5-18-18

We looked like a team that has not played many games recently.  The defense was weak and mostly from Torres who had a rough game in the field.  Misdiagnosing a grounder with the bases loaded and then flubbing the throw was a difference maker in the game.  Not only did we end up letting up 2 runs we shouldn't have, it overworked CC who was not that sharp anyway.  Torres also dropped a popup he was running back on, and while he got an out on the play, a run scored that probably would not have if he caught it.  Of course, I think he dropped it because he was gearing up to stop and throw home.  regardless, it was a rough game in the field.  We should not be worried about his defense though; it happens.

What we should be a little concerned about is that we have a lot of guys not hitting that well at the same time.  This lineup will be pretty good about not having extended slumps because someone can pick us up.  However, in the month of May, Hicks has an OPS of .603, Andujar has an OPS of .546 and including the very nice opposite field HR last night, Austin has an OPS of .369 (2-21).  the sad part is that Didi is even worse than Austin's .369, having a slump for the ages with a .301 OPS in 55 AB's...and over the past 42 AB's he has ONE single, 1 RBI and 4 walks.  It is time for the batting coach to earn his money because while I agree with the saying, "nobody is as ever as good as when they are on a hot streak, or as bad during a slump," this is a terribly long slump.  I thought he would be dropped in the lineup already and it needs to happen asap.  Most of it is mental so I am a fan of changing the mindset.  I say mostly because the hitting coach should be able to spot something Didi is doing differently.  It looks to me like he is not the same aggressive player he has been and not in terms of swinging at pitches, but how he swings at the pitches.  He isn't attacking the ball with aggression, he seems to be off balance and just trying to make contact and in doing so not squaring anything up.  BTW, players have had bad slumps before but not usually players that are solid hitters like Didi.  In their rookie years, Robin Ventura and Jose Canseco each had 0-40 slumps; so it can happen (man and for a rookie that is rough).

A couple of quick notes:

CC was not sharp in the game.  While better defense would have helped him a ton, if KC swung the bats better, it could have been worse.

Interesting stat - The Yankees hadn't lost in a CC start for 15 starts until last night.

The Yankees didn't swing the bats well either as the KC starter (Junis) missed a lot of spots frequently.  Sometimes, he was lucky in that he would paint the outside corner when the catcher called for an inside pitch but other times he left pitches right over the heart of the plate and the Yankees either missed them or took them.  There were a lot of sliders over the heart of the plate.  Bonne said Junis was really good, but this was a weak hitting effort.

Frazier is back up on the team and I expect him to start playing more with Hicks being more like he has always been (go back and read my preseason blog). 

I would not be surprised to see Drury come up as well, but that leaves a lot of infielders.  I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a trade,  Torreyes may make the most sense as his numbers are a little inflated even with his recent 2-12 slump.  The issue is that I don't think anyone else can play SS except Torres and we may not want to mess with him.  That being said, I would play Torres at SS once in awhile when you want to rest Didi.