Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
The Yankees dropped two of three to the Devil Rays at the beginning of the month, but the Rays had won six of seven coming into that series and went on to win five of their next seven after leaving the Bronx. In other words, the Rays were hot. Entering this penultimate series of the season, the Rays have won just three of their last twelve. They're also playing without Carl Crawford, who hasn't played in two weeks due to some muscle strains in his legs, and James Sheilds, who would have started tomorrow, but won't because he's reached his innings limit for the season (he's thrown 215 innings this year after throwing 185 2/3 innings between triple-A and the majors as a rookie last year). Both are breaks for the Yanks as Shields had emerged as a strong number two in the Tampa rotation and, in an otherwise disappointing season, Crawford has hit .380/.436/.500 against the Yankees this year.
The Rays are also without second baseman Brendan Harris (shoulder), which is news less because of his absence than because of the player who has replaced him, 32-year-old minor league lifer Jorge Velandia, who is with his fifth organization in as many years. Velandia is a career .247/.304/.356 hitter in the minors and last sniffed the majors with the Mets in 2003, but he returned with a rage last week and went 10 for 18 with four doubles and four walks over his first six games as the Rays' starting second baseman. He's 1 for 8 with four Ks over his last two games, however, so perhaps the Yankees be fortunate enough to see the real Jorge Velandia at the plate over the next three days.
They better hope so, as Kei Igawa is starting tonight in place of Roger Clemens, who has been scratched once again due to his tweaky left hamstring. Clemens will not appear in this series, but the Yankees are still expecting him to pitch against Baltimore and answer the bell for the postseason. Much like they are with Ian Kennedy, the Yankees are being overly cautious with Clemens now in the hope of getting more out of him in October. Here's hoping it works out that way, at least in Clemens' case (with Kennedy ticketed for the long relief role, something will have to go wrong for him to see much if any postseason action).
Igawa made seven starts since his last demotion to triple-A Columbus, posting the following line:
43 2/3 IP, 45 H, 20 ER, 8 BB, 44 K, 1.21 WHIP, 4.12 ERA, 3-2
Four of those seven starts were quality starts, including his final three. Igawa's only faced one batter since August 31. That came on Saturday and the batter, Toronto's Hector Luna, hit an RBI single.
Opposing Igawa will be Jason Hammel. Hammel was supposed emerge in the rotation along with Shields, but stumbled badly in his last four starts last year, starting with a stinker against the Yanks at the Stadium. He then failed to make the Rays out of camp, arrive in mid-June to post a 6.11 ERA out of the bullpen, then increased that to 7.44 over his first eight starts (the first of which saw him allow two runs in four innings in the Bronx). However, Hammel has posted a 2.35 ERA over his last four starts, allowing just one home run and striking out 17 against just four walks in 23 innings. That streak also started in the Bronx--Hammel threw five innings of one-run ball striking out seven and walking none the last time these two teams met--and has continued with games against the Blue Jays, Mariners, and Angels.
Hammel will face the same lineup the Yanks ran out there yesterday, though Damon will play in the field and Matsui will DH.
Incidentally, the Devil Rays will shorten their name to the Tampa Bay Rays next year and adopt new uniforms with blue as their primary color (something their official site has unsubtly hinted at all year with it's all-blue color scheme). The uni designs have slipped out here. Personally, I'm annoyed that they're ditching the unique and appropriate green to become the 17th major league team with some shade of blue as its primary color. I'm also very disappointed in the generic design and the name change. The Rays uniforms won't be ugly, but they will be perhaps the least interesting in all of baseball, which is saying really something.
Meanwhile, the same site has images of the sleeve patches the Yankees will be wearing next year in honor of the All-Star Game and the (#&*@*&$) final season of Yankee Stadium, as well as some other new alternate uniforms and sleeve patches that we'll see around the majors in 2008 here.
