Francesa was referring to Severino citing the exit velocity of Alex Bregman’s home run and Aaron Judge’s long fly ball that was snagged at the right-field fence by Kyle Tucker.
“[Bregman] hit it 91 mph,’’ Severino told reporters of Bregman’s three-run, third-inning blast into the Crawford Boxes in left field. “That’s the only thing I’m gonna say. And Judge hit it 106 [mph] and it didn’t go out. They got lucky.”
Francesa did not appreciate Severino’s dismissive tone as the Yankees are now in a 2-0 hole against their hated rivals.
Luis Severino walks off the mound during Game 2 of the ALCS against the Astros.Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
Judge’s eighth-inning shot to right, nearly a game-flipping, two-run homer, fell just short of the fence and into the glove of Kyle Tucker.
On his BetRivers podcast that the longtime WFAN staple recorded after the show, he took a more measured tone. Francesa still lamented the Yankees’ lack of hitting and correctly noted that the Yankees would have gotten shut out if not for starting pitcher Framber Valdez’s two-base error in the fourth inning. Still, Francesa liked the Yankees’ chances in Game 3 on Saturday in The Bronx with ace Gerrit Cole on the mound.
“The Yankees didn’t put two guys on base in any inning,” Francesa said. “Very hard to win hat way unless you’re going to hit a bunch of solo home runs. They did not and they struck out 13 times. That’s 30 times in two games. You have to put the ball in play, get some base hits, they don’t get any hits. Maybe the home cooking will be a difference-maker.”
Mike Francesa in 2018 at a DraftKings event.Robert Sabo
HOUSTON — The Bronx Bombers didn’t live up to their name, and that includes the newly christened Bronxville Bomber, Harrison Bader himself. For the first time in 24 postseason games, the Yankees didn’t hit a home run, which is a likely recipe for defeat in Houston’s house of horrors.
They don’t love Minute Maid Park under normal conditions — and they missed their main weapon in Game 2 of the ALCS. Their mojo is in their muscles.
The Yankees without a home run are Christmas without Santa Claus.
Like the Patriots without Tom Brady.
Like nails without a hammer.
They are incomplete, at best. And very likely lost.
The Yankees haven’t won here all season, and it’s hard to imagine them doing it without hitting even one measly home run. They came close when certain AL MVP Aaron Judge hit one to the wall in the eighth inning. But close is all they ever seem to do against these annoying Astros, who went up two games to none in this ALCS with the 3-2 victory Thursday night.
Let’s face it. While the Yankees posted the second-highest run total in the majors this season, they are heavily dependent on the long ball. If they don’t have it, they may not have much. The Yankees were a rare major league team to score more than half their runs on homers — it was 50.8 percent of their runs to be exact — and if they don’t go deep, they may be in deep.
Aaron Judge’s long drive was caught by Kyle Tucker at the wall in the eighth inning of the Yankees’ 3-2 ALCS Game 2 loss to the Astros.Getty Images; USA TODAY Sports
Perhaps things will get better when they get back to Yankee Stadium, where they are a different team. They also won’t have to face all-time great Justin Verlander or All-Star Framber Valdez in either of the next two games.
To be fair, this was as tough a draw as possible. Houston had its pitching set up the way it wanted. Verlander is one of the greatest pitchers ever and he was having one of his better games in the ALCS opener. The Astros have about a 2.00 ERA for these playoffs, they are the only team yet to lose and they look like prohibitive favorites to run the table.
In an effort to jump-start things, manager Aaron Boone is making changes almost daily. Part of it is about the injuries, the locale and left versus right considerations. But there are enough alterations that it smacks partly of desperation.
Josh Donaldson walks to the dugout after striking out in the fourth inning of the Yankees’ Game 2 loss.N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg
Boone promoted Bronxville’s own Bader, the sudden slugging star, into the leadoff spot for Game 2, and Bader acted surprised about the move on the pregame show when Lauren Shehadi of TBS asked him about the switch. Either he didn’t know, or he’s as fine an actor as he is a hitter.
While Bader contributed one of four Yankees hits and a walk, it didn’t quite do the trick. The Yankees had three singles and a double total against Valdez and a couple Astros relievers. The offensive highlight was a 50-foot grounder by Giancarlo Stanton that Valdez turned into a mess.
Judge had one of the other hits, but it was also a single, which started the two-run fourth inning that accounted for all the offense. Stanton, one of the better postseason performers in recent seasons, then hit the fairly soft grounder back to Valdez that sufficed as the Yankees’ best moment of the night.
Kyle HIgashioka heads back to the dugout after striking out in the seventh inning of the Yankees’ loss. N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg
Although Stanton appears to be playing at about three-quarters speed, presumably the result of one of many foot injuries that have ailed the Yankees, Valdez panicked, turning a certain out (and maybe two) into a second-and-third situation. Anthony Rizzo followed with a run-scoring groundout and Gleyber Torres with a run-scoring ground single through the left side.
