A few days ago BP Bronx readers were asked to rank Gary Sanchez among all current catchers in baseball. Voters had six options to choose from: He’s #1! Move over, Posey! Second best. Everyone who voted for #1 is stupid. #3-5. He’s a great young player and he’s only getting started. #6-10. We haven’t seen him […]
Author: Daniel R. Epstein
The Gary Sanchez Poll
Click here to vote! This past Thursday morning, I broke one of my own unwritten rules: avoiding sports talk radio shows at all times. Not to disparage an industry that’s far more established and successful than I am, but I nauseate at the general lack of logic and civility. I find it exasperating that the […]
The Unprecedented Misfortune of Bradley Jr. vs. Chapman
There are two different types of pain tolerance. The first is how much pain a person can handle in one single blow, or the “how much?” The second involves managing prolonged or repeated pain, or the “how many?” When a player gets hit by a pitch, it’s a matter of the first kind of pain tolerance: the “how much?” This […]
The 5 Best Moments of the Yankees’ Hot Streak
A dramatic, come-from-behind victory on a game-winning home run is the stuff of fantasy. Gleyber Torres’ walk-off three-run blast on Sunday afternoon could become a turning point of the 2018 season. It may be the moment on which we look back and say, “this was the when the Yankees solidified as a team.” But it probably won’t be […]
When Will Didi Pass Bonds?
Last night, the greatest player in baseball had a starring role at Angel Stadium. Mike Trout, the second-best player, watched helplessly as Didi Gregorius launched a 10th inning go-ahead home run to give the Yankees a 4-3 win. It was Didi’s 10th blast of the season, tying him with Trout for the major league lead. […]
Checking in on Miguel Andujar’s Defense
A scouting report is not a foregone conclusion. For example, the two best Yankee catching prospects in recent years had similar profiles. Both Gary Sanchez and Jesus Montero would absolutely crush major league pitching, but might not be able to stick behind the plate defensively. It turned out Sanchez excels at both hitting and catching, while Montero excels at neither. […]
Three True Outcomes and the Yankees
It’s 2018 and you are an informed consumer of baseball knowledge. As such, you most likely already know about the three true outcomes- home runs, walks, and strikeouts- and why they are important. They are the only three major outcomes of a plate appearance that have nothing to do with defense and are almost entirely […]
Retiring the Side vs. Judge, Stanton, and Sanchez
On Opening Day, the Yankees formidable trio of right-handed sluggers—Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gary Sanchez—batted 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in the lineup. Combined, they went 6-14 with two mammoth blasts from Stanton, three doubles, and a walk. Quite simply, they performed exactly as expected. Judge had a pretty good day. Sanchez added just the […]
If Greg Bird Misses Time, Who Plays First Base?
Greg Bird’s MLB story feels a lot like Charlie Brown’s kicking career. Ever since his tantalizing finish to the 2015 season, we’ve expected him to lock down the first base position in the lineup. Even though injuries wiped out all of 2016 and most of last year, We still let Lucy tee up the football for […]
The Mike Humphreys of 2018
Everyone has a Mike Humphreys. When I was a kid, I thought he would become the next great Yankee. He was my I-told-you-so of the future. For the rest of my life, I was going to tell everyone that I predicted his greatness before anyone else. Humphreys came to the Yankees as a player-to-be-named-later before the […]