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
2007 Record: 64-92 (.410)
2007 Pythagorean Record: 64-92 (.409)
Manager: Joe Maddon
General Manager: Andrew Friedman
Home Ballpark (2007 Park Factors): Tropicana Field (102/102)
Changes:
Current Roster:
1B – Carlos Peña (L)
2B – Jorge Velandia (R)
SS – Josh Wilson (R)
3B – Akinori Iwamura (L)
C – Dioner Navarro(S)
RF – Delmon Young (R)
CF – B.J. Upton (R)
LF – Jonny Gomes (R)
DH – Greg Norton (S)
Bench:
R - Josh Paul (C)
R - Joel Guzman (IF)
R - Justin Ruggiano (OF)
R - Raul Casanova (C)
R - Brendan Harris (IF)*
L – Carl Crawford (OF)*
Rotation:
R – James Shields**
L – Scott Kazmir
R – Andy Sonnanstine
R – Edwin Jackson
R - Jason Hammel
L - J.P. Howell
Bullpen:
R - Al Reyes
R - Dan Wheeler
R – Gary Glover
R – Brian Stokes
L - Jon Switzer
R – Juan Salas
R - Scott Dohmann
R - Grant Balfour
R - Jay Witasick
L - Jon Switzer
L - Jeff Ridgway
60-day DL: S - Ben Zobrist (IF), R – Rocco Baldelli (R), R - Shawn Riggans (C)
Inactive List: R - Elijah Dukes (OF)
*injured
**shut down due to innings limit
Typical Lineup:
L – Akinori Iwamura (3B)
R - Jorge Velandia (2B)
L - Carlos Peña (1B)
R - B.J. Upton (CF)
R – Delmon Young (CF)
S - Greg Norton (DH)
R - Jonny Gomes (RF)
S – Dioner Navarro (C)
R - Josh Wilson (SS)
You heard it hear first.
4.1 IP, 4 ER, at least 2 men on base when pulled.
We'll see lots of relief pitching today, and I presume it will be a post-season tryout. Ohlendorf, Ramirez, ... Henn? Farns??
I probably mentioned this before, but the most excruciating plane flight I experienced this year (where the inconvenience wasn't the result of the airlines or weather) was a JetBlue cross country flight one Monday evening, when Igawa was pitching against the Rays (game was on ESPN). I kept watching the Yankee half of an inning, then flicking off my headphones in disgust everytime Iggy gave back runs in the bottom of the same inning. This seemed to go on endlessly before he got lifted.
Only redeeming thing was Alex was in the middle of his torrid streak, and hit two home runs. Quite a few people around me switched to ESPN whenever Alex was batting...that's how hot he was.
Might I suggest "Dancing With the Stars" tonight? At least you might get a chance to see Mark Cuban fall on his large... uh, wallet.
;-)
I'll glad take Igawa on that show, though, instead of in a Yankee uniform.
perhaps i'm lucky - i'll miss every single pitch tonight as i have a loaded teaching schedule and then must practice. in my stead, i will leave a Kei Igawa 2007 Bowman Rookie Card displayed in my home before i go to work in a half-hour.
it's a green border with a fine and quiet spring training backdrop. on the back, a portion reads:
SKILLS: Fastball usually sits around 90 mph...Uses change-up as his out pitch...Also has a slider and a curveball...Excellent control.
GO YANKS!!!
then, as more and more casual fans start to warm up to lil' iggy and say nice things about him, mattpat will grow increasingly more and more infuriated by the whole situation and more and more obsessed with debunking the whole illusion of the "good" igawa ...
in short order i see this leading to facial tics and twitches, screeds, rants and denunciations, various plots and subterfuges to undermine igawa in the games his pitches ... and finally culminating in an nefarious scheme to have lil' iggy bumped off
you know, sort like Chief Inspector Dreyfus reacted to Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies ...
twitch, twitch ... twitch, twitch!
