Palladino: Extent Of Chapman's Impact Will Depend On Yankees' Lineup
By Ernie Palladino
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Aroldis Chapman's return from his 30-game suspension for domestic violence may have proved meaningful for the Yankees the last two nights, but it won't last unless the aging power hitters Joe Girardi depends on wake up.
One can assume Chapman will find his groove with that triple-digit fastball following a less than perfect -- two hits and a run -- debut Monday against the Royals. His one-walk, one-wild pitch closeout of Tuesday's 10-7 win was significantly better, but still not as commanding as Chapman promises to be.
The 100 MPH mark was surpassed on all but two of the eight fastballs he threw to get Lorenzo Cain to ground into the final out. So he's getting there.
But unless the lineup starts losing balls with the same frequency as their crosstown rivals, neither Chapman's closing nor the setup alignment of Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller will be worth a darn.
The five homers Brian McCann, Carlos Beltran, Brett Gardner, and Aaron Hicks banged out Monday were a good start. But they've got a long way to go to catch up to the Mets, who have supported their starters and relievers with a league-high 49. The Yanks have 19 fewer after failing to hit one Tuesday.
It would certainly help if one of those bats, the one belonging to 36-year-old Mark Teixeira, got going. But right now, he's clueless at the plate. He is 4-for-37 over his last 11 games with a paltry one RBI and no extra-base hits. He hasn't homered since April 13.
And now he'll sit at least one more game after missing Tuesday's with neck spasms.
There's not a lot the Yanks can do about that. He's one of those big contracts that will expire at the end of the season, the same time as Beltran's deal ends and a year before Alex Rodriguez' monster contract runs out.
But at least Beltran is contributing. His two homers against the Royals put him at a team-leading six. Despite his sorry .194 BA and the hamstring injury that put him on the DL on Wednesday, Rodriguez sits one homer behind. Jacoby Ellsbury, out the last four games with a bad hip, has also underperformed.
At least Teixeira has an excuse. He's old. He's creaky. And at this point in his career, it's debatable whether the onset of warmer weather will help him shake out of a slump that has him hitting .202. He doesn't quite know why he's hitting more grounders than flies.
While the rest of the lineup was banging Monday, Teixeira barely got his bat on the ball in an 0-for-4, three-strikeout outing.
The days of carrying his team are over, certainly. And the $23 million price tag for this season means he has to play when healthy.
The same holds true for others like Chase Headley and Didi Gregorius, two younger players who really have no excuse for not producing.
The problem has been and will remain a whole-lineup issue. And until that changes, until these Bronx popguns become the Bombers of old, it's hard to see them improving markedly from the 13-18 hole they carried out of Tuesday. That's despite having a bullpen that on paper looks like the envy of the majors.
Betances-Miller-Chapman won't even come into play if the Yanks can't get leads.
As Girardi understated to the media, "Getting that lead is really important."
And a comfortable lead will make things a lot easier on Girardi. The 6-2 advantage they took into the ninth Monday allowed Girardi to rest Betances and Miller and go with a Kirby Yates-Chasen Shreve-Chapman succession. That was OK for an evening, even though the manager did have to warm up both Betances and Miller once Chapman got into trouble.
But unless they get leads consistently, fans will have to get used to seeing Yates and Shreve more than even Girardi desires. That's not good.
It's great to have a nasty bullpen. It's an invaluable postseason asset, as the Royals proved last season.
But the back of the Yanks' pen will be rendered worthless in this regular season if the lineup fails to produce a lead.
It won't matter if Chapman throws 100 MPH, or 200 for that matter.
The postseason won't be an issue because the Yanks won't be there. They'll have wasted all the star power long before it comes to that.
That would be a shame.
Follow Ernie on Twitter at @ErniePalladino
