Author: Tom Lynch

Family is everything to me. Baseball is a close second. What better way to combine my two favorite passions than to write about them! My three children each have a different baseball team, hence the title, "Three Unassisted". I write about not only my thoughts but also the musings of Ryan (Yankees), Caitlyn (Phillies) and Matthew (Mets). I may have grown up a Yankees fan but since family is greater than ball, I also root for the Phillies and Mets. I love talking about my kids. I love talking about baseball. That lethal combination will keep you coming back for more. Happy reading!

Yankees, Mets and Phillies: Problems Abound?

The Major League Baseball season is seven months of ups and downs. It is important to not get too high or too low, particularly during April. It goes double for a team with high expectations. The first five game losing streak doesn’t necessarily mean a complete re-evaluation. Conversely, winning eight out of ten from April 15 through April 27 doesn’t translate into a parade. I have three fans in the house that I have to periodically remind that we have more than 75% of the season left to play. The New York Yankees, New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies have already dealt with some adversity and should still be playoff bound. However, that doesn’t mean that there are situations that bear watching.

Devin Williams will hopefully regain the closer’s role. Credit: NY Post

New York Yankees: It is a month into the season and Devin Williams has already lost his closer’s role. On Friday night, chants of “We Want Weaver” resonated throughout Yankee Stadium as his latest poor outing concluded. Call it an adjustment period, call it a lack of confidence right now. Williams is too talented to go an entire season like this. I don’t think this is going to be a situation where the home run he gave up to Pete Alonso in last year’s playoffs starts the decline of his career. However, if the Yankees are to repeat as American League champions, Williams will need to fix his confidence, his mechanics and whatever else ails him. If not, those chants Friday will be mild compared to what will come later.

New York Mets: Out of the three teams, the Mets seem to have the least amount of worry. Despite a brutal loss on Sunday, they still own the league’s best record. It feels like they need bullpen help after coughing up a six run lead on the day A.J. Minter went on the Injured List. That is merely a coincidence. Until Juan Soto starts hitting more consistently, I feel as though the offense will still go on these wild swings of ten runs in one game and then ten over the next four contests. That seems like a contradiction considering the Mets’ record, however it is something that has happened in the early going.

Philadelphia Phillies: It seems like the Phillies have been searching for a guy to lock down the ninth inning for years. They signed a previous All Star closer, Jordan Romano but so far, the early results have been discouraging. The defection of Jeff Hoffman to the Toronto Blue Jays has made a shaky part of the team even more suspect. Outside of Jose Alvarado, is there anyone to trust to keep a one run lead? Also, Alec Bohm‘s second half slide from 2024 has carried over to this season. He hasn’t homered in 107 at bats and his OPS is .532. Perhaps all of the trade talk surrounding him in the offseason has affected his on field play.

New York Mets vs. Philadelphia Phillies: One Girl’s Pain

On Monday evening, we made the trip to Citi Field to watch the New York Mets take on the Philadelphia Phillies. It was the four of us (Ryan went back to Siena earlier in the day), one of Caitlyn’s friends and a couple whose son is friends with Matthew. Beatrice and I remained neutral while everyone else (minus Caitlyn) was a Mets’ fan. If you know the result of the game, then you know that one of us went home not happy. In fact, after today’s game, it became clear that Caitlyn was almost ready to throw the towel in on the Phillies’ season.

Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto ready for action. Credit: Matthew Lynch

This was the third time we have seen Aaron Nola pitch in person. And for the third time, Philadelphia came out on the short end of the score. We had good seats, section 329 row 16. In came in handy when on this chilly night, we managed to avoid the brief drizzle that fell during the course of the contest. When Francisco Lindor led off the first inning with a home run and Jesse Winker led off the second inning with a home run, Caitlyn knew it was not a good omen. It didn’t help her cause watching Tylor Megill whiff ten Phillies’ batters, either. For Matthew and the rest of the Met fans, it was sheer delight when Lindor cranked a three run homer in the seventh inning to give the home team what seemed to be an insurmountable 5-0. It was around this time that Caitlyn reminded me emphatically that the Phillies needed bullpen help and that I would tell her they would be fine. Their second highest bullpen ERA that flashed across the TV screens above us made me a liar. She did have some joy in the ninth inning when Bryson Stott smacked a three run home run of his own to cut the lead to 5-4. Unfortunately for Caitlyn, Bryce Harper struck out to end the game, leading to yet another disappointing stadium outcome for her.

