Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Ten days ago, I wrote that the Yankees were in good shape because they had more games left to play against the teams leading them in the AL East and Wild Card races than they were games behind those teams. At that time the Yanks were four games behind the Red Sox with six left to play against them and a game and a half behind the A's for the Wild Card with three left to play against them.
Since then the Yankees have gone 8-2 while the Red Sox have gone 5-4 and the A's 6-3. As a result, the Yankees have eliminated their Wild Card deficit and carved 2.5 games out of their AL East deficit and still have all nine games left to play against these two rivals.
Meanwhile, two other contenders have entered the Wild Card picture from different directions. Thanks in part to a weekend sweep at the hands of the Devil Rays, the Angels have gone 3-6 over this stretch, yielding the AL West lead to the A's and, in turn, the Wild Card lead to the Yankees, who lead the now second-place Angels by a half game. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Indians have been bouncing in and out of a Wild Card tie with the Yankees, matching them at 8-2 over the past ten days, and currently standing one game behind them, as they were on August 19.
For their part, the Yankees have been doing exactly what they've needed to, taking two of three from the slumping White Sox to finish the punishingly difficult portion of their schedule with a 24-16 (.600) record, then going 6-1 against the Blue Jays and Royals at home.
Tonight the Yankees start a four game series against the Mariners in Seattle, and it would behoove them to win at least three of these games as well, as things will be far more difficult over the twelve games that follow.
After the Yankees leave Seattle, they play those three games against the A's in Oakland. The following weekend they will play three games at home against the Red Sox. And on either side of that Red Sox series they will play a pair of three-game series against the Devil Rays. Remember, the Devil Rays just swept the Angels and are 9-4 against the Yankees this season. The D-Rays are also 27-15 since the All-Star break, a record a half-game better than the Yankees' 27-16 and a game and a half better than the Red Sox's 25-16 over the same period (the A's are 29-13 since the break).
All the more reason to take advantage of the Mariners (who, for comparison's sake, are 16-26 since the All-Star break, 9-15 in August and 3-7 over their last three series). Tonight, Mike Mussina looks to conquer his fifth-inning struggles against Ryan Franklin, who pitched somewhere between very well (quality start) and excellent (shutout) in four of his five July starts, but has given up 19 runs in 15 1/3 innings across three poor starts this month.
Seattle Mariners
2005 Record: 55-74 (.426)
2005 Pythagorean Record: 61-68 (.470)
Manager: Mike Hargrove
General Manager: Bill Bavasi
Ballpark (2004 park factors): Safeco Field (92/93)
Who's replacing whom?
Yuniesky Betancourt replaced Wilson Valdez (released)
Yorvit Torrealba replaced Wiki Gonzalez (minors)
Miguel Ojeda replaced Miguel Oliva (Padres)
Mike Morse replaced Bret Boone (released)
Jamal Strong replaced Randy Winn (Giants)
Felix Hernandez replaced Aaron Sele (released)
Jeff Harris replaced Gil Meche (DL)
George Sherrill replaced Ron Villone (Marlins)
Current Roster:
1B – Richie Sexson
2B – Willie Bloomquist
SS – Yuniesky Betancourt
3B – Adrian Beltre
C – Yorvit Torrealba
RF – Ichiro Suzuki
CF – Jeremy Reed
LF – Raul Ibanez
DH – Greg Dobbs
Bench:
L - Dave Hansen (1B/3B)
R – Miguel Ojeda (C)
R – Mike Morse (IF)
R – Jamal Strong (OF)
Rotation:
R – Felix Hernandez
R – Joel Pineiro
L – Jamie Moyer
R – Ryan Franklin
R – Jeff Harris
Bullpen:
L – Eddie Guardado
R – J.J. Putz
R - Jeff Nelson
L - Matt Thornton
R – Julio Mateo
R – Shigetoshi Hasegawa
L – George Sherrill
60-day DL:
R – Dan Wilson (C)
R - Pokey Reese (IF)
L – Bobby Madritsch
R - Rafael Soriano
R - Scott Atchison
L - Travis Blackley
15-day DL:
R – Gil Meche
R – Jorge Campillo
Typical Line-up
L - Ichiro Suzuki (RF)
R – Willie Bloomquist (2B)
L - Raul Ibaniez (LF)
R - Richie Sexson (1B)
R - Adrian Bletre (3B)
L - Jeremy Reed (CF)
L – Greg Dobbs (DH)
R – Yuniesky Betancourt (SS)
R – Yorvit Torrealba (C)
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/4820784
Now if the Yankees keep Bubba on the roster as the backup outfielder, and have Bellhorn as the backup infielder, does that mean Womack is gone? Please?
