brings us back to Bauer. For those who may think we were unkind or overreacting to Bauer’s outburst, it was Bauer himself who used the words childish and unprofessional to describe them. Look, the Indians would demand a huge haul in return. Would it be too much for Cashman’s taste? Bauer is an immense talent, although he’s an odd duck. And by the time that ball landed on the other side of the center field fence after Bauer’s worst outing of the year, the sport was buzzing over how something like this may affect his trade value. Had Francona and the Indians, despite being in contention, now gotten to the point where they will move him by Wednesday? Maybe.
Maybe Yankee.