Here is what I would do with the lineup. I know it is very early (can’t get too crazy) and the weather has been really poor, but Jeter simply doesn’t look any different right now. All the issues I had with his balance are still there and as I said, I didn’t think the issue was his stride as much as his bat being in a different location too often and not having the bat speed of old. While I would be OK waiting until after the SkyDome series where the weather should be nice, my thoughts are as follows:
Jeter was still good against lefties last year and this year he has a .796 OPS against southpaws (.493 against righties). Have him leadoff against lefties and bat last against righties. I would flip flop him and Gardner as a 9th man platoon. This is also the same thing I thought made sense last year. The main issue doing this now is that Gardner isn’t hitting either. Therefore, why not use them at the bottom of the order and once we go through the first 7 guys, we then have out “leadoff guys” in front Tex, ARod and Cano (assuming ARod is ok – which of course is critical regardless of how much better our bench is this year with Chavez). This would mean we go very unconventional and have Tex leadoff and ARod 2nd and Cano 3rd. Yeah, I know this is impossible; nobody does that, what an asinine idea. Well, the truth is that the only difference in a lot of the leadoff guys and the some of the middle of the order guys is speed. Wade Boggs was a great leadoff hitter because he was a great hitter who got on base and forced the pitcher to work. You want your OBP guys up before your sluggers in general, but you also want your better hitters getting the extra AB a game; it is as simple as that (on top of trying to mix your lineup as to not make it easy to bring a specialist to counteract your strengths or take advantage of your weaknesses)
Will Girardi do it, no, but that doesn’t mean he is putting his players in the best position to win games.
Hughes: It was pointed out to me that awhile back when there was talk of trading Hughes in the Santana deal, I stated that “If Hughes can throw 94-95 like the Yankees say he can, then I would not deal him, but if he throws 91-92, I would trade him for the right pitcher.” Forget that Santana is injured now, the concept was that 2 years ago, I saw how important the velocity for Hughes is and he is FAR more effective with the 3-4 extra MPH on his fastball. Now most pitchers would be that way also, but some guys have more complementary type of pitches. For example, Garcia threw nothing but slop all game, but he had movement, control and changed planes and angles all game. He is now the rare craft righty! BTW, wasn’t it very comforting to see him pitch well? Give Cashman credit, while Garcia may get beat up once in a while and he only has only started once; Cashman found Colon and Garcia for nothing and both guys are part of our pitching staff right now. I hope Hughes gets back a few MPH as it is a huge setback if he is a mediocre 5th starter because we could have gotten a lot for him. The talk prior was Seattle wanting Montero, Hughes and Betances for King Felix. During the summer, the Yankees would have said no, that is far too much; right now, I would jump at that.
A few other notes: In the last game, there was a squibber hit in front of the plate that Martin jumped on and threw to first base and the play was very close (Texas argued he was safe but replays showed he was barely out). This was the same play I have spoken about in the past years where the 1st baseman fields the throws from the catcher or possibly the pitcher with his left leg on the bag and the right leg in the 2nd base line (facing home plate). The issue I have with this is that the 1st baseman not only doesn’t stretch toward the throw, but doesn’t step toward the throw and pickup that extra 3 feet or so. If Tex would have just stepped toward the ball, the play would not have been that close. I know the ball is coming fast and there is less risk in fielding it this way, but on a close play you need to extend toward the ball; I don’t understand this basic step is missed by most? Just to act out what I am saying. Stand with your legs wide and face straight ahead with your glove hand extended out in front of you as far as possible without tipping over (my legal team had me right don’t tip over ) and see how far you can reach without moving your feet. Now take your right foot (the left was on the bag) and step toward the ball and see how much farther you can extend. You could extend even farther by stretching and righties may even do this with their right foot on the bag, but again that does have more risk. Anyway, you see the point and while it didn’t hurt us, it will happen again and at some point it will.
Martin picked off a guy the other day, but Cano supposedly missed the tag. My opinion was that while Cano made the mistake of not putting the ball by the bag and then moving toward the runner, I still think he tagged him on the leg before his hand touched. But, c’mon, guys tagging 101, you don’t reach for them until after you have placed the tag down when they must eventually go and then while on the ground you slide the glove toward the runner if you have enough time.
I hope Joba doesn’t get “Proctored” as he is on pace for over 100 games. Most should get that reference.
We are 3 games in 1st and 4.5 ahead of Boston! Not bad with our offense scoring the 9th most runs!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
The Genius Maker #9
What went wrong?
