Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
After posting a 2.90 ERA through his first nine starts, Chien-Ming Wang has a 7.91 ERA over his last three. What's gone wrong and can he pull out of it? Here are some of Wang's rates from his first nine starts vs. his last three:
| Rate | 1st 9GS | Last 3GS |
|---|---|---|
| H/9 | 7.63 | 10.24 |
| K/9 | 5.80 | 3.26 |
| BB/9 | 2.90 | 4.66 |
| HR/9 | 0.15 | 0.93 |
| GB/FB | 2.28 | 2.37 |
| Slash | .228/.292/.292 | .278/.352/.418 |
| CS% | 37% | 0% |
Wang's been bad across the board over his last three starts with one surprising exception, his ground ball rate has actually been higher of late. Now compare those two sets of rates to Wang's career rates entering the year:
| Rate | 2005-2007 |
|---|---|
| H/9 | 9.19 |
| K/9 | 3.83 |
| BB/9 | 2.41 |
| HR/9 | 0.51 |
| GB/FB | 2.90 |
| Slash | .265/.318/.365* |
| CS% | 41% |
Save for the walk and caught stealing rates, his peripherals from his last three games wouldn't have seemed out of place coming from the Chien-Ming Wang of the last three years. That was the sinkerballer with the alarmingly low strikeout rates who seemed to be defying the odds. Over his first nine starts of this year, Wang was a different pitcher, mixing his pitches more and thus spiking his strikeout rate at the cost of a few groundballs, some of which would have gone for hits. The result was real dominance, but it seems Wang has gotten away from that and reverted not only back to the one-trick pitcher he was, but beyond it to a pitcher suffering from his inability to miss bats.
There's more to it than that, certainly, but just when Wang looked to be making the leap from the Yankee ace to one of the best pitchers in baseball, he's taken a mighty stumble. Remarkably, the Yankees have won two of his last three starts (by scored of 6-5 and 7-6) and are still 9-3 in Wang's starts on the year.
Today, Wang and the Yanks take on Dustin McGowan, who has the fastest average fastball among all major league starters according to FanGraphs, looking to take the series from Toronto and get the Yanks back to .500.
Wilson Betemit remains at first base as Jason Giambi is still nursing his bruised foot, but Jorge Posada is behind the plate for the first time since April 26.
In addition to Posada's return, the amateur draft kicks off at 2pm today. Two years ago the Yankees' first two picks were Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain with the 21st and 41st overall picks, both of which were received as compensation when Tom Gordon signed with the Phillies. The Yankee farm system is packed with exciting prospects (most of them pitchers) from the last three drafts. Today, the Yankees and scouting director Damon Oppenheimer (the man who has been making the picks since 2005) will add to that crop starting with the 28th overall pick and the 44th overall pick, the latter of which they received as compensation when Luis Vizcaino signed with the Rockies.
It looks like Jeter is returning. That's always good to see.
at last night's game a lot of fans were giving him shit about the 'stache, telling him to shave.
he could grow a fu manchu and dye it pink for all I care... as long as he hits.
We're so close to having 4 of our starting pitchers in the 3's for ERA.
Moose - 4.01
Wang - 4.05
Pettitte - 4.21
Joba - 2.42
I obsess over stupid stats.
While Po was down Wang had a few good starts, but as Cliff noted, he got progressively worse.
hey, here's Po now! Hip hip...
16 good point. i have always thought about that when posada gets some criticism of how he calls a game that he seems to work really well with wang
nice hitting by robbie - but then another damn gidp
Could we get Scott Proctor back?
what the yanks obviously need and have really needed all year (especially if perish the thought giambi is going to start missing more time) is a rt handed hitting 1b - apparently they don't grow on trees anymore though
hey... nice play by the shortstop to save Wang's bacon.
Damon must have made a deal with the devil this spring. Then again, he kind of is a hot season/cold season type hitter.
even though most of us are biased against millar because of the whole cowboy up nonsense and he has blond tips in his hair - you are probably right that he could help this team.
