What an adventurous week. The Yankees overcame poor starts from Jameson Taillon and Nestor Cortes and the worst start of Gerrit Cole’s career to take two out of three from the Twins. Then they got a taste of what life would be like if they played in the NL Central and got to face the Cubs 19 times a year, sweeping them in the Bronx and outscoring them 28-5 in three games.

I’m combining the Thoughts from both the Twins and Cubs series into one Super Thoughts with a different format in which I will respond to mentions and comments to me from social media over the last week.

Here are 10 thoughts on the Yankees.

Kyle Higashioka literally makes John Flaherty look like Johnny Bench. He is a dreadful baseball player.

1. Sometimes I think John Flaherty thinks he was Johnny Bench with the way he talks about his approach to hitting on YES. Now Flaherty wasn’t a complete zero at the plate (he did have respectable years in 1996, 1997 and 1999) like Higashioka is, but he wasn’t who he portrays either.

Higashioka doesn’t belong on the Yankees. He’s not a major-league player. But for some reason the Yankees have stood behind his poor career production and let their manager choose him as the team’s regular catcher at various times over the last few seasons (and in the postseason) and even planned on him being their regular catcher in 2023.

The Yankees acquired Jose Trevino less than a week before Opening Day and had Ben Rortvedt not gotten hurt in spring training, Trevino might have started the season in Triple-A and still be there. The Yankees were smart to sign Trevino. They lucked into his breakout season saving them from a disaster in which Higashioka is playing even more than he already is. And Higashioka is playing a lot.

Despite Trevino’s All-Star-worthy season, Boone has continued to divide the starting catching role 50/50.

June 12: Higashioka
June 11: Trevino
June 10: Higashioka
June 9: Trevino
June 8: Higashioka
June 7: Trevino
June 6: Trevino
June 4: Higashioka
June 3: Trevino
June 2 (Game 2:): Higashioka
June 2 (Game 1): Trevino
May 31: Trevino
May 29: Higashioka
May 28: Trevino
May 27: Higashioka
May 26: Trevino
May 25: Higashioka

And so on.

2. During Friday’s game, Higashioka came to the plate the first time against the left-handed Wade Miley, and the YES broadcast booth talked about how Higashioka was in the lineup because of his ability to hit left-handed pitching. David Cone brought up Higashioka’s horrific numbers before saying there could be a “positive regression to the mean” for Higashioka, as if his season has been a product of bad luck. Higashioka struck out on three pitches.

In his second plate appearance, he flew out to center field. In his third, he struck out on three pitches again. In his fourth, he lined out to center. In his fifth, he flew out to left. When his sixth plate appearance came up in the bottom of the 13th, Aaron Boone pinch hit Trevino for him. Higashioka has been pinch hit for a lot this season, but it has always been for the regular, everyday player on the bench getting unnecessary rest. For the first time, Boone pinch hit for Higashioka with Trevino. A catcher for a catcher. It was the first time Boone has ever done anything that would present Higashioka in a negative light. Trevino came through with the game-winning single, but Boone doesn’t deserve credit for the move since Higashioka should have never been starting in the first place.

On Sunday, Trevino was a late scratch from the lineup due to a minor injury. Higashioka got the start and went 3-for-5 with two home runs. One of the two home runs came against a 35.1-mph pitch from a position player. It was Higashioka’s best game of the season, even if it deserves an asterisk the size of the Armitron clock atop the scoreboard next to it. With the “big” day, Higashioka is still only hitting .172/.225/.280 on the season. (He was hitting .148/.206/.193 before Sunday). Trevino is hitting .309/.356/.505 and has been the superior defensive catcher as well, and it’s not even close.

The 50/50 divide can’t continue. Higashioka is as close to an automatic out at the plate as there is in baseball since no one with his numbers would continue to get regular at-bats.

Boston’s offense is red-hot now. I’m very intrigued the next time Gerrit Cole faces them.

3. The Yankees’ starting pitching has been the collective MVP of the team this season and the reason why they are 41-16 with the best record in baseball. Aaron Judge’s actual MVP season and the combined performance of Clay Holmes, Michael King and Clarke Schmidt have also played a major role in the Yankees’ success over the first one-third of the season, but it’s the starting pitching that has been the most important aspect of the team.