Hughes continued to have nothing but pretty good control. His fastball did get up to 92 on a few pitches, but he was mostly throwing 89-90 and his velocity was down after the first 2 innings where it probably more around 88-89. This is extremely concerning and I would not have an issue pulling him from the rotation until he can work through this. He is getting pummeled.
Gardner and Jeter have both been awful to start the year. Interestingly, these are the two guys who changed their stances in the off season. Jeter needed to change, but as I said I would have calmed his bat down in the same way ARod, Swisher and Granderson did rather than focus on his stride and Gardner I was surprised only because he was doing well before his injury. That being said, Gardner may need to step back before he goes forward? Jeter, while doing poorly with a .562 OPS, is doing better than Gardner (.452), but they are both doing nothing. The main issue is that Swisher (.535) and Granderson (.719) would be the guys who would make sense to switch spots. So what do you do, just keep plugging away? Or do you shake things up. For example, I have felt that Jeter should not be at the top of the order (although I did think Gardner should and that has been wrong for now), so maybe you shake things up by moving both Jeter and Gardner down and this way there isn’t as much attention just on Jeter, it can be a move to shake up the lineup. I like The Tex, ARod and Cano combo, so maybe just bat Granderson leadoff and move Tex up to the 2 hole? I know this isn’t conventional, but if someone has to get an extra AB, why not let it be our better hitters?
What went right?
Obviously, down 5-0 when you have an exciting come back to win there has to be some good things that happened.
Colon did a great job going 3 scoreless innings. He did allow one of Hughes’ runs to score on a seeing eye grounder, but he pitched great and did the job. Girardi had his best managed game of the year and not because it was a walk, but because he pulled Hughes when it was obvious he had nothing and gave the potent Yankee offense a chance to come back. I would have said this even if they didn’t win.
ARod continues to hit well. He is really locked in and has a BA of .414 and an OPS of 1.394. That is video game level
Cano hit the ball hard and was out on a line drive grounder right between the pitchers legs where Baltimore had him played perfectly as well as a bullet in the bottom of the 10th right at the SS, but he still got 2 hits.
Joba took over with 1st and 3rd and 1 out in the top of the 8th with the Yanks trailing 5-4. He did throw a wild pitch but blocked the plate with his leg and the Baltimore runner (Pie) didn’t touch the plate until well after the tag (and a good throw by Martin). This was a huge play in the game. Joba looked great as he threw 95 and even got up to 98 on one pitch (that was a ball). His control of the breaking ball wasn’t great, but he looked sharp and gave us 5 big outs as his fastball was controlled well with good velocity.
A couple of other notes:
The Yanks were 2-13 with RISP
Baltimore played an excellent game defensively keeping us from doing more damage.
Jeter made a nice play going to his left (that is said and seen so rarely I had to mention it) where he ranged a long way and the spun and threw accurately to first.
The Genius Maker closed out the game looking sharp. He did allow Markaikis to lead off with a single as he did not get the cutter in enough. Queue enter sandman!
Great win against a good team. Baltimore has a pretty solid lineup and if they can get some starting pitching they will be in the hunt. I didn’t realize all the new faces. I knew they picked up Guerrero but didn’t know they picked up the 36 year old Derek Lee. He did fade a little last year with a .775 OPS, but before that he was always a solid player both offensively and defensively. In fact, he made some nice scoops in the 2 games we played the O’s.
We are one game in first and 5 ahead of the Sox!
Hughes continued to have nothing but pretty good control. His fastball did get up to 92 on a few pitches, but he was mostly throwing 89-90 and his velocity was down after the first 2 innings where it probably more around 88-89. This is extremely concerning and I would not have an issue pulling him from the rotation until he can work through this. He is getting pummeled.
Gardner and Jeter have both been awful to start the year. Interestingly, these are the two guys who changed their stances in the off season. Jeter needed to change, but as I said I would have calmed his bat down in the same way ARod, Swisher and Granderson did rather than focus on his stride and Gardner I was surprised only because he was doing well before his injury. That being said, Gardner may need to step back before he goes forward? Jeter, while doing poorly with a .562 OPS, is doing better than Gardner (.452), but they are both doing nothing. The main issue is that Swisher (.535) and Granderson (.719) would be the guys who would make sense to switch spots. So what do you do, just keep plugging away? Or do you shake things up. For example, I have felt that Jeter should not be at the top of the order (although I did think Gardner should and that has been wrong for now), so maybe you shake things up by moving both Jeter and Gardner down and this way there isn’t as much attention just on Jeter, it can be a move to shake up the lineup. I like The Tex, ARod and Cano combo, so maybe just bat Granderson leadoff and move Tex up to the 2 hole? I know this isn’t conventional, but if someone has to get an extra AB, why not let it be our better hitters?
