The Genius Maker 5-8

Last night was a good win as Nova got back on the mound and pitched well without his best stuff, Soriano handled the 8^th, and Robertson got the save in his new role.

• TB continues to put the shift on the Yankees and it works well.  The one thing that is not talked about and I believe is a great add on to the shift strategy is to shift a guy and pitch him inside.  This is specifically beneficial when they did this to ARod.  In general ARod is not someone I would put the shift on, but if you pitch him inside he will pull the ball into the shift.  I think if used once in awhile this is an excellent strategy. 
• When is Tex going to lay down a bunt?
• After a rocket Cano double, Tex moved Cano over to 3^rd base with a groundout (why is it that this groundout seemed like a good thing when your #5 hitter is up?), then Swisher had a terrible AB swinging at a lot of balls before grounding out to 2^nd base and Cano got thrown out at home easily.  Not really sure why they sent Cano with the infield in, but I am not going to get critical of Thompson there.  Then a big hit by Ibanez on a hanging change gave the Yanks a 2-0 lead.  After what looked like they were going to strand the leadoff double the Ibanez HR was a big one. Ibanez later added a solo shot that just stayed fair as he was the offensive star!  Ibanez now has his OPS at .817 and as long as he is not in the field that is a positive.  I don’t expect it to stay there as I predicted it in the low .700’s, but with all the other guys struggling and the injuries if he only DH’s and pinch hits, he would be a plus with an OPS above .800.
• Nova did not have his best fastball (usually around 91) but he had the best change he has had and mixed in his sliders and curves.  The wet ball probably had something to do with it, but he was not consistent on his breaking stuff.
• Jeter booted one the other day and missed a backhand that was a makeable play for most SS’s last night and it put Nova in a jam.  The next hitter singled making it 1^st and 3^rd and 2 outs and then Nova fell behind 3-0.  With the score 2-0 in the 5^th inning, this was a big moment.  Nova pumped up his fastball to 93 for a 3-0 strike, then 94 for a 3-2 strike, and then threw an 89 MPH slider that looked more like a cutter to me and he got a pop up but unfortunately it just got into the stands.  This was a big moment and Nova got himself back into the AB and now could he finish the job?  He came back with another slider and got the strikeout…it was a huge moment in the game.
• After a Granderson HR, Nova had an 0-2 count on Molina by throwing 2 curve balls and then he hung a curve ball that Molina deposited in the seats.  It was a bad miss and Molina crushed the hanger.
• I emphasize this because in the 7^th Nova allowed a HR to Luke Scott on a change that hung.  He then allowed a walk and a double to make it 2^nd and 3^rd with 1 out and the score is 3-2.  This was another big moment and Nova was in trouble but had only thrown about 85 pitches and Girardi stuck with Nova.  Nova got their SS to fly out to medium shallow RF and they did not try to tag up.  Then Nova was facing Molina who homered after seeing 3 straight curves.  Nova threw 3 more curves all excellently located and Molina swung threw all 3 for a huge strike out!  It shows how poor the hanger was in the previous inning
• Girardi had Logan up at the start of the 7^th and it looked like he may go to him with 2 lefties coming up, but he let Nova pitch (and allow the HR).  Not sure why Logan would be up if he wasn’t going to be used, but I just think Girardi messed up and then stuck with Nova
• Soriano came on to pitch the 8^th with a 2 run lead (Ibanez 2^nd HR), and allowed a leadoff triple on a fastball on the outside corner that Zobrist hit well.  Soriano came back with 2 big strikeouts and looked to be able to get out of the inning.  However, Martin called for a breaking ball in the dirt and he got it, but couldn’t block it…again.  Now Martin is not lazy with his feet, but as I mentioned the other day he is not turning his shoulders (and thus the protector) in toward the plate.  This was a curve ball so when the ball hits the dirt it will kick toward the right hand batters box and the catcher must turn toward the left handed box to knock it down.  Martin allowed it to get to his left and the ball got away to score the run.  Martin throws great, in fact, he is the best thrower the Yanks have had since Munson and it is possible he is better (hard for me to judge, Munson ha d a quicker release but Martin has more strength to throw), anyway, I am disappointed in the fundamental mistake on the wild pitches.  BTW, Molina has awful/lazy footwork and I used to be very critical of him.  While he did block balls right in front of him, he was embarrassed on a few balls that got by him as well.
• While on defense, Tex may not be as good as people think on scoops and even with the glove, he is as good as anyone turning 2 as he makes excellent hard throws to 2^nd base.  He has been excellent at those
• Robertson had a very live fastball, so live in fact, martin stabbed at it a few times.  He allowed a grounder that found the hole and sandwiched it with 2 walks, but got his 2^nd strike out of the inning to end the game.  The ump did a good job all game IMO. 
• I know a lot of people think Soriano should close, but I would give the ball to Robertson as well.  I might look at Robertson to come in if the 8^th had the better hitters coming up, but Girardi won’t do that so I will not waste my time.

