If it is possible for a position player to be the player of the game when your pitcher goes 8 shutout innings...tonight was that game. Robinson Cano had 2 homers and a line bullet double off the wall tonight and those were not the best of Cano tonight. If you have not seen it (or even if you did) take a look at this! Please copy and paste in your URL
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=7735135
This was as good as any play I have ever seen from a 2nd baseman on a ball up the middle. To reach and get the ball at full speed and then immediately throw the ball accurately and with some power to first base was jaw dropping. WOW!
As for AJ, he did not have good command of his curve again although it had some use. he did mix in only a few change-ups, but his fastball had excellent command and decent movement. AJ went 8 and turned it over to Mariano who looked good tonight to close out the 4-0 victory.
It is a shame we didn't sweep Baltimore, but at least we took 2 of 3. We are doing well considering Texiera is doing worse than the beginning of last year, ARod is in his longest hitless streak in 3-4 years, Granderson has not hit well and many of our bullpen guys have not done well.
Enjoy Robinson Cano's day!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
The Genius Maker #17
Folks, you will have to deal with a short blog as the one I had written got erased on my final sentence.
Long story short... Frustrating day as Hughes had little movement or control of his cutter and Baltimore got a lot of 2 out hits (not off of Hughes) in the 6th to beat us 5-4. We were down 5-2 going into the 9th, but we were not able to finish off the comeback.
I guess my night/morning was more frustrating when my blog erased, but I will be back at it tomorrow...
Long story short... Frustrating day as Hughes had little movement or control of his cutter and Baltimore got a lot of 2 out hits (not off of Hughes) in the 6th to beat us 5-4. We were down 5-2 going into the 9th, but we were not able to finish off the comeback.
I guess my night/morning was more frustrating when my blog erased, but I will be back at it tomorrow...
Sunday, April 25, 2010
The Genius Maker #16
Sunday afternoon was one of those games that a lot of emotion came out of me. Second inning - Cano leads off and Kazmir buzzes a very inside pitch to Cano that he gets out of the way from. The next pitch he plunks him middle of butt. There is no question this was intentional especially as Kazmir walked toward home plate afterward (someone mentioned walking toward the plate is an indicator and this time it surely was). Just in case somebody feels that it is no big deal, remember that Cano hit two homers off of Kazmir earlier this year at Yankee stadium. I was ticked off, but glad there was nobody and out and then I was much happier after Posada hit the first pitch he saw for a 2 run shot. As Posada ran around the bases, I muttered “…. you Kazmir!” Thames hit a double and moved to 3rd on a Granderson bunt. Cervelli was up next and Thames mad ea heads-up base running play as the catcher allowed a ball to go right under his glove for a PB or WP but the fastball ricocheted back to home plate and Thames who was already on his way home quickly recognized the play and scurried quickly back to 3rd base, diving in. Cervelli (who BTW, has slowed a lot of his movement he used to have) worked a walk next. Then Jeter hit a double play ball to 3rd base, but Kendrick was not quick enough to turn the DP and Jeter just beat the throw for the 3rd run of the inning. It was one of those plays where the quick and strong armed turn by Cano would have turned the DP.
Unfortunately Vazquez has continued to struggle with his command and stunk again. The Angels took a 5-3 lead before Cano hit another homer off Kazmir to make it 5-4 into the 7th inning. After Boone Logan did a good job for an inning, Aceves took over and pitched 1.2 innings of perfect ball on only 15 pitches, but Girardi decided to take him out Abreu, Hunter, Matsui and Morales coming up. Now I would agree the lefty in this spot is a good choice, but Ace was cruising along and had only thrown 15 pitches, why would you take him out there? Honestly the only guy I would have been concerned about was Morales as he is much better against righties, but I would have let Ace continue on. Marte walked Abreu and then hit Hunter. He then got Matsui to check his swing and get a force out. Now is when my emotions got a little hot. It was 1st and 2nd with 2 outs (Ace got the first out of the inning) and Morales was coming up. At this point Marte was not sharp but keeping him in against Morales I was OK with. (even though Robertson was ready and is better against lefties). I am just telling you that I would have been OK with the change, but my decision at the time was to leave Marte in as well and this is what I said at that time. Then I see Cervelli stand up and give the intentional walk sign. I said out loud, “what the heck are they doing?” After ball one, Girardi or someone realized that they had 1st and 2nd and the matchup was an OK one. This is why I don’t listen to people when they say these guys no what is going on, obviously they didn’t and obviously they were lost at this juncture. It may not happen often, but how about waking up in the dugout. So now Marte has given a hot a hitter a 1 ball edge. After 2 more balls and a SB of 3rd base where a good throw by Cervelli would have ended the inning (important) I said, “now you just walk him or throw him a slider for a strike.” Marte threw fastball on 3-0 and Morales ripped a 3 run homer that ended the game. That was an awful job by the Yanks coaching staff right there!
Other Notes:
In the 4th inning, Thames missed a top spin line drive that led to at least 2 runs. He got a late jump on the ball and couldn’t hall it in. This was a big play that Gardner would have caught. Later in the game Gardner made a running catch that looked fairly routine; I am sure Thames would not have been able to get to it. Not knocking Thames as we know he is a hitter, but the defense gets overlooked to often.
Vazquez now has an ERA of 9 after 3 starts. This is very disturbing considering he was always mediocre in the AL and after being dominant in the NL last year there was hope he learned something new. So far, he has been worse than in the past and while I don’t expect that to continue, having the same ERA in the AL as he has had can be expected.
We have now finished the 1st inning of the year as we have played 18 out of 162 games. With 8 more innings to play, we are doing pretty well.