I'm playing Dare by Stan Bush
11 So you're opposed to Igawa not just as a pitcher, but as a metaphysical construct? I like it, and I admire your philosophical rigor.
No names... of course.
I want Igawa to be the next Whitey Ford. Reason #1, so the Yanks win. Reason #2? To listen to Mattpat still demand that he GETS OFF THE TEAM.
Keep the green, monochromatic ray logo with no letters on left breast, number on right breast, interlocking TB on hat. Green "Tampa Bay" on grey away jersey. Done.
It's like a microcosm of the season for Igawa. He started off having real problems, but it looks like he's finally coming around. This is great!
(This message brought to you by AMMHE, the Alliance to Make Mattpat's Head Explode)
Too bad, he's wrecked it. But, we can dream.
26 There is something about an imminent playoff entrance that seems to have got everyone in fine humor and wit. Dare I say it's even kind of fun tapdancing on the ledge with Iggy, knowing the consequences are nothing more dire than backing into the division, or waiting an extra day or two. We have the opportunity to foam at the mouth for a few hours, and still get a good night's sleep when it's all over.
Of course if Farnsworth makes an appearance, with visions of future playoff usage, the bile will sit in our stomachs a bit more unsettlingly...
Leiter: Now THAT I'd like to see...
(cackling from the booth and awkward silence)
Still- 8 balls, 5 strikes.
Maris
Ruth
Mantle
Rodriguez
Not bad company.
I'm listening to John and Suzyn this evening, by the way. Seems like the perfect night for it. The circus atmosphere.
Now Suzyn says that the reason Iwamura's hit went over Jeter's glove is that the turf here makes the ball gain velocity as it moves over the infield.
I enjoyed the tv series and I will watch it again after the season is over.
Anyway, the goddam laws of physics ruined Kei's no-no!
LOL to the Rays announcers on their NYY bullpen comment.
How frustrating is this Igawa cat?
btw the announcers compared the NYY bullpen to "another borough of NY with all those guys down there. Bet Joe wishes he had four mounds there instead of just two."
Maybe he should start the fifth and walk two guys on 8 pitches. Would that seal his fate?
Seriously, I'm getting a kick out of his highwire act tonight, but he frustrates the hell out of me normally.
Did any of you that signed via yankees.com for the playoff ticket lottery get a respose one way or the other yet? Thanks.
"Shit which team are you rooting for man!"
Was that against Toronto? Same series when they stole fucking home?
God, how far we've come.
This is definitely Audition Day.
Next.
Please go ahead. Take your time.
If Moose is a starter, are both Hughes and IPK on the PS rooster and in the BP? Edwar, Bruney and the rest can NOT be counted on in a short series.
Hey, he said it, not me.
Thanks, Mr. Bruney. We'll let you know.
Next.
This, however, will be my first Yankees post-season - in person...
Oh, Brian. Man, I guess you turned the corner, but went back home to make sure the stove was off.
Motherfucker.
It was 5-0.
It was 5-0.
Posada
ARod
Jeter
Cano
Minky
Bettemit
Giambi
Duncan
Molina
OF
Damon
Matsui
Abreu
Cabrera
SP
Andy
Wang
Rocket
Moose
RP
Rivera
Joba
Viz
Ramirez
Farns
Hughes
Kennedy
Who's number 25? Villone? Bruney?
I really want the Yanks to win tonight.
How can someone get as far as the ML level with the inability to throw strikes? and call themselves pitchers?
Are Hughes and IPK in the BP for the PS?
"What a travesty. Edwar Ramirez and Brian Bruney – the darlings of the stat geeks – walk four and give up two hits to lose the lead to one inning. Well, they were each released before. They won't be surprised when it happens again after the season. The Yankees would be crazy to put either of them on the postseason roster."
Ramirez could probably be considered loved by "stat geeks"
Bruney? Hardly. See 193 .
Sometimes, I just shake my head at PeteAbe...
