Yankees Not Where They Need to Be

Labor Day Weekend, the start of the last month of the regular season, is a good time to reassess where the Yankees are.

They are where they have been since Brian Cashman broke up a World Championship team in the 2009-10 off-season: Not where they need to be.

The Yankees went down Interstate 95 to play the Washington Nationals. On Monday night, Nestor Cortés pitched very well into the 7th inning. The Yankees got home runs from Gleyber Torres, Austin Wells and Jazz Chisholm Jr., and won, 5-2.

On Tuesday night, they got shut down by Patrick Corbin, and Gerrit Cole had the hungry gopher again, giving up 2 home runs. The Yankees scored single runs in the 8th and the 9th, but it wasn't enough, and they lost, 4-2.

Carlos Rodón had nothing on Wednesday night. He put the Yankees in a 4-1 hole after 2 innings, and they couldn't get back up. Chisholm hit another home runs, but it didn't matter, as the Nationals won, 5-2.

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The Yankees came home on Thursday, and on Friday night, began a 3-game home series with the St. Louis Cardinals. Marcus Stroman pitched 7 strong innings, and Wells hit 2 more home runs and had 4 RBIs. The Yankees won, 6-3.

That would not be the case on Saturday afternoon. The hole in the rotation caused by the injury to Clarke Schmidt came up, and Will Warren was asked to start again.

Brian Cashman seems to have a thing for pitchers named Warren. He acquired Adam Warren 3 times, and it was a disaster all 3 times. Now, he has Will Warren, and he allowed 4 runs in 4 innings. In 5 games, 21 2/3rds innings, he is now 0-3, with a 9.55 ERA, and a 1.846 WHIP. Those are unacceptable numbers.

Mark Leiter Jr. allowed 2 runs in the 6th, and it was 6-1 Cardinals. A comeback was mounted in the bottom of the 8th. Gleyber Torres singled, but Juan Soto grounded into a double play. There were 4 straight singles, by Aaron Judge, Wells, Chisholm, and Anthony Volpe, who had driven in the earlier Yankee run. And Giancarlo Stanton cleared the bases with a double. It was 6-5. But Alex Verdugo grounded out.

With 2 out in the bottom of the 9th, Soto doubled. There was hope. Of course, in that situation, with 1st base open, you walk Judge, no matter who is up next. It was Wells, the hottest hitter on the team. But Ryan Helsley struck him out to end it, 6-5.

Due to the way Interleague Play has worked out, this was the 1st time the Cardinals had ever won at the new Yankee Stadium, the last team to do so. They remain the only major league team against whom Judge has not hit a home run.

And then, yesterday, Cortés started again, and allowed 5 runs in 4 innings. The Yankees trailed 7-2 going to the bottom of the 5th. But they scored 3 runs, and it was 7-5. In the 6th, Stanton led off with a walk, and Chisholm grounded into a fielder's choice. Anthony Rizzo, returning from the Injured List, singled, and Volpe also singled, scoring Chisholm. Verdugo singled, loading the bases. But the next 2 at-bats were frustrating: First Torres, then Soto, nearly hit one out, but they weren't quite far enough. Torres' drive was good enough to get Rizzo home with the tying run, but the inning could have been so much more.

And it needed to be, because Aaron Boone brought Jake Cousins in to pitch. This was a bad thing to do, as he allowed a single, got an out, and gave up a walk. With Cousins having reached the 3-batter limit, Boone brought Tommy Kahnle in to pitch. This was a stupid thing to do, as, after getting the 2nd out, he allowed single, double, double. Boone brought Phil Bickford in to pitch. At this point, it no longer mattered, but it was also a stupid thing to do, as he mishandled a bunt that led to another run. 12-7 St. Louis.

Boone left Bickford in the game for the 8th. This was not a bad thing to do, as he didn't allow any more runs. But he brought Ron Marinaccio in for the 9th. Marinaccio hadn't pitched in the majors since August 10, and only that once since June 20. He was rusty, and gave up a single and a homer. The Yankees scored 7 runs at home, and it wasn't close to being enough: The Cardinals won, 14-7.

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The Yankees are 79-58. They lead the American League Eastern division by half a game over the Baltimore Orioles, 1 game in (Cliché Alert) the all-important loss column. The Boston Red Sox are 9 games back, the Tampa Bay Rays 11 1/2, the Toronto Blue Jays 13.

The Yankees have 25 regular-season games left; the O's, 24. And 3 of them are against each other, at Yankee Stadium, on September 24, 25 and 26.

The Yankees are 58-9 when scoring 5 or more runs, 21-46 when not. They are 59-12 when holding the opposition to 3 runs or fewer, 20-45 when not.

Sometimes, they hit hard and win. Sometimes, they just hit the ball right at opposing fielders. The starting pitching is inconsistent, and even when it is strong, it often does not matter. There is not one relief pitcher that this team can count on. In the 1990s, Gene Michael and Bob Watson brought in John Wetteland, Graeme Lloyd, Jeff Nelson, Mike Stanton, and a few others, on top of realizing what Mariano Rivera could be. Brian Cashman doesn't understand, or accept, that solving this problem could make the Yankees World Champions again.

Notable Injuries:

* Clarke Schmidt: He's made his rehab starts. He probably won't start in the upcoming series with Texas, but maybe in the next one, next weekend, away to the Chicago Cubs.

* Lou Trivino: The relief pitcher is now rehabbing at Class AAA Scranton. He might be back by the weekend.

* Luis Gil: He made his 1st rehab start yesterday, at Class AA Somerset. Limited to 80 pitches exactly, he went 3 2/3rds innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks, striking out 6. Take the K's out, and the only encouraging this was that he threw 80 pitches without pain. We're looking at another 2 rehab starts at least. He might be back in mid-September.

* Cody Poteet: He will make his 1st rehab start tomorrow night, at Class AA Somerset. He might be back in mid-September.

* Jon Berti: The Yankees seem to have more faith in this reserve infielder than I do. The acquisition of Chisholm would appear to have made Berti surplus to requirements, but Cashman seems to like him. He might be back in mid-September.

* Ian Hamilton: He was scratched from a rehab start at Somerset with back spasms. Bad sign. Return: Who knows?

* Jonathan Loáisiga: Still recovering from Tommy John surgery. He should be ready for next year's Spring Training.

The Yankees go back on the road, to play the Texas Rangers, defending World Champions, but under .500 this season.

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Congratulations to Darren Baker. He was 3 years old and a batboy for his father Dusty's San Francisco Giants when he had to be saved by J.T. Snow during the 2002 World Series. Now, he's 25, and, yesterday, he collected a pinch-hit single in the 9th inning of the Nationals' 14-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs.