Monday, April 23, 2012

Yanks Moving Along

First place, this is where you expect the team to be - at 3 games over, and who their next two series are against, they can be sub .500 in a moments notice - good solid test early in the year against Texas followed by Detroit. Need to see something better out of the starters though if there are to be any post season expectations. The offense is good enough to bail them out more times than not - but when it gets down to crunch time, as we've seen in the past, the success in Oct hinges on pitching and right now it is average at best. Not impressed with Nova although all the guy does is win. Jeter is a hit machine. In my opening post of 2012 I said the over under for Bobby V. in Boston was 80 games - I'd be surprised if he made it to May. Pujols yet to adjust to the American League - still no HRs. One of the things I like best about April are the crazy projected stat lines. As of right now, Matt Kemp is batting .450 with a projected 91 HRs and 223 RBIs. Love it. Anyway, that's it for now.

61 comments:

Crash said...

Jeter is on fire so far. Batting .411, driving the ball to all fields, driving in runs in big situations. It's a long season but I hope he can keep this going. If he hits .330+, gets 15-20 HR, scores 100 R, and 15 SB he wins the MVP. I can't believe I just mentioned MVP in April.

This is definitely a key part to the early schedule Red Sox, Rangers, Tigers...you can't convince me the schedule makers aren't biased. The only good thing is this is happening in April and not end of September.

old professor said...

Yankee rotation is still a work in progress. CC pitched okay last night (if giving up four runs is okay), but still has an era over 5.25. Kuroda is still working on figuring out the American League, Hughes is turning into a younger version of AJ Burnett and Garcia has lost all of his velocity. Sad commentary when your most consistent pitcher is the #5 starter.

Offense is starting to come around. Would like to se Texiera go the other way occassionally when he is batting left handed.

Crash said...

Yankees should have an update on Pineda's injury tonight prior to game.

Crash said...

Pineda's agent requesting second opinion of MRI on shoulder. That can't be good.

old professor said...

Pineda is damaged goods and don't be surprised if he is headed for surgery. If that happens he won't pitch this year or next and will be lucky to pitch in pinstripes at anytime.

Kuroda pitched a strong game. Turning point was Yankees had bases loaded an no outs and could not get a run in.

Crash said...

Yankees wasted a real good start from Kuroda. Though I'm not surprised about the outcome. Yankees always struggle against pitchers the first time they see them. There's still not a lot of video on Darvish. I'm guessing the next time they see him the results will be a little different.

It sure does sound like Pineda is heading to surgery. Cashman is going to get his ass handed to him for this deal if Pineda can't pitch next season.

Crash said...

Pettitte will start for Trenton tonight. Looking to get 80-85 pitches in.

old professor said...

I still believe Pineda was injured last year. Apparently the first MRI didn't show anything now a more precise exam shows something? Need to change who is doing the MRI and team physicals.

If there is an injury, there should be an indication whether it is something new or something that occurred a while ago and has been made worse. You have to remember the Mariners were anxious to get rid of Pineda - WHY?

Crash said...

Pineda will have arthroscopic surgery to repair a tear in the shoulder. Cashman says the tear was not present in January or March. He's done for this year but prognosis is good for comeback next year.

old professor said...

Results on Labrum surgery are a toss up. Schilling and Ted Lilly come to mind but there have also been players that have had the surgery and are never the same (Brandon Webb).

What was once thought of as a surplus of pitchers has turned into a rotation with a lot of question marks. Pineda is on the shelf, Hughes cannot get out of the third inning and Garcia should just put the ball on a batting tee because the results would be the same.

The arms the Yankees were looking for in the future are not doing well. Betances and Banuelos have a dl stint and only five innings between them. Not sure which is which, but one of them has an ERA over 10 has one strikeout and five walks in five innings of work. Not necessarily what you would be hoping for from individuals you were pinning the future on.

DJ Mitchell can probably expect a callup soon because he has an ERA under 3 and is pitching extremely well. Warren has wins, but an ERA over 5.

Phelps got knocked around for the second straight game.

Crash said...

Hughes looked good in the first couple of innings. He hung a fastball in the middle of the plate to Beltre who crushed it half way to Austin. But was decent, then everything fell apart pretty quickly. Phelps was actually better than Hughes.

Pettitte probably has 3 more starts in the minors. That means it's really a battle between Hughes and Garcia over the next 3 starts to see who can perform and who goes to the pen. I would bet that means Phelps gets optioned down.

old professor said...

