Brian Cashman Is to Blame, Not the Umpires

It would be easy to blame home plate umpire Gabe Morales for last night's loss that completed a 3-game Yankee Stadium II sweep of the Yankees by the hated Boston Red Sox. It would also be easy to blame the extra-inning "ghost runner" rule for it.

Don't blame either one. This is another loss that can be completely charged to Brian Cashman and how he assembled the 2021 New York Yankees.

Two batters into the game, Domingo German gave up a home run to Alex Verdugo to put the Sox ahead. But the Yanks came right back, with the kind of inning that suggested, "This is where the season gets turned around." Three straight singles by Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres and Gio Urshela loaded the bases with 1 out, and Gary Sanchez, who really needed a hit like this, doubled home 2 runs. The Yankees had the lead.

And that lead may have settled German down, as he was fine through the top of the 5th. In the bottom of the 4th, again with 1 out, the Yankees loaded the bases on a single by Miguel Andujar and back-to-back walks but Brett Gardner and DJ LeMahieu.

This is where they could have broken the game wide open, but didn't: Judge grounded into a force play that scored only Andujar, and then Torres grounded out to end the inning. It was only 3-1.

German got the 1st 2 outs in the 6th, and then walked Xander Bogaerts. This was not the time to panic. This was the time to trust German to get the last out of the inning and strand Bogaerts. But Aaron Boone didn't do that. German had thrown 84 pitches, and Boone panicked. He took German out, and replaced him with Lucas Luetge. Luetge got the last out. But that was still a pitching change that didn't have to be made, and Boone made it.

And that point was emphasized in the top of the 7th. Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Luetge walked Hunter Renfroe, and then gave up a game-tying home run to Marwin Gonzalez. Once that happened, pretty much every Yankee Fan knew that the Red Sox were going to win the game. The only question was when, and how -- and, since the game was now tied, extra innings and something to do with the ghost runner seemed likely.

The Yankees got their own leadoff walk in their half of the 7th, by Judge. But they couldn't capitalize, as Torres, Urshela and Sanchez all popped up. To make matters worse, it was against Adam Ottavino, now with the Sox after a horrendous season with the Yankees last year. The Yankees always seem to be able to make a former player of theirs look good.

Boone should have let German pitch through the 7th, and then bring Luetge in to pitch the 8th. Instead, with Luetge already wasted, he brought Wandy Peralta in to pitch the 8th, and he allowed double, groundout, sacrifice fly, groundout. 4-3 Boston. With 1 out in their half, Clint Frazier singled, but Andujar struck out.

Boone had given Giancarlo Stanton the night off, but now sent him up to pinch-hit for Brett Gardner. Of course, he struck out. Trading for Stanton was one of the dumbest moves that general manager Brian Cashman could have made, and I don't care how many home runs he's hit. He's killed more rallies than he's participated in.

Bottom of the 9th. LeMahieu grounded to 2nd. But Judge drew a walk, and Torres doubled him home to tie it. There was hope. The winning run was on 2nd with just 1 out. But Urshela struck out. Giving Gary Sanchez an intentional walk seems like a dumb decision, but the Sox wanted to set up the force play. Torres stole 3rd base, going against the "unwritten rule" that you never make the 1st or last out at 3rd base, but he got there.

The batter was Rougned Odor, pinch-hitting for rookie 1st baseman Chris Gittens. He worked a full count against Sox reliever Matt Barnes. Then, Barnes threw a pitch that was 4 inches outside. It was ball 4, bases loaded, 2 out, with Frazier coming to bat.

Except home plate umpire Gabe Morales called the pitch a strike. Odor was out. Even the ESPN announcers, who love the Red Sox almost as much as they hate the Yankees, said it was a bad call. They showed the instant replay and put up the graphic that proved it.

Boone just sat there, chewing his gum, instead of arguing. 

On to extra innings. Boone brought Luis Cessa in to pitch. Morales wouldn't give him close pitches. Finally, Boone's coaches spoke up. Phil Nevin, who came closer to dying from COVID than any other Yankee employee (that I know of), chewed Morales out hard enough to get thrown out of the game.

Marcus Thames was visibly upset as well. Given his performance for the Yankees, first as a player, now as hitting instructor, this may have been the greatest service he has ever performed for the team. It was, after all, against the Red Sox.

Cessa walked a batter, they were bunted over, and they were singled home. 6-4 Boston.

