First, I would like to wish everyone a Happy Memorial Day...without the folks we honor today, I would most likely not be able to write this blog and we most certainly would not be able to root for the greatest franchise in all of sports!
and one more note before I get into todays game. Not sure if you heard it or not, but Kendry Morales of the Angels broke his leg when his teammates broke his leg celebrating a walk off grand slam. Now what makes this interesting is that my brother and I have been talking about the celebrations and how people could get hurt for awhile. I am not sure if I ever put it in a blog or not for a home run, but I do remember talking about the players on the bottom of piles when teammates jump onto the pile. Regardless, it is absurd to celebrate with such force; hard high fives are bad enough.
I thought this game was interesting because we were facing a pitcher who had lost his last 11 decisions and pretty much was a human victory cigar for other teams. But, he had very good movement today and combined with an ump who called the low strike, this made for a good afternoon for a sinker baller. The ump was good and consistent, but it did help a sinker baller. I do think the Yanks helped him a lot swinging at balls rather than forcing him to bring up the pitches, but he had good stuff today.
On our side, Burnett, was not throwing as hard as he normally does, but he had excellent downward movement on his pitch. It almost looked like he was throwing a 93 MPH sinker at times. I also though Moeller did a good job in calling the game (I have been down on Cervelli lately).
The Yanks found themselves down 1-0 going into the 7th and had only one good offensive opportunity but Swisher K'd with 2nd and 3rd and 1 out with the infield back and the Yanks failed to get in the run. In the top of the 7th Burnett got 2 outs and then on an 0-2 pitch got unlucky as a curve ball hit Valbuena on the back foot (he almost swung). He then stole 2nd base and here is when it got interesting. Marson hit a ball that Jeter easily got to and set his feet but threw slightly off line. Tex did a terrible job at first base by stretching far too early and straight toward Jeter. This early stretch made it impossible for him to reach to his right and get a ball that really should have been routine for a 1st baseman if he would have stretched to his right instead of straight ahead. I honestly believe that error should have been on Tex as it was a very bad play and the stretch itself was not needed. So the ball got away from tex, the run scored and the next guy tripled in the 3rd run of the game. The Yanks were down 3-0 instead of 1-0 and it was 80% Tex's fault in my opinion. BTW, if my description was poor, stand up and stretch straight ahead of yourself and then reach your glove to the right side as far as you can and see how far you got. Now take your stretch toward your right and then reach out your arm to the right as far as you can. You should be able to stretch 2+ feet more in that direction...the ball tipped off the edge of Tex's glove.
Fortunately, Swisher singled to leadoff the 7th and after Miranda moved Swisher up on a groundout, Gardner hit one up the middle that they had no play on him. After Cervelli's struck out pinch hitting (correctly)for Moeller, it looked like the Yanks would once again leave a runner on 3rd base with 1 out. But Jeter came through with a huge 2 out hit scoring 2 (Gardner stole 2nd). Cleveland went to the bullpen to summon the lefty against Granderson, but fortunately, he hung a pitch to Granderson and he ripped a double. Now Tex was up with 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs and they left the lefty in to face Tex. This surprised me because the guy made a bad pitch to Granderson and now he had Tex who has been hitting almost 200 OPS points higher as a righty followed by ARod. Tex made them pay with a 3 run 2 out blast. the Yanks tacked on 2 more in the 8th and Rivera pitched a perfect 9th to win 7-3.
Other notes:
Rivera looked great tonight. he was throwing 91-93 with great movement (looked like a slider) and then against righties he would tail the ball in at times. The bat against Peralta was one of beauty as he had 2 strikes on Peralta and then threw the traditional cutter on the inside part of the plate that started inside and didn't quite get to the plate for a strike. Then Rivera tailed the fastball that started as a strike and ended up inside and Peralta struck out swinging. The final out was an athletic one as well where Valbuena got sawed off (more proof that the cutter was buzzing today) and the bat flew right at Rivera who leaped over the bat and then immediately stuck out his glove to knock the ball down and then threw him out to the end the game. I would love to see more outings like that by the Genius Maker!
Right before Tex's HR, I thought the Cleveland pitcher should have been called for a balk as he moved his front leg before stepping off...maybe that was a break?
Gardner took the wrong angle on a ball in LF and I think it was a classic example of a CF'r in LF not playing the slice off the lefty bat well. Gardner also showed his speed scoring on Jeter's clutch single, but he did the slide I hate at home and made the play a little closer than it needed to be, more important, he got clipped a little by the catchers cleat in his hand. he did shake his hand, but he seemed OK. Someone needs to tell the Yanks to get to the bag first most of the time.
BTW, I didn't mention the gifts the Yanks got at 1st base the other night where the ump Buckner had 4 close calls at first base and every one of them went the Yanks way, including 2 that I think were gifts for us.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
The Genius Maker #39
Well that was truly awful! That is a game that can ruin a weekend. the offense did a really nice job (until the final 3 innings) and the pitching simply stunk. I think it is 2nd guessing to blame Girardi for this one as he didn't take anything for granted. I would not have used Mitre when Robertson tweaked his back and I would have gone right to Gaudin there, but the rest of the moves were not wrong, they just didn't work, includng the Mitre one. Joba stunk and I had the same issue with pitch selection by Cervelli again. When he did what I said I would throw it worked and when he didn't it usually didn't work. I blame this game on poor pitch selection (which is on the pitchers too) along with CC and Joba. CC has to do a better job with That type of lead, but he never could throw his change up for a quality strike all game. Joba just made too many hittable pitches and the wrong ones. No matter what, when you are up 10-4 against Cleveland and you have Rivera and Joba rested, you should win 99% of those games...and 99% is probably not an exaggeration; one a year.