Switching gears:

• Josh Hamilton for the Rangers hit FOUR 2 run homers last night for the Rangers; now do you know why I wanted to walk him every time first base was open with a guy on 2^nd and it may be best to walk him almost every time up.  His OPS is now an amazing 1.298!   

The Genius Maker 5-6

Two points I wanted to make will be made after a brief update on last night's game: 

Cano finally got a big hit (Grand Slam) and Hughes looked decent all the way into the 7th inning.  I think the KC radar gun may be a MPH or 2 fast, but Hughes maintained a good velocity into the 7th and that is encouraging.  He also threw a decent change and curve.  But this was the Royals and Hughes still lets far too many left side of the plate balls leak over the plate.  It seems he has trouble throwing outside to righties/inside to lefties.  This will be a critical piece for him to fix.

1) On Saturday night the Yankees were losing 3-0 when a medium fly ball went to RF and Granderson was on 2nd with nobody out.  Francouer plays RF for KC and the one thing he does have is an excellent arm.  Granderson tagged and was thrown out on a close play.  Those of you veteran blog readers know I think Robby Thompson takes far too many chances and I have an issue with him because after getting his (appx) 5th guy thrown out with less than 2 outs at home he said "if I am not getting guys thrown out than I am not being aggressive enough."  My issue is not that guys get thrown out, my issue is that Robby Thompson probably doesn't understand that getting guys thrown out isn't the problem; it is WHEN.  When you are down by 3 runs you simply can't make outs on the base paths PERIOD.  A 90% chance is NOT worth taking that chance.  Getting thrown out at home with nobody out is almost never a good idea, yet that was his response.  Anyway, when Granderson got thrown out it reminded me why I was ticked at Girardi for not retaining Larry Bowa as our 3rd base coach (he was excellent there) and it also showed that after Thompson has screwed up more times than he should, Girardi was too lame to switch him out and I believe even defended the stupid answer with his own insulting rhetoric.

2) I think the Yankee owners are focusing too much on making money rather than doing what George used to do and that is focus on winning.  George knew that if the team was winning he would make more money; now compare it to the comments about not going over the revenue sharing limit.  I was watching the Orioles series and it is shocking how quite and empty the stadium is.  If the Yanks win people will come, but they also need to lower the pricing enough to make it so real fans can go.  They are marketing this all wrong, because if they lowered the pricing, they would sell more tickets and get more people in the stands and the overall take would be higher, especially when you consider all the extra concession business they would garner.  Finally, a healthy and loud crowd would aid the home field advantage which in turn could lead to a few more wins and the cycle continues.

I wrote the below italicized on Saturday:

"I am very saddened by the news that this may be it for Rivera.  I was looking forward to every pitch from the greatest of all time;  I was looking forward to watching the greatest for his final year; I was looking forward to seeing Rivera stand on the mound for the final pitch securing our World Series Title.  He deserved better...so did we.


It will be very sad if this is it; the guy was still at the top of his amazing game.


As for the Yanks, this is a big blow, but the team's strength is the bullpen.  Someone commented on this blog that they should move Hughes to the pen and that will support the backend of Soriano and Robertson.  This is most likely the best move, but I think they will give Hughes another start first."

Written Sunday morning:

We go into KC a team that hadn't won a game at home all year and end up losing 2 to do them...and the Genius Maker.  The only good thing was Rivera letting people know he was not going out like this and would be back next year (thus probably voiding my italicized above).  He still loses a year and will be a year older so we can't expect as good a year next as this year, but we should see a capable guy nonetheless.  I still feel a little bit of a loss.

It struck me how this crappy KC team seems to have 5 guys who all throw harder than anyone on our team?  This guy Paulino has a career 5.28 ERA even if last year was 4.11 with KC, but he was throwing 96-98 consistently and threw a slider and a curve that were at least major league average.  Think of the hype guys like Hughes had; no think about what the hype or how excited we would be if Paulino were on our team?  