• We are 12-6 playing .667 ball which leads to a final record of 108 wins; I will sign up for that right now
• We are 1.5 games behind TB, but 4.5 games ahead of Boston. Minnesota is the only out of division team with a better record in all of baseball at 13-6.
• 4-5 of the rotation have been solid
• The Genius Maker has been extremely effective, with an ERA of 0.00 in 7 innings of work while only allowing 3 hits and a walk with 6 K’s. However, I have not felt that he has looked that good in 5 of his 8 outings. I hope it is just because it is early in the year
• Thames is leading the team (14AB’s) with an OPS of 1.420 followed by Cano at 1.092 and then Cervelli at 1.029 with 14 AB’s also.
• The rest are Jorge (.994), ARod (.915), Jeter (.824), Gardner (.809), Granderson (.785), Swisher (.779), Nick Johnson (.606) and Texiera at (.534)
• Cano is leading the team in RBI’s with 14 and surprisingly the leadoff guy Jeter has 12 in 2nd place. Posada and ARod have 11 apiece.
• Pena is 1-9 with 2 RBI’s and Winn is 0-10 with no walks
• Gardner has 9 SB’s and has been caught once (he was picked off going to 2nd)
• The Yanks as a team have 19 SB’s and have been caught 5 times. The competition has 15 SB’s and been caught 3 times…which is about the same in effectiveness. I usually consider 2 SB’s and one CS to cancel each other out for effectiveness.
Unfortunately Vazquez has continued to struggle with his command and stunk again. The Angels took a 5-3 lead before Cano hit another homer off Kazmir to make it 5-4 into the 7th inning. After Boone Logan did a good job for an inning, Aceves took over and pitched 1.2 innings of perfect ball on only 15 pitches, but Girardi decided to take him out Abreu, Hunter, Matsui and Morales coming up. Now I would agree the lefty in this spot is a good choice, but Ace was cruising along and had only thrown 15 pitches, why would you take him out there? Honestly the only guy I would have been concerned about was Morales as he is much better against righties, but I would have let Ace continue on. Marte walked Abreu and then hit Hunter. He then got Matsui to check his swing and get a force out. Now is when my emotions got a little hot. It was 1st and 2nd with 2 outs (Ace got the first out of the inning) and Morales was coming up. At this point Marte was not sharp but keeping him in against Morales I was OK with. (even though Robertson was ready and is better against lefties). I am just telling you that I would have been OK with the change, but my decision at the time was to leave Marte in as well and this is what I said at that time. Then I see Cervelli stand up and give the intentional walk sign. I said out loud, “what the heck are they doing?” After ball one, Girardi or someone realized that they had 1st and 2nd and the matchup was an OK one. This is why I don’t listen to people when they say these guys no what is going on, obviously they didn’t and obviously they were lost at this juncture. It may not happen often, but how about waking up in the dugout. So now Marte has given a hot a hitter a 1 ball edge. After 2 more balls and a SB of 3rd base where a good throw by Cervelli would have ended the inning (important) I said, “now you just walk him or throw him a slider for a strike.” Marte threw fastball on 3-0 and Morales ripped a 3 run homer that ended the game. That was an awful job by the Yanks coaching staff right there!
Other Notes:
In the 4th inning, Thames missed a top spin line drive that led to at least 2 runs. He got a late jump on the ball and couldn’t hall it in. This was a big play that Gardner would have caught. Later in the game Gardner made a running catch that looked fairly routine; I am sure Thames would not have been able to get to it. Not knocking Thames as we know he is a hitter, but the defense gets overlooked to often.
Vazquez now has an ERA of 9 after 3 starts. This is very disturbing considering he was always mediocre in the AL and after being dominant in the NL last year there was hope he learned something new. So far, he has been worse than in the past and while I don’t expect that to continue, having the same ERA in the AL as he has had can be expected.
We have now finished the 1st inning of the year as we have played 18 out of 162 games. With 8 more innings to play, we are doing pretty well.
• We are 12-6 playing .667 ball which leads to a final record of 108 wins; I will sign up for that right now
• We are 1.5 games behind TB, but 4.5 games ahead of Boston. Minnesota is the only out of division team with a better record in all of baseball at 13-6.
• 4-5 of the rotation have been solid
• The Genius Maker has been extremely effective, with an ERA of 0.00 in 7 innings of work while only allowing 3 hits and a walk with 6 K’s. However, I have not felt that he has looked that good in 5 of his 8 outings. I hope it is just because it is early in the year
• Thames is leading the team (14AB’s) with an OPS of 1.420 followed by Cano at 1.092 and then Cervelli at 1.029 with 14 AB’s also.
• The rest are Jorge (.994), ARod (.915), Jeter (.824), Gardner (.809), Granderson (.785), Swisher (.779), Nick Johnson (.606) and Texiera at (.534)
• Cano is leading the team in RBI’s with 14 and surprisingly the leadoff guy Jeter has 12 in 2nd place. Posada and ARod have 11 apiece.
• Pena is 1-9 with 2 RBI’s and Winn is 0-10 with no walks
• Gardner has 9 SB’s and has been caught once (he was picked off going to 2nd)
• The Yanks as a team have 19 SB’s and have been caught 5 times. The competition has 15 SB’s and been caught 3 times…which is about the same in effectiveness. I usually consider 2 SB’s and one CS to cancel each other out for effectiveness.
The Genius Maker #15
TB keeps winning and Boston seems to win all their games by one run…but at least the Yankees bounced back from their first 2 game losing streak in excellent fashion. Andy Pettitte has been pitching as well as I have ever seen him. I said it after his last outing and I can say the same this outing, he has been outstanding. He is all over the corners of the plate, but he is mixing his speeds, height and location of the plate with as much precision as I have ever seen from him. This is also a surprise for me as many of you know I didn’t expect an ERA from Andy to be anything other than average at best last year and he surprised me. This year, my expectation was not any different and he has been amazing. I can only hope he stays healthy and can take this into the rest of the year and the postseason. Great job Andy!