Of course TB and the Red Sox won so this baseball day was horrible.
Halladay pitched a perfect game for the Phillies; he is a stud.
Of course TB and the Red Sox won so this baseball day was horrible.
Halladay pitched a perfect game for the Phillies; he is a stud.
The Genius Maker #38
The Yankees have a stretch of games against weaker opponents over the next 15 games (16 including last night). I had a number of 11-5 as the record I would like to see for these games. Let’s view it as the quest for 11 (kind of like what we did during the playoffs as a quest for 11 wins and the Championship)
Well, 1 down and 10 to go. With Granderson back it really helps our lineup against righties and our defense. Of course when you have Moeller and Pena in the lineup it still doesn’t turn over like one would want.
First the rants…I really don’t have anything of note from last night. Red Sox lost (to KC), TB lost, our young starter was dominant, Cano hit a grand slam and we won without burning out the bullpen! What could be wrong? ...at least for a day.
People have talked about Hughes throwing the cutter too much. I don’t agree with that, what I think is that when the cutter isn’t good then he shouldn’t throw it as often. Last night he had excellent movement on it and not coincidentally, he was dominant.
My prediction at the start of the year that Winn was a bad signing and would be released happened already…and it was the right move. At least the Yanks will admit their mistakes. I expect we will see Miranda and Thames platoon at DH with Russo playing against lefties in the OF spots and resting infielders the same way; Pena will rest infielders against righties as he did yesterday. Of course, if Pena doesn’t start to hit better he may find himself down in the minors, but Pena is usually decent from the left side.
It seems like Cano is the only guy who can hit with runners in scoring position, but that will change. Remember when everyone said ARod was a great player, but was a choker and then everyone was saying we have to worry about Cano in the 5 hole because he can’t hit with runners in scoring position? Can we please put that entire BS to rest? Isn’t it pretty clear that guys are streaky and go through bad stretches and good stretches? I remember countless long arguments with people where I was defending ARod and stating that one good postseason would get him on target with his regular season and it was a not a long enough stretch to make any meaningful conclusions…I also remember people with the same “I don’t care what you tell me, he is a choker” response time and time again. After Cano dispelled this “mistruth” again this year, we should be able to roll our eyes the next time we hear so and so isn’t clutch.
We have a mismatch in our favor today with CC going against a weak pitcher…time for number 2 (BTW, I would be happy to win more than 11).
Finally, some people have been posting some comments at the end of posts (just a few), but please take the time to respond to them or ask me questions or leave your own comments...it would be nice to get a little back and forth dialogue.
Well, 1 down and 10 to go. With Granderson back it really helps our lineup against righties and our defense. Of course when you have Moeller and Pena in the lineup it still doesn’t turn over like one would want.
First the rants…I really don’t have anything of note from last night. Red Sox lost (to KC), TB lost, our young starter was dominant, Cano hit a grand slam and we won without burning out the bullpen! What could be wrong? ...at least for a day.
People have talked about Hughes throwing the cutter too much. I don’t agree with that, what I think is that when the cutter isn’t good then he shouldn’t throw it as often. Last night he had excellent movement on it and not coincidentally, he was dominant.
My prediction at the start of the year that Winn was a bad signing and would be released happened already…and it was the right move. At least the Yanks will admit their mistakes. I expect we will see Miranda and Thames platoon at DH with Russo playing against lefties in the OF spots and resting infielders the same way; Pena will rest infielders against righties as he did yesterday. Of course, if Pena doesn’t start to hit better he may find himself down in the minors, but Pena is usually decent from the left side.
It seems like Cano is the only guy who can hit with runners in scoring position, but that will change. Remember when everyone said ARod was a great player, but was a choker and then everyone was saying we have to worry about Cano in the 5 hole because he can’t hit with runners in scoring position? Can we please put that entire BS to rest? Isn’t it pretty clear that guys are streaky and go through bad stretches and good stretches? I remember countless long arguments with people where I was defending ARod and stating that one good postseason would get him on target with his regular season and it was a not a long enough stretch to make any meaningful conclusions…I also remember people with the same “I don’t care what you tell me, he is a choker” response time and time again. After Cano dispelled this “mistruth” again this year, we should be able to roll our eyes the next time we hear so and so isn’t clutch.
We have a mismatch in our favor today with CC going against a weak pitcher…time for number 2 (BTW, I would be happy to win more than 11).
Finally, some people have been posting some comments at the end of posts (just a few), but please take the time to respond to them or ask me questions or leave your own comments...it would be nice to get a little back and forth dialogue.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
The Genius Maker #37
This game was extremely frustrating.
Blackburn was very hittable tonight...sinker baller that was getting the ball up and we did little.
I didn’t like the ump behind home plate, especially after a 1-1 pitch was called a ball and instead of 1-2 it was 2-1 and Vazquez had to come in with a strike and it was deposited for a homer. I didn’t like how poorly the Yankees hit, especially ARod, Miranda and Teixeira. Tex probably got me ticked off more than anyone when he swung at a 3-0 pitch down by 3 runs and Gardner on first base with nobody out! What the heck was he thinking, especially when he is slumping and not swinging so well. It was a selfish thing to do that was made worse by the fact he swung at ball 4! At least make sure it was a very hittable pitch and I could disagree, but not get all bent out of shape.
While I am on Tex, he made a great stop with 1st and 3rd and nobody out, but after stepping on 1st base he should have thrown home to get the 2nd out instead of 2nd base; he could have saved a run.