Overall, the offense is simply terrible right now; perhaps the worst offense we have seen on our team in a very long time.  Yes, the O is hurt without Swisher and Gardner and yes we have had NO replacement for them, but Cano and Tex have been awful so far (with Tex being more pathetic), ARod has been mediocre and we have had very little production from the catcher and DH spot...thus a terrible offense.  Just egtting Gardner and Swish back will help a lot, but we still need some more production by the rest or this will be a long season.  Cano, I am not as worried about, but the others need to get my confidence back.  I am not saying they won't get better, but will they get back to what is expected?  I mean can tex really go from a career .900 OPS guy to the .840 OPS guy he has been the last 2 years to a .650 OPS guy?  Maybe the .900 is unreasonable, but even in a downward spiral being an .800 OPS guy isn't unreasonable...even if that is for the rest of the year and he finished in the high .700's.  Tex is only 32. 

We are in 4th place (BTW, even if I don;t write a blog I try to update the standings every day just so that you can come to the site and at the worst you get the standings and there are some articles on the far right bottom too that are picked out by a feed.)

I am pleased Rivera is coming back next year...but losing Mo does hurt the team forgetting all the historical and emotional implications.





 

The Genius Maker - Very sad day

The below paragraph was my original one, but I am adding this after finding out Rivera has a torn ACL.  This is such a sad event.  The guy is 100% class, the best ever and still was on top of his game and to get injured like this is just a tough one to swallow.  Shagging fly balls is and has been Rivera’s pre game warm-up forever so it is just a fluky thing.  I am a little stunned right now…

I want to jump to the 9^th inning last night as there were some critical pitches thrown and every pitch was important.  Broxton was pitching for KC and Jeter led of with the Yanks down by one.  Jeter fell behind 0-2 and Broxton throws 95-99.  After 3 straight fastballs for strikes (last one fouled off) he went to his breaking pitch and he hung it to Jeter who sliced it the opposite way for his 4^th hit (he has been great!).  Now Granderson is up.  Because of the struggles of Tex, I don’t consider bunting Granderson as Grandy can hit a 2 run HR anyway, especially against a righty.  Broxton throws a fastball for a ball and then comes back with a breaking ball for a ball.  This next pitch is a huge one as I would expect a fastball and this is the one you are looking for.  Broxton shows a ton of respect to Granderson (and Cone correctly pointed this out – I like the way Cone thinks) by throwing a breaking ball but Granderson does not swing for ball 3.  Now I am thinking let’s give him the green light to swing because I respect Broxton and also I have more faith in Granderson in our lineup than anyone else right now who isn’t on 1^st base.  Girardi gives him the green light but he fouls off a pitch (didn’t really get a good swing on it).  3-1 is still a huge pitch right here and Granderson takes a strike on the outside corner.  Grandy must not have seen it well even though it was an OK pitch.  Now at 3-2 Jeter should be running so this is another huge pitch.  Jeter is running and Granderson takes ball 4.  A little anticlimactic but really every pitch was crucial.  Now we are n the driver’s seat with or 3-5 hitters up and 1^st and 2^nd with nobody out.  Tex is up though.  Normally you wouldn’t think of bunting but the way Tex has been, especially from the left side I say to myself I hope they are working on him bunting more to take advantage of the shift because right now a bunt and only a sac bunt is the right call.  Either Tex just can’t do what ARod did the other night or he refuses.  After taking the first pitch for a ball, he swing at an inside breaking pitch (he should have taken).  The next pitch he hits a fairly solid ground ball toward the 2^nd baseman who made a nice back hand stop and flip to start a DP to take the wind out of our sails.  But, we still have ARod up with the tying run on 3^rd.  ARod was ready on the first pitch and fouled off a high 90’s fastball – good swing on it.  The next pitch was just a terrible call by the ump.  The pitch was very inside and the ump had not called closer pitches inside to a righty all night (he was calling the outside strike all night).  ARod got close to the ump and raised both his arms outstretching them to the side and twice said “how is that a strike?”  The ump must have known he screwed up because he allowed ARod to say that twice and didn’t get back in ARod’s face.  ARod was frustrated but didn’t go nuts on the ump, just asked the question.  Now the entire AB changes and ARod needs to get his head back in the game.  He fouls off 3 pitches and then has some good takes and 3 straight balls to make the count full.  Great battle.  ARod then tops the next pitch for a slow roller down to 3^rd, I thought he would beat it out but the 3^rd baseman who moves well, charges, barehands it and throws ARod out.  Tough loss, but I enjoyed the chess game in the 9^th.

