Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Unimpressed by the Tigers' young ace Justin Verlander, the Yankees staked Chien-Ming Wang to a 5-0 lead in the third inning last night, but the Yankee sinkerballer couldn't hold it, giving back three in the fourth and loading the bases with no outs to start the fifth. Though a Jason Giambi solo home run had increased the Yankee lead to 6-3, Joe Torre had seen enough, Yanking Wang in favor of rookie Darrell Rasner.
It was a hell of a position for Rasner to make his Yankee debut in, and somewhat reminiscent of Torre bringing in a struggling and homer-prone Javier Vazquez in a similar situation in the seventh game of the 2004 ALCS. Indeed, Magglio Ordoñez laced Rasner's first pitch into center to bring the Tigers within one, but Rasner recovered to set the next three men down in order and preserve the lead, finishing the inning by getting Omar Infante waiving at a nasty breaking ball.
The Yankees loaded the bases themselves with one out in the seventh against fireballer Joel Zumaya, but because of the injuries to Derek Jeter and Gary Sheffield, had Terrence Long and Miguel Cairo due up. Long fouled out on the first pitch he saw and Cairo grounded out to end the threat.
Scott Proctor and Fernando Rodney then traded pairs of scoreless innings, leaving it up to Kyle Farnsworth to protect the Yankees' one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth because Mariano Rivera--two days after pitching three innings in a regular season game for the first time since 1996, the third of which came with a five-run lead--strained his back putting on his spikes before the game.
Farnsworth was greeted by lead-off hitter Curtis Granderson, who worked him over for nine pitches before flying out to left. Marcus Thames did the same, but instead worked a walk, thanks in part to the small strike zone of home-plate umpire Laz Diaz. Farnsworth then got ahead of Ivan Rodriguez 0-2 on a called strike and a checked swing only to have Rodriguez yank a ball out of the dirt and into left field for a single pushing Thames to second. That man Ordoñez then poked Farnsworth's next pitch into right for an RBI single, tying the game and pushing the winning run to second with one out. Farnsworth then fell behind Carlos Guillen 3-1. Guillen sent Farnsworth's 27th pitch of the inning into right to score Rodriguez for the win, preventing a four-game Yankee sweep.
Hey, tough knocks. Whatchugonnado? The Yankees have bigger problems than taking three of four from the team with the best record in the majors. Gary Sheffield has a torn ligament and a dislocating tendon in his left wrist that, if it doesn't respond to a few weeks of therapy, will require surgery that could keep the Yankee right fielder out for the remainder of the season. Derek Jeter was useless in Tuesday's game after jamming a finger on Monday and hasn't played the last two days. The severity of Rivera's back problems is unknown, and Johnny Damon and Jorge Posada are both playing hurt, the latter's torn hamstring tendon costing the Yankees a crucial run in the seventh last night when Jorge was unable to score from second on an Andy Phillips single and was instead stranded at third by Long and Cairo.
The good news is that Damon, whose foot injury has finally been identified as a broken sesamoid bone in his right foot, is feeling better after sitting out Tuesday and Wednesday and that Jeter is expected to play against the Orioles tonight. In addition, Shawn Chacon's rehab remains on schedule with him set to make a rehab start with the Trendon Thunder on Sunday and, if all goes well then, return from the DL to start on Thursday. The Yankees are also hoping Octavio Dotel will be ready to join the team a week later following a minor league rehab assignment that's expected to begin next week.
Oh, and Bubba Crosby's recovery from his hamstring injury has been slower than expected. He's now expected back next weekend, which is at least good news for Kevin Thompson.
The Yankees have scored almost 30 more points than the Bo Sox and gave up 10 less (yes our crappy pitching gave up 10 less than the awsome Boston pitching)
Hopefully the Tigers will carry todays momentuem and sweep the next series... :P
Pitching Experiment Debated - 'Doug Melvin is in the early stages of a plan to have relief pitchers start some minor league games, then have starters come in beginning in the third inning. "We want our starters to pitch important innings, the eighth and ninth, and not look for the bullpen," Melvin, a former minor league pitcher, said. "We want them to know it's their game. This is what we're developing them for. Some guys never see the ninth inning.' (http://tinyurl.com/p88gl)
Wouldn't this be a solid option for the Yankees staff? It allows you to mix and matchup innings 1-2 with your pen. I'm sure pitchers like Moose and Randy Johnson feel a lot better handing the ball over to Rivera in the 9th in a tight situation than Tanyon Sturtze in the seventh. Plus it gives your lowest status pitchers a little status. Handing over a mini-shutout to Moose in the third is more glamorous than a hold. I know this will never happen but I thought it was a great match for the current Yankees staff.
