A good win but as usual I have some comments.
First, why such an inconsistent use of the bullpen people? Girardi refuses to use Rivera and Soriano so that he can use Robertson for 2 full innings of work and 30+ pitches? I understand not wanting to use Soriano and Rivera, but then why not understand that to allow Robertson to close out the 9th or maybe go a little more if needed in a critical spot in the 8th...but instead he starts him in the 8th? Just head scratching for his inconsistency and application of his thought process. That being said, it was good to see Robertson step up.
Cervelli's location of where he wanted pitches thrown was really odd. Many times the call Cervelli made ended up costing Colon, but there were 3 specific times where Colon hit Cervelli's glove and Toronto got big hits (one a homer). A good example of the odd thought process was on a 2-0 pitch to Bautista where he called for the fastball in...obviously Bautista was ready for it lined a bullet to LF.
Another nice two plays by Gardner in the field
Speaking of the field, on a play ARod made a nice dive, he looked like an old man getting up and barely missing throwing a guy out. In contrast, on a bullet hit down the 3rd base line, their guy made the diving play and snapped up and fired quickly to 2nd to get the force out and then still had enough time to complete the DP.
Later after Cano's huge 2 run double, Swisher hit a line to the back hand of their SS (not sure who is in at that time but I think Escobar) and instead of getting in front of it, he tried to back hand and let it get into the OF. That was a terrible play as you must keep it in the infield with 2 outs.
Montero got a hit, but looked like he didn't see the breaking pitches well. Still early on him, but hasn't been very good so far and his swing is not smooth yet...even if it is powerful.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
The Genius Maker #82
Order is restored as we are back in 1st place!
It was good to see Burnett actually pitch a good game and the bullpen hold on to beat Boston. It was even better to step back and think we went to Boston and if Girardi wouldn't have failed in his decision to take out Hughes, we could have swept Boston in Boston with our 2 worst pitchers going against their 2 best. Sure, we had two close victories, especially the last one with Rivera walking 2 batters in the same inning after only walking 5 all year, but even with struggling for control, he came through and made a perfect pitch to strike out their best hitter...and yes that was a strike and a great pitch. Of course if we hadn't left 13 guys on base we might have had a larger cushion.
Kudos to Burnett who changed his hand position and did a better job and also Martin who had a huge game winning double!
Last night further showed why I was not happy with the Yanks sending Nova down earlier in the year. After a rough start he was dominant...the guy has 15 wins and missed some starts up here. My only concern is whether the long season wears him down.
Montero up - Here is one area I can't talk about yet as I do not have a handle on him...I am excited to watch him though.
We have had some stellar defense in the OF of late. Gardner could hit like Ramiro Pena and he would still be valuable to have; that is how great he is in the OF
It was good to see Burnett actually pitch a good game and the bullpen hold on to beat Boston. It was even better to step back and think we went to Boston and if Girardi wouldn't have failed in his decision to take out Hughes, we could have swept Boston in Boston with our 2 worst pitchers going against their 2 best. Sure, we had two close victories, especially the last one with Rivera walking 2 batters in the same inning after only walking 5 all year, but even with struggling for control, he came through and made a perfect pitch to strike out their best hitter...and yes that was a strike and a great pitch. Of course if we hadn't left 13 guys on base we might have had a larger cushion.
Kudos to Burnett who changed his hand position and did a better job and also Martin who had a huge game winning double!
Last night further showed why I was not happy with the Yanks sending Nova down earlier in the year. After a rough start he was dominant...the guy has 15 wins and missed some starts up here. My only concern is whether the long season wears him down.
Montero up - Here is one area I can't talk about yet as I do not have a handle on him...I am excited to watch him though.
We have had some stellar defense in the OF of late. Gardner could hit like Ramiro Pena and he would still be valuable to have; that is how great he is in the OF
Thursday, September 1, 2011
The Genius Maker #81
I had all sorts of comments to make about the game last night, but I will boil this down to the 6th inning and a horrible decision by Girardi that greatly reduced our chances of winning the game.
Phil Hughes started off throwing well (but I had a lot of issues with the pitch selection and it might have been Cervelli or Hughes as Hughes shook him off sometimes) as he threw 94 and had a sharp bite on his curve. They did not use the curve enough and the change-ups he threw were very bad.
First perspective: This game was a huge mismatch with one of the ERA leaders (Beckett) at home going against one of the ERA bottom dwellers (Hughes). Hughes had just allowed 4 runs in the last 3 innings and was throwing only 91-92 at this point. The Yankees offense did a great job and put the team in the lead by scoring 3 runs in the top of the 6th to take a 5-4 lead!
So what does the foolish manager do? He struts Hughes back out for the bottom of the 6th inning! I was furious and it got worse when Hughes started Crawford out 3-0. After throwing a 91 MPH strike down the middle, we got VERY lucky as Crawford pulled a HR foul. I was so sure this was a terrible move that I would have taken him out with a 3-2 count on him that was how sure I was Hughes was done. Hughes then threw another meatball down the middle of the plate, but Crawford flew out to CF. Whew! I wrote in my notes to eat crow and say that I would not have let Hughes pitch but we got an out. After seeing your pitcher have nothing left, I have no idea why Girardi didn’t make a move. He decided to wait for Hughes to walk the next guy and then allow a double before finally taking him out. It was one of those moves you would expect a rookie manager in KC to make. It cost us the game and Girardi should be embarrassed. He is so lucky he has a talented team because he simply is not good enough because he does not have a good feel for a game and does not put the team in the best position to win!
We had a chance to win a game we had no right to win and Girardi blew it…I am really annoyed today and all my other comments will have to wait.
Phil Hughes started off throwing well (but I had a lot of issues with the pitch selection and it might have been Cervelli or Hughes as Hughes shook him off sometimes) as he threw 94 and had a sharp bite on his curve. They did not use the curve enough and the change-ups he threw were very bad.
First perspective: This game was a huge mismatch with one of the ERA leaders (Beckett) at home going against one of the ERA bottom dwellers (Hughes). Hughes had just allowed 4 runs in the last 3 innings and was throwing only 91-92 at this point. The Yankees offense did a great job and put the team in the lead by scoring 3 runs in the top of the 6th to take a 5-4 lead!
So what does the foolish manager do? He struts Hughes back out for the bottom of the 6th inning! I was furious and it got worse when Hughes started Crawford out 3-0. After throwing a 91 MPH strike down the middle, we got VERY lucky as Crawford pulled a HR foul. I was so sure this was a terrible move that I would have taken him out with a 3-2 count on him that was how sure I was Hughes was done. Hughes then threw another meatball down the middle of the plate, but Crawford flew out to CF. Whew! I wrote in my notes to eat crow and say that I would not have let Hughes pitch but we got an out. After seeing your pitcher have nothing left, I have no idea why Girardi didn’t make a move. He decided to wait for Hughes to walk the next guy and then allow a double before finally taking him out. It was one of those moves you would expect a rookie manager in KC to make. It cost us the game and Girardi should be embarrassed. He is so lucky he has a talented team because he simply is not good enough because he does not have a good feel for a game and does not put the team in the best position to win!
We had a chance to win a game we had no right to win and Girardi blew it…I am really annoyed today and all my other comments will have to wait.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
The Genius Maker #80
These Boston games in Fenway are really really grueling. The Red Sox are a very tough team. We had our best on the mound and they had their #4 and it was a battle every step of the way. I don’t get much involved with the conversations of the announcers while I fast forward through a game, but I did catch one comment that was made by Kay who said every pitch is contested. He is correct! Every pitch is important and fought for and it really makes it interested, exciting and grueling.