The story of this game was some very clutch 2 out hits. Cervelli had the really big one to get us started by knocking in 2 runs with 2 outs; Jeter followed by knocking in another. Later in the game after a leadoff triple by Gardner, Texiera and ARod failed to get Gardner home, but Cano came through with a clutch 2 out hit and after a few wild pitches/passed balls Swisher added another 2 out hit.
Gardner batted 2nd and had 3 hits!
Girardi correctly took out Andy and brought in Marte with some lefties up and Marte finished up the 7-1 victory!
Time to win the series today!
The story of this game was some very clutch 2 out hits. Cervelli had the really big one to get us started by knocking in 2 runs with 2 outs; Jeter followed by knocking in another. Later in the game after a leadoff triple by Gardner, Texiera and ARod failed to get Gardner home, but Cano came through with a clutch 2 out hit and after a few wild pitches/passed balls Swisher added another 2 out hit.
Gardner batted 2nd and had 3 hits!
Girardi correctly took out Andy and brought in Marte with some lefties up and Marte finished up the 7-1 victory!
Time to win the series today!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
The Genius Maker #14
AJ Burnett really struggled Friday night. He had no command of his curveball and Anaheim was able to sit and wait on good fastballs to drive. Burnett allowed 9 hits in 6.1 innings and 4 runs. Robertson came on and pitched a good 2/3 of an inning throwing only 6 pitches, but Girardi did not want to keep him in there during a tie game. I don’t really understand why you wouldn’t try to get another inning or a few more outs in a game that looks like it has the possibility of going into extra innings (tied after 7). Veteran readers of this blog know that I always had an issue with the Torre’s method of changing out relievers almost “trying to find the reliever who was not pitching well.” My feeling is that if a guy is looking good and the matchups make sense then you should stay with the guy and get a few more outs if it is reasonable from a work load standpoint. Relievers will all have days where they are not sharp and you want to limit those times and take advantage of the times they are sharp. Robertson has been a little more successful against lefties and with Matsui and Morales leading off I would have left him out there. Joba does not need to be the 8th inning guy. This was my feeling at the time. That being said, this next comment is a hindsight comment because I was not aware of the Morales great success against Joba and knowing his “owning of Joba” I would not have put Joba into the game unless Robertson started poorly in the 8th and didn’t look good. Joba allowed a single to Matsui and then simply hung a slider (that didn’t break) and Morales homered to basically end the game. It happens, but I am not sure why Joba started the 8th inning anyway.
Other quick points on the Friday game
Brett Gardner popped up a high fastball with 1st and 2nd and nobody out. He needs to be much smarter about that. I like the call to bunt in that situation with Gardner up but he failed to execute.
Robbie Cano had a great AB really working a walk and laying off some close balls to get to first. That is a great sign as he seemed to be reverting a little bit.
Fuentes closed out the victory for Anaheim and did so in perfect fashion, but I have to say he looked very ordinary as the Yanks just missed some hittable fastballs. He doesn’t scare me if we have righties up.
Other quick points on the Friday game
Brett Gardner popped up a high fastball with 1st and 2nd and nobody out. He needs to be much smarter about that. I like the call to bunt in that situation with Gardner up but he failed to execute.
Robbie Cano had a great AB really working a walk and laying off some close balls to get to first. That is a great sign as he seemed to be reverting a little bit.
Fuentes closed out the victory for Anaheim and did so in perfect fashion, but I have to say he looked very ordinary as the Yanks just missed some hittable fastballs. He doesn’t scare me if we have righties up.
Friday, April 23, 2010
The Genius Maker #13
Not a real exciting game as the Yanks were in a hole early thanks to 2 walks and a homer in the first inning against CC. The Yanks bats never mounted much of a threat as they were kept off balance by Braden and the Yanks didn’t seem to adjust enough to him. They also just missed a few pitches, but could not string things together. Their 2 runs were solo homers by Texiera and Thames.
However, there was excitement in the bottom of the 6th inning. Oakland had 1st and 2nd nobody out when Suzuki (who already homered) stepped to the plate. He hit a hard grounder down the 3rd base line that ARod grabbed took a few steps to 3rd base then immediately and quickly turned and fired a strike to Cano who made his usual quick turn to 1st base for a triple play! It was the first since 1968. That was pretty much the excitement for the game for Yankee fans.
CC seemed to struggle all night with his motion as he could not get any consistency. In fact, I am not sure if I ever saw him less comfortable on the mound. The A’s offense is very weak and he was fortunate to hold them to only 4 runs in 8 innings as he kept the Yanks in the game, but the offense just didn’t get the job done.
The guys on offense who need to pick it up are Nick Johnson who now sports and OPS of only .611 (thanks to little power and batting average) and Texiera with a .557 OPS.
TB won and Boston lost. TB is now in first.
Just a game to turn the page on and it is time to take a series for Anaheim…again.
However, there was excitement in the bottom of the 6th inning. Oakland had 1st and 2nd nobody out when Suzuki (who already homered) stepped to the plate. He hit a hard grounder down the 3rd base line that ARod grabbed took a few steps to 3rd base then immediately and quickly turned and fired a strike to Cano who made his usual quick turn to 1st base for a triple play! It was the first since 1968. That was pretty much the excitement for the game for Yankee fans.
CC seemed to struggle all night with his motion as he could not get any consistency. In fact, I am not sure if I ever saw him less comfortable on the mound. The A’s offense is very weak and he was fortunate to hold them to only 4 runs in 8 innings as he kept the Yanks in the game, but the offense just didn’t get the job done.