This is why I love my kids and marvel at how wonderful they are. There was no trash talking between Matthew and Caitlyn. Matthew was surely thrilled his Mets were victorious but was happy for Caitlyn that she got to see a big Phillies’ rally. As for Caitlyn, the rest of this series went as poorly you can get. Cristopher Sanchez left Tuesday’s start early with forearm trouble. Wednesday’s game was an extra inning loss, even after Philadelphia took the lead in the tenth inning. The series sweep left the team with a record of 13-12 and a certain young lady in my house ready to challenge them all to a fight.

Help Me Out, Mark Vientos

I have started my fantasy baseball season 2-0. The record is extremely fortunate as my team has not really performed up to expectations as of yet. Kyle Tucker has been wonderful and I have enjoyed Jackson Chourio on my team for the second straight year. I could have done a better job drafting pitching though it was hard to envision Justin Steele being done for the year less than a month into the season. To win a championship, you can’t have a huge drop-off in production on a player you drafted to start for you.

Mark Vientos needs to find his way back to my starting lineup. Credit: Newsday

I need Mark Vientos to revert to his 2024 form.

Vientos was a black hole for me during the first two weeks of our season. He had seven measly hits in 63 plate appearances during that span, resulting in a batting average whose equivalent weight wouldn’t allow you to donate blood. I put him on the bench to start this third game, fearing another lost week. The depth of my team is allowing me to post one of the higher scores of the week so far. However, I know that I am going to need Vientos to rediscover his stroke in order to be a playoff contender. Maybe it is just good managing on my part that my score is so good without my best pitcher in Steele and the benching of an important player in Vientos.

New York Mets’ manager Carlos Mendoza took a page from my book and benched Vientos on Wednesday. The 25-year old third baseman responded by hitting his first home run of the year Thursday night. As the weather warms up, I hope Mark Veintos gets hot. Perhaps it is my benching that will propel him to another excellent campaign in 2025.

Will Ben Rice Keep Starting in the Summer?

Giancarlo Stanton has yet to appear in a Major League game this year. But you already knew that. The latest word on Stanton, last year’s ALCS MVP, is that he is coming along slowly due to torn tendons in both elbows. He is in New York and continues to hit off of a machine, according to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. Despite the loss of the prodigious slugger in the middle of their lineup, the New York Yankees have learned to win without him over the years given his numerous injuries. However, this time a viable alternative has emerged, providing thump at the designated hitter spot, though mostly from the leadoff spot.

Ben Rice is a legit Major League hitter. Credit: Associated Press

Ben Rice is turning into a bona fide Major League hitter.

Let’s face it, Rice could have 25 home runs by the All Star Break and the minute Stanton returns, the rookie will head to the bench. It’s a matter of economics. There is no way the Yankees will make the $32 million Stanton a part time player when he is ready to rejoin the team. However, will that be the right move? How do you take a guy out of the lineup who will be (presumably, hopefully?) still a force in the lineup? Yankee fans will not be patient should Stanton come back and start with ten strikeouts in his first fifteen plate appearances. Rice has been successful reaching base in 13 of his first 14 games. He has five home runs and his on base percentage is over .400. That does not sound like a player who should be benched for any reason.

Could we be looking at a platoon situation? The Yankees don’t want to relegate Stanton to pinch hitting duty but you also cannot take Rice out the lineup should he keep producing at this clip. It’s a nice problem for the Yankees to have. In fact, they should tell Stanton to take all the time he needs in rehab. This will be a fascinating storyline as the season flips to Summer.