There was some excitement after Cervelli got plunked. In many ways he deserved it as what he was doing was bush, but I was surprised Lackey would do that to lead off the inning when trailing in a close game…especially in Fenway. I was glad we scored a run out of it. Another note on Cervelli…I have made my opinion of him be known, but I have to say he has been swinging a competitive bat of late. He is 15 for his last 36 AB’s including his HR last night, but I have also been impressed with his working the strike zone well. In his bases loaded AB that he grounded out to 2nd he worked the count well and then hit a decently hard ball right at the SS. It would be a huge plus if he could be a reasonable hitter. I am not confident he will keep it up, but one must give him some credit!
In this 5-2 victory, CC showed why he is a horse. He battled all game as the Red Sox hitters kept fighting, but he went 6 innings allowing 2 runs throwing a season high 128 pitches. He had a good changeup early along with a good fastball and breaking ball, but the Sox did a good job working the count. After the 2nd inning he lost the feel for his change-up and had to rely on only two pitches (he still did throw the change though which is important). I really like CC and love having him on our team.
Swisher had a terrific game. Battling every AB and working the count. Swish saw 22 pitches in only 4 AB’s and went 3-3 with a walk. Swish, Cano and Chavez were the offensive stars that carried us…This was also why I didn’t like pinch hitting Nunez for Chavez at all in the 7th inning. First, we are up 5-2 and Chavez is a GG defender while Nunez has been erratic (to be kind). Second, Chavez was swinging well so why take him out? Nunez, continued the Girardi poor gut feeling decisions by popping up on the 1st pitch with 1st and 3rd and 1 out…Girardi made a bad mistake there.
Posada was awful today. He looked like he was trying to hit everything off the monster and instead he didn’t swing the bat at all. His days are numbered with performances like that.
Tex was also ahead of the off speed stuff and behind the fastball on many occasions.
The announcers got on Gardner for “fake” bunting early in the game and they made comments like when you are in a slump you need to not just fake bunt but you need to actually bunt. While conceptually I agree with them, I think they read the situation wrong and I think he would have bunted but he pulled back both bunts because the pitches were breaking balls and they through off his timing…not that he was going to pull it back anyway. He did sac later on a 3-0 count and he beat it out. I am not sure I would do that, but what was interesting was the perfect bunt kind of caught the 3rd baseman off guard as he expected him to not offer at the pitch.
Rivera threw outside to lefties more than you will ever see him do. He got the job done after a terrible call by the umps when the batter swung at a pitch that hit him. This was especially annoying after they made the wrong call on a legit HBP on Granderson in the 1st inning when they ruled it hit the bat and not him.
Boy the umps draw my venom a lot.
I have to make the point that Gardner is a super stud in LF. The catch he made in the LC gap on a line drive was fantastic. He got a great jump and stole a double from Scutaro on making a play that I am not sure anyone else would have made (Crawford maybe).
I hope Hughes and Burnett can locate some spots or these next two games could get very ugly
Last comment…and after a hard fought win against Boston, I shouldn’t be this negative, but ARod is needed on this team and every day he is out with nagging injuries it makes me think that the roids he took are breaking down his body faster (as they say it does) and the Yanks may be able to void some of those final years that shouldn’t have been on there anyway. Wow that was a long sentence…well my thoughts are that they could argue that they signed him without the prior knowledge he took them…maybe for another day. At the conclusion of this season he will have six years and $143 million left on his contract; Hank Steinbrenner should be embarrassed.
I would love a split over the next 2.
There was some excitement after Cervelli got plunked. In many ways he deserved it as what he was doing was bush, but I was surprised Lackey would do that to lead off the inning when trailing in a close game…especially in Fenway. I was glad we scored a run out of it. Another note on Cervelli…I have made my opinion of him be known, but I have to say he has been swinging a competitive bat of late. He is 15 for his last 36 AB’s including his HR last night, but I have also been impressed with his working the strike zone well. In his bases loaded AB that he grounded out to 2nd he worked the count well and then hit a decently hard ball right at the SS. It would be a huge plus if he could be a reasonable hitter. I am not confident he will keep it up, but one must give him some credit!
In this 5-2 victory, CC showed why he is a horse. He battled all game as the Red Sox hitters kept fighting, but he went 6 innings allowing 2 runs throwing a season high 128 pitches. He had a good changeup early along with a good fastball and breaking ball, but the Sox did a good job working the count. After the 2nd inning he lost the feel for his change-up and had to rely on only two pitches (he still did throw the change though which is important). I really like CC and love having him on our team.
Swisher had a terrific game. Battling every AB and working the count. Swish saw 22 pitches in only 4 AB’s and went 3-3 with a walk. Swish, Cano and Chavez were the offensive stars that carried us…This was also why I didn’t like pinch hitting Nunez for Chavez at all in the 7th inning. First, we are up 5-2 and Chavez is a GG defender while Nunez has been erratic (to be kind). Second, Chavez was swinging well so why take him out? Nunez, continued the Girardi poor gut feeling decisions by popping up on the 1st pitch with 1st and 3rd and 1 out…Girardi made a bad mistake there.
Posada was awful today. He looked like he was trying to hit everything off the monster and instead he didn’t swing the bat at all. His days are numbered with performances like that.
Tex was also ahead of the off speed stuff and behind the fastball on many occasions.
The announcers got on Gardner for “fake” bunting early in the game and they made comments like when you are in a slump you need to not just fake bunt but you need to actually bunt. While conceptually I agree with them, I think they read the situation wrong and I think he would have bunted but he pulled back both bunts because the pitches were breaking balls and they through off his timing…not that he was going to pull it back anyway. He did sac later on a 3-0 count and he beat it out. I am not sure I would do that, but what was interesting was the perfect bunt kind of caught the 3rd baseman off guard as he expected him to not offer at the pitch.
Rivera threw outside to lefties more than you will ever see him do. He got the job done after a terrible call by the umps when the batter swung at a pitch that hit him. This was especially annoying after they made the wrong call on a legit HBP on Granderson in the 1st inning when they ruled it hit the bat and not him.
Boy the umps draw my venom a lot.
I have to make the point that Gardner is a super stud in LF. The catch he made in the LC gap on a line drive was fantastic. He got a great jump and stole a double from Scutaro on making a play that I am not sure anyone else would have made (Crawford maybe).
I hope Hughes and Burnett can locate some spots or these next two games could get very ugly
Last comment…and after a hard fought win against Boston, I shouldn’t be this negative, but ARod is needed on this team and every day he is out with nagging injuries it makes me think that the roids he took are breaking down his body faster (as they say it does) and the Yanks may be able to void some of those final years that shouldn’t have been on there anyway. Wow that was a long sentence…well my thoughts are that they could argue that they signed him without the prior knowledge he took them…maybe for another day. At the conclusion of this season he will have six years and $143 million left on his contract; Hank Steinbrenner should be embarrassed.