Unfortunately, that rally was all there was to write home about from an offensive standpoint. The good thing is they get to go home now, where they actually won a couple games against the Astros this season. They are now 0-5 here.
To win this series, of course, not only will the Yankees have to turn things around at home, they will eventually have to win at Minute Maid Park, where homers are indeed possible, especially into the Crawford Boxes in left field. Astros star Alex Bregman deposited the three-run shot there that became the defining moment of the game.
In the middle of the Yankees offensive ineptitude, Astros fans began chanting, “Yankees s—,” as if they were impersonating the Fenway faithful. There seems to be some surprising anger here at the team that keeps losing to their boys. If anything, you’d think they’d show some gratitude.
The Yankees continue to strike out a lot, too. After whiffing 17 times in Game 1, they fanned 13 more times. The team that eliminated the Yankees in 2015, 2017 and 2019 is threatening to do it again. The Yankees better start remembering who they are. Saturday back at the Stadium is the place to start.
The Yankees, fresh off their ALDS-clinching win over Cleveland in The Bronx on Tuesday night, came to the place where their last two ALCS appearances ended: Minute Maid Park.
This series didn’t get off to a promising start either for the Yankees, who dropped the opener, 4-2, on Wednesday.
Justin Verlander shut down the Yankees’ offense and Clarke Schmidt and Frankie Montas combined to give up three homers out of the bullpen, as the Astros pulled away for the victory.
Verlander gave up one run in six innings and struck out 11.
He went up against Jameson Taillon, who’d pitched just once since Oct. 4.
Taillon provided the Yankees pretty much what they could have hoped for, giving up just one run in 4 ¹/₃ innings before Schmidt took over in the fifth and got out of a jam.
Clarke Schmidt reacts dejectedly after giving up a solo homer to Yuli Gurriel during the fifth inning of the Yankees’ 4-2 loss to the Astros in Game 1 of the ALCS.N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg
But Yuli Gurriel hit a go-ahead homer to lead off the bottom of the sixth and Chas McCormick delivered another solo shot with one out later in the inning.
Montas gave up a leadoff homer to Jeremy Peña in the seventh to make it 4-1.
Anthony Rizzo homered with two outs in the eighth off Rafael Montero to get the Yankees within two runs.
Giancarlo Stanton singled to bring up the tying run, Josh Donaldson, who walked after striking out in his first three at-bats of the night.
Houston closer Ryan Pressly entered to face Matt Carpenter, who fanned for the fourth straight time — overmatched in his first start since Aug. 8 after missing two months with a fractured left foot.
Aaron Judge, who went 0-for-4, reacts during his at-bat in the fifth inning.USA TODAY Sports
The Yankees had their chances to do more against Verlander, though.
They threatened in the top of the first — with some help from the Astros.
After Verlander got Gleyber Torres and Aaron Judge to start the game, the right-hander drilled Rizzo with an 0-2 pitch and Stanton followed by reaching on a throwing error by Jose Altuve, who was shading up the middle.
But Donaldson went down swinging to end the inning.
With one out in the bottom of the frame, Peña belted a double over the head of Stanton in left.
Taillon walked Yordan Alvarez on four pitches to set up Alex Bregman, who hit a shot to right-center, where Judge made a fantastic diving catch for the second out. Kyle Tucker grounded to first for the third out.
Jeremy Peña watches his solo homer leave the yard during the seventh inning of the Yankees’ loss.Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
Harrison Bader gave the Yankees the lead in the top of the second with his fourth home run of the playoffs, a rocket solo shot to left-center.
The lead didn’t last.
Taillon retired the first two batters in the bottom of the inning, but McCormick lined a single to center and light-hitting catcher Martin Maldonado ripped a run-scoring double to right-center.
Rizzo walked and Stanton doubled to right with one out in the third, but Donaldson and Carpenter both whiffed, as Verlander went on to strike out six straight and retire 11 in a row.
Taillon was pulled for Schmidt with one out in the bottom of the fifth after giving up a second double to Peña .
An intentional walk to Alvarez put two runners on again for Bregman, who walked to load the bases — but Schmidt got Tucker to ground into a double play to keep the game tied.
Schmidt faltered in the sixth, however, giving up a leadoff homer to Gurriel on an 0-2 slider.
And one out later, McCormick went deep to chase Schmidt.
It’s just the latest postseason defeat in Houston for the Yankees, who have never won a playoff series against the Astros and were 0-3 in the regular season at Minute Maid Park.
After the last meeting between the teams here n July, Aaron Boone said none of it would matter once this time of year rolled around.