Other points on the game:

1. ARod messed up a pop-up in the 7^th as he seemed to misjudge that he had a longer way to go for it; it wasn’t an easy play, but he didn’t read it right
2. While on ARod I have always said he is a very heads-up player with excellent instincts but one place he is very unsure of is on tags at 3^rd base.  His positioning just is awkward and he doesn’t snap his tags.  Martin made a fantastic throw catching Francouer trying to steal 3^rd and ARod barley caught the ball and made the tag, but barely is the right word.
3. Francouer was on 2^nd because he stretched a single into a double when Granderson didn’t go 100% after a ball and then didn’t rush his throw and then didn’t throw a strike too 2^nd.  A good throw would have had him.
4. Phelps threw a lot of pitches, but I actually was impressed for a guy who had a mediocre pitching line.  He doesn’t have overpowering stuff, but he reminds me a little of Kuroda in that he can get guys out if his control is good.  His breaking ball was not that sharp, at least consistently sharp, but he spotted a decent fastball and threw some changeups as well.  He definitely earned another start in my books.
5. Our other guy Mitchell is more of a sinker guy.  Good sinker but not much else
6. Logan was used correctly with 2 lefties and one righty and he did the job
7. I mentioned the terrible call at a critical time against ARod above, but the umps on the bases did a great job, especially first base.  Nunez had 2 close plays and he got them right and the 2^nd base and 3^rd base umps made all their calls correctly as well.
8. Jayson Nix started for us in LF and showed why defense is important as he made a nice running catch that would have been a double with Ibanez/Jones out there.  It should be noted Jones made a nice running catch in RF.  When Jones gets there he is rock solid, but he just doesn’t seem to get there anymore.  Nix also was robbed in a key spot by an excellent running catch by the KC speedster in CF.  He also had another running catch later in the game.  People overlook the defense, but if the guy doesn’t make one of those plays we probably win the game.
9. Man, I am so bummed about Rivera

The Genius Maker 5-2

I still don’t understand what Girardi is thinking in carrying so many pitchers?  What team carries 12 let alone 13 pitchers, especially when guys are banged up?  His quote about “being fine” in LF looks even more absurd now.  This is the BS about Girardi that drive me crazy.

Cano is just off.  He will get it straightened out but he is missing pitches he would normally crush.  His frustration is showing up as he swung at a strike 2 that was way outside and I said to my son (who has been watching the game on DVR and fast forward with me – pretty cool) he is going to swing at anything this pitch.  On queue he swing at a slurve inside and in the dirt for strike 3.   Fortunately his defense has still been excellent as he made a smooth as silk catch over his shoulder with 1^st and 3^rd and 1 out where Ibanez was slow to get there and probably would not have been able to get there.

Nova really struggled all game with breaking balls as he left a lot of spinners, but he battled as his fastball had some life (got up to 96 a few times).  Unfortunately the calls of changeups really came at bad times and he allowed 2 HR’s on the changeup.  The pitch selection I have not been happy with.  Nova battled and kept us in the game, but Girardi left him in too long and the game got a little out of reach, especially when you are fielding a AAA lineup.

Yes, I called ours a AAA lineup!  When you have NO bench matchups available and you are starting Andrew Jones against a righty, Ibanez in RF and a 1^st baseman who has a swing that is all messed up to go along with a weak hitting catcher…you won’t score a lot. 

Chavez had an odd thing happen to him as he must have gotten a vertigo attack or something as he had to leave the game with dizziness while at the plate.  Nunez got up and completed the strike out for Chavez, but hopefully Chavez is OK.

BTW, we talked about giving Nunez a chance to see what he has, but his stick is not good enough to cover his awful fielding.  I do think OF might be better for him and he might be better than Jones and Ibanez, but his .614 OPS isn’t exactly something that makes you want to stick him in the lineup.  Of course if Girardi/Cashman would have kept a good defensive OF’r with upside on the team we would at least be gaining valuable knowledge (and save money) rather than getting very mediocre production and poor fielding.  The decisions have been very odd if you ask me.  I will acknowledge that Ibanez and has his OPS of .729 is slightly better than I expected (I was thinking he would be around .700), but the point why I would not have signed him was his inability to play defense and at age 40 you have NO upside so why not get a young guy with upside who will play better defense or at least be used as a defensive replacement?  I know you are pretty tired of hearing me say this, but it just doesn’t show any vision and I think it is more Girardi than Cashman, but I could be wrong on that.

