Schadenfreude 287: (A Continuing Series)

Dan Martin, Post:

After all the speeches and lineup changeups, all the Yankees needed to get a win was a bases-loaded wild pitch to turn things around.

The Yankees' lineup looked about as weak as ever . . .

Fittingly, the Yankees snapped their five-game losing streak with the two biggest runs coming courtesy of Atlanta miscues. . . .

Mike Ford . . . walked to force in another run. . . .

Boone's lineup shake-up didn’t produce much, as Charlie Morton retired the first seven batters of the game until Gio Urshela doubled . . . with one out in the third. They didn't get another hit until . . . the fifth. . . .

Joel Sherman, Post:

It hasn't even been three weeks of regular-season play, but …

•  Have you noticed … the lack of joy around the Yankees? Of course, the lack of wins, hits and runs hardly are going to make the group want to break out in a game of Twister. But even in the good moments, there is a muted quality. . . .

The word that keeps resonating with me is "stale," like there was a stay fresh date that has expired on this core. . . .

In 2004, then-Red Sox GM Theo Epstein sensed such a staleness with a close-but-no-cigar group and became convinced that a lack of defense and athleticism was going to keep the team from winning. He reacted by trading the face of the franchise, Nomar Garciaparra, at the July deadline for multiple better defensive pieces. And Boston went on to win a championship.

Ultimately, will Brian Cashman have to make the same decision about this team and come July shake the lethargy and address defense and athleticism by, say, trading an Aaron Judge or Gleyber Torres?

• Have you noticed … that Garrett Whitlock has, in four relief appearances, thrown the equivalent of a complete-game shutout: nine innings, three hits, no runs, no walks, 11 strikeouts? He has done this for the Red Sox. After they took him in the Rule 5 draft last December. From the Yankees. . . .

It is early, but in a text exchange Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Whitlock that he "attacks the strike zone with plus stuff since Day 1 in Fort Myers and his changeup is becoming a weapon." Cora praised Whitlock as an "awesome person who works hard at his craft and asks questions and listens to veterans," citing Matt Andriese, Nathan Eovaldi and Adam Ottavino. . . .

• Have you noticed … that the Yankees called up Mike Ford again, this time to replace Jay Bruce? When I first covered the Yankees as a beat writer in the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was an illogic to a lot of the moves that were made, often fueled by George Steinbrenner's impetuousness and the split command between New York and Tampa.

With those clubs, it wasn't that A-plus-B wouldn't equal C; oftentimes it felt like it didn't even equal another letter; A-plus-B could equal a ham sandwich. The club could need a shortstop and have the assets to land a shortstop and they would add another DH type. Boy, did they love DH types. One Ken Phelps after another Mel Hall followed by a Steve Balboni.

By the way, with Ford, how many DH types do these 2021 Yankees have? Him, Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez, Rougned Odor … [A]nother lumbering non-defender. . . .

• Have you noticed … that Stanton has the hardest-hit ball of 2021? It was a 120 mph single off Toronto’s Jordan Romano on April 13. No surprise there. Statcast began monitoring exit velocity in 2015 and in each of the seven seasons, Stanton has the hardest-hit ball. . . .

But the idea is not to win valuable carnival stuffed animals for velocity or distance, but baseball games.  . . . Too often, though, it feels like the exchange rate for Stanton and Sanchez, in particular, is "wow" moments interspersed with too many meaningless at-bats.

Average
Red Sox: .287 (1st in MLB)
Yankees: .208 (15th in AL (last), 29th in MLB (next-to-last (Cubs .189!))

On-Base
Red Sox: .347 (1st in MLB)
Yankees: .278 (10th in AL, 22nd in MLB)

Slugging
Red Sox: .470 (1st in MLB)
Yankees: .344 (30th in MLB)

OPS
Red Sox: .817 (1st in MLB)
Yankees: .640 (30th in MLB)

Kristie Ackert, Daily News:

Aaron Boone has heard your boos. The Yankees manager knows you are frustrated with the team over their worst start through 15 games since 1997. Boone said that while he understands the frustration . . . he continues to preach patience. . . .

Going into [Tuesday's game], the Yankees had the worst record in the American League and the second worst in baseball ― thanks to the Rockies for keeping them out of the basement. The fans on Friday threw baseballs on the field as the Yankees were losing to the Rays, and Sunday, when Tampa Bay completed the sweep, the crowd of just over 10,800 booed the Bombers as loud as a full ballpark. . . .

Mike Ford was recalled from the Alternate Site before Tuesday's game and was playing first. . . . 

Last season, however, Ford struggled with an OPS+ of 38 and was sent down. He was also among the first cuts this spring.

Tuesday night, Ford went 0-for-3, but did draw the bases-loaded walk that gave the Yankees an insurance run. He also caught the foul pop up to end the game.

LOL! . . . What a highlight-reel performance! . . . A night he'll never forget!

Dan Martin, Post:

A fiery postgame talk didn't do the trick over the weekend, so on Tuesday, Aaron Boone went with a new lineup to spark the Yankees.

Aaron Hicks and Clint Frazier — as well as Rougned Odor — sat. . . .

Hicks might be out again Wednesday. . . .

[Frazier has] one hit in 24 at-bats . . .

Both Hicks and Frazier also had rough days in the outfield in Sunday's loss to Tampa Bay, a defeat that extended the Yankees' losing streak to five games and forced Cashman to speak out in support of his team on Monday's off day.