Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Randy Johnson had another bad outing for the Yankees on Friday night. Staked to a 4-0 first inning lead, Johnson would go on to blow leads of 4-3, 5-3 and 6-5, in the Mets' 7-6 win at Shea Stadium. Carlos Beltran and Xavier Nady took the Big Unit deep, Kaz Matsui had a big RBI single and the Mets' hitters consistently worked the count, fouling off pitches, all night. In the end, t was a fine night for the Shea Faithful. According to Tyler Kepner in the New York Times:
"It's a very humbling game," said Johnson, whose earned run average rose to 5.62. "I'm humbled; I always have been. But I'm not going to quit. I'm not a quitter. I've come back from a lot of things. I know my teammates need me, and I need them. I'll continue to battle."Johnson said he believed his pitches were still good enough to win. He blamed his problems on poor location and selection.
"Obviously I'm not throwing 97 or 98 miles an hour, but I'm throwing 94 or 95, and my slider's at 85 to 87," Johnson said. "So I've got the pitches. Location and pitch selection are the things that are inconsistent. The stuff is there. People will say what they want, but I'm convinced the stuff is there. It's just not getting the job done right now."
Mariano Rivera took the loss in the ninth when David Wright crushed a two-out single to the base of the center field wall. With Paul LoDuca on second, the Yankees chose to walk Carlos Delgado to get to Wright. I had had a nagging feeling for innings, wondering how the Bombers would find a way to lose the game and this move cinched it. I know Delgado is a beast, but Wright is no slouch and wouldn't you always rather see Rivera pitch to a lefty?
It was a tough loss but a relatively entertaining game. After a flurry of runs early on, the Mets bullpen out-pitched the Yanks' pen for the win. Aaron Heilman had his change-up working as he threw three scoreless, while Billy Wagner fanned the side--including Jason Giambi and Alex Rodriguez--in the ninth.
The Mets also flashed some nice leather, while the Yankees' fielding continues to falter--another error by Rodriguez, a botched run-down by Robinson Cano. Offensively, Derek Jeter had a good night and Cano hit the ball hard three times, though he only had one hit to show for it.
Nertz to the final score, the bad news for the Yanks came when Jorge Posada left the game with tightness in his back after the first inning. Initially, the announcers speculated that it was his relationship with Johnson that drove him from the game--talk about a headline!--but the injury appears to be legit. Bernie Williams strained his ass legging out a double and Kyle Farnsworth would leave the game with a back problem after pitching a 1-2-3 eighth.
The Mets overall record is one game better than their counterparts in the Bronx. But right now, the Yankees are wondering when the pain will stop. They'll need length and luck today as aces are high with Mussina and Pedro on the mound.
That's what's bugging me the most. What is it with the sloppy play all of a sudden? I could understand it if was just the kids like Melky and Andy, but even the likes of A-Rod and Jeter are afflicted.
From the NY Daily News:
>> The Yankees have 17 errors in their last 11 games after making only 10 in the first 28 and are discovering, as Derek Jeter put it, "You can pitch all you want, but if you don't play defense, it doesn't matter much." <<
The jokes are just too easy, so I'll let other people jump on the obvious ones...
No word in the article on whether Posada and Farns are available for today. Let the Kevin Reese Era begin!
If you go to Retrosheet, you pull up Rivera's career stats. For each year, there will be daily logs of when he pitched. You can check the PBPs for the games where he had an IBB.
on a more positive note, it's a minor miracle that the yanks have managed to even keep it together. between the DL injuries, and (as of yet) non-DL injuries, coupled with shaky defense and the less than stellar hitting by the likes of ARod and Slappy Damon, the baseball gods are smiling on us. if we can swing this many injuries and still be just 1.5 games out, i can remain optimistic about our playoff hopes.
They say it's because he's not had much work, but whatever. The point is, he's not young anymore and it's making me sad.
All things must pass.
Bernie and Farnsworth are unavailable today. Reese starts in left. That from Suzyn Waldman's interview with Torre last night. Supposedly after telling her this Torre made some crack along the lines of "gotta like our chances tomorrow, huh?" Ouch.
Dunno about Jorge, but the night game "off" last night might make him available in today's day game if his back is okay.
Peter Abraham reports that Mitch Jones was called up not because the Yanks didn't want Kevin Thompson to ride pine, but because he too has a hamstring injury. This is getting comical.
Meanwhile, Sturtze and Pavano are going under the knife (rotater cuff and elbow bone chips respectively) and will likely be out for the year. Bubba should come off the DL on schedule, and Sheffield could start taking batting practice as early as today. If that goes well for Sheff, who's eligible to come off the DL now, he could be activated in a week. Other than Johnson sorting himself out, there's nothing the Yankees need more right now then to get Sheffing back.
And as for Mo walking Delgado last night. Two thoughts. 1) that's one of the few situations in which it's a no brainer to intentionally walk a batter. His run was meaningless and he set up a force, I would have walked Chris Woodward there if a similar hitter was up behind him. 2) When was the last time the Mets had a 1-2 punch like Delgado and Wright. It's tremendous. And they're opposite-handed too, and preceded by Beltran. That's just a fatastic middle of the order. If you gave me a choice between Giambi-Rodriguez and Delgado-Wright I'd be tempted to just flip a coin.
The Yanks are talking to Richard Hidalgo.