What went right?
Obviously, down 5-0 when you have an exciting come back to win there has to be some good things that happened.
Colon did a great job going 3 scoreless innings. He did allow one of Hughes’ runs to score on a seeing eye grounder, but he pitched great and did the job. Girardi had his best managed game of the year and not because it was a walk, but because he pulled Hughes when it was obvious he had nothing and gave the potent Yankee offense a chance to come back. I would have said this even if they didn’t win.
ARod continues to hit well. He is really locked in and has a BA of .414 and an OPS of 1.394. That is video game level
Cano hit the ball hard and was out on a line drive grounder right between the pitchers legs where Baltimore had him played perfectly as well as a bullet in the bottom of the 10th right at the SS, but he still got 2 hits.
Joba took over with 1st and 3rd and 1 out in the top of the 8th with the Yanks trailing 5-4. He did throw a wild pitch but blocked the plate with his leg and the Baltimore runner (Pie) didn’t touch the plate until well after the tag (and a good throw by Martin). This was a huge play in the game. Joba looked great as he threw 95 and even got up to 98 on one pitch (that was a ball). His control of the breaking ball wasn’t great, but he looked sharp and gave us 5 big outs as his fastball was controlled well with good velocity.
A couple of other notes:
The Yanks were 2-13 with RISP
Baltimore played an excellent game defensively keeping us from doing more damage.
Jeter made a nice play going to his left (that is said and seen so rarely I had to mention it) where he ranged a long way and the spun and threw accurately to first.
The Genius Maker closed out the game looking sharp. He did allow Markaikis to lead off with a single as he did not get the cutter in enough. Queue enter sandman!
Great win against a good team. Baltimore has a pretty solid lineup and if they can get some starting pitching they will be in the hunt. I didn’t realize all the new faces. I knew they picked up Guerrero but didn’t know they picked up the 36 year old Derek Lee. He did fade a little last year with a .775 OPS, but before that he was always a solid player both offensively and defensively. In fact, he made some nice scoops in the 2 games we played the O’s.
We are one game in first and 5 ahead of the Sox!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
The Genius Maker #8
We are in first place…and 4.5 games ahead of the Red Sox!
It is always good to jump out to an early lead and ARod’s 3 run homer did just that. I would like to see us keep tacking on runs all game, but that is a bit picky. I thought Burnett pitched well all night. He struggled with a ton of pitches in the first 2 innings (I think the total was 50), but I think it was more a good job of hitting by laying off close pitches and fouling off good ones by Baltimore.
Once again, Girardi seems to be inconsistent in his use of pitchers/players. As you know I had an issue with him taking out CC after CC had retired 17 straight batters and then we ended up letting Soriano who was off give the game away. The “excuse” was that CC had thrown too many pitches…well yesterday, Burnett entered the 7th inning having thrown somewhere about 95 pitches. I was in favor of sending Burnett out there; I was also ok with him staying in the game after he allowed a double. I was still ok with leaving him in the game after he threw a wild pitch. After the homer I was a little torn, but didn’t have an issue with Girardi leaving Burnett in as he still only had thrown 103 pitches. 6 pitches later he walked the Baltimore batter (Andino) and it was clear he was coming out. Not only had he thrown 110 pitches, but he had lost it. However, shockingly (or maybe with Girardi this should be expected?) Girardi let Burnett continue to pitch. After a 2 run homer that put the game into only a 3 run lead Girardi took Burnett out. Again, I have no idea what is going through Girardi’s head sometimes and his excuses he gives to the media are just insulting. He leaves Burnett, who had clearly lost it, in the game after 110 pitches, but he takes CC out when he had retired 17 straight batters and thrown 104? Very inconsistent and illogical as most sane people would take a struggling guy out who threw more pitches than another guy who was cruising.
Other notes:
Gardner was thrown out by a lot yesterday, it was a great throw, but Jeter should have protected him as he did not get a good jump.
Burnett threw about 15 changeups yesterday and they were very effective. I think this is a great 3rd pitch for him as it makes everything else work well. He struggled with his command of his curve, although he did throw some good ones and in the past when that happened he would really get into trouble. Now with the change, he has a lot more to work with and setup pitches.
Good job by Robertson, Soriano and the Rivera…
We got some bad news at it appears the MRI on Feliciano’s shoulder came back with trouble. Not confirmed as of yet, but he may be out for awhile. With Logan not being as sharp this is a big concern. I was counting on Feliciano to be our lefty specialist guy in key spots. It seems like we are snake bitten on the lefties. Maybe we get lucky with Marte later in the year or maybe Feliciano will only be out for a month?
