In between the Pinstripes #30

In between the Pinstripes_30: 2:17 AM EST
I will never forget that game. This 18-inning marathon of a game helped me study for a final and start a paper that didn’t save, and just allow me to say I survived an 18-inning game. I didn’t sit in the freezing cold in Chicago but I did sit up until 2 in the morning because of this game. Like Buster Olney said last night “it’s an adventure” and last night truly was. The only thing that I can nitpick in this game is not intentionally walking Kris Bryant and having Aroldis Chapman throw four extra pitches when he clearly had control issues. Yes, you do load the bases but Rizzo is still in a slump even after the 1-5 performance last night, so take that for what you will. The bullpen is absolutely destroyed—using everyone in the bullpen besides Tommy Layne. Adam Warren and Chapman will most likely not be available for tonight’s game in Cincinnati.

Getting back to the actual game, the Focus Player of the Day is Luis Severino. Even though his 7-inning, 4 hit, 1 earned run, and 9 strike out gem of a performance wasn’t the contributing factor, it perhaps was the biggest factor that gets overlooked because the game went 18 innings. If Severino doesn’t throw that gem, the game doesn’t go 18 because Jon Lester was throwing a gem for the Cubs. Severino took another big step to becoming the pitcher that the Yankees front office thought he would be. A great Prime-Time performance by Severino puts him in the lime light just a bit more than he was already in New York.

As the game ended with a strike out of Kyle Hendricks, the great marathon of this game flips to Cincinnati after the sweep of the Cubs, and the bombers need a long performance by Masahiro Tanaka because of how depleted the bullpen is right now. He doesn’t need to throw a shutout in Cincy tonight, but a good 7-8 inning performance has to happen to help the bullpen get back on track, so the bullpen isn’t behind for too long. Tanaka goes up against Rookie Davis. Davis had a decent outing against the Pirates where he went 5 innings, giving up 4 hits, walking 3, and striking out 2. I am cautious about this game because the bombers have never faced the Yanks, which doesn’t go well historically for the bombers, and the Yankees are flying from Chicago to Cincinnati late in the night/early in the morning with a swallow bullpen and tired legs. Matt Holiday might start at 1st again, with Romine catching another game. The move that could have helped the Yankees is DoA (Designate for Assignment) Chris Carter and call up Kyle Higashioka. The bombers would carry 3 catchers but could use Austin Romine as the 1st baseman until Greg Bird and Tyler Austin get healthy. It could work and the .204 batting average, 1 homer, 7 RBI’s, and 20 strike outs by Carter is not cutting it—he is a detriment to the ball club, and Romine’s bat needs to be in the lineup as much as possible at the moment. But, the Yankees won an incredible ride of a game, sweeping the Cubs—so you can “Start spreading the news” and hope the Yankees don’t lay an egg in Cincinnati tonight.
Sources:(mlb.com, baseballreference.com)

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