Gerrit Cole is supposed to be the sure-thing in the rotation. Through two months, he has been the Yankees’ worst starter. That’s not to say he’s actually the Yankees’ worst starter, but in a little more than one-third of the season he has been. The Yankees’ two worst starts this season have come from him with the first being his April 19 debacle in Detroit and the second being Thursday night in Minnesota.

Cole’s performance on Thursday was the worst of his career, and one of the worst I have seen in my life, and I was in Fenway Park the night Chase Wright gave up back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs on Sunday Night Baseball to the Red Sox nearly 15 years ago. Cole began his night by allowing back-to-back-back home runs, and in 2 1/3 innings, he allowed five home runs and seven earned runs. Anyone pitching that badly would be startling, but for someone like Cole it was hard to believe. For who he’s supposed to be and his status, pedigree and reputation, it was one of the worst starts of all time for a pitcher of that caliber.

Cole is supposed to be an ace. In theory, he is, but in theory, he isn’t letting the entire Twins lineup go into the second deck off him. Cole is an ace … when he’s facing the league’s worst teams. If he’s on the mound against a weak team like Kansas City or Baltimore, he’s who you would expect him to be. If he’s on the mound against Boston or Tampa Bay or Toronto or Minnesota, well, he’s anything but an ace.

Here is Cole’s line this season against the Red Sox, Blue Jays, White Sox, Rays and Twins (four teams expected to reach the postseason):

24.1 IP, 24 H, 17 R, 17 ER, 8 BB, 31 K, 9 JR, 6.29 ERA, 1.315 WHIP

And here is Cole’s line this season against the Tigers, Guardians, Royals, Rangers and Orioles:

42.2 IP, 31 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 9 BB, 53 K, 2 HR, 2.11 ERA, 0.984 WHIP

4. The difference between the two is appalling. Cole won’t see a team from that second group in October (unless the Guardians have a miracle summer). And everything is about October, especially since the Yankees are 44-16 and are headed to October.

Cole will undoubtedly get the ball in Game 1 of any series. Cortes could finish with a sub-1.00 ERA and be on his way to a unanimous Cy Young vote, and he still won’t get the ball in Game 1 of the playoffs. (If that did happen, the Yankees would cite Andy Pettitte always being a Game 2 starter as the reason why Cortes isn’t starting before Cole in a playoff series.)

It will be hard to trust Cole in October. I didn’t trust him last October, and four batters into his wild-card game performance, the Yankees were down 2-0 and never recovered. (Hamstring issue or not, he took the ball and there are no excuses if you take the ball.) His inability to pitch well against the teams the Yankees are likely to see in October is upsetting, and he needs to be better. A lot better. His next start will come against the Rays next week at the Stadium, and while he pitched well against them a couple of weeks ago at the Trop, he still let a missed third strike call ruin his day as he unraveled and gave away the game after that.

Cole dominating teams from that second group is supposed to be a given. Pitching well against teams from that first group is also supposed to be a given.

I’m surprised Hicks knew it was gone. How does he remember what a home run looks like?

5. Aaron Hicks hit a two-run, game-tying home run on Thursday night against the Twins in what was his biggest moment of the season. The home run was his second of the season, so he now has the same amount as Higashioka (in 83 more plate appearances), one more than Tim Locastro (in 172 more plate appearances), three less than Trevino (in 83 more plate appearances) and four less than Matt Carpenter (157 more plate appearances).

Hicks has one double to go along with his two home runs for a grand total of three extra-base hits in 2022. The season is 60 games and 37 percent complete. The man who went out of his way to say he wanted to be a 30/30 player in 2022 is on pace for 5.4 home runs and 13.5 steals. So I guess he could be looking at joining the 5/14 club, an exclusive club of which they are only a few thousand members.

How has Isiah-Kiner Falefa been really bad? What metric?

