The Yankees danced their way into the playoffs in a way
that is reminiscent of Michael Jackson “Moon Walking”
They lost 6 of their last 7 games.
3 of 4 to the Red Sox and then got swept by the
Baltimore Showalters.
They have hit the down button one last time on this
elevator ride known as the 2015 Yankees Baseball Season.
From way back in April, it has been a volatile season
filled with winning and losing streaks, mainly because the Offense
has been streaky. Up and Down is the nature of a line up that is completely
dependent on the Home Run to score runs.
There is a feast or famine aspect to scoring via the long ball
… hence the streakiness .
The Yankees finished 4th in MLB in Homers but only 17th in Batting Average.
(they did increase their walks and finished 10th in On Base%)
The Lefty dominant line up is pull happy, especially at home where they
are trying to take advantage of the short porch in right, and that is what
causes the “feast or famine” effect. They either hit the ball over
the wall in RF or if they put the ball in play, and hit right into the teeth of
the Shift.
Again, the Home Run production has been there, but check out the
batting averages of the 1-4 hitters in the line up
BATTING AVERAGES since the ALL STAR BREAK
Ellsbury .220
Gardner .206
ARod .216
McCann .200
That is since the ASG (not a small sample size)
and those stats are staggering.
The low batting averages and lack of situational hitting are the main reason
for RISPfail ( not being able to drive in .. Runners In Scoring Position).
In addition, the injury plagued Starting Rotation wore down as the
season went along, and for that reason, the Bullpen showed the effects
of being drastically overworked for 5 months by going from their biggest strength
April – August, to a concern in September (5.15 era / month).
Add in the loss of Nate Eovaldi and Mark Teixeira late in the season, and you
start to realize just how important Severino and Bird were, and just how fortunate
this team is to host the Wild card game.
But the Yankees have survived the grind of the regular season.
They are one of only 10 teams to make the post-season and…
HERE IS MY SIMPLE & REALISTIC FORMULA FOR PLAYOFF SUCCESS
TANAKA & SEVERINO … must BOTH pitch like dominant Aces
WARREN, WILSON, BETANCES & MILLER .. must make the Bullpen the teams biggest strength again
BELTRAN …must lead the Offense with his .333 lifetime playoff B.A.
Stay tuned for my strategy in my next column to beat Keuchel and the Astros in
the win or go home Wild Card game at the Stadium tomorrow night !!
The #8 patch that the Yankees wear on their sleeve in honor of the iconic
Yogi Berra reminds us .. IT AINT OVER TILL ITS OVER
As always,
GO NYY !!