“Ultimately, we may have to slay the dragon, right?” Boone said on July 21. “If it comes to it in October, the proof will be in the pudding. Do we get it done?”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone professed great faith in who’s now left in the pen for the Yankees. Which only wraps up for Boone our coveted award for Most Positive Person of the Year.
Boone is either delirious or knows something we don’t know.
Joining Chad Green, Michael King, Ron Marinaccio and Zack Britton on the injured list Tuesday was Scott Effross, who it was announced will undergo Tommy John surgery. Of course, there was also Aroldis Chapman who’s on the A-List (no, that isn’t to denote his great fame, but stands for the AWOL List), as the best-paid reliever in the AL. He was a no-show for a mandatory workout and justifiably omitted from the Yankees’ active roster for the ALDS which began Tuesday against the Guardians.
What that leaves in the pen for the Yankees objectively ranks somewhere between an interesting puzzle and a complete mess depending on one’s perspective. Clay Holmes, fresh off the IL himself, presumably gets some save chances if he’s as healthy as they hope. But beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess how Boone utilizes this disjointed group.
With six key members of the Yankees bullpen corps either out due to injury (Green, King, Marinaccio, Britton and Effross) or insubordination (you know who), Boone is going to have several difficult choices, and he’s going to have to make it all work if the Yankees are to win their first World Series title in 13 seasons. He has navigated a difficult situation nicely to this point, but it gets exponentially harder from here.
Chapman really is no great loss at this point, as he struggled throwing his fastball for strikes. That inability was even low on his list of demerits, however, since he skipped a workout and at one point had to go on the IL with an infection from an upper-leg tattoo. With irony, the bad ink led to more bad ink, as he understandably drew negative press for his foolhardy mistake.
Emmanuel ClaseAP
Thanks to their $260 million payroll and certain AL MVP Aaron Judge, the Yankees understandably remain the heavy favorite in their matchup with the small-market, low-revenue, tiny-payroll Cleveland Guardians (everyone on our outstanding Post staff picked the Yankees but me, which eliminated me from the MPPOY award that easily goes to Boone; see the first paragraph). I get it, of course, the Yankees out-homered the Guardians by exactly double (254 to 127), they outspent them by an even greater margin and Judge remains a Yankee (for now anyway).
But let me explain. If the games are tight, the Guardians hold a big edge. While the Yankees technically had an even better season out of their pen — Yankees relievers posted a third-best in baseball 2.97 ERA to Cleveland’s fifth best 3.05 — as noted, half the Yankees’ group is missing, leaving a hole bigger than the one in left field when Anthony Rizzo bats.
While Boone will be busy mixing and matching, probable AL manager of the Year Terry Francona possesses a pen that’s set up for success. The anchor is Emmanuel Clase, who led MLB with 42 saves and is Cleveland’s version of Edwin Diaz (without the trumpets or fanfare). Clase has a better overall supporting cast than Diaz, with a nice variety of pitchers, including lefties and righties, plus soft throwers, hard throwers and very hard throwers.
Throw out those regular-season numbers. The pen comparison is a rout for Cleveland. Of course, it only matters if they keep games close, which seems possible with a very solid rotation fronted by Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie and Game 1 NLDS starter Cal Quantrill. Of course, if the games are blowouts, which is always possible with the Yankees, who vacillated between world beaters and a one-man show at different times, the Guardians will be toast.
But if it come down to a battle of the bullpens, the Guardians will be in great stead. James Karinchak seems recovered from the shock that came with the unexpected ban on sticky stuff to turn back into a viable reliever, joining Trevor Stephan (a Rule 5 pickup from the Yankees, who could use him now), little right-hander Eli Morgan (the son of noted sports editor Dave Morgan) and lefty Sam Hentges (who may be the most anonymous of an unknown but excellent group).
Clay HolmesCorey Sipkin
While the Yankees’ relief corps includes three former All-Star closers at full strength (Holmes plus Chapman and Britton), as constructed now it’s uncertain who will close, who will set up and who will get key outs. Lou Trivino, the one deadline pickup currently healthy (Andrew Benintendi and Frankie Montas, like Effross, are on the IL), may be key since he’s improved dramatically since coming to The Bronx after a slow start in the obscurity of Oakland. Lefty Wandy Peralta will be vital, too, though he, too, had a recent injury question.
Fortunately, with this being a five-game series with two off days, the Yankees had the luxury of moving solid back-end starters Domingo German and Jameson Taillon, to the bullpen. Which at least allowed the Yankees to fill the chairs out there.
During pregame warmups, players on both teams swatted away the pests, which seemed to be thicker along the Chargers’ shaded sideline.
“Terrible,” one Chargers player said as he headed to the locker room.