6. Umm, every metric? Let’s take a look at Kiner-Falefa’s offensive breakdown:

OK, not every metric. He’s really fast (86th percentile) and doesn’t strike out (97th percentile). But he can’t square up pitches (1st percentile), doesn’t hit the ball hard (9th and 12th percentiles), swings at pitches outside the strike zone (14th percentile) and rarely walks (33rd percentile).

Add in his fielding in which he struggles to make routine plays and has me trusting him as much as I did Gleyber Torres at short, and I’m beginning to wonder if the Yankees would be better off putting Torres back there and making Kiner-Falefa a bench player. Because that’s what Kiner-Falefa should be: a bench player. Maybe the Angels will completely fall out the face and the Yankees can re-acquire Bronx native Andrew Velazquez. He’s not going to give you anything at the plate, but he will make every play in the field, so at least he will do one thing really well, which is more than Kiner-Falefa gives the Yankees.

7. The Yankees need a better shortstop, but unfortunately, they aren’t likely to get one. They will likely play the entire season out with Kiner-Falefa at short and watch him weakly put balls in play and botch simple, routine plays in the field. At times it seems like Kiner-Falefa’s goal at the plate is to make an out as quickly as possible, and he’s really, really good at it. Normally, his at-bats are over after one or two pitches and after he grounded out to the left side or popped up in the infield or to the shallow outfield. In the field, I trust him at short as much as I trusted Torres and the Yankees were willing to screw up their entire roster construction and future plans to move Torres off short.

There’s a reason why the Rangers didn’t want to Kiner-Falefa at short or second, committing nearly a half-billion dollars to Corey Seager and Marcus Semien in the offseason. And there’s a reason why the Twins were so quick to trade him as long as Josh Donaldson’s money was attached to him … so they could use the freed up salary from Donaldson to sign Carlos Correa, a real shortstop.

The Yankees chose Kiner-Falefa as a 2022 stopgap to get them to Oswald Peraza or Anthony Volpe in 2023. (Peraza is hitting .204/.280/.343 in Triple-A, and Volpe is hitting .224/.320/.401 in Double-A, so that plan isn’t exactly going as hoped.) The Yankees need to upgrade short, but it’s unlikely they will.

Are you ever happy?

8. Yes, I’m always happy. I don’t know why people think I’m negative or pessimistic. Again, I’m a realist. If I tweet Aaron Hicks’ slash line (which is an embarrassment), I will get a reply that I’m being negative and should be happy the Yankees are 44-16 when all I tweeted was a simple slash line.

I’m sorry numbers hurt people’s feelings in the same way David Ortiz said he was he hurt people’s feelings for buying supplements during his 2009 performance-enhancing drugs press conference. If you’re upset about stats because the player in conversation is producing poor stats, maybe take off the Yankees pajamas you’re wearing and look at the team with less of a homer-ish view.

Relax, Neil. The team will be fine.

9. Unless Hicks or Joey Gallo completely turn around their seasons, the Yankees would need to upgrade an outfield spot. They can’t honestly think they are going to go into October with the possibility of Higashioka, Kiner-Falefa, Hicks and Gallo all in the same lineup. Then again, this is a team managed and run by the same people who thought the 2019 Yankees needed no upgrades or additions at the trade deadline.

Fans who believe the Yankees don’t need to do anything because they are 44-16 are foolish. The Yankees are 25-5 against the Orioles, Cubs, Guardians, Tigers, Royals and Angels. None of those teams will be playing in October. (I guess there’s a crazy outside chance the Guardians could make the playoffs, but does anyone truly think they are going to hold off the Twins or White Sox in their division, or the Blue Jays, Rays or Red Sox for a wild-card berth?)

The Yankees have been really good. They have the best record in baseball. They have the best run differential in baseball. They have the best pitching staff in baseball. They have also played one of the easiest schedules to date in baseball. That matters. They have also played an incredibly weak schedule to date. To their credit, they have taken care of business against the weak portion of their schedule, but in a short series, would any Yankees fan feel confident or comfortable against Toronto, Tampa Bay or Houston? I think the Yankees are much closer to being on equal footing with those teams than the standings would have you believe.