The Juan Soto Effect on Pete Alonso

Aaron Judge won his second Most Valuable Player Award in 2024, leading all of Major League Baseball in numerous offensive categories. Some of the credit for his monster season goes to Juan Soto, who would hit in front of Judge for most of the campaign. While there is no doubt that Judge will one day go to the Hall of Fame, there is nothing wrong to have some help, as Soto provided last year. One year later, and in a different borough, Soto is helping out another slugger.

Pete Alonso is embracing the Juan Soto effect. Credit: Sports Illustrated

Pete Alonso is experiencing a rebirth, thanks to Juan Soto.

To be fair, as in Judge’s case, Alonso has had great years prior to Soto arriving. After all, he ranks third on the all time New York Mets’ home run list, potentially being the leader at season’s end. However, there was also a dip in production over the last three years going from 46 home runs in 2022 to 34 in 2024. Solid numbers but the sense was that at age 30, more regression could follow.

Not in 2025.

Alonso is hitting .378 and leads the National League in home runs and slugging. This is the Soto effect of hitting in front of him. Soto puts so much pressure on opposing pitchers that it seems as though they are exhausted when it is time to face the next hitter. When Soto reaches base, the pitcher tries to pitch too carefully to Alonso in order to minimize the chance of a big inning. Take last night’s game against the A’s as an example. In the top of the fifth inning, JP Sears had Soto down in the count 0-2. After a couple of foul balls and pitches out of the strike zone, the count went to 3-2. Soto then laced a single, bringing up Alonso. On the eighth pitch, Alonso cracked a run scoring double. He then provided the difference in the Mets’ 7-6 victory with a solo home run in the eighth inning. Even when Soto does not reach base, Alonso’s at bats seem to be easier.

Pete Alonso may very well opt out of the final year of his contract and try to secure the long term deal he did not get this past offseason. That’s a story for November and beyond. Like his effect on the Yankees last year, Juan Soto is doing his job this year: making the Mets’ lineup more dangerous.

MLB Managers: Safer than NBA Coaches

When it comes to firing head coaches, no one does it better than the NBA. This was borne out earlier in the week when the Denver Nuggets fired their coach, Mike Malone, two years after he led the team to the NBA title. The Nuggets were literally three games from completing the regular season and they decided to overhaul (General Manager Calvin Booth was let go the same day) their most recognizable non-players. In fact, several NBA Championship coaches who won recently were all fired within two years of winning it all (Nick Nurse, Mike Budenholzer, Frank Vogel). Not only was Malone canned recently but Taylor Jenkins, the best coach in Memphis Grizzlies’ history was fired with nine games left in his team’s season.

Rob Thomson took an opportunity and ran with it to the World Series. Credit: Sports Illustrated

There have been plenty of instances in baseball where a change in manager can get a team going all the way to the playoffs and beyond. Just look at the Phillies who fired Joe Girardi in May 2022, promoted Rob Thomson and went to the World Series. However, it just doesn’t happen in baseball when a team is close to the playoffs in say, September and an organization decides to change the manager. The instance I can think of is the 2008 Brewers who fired Ned Yost with 12 games left in the regular season and gave the job to Dale Sveum. The Brewers won the Wild Card but lost to the Phillies in the first round. Most times, when a manager gets fired toward the end of the season, that team is not going to the playoffs. Usually, organizations are not in a hurry to fire successful managers. The one notable exception was, again, Girardi, this time with the Yankees. He won a World Series in 2009 and led the team through a transition in the middle part of the 2010’s. Girardi and the 2017 Yankees made it all the way to Game 7 of the ALCS. His reward? He was asked not to come back.

Sure, there have been a fair share of head scratching managerial changes. Girardi’s case is notable , as is Mike Shildt getting let go by the Cardinals after the 2021 season. However, MLB managers enjoy job security that NBA coaches can only dream about. The stability for NBA coaches is so tenuous, that they should think about forming a union.

