Thursday, May 6, 2021

Soon from Scranton: A rearranged Yankee outfield? And - gulp - a poem.

Farm News: Miguel Andujar homered last night for the Scranton Railriders. 

Miggy went 2-for-4 - (also a single)- against Syracuse; he is now 2-for-8 in this fledgling Triple A season. 

If Andujar keeps hitting, and his hand doesn't bark, he should soon receive the Cosmic Cashman Cattle Call: "Quick, take an Uber to NY, because [Insert Name Here] slipped in the buffet line, and you're playing tonight." It's been two years since  Miggy finished No. 2 as AL Rookie of the Year - (a rigged election for Shohei Ohtani; we are hiring Florida's Cyber Ninjas company for the recount audit) - he remains the coolest Joker in the Yankee deck. At some point, Andujar needs MLB playing time - 100 games or so - and his presence will explode the current lineup. 

Along with Miggy last night, Luke Voit played 1b for Scranton and homered. Any day now, Luke will join the Yankees and reshuffle the infield, currently stressed by the sprained knee of Rougned Odor.

So, with a little peyote and gin creative thinking, let's imagine the Death Barge lineup on Memorial Day.

1b Voit. (Mike Ford will be in Scranton, hopefully learning to hit to the opposite field.  His current MLB average - .103 - gave us no lefty bat.)

2b DJ LeMahieu. (Odor still be healing. But he was hitting just .164, not enough to hold the position.)

ss Gleyber Torres. (His throws to first have improved - thank you, DJ and Ford- and his average stands at .240. Next: some power?)

3b Gio Urshela. (Yanks best player? Can he actually play SS?)

c Kyle Higashioka. (Plays three out of every five. Demoralized Gary continues decline. Wait, is that even possible?)

lf Crapshoot I. (Unless Brett Gardner or Clint Frazier start hitting, Andujar deserves an everyday role. )

cf Crapshoot II. (Aaron Hicks is awful from the left side. A Gardy platoon? Estevan Florial, up from Double A? Something has to give, at least as a LH. This isn't working.) 

rf Aaron Judge. (Until he gets hurt. Which he will. Then... Frazier to right? Outside possibility: Socrates Brito, a lefty, who homered Wednesday for Scranton. 

dh Giancarlo Stanton. (Let us all be reminded of how quickly a lost cause in April can can turn things around in May, and how one slugger can carry a team. In a way, it's nice that Judge is slumping - platinum sombrero last night - because one of these days, he'll get hot and take over. Until he gets hurt. Which he will...) 

One continuing issue: The Yankees still tilt horribly to the right. In late inning confrontations, when opposing teams bring in their side-arm specialists, we have no countermove. Something's gotta give. In the meantime, okay, you've waited long enough...


Luke and Miggy.
And three days of Higgy...
With Gio and Stanton.
And Ford in Scranton...
A hint of Odor,
Judge always so sore.
Memorial Day.
Will Red Thunder play?


TheWinWarblist said...

Sniff, so touching ...

DickAllen1964 said...

In a few short days this team has completely turned it around, all thanks to our “BIG HAMBURGER.” His resurgence is almost unfathomable.

And now we stand on the verge of sweeping those miserable little turds from the antediluvian state of Texas. It is especially gratifying that Kole is in the mound today.

Is this Yankees awakening for real? Is Giancarlo finally healthy enough to have a monster MVP year? Will little Gary develop splinters and bedsores from sitting so much? Can the giant action figure in right field find all his missing parts? Tune in this afternoon for another episode of “What is This Team Made of?” And find out!

Anonymous said...

Yep, "almost unfathomable" alright. Hitting the other way, cutting down on his swing, actually seeing the baseball, is this the real Giancarlo Stanton or are we watching an imposter? I hope Boone doesn't sit him today. Plenty of time to rest when the season is over.

The Hammer of God

JM said...

As much as I've always rooted for Clint to get a real chance, he's muffing it big time. If Miggy returns to form, I'd think we trade Frazier. He should get a decent return.

At the end of the day, or even the beginning or the middle, I want to see Miggy succeed and stay a Yankee than Clint. It's hard to choose the child you put up for adoption, but "down goes Frazier" has been too descriptive of his BA, OBP and power numbers. The latter would be negative by now if such a thing were allowed.

DickAllen1964 said...

Bah! If anybody needs to go, it's Hicks. The only difference between Hicks and Clint is the contract. The Yankees are going to keep throwing that useless hairball out there because of the $43 million they still owe him. Clint keeps getting benched when he just needs to play every day. It's pretty hard to gain any confidence and consistency when playing on the edge of the bench. And Boone puts him there whenever he gets the chance.

So maybe you're right JM. Maybe Clint needs to go somewhere else. But I'd hate to see that happen.

Hicks, on the other hand, is 31 and should be at the peak of his athletic prowess. He can only go south from here. Which is kind of horrific considering he's hit his high water mark at .177 - his BA and OBP have slowly dwindled since his arrival. The coming four years of his contract are going to be the kind of albatross that only an Ellsbury or Pavano could exceed.

What genius gave this guy a 7-year deal at age 29 when he batted .235? That's the kind of deal you give someone at age 24 or 25, and maybe a .280 BA. SMH.

TheWinWarblist said...

Well, no one was as good as Trout so it seemed like a good idea to throw bags of money at any old not-Trout CF.

TheWinWarblist said...

Just be grateful Hicks wasn't already 32 when they gave him that contract.

HoraceClarke66 said...

The Hicks contract is an abomination. But The Red Menace has 2 ribbies in 85 plate appearances. I've long thought they should give him a solid shot, too, but at a certain point it becomes unsustainable.

Can Miggy play LF? If so...

DickAllen1964 said...

There goes Frazier

DickAllen1964 said...

“Grateful” and “Hicks” are not words I will ever use in the same sentence

DickAllen1964 said...

Unless it’s “I’m grateful Hicks is gone.”

Alphonso said...

Quick note; In case no one is looking, Kyle has stopped hitting also. As soon as the good pitchers arrived......

On certain days, the Yankee's offense gets nothing from;

1. First base ( Ford )
2. Catcher ( Sanchez)
3. Second base ( Odor)
4. Left field ( Gardy )
5. Center field ( Hicks )
6. Right field ( frazier )

And P.S. Judge just broke a string of seven straight strike outs by grounding out to third.

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