Cody Bellinger Can’t Get Healthy Fast Enough
Watching the Yankees-Cardinals game, I can’t help but keep asking myself: How the fuck is Trent Grisham a starting center fielder in the big leagues?
If it’s not his lackadaisical plodding after a ball, it’s his complete inability to track a fly ball off the bat. I seriously wonder if he hears circus music every time one gets hit his way.
Cody Bellinger is on the IL right now, but when he’s healthy, he needs to be this team’s everyday center fielder. I watched him play Gold Glove-caliber defense in center for years with the Dodgers. He’s probably the most underappreciated defensive outfielder in baseball.
Anybody would be a massive defensive upgrade over Grisham in center, but Bellinger isn’t just “better.” He’s elite.
I couldn’t imagine being a Yankees pitcher and constantly wondering whether a routine fly ball is about to become extra pitches, extra stress, and another runner on base because of a bad read or poor route.
Defense matters. It always has, and it always will. The Yankees have enough problems without turning every routine fly ball into a carnival ride.
Every time a ball gets hit to Trent Grisham, I half expect Benny Hill music to start playing. Yankees pitchers shouldn’t have to say a quick prayer every time a routine fly ball hangs in the air because their center fielder is taking the scenic route.
When Cody Bellinger comes off the IL, the experiment should be over. Put the Gold Glover back in center field and let Grisham return to the role he was meant for: a fourth outfielder who starts once or twice a week, pinch runs, and reminds us why he only starts once or twice a week.
The Yankees are trying to win a World Series, not audition for the blooper reel. Put Bellinger back in center, let the pitchers stop treating every fly ball like a hostage situation, and for the love of God, somebody take the circus music away from Trent Grisham.