I won't even mention Kevin Thompson.
On a positive note, Andy had yet another good night, even if Berman and Hershiser talked about anything but Phillips during his ABs.
On the bright side, Damon is feeling better with the new padding and all.
And now Mo's hurting too.
Tough night for ol' Farnswacker. Gets squeezed by the ump, before handing his lunch money over to that bully Pudge Mags, the Tigers equivalent of Manny Ortez. Happens to the best of 'em.
Speaking of which, Mo gets the "Pavano Of The Week" bronzed-buttock trophy for tweaking his back while tying his shoes.
The Yanks are so plagued by injuries even their fans are getting hurt in stupid ways.
I sprained my left ankle the other night, jumping up to grab a broken tree branch in my flip flops. Slipped and rolled it good upon landing. Worst thing about it was my wife tried to stop me before I jumped, which gave her every right to laugh her ass off as I limped across the front lawn cursing my stupidity and misfortune.
A-Rod must be looking over his shoulder every day, waiting for the next shoe to drop.
Meanwhile, Terrance Long will probably be the last healthy man standing. TLong in the field and Proctor on the mound, and a mixture of sandlot rejects rounding out the squad. Wow.
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It's not that radical an idea. Managers make out lineups for batters in advance based on percentages and rest, why not make out lineups for pitchers based on the same principles? It's got to be better for the mental state of your middle relievers to know you will pitch in a game when it counts, even if it's 0-0 in the first inning. Starters might like the boost to their W-L record as well. All the scavanged wins would revert to the delayed starter. If Farnworth hands over a 6 run deficit to Randy Johnson then Johnson can't get the loss. But RJ could get the win in a Yankee comeback.
(sigh)
Gonna be a challenging season. Wonder what impact this will have on Sheff's option for next year. I like Melky, but it's nice to have a bit of thump in the lineup, if nothing more than to add stress to the opposing pitcher.
Ah well. Whattyagonnado? This is going to be a weird season. Nothing else to do but enjoy the ride and hope for the best. I'd sure like to see Andy Phillips jerk out out of Camden Yards with authority this weekend, just to show us he can.
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Sliced, I hear ya. The Yanks injuries have emanated thru the TV and radio and felled me as well. Crashed my bike riding to work yesterday and tiwsted my knee up pretty good (and busted the pedals on the bike). I am out of commission for a bit, and next week probably will put myself on the 15-day DL, retroactive to June 1.
Question, who would we rather see: T-Long or Sierra?
minus 1 pernt for Cliff's inadvertent Wang joke.
however, 1 bonus pernt for his "shot or stabbed" response to the Sierra or Long question.
Ok, I'll stop keeping score now. Can Fairpole calculate it automatically?
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I think he'll be a solid pitcher once he gains some experience and maturity, but right now, he doesn't deal with adversity all that well.
- The kid had pitched well after the single, and he'd only thrown 22 pitches.
- Two out, bases empty in the sixth - is that a situation where you really need to use your LOOGY?
- Mo is out for who knows how long. Wang's out in the fourth. This weekend's starters - Wright, Johnson and Small - have been averaging about 5 innings a start for the last few weeks.
Joe can't keep using Proctor and Farnsworth at the brutal pace he has been. Given the circumstances, it was just foolish to burn a pitcher on one batter when the game wasn't on the line. At some point he's got to let his long relievers pitch long relief, or he's going to kill the rest of the bullpen. If he doesn't trust Erickson or Rasner enough to let them pitch, then for god's sake get rid of them and try someone else - that's the whole point of replacement level pitchers, right?
Yes, it was all a master plan to lose last night in dramatic fashion so the Tigers would go into the Boston series on a high. MUHAHAHAHAHAHA...
What, nothin'?
My only hope is that they're holding Rasner back to start in Small's place on Sunday, but that's just a fantasy.
And there has to be something wrong with Long that is going undiagnosed-the guy can't be that bad, can he:) Yeah, Farnsworth and/or Wang should've nailed it down but you can't discount the big 0 for 5 with completely worthless and clueless at-bats.
Anyone know if Mendoza's still doing well?
My theory, anyway.
It made no sense to take out Rasner, for Myers to do his LOOGY thing - and Proctor to pitch 2.3 innings. What happened to resting him some?
23 25 I liked not seeing Erickson. But, as JL25and3 and Cliff pointed out, it was not very good bullpen management by Torre last night, though the personnel were right on.