While I pile on Tex, yesterday I forgot to mention that he made a horrible slide into 2nd when he tried to stretch a single. If he goes straight into the bag he easily beats the throw, but instead he slides on the CF side of the bag and misses the bag with his feet (kind of like the home plate slide) and tries to touch with his hand. Once again, no idea what he was thinking?
2-4 with a great play in the field and Tex really got me annoyed...
Finally, what was Girardi thinking when he started Chan Ho Park in 7th inning with Mauer, Morneau and Thome coming up? The score was 5-2 so the game was not over, but after Park (who is better against righties) allowed the M&M boys to get on; he summoned Marte to pitch to Thome (who Marte got to pop up. Now if you are going to go to Marte, why in the world would you wait until after the two lefties were up? In fact, Thome could have been pinch hit for, but he wasn’t. Also, with a righty after Thome and then Kubel up, why wouldn’t you keep Marte in for more than 1 batter? Kubel is a lot better against righties and to have a shot in the game you must get out of the inning. Girardi made bad move after bad move and brought in Gaudin to get the righty out but then allowed a 3 run homer to Kubel that ended the game.
Sticking with my theme, what the heck was Girardi thinking? That was an awful job by Joe.
Let’s turn the page on a simply awful game!
Blackburn was very hittable tonight...sinker baller that was getting the ball up and we did little.
I didn’t like the ump behind home plate, especially after a 1-1 pitch was called a ball and instead of 1-2 it was 2-1 and Vazquez had to come in with a strike and it was deposited for a homer. I didn’t like how poorly the Yankees hit, especially ARod, Miranda and Teixeira. Tex probably got me ticked off more than anyone when he swung at a 3-0 pitch down by 3 runs and Gardner on first base with nobody out! What the heck was he thinking, especially when he is slumping and not swinging so well. It was a selfish thing to do that was made worse by the fact he swung at ball 4! At least make sure it was a very hittable pitch and I could disagree, but not get all bent out of shape.
While I am on Tex, he made a great stop with 1st and 3rd and nobody out, but after stepping on 1st base he should have thrown home to get the 2nd out instead of 2nd base; he could have saved a run.
While I pile on Tex, yesterday I forgot to mention that he made a horrible slide into 2nd when he tried to stretch a single. If he goes straight into the bag he easily beats the throw, but instead he slides on the CF side of the bag and misses the bag with his feet (kind of like the home plate slide) and tries to touch with his hand. Once again, no idea what he was thinking?
2-4 with a great play in the field and Tex really got me annoyed...
Finally, what was Girardi thinking when he started Chan Ho Park in 7th inning with Mauer, Morneau and Thome coming up? The score was 5-2 so the game was not over, but after Park (who is better against righties) allowed the M&M boys to get on; he summoned Marte to pitch to Thome (who Marte got to pop up. Now if you are going to go to Marte, why in the world would you wait until after the two lefties were up? In fact, Thome could have been pinch hit for, but he wasn’t. Also, with a righty after Thome and then Kubel up, why wouldn’t you keep Marte in for more than 1 batter? Kubel is a lot better against righties and to have a shot in the game you must get out of the inning. Girardi made bad move after bad move and brought in Gaudin to get the righty out but then allowed a 3 run homer to Kubel that ended the game.
Sticking with my theme, what the heck was Girardi thinking? That was an awful job by Joe.
Let’s turn the page on a simply awful game!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
The Genius Maker #36
Two games today as we needed to finish up the 1st game that was suspended because of rain yesterday. Burnett was hoping for a run in the 6th and then for the Yanks to not relinquish the lead so he could pickup a win. Jeter obliged with a homer in the 6th and then the Yanks bullpen did their job (barely) as the 1-0 lead held up in an exciting, every pitch counts, 1-0 game.
Jeter also made a really good play in the field with 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs ranging to his right and making his patented Jeter throw, but this was not one where he takes a lot of steps; this one he released very quickly and made the play. This play made the excellent relay by the Yanks holding Morneau at 3rd very important. Jeter did also fail to start a DP by waiting on a grounder, but overall had a really good game.
Tex was up with 1st and 2nd and nobody out right after a walk and he swung at the 1st pitch. That by itself wasn’t so bad, but it was a breaking ball for a ball and Tex better start swinging at strikes or he will stay in this worst slump to start a year in his career. (boy that was a mouthful)
Rivera came on to pitch the 9th and was very shaky, but got a huge break on a hard hit DP top end the game. Control and movement was not very good and it showed.
But we got a 1 run win!
Game 2 saw the Yanks swing at a lot of balls again, but I do have to say that Liriano has an excellent change that goes away from righties and a slider that the righties really have trouble hitting as it ducks under the bat when he gets it down and in. Then he can slip his 92-93 fastball by you as well; he really kept the Yanks off balance and swinging at balls.
Cervelli needs to stop calling for the ball down and in to Spahn, he hit the ball hard each time.
In a huge play, Cervelli beat out a DP play ball that Orlando Hudson really took his time on. With 2 outs, it might not matter, but in this case, Russo (who has done a very nice job) hit a double into the gap scoring Cervelli and tying the game.
Gardner seems a tiny step slower than his blazing normal self…I could be wrong but he just seems it.
Russo made a nice catch on a Mauer line drive to LF!
Pettitte worked his changeup into the game a few times and left a guy at 2nd base with a beauty for strike 3 swinging. Pettitte mixed his pitches really well all game and Minnesota had trouble centering a lot of pitches and when they did they were hit at us.
Getting tired of the announcers talking about how every hit won’t go out of the park…the only ball I thought might go out was the long shot against Mariano in game 1, but he didn’t get all of it.
