Slade Heathcott was 2-5 with his first big league homer and Jacob Lindgren pitched two scoreless innings in his MLB debut, as the Yanks clobbered the Royals today. The solid pitching and homers were back -- and that's been their best formula all year. Plus the kids brought their own solid pitching and a homer -- hmmm. Anyway, it was one of those games where McCann and Drew homered, so that may not work to the team's benefit. Headley also homered and he may be coming around. So did Gardy, and I think it would be a very good idea for Heathcott to stick close to Gardy while he's up. There's a lot he can still learn from him, and he's quite a bit like Gardy, but with more potential pop. Good day for the Yanks all around -- except for the Drew reprieve.
19 Comments:
Happy for the kids. All I really care to discuss at this point.
If they stick with him I'll watch; if they don't, I don't give a shit.
Nailed it:
http://www.nj.com/yankees/index.ssf/2015/05/what_was_john_sterlings_call_for_yankees_slade_hea.html
This is why I prefer a phone
"Heath-shot"?
O_o
thought he would say, Heathcott really Slade that one.
You're clever; he isn't
We have seen enough from him in a small sample size to start to get excited, and to want to see more. I hope they feel the same. He is exactly what they need: a young player with upside.
He's Brett Gardner with a cannon arm and more power at the plate. But, same kind of hard nosed great defensive, really fast guy.
I hope he's better on the base paths than Brett. Guy has no instincts at all despite all that speed.
Can he bunt?
I think he has better instincts on the base paths. He blew up a few catchers in the minors, too. Let's hope they've told him about the new rule.
Good question Stottlemyre68. One of the things Girardi complained about that caused the Yankees to restructure their minor-league system was a lack of bunting ability.
Guys with plus speed should all be taught to bunt. It wasn't too good for Mantle...
Fully agreed! I read somewhere that Mantle used his ability to bunt to prevent teams from over shifting against him.
Looking at OPS+ trends from a few weeks ago:
Teix: 155
A-Rod: 151
Up from the 140s, and nothing short of amazing and a season saver to date.
Gardner: 124
Ellsbury: 123
Down from the 130s, but still significantly better than recent career norms, and obviously, that's why Ellsbury is really missed.
But Slade is OPSing 219 in a SSS, and that's a great offset.
Headley: 101
He has come way up.
McCann: 95
He seems to be a very diminished hitter from his career peak, and seems to stay in the 90s pretty consistently.
Beltran: 83
Up because of his .295 .309 .500 .809 over 28 days, .281 .273 .469 .741 over 14, but he has cooled off .214 .214 .500 .714 over 7.
And his defense is terrible.
Brining up the rear:
Drew: 63
Grego: 66
As I have said, there is a reasonable basis to play Grego, but none to play Drew.
Oh, and Chris Young may be Vernon Wells circa 2013. An out of context April, and then reality hits.
Speaking of which, he's starting and Heathcott isn't. Neither is Pirela.
Do you agree with this shit, Cashman?
If not, do something about it.
I've liked Girardi, but the way he's playing these crappy vets over promising kids really annoys the crap out of me. Reminds me very much of what Torre used to do.
I'm more and more convinced Girardi isn't the man for the job if the job is facilitating a youth movement. He won't start two rookies at once (hence Slade starting on the bench while Murphy caught), and he just yanked Warren after 88 pitches, but by gawd CC is gonna throw 100 no matter what.
But is it only Girardi? Cashman forced Cano and Wang on Torre. The case to do the same thing now is considerably more compelling. Why isn't he doing it?
Seriously, why was Pirella not in the lineup last night? I can see a case for Young still getting a shot, but Drew over Pirella?
C'mon!!!
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