Now lets get into some baseball!
That feels good to write and I have to say I was ready to watch after only watching a few AB's in the preseason. I won't give predictions yet or go into an analysis of positions, but I will soon. That being said, we have a great team and if we stay healthy, we should win the division. In fact, not winning the division would be an upset.
My thoughts on the game:
- It is very odd to not have a crowd; I am surprised the mic isn't more pronounced so that you here the crack of the bat better or the pop of the glove
- There was discussion from ARod about the new setup for Sanchez behind the plate. He is now on one knee. ARod said there were positives and negatives as it is supposed to allow him to frame pitches easier and catch the ball easier. There is a little truth to making it easier to catch but you clearly have much less movement and setting up like that with men on base doesn't make sense to me. You are already down which is good for blocking but you will not have left/right mobility. ARod says the negative is that throwing will be hard, but Sanchez will probably throw from his knee anyway. That being said, the game didn't tell me enough on whether Sanchez will setup that way with men on base. One other point that was not brought up is that his thigh is exposed and you know how much I hate hands being exposed, but he takes a few on the open thigh and he may change his tune a little.
- It was good to see Stanton punish the fastball for the HR and then he hit a fastball that was outside for another hit.
- Judge ripped two fastballs for hits and not unexpectedly, he saw breaking balls in his third AB and somehow he was fooled on a slider that ended up over the inner middle of the plate. Scherzer was not going to throw him another fastball and I am not sure Judge thought he would get a another fastball...he didn't and he took a hittable breaking ball strike 3.
- The same philosophy was against Sanchez and when he was waiving at sliders so far outside why throw the him fastballs? It is only game 1, but the Yanks may need to sit on sliders sometimes. Sanchez was behind the fastball and waiving at sliders.
- Wade's first AB he tried to get a bunt down 3rd as they shifted him but he was not able to get it down. All he needed to do was get it anywhere down toward 3rd and it was a hit. His next AB he bunted to the right side and got it past Scherzer for a hit.
- Voit looked 15-20 pounds lighter. Not sure how it will play out but he looks significantly different.
- It was great to see Cole out there and look pretty good for game 1. He wasn't crazy sharp but walked only one batter and his stuff is good enough to get away with mistakes. I am a fan of giving him the money they did. He is the type of player and age the Yankees should invest in. I have said many times, that the Yankees should get the studs at key positions, but not pay the good players the higher salaries as the value is not there. In other words, getting a stud at $25M and a rookie (or $1M player) is better than having two $13M mil dollar players. Especially, when the Yankees have the luxury to get more of the $25M players.
- I have always been a fan of the DH. My argument is that the batter/pitcher confrontation is what is so interesting and when a pitcher is in the game it is not as exciting. This stat might be the reason why the DH rule is in effect for the NL teams...I hope it stays. Pitchers were 1-60 in the postseason last year. That is pathetic and uninteresting.
- I think listening to music while watching may be better than listening to announcers with no crowd
- 1-0!
No comments:
Post a Comment