In the 5th Jeter led off with a double and Swisher swung at the first pitch and it was an off speed pitch and Swisher swung tentatively on it and grounded weakly to 3rd. I know Liriano can fool you, but when you are up in that spot look for something to drive, but you surely can’t pull a slow outside pitch with a weak swing on the 1st pitch…bad job there.
Gardner got a big 2 out triple knocking in Russo which was needed because Minnesota doubled in their own run in the 7th to make it 2-2
The bottom of the 8th was exciting as again every pitch was critical. Butera led off with a line drive to right center that Gardner was flying after (he did look fast there) and he had to go to his back hand with the ball about head high. Brett might have had to take his eye off the ball slightly and the ball went in and out of his glove…he got to it but just couldn’t hang on. It would have been a heck of a catch, but he was not able to make the play. So Butera had a leadoff double and Spahn was up to bunt. The Yanks put the wheel play on with Jeter covering 3rd so ARod charged and got to the ball almost on a fly but was in between trying to catch it and had to scoop the ball and messed it up so they 1st and 3rd and nobody out. After Orlando Hudson lined to Pettitte and the Twins runners did a good job of not getting doubled off up stepped Joe Mauer. This was an interesting call because you could walk him, but with Morneau on deck that would not be a good choice. You just had to take your chances. We got a break as he hit a hard grounder to Jeter (who the Yanks correctly had a DP depth) and Jeter to Cano to Tex for the inning ending DP! Pettitte (and I) were pumped!
Rauch came on for Minnesota to pitch the 9th as he is their closer. He has fairly pedestrian stuff and I was thinking this was good until he got two easy outs on Gardner and Jeter. Swisher came to the plate and took a breaking ball strike, then took a breaking for a ball and the Rauch tried to sneak his 90 MPH fastball by Swisher and he put it in the middle of the plate and Swisher crushed it! The park is fine folks!
Now the question remained, do you leave Pettitte in there against Morneau who he has taken care of today (and Pettitte has been tough on lefties this year) or do you go to the Genius Maker who has not been sharp…even earlier in the day? Andy had only thrown 94 pitches so I was OK with letting him pitch to the lefty and perhaps that would be his last batter no matter what, but Girardi decided to go right to Mo. It was one of those decisions that could go either way and to Girardi’s credit Rivera was much sharper hitting his spots and he even had good movement on his cutter…thereby living up to his name! Of course if Rivera had blown the one run lead Girardi would have been criticized…I am not so sure either move was the right or wrong one and both might have worked, but give Girardi the nod because the decision he did make was the correct one!
2 wins and 2 saves by the Genius Maker in one day is always good. The Red Sox are hot but have helped us inch back toward the top of the division…
Jeter also made a really good play in the field with 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs ranging to his right and making his patented Jeter throw, but this was not one where he takes a lot of steps; this one he released very quickly and made the play. This play made the excellent relay by the Yanks holding Morneau at 3rd very important. Jeter did also fail to start a DP by waiting on a grounder, but overall had a really good game.
Tex was up with 1st and 2nd and nobody out right after a walk and he swung at the 1st pitch. That by itself wasn’t so bad, but it was a breaking ball for a ball and Tex better start swinging at strikes or he will stay in this worst slump to start a year in his career. (boy that was a mouthful)
Rivera came on to pitch the 9th and was very shaky, but got a huge break on a hard hit DP top end the game. Control and movement was not very good and it showed.
But we got a 1 run win!
Game 2 saw the Yanks swing at a lot of balls again, but I do have to say that Liriano has an excellent change that goes away from righties and a slider that the righties really have trouble hitting as it ducks under the bat when he gets it down and in. Then he can slip his 92-93 fastball by you as well; he really kept the Yanks off balance and swinging at balls.
Cervelli needs to stop calling for the ball down and in to Spahn, he hit the ball hard each time.
In a huge play, Cervelli beat out a DP play ball that Orlando Hudson really took his time on. With 2 outs, it might not matter, but in this case, Russo (who has done a very nice job) hit a double into the gap scoring Cervelli and tying the game.
Gardner seems a tiny step slower than his blazing normal self…I could be wrong but he just seems it.
Russo made a nice catch on a Mauer line drive to LF!
Pettitte worked his changeup into the game a few times and left a guy at 2nd base with a beauty for strike 3 swinging. Pettitte mixed his pitches really well all game and Minnesota had trouble centering a lot of pitches and when they did they were hit at us.
Getting tired of the announcers talking about how every hit won’t go out of the park…the only ball I thought might go out was the long shot against Mariano in game 1, but he didn’t get all of it.
In the 5th Jeter led off with a double and Swisher swung at the first pitch and it was an off speed pitch and Swisher swung tentatively on it and grounded weakly to 3rd. I know Liriano can fool you, but when you are up in that spot look for something to drive, but you surely can’t pull a slow outside pitch with a weak swing on the 1st pitch…bad job there.
Gardner got a big 2 out triple knocking in Russo which was needed because Minnesota doubled in their own run in the 7th to make it 2-2
The bottom of the 8th was exciting as again every pitch was critical. Butera led off with a line drive to right center that Gardner was flying after (he did look fast there) and he had to go to his back hand with the ball about head high. Brett might have had to take his eye off the ball slightly and the ball went in and out of his glove…he got to it but just couldn’t hang on. It would have been a heck of a catch, but he was not able to make the play. So Butera had a leadoff double and Spahn was up to bunt. The Yanks put the wheel play on with Jeter covering 3rd so ARod charged and got to the ball almost on a fly but was in between trying to catch it and had to scoop the ball and messed it up so they 1st and 3rd and nobody out. After Orlando Hudson lined to Pettitte and the Twins runners did a good job of not getting doubled off up stepped Joe Mauer. This was an interesting call because you could walk him, but with Morneau on deck that would not be a good choice. You just had to take your chances. We got a break as he hit a hard grounder to Jeter (who the Yanks correctly had a DP depth) and Jeter to Cano to Tex for the inning ending DP! Pettitte (and I) were pumped!
