“`html
New York, NY – Former New York Yankees players are suggesting a shift in mentality and a potential rule change too address current struggles within the team and Major League Baseball as a whole.
Jorge Posada, a former Yankees catcher who played his entire 13-year MLB career with the team (1995-2007), believes the Yankees need to rediscover a more aggressive, competitive edge. In an interview with SNY on February 22, 2024, Posada stated the team needs “a little angry” energy, potentially sparked by on-field interactions, to regain its focus. He emphasized the importance of a “chip on their shoulder” and a willingness to avoid being overly friendly with opponents, advocating for a more combative approach to the game.
Beyond the Yankees’ immediate concerns, seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens proposed a league-wide rule modification aimed at encouraging starting pitchers to pitch deeper into games. Clemens, who won his Cy young awards between 1986 and 2004 with the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and Houston Astros, believes a significant incentive is needed.
Clemens’ proposal ties the use of the designated hitter (DH) to a starting pitcher’s performance. Specifically, if a starting pitcher is removed from the game before completing the third or fourth inning, the team would forfeit its DH for the remainder of the contest.
This rule change would force managers to carefully consider when to remove a struggling starter, weighing the loss of a potent offensive weapon against the need for a pitching change. Clemens argued this would lead to more strategic game management and potentially improve the endurance of starting pitchers.
For the Yankees, the impact could be considerable. The team frequently faces situations where starting pitchers fail to deliver quality starts, leading to early substitutions. Under Clemens’ proposed rule, the Yankees would risk losing key hitters like Aaron Judge, who hit 37 home runs in 2023, and Giancarlo Stanton, who has a career batting average of .273 with 347 home runs, from their lineup.
The potential long-term benefits, though, could outweigh the short-term costs. Clemens suggested the rule could foster a new generation of dominant starting pitchers, potentially mirroring the sustained success of pitchers like Greg Maddux, who won four consecutive Cy Young Awards from 1992-1995. The hope is that incentivizing pitchers to go deeper into games
