This was put together before the Red Sox game. I will update the Red Sox game in the morning
Everyone relax, we just got swept by a crappy team, but
these are the least important games of the year…bragging rights are for losers! Let the Mets fans get their only enjoyment of
the year…outside of watching their phenom pitcher; he really was worth the
price of admission. 4 pitches and they
are all good and he seems able to locate all of them well and throw at
anytime. I was very impressed,
especially coming throwing back to back breaking balls in on Cano’s hands and
the 2nd one Cano bit on.
Outside of that, big picture, I would have signed up and
been thrilled to be 30-23 with the injuries we have had. Seriously, this team was banged up as bad as
or worse than the Red Sox last year and the Sox folded; we have hung tough.
I do have some issues with the team in general. First, with a team that is struggling and
playing against a team that has a very weak offense, when you have 1st
and 2nd with nobody out with no score how about bunting??? Twice we had that situation and twice we didn’t
bunt and twice we didn’t score.
This team did not
walk for 3 straight games; not coincidentally, we barely scored any
runs. That is pathetic and why I have
trouble with guys like Ichiro in the lineup.
It is bad enough when Wells doesn’t walk much and swings at the first
pitch a lot (as does Ichiro) and when you add all the poor players (Nix,
Stewart/Romine, and whoever is at SS) the offense is anemic. I like a team that works the count and gets
into the middle relief early in a game. This
team let’s starters go deep because of so many first pitch strikes and no
walking.
Joba – Very impressed with him. I know his numbers are not good right now,
but he is coming into form very well.
The Yanks should sign him now so he is cheaper as I get the feeling he
may be our closer if not our top setup guy.
Phelps – got crushed after taking one off his arm. I think it was just one of those things and I
feel he will be a solid back of the rotation guy
CC – He may not be the dominant force he was but he has
plenty to be a solid top of the rotation guy.
If he can get his fastball just up a few clicks to 93 and be able to
dial up to 94 once in a while he will be fine.
His curve and change are good.
When he is only throwing 90-91, though, everything is easier on the batter. Hoping the warmer weather opens him up some. Oh and I really wish he would cover first
base on balls hit to the right side; it ticks me off that THREE times this year
he just gave up outs because he was either lazy or not heads up.
Kuroda – has been great; I am more comfortable with him on the
mound than anyone else
Pettitte – I would be fine if he continues at a 3.83
ERA. It is not great, but it is hard to
expect more…that being said, I would not be surprised if he gives us more…or if
the age breaks him down.
Hughes – Just not a huge fan, I hope I am wrong, but he just
serves far too many fat pitches for my liking.
He doesn’t walk guys which I love, but he throws too many in the middle
of the plate.
Nova – His stuff his excellent, however, he simply can’t
repeat his delivery frequently enough and he ends up throwing too many “Hughes”
type pitches. I think he has more upside
than Hughes…I am in the minority in my opinion, but his stuff is simply better. He is probably a starter, but with Joba back
they may just put him in middle relief as he clearly won’t be an important
option in the pen.
Joba, Robertson and Rivera closes games very well utilizing Logan as needed for a
lefty situation. UI still want a LOOGY
to match up but I guess Joe doesn’t feel it is important (he is wrong). Nuno has pitched pretty well but I get the impression
he will be the first one sent down
Rivera blew the save against the Mets and while he didn’t get
an out, it was a weak hit served out to LF and a broken bat to RF and a
grounder up the middle. He will be fine…and
has been fine. Will he go 18 of his next
19…I doubt it but this was just a one run save and this time he couldn’t get it…he
has had a bunch and saved all of them before it. He is not a worry at this point and I am
thrilled to be able to say that.
Hitting – Hopefully Tex
and Youk can step in and look good right away; this may be hard as they didn’t play
too much, but I feel it helps us a lot against lefties and clearly deepens the
lineup.
David Adams has looked pretty good at the plate, but c’mon,
man, can you work a walk please? No
walks in 52 AB’s? 3 doubles and 2 HR’s
is decent pop, but with no walks his OPS is only a weak .687. That being said, it is better than Chris
Stewart (.658) Ichiro and his .626 OPS, and Nix who is at .618. Stewart is important as Romine (.279 OPS…yes
OPS) has not contributed at all at the
plate with only 4 hits in 39 AB and amazingly not a single walk either (see a
trend here?). The Yanks minor league
coaches should be embarrassed to see that.
The bench is further useless by having ben Francisco on it and his .402
OPS as well as Reid Brignac who is 1-17 since joining (he is at least our best
defensive SS and that has some value).
On a positive note, Hafner has been doing what we expected and
that was a mid .800 OPS (.844) and Brennen Boesch, who is really a DH has an
.831 OPS. I guess we need to start him
some and bring in Ichiro for defense and maybe bench Wells against some tough
righties. Wells has cooled as expected,
but still has been decent with an OPS of .755.
Overbay has also been decent with an OPS of .750, but has done a good
job in key spots so far. That may be just
lucky, but he has helped in that role.
His OBP of .289 is poor though, but 21 extra base hits have given him
some good unexpected pop.
Cervelli was playing at a level that was very unexpected,
but man what a drop off offensively. We
are fortunate that Stewart is giving us a little more offense than we expected
(anything above .620 OPS is good for him and he is at .658) His receiving has not been as good as in the
past nor his usually excellent throwing ability, but they may be just an anomaly.
Let’s see if we can get back in the win column and turn this
around right away!
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