It is always good to jump out to an early lead and ARod’s 3 run homer did just that. I would like to see us keep tacking on runs all game, but that is a bit picky. I thought Burnett pitched well all night. He struggled with a ton of pitches in the first 2 innings (I think the total was 50), but I think it was more a good job of hitting by laying off close pitches and fouling off good ones by Baltimore.
Once again, Girardi seems to be inconsistent in his use of pitchers/players. As you know I had an issue with him taking out CC after CC had retired 17 straight batters and then we ended up letting Soriano who was off give the game away. The “excuse” was that CC had thrown too many pitches…well yesterday, Burnett entered the 7th inning having thrown somewhere about 95 pitches. I was in favor of sending Burnett out there; I was also ok with him staying in the game after he allowed a double. I was still ok with leaving him in the game after he threw a wild pitch. After the homer I was a little torn, but didn’t have an issue with Girardi leaving Burnett in as he still only had thrown 103 pitches. 6 pitches later he walked the Baltimore batter (Andino) and it was clear he was coming out. Not only had he thrown 110 pitches, but he had lost it. However, shockingly (or maybe with Girardi this should be expected?) Girardi let Burnett continue to pitch. After a 2 run homer that put the game into only a 3 run lead Girardi took Burnett out. Again, I have no idea what is going through Girardi’s head sometimes and his excuses he gives to the media are just insulting. He leaves Burnett, who had clearly lost it, in the game after 110 pitches, but he takes CC out when he had retired 17 straight batters and thrown 104? Very inconsistent and illogical as most sane people would take a struggling guy out who threw more pitches than another guy who was cruising.
Other notes:
Gardner was thrown out by a lot yesterday, it was a great throw, but Jeter should have protected him as he did not get a good jump.
Burnett threw about 15 changeups yesterday and they were very effective. I think this is a great 3rd pitch for him as it makes everything else work well. He struggled with his command of his curve, although he did throw some good ones and in the past when that happened he would really get into trouble. Now with the change, he has a lot more to work with and setup pitches.
Good job by Robertson, Soriano and the Rivera…
We got some bad news at it appears the MRI on Feliciano’s shoulder came back with trouble. Not confirmed as of yet, but he may be out for awhile. With Logan not being as sharp this is a big concern. I was counting on Feliciano to be our lefty specialist guy in key spots. It seems like we are snake bitten on the lefties. Maybe we get lucky with Marte later in the year or maybe Feliciano will only be out for a month?
Sunday, April 10, 2011
The Genius Maker #7
So CC struggling every inning (bit getting through it) gets sent back out for the 6th inning with only 5 less pitches than when he was taken out after getting 17 out in a row? So when you are pitching great you will come out but when you are struggling Girardi lets you work it out? Good logic Joe. I guess throwing 118 pitches wasn’t that big a deal after all. Girardi is so inconsistent.
Fortunately, Joba was able to get Youklis out with the bases juiced; whew.
Then Joba screwed up by walking two guys and with the bases loaded and 1 out I really hated that on a 1-0 pitch they threw Scutaro a fastball. I was fine with throwing a breaking ball (curve would have been my call), but he gave in and threw a fastball that Scutaro was 100% sitting on. The Yankees should have known better as that is Scutaro’s MO. At least the Yanks were smart enough to walk Pedrioa to set a force at every base and pitch Logan to Gonzalez to give the team a little chance for a comeback.
This was the worst umpiring I have seen in some time. This ump made an enormous difference with very poor calls with 90% all going against the Yanks. It continued to the 9th inning where Gardner struck out on a pitch that was well outside and Tex struck out on a pitch that was very low and very outside; it was one of the worst strike out calls you will see; the ump just wanted to go home.
That being said Beckett really threw well. That really sucks because I was hoping Beckett was just starting his decline :^) Unfortunately, this was a big win for Boston.
Fortunately, Joba was able to get Youklis out with the bases juiced; whew.
Then Joba screwed up by walking two guys and with the bases loaded and 1 out I really hated that on a 1-0 pitch they threw Scutaro a fastball. I was fine with throwing a breaking ball (curve would have been my call), but he gave in and threw a fastball that Scutaro was 100% sitting on. The Yankees should have known better as that is Scutaro’s MO. At least the Yanks were smart enough to walk Pedrioa to set a force at every base and pitch Logan to Gonzalez to give the team a little chance for a comeback.
This was the worst umpiring I have seen in some time. This ump made an enormous difference with very poor calls with 90% all going against the Yanks. It continued to the 9th inning where Gardner struck out on a pitch that was well outside and Tex struck out on a pitch that was very low and very outside; it was one of the worst strike out calls you will see; the ump just wanted to go home.
