Soto or Nowhere: The Official 2024 New York Yankees Off-Season Thread

[g-ice]

Horrendous approach

 

[Walter H White]

 

[3rdLetter]

brainless

 

[K-Deini]

Jesus christ gleyber come on with that weak ass shyt. You had to get soto up there. Maybe take a few pitches and see if u can work a walk

 

[holidayinn21]

Unserious AB's all game

 

[Michael's Black Son]

This kind of low effort shīt is unacceptable.

 

[Derek Lee]

Not impressed

 

[Rev]

Ugly ass game to watch

Can’t believe Judge literally has the worst K ratio in playoff history

 

[puggle]

This team goes down a few runs and they just fold and go home, been the same the whole season. Judge’s at bat in the 1st ended up being one of the biggest points of the game along with Rodon being worthless in the 4th. The team puts up 3-4 runs in the first and they might have rode it to victory, they’re really good frontrunners.

 

[ExodusNirvana]

Trash.

 

[holidayinn21]

I watch the Mets fight back every game, and I get jealous

Royals punched them back the next inning after being down, and they folded. But that's been the MO of the Boone/Judge era

3rd-worst record in baseball when trailing by 3+ runs. That's not an accident

Let's hope they take care of business in KC

 

[Ron Mexico]

I watch the Mets fight back every game, and I get jealous

Royals punched them back the next inning after being down, and they folded. But that's been the MO of the Boone/Judge era

3rd-worst record in baseball when trailing by 3+ runs. That's not an accident

Let's hope they take care of business in KC

They better

Relying on p*ssy ass Rodon in a Game 5 is a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[tremonthustler1]

He BETTER not play game 3. He's fully bought into this "they can't be good. they can just be lucky" bullshyt, especially when WE lucked out on the replay center being blind off Jazz's stupid steal.

 

[Walter H White]

Captain obvious post but game 3 winner probably wins series. Don’t trust Cole and Rodon to win back to back do or die games. Lugo is having a great year and made us look silly last time out… need Judge to wake up already.

 

[Remote]

If Houston and New York play each other it may every well come down to which team can put the bat on the ball.

Just about all the advanced metrics favor the Yankees...except for one that stands out to me... batting average.

Brian Cashman has lived and died (mostly died) on the Yankees getting hot and hitting for lots of power. Over the course of a full season, this is mathematically sound. But playoffs aren't 162 games long. They're 4-7 games long. And this has been his undoing.

If Judge or Soto get cold...even if they maintain their ability to draw walks...if the bats behind them can't make contact to drive them in...because the roster has been constructed toward the "3 True Outcomes"...they'll lose again.

If they CAN make contact, it could be relatively easy work.

What's the scary part?
Since the All Star Break, the Houston Astros pitching staff are 2nd in MLB in K/9.

So yeah. The Yankees will have to get hits.
Or else.

Well, the Astros are eliminated but the Yankees weakness remains.

Through 2 games (I don't have to explain sample sizes, right) we are seeing the same trend.

The Royals are batting .282 and OPSing .691.
The Yankees are batting .246 and OPSing .741.

If you're going to bet money, you still pick the Yankees to win this series (and actually the math projects them as the WS favorites at the moment).

That said, if the Yankees cannot find a way to drive runners in, they're in big trouble. Game 3 is massive.

Yes, Aaron Judge has to come alive. But he's not the only one. Let's hope the road trip settles him down. For his career he's hit .300/.395/.614 with 13 HR in Kansas City.

Jon Berti was a bit unlucky yesterday with a couple of lineouts that could have been hits. Similarly in one AB for Gleyber.

Soto with an unusual 2 strikeout game. He looks good. I think he just got squeezed a bit by the umpire on a pitch or two that changed the count and his approach.

One area I want to highlight...

The Yankees are one of the worst base stealing teams in baseball. The Royals are a little above league average. In a short series where you sometimes have to manufacture runs, getting steals is a hell of an X-factor. I expect KC to put pressure on NY on the bases. It'll be up to Clarke Schmidt to keep runners honest in Game 3.