Lance Lynn's Performance Last Night Was a Breath of Fresh Air For The Struggling Yankees
If there is a way to feel good after the beatdown that just took place over the weekend, it was watching Lance Lynn get the ball last night and doing what he did. God Bless this guy for temporarily saving my sanity. Things are horrible in Yankees world right now no doubt, but Lance Lynn gave the Yankees just what they needed last night. Now before you get all hot and bothered, this doesn’t take away from what happened in Boston. But what can you do right now? Sit back and sob about the Sox sweeping us? No shot. You have to move on. You have to punch back. You have to start beating the bad teams and getting momentum for the upcoming stretch run. It’s the only thing you can do. Lance Lynn got us going last night and hopefully that jump starts this team a bit. I love Lynn’s comment about knowing the importance of this start. He flew into Chicago early Sunday while the team played in Boston, and he knew he had to show up. That’s the quote that tickles your balls a little bit and makes you like a guy.
During his time in St. Louis he became this innings eater, who constantly made 30+ starts a year, and had an ERA below four. He was reliable. For whatever reason in Minnesota things changed. When Lance Lynn came over from the Twins he walked an average of five and a half men per nine innings. Maybe it was because his team was hot garbage and he was surrounded by a losing environment. Since coming over from Minnesota, although it’s been a small sample size, Lynn has pitched like the guy this team needs. He loves to throw his fastball, both a two seamer and four seamer, and he pounds the zone. It’s refreshing. He’s walked one guy in his two appearances (11.2 innings) while striking out 14. When we’ve dealt with guys like Sonny Gray and CC and even Severino lately, who have nibbled constantly, it’s incredible to see a performance like we did last night. Lynn just attacks and I hope to God he can keep this up.
Compare his start last night to any of Sonny Gray’s and the anxiety and excitement level were on completely different ends of the spectrum. Cashman got Lynn for only Tyler Austin and it may end up fortifying this rotation if he keeps this up. Now let’s not blow our load here. He’s had two games in pinstripes. But in those two games he’s impressed greatly. Sure they’ve come against Baltimore and the White Sox, two struggling teams, but I’ll tell you what. During this two month stretch of basically playing .500 ball, the Yankees haven’t been able to beat those teams. Lance Lynn will not be this year’s Justin Verlander, meaning a fading veteran pitching who gets acquired mid-season on the cheap end and turns into a horse, but maybe he tries to duplicate what Aaron Small or Shawn Chacon have done in the past in this type of roll? The Yankees have one of the best records in baseball history (so far this year) when they get a quality start from their pitcher. Last night, Lynn gave us more than quality. He gave us dominance.
The offense backed Lynn’s impressive efforts with real life runs. Behind Gleyber and Neil Walker homers, and some timely hits with runners in scoring position, the Yankees put up seven runs to breeze by Chicago. CC gets the ball tonight and he’s got to answer the bell. Attack these White Sox hitters. Do not walk people. Beat up on the White Sox and maybe we’ll be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
It’s still currently raining, but the rain is going to stop soon.
Listen to the newest episode of The Short Porch where we broke down the disaster in Boston, but also touched on Lynn’s start to give us some hope.