The guys on offense who need to pick it up are Nick Johnson who now sports and OPS of only .611 (thanks to little power and batting average) and Texiera with a .557 OPS.
TB won and Boston lost. TB is now in first.
Just a game to turn the page on and it is time to take a series for Anaheim…again.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
The Genius Maker #12
There are a lot of points I want to make about this game, but the most important point is about Hughes tonight. This was a fun game to watch from a catcher’s perspective. A lot of interesting pitch selection calls to make with the repertoire Phil Hughes has now.
Phil featured an 88-90 mph cutter, a fastball 92-94 and a curveball that was usually around 78-80. The heralded reason for Phil getting the 5th spot was his changeup, but I don’t think it was used the entire night, nor was it the definitive pitch to throw at any point in the game.
Phil and Jorge mixed the cutter and fastball perfectly deep into the night. I was not counting curveballs, but I would estimate the fastball or cutter was featured about 80% of the time. Oakland is not a good hitting ball club and the spacious foul territory turns fouled balls into outs, but Phil’s improved cutter has opened up his game tremendously. Just featuring a well spotted 93 MPH fastball and a cutter that is about 4MPH less kept the batter off balance and they had trouble centering too many. Mix in a curveball that has a lot of break and you have the makings of a very effective pitcher. Phil had a no hitter at the end of 7 innings with only one batter having 3 balls on them (according to the announcers). That batter walked on 4 pitches. The no hitter was broken up on a line drive back that hit Hughes on the non throwing heel of the glove/forearm. After walking the next batter and having thrown his 101 pitch, Girardi correctly took out Hughes as the slim margin was only a 2-0 lead and Oakland now had 1st and 2nd with one out.
Back to Hughes and Posada; they really mixed up the pitches well and while at times I would have mixed in a few more curves, what they called worked and it worked because of the way they mixed it up and the speed, movement and location differentials on the pitches. This makes for a fun night to call pitches. Phil’s line ended up 7.1 innings, 1 hit, 1 run, 2 walks and 10 K’s.
Joba came on and after getting an out, had a couple pitches fouled off before allowing an opposite field single to close the gap to a one run lead. Joba recovered to get the final out of the 8th.
The Yanks got a huge insurance run when Posada got a single and got replaced by Granderson as they forced Posada at 2nd base. Granderson went to 2nd on a groundout by Winn. Gardner then stepped up and proceeded to get ahead in the count, but was not aggressive failed to swing at a hittable pitch. I was disappointed because this was a time where a walk was not too important and in that spot you have to try and take a cut at a strike and drive in that run. Fortunately, Gardner redeemed himself by coming through with a very important single to LF on a 3-2 count. I just wanted to make sure that I was critical of his approach because I would have mentioned it if he hadn’t come through.
Rivera came on and closed the 3-1 win out, but did allow a hit and hit a guy who he had 2 strikes on. I want to make this point now before it happens, but I think the way we will start to see the effectiveness of Mo decrease will be in the form of consistency. He will not be as sharp as often and because of that he will lose some games for us this year. We are still in the 1st inning of this year and he may not be in top form, but he has had too many games where he has not been sharp…even though he has been very effective thus far. Maybe I am saying this just to prepare all of us for the inevitable? Then again, I would have expected this comment to be made and be correct 3 years ago and he still has been great. The only difference is that I didn’t make the comment 3 years ago, because he was still throwing great consistently; I am not seeing that in the 1st inning of this year.
That last paragraph is tough to write and I hope I have to eat those words…
Onto other points on this enjoyable game:
• Jeter jumped on the first pitch of the game and singled. I think the first pitch of the game is a good pitch to jump on for a guy like Jeter (not every time) even though it flies in the face of us wearing pitchers down all the time.
• I was very annoyed with Jeter for swinging at the first pitch when Gardner was on 1st base with 2 outs in the 7th inning with a 2-0 lead. You have to give Gardner at least 1 pitch to try and steal. If you are down 0-1, then you take your hacks. It is kind of a selfish to swing at the first pitch; also it was a curveball.
• In the first inning, I was very annoyed with Girardi. As you know the first inning tends to be a higher scoring inning as the top of the lineup is up and the starting pitcher is not fully in a groove. The Yanks had 1st and 2nd with nobody out and Texiera had a 3-2 count on him and Girardi sent the runners. Texiera looked at strike 3 and Jeter was easily thrown out. Texiera really screwed up; not sure how he didn’t swing at a definite fastball strike and that is not Girardi’s fault, but with a free throw to 3rd base with a lefty up why take that risk when Tex is not swinging well and he strikes out a lot? I want ARod up with 1st and 2nd and one out if Tex doesn’t get the job done; why the risk there? Was the reward that great? Girardi and Tex screwed up there!
• While there have been a few times where Nick Johnson has not been aggressive, overall, he has a great eye and one of the main reasons why he is walking so much is the great eye combined with refusal to expand his strike zone and the fact he fouls a lot of pitches back that others would put in play create these walking situations. There have been more than a handful of AB’s this year where he has fouled off 2-1, 2-0, 3-1 pitches that were very hittable pitches. Later in that AB he walks. Maybe he is not locked in with his swing, or maybe that is just him, but if he gets locked down on his swing more you will see some of those walks diminish and hopefully you will see more hard hit balls. He did hit one right up against the fence about 350’ away in this game
• Cano was 0-29 in Oakland before he grounded a single through the right side
• The Yanks scored their 2 runs and back to back triples by ARod and Cano in the 4th inning. Posada drove in Cano when Oakland left the infield back. It seemed like Posada gave himself up to ensure the run came in
• I said this when they got him, but I am not sure why we got Winn? I know it is early and one good game his numbers will look good, but I thought keeping Hoffman or using one of our younger guys would have saved the over 1 mil Winn is getting. I hope I am wrong, but I would not be surprised if he gets released later in the year.