I would love a split over the next 2.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
The Genius Maker #79
So, let me get this straight, we want to have a 6 man rotation so that we can keep Burnett in the rotation AND to allow Hughes to stay there as well? OK, at least I understand the logic…
Of course, we could have tried to trade Burnett for any prospect and paid most of his salary like I would have wanted (I think some team would have taken him for “free”). I also didn’t want to send Nova down as I think he is a better pitcher than Hughes. Hughes is without question behind Nova. His command of his pitches was simply awful. He would consistently miss his target. You simply can’t pitch in the majors without better control than that. This is the exact reason why Burnett can’t pitch. Too many fat pitches will get you beat in this league. Burnett’s stuff is still solid, but he doesn’t throw 96+ anymore like he did when he was with Toronto. His breaking ball is good, but unless he works in his change and develop that into a pitch that is thrown 15% of the time effectively, he will not be successful. At this stage, I stick with what I said last year and that was that I had no confidence in him and I surely would not pitch him in the postseason (same for this year). Hughes’ stuff isn’t that good and he needs to be more of a pitcher (using at least 4 pitches) and hone his control. While walks are bad, it is also about throwing quality strikes and not just strikes.
BTW, Noesi would be a better option in our rotation, but I would not have him and Nova back to back because they are similar.
Logan has been pitching very solid for us
The offense: If I am correct, the Yankees had 17 plate appearances with the bases loaded on Friday. That is absurd…and we set a record with 3 grand slams for our trouble.
Congrats to Martin who had a phenomenal game!
Other comments:
We still have not attempted a squeeze of any time this year; that is bad for a lot of reasons as the defense doesn’t even think about defending it. Do you think that maybe with Gardner struggling and facing a lefty, we might try it? BTW, many of you are surprised that I don’t care that much about whether a batter strikes out or not. I care more about their production and if they get out by strike outs I don’t care. While a strike out is non productive, it guarantees at least 3 pitches form the pitcher, and it also guarantees we don’t hit into a DP. Also, as we have seen with Gardner, a pop up is the same as a strikeout.
Cano’s defense has been back to his top notch area after being sub par for the first half of the year (sub par for him and average for others).
ARod looks old in the field; hopefully it is just rust.
Jeter had 2 errors yesterday on the types of hits at him balls he must make with all his other short comings in the field.
Nunez took a throw on a SB attempt and showed just how great Cano is on tags. It is not a coincidence that Martin throws more guys out when Cano takes the throw compared to Jeter and Nunez…Cano’s hands are so quick.
While Jeter has been getting more cheap hits than any hitter I can remember, what is more important is that he is driving the ball better than he has in 2 years. The triple was a fantastic sign and his singles up the middle/right have been solid hits as well. This is huge for us because we need him to stay solid and get ARod on track. With Ellsbury putting up such a good year, Ortiz hitting well again and Gonzalez added to the others, the Red Sox have the offense and 2 very good starters (3 if Bucholz gets back) to make life tough for us.
The Yankees claimed Carlos Pena and my belief is that I would not pick him up unless we get him cheap. I would not give up a lot as he hasn’t been all that much better than Posada against righties. .865 - .830 (that is better though) and it only makes sense if you will release Posada (which I don’t think they will do). I know the rosters will expand but I only care about the postseason. Posada has been swinging better of late so dropping him now seems odd. Maybe if they can get him cheap we let him play and see how Pena does and then make the correct decision for the postseason…I guess I am a little indifferent because Posada has been swinging better and the way ARod has looked in the field, we may want him to do some DH’ing.
ARod hitting a homer to RC was a great sign. When he is going well that is where he picks up a lot of homers. His stroke has been more of a line drive one of late, but we need him to be the .900+ OPS guy for us to advance.
Earlier in the year I talked about how the starters were playing over their heads and the offense was doing worse. Now the starters have been struggling and the hitting has been better.
Of course, we could have tried to trade Burnett for any prospect and paid most of his salary like I would have wanted (I think some team would have taken him for “free”). I also didn’t want to send Nova down as I think he is a better pitcher than Hughes. Hughes is without question behind Nova. His command of his pitches was simply awful. He would consistently miss his target. You simply can’t pitch in the majors without better control than that. This is the exact reason why Burnett can’t pitch. Too many fat pitches will get you beat in this league. Burnett’s stuff is still solid, but he doesn’t throw 96+ anymore like he did when he was with Toronto. His breaking ball is good, but unless he works in his change and develop that into a pitch that is thrown 15% of the time effectively, he will not be successful. At this stage, I stick with what I said last year and that was that I had no confidence in him and I surely would not pitch him in the postseason (same for this year). Hughes’ stuff isn’t that good and he needs to be more of a pitcher (using at least 4 pitches) and hone his control. While walks are bad, it is also about throwing quality strikes and not just strikes.
BTW, Noesi would be a better option in our rotation, but I would not have him and Nova back to back because they are similar.
Logan has been pitching very solid for us
The offense: If I am correct, the Yankees had 17 plate appearances with the bases loaded on Friday. That is absurd…and we set a record with 3 grand slams for our trouble.
Congrats to Martin who had a phenomenal game!
Other comments:
We still have not attempted a squeeze of any time this year; that is bad for a lot of reasons as the defense doesn’t even think about defending it. Do you think that maybe with Gardner struggling and facing a lefty, we might try it? BTW, many of you are surprised that I don’t care that much about whether a batter strikes out or not. I care more about their production and if they get out by strike outs I don’t care. While a strike out is non productive, it guarantees at least 3 pitches form the pitcher, and it also guarantees we don’t hit into a DP. Also, as we have seen with Gardner, a pop up is the same as a strikeout.
Cano’s defense has been back to his top notch area after being sub par for the first half of the year (sub par for him and average for others).
ARod looks old in the field; hopefully it is just rust.
Jeter had 2 errors yesterday on the types of hits at him balls he must make with all his other short comings in the field.
Nunez took a throw on a SB attempt and showed just how great Cano is on tags. It is not a coincidence that Martin throws more guys out when Cano takes the throw compared to Jeter and Nunez…Cano’s hands are so quick.
While Jeter has been getting more cheap hits than any hitter I can remember, what is more important is that he is driving the ball better than he has in 2 years. The triple was a fantastic sign and his singles up the middle/right have been solid hits as well. This is huge for us because we need him to stay solid and get ARod on track. With Ellsbury putting up such a good year, Ortiz hitting well again and Gonzalez added to the others, the Red Sox have the offense and 2 very good starters (3 if Bucholz gets back) to make life tough for us.
The Yankees claimed Carlos Pena and my belief is that I would not pick him up unless we get him cheap. I would not give up a lot as he hasn’t been all that much better than Posada against righties. .865 - .830 (that is better though) and it only makes sense if you will release Posada (which I don’t think they will do). I know the rosters will expand but I only care about the postseason. Posada has been swinging better of late so dropping him now seems odd. Maybe if they can get him cheap we let him play and see how Pena does and then make the correct decision for the postseason…I guess I am a little indifferent because Posada has been swinging better and the way ARod has looked in the field, we may want him to do some DH’ing.
ARod hitting a homer to RC was a great sign. When he is going well that is where he picks up a lot of homers. His stroke has been more of a line drive one of late, but we need him to be the .900+ OPS guy for us to advance.
Earlier in the year I talked about how the starters were playing over their heads and the offense was doing worse. Now the starters have been struggling and the hitting has been better.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
The Genius Maker #78
This will be the question blog:
Why don’t the Yanks learn how to scout the lesser players on opposing ball clubs as these guys keep having career games off us?
Why haven’t the Yankees attempted a suicide or even safety squeeze all year long?
Why didn’t Girardi have Gardner bunt with a good LOOGY (lefty one out guy) Fuentes on the mound with 1st and 3rd and nobody out up by one 1 in the bottom of the 7th?
Why couldn’t Gardner or Jeter get that run in?
In the 8th why didn’t Girardi go to Robertson or Soriano to face Sizemore, who already was 3-3 against CC with a fantastic .948 OPS against lefties and only a .611 OPS against righties?
