Cold Bats and Roster Problems
This afternoon in Tampa the Rays seemed like they were playing with 18 players in the field instead of nine. Countless times the Bombers hit screamers into play and the all found gloves. The Rays pitching held the Yankees to just four hits in a 4–0 loss for the dwellers of the Bronx.
Wilmer Font got his first Major League ‘W’ in five and two thirds of scoreless ball. Font who almost found his way out the league after stints with the Dodgers and Athletics this season. Maybe he just has to pitch against the Yankees because in 10 and third innings Font has allowed seven hits and only one run with nine strike outs. As good as Font was, the real story of this game was the fact that the Yanks were just one for eight with RISP. For only the second time all season the Bombers were shut out and with the other being the Mets, that is not a flattering statistic.
Sonny Gray actually didn’t pitch horribly all things considered — since he retired 15 straight Ray batters until Willy Adames hit a solo shot off Gray in the 7th. Gray got off to a tough start giving up three runs in the first two innings. However, if it wasn’t for a Gregorius error, and an Adames single aided due to a drawn in infield, Gray would’ve had a respectable outing. It didn’t help that the Yankee bats were still on the plane at Tampa International.
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With the bats going silent over the past couple days, it brings up a glaring hole with this team in that the 2018 New York Yankees are heavily dependent on the long ball. With no other way to manufacture runs — it will be a continuous internal struggle within the clubhouse to get runs across without blasting one out of the yard. With the danger of getting swept for the first time all season hopefully, ya know, Aaron Boone and the Yanks will get runners in motion and be creative with the ways they try and score runs.
There is no Focus Player of the Day, but there are two conversation starters as far as roster moves. First is Chasen Shreve who has struggled for majority of the season out of the pen as the Bombers left-handed specialist, and the other is Greg Bird. For Shreve, there isn’t another lefty specialist on the 40-man, so Shreve will have to pitch his way out of this skid he has been on. Or, Brian Cashman will have to add “find a lefty reliever” on his list to trade for at the deadline. Yankee fans have to hope Shreve can find something before he reaches Tyler Clippard levels of awful and the Yanks have no other choice. With Bird, you have to feel for the guy. All the organization (and fans to boot) want is for Bird to be fully healthy and producing. He’s fully healthy, but with a .193 average, three homers, and five RBI’s in 24 games, he is leaving a lot to be desired at the plate. Granted, this is basically late April/early May for Bird since he did miss the first 46 games with an ankle injury. Give bird until the All-Star Break to figure things out before you call up Brandon Drury. Drury has played well at Scranton batting .327 with four homers (including one today), and 27 RBI’s. Drury also started playing first base twice a week this week in possible preparation for the pending demotion of Bird.
At 50–24 these struggles and concerns are not season threating, but will be major headaches for a ball club that has expected to end up in the fall classic since the seasons inception. It is a long season, and there is a reason you play all 162. With a win tomorrow, the Bombers can turn this short road trip into a launching off point with the Red Sox coming to the Bronx at the end of the month.
Domingo German goes for the Bombers tomorrow coming off easily his best start of his young career Tuesday against Seattle. Being that I was in the building on Tuesday evening, if German can navigate the first couple innings, his talent will take care of the rest, waiting for the bats to come alive. German’s opposite number is Matt Andriese. Andriese in nine career games against the Yanks is 2–3 and a 5.69 ERA in 38 innings also having a .301 batting average against. Having Andriese on the bump might be the jolt this offense needs to get right and start plating runs again. Until that happens, the season charges on.