I am not confident that Sheff will be back in a week. The NYT reported that batting practice is likely off for today, because he had a lot of pain trying to hit off a tee yesterday.
As for all the outfield problems in the organization, now is the time to Free Brett Gardner! I say skip him past Trenton, and give him some time at Columbus to show if he can help out in the bigs this year.
Like the parents from hell who are always saying things like, "Too bad you didn't get 1500 on the SATs like your brother..."
If this year is going to be one long trip to the DL maybe we do need to get the youngsters moving along. Tampa sent down 3 yesterday to Charleston so it looks like the system is starting to shuffle pieces around. Maybe it is time for Battle to move up. I agree though we need to think long and hard before making a crazy move like moving Battle to the Bronx now or even this year.
I need a better proof reader.
Johnny Damon CF
Derek Jeter SS
Jason Giambi 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Canó 2B
Miguel Cairo LF
Melky Cabrera RF
Kelly Stinnett C
Mike Mussina P
And I was thinking earlier - "At least we'll have good OF defense today. With the low scoring afair all we need is 3-4 four runs and defense will be critical."
Wow. Is this one big f u to Cashman from Torre? Remember we played this silly game last year only to end up with Bubba in September. Then this spring Bubba is seen as a go to guy. And now he does it again. Amazing really.
Oh, Cairo's got 49 games in LF (including 3 innings last year for the Mets!)in his career and he hits Pedro well. Let's give it a try!
1996 - 6th inning, 7-3 Rangers. Walks Mickey Tettleton to get to Dean Palmer with runners on 2nd and 3rd. Ks Palmer.
1997 - 9th inning, 5-5 Red Sox. Walks Mo Vaughn to get to Jeff Frye with runners on 2nd and 3rd. Ks Frye.
1997 - 10th inning, 8-8 Mariners. Walks Griffey Jr. with man on 2nd to get to Rich Amaral. Buhner pinch hits for Amaral. Buhner walks. A-Rod Ks.
1999 - No play-by-play available.
2000 - 9th inning, 9-9 Texas. Walks Ricky Ledee to get to B.J. Waszgis with a man on 3rd. Pedro Valdes pinch hits for Waszgis and grounds out. Nice Bench Rangers.
2000 - 10th inning, 1-1 Twins. Walks Jacque Jones to get to A.J. Pierzynski with Torii Hunter on 2nd. Denny Hocking pinch hits for Pierzynski and singles to center. Twins go up 2-1.
2001 - 9th inning, 4-4 Blue Jays. Walks Delgado to get to Mondesi with Wells on 2nd. Mondesi hits into force play at 3rd.
2003 - 9th inning, 5-4 Rangers. Walks Alex Rodriquez with a man on third to get to Shane Spencer. Spencer grounds out.
2004 - 11th inning, 7-7 Mariners. Walks Edgar Martinez to get to Scott Spiezio with Ichiro on 2nd. Spiezio pops up.
2006 - 9th inning, 6-6 Mets. Walks Carlos Delgado to get to David Wright with a runner on 2nd. Wright singles in winning run.
The only comparable situation I've found in a decade is walking Delgado to get to Mondesi in 2001 but I think David Wright is a much better hitter than Mondesi. Rivera walked Delgado at Yankee Stadium in '01. Doing it at Shea is an invitation for a player like Wright to play hero. Delgado has 39 Ks in '06 and his power numbers are irrelevant with a man on 2nd. It's a single you are trying to stop. But Torre has 4 rings and I'm spending Saturday morning reading Retrosheet so what do I know.
26 How could it be an f u to Cashman when Cash was the one who signed a crappy bench player like Cairo in the first place? And what if Reese or Jones dropped a fly ball in the outfield like Spencer and Ledee were a few years back-- if I remember, the Boss hated the youngsters messing up on the big stage.
According to Baseball Prospectus, Cairo has played the equivalent of 26 major league games in left field, with a rating of 100- just about average.
14AB .357/.400/.429 0 HR, 1 2B, 1BB, 1IBB, 2K
Not a big sample and zero HR.
Bean got rocked last night -- 1ip, 2h 1bb, 1hb, 3er -- to take the loss. Lead-off double, failed sac bunt, hb, bb, and then bases clearing double.
His only bad outing of the year. And NOW he gets called up.
We've all been waiting for him to get his chance this year, but one bad appearance like that in the Bronx and there's no telling where Torre will bury the body.
Charleston has a specialized support program for kids and Tabata is a kid. He's just 17. I think they'll bring him up to Tampa when he's ready both as a player and a person. I think they're doing the right thing with all three - Tabata, Henry and Jackson.
There is no doubt though that these three are far more realistically exciting than anything that has been around for a while.
Incidentally they moved Nochi up to Tampa in the beginning of the year and he had a hell of a time as did Battle. They moved them down yesterday so somebody will have to shift. This just points out what a tough league the FSL is; it also places what Gardner has done there in an even more impressive light. He needs to come north.
As for Pilittere he's supposed to be a really good defensive catcher who has good instincts in calling a game. He played in Stat. Is. last year after being drafted in 04. He was going to play in Charleston for 2006 but they aggressively moved him to Tampa. So his placement there already represents a level jump. His bat work has been a bonus and an eye opener. I think he's 24 or 25 so he does need to get moving but they are being aggressive with him.
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