Chamberlain can relate. The former Yankees reliever was attacked by the insects during Game 2 of the 2007 ALDS. The lights-out reliever was protecting a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, but he walked two batters and threw two wild pitches to allow the tying run to score. This was all while trying to swat away the midges that attached themselves to Chamberlain’s body. The Yankees would lose the game in 11 innings and the series in four games.
Joba Chamberlain gets sprayed by Yankees trainer Gene Monahan during a midges attack in the 2007 ALDS. APChargers quarterback Easton Stick surrounded by midges before the Browns-Chargers game on Oct. 9, 2022.AP
Fans were quick to hit Chamberlain up on Twitter to get his reaction to the midges’ return to a sporting event.
“My comment, I’ve experienced them and am not a fan!” Chamberlain said.
“Feeling wasn’t mutual,” Chamberlain responded to another follower who said the midges loved him.
The Yankees and the now-Cleveland Guardians start a best-of-five ALDS on Tuesday night in The Bronx with the series shifting to Ohio for Game 3 on Friday.
Will the midges still be waiting? At Sunday’s football game, which the Chargers won 30-28, a security guard standing near the tunnel said he swallowed two of the bugs. Fans were forced to deal with the pests as well, batting them away during the first quarter,
A Browns helmet covered in midges on Oct 9, 2022.AP
The midges hatch along Lake Erie several times a year, and can get so thick they cover windows on cars and homes. The stadium’s press box window was speckled with the insects.
Unless he acquired ESP from his days working at ESPN, Boone simply cannot be right on every personnel choice he faces for the playoffs. And the Yankees manager faces a remarkable number of questions about who plays where and when considering he is in charge of a 99-win division champ.
He will stick with his mantra that these are good problems to have because the choices involve talented players. Let’s see if he is still saying that in a week when every 20/20 hindsight champion with anger and a social media account is calling him a puppet of Brian Cashman’s analytics group or demanding his dismissal.
Short of the Yankees going 11-0 en route to their first championship since 2009, Boone should expect a hellish ride full of first- and second-guessing and perhaps players grumbling because they are not playing when they thought they would. Anthony Rizzo will play first base, and Aaron Judge will start, of course. But beyond that, there are going to be debates about how the Yankees roster is deployed. So let’s expand 3Up to take a look at Boone’s puzzle:
1. Who is closing?
Being able to pencil Aaron Judge’s name into the lineup every day is a good place for the Yankees to start in the playoffs.JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK PO
This also easily can be expressed as: Who is setting up? Or even: Who are the Yankees including in their bullpen?
Using the “wrong” reliever on May 10 tends to send Yankees fans into the kind of fury that should be reserved for surgical mistakes. So if Boone, say, brings in Lou Trivino in the sixth inning of a playoff game and the righty gives up the lead, he should expect questions about why he didn’t use Jonathan Loaisiga, Scott Effross or Goose Gossage — as well as questions about why he hasn’t yet handed in his resignation.
The problem is the Yankees don’t have someone like Gossage or Mariano Rivera to anchor the ninth and make this about the baton pass from starter to closer. Aroldis Chapman lost control, confidence and his job. Clay Holmes went from an All-Star to the Pitts (if you get it, tell a friend). Holmes and Wandy Peralta finished the season on the injured list, but the Yankees believe both will be active for Game 1 of the Division Series on Tuesday.
But play it out. If the Yankees are leading the Rays 4-3 in Game 1 and the starter (we will get to that subject in a few paragraphs) is finished after six innings, what is the path to the finish line? Is Boone really going to strategize how to get the ball in the ninth inning to Holmes, who hasn’t pitched since Sept. 26 and hasn’t been trustworthy since the first week in July?
The relievers throwing the best down the stretch were Effross, Loaisiga and Trivino. The Yankees believe in Peralta’s fortitude, but he hasn’t pitched in a game since Sept. 18. Will Domingo German and/or Clarke Schmidt be given responsibility?
And what of Chapman?
Can Aroldis Chapman, who recorded a 4.48 ERA and walked 6.9 batter per nine innings, be relied upon in the postseason?Charles Wenzelberg / New York Po
Two weeks ago, the Yankees were contemplating whether his roster spot would be better used in another way. But injuries to Zack Britton and Ron Marinaccio took them off the chessboard, at least for the first round. That assured Chapman would keep his roster spot through the regular season, and it might also now get him on the postseason roster.
And now a historical aside: In 1996, Graeme Lloyd had a 17.47 ERA for the Yankees during the regular season. Damaso Marte had a 9.45 mark in 2009. Neither was a certainty to make the postseason roster. But both did because they were lefties with stuff. And the Yankees might not win the championship either year without them; they were brilliant in the playoffs.
On the basis of his pure stuff, do the Yanks throw a dart and hope that Chapman has a Lloyd/Marte moment or three in the playoffs? It is hard to forget he has given up two of the most devastating homers in Yankees postseason history and just how erratic he was this year. He is going to be a tough choice either way.