Farnsworth should have been able to close things out. That said, couldn't last night be counted at least partialy as a "Torre loss"? Twice T-Ball Long came up with men on base with the game close, and twice he failed miserably. Torre not pinch hitting for him in the 9th, even with GOB, was inexcusable.
Nobody on: .201
Runners on: .358
Runners in scoring postion: .375
Bases loaded: .400
I didn't understand pulling Rasner, either. He was starting at Columbus, wasn't he? He could have eaten up some innings.
I think Steve Lombardi sums it pretty well at WasWatching:
Yanks had a runner on 2nd in the 2nd with one out and could not score him. Yanks had runners on 1st and 2nd in the 5th with no outs and could not score a run. Yanks had the bases loaded in the 7th with one out and could not score. And, in the 9th, the Yankees had runners on 1st and 2nd - albeit with 2 outs - and did not score.
In all of these situations - 2nd inning, 5th inning, 7th inning and 9th inning, Terrence Long was at the plate with a chance to do something and made outs.
In close (2-3 runs) and late (7th inning or later) there must be a pinch hitter for Long. Three straight hits off Zummy and Long pops up on the first pitch? He hasn't shown patience or the ability to even get a ground ball to get a runner in. Grrr. Still, I put it as a Farnsy loss. Up by one with two outs to go & no one on, you have to close the deal.
Thanks 22 & 24 I like CMW, he does seem unflappable, just hope he gets better.
the guy pitches DP balls well.. so why does he gets woozy with men on base..
http://tinyurl.com/pygoc
Could this be a whole new curse?
33 Sheffield's never given a damn about what fans, press or anyone else in the world thinks. That's one of the things that makes him such a charming fellow.
[No Wangs were Yanked in the making of this post.]
I suppose it does make for a good story, though.
>> It appears that this injury is not directly related to the previous one. Cashman said there was "nothing missed" on any of Sheffield's previous MRI exams and that this injury came from simply "playing baseball." <<
Pudge is next and he throws him two good sliders. One for a called strike, the next one in the dirt that Pudge couldn't hold up on. Ok, so I'm thinking, throw him the gas now. But he goes back to another slider. It wasn't a terrible pitch but Pudge wasn't born yesterday and he loops it for a basehit.
It just seems that Farnsworth or Posada's thinking is screwy. But what do I know? I'm just some frustrated fan sitting on my ass at home. In light of the bad news regard Sheff, and the unfortunate development with Mariano, it was a stupid game to lose. Yeah, 3 of 4 is better than I expected in Detroit, but hey, with that kind of lead that's an unfortunate loss last night.
I don't think Jorgie understands this pitcher.
His pitch choices can be baffling, and he's occasionally so off-target it's frightening.
But then he can freeze Ortiz with the bases loaded. Go figure.
Interesting that you bring up Posada. The day after Farns froze Ortiz with that soft slider, I remarked that Posada probably wouldn't have called for that pitch, but Stinnett did, and he read Farnswacker's mind.
Earlier this week, Farnswacker got somebody to swing at a breaking ball for strike 3 to end the inning, and running back to the dugout Posada appeared almost surprised by the pitch. I wondered was Posada surprised that it was a breaking ball or was he surprised how effective the pitch was?
Perhaps Farns and Posada are not on the same page. Better get on the same page fast though, especially with Rivera requiring downtime.
Still, I really like Farnswacker's stuff, and his toughness. I think he'll be OK, but I'm just another observer sitting on my ass, and nursing my bum ankle at home.
The only thing that really annoys me with Farnsworth are the walks. First rule of closing (or just pitching) is don't walk anyone you don't have to. One run lead in the ninth, honestly just throw strikes. Some pitchers have great command with ok stuff (current Mussina, Maddux) and some have overpowering stuff with not so great command (Farnsworth). He should realize it and just throw strikes. I'm willing to bet a lot of hitters won't hit 99mph even if it does catch a bit of the plate. If you can't hit the corners, then at least get beat by being hit. Walks kill.
20 What do you know? It's June. Giambi is back.
Trusting Bernie I get, the man's been there forever with Torre. But with Long??? What? He holds Torre's purse?...oh...so that's why.
I think there is a reason why the new and young ones are shining now...the worse for them is going back to the Minors. But there seems to be so much more for the regulars.
I got in late and had the "pleasure" of witnessing the bottom of the 9th. Christ it was like watching paint peel; slow, horrible and inevitable. Hurt all the more when I realized we had been up 5-0. All in all if you had told me on Monday that we'd take 3 of 4 in Detroit with the injuries we were about to incur I would have paid my money and left happy. Being so close to 4-0 made it hurt though. And as Cliff says, "...the Yanks have bigger problems...".
Any word on Mo?
