First week of Spring Training. Excitement is in the air, fans are back in the stands, and it is prime time for overreactions. Here are a few overreactions and underreactions from the first week of camp.
Overreaction: Gerrit Cole sucks
This comment is trite. Yes, Gerrit Cole gave up a run to the Tigers in one inning. Yes, he needed 28 pitches to get three outs. No, he does not suck. As many people recall, Cole gave up six earned runs in just two innings last spring against the Tigers.
Obviously, a lot of the comments are jokes. We all know Cole will be fine.
Underreaction: Spring Training does matter — Gary Sanchez still sucks
We see a lot of strong Spring Trainings followed up by mediocre regular seasons. But Gary did hit .087 last spring and followed that up with a .147 batting average and .618 OPS during the regular season.
But the signs from his first three games this year have been promising. He’s launched two home runs in five at-bats, thrown out a runner, and just looks solid overall. Per Bryan Hoch:
“Sánchez has been working with hitting coaches Marcus Thames and P.J. Pilittere to keep more weight on his right leg and reduce his left leg kick, which they believe will improve his consistency.”
I know we hear things like this all the time, so let’s see how he does a month from now. But for now, Gary has made some changes that should at least get him back to a respectable level.
Overreaction: let’s sign Jameson Taillon and Corey Kluber to extensions!
Taillon and Kluber both looked great in their first outings with the team. They combined to throw three scoreless innings, retiring all nine batters they faced. But we see people competing to sign these guys to extensions, that this will be a great year for them, and so on. While some of those probably were said jokingly, let’s pump the brakes a little. Sure, it was great to see both of them get back on the mound after throwing a combined seven innings last year (all from Kluber), but I need to see them continue this success as we get deeper into March. If they continue to look healthy and effective, I will become more and more optimistic about our rotation in 2021. Of course, there is then the matter of the 162 games that count, but let’s deal with that when it comes.
Underreaction: Adam Warren’s impact on the bullpen
I haven’t seen a whole lot of people talking about Adam Warren. He’s only 33 years old, and he has always been reliable as a Yankee. So far this spring, he has thrown two scoreless innings. And here are his splits by team:
|
Team |
ERA |
IP |
|
NYY |
3.18 |
407.0 |
|
Everyone else |
5.17 |
85.1 |
The pinstripes just do something different for Warren. He underwent Tommy John Surgery in September 2019 and therefore did not pitch last year, but he will be ready for the 2021 season. He can be a valuable middle-innings reliever for the Yankees.
Perhaps there’s a secret sauce in #IAmGary. If so, make sure Warren gets a full case of it (and given that this was in 2017 — they year Gary hit 33 home runs and had 90 RBI — it probably wouldn’t hurt for Sanchez to dip into it as well).
#IamGary the fragrance // la fragancia. 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/klfUPsIbJs
— Gary Sanchez (@ElGarySanchez) May 9, 2017
