Better vibes for the Yankees into All-Star break?
It’s amazing what one weekend in the nation’s capital can do for the Yankees’ morale as they enter the All-Star break.
That’s not to say the prior series against the Rays was bad by any means. Splitting a four-game series was the bare minimum that I wanted them to achieve to keep pace in the race for the AL East title. Jose Caballero terrorizing his former employers with two home runs to power New York to a 5-1 victory was a promising start to their time in Tampa. But the kicker in that game was that the Yankees struck out a whopping 17 times.
The Rays made sure the Yankees wouldn’t get away with their whiffing and missing a second time. Once again the Yankees were K’d 17 times (without walking, by the way), but Tampa prevailed 6-4 as Will Warren was roughed up on the mound by allowing three homers. The offensive impotency continued on Wednesday by getting blanked 3-0. But hey, at least they only struck out 11 times. Progress!
Thankfully for the Yankees, they were able to salvage the split as the bats finally woke up and exploded for 12 runs. That series summed up the inconsistent hitting that they’ve displayed all season long. While the home run-or-bust approach is more commonplace in this current era of game—whether you like it or not, batting average is becoming less and less important—the Yankees have really taken that to heart. They’re unsurprisingly first in the league in home runs, but they’re the fifth-worst in terms of strikeout rate. As it stands, history does not reflect kindly on the Bronx Bombers. In the last 25 years, no team has won the World Series as a bottom-five team in strikeout rate. Of course there’s still half a season to make amends, but the trip to the Trop was not an encouraging sign.
There was at least some consistency against the Nationals. That is, it seemed like every game played out the exact same way: The Yankees find themselves down late in the game only to pull off a comeback against a horrific Washington bullpen. In fact, according to SportsRadar, it’s the first time since 1910 that the Yankees have won at least three straight games when trailing in the eighth inning or later. You could chalk this up to playing an inferior opponent, though Washington is somewhat decent this year with some strong hitting talent. But the fact they showed that amount of fight and perseverance will bode well when tougher and more crucial games are on the docket.
It also helps that Ben Rice is going nuclear at the moment. He rides an eight-game hitting streak into the All-Star break, batting .400 (12-30) with five home runs and 12 runs batted in. The go-ahead two-run triple on Sunday is the latest highlight in what’s been an MVP-like campaign for the Ivy League’s own this year. Who would’ve thought we’d be saying that this deep into the season? OK, he’s currently fourth in MVP odds at 13-1, but still, not too shabby for the Dartmouth product.
Aside from the obvious questions surrounding the upcoming trade deadline, the biggest question for the Yankees in the second half of the season is when Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton will return. Who knows at this point given the organization notable lack of reliability with injuries. With their stellar pitching (boosted by the eventual return of Max Fried) they should have enough in the tank to at least finish in the first Wild Card spot. So if Judge and Stanton are back in time for the postseason only? So be it.
More of the same Mets misery
On Saturday, I made the venture down to Queens to catch the Mets-Red Sox game. If you go back in time to April, this game would’ve been seen as a marquee matchup between two teams poised to make postseason runs. But in reality, both teams inexplicably are on the outside of a playoff spot.
It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me, then, that tickets were a lot cheaper for this contest. Although the reported attendance was a respectable 38,371, it really didn’t feel as crowded looking around the ballpark. For a Saturday afternoon game, I was not expecting to see a myriad of empty seats around Citi Field.
Then again, that should be expected given how things have gone off the rails for the Mets. And that game against Boston perfectly summed up this season: a flat, dull performance that gave fans almost nothing to cheer about. Freddy Peralta started out strong with three scoreless innings only to give up a two-run home run and get taken out an inning later. That deficit was already insurmountable given that they could only muster up three hits en route to a 4-0 loss. It’s one thing for the likes of Eric Wagaman and Zach Short to be held hitless. But when the top four in the lineup (A.J. Ewing, Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor, and Carson Benge) all come up empty, therein lies the big problem.
The biggest disappointment, though, was not seeing Devin Williams get to pitch. That’s because it was his replica jersey giveaway day. Almost every giveaway sells out like hot cakes. But upon entering the stadium an hour before first pitch, there were boxes upon boxes of jerseys yet to be distributed. Maybe there would be value to them if another Met with the last name Williams and wears the number 38 becomes a star later down the line, but there’s evidently not much value at the moment.
AJ Green did save Williams for Sunday’s game with the Mets up 2-0 in the ninth inning. In a summer where the Knicks proved all their haters wrong, Williams once again proving his doubters right by allowing the tying runs as Boston eventually prevailed 3-2 in extra innings to complete the sweep.
In fairness to Williams, he would have secured the save if not for a would-be game-ending routine double play that Lindor bobbled. It’s a shame given that he went 2-4 with a home run and two RBIs. The bigger story for Lindor is his name being thrown around in trade rumors. Add that to the category of things that would be unfathomable to say before this season began. Of course it won’t happen by the deadline. But if these alleged chemistry issues with Juan Soto and others persist? We might not see him in blue and orange next year.
So here lie the Mets with a 40-57 record heading into the All-Star break, only bested (or in this case, worst-ed?) by the Colorado Rockies’ 39-59 mark in the National League. Prepare for quite the mass exodus over the next few weeks, which to the chagrin of many Mets fans will not include David Stearns.