Why didn’t it surprise me that after CC allowed a game tying double to Sizemore, Girardi then decided to “close the barn door?”
With Soriano already warming up in the bottom of the 8th inning to pitch the 9th, why would Girardi get Rivera up after Tex homered to tie the game?
Why would Girardi then bring in Rivera in the tie game when Soriano was already warmed up?
When Soriano came in after sitting back down, why was Soriano throwing so many breaking balls?
Why was Cervelli calling for so many breaking balls from Soriano (who hit his glove on the 3 run homer)?
Switching to Red Sox questions…
What is up with the Red Sox going to Texas and pummeling them?
Coming into this year, in Ellsbury’s previous 4 years he hit a grand total of 20 homers…so I ask, what kind of roids is Jacoby Ellsbury taking that he has hit 23 homers this year alone?
Inquiring minds want to know
Why don’t the Yanks learn how to scout the lesser players on opposing ball clubs as these guys keep having career games off us?
Why haven’t the Yankees attempted a suicide or even safety squeeze all year long?
Why didn’t Girardi have Gardner bunt with a good LOOGY (lefty one out guy) Fuentes on the mound with 1st and 3rd and nobody out up by one 1 in the bottom of the 7th?
Why couldn’t Gardner or Jeter get that run in?
In the 8th why didn’t Girardi go to Robertson or Soriano to face Sizemore, who already was 3-3 against CC with a fantastic .948 OPS against lefties and only a .611 OPS against righties?
Why didn’t it surprise me that after CC allowed a game tying double to Sizemore, Girardi then decided to “close the barn door?”
With Soriano already warming up in the bottom of the 8th inning to pitch the 9th, why would Girardi get Rivera up after Tex homered to tie the game?
Why would Girardi then bring in Rivera in the tie game when Soriano was already warmed up?
When Soriano came in after sitting back down, why was Soriano throwing so many breaking balls?
Why was Cervelli calling for so many breaking balls from Soriano (who hit his glove on the 3 run homer)?
Switching to Red Sox questions…
What is up with the Red Sox going to Texas and pummeling them?
Coming into this year, in Ellsbury’s previous 4 years he hit a grand total of 20 homers…so I ask, what kind of roids is Jacoby Ellsbury taking that he has hit 23 homers this year alone?
Inquiring minds want to know
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
The Genius Maker #77
Let me first say in what turned into an amazingly exciting and close finish that is about as close as you can be, I didn’t enjoy this game. The umpire was so inconsistent it sucked the life from me…and I think if you took the 40 questionable calls, I think the benefit was in our favor for the game. The ump was so bad though, after a 2-1 strike was called a ball on Colon to make it 3-1 he was forced to groove one that ended up in the upper deck…we still ended up on the plus side of a terrible ump for the game.
Colon pitched OK. I would like to see them work the change in more and I thought he was a little heavy on his slider and didn’t use the 2 seamer (probably because he allowed some homers on that last outing. Colon is OK, don’t get too excited yet.
Oh before I get back to the game, I mentioned in the blog the other day that ARod looked to jam his thumb on the “error” he made…well it was confirmed as he was out of the lineup. This is getting frustrating with him. Hank’s idiotic decision which I harped on for weeks will really stink for those extra 3 years.
So Swisher had a chance to be a hero. 3 run homer in the 8th and could have had the game winning hit in the 9th. After being down 6-0 in the 8th, Posada led off the 9th with a HR (he also doubled and is showing some pop) and after 2 guys reached base, Girardi had a tough decision. Jeter was up with nobody out and 1st and 2nd. Normally I would bunt here, especially with a righty on the mound. But Jeter is seeing the ball extremely well and Granderson looked bad earlier this game and Tex also had terrible AB’s. That being said when Girardi called the bunt; it is not fair to criticize the decision. Granderson was lucky to work a walk, but Tex (who really had an awful game and probably cost us the game offensively) popped up with the bases loaded. Cano barely worked a walk and up came Swisher needing a single to win the game and with Gardner on 3rd a pitch in the dirt could tie the game. After 2 balls we were in the driver’s seat. Do you take a pitch or do you hack away? I am fine swinging at it and he hot it very solidly to deep RC, but it fell just short of the wall (about 390 feet) and instead of a GW grand slam; it was just a frustrating loss.
The offense stunk for most of the game. They missed a lot of hittable pitches. Their pitcher did have some movement, but throwing 90-91 and catching a lot of the plate, it was poor hitting a lot of the time.
Gardner also had a bad game going 0-5 and with Jeter’s hot streak Gardner’s OPS is barely better than Jeter’s at .742 compared to .737. Of course, the adjusted OPS to take SB’s into account puts 7 more points on Jeter and 34 on Gardner’s.
BTW, as bad as Posada has been his OPS is .724, (but a solid .828 against righties), of course he is as big a negative on the bases as a player can be. Interestingly, Posada has been awful against lefties (.304 OPS) and as a pinch hitter (.607 OPS in 13 AB’s). Posada also in about 40 plate appearances at first base has an OPS of 1.012. I think as a catcher he obviously has struggled with going from being so involved with the game to sitting on the bench. Therefore, Posada’s .828 OPS though shows he should DH against righties and be pinch run for as needed late in the game. That is pretty limiting, but at least he has been moderately productive in those spots.
Last comment, I know Jeter has been an icon, but it is embarrassing when everyone keeps talking about his batting average and will he hit .300? I could care less, I just want his OPS to be over .800 the rest of the year (.848 OPS after the All Star Game) and if he does it the way Teixeira does (.248 BA and an OPS of .858), I could care less. Tex and Jeter are a classic example of why batting average means so little. .295 batting average compared to a .248 and Teixeira’s OPS is 121 points higher.
BTW, I don’t want to excuse Teixeira as he has become a different hitter the last 2 years than he was his previous 6. He has become much more pull happy than ever and while he may break 40 homers for the 2nd time his career his overall OBP is lower than it should be. His OPS should be .900 so he is underperforming.
OPS for the Yanks with thoughts as of this moment:
Granderson .965 far over performing
Cano .873 slightly under performing
Teixeira .858 under performing
ARod .838 far under performing
Andrew Jones .836 doing what he did last year so on par
Swisher .808 slightly under performing
Gardner .742 on par (tiny bit under performing)
Jeter .737 (I had Jeter in the mid to high .700’s this year so under performing right now)
Posada .725 (under performing) (he was in the same boat as Jeter high .700’s)
Martin .722 (hard to say, but on par)
Lesser AB guys but
Nunez .708 19 SB’s and 5 CS (not enough for his defense)
Chavez .697 (this may surprise people how low he is, but he has been struggling of late and has little power)
Cervelli .654 (pretty much on his career)
Overall, our offense is not doing as well as it should be doing. In many ways this is a good thing looking forward. Of course, the starting pitching is coming back to earth as well. The bullpen is the best in the bigs! Should be a fun finish.
Colon pitched OK. I would like to see them work the change in more and I thought he was a little heavy on his slider and didn’t use the 2 seamer (probably because he allowed some homers on that last outing. Colon is OK, don’t get too excited yet.
Oh before I get back to the game, I mentioned in the blog the other day that ARod looked to jam his thumb on the “error” he made…well it was confirmed as he was out of the lineup. This is getting frustrating with him. Hank’s idiotic decision which I harped on for weeks will really stink for those extra 3 years.
