Zack Britton Completely Shit The Bed And Blew a Golden Opportunity For The Yanks in Houston
Astros 4 Yankees 3
Well, that certainly sucked. The Yankees played a perfect game for six innings. Tanaka was brilliant, they scored their most runs off Verlander in 4 years, and they got hits in big spots. Then Boone turned to the bullpen, mainly Zack Britton, and shit hit the fan. There was some good for sure, but some really bad in Monday’s loss. Let’s start with the bad because that’s why the tone of this blog is not joyful one bit.
The Bad:
Zack Britton
After six stellar innings from Tanaka, Boone went with Zack Britton in the 7th to shut things down. A lot of you hated pulling Tanaka after six after just 78 pitches, but I didn’t hate the move. Masa was seeing the lineup for the 3rd time around and had just wiggled out a huge jam in the 6th. The pitch count was low, but his stuff was deteriorating a bit. Tanaka after the game agreed with Boone when he got pulled. If this was a little later in the season maybe they send him out there batter by batter, but it’s April 8th and they’re not trying to kill him this early. You have this super bullpen for a reason. If you told me Masa gives you six innings of three hit ball, allowing just the one homer on Altuve’s bomb they I’ll take that any day of the week and you’re lying if you say otherwise. The bullpen was fully rested with Britton having not pitched in 3 days. It was a totally fine move, Britton just sucked.
You just can’t let Robinson Chirinos beat you. You can’t let the number 9 hitting backup catcher beat you if you’re Zack Britton. Pretty simple. This isn’t on Boone. This isn’t on the nerd department. It’s on Britton. He lost the Yankees the game, plain and simple.
Greg Bird
If we just didn’t send anyone up to the plate in place of Bird and just had a ghost up there they’d have a better at bat then whatever he’s tried to do last night. 0 for 4 with four strikeouts. The elusive golden sombrero. And it wasn’t like he was putting up a fight and working counts. He legit looked like he was just given the full use of his arms on Monday night for the first time and told to swing the bat. He wasn’t close to putting a ball in play. Useless. Worthless. Voit has gone through his early struggles, but he’s doing way more than whatever you consider these Greg Bird at bats are attempting to do. He has to play right now to give us a lefty bat with the decimation of this roster, but once Hicks and some other guys return it’s see ya later for this guy. To make matters worse, he botched the infield hit that won the game. Granted, I think the run was scoring either way because of how slow it was hit, but Otto should have gotten to that and flipped to Bird for the second out.
I’ve had enough. I’ve had enough for three years. If you’re a Greg Bird apologist still, go live in a cave.
Gary Sanchez’s Balls
Gary already has a daughter and it looks like that’s the only addition that will be made to his family. I don’t know how you keep catching after that. Britton bounced the very next pitch too, to make matters worse. At that point if you’re Gary you have to challenge Zack to a fist fight.
The Good
Clint Frazier is about as locked in as a hitter can be right now. He is working every count, not chasing anything, and rocketing pitches in the zone. This was his first time facing Verlander and you will have to look very hard to find a guy who faired better in that spot.
He needs to be in the lineup every single day. I don’t give a fuck if Boone and the nerds don’t believe in being hot at the plate. Clint is seeing the ball as well as anyone on this team right now. It’s his time.
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Masahiro Tanaka
For the third straight start this season, Masahiro Tanaka was fantastic.
5.2 IP | 6 H | 1 ER | 5 K | 0 BB
6.2 IP | 8 H | 1 ER | 7 K | 0 BB
6.0 IP | 3 H | 1 ER | 3 K | 2 BB
With the Yankees getting bad news with Sevy today and things looking bleaker and bleaker as more news comes in, Tanaka is going to have to be the guy. So far he’s done everything he’s had to. Keep the ball down, if you’re going to give up homers let them be solo shots, and don’t walk guys. It’s a shame the pen spoiled this, because he deserved the W.
Aaron Judge
Judge for his career against Justin Verlander had not faired well entering last night. By not faired well I mean he was a career 0 for 13 with 7 strikeouts and zero walks. Last night he reached base four times, including this line drive homer to give the Yanks the lead in the 5th.
As he crossed home plate he noticeably faced the Astros dugout and gave them a nice stare.
My penis instantly became erect. Judge trying to start some shit? I’m all for that.
He was patient at the plate and took whatever JV gave him. I thought early on after Gardy stole second, Judge didn’t try and be the hero on a 3-2 count. Verlander wanted no part of him and tried to get him to chase, but instead walked him for Voit which led to the Yankees first run. Judge needed a game against Verlander like last night.
All in all, shitty loss in a game where you should have beaten Justin Verlander. You don’t say that often and you can’t let those opportunities slip away, even in April
New Short Porch is out now. Make sure to catch up on the weekend series in Baltimore as we relive Gary and Clint catching fire.