On paper, I guess it makes sense. Even as the Marlins have completely lost momentum since the All-Star break, they're still a competitive team with some great power hitting all around and some terrific starters. The Yankees' deflating has been even more embarrassing, with most hitters being completely useless and most pitchers being either hurt, terrible or Gerrit Cole. So even with the Marlins having something of an edge, it's still heartbreaking that what happened in this series happened.
And honestly, getting shut down by Sandy Alcantara I can take. Alcantara, even if he's more human in 2023, is still a really nice pitcher, and he's still capable of nasty stuff this year, especially in the last few weeks. He's had two complete games in his last four starts, and three starts that went 8 innings or longer. Since the beginning of July he's lowered his ERA to 4, and has built up a season very similar to his previous ones, with 5 or more strikeouts in his last 10 starts, culminating in striking out 10 Yankees, which admittedly isn't very hard to do. Alcantara is definitely worth all the hubbub, especially when people like Eury Perez and Braxton Garrett still are showing signs of growth.
But it's yesterday's loss that pisses me off. Because we had that game. Roughed up Eury Perez, got excellent runs out of Volpe, Rortvedt and Stanton, had a solid cushion, and didn't make any true faux pas' til Clay Holmes blew the save. Honestly, maybe Holmes wasn't the right answer at that point in the game, maybe we could have just kept Middleton in, or led with Kahnle. As good as Clay Holmes has been, he's not perfect, and he's not as reliable as somebody like Rivera, or even peak Chapman. The Marlins, for whatever reason, had his number. He was also just off, and made a boneheaded play that started the rally. Maybe if Tommy Kahnle's there it doesn't happen and we get the easy series win.
But it's yesterday's loss that pisses me off. Because we had that game. Roughed up Eury Perez, got excellent runs out of Volpe, Rortvedt and Stanton, had a solid cushion, and didn't make any true faux pas' til Clay Holmes blew the save. Honestly, maybe Holmes wasn't the right answer at that point in the game, maybe we could have just kept Middleton in, or led with Kahnle. As good as Clay Holmes has been, he's not perfect, and he's not as reliable as somebody like Rivera, or even peak Chapman. The Marlins, for whatever reason, had his number. He was also just off, and made a boneheaded play that started the rally. Maybe if Tommy Kahnle's there it doesn't happen and we get the easy series win.
People are saying this should cost Aaron Boone his job, and I don't think it's as simple as firing Boone, just as I didn't think it was as simple as firing Girardi back in the day. If you bring in a new manager, two things are absolutely certain. One is that they're gonna spend far too long talking to Hensley Meulens before inevitably going with someone else. Two, the first year with the new manager is gonna be a breath of fresh air, and the highest height with this version of the team, and then people are gonna get pissy and jaded and the cycle's gonna repeat. The manager's not always the problem, sometimes it's just the team culture, as any White Sox fan can tell you. Firing Boone will only solve the momentary whims of dissatisfied Yankee fans who can't take another decade without a World Series appearance and refuse to admit that the widening of the playoff picture has made it harder for them to be the best.
The Yankees are very unlikely to completely rebound from this, and might not be a playoff team this year. The Marlins might not be one either. Somehow, the Marlins might be the surer bet to compete in 2024. The Yankees really need to come to terms with that, and act accordingly.
Coming Tonight: A legendary hitter on a victory lap.
No comments:
Post a Comment