It's been quite dramatic for both Jays and Red Sox fans over the past two weeks. But in different ways. The Jays are the hottest team in baseball and are going for their 11th straight win today against the sockless Red Sox, who are currently in a freefall. The Jays beat the Red Sox in 11 innings on a homerun by sparkplug Russell Martin, who got things going with a bases-loaded triple in the previous game. Martin is a big reason why both the starting pitching and especially the bullpen have been very effective lately. He calls a great game and is one of the best pitch-framers in the game today. Even though the Jays still have two starters out of the lineup, the replacements have done the job when inserted into the lineup.
I honestly believe that John Farrell will be fired by the all-star break. Cherington should also be fired, but if it happens it'll only happen at the end of the season. The manager always winds up paying the price for his GM's mistakes. Yes, even if that manager (Farrell) is the worst manager in baseball.
The Yankees have slumped recently. They're still hitting pretty good, but the pitching hasn't been very good. Other than Tanaka, whose arm could go anytime, the rest of the starting staff has been very disappointing. Especially Sabathia. But all season long, Betances and Miller have been lights-out and covered up for an average pitching staff and a crappy bullpen. But now that Miller will be out of action for at least a month, the Yankees will likely have to hit like crazy in order to stay up in the AL East standings. But let's be honest, it won't happen. There are way too many holes in that lineup. A-Rod remains one of their best hitters and this tells it all. McCann has been a big disappoint. Texeira has hit very well, but he's overdue for some DL time. Stephen Drew hits the occasional homerun, but not much else. He's hitting below .200 once again. As for Gregorius, he's got a very good glove, but no bat. Chase Headley has also disappointed and hasn't done much. Their best player is Brett Gardiner. Jacoby Ellsbury is injury-prone and he's been out of the lineup for an extended period once again. What a wasted talent!! And then there's poor old Carlos Beltran in right field. He's not doing much at the plate and he's become a bad fielder. He's terribly slow and takes him forever to get to balls. The other guys on the ballclub are a bunch of nobodies, so i won't bother mentionning them.
As i mentionned previously, the loss of Andrew Miller will be devastating. But not only do i blame Joe Girardi for this, he has also publicly blamed himself for overusing both Miller and Betances so early into the season. The reason for this is that he's got no confidence in the rest of the bullpen. Someone close to the team told me that Miller's injury is very similar to Tanaka's injury last season. As a baseball fan, i hope this is not the case. Miller has been a pleasure to watch this season and a pennant race is always more interesting when the Yankees are involved, like 'em or not. I could say the same thing about the Red Sox, but let's face it, they're a lost cause.
It now looks like it'll be a three-way race between the Jays, Rays and O's.
