The Yankees are riding high into the All-Star break on the back of a three-game sweep of the Nationals, overcoming a deficit in the eighth inning or later in all three games for the first time since they were the Highlanders sweeping the Cleveland Naps in 1910. However, we have to go back a game further for the unequivocal selection for AB of the Week. In the final game of the pivotal four-game series against the Rays, Ryan McMahon won a 12-pitch AB against typical Yankee Killer Drew Rasmussen to spark
their eventual six-run outburst and win to split the series.
We join McMahon with no outs in the top of the third, Max Schuemann standing on second after leading off with a double. The Rays lead, 1-0, courtesy of a Junior Caminero solo shot in the first. McMahon has returned to the starting lineup after starting on the bench the previous two games with the Rays throwing out a pair of lefty starters, and just his glove alone at the hot corner is a welcome sight.
Rasmussen entered this contest with a career 0.89 ERA against the Yankees in nine starts. Stylistically he is similar to Cam Schlittler in that he throws his three fastballs a combined 80-percent of the time, relying on the divergent movement profiles of the four-seamer, sinker, and cutter to create deception for the batter. He starts this AB looking to front-door a sinker for a called strike.
He achieves just that, starting this pitch as a ball in off the plate and allowing its 16 inches of arm-side run to tail it back across the inside edge of the zone. McMahon gives up on the pitch early assuming it will be a ball inside only to watch the movement carry it into the strike zone for called strike one.
Now that he has shown McMahon an inside fastball that moves back toward the plate, it’s time for the fastball that breaks in the opposite direction. He attempts to start a cutter down the same tunnel as the first pitch, which should get McMahon to chase in off the plate after watching the previous sinker land for a strike.
This is a pretty good take by McMahon. The cutter looks like a strike down and in out of Rasmussen’s hand, but McMahon must have picked up the movement pretty soon out of Rasmussen’s hand because he reads it all the way as it cuts away from the plate for ball one inside.
Follow two straight inside fastballs to open the AB, Rasmussen has the situation for a changeup down and away — it should look like a heater right down the middle before diving down arm-side.
Oh man, McMahon missed a cookie here. They say you might only get one good pitch to hit per AB and it looks like this was the one. Rasmussen misses his spot badly with the changeup and leaves this one belt high down Broadway. However, McMahon cannot take advantage of what is effectively a batting practice fastball and slashes it foul straight back — right on time with the swing but not precise enough with the barrel.
After failing to punish that mistake, McMahon is in trouble, 1-2. His focus now should center solely on hitting something to the right side to advance the runner to third and pass the baton to the next batter.
Rasmussen changes speeds back up the four-seamer after seeing that McMahon’s swing timing is synced to the changeup. He nails his spot out over the plate but just above the zone, yet McMahon is still able to fire off a strong swing, his barrel again just under this pitch to foul it back to the zone as the four-seamer does not drop the way that the sinker and cutter McMahon has already seen did.
Rasmussen succeeded in getting McMahon to chase a four-seamer just above the zone, so the logical choice here is to climb the ladder a rung higher and see if he can get the chase and whiff this time.
Fortunately for McMahon, Rasmussen overthrows this four-seamer and it sails up out of the zone about head high, making for a pretty straightforward take despite an initial temptation to swing.
That take on a four-seamer above the zone informs Rasmussen’s next pitch selection. If he can throw a sinker that looks like a ball high out of the hand, McMahon should give up on the pitch only watch in drop into the zone for called strike three.
Rasmussen executes that pitch plan to perfection, but McMahon is all over this sinker, fouling it straight back to the screen. It’s impressive diagnosis of the pitch to recognize that he has to foul it off to avoid getting punched out looking.
With McMahon showing a renewed willingness to offer at a fastball that starts as a ball above the zone, Rasmussen reverses his course looking to get the hitter to whiff beneath the elevated four-seamer with the movement profile of the sinker he just fouled off still fresh in his mind.