Yes, they will be “fine” in terms of playing baseball in October. The Yankees are going to October. At this point, if they played .500 baseball for their remaining 102 games, they would win 95 games. They could play 10 games under .500 (46-56) and win 90 games. The position they have put themselves in is remarkable. They are 28 games over. 500 with an eight-game loss column lead on the Blue Jays.

10. My biggest fear for the Yankees remains the offense disappearing in October, like it did in 2021 wild-card game, Game 5 of the 2020 ALDS, Games 2 through 6 of the 2019 ALDS, Games 3 and 4 of the 2018 ALDS, and all the road games in the 2017 ALCS. The Yankees have the best starting pitching they have had in years, and even without Aroldis Chapman, Jonathan Loaisiga and Chad Green, they still have the best bullpen in the league. It’s the offense that worries me.

Sure, the Yankees could upgrade Hicks, Gallo, Kiner-Falefa and Higashioka and still go to October and have their offense perform its annual disappearing act. That can’t be planned for. But what can be planned for is that the Yankees use the trade deadline to put themselves in the best possible position to be successful in October. They had the chance in the offseason and they failed to, so they have another opportunity between now and August 2 to enhance the roster and for the postseason. Being in first place in mid-June is great. Being in first place at the end of October is the goal.

Subscribe to the Keefe To The City Podcast.

My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is now available as an ebook!

The Yankees swept the Angels and then swept the Tigers. They have won six straight, haven’t lost in June and have a seven-game lead in the loss column in the AL East.

Here are 10 thoughts on the Yankees.

1. The Yankees once again did what they need to do against a soft part of their schedule with back-to-back sweeps and six straight wins over the Angels and Tigers. The Angels suck, having lost 11 straight to fall a game below .500 and nine games in the loss column behind the Astros in the AL West. The Tigers are flat-out awful at 12 games under .500 with a minus-64 run differential and the worst offense in the majors.

With this latest six-game winning streak, the Yankees have maintained having the best record in baseball. At 39-15, they are on pace to win 117 games and can play under-.500 baseball for the rest of the season and still win 92 games, which is what their win total was set at prior to the season. They will blow past that number even if Aaron Boone takes his ridiculous load management strategy to an unforeseen level for the entire second half.

2. Since the start of the Angels series, the worst start the Yankees received was Jordan Montgomery’s on Sunday against the Tigers: 6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. When the worst start you get in two series is two earned runs over 6 1/3 innings, it’s easy to see why the Yankees have been so good this season.

The Yankees are where they are for four reasons: the starting pitching, three relievers, Aaron Judge and some other bats at various times. All five starters have No. 1-like numbers; Clay Holmes, Michael King and Clarke Schmidt have been dominant; Aaron Judge is the AL MVP, and every everyday hitter other than Aaron Hicks and Kyle Higashioka has helped win at least one game for the team at some point. (Even Joey Gallo had a big two-run home run on Sunday to tie that game at 2.)

3. Even with his game-tying home run on Sunday, Gallo is still a big problem, as are Hicks and Higashioka. The trio is extremely fortunate the Yankees are off to one of the best starts in franchise history through exactly one-third of the season because if the Yankees didn’t have the separation they have in the AL East, the Stadium boo birds would be even louder for them than they already are, which seems impossible.

There are Yankees fans who are unwilling to discuss the fact there are days when the team has four players in the lineup who are below league average in Gallo, Hicks, Higashioka and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. These fans think that since team is winning, why change anything. You change things to make sure the team keeps winning. Being in first place on June 6 is great, but the goal is to be in first place on October 6. The Yankees won’t see teams like the Tigers, Orioles or Royals in October. (Or even the Angels at this rate.) No other October team will boast three players with sub-.600 OPS and four with a sub-.650 OPS. No other team will be giving up one third of their outs in playoff games to less-than-replacement-level bats.

4. The Yankees had a helpful bat on their roster as recently as a few days ago before they decided to once again send down Miguel Andujar. This poor decision by the Yankees was the result of past poor decisions by the Yankees, and resulted in Andujar asking to be traded.

I’m happy Andujar requested to be traded. He’s getting screwed from receiving a major-league salary and major-league service time since he’s a major-league player being forced to play in Triple-A because of bad contracts, bad trades and money owed. That bad contract and money owed would be the Hicks extension and that bad trade would be the one for Gallo.