* That said about Winn, our speed in the OF is excellent with Granderson and Gardner at the other positions. Further our defense has yet to commit and error this year (although Jeter did commit one they just didn't call it one). This is a very good defensive team!
11-3!
Phil featured an 88-90 mph cutter, a fastball 92-94 and a curveball that was usually around 78-80. The heralded reason for Phil getting the 5th spot was his changeup, but I don’t think it was used the entire night, nor was it the definitive pitch to throw at any point in the game.
Phil and Jorge mixed the cutter and fastball perfectly deep into the night. I was not counting curveballs, but I would estimate the fastball or cutter was featured about 80% of the time. Oakland is not a good hitting ball club and the spacious foul territory turns fouled balls into outs, but Phil’s improved cutter has opened up his game tremendously. Just featuring a well spotted 93 MPH fastball and a cutter that is about 4MPH less kept the batter off balance and they had trouble centering too many. Mix in a curveball that has a lot of break and you have the makings of a very effective pitcher. Phil had a no hitter at the end of 7 innings with only one batter having 3 balls on them (according to the announcers). That batter walked on 4 pitches. The no hitter was broken up on a line drive back that hit Hughes on the non throwing heel of the glove/forearm. After walking the next batter and having thrown his 101 pitch, Girardi correctly took out Hughes as the slim margin was only a 2-0 lead and Oakland now had 1st and 2nd with one out.
Back to Hughes and Posada; they really mixed up the pitches well and while at times I would have mixed in a few more curves, what they called worked and it worked because of the way they mixed it up and the speed, movement and location differentials on the pitches. This makes for a fun night to call pitches. Phil’s line ended up 7.1 innings, 1 hit, 1 run, 2 walks and 10 K’s.
Joba came on and after getting an out, had a couple pitches fouled off before allowing an opposite field single to close the gap to a one run lead. Joba recovered to get the final out of the 8th.
The Yanks got a huge insurance run when Posada got a single and got replaced by Granderson as they forced Posada at 2nd base. Granderson went to 2nd on a groundout by Winn. Gardner then stepped up and proceeded to get ahead in the count, but was not aggressive failed to swing at a hittable pitch. I was disappointed because this was a time where a walk was not too important and in that spot you have to try and take a cut at a strike and drive in that run. Fortunately, Gardner redeemed himself by coming through with a very important single to LF on a 3-2 count. I just wanted to make sure that I was critical of his approach because I would have mentioned it if he hadn’t come through.
Rivera came on and closed the 3-1 win out, but did allow a hit and hit a guy who he had 2 strikes on. I want to make this point now before it happens, but I think the way we will start to see the effectiveness of Mo decrease will be in the form of consistency. He will not be as sharp as often and because of that he will lose some games for us this year. We are still in the 1st inning of this year and he may not be in top form, but he has had too many games where he has not been sharp…even though he has been very effective thus far. Maybe I am saying this just to prepare all of us for the inevitable? Then again, I would have expected this comment to be made and be correct 3 years ago and he still has been great. The only difference is that I didn’t make the comment 3 years ago, because he was still throwing great consistently; I am not seeing that in the 1st inning of this year.
That last paragraph is tough to write and I hope I have to eat those words…
Onto other points on this enjoyable game:
• Jeter jumped on the first pitch of the game and singled. I think the first pitch of the game is a good pitch to jump on for a guy like Jeter (not every time) even though it flies in the face of us wearing pitchers down all the time.
• I was very annoyed with Jeter for swinging at the first pitch when Gardner was on 1st base with 2 outs in the 7th inning with a 2-0 lead. You have to give Gardner at least 1 pitch to try and steal. If you are down 0-1, then you take your hacks. It is kind of a selfish to swing at the first pitch; also it was a curveball.
• In the first inning, I was very annoyed with Girardi. As you know the first inning tends to be a higher scoring inning as the top of the lineup is up and the starting pitcher is not fully in a groove. The Yanks had 1st and 2nd with nobody out and Texiera had a 3-2 count on him and Girardi sent the runners. Texiera looked at strike 3 and Jeter was easily thrown out. Texiera really screwed up; not sure how he didn’t swing at a definite fastball strike and that is not Girardi’s fault, but with a free throw to 3rd base with a lefty up why take that risk when Tex is not swinging well and he strikes out a lot? I want ARod up with 1st and 2nd and one out if Tex doesn’t get the job done; why the risk there? Was the reward that great? Girardi and Tex screwed up there!
• While there have been a few times where Nick Johnson has not been aggressive, overall, he has a great eye and one of the main reasons why he is walking so much is the great eye combined with refusal to expand his strike zone and the fact he fouls a lot of pitches back that others would put in play create these walking situations. There have been more than a handful of AB’s this year where he has fouled off 2-1, 2-0, 3-1 pitches that were very hittable pitches. Later in that AB he walks. Maybe he is not locked in with his swing, or maybe that is just him, but if he gets locked down on his swing more you will see some of those walks diminish and hopefully you will see more hard hit balls. He did hit one right up against the fence about 350’ away in this game
• Cano was 0-29 in Oakland before he grounded a single through the right side
• The Yanks scored their 2 runs and back to back triples by ARod and Cano in the 4th inning. Posada drove in Cano when Oakland left the infield back. It seemed like Posada gave himself up to ensure the run came in
• I said this when they got him, but I am not sure why we got Winn? I know it is early and one good game his numbers will look good, but I thought keeping Hoffman or using one of our younger guys would have saved the over 1 mil Winn is getting. I hope I am wrong, but I would not be surprised if he gets released later in the year.
* That said about Winn, our speed in the OF is excellent with Granderson and Gardner at the other positions. Further our defense has yet to commit and error this year (although Jeter did commit one they just didn't call it one). This is a very good defensive team!
