Cole: Yanks to use 2023 ‘disaster’ as motivation
-
David Schoenfield, ESPN Senior Writer
TAMPA, Fla. — The New York Yankees managed to avoid their first losing season since 1992, but Gerrit Cole admitted that “disaster” was an appropriate word to describe missing the postseason for the first time since 2016.
“Certainly there were injuries that were outside the normal realm of injuries that impacted us,” Cole said Thursday as the Yankees opened camp for pitchers and catchers. “With that said, we get injured too much as a group. We need to improve.”
While Cole went 15-4 with a 2.63 ERA to win his first Cy Young Award, first-year starter Clarke Schmidt was the only other pitcher to make at least 20 starts. Carlos Rodon, signed to a $162 million contract, missed time with a forearm strain and back problems and made just 14 starts, posting a 6.85 ERA. Nestor Cortes, an All-Star in 2022, made 12 starts with a 4.97 ERA. Luis Severino, now with the New York Mets, had a 6.65 ERA across 18 starts.
Rodón and Cortes, who was sidelined by a strained left rotator cuff, are throwing to hitters.
“A lot of things have to go right,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Start with health. You know, you’re going to have your health challenges here and there. But hopefully, for the most part, especially a lot of your core guys can go to the post regularly. I mean, that’s an important factor.”
The Yankees finished 18th in the majors with a 4.44 rotation ERA last season, after ranking fourth in 2022.
“Still fresh in our minds, so hopefully we use it as motivation,” Cole said of the team’s 82-80 record.
Cole was proud that the team fought to maintain the streak of winning seasons. The Yankees were four games under .500 at the end of August, but went 17-11 over the final month to keep the streak intact.
“Being hamstrung for a great part of the year, there was a lot of grit that showed,” Cole said. “We have a 30-some consecutive year run of finishing over .500, so when the greater goals faded away, there was a little bit of a rallying factor around that.
“We’re not going to be the team, regardless of the position we’ve been put it, to cash it in at the end of the year, so we continued to push. So there was an element of pride in that — but obviously ‘disaster’ was an appropriate word.”
The Yankees made a push to sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto before he ultimately went to the Los Angeles Dodgers, but New York did sign Marcus Stroman as a free agent, creating a top five of Cole, Rodon, Cortes, Stroman and Schmidt — certainly a rotation that has a chance to be one of the best in the game if it can stay healthy.
“The top four guys are former All-Stars. Clarke Schmidt had a career year last year and is looking to go on a really solid innings buildup and a solid body of work,” Cole said. “… Certainly excited to see what the rest of the rotation and the top five guys can do.
“There are no sleeper games in the AL East. When we come to town, the lights are on and there is a high level of play and you expect things to come up and you have to manage those things. From a personal standpoint, it’s a focus of mind to get out there for as many games as possible.”
Of course, the biggest addition was the trade for outfielder Juan Soto, who hit .275/.410/.519 with 35 home runs for the San Diego Padres — including .307 with 23 home runs on the road. The Yankees also traded for outfielders Alex Verdugo and Trent Grisham, two more left-handed hitters to help balance a lineup that swung too much to the right side the past few seasons.
“It seems like it was a really focused plan,” Cole said. “We added three left-handed bats who acquired 500 or more plate appearances in the past three years, which everyone kind of identified as something we should improve on. We also added great defense and great pitching.
“You can never have enough good players and that’s why it’s special to be a Yankee. That’s the M.O. every offseason — to continue to get better.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Dallas Stars and Winnipeg Jets began their second-round showdown a bit behind the other series, which is why they’re the last teams to play their respective Game 3. That matchup is set to transpire Sunday afternoon (4:30 p.m. ET, TBS), followed by a game no less important between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers at a more traditional time (7:30 p.m. ET, TBS).
Which of the two Central teams will go up 2-1? And can the Panthers tie things up with the Leafs after Brad Marchand‘s OT heroics in Game 3?
Read on for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, a recap of what went down in Saturday’s games and the Three Stars of Saturday from Arda Öcal.
Matchup notes
Winnipeg Jets at Dallas Stars
Game 3 | 4:30 p.m. ET | TBS
With each team taking one game of the series in Winnipeg, ESPN BET has updated the series odds heading into Game 3 in Dallas; the Stars are currently favored (-170) to win the series, with the Jets at +140 to advance. The Stars have the second-shortest odds to win the Stanley Cup (+400), while the Jets’ are third-longest (+900).
With his 22-save shutout in Game 2, Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck earned postseason blanking No. 4 of his career. He became the sixth goaltender in NHL history to account for the first four playoff shutouts in a franchise’s history.
Nikolaj Ehlers has run hot and cold as a playoff goal scorer for the Jets; he scored two in Game 2, which was his second career multigoal postseason game. In between this one and the one prior, he went 14 playoff games with zero goals.
Mikko Rantanen‘s streak of five straight multipoint playoff games ended in Game 2, as he registered one shot on goal for Dallas and a minus-1 rating in 21:42 of ice time. He’s currently tied with Toronto’s William Nylander for the playoff scoring lead, with 15 points, and is first among goal scorers, with eight.
Game 2 was the second time the Stars have been shut out this postseason. The first was Game 4 in the first round, at Colorado. The next game? A home win, in which they scored six goals.
