Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Morning Update

A more detailed update forthcoming.

We'll give Jeter his just due at the appropriate time. He's been the most locked in player the entire summer (except Cano) and he's looking like he needs some rest.

At 9 games up and 4 weeks left, I find myself viewing the remainder of this regular season much the same way I view NFL pre-season: Just get through it healthy.

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Misc. Sports:

Woman's US Open is the best ball being played in Queens that we've seen all year.

The QB from Miami Hurricanes is the man.

Anyone see the quote from the Ohio State kid who had Vick printed on his eye black? "I mean everyone does kills people . . . " Nice.

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22 comments:

The Scooter said...

The best thing we saw yesterday was AJ getting back on track. They are going to need him to pitch the game of his life in game two of the first round....probably up against Edwin Jackson. Unless of course, they give Andy that start and pitch AJ on the road in game three against Washburn or Porcello. I think I would rather see Pettitte pitch in Detroit.

It looks more and more like the MVP award is Teixiera's for the taking....I would love to see Jeter hit .400 from here on in and take home the hardware.

Mid, as for the US Open, that 17 year old Oudin girl would probably lead the Mets in wins if she pitched.

old professor said...

The only drama left in the American League races is who will the wildcard be. The red sox would draw the angels (and the angels cannot beat the sox in post season). The Rangers would draw the Yankees and Texas has to have one of the hottest pitching staffs at this point. Whether they can continue to pitch well is the big question.

old professor said...

Just realized the Yankees magic number is 16. Not bad for a team that most prognositications had given some consideration for the wildcard or a third place finish behind the Rays and Sox.

Crash said...

Old Prof you make a great point. I think most of the "pro" analysts had the Yankees at best as the Wild card team. Most of those clowns were saying the Red Sox had the best pitching front to back, and the deepest rotation, and Mariano is and has been on the decline, so the edge goes to Papelbon. Give me a break.

Their offseason moves clearly put them as the team to beat and the way the season has played out who can argue that?

The playoffs are all but done now. The Giants have begun to fade back. All the Yankees should care about is getting home field advantage for the playoffs. And it definitely is a home field advantage this year.

I have a question for 57...why is Beltran trying to rush back to this Mets team this year? It makes absolutely no sense at all. Why risk further injury for a team that is 16 back? Makes no sense at all...which I guess makes perfect sense for the Mets this year. Bunch of idiots.

old professor said...

Crash, is 57 actually still reading this blog since his Mets have faded to oblivion and the Bills have been picked to finish fourth by SI in their division?

What amazes me about the Red Sox rotation is how quickly it has fallen apart. Dice-K has been a non-factor and will probably be traded in the off season, Beckett has fallen victim to the longball and Bucholz is only 4-3. Lester has proven he can be the ace of the staff and Wakefield is beginning to show his age with a bad back and cafe. They like many teams, have issues with the bullpen from innings 5-7.

From the Yankees standpoint CC has been as advertised, Pettitte has pitched exceptionally well, Burnett has been streaky and Joba has been ugh! Towers pitched extremely well in the blowout the other night and may actually be a better option that Mitre or Gaudin for the post season (interesting, Towers was brought up for one day prior to 9/1 and can therefore qualify for the post season roster).

Crash said...

Wasn't it Towers who unleashed a beanball in Toronto...how do you consider that "pitched extremely well". It was good to see Mike Dunn in last night's game, once he got the nerves out of the way he did pretty well.

Bucholz is better than that record, he has one bad start in his last 5 or 6 and those other 5 or 6 have been amazingly good. He and Lester will anchor that staff for years to come. The Sox have had challenges with Wakefield, Dice-K (injuries)and Beckett (long ballitis), but Dice-K is due back shortly and I just have a feeling Beckett will return to form once the calendar turns to October.

Crash said...

Pretty big blow to the Yankees losing Robertson for the rest of the season. He's schedule to visit Dr. Andrews. I hope he doesn't need surgery, TJ surgery means he's not around next year at all. I think he could be a big part of next years pen.

Jeter hasn't had a major slump all year. It sucks it's happening now. This will dampen any momentum of his MVP talk. Listening to Mike and Mike this morning, they make it sound like Mauer is the no-doubt-about-it MVP winner. Ummm, not so fast my friends (channeling Lee Corso there). Teixeira in my opinion is still ahead of Mauer, and if Big Tex can hit 5 or 6 more HRs and lead the league in 2 of the 3 triple crown categories and play on a playoff team, he's the MVP.

Gaudin really stepped up last night. Joba needs to pitch well tonight in his next abbreviated start.

old professor said...

Crash, Towers may have thrown at a Jays player, however, a pitch may have gotten away from him. Also, the Jays pitchers had come tight inside on a number of Yankee hitters and sometimes you just have to send a message. Pitching inside is something that MLB has taken away from pitchers. More to the point, he pitched effectively ate innings and gave the pen a needed rest. he is a veteran pitcher who knows how to pitch.

Gaudin pitched extremely well last night. Magic number is now fifteen.

Swisher is also proving his worth. He is hitting about .250, works counts and has 25 homeruns. he was a good pick up. Jeff Marquez the pitching prospect the Yankees gave up is 2-8 with an ERA over 9.25 at Triple A.

On a negative, Dave Roberts has been shutdown and sent to Dr. Andrews for examination.

old professor said...

Here is one for Mid and Crash - Do you guys remember Andy Phillips (Yankee prospect, played with the Reds, etc)? Well he apparently has landed in pergatory. He is playing for the Triple A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Hitting close to .300, but still, the Pirates organization?

Crash said...