Rauch came on for Minnesota to pitch the 9th as he is their closer. He has fairly pedestrian stuff and I was thinking this was good until he got two easy outs on Gardner and Jeter. Swisher came to the plate and took a breaking ball strike, then took a breaking for a ball and the Rauch tried to sneak his 90 MPH fastball by Swisher and he put it in the middle of the plate and Swisher crushed it! The park is fine folks!
Now the question remained, do you leave Pettitte in there against Morneau who he has taken care of today (and Pettitte has been tough on lefties this year) or do you go to the Genius Maker who has not been sharp…even earlier in the day? Andy had only thrown 94 pitches so I was OK with letting him pitch to the lefty and perhaps that would be his last batter no matter what, but Girardi decided to go right to Mo. It was one of those decisions that could go either way and to Girardi’s credit Rivera was much sharper hitting his spots and he even had good movement on his cutter…thereby living up to his name! Of course if Rivera had blown the one run lead Girardi would have been criticized…I am not so sure either move was the right or wrong one and both might have worked, but give Girardi the nod because the decision he did make was the correct one!
2 wins and 2 saves by the Genius Maker in one day is always good. The Red Sox are hot but have helped us inch back toward the top of the division…
Sunday, May 23, 2010
The Genius Maker #35
I know many people feel these “rivalry” games are very important, but chalk me up to the person who feels these games are the least important ones of the year. While I am not necessarily against playing a NL division every year, I think the rivalry games are for unfair. Now, this year the Mets are a .500 team so it is an advantage for the Yankees and a disadvantage for the Mets (stuck playing the Yanks 6 times!) Meanwhile Boston has to play Philly and TB gets who??? maybe Florida (I honestly didn’t look it up). But the point is the same; get rid of the rivalry games as it is artificial and actually unfair. Please note that this doesn’t mean the Mets could beat the yanks 5 out of 6 games, it is just to point out that 6 games playing a harder team is unfair. I also would like the DH to be in place for these games…as I like the good batter pitcher matchups (that is another discussion)
On to the games…Friday night’s game was simply that Cora gave the Yankees a break and the Yanks pitching did the rest of the job. It was great to see Javier Vazquez pitch extremely well again…I hope his finger is OK (I had not heard anything new)
As for Saturday, the game was simply about hitting with runners in scoring position and the specifically with 2 outs. The Mets had 2 outs and nobody on in the 1st inning and pushed over 2 runs with 2 out hitting. In the 3rd inning The Mets got their 3rd 2 out hit to knock in runs as David Wright came through for his 2nd 2 out hit (both on fastballs away, although one was a cutter). Then again in the 6th the Mets got a 2 out RBI to knock in their run. Finally, in the 7th the Mets again got a 2 out RBI to put the final nail in the coffin. The Yanks did try and mount a rally, but they failed to score with 2nd and 3rd and one 1 out…again. Outside of Cervelli, nobody could get a hit to knock in a run. For the record, Swisher did get a hit in the last inning with ARod on 2nd but it did not score him, however, if the Yanks could have stopped the Mets ONCE in all those 2 out spots ARod would have been sent home.
Jeter, Gardner and Teixeira were the main issue in losing as they were a combined 0-13. Jeter is continuing to struggle and has a very poor OPS of .698 now. Teixeira’s OPS is .702. These guys both have to get MUCH better.
Once again I had issues with some of the pitch selection, but the main difference I see in Hughes is that his cutter has not had good or consistent movement. In fact, a few times it seemed to almost backup (in the way a backup slider would) and it got hit. People have made a big deal about his changeup being the key pitch for him, but I disagree, the pitch that made the difference for him is the cutter and the movement and location of the cutter have not been good of late.
I liked this ump the best so far (overall he was very good), but he did mess up in a huge spot when he called the first pitch a strike against Miranda (with the bases loaded). The difference between 0-1 and 1-0 is very large.
One of the things that makes Tex an excellent offensive player is his high at the plate, of late he has been letting strikes go by and swinging at a lot of bad pitches…he needs to get the discipline going again.
Chan Ho Park had yet another poor outing. Hard to say what he is doing wrong other than he is hanging too many bad pitches and teams are hitting them. His consistency is not there…he is better than this, but not as good as some of the Yankees brass were making him out to be. You can read what I said about CHP in my World Series preview…
Kevin Russo is doing a nice job. I didn’t really like Hairston very much because I like specialists on the Yanks, however, with the injuries we need some guys who are competent now and Russo reminds of me of a younger and probably slightly better Hairston.
Gardner made another running catch that not many CF’rs could make…this time coming in.
Randy Winn dropped a ball that not many LF’rs would have dropped.
TB and Boston won…back at it tomorrow!
On to the games…Friday night’s game was simply that Cora gave the Yankees a break and the Yanks pitching did the rest of the job. It was great to see Javier Vazquez pitch extremely well again…I hope his finger is OK (I had not heard anything new)
As for Saturday, the game was simply about hitting with runners in scoring position and the specifically with 2 outs. The Mets had 2 outs and nobody on in the 1st inning and pushed over 2 runs with 2 out hitting. In the 3rd inning The Mets got their 3rd 2 out hit to knock in runs as David Wright came through for his 2nd 2 out hit (both on fastballs away, although one was a cutter). Then again in the 6th the Mets got a 2 out RBI to knock in their run. Finally, in the 7th the Mets again got a 2 out RBI to put the final nail in the coffin. The Yanks did try and mount a rally, but they failed to score with 2nd and 3rd and one 1 out…again. Outside of Cervelli, nobody could get a hit to knock in a run. For the record, Swisher did get a hit in the last inning with ARod on 2nd but it did not score him, however, if the Yanks could have stopped the Mets ONCE in all those 2 out spots ARod would have been sent home.