Another World Cup, another USMNT Round of 16 exit
I’ve talked about in previous columns how it’s been Groundhog Day for the Yankees with their propensity to get off to a hot start only to go through a slump beginning at some point in June and lasting until at least the All-Star break.
The same phrase can be applied to the U.S. men’s national team at the FIFA World Cup.
Just like in 2014 against Belgium and 2022 against the Netherlands, the Stars and Stripes were once again eliminated by a superior European team in the Round of 16. It happened to be those pesky Belgians again, and it wasn’t particularly close.
Right from the get-go, you had a feeling that the U.S. was going to be in a whole world of trouble. In the opening minute, Belgium was on the front foot and had a well-struck effort denied brilliantly by Matt Freese. It wasn’t too long after that Belgium broke through thanks to a poor clearance. The Americans responded with a deflected free kick from Malik Tillman to tie the game up, but parity only lasted for 61 seconds before Belgium went back on the other end and saw Charles De Ketelaere out-duel 38-year-old centerback Tim Ream in the air to head his team back ahead.
In the second half, the U.S. were still second-best but at least were still in the game. But then, disaster struck. Freese came out of his box to retrieve a long ball but was put under pressure by De Ketelaere. Instead of clearing the ball, he kicked the grass instead and had the ball knocked away, leading to a long-range goal that could have been blocked by Ream. That took all the wind out of any sails for the U.S. as Belgium added a last-minute strike to rout the hosts 4-1.
While many people will point to the individual errors and say that the U.S. gifted Belgium all their goals, the fact of the matter is that it was a collectively shocking performance out of the blue from what we’ve seen at this World Cup. It wasn’t just Freese. It wasn’t just Ream. It wasn’t just “Captain America” himself Christian Pulisic. It was everybody. Yes, that includes manager Mauricio Pochettino. For as wonderful he made this team look in the group stage and in the Round of 32 win over Bosnia, he clearly did not set up his team for success as they were dominated from start to finish.
The lingering question is if he will stick around for the 2030 World Cup, as the U.S. Soccer Federation has already offered him a contract to stay. The most likely outcome is that Pochettino will return to Europe to coach at an elite club like AC Milan. While I’m not against Pochettino staying in the states, he was brought in and paid the big bucks (a two-year, $6 million deal in his original contract) to win games like the one against Belgium. It’s also important to keep in mind that keeping a manager for two World Cup cycles typically doesn’t end well.
On the other hand, Pochettino can only use the cards that are dealt to him. Simply put: the U.S. still does not have the depth to compete with a top-10 team in the world like Belgium. The fact that they had Jeremy Doku and Romelu Lukaku come off the bench and Kevin De Bruyne not even see the field and beat the hosts with ease shows how far behind the U.S. is still lagging behind amongst the upper echelon of world soccer. While this year’s team is probably the most talented the U.S. has possibly seen with so many playing in elite European leagues, it’s still clearly not good enough.
Unless something drastic changes within the current system of soccer in this country (specifically at the youth level), we’ll be sitting here four years from now after the U.S. get knocked out again in the Round of 16 once again wondering what went wrong.
At least we can look forward to the U.S. women’s national team next year at their World Cup in Brazil.
Other things that caught my eye
- Usually the MLB draft passes by each year without many major storylines. But the biggest takeaway from this year’s draft was the sheer number of sons of former legends who were selected. The four most notable are as follows: Landon Thome (son of Jim) taken 34th overall by the White Sox, Peyton Bonds (son of Barry) taken 90th overall by the Giants, Luke Pettitte (son of Andy) taken 248th overall by the Yankees, and Carsten Sabathia III (son of CC) taken in 611th overall by the Brewers. Notice how in all those cases the organizations that selected those players were the same exact ones their fathers made a name for themselves in. The true test of the ‘history repeats itself’ cliché will be put to the test in 10-15 years’ time.
- While the All-Star rosters were released back on July 4, the Home Run Derby participants were not completed until Friday night. Ben Rice will be the lone New Yorker taking part as he hopes to become the first Yankees since Aaron Judge since 2017 to win the contest. Here’s hoping that he doesn’t ruin his swing like Judge did back when he came out on top, and here’s hoping that he can at least outdo Jazz Chisholm’s three-home run tally from last year’s derby.
- If you’re a fan of local college basketball and not watching the NBA Summer League, I highly suggest you starting tuning in. That’s because Cornell’s Chris Manon and AK Okereke have rejoined forces for the Lakers. Manon in particular had quite a breakout performance against the Spurs on Monday, scoring 24 points while continuing to thrive on the defensive end of the floor. In other former Big Red hoops news, 2019 alum Matt Morgan signed with Aris B.C. for the upcoming 2026-27 season. Aris is historically one of the most successful Greek basketball teams, winning 10 Greek Championships, eight Greek Cups and three European trophies.
- Just because the USMNT is out of the World Cup doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stop paying attention, because the semifinal matchups are incredibly tantalizing. Tuesday’s matchup between Spain and France in Dallas pits arguably the top two most talented teams at the tournament against each other. The French have looked unstoppable with Kylian Mbappe leading the way, while the Spaniards haven’t clicked into full gear just yet, but their near-impenetrable defense will be put to the test against Mbappe and company. Then on Wednesday, defending champions Argentina take on England in Atlanta. Lionel Messi’s Argentina also haven’t really impressed during the knockout stage but are finding ways to win, while England has a chance to exorcise past World Cup demons and the make the final for the first time since 1966. It’s appointment viewing for both days as the tourney winds down.