So when Pettitte comes up, I would suspect they will put Pineda on the sixty day dl to clear space on the major league roster and then send someone down or release someone.

Crash said...

So the Giants take the Va Tech running back David Wilson. I think that would classify as a little surprise. I think a lot of people had them taking OL or LB. But apparently with Jacobs gone and Bradshaw's foot problems they felt the need was at RB.

We'll see how he works out.

Crash said...

Big series against the Tigers at the Stadium starts tonight. I think it's Nova and Verlander tonight. It's going to be a bit cold tonight.

old professor said...

Non-baseball question - what did you think about the Giants first round pick. It appears they went with what can be termed the most athletic individual available at the time. Wilson can be multi-dimensional in that we can return kicks, act as a receiver and can do time at running back.

Back to baseball - Bosox will miss Crawford for another three months. Turning out to be a real bad signing for the team.

Crash said...

Giants are hoping Wilson can help this season giving Bradshaw needed rest for his ailing foot.

Giants had Wilson as the second best RB on their board behind Trent Richardson from Alabama who went #3. Not sure that's saying a lot because there was only 1 other RB taken in the first round and that was TB at pick #31 taking the kid from Boise St.

This kid is fast but not sure how much immediate value they will get in return.

Crash said...

Just heard that Yankee great Bill "Moose" Skowron has passed away at the age of 81.

old professor said...

Moose Skowron played for the Yankees for nine seasons. He was a real gentleman on a team that had a lot of personalities. He was part of the 1961 team and I. Elieve he had 28 home runs. He was also a main stay at old timers games.

Two comments regarding the current team - something is wrong with Garcia. He pitched extremely well in the spring and his. Elocity was up. You don't lose it in just four weeks. Mitchell gets called up as Garcia moves to the pen.

When Pettittwe is ready Hughes will be next unless he starts pitching and I would expect him to be sent down.

Cc finally pitches well and goes eight innings.

old professor said...

Non baseball - I am mystified by Giants Draft. Running Back from VaTech, then a wide receiver (isn't there needs on the offensive line), Tightend from Cinncinati who "is still learning the game" and had (wait for it) 12 catches last year. A then finally a DT who is big, but again because he is from Germany is new to the game. Seems a lot of draft choices who need to go to school on how to play the game.

Crash said...

I really like that Phelps is getting a chance to start. He was lights out early, then ran into a little rough patch but he has still been more consistent than Garcia or Hughes. I think he gets his first start in KC later this week.

If Hughes continues to struggle I would not be surprised to see Freddy take a start from him if he figures it out in the pen.

CC had a great start yesterday and looks to be ready to carry this pitch rotation. He's in line to get to 200 wins this season. that means he could very well be next in line for 300 as a Yankee (if he stays healthy). He's got 5 more years after this, so he would most likely fall a little short but if he's that close I can't see the Yankees bringing him back for a season to get it.

old professor said...

Phelps was lights out early, but as you stated had some trouble lately. He throws a lot of strikes, but occassionally he leaves the ball up in the strike zone and in the center of the plate. And with the fact he doesn't have the velocity to get it by people, the ball can be hit a long way.

If Hughes struggles, I could see Mitchell stepping in for at least one start. Pettitte should be ready by May 10th or very shortly there after.

As for CC reaching 300 it would be nice but not likely.

Crash said...

May 10th seems a little early. That's only 10 days away (or just 1 more minor league start). I still think he gets at least 2 more starts in the minors, if not 3. While he did get to 80+ pitches last time, he said his legs still weren't there. You don't want that at the big league level.

I actually don't know anything about Mitchell. Need to see this kid.

old professor said...

May 10th now seems more realistic as Pettitte has declared himself ready to join the big club after giving up six runs and ten hits in an extended spring training game - imagine if he wasn't ready how many runs he would have given up.

Hughes apparently will change his approach regarding aggressiveness - let's see how long that lasts - one or two innings!

The team should be concerned with what appears to be the lack of hitting. They were shut out by Texas 2-0, they scored 2 runs last night in a win and most of the players in the lineup are hitting 240 or less. Martin is hitting 136.

old professor said...

Score was ugly, but Hughes pitched well. The lack of offense and one key play in the outfield sealed last nights game. Enough of playing with a short bench - Swisher is going to be out several more games - DL him. Gardner has been out and was replaced by a pitcher - the team even lost its DH last night.