11-3!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
The Genius Maker #11
These updates are good because the west coast games are brutal to stay up for on the East Coast. I just record them and watch them at 5 am.
My take:
Vazquez was still not that sharp. His stuff was not bad, although I would like to see his fastball at 90+ all the time and most of the time it ranged from 88-91. He struggled with his change as it ran away outside to the lefties most of the night. The announcers said they wanted to see more fastballs, but from the start his best pitch was his slider and curve. His change did get a little better later in the game, but both homers he allowed (5th and 6th inning) were off fastballs. He got a little unlucky that before the 2nd homer there was a popup that both Granderson and Cano gave up on. I think they both could have caught it, but Cano peeled off and Granderson stopped to look at Cano. The ball should have been the CF’rs though so Granderson gets the blame. Javy ended up going 5.1 allowing 3 runs while striking out 6. Should have been only 2 runs and 5.2, but he still has not been good; I expect him to right the ship and be in that low 4 ERA area.
First inning – Swisher got a big 2 out single that gave the Yankees an early lead.
ARod continued to be locked in showing great plate discipline and later crushing a 3 run homer that was a no brainer. ARod's OPS is now 1.035
You could tell Jeter is still battling his head cold as he looked a little weak at the plate and also should have had an error later in the game (I have no idea how they scored it a hit – it was an error). Jeter went 0-5
Cano had a memorable game. I don’t know the history, but Cano walked 3 times! Yes, read that line again – he tripled his walk total in one game. The odd part was that he didn’t have good AB’s; he tried to swing at a lot of balls yet he still got walked as he fouled off about 8 pitches that were balls. He is not being as disciplined as he should be and needs to lay off the inside pitches he can’t do anything with but hit foul or miss – he did K the other 2 times he was up.
We got to see Boone Logan for the first time and he seems like an ordinary lefty who is a little better against lefties. He throws a fastball around 91-92 and has a slider he throws about 81. Nothing is sharp, but if he can throw strikes he can be somewhat effective. The matchup with all the lefties Oakland has a good one for him, but he doesn’t impress me as anything other than another mediocre lefty arm (which is not always easy to find sadly).
Joba came on with the bases juiced and a 7-3 lead and 2 outs and struck out Kouzmanoff to end the threat. Joba was throwing 94 consistently and hit 96 a few times. He pitched a dominant 8th as well. He only threw 18 pitches and I was wondering whether Girardi was going to stick with him for the 9th. The previous inning they showed Rivera who looked cold and was yawning (it was a cool and windy night) so I didn’t expect Rivera to start the 9th, I expected Robertson to start the 9th with a righty and then a switch up. But Marte came out and he walked the first guy and after ball one to the next batter Girardi pooped up and brought Rivera into a game NOT in a save situation! As I mentioned before I could care less about the save, but it seemed like the type of game I would not want my old closer to get up in, but if Robertson was available I think Joe’s biggest mistake was not starting Robertson in the 9th (I understand not letting Joba go another inning). Of course, Rivera earned his nickname as the Genius Maker because regardless of what the manager does, Rivera bails out the manager almost every time. He didn’t look good, but the results were excellent10 pitches, a K and a DP ended the game!
My take:
Vazquez was still not that sharp. His stuff was not bad, although I would like to see his fastball at 90+ all the time and most of the time it ranged from 88-91. He struggled with his change as it ran away outside to the lefties most of the night. The announcers said they wanted to see more fastballs, but from the start his best pitch was his slider and curve. His change did get a little better later in the game, but both homers he allowed (5th and 6th inning) were off fastballs. He got a little unlucky that before the 2nd homer there was a popup that both Granderson and Cano gave up on. I think they both could have caught it, but Cano peeled off and Granderson stopped to look at Cano. The ball should have been the CF’rs though so Granderson gets the blame. Javy ended up going 5.1 allowing 3 runs while striking out 6. Should have been only 2 runs and 5.2, but he still has not been good; I expect him to right the ship and be in that low 4 ERA area.
First inning – Swisher got a big 2 out single that gave the Yankees an early lead.
ARod continued to be locked in showing great plate discipline and later crushing a 3 run homer that was a no brainer. ARod's OPS is now 1.035
You could tell Jeter is still battling his head cold as he looked a little weak at the plate and also should have had an error later in the game (I have no idea how they scored it a hit – it was an error). Jeter went 0-5
Cano had a memorable game. I don’t know the history, but Cano walked 3 times! Yes, read that line again – he tripled his walk total in one game. The odd part was that he didn’t have good AB’s; he tried to swing at a lot of balls yet he still got walked as he fouled off about 8 pitches that were balls. He is not being as disciplined as he should be and needs to lay off the inside pitches he can’t do anything with but hit foul or miss – he did K the other 2 times he was up.
We got to see Boone Logan for the first time and he seems like an ordinary lefty who is a little better against lefties. He throws a fastball around 91-92 and has a slider he throws about 81. Nothing is sharp, but if he can throw strikes he can be somewhat effective. The matchup with all the lefties Oakland has a good one for him, but he doesn’t impress me as anything other than another mediocre lefty arm (which is not always easy to find sadly).