Jeter, Gardner and Teixeira were the main issue in losing as they were a combined 0-13. Jeter is continuing to struggle and has a very poor OPS of .698 now. Teixeira’s OPS is .702. These guys both have to get MUCH better.
Once again I had issues with some of the pitch selection, but the main difference I see in Hughes is that his cutter has not had good or consistent movement. In fact, a few times it seemed to almost backup (in the way a backup slider would) and it got hit. People have made a big deal about his changeup being the key pitch for him, but I disagree, the pitch that made the difference for him is the cutter and the movement and location of the cutter have not been good of late.
I liked this ump the best so far (overall he was very good), but he did mess up in a huge spot when he called the first pitch a strike against Miranda (with the bases loaded). The difference between 0-1 and 1-0 is very large.
One of the things that makes Tex an excellent offensive player is his high at the plate, of late he has been letting strikes go by and swinging at a lot of bad pitches…he needs to get the discipline going again.
Chan Ho Park had yet another poor outing. Hard to say what he is doing wrong other than he is hanging too many bad pitches and teams are hitting them. His consistency is not there…he is better than this, but not as good as some of the Yankees brass were making him out to be. You can read what I said about CHP in my World Series preview…
Kevin Russo is doing a nice job. I didn’t really like Hairston very much because I like specialists on the Yanks, however, with the injuries we need some guys who are competent now and Russo reminds of me of a younger and probably slightly better Hairston.
Gardner made another running catch that not many CF’rs could make…this time coming in.
Randy Winn dropped a ball that not many LF’rs would have dropped.
TB and Boston won…back at it tomorrow!
Friday, May 21, 2010
The Genius Maker #34
You have to give credit to TB, they just kept tacking on runs and the Yanks just couldn't stay with them. A very big set of AB's was in the bottom of the 3rd as the Yanks had 2nd and 3rd with nobody out after a few good bunts. The score was 3-3 and Teixeira, ARod and Cano were coming up. Teixeira weakly grounded to the pitcher and ARod and Cano struck out. I thought that was the biggest sequence of the game.
I was surprised Pettitte came out to pitch the 6th after having very poor command all day, but I think Girardi felt that he would let him face Pena as possibly his last AB because Pena has really struggled this year (hitting .194), but I thought Andy was done. After Pena's homer Pettitte's bad night was over. Honestly as bad as his command was, the ump was inconsistent and TB did a good job of driving the ball the opposite way for 2 of their homers. Overall, though the TB lineup is not that good and Pena having about a .650 OPS coming in it is amazing they are doing as well as they have...their pitching has been outstanding. Unfortunately, our pitching did a very poor job against this team and allowed far too many runs. Our offense did decent considering the guys playing...6 runs should be enough to win both games against them, but our pitching/defense didn't get it done.
The ump was bad again..sometimes both ways, but the ARod AB in the 9th was bad as he should have walked on 4 pitches and instead was down in the count.
Cano hit a dribbler down the 1st base line in the 8th inning and for some reason he ran on the left side (3rd base side) of the running lane which allowed Pena to barely and I mean barely touch him before reaching base. If he slid or ran to the right side I think he would have been safe.
Getting back to Pena, both his homers were on off speed pitches (curve from Pettitte and changeup from Chan Ho Park); with him struggling with the fastball Cervelli didn't do a good job. Cervelli has hit way over his head so far and obviously is a very good defensive catcher, but his pitch calling skills are still lacking some. there were many times where I said to myself why are you throwing there or that pitch. The off speed pitches to Pena were 2 of those times. To be fair, against Upton, I didn't want Robertson to throw another fastball outside but he did and Upton swung threw it, but in general Cervelli's calling skills are not as good as Posada's. He does need to learn the situations though and that comes with experience.
Just for some perspective, in these 2 games, TB had 2 guys hit their first homers of the year and Pena broke a 6-64 slide with his 2 dingers.
On a positive note, Robertson had nice life and good location on his fastball as he worked 2 perfect innings striking out 4. Miranda also is showing a decent eye at the plate and ripped a homer to go along with a lucky triple where Upton just lost the ball.
Now we move from the most important games of the year to the least important games against the NL...we just need to get some wins until the cavalry comes back and in this case it is Granderson as the main guy along with Swisher being able to play both ways. It was obvious his swing was different as Swish was swinging a lot more with the front arm (the left arm would let go much faster than normal.
We are losing a lot but there is no reason to panic as we are still in the top of the 3rd for the season and we are in good position...just need to get healthy.
I was surprised Pettitte came out to pitch the 6th after having very poor command all day, but I think Girardi felt that he would let him face Pena as possibly his last AB because Pena has really struggled this year (hitting .194), but I thought Andy was done. After Pena's homer Pettitte's bad night was over. Honestly as bad as his command was, the ump was inconsistent and TB did a good job of driving the ball the opposite way for 2 of their homers. Overall, though the TB lineup is not that good and Pena having about a .650 OPS coming in it is amazing they are doing as well as they have...their pitching has been outstanding. Unfortunately, our pitching did a very poor job against this team and allowed far too many runs. Our offense did decent considering the guys playing...6 runs should be enough to win both games against them, but our pitching/defense didn't get it done.
The ump was bad again..sometimes both ways, but the ARod AB in the 9th was bad as he should have walked on 4 pitches and instead was down in the count.