That being said Beckett really threw well. That really sucks because I was hoping Beckett was just starting his decline :^) Unfortunately, this was a big win for Boston.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
The Genius Maker #6
It was very good to see the Yankees jump right back after the loss to the Red Sox. The offense did the job as Martin has really looked great so far hitting 2 dingers. Cano got his offense going but struggled defensively missing a soft liner in the 2nd inning and failing to turn a double play that led to the Sox scoring 2-3 more runs that inning.
Interestingly Pedroia, who had an outstanding game, made a subtle nice tag out on Jeter on an attempted steal by letting the ball go all the way to Jeter's helmet as he tagged him out. I say this because I always get on Jeter for fielding throws in front of the bag and then having to bring the tag back. Pedroia also made a phenomenal play on a grounder in between 1st and 2nd where he ranged far to his left and dove into RF and caught the ball behind him, then jumped up and threw out Tex.
Speaking of defense, Jeter missed a throw to 2nd the other day and he has looked weaker on popups having Gardner and Jones come a long way from LF to get ones Jeter used to call off and make.
I thought the ump was very bad and inconsistent today. He had 15+ calls I didn’t agree with; it didn’t favor either side, he just was poor.
Nova had very little sink on his fastball and he tried to gut threw it. If Cano could have turned 2 his numbers would have looked a lot better, but he had trouble with his key pitch and couldn’t make it out of the 5th. Robertson did a real nice job before handing it to Joba. I was really pleased with Joba throwing 94-97 as it made a difference in his slider as the batters had to commit much earlier and even excellent hitter like Youklis were waving at the slider. This is the part about speed people don’t realize. It is not just the fastball that is better when he is throwing 95 consistently; it is how it impacts the other pitches because of how the batter must react. The same is about the 4 or so MPH Hughes has lost. BTW, Joba threw a change today and that is good to see. He didn’t control it but I am in favor of giving it a shot. BTW, Bucholz has a great change and has really good stuff if he can harness it.
Let’s take the series tomorrow with CC against Beckett
Interestingly Pedroia, who had an outstanding game, made a subtle nice tag out on Jeter on an attempted steal by letting the ball go all the way to Jeter's helmet as he tagged him out. I say this because I always get on Jeter for fielding throws in front of the bag and then having to bring the tag back. Pedroia also made a phenomenal play on a grounder in between 1st and 2nd where he ranged far to his left and dove into RF and caught the ball behind him, then jumped up and threw out Tex.
Speaking of defense, Jeter missed a throw to 2nd the other day and he has looked weaker on popups having Gardner and Jones come a long way from LF to get ones Jeter used to call off and make.
I thought the ump was very bad and inconsistent today. He had 15+ calls I didn’t agree with; it didn’t favor either side, he just was poor.
Nova had very little sink on his fastball and he tried to gut threw it. If Cano could have turned 2 his numbers would have looked a lot better, but he had trouble with his key pitch and couldn’t make it out of the 5th. Robertson did a real nice job before handing it to Joba. I was really pleased with Joba throwing 94-97 as it made a difference in his slider as the batters had to commit much earlier and even excellent hitter like Youklis were waving at the slider. This is the part about speed people don’t realize. It is not just the fastball that is better when he is throwing 95 consistently; it is how it impacts the other pitches because of how the batter must react. The same is about the 4 or so MPH Hughes has lost. BTW, Joba threw a change today and that is good to see. He didn’t control it but I am in favor of giving it a shot. BTW, Bucholz has a great change and has really good stuff if he can harness it.
Let’s take the series tomorrow with CC against Beckett
The Genius Maker #5
Thursday: Burnett pitched well. I like when he is using the changeup as it works well to complement his curve and fastball. It was good to see Soriano get back on the horse in a close game (understand your player Girardi). AND The Genius maker just keeps plugging away as he pitches another perfect inning with only one run to spare (7 pitches). Oh, I do want to point something that I hope Girardi doesn’t just stick to his mindset of “Soriano is my 8th inning guy” no matter what mentality. With Logan not looking as sharp I understood what was going through Joe’s mind, but in the 8th inning Mauer, Morneau and Thome were coming up. This is a classic 3 lefties situation where the first 2 would not be pinch hit for and then the 3rd lefty if they make a move you bring in Soriano…But with Logan still trying to get going I understood staying with Soriano. If and when Feliciano comes back I hope Girardi doesn’t mindlessly throw out his 8th inning guy every time because in a one run game there is always a chance of extra innings and you want as many favorable matchups as possible. Soriano is better against rigthties if you were wondering. Just so I am on record I was ok either way with the move, but I wouldn’t have had an issue if Girardi went with Logan in that spot. As it turned out having the confidence in Soriano was paid off and Joe deserves credit for that because if you knew it would turn out well getting Soriano back in a tough spot was a good thing.
