Perspectives: Sept. 6, 2025

By Paul Semendinger

September 6, 2025

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Let's start with a trivia question for fun.

There have been six pitchers who have won a Cy Young Award, thrown a no-hitter, and also pitched for the Yankees.

Who were they?

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The Blue Jays won the first game of this final head-to-head series this year last night. It was clear from the way the Blue Jays approached each at bat, by the way they hustled, and by their focus, that they came to play - hard. The Blue Jays played with an intensity seldom seen by the Yankees. They Jays brought a higher level of energy (running out every ground ball, for instance) than the Yankees did.

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Teams follow the lead of their manager. That's just a fact, no matter how much some might wish to dispute that fact. Aaron Boone is much more laid back and hands-off in his approach (except when yelling at umpires). Boone's approach is - "It's all going to be good." He is an optimist. (And it just might be good.) It is clear though that his teams do not exhibit the fire or energy that we see the best teams displaying when they play the Yankees.

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Last night the Yankees played Aaron Judge in right field. It was clear that he wasn't going to throw the ball hard. When he threw, Judge soft-tossed. In some ways, Judge's throwing was emblematic of the way the Yankees play. They soft-toss.

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I am not in favor of putting a player in the field who cannot play. Judge, at least last night, couldn't throw. As such, by definition, he's a liability on any play that would require him to throw.

If Giancarlo Stanton was too fragile to play in the field last night, then the Yankees should have put Jasson Dominguez in left field and Cody Bellinger in right. Playing a player who can't perform one of the essential aspects of the game simply isn't smart.

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In Strat-o-Matic, each player's card is individualized. As part of this, each outfielder has a throwing rating. Aaron Judge, who has a great arm, is usually a (-5) or (-4) which means that he takes running "points" away from players who wish to try to take the extra base from him. They way he threw last night, it was clear Judge was a (+5).

Assuming he plays the rest of the season in the field and still cannot throw, it will be interesting to see how Strat-o-Matic replicates Judge's throwing on his card from the 2025 season. Will they give him a rating that signifies Judge at his best, or his worse, or will it be something inbetween?

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One problem with the Yankees beating up on inferior teams is the fact that the wins tend to come too easily for them. Those wins give a false impression of what it takes to win. While the Yankees can hit 45 million homers against the White Sox , Nationals, and Twins, they most often won't be winning games like that against the better teams and in the post season. In those games, the Yankees have to play smart baseball. That's still something they don't do regularly.

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The way the Blue Jays worked every pitch against Cam Schlittler reminded me the discussion the other day regarding a game when the Yankees absolutely did not work a pitcher - and, in fact, let that pitcher off the hook.

In that game, last week, Ben Rice came up in the first inning with the bases loaded, all on walks. There were no outs. Rice swung at the first pitch. He smoked the ball. He hit the ball hard - right into a double play. It matters little that he hit the ball hard. He created two outs. That was the result.

I know many disagree, but in situations like that, the smarter approach is to let the other team beat itself - don't do the job for them.

Last night the Blue Jays let Cam Schlitter beat himself.

The Yankees will not win important games against good teams by having poor approaches at the plate. They simply will not. How do I know this? Because this is the Yankees style, and has been, for many years - and it hasn't worked. The Yankees lose against the better teams, in part, because they do not have good approaches in their game strategy.

If a pitcher is struggling to throw strikes, batters should not, ever, help them out. Ever. This is especially true at the start of the game. Great hitters know this. Great managers know this. Great teams operate on this philosophy.

The great Yankees of the 1990s operated with this philosophy. They worked pitchers. They took pitches. They grinded.

Smart baseball wins games - especially against better teams. Situational awareness wins games.

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I recall an old baseball story, one I believe ascribed to the great manager John McGraw...

As the story goes, the manager told the player to take a strike or bunt (I forget the specifics) and the batter instead swung and hit a game winning home run.

McGraw, understanding the importance of playing winning smart baseball, fined the player for missing or disregarding the sign. McGraw didn't look to the immediate result, which was obviously great - his team won the game. Instead, he looked long term understanding the value of doing the right thing consistently. It's not about the immediate win. It's about winning the most games long-term. Teams win the most games long-term by doing the small things that over time lead to teams winning games consistently.

Whether or not that was John McGraw or whomever, the bigger point remains. If Ben Rice homered the other day, it still would have been the wrong approach. Great managers have always recognized these facts.

One builds a great team by continually and consistently practicing the proper approaches. This is a fact about any activity that builds on acquired skills and is stressed by leaders and coaches and teachers who understand the best approaches to winning, oand skill building is not one game, not one series, not one instance, but practicing the correct skills time and again over the long term.

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A lot is made when players hit the ball hard and still get out. "He smoked it." Yup. He did. He also got out. Just like with pitchers who cannot locate or who throw fastballs right down the middle, the speed matters less than the outcome. It is the outcome that is important.

One of the Yankees' problems, as explained by many familiar with the system over many years, is that they stress exit velocity at the expense of so much else.

It's important to hit the ball hard. Of course. But it's also important to play smart baseball. I'd argue that knowing situations, being strong fundamentally, and such, is much more important than exit velocity.

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I still believe the Yankees will make the playoffs. To me, no matter how they play in these next big series, the Yankees will still make the post season. What's at stake is how the Yankees are placed in the post season - where they finish.

But, even if the Yankees are the last wild card team, they still have a chance. The starting pitching, if Max Fried and Carlos Rodon pitch at their best, could still take them far.

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The Yankees finished August and began September by going 16-6. That's a great stretch no matter who the team is playing.

To me, that 16-6 stretch ended the "swoon." The Yankees had a positive record in August (16-12). The Yankees needed to win games - and they did.

The key now is how they do the rest of the way, but, even more, how they do in the playoffs. The concern is that this team has not been prepared in most of the important ways, to be successful in the playoffs. As I have noted, great pitching can overcome that - and the Yankees could have great pitching which could take them far.

It will be very interesting to see how this plays out.

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Just a friendly reminder that here at SSTN we don't appreciate giving players, the manager, umpires, and the like deragatory nicknames.

I find these nicknames trite, immature, and distracting. I have argued for years that most often people use name calling and insults as a retort when they lack substance in their arguments. If an argument is strong, there is no need for put downs - just give the facts.

There are plenty of sites that love putdowns, insults, profanity, and the like. If one feels compelled to write in that manner in the comments, I ask that they please do that at a place where it will be welcomed. The name calling is not welcomed here. At all. When you comment here, do so without the nicknames (and etc.).

We welcome respectful comments. Thank you!

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Answer To Trivia Question Above:

1. Corey Kluber

2. Dwight Gooden

3. David Cone

4. Randy Johnson

5. Catfish Hunter

6. Gaylord Perry