Wednesday, May 30, 2012

The Genius Maker 5-29


Tuesday night’s game:
·        Pettitte threw ok, but he made a few bad pitches that the Angels didn’t let him get away with.  The curve to Trumbo that was crushed didn’t bother me, but the 2 run HR he allowed to Pujols did.  The Yanks just got a break getting Trout out at the plate and then Martin called for a fastball/cutter inside and Andy left it out over the plate a little and Pujols turned on it.  I didn’t like the pitch selection at all because Andy jammed Pujols last time up and Pujols was not going to let that happen on the next AB…and he didn’t
·        I don’t mean this to be knock on Jeter as it is tough to play SS at the age of 38 in the majors and Jeter isn’t bad out there, but the people who speak about how he has “enough range” and he is fine out there only need to watch Aybar and the range he covers in comparison to Jeter.  Aybar ranged to his left and got to a ball that stayed low (very hard) and then quickly threw to make an out.  Later he ranged to his right and got to a ball that went under the glove of Iztarus yet Aybar backed him up and made the throw to first, even if the Martin was clearly safe.
·        The defense continued for the Angels as Trout made a Gardner like play (on Swisher) that might have saved a ball from hitting the top of the fence and later Bourgeous made an outstanding catch on another Swisher hit that showed off his blazing speed and he basically beat the line drive to the wall…in the gap.  He also caught it right before the wall…it was a huge play and after the next two Yankees got singles it could have been a game saver.  Later on Trout made a nice play on a sinking line drive that our LF’s not named Gardner would not have caught.  While it wasn’t as nice as these other two plays, it underscored our defensive difference when earlier Ibanez turned a double into a triple by taking forever to field a ball out of the corner.
·        In a game where we had 13 guys reach base those plays were huge as we had three 1, 2, 3 innings and the key plays were made where we left  2 or 3 guys on base (we left 12 on base overall).
·        Haren throws a straight 90 MPH fastball and we didn’t do a good enough job hitting the fastball when given the chance.  ARod and Jeter had some good chances that they didn’t take advantage of but each of them were not the issues as they got on base 4 and 2 times respectively.  It was Granderson and Cano who were the goats in this game.  We continually swung at balls and let the strikes go.  Part was the outstanding splitter that Haren had as he mixed in his slider and spotted his fastball, but we also allowed him to dictate too much and we were a step behind too often.  Haren did a good job of throwing good strikes when needed and we simply couldn’t hit the splitter whether it was a strike or not.  Getting back to the swinging at balls and taking strikes…Cano had one of those days where you just want him to have a new brain because his talent is elite.  He had that I am going to swing at the first pitch no matter what in his first AB and swung at a fastball out of the zone for a popup to the OF.  His approach the next AB was I must take a pitch now so Haren figured this and threw a very hittable fastball to get him on strike one.  This AB had the bases loaded.  Cano then swung at a ball in the dirt, then took a ball and fouled a few off before being frozen on a fastball on the outside corner (close pitch).  Earlier in this bases loaded situation Granderson K’d (he k’d 3 times and grounded out weekly the other 2 times up).  Cano lined out his next time up (nothing wrong with that).  In the 8th Cano grounded out after ARod had singled.  In the 9th Cano came up with the bases loaded and took strike one, then swung at 2 balls to end the game.  Frustrating!
·        In the 8th Girardi correctly went to tie the game with Jones at the plate, but Downs who is basically throws a sinking fastball in the 90 range and a curve tried to keep the ball away form Jones.  Jones did not see a strike in the first 4 pitches and the count was 2-2.  I said to my son, the pitcher should just throw another pitch low and away for a ball and he will swing and miss…on queue…ball away and Jones was heading back to the dugout.  5 straight balls!
·        Scoscia needs to shut up and stop complaining about pitches.  Overall the umps have not made a difference…we got a few and so did they…it was equal.  On the bases they have made calls against us at 2nd twice so he is actually ahead of the game.  But the umps were fine…in fact, I haven’t complained about the umpiring in awhile so it has evened out where we get some and some go against us.
·        Pettitte didn’t get the job done, but he showed he can help us.  He will need to cut down on the long ball, but he will adjust.  He just needs to remember to cover first as he has failed to do that twice now.
·        Pujols was a great addition to a team that has some weaker hitters who can play D, but adding Trout really makes a difference as does Pujols.  Their starting pitching is solid and deep…they have a very good team if they can stay healthy…remember we are without our two best relievers and a guy who was supposed to be a #2-3 starter and Gardner.  Gardner and Robertson will be back and possibly we can still get Joba for depth.  I think everyone is realizing why I have been pimping Gardner for so long as his absence is showing how important he is to a team; his speed and defense alone are worthy and his offense has been decent.
·        Both ARod and Cano are hitting .287 but Cano has an OPS of .830 and ARod’s is .803…Tex’s OPS is .814

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