Image credit: © Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Translated by José M. Hernandez Lagunes
A butterfly flaps its wings, and at the top of the fifth Austin Hedges He approaches the batter’s box with the bases loaded and two outs, and his team trailing by one run. The backup catcher gets another chance to be the hero.
But not much. Hedges takes two fastballs for strikes, hoping for a favorable count. Two pitches later, he desperately pounces on a sinker below the zone, ending Cleveland’s last threat. The Yankees win easily, going into Progressive Field with a 2-0 series lead.
A butterfly flaps its wings, and at the top of the fourth Bo Naylor He appears with the bases loaded and one out, his team losing by three runs. The starting catcher doesn’t get a chance to be the hero. The manager Stephen Vogt He turns to his best substitute hitter, David Frydespite the right-handed pairing; It’s not ideal, but it’s still a small improvement over the .628 OPS Naylor hit in 2024 with the platoon advantage on his side. “This has the feel of a late-game scenario here,” they say on TV, “but we’re only in the fourth episode.” It is in fact the last game, although no one knows.
Cole throws 97 up and in, and Fry swings, lifting it into the third base coach’s box in foul territory. Jazz Chisholm Jr. settles under Doña Blanca for the second out, and the Yankees would proceed to escape the inning untouched. Vogt replaces Austin Hedges by Fry.
A butterfly flaps its wings, and in the bottom of the second the Yankees have runners on second and third, and Juan Soto in the box. Tanner Bibee He already has one admitted and one non-allowed earned run on his account, but this should be his chance to be the hero, limit the damage. It’s not. Vogt raises four fingers and takes the ball from his starter, who smiles dully as he leaves the mound.
Commentators present it as a challenge to Aaron Judgebecause that’s how storytelling works in sports, but the real challenge is faced Cade Smithwho now has to face the best hitter in baseball without an open base. Over the course of his career, Judge is 10% better with the bases loaded than he is the rest of the time, and if the score works in his favor, it’s multiplier upon multiplier. Smith steps up, but forced to throw strikes, delivers a pitch that Judge can hit 300 feet, easily deep enough to drive in the Yankees’ third run of the game, stretching the lead. If the Guardians are going to come back, they’re going to need a big hit.
A butterfly flaps its wings, and David Fry feels a twinge in his elbow on a throw to second. It’s during the first innings of a June 23 game against the Blue Jays; he’s already scored a run in his first at-bat, bringing the 28-year-old’s OPS to .955 on the year. Vogt removes him from the game, and to protect him from further injury, his time as a catcher is basically over: he hasn’t put on the gear since late July.
His OPS from that point on is just .670, but it’s impossible to know how much of that is due to the elbow and how much is due to regression.
A butterfly flaps its wings, and Tyler Freeman has won the starting center fielder job over the starter Myles Straw. This is unimportant, except as a setting for Vogt’s first assignment. Joining Kwan and Freeman among the outfielders are Will BrennanRamón Laureano and Estevan Florial. The Guardians will abandon Laureano at the end of May, only to see him regain his form with the Braves. Florial is sent to the minor leagues two days later, never to return. Freeman loses starting role to Lane Thomasacquired on the deadline, and fails to make the Division Series roster.
The Guardians begin the season with a payroll of $93.3 million, 28th in the League.
A butterfly flaps its wings, and the Guardians have completed a season in which Mike Zunino, Cam Gallagher, Eric Haase, Zack Collins y Meibrys Viloria they have combined to hit .155/.223/.232. They allocate $4 million dollars to Austin Hedgeswho will hit worse than that, but with better defense.
A butterfly flaps its wings and Wayne Garland He wakes up with a sore arm. Deindustrialization begins in the 1960s, causing the city’s population to halve. Michael Martínez is born in the Dominican Republic. The Dolans buy a baseball team. A butterfly flaps its terrible wings.
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