Martin better get his footwork in order behind the plate because he did another poor job of blocking a ball although it didn’t hurt us.  His technique has been bad.

5-0 loss and we are now 3.5 games out of first.

The Genius Maker 5-1

Hughes was Ok tonight.  His curve was OK and his fastball was 93-95 for the first 2 innings, but he still misses too much.  Overall, the irony was that the HR hit by Davis, he hit the target set by Stewart (our catcher), but it was dumb to call a low and inside fastball to a guy with an uppercut swing like that.  The HR he allowed to hardy was another bad call where he called for the fastball inside, however, Hughes left it over the plate and it was crushed…it is possible if he got it in he would have hit it foul, but hardy was waiting for the fastball. 

Some more irony may be Nunez misplaying flair out to LF for a 2 run double.  I am not sure either Jones or Ibanez would have gotten that, but Nunez played it very poorly and deserved his error (even though the silly sometimes rule is that if you don’t get errors on misjudged fly balls).  This underscores why I wanted a defensive player OF’r on the roster.  Eventually they will realize, but in the meantime I say keep Nunez out there if you won’t bring up a player like I was asking for from the start of the year…and maybe we can see if the guy has any game…so far he can’t field anywhere and hasn’t shown the ability to hit very well either.  Not sure he is much of a player?

Cano had many swings where when he was on he would have crushed the ball but he just has not got the barrel out.  He did hit a hard liner to CF at least, but it is sad to watch him like this.

ARod did was Tex should do and that is lay down a bunt when they are allowing you to take a free hit.  Tex needs to do it because he has been awful.  It is amazing with the poor starting pitching and how terrible Cano, Tex and Martin are doing to go along with the fairly weak job ARod has been hitting that the team is above .500.  Jeter and Granderson are carrying the offense with some help from Swisher. 

It should be noted that Logan didn’t get the job done letting up 2 hits to his two batters.  Mostly he struggled throwing his curve for a strike.

Finally, when Martin is your DH, you know someone isn’t filling out the roster correctly

The Genius Maker 4-30

Going back to the CC game.  While the results were good, CC still did not have good use of his changeup or his plus fastball.  He was normally around 92, but he did spot it pretty well and his breaking ball had a good break to it.  I was watching the game with my brother and I commented that because he only had 2 real pitches, he shouldn't just lay in his first pitch curve ball for a strike; he needed to get it outside.  Then he did exactly what I said he shouldn't do but they didn't hit it.  I repeated what I said and then he did it again and Fielder took him deep.  My brother just looked at me and I shrugged my shoulders.  Seemed obvious to me.

The Granderson HR was a highlight to watch as it was almost a great catch by the guy we traded away to get Granderson.  I thought he had it live, but he jarred just enough for it to trickle out.

Last night was one of the games I enjoy that many people find boring.  Every pitch was important.  Setting up the batter was important and there was a lot of chess going on.  I said don’t get down on Kuroda after he got blown up a few starts ago as the box score didn’t tell how he pitched; since then he has been very solid.  He is a professional pitcher with very good location and good movement with ok velocity.  He spotted his pitches very well, had good movement and can throw any of his pitches for strikes.  He is not overpowering, but he will be solid.

Well once again Girardi is behind the blog.  In the comments section from April 20th, my brother and I discussed that Nunez should play in LF until Gardner gets back.  This was in line with the reasons why I didn’t want Ibanez and wanted a younger player with upside who I felt would be overall more productive (including defense).  Well, Girardi realized it was a good idea and put Nunez out there and he paid dividends right away making a sliding catch coming in on a ball that neither Jones or Ibanez would have gotten to and then later on caught one over his shoulder at the wall that neither guy would have reached...then of course, in what could have been a game losing play, Ibanez misplayed what should have been a pretty routine into a single that allowed Kuroda's only run (should have been unearned as he miss-timed his jump badly).  Kuroda only allowed the one run that went to 3rd on the play and pitched really well all game.  Baltimore is not an offensive juggernaut but Kuroda only allowed 3 hits and a walk not counting Ibanez's bad play.  I think Girardi also is realizing that his comments I criticized the other day as being disingenuous were BS because he replaced Ibanez with Andrew Jones for defensive.  This also shows why I said having a defensive specialist made so much sense...I just don't get how inconsistent Girardi is in his thought process?