Wang was pissed he lost Rolen on a questionable call.
Fine, Betemit is great. Lucky us.
http://tinyurl.com/5dxxuk
http://tinyurl.com/6o6uu4
http://tinyurl.com/58fg5j
I was hoping they'd sign him on the cheap in 2005 & 2007 but given his anger management as well as durability issues, I can understand the Yanks passing on him.
i wrote them off last season, too, but they look more lost now than they ever did last year.
pug fugly.
Is Ohlendorf going to be this year's EDSP?
Not making an excuse for Wang, because he's pretty bad, but we should have more than 2 runs right now. Instead this game is already out of reach.
Triple Play!
fire.
jeter said the clubhouse would be louder with jopo back.
Now, leaving Hawkins to pitch to the heart of their order, that has disaster written all over.
I guess the five walks by Yankee pitchers doesn't help.
Nice job by Rolen. Crud.
144 And Overbay, on deck, is eager to face Veras I am sure.
Baseball can be very, very hard to understand. At least for me.
Just amazing.
Nobody has put any kind of stroke on Veras' pitches today, but he walks the first two. Admittedly Barajas did a nice job of fouling off good pitches.
Meanwhile there's Veras melting down, and Mr. Girardi sleeping at the dugout, what a great manager we have.
You have to admit, the dude has a good heater today. Pretty nearly unhittable.
If we score, Girardi will get it and go to Mo. If we don't, it's going to be Britton.
202 Yes, Girardi lucked out with Hawkins & Veras today, and Farns yesterday.
This really isn't a good team for tactics.
Wait, did I just write that?
And even with a good bunter, it's the wrong call.
;)
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/events/draft_report/y2008/index.jsp?mc=cole
"Poise: His makeup on the field can be an issue, as he gets animated with umpires and teammates at times.
Physical Description: Cole is a projectable high school right-hander who compares a bit to Kyle Farnsworth."
...uh oh....
...not you, personally ;-)
Steve Goldman had a nice article today showing the Yankees are actually dead smack average hitting with RISP, scoring a runner from third with less than 2 outs and any other clutch situation you can come up with. They just aren't walking enough.
If Brian Cashman refuses to rid us of the dead weight he signed, hire someone who will.
More to the point, this offense HAS to score a lot of runs. The defense and pitching are simply too weak. The only way the Yankees come close to winning 90 games is if they hit like last year, which means they'd need to average 7 runs per game for the rest of the season.
in particular, cano has been absolutely killing us with men base. the #s are too bad even to post.
This is a great pick; he fell to the Yankees for financial reasons. Cole has the best arm among the prep pitchers in the draft. He has a loose, quick arm. He has the best fastball of the high school pitchers; it tops out 97 mph. He needs more consistency on the breaking ball. And he needs to just throw his changeup instead of guiding it. He's a high-ceiling arm that could be a No. 1 starter. If that doesn't work, he could be a dominant reliever.
This is a great pick; he fell to the Yankees for financial reasons. Cole has the best arm among the prep pitchers in the draft. He has a loose, quick arm. He has the best fastball of the high school pitchers; it tops out 97 mph. He needs more consistency on the breaking ball. And he needs to just throw his changeup instead of guiding it. He's a high-ceiling arm that could be a No. 1 starter. If that doesn't work, he could be a dominant reliever.
318 Can't do any worse than he's doing now.
Now watch the Yankees go out and score 1 run and strand the tying at second base.
And, worst case scenario, his arm falls off.
No, wait. That's the best case.
You know, like when Michael was having his child baptized, and they'd cut in with the scenes of all the other families' bosses getting whacked?
That's insane.
HA!
Wow, there we go. Enough offense to cover crappy ass pitching.
My.
God.
the win?!!!
pinch hitting giambi = girardi +1
we'll see, but this could be where this worm turns ... BIG damn win
(But irony is doing nicely.)
This team can win. This team will win and Joe G. had better check himself and not get in the way. Make Farns a starter.
DUDE, I'M BUGGIN!
Let's hope the kid likes Rockytop...
