Last nights game was pretty close because we didn't hit as well as we could have, Happ continues to struggle more than he should and Boone had the wrong reliever ready in my opinion
Outside of a bullet line drive homer to dead center by Sanchez (who did have 3 hits) the Yankees offense was fairly quiet. The other huge hit was a 2 out single by Ford to LF. Ford is not long for the majors as he is more of a minor league player, but he hasn't been awful and has contributed some. His OPS of .664 leaves a lot to be desired at 1B, but when you have 3 guys down you need some help. No need to go crazy right now, but our best lineup until Voit comes back is DJ at 1B...it may still be our best when Voit comes back too as Voit can DH.
Happ has to get consistent with his changeup. he simply has not been able to nail that low outside corner with it this year and it is a huge pitch for him. If I were the pitching coach, that is what I would be focusing on as last night he spotted his fastball much better but he didn't have a secondary pitch and he needs the changeup as well as working in his curve.
I didn't have a problem with Cessa starting the 7th inning after mowing down Baltimore in the 6th. After getting the first out he allowed a double and I would have had Kahnle ready with a switch hitter and lefties coming up (one righty). After walking Mancini I would have taken out Cessa, but Boone had Ottavino up and ready and with a lefty up he stuck with Cessa (not terrible, but I think wrong reliever)...Cessa did get the next batter to fly out but Cessa was not as sharp and got away with some pitches. Now with the righty Nunez up Ottavino had to come in, but no Boone stuck with Cessa and the hot Nunez doubled scoring 2. Ottavino was then brought in to face the lefty and Ottavino has a .784 OPS against lefties this year (Kahnle is .589 because if his changeup). Ottavino allowed a double and we were in a one run game now. Ottavino is our best pitcher against righties with a .551 OPS against and he should be used more as a righty specialist and not a guy who holds down an inning. This is one area that I would like to see some movement from Boone. he is big on Kahnle for the 6th and Ottavino for the 7th, Britton for the 8th and Chapman for the 9th. I think you need more flexibility based on the situation. Britton is a little better against lefties and Chapman is outstanding against lefties and we should use that to our advantage. BTW, when Chapman has his slider break down it is a great strike out pitch. Britton has also started to use his "slurve" more as it has been very sharp.
A few other notes:
- I was hoping Judge was getting out of his funk on Tuesday as he hit a couple of rockets for outs, but last night he was back not centering pitches and then complained about a strike 3 on the corner (not like him) that was probably the correct call and then watched another strike 3 go by. Think about this, the Yankees team OPS is .833 and Judge's OPS is now .842. That is pretty bad for him.
- Sanchez had a good game and hopefully he is starting to heat up as he is an enormous game changer at the catcher position. I will say that I don;t love his pitch selection at times, but he is a lot better than he was.
- Didi - I have not mentioned him as I was trying to give him some time to get back in the groove, but his .734 OPS is as disappointing as Judges OPS. What is really concerning is that he is simply not walking at all and he hasn't been able to drive pitches to LF. I like that he tried to bunt the other day with the shift on, but he needs to be more patient at the plate and drive the ball the other way. He has hit some very weak balls on the outside corner. For perspective, he hasn't walked in his 10 games this month and his OBP is a terrible .287. He has walked 8 times in 200 AB's this year and last year he walked 48 times in 504 AB's. That is 9.5% in 2018 compared to 4% this year. NOT GOOD
Cleveland for 4 before we head to the left coast!
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