Battlelines Drawn with Red Sox & Yankees Emerging; Welcome Gen Z-ers
An Alarm Clock Rings in Boston
Well, it seems the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees both woke up this weekend. The Red Sox, in particular, reminded the upstart Tampa Bay Rays they won the American League East last season (and the World Series) and still have designs on this year’s title. That’s what Boston’s sweep of the three-game series implied. And they did it without any Gen Z-ers, but it’s only a matter of time.
The sweep portends dominance.
Boston treated Tampa Bay without any respect, much as they had over years prior. They raked Tampa Bay pitching, outhit them and out advantaged them. They exploited every inch Tampa Bay gave them, pulling three games closer.
Rather than ending the weekend 11.5 games behind Tampa, Boston is only five games out. That’s a 6.5 game difference.
And Mookie Betts seemed to have woken up. He went 6-for-12, scored three runs and homered over the weekend. While Mitch Moreland has continued his attack on pitchers everywhere. He went 3-for-8, scored two runs and swatted two homers.
More importantly, Boston’s pitching seems to have risen from the dead. Eduardo Rodriguez was good in the first game, Rick Porcello was masterful in the second, and in the last game, David Price neutralized the emerging artistry of Tyler Glasnow, allowing Boston to outlast him and steal the game.
In the process, Ryan Brasier pitched brilliantly, saving all three games, totaling six saves for the young season, third in the American League. In the process, Brasier partially atoned for his poorly located fastball that Brett Gardner launched over the fence for a grand slam last week in Yankee Stadium. Brasier, a walk-on last season, found in the middle of nowhere, has become one of Boston’s most reliable relief pitchers.
As reliable as Craig Kimbrell was in his heyday, Brasier has begun to fill that role. A player who will earn a major league salary of only $577,500 this year. Meaning Brasier will be a bargain for years to come, since he is only in his second season. He won’t be eligible for a serious raise until his initial arbitration in 2021.
So, it seems Boston has turned the corner, with the next 10 games at Fenway Park against Detroit, Tampa Bay and Oakland. No reason Boston cannot lurch over .500 for the first time since they opened the season at 1-1 in Seattle. And they’ve reached this juncture without much pop from J. D. Martinez, despite his .350 average and 1.003 OPS.
The Depth of the Yankees
It seems virtually the entire Yankee team is on the newly coined injured list (IL). The list includes their biggest stars: Aaron Judge. Gary Sanchez. Giancarlo Stanton. Aaron Hicks. Miguel Andujar. Didi Gregorious. Dellin Betances. And Luis Severino.
Yet the Yankees are now 12-10, kicking off a 10-day West Coast road trip in Anaheim with a 4-3 win in 14 innings Monday. During the trip they’ll play the Angels, San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks. So, they could be dancing around or under .500 if they don’t play smart baseball on the coast.
But it’s also another chance for their depth pieces to show what they can do. Mike Tauchman. Gio Urshela (who drove in the game-winning run Monday). Mike Ford. Thairo Estrada. Tyler Wade. Austin Romine. Clint Frazier. And Joe Harvey.
The names above are the players who have been getting at-bats, replacing Yankees on the injured list. Mike Tauchman, who had only seen minimal major league time with Colorado before coming to the Yankees in a trade at the end of March 2019, has shocked his new team. In 13 games, he has amassed three home runs, eight RBIs, and has a .924 OPS with a 0.4 WAR. In short, Tauchman has made a difference.
Throw in the clout of Clint Frazier, who has played in 17 of the team’s 22 games, made 68 impactful plate appearances smacking 6 home runs, driving in 17 RBIs, with a .975 OPS, and a 0.7 WAR, and the Yankees have found a difference maker in their midst.
No wonder Frazier has created a dilemma for the Yankees. What do they do with him when Aaron Hicks and Giancarlo Stanton return? And should Frazier still be a Yankee when Aaron Judge returns, then what? Frazier has become a dangerous, powerful force. More than likely he stays. But then, who goes, is someone traded? Tauchman could be sent down to Triple-A. Frazier has created new headaches for Brian Cashman.
What is clear is that the Yankees will need more contributions from Tauchman and Frazier in the coming weeks if they are to continue their ascent toward first place and keep pace with the Red Sox. And Tampa Bay.
This renewed vitality from both the Yankees and Red Sox seems to suggest the intense rivals are regaining their swagger. And that sway is a warning shot across the bow of the rest of the rather anemic American League, Tampa Bay included.
The Coming of the Gen Z-ers
The first player born in the 21st century made his debut this month. Elvis Enmanual Luciano hails from Boca Chica in the Dominican Republic. He was born February 15, 2000. Luciano is a six-foot-three-inch right-handed pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays, and the first of what will be a wave of Gen Z-ers who will soon change the dynamics of major league baseball.
Players without a temporal connection to the 20th century. Players whose memories are so full of technicolor details that the black and white of what once was, is what once was, but may not be what is.
Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Ozzie Smith, Sandy Koufax, Carl Hubbell, and Tom Seaver. Great 20th century players, Hall of Famers, and men who left their mark on the game. Will these new Gen Z players remember that the game grew out of the Elysian Fields—among the first ball fields where amateur baseball was played in the 1850s—into a commercial behemoth that not only entertained but offered a constant supply of talented athletes who worked hard to find their place on major league rosters?
And even if it took 73 years for the game to finally self-correct and truly become the national pastime the moment Jackie Robinson finally took the field for Brooklyn, all of these lessons are 20th century allegories. Now the 21st century narrative is beginning to be written. What new stories lurk between the foul lines? And which Gen Zs will compose the new chronicle?
