Batting Cleanup: Tiger Takedown
Clint Frazier hit one of five Yankee homers in their 10-0 rout of the Tigers on Friday. (New York Post)
Now that’s more like it. The Yankees welcomed the worst team in baseball to the Bronx this weekend and actually played up to their potential for once. New York completed a three game sweep of Detroit, outscoring them 18-4 and sweeping their first series of the year. They conclude a 5-2 week and wrap up their 13 games in 13 days stretch with a 9-4 record. Not bad, I’d say. Let’s dive into the games and enjoy some standout hitting and pitching performances!
Friday: Yankees Win 10-0
The Yankees opened the first game of this series with bats a-swinging and aces a-dealing. After a few hiccups in Baltimore, this looked closer to the team we saw on Tuesday and Wednesday rather than the one that dropped close games on Monday and Thursday. When the Yankees play like this, they look downright unstoppable. To paraphrase a quote from an old manager friend, “It’s what you want.”
Cole Train
How good has Gerrit Cole been this year? The Yankees ace has lived up to every penny of his contract and then some. It’s safe to say he is, by far, the most valuable Yankee right now. A great offense is nice, but having a great offense backed by the best pitcher in baseball is a World Series winning combination. Cole turned in six innings of scoreless baseball, striking out 12 and walking none. Here’s some Cole facts for you - try not to be too overwhelmed by them!
Cole’s 62 strikeouts are the most ever by a Yankee in April. He came two strikeouts away from topping the Yankees record for strikeouts in any month, which was set by Ron Guidry in 1978.
Cole also struck out over ten batters for the third straight game, becoming the first Yankee to do so since David Cone in 1998. Cole is working on a streak of 15 straight starts with at least seven strikeouts - longest in Yankees history.
Cole also did not walk any batters for the third straight start. How many Yankees have struck out at least ten without any walks for three straight starts? Try ZERO.
This is the fourth time Cole has struck out ten and walked none this season, tying Mike Mussina for the Yankees single season record. Folks, it’s only April. Something tells me that record will be broken.
Yankees pitchers struck out 18 in total, tying a franchise record set a few times, most recently in 2017. It was a banner day for the pitching staff, especially for Gerrit Cole. We could be looking at the beginning of an all time season here. Stay tuned.
Dinger Day
It was a banner day for the Yankees offense as well - how many times this year have we been able to say that? In the series preview, I noted that the Yankees had only scored 3.2 runs per game for Cole and they rectified their shortcomings with this performance. The Yankees hit five home runs and scored ten runs, which are both season best totals for them. The dinger-hitters were Frazier, Odor, Hicks and Judge - who hit two, including an opposite field grand slam. Let’s watch some Bronx Bombers in action, shall we?
This was the first time that the Yankees had hit five home runs in a game since last September and the 125th time in team history - they’re 116-9 in those games. The Yankees are a home run hitting team and they will always be reliant on the long ball to have success. When the power turns off, it’s only natural that they won’t look as good. Those who were concerned by their offensive struggles last week should sleep a bit easier after this game.
Odds and Ends
When you’re winning, especially in the manner that the Yankees did on Friday, you can have some fun on and off the field. Let’s look at a few enjoyable highlights from Friday night.
Clint Frazier has been heating up with the bat recently, clubbing his second home run on Friday. He also lived up to his “Red Thunder” moniker by signing a cap for a local celebrity who happened to come to the game - Ryan Reynolds.
Frazier is easily the most vibrant Yankees player and it’s fun to see him do well so that antics like this seem enjoyable rather than immature. Keep boppin’, Clint!
In the category of “Random Things Discussed on the Broadcast”, Michael Kay and David Cone had a Matrix-esque discussion during the later innings. Take a listen.
Finally, I’ll leave you with this fun stat, courtesy of Katie Sharp. It really was one of the more complete, dominant Yankee performances in quite some time.
Saturday: Yankees Win 6-4
The Yankees followed up their overpowering win on Friday with another complete team victory on Saturday. The offense did their job and Jameson Taillon picked up his first win in two years. Taillon has faced many obstacles in his career, including a bout with testicular cancer and two major arm surgeries. It has been great to watch him work his way back and find success again. Saturday’s game was the culmination of a long road back for Jameson and here’s hoping he finds even more success in the coming months.
Jamo Juice
Great start for Taillon today - it was a huge improvement over his last rocky outing in Cleveland. The length still isn’t there, as he only went five innings. However, he looked very sharp in those five innings, giving up his only run on a home run to Jeimer Candelario and striking out eight batters. Taillon ran into trouble in the fifth inning, loading the bases but coming back to strike out Miguel Cabrera to prevent any runs from scoring. He was pumped as he walked off the mound and yelled into his glove.
You love to see the energy from Taillon and I agreed with Boone’s decision to have his outing on a positive note. We’ve seen the strategy of bringing back a guy for an inning too long and having it ruin his outing. This was a very encouraging start for Taillon, who has pitched much better in his three Yankee Stadium starts than his two road outings. Next up for him will be a start against the Nationals in the Bronx, with a chance to continue his home success.