The Pirates are still a Major League team. If it comes down to not playing ball or having a shot with the Pirates, I'm taking the Pirates. Andy Phillips filled in nicely when needed for the Yankees, felt bad that he never really got a decent shot to play for them, but the fact that he couldn't break through with the Mets, Reds, or now Pirates says they made the right move. He's a career .250 hitter, with little power, and an average glove...

old professor said...

Jeter ties Gehrig for the most hits for a Yankee and on Friday Night, he will become the Yankees all-time hits leader. I just hope that Michael Kay does not start the countdown to Pete Rose.

Magic number down to 15 and Rays all but eliminated from the post season. Bullpen comes through again in a big way. Where would the Yankees be without Aceves??

Anone concerned about what appears to be Joba's lack of concentration. First inning the fastball is 89 to 92. Jeter and Eiland go to the mound for a come to Jesus moment and suddenly the fastball rises to 95 with movement. What gives with this kid and please don't give me he is still learning routine. He has been on the mound as a starter all season and seems to have taken giant steps backward.

old professor said...

This slight update from Joba Chamberlain - he felt he threw better last night than in his previous starts. WHAT? It took him 31 pitches to get out of the first inning and lasted only three innings AND HE IS SATISFIED WITH HIS PERFORMANCE!!!!

Apparently baseball measures quality starts at six innings and the Joba Rules measure a quality starts up to three innings. The whole approach with him is a joke. What is even funnier is the possibility he will not pitch in the rotation in the first round of the playoffs. With homefield advantage the Yankees can decide to go with a seven day or eight day playoff format. Eight days will religate Joba to the bullpen.

The Scooter said...

All hail the Captain.

How fitting that on the night Jeter ties the record, his buddy Posdada wins the game with a HR. The Stadium will be a rockin on Friday Night. We're watching history, boys.....enjoy it.

Prof, just for you 1,535 to Pete Rose.

Looks like Joba will not be needed in a starting role in the first playoff series. If it's concentration alone, let's hope that the playoffs will be enough of an incentive to get him on his game.

You have to give Cashman and Girardi a great deal of credit for the success of '09, but I can't help feeling that they really botched this whole Joba thing. I understand what they were trying to do in limiting his innings, but at some point they should have just let the kid pitch. I hope they haven't screwed him up to the point of no return.

I hope you are ready to go through this all over again with Hughes next year.

Crash said...

Scooter I don't think the Yankees will do the Joba rules with Hughes. In 2006 Hughes threw about 150 innings. The following year in 2007 between minors and majors he was around 200. Injuries in 2008 and this year in the pen may have set that back, but I don't think you will see them be as cautious with Hughes. Joba has never approach those inning #'s before.

Old Prof, Michale Kay has already begun the countdown to Pete Rose. On his radio show yesterday he mentioned how Jeter is ahead of Rose's pace and he mentioned multiple times how Jeter has mentioned to Gene Michaels that he wants to play another 8 seasons. You do the match, 8 seasons at 200 hits puts him at 4,300+.

He should get to 3,000 in early 2011.

After Jeter kicked Joba in the ass he seemed to get into gear. I don't want to hear anything more about Jeter's leadership. He essentially slapped Joba around on the mound last night and got his pitcher going. Phil Hughes has "it", Joba can't seem to figure "it" out.

And just for the record, Minka Kelly is RIDICULOUSLY HOT. It does not suck to be Derek Jeter.

The Scooter said...

"Minka Kelly is RIDICULOUSLY HOT. It does not suck to be Derek Jeter."

I think Kate Hudson is pretty hot too. Doesn't suck to be A-Rod, either.

old professor said...

On a real positive note, Ian Kennedy has thrown a simulated two innings and is preparing to increase the innings and pitches in order to prepare for the Arizona Fall Instructional League. He has apparently recovered from surgery (though he still has some residual numbness in his fingers). He had an outstanding spring training and was doing well with SWB until he had surgery. Prediction for 2010 - Kennedy will be in the rotation and surpass Joba in victories.

You have to wonder whether the Yankees are having second thoughts about including Joba in a package for Roy Holliday (no Joba rules for DOC only complete games).

Crash said...

Pretty interesting how Kennedy in rehabbing a potentially life threatening injury is on the verge of throwing more innings than Joba.

old professor said...

Crash, Kennedy in rehab may have already surpassed Joba's innings and the Yankees Joba is beginning to bring up members of Jaba the Hutt.

In addition, the injury may have given Kennedy a wake up call to realize what he was on the verge of losing. I believe last year as there was a review of Yankee prospects the belief at that time was Kennedy had more upside than either Chamberlain or Hughes (based on the number of pitches he could throw for strikes at anytime versus being a one or two pitch pitcher).

Crash said...

The true test for Joba is when they allow him to go 5 or more innings again. Looking at the schedule I think he gets a start against LA and then Boston. He needs to have a dominating type performance in those games. If not he may not make the post season roster, and if he does he'll be given mop up duty. Actually maybe that's the kick in the pants this kid needs. I bet if he's left out of the post season rotation and is relegated to long relief/mop up duty, he all of sudden finds that 98 mph heater that hasn't shown up yet this season.

The Scooter said...

Good news on the David Robertson elbow issue.

Seems as if there is no structural damage and he will only require 10-14 of rest. Not sure if this will take him out of the mix for the post season or not, but either way, it's a relief in Yankee land

The Scooter said...

the above should read 10-14 "DAYS" of rest

57 said...

Not sure the Mets/US Open anology is appropriate.

I thought Jeter was dating Pettitte? When did that end?

Prof.. Beltran is auditioning for a trade.

Cograts to Jeter... pretty cool that he broke the record on 9/11.

Enjoy your short series.... I can't wait. Burnett will be pitching in one of those games right? Just checking......

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