Also, can we re-nickname Pudge "Skeletor"?
from his chat today:
Mike(Howell,NJ): I know you hate yankee questions but I was wondering your opinion on the yankees going after Ibanez instead of all those high priced guys that are being rumored?
SportsNation Rob Neyer: (1:35 PM ET ) As I said in one of these things a few weeks ago, Ibanez would be a great fit and he's a luxury the M's really can't afford. C'mon, Yankees: be aggressive!
i hate his hate for us.. i just dont think he is objective when its the Yankees..
Bottom 9, down 1, go-ahead run on first via Jeter bunt (knew you guys would like that).
Sheff waggles, blood spurting out of the wristband, and drives the ball over the left field wall for a walk-off world series win. Glove is whisked away to Cooperstown, and Sheff is a Yankee hero for all time.
Right?
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Glad Andy is starting to hit. Going to need him now.
though you forgot the part where Jeter gets the MVP trophy, while Sheff comments that this performance should insure he gets his money in '07 :-0
I concur. Sheff does that, and he damn well better get his money.
1) many of the "injuries" are back spasms etc. common enough during the course of the season and this age group. Media is playing up "Someone else on the Yankees is injured."
2)If you had said preseason both corner outfielders out that would have resonated huge. But the fact is that with the emergence of Melky and Bubba back shortly to give Damon regular breathers, we really only need another outfielder. I keep seeing the same names: Alfonso Soriano, Kansas City's Reggie Sanders, Philadelphia's Pat Burrell and Bobby Abreu and Minnesota's Shannon Stewart. If you had a choice Cliff, who would you go for?
BTW, I know it's dump du jour here on T Long but he made a great play last night, sliding into the corner and coming up firing -- whoever said he was nicknamed Magellan for his circuitous routes to the ball -- I haven't seen that yet and last night he was super quick.
Maybe we're paying the price for having such an old...er, veteran...team.
Or maybe the loss of Matsui has made the rest of the team over-anxious, and they're pushing themselves too hard.
Then again, injuries seem to plaguing Sox, Jays, and other teams, not just us. I heard one report that injuries are up for the whole league, though I don't know how true that is.
I wonder if the steroid ban has something to do with it. There has been some research suggesting that the anabolic steroids abused by athletes and bodybuilders can speed healing as well. That's what "anabolic" means, after all: something that stimulates tissue growth.
With the draft next week does anybody have a clue which players/positions the Yanks might be focusing on? Word is Maier is getting looks from the Orioles. What the...?
Torre indicated that Bernie Williams would be in the lineup in place of Long tonight in Baltimore.
I think it is generally accepted that one of Joe's strengths is that he manages "team politics" relatively well, so this might his way of being diplomatic about Long's performance - i.e., he mentions the attitude and professionalism because those are the only positive things he can really say.
After all, Long is still on the roster, and if you are going ot keep him there, you don't really want the manager ripping him in the media every night. Even when it's true, I'm sure a player doesn't want to hear from his manager that he sucks and that he is deadweight. That can't be good for any player's confidence or attitude.
Am I way way off base here? And, of course, the real solution is to dump Long and insert a replacement level player. Anyone know who has more say in keeping Long around, Cashman or Torre?
It's supposed to be a pretty shallow draft with a relatively low ceiling. Maybe we should look at one of the guys who projects as a quick moving middle reliever with the first or supplemental pick. There's a little article today in the D News wherein the talk up this kid Dellin Bettances a big righty out of NY. BBA says he's "tumbled down draft boards due to …. lost velocity". So who knows. Glad I'm not Oppenheimer this year.
Completely off topic, but here's a really nice article about Rags giving up his uniform # to a Giants rookie; talks a bit about why Rags got 19 to begin with:
http://tinyurl.com/rjbky
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/story/423003p-356998c.html
Farnsworth's ERA is > 5.00.
This is horrible for a reliever. Why are we surprised that he blows a save?
The walks are obviously a problem, but giving up so few home runs and less hits will probably negate them, mostly.
72 That is Torre's strength, and why so many players like him. Maybe he doesn't have a handle on middle relief, but very few do and most middle relievers are failed starters or failed closers.
There have been a lot of comments with regard to certain players. It first started with the GoB comments, then it progressed to the following players: Proctor, Sturtze, Phillips, Bean, Crosby, Erikson, Long. Many people have defended some of those guys, but I have yet to hear anyone defend T-Ball Long. Erikson has been operating under the radar. Thanks to T-Ball of course. I don't think Torre or Cashman will come out and dis T-Ball, but someone has to rise up and make an executive decision about this guy. SOON!!!!
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