Joba came on with the bases juiced and a 7-3 lead and 2 outs and struck out Kouzmanoff to end the threat. Joba was throwing 94 consistently and hit 96 a few times. He pitched a dominant 8th as well. He only threw 18 pitches and I was wondering whether Girardi was going to stick with him for the 9th. The previous inning they showed Rivera who looked cold and was yawning (it was a cool and windy night) so I didn’t expect Rivera to start the 9th, I expected Robertson to start the 9th with a righty and then a switch up. But Marte came out and he walked the first guy and after ball one to the next batter Girardi pooped up and brought Rivera into a game NOT in a save situation! As I mentioned before I could care less about the save, but it seemed like the type of game I would not want my old closer to get up in, but if Robertson was available I think Joe’s biggest mistake was not starting Robertson in the 9th (I understand not letting Joba go another inning). Of course, Rivera earned his nickname as the Genius Maker because regardless of what the manager does, Rivera bails out the manager almost every time. He didn’t look good, but the results were excellent10 pitches, a K and a DP ended the game!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
The Genius Maker #10
Pettitte was not that sharp, especially out of the stretch where it looked like he was rushing his mechanics a little too much and then he didn’t locate the plate very well. However, after a huge 2 out 2 RBI hit by Ramiro Pena, Pettitte settled down and did not work from the stretch for 3 straight innings and Texas seemed to give up. Andy went 8 and at the end of the day had a really good start. The Genius Maker, who had very good location and movement (a great sign) finished up for an easy save.
Swisher missed a lot of hittable pitches as I mentioned in the previous blog, but I have to take Kay to task as he got on Nick for jumping on the first pitch later in the game after he hit a line drive to center field. Yes, he is struggling but when you hit one on the screws and you are out that is a good sign, not a bad sign. Earlier in the game he was too quick on a fastball and he pulled it foul, but hit it solidly.
It is hard not to love Jeter and he is also hitting so well, but Pena is much smoother out there defensively.
Cano started expanding his strike zone last game after 2 bad calls against him and it continued today…he had a bad approach over his last 6 AB’s.
Good to see Tex hit a homer and he made a good play on a line drive and an excellent play on a dive to his right.
Once again the Yanks knocked out the opposing pitcher by wearing him down. Harden couldn’t get out of the 4th inning and had already thrown 94 pitches!
Nick Johnson did get caught looking a bunch of times, but at least he made the pitcher throw strikes. Nick’s main issue so far is that when he is swinging he has been fouling pitches off instead of hitting them fair; it will come around. Also, I don;t get fans booing him? Is that supposed to help him? Same with Javier Vazquez...why boo?
ARod was locked all day collecting 3 walks and a single on an inside fastball he pulled his hands in and lined it up the middle.
9-3 tied with TB, but the Red Sox have dug themselves a little hole and are 5 out.
Swisher missed a lot of hittable pitches as I mentioned in the previous blog, but I have to take Kay to task as he got on Nick for jumping on the first pitch later in the game after he hit a line drive to center field. Yes, he is struggling but when you hit one on the screws and you are out that is a good sign, not a bad sign. Earlier in the game he was too quick on a fastball and he pulled it foul, but hit it solidly.
It is hard not to love Jeter and he is also hitting so well, but Pena is much smoother out there defensively.
Cano started expanding his strike zone last game after 2 bad calls against him and it continued today…he had a bad approach over his last 6 AB’s.
Good to see Tex hit a homer and he made a good play on a line drive and an excellent play on a dive to his right.
Once again the Yanks knocked out the opposing pitcher by wearing him down. Harden couldn’t get out of the 4th inning and had already thrown 94 pitches!
Nick Johnson did get caught looking a bunch of times, but at least he made the pitcher throw strikes. Nick’s main issue so far is that when he is swinging he has been fouling pitches off instead of hitting them fair; it will come around. Also, I don;t get fans booing him? Is that supposed to help him? Same with Javier Vazquez...why boo?
ARod was locked all day collecting 3 walks and a single on an inside fastball he pulled his hands in and lined it up the middle.
9-3 tied with TB, but the Red Sox have dug themselves a little hole and are 5 out.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
The Genius Maker #9
Friday’s game was all about the rain, CC’s dominance and the terrible defense by Texas. CC threw a ton of strikes and was in complete control.
Saturday’s game had a lot more interesting items to it.
First, it was a classic Yankee game where they wore down the pitcher. Feldman (who has nice movement and control) had already thrown 50 pitches and was still in the 2nd inning as nick Johnson had a great AB (although he did catch a break where his check swing fouled off a pitch that probably was a strike) to work a bases loaded walk. Now Texiera was up with the bases loaded and he broke his bat on a routine type of grounder to the right side hole…their 2nd baseman froze for the equivalent of about 3 steps and then could barely reach the grounder and the Yankees (and Tex) caught a break on another poor play by Texas. It appeared he froze because the bat went one way and the ball went another. Of course, then Michael Kay had to use the obligatory and randomly correct/incorrect comment that maybe “this is what will break Texiera out of his slump.” I looked at my daughter (who could care less what I was saying) and said, I would think a line drive for an out would make me feel better that Texiera was breaking out of a slump. Of course, Texiera did nothing the rest of the game.
Posada has been hitting great, but he has been very sloppy behind home plate. He makes a great block turning his shoulders in and drops the ball right toward home plate one time and then the next play he doesn’t move at all and lets a ball get past him by trying to catch the ball with his glove (instead of blocking it). I did notice two things that might be nothing, but are concerning. Posada took a foul ball off his forearm and those are spots that can get black and blue very easily and be sore for awhile. Second, after one of his hits, he seemed to have tweaked his back a little bit. Hopefully these are nothing, but as he gets older, it could be an issue. BTW, congrats to Jorge for collecting his 1500th hit!
Swisher has had an average start overall, but he has been missing a lot of very hittable pitches of late.
Gardner was using his speed to get 3 infield hits, however, one of them was because of one of the pet peeves I have where the first baseman did not stretch toward the pitcher and received the ball with his feet sort of in the line in between 1st and 2nd base. Those of you remember me making comments about this before with 1st baseman and I still don’t get it. When a first baseman needs to stretch on a close play form everywhere else, they keep one foot on the bag and almost do a split, but on throws from the pitcher and catcher (on close plays) they don’t stretch at all; if they did here Gardner would have been out as they lose at least 3 feet on the lack of stretching. If you are not sure what I am referring too, stand with your feet a little wider than should width and stretch out as far as you can with your glove hand. Then take one foot and pretend that was on the bag and stretch as far as you can extending the other foot in front of you in a stretch position and see how much farther your glove goes.
