The Yankees were, in the words, managerial Aaron Boone“kicked in the teeth” this week at Citi Field. Here’s a look at some of the key elements, with reporting and analysis on how much the team should be concerned.
Gerrit Cole will probably be fine
I admit that when the scoreboard read 91.5 mph to get a Gerrit Kool fastball to Mark Vientos in the second inning Tuesday, the first thought was that Cole was injured. But when he spoke to Cole afterwards, it seemed more likely that he was on his way to regaining his form.
Cole is confident his arm is healthy, and he attributed his struggles against the Mets to various forms of rust. The drop in velocity—which, as he correctly noted, occurred on a night when he also hit 90 mph for the first time this year—was more the result of a failed attempt to balance speed and command.
For all his ability to throw gas, Cole’s greatness comes just as much from his planning and precision. He’s said in the past that the best place to throw a 100-mph shot is his back pocket. On Tuesday, he couldn’t handle the high-speed traffic, so he dialed it back, but too much.
Vientos’ home run on that slow fastball also exposed another rusty area: Cole’s usually fruitful partnership with the platinum glove catcher Jose Trevino. Last year, Cole credited Trevino for his significant contributions to his Cy Young performance. But as with any partnership, they need some time to fine-tune it after a long break from each other.
For example, they knew Vientos had a significant weakness against sliders and curveballs (.217 expected batting average against breaking pitches this season), but chose to throw him a subpar fastball instead. If Cole and Trevino were locked together, they would have made a better decision and had a much better chance of getting Vientos out.
Additionally, Cole is working his way back to full endurance — he also said Tuesday that he doesn’t feel quite ready to run 90-90 mph for an entire outing — but a deep dive into the quality of his pitches Tuesday showed to continued progress, he said. He also told me he wasn’t worried at all about how his elbow would handle breaking off hard sliders (I asked because he threw more cutters than sliders on Tuesday).
I’ve been following Cole long enough to know when he’s worried and frustrated, and when he’s confident. At this point, it’s definitely the latter.
Luis Gil…not so sure
Boone is already tired of answering questions about Gil’s arm health and possible fatigue, but admitted Wednesday night that it was a fair question to ask. The Yankees and Gil are downplaying concerns that subtle changes in Gil’s delivery Wednesday that resulted in a drop in his stuff had anything to do with fatigue.
“No, no, no,” Gil said, when asked if his arm felt tired.
The Yankees are monitoring Gil’s health and stamina after he pitched just four innings last year after returning from Tommy John surgery. Despite two consecutive outings in which opponents rocked the former Cy Young prospect, the team says his arm isn’t a problem.
It is a poorly kept secret within the team that the Yankees are eyeing Gil as a candidate to become a potential power reliever in the postseason. This is a type of pitcher they desperately need (btw, the Yankees had a preliminary check-in with Oakland over closer Mason Milleraccording to a source, but that was a while ago and the talks have not progressed further; it remains difficult to see Brian Cashman (paying an astronomical price for a reliever).
Therefore, for the Yanks, getting Gil back into action and keeping him healthy is important for two reasons: to stabilize the rotation now and to build an October-ready bullpen that they currently lack.
All they can do is keep an eye on Gil and hope he continues to feel good while continuing to work on his results.
The offense is too problematic to get back into shape immediately
As the Yankees cruised to an 8-3 victory over Atlanta on Saturday, Trent Grisham came out of the dugout to serve as a pinch-hitter for Giancarlo Stanton. This became a key moment in the Yankees’ difficult month, and resulted in one of the best teams in baseball finishing with J.D. Davis as the cleanup hitter in a Subway Series game they really wanted to win.
The Yankees were designed to get Stanton and Anthony Rizzo as powerful right-handed/left-handed hitters in the middle of the lineup. Just as Rizzo was finally starting to hit the ball with authority, he broke his arm. Shortly thereafter, Stanton, a strong candidate for Comeback Player of the Year, strained his hamstring.
Combine that with Gleyber Torres‘ strange fight that led to a benching, and DJ LeMahieu‘s complete lack of extra base hits this season (he did hit better this week, but still), and the Yankees suddenly find themselves the kind of team that can load the bases in the first inning on consecutive nights but lack the length of the lineup to get a runner in.
The problem is, Boone has no choice but to write these flawed lineups every night, for now. The malaise at Citi Field wasn’t so much a funk as it was a function of the currently available personnel.
Aaron Rechter
Hits the ball far. A lot of. Even if everything else is bad.
Ben Rice ‘looks like he’s been here forever’
Another positive for the Yankee offense is the quality and maturity of the rookie Am Rice‘s at bats. As one scout puts it, Rice “looks like he’s been here forever.”
A lifelong catcher, Rice looks athletic at first base, too, and moves very well on reaction plays. Aspects of the position that require more experience, such as tracking foul popups to the rail and some of the exact mechanics of positioning and pickoff plays, are still developing. But he’s acquitted himself well for a rookie.