While on dumb comments...I couldn’t believe Michael Kay was praising the great defensive play by martin on the ball that got away from him when Kuroda tagged out the runner trying to score.  I give Martin credit for his great throw pegging the SB attempt early in the game and I also give him credit for hustling after the pitch and making a good toss to the covering Kuroda...BUT, what about the poor use of his body in blocking the ball in the dirt that allowed the runners to move up to 2nd and 3rd with one out?  That was a huge play.  Now, as a catcher, the blame was on the pitcher, but the when the catcher does not get his body turned back toward home plate he didn’t give it his best effort.  What I am referring too is when you block a ball you should be trying to direct the ball back toward the plate and not leave your right shoulder behind your left shoulder when shifting to your right (or from the pitchers view the left).  On the wild pitch Martin didn’t turn his body and he could have (sometimes you just can't).  Then on the one that we got the out on he did the same thing to the 3rd base side where he didn’t turn back toward the plate, although he did hustle.  Kay kept praising him and it was pretty naive if you ask me.

Robertson was (and has been) amazing by throwing 92-94 but his movement was Rivera like!  He has 10 scoreless innings this year with 15 k's. 

The Baltimore starter Hamel was impressive. Good fastball good control. He made some very good pitches, particularly an AB against ARod where he threw very well located first pitch curve ball on the outside corner, then came in with a very well located fastball for strike 2, then just missed inside and then finished ARod off with a perfect 2 strike pitch breaking ball just off the plate.  He also got Granderson on a great changeup and then after getting that in his mind blew him away with a fastball.

And the Genius Maker gets another tough one run save.  Since his 5 base runners and 2 runs allowed in a 1/3 of an inning on his opening day, he has pitched 8 scoreless innings allowing 3 hits no walks and 7 k's!  He is amazing and I hope he can continue being great at the age of 42.  

The Genius Maker 4-28-12

I was only able to watch bits and pieces of the last two games, but the Yanks got a little lucky in the Verlander game in that Detroit had a lot of chances and the wild pitches (passed balls) helped.  On the winning play, ARod made it happen as he waived Jeter in when Jeter's first reaction was back to 3rd.  ARod is not hitting like we need him to, but the guy has always had excellent baseball instincts.

In yesterday's loss, Nunez played SS and in the first inning he messed up an excellent throw by Martin by being a little late to the bag and not fielding the ball that arrived about the same time as the runner.  He should have made that play and the first inning would not have had a threat.  Instead after intentionally walking Fielder (after falling behind and the correct move), Garcia made a HORRIBLE 0-2 pitch with 2 outs where he placed a hanging splitter on a tee and let up a 3 run HR to Dirks.  Martin had just gone out to talk to Garcia and I don’t know what was exchanged, but it clearly wasn't followed.  On an 0-2 count you simply can't make those mistakes.  The Yanks fell behind 6-1 as Garcia showed why I always liked Colon better and the Yanks chose the wrong guy to stay with the team as his ERA is now 12.51 and he should not pitch again for the team (at least in the rotation and maybe not at all).  Phelps and Rapada kept us in the game and the Yanks made a desperate comeback at the end with a high fly ball to RF that was just short of the warning track that would have tied the game, but it was not to be.  Phelps should probably replace Garcia or if they feel Andy is ready, bring him up.  I am not thrilled with Hughes, but I would like to give a legitimate long leash to him before I remove him from the rotation because once I do, that is probably it...so I would like to let him go longer.

While Martin has not been good overall hitting, Cano and Tex are killing us.  Both guys are barely above a .700 OPS.  I still see Cano swinging at too many bad pitches similar to his I am going to swing no matter what mentality, but mostly, he seems like he is just not getting the barrel out fast enough.  When he is going well he is ripping inside pitches foul and then of course, sometimes keeping them fair, but he is just not doing that so far.  Yesterday he had another one that normally he would scorch, but instead it was just a fly to CF.  Tex has an AB that ticked me off as well in the 9th inning.  ARod had just walked taking 3 straight balls and after 2 more balls to Tex (remember we are down 7-3 as Swisher led off the 9th with a HR) Tex swings at the 2-0 pitch was inside and it ate him up and he popped up to 1st base.  I understand if you want to pick out a zone and try to drive a pitch that you expect to be grooved, but the guy has thrown 5 straight balls and has allowed a HR and the one out (Cano) was not a great pitch...some common sense or at least some patience is in order.  After a single and double Chavez had a chance to tie the game, but didn't get a good swing on the pitch and the game was over 7-5. 