Don Mattingly’s Rotten Baseball Luck

The New York Mets hosted the Toronto Blue Jays for three games this past weekend. Along the way, we got some pictures of the Blue Jays’ bench coach, none other than the great Don Mattingly. Mattingly obtained this position prior to the 2023 season, the latest stop in a post playing career that has seen him manage both the Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami Marlins. New York swept Toronto, dropping the Jays to .500. With the contract of Bo Bichette set to expire at the end of the season and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. inking a long term extension, the pressure is on the Jays to make the playoffs. If they fail to make it to the postseason, there is the possibility of a regime change. And with that, the rotten baseball luck of Don Mattingly would continue.

Don Mattingly’s bad luck needs to stop. Credit: Englewood Daily Voice

If you are a Yankees’ fan of a certain age like me, Don Mattingly was your favorite player. He was the Man, a bright light in an otherwise dim era of Yankee baseball. He came up to the Majors surrounded by the likes of Dave Winfield, Ron Guidry and Willie Randolph and was on the team in 1990 when they finished last, with George Steinbrenner being kicked out of baseball during the season. Derek Jeter was booed. Mickey Mantle was booed. Mariano Rivera was booed. Mattingly was the only Yankee superstar I can think of who never had a bad word said about him at the Stadium. The fans understood that even in the darkest of days in the late 80’s and early 90’s, Mattingly was the guy we latched onto and for whom we had great sympathy throughout this chaotic period of time. When his back started giving him trouble in 1990 and robbed him of certain Hall of Fame immortality, he became even more of our hero.

Don Mattingly’s rotten baseball luck began when he was called up. He debuted in 1982, the year after the Yankees made the World Series, losing in six games to the Dodgers. Mattingly then became part of the longest playoff drought in franchise history, only reaching October baseball in his last season, 1995. Immediately after he retired, the Yankees put together their latest dynasty, with four World Series championships over the next five seasons. After a five year stretch that saw Mattingly establish himself as one of, if not the best player in the game, he suffered a debilitating back injury which sapped his power. He would never hit 20 home runs in a season again. Mattingly’s bad luck didn’t stop after his retirement. He became a Yankees’ coach in 2004. Care to guess what happened that year? That would be the Boston Red Sox epic comeback from down 0-3 to beat New York in the ALCS. When Joe Torre was let go as the Yankees’ manager after the 2007 season, Mattingly was looked at as a potential replacement. The job went to Joe Girardi. Mattingly then followed Torre to the Dodgers. A year after leaving, what did the Yankees do? They won the 2009 World Series. Mattingly then became the Dodgers’ manager in 2011 under the ownership of Frank McCourt who nearly wrecked the franchise. He left the Dodgers after the 2015 season and are now considered baseball’s best franchise. Mattingly next became the manager of the Marlins in 2016 and after a lot of losing (and a COVID playoff appearance), resigned after the 2022 season. Would you believe the Marlins made the playoffs the following season?

Don Mattingly deserves a World Series appearance. I don’t care how he gets it, what team he is with or if he unretires for a week to play for the Dodgers. No one has dealt with more misfortune in a baseball life than him. If the Toronto Blue Jays win the World Series in 2025, I will be a happy man. It means my guy finally gets a ring.

What If She Didn’t Pick the Phillies?

I was driving home from work on Friday listening to the Yankees play the Pirates. In the fifth inning, Isiah Kiner-Falefa was picked off by Max Fried to record the second out of the frame. As the rest of the inning played out, you could hear the Pittsburgh crowd chanting, “sell the team”, this after a plane flew over the stadium imploring owner Bob Nutting to sell the Pirates. It was right at that point that I wondered aloud about something I never even gave a second thought.

I am thankful Caitlyn became a Phillies fan. Credit: WHYY

What if Caitlyn didn’t pick the Phillies as her team?

I think I have mentioned how Caitlyn became a Phillies fan. Toward the end of the 2016 season, the Mets were beating up Philadelphia as they drove to the Wild Card game. Matthew was becoming a little bit too loud for Caitlyn’s taste so she declared her allegiance to the Phillies on the spot. I thought about this while driving because the Phillies are really good now. If it were the Pirates that happened to be playing the Mets at that time in 2016, would she have picked them? What about the White Sox? The Angels? All three of those franchises are currently lost with little hope in sight. More importantly, would Caitlyn be as much of a baseball fan now if she had rooted for a team that consistently finished under .500? Granted, it took the Phillies another four years to break .500 but her loyalty has resulted in three consecutive playoff appearances, including a World Series berth.