My suspicion is Boone will use the Yankees bullpen much like Kevin Cash deployed the Rays relief group in getting to the World Series in 2020. Nick Anderson, Diego Castillo and Pete Fairbanks each appeared in postseason games as early as the fifth inning and also had saves. They were used interchangeably as the main high-leverage guys — with Aaron Loup and Ryan Thomson as the other relievers in Cash’s circle of trust.
I think Boone uses Holmes, Effross, Loaisiga, Peralta and Trivino interchangeably as his circle-of-trust relievers; German, Schmidt and Lucas Luetge are around for length and emergencies; and Chapman is a break-glass-if-needed wild card.
2. Who starts Game 1?
A few weeks back on “The Show with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman” podcast, Boone said it would be Gerrit Cole. But he hedged late in the season. The question really should be: Who do you want starting a win-or-go-home Game 4 or Game 5 if it gets there? Because whoever starts Game 1 would have full rest for Game 4 and one extra day rest for Game 5.
Nestor Cortes may not get the traditional honor of starting Game 1 in the ALDS, but he may be given the responsibility of getting the Yankees out of a winner-take-all Game 5.Charles Wenzelberg / New York Po
So if the season were on the line, do the Yankees want Cole or Nestor Cortes starting? Or do they want Luis Severino, who looked so great with seven no-hit innings in his last start in Texas?
Jameson Taillon would be lined up to start a Game 4, if necessary, if the Yankees lead the series, 2-1. If the Yankees trail 2-1, I would suspect the Game 1 starter would go in Game 4. That would leave Taillon to start Game 5 with the Game 2 starter perhaps available for a few innings of relief.
I think the Yankees should start Cortes in the opener. I believe Boone will go with Cole.
3. Who plays second base?
DJ LeMahieu came back from his toe injury to produce four singles in 16 at-bats over five games with two walks, one strikeout, lots of groundballs and no signs of his best results. Meanwhile, in his final 17 games, Gleyber Torres hit .391 with 11 extra-base hits, including five homers. His defense at this moment also is better than LeMahieu’s.
Case closed, right?
Well, I do think Torres will start Game 1, but what I cannot shake is how much Boone admires LeMahieu. He knows that LeMahieu, when right, can hit top-end playoff pitching and will never be intimidated by a big spot. But is LeMahieu even close to right?
If he is, well, stick with me.
4. Who plays third base?
Josh Donaldson’s 27.1 percent strikeout rate this season doesn’t bode well for the postseason.Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
That will probably be Josh Donaldson, right? His defense has been strong all season, and maybe he will run into a pitch or two in the postseason. But Donaldson ended his season 0-for-15 with some shaky defense. In his last 14 games, he had two doubles, no homers, a .222 average and stuck out in 20 of 61 plate appearances.
Do the Yankees believe Donaldson will hit good postseason pitching? He spent a lot of 2022 guessing and overmatched.
Is LeMahieu an option to start at third? When fully healthy this year, LeMahieu played better defense at the position than was anticipated.
Again, which version of LeMahieu is available to the Yankees?
5. What’s the outfield?
This question might be made simple. If Andrew Benintendi (hamate)cannot make it back in time for the playoffs, the Yankees will line up with Oswaldo Cabrera in left field, Harrison Bader in center and Aaron Judge in right. But what if Benintendi is deemed ready? I’m still not sure he starts.
The Yankees have loved the extra defensive boost Bader has provided in center and the overall boost Cabrera has supplied. The Yankees won a championship in 1998 with rookies Ricky Ledee and Shane Spencer sharing left field. It has only been 44 games for Cabrera, but based on those 44 games, I would ask: Is Benintendi even an upgrade? Maybe. The rookie has not flinched yet and has shown a high baseball IQ. Will that continue into the playoffs?
In 14 games with the Yankees, Harrison Bader has provided the type of elite defense the team hopes will make a difference this month.Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
Here is one to think about: If Benintendi does come back, can the Yankees line up Benintendi in left, Judge in center and Cabrera in right with Bader available to come in late for defense? If he does come in late for defense, he goes to center, Judge to right and who would you play in left: Benintendi or Cabrera?
6. Who plays shortstop?
Isiah Kiner-Falefa, right? Yes. Definitely.
But if an important ground ball is hit to short late in a close playoff game, would you rather have Kiner-Falefa stationed there or Oswald Peraza? You might ask the same thing even about which of those two you would want taking a big late at-bat.
The major league sample size for Peraza is far smaller even than for Cabrera. But have you seen enough to at least ask whether he Peraza a better option than Kiner-Falefa?
7. Who is the catcher?
This has been so much easier the past few years when Gary Sanchez was just losing his job about this time of the season.