So Swisher had a chance to be a hero. 3 run homer in the 8th and could have had the game winning hit in the 9th. After being down 6-0 in the 8th, Posada led off the 9th with a HR (he also doubled and is showing some pop) and after 2 guys reached base, Girardi had a tough decision. Jeter was up with nobody out and 1st and 2nd. Normally I would bunt here, especially with a righty on the mound. But Jeter is seeing the ball extremely well and Granderson looked bad earlier this game and Tex also had terrible AB’s. That being said when Girardi called the bunt; it is not fair to criticize the decision. Granderson was lucky to work a walk, but Tex (who really had an awful game and probably cost us the game offensively) popped up with the bases loaded. Cano barely worked a walk and up came Swisher needing a single to win the game and with Gardner on 3rd a pitch in the dirt could tie the game. After 2 balls we were in the driver’s seat. Do you take a pitch or do you hack away? I am fine swinging at it and he hot it very solidly to deep RC, but it fell just short of the wall (about 390 feet) and instead of a GW grand slam; it was just a frustrating loss.
The offense stunk for most of the game. They missed a lot of hittable pitches. Their pitcher did have some movement, but throwing 90-91 and catching a lot of the plate, it was poor hitting a lot of the time.
Gardner also had a bad game going 0-5 and with Jeter’s hot streak Gardner’s OPS is barely better than Jeter’s at .742 compared to .737. Of course, the adjusted OPS to take SB’s into account puts 7 more points on Jeter and 34 on Gardner’s.
BTW, as bad as Posada has been his OPS is .724, (but a solid .828 against righties), of course he is as big a negative on the bases as a player can be. Interestingly, Posada has been awful against lefties (.304 OPS) and as a pinch hitter (.607 OPS in 13 AB’s). Posada also in about 40 plate appearances at first base has an OPS of 1.012. I think as a catcher he obviously has struggled with going from being so involved with the game to sitting on the bench. Therefore, Posada’s .828 OPS though shows he should DH against righties and be pinch run for as needed late in the game. That is pretty limiting, but at least he has been moderately productive in those spots.
Last comment, I know Jeter has been an icon, but it is embarrassing when everyone keeps talking about his batting average and will he hit .300? I could care less, I just want his OPS to be over .800 the rest of the year (.848 OPS after the All Star Game) and if he does it the way Teixeira does (.248 BA and an OPS of .858), I could care less. Tex and Jeter are a classic example of why batting average means so little. .295 batting average compared to a .248 and Teixeira’s OPS is 121 points higher.
BTW, I don’t want to excuse Teixeira as he has become a different hitter the last 2 years than he was his previous 6. He has become much more pull happy than ever and while he may break 40 homers for the 2nd time his career his overall OBP is lower than it should be. His OPS should be .900 so he is underperforming.
OPS for the Yanks with thoughts as of this moment:
Granderson .965 far over performing
Cano .873 slightly under performing
Teixeira .858 under performing
ARod .838 far under performing
Andrew Jones .836 doing what he did last year so on par
Swisher .808 slightly under performing
Gardner .742 on par (tiny bit under performing)
Jeter .737 (I had Jeter in the mid to high .700’s this year so under performing right now)
Posada .725 (under performing) (he was in the same boat as Jeter high .700’s)
Martin .722 (hard to say, but on par)
Lesser AB guys but
Nunez .708 19 SB’s and 5 CS (not enough for his defense)
Chavez .697 (this may surprise people how low he is, but he has been struggling of late and has little power)
Cervelli .654 (pretty much on his career)
Overall, our offense is not doing as well as it should be doing. In many ways this is a good thing looking forward. Of course, the starting pitching is coming back to earth as well. The bullpen is the best in the bigs! Should be a fun finish.
Monday, August 22, 2011
The Genius Maker #76
The return of ARod gave Girardi the chance to shuffle the lineup and I was interested to see what he did. He decided to put ARod back in the 4th spot, even though he hasn’t hit like a 4th guy all year (which is actually fine because those designations are overrated in the middle of the lineup…at the beginning you do want your OBP guys in front of your boppers). I thought they may put ARod behind Cano, but was more interesting, yet not surprising, was Jeter in the leadoff spot against a righty and Gardner at the bottom of the lineup. I am sure Jeter’s surge had a lot to with it and I am sure that putting Jeter 9th was not going to happen so instead of dropping Cano to the 6th hole, this was his only option. Interestingly, Jeter and ARod were both up with the bases loaded and 2 outs and neither got the job done. In fact, ARod was 0-5 and looked bad at the plate not hitting anything real well.
Yanks had two very good opportunities in the first 2 innings but failed to cash them in. The key AB was Nunez up with the bases loaded and one out with a 3-0 count on him, the pitcher threw 3 straight fastballs and struck Nunez out swinging; poor job in that spot.
The next big situation was when Granderson and Swisher did not communicate well and then at the end both players backed off and the ball fell for a double. First, that is an error and I don’t want to hear anything about they didn’t touch it, that is an error and the CF should get it because he should be in charge. If he calls for it and the other fielder runs into him and he drops it then the other fielder gets the error. In this case both called for it but the CF’r needs to take charge and Granderson is too nice a guy (I actually said that last year) to be the take charge guy he should be. This gave Nova a 2nd and 3rd situation with nobody out, but he worked out of it showing an excellent curve, a fastball that he dialed up to 95 when he needed to. For the game he mixed in some sliders but didn’t throw nearly as many as last game and he only threw 3 or so change-ups. That change is a pitch I would like to see him control more as it would work really well with what he has. Overall, Nova pitched an excellent game (still a weak lineup) walking only one batter and allowing 5 hits in 7 shutout innings.
The Yanks got their first run on a beautifully stroked double by Cano down the LF line and then he moved to 3rd and a deep drive by Swisher and scored on a sac line drive fly by Martin.
The 2nd run came on some excellent hustle by Granderson who hit a towering fly ball high up on the right center wall that had both outfielders play the ball like it wasn’t their own home park as the ball caromed far toward the infield. By the time they chased it down and then executed the relay poorly, Granderson had a head first sliding inside the park HR. I have been a little critical (haven’t mentioned it) by the lack of hustle by the Yankees down the first base line, but Granderson was not guilty here and it paid off.
Tex followed with a “normal” HR
Robertson struggled in the 8th, loading the bases, but worked his way out of it keeping his streak of no runs allowed on the road this year in tact.
The Yanks almost scored a run in the 8th and I wondered whether Girardi would have used Rivera if it was not a save situation. With the day off he most assuredly should have, but you know Girardi manages differently if the situation is not a save…Anyway, the Genius Maker worked about as smoothly as possible in picking up the easiest save in the book. Mo threw 10 pitches (8 strikes) and stuck out two guys.
A couple other points:
ARod made an excellent play on a bunt charging on throwing a strike on an extremely well executed bunt that was shown very late. He later in the game back handed a ball that he could have easily got in front of jammed his glove hand into the ground and made an error…even though they called it a hit…it was clearly an error. BTW, when he jammed his left hand into the ground he reached for his thumb, hopefully he is ok.
Gardner gave up on a pop up that I think he might have been able to catch…first time I have said that about him.
Also, of note, Nunez worked an error free game at SS and Tex committed an error. When you think about it, it was a pretty poor defensive performance by the Yanks.
Boston won.
Yanks had two very good opportunities in the first 2 innings but failed to cash them in. The key AB was Nunez up with the bases loaded and one out with a 3-0 count on him, the pitcher threw 3 straight fastballs and struck Nunez out swinging; poor job in that spot.