Crash said...

I didn't see the game, but it doesn't look like Hughes pitched terribly. 4 H, 1 BB, 6K over 5.2IP. It's just the 2 HR that killed him.

I think Nova goes tonight. The Yankees need this win tonight. They should be able to hit Arrieta.

old professor said...

Yankees are in a heap of trouble right now. They have a short bench; Girardi is refusing to add anyone to help and is refusing to put Swisher on the DL. The offense is non existent. Eleven RBI's from the #3 and4 spot in the order. Andrew jones and Martin added together are not hitting 280. The rotation is now in the mind set they cannot make a mistake or the game is over.

Girardi let Nova go too long before bringing in a left handed pitcher and the result was a double of the wall and a run putting the game out of reach.

old professor said...

Yankees are now without Chavez for awhile. Something has to give. You cannot play with the only reserve being the backup catcher. The best option would be to DL Swisher and Chavez and bring two position players up from SWB.

Offensive woes continue.

old professor said...

just as a follow-up. Dwayne Wise is hitting around .350 at SWB and had an outstanding spring. He is not on the 40 man roster, but should be given a chance to come up and play. In addition Kevin Russo appears to be finally hitting and could be brought up as an infield reserve (or dare I say Ramero Pena).

It also looks from the statistics that many of the arms at SWB are having great starts (with the exception of Adam Miller).

Banuelos comes back off of the DL and pitches extremely well.

old professor said...

Yankees lose in KC and lose Mo for the season. Not the way the team wanted to begin a short road trip.

The question now becomes - closer??? Robertson has pitched well as the eighth inning guy, however, thets not forget that Soriano led the American League in saves two years ago and was signed to a long term deal to be the heir apparent. Well now is the time to step up.

I would move Soriano to the closer role, keep Robertson as the prime set up person, bring Pettitte up and move Hughes to the seventh inning role.

Crash said...

I like the idea of calling up Pettitte to replace Hughes and move him to the pen...however, you have to have Robertson close. Soriano hasn't even looked that effective this year. can't automatically move him to the closer role. That's like rewarding a pouting kid with exactly what they wanted all long. Roberston has earned the right to close the game. If he blows a couple then move Soriano into that role.

I can't see Mo going out like this. he will rehab the knee and comeback next season making it known it's for last call. mo is too proud of a man to let the last image of him on a ball field being him carted off in KC.

old professor said...

Crash, you have to factor in the religious factor for Mo. He is very religious and could look at this as a balancing and humbling experience. If this was going to be his last year, he has. O more to proof. Five rings, the all time saves leader that no one will ever approach again. First ballot HOF - even with the anti-newyork bias.

Pettitte keeps saying he is ready, but he seems to be giving up a lot of runs during his extended spring.

old professor said...

Yankees go to KC which has the worst record in MLB and lose two out of the first three. This is a team with some serious issues both in the rotation and offensively.

old professor said...

Hughes finally turns in a solid performance. six and a third innings 113 pitches. Yankees offense helped relax him.

Pettitte declares he is ready for the callup after giving up five runs in a minor league start - anyone care to comment on his ERA during his time in the minors. It has to be almost 9.00 which cannot translate to a lot of success at the major league level.

Crash said...

Actually Pettitte's ERA at both Trenton and Scranton is 5.40. I'm not overly worried about that, as long as his arm and legs are in shape and the ball is moving as expected and he's hitting his spots.

Hughes needed that good start or else he knows he was out of the rotation. A-Rod, Cano, and Swisher all hit HR. Maybe the bats will finally come alive.

A big early season series against the Rays this week.

old professor said...

It would appear from team statements they need to think about bringing Pettitte up. This may be an indication they are not totally convinced he is major league ready. They have also indicated they are not ready to tinker with the rotation. If that is true, then why bother bringing Pettitte up?

The only individual who may be removed from the rotation could be Phelps.

Crash said...

Pettitte will start on Sunday for the Yankees.

old professor said...

It is interesting the team is allowing both Phelps and Hughes to make a start and and with Kuroda being penciled in that makes a six man rotation. Someone has to come out.

Hamilton has a big night in Texas four home runs. If he can stay clean and stay healthy, he could have a monster year setting the stage for a big free agent contract.

Crash said...

