Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
After five innings last night, the Yankees were trailing 2-0 and being no-hit by Aaron Laffey. They then exploded with the following rally:
Melky Cabrera broke up the no-no with an infield single on a Baltimore chop that hopped over third baseman Casey Blake's head to shortstop Jhonny Peralta. Derek Jeter followed with a squibber down the third base line that took a sharp left turn on Blake allowing Jeter to reach with another infield single. Bobby Abreu then singled to shallow left field to load the bases with no outs. Down 1-2 in the count, Alex Rodriguez was hit in the left thigh to plate the first Yankee run. Next, Jason Giambi and Hideki Matsui both hit slow bouncing balls to first base, exchanging two outs for two runs. That inexplicably drove Laffey from the game at 78 pitches. Facing reliever Jensen Lewis, Morgan Ensberg hit a weak chop that nearly rolled to a stop even with the mound. Lewis got to the ball first, but was forced to eat it as Ensberg reached with another infield single, this one plating the fourth Yankee run.
Joked Ensberg after the game, "We've tried hitting the ball hard. Robby Cano knows it, too. Jason [Giambi has] hit the ball real hard, but that doesn't work. We need to start using the entire bat. We need to start dribbling balls and rolling balls over, which is exactly what we did."
The Yankees added a fifth run in the eighth off Lewis when Johnny Damon pinch-hit for the aching Rodriguez (more on that below), walked, and was plated by a well-struck double by Hideki Matsui. Not that they needed it. Jonathan Albaladejo, Kyle Farnsworth, Joba Chamberlain, and Mariano Rivera each tossed a scoreless inning to wrap up the win for starter Mike Mussina. Kyle, Joba, and Mo combined for three perfect frames, striking out one man each. Farnsworth, who threw eight of his 12 pitches for strikes, effectively worked a new cutter into his usual fastball/slider mix. Albaladejo had runners on the corners with two outs via a walk and a single, but struck out David Dellucci to escape his inning. Mussina was sharp again, though less efficient. He didn't allow an extra base hit in his five innings, but the two runs he allowed both came in the bottom of the fifth, which started with four straight singles. Moose did well to escape that inning with just two runs allowed, but Girardi was right to lift him once the Yankees got the lead in the top of the next frame.
As for Rodriguez, his right quad is the one that's been bothering him and the pitch from Laffey hit him in the left thigh, but coming out of the box on a groundball to second in the first inning, he aggravated the right thigh. Rodriguez slowed up after just four strides on that groundout and appeared to be limping when he scored in the sixth, prompting Giardi to pinch-hit for him in his next at-bat. After the game, Rodriguez said he was probably only running at 50 percent when he scored and that he probably came back too quickly from the initial injury. Rodriguez plans to shut himself down for a few days. Said Rodriguez after the game, "There's no way I could play tomorrow. . . . I had a quad injury like this in my senior year in high school and it lingered on for a couple months, so it's important to get it right. . . . I think Jeter took the right approach where he took a litte bit more time, and that's probably what I need, too. . . . Joe [Girardi] said [I'll sit] one day, and we'll take it from there, but if I had to guess, I would probably guess probably more than one day. . . . When I get back out there I want to be closer to 100 percent than I am now."
As for Jorge Posada, who was absent from the Yankee dugout for the first time since September 1, 1996, there was no word last night on his diagnosis/prognosis, though I'm hopeful that we'll hear something prior to tonight's opener against the Tigers.
I am no pitching coach, but it seems to me that 2 - 1 inning stints is more stressful then 1 - 2 inning stint.
Even though William is unhappy with our start, there were many reasons we could have done worse. Out of 25 guys, only 5 are performing well (Wang, Andy, Joba, Mo and Matsui). That's 8 of our starting 9 positions underperforing. Add 18 away games, crappy weather and numerous minor injuries, and an absolute automatic out in the lineup (Cano), I think being 14-13 is as much as we should expect.
Unfortunately, injuries to BB, Posada and ARod have not been fully felt. I don't believe Jeter is 100% either. Jetes is not hitting that well that we can't put AG at SS for a few games, or at least every other game, for a while.
I know Po was feeling better, but why not have another MRI before putting him back at C and releasing Moeller? Now with Girardi playing Jetes and ARod, I think we are playing with fire.