Friday
I reiterate what I said after Hughes’ first outing. I am very concerned about Hughes because with a 88-90 MPH fastball he will simply not be effective. I also think his cutter before was more effective than this slutter because the thing about the traditional cutter that works well is late movement that is hard to detect and it makes the bat not get a square hit on the ball. This is why the great cutters like Rivera and Halladay use it so effectively. Hughes didn’t have that type of cutter, but it still worked for him last year. This slutter actually moves a lot more but the movement starts early and thus can be detected. Think about when people say late life on a fastball; this is the same thing. In previous years, even without the cutter, Hughes had that life on his fastball and got people out with it. Throwing 93 and hitting spots worked, throwing 89 and not having the late life is a recipe for disaster and it has been. I am not ready to pull him from the rotation or anything like that though.
Other notes:
• Colon did a nice job yesterday and gave us a chance, but…
• Logan did another poor job and put the game out of reach.
• Need to get Jeter, Granderson and Swisher hitting better. Posada has 3 homers which is great, but nothing else
• Martin does not stay down on balls in the dirt well, but he does have a great quick tag at home plate. He hasn’t used it for an out yet, but on a close play it will make the difference at some point.
Friday
I reiterate what I said after Hughes’ first outing. I am very concerned about Hughes because with a 88-90 MPH fastball he will simply not be effective. I also think his cutter before was more effective than this slutter because the thing about the traditional cutter that works well is late movement that is hard to detect and it makes the bat not get a square hit on the ball. This is why the great cutters like Rivera and Halladay use it so effectively. Hughes didn’t have that type of cutter, but it still worked for him last year. This slutter actually moves a lot more but the movement starts early and thus can be detected. Think about when people say late life on a fastball; this is the same thing. In previous years, even without the cutter, Hughes had that life on his fastball and got people out with it. Throwing 93 and hitting spots worked, throwing 89 and not having the late life is a recipe for disaster and it has been. I am not ready to pull him from the rotation or anything like that though.
Other notes:
• Colon did a nice job yesterday and gave us a chance, but…
• Logan did another poor job and put the game out of reach.
• Need to get Jeter, Granderson and Swisher hitting better. Posada has 3 homers which is great, but nothing else
• Martin does not stay down on balls in the dirt well, but he does have a great quick tag at home plate. He hasn’t used it for an out yet, but on a close play it will make the difference at some point.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The Genius Maker #4
My quote when Girardi took out CC was "WTF is he doing?" CC had retired about 17 guys in a row for crying out loud. The one thing you don't want to do is give the other team some life with a new pitcher, no matter who he was. When Girardi put Soriano out there, my thought was why waste Soriano after he pitched yesterday? Wait until you need him. The fact Soriano had no control is not the issue, one would still expect him to do better than he did, but a guy who was a closer is not used to getting into a 4 run game and probably wasn;t even prepared. in fact, he was throwing 88-89 for the first few hitters before getting up to 92 for the last 2. I hated the way Girardi managed this and it cost them this game.
I would have let CC stay in there until at least 110 and I would have let him throw 115 if he didn't allow a baserunner. You have 6 outs to go, you get as many of those as you can; there was absolutely NO reason to take him out. I am sure Girardi will say with Soriano and Mo he wasn't concerned, but you don't remove the hot hand to hope someone else is on. Joe was really bad last postseason; he better getting his act in gear because this loss was on him (Soriano, Robertson and Logan deserve some blame too).
At least the Genius Maker looked sharp and Tex did it again.
BTW, I thought the ump behind home plate and the check swing calls were really good tonight; very consistent. In Fact, we get the benefit of only 3 calls to their 2 in my opinion; that is an awesome job.
I would have let CC stay in there until at least 110 and I would have let him throw 115 if he didn't allow a baserunner. You have 6 outs to go, you get as many of those as you can; there was absolutely NO reason to take him out. I am sure Girardi will say with Soriano and Mo he wasn't concerned, but you don't remove the hot hand to hope someone else is on. Joe was really bad last postseason; he better getting his act in gear because this loss was on him (Soriano, Robertson and Logan deserve some blame too).
At least the Genius Maker looked sharp and Tex did it again.
BTW, I thought the ump behind home plate and the check swing calls were really good tonight; very consistent. In Fact, we get the benefit of only 3 calls to their 2 in my opinion; that is an awesome job.