Jon Daniels (Texas GM) has indicated contract extension talks have resumed with Hamilton. I can't see him hitting the open market.

Crash said...

So Robertson blew a save. First time he's given up runs since...last year. His performance was consistent with what he does in the 8th inning. He allows some base runners, but usually gets out of it. He made 1 mistake pitch to Joyce on a 1-2 count with 2 outs. He makes his pitch there he limits the damage to 1 run and who knows what happens after that.

But let's not hang Robertson out to dry yet. Keep in mind that Mo blew 3 of his first 6 save opportunities back in 1997...he blew 9 the whole season, finished with 43 saves.

For Mo's career: 608 saves, 73 blown saves, 89% save %. Let's give Robertson more chances. I know Soriano is probably salivating at the chance to get in there. If he can prove he's still an effective closer he can opt out and get a long term deal as a closer somewhere else...especially since Mo said he's coming back next year.

old professor said...

I am not ready to hang Robertson just yet, but let's look at something realistically - Two years ago, Soriano was the AL saves leader with 45 saves. So he has been through the ninth inning concept mentally and probably believes he should be closing; consequently should he be given the opportunity to save he will be out to prove he can do it.

Also remember, originally the Yankees signed him long term to replace Mo when Mo retired. Robertson throws too many pitches to be effective night in and night out. On Wednesday he threw more than 25 pitches in the ninth inning - way too many. Closers have the mentality of getting it done with the fewest amount of pitches necessary so they can come back the next night.

On a more positive note it looks like Gardner is on his way back - keep Wise send Nix down.

old professor said...

CC goes to 5-0 and seems to be in mid-season form. Cano is on a streak.

Nunez continues to show he is a liability no matter where he plays. Two errors in the first two innings and is eventually replaced by Nix in the sixth (that sort of rymes).

Gardner out for at least another 15 days as he restrains his elbow. Not good news for the team as they continue to have the outfield by committee.

Crash said...

Pettitte was decent. 2 mistakes and it cost him the game. It shouldn't have though, the Yankee offense stalls against Kevin Millwood???

Don't care if it was against the Mariners, it was a damn good start for someone that hasn't pitched in a year and a half.

old professor said...

Offensively what you saw was the same thing we have seen over the past several years: Jeter grounding into double plays thus killing rallies and getting runs across (twice yesterday) and Texiera refusing to go the other way when batting left handed and hitting into the teeth of the shift. Results - a batting average that is barely above his playing weight.

The biggest thing to look at from the weekend is (a) hughes went into the eighth and looked strong and Pettitte went seven strong innings as well. This if done consistently tied to CC's starts will help the bullpen.

Crash said...

Nova takes a comebacker off his ankle and hobbles off the field. I guess that helps with the rotation questions, at least immediately. Good thing is the Yankees get the win over the division leading Orioles.

old professor said...

They lost more than Nova last night. Robertson is headed for an MRI because of soreness in his left rib cage (guess that solves the Robertson or Soriano question) and Rapada went down with a viral infection. Add this to the growing list of Mo on the 60 day, Joba on the 60 day, their catcher of the future being moved to the 60 day and Texiera not being able to get rid of the inflamation in his chest and you have a pretty good walking wounded list.

The more serious question is does Phelps get the start while Nova is recovering or do you allow Garcia to dust off his glove, find his spikes a actually pitch?

old professor said...

Yankee bats look anemic one more time against a young pitcher. Until they start playing up to their potential, this team will allow Baltimore and other pretenders to stick around near the top of the standings.

Crash said...

Yankees suck right now.

Pettitte has had the best performance of any Yankee in about 2 weeks. Showed he still has it with his most recent outing. 8IP, 4H, 1 BB, 9 K's , and 0 ER.

That is all I have to say at the moment.

old professor said...

It is a sad commentary that Pettitte has been the most effective and he is 39. Nova strikes out 12 and loses. CC gives it up late and Kuroda cannot win on the road.

Offensively they are anemic the only runs they score are on homeruns.

Team will not make the playoffs as it is currently configured. Gardner being out has definately hurt, but he was not hitting alot when he went out.

old professor said...

Yankees now in last place after going 0-13 with runners in scoring position which raises the number 6-72 over this streak of losing. I don't need to hear: "well they are hitting the ball hard, but right at people and eventually those hits will fall in".

