Monday, April 27, 2009

Swept Up In Boston

Ugly series. A lead in the 8th leads to a loss. A blown 6-0 lead leads to another loss. Those are games you have to come away with.

Outclassed.

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On the bright side - Cano and Cabrera are playing up to potential and Hughes will likely be called up from SWB.

The obvious - get Joba back in the pen.

Next step - call up Jackson.

20 comments:

old professor said...

Cannot disagree with the concept of putting Joba back in the pen. Scooter regarding the arm strength issue - it would appear that other power pitchers (read into this Masterson, Papalban,Beckett, Burnett, Bruney, etc) are not having the issue with velocity.

Maybe the philosophy of bringing pitchers along very slowly in Spring Training has not put the rotation in the condition they should be in by this time of the season.

Compare last season at this time for Chamberlain to this season and you do see a dramatic drop off in his velocity.

The only question at this point is with Hughes taking Wang's rotation spot, who would take Chamberlain's spot in the rotation.

The shuttling of pitchers from SWB to NY has an uncanny resemblance to last season.

Crash said...

Cano is a hot hitter right now. Melky is playing better, but in a key spot last night he swings at the first pitch and grounds weakly to 2B to end a rally.

I think Teixeira was pressing a bit the entire series. It seemed like he came up to the plate a bunch in key spots with zero results. He went 2/10 in the series with 5 walks in Saturdays game. 5 walks??? Not paying you $180MM for walks, take the bat off your shoulders.

Forget about Mo blowing the save on Friday night, I actually felt bad for Marte. He was pitching great and left one fastball out over the plate. And at least he had some emotion out there. I think Marte turn a corner in that game despite the outcome...

Good to see Melancon get a couple innings last night. 2IP, 1H, 1BB, 1K, 0 R. Good beginning. He will be the bridge to Mo.

Old Prof to answer your question about who takes Joba's rotation spot, I can see him getting 2 or 3 more starts. If he still stinks 1 of 2 scenarios happens when Wang comes off 1. Hughes moves into Joba's spot and Joba is in the pen. 2. Joba is placed on the DL over a concern of his lack of velocity. Hughes takes Joba's spot.

Of course that is if Hughes is called up and he pitches well.

All in all a very disappointing weekend series. Yankees should have taken 2 of 3 instead get swept.

old professor said...

There may be a little bit of a controversy with catching. A.J. Burnett did not want to throw the fastball that Jorge called for and indicated after the game he should have thrown a breaking pitch. (Tried to steer clear of controversy by saying Jorge called a great game). Fact this was the first time Burnett pitched without Molina behind the plate and he got lit up.

Crash, regarding the walks to Tex -he has a good eye at the plate and will not swing at bad pitches. The fact he was walked five times would be a strong indication Boston was pitching around him or at least very very carefully to him.

Crash said...

Only one bright side to this past weekend...at least we don't have Oliver Perez.

57 said...

Wow Crash.. aggressive statement. Mind you this... i'd rather start horrible and end strong. Let's chat again in July.

old professor said...

Well Mid, your curse continues. Last year your favorite player was sent to the baseball purgatory called Pittsburgh. This year your touted Humberto Sanchez as the next great Yankee closer - uh he was just released. Don't support the following individuals through your next posts: CC, AJ, Melky, Tex and eventually A-Rod. Your concept of being a fan could be far worse than the curse of the Babe. (Which apparently didn't make the move to the new stadium).

Watched yet another pathetic performance by the offense. Short rally in the ninth killed by Posada's double play grounder. Did it seem to anyone else he was not hustling down the line?

Crash said...

Speaking of hustling out of the box. I totally forgot that on Sunday night Cano hit a ball to 1B and didn't even leave the box. If the Yankees had an extra infielder Girardi should have benched him on the spot.

What concerns me more is why was Posada not in the starting line up. I think him not being able to play on a consistent basis behind the plate is one of the reasons the pitchers are struggling. They have no continuity.

The other pitching factor has to be Eiland. He was promoted because of his relationship with Hughes, Joba, and Kennedy. He hasn't done anything with them at the big league level and he certainly hasn't done any favors for the veteran guys either.

I'm betting that Hughes has a great start tonight. Don't know if he'll get the win because of the Yankees anemic offense.

old professor said...

Crash, review the pitching performances when Molina is behind the plate and when Posada is behind the plate. Molina calls a better game and they appear to have a better performance. In addition, Molina is better defensively than Posada. So here is the question, is it better to have Molina behind the plate where a better game can be called and the catcher has a decent shot at throwing out runners while some offense is sacrificed, or do you put Posada in for the offense (which could mean one more hit per game) and let the pitchers get lit up?

I can't disagree with your assessment of Eiland. The only one of the three that pitchers you mentioned that was still in the majors was joba and he has a 5.00+ ERA. The Yankees as a team have the worst ERA in the majors - they rank 30th.

Crash said...

Old Prof. nice update on Sanchez. I would guess that released him to clear a roster spot. He could sign a minor league deal to rejoin the Yankees or go some where else. In interviews over the winter he seemed to genuinely like the Yankees so I would think he would be open to returning on a minor league deal. No other team is going to give him a major league contract.

Can't help but think the Sheffield trade has been a bust so far. Sanchez hasn't panned out, Clagget was promoted, beat up then demoted again, and Whalen is still in Trenton.