Oh BTW, GREAT ENDING!!! GIAMBINO!!!
(oh, and I thought the bunt call was okay...Cano is at fault not Girardi. Cano needs to be able to get the bunt down in that situation. When you are batting .200, it is time to work on some bunting fundamentals in BP)
Cano had the same problem last game. Unless Girardi has ordered mandatory bunting practice for Cano every day since then, I think he is at fault. As much as we may think he should be able to bunt, the fact is he can't. Girardi essentially created a two strike AB that ultimately led to a weak hack and a double play.
Why was Farnsworth so angry on the bench. After the walkoff, he seemed upset that he had to run on the field instead of walk to the clubhouse.
...so are the Vols. ;-)
Stop laughing!
Baseball she is a funny game.
Gameball split neatly between Giambino and Nick here. Sincerity + stache = walk-off.
And some credit to the Melkster for what really was a fine catch and ends up (she is a funny game) compensating for an error that ended up costing 5 runs.
Da mon Damon still isn't getting enough respect 'round here, though ... look where his average is, the game he had at the plate, the almost hr/high-wall double stolen.
Do we cut Wang some slack because of the error or continue to worry a lot about his last four starts now? Me, I worry.
But not tonight. Tonight is good.
Hey, you guys are always at the top in b-ball. Hoping for football too is getting a little gready don't you think? ;-)
There are a lot better LHP on the board there. That's an F-minus pick.
"Jeremy Bleich is a good looking 6'2/185 LHP from Metairie, LA, high 80's LHP, outstanding command, excellent hard dropping 76 mph CB, arm works fluidly, mechanics are solid, highest level college prospect with high draft potential, excellent student."
They gave him a 10 out of 10, which indicates high-draft potential and top D-1 talent.
Draft Notice: Jeremy Bleich. I go with Bleich here, because it's rather substantial that the lefty proved he is back, though he did walk five in his four scoreless innings. This has definitely been a year in which some late risers have clouded the early rounds, making a guy like Bleich a bit of an afterthought. However, the Stanford lefty just missed in my Cape Cod League Top 30 list this offseason, and he's a lefty that keeps the ball in the park with swing-and-miss stuff. Here's to guessing he is drafted lower than he should be.
Perhaps he did have an injury, then?
At #28, meanwhile, the Yankees got the best player on the board. You don't reach for need in the MLB amateur draft, that's how you create busts.
In addition, I really think the Yankees are focused on international talent to fill the position player ranks. Cano, Cabrera, Tabata, Montero, etc.
Really? Who exactly has won championships by stocking their farm system with young power arms? I see the 2003 Marlins and before that the 1995 Braves.
I'm not arguing with the pick, obviously, just with the meme.
418 The Yankees certainly didn't follow that philosophy with their #44 pick. Bleich throws high-80s.
Btw, tommy...how the hell did Lisa survive another round? In almost every show she's been the second worst, but somehow she's still there. She's not even an interesting character to dislike, just a whiny and annoying one.
I've been waiting all day for tonight's game.
Well.... err..... ummm....
Gotta luv the big lug!
Wang looks good!
Someone wearing Jeter's unifrom got a DOUBLE!
Oh shit, Wang sucks!!!
Melky? Melky sucks!
This game proves we are a .500 team.
Betemin sucks!
No.... Betemin looks good!
No, Betemin still sucks!
Cano can't bunt. Cano sucks!
No, Girardi sucks!
Well... either Cano or Girardi sucks!
2 men on. Ollie sucks!
Veras... first 2 men on. Veras sucks!
Farnsworth in the 9th?
Farnsworth sucks! (how true dat)
Fire Girardi!
Burn Cashman!
This loss is on the offense... AND the pitching.
Giambi up for a bit of false hope, to rub our faces in our misery. Wouldn't it be nice...
Giambi?
Giambi!
Giambi!
GiAmBino!
GIIIIII AMMMMMMM BIIIIIIIIINO!!!
Gotta luv the big lug!
We still have a shot.
All is forgiven!
Did I miss anything?
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