You are not wrong.
The batches are of noticeably lower quality. I wont name names out of respect for the founders obviously, but you certainly have to wonder if some have been chosen solely based on their touting the latest cool tech buzzword in their application. My opinion also is that YC has moved from its earlier mandate of discovering talent to funding companies that the partners consider 'promising', where 'promising' == 'safe bet'. A lot of talented founders do not have the resources to build a company that has gained traction by the time they apply; heck a lot of talented founders not even have a viable company/idea at the time of first contact.
YC now funds companies that in another era would be considered stable, non risky investments. Could AirBnB, Reddit, Segment and DropBox (companies founded by wild youngsters with only an idea,in the case of Segment and Reddit founders a bad initial idea, and no market presence) be funded by YC today ? I'd bet not. Why? Because YC now places safe bets. You know which other institution plays it safe when giving out money ? Banks. The partners were on to something when they announced YC fellowship in 2015, it would have been a way to return to their roots and explore anew the lost idea of seeking out and funding talent, but sadly they shut it down. YC has grown big and successful and perhaps is itself ripe for disruption.