5. The Yankees’ regrettable decision to extend Hicks has backfired into a worst-case scenario. Since the moment Hicks received that extension he has been either injured or unproductive. But because he’s under contract for this season … and next season … and the season after … and the season after that … and then will be bought out the season after that … he’s not going anywhere.

Hicks’ offensive metrics are abysmal. He’s in the 18th percentile for average exit velocity and the second percentile of barrel percentage. That means 98 percent of players in Major League Baseball square up pitches better than Hicks, and yet, he was the planned everyday center fielder for the 2022 Yankees.

Hicks’ 2021 season was cut short due to needing wrist surgery and other players who have had the same operation on the sheath of their wrist claimed mentioned needing a full year for power to return. So Hicks has a built-in excuse for 2022, like he did in 2020 and 2021 coming off a back injury and elbow surgery. I’m sure he will suffer another injury in 2022 to use as a built-in excuse for 2023 and keep his roster spot safe since that’s what he seems to do

Hicks does two things well: he doesn’t chase pitches (94th percentile) and he walks (96th percentile). But his walks number is misleading as Hicks goes to the plate looking to walk and praying to not have to swing. His entire goal in the box is that the pitcher will throw four pitches outside the zone wildly enough that he won’t have to swing. He’s not going to battle in an at-bat and foul off tough pitches to draw a walk. He’s either going to walk because the pitcher has control issues or he’s going to strike out or weakly put the ball in play.

The thing is, Hicks’ power isn’t necessarily the problem. It’s not like he’s barreling the ball and it’s just dying because of a lack of power. He’s simply not barreling the ball (again 98 percent of the league is barreling the ball better than him).

On Friday, Hicks drove in his first run in 19 days and 46 plate appearances. It was his third RBI in over a month. On Sunday, Hicks produced hit latest 0-for-game with an 0-for-4 and a strikeout. Through one-third of the season, the player who went out of his way to state his goal for 2022 was to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases, is about as close to accomplishing that goal as I am, as Hicks has one more home run than I do this season. He also has one more double than me this season.

I have referred to Hicks as the worst player in Major League Baseball and relative to his contract, his salary, his everyday playing status and the team he plays for, he truly is the worst player in the majors. No other true contender has a player as bad as Hicks in their everyday lineup. But somehow not only is he consistently in the lineup, he has been used as the leadoff hitter in 22 percent of the Yankees’ games. Yes, please give the most possible at-bats on the team to a player that has the same amount of home runs and doubles as Kevin Plawecki.

6. Gallo has been put in a position to get the least amount of possible at-bats on the team. The Yankees traded four prospects at last year’s deadline for one-and-a-half years of Gallo to get Gold Glove defense in the field and the three true outcomes (strikeout, walk and home run) at the plate. They are now getting shaky defense in the outfield and mostly one outcome at the plate (strikeout) and have relegated to being their everyday 9-hitter. In that role, he bats behind Hicks, Kiner-Falefa and at times Higashioka. This is the same player who was penciled in as the team’s 2-hitter upon becoming a Yankee.

Because of what the Yankees gave up for Gallo, they are going to try to salvage this season with him in hopes he can be a productive player for them or good enough that they can trade him at the deadline and actually get back a living, breathing player in return. He’s not going anywhere for at least another two months, and likely isn’t going anywhere then either.

Gallo hit a two-run home run on Sunday. It was his sixth home run of the season and first in exactly three weeks. It also allowed him to pass Hicks in RBIs, as Gallo now has nine and Hicks has eight.

7. The situations with Hicks and Gallo have resulted in Andujar back in Scranton where he has absolutely nothing left to prove as his bat is wasting away in meaningless games. I hope his request is granted and he gets an everyday opportunity somewhere else, while the Yankees continue to employ and play two near-automatic outs.

Between now and the postseason, the Yankees have two things to worry about: health and upgrading the lineup.