The Genius Maker #3
Sunday’s game was a slugfest that we could never get on top of. The offense did their job, but nobody from the pitching staff did their job. The most disappointing part was watching Hughes have no fastball. Guys don’t usually lose 3 MPH off their fastball for no reason so I am hopeful it is just an aberration as he builds his arm strength (there is a dead period and maybe this is it?). Hughes will not be successful throwing 88-91 MPH which is where he was most of the short night. He is now throwing a “slutter” as he changed the grip on the cutter and now it acts a little more like a slider. I am not sure whether the pitch is effective or not as it moves well, but I don’t think it makes the batter think it is a fastball at first. The bottom line is Hughes threw fastballs and got guys out and at 89MPH that won’t happen. I want to see him at 92 consistently with a dial up of at least 2 MPH.
I stated I was happy with the way Colon looked in ST, but he did not get the job done. His stuff is still pretty good out of the pen and I think he will be ok.
Monday’s game saw Posada and ARod get our big hits and Nova pitching well ( I was very happy he could get out of the 6th inning) I am comfortable with Nova; especially with a 6th and 7th inning that can be matched up and used with Joba followed by two closers. It is very comforting to see Joba, Soriano and Rivera close out the last 3 innings twice already. Joba came back after 20+ pitches the night before and did his job. Back to Nova, he threw a couple of strikeout fastballs up in the zone where the ball dropped into the top of the strike zone. That was new for him. If he could throw a fastball that didn’t sink at the top of the zone the batters would really be off balance. Most of the time pitching coaches won’t mess with a guy who gets natural sink but it would really be good to go along with a good change and curve.
The offense is doing really well even with Gardner and Jeter not getting on base. These were the two guys that have undergone the largest transition in changing their stances and in this very short sample the results have been bad. I am not sure why they changes Gardner as he was doing well before he hurt his wrist, but Long knows what he is doing so I will defer to him (although I felt they should have quieted Jeter’s bat)
Quick Notes:
1.Glad to see Posada get off to a good start; WFAN had some morons calling in saying how Posada was done; he couldn’t DH last year and after game 1 when he went 0-4 they knew “he should retire.” Players don’t just fall off the face of the earth, they usually gradually breakdown and get worse. Sure there are ups and downs, but in general gradual is a very reliable and factual statement.
2.This Minnesota team is primed for having some lefties face them. Morneau, Mauer, Kubel and Thome represent some matchups for lefties
3.I was very pleased to see Martin get off to a decent start hitting as well as his throw down to 2nd. He has a very good arm. His blocking to his right was a little slow as twice he needed to turn his glove over because he wasn’t able to shift fast enough, but that may also be getting used to the pitchers.
Baltimore is 4-0 and Buck has that team playing really well (continued from last year). TB is 0-3 and so is Boston so at 3-1 I like our position. I expect Boston to be the only competition once the season gets deeper, but the O’s, Toronto and TB are all above average teams; Tough division
I stated I was happy with the way Colon looked in ST, but he did not get the job done. His stuff is still pretty good out of the pen and I think he will be ok.
Monday’s game saw Posada and ARod get our big hits and Nova pitching well ( I was very happy he could get out of the 6th inning) I am comfortable with Nova; especially with a 6th and 7th inning that can be matched up and used with Joba followed by two closers. It is very comforting to see Joba, Soriano and Rivera close out the last 3 innings twice already. Joba came back after 20+ pitches the night before and did his job. Back to Nova, he threw a couple of strikeout fastballs up in the zone where the ball dropped into the top of the strike zone. That was new for him. If he could throw a fastball that didn’t sink at the top of the zone the batters would really be off balance. Most of the time pitching coaches won’t mess with a guy who gets natural sink but it would really be good to go along with a good change and curve.
The offense is doing really well even with Gardner and Jeter not getting on base. These were the two guys that have undergone the largest transition in changing their stances and in this very short sample the results have been bad. I am not sure why they changes Gardner as he was doing well before he hurt his wrist, but Long knows what he is doing so I will defer to him (although I felt they should have quieted Jeter’s bat)
Quick Notes:
1.Glad to see Posada get off to a good start; WFAN had some morons calling in saying how Posada was done; he couldn’t DH last year and after game 1 when he went 0-4 they knew “he should retire.” Players don’t just fall off the face of the earth, they usually gradually breakdown and get worse. Sure there are ups and downs, but in general gradual is a very reliable and factual statement.
