Pedro Martinez eviscerates Yankees with sad dog comparison

Entering the season, the men in charge of the 2023 New York Yankees clearly believed they'd put together a product more likely to resemble 2022's first-half juggernaut than 2022's second-half sag factory.

Instead, they've created a monster that's reached the .500 marker 120 games into the season, a first for the Yankees from 1996-present. That's both a remarkable streak and remarkably embarrassing, considering the team won 99 games last season, despite their midsummer dip.

Of course, Tuesday's game -- featuring an ill-advised Luis Severino start and an official plummet back to 50-50 -- was nationally televised on TBS. Of course. Had to be.

That meant Pedro Martinez was on the postgame desk, assigned with the unenviable task of attempting to figure out what the hell happened to his daddy.

In an apt, but frustrating, comparison, Martinez compared the current no-confidence Yankees to chihuahuas when faced with truly elite competition like the Atlanta Braves.

Yankees enemy Pedro Martinez thinks New York is a bunch of yappy chihuahuas

He's obviously correct! Our only gripe is that Martinez seems to insinuate that the Yankees were fearsome at the beginning of the year. Eh, that's ... generous. When Aaron Judge was healthy and humming in May and his supporting cast was playing like B-minuses instead of D-minuses, they got themselves to 11 games over .500 a few times. That was nice, but it wasn't exactly like a small room full of attack dogs and raw steak.

Wherever you believe the 2023 Yankees started, though, it's extremely clear where they're ending: Feckless, lost, and begging for scraps.

To add insult to insult to insult to insult to injury, Martinez even complimented Severino, saying he looked "sharp" on the mound. Unfortunately, the Hall of Famer diagnosed the righty with "[using] his pitches the wrong way," which is ... yeah, you've got to be better than that. Would be great for someone in that dugout to correct Severino if Martinez is picking up on it from the studio.

All in all, Tuesday was another disaster in a season (and an era) that can only get worse. Martinez cackling his way to the bank only rubbed salt in the wound. Or, rather, Martinez tossed a pile of Don Zimmer-sized salt to the grass.