The Yankees have gotten so much all season in performance, especially on defense, and spiritually from Jose Trevino. But Kyle Higashioka hit .339 with three homers in September, and also is a strong defender.
Jose Trevino’s excellent defense makes him the likely first-choice catcher for the Yankees in the playoffs.Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
My guess is Trevino starts Game 1, but there could be starts for Higashioka as well. More importantly, the trust in Higashioka will lead to more aggressive pinch-hitting for Trevino.
8. Who is the DH?
Giancarlo Stanton. That’s who it is going to be. His postseason history alone (nine homers in 18 games) is going to give him the nod. And his homers in each of his last three regular-season starts suggest maybe he is just about to get hot.
But there sure were a lot of long stretches of bad at-bats this year. Is Matt Carpenter really going to be back? He hasn’t played since Aug. 8. Who knows if he can recapture what he had before fracturing his left foot, when for 154 impressive plate appearances, he was the Yankees’ toughest at-bat not named Judge. He hit lefties and righties. He hit good pitching. He hit in the clutch. He hit with two strikes.
If he is back and capable, he becomes the No. 1 pinch-hitting option for someone such as Trevino — and maybe even for Donaldson and Bader in certain spots.
9. Who is on the roster?
The roster goes back to 26 for the postseason. There can be no more than 13 pitchers.
My guess is 12 pitchers: Cole, Cortes, Severino, Taillon, Holmes, Effross, Loaisiga, Peralta, Trivino, German, Schmidt and Chapman.
With two off days, I think there is no need for more, though remember in the playoffs there is no automatic runner to second base in extra innings. A game will have a chance of going much longer.
Though only 23, Oswaldo Cabrera has displayed a veteran savvy no matter where the Yankees play him in the field.JASON SZENES
Chapman is the only lefty reliever. Could they also take Lucas Luetge rather than a long guy such as German or Schmidt? Would they take Luetge instead of Chapman? Is Miguel Castro in play?
They could always take 13. But that would hinder some offensive maneuverability.
The worry on Chapman is this: If he goes in Game 1 and can’t find the strike zone and has to be yanked quickly, effectively removing him as an option the rest of the way, the Yankees would be down to 11 pitchers. For that reason, do they take Castro? My gut is still Chapman.
That leaves 14 slots for position players. I think there are 11 locks: Trevino, Higashioka, Rizzo, Torres, Kiner-Falefa, LeMahieu, Donaldson, Stanton, Judge, Bader and Cabrera.
That would leave two spots from among Peraza, Marwin Gonzalez, Aaron Hicks and Tim Locastro. Though he surprisingly lasted the whole season, Gonzalez becomes an easy removal here. Cabrera offers Gonzalez’s switch-hitting and defensive versatility. Carpenter and LeMahieu can be the lefty and righty bats off the bench. Cabrera can be the backup shortstop. But maybe Peraza is the backup shortstop. If the Yankees believe Peraza offers a comparable base-stealing threat to Locastro, this would be an easy choice. I think that is hard to definitively believe so early in Peraza’s career.
Because of that, I think Peraza doesn’t make it, and they end up going with Hicks and Locastro.. But it will be a close call.
Matt Carpenter won’t make it back for the Yankees’ final series of the regular season, but he will use those three days to try to prepare to be an option for the ALDS.
Instead of joining the Yankees in Texas, the veteran left-handed hitter will head to Somerset, N.J., on Monday to get live at-bats at the club’s Double-A stadium that it has set up as an alternate site to keep players ready entering the postseason.
The Yankees on Sunday transferred Carpenter, who has been out since Aug. 9 with a broken left foot, to the 60-day injured list, officially ruling him out for the Rangers series. But he remains a candidate to be on the Yankees’ ALDS roster if he can prove he is healthy enough before then.
Matt Carpenter on the Yankees dugout steps in a boot on Sept. 5, 2022.Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
“The biggest thing is we just want him to start getting at-bats,” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday. “Between now and the start of the Division Series when we get back, he should be able to rack up a number of live at-bats.”
Boone said Carpenter would not get any outfield reps, at least not initially, while in Somerset.
The Yankees will have eight or nine minor league pitchers in Somerset who will be able to throw to Carpenter and then the rest of the Yankees during the layoff between the regular-season finale and the start of the ALDS.
The Yankees’ Matt Carpenter hits a double against the Royals on July 31, 2022.Corey Sipkin
Wandy Peralta (left thoracic spine tightness) will be one of those pitchers as the Yankees decided to send the rehabbing lefty reliever to the alternate site instead of returning from the IL in Texas. Peralta threw a second bullpen on Sunday and will face hitters on Tuesday or Wednesday.
“He’s doing well,” Boone said. “It was more like, do we want to get him in one game there or just have him live. You gotta kind of create a roster spot, which gets a little dicey. So in the end, we decided on he’s good to go live. He’ll get another one or two in prior to the Division Series.”
