Saturday, October 19, 2019 game 6
Astros 6, Yankees 4
Yankee HR: DJ LeMahieu (3, off Roberto Osuna, 9th inn, 1 on, 1 out to Deep RF Line).
Astro HR: Jose Altuve (5, off Aroldis Chapman, 9th inn, 1 on, 2 outs to Deep LF-CF)
The Yankees would have had no one left for game 7. Even if Yankee closer Aroldis Chapman ($17 million a year for 5 years) had not matched the Astros closer Roberto Osuna by allowing a two run home run in the 9th inning, the game would have gone into extra innings, further depleting the Yankees supposed strength. And had the Yankees won game six, here is a reasonable best case scenario of what might happen in game 7:
Astros starter Gerrit Cole: 7 innings, 2 runs
Yankees starter Luis Severino: 5 innings, 2 runs
What Yankee fan would not sign up for that?
Even with that most optimistic situation for the Yankees, it would still leave the Yankees with twice as many bullpen innings. How likely is it that the Yankees would win game 7?
It's difficult to understand how or why any team would enter a 7 game series with only three starting pitchers as the Astros did. Even more bizarre, the Yankees started the series with FIVE starting pitchers but intending to marginalize two: Sabathia and Happ ($17 million a year for 2 years). 2019 Yankee starting pitchers with at least 100 innings:
| Rk | Pos | Name | Age | W | L | G | GS | GF | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | IBB | SO | HBP | BK | WP | BF | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SP | Masahiro Tanaka | 30 | 11 | 9 | .550 | 4.45 | 32 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 182.0 | 186 | 95 | 90 | 28 | 40 | 0 | 149 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 759 | 100 | 4.27 | 1.242 | 9.2 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 7.4 | 3.73 |
| 2 | SP | J.A. Happ* | 36 | 12 | 8 | .600 | 4.91 | 31 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 161.1 | 160 | 88 | 88 | 34 | 49 | 1 | 140 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 678 | 90 | 5.22 | 1.295 | 8.9 | 1.9 | 2.7 | 7.8 | 2.86 |
| 3 | SP | James Paxton* | 30 | 15 | 6 | .714 | 3.82 | 29 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 150.2 | 138 | 71 | 64 | 23 | 55 | 0 | 186 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 633 | 116 | 3.86 | 1.281 | 8.2 | 1.4 | 3.3 | 11.1 | 3.38 |
| 4 | SP | Domingo German | 26 | 18 | 4 | .818 | 4.03 | 27 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 143.0 | 125 | 69 | 64 | 30 | 39 | 0 | 153 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 594 | 110 | 4.72 | 1.147 | 7.9 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 9.6 | 3.92 |
| 5 | SP | CC Sabathia* | 38 | 5 | 8 | .385 | 4.95 | 23 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 107.1 | 112 | 64 | 59 | 27 | 39 | 0 | 107 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 468 | 90 | 5.66 | 1.407 | 9.4 | 2.3 | 3.3 | 9.0 | 2.7 |
German had been suspended but the other four plus Luis Severino were all on the roster for the Astros series.
Yankee general manager Brian Cashman was so fixated on relying on a deep and strong bullpen that he lost even basic common sense, which was, of course, absorbed by first time field manager Aaron Boone.
Happ pitched innings 2 and 3 but then was quickly pulled for a series of relief pitchers. Had Happ been allowed to pitch five innings, the Yankees might have had a fighting chance to win game 7.
The pedestrian reaction to that is; hey, you've got to win game 6 to get to game 7. Duh. But game 7 Astros starter Gerrit Cole has been dominant, both in the regular season and in the tournament. A weakened bullpen would have left the Yankees almost defenseless. Game 6 would have been a Pyrrhic victory.
More on Cashman's record in a future post but the basic numbers:
2001-2019 (19 years): one championship (2009)
2010-2019 decade: only one since 1910-1919 in which the Yankees did not even play in the World Series.
The lone championship in 2009 was anchored with pre Cashman "core four" holdovers: Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera.
Brian Cashman needs a performance review. Monday, October 21, 2019
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