The next big situation was when Granderson and Swisher did not communicate well and then at the end both players backed off and the ball fell for a double. First, that is an error and I don’t want to hear anything about they didn’t touch it, that is an error and the CF should get it because he should be in charge. If he calls for it and the other fielder runs into him and he drops it then the other fielder gets the error. In this case both called for it but the CF’r needs to take charge and Granderson is too nice a guy (I actually said that last year) to be the take charge guy he should be. This gave Nova a 2nd and 3rd situation with nobody out, but he worked out of it showing an excellent curve, a fastball that he dialed up to 95 when he needed to. For the game he mixed in some sliders but didn’t throw nearly as many as last game and he only threw 3 or so change-ups. That change is a pitch I would like to see him control more as it would work really well with what he has. Overall, Nova pitched an excellent game (still a weak lineup) walking only one batter and allowing 5 hits in 7 shutout innings.
The Yanks got their first run on a beautifully stroked double by Cano down the LF line and then he moved to 3rd and a deep drive by Swisher and scored on a sac line drive fly by Martin.
The 2nd run came on some excellent hustle by Granderson who hit a towering fly ball high up on the right center wall that had both outfielders play the ball like it wasn’t their own home park as the ball caromed far toward the infield. By the time they chased it down and then executed the relay poorly, Granderson had a head first sliding inside the park HR. I have been a little critical (haven’t mentioned it) by the lack of hustle by the Yankees down the first base line, but Granderson was not guilty here and it paid off.
Tex followed with a “normal” HR
Robertson struggled in the 8th, loading the bases, but worked his way out of it keeping his streak of no runs allowed on the road this year in tact.
The Yanks almost scored a run in the 8th and I wondered whether Girardi would have used Rivera if it was not a save situation. With the day off he most assuredly should have, but you know Girardi manages differently if the situation is not a save…Anyway, the Genius Maker worked about as smoothly as possible in picking up the easiest save in the book. Mo threw 10 pitches (8 strikes) and stuck out two guys.
A couple other points:
ARod made an excellent play on a bunt charging on throwing a strike on an extremely well executed bunt that was shown very late. He later in the game back handed a ball that he could have easily got in front of jammed his glove hand into the ground and made an error…even though they called it a hit…it was clearly an error. BTW, when he jammed his left hand into the ground he reached for his thumb, hopefully he is ok.
Gardner gave up on a pop up that I think he might have been able to catch…first time I have said that about him.
Also, of note, Nunez worked an error free game at SS and Tex committed an error. When you think about it, it was a pretty poor defensive performance by the Yanks.
Boston won.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
The Genius Maker #75
I have a little write up for the last 3 games, but yesterday morning I wrote the following (before Laffey pitched last night) and I wanted to start the blog with this.
“Yankees picked up the lefty Laffey on waivers…I don’t get picking up guys like this and then having to put them on the 40 man roster. I said this before and it bears repeating, just having a lefty is not what is needed as the final 3 innings of the game are probably locked up with righty pitchers who will get lefties out. Therefore, the need for a lefty specialist (LOOGY or Lefty One Out Guy) is not as important the way the Yankees are structured right now. I am not going back on my feel for getting a 2nd lefty, but if you get one, the guy needs to be a lefty who is simply great against lefties and may be horrible against righties. Otherwise it is a wasted roster spot. Just like I predicted that Randy Winn was a waste of a signing, and others were wasted, I feel Laffey will be the same waste. (at least Laffey is young and maybe they see something that they can correct so that part I will defer to, but on the surface this is a bad move). Then again this could mean that Feliciano and/or Marte will not make it back this year (I have not heard anything new).”
After watching Saturday’s game, the announcers were praising Laffey as what they needed (for the reasons I have been saying) but it was as if they never did any research on the guy. There is very little chance he makes it to the end of the season. BTW, while this (I predict) will be a bad signing, one has to say Cashman did a great job this offseason picking up Colon, Garcia, Corey Wade and even Ayala has been ok. He also got Chavez and Martin. Jones has been decent against lefties as well and these were all cheap signings except for Martin.
Back to Thursday’s game
CC didn’t have spot control with his pitches and had little consistency other than very good velocity all night. I don’t know why but the simply did not throw his changeup and with that velocity it cost him as he was hit well in the first 2 innings and only barely avoided a 2 run homer that kept us in the game. Fortunately, the Yankee offense was up to the task putting runs up all game. I don’t think CC was much better in the middle innings, but the Twins (who are not a good hitting team) didn’t hit him well. His velocity was good as I mentioned and he needed it in the 7th. After 3 straight singles (and again I felt CC just didn’t have it< I would have taken CC out right there. He was missing his spots and just not getting it done. The score was 6-2 with nobody at the bases juiced and we had a rested pen. CC got the batter to hit one, although down the line, but Nunez continued his butchery in the field with an error. Now the score was 6-3 with the bases loaded and nobody out. 3 lefties were coming up. I would have brought in Logan here, but again Girardi stuck with CC. CC did get a line out sac fly to make it 6-5. He then got line out to RF and then a hard hit grounder where Cano made a terrific play throwing out Thome. First, I need to say that Cano’s defense has been back at its usual GG form of late. He did have that one pop-up he dropped, but he has been great of late. Second, I need to note that I would have taken out CC, but the results that occurred after would have been acceptable for any reliever so Joe sticking with CC worked out. The Yanks added 2 runs and Robertson and Wade looked good shutting the Twins down. I had commented when they got Wade that this was a good chance based on his numbers, but he has looked good and performed extremely well! Oh, also, Cervelli had a great AB in the 8th inning that got us some runs with good hustle (and hit) by Nunez. That Cervelli AB was as good as I have ever seen from him.
Friday’s game.
The ump had a very big strike zone and Hughes took advantage of it once he allowed a HR. He didn’t throw that special, but between the ump and the Twins not swinging well, Hughes was dominant. Hard to argue with the results, but I have to say I am not sold on Hughes right now as he is still missing spots at a far too high rate and his stuff has not been at the level you want. He is still a work in progress and I say that after he just had his best starting game…maybe ever (I don’t remember, but 2 hits and 1 run in 7.2 innings (with 3 walks) is a great outing. The results are still better than the performance in my opinion.
Other points on Friday. Jeter did the slide I like straight home on a sac fly and was safe, Swisher with a man on 2nd and nobody out took 3 straight fastballs for a strikeout. I know it was a pitchers ump and he didn’t like the calls, but they looked good enough to me. Russell Martin had 2 dingers.
Saturday’s game. I have not read any of the papers, but with AJ stinking up the joint (should have put him in the pen as I said) and then having the gonads to tell Girardi that it was “F’n Bull$%#&” to take him out, maybe this is what we need to get him out of the rotation? Now, one part I agree with AJ on in his comment was not that he shouldn’t have been taken out of the game, as we were trying to win it, but it was if we are trying to win it, why would you bring in Ayala, who is more of a one inning guy? Ayala’s ERA is good, but I don’t think anyone would say he is better than Noesi who is supposed top be our long guy. At the time, I assumed Noesi was not available because this just seemed odd. But after Ayala let the game out of hand and allowed all of AJ’s runs (and none of his own and also why his ERA is 1.32 and why relievers ERA’s can be a little off). Anyway, later in the game Noesi came into the game and I said to myself, “Girardi is a fool.”
Last note to follow-up on my last comment. A bunch of nights ago when we lost the one run game and they hit the fake HR, I said Girardi should have protested right there because it was a wrong interpretation of the rules. The next day or 2 he said, “I should have protested the game, but I got caught up in the (commotion)” What? Your job is supposed to be able to think through items like this? This is exactly what separates managers and you were asleep at the wheel. Really disappointing as it was pretty clear if nothing else because Rivera was upset. The Genius Maker was making the largest scene I have ever watched and Girardi still didn’t get the clue.
