The Yankees clinched the AL East in front of Blue Jays fans at Rogers Centre on September 27th. Them celebrating on our turf is not really the issue but the way in which the game transpired. To put it shortly, it was a big letdown after the great extra inning win Monday night. It showcased a number of issues that have dogged the team all year. Last night was sloppy for lack of a better term. There was a weak fly ball that dropped between three fielders, a glaring baserunning blunder and some iffy defense. The baserunning blunder prompted a series of rather pointed remarks from broadcaster Buck Martínez, a former big leaguer himself, which were harsh and frankly correct.
Generally, this is a very good team as it was a year ago. They are close to securing a playoff berth, lead the AL in team OPS, batting average and hits. They are top three in runs and RBI also as well as homers. Pitching has been iffy at times but not especially bad. Defensively, they rank 8th in MLB with a team total of 40 defensive runs saved. We do see a fair share of very nice plays defensively. However, when this team has an off night, like last night, it can be glaring mainly due to the mental mistakes and perception that players sometimes are a bit lackadaisical.
Being totally honest, it is true that a number of players tend to run at less than 100% to first on grounders, admire hits they thought were homers only to realize they've turned a double into a single and so forth. That play in the 7th last night that prompted the rant from Martínez was a prime example. We saw the pimping of a homer, except it wasn't a homer and Vlad got himself thrown out at second trying to erase this first mistake. You need to make sure it's gone and then you pimp it. And it's not that he doesn't care. If he didn't his play at first would not have improved so dramatically and his better physical condition that precipitated his 2021 breakout would have never materialized. Same goes for Teoscar Hernández. He went from farmed out to star because I'm sure he cares. Unfortunately, this needs to be emphasized due to a few too many questionable outfield plays and some cases of not running especially hard. Ditto for the others.
All this said, last night's rant was needed because over a 162 game season it can be all too easy to take your foot off the gas pedal for even a moment. People don't remember the 99% of plays where you did hustle because it's expected. The other 1% sticks out like a sore thumb. It creates a perception about the team, maybe a bit unfairly that the vibe is too lax. This already seems to have led to a managerial change and a negative perception about the effort given by the team's stars, however unfair. Hopefully, this will be the wakeup call needed to ensure standards remain appropriately high from here on out. This is the period now that will define how this season is perceived. Expectations are high this year and the last we want is for the team to crash out of the playoffs on mental mistakes. This team has the talent to go all the way and sometimes a bit of pointed criticism after letting your guard down is what's needed to realize the potential.
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