Jose Altuve

Yankees: CC Sabathia goes on cursing tirade about 2017 World Series cheaters

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New York Yankees, Yankees, CC Sabathia

We can all sympathize with former New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia and his tirade over Jose Altuve’s comments, guaranteeing another World Series appearance in 2020 despite not having their cheating methods.

Jose Altuve: “We’re going to be in the World Series again. People don’t believe it. We will.”

The New York Yankees are keeping CC Sabathia with the franchise:

Sabathia will remain with the organization in a developmental role, and he’s fiercely protective over the sanctity of the sport and the team itself. Losing to Houston in the ALCS two years ago undoubtedly has an extra sting to it knowing that had been cheating using illegal video cameras placed in center field.

New reports are even indicating they had buzzers attached to the hitters to indicate pitch types. Not only is this ethically wrong, but it has infuriated pitchers across the league, especially knowing that the cheating might have lost players their jobs and/or sent them down to the minor leagues.

Sabathia’s profound conversation ended with a firm, “f–k that.” Here’s the full quote!

On Episode 72 of Sabathia’s podcast, R2C2, co-hosted by Ryan Ruocco, Sabathia attacked the Astros for their transgressions.

(Bleeping) ’17, we should have won the World Series,” Sabathia said. “I don’t care what nobody says. We should have won the World Series. And now that this happened, nobody can ever (bleeping) tell me that we weren’t going to win it. We should have won. There’s no way that you can tell me that we weren’t better than them. I don’t give a (bleep) what nobody says. I (bleeping) felt that (bleep). I (bleeping) cried like a baby. We all felt that (bleep). So it ain’t no way that you can ever tell me. Forever in my mind now, in ’17, we won the World Series. I don’t give a (bleep) what nobody says. Period. Period. They couldn’t beat us (at home). Bro, the whole (bleep), cuz. The way the whole (bleep) went down, now, looking back at it, (bleep) that.”

This specific loss for the Yankees was heartbreaking, and the anger that ensued after MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred confirmed the allegations to be true is justified. The Yankees aren’t the only players/teams angry about the reality the Astros are facing right now. The repercussions are catastrophic on a micro-scale, let alone the respect for the game.

We are right there with you CC, let it out!

How are the New York Yankees affected by the Houston Astros cheating scandal?

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New York Yankees, Aaron Judge, Jose Altuve

The Houston Astors winning the 2017 World Series never felt right, especially for New York Yankees fans who watched as their team failed to reach the big series after eight consecutive years of missing out.

However, on January 13th of 2020, the Yankees understood why the lost, and furthermore, how the Astros cheated to climb their way to the pinnacle of baseball. Major League Baseball confirmed that the sign-stealing scandal was, in fact, real, and they punished Houston accordingly.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s consequential storm began with the suspension of both GM Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch, essentially ending their careers, as both were shortly fired by ownership. This was done in an attempt to save face, but the damage was already done, tainting the beautiful game and putting the Yankees in a position of revenge.

The Astros were also fined $5 million and lost their first and second-round picks in the 2020 and 2021 MLB Drafts. How does this affect the Yankees, though? In reality, it doesn’t, but it does give the satisfaction of knowing the Astors committed crimes against humanity with their unethical ways.

The New York Yankees suffered in more than one way:

Another awful reality is that Houston’s Jose Altuve won the AL MVP in 2017 over Aaron Judge, who deserves the accolade after hearing the players were conscious of the team’s actions. Judge reportedly deleted an Instagram post congratulating Altuve for winning the award.

How else could this help the Yankees? Well, it will give them an even more significant advantage over the other top teams in baseball, as the Astros were once again expected to be a force in 2020. The suspensions and consequences of their actions will hurt them in the long run and force them to turn over their managerial positions. Next on the docket, though, is the Boston Red Sox, who have Alex Cora to thank for some of the allegations.

Cora is in line for a harsh punishment, potentially being banned from the game for the rest of eternity.

New York Yankees: Aaron Judge should have won the 2017 AL MVP over Altuve

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New York Yankees, Aaron Judge, Jose Altuve

NEW YORK YANKEES – It came out today that the Houston Astros are a bunch of cheaters. They have all the talent in the world but still had to have a bigger advantage – using a camera to steal signs and relay them to their hitters.

