About The Off Day: Meanderings of My Mind

About The Off Day: Meanderings of My Mind

By Tim Kabel

April 21, 2026

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The Yankees were reeling before this weekend. They had lost seven of nine games and were just one game above .500. Then, the Royals came to town. For the Yankees, the Royals are the gift that keeps on giving.  The Royals haven't beaten the Yankees since the reign of Queen Elizabeth, speaking of Royals. I don't mean the Queen Elizabeth who was King Henry VIII’s daughter, but that's not too far from the truth. Sadly, the Royals have left town. It will be interesting to see what happens with the Yankees now. Since I don't have a game to recap today, I will now move from topic to topic as if I was King Charles gathering eggs on my country estate.

·      Despite the euphoria generated by the Yankees’ dismantling of the Kansas City Royals this weekend, everything is not perfect in Yankee land.  Other than Aaron Judge and Ben Rice, the offense has not been terrific. Cody Bellinger is heating up and is batting .276. However, Giancarlo Stanton has been cooling down. Trent Grisham despite his three home runs this week, is only batting 167. Austin Wells is batting 180. Jazz Chisholm is batting .164. Wells has one home run. Chisholm doesn't have any. Ryan McMahon is batting.130 with six hits, including that legendary home run. Randal Grichuk has two hits and is battling 100. It is nice to say that the Yankees have options because Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones are hitting very well in the minor leagues and could be recalled. However, that is not going to happen. Even if one of them came up to take the place of Randal Grichuk, whichever player that was would only sit on the bench. Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone are not going to pull the plug on Trent Grisham anytime soon. He cannot be traded without his permission until June 15th. In addition, there are no realistic options at the catcher position. Austin Wells is proving to be the exact opposite of what was predicted for him when he first came up. Initially he was considered someone who would be a very good offensive player but a marginal at best defensive catcher. He has evolved into a defensive wizard who is streaky and ineffective as a hitter. Jazz Chisholm, Jr. began the season talking about being in the 50-50 club well right now it's 50/50 that he makes it to the end of the season as a Yankee. I know everyone was very excited about Ryan McMahon's home run. Suzyn Waldman and Dave Simms seemed to think that it would put him on the cusp of winning a batting championship. It didn't. He is batting 70 points below .200. He is so far below the Mendoza line that he would get the bends if he came up too quickly by getting two hits in one game. At this point, the broadcasters are touting Anthony Volpe as the potential offensive savior for the team. Let that rattle around in your head for a minute. Ben Rice, Aaron Judge, and Cody Bellinger will all be fine. Giancarlo Stanton could be, but he is in one of his down streaks right now, and an injury could be lurking just around the corner. Jazz Chisholm seems to be feeling the pressure of his impending free agency and who knows when he will bounce out of it. Other than Judge, Rice, and Bellinger, with an occasional spark from Jose Caballero, the offense for the Yankees so far has been pretty offensive.

·      In the last week, two people who are very close to me lost their pets. I don't mean that they misplaced them in the way that my wife misplaces her keys, her pocketbook, and just about everything except me. I mean that the pets passed away. People seem to be in two camps when it comes to pets. Either they don't like them, don't want them, and don't have them, or they are tremendously devoted to the pets and consider them to be an integral part of the family. The only problem with that is that unless you have a tortoise or perhaps a parrot, pets generally do not have very long life expectancies. Thus, almost every pet owner will encounter grief and sorrow at some point. I went through it myself about a year and a half ago and one of my cats, Archie, is about to turn 15. There are times when he appears to be stiff and doesn't want to move a lot, but then he has his moments where he's running around the house like a kitten. The point is that it is difficult for pet owners to explain to non-pet owners what it's like. What I can say is that in the past few weeks, I have often woken up with a heavy weight upon my chest. It wasn't worry or sorrow, it was my humongous cat, Clancy. Waking up to see and feel him sleeping on my chest provides a level of comfort and happiness that is hard to describe. The little moments of joy and sometimes annoyance that he and his colleagues bring to my life on a daily basis makes everything connected with having them in the family worthwhile.  I acquired Clancy specifically to help me enjoy my retirement and settle into my life as a writer. As I am writing this, he is snoozing a mere two feet away in his role as my perpetual supervisor. I have read about the health benefits of having pets and believe it to be true. All I know is that if I am ever feeling a little sad or my legs hurt a bit too much, all I have to do is reach down and pet Clancy or one of his associates and I feel better. For me, that is enough.

·      I believe that the bullpen will be a major problem for the Yankees for the foreseeable future. While it is true that two members of the current starting rotation could conceivably be shifted to the bullpen when Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon return, there are a few problems with that theory. First, we don't know exactly when that will be. In the best-case scenario, Cole and Rodon will return in about a month. By that time, the bullpen as it is currently constructed may have self-destructed. Angel Chivilli does not inspire confidence in anyone. I believe the more he is used, the worse he will get. Aaron Boone has already overworked Brent Headrick, Camilo Doval and others. The combination of poor bullpen construction, lack of ability and mishandling by the manager have all combined to make this a rather unimpressive relief corps. Second, when Cole and Rodon do return, it is unlikely that they will be able to pitch very deep into games, at least at first. That means that a bullpen which is already a question mark will be taxed even more. Third, if Luis Gil and Ryan Weathers are moved to the bullpen because they are somewhat unreliable and inconsistent as starters, why would they be anything other than unreliable and inconsistent in the bullpen? If you take a chair that is rickety from your kitchen and put it in the living room, that doesn't mean someone who sits on it in the living room is less likely to fall on the floor than if they were in the kitchen. It's still the same chair. In order to fix the bullpen, the Yankees will need to bring in some different arms, either from the minor leagues or from other teams. That probably won't happen anytime soon. The best we can expect is for Jake Bird to fly north again. And you know the old saying, “a Bird in the bullpen allows two over the fence.”

·      The road trip that begins tonight against the Red Sox, Astros, and Rangers, could be a big test for the Yankees. Although the Red Sox and Astros in particular have struggled so far, they are almost always very tough on the Yankees. The Yankees will open tonight with Luis Gil on the mound. That could be a problem and could result in further overuse of the bullpen. At least the Yankees have Max Fried and Cam Schlittler in the next two games, but they can only pitch once every five days. It is still very early in the season, but this road trip could be a barometer for the way the season will go for the Yankees. When they return home from this trip, the Yankees will play the Orioles, Rangers, and Brewers. They won't be seeing Kansas City for a while.