by Paul Semendinger
April 29, 2023
***
Uggg. The Yankees managed three hits against Nathan Eovaldi who walked none and struck out eight. Over their last nine games, the Yankees are 3-6.
***
All winter, I stated that the Yankees were building a team that did not look strong offensively.
Here are the starters in the game tonight and their batting averages for the year:
Volpe - .216
Rizzo - .293
Torres - .244
LeMahieu - .256
Calhoun - .243
Cabrera - .207
Trevino - .237
Bauers - .000 (just called up) - replaced by Hicks .125
Kiner-Falefa - .174
The Yankees are 15-13 on the year. They are on pace to win 87 games. In games Gerrit Cole doesn't start, and earn a win, the Yankees are 10-13.
I know, it's only April, but this is no longer just a small sample size.
Dating back to July 1, 2022, the last four full months (plus 6 games in October) of Yankees baseball, the Yankees are 58-55. We're now talking a sample size of 113 games. (That's on pace to win 79 games over 162 games.)
As they planned for the 2023 season, the Yankees:
Never got a left fielder.
Never added a quality lefty bat to the lineup
Hoped that the frequently injured Harrison Bader would be a regular.
Hoped that the frequently injured Giancarlo Stanton would be a regular.
Hoped that Josh Donaldson would revert to how he played years ago.
Hoped that the frequently injured Luis Severino would stay healthy.
Hoped that the injured (when they got him) Frankie Montas) would somehow be healthy and be the fifth starter
Hoped that the frequently injured Tommy Kahnle would help the bullpen
Hoped that Aaron Judge would play at the level he played at last year
Hoped that Aaron Hicks perform better than he has in many years...
None of those things have happened yet.
It wasn't a good plan. It was a lot of wishful thinking. We heard last year that the "process" was sound. "It's not the results," we were told.
Well, I hate to say it, but the results aren't good. And neither was the process.
I know a lot of people feel that the Yankees will suddenly turn it all around. I don't. What we see if a flawed team playing flawed baseball.