2.This Minnesota team is primed for having some lefties face them. Morneau, Mauer, Kubel and Thome represent some matchups for lefties
3.I was very pleased to see Martin get off to a decent start hitting as well as his throw down to 2nd. He has a very good arm. His blocking to his right was a little slow as twice he needed to turn his glove over because he wasn’t able to shift fast enough, but that may also be getting used to the pitchers.
Baltimore is 4-0 and Buck has that team playing really well (continued from last year). TB is 0-3 and so is Boston so at 3-1 I like our position. I expect Boston to be the only competition once the season gets deeper, but the O’s, Toronto and TB are all above average teams; Tough division
Sunday, April 3, 2011
The Genius Maker #2
Burnett did a nice job by not hurting himself with walks, but did struggle when out of the stretch. He had a fastball with good life and spotted it pretty well. The big miss was when he allowed his first run on a homer by Austin Jackson. His curve had sharp break and he didn’t hang any. The most interesting part of watching Burnett pitch was that I didn’t see any (possibly one) changeups until the 4th or 5th inning. He was in a little trouble and threw back to back ones to get a lefty out. This is a very important pitch for him because there is a lot of speed differential between his fastball and his curve and this is a little easier on the hitter to adjust. The changeup breaks the rhythm of the hitter off balance. I also am not one of those people that think the changeup can only be used against the opposite of your arm (for righties against lefties). It can be effective against the same side, but it needs to be used at the right time (not that different than most pitches).
Tex with another 3 run bomb! Same thing I mentioned in spring training, ARod is locked in; even his out was a bullet one hopper to 2nd when he waited on a curve. Martin hit his own 3 run bomb which ended up being important.
I still think Jeter will be a little better than last year offensively (kind of silly to back off my prediction after 2 games), but as I mentioned I am shocked they didn’t calm all the movement in his bat and only focused on the stride. Maybe the thought is one thing at a time, but I think the movement on the bat is as much if not more of the issue because he can’t get it to the correct spot in time once he recognizes he wants to swing. The short stride will help, but I think he needs to look at how successful ARod, Swish and Granderson (especially Granderson as he had similar movement in his bat as Jeter) with calming their bat. ARod just rests it on his shoulder now.
Girardi pulled the starters and it made him go to Rivera for the cheapest save you can get; getting one batter out with a 4 run lead and 2 guys on base. Girardi mismanaged the ending, but the error by Nunez (in for Jeter) prolonged the game.
2-0!
Tex with another 3 run bomb! Same thing I mentioned in spring training, ARod is locked in; even his out was a bullet one hopper to 2nd when he waited on a curve. Martin hit his own 3 run bomb which ended up being important.
I still think Jeter will be a little better than last year offensively (kind of silly to back off my prediction after 2 games), but as I mentioned I am shocked they didn’t calm all the movement in his bat and only focused on the stride. Maybe the thought is one thing at a time, but I think the movement on the bat is as much if not more of the issue because he can’t get it to the correct spot in time once he recognizes he wants to swing. The short stride will help, but I think he needs to look at how successful ARod, Swish and Granderson (especially Granderson as he had similar movement in his bat as Jeter) with calming their bat. ARod just rests it on his shoulder now.
Girardi pulled the starters and it made him go to Rivera for the cheapest save you can get; getting one batter out with a 4 run lead and 2 guys on base. Girardi mismanaged the ending, but the error by Nunez (in for Jeter) prolonged the game.
2-0!
Friday, April 1, 2011
Opening Day!
This was a text book win. Solid starting pitching some timely hitting and turn it over to the best 1-2 closing punch in baseball. This bullpen will help our starters tremendously! Outside of the obvious nice hits by Tex, Granderson and ARod, I was happy to see Martin show some good speed for a catcher, a nice defensive position and movement behind the plate and also that he takes pitches.
I know many people came back to me and said I was a little optimistic with my thoughts on this team. Well, not only did I put my money where my mouth was (Over 90.5), but I think if we stay healthy we will do all the things I mentioned. Of course, winning the 1st game doesn't change anything, we could have lost and my feeling still would remain; this team will make the playoffs barring more than their share of injuries.
Last point was Joba did his job, but he didn't look all that good. It is only opening day and the weather was awful, but he was fortunate more than good.
I know many people came back to me and said I was a little optimistic with my thoughts on this team. Well, not only did I put my money where my mouth was (Over 90.5), but I think if we stay healthy we will do all the things I mentioned. Of course, winning the 1st game doesn't change anything, we could have lost and my feeling still would remain; this team will make the playoffs barring more than their share of injuries.
Last point was Joba did his job, but he didn't look all that good. It is only opening day and the weather was awful, but he was fortunate more than good.
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