The most fortunate aspect for Caitlyn choosing the Phillies is the ease in which we can go see them play at their ballpark. Can you imagine if she became a Dodgers or Giants fan? I don’t think we would be making many trips to see their home games. Thank goodness the Mets crushed the Phillies nine years ago. Following three good teams throughout the course of the baseball season makes each day so much fun.

Three Teams, One Family: How Do We Watch the Games?

One of the more challenging aspects of having three different favorite teams under one roof is deciding which game to watch. We do enjoy watching baseball together as a family, making it difficult to keep one station on for more than an inning. One would think that with me being the Dad and Ryan being the oldest child we should give the lion’s share of the viewing to the Yankees. However, with me seeing lots of Yankee victories over the years, I’d rather choose the happiness of my kids over my own interests.

Pete Alonso and the Mets are no always the game of choice. Credit: New York Post

So how do divide the television viewing up equally?

First off, I have been a little lax ordering MLB Extra Innings. That means Caitlyn does not get to watch her team as much as the boys get to watch theirs. Whenever the opportunity arises to catch a Phillies game on TV, we watch them over the Yankees and Mets. Perhaps this is the year we go back to Extra Innings and Caitlyn can get a chance to see her team a little bit more. MLB At Bat is always live in our house. Therefore, when we get a notice of a big inning, the child whose team is not the game of choice, goes to one of the other two TV’s to watch. I will sometimes stroll back and forth between the two rooms to see what unfolds. I do have the Optimum app so if we want to remain in one room, we put the other game on the app. Sometimes, we may decide that the more completive game is the one we view. Whenever there is a blowout, both on the winning and losing side, we shut that game off and go to the better one. Needless to say, there is a lot of channel surfing going on for at least six months.

We will not get to the point where more than another television finds its way into the living room. The setup we have now works just fine. No matter whose team is on, we will all root for them except when they play one another. Even when there is a Mets-Phillies game or Yankees-Mets contest, we are all respectful to one another….most of the time.

Torpedo Bats: Advantage or Myth?

Who knew that the biggest story of the MLB season so far would be a bat? More specifically, the Torpedo bats that the New York Yankees “unveiled” over the weekend against the Milwaukee Brewers. Nine home runs in a single game will bring you lots of attention and since Saturday, most of the baseball world can’t stop talking about the Torpedo. However, they are not new to Major League Baseball, nor limited to the Yankees. Giancarlo Stanton used one last year while Francisco Lindor and Elly De La Cruz have been using them this year. So is this bat a game changer?

Jazz Chisholm, Jr. is one of the Yankees using the Torpedo. Credit: Sports Illustrated

One weekend series is a ridiculously small sample size. Sure the the Yanks clubbed 15 home runs in three games. However, four of them were hit by Aaron Judge who does not use the Torpedo. Also, one day after leaving New York, the Brewers’ pitching staff was torched for 11 runs by the Kansas City Royals, a team not advertising use of the Torpedo. Players are now very interested , with the belief that, they too, can pad their offensive numbers. Having a bigger barrel would most certainly be an advantage, one that I am sure the league does not mind because, you know, offense is what brings attention. Or, as a certain Hall of Fame pitcher said on a commercial a couple of decades ago, “Chicks dig the long ball”.

The bottom line is that though appears the Torpedo is giving hitters a leg up, we won’t know more until at least a month into the season. By that time, I would speculate the majority of hitters will be using them and we can begin to compare numbers to previous seasons. The Phillies’ Matt Strahm had an interesting observation from a pitcher’s point of view, one that has some merit. In fact, if the Torpedo is here to stay, maybe baseball can rethink pitchers using pine tar. That I would love to see.