SPANISH HARLEM – If your a New York Yankees fan there isn’t much you can complain about. They are’n first place in the American League East as of today, no particular hitter in the line up has stood out since Didi Gregiorus sizzled his way to a player of the month award for April. The pitching staff has had its fair share of injuries yet this team continues to compile win after win. The only thing that baffles me is Sonny Gray and his horrendous pitching this year.
Lets look back to last season when the Yankees made the trade for Gray. They traded away 3 prospects that this team no longer had a need for. When you have one of the best farm systems in baseball, you realize that not everybody will be able to make the big league club. You sacrifice some youth for a need and that’s what the organization did. The Yanks had a need for pitching and the Oakland A’s were looking to rebuild yet again. It was a match made in heaven or so I thought.
This is not a column to bash Sonny because there were times last year when he pitched good but didn’t get enough run support on the days he did pitch. He seemed to get the short end of the stick but pitched relatively well for someone coming to a new team and a new city. Coming into the year, you expected the run support to be there because the Yankees had to many good hitters in the lineup. Well the support has been there but the results have been far worse than anyone could expect. He has been absolutely terrible and looks lost at times, it’s frustrating because Gray has been a good pitcher and even great at times with Oakland.
It brings me back to the days of Javier Vazquez. He was a pitcher that came to the Yankees with a lot of upside, a typical 2 or 3 starter in your rotation with the ability to be a number 1 on most teams. He played for the Yankees not once but twice and yet when he put on that pinstripe uniform, could not pitch to save his life. I was big on Vazquez because he was Puerto Rican, he was perfect for their latino fan base. I’m Puerto Rican myself so you know I wanted him to excel but he just couldn’t put it together during his time here. I get the same feeling with Sonny Gray, maybe it’s the media, which can be difficult when you have a lousy day. Maybe it’s the coaches, who can’t figure out how to get him to be more consistent… or maybe it’s the impact of being in one most famous cities in the world. Whatever it is, Gray is not the same pitcher he was. He is not the same pitcher he was in Oakland and he is not the same pitcher the Yankees traded for last year. Sometimes it takes more than being a good pitcher to pitch for the Yankees.
Mets fans will hate me to complain about such things but that’s life as a Yankees fans… Leave a comment and come back tomorrow for something stellar again. Also, you can find us on Twitter @BuddyDiaz19, @MeetTheMatts & @Matt_McCarthy00, Instagram @MeetTheMatts and like our Facebook pages, Meet The Matts & Buddy Diaz.
