Paraphrasing "Casey at the Bat"*:
Somewhere the sun is shining,
Somewhere children shout,
But there is no joy in Yankville,
Matt Carpenter has
Struck Out
Struck Out
Struck Out
Struck Out
Struck Out
Struck Out.
No joke. This guy struck out all six times he's batted in the 2022 tournament so far, including in last night's first ALCS game between the New York Yankees and Astros in Houston: October 19, 2022.
I don't blame Carpenter. He should not have been on the roster in the previous series in which it took the Yankees all five games to defeat Cleveland, a team they outspent in 2022 payroll $239 to $66 ... million.
Carpenter pinch hit twice against Cleveland and struck out both times. So what did Yankee general manager Brian Cashman and field manager Aaron Boone do? They put Carpenter on the current ALCS roster intending to have him be Designated Hitter (DH) in place of Giancarlo Stanton, whom they moved to left field, which is OK since Stanton is a good fielder, although he's not played the field in months: previous game in the outfield (right) was July 15, 2022 ... with Carpenter at DH.
Carpenter had 154 Plate Appearances (PA) for the Yankees with an OPS+ 217 (including 15 Home Runs); 100 is league average, so Carpenter was more than twice as good as an average hitter, in other words great! However, Carpenter played May 26 through August 8, 2022 when he was seriously injured in the third inning. The next time Carpenter played was in the tournament October 14, 2022.
I doubt that Carpenter practiced against much, if any, live pitching. The minor leagues ended weeks ago. Yankee pitchers cannot afford to waste serious pitches throwing batting practice this time of year. Carpenter was not prepared and Cashman and Boone should have known that.
They also should have known that pitcher Clarke Schmidt is a choker. I know that is harsh but it's obvious. Last night after inducing a double play to end the 5th, Schmidt:
HR: Yuli Gurriel (2, off Clarke Schmidt, 6th inn, 0 on, 0 outs to Deep LF); Chas McCormick (1, off Clarke Schmidt, 6th inn, 0 on, 1 out to Deep RF); Jeremy Pena (2, off Frankie Montas, 7th inn, 0 on, 0 outs to Deep LF).
Gurriel, McCormick and Pena are not exactly Murder's Row.
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | BF | Pit | Str | Ctct | StS | StL | GB | FB | LD | Unk | GSc | IR | IS | WPA | cWPA | RE24 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jameson Taillon | 4.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6.23 | 20 | 67 | 37 | 27 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 48 | 0.068 | 1.00 | 0.83% | 26.00 | 0.7 | ||
| Clarke Schmidt, L (0-2) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 11.57 | 6 | 20 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -0.175 | 1.71 | -2.55% | 44.53 | -1.1 | |
| Lou Trivino | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.015 | 0.29 | 0.22% | 7.71 | 0.3 | |
| Frankie Montas | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9.00 | 4 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.041 | 0.21 | -0.61% | 5.42 | -0.5 | |
| Miguel Castro | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 11 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.013 | 0.17 | 0.18% | 4.44 | 0.5 | |
| Team Totals | 8 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4.50 | 35 | 117 | 71 | 44 | 10 | 17 | 11 | 17 | 7 | 0 | 48 | 1 | 0 | -0.120 | 0.92 | -1.93% | 23.93 | -0.2 |
Frankie Montas is another whose presence on the roster is mysterious.
Schmidt in the second loss against Cleveland in the previous series:
October 15, 2022 at Yankee Stadium:
Cleveland 6, Yankees 5
Yankees led 5-3 going to the bottom of the 9th.
Schmidt blew the save and lost the game. He relieved with runners on second and third and one out.
Rosario singled in one run.
Ramirez infield single to load the bases.
Naylor struck out.
Gonzalez singled, driving in the tying and winning runs.
Regular season September 26, 2022 in Toronto:
Blue Jays 3, Yankees 2 in 10 innings
2-2 bottom 10th:
Clarke Schmidt replaces Clay Holmes pitching
Cavan Biggio running at second base to start the extra inning
Springer struck out.
Bichette flied out.
Guerrero singled in the winning run.
At lunch yesterday I told a friend both those things:
Carpenter was not prepared and should not play.
Schmidt is a choker.
My friend disagreed. Am I really smart about this stuff? No. Neither my friend nor I are supposed to know. But Cashman and Boone are supposed to know. That's why they should be fired if the Yankees lose to Houston yet again in the tournament. But there's more.
Cashman and Boone continue to give the Yankee players scapegoats for their failures on the field: the infamous sign stealing scandal of 2017. I debunked this extensively years ago as mostly irrelevant but Yankee fans prefer to wallow in a loser mentality and chant vulgar taunts at Houston second baseman Jose Altuve, something I expect to continue this weekend when the series moves to Yankee Stadium in New York. Cashman and Boone are exacerbating that behavior.
But worse, Cashman and Boone give current Yankee players an explanation for their current failures against Houston: an excuse, which is inexcusable. And a fireable offense.
*"Casey at the Bat" final stanza:
Oh, somewhere in this favoured land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light;
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout,
But there is no joy in Mudville—mighty Casey has struck out.
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