There’s not much they can do from a health perspective other than pray for good health. All of the unnecessary rest, planned days off and load management isn’t going to keep them healthy, so this is out of their control. They can upgrade the lineup and they need to. They can’t think they are going to run

An upgraded lineup means more runs and more runs means less close games and less close games mean less Boone. If the Yankees aren’t going to outhit and outscore their own manager, they are going to have a really tough time winning come October. As we saw on Sunday (which we see at least once a series it seems like), when Boone has to get involved in games, the Yankees’ chances of winning drastically decline.

8. In the series finale against the Tigers, the Yankees led 3-2 entering the eighth. Clarke Schmidt had come on in the seventh and preserved the Yankees’ lead and would start the eighth as well. After allowing a leadoff double, Schmidt got the first out of the inning on a flyout. The Tigers had the tying run at second with one out and the heart of their order due up.

Schmidt had thrown 24 pitches in the game. In the last week, he had made one appearance, throwing 25 pitches. Aside from Holmes and King, he has been the Yankees’ only other trustworthy reliever. As a right-hander with three righties due up in Jonathan Schoop, Miguel Cabrera and Javier Baez, Boone had three legitimate options to choose from. He could keep Schmidt in, or he could replace Schmidt with King or he could go to Holmes for a five-out save. (The third option of using Holmes for five outs was never going to be a true option, but it was still one of only three logical, sensible choices.)

So which option did Boone choose? None of them. He instead relieved Schmidt and brought in Miguel Castro, arguably the least trustworthy and effective option in the Yankees’ bullpen.

9. If a move was going to be made (which it didn’t have to be), the move was to go to King. Prior to Sunday, this was King’s recent usage:

May 22: Not used
May 23: Not used
May 24: 21 pitches
May 25: Not used
May 26: Not used
May 27: Not used
May 28: 20 pitches
May 29: Not used
May 30: Day off
May 31: Not used
June 1: Day off
June 2: Not used in either game of doubleheader
June 3: Not used
June 4: 7 pitches

In the previous 14 days and 13 games, King had been used three times, throwing 48 pitches. Boone’s decision to not go to King made me think King was unavailable because of an injury since that’s how little sense it made to not use him.

Sure enough, Castro coughed up the lead and by the time he was done, the Tigers led 4-3. Fortunately, the Tigers turned into the Tigers in the bottom of the eighth and gifted the Yankees a run to tie the game.

When the game went to the 10th inning, King was brought in. So he was available to pitch. Boone would rather use King in the 10th inning of a 4-4 game than in the eighth inning of a game the Yankees lead by one run with the opponent’s 2-3-4 hitters coming up.

In actuality, what Boone did was try to steal the remaining two outs of the eighth inning with Castro. He would never admit it, but what he was hoping was that Castro could get him through the eighth and maybe the Yankees would tack on some insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth and he could avoid using King and Holmes and give them yet another day off followed by the team’s scheduled day off on Monday. Either that or he was hoping Castro would get through the eighth and he could use King in the ninth to close out the game, even though the situation in the eighth (runner in scoring position with 2-3-4 due up) was the more crucial situation and needed the better reliever. Whatever his thinking was, it was idiotic and nearly cost the Yankees the game and would have if not for the Tigers’ error-filled eighth.

10. After health, Boone remains the Yankees’ biggest threat to a championship. It’s moves like the one on Sunday in which he chooses the wrong pitcher, or manages for the future and a situation that may never arise, or his obsession with letting a pitcher stay in one (or even two or three) batters too long before recognizing the severity of a given situation that could ruin the Yankees’ season yet again. His in-game management is atrocious and has not progressed the slightest in now five years on the job.

The Yankees need more wins like Friday when they just destroyed the Tigers (13-0), or like Saturday (3-0) when the starting pitching was so good, the ball can just be handed to King and then Holmes and the win is secure. Games like those two are Boone-proof. He doesn’t have to do anything other than sit on his perch, obnoxiously chew his gum and adjust his oversized watch.

Unfortunately, those games rarely happen come October. In October, Boone will play a big role in the result of nearly every game, and no matter how many games the Yankees win during the regular season, the idea of that is what will keep me anxious until this season and every season he manages ends.

Subscribe to the Keefe To The City Podcast.

My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is now available as an ebook!