The Yankees expect to activate reliever Miguel Castro (shoulder strain) off the 60-day IL on Monday.
It has become increasingly difficult to imagine a 2023 baseball season with Aaron Judge playing for a team other than the Yankees. As he proved Wednesday night in Toronto, Judge is a sucker for tradition and for connections with titans of the past.
Of course, no franchise packages and sells that brand of tradition and those cross-generational bridges like the one that currently employs the incomparable No. 99.
“That’s one thing so special about the Yankees organization,” Judge said, “is all the guys that came before us and kind of paved the way and played the game the right way.”
Look at how Judge interacted with Roger Maris Jr. after the historic 8-3 victory, and listen to how he spoke of Roger Maris Sr. and the fulfilled quest “to be enshrined with him forever” after tying his American League single-season record with homer No. 61. The slugger and the Yankees are so much better together than they would be apart, and it seems inconceivable that Hal Steinbrenner, the steward of a $7 billion empire, wouldn’t pay whatever it took in free agency to keep the game’s best player in The Bronx.
But Judge didn’t grow up in Linden, Calif., dreaming of playing for the Yankees, the way the New Jersey-born and Michigan-raised Derek Jeter did. And if Tom Brady can leave the Patriots — once an unfathomable scenario — then any superstar can leave any team in any sport.
A smiling Aaron Judge is congratulated by Yankees teammates after he hit his 61st homer to tie Roger Maris’ AL record.N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg
So if the improbable does happen and Judge signs a long-term deal for north of $300 million with the Giants or another big-game hunter, he would have earned a free pass to that next phase of his career. He would have left behind a parting gift valuable enough to millions on the receiving end to ensure that his passage to the next club is absent any real fan-base animus.
The 2022 season is that gift. When factoring in the bigger, stronger, faster realities of the modern athlete, it can be argued that Judge played baseball at a higher level this year than any Yankee ever has. If you lined up Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle next to the big man, they’d all look like Phil Rizzuto. At 6-foot-7 and 282 pounds, Judge is Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points against the 1962 Knicks — night after night after night.
He has made a brutally difficult game look relatively easy. Nobody has ever won the Triple Crown by hitting more than 52 home runs, and now Judge has a chance to win it by hitting more than 62, while batting at least 70 points higher than the league average, .243, the lowest it’s been in more than 50 years.
Comparing eras is always a tough proposition, especially when measuring teams and players from before and after the game’s integration. Ruth and Gehrig regularly put up ridiculous numbers in their primes. The Babe is the only player to ever post a single-season WAR of more than 12.5, and he did it three times, including a 14.2; and the Iron Horse won the 1934 Triple Crown (.363, 49 HRs, 166 RBIs).
Aaron Judge watches his 61s homer leave the yard during the Yankees’ win over the Blue Jays.N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg
DiMaggio delivered his epic 56-game hitting streak in 1941, and Mantle won the Triple Crown 15 years later (.353, 52 HRs, 130 RBIs). The 30-year-old Judge might not match their feats over the long haul, but this franchise has always separated the men from the boys with one stat — the home run — and Judge has more of them in a year than any Yankee other than the late Roger Maris, who could lose his share of the record before the season ends.
Maris wasn’t nearly as dominant in 1961, when he finished the season 92 points behind batting champ Norm Cash and didn’t land in the top 10 in WAR. Maris showed a lion’s heart when toppling the Babe that year against the wishes of nearly everyone involved, but he wasn’t the 2022 Aaron Judge, who has 23 more homers than the next guy on the American League list (Mike Trout) and leads the sport in just about everything — WAR, OBP, OPS, runs, extra-base hits, total bases, you name it.
Everything to know about Aaron Judge and his chase for the home run record:
And soon, Judge will be paid accordingly. Before the season, the Yankees made him a contract offer (seven years, $213.5 million) best described as reasonable, but underwhelming. For a guy who insists he wasn’t betting on himself, Judge took a helluva bet on himself, and ran the table for the better part of six months.
It was a staggering performance at a time when seemingly half the league is batting .229, so you almost felt as if you were defacing Judge’s work of art when bringing up his pending free agency. But given that the situation isn’t going away until the slugger calls his shot, this much needs to be said:
World Series title or no World Series title, Judge has given Yankees fans a magical ride and eternal memories. That shouldn’t be forgotten if he makes a different kind of history this offseason — the contractual kind — and decides to go swing his heavy lumber for someone else.
When someone writes the story of the 2022 baseball season, Aaron Judge’s name had better appear in the first sentence of the first paragraph. He is the lead character of the 162-game drama. Shohei Ohtani, Paul Goldschmidt, Justin Verlander, Sandy Alcantara and others have played strong supporting roles, but there’s no debate who the top guy is.