Once again McMahon is able to fight off this pitcher’s pitch foul to keep the AB alive. You can see by the way he fouls it off the handle of the bat that he is anticipating a sinker’s movement toward the right-handed hitter’s batter’s box, but the four-seamer flies straight and he gets jammed.
The last four fastballs that Rasmussen has thrown all exhibit arm-side movement, so he has created an opportunity to deceive McMahon with the glove-side-breaking cutter.
This is definitely the most impressive swing from McMahon to this point. I do not know how he is able to make the immediate adjustment in eye level to a fastball down and in and breaking toward him after fouling off three heaters at the top of the zone. It’s another near-flawless pitch from Rasmussen on the corner, but McMahon’s confidence is growing with each pitch he spoils.
Now that Rasmussen has reminded McMahon that he can throw an inside fastball that breaks further in, he feels he can freeze him with a four-seamer up and in as McMahon should be anticipating a cutter to handcuff him in off the plate.
That’s two straight pitches command right to the corners but it’s the same result from McMahon. You can see from the way he pulls his hands in that he’s thinking this is another cutter and he therefore needs to make an extra effort to stay inside the pitch.
Rasmussen has now thrown six straight fastballs, so despite having failed to execute the changeup earlier on, he might have a little more margin of error with the off-speed having sped McMahon’s bat up to fastball speed.
Rasmussen again leaves this changeup elevated but somewhat fortuitously gets it to the corner up and away. McMahon is pretty early with his swing after all those fastballs and can count himself lucky that he is just able to tip a piece of the ball foul off the end of the bat to stay alive.
It’s not until the 11th pitch of the AB that Rasmussen finally throws his first breaking ball. His intention is to start it off the plate and break it back across the outside edge for a called strike three, and McMahon should be frozen after seeing so many heaters over the plate.
The fact that McMahon is tempted to chase this pitch tells me he has been secretly hunting a breaking ball this whole time. He finally gets one and almost loses his discipline before reading the pitch just in time and halting his swing.
It’s taken a monumental effort from McMahon to this point to work the count full. He knows Rasmussen does not want to walk him, so he can pretty reliably hunt a fastball in the zone, likely up given the way Rasmussen has attacked the top of the zone with heaters to this point.
McMahon gets the pitch he is looking for and does everything the situation requires of him. He pulls the ball, meaning at the very worst it’s a productive AB to advance the runner to third. However, he’s finally able to fire off a swing with some authority rather than a fight-off swing to stay alive. He gets the barrel directly to this cutter up and out over the plate, managing to keep this ball fair down the right field line to plate Schuemann as the tying run.
Here’s the full AB:
Where do I even begin with this incredible effort from McMahon? For starters, it’s such a professional AB, swinging at all the pitches that are in the zone or are two close to take while laying off the three balls that are intended for him to chase. It’s fabulous pitch recognition to identify five different pitch types, anticipate their movement, and tailor his swing path and timing to make contact, especially when you consider the location of many of the pitches — just look at how many Rasmussen was able to command to the edges of the zone, yet McMahon was able to fight every one of them off foul to stay alive! There was never a moment of panic in McMahon’s approach, allowing him to keep a level head and do damage with a controlled swing when he finally got a pitch he could hit McMahon winning the 12-pitch marathon proved the turning point in the game, the floodgates immediately opening for the Yankees to score six in the frame and hand Rasmussen by far his worst start against them.
McMahon is poised to play an important role for the Yankees down the stretch. As the failed experiments of Amed Rosario and José Caballero at third have shown, they absolutely need a reliable defender at the hot corner capable of making all the routine plays and even a handful of spectacular ones, and there are few third baseman in the league better equipped for those duties than McMahon. What’s more, since returning from a throat infection that landed him on the sidelines for two weeks, McMahon looks way more in control in the batter’s box, posting a 148 wRC+ in eight appearances off the IL. If that can continue, he quietly becomes one of the Yankees’ most valuable all around players.