The Genius Maker 4-25

 Last night’s game first.  Hughes made too many mistake pitches and Texas took advantage of them.  Then they also got two breaks on guys hitting the opposite way when they were beaten, but one went for a HR by Napoli and the other a double that dropped in down the line.  I disagreed with Kay and a little bit Singleton about Hughes’ stuff.  They were talking like 91-94 usually around 92-93 was plenty good.  I am not saying that you can’t be effective at that speed, in fact, it is enough, but when you “only” throw that, you better have very good control of it unless your other pitches are excellent.  I think Hughes’ stuff is actually major league average to slightly above average when you take the pitches and movement and speeds into account.  However, his command of the pitches is poor and inconsistent (he hits a good spot and the misses by a lot).

I have not been happy with Martin’s pitch selection as well.  Sometimes it is just style and while I obviously have confidence in my pitch selection abilities, I am sure martin does as well, but there were too many times where he threw fastballs that ended up getting hit when I thought he should have thrown a curve or a slider.  This happened with Phelps as well.  We saw Texas hit too many 0-2 or 2 strike pitches and I felt it was mostly because of the pitch selection even though the location was not where Martin wanted it (to his defense).  Phelps had an 0-2 count in one spot after 2 fastballs and he called for another one outside and Phelps ball has a tail on it and it came back over the plate.  Maybe Martin didn’t account for the tail, but in that spot, IF you were going to throw the fastball, he should have tried to jam the hitter.  In general we haven’t been pitching inside enough in my opinion.

On a good note, I thought Girardi managed the pitchers perfectly last night.  When the game could have gotten out of control (down 4-0 with the bases juiced), he used our LOOGY (lefty one out guy) Rapada, to come in and get a lefty out.  This is EXACTLY why you have a guy like this on the team and Rapada did his job getting Murphy out and keeping us in the game.  We obviously lost, but that was an excellent (although I think obvious) move.

The one area that I thought Girardi made a mistake was pitching to John Hamilton in the 8^th inning with a man on 2^nd and 1 out and the score 7-3.  Two other times he correctly walked Hamilton and the last one didn’t work, but that didn’t mean it was the wrong move.  In that 8^th inning, what possible reason would you pitch to him there?  Very dumb move, but it did work (just to let you know I am not a Monday morning QB); no way I pitch to him there as you should not be worried about a big inning, you have to stop a run from scoring.  % wise it is also a good move as Hamilton is a great hitter.  It is as if Girardi was burned before by it (and BTW, the next guy getting a single is not necessarily getting burned) so then he stopped doing the right thing.  His inconsistency bothers me.

It is great to see Jeter hitting so well.  It is a great surprise, but we need to get ARod, Cano, Tex and martin hitting more in line with the back of their baseball card. 

Time to lick the wounds of this loss and the loss of the series as Verlander is next on the agenda.  BTW, Texas is a very solid team.

Some quick points on the previous nights.

If you look back on the blogs in the off season I talked about getting Yu Darvish as the one piece I would go after.  Now, truth be told, he got almost $19 mil a year for 6 years so it was a tremendous investment/risk, but I wonder if the Yanks would have gone after him whether they would have traded Montero for Pineda?  That string of moves has hurt us this year as Pineda is now out for the year with a tear in his Labrum.  This is a big blow as everyone was expecting big things out of him.  I get the feeling he might have been damaged goods, but I also want to be honest, I thought it was a good move (I assume he was healthy).  Overall, the very good starter is worth more than a very good hitter.  The early returns from our side are very bad, but hopefully he will be fine in next year.  The early returns from Seattle have not been that great either as Montero has an .685 OPS, but I expect him to hit better, but still not be a good defensively.  I was really looking forward to watching Pineda…but will have to wait.

Finally, I will end with one of those comments Girardi makes that makes me say, “What did he just say?”  Perhaps I should make that a section in this blog?  Anyway, when Girardi DH’d Nunez the other night, he was correctly asked, would you consider playing Nunez in the OF?  This was a polite way of saying why don’t you play Nunez in the OF…but Girardi’s response was a head scratcher.  His answer was, “If I was going to do that I would put him in CF because I am comfortable with what we have in LF.”   I could write for another 1000 words on this, but I would just ask you to re-read what Girardi wrote and then lower your expectations for Girardi. 

What did he just say?

Yes he actually said that…I feel dummer just reading it…yes the spelling was intentional.

