Out of Left Field, July 4th Edition

Reminder: Out of Left Field is an occasional post about matters that may not need 1,000 words of analysis but are worth mentioning anyway. In no particular order:

I’ve made it a policy not to share drivel on my blog, so I won’t, but there is an article on MLB.com about last night’s game that largely centers around Harrison Bader and his late game heroics. In the piece, the writer wrote Bader…

“…has been a sparkplug in a Yankees lineup that has been lacking without the presence of All-Star Aaron Judge.”

In less than 60 seconds I confirmed my original thought, which was maybe there’s another definition of sparkplug of which I’m not aware, as Bader has posted a wRC+ of 79 since Judge hit the IL. So, unless “sparkplug” also means “hasn’t hit a lick”, I’m going to use this as a reminder:

Disagreements are cool. Intellectual laziness is not, and I will call you out for it, especially if you get paid for your work.

As you know, I’m a big fan of Aaron Boone’s, but by the power of Phil Rizzuto’s irrational fear of thunder, I command you, Aaron Boone – stop bunting.

Last night, in the bottom of the seventh, with the Yankees trailing by one run, the team had first and second with nobody out and Kyle Higashioka at the plate. Higgy – who had already smoked two balls in previous at bats – and who literally grounds into double plays at a lower rate than every Yankee besides Aaron Judge – was asked to bunt.

Again: There is no reason to play for one run when there are still nine outs left in the game, and when you’re in a situation like 1^st and 2^nd and nobody out – which on average, you’re more likely to score more than one run.

Later on, Boone asked Bader to bunt, who did not – and we know what happened next.

#StopBunting

It’s been exactly one month since Aaron Judge hit the IL, and we always hear the tired cliche “other players have to pick it up” in Judge’s absence. As noted above, aside from what the intellectually lazy will tell you, Bader has not “picked it up”, last night’s exception aside. But who has and has not?

Among 12 Yankees with at least 40 PA since June 4^th, here are the wRC+ rankings:

1. Volpe 160
2. IKF 152
3. McKinney 112

Then…

10. Stanton 38
11. Trevino 34
12. DJ 29

If we’re being glass half full, Stanton vaporized two balls last night and his sixth inning double would have been gone in 19 out of 30 parks.

Overall and as a team, in 2023 with Judge the team has posted a .612 winning percentage, which is a 99-win pace over a full season. Without Judge, they’ve posted a .472 winning percentage, which is 76-win pace over a full season. (Is it possible we’re undervaluing Judge’s WAR numbers?)

Back to vaporizing baseballs…

Last night, Yankees batters hit 10 balls over 100 mph. Three of them were grounders and all were outs (one was a double play). The other seven were either line drives or fly balls and resulted in two singles, two doubles and three home runs.

Launch angle does, in fact, matter kids.

Gripes aside, if the season ended today, the Yanks would play the Twins in the Wild Card round, and as we all know, would move on to the ALDS. Clarke Schmidt toeing the slab in the Boogie Down today, looking to get us all one step closer to that next step.

If I missed something, let me know. Leave a comment below or yell at me @mybaseballpage1 on Twitter and/or the “My Baseball Page” on Facebook.