Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
With starting pitchers Al Leiter and Mike Mussina having handed over the first two games of the Yankees' series at the Jake, is there anyone out there who has confidence that Shawn Chacon won't do the same tonight?
Remember, Chacon is 0-15 with a 6.89 ERA for his career after July 31. MLB.com adds the fact that Chacon has "a 2-20 record since the 2003 All-Star break," and "will still be seeking only his third win since June 23, 2003."
Kevin Millwood, meanwhile, boasts a 3.18 ERA and has turned in quality starts in his last four outings and in six of his last seven outings. Another scary thought for the Yankees, the Indians may finally activate Travis Hafner tonight (incidentally, it was Ramon Vazquez whom the Indians called up to fill the 25th spot on their roster).
The Red Sox and A's have already won today (with Matt Clement and Barry Zito both earning their eleventh wins, the former thanks to an eight-run fourth inning turned in by the Boston offense) and the Yankees enter tonight's game just a half game up on the Indians in the Wild Card hunt.
Break out those voodoo dolls, the Yanks are gonna need 'em tonight.
That sweep at the hands of KC earlier this year is hurting big-time now.
Millwood: The last three men to throw no-hitters against the Giants were named Kevin.
Chacon: Attended the first game in Rockies history as a teenager.
Speaking of which, where on earth is Kaat? I can't remember the last time I heard him call a game. With the Yankees struggling so mightily with their pitching, it sure would be nice to have his take on things.
BTW, I prefer Kay to the Cleveland announcers.
Enjoy the game a little bit more man.
I would enjoy the games more if Torre was fired. He has blown way too many games.
Since the bottom of the order really ain't doing shit, if you put him in the 2 hole you really only have Jeter in front of him as someone you can rely on to get on base. I think the top 6 are fine just the way they are.
Gordon, OTOH, has been overused.
As a general rule, strikout pitchers are better with inherited runners.
Sheffield: .394
Rodriguez: .415
Matsui: .371
Matsui has ground into 12 double plays this year. Swapping him and Giambi could very well help Giambi's run production, though the advantage would be slight.
Dropping Cano to seventh (behind Posada) and moving Sheffield or Rodriguez into the two hole would be most beneficial considering Cano's .317 OBP. As a result, the ideal line-up, as I see it, would be:
Jeter
Sheffield
Rodriguez
Giambi
Matsui
Posada
Cano
Bernie
CF de jour
Don't sweat staggering the lefties in the heart of the order because both Matsui and Posada have been better against lefty pitching thus far this year, so anyone who tries to use a lefty against the 4-7 spots will actually improve the chances of half of those hitters. Cano bats ahead of Bernie despite the lower OBP because the difference in OBP (13 points) is nothing compared to Cano's advantage in slugging (almost 90 points).
None the less, this was a much-needed win, and I'm glad to see Giambi is staying hot. I was a little worried this steroid talk might rattle him again- he seems to be a bit sensitive- but so far, so good. One thing about this team, they truly are a team, at least on the offensive end.
Well... Jason has the best OBP in the AL by far, and (for now) has the highest OPS. He also has the best ABs/HR ratio of any of the big guns in the AL (although Tony Clarke has an amazing ABs/HR ratio).
Furthermore, a LOT of Giambi hits and HRs have been game winners... as was the case last night.
We have an amazing 38 HRs from our 1st basemen.
And since we accept CF as a 'no-hit' position, shouldn't we give one of the kids (Budda, Thompson, Melky, etc) the position to see if they can help us in 2006?
Melky looked bad out there, but those who knew him (in the minors) were very high on his abilities. It seems like we should give him 25 games or so, come-what-may, and give him a real opportunity to show us his stuff.
Anybody but Bernie. I love Bernie, but we need to look to the future.
Meanwhile, Melky can't field the position well enough, he was a liability. The others, sure, why not!
Comment status: comments have been closed. Baseball Toaster is now out of business.