What was the book on Yankee hitters for the past few years? What was the narrative about the big bats in the lineup? They’ll expand the zone, chase pitches away, and by the time you get late in the count, you can rip a slider into the other batter’s box; Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gary Sanchez will swing through it. The breaking ball, late in the count, is the problem! Yes, yes, I saw the playoffs too.
But then something happened on Saturday night, with Tom Verducci talking about how few fastballs the Yankees are seeing relative to the rest of the league.