“Yankees picked up the lefty Laffey on waivers…I don’t get picking up guys like this and then having to put them on the 40 man roster. I said this before and it bears repeating, just having a lefty is not what is needed as the final 3 innings of the game are probably locked up with righty pitchers who will get lefties out. Therefore, the need for a lefty specialist (LOOGY or Lefty One Out Guy) is not as important the way the Yankees are structured right now. I am not going back on my feel for getting a 2nd lefty, but if you get one, the guy needs to be a lefty who is simply great against lefties and may be horrible against righties. Otherwise it is a wasted roster spot. Just like I predicted that Randy Winn was a waste of a signing, and others were wasted, I feel Laffey will be the same waste. (at least Laffey is young and maybe they see something that they can correct so that part I will defer to, but on the surface this is a bad move). Then again this could mean that Feliciano and/or Marte will not make it back this year (I have not heard anything new).”
After watching Saturday’s game, the announcers were praising Laffey as what they needed (for the reasons I have been saying) but it was as if they never did any research on the guy. There is very little chance he makes it to the end of the season. BTW, while this (I predict) will be a bad signing, one has to say Cashman did a great job this offseason picking up Colon, Garcia, Corey Wade and even Ayala has been ok. He also got Chavez and Martin. Jones has been decent against lefties as well and these were all cheap signings except for Martin.
Back to Thursday’s game
CC didn’t have spot control with his pitches and had little consistency other than very good velocity all night. I don’t know why but the simply did not throw his changeup and with that velocity it cost him as he was hit well in the first 2 innings and only barely avoided a 2 run homer that kept us in the game. Fortunately, the Yankee offense was up to the task putting runs up all game. I don’t think CC was much better in the middle innings, but the Twins (who are not a good hitting team) didn’t hit him well. His velocity was good as I mentioned and he needed it in the 7th. After 3 straight singles (and again I felt CC just didn’t have it< I would have taken CC out right there. He was missing his spots and just not getting it done. The score was 6-2 with nobody at the bases juiced and we had a rested pen. CC got the batter to hit one, although down the line, but Nunez continued his butchery in the field with an error. Now the score was 6-3 with the bases loaded and nobody out. 3 lefties were coming up. I would have brought in Logan here, but again Girardi stuck with CC. CC did get a line out sac fly to make it 6-5. He then got line out to RF and then a hard hit grounder where Cano made a terrific play throwing out Thome. First, I need to say that Cano’s defense has been back at its usual GG form of late. He did have that one pop-up he dropped, but he has been great of late. Second, I need to note that I would have taken out CC, but the results that occurred after would have been acceptable for any reliever so Joe sticking with CC worked out. The Yanks added 2 runs and Robertson and Wade looked good shutting the Twins down. I had commented when they got Wade that this was a good chance based on his numbers, but he has looked good and performed extremely well! Oh, also, Cervelli had a great AB in the 8th inning that got us some runs with good hustle (and hit) by Nunez. That Cervelli AB was as good as I have ever seen from him.
Friday’s game.
The ump had a very big strike zone and Hughes took advantage of it once he allowed a HR. He didn’t throw that special, but between the ump and the Twins not swinging well, Hughes was dominant. Hard to argue with the results, but I have to say I am not sold on Hughes right now as he is still missing spots at a far too high rate and his stuff has not been at the level you want. He is still a work in progress and I say that after he just had his best starting game…maybe ever (I don’t remember, but 2 hits and 1 run in 7.2 innings (with 3 walks) is a great outing. The results are still better than the performance in my opinion.
Other points on Friday. Jeter did the slide I like straight home on a sac fly and was safe, Swisher with a man on 2nd and nobody out took 3 straight fastballs for a strikeout. I know it was a pitchers ump and he didn’t like the calls, but they looked good enough to me. Russell Martin had 2 dingers.
Saturday’s game. I have not read any of the papers, but with AJ stinking up the joint (should have put him in the pen as I said) and then having the gonads to tell Girardi that it was “F’n Bull$%#&” to take him out, maybe this is what we need to get him out of the rotation? Now, one part I agree with AJ on in his comment was not that he shouldn’t have been taken out of the game, as we were trying to win it, but it was if we are trying to win it, why would you bring in Ayala, who is more of a one inning guy? Ayala’s ERA is good, but I don’t think anyone would say he is better than Noesi who is supposed top be our long guy. At the time, I assumed Noesi was not available because this just seemed odd. But after Ayala let the game out of hand and allowed all of AJ’s runs (and none of his own and also why his ERA is 1.32 and why relievers ERA’s can be a little off). Anyway, later in the game Noesi came into the game and I said to myself, “Girardi is a fool.”
Last note to follow-up on my last comment. A bunch of nights ago when we lost the one run game and they hit the fake HR, I said Girardi should have protested right there because it was a wrong interpretation of the rules. The next day or 2 he said, “I should have protested the game, but I got caught up in the (commotion)” What? Your job is supposed to be able to think through items like this? This is exactly what separates managers and you were asleep at the wheel. Really disappointing as it was pretty clear if nothing else because Rivera was upset. The Genius Maker was making the largest scene I have ever watched and Girardi still didn’t get the clue.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
The Genius Maker #74
I have so much to write and so little time, but I will do my best. This game is better done going through the game so here goes with what I felt at the time.
The first inning was an enormous opportunity for us. Jeter led off with a single (continuing to swing well) and on a 3-2 pitch Chen threw over to 1st base. Chen is a bad pitcher that we should score at least 1 run an inning on and I said to myself Jeter needs to make sure this is a hit and run and not a run and hit…but Jeter screwed up “Royally” and was picked off. Simply a horrible job. Granderson then homered. The Yankees then loaded up the bases but didn’t score.
We had 2 singles, 2 walks and a HR and we only scored 1 run. The game could have been lost right here.
The Yanks added another run before a pitch selection sequence ticked me off. Colon had 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. Alex Gordon (their best hitter) was up at the plate and Colon had struck him out by throwing fastball in and away and then a slider down and in that he was fooled on. After taking a strike away, Colon threw 4 straight fastballs 2 balls and 2 foul balls on the outside corner. This had Gordon setup for a fastball inside or he could have stayed outside as Gordon had not looked strong on any swing and a fly to left (weak) was possible. Therefore I wanted either the fastball away or the fastball in. They tried to throw the slider that K’d him n the first inning and he easily took the pitch for ball 3. This is where people look at me like I am crazy, because after that pitch, I yelled out “what a horrible pitch!” My wife just shook her head at me (I don’t even bother explaining it because I am sure all she hears is white noise). The next pitch was a 3 run HR! @#$%! I just said, “this is why that last pitch was useless and horrible.” I could write too much on this, but it was a pitch that accomplished nothing and was simply, a let’s try this because it worked last time pitch rather than looking at the situation, the sequence and the batters swings. It was useless and setup the next pitch for the hitter. Bad job by Martin
3-2 Royals
The Royals made it 4-2 on a double that they ruled a HR. Girardi got them to review the play and they still ruled a HR. If I were Girardi I would have protested the game right there as it was a ground rule interpreted incorrectly because it was obvious the ball never came close to leaving the ballpark (it landed on top of the fence and then probably ricocheted off a little fence attached to the back of the padded fence). The umpires screwed this up and gave the Royals a run.