This controversy made me think about the whole 2017 season. Besides the New York Yankees losing every game at Minute Maid Park (wonder why), Jose Altuve also won the American League MVP that season over Aaron Judge.

Would Altuve still be crowned the MVP if he played the game right and didn’t cheat? I don’t think so.

Let’s take a look at the numbers between Judge and Altuve that season.

Judge: .284/.422/.627 with 52 home runs and 114 runs batted in.

Altuve: .346/.410/.547 with 24 home runs and 81 runs batted in.

Even though Altuve significantly beat Judge in terms of batting average, it’s much easier to hit when you know what pitch is coming at you. Even though squaring up a 95MPH fastball isn’t easy in its self, it’s sure a lot easier than guessing at a breaking ball along with the high-heat.

Judge played that season the way it was supposed to. Also, keep in mind, it was his rookie year playing in New York City as a young player. That’s hard, to begin with. He beat Altuve in every other major offensive category that season.

Aaron Judge is the rightful 2017 American League MVP and AL Rookie of the Year. It’s a shame there’s nothing that can be done about it, but Judge sure had something to say about the news:

Looking back, everything the Houston Astros accomplished that season is a sham. Had they not had the advantage of stealing signs, would they have won the World Series? I mean, they have the talent to do so, but a team with that much talent and then a major advantage literally sets them up for massive success.

Houston Astros take Game 1 of ALDS fueled by Verlander, Altuve

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The New York Yankees could pursue Gerrit Cole this offseason.

The Houston Astros opened up their postseason campaign with a 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Fueled by a dominant outing from Justin Verlander, Altuve led the Astros with a home run off Trevor Glasnow in the fifth inning.

“I love the way he pitches every single day,” said Altuve on Verlander’s performance. “For me, he’s one of the greatest of all time and a Hall of Famer for me.”

Other then Altuve’s home run, the Astros scored on a fielding error by Brandon Lowe in the fifth, and in the seventh Yordan Álvarez doubled knocking in Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel knocked in Alvarez.

In seven full innings pitched, Verlander only allowed one hit while fanning eight. The two runs the Rays scored came in the top of the eighth inning off Ryan Pressly. Eric Sogard singled knocking in Joey Wendle and Austin Meadows doubled to deep-center knocking in Eric Sogard.

Game two will be played Saturday at 9:07PM in Houston. Gerrit Cole is on the mound for the Astros while the Rays are pitching left-hander Blake Snell.

New York Yankees: Who Would’ve Thought Gleyber Torres Would Lead the Team in HR?

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Gleyber Torres, an infielder for the New York Yankees, after hitting his 35th home run of the year, takes the lead in the home run race over Gary Sanchez.

On Sunday, September 8th, Torres sent a ball that soared over the Green Monster, putting the Yankees on the board in the top of the second inning. Torres has been an underrated part of the Yankee’s power barrage this season. Last season, as a rookie, Torres hit 24 home runs in 123 games (Baseball-Reference). The two-time all-star is overachieving in his offensive game at such a young age. He is only 22 years old and he is already showing the potential of being a great player in this league for a long time. Who would have thought Torres would be the home run leader with less than a month to go in the season?

Torres is already Taking Leadership in the Yankees Offense

On a season average, Torres is batting .279, with 38 home runs, and 102 RBIs (Baseball-Reference). Torres is one of the few Yankees that has stayed healthy nearly all season and the organization should reward him for that. Hopefully, the Yankees will be able to sign him long term, due to his contract expiring at the end of the season.

Torres’s logo on Didi Gregorius’s social media pages is a baby bottle, labeling him as the youngest player on the team. Torres is already playing like he is in his prime and he might need a new logo.

When the Yankees acquired Torres in a trade with the Chicago Cubs back in July of 2016, the Yankees knew they just acquired a future star (MLB.com). They certainly stole him from the Cubs when they resigned Aroldis Chapman in the offseason. He has exceeded expectations in all parts of his game and the Yankees are lucky to have him. His unforeseen power since he has been in the big leagues has been a nice surprise.

Torres should be a big part of the Yankees success in the 2019 postseason and beyond. He has proven he can hit for average and power, even though he is only 6’1″ and 200 pounds. His game can be compared to the Astros’ Jose Altuve. They are both play second base and are five-tool players. Hopefully, he can stay healthy and be a part of the Yankees organization for his whole career. If he continues his stellar play, one day fans may see him in Monument Park in center field.