The bottom line is for the Yankees to be successful, they have to rake on offense. After 26 games, there are some serious warning signs. Posada is injured and Arod looks like he is on the even year program. If those two positions drop off significantly, I don't see how they make it up, especially if Cano is going to struggle until the summer. What's more, the Yankees have not only struggled, but they have completely abandoned their patient approach. If that continues, the offense will not come close to last year's level.
I am not suggesting that anyone give up on the season, but simply dismissing the red flags wont make them go away.
Are there worries - of course, including injury issues. But - as sometimes happens in this strange, wonderful game - slow starts are being balanced by fast ones (Melky covers for Cano?) and I fully expect regression to the mean to happen leaving us with a seriously above-average batting attack.
I found the bullpen yesterday wonderful. A season highlight. I'm celebrating that kind of efficiency today, not stressing about it. And winning the last two, as Idaho notes, to gain a split on the road after being no-hit for 5 ... this is GOOD, guys. Jorge is key, hoping it is only 4 weeks or something, and - dammit - sitting Alex long enough to let the man heal. As others have noted, Yankees seem to have a bad habit of trivializing injuries.
Um, yay Farns? (Shh.)
Pray for a Deluge!
2008 CLE 3.91
2008 CHA 3.86
2008 OAK 3.86
2008 TOR 3.85
2008 BOS 3.83
2008 TEX 3.82
2008 BAL 3.81
2008 DET 3.80
2008 NYA 3.78
2008 SEA 3.76
2008 KCA 3.73
2008 TBA 3.70
2008 MIN 3.69
2008 ANA 3.61
2007 BOS 3.95
2007 CLE 3.94
2007 OAK 3.91
2007 NYA 3.89
2007 TEX 3.88
2007 CHA 3.86
2007 TOR 3.84
2007 TBA 3.81
2007 MIN 3.73
2007 DET 3.73
2007 BAL 3.72
2007 ANA 3.66
2007 KCA 3.66
2007 SEA 3.63
Melky's underperforming at .289/.358/.494 with five homers?
Farnsworth is underperforming at 3.65 with 12 Ks in 12 1/3 innings?
Heck even Moose, can you really expect much more than the .500 record and 4.73 ERA he's put up thus far? Take out just one bad start against Boston and his ERA is 3.68.
I'd take those sorts of performances over a full year from those four guys.
Take heart!
Hughes vs RHB: .643 OPS
Hughes vs LHB: 1.071 OPS
Number of Tiger regulars who are LHB: 2 (Jacque Jones (hitting .197/.292/.295) and Granderson)
Number of Tiger regulars who are SHB: 1 (Carlos Guillen)
If Hughes can limit any damage from Guillen and Granderson, he ought to do quite well tonight.
As a contrast ... in Seattle they left King Felix up for the 8th after he's gone 7 shutout, and 4 earned runs emerged because the blow-up was walk, double, men on 2nd and third, no one out, no one warming. It can happen very fast when a starter is nearing the end.
Olney on ESPN reports Posada has no significant damage and it looks like a 'normal' DL stint might emerge ... absolutely best-case news, if true.
The trick will be the answer to the following questions:
-Will guys get healthy and stay healthy?
-Will Cano play closer to his projections moving forward?
-Will Giambi's recent uptick continue?
-Will Jeter add at least a little bit of SLG to his game?
-Will Mussina continue his usefulness?
-Will Farnsworth?
-Will Hughes and Kennedy start pitching meaningfully better?
So I missed a few, but still the majority of the team is not where I expect them to be by years end.
11 I agree and it's disturbing, but almost like IPK's control, it's an aberation, and something that will get back to their norm as the year progresses.
Sometimes these are not red flags, but just guys doing shitty for the early season. You can never account for injuries, but it seems to me we can (and will) only play better as the season progresses.
And Giambi's bat has been a tad bit slow, turning HRs to right into deep flys to right-center. I'm better that gets better too.
This is from ESPN.com news services.
Could they actually know something that is NOT posted on any Yankees sites?
Maybe since Joe is such a fitness freak he secretly hates Britton? Despite him losing weight in the offseason?
But the guy deserves a shot. Its not like they aren't trying other guys out. He's there, worst case is that he gives up a few runs and they exchange him for someone else. But now that he hasn't pitched in a bunch of days he probably won't be as sharp. It boggles the mind...
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