Cano hit a dribbler down the 1st base line in the 8th inning and for some reason he ran on the left side (3rd base side) of the running lane which allowed Pena to barely and I mean barely touch him before reaching base. If he slid or ran to the right side I think he would have been safe.
Getting back to Pena, both his homers were on off speed pitches (curve from Pettitte and changeup from Chan Ho Park); with him struggling with the fastball Cervelli didn't do a good job. Cervelli has hit way over his head so far and obviously is a very good defensive catcher, but his pitch calling skills are still lacking some. there were many times where I said to myself why are you throwing there or that pitch. The off speed pitches to Pena were 2 of those times. To be fair, against Upton, I didn't want Robertson to throw another fastball outside but he did and Upton swung threw it, but in general Cervelli's calling skills are not as good as Posada's. He does need to learn the situations though and that comes with experience.
Just for some perspective, in these 2 games, TB had 2 guys hit their first homers of the year and Pena broke a 6-64 slide with his 2 dingers.
On a positive note, Robertson had nice life and good location on his fastball as he worked 2 perfect innings striking out 4. Miranda also is showing a decent eye at the plate and ripped a homer to go along with a lucky triple where Upton just lost the ball.
Now we move from the most important games of the year to the least important games against the NL...we just need to get some wins until the cavalry comes back and in this case it is Granderson as the main guy along with Swisher being able to play both ways. It was obvious his swing was different as Swish was swinging a lot more with the front arm (the left arm would let go much faster than normal.
We are losing a lot but there is no reason to panic as we are still in the top of the 3rd for the season and we are in good position...just need to get healthy.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
The Genius Maker #33
Umpires, defense, sliding and the injury report...
1) The umpires have been awful of late; missing calls and terribly inconsistent behind home plate. The guy behind home plate in the Tuesday game against the Red Sox was terrible and it impacted the game greatly. Yesterday, the ump at 2nd called the TB guy safe on a SB that was not close; he was easily out. In general the guys on the bases do a pretty good job, but lately the umpiring has been poor.
2) Shabby defense has been the norm of late watching both the Yankees and other teams really play poorly. While Thames dropped pop was awful, the competition has played much worse than us defensively. However, I want to comment about something that I wrote in the blog last year and that is the way ARod takes throws at 3rd from the catcher. In last nights game, a TB guy was stealing 3rd (I think Upton) and ARod was in front of the bag and took the throw in front of the bag and then had to reach back to make the tag. If he is straddling the bag he just catches and drops the tag and he would have been out. There is little doubt about this and at the big league level I don't understand how this is not fixed as I mentioned it last year. ARod is not the only one who does this as Jeter many times does the same things on throws to 2nd. Cano, like many take the throw a little in front, but they are moving the glove back toward the runner as they catch so it is more of a catch while swiping and it quickly gets the tag there without the risk of the ball hitting the runner. On Tuesday, when Cervelli was bunting in the 9th inning (BTW, that was the wrong call knowing Posada could not pinch hit) and Cervelli took a strike and Cano was getting a good secondary and the catcher threw to 2nd where Scutaro took the throw in front of the runner too far and couldn't get the tag back in time. That was an awful play as Cano should have been out.
The other defensive situation I have brought up many times is when the 1st baseman fields a throw from a catcher/pitcher on a bunt or swinging bunt and his feet are in line with 1st and 2nd base and they don't stretch on a close play. Most 1st baseman do this, but on a close play they lose the advantage of the stretch and lose outs that way (many times I have shown this in the past)
BTW, I do want to add that Gardner made a heck of a catch yesterday and against Boston made a nice throw to nail Ortiz at 2nd base on a deep fly ball that Ortiz thought was gone. Gardner has really been great and while his non adjusted OPS (not including his SB's) may not stay above .800, it doesn't need to for him to be a valuable player.
Sliding - When we slide into home plate our guys are consistently sliding past home plate and tagging with our hands or going around the catcher. I would like to see more straight in hard slides more toward the front or middle of the plate. This makes it almost impossible for the catcher to block the plate when you go in hard and straight. There is always a soft spot or "5 hole" and if not that means the catcher has the ball and you better just lower your shoulder. But outside of Robby Thompson getting us thrown out a lot, we could do a better job of sliding.
Posada is out 3-4 weeks with a hairline fracture in the bottom of his foot.
Others still out are Granderson, NJ, and Aceves. These are big cogs.
Finally, we have injuries to Swisher (he is day to day, but unknown), and Marcus Thames who sprained his ankle stepping on his bat and he is considered day to day as well.
Everyone knows I have a lot of respect for what Aceves brings to our bullpen and I think he would be an effective starter too. Combine his loss to the losing of 33% of your lineup (44% if you count Swisher) we will struggle. We especially get hurt against righties. We have to try and split with TB tonight and just hang in there until we get some help. Long term we should be fine, but the injury bug needs to clear up...and our manager/GM need to be a little smarter in the decisions we do make and control.
1) The umpires have been awful of late; missing calls and terribly inconsistent behind home plate. The guy behind home plate in the Tuesday game against the Red Sox was terrible and it impacted the game greatly. Yesterday, the ump at 2nd called the TB guy safe on a SB that was not close; he was easily out. In general the guys on the bases do a pretty good job, but lately the umpiring has been poor.