4-21-12

Wow, that was a lot of fun!  9-0 at the end of 5, watching the game (DVR) with my brother, we were fast forwarding just looking for anything positive as we felt the game was over.  In the 6^th we saw Tex’s homer but then Fox switched to the “perfect” game which we still fast forwarded through.  The last batter checked his swing and it was a poor job by the ump behind home plate to make that call as that is one that needs to be appealed.  It still might have been a no hitter, but I think the perfect game was tarnished.  Anyway, we come back to the Yanks game and we were still fast forwarding at 2x speed and we think we see 9-5 and then 9-8, but we say, whoa let’s back it up and we saw the fireworks.  It would have been much more exciting if they didn’t switch off the game, but watching the Yanks tack on more and more runs was a lot of fun.

BTW, when did Aceves start throwing 95-96 MPH???  He always was a control guy with 92-93 and a good curve (I liked Aceves and didn’t want to see him go).  The pitcher on the mound didn’t seem like the same guy; maybe guys gain MPH when they leave us and lose it when they get here?

I will say the ball is flying out of Fenway and the park is what I call an unfair park because pops ups go off the green monster for doubles and maybe even homers and then you have the Pesky Pole and then RC where if you hit a ball 2 feet to the left you have to hit the ball 40 feet farther for a homer…it just is a crappy layout if you ask me.

Anyway, I can’t get into so many of the specifics I normally, would, but a few comments:

1. Freddie Garcia had nothing again and was not able to hit spots with 2 strikes on the batters and they took advantage of it.
2. Bobby V must be kicking himself for not leaving in his starter for a few more outs (he had 99 pitches) even though it was the right move.
3. It was sad that after the Yanks had the huge lead their defensive team was Ibanez in LF.  I still don’t get why they will not bring up a defensive specialist when that would be useful?
4. I don’t get why teams throw Swisher fastballs?  I don’t have the numbers, but almost every homer is a fastball off his bat.
5. ARod has an excellent understanding of the strike zone.  He is more of a line drive hitter now, but his eye is still good.  He also ripped an absolute bullet that just went foul (1-2 feet) so that was encouraging
6. I thought Girardi managed the bullpen almost exactly the correct way this game.  I would have gone right to Phelps and I would have done it a little earlier, but outside of that, Soriano, Logan (and letting Logan start the 9^th against Ortiz) and Eppley with a 6 run lead was the correct way to handle that.
7. Phelps pitched poorly, but he did get us some innings.  I think he has some ability because he hits spots (usually) and has enough of repertoire to pitch effectively.  He needs to be locked into his spots though as his stuff is not great, but it is good enough.
8. Ortiz found the perfect spot to hit his 3 grounders through the right side
9. How is it a hit and not an error when a SS fields a ball and his feet slide out because he was off balance?  I could see a wet field where it was reasonable to assume you could stop but you couldn’t because of the field, but Aviles committed an error and they gave Jeter a hit…not a big deal, but I would change the way scoring is done; including giving a team error on miscommunications and the like.  I also would get rid of the “you can’t assume a DP” when it is very clear a mediocre throw would create a DP. 
10. And finally, I want to go back to June 26^th, 1987.  My brother and I took my dad to a Yankee Red Sox game for his birthday.  Tommy John was pitching against Roger Clemens.  After The Red Sox beat up TJ for 9 runs going into the bottom of the 3^rd, and with the prospect of having to try and come back against a great pitcher like Roger Clemens, my dad gave us a jab saying, thanks for taking me to such a good game guys…Well, that bottom of the 3^rd was one for the ages.  The Yanks started with a 3 run homer by Dave Winfield and by the end scored 11 runs in that inning!  The game ended up being 11-11 and went into extra innings before the Yanks scratched a run across to win the game!  After that game, Marty Barrett (Sox 2^nd baseman) said, "This is a tough loss, a really tough loss. You expect to take one like this to the bank. It's just one game. How many times is this going to happen? Maybe once every 100 years?"  Sorry Marty, we just did it to you again!

I am enjoying watching Bobby Valentine squirm and as I said before I was happy he went to the Red Sox because #1 I don’t think he is a very good manager and #2 I don’t really care for him and his arrogance.  I always liked Terry Francona (good guy and understands the game) so I was glad to see him get booted out of Boston.  I wish Ortiz was not playing well or they didn’t re-sign him because he is a good guy even if we don’t root for him.

We are back in first place…the world is back in order!