This is an extremely flawed team that is going no where fast. The pitching rotation is a mess. Kuroda is having trouble adjusting, CC is not consistent, Nova makes one or two bad pitches and they suddenly are behind, and Hughes - who knows.

Offfensively, you have a catcher batting under 200, a shortstop that hits into too many double plays and kills rallies, a first baseman that has a strange viral infection that no one can cure and who is hittiing under 230; a third baseman who is beginning to show his age and continues to say: "I can feel it coming back, I am almost there" does that mean he is almost there to retire.

The two most talented players they have in the minors are now on the DL Banuelos with a sore elbo (second DL stint) and Nunez with a sore thumb (hey use the glove to field and you won't hurt the bare hand).

The Yankees will not recover from this sloppy play and will not improve without changes to the lineup. Saddly it is obvious the farm is not going to give them solutions.

Crash said...

Yankees get a win, despite the offense still not really producing. The entire team just isn't hitting. I know Cano hit a HR last night but A-Rod, Tex, and Cano are terrible w/RISP. Hughes had a decent outing. Really just laid a flat FB into Francoeur for HR and the double were really the only mistakes he made that were hit. Bullpen was decent too.

I think the offense is just going to explode for a 20 run game soon.

old professor said...

Pettitte pitches well and Yankees get a win. A-Rod goes deep twice. FINALLY!!

old professor said...

Interesting that Steinbrenner had to come out and announce the Yankees were not for sale. Where would the Daily News get the information from that would even hint the team was for sale.

For the team not to be in the Steinbrenner family would be at this point in time somewhat unthinkable.

When George Steinbrenner bought the team from CBS, it was just another line item in the networks budget. There was little thought put into how to field a competitive team, how to build a system or who should be in charge to manage the team.

The team had slipped from a perennial winner and world series representative to a joke and second tier team in the American League.

George Steinbrenner brought a win at all cost and no nonsense approach to owning the team. And by the 1990's was a model of consisency and a financially sound organization. It now has one of the strongest farm systems, most of the minor league teams have stadiums that are admired by their opponents and they built a sports network on television that is the envy of all of the major league teams.

The only person with enough money to buy the team may be Bill Gates.

Crash said...

The 'Yankees for Sale' routine is getting old. Remember a couple years ago the same thing came up. Now that the Dodgers sold for a couple billion, rumors are going to start flying about how much the Yankees would be worth. Some say around $3B, while others place north of $4B. Don't care who you are...$4BILLION will make you stop in tracks and say hmmmm....

Crash said...

By the way...Pettitte is still the man.

Crash said...

Looks like Soriano will remain the closer when Robertson comes back. I don't really mind that move. I think Robertson can handle it, but with a proven guy in Soriano I have no problem with him...until he blows a couple of saves.

old professor said...

Soriano now has four saves since he was moved into the closer role. Yankees still relying too much on home runs to score their runs.

Nova has a good performance.

old professor said...

Team still living on the home run. Anyone motive how Jeter has cooled off and is in mid-season form into grounding into double plays. I would be willing to bet he leads the league in grounding into dp's.

It will be interesting to see where this team is by mid-July. Jeter, a-rod continue to need rest, will Pettitte be able to last when the temperature rises as does the number of innings. Check back with me in July.

old professor said...

Yankees go to LA and lose two. Pettitte gives up two more long balls and that now comes to a total of six in the games he has pitched - so much for being ready for the comeback. He admits the homeruns are mistakes. REALLY.

In addtion yankees again cannot score at critical times - Cano strikes out twice with the bases loaded. (This was supposed to be the lock at cleanup).

It is almost June and the Yankees have not put together a solid run of games where the pitching dominates and the hitters make good contact. This has the makings of a really long and frustrating season.

Crash said...

Hearing Yankees would like to trade for Matt Garza. Not sure what they would give up. I assume Freddy Garcia would be involved some how.

old professor said...

The Yankees would have to give up more than Garcia to get Garza. My guess would be you would see Garcia, Phelps, Williams and Warren, plus a boat load of cash.

old professor said...

Call it shocked - the Yankees lightup Verlander and Hughes pitches a complete game for the win. The end of the world has to be near.

Yankees did waste a great effort by Karoda as Wade once again fails to keep people off of the basepath in a tied game.

Another sad fact is the team is now 0-12 in games that they don't hit a homerun. There seems to be a mental block at doing the little things to get runners in from scoring position.

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