2) Shabby defense has been the norm of late watching both the Yankees and other teams really play poorly. While Thames dropped pop was awful, the competition has played much worse than us defensively. However, I want to comment about something that I wrote in the blog last year and that is the way ARod takes throws at 3rd from the catcher. In last nights game, a TB guy was stealing 3rd (I think Upton) and ARod was in front of the bag and took the throw in front of the bag and then had to reach back to make the tag. If he is straddling the bag he just catches and drops the tag and he would have been out. There is little doubt about this and at the big league level I don't understand how this is not fixed as I mentioned it last year. ARod is not the only one who does this as Jeter many times does the same things on throws to 2nd. Cano, like many take the throw a little in front, but they are moving the glove back toward the runner as they catch so it is more of a catch while swiping and it quickly gets the tag there without the risk of the ball hitting the runner. On Tuesday, when Cervelli was bunting in the 9th inning (BTW, that was the wrong call knowing Posada could not pinch hit) and Cervelli took a strike and Cano was getting a good secondary and the catcher threw to 2nd where Scutaro took the throw in front of the runner too far and couldn't get the tag back in time. That was an awful play as Cano should have been out.
The other defensive situation I have brought up many times is when the 1st baseman fields a throw from a catcher/pitcher on a bunt or swinging bunt and his feet are in line with 1st and 2nd base and they don't stretch on a close play. Most 1st baseman do this, but on a close play they lose the advantage of the stretch and lose outs that way (many times I have shown this in the past)
BTW, I do want to add that Gardner made a heck of a catch yesterday and against Boston made a nice throw to nail Ortiz at 2nd base on a deep fly ball that Ortiz thought was gone. Gardner has really been great and while his non adjusted OPS (not including his SB's) may not stay above .800, it doesn't need to for him to be a valuable player.
Sliding - When we slide into home plate our guys are consistently sliding past home plate and tagging with our hands or going around the catcher. I would like to see more straight in hard slides more toward the front or middle of the plate. This makes it almost impossible for the catcher to block the plate when you go in hard and straight. There is always a soft spot or "5 hole" and if not that means the catcher has the ball and you better just lower your shoulder. But outside of Robby Thompson getting us thrown out a lot, we could do a better job of sliding.
Posada is out 3-4 weeks with a hairline fracture in the bottom of his foot.
Others still out are Granderson, NJ, and Aceves. These are big cogs.
Finally, we have injuries to Swisher (he is day to day, but unknown), and Marcus Thames who sprained his ankle stepping on his bat and he is considered day to day as well.
Everyone knows I have a lot of respect for what Aceves brings to our bullpen and I think he would be an effective starter too. Combine his loss to the losing of 33% of your lineup (44% if you count Swisher) we will struggle. We especially get hurt against righties. We have to try and split with TB tonight and just hang in there until we get some help. Long term we should be fine, but the injury bug needs to clear up...and our manager/GM need to be a little smarter in the decisions we do make and control.
The Genius Maker #32
The MASH unit continues as Posada will be gone for awhile and then Thames hurt himself and had to take himself out. The part that is the most puzzling to me is that the Yankees in some crazy stupidity feel that they should have 13 pitchers and 12 position players when 2 of the players you didn't even want to play the other night??? This is like watching some bad softball coach put together his team. What the heck are they thinking? 13 pitchers???
As for the game, AJ struggled but tried to keep us around, but the weakened lineup could not mount much until 2 outs in the 9th. AJ seemed to be flying open and then coming a little more sidearm than usual and this led to his fastball riding up and in to the righty and out of the zone.
Randy Winn still sucks
Jeter is really struggling and had the big AB with bases loaded and had a 3-0 count but hit a grounder on a 3-1 pitch - he needs to step up.
The Yanks need to call up either Romine or Montero and an OF'r.
BTW, why would the Yanks take a GG guy off of 1st base in the most important games of the year? Once again, it just isn't logical. Rest him any other time, but why against the only team ahead of us? Miranda didn't miss anything, but a lot of the stuff I say may not matter (but I bring them up anyway)
As for the game, AJ struggled but tried to keep us around, but the weakened lineup could not mount much until 2 outs in the 9th. AJ seemed to be flying open and then coming a little more sidearm than usual and this led to his fastball riding up and in to the righty and out of the zone.
Randy Winn still sucks
Jeter is really struggling and had the big AB with bases loaded and had a 3-0 count but hit a grounder on a 3-1 pitch - he needs to step up.
The Yanks need to call up either Romine or Montero and an OF'r.
BTW, why would the Yanks take a GG guy off of 1st base in the most important games of the year? Once again, it just isn't logical. Rest him any other time, but why against the only team ahead of us? Miranda didn't miss anything, but a lot of the stuff I say may not matter (but I bring them up anyway)
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
The Genius Maker #31.75
From what I gathered, Posada was available but didn't start because he got hit in the top of his foot with a foul ball, but the bottom of the foot had some pain...this is what I read.
“As soon as I got hit, the bottom of my foot was barking. Right off the foul tip, I felt it right on my foot already. This was weird. You feel the blow on top, then that goes away. But this, for some reason, I guess nerves or something messed up the bottom of it.”
That said, Posada said he could play tonight if he the Yankees needed him, and he hopes to be back in the lineup tomorrow.
Girardi really screwed up! I would even bat Swisher right handed rather than have Winn up. Also, with a 5-1 lead it would have been nice to have Golson in teh OF instead of Thames, but Girardi wanted Melancon up instead???
“As soon as I got hit, the bottom of my foot was barking. Right off the foul tip, I felt it right on my foot already. This was weird. You feel the blow on top, then that goes away. But this, for some reason, I guess nerves or something messed up the bottom of it.”
That said, Posada said he could play tonight if he the Yankees needed him, and he hopes to be back in the lineup tomorrow.
Girardi really screwed up! I would even bat Swisher right handed rather than have Winn up. Also, with a 5-1 lead it would have been nice to have Golson in teh OF instead of Thames, but Girardi wanted Melancon up instead???
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