This Post Doesn’t Have a Headline Because the Yankees Dropped It
The Tampa Bay Rays won the most games in the American League this year while running the AL’s second-lowest payroll. That’s a feat of team-building, first and foremost, but it also speaks to how well their players dodged leaks. On offense, they had the lowest strikeout and whiff rates in the majors; their pitchers had the league’s lowest walk rate and just 18 blown saves. You can’t make mistakes if you’re the Rays.
That’s a well-worn cliché, but here’s a novel spin on it: You can’t make mistakes if you’re the Yankees either. Presumptive AL Cy Young winner Cam Schlittler did some terrific work in his first career playoff road start, and no one’s going to remember it, because the other eight guys in gray pajamas played like the ball was covered in dish soap in Game 2.
The Yankees committed three errors in the bottom of the first inning, and another in the fifth. The Rays scored five runs across those two half-innings, and there’s your final score: Rays 5, Yankees 2.
Michael is a writer at FanGraphs. Previously, he was a staff writer at The Ringer and D1Baseball, and his work has appeared at Grantland, Baseball Prospectus, The Atlantic, ESPN.com, and various ill-remembered Phillies blogs. Follow him on Twitter, if you must, @MichaelBaumann.
The Chisholm “attempt” for the DP was just bizarre. They did well to get the out at 2nd and he tried to hot dog it and it cost them big time. It sort of just set the tone for the game. I’m definitely not a Yankee fan, but you’ve got to feel for Schlitter when your team fields like a 3rd division U12 squad.
The defense was atrocious of course, but Cam wasn’t Cam. He did a great job of limiting the damage but he just had no swing and miss in his game. His velocity was down across the board, and not just after he started to tire (his first few 4-seamers were sitting around 98 compared 100-101 against Boston). He wasn’t hitting his spots and his curve was generally useless. I’m not blaming him for the defense of course but when he only strikes out 2 guys, more balls in play = more opportunities for defensive ineptitude.
Maybe throwing 117 high-stress pitches (including way more curves than you’ve ever thrown) when you’ve never thrown over 107 (and when even that was a year earlier) isn’t the best thing for a young pitcher. Weird.
I think his first two K’s came in the 4th (?) maybe even later.
Rays should have won by a lot more.