Yankees' Money For Nothing Stars Disappear At Worst Possible Time
Joel Sherman, Post:
The advantages the Yankees have over the Royals are plentiful . . .
[But] if their most moneyed men are not going to rise in October, then they are playing on a more even field with the Royals. . . .
In Game 1, the Yankees overcame that their highest-paid pitcher, Gerrit Cole, and highest-paid player, Aaron Judge, were not good. The Royals, though, walked enough batters, the Yankee chorus members rose up and the instant replay review system really helped the home team.
In Game 2, the Yankees asked Carlos Rodon to pitch like the best-paid No. 2 starter in the sport and he was not up to his salary or the moment. Judge struggled more, and so did Juan Soto this time.
And in this morass of money for nothing, the Yankees fell meekly 4-2 to open a door they certainly did not want to even nudge ajar — of failed Octobers past. They have lost the home-field edge and the starting advantage for Game 3 shifts strongly to Seth Lugo [and the Royals] . . .
On Sept. 10, Lugo had the best start in 2024 against the Yankees by Baseball Reference's game score: seven shutout innings on three hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts. That was in The Bronx. Wednesday will be at Kauffman Stadium, where the Yankees will feel . . . the weight of their own short-circuited postseasons since last winning it all in 2009.
That postseason A.J. Burnett started five times and had two clunkers . . .
I mention Burnett because Rodon from the moment he was signed to a six-year, $162 million free-agent deal conjured a lefty Burnett — great stuff, but real questions if he was overly emotional and could he handle New York. Burnett was the type who could be overpowering, yet you looked at the scoreboard and somehow he had allowed five runs in five innings.
Rodon had that kind of Game 2. He came out breathing fire — with his fastball and emotions. He struck out the side on 10 pitches in the first inning and whooped it up like he was auditioning for the WWE.
He threw a first-pitch strike to the first 10 batters he faced and got ahead 0-2 on half of them. And then he threw Ball 1 to six of the final eight hitters he faced — and was behind every one at some points. . . .
[H]e was a marathoner who went out too fast — his energy and concentration sapped. In the next five batters, he was classic Rodon — three hits, two strikeouts and a stolen base. He was done after 3.2 innings and four runs — seven hits and seven strikeouts. . . .
And, remember, if it gets there, Rodon is scheduled to start a decisive Game 5.
Rodon was a culprit — but not alone. . . .Judge came up with two on and no outs in a scoreless first inning for the second straight game and, thus, with a chance to instantly nudge the Royals toward thinking they did not belong in the same ballpark as the Yankees. Instead, he struck out both times. He has whiffed in 33.8 percent of his postseason plate appearances — the second most for anyone with 200 plate appearances.
Soto walked, but struck out twice. Giancarlo Stanton . . . continues to run as if he is carrying the weight of recent Yankee playoff failures on his back. . . .
[T]he Yanks made the least from the most — going 2-for-20 with men on base. Showing again that when one of their big guys does not park a homer or two that their offense is hardly menacing.
Now, this Division Series moves to the Midwest. Will the Yankees' big-star, big-salaried players show up to save their season?
Aaron Judge's Playoff Demons Are Inescapable
Larry Brooks, Post:
Aaron Judge walks with franchise immortals . . . when it comes to the regular season. . . .
But when it comes to the postseason, the greatest natural offensive force in the game . . . walks with the likes of Martin Maldonado and Cody Bellinger. . . .
Judge has the second highest strikeout rate in postseason history among batters with at least 200 plate appearances at 33.4 percent, second to Maldonado's 34.2 and just ahead of Bellinger's 32.6.
Judge is 1-for-7 in this series with four strikeouts in nine times at the plate. Cole Ragans struck him out with runners on first and second and none out in the first inning of this one after Michael Wacha struck him out with two on in the first in Game 1. The Yankees did not score in either opening inning. . . .