With all the pitching woes I'm surprised no one has mentioned Andrew Brackman. I guess that's because he is getting lit up in the minors. 20.2 IP, 13 ER, 21 H, 8 BB...he does have 20K's. I would be surprised if he gets a call up this year.

old professor said...

We now have an answer to the question about why Posada was running so slowly on Monday when he hit into the double play - he tweaked his hamstring on Sunday in Boston.

Lost in the hype from Molina's sacrifice and grand slam in one inning against Detroit was how well caught the game was. Pitchers ultimately have to throw the ball and throw it well, but it is the catcher that calls for the pitch and location. Molina seems to have an instinct and sense for the game and what needs to be called. No one can argue that Hughes was on, but he seemed comfortable with what was being called.

Too bad it was Steven Jackson who was sent down. At 27, he finally got the call to the big leagues and never got into a game.

Crash said...

Hughes just had the best outing by a Yankee pitcher this season. If he has another outing or 2 similar to that the Yankees will have no choice but to move Joba to the pen (or to the DL to work on his velocity issue) when Wang comes off the DL.

Melancon had another solid outing. He will be the 8th inning guy real quick with outings like this on a consistent basis.

And as impressive as Hughes has been at AAA, one could argue Kennedy has been even more impressive. I think with Kennedy it's an attitude thing though, not a performance issue at this point.

57 said...

Tell you what.. Sheffield is going to be the biggest offseason value pick in the majors. He is making an impact so far... wait until he gets comfortable.

I watched a little of Hughes last night switching between the Mets and the Rangers (hockey) game. He looked like a pitcher that would be taken deep by Delgado and Beltran. Can't wait for the Subway Series.

Kim Jones is a man with a wig on.

old professor said...

57, Delgado could not go deep if he were hitting off a tee and standing in right field. As for Kim Jones, trade in the black and white set and buy an HD color unit and you might have a different opinion (sorry Crash I know that you may be embarassed by the comment).

Crash, you may be right about Kennedy, but we may not find out right away, he had to leave his last start with a blister. As for Brackman, he will be a work in progress and still needs time recovering from the surgery he had. With another year, he will be better.

Omar said...

The only thing Delgado is taking deep is Beltran.

Crash said...

Joba finally had a decent outing. He must have felt some pressure from the start from Hughes. That was Joba's first win since last July?!?!?

Albaledejo's outing could be viewed as a microcosm for the entire bullpen. Get 2 outs but can't close the door without letting some runs in. He turned a blowout into a close game. Then Girardi brings in Mo without giving him sufficient time to warm up.

The Yankee starters this series were very good. Hopefully AJ can keep it going tonight.

old professor said...

Crash, regarding Mo, he had plenty of time to warm up in Boston with the same result. All of last year, he gave up three homeruns. He has already matched that total this year - hope this is not the sign of a closer showing his age. Normally he has a rough streak duriing the middle of the year not at the beginning.

The Scooter said...

So maybe we can stop the "Joba to the Pen" calls for the next five days?

I wouldn't worry so much about Mo, Prof. Sure, one of these days the end is going to come (and when it does it will come quick), but these last two outings are not reflective of what we saw in Spring Training and in the first couple weeks of the season.

First of all, let's face it, the Red Sox always hit him hard, and as for last night, I also think he wasn't fully warmed up...and even if he was, I'm willing to chalk it up to one bad pitch to a very good hitter.

57, maybe you should worry about your pitching staff and not so much about what Delgado can do to Hughes when they meet up....I'm just sayin. Oh wait, you have Tim Redding waiting in the wings....you should be all set.

Swisher is DA MAN

Crash said...

Tampa is playing under .400 right now and they just destroyed Beckett and the Red Sox. That's back-to-back outings by Beckett where he goes 4+ and gives up 7 R.

Yankees come through late to get a W on the Angels. Burnett didn't pitch poorly but he certainly wasn't great either. But he kept the team in it. Coke and Mo looked better as well. Don't look now but Damon, Jeter, and Matsui are all real close to .300, while Swisher, Melky, and Cano are all over .300 (Cano batting .366). I'm not sold on the Melk Man just yet. He started in a very similar way last year and then took a nose dive in May & June (batted a combined .219 for those months).

With 3 wins by the Yankees they're only 2 games back in the AL East.

old professor said...

Crash, the numbers can be deceiving regarding the individuals you mentioned. Cano and Melky are batting under .200 with runners in scoring position. I hate to say it, but the individual with the highest batting average with runners in scoring position is Jeter. Cabrera leads the team in hitting into double plays since his re-entry into the lineup.

Team does need to address its depth. When you look at the bench for pitch hitters, they have Gardner, Molina, and Berroa. None of those individuals can be considered clutch hitters to be called on to hit for someone else. Would not be surprised that there be some moves made by the team to strenghten the bench situation.

A-Rod's return (if he is mentally okay) will help the offense, but without depth there could be issues with injury. Pena is excellent defensinvely, but still a work in progress offensively. (He was the silent piece in the Randy Johnson trade to Arizona).

57 said...

BIG series in Philly this weekend. One of many between these two.... If we don't win this series, we will NOT win the NL East this year.

Perez goes Saturday. Make or break start.

can't wait until the circus gets to town (aka, A-Roid returns to the spaknees)

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