From the moment Judge declined the Yankees’ $213.5 million offer prior to Opening Day, he has owned this season. His 2022 is in the conversation for the best season ever, right there with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in 1927, Mickey Mantle in 1956, Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 and Bob Gibson in 1968. It’s a once-in-a-generation type season.
Judge bet on himself. He did possess some inside information, as nobody knows him better than himself. He believed, given health, he could be the best player in the league, and he has not only delivered on that promise, but also has put together the best clean season in a generation, maybe two. The 61st home run he hit Wednesday night in Toronto to tie Roger Maris added a historic exclamation to a season so good it didn’t even need that great record, which is the true record.
While it’s no surprise that Judge, as a former San Francisco Giants fan from Northern California, pays homage to Barry Bonds, we keep it real in this space. Bonds’ stats, while extraordinary, are fake news. We know what he was in Pittsburgh and at the start back home in the Bay Area. He was terrific, but he wasn’t Ruthian before he picked up the syringe. We also know no one improves to the point of ridiculousness in their mid and late 30s — not without medicinal aids.
Aaron Judge watches his 61st home run on Wednesday night.Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Judge did it with hard work and grace and class. It was not done with the help of Victor Conte or some other behind-the-scenes scoundrel. It is a season to be admired by one and all — no asterisks and no questions asked.
Judge did it on his own, and at times during the dog days that was pretty literal. While the rest of the Yankees were floundering, and threatening to unravel, Judge kept getting better and better. His 19-homer lead in the majors represents the biggest gap since 1928, when Babe Ruth finished 23 home runs ahead of Hack Wilson and Jim Bottomley. Judge also is lapping the field.
Everything to know about Aaron Judge and his chase for the home run record:
Beyond the numbers, he has become a great leadoff hitter, a terrific center fielder, a superb leader, a true captain (even without the title), and by all accounts the best teammate you could ask for.
“He’s a special man having a special season,” teammate Josh Donaldson said.
Ruth practically invented the home run, but Judge has topped The Babe. He has hit 30 home runs at home and 31 on the road. Someone once said Yankee Stadium was a Little League park, but Judge’s numbers are actually slightly better on the road. He had 33 home runs before the All-Star break, 27 since, which actually represents much greater performance, since the All-Star break came late this year after the tardy start while MLB and the players union worked out their own differences.
Once that was done, Judge and the Yankees sat down, and tried to figure it out. But they had a problem. Judge saw himself as comparable to the best in the game, the Yankees saw him as comparable to Mookie Betts, who may be the best in the game, but isn’t quite paid like it. Judge and the Yankees are thought to have been close to $100 million apart. Judge was right, as it turns out. He is the best, bar none.
Aaron Judge is all smiles after hitting home run No. 61 to tie Roger Maris’ mark. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
When I recently told a Yankees official they need to pay Judge whatever he wants, he informed me that I would not be a viable candidate to work in the team’s front office. They have said they will pay him something that’s “extremely competitive” or words to that effect. And maybe that will get it done. Because being a Yankee benefits him, as well.
But here’s another idea. Pay him what he’s worth. He has dominated the season with nonstop heroics, he has created more excitement than any Yankee since Mantle, or maybe even Joe DiMaggio or Ruth. He has inspired a whole section of seats and sold a ton of merch. The Judge’s Chambers are as much a part of the scene as the roll call, maybe more.
He is by far the biggest star on the team. Mike Trout has Shohei Ohtani, the miracle two-way player who will finish second in MVP to Judge. Betts has Freddie Freeman, Clayton Kershaw and a legion of greats. This Yankees team has several outstanding players. Gerrit Cole is a workhorse, even if he’s susceptible to the home run. Anthony Rizzo is a savant in the box and at first base. Giancarlo Stanton is a threat every time he comes up. Nestor Cortes is an original and a revelation.
But let’s face it. It’s Judge and everyone else. That’s just like this season, which is all his now. He owns the year.
Aaron Judge’s chase for history will go international, after being robbed of at least one more at-bat in The Bronx on Sunday night.
For the fifth straight game — this one shortened by rain — the Yankees slugger remained stuck at 60 home runs, one shy of Roger Maris’ American League and franchise record.
Aaron Judge reacts after flying out in the fifth inning. Jason Szenes
Judge went 1-for-2 with a double and a walk in the Yankees’ seventh straight win, 2-0 in six innings over the Red Sox. He was set to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning, but the game entered a delay after the sixth inning because of torrential downpours and then got called after more than an hour and a half.
The Yankees (94-58) will begin a three-game series in Toronto on Monday, needing just one win over the Blue Jays to clinch the AL East, though all eyes will continue to be on Judge. He has hit 11 home runs in 34 career games at Rogers Centre.
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