What Happens Next?
The Yankees did what needed to be done and got into the playoffs, now the question becomes, what are they going to do with their four remaining games? Obviously, they can rest anyone they want, but I hope they don't. I hope the Yankees make a collective decision to fight until the division is either won or lost. I hope they use the opportunity they have to go after it.
I think part of the problem this team has had over the last few weeks is that they stopped playing with intensity. They saw that they had a huge lead for the playoffs and they took the foot off the gas a bit. It's impossible to stay focused for 162 games and the Yankees were certainly due a period of turbulence in a season mostly free of it. But, this period seems like it was self-inflicted. It seems to me that Joe Girardi stopped managing to win and the players followed his example. Perhaps I am reading too much into it or giving Girardi too much credit, but that's what my eyes are telling me.
And that's why the Yankees should keep after it this week. Try and win tomorrow and then sit back on Thursday and see what Tampa does. Ultimately, the Yankees will need to win two more games than Tampa if they want to take the division. That's a tall order, but one worth pursuing.
Comments
Peter, while I don't entirely disagree that they may have gotten a bit too comfortable and unfocused, I think the biggest problem was the deterioration starting pitching. Burnett and Vazquez were atrocious too ofte and Pettite was out. That's 3/5 of the rotation. That's a lot to overcome.
Posted by: Greg | September 29, 2010 12:31 AM |
Greg
Good point, but the offense has been slumping too scoring over 1/2 a run less per game than in August.
Posted by: Peter | September 29, 2010 10:08 AM |
Peter - Were I JG? I would rest most of the regulars in the hopes that it would help their bats and legs. The enitre IF plus Swisher need a blow. Rotation and pen? They also need some downtime, except for Andy who needs to work the rust out of his stuff. How all of that works in the next four games is something for them to work out, but I would expect to see a lot of AAA guys start ...
Posted by: Mitchell![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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September 29, 2010 11:18 AM
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Peter,
Did you see Sherman's article on AJ? It was scathing.
Posted by: Greg | September 29, 2010 02:46 PM |
Mitchell - I read that JG has announced the opposite, that Pettite will be skipping starts to stay rested.
Posted by: Evan | September 29, 2010 02:52 PM |
Peter - clearly you and Girardi are on the same page as far as the starting lineup. :-)
Posted by: Mitchell![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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September 29, 2010 08:37 PM
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Yup, but not about the starting pitcher :-)
Posted by: Peter![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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September 29, 2010 10:21 PM
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When they signed Javy, I was one of the loudest supporters of the deal. This was a guy who could eat a lot of innings and could pitch to win 15 games with the run support the would get in The Bronx - his track record with the ChiSox negated any arguments about being an NL-only pitcher.
But ... this guy throws cookies. Big, fat, really sweet cookies that hitters just love to gobble up. I would rather have seen Brackman get s shot with a lot of Scranton guys behind him than have to watch that. True, it wasn't as bad an an AJ outing but it was still pretty bad. Ah well, so long Javy and thanks for stopping by again. :-)
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September 30, 2010 09:52 AM
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