Gleyber Torres Has Played A Lot Like Jose Altuve In His First 21 Games

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New York Yankees, Gleyber Torres

It is safe to say that the New York Yankees have been on a tear ever since calling up their young phenom middle infielder, Gleyber Torres, on April 22nd, going 18-3 in that span. Not only that, but the top-ranked prospect in the Yankees farm system (4th in MLB’s Top 100 Pipeline) has been a major contributor to their success.

Perhaps the pinnacle of his early days on the team was his 3-run walk-off homer against Cleveland that landed in the Yankees bullpen a couple weeks ago. His gritty at-bats, Roberto Alomar impressions with the glove, and upbeat demeanor in the dugout appear to be factors as well.

Watch Gleyber Torres Walk It Off:

Torres, at first glance, seems to have an unsustainable BABIP (Batting Average on Balls In Play) at .400, where league average this year is .295. The main culprit for this is usually luck, and that’s probably no different for Torres to a point.

His batting average on ground balls is .333, the same for fly balls, yet the league hits .238 and .225, respectively. If we were to adjust Torres’ hit totals to league average on grounders and flyballs, we would be taking about 3 hits away and bringing his average down from .324 to .282. Out of his 23 hits, maybe a couple grounders were hit hard enough to sneak through, while one more bloop than normal landed where nobody was. He does have one infield hit, but that’s about what he should have, compared to what the rest of the league is doing. That is still very good.

However, not every player is bound by a league average BABIP. So far in 2018 hitters have about a 21% line drive rate, with a 43% ground ball rate, and the remaining 36% goes to flyballs – which is all very typical. Torres, on the other hand, in his first 21 games as a major leaguer has managed a 30% line drive rate and just a 34% ground ball rate. Were he to have started in the bigs on opening day and managed to maintain those percentages, that would place him 6th in the league among all qualifiers in line drive rate and 7th lowest in ground ball rate. You know who else has LD%/GB% like that? Jose Altuve.

Even if we adjust his batting average on non-line drives to league average, he would still have a higher than normal BABIP of .351 because of his elevated line drive rate. And… AHEM… Altuve currently has a .348 BABIP, with much closer to normal batting averages on grounders and fly balls. I should also mention that both players’ batting average on line drives are right at league average, at around .680.

Gleyber’s approach is an aggressive one, swinging at 36% of pitches out of the zone. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Nolan Arenado, J.D. Martinez, and Altuve all have outside swing rates north of 30%, and they make it work. Obviously, this is a small sample size, but you won’t hear me complain if he winds up a comparable hitter to Altuve on a consistent basis.

Torres has been doing something that you don’t see very often, and he deserves credit for it, small samples notwithstanding. I should also note that his pedigree and projections dictated that he would be hitting pretty much the way he has, albeit the fact that it’s happening so soon is a pleasant surprise. But I digress…

While Torres has been very comparable to Altuve in both his approach and batted ball results, his non-cumulative offensive numbers have been in the same ballpark as well.

Here’s how Gleyber Torres and Jose Altuve match up in 2018 so far:

Torres: .324/.372/.493, 6.3% walk rate, 24.1% strikeout rate, .368 wOBA, 131 wRC+

Altuve: .309/.364/.414, 7.0% walk rate, 12.6% strikeout rate, .341 wOBA, 117 wRC+

Those numbers are pretty close, excluding the fact that Torres strikes out twice as much and hits for a little more power. Torres’ advantage in power so far is reflected in his higher wRC+ as well.

Because defensive metrics are still a work in progress, I find them to be arbitrary. Especially this early in the season, so I’m not going to travel down that rabbit hole for now. Based on what we’ve seen I’m at least comfortable with declaring him to be a very good second baseman. And boy, is Gleyber fun to watch out there or what? The kid is everywhere.

Full disclosure, when I began working on this article the intent was not to create a side-by-side comparison of the two second baseman. During my research into his advanced analytics I noticed that Altuve’s name was consistently nearby on league rankings, so here we are. There is no way to know what the rest of the season holds for Torres, and same goes for the rest of his career, but when a 21 year old kid gets promoted to the Major Leagues and performs the way Gleyber has it is worth noting. Nice job, kid.