The Sox brought Phillips Valdez in to pitch the bottom of the 10th. His 1st pitch hit Frazier. Given these teams' shared history, it's hard to imagine a Sox pitcher hitting a Yankee with a pitch and it's not intentional. But this one brought the tying run to the plate, with nobody out.

The Yankees had to capitalize. But Andujar grounded back to Valdez, and he started a double play. Now, it was ghost runner Odor on 3rd, with 2 out.

Wade singled Odor home, and reached 2nd on the failed play at the plate. LeMahieu was up. Next would have been Judge. The win was there for the taking.

LeMahieu didn't take it. He grounded to 2nd to end the game. Red Sox 6, Yankees 5. WP: Barnes (2-1, getting the win despite blowing the lead in the 9th). SV: Phillips Valdez (1). LP: Cessa (1-1).

Another loss. To that team. Don't blame the umpire. These Yankees, based on pre-2021 reputation, should have scored at least 4 runs in the 1st 8 innings. They didn't.

*

Coming into last week, with 4 games against the Tampa Bay Rays and 3 against the Sox, all at home, I figured that the Yankees would need to win at least 5 out of the 7 to get back into the American League Eastern Division race. Instead, they lost 5 out of 7, and weren't that far away from losing all of them.

They are now 31-29, 6 1/2 games behind the Division-leading Rays, and 5 1/2 behind the Sox.

The poor performance is backed up by the statistics. The pitching, though weakened by injuries, has not been the problem. It's Cashman's philosophy of loading up on righthanded power hitters who aren't hitting. Look at these OPS+'s, keeping in mind that 100 is exactly average: 

Estevan Florial 174 (3 plate appearances)

Aaron Judge 163

Giancarlo Stanton 121 (but he's in a slump)

Gio Urshela 106

Gleyber Torres 104 (and that's way up from where it was)

Gary Sanchez 103 (and that's way up from where it was)

Kyle Higashioka 98 (he's in a big slump)

DJ LeMahieu 88

Tyler Wade 80

Clint Frazier 78

Aaron Hicks 78 (now injured and out for the season)

Rougned Odor 71

Miguel Andujar 64 (injured much of the year)

Brett Gardner 60

Mike Ford 60

Mike Tauchman 57 (now traded)

Luke Voit 53 (injured much of the year)

Jay Bruce 33 (now retired)

Chris Gittens -60 (just got here, 8 plate appearances)

Ryan LaMarre -60 (8 plate appearances)

So that's 8 guys (Florial, Hicks, Andujar, Tauchman, Voit, Bruce, Gittens and LaMarre) without enough appearances to fairly judge; 2 guys (Judge and Stanton, both of whom still strike out too much, especially Stanton) who are, statistically, getting the job done over the course of the season; 4 guys (Urshela, Torres, Sanchez and Higashioka) who are barely doing so; 4 guys (LeMahieu, Wade, Frazier and Odor) who badly need to step up; and 2 guys (Gardner and Ford) who look like it's time to cut bait.

It looks very bad. What's more, it looks like the official field manager, Aaron Boone, and the general manager, Brian Cashman, don't even care enough to do anything about it.

This team needs a shakeup. Some guys need to go down in the order, some need to go down to the minor leagues, and some need to go to the unemployment office -- especially Cashman.

Today is a travel day for the Yankees. Tomorrow, they begin a roadtrip that has 3 games in Minnesota, a rare Friday off, then 2 day games in Philadelphia, and 3 games in Toronto, before returning home to face Oakland and Kansas City. Then they go to Boston to face The Scum again. Would losing badly there lead team owner Hal Steinbrenner to make a change?

No? After that, the Yankees close out the 1st half of the regular season with 4 games home to the Los angeles Angels, 3 home to the Mets including a Sunday night ESPN game on the 4th of July, then 3 games in Seattle, then 3 in Houston. If we are still doing badly at the All-Star Break, will that be enough for Hal to make a move?

No? The 2nd half starts with 4 more against the Sox at home, then 2 at home against the Phillies, then 4 in Boston, then 3 at Tampa Bay, and 3 at Miami, a series which would include the July 31 trading deadline. If we are still doing badly, and Cashman doesn't make the necessary moves, will that be enough for Hal to make the necessary move?

No. What does Hal care? He's making money. He is not his father's son.