So, maybe Britton passes the audition. Or anyway earns himself a callback.
I like Jorgie more, though.
Looks like Jason isn't, though.
You hadn't noticed?
Nice that Britton got a fair audition compared to Bruney. Of course he doesn't have the stuff that Bruney does.
How could anyone possibly support Michael Vick?
Note: I AM NOT COMPARING HIM TO GUIDRY. ;-)
Al Reyes!
"They can't possibly run the table, can they?", he's thinking.
Alex, your pride and title are on the line together...
Betemit stinks, all he does is strike out.
Pitcher fucked with his rhythm.
And Betamit has gotten some good hits for us. But, he's no Posada.
Ballgame
If you would bring Rivera in here, raise your hand. Anyone who watched the 2003 WS when Weaver came into the tie game on the road, please vote twice.
My only real point was that it would have been nice to have Posada up instead of Betemit.
You guys are nuts. What's wrong with you? This is Jose Freakin' Veras.
I mean, unless we get the lead, in which case a good pitcher will finish it. Rivera is available; so are Joba and The Vizcount.
Oh, I'm so excited.
And the Oscar goes to...
Might as well throw Karstens
Whine.
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Thank you, Jeff. Don't forget your dancing shoes. We'll be in touch.
That's it for tonight, folks. More auditions tomorrow!
would you say that this was Torre's fault, or was it really just a matter of laziness?
Thanks for wasting our time Joe. Can you please let us know if you are going to try tomorrow night?
When you fall behind every batter 2-0 or 3-1 you are eventually going to get hit very, very, very hard. Kei Igawa did and was slapped around the field - but magically gave up no runs. Kartsens was the final bullet in the chamber with five shots already fired. BANG! Thanks alot for fucking wasting my evening.
Crap. I'm waiting for the e-mails from my Red Sox fan friends, they should start piling up right about ... now.
:)
Unf*ckingbelievable.
Also, it was a baseball game.
That's plenty of positive for me.
And players, bring your instruments or dancing shoes and we'll pick up where we left off.
It's BRILLIANT.
:-P
And as the leaves turn, I find myself saddened by the prospect of a long, dark winter without baseball.
Enjoy it while it lasts...
1) Hope we win ONE more game
2) Rest MoJoViz, as they are our only hope for the PS
3) Hughes is in the PS, as Roger is out
4) Angels lose, Cleveland winning... so maybe we get Cleveland is the PS.
5) Remember how many times and how many people had definitively declared we were OUT of the PS, and rejoice in the fact that we play in October.
Please?
So let Torre have his auditions. He isn't trying to win the games -- he is trying to rest players and figure out which of his bullpen can succeed.
If he wanted to win, he would obviously have a different set of pitchers there.
But for the sake of the postseason roster, we needed to know if Edwar can cut. He can't. We needed to know if Bruney had anything. He doesn't. Villone showed something. So did Farnsworth. I still don't trust either one of them. But is it me or did Farnsworth just pitch two days in a row without sucking??? Jose Veras is still hanging in the picture though he is unlikely for the playoffs.
Step away from the edge, people. No need to jump. The best thing about today's auditions is that Ohlendorf, Vizcaino, Joba and Rivera DID NOT pitch.
Karstens has zero chance of making the PS roster. His only place would be as a long man, and that slot is going to one of either Hughes or Kennedy. So, why was he in the game at all?
So it is time to find the least crappiest of the crap.
Bruney has been horrid most of the year. Yes, he got that lineup card. That was what, 1 2/3 innings? Its the postseason, you don't rest people.
Clearly they are starting to push farnsworth to back to back days. I would expect to see Farnsworth a few more times in back to back situations.
The last time Vizcaino has pitched 73 or more innings was in 2002. So they will probably be using him infrequently.
Any reported with courage would challenge Joe, but I'm sure they'll laugh it off along with him.