The 5th run scored with 1st and 3rd and nobody out where a ground ball to Tex should have resulted in Melky getting thrown out at home, but for some reason Tex decided to try and get 2 which they failed to do. It is the bottom of the 6th and you are down 4-2. I could see the middle infielder trying to turn to but Tex fielded the ball and Melky broke off of 3rd and would have been dead as he even hesitated once Tex caught the ball. Poor play by Tex who already was 0-3 getting out twice in the middle of what could have been big rally’s.
Martin Homered to cut the lead to 5-3.
Noesi came in and shut the Royals down in the 6th
7th inning, Jeter singled and Granderson walked and we are in business. Tex and Cano coming up. Tex K’s and continued to swing at bad pitches ahead in the count…and is now 0-4 killing us. Cano now steps to the plate and the first pitch to him was clearly a ball called a strike. Cano was not happy but still had a chance, but ended up swing at a high pitch to strike out. Swisher than also struck out on a pitch that looked outside, but was closer than Cano’s. Swisher did come through for our 2nd run with a big 2 out hit earlier.
Noesi shut down the Royals in the 7th
8th inning Posada pinch hit for Jones (Posada’s I think 40th birthday) and swung at a bad first pitch and grounded weakly to the pitcher. Martin and Nunez got out
Noesi mows down the Royals in the 8th (nice job by him)
Gardner leads off the 9th and flies out to RF. Jeter then hit a ball that Melky should have caught but misplayed it into a hit (I still think that should have been an error, but doesn’t matter, we got a break). Granderson continues his great day with a single and we are back in business. Up steps Tex. This is his chance at redemption I say to myself…this could wipe the slate clean. Anti climactically, but very good, Tex walks on 4 pitches setting up Cano with the bases loaded, 1 out down by 2. Cano took ball one and then swung late, took a ball and then swung late again. His approach was to take the ball to LF, but Soria gave him some pitches to hit and they should have been pulled. Unfortunately, he flew out to LF on a pitch down the middle for a useless sac fly. But up steps Swisher with a chance. After a passed ball gets the winning run to 2nd Swisher gets walked. Now the stage is set for Jorge on his 40th birthday win the game. The first pitch with the bases loaded is always huge and Soria, who had thrown about 36 pitches, missed the first one for ball one. Now this 2nd pitch was even more critical and it came high and away. Yes! But wait the ump called a strike! This was an absolutely horrible call. The ump should be called out for this as it was high and away and 2-0 in this situation was enormous. It is easy to say you still have to bat and you do need to overcome, but this was a horse manure call. It was Posada’s birthday and the flare for the dramatic was still setup to overcome a bad call, with the bases juiced and a tired pitcher on the mound. Instead Jorge took 2 strikes to end the game and a very tough loss in many ways.
Boston lost too.
The first inning was an enormous opportunity for us. Jeter led off with a single (continuing to swing well) and on a 3-2 pitch Chen threw over to 1st base. Chen is a bad pitcher that we should score at least 1 run an inning on and I said to myself Jeter needs to make sure this is a hit and run and not a run and hit…but Jeter screwed up “Royally” and was picked off. Simply a horrible job. Granderson then homered. The Yankees then loaded up the bases but didn’t score.
We had 2 singles, 2 walks and a HR and we only scored 1 run. The game could have been lost right here.
The Yanks added another run before a pitch selection sequence ticked me off. Colon had 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. Alex Gordon (their best hitter) was up at the plate and Colon had struck him out by throwing fastball in and away and then a slider down and in that he was fooled on. After taking a strike away, Colon threw 4 straight fastballs 2 balls and 2 foul balls on the outside corner. This had Gordon setup for a fastball inside or he could have stayed outside as Gordon had not looked strong on any swing and a fly to left (weak) was possible. Therefore I wanted either the fastball away or the fastball in. They tried to throw the slider that K’d him n the first inning and he easily took the pitch for ball 3. This is where people look at me like I am crazy, because after that pitch, I yelled out “what a horrible pitch!” My wife just shook her head at me (I don’t even bother explaining it because I am sure all she hears is white noise). The next pitch was a 3 run HR! @#$%! I just said, “this is why that last pitch was useless and horrible.” I could write too much on this, but it was a pitch that accomplished nothing and was simply, a let’s try this because it worked last time pitch rather than looking at the situation, the sequence and the batters swings. It was useless and setup the next pitch for the hitter. Bad job by Martin
3-2 Royals
The Royals made it 4-2 on a double that they ruled a HR. Girardi got them to review the play and they still ruled a HR. If I were Girardi I would have protested the game right there as it was a ground rule interpreted incorrectly because it was obvious the ball never came close to leaving the ballpark (it landed on top of the fence and then probably ricocheted off a little fence attached to the back of the padded fence). The umpires screwed this up and gave the Royals a run.
The 5th run scored with 1st and 3rd and nobody out where a ground ball to Tex should have resulted in Melky getting thrown out at home, but for some reason Tex decided to try and get 2 which they failed to do. It is the bottom of the 6th and you are down 4-2. I could see the middle infielder trying to turn to but Tex fielded the ball and Melky broke off of 3rd and would have been dead as he even hesitated once Tex caught the ball. Poor play by Tex who already was 0-3 getting out twice in the middle of what could have been big rally’s.
Martin Homered to cut the lead to 5-3.
Noesi came in and shut the Royals down in the 6th
7th inning, Jeter singled and Granderson walked and we are in business. Tex and Cano coming up. Tex K’s and continued to swing at bad pitches ahead in the count…and is now 0-4 killing us. Cano now steps to the plate and the first pitch to him was clearly a ball called a strike. Cano was not happy but still had a chance, but ended up swing at a high pitch to strike out. Swisher than also struck out on a pitch that looked outside, but was closer than Cano’s. Swisher did come through for our 2nd run with a big 2 out hit earlier.
Noesi shut down the Royals in the 7th
8th inning Posada pinch hit for Jones (Posada’s I think 40th birthday) and swung at a bad first pitch and grounded weakly to the pitcher. Martin and Nunez got out
Noesi mows down the Royals in the 8th (nice job by him)
Gardner leads off the 9th and flies out to RF. Jeter then hit a ball that Melky should have caught but misplayed it into a hit (I still think that should have been an error, but doesn’t matter, we got a break). Granderson continues his great day with a single and we are back in business. Up steps Tex. This is his chance at redemption I say to myself…this could wipe the slate clean. Anti climactically, but very good, Tex walks on 4 pitches setting up Cano with the bases loaded, 1 out down by 2. Cano took ball one and then swung late, took a ball and then swung late again. His approach was to take the ball to LF, but Soria gave him some pitches to hit and they should have been pulled. Unfortunately, he flew out to LF on a pitch down the middle for a useless sac fly. But up steps Swisher with a chance. After a passed ball gets the winning run to 2nd Swisher gets walked. Now the stage is set for Jorge on his 40th birthday win the game. The first pitch with the bases loaded is always huge and Soria, who had thrown about 36 pitches, missed the first one for ball one. Now this 2nd pitch was even more critical and it came high and away. Yes! But wait the ump called a strike! This was an absolutely horrible call. The ump should be called out for this as it was high and away and 2-0 in this situation was enormous. It is easy to say you still have to bat and you do need to overcome, but this was a horse manure call. It was Posada’s birthday and the flare for the dramatic was still setup to overcome a bad call, with the bases juiced and a tired pitcher on the mound. Instead Jorge took 2 strikes to end the game and a very tough loss in many ways.
Boston lost too.
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