Yankee fans are some of the most passionate in all of sports. With that passion comes some terrible stupid, emotional takes. In 2020, those bad takes have spilled over to people who are paid to cover the Yankees. Joel Sherman suggested Tyler Wade start over Giancarlo Stanton in the playoffs, and Bob Klapisch thought Gerrit Cole should start on two days’ rest. But Randy Miller of NJ.com posted the worst piece of writing I’ve ever seen regarding the New York Yankees. Considering I’ve read my own blogs before, that’s saying a lot. I’m not gonna link the article and subject you guys to its nonsense. Instead, I’ll summarize what I thought were some of the worst parts. To be fair, these technically aren’t Miller’s opinions. Rather, they come from an “anonymous scout.”
“If Hal really wants to look at where one of his biggest problems is, it’s Cashman right now. That’s who has the Yankees worrying more about analytics than letting his players play.
Right off the bat, this doesn’t sound like an actual scout. Fans who are frustrated with Cashman, I hear you. I’m annoyed at the fact that he didn’t add any pitchers after the injuries to Kahnle, Paxton, and Severino. However, implying that the Yankees are too concerned with analytics after they just lost to the most analytically-driven team in baseball is a strange takeaway. Did they overthink the Game 2 decision? Absolutely. But the solution is to get someone who can pitch Game 2, not to abandon analytics completely.
“That’s who is responsible for the experiment to bring in the Eric Cressey pitching analytic guy that didn’t work.”
If things smelled fishy at the beginning of the article, here’s where they started to totally reek. First of all, for anybody who is supposedly a scout to refer to someone as a “pitching analytic guy” is strange. Second, Cressey has nothing to do with pitching nor analytics. He oversees strength and conditioning for the Yankees. I’m supposed to a “scout” who is blaming the strength and conditioning coach for pitching analytics tell me what’s wrong with the Yankees?
“It’s easy to read [pitching coach Matt Blake’s] body language just from watching on TV. And the lack of respect or attention that Yankees pitchers even pay to Blake…”
I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or puke when I read this part. Are we seriously analyzing the PITCHING COACH’S BODY LANGUAGE when discussing what went wrong with the 2020 Yankees?
I’ve seen some dumb takes in my day, but blaming the Yankees’ demise on the pitching coach’s body language during mound visits may take the cake
— Stanzo (@ncostanzo24) October 19, 2020
Because everyone knows that Larry Rothschild just exuded confidence every time he went to the mound.
I did think it was time for Rothschild to go, but the pitching coach is never going to be the #1 reason for any team’s demise. As far as the notion that the Yankees’ pitchers don’t respect Blake, here’s what Gerrit Cole had to say when he was asked about him:
“Everybody as an individual, I think Matt has a really good grasp on that. I think he balances kind of the old school pitching thoughts and working on feel and balance, and is able to translate that to some of these players.”
Blake was present in the Cole recruitment meetings. I’m not trying to make it seem like he’s the reason Cole is a Yankee, there’s 324 million of those. But to insinuate that Blake is disrespected when one of the best pitchers in baseball clearly appreciates him makes no sense to me. Even if that were the case, to blame a pitching coach’s body language for a team’s playoff loss is quite possibly the stupidest thing I have ever read.
“Luke Voit hits home runs, but he’s a below-average first baseman.”
That’s your takeaway from Luke Voit’s season? That he’s a below-average first baseman? The guy led all of baseball in home runs and made great strides defensively in 2020, all while battling plantar fasciitis. Or, as it’s known in the medical community, “foot stuff.” To sell Voit’s 2020 season short because he isn’t a Gold Glove first baseman is truly mindless.
So who is this “scout”?
I honestly refuse to believe this guy is an actual baseball scout. Just way too many brainless statements in that blog. I have a few theories on who it could be:
-Miller pretending to be a “scout” to fire off his worst takes
-A drunk WFAN caller catfishing Miller into thinking he’s a scout
Or, my personal favorite:
Sounds like Happ wrote the article TBH
— Christian (@Christian_NYYST) October 19, 2020
If J.A. Happ ghostwrote an article attacking the Yankees, I would have no choice but to respect him.
What’s your reaction to the blog? Do you have any knowledge of who the anonymous scout is? Tweet me @ncostanzo24 with reactions, insights, or takes about Matt Blake’s body language.
