by Just when things started to turn south for the best baseball team, the Yankees turned to a young South Man, hitherto unknown JP Sears, a fresh face from South Carolina with a fast 95 mph ball. that plays better than weapons, a bad ball that breaks and a tendency to hit.
It turns out that the little left was just the surprise star for a day that the Yankees needed to change history and turn their rough, sad week with a series of frameless scores and a much-needed win.
It’s too early to know if a star was born in the Bronx or if the short Sears (he is on the 5-foot-11 list) can take his glittering first league to a great career, but he gave the Yankees something positive to talk about , as he reduced the Orioles to three hits and two walks to five shutout appearances in a 2-0 Yankees victory.
Sears was selected to return to Triple-A Scranton / Wilkes-Barre after the game. However, he helped turn the page after several days of injury, illness and, of course, an unforgettable stupid episode involving Josh Donaldson, who stayed home with COVID-19 symptoms four days after mocking White Sox favorite Tim Anderson the limits. and win a worthy foreclosure on an MLB game.
A lot of bad things happened suddenly to the aspiring Yankees, but Sears wrote a happy chapter with a virtually smooth start, walking two, scoring five and confusing the Orioles on his 83 pitches. Although the newcomer is 26 years old and did not have the kind of concentration that fits the reality (he is less famous than the eponymous YouTube comedian with wild hair), there is reason to believe that it could be more than one – miraculously struck.
For one, while he lasted until the 11th round of the 2017 draft, he was a finalist for the Golden Spikes as one of the nation’s top collective players, from The Citadel, and led the nation into hits despite having a fast ball that did not turns on the radar. arms.
For another, he recently dominated the Triple-A, bringing in 0.83 ERA, 30 hits in just two rides in six races before his final call.
Sears immediately got out of there, won the game and escaped a week that went awry, a period dominated by annoying injuries, annoying illness and that absurd Donaldson episode in which he mocked Anderson by calling him “Jackie”, apparently raising the rage. of Anderson and everyone on the South Side of Chicago (and many other places). The Yankees had also lost four of the six for the first time during their great start, but it was the pain and suffering – and the absences that are coming – that are perhaps most troubling.
“It was a difficult day for us, with people falling and things falling,” said director Aaron Boone.
“[Sears] it was huge for us. “
This was huge for them after what happened.
The list of injured, which was almost universally avoided, is growing ominously fast. The more expensive Aroldis Chapman, who with a bit of irony has an Achilles heel and is the Achilles heel of the Yankees, started the trend and unfortunately injuries and illnesses increased rapidly.
Asteroid Giancarlo Stanton (inflammation of the right ankle) and key reliever Jonathan Loaisiga (right shoulder) have teamed up with Chapman on the shelf and if the main table cleaner DJ LeMahieu (left wrist) has to join them all, exactly the big two “(different from Core Four) of their amazing composition would be out. Donaldson is one of the few Yankees to suffer from COVID-19 symptoms lately, although Joey Gallo and Kyle Higashioka returned to the squad on Wednesday.
“Adversity is coming for you. “You have to be able to withstand the storm; the season does not stop for anyone,” Boone said before the game.
Let’s face it, a year like 1998 comes only once every 100 years, and while there was some early hope, knowing that the calendar has turned to the 21st century, the reality is that a 162 game slate is full of pitfalls. Alas, some real issues are beginning to emerge.
Of greater interest to Yankees fans is how unsightly the team’s game has been lately, at least by the standards of the champions we crowned in mid-May. Undeniable cracks begin to appear.
“Every team has issues and injuries,” said Aaron Judge. “When you are hit, you can get up again.”
Sears said he was a little worried, especially after the first two Orioles arrived at the base. He had 50 pitches in two appearances, but catcher Higashioka settled him, advising him to “attack the zone”. Then you could not erase the smile from his face. “Awesome,” Sears said that day.
This may be the Yankees’ first real test of the 162 slate games. The fact that they still hold the best baseball record of 31-13 is amazing. They may seem to have 99 problems right now. But since No. 99 is not one of them – and Judge remains healthy at the rate of 63 – he should be fine.
And the more guests from kids like Sears – who Judge highlighted the pregame as a real talent – make the moments important and deliver that way, the less they have to worry about.