Judgement Day Is Here
How good is Aaron Judge right now? In his last 25 at bats, Judge is batting .400 with 3 home runs and 10 RBI. Judge has an insane combination of plate discipline and power when he’s locked in and he’s pretty locked in right now. Judge drove in three runs today after driving in five on Friday. Here’s his 112 mile an hour double in the third inning.
Judge had an even more important hit later on, picking up an important two out single in the sixth to extend the Yankees lead from 2-1 to 4-1. The context around this hit was very important. After Gardner and DJ failed to capitalize on a bases-loaded, no out situation, the Yankees looked in danger of squandering a good opportunity to score, which they have often done this year. Judge averted disaster with his hit and allowed the inning to continue. A 2-1 game became a 6-1 game when all was said and done, showing just how valuable Judge’s inning extending at bat was. We talked about Cole’s early Cy Young bid, but could Judge be gearing up to reclaim the MVP award that was stolen from him in 2017? Again, stay tuned!
Offense Is Not Offensive
It wasn’t the complete offensive outpouring of Friday, but the Yankee bats were still going strong on Saturday. Spencer Turnbull did a much better job of shutting down the bats early on, but Judge’s contributions, paired with a three RBI day from Gleyber Torres, knocked out Turnbull and solidified another above average day for the hitters. The Yankees offense, which had struggled mightily before this week, have scored more than six runs in four of the previous six games. That’ll do, Bombers. That’ll do.
Sunday: Yankees Win 2-0
The Yankees wrapped up their series with the Tigers with a 2-0 win, clinching a sweep of Detroit and capping a very successful week of baseball. The key to this game rested on one important factor: the Klubot was programmed to give up no runs. What a performance from Kluber - let’s dive in!
Fan Klub
The story of this game starts and ends with Corey Kluber. In his first four starts, Kluber pitched to a 5.40 ERA and did not make it out of the fifth in any outing. In his last two, he’s been masterful. Today, Klubot followed up a 6.2 inning, one run performance with a masterpiece - eight shutout innings with ten strikeouts against the Tigers. On Friday and Saturday, Cole and Taillon mowed down Detroit with upper 90s, electric stuff. Today, Kluber brought out a completely different game plan, one that involved a heavy mix of offspeed pitches and weak contact generation. The Tigers had runners on second and third with one out in the second - after that, they never had another runner get to scoring position. Kluber used his changeup to generate thirteen swings and misses, which was a career high on that pitch for him. He also struck out ten for the first time since 2018. It’s been a long road back for Kluber, but his outings this week have been extremely encouraging, and combined with his history of being a slow starter (his ERA drops almost a run after April in his career), has us geared up for a return to Cy Kluber. Take a look at this utter dominance today and dream of what could be in store for hitters this summer.
Good Old Fashioned Pitcher’s Duel
The Yankees offense didn’t do much this game, but they did just enough to get Kluber the win. In the second inning, a Kyle Higashioka double that barely stayed fair scored Gio Urshela and Brett Gardner brought another run home with a sac fly. Aside from Higgy’s double and Gio’s single, the only other Yankee hit was a Stanton single in the first. Jose Urena had a gem of his own, but the scoring in the second inning was just enough to put the Yankees on top. The game time was a crisp 2:14, which is a throwback to a different era of baseball. Kluber and Urena worked quickly and efficiently, setting down hitters and speeding through innings. Given the Yankees offensive performance in the other two games, we can chalk this one up to a great game by Urena.
Chappy Days
On Friday, we talked about Gerrit Cole’s dominance. Yesterday, it was Aaron Judge’s show. Today, the story was Corey Kluber, but the other pitcher for the Yankees was equally as impressive. Aroldis Chapman came in to save both Saturday’s and today’s game, striking out two in each inning. Chapman has found another level this season. He has pitched ten scoreless innings, striking out twenty four batters! Usually we see a few Chapman outings where he has no idea where the ball is going, but this year it’s been all gas and with stellar command to boot. He’s only given up two hits this year and three walks - it seems like a miracle whenever hitters even make contact. Miguel Cabrera - a likely Hall of Famer - faced Chapman in the ninth today and had absolutely no chance at making contact.
In his age 33 season, Chappy is pitching like he’s 23 and has found a tick of velocity to pair with his newly developed splitter. Having perhaps the best starter and reliever in the game is an excellent combination for success, I would say.
With their first series sweep in the books and their record even at 14-14, the Yankees enjoy a well deserved off day tomorrow. Last time they had an off day, we were bemoaning their collective demise at the hands of Tampa. Feels a bit better this time, doesn’t it? Enjoy the rest of your weekend and prepare for the rematch we’ve all been waiting for - Houston rolls into the Bronx tomorrow. We’ve got a special article planned to preview this series, so check back for that tomorrow morning! We’ll leave you with a rare smile from the Klubot. You know it was a good weekend when this happens.