Curiously, no mention of the 10.43 ERA. Luckily, Joe said we have all week to get Bruney straightened out. I'm sure they'll keep trying right up until he blows a playoff game.
I say again, you need 1 win to clinch. You're up 5-0 after 5 innings. Why not go for the win?
But all that said, Bruney and Edwar need to do the freaking job. Pathetic.
Everyone on this ROSTER has 'experience' of some sort, Joe. Tampa is barely better than some of the AAA teams some of our young guys have faced. We KNOW Jeff Karstens stinks - STOP USING HIM.
Don't bank on Detroit losing a game.
Don't bank on vague expectations of winning a game sometime in the next couple of days.
That's a loser's plan.
Couldn't win a game.
Could not win a game.
A bird in the hand...
It's not what he meant, but oh so true.
Jeff Karstens, 1-4, 11.05 ERA
Well done, Joe.
Oh, wait, I remember why I gave up on this exercise. Mattpat answered once (the only response I got), and said that we should have traded Wright and Unit- two shitty, usually injured pitchers- for better SP. Okay.
Hmmm...the sunshine boys have a dilema. Either the Yankees didn't give a full effort yesterday, or Torre doesn't know what he is talking about. I vote for both.
What is Karstens known for? Scary fly balls. What did he do? Give up a scary fly ball.
If we know these things, why doesn't Joe?
Who would've eaten up all those innings the starters didn't get to the past week? I would bet there were many EXCLUDING the extra innings.
Wang (3.72 ERA) vs Howell (6.80)
Santana (3.29) vs Detroit's Jurrjens (3.90)
If Santana doesn't do it, Wang really should clinch it for them.
For the crazies who think we can win the division, it is Blanton vs Lester.
So overuse the few good pitchers they have right before the playoffs.
No, you're right. Call up useless warm bodies to lose games in a pennant race.
And the lousy bullpen arms were the cause of all those extra innings.
Are you even a Yankee fan?
Might as well hope Boston wins out and gets cold next week
Anyone remember a 14 inning game? Or a 10 inning game the next day (where the starter went 5)??? Or how about Monday where Pettite only went 5??? Or today when we had another 5 inning start???
Come on. That's 22 innings in 5 days. That's a LOT to ask from a bullpen.
I realize the division race is almost certainly over. But there's no reason not to HOPE for it. Hope =/= expect. Yeesh.
And the assertion that the bad relievers caused the extra innings is wrong. In the first game, Wang and Halladay had a great pitcher's duel until Wang, our ace, blinked. What if they didn't have guys to eat up those innings? Rest is way, way too valuable at this stage to not stock up on pitchers.
I was referring to his exact words, which were "Callingup No one"
And Yanks record vs Cleveland: 6-0
Also, Matt's exact words were Callingup No one is a better option than calling up Karstens and Wright and DeSalvo.
I agree...if they hadn't called up Karstens, Torre wouldn't have been able to use him in two crucial situations.
If these men can't get major leaguers out, how are they going to eat innings?
But, this team has seemingly had a knack for playing up, or down, to the ability of their opponents. Hopefully that continues in October (it is spelled with an 'O' right...?).
The Yankees lost tonight because:
1) Joe Torre is incompetent.
2) Joe Torre doesn't care.
3) Joe Torre has an early time share in Hawaii.
Oh well, get em tomorrow.
and neither do I
All I wanted to see from today's game was the absence of Rivera, Joba and Vizcaino. I was pleasantly surprised to see Farnsy used back to back. That will be needed ( though hopefully not) in the playoffs.
Igawa did not impress. 5 walks is bad. If he was auditioning for the role of a reliever, then NO. We can't have a reliever who doesn't throw strikes.
4) William has lost his mind if he thinks Torre doesn't want to win ball games... or was that Mattpat... eh, it doesn't matter. I'm not getting sucked into this black hole of abyss... G'night.
He put Karstens in.
Torre wanted to lose. Gotcha.
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