Cool Out, Panicky Media
>> Wednesday
On Mike & Mike in the morning today, the twin Mikes took a brief moment of respite from discussing Brady Quinn to mention that the Yankees have lost 5 straight and aren't going to make the playoffs this year. The Yankees catastrophe has been reported elsewhere in the media in the last couple of days, particularly on the heels of their three game sweep in Boston, despite A-Rod hitting an estimated 35 homers during the series. As always, YCS is here to be your calming voice of reason in the stormy seas of panicky media-types:
Everyone cool the fuck out.
First, the Yankees aren't going to lose 90 games this year. They probably won't lose 80, and 75 might be a stretch. They're probably going to make the playoffs. They're real good. REAL good. They can hit the ball with the best of them, and if you're panicky about the pitching, well, they're the Yankees, and it's always a possibility that they make a move for pitching (or just sign Roger Clemens). They have probably the best offense in all of baseball, and when they're healthy (which, due to Matsui coming back this week and Posada being closer to 100% by the day), there really isn't a hole in that lineup.
Also, the bullpen's going to be better. Rivera's having his usual "it's early in the season and you think I'm washed up" moment, but he's going to get back on track and he'll be good to go (by the way, has anyone ever looked at Mariano Rivera's career numbers? Other than his rookie year, the lowest his ERA+ has ever been is 160. That's insane). Evidence to not panic about Rivera is that right now his BABIP is around .350, about 50 points higher than his career average. That will iron itself out, and since his walk rate and strikeouts are relatively the same, methinks he'll be fine. Additionally, Myers and Proctor are still among the best late inning guys around, so this minor flux in the late innings won't continue all year.
One final (and perhaps most important) note, the Yankees Pythagorean Win/Loss percentage right now is .590, which speaks to the fact that as of late, they've had a run of pretty bad luck (their actual winning percentage right now is .421). Sure, they've given up 100 runs, but they've also scored 120. 120 runs is a lot in 19 friggin' games.
So once again, everyone - cool the fuck out with the Yankees.
Everyone cool the fuck out.
First, the Yankees aren't going to lose 90 games this year. They probably won't lose 80, and 75 might be a stretch. They're probably going to make the playoffs. They're real good. REAL good. They can hit the ball with the best of them, and if you're panicky about the pitching, well, they're the Yankees, and it's always a possibility that they make a move for pitching (or just sign Roger Clemens). They have probably the best offense in all of baseball, and when they're healthy (which, due to Matsui coming back this week and Posada being closer to 100% by the day), there really isn't a hole in that lineup.
Also, the bullpen's going to be better. Rivera's having his usual "it's early in the season and you think I'm washed up" moment, but he's going to get back on track and he'll be good to go (by the way, has anyone ever looked at Mariano Rivera's career numbers? Other than his rookie year, the lowest his ERA+ has ever been is 160. That's insane). Evidence to not panic about Rivera is that right now his BABIP is around .350, about 50 points higher than his career average. That will iron itself out, and since his walk rate and strikeouts are relatively the same, methinks he'll be fine. Additionally, Myers and Proctor are still among the best late inning guys around, so this minor flux in the late innings won't continue all year.
One final (and perhaps most important) note, the Yankees Pythagorean Win/Loss percentage right now is .590, which speaks to the fact that as of late, they've had a run of pretty bad luck (their actual winning percentage right now is .421). Sure, they've given up 100 runs, but they've also scored 120. 120 runs is a lot in 19 friggin' games.
So once again, everyone - cool the fuck out with the Yankees.
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3 comments:
Because if there's one team that has never overcome a slow start in recent years, it's the Yankees.
Here in Dallas there's a Mike & Mike billboard that shows Golic's picture with the words "face mask" and Greenberg's with the words "mud mask." As much as they try to sell that dynamic of the jock and the white-collar geek, don't their personalities strike you as rather similar when you listen to the show?
Yeah, absolutely. I'm not saying I don't enjoy the show, I think they're pretty good and are relatively palatable as far as sports talk radio guys go. But yeah, they really try to overemphasize the nerd/jock distinction, which is pretty ironic, because the reason the show is any good is because the two guys actually have pretty good chemistry together and are pretty similar in terms of opinion and sense of humor.
They can market the show however they want. At the end of the day, it's not Cold Pizza. And that's good enough.
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