The Yankees' fate is not tied exclusively to Judge. The club is 3-for-19 with runners in scoring position while leaving 19 men on. . . .
If there are postseason moments for Judge, they are few and far between. The ring display remains barren and one of the reasons, at least in 2022 when the Yankees were swept by the Astros in the ALCS was Judge going 1-for-22 in the series.
Entering Game 2, Judge was slashing .206/.307/.451 with a .758 OPS and 13 home runs and 25 RBI in 45 games over seven post-season series. In 18 games this decade, it has been a fun-house mirror, the preeminent hitter in the game slashing .135/.207/.338 with a .545 OPS, five homers and eight RBI while striking out 28 times in 82 plate appearances before this one. . . .
The sample size is not insignificant . . . [T]ime is of the essence and time won't wait forever.
Royals' Maikel Garcia Shades Carlos Rodon After Game 2 Meltdown: 'Celebrate Too Early'
Will Zimmerman, Post:
Here comes the… shade.
"Don't celebrate too early," Kansas City's leadoff man, Maikel Garcia, wrote on X Monday night, hours after his Royals defeated the Yankees in Game 2 of the ALDS.
The celebration(s) in question belonged to Carlos Rodón, the Yankees $162 million man and starting pitcher on Monday night.
Rodón came out of the gates excited, to put it mildly. In the top of the first he struck out the side — Garcia, Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino — on 12 pitches.
With each successive strikeout, the celebration grew a little more emphatic: there was a bit of jumping around on the mound, some "did you see that" shaking of the head, and a whole lot of what looked like screaming — through an uproarious Bronx crowd drowned much of that out.
By game's end, there was little left to celebrate.
The Royals chased Rodón from the game in the fourth inning.
After surrendering a leadoff home run to Salvador Pérez in the fourth, the Yankees starter was tagged for two more runs on three singles.
Ian Hamilton came on in relief, facing Garcia with one on and two outs; the Royal jumped on the first pitch he saw, knocking a slider into right field to score Kansas City's fourth and final run of the evening.
Garcia finished the game 4-for-5, with an RBI and a stolen base.
Rodón's stat-line was less flattering: 3.2 innings pitched, seven hits, four earned runs.
Jazz Chisholm Guarantees Yankees Will Still Win ALDS: Royals 'Just Got Lucky'
Matt Ehalt, Post:
Jazz Chisholm's unwavering confidence may have provided the Royals with bulletin-board material for the 48 hours leading into Game 3.
Chisholm said the Royals "got lucky" in their 4-2 Game 2 win in the ALDS on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium . . .
"Still feels the same like we're gonna win it," Chisholm said . . . "[T]hey just got lucky." . . .
[T]he Royals actually had more at-bats with men in scoring position and went 3-for-11. They scored all four of their runs in the fourth inning to chase an underwhelming Carlos Rodon. . . .
Chisholm . . . played a role in the Royals scoring an extra run in the fourth by being out of position on a relay throw and also made a throwing error. . . .
[T]he Royals have reason to be confident knowing they have Seth Lugo, who dominated the Yankees in September in The Bronx, going in Game 3.
Yankees Paying For Raw Jazz Chisholm's Defensive Miscues: 'Something I Worry About'
Ethan Sears, Post:
Jazz Chisholm Jr. . . . made a pair of defensive miscues during the Yankees' 4-2 Game 2 loss to the Royals . . .
The first, and more costly, of those came in the four-run fourth inning that flipped the momentum in the game.
With Tommy Pham on second and one out, Chisholm failed to cut off Alex Verdugo's throw from left field after Garrett Hampson singled. As a result, there was no play at the plate on Pham and Hampson easily took second, later coming in to score on Maikel Garcia's base hit. . . .
Chisholm's error one inning later was less costly on the scoreboard, though unlike the earlier mistake, it was actually scored an error as he misfired on a throw from third to first, allowing Yuli Gurriel to reach safely.
