SSTN Mailbag: Civale, Devers, And Volpe!

What a week. How a team can look as good as the Yankees have at times this season, then turn around and look as bad as they have since late last week is beyond comprehension...almost. I say almost because this has become a trend for teams managed by Aaron Boone. Don't get me wrong - I think Aaron Boone seems to be a really nice guy, his guys clearly like him, and much as his media statements make people who follow the team nuts, he's basically doing it to shield his players (badly, but I digress). However, the Yankees follow the same pattern, year after year. They start hot, they struggle badly through the early or mid-summer, come back to play decent baseball in late-August into September, give us hope by beating an inferior team in the playoffs, and wilt when times get tough. This is the playbook under Aaron Boone, and we're watching it all play out again.

Why do I blame Aaron Boone for that trend? Because it happens in the same way every year. Most critically, the part of the team's game that breaks down the worst are the things that coaching manages: fundamentals in all facets of the game. The second the pressure gets ratcheted up, baserunning, defense, and approach at the plate goes out the window for the Yankees. Players who are normally good in those facets of the game suddenly wilt. Aaron Judge drops a fly ball in the World Series; Jasson Dominguez forgets how many strikes there are while on first base; Anthony Volpe boots a ball; Bellinger and Volpe engage in maybe the worst baserunning brain-lapse of the season; guys who see 5+ pitches per at-bat swing at the first pitch they see; and countless other examples.

Sure, we can talk about roster construction, and even I'll acknowledge that some of those points are valid, but the players change (mostly in positive ways!), and the same issues crop up. The constant here is the direct voice to the players in the dugout. I fear that Boone may get the same distinction as Buck Showalter: a guy who can help teams win some ballgames, but ultimately can't get a team over the hump.

Regardless of whether the Yanks start winning again, something needs to change.

As always, thanks for the great questions and keep them coming to SSTNReadermail@gmail.com. In this week's SSTN Mailbag, we'll talk about Aaron Civale, the Rafael Devers trade, and Anthony Volpe! Let's get at it:

Michael G. asks: Civale was recently traded for next to nothing. Would he be an upgrade at all for the back of the rotation? Or is he more the equivalent of another stroman?

I don't view Civale as an upgrade beyond the guys that are currently available both on the big league roster and at AAA. Civale has been a decent pitcher intermittently over the years, but he's always been more of a back-end guy than anything else. The White Sox are bad and need innings, so having someone like Civale around to eat innings in the rotation makes sense. The Brewers, a team hoping to contend, obviously didn't feel like Civale was rotation material even though they have multiple injuries to their starting staff at the moment.

Looking more closely at Civale, he is a righty who throws the kitchen sink at hitters mostly because he doesn't have a single standout pitch. Under the hood, there are interesting aspects to his stuff that make people dream on more, which is likely why he continues to get chances. Civale has a natural feel for spinning the baseball, and his spin rates on his cutter, curveball, and slider are elite. The curveball, in particular, is a very interesting pitch, but even that pitch displays Civale's primary issue: a complete lack of command.

A very basic look at Civale's pitch plots shows that all of his pitches have a tendency to catch the heart of the plate; in fact his cutter, which Civale throws the majority of the time, is mostly thrown over the middle in the upper third of the strike zone. Because of the spin Civale generates, he allows a lot of soft contact, but that's where the positives really begin and end. At this point in his career, I'm not sure there's anything even a really good pitching coach can do to help Civale command the baseball well enough with 2 or 3 pitches to make him an effective starter.

Civale was a nice out-of-the-box idea, but I just don't think there's quite enough there to make Civale a better option than Yarbrough.

David R. asks: I'll leave this open-ended, because I think everyone is still working out thoughts on this one. What are your thoughts on the Devers trade from everyone's perspective?

I have to admit, the trade was a real shocker to me. Obviously, everyone knew there was potential for Devers to be traded given the significant public acrimony between the two sides, but to trade Devers as the Red Sox appeared to be turning their season around was baffling.

Even more surprising to me is the number of Yankee fans I've seen lamenting the Red Sox's ability to get out from under big contracts in light of the Devers trade. To me, this is just wild. Trading Devers is an admission of failure for the Red Sox. Not only is it an admission of failure, it is a signal that the team is not really serious about protecting its homegrown players and that it is not interested in winning in the short term. Is the Devers contract likely to be underwater? Yes, but that's true of all large contracts. If you don't think that every big league club can afford these deals, even the bad ones, long term, I have a bridge to sell you. The Red Sox have spent the last 5+ seasons trying to operate like a mid-market team as opposed to the financial powerhouse they should be. That's embarrassing to the Red Sox, it should be embarrassing to Red Sox ownership, and it should make every Red Sox fan furious enough to potentially make them re-think their fandom.

Say what you want about the Yankees, and maybe they're not as "all-in" as we'd prefer, but the Yankees have never stooped as low as Red Sox management in the last few years. If the roles were flipped, I would be so ashamed of the Yankees that I wouldn't feel good about wearing Yankees gear. So to Yankee fans that are jealous of the Red Sox right now, I would say be very, very careful about what you wish for.

Now that I've said that, I think both Devers and the Red Sox handled this badly. Devers was immature and overly inflexible, but this started because of the Red Sox's continued lying and miscommunication. Much has been written about that history, so I won't note it here, but no one in Red Sox management looks good here.

Now, about the trade: I'm not sure how anyone can say the Red Sox won here. Sure, the contract would have gotten ugly, but all of them do, and the Red Sox can afford it. Devers is likely to remain a middle-of-the-order hitter for another 3-4 years, at least. The Giants have been desperate to get that kind of bat in their lineup, and they got it for very little in cost. It's a similar idea to the Giancarlo Stanton trade, and despite the fact that Stanton's body has fallen apart (far sooner than anyone expected), that's a trade you do every. single. time. Bravo to the Giants, and shame on the Red Sox. I guarantee that they don't immediately spend to build a winner.

Steve G. asks: Is there any hope for Volpe? He looked like he was figuring it out and now he looks so bad everywhere. What's going on?

I don't think there's anyone on the roster who's been more disappointing to me lately than Anthony Volpe. His at-bats still look okay to me, at least within range of his capabilities (despite the slump), but it's his total collapse everywhere else that's baffling to me. He really seems like a guy that struggles defensively under pressure, and his baserunning ability, once one of his calling cards, just seems gone. He looks a step slower, and his decision making and instincts just look off.

I hope he's banged up, because otherwise, I'm really worried. I don't have much else to say until we see a little more.