Jeter Crushed an inside fastball; I still don’t know how he swings like he does. On that pitch he pulled his hands far in, but still got the barrel around to hit a line drive homer.
ARod got his first of the year on a patented opposite field shot (always a good sign for ARod hitting a homer to the opposite field)
As many of you know, I almost always watch the game on video so I don’t hear the commentators very much, but I do catch some of their comments. Today I was building legos with my son while the game was on and Michael Kay was discussing changeups with Flaherty. It had to do with Burnett learning to throw his change more often and can he do it. Then they started talking about Phil Hughes getting the 5th spot because of his change, yet he threw only 2 in the game, so what was the big deal? First, they were wrong, he threw 5, but the main point was that having the ability to throw a pitch is important even if you don’t and 2nd just throwing it poorly can have some impact on the next pitch as it changed the speed to a batter. Now I am not saying you should throw a bad pitch just to throw it, but mixing up your pitches has benefits. The final straw for me to even bother writing this to you folks was when they started in with never get beat with your 2nd best pitch…That is one of the most incorrect cliché’s you will here. If you always throw your best pitch at every critical moment you encounter, I will promise you that you will not be a good pitcher (of course Rivera breaks the mold). You have to mix it up even if it means throwing your 2nd best pitch at critical times otherwise people will sit on your best pitch thus making it not nearly as effective. Again this is why what Rivera does is simply amazing, throwing the same speed every time.
8-3 and looking good! Boston may be 4 out after tonight and if they are 3 out, that means we are a game up on TB.
Saturday’s game had a lot more interesting items to it.
First, it was a classic Yankee game where they wore down the pitcher. Feldman (who has nice movement and control) had already thrown 50 pitches and was still in the 2nd inning as nick Johnson had a great AB (although he did catch a break where his check swing fouled off a pitch that probably was a strike) to work a bases loaded walk. Now Texiera was up with the bases loaded and he broke his bat on a routine type of grounder to the right side hole…their 2nd baseman froze for the equivalent of about 3 steps and then could barely reach the grounder and the Yankees (and Tex) caught a break on another poor play by Texas. It appeared he froze because the bat went one way and the ball went another. Of course, then Michael Kay had to use the obligatory and randomly correct/incorrect comment that maybe “this is what will break Texiera out of his slump.” I looked at my daughter (who could care less what I was saying) and said, I would think a line drive for an out would make me feel better that Texiera was breaking out of a slump. Of course, Texiera did nothing the rest of the game.
Posada has been hitting great, but he has been very sloppy behind home plate. He makes a great block turning his shoulders in and drops the ball right toward home plate one time and then the next play he doesn’t move at all and lets a ball get past him by trying to catch the ball with his glove (instead of blocking it). I did notice two things that might be nothing, but are concerning. Posada took a foul ball off his forearm and those are spots that can get black and blue very easily and be sore for awhile. Second, after one of his hits, he seemed to have tweaked his back a little bit. Hopefully these are nothing, but as he gets older, it could be an issue. BTW, congrats to Jorge for collecting his 1500th hit!
Swisher has had an average start overall, but he has been missing a lot of very hittable pitches of late.
Gardner was using his speed to get 3 infield hits, however, one of them was because of one of the pet peeves I have where the first baseman did not stretch toward the pitcher and received the ball with his feet sort of in the line in between 1st and 2nd base. Those of you remember me making comments about this before with 1st baseman and I still don’t get it. When a first baseman needs to stretch on a close play form everywhere else, they keep one foot on the bag and almost do a split, but on throws from the pitcher and catcher (on close plays) they don’t stretch at all; if they did here Gardner would have been out as they lose at least 3 feet on the lack of stretching. If you are not sure what I am referring too, stand with your feet a little wider than should width and stretch out as far as you can with your glove hand. Then take one foot and pretend that was on the bag and stretch as far as you can extending the other foot in front of you in a stretch position and see how much farther your glove goes.
Jeter Crushed an inside fastball; I still don’t know how he swings like he does. On that pitch he pulled his hands far in, but still got the barrel around to hit a line drive homer.
ARod got his first of the year on a patented opposite field shot (always a good sign for ARod hitting a homer to the opposite field)
As many of you know, I almost always watch the game on video so I don’t hear the commentators very much, but I do catch some of their comments. Today I was building legos with my son while the game was on and Michael Kay was discussing changeups with Flaherty. It had to do with Burnett learning to throw his change more often and can he do it. Then they started talking about Phil Hughes getting the 5th spot because of his change, yet he threw only 2 in the game, so what was the big deal? First, they were wrong, he threw 5, but the main point was that having the ability to throw a pitch is important even if you don’t and 2nd just throwing it poorly can have some impact on the next pitch as it changed the speed to a batter. Now I am not saying you should throw a bad pitch just to throw it, but mixing up your pitches has benefits. The final straw for me to even bother writing this to you folks was when they started in with never get beat with your 2nd best pitch…That is one of the most incorrect cliché’s you will here. If you always throw your best pitch at every critical moment you encounter, I will promise you that you will not be a good pitcher (of course Rivera breaks the mold). You have to mix it up even if it means throwing your 2nd best pitch at critical times otherwise people will sit on your best pitch thus making it not nearly as effective. Again this is why what Rivera does is simply amazing, throwing the same speed every time.
8-3 and looking good! Boston may be 4 out after tonight and if they are 3 out, that means we are a game up on TB.
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