As much as Bellhorn strikes out, I'd rather have him than Womack. At least he can hit for power occasionally.
Bellhorn does have some experience playing pretty much all dfensive positions, with varying results. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/dt/bellhma01.shtml
3IP 2H 1R 1BB 3SO
Man, I hate these West Coast trips. It's hard for me to stay up that late, since I have to get up for work at the crack of dawn.
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/stats/mlb_individual_stats_player.jsp?playerID=434898
Any relation?
Go Yanks!
https://bronxbanter.baseballtoaster.com/archives/229517.htm#26
Nick, et al, thanks for catching that error on Franklin. You're right. Four of five good to great starts in July, but three bad ones in August. Fixed it above.
1) Don't let him give up 8 runs this time.
2) If Moose is gonna tank, the Yankees postseason hopes are in serious trouble.
This ump stinks but 35 HAS TO battle.
So, when's Wang coming back?
Mussina's lack of stuff notwithstanding, I think the umpire's calls were really to blame. He was calling such a tight zone that Mussina resorted to his uber-nibbling tendencies.
I know it's been said 100 times, but Sterling is awful. And not only that, he's a bad influence on Susie, who I honestly didn't mind at the start of the season.
By now I feel bad saying how awful Sterling is, it's like kicking a blind dog.
But jesus is he awful.
-thud!-
David Justice: "Now, Hargrove is upset."
Thanks, Dave.
Schteeve, Giambi is a no-brainer for the award (as is Griffey in the NL). However, the AL Comeback Player of the Year award will be the first indication we get as to how people adjust (or don't adjust) their voting regarding a past steroid users, and that might effect his chances.
Chacon
Unit
Mussina
Wright
Wang
For the stretch with Leiter and Small spot starting if necessary. That's not so bad. I could go to battle with that.
I agree, and I have a hard time believing anyone wants to open that can of worms up. There have been a number of articles this very year that trace Giambi's recent slump to stopping rumored steroid use that is subconsciously - and even consciously - credited for actually STARTING his comeback this year. A vicious cycle.
The stain, the mark is on him, and it will inform how his whole season is viewed, probably for the next 50 years.
That is, if the hurricanes don't wipe out the five boroughs and Bergen County by then, that is. And I don't mean the hockey team.
I think Bill Simmons said something to the effect of "it's like watching your ex date another guy, only he doesn't know she has VD".
Well, after they took Moose out, anyway...
hate to say it but Belhorn might be an upgrade over Cano, at least hitting against lefties...more importantly though his very presence might provoke anti-Moneyball tirades from the broadcast booth...
That would be a sight.
It might work, eephus is best when it's not expected
The first headline I saw this morning was "Gaimbi's 2 HRs lift Yanks". I was wondering why they still had day old news posted! What a nice surprise.
I wrote in May that Giambi was the difference between a really dangerous lineup or not. I may have been cheer-leading a bit, but having a dangerous guy in the 6 hole really gives us offensive depth. I don't want to bring up the 'clutch' discussion again, but it seems when Giambi homers, we win. Anybody got stats on that?
While the pitching is better then earlier, I think the last 3 weeks have been about timing. We are not scoring tons of runs, but scoring them when we have to. That is the credo of a winning team.
Belhorn will help us, so he is a good pickup. But something tastes very foul when we pick up (yet another) boston castoffs.
In the 'roids thing, Jason was the only one to admit it, be apologetic for it, be humble about both his demise and recovery, and to prove that he is about his talent and work ethic... more then the enhancement. Looking back, considering how far and badly he fell, I don't think I could have written a more satisfying comeback story.
Man..... RJ could really make this thing easier for us, if we could count on a automatic win every 5 games. We have 25 guys, but it we don't make the PS, it will be squarely on his shoulders.
The Twins are done. Oakland has been on an offensive surge that (hopefully) will not last another month. I think Cleveland is our competition for the WC. The Sox continue to play tough, and they have the best schedule of those in the fray, so it may be hard to catch them.
Unless we keep winning, that is.
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