Toronto Maple Leafs at Florida Panthers
Game 4 | 7:30 p.m. ET | TBS
After the Panthers won a thriller in Game 3, ESPN BET has the Leafs at -125 to win the series, with the Panthers at +105. Both teams are right in the middle of the Cup futures mix, with the Panthers slightly ahead; Florida is +550 and Toronto is +600.
With his overtime game winner in Game 3, the Panthers’ Brad Marchand extended his own NHL record for consecutive postseasons with a game-winning goal, a streak that goes back to 2017. Marchand’s four career playoff OT goals is seventh all time.
Have we seen the real version of “Playoff Bob” yet? Sergei Bobrovsky is sixth among eight regular goaltenders that made Round 2 with a 2.94 goals-against average, and sixth in the same cohort with a .875 save percentage. Those rates were 2.33 and .906, respectively, during the Panthers’ Stanley Cup run last year.
Maple Leafs center John Tavares scored two goals in Game 3, which was his fourth career multigoal playoff game and second in his career against the Panthers; the previous multigoal game against Florida was in 2016 while Tavares was with the New York Islanders.
With each goal that Morgan Rielly scores, he extends his franchise lead for playoff goals by a defenseman. Rielly now has 15 for his career, ahead of second-place Ian Turnbull with 13.
Öcal’s Three Stars from Saturday
1. The final seconds
We saw it again on Saturday night. You never know what’s going to happen in a Stanley Cup playoff game — even a Leon Draisaitl own goal with one second left in a game that was headed for overtime.
Smith scored two goals — one of which was the game winner that deflected off Draisaitl’s stick — in Vegas’ 4-3 win. He and Nicolas Roy scored 54 seconds apart in the first period to even the score at 2-2, which marked the fastest Vegas has overcome a multigoal deficit in franchise playoff history.
Roslovic finished with two points, including his third career postseason goal as the Canes dismantled the Caps 4-0 to take a 2-1 series lead.
Saturday’s recaps
Carolina Hurricanes 4, Washington Capitals 0
CAR leads 2-1 | Game 4 Monday
Following a scoreless first period with a few superb scoring chances for both teams, the Hurricanes got on the board twice in the second, courtesy of Andrei Svechnikov and Jack Roslovic. That was all the Canes needed, as their relentless defensive pressure in all three zones prevented the Caps from mounting much of an attack in the third. Eric Robinson added a shot that somehow found its way over Logan Thompson‘s left shoulder and Jackson Blake closed things out with a power-play tally. But this night was all about Frederik Andersen earning his fourth career shutout (and first with the Canes). Full recap.
0:38
Eric Robinson gives the Canes a 3-0 lead
Hurricanes fans erupt as Eric Robinson gives Carolina a 3-0 lead with a sweet goal in the third period vs. Washington.
Golden Knights 4, Oilers 3
EDM leads 2-1 | Game 4 Monday
Finally, the Golden Knights are on the board — and it took until the very last moment for them to pull off the stunning win in Edmonton. Savvy Oilers veteran Corey Perry scored two to put the hosts ahead 2-0 in the first. Undeterred, the Knights scored two before the period ended to tie the contest. William Karlsson‘s second-period score put Vegas ahead 3-2, a lead that held until 16:58 of the third, when Connor McDavid tied it at 3. Then, in the very final second of regulation, Reilly Smith slid a sharp-angle shot into the Edmonton crease, where it was tipped in by Oilers center Leon Draisaitl. Game, Vegas. Full recap.
1:07
Golden Knights stun Oilers with Reilly Smith’s buzzer-beating goal
Reilly Smith scores a miraculous goal for the Golden Knights with 0.4 remaining to give them the win.
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Mike Trout intends to resume running next week as the Los Angeles Angels slugger ramps up his recovery from a bone bruise in his left knee.
The 33-year-old Trout confirmed Saturday that he won’t be back in the Halos’ lineup when he is immediately eligible to come off the injured list Sunday, but the three-time AL MVP remains confident he won’t miss an extended period of time with his latest injury.
Trout swung a bat in the cage for the third straight day, and he hopes to test his knee with some running when the Angels travel for a series in San Diego to begin next week, calling it “a good possibility.”
“It’s been great,” Trout said. “I was worried in the beginning, but the sharpness [of pain] I was feeling after that day in Seattle is gone.”
Trout hasn’t played since April 30, when he left the game against the Mariners with knee soreness which was eventually diagnosed as a bone bruise. He had two operations last year on the knee after tearing his meniscus.
After playing in all of the Angels’ first 29 games this season, Trout missed his ninth consecutive game Saturday night when Los Angeles hosted the Baltimore Orioles.
Trout has missed 387 of the Angels’ 646 games — almost 60% — since May 17, 2021, when he tore his calf muscle and was sidelined for the rest of that season.
He missed five weeks of the 2022 season with a back injury, and he missed half of the 2023 season after his hand was broken by a pitch. He missed all but 29 games last season, not even making it out of April healthy.
Trout’s current injury does not appear to be anywhere close to season-ending — and for a superstar whose ascent has been derailed by five years of injuries, that’s a huge relief.
“I don’t have a day [for a return], but I feel great,” Trout said. “I feel good. Talking to the doctors, it’s kind of like a scab kind of thing. We’re just adding exercises each and every day, and [continuing] if it’s feeling good … but [there’s] no soreness, so we’ll keep progressing like that.”
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway