Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
"[Hughes] does not know how [the injury] happened," GM Brian Cashman said. Hughes, on Wednes day, said the first time he felt the problem was last week. "It wasn't like one specific pitch where I felt it," he said. "It was just one of those things. I woke up one morning and it was a little discomfort but nothing major, and then after [Wednesday] night there was significantly more discomfort." (Mark Hale, NY Post)
Phil Hughes is gone until July and Ian Kennedy can't get through five innings. Kennedy did show some improvements last night but they weren't nearly enough. The Yankees, once again, were in the game but could not come up with enough offense or pitching to win as they were swept by the Tigers (something that hasn't happened in the Bronx since 1966). YES analyst John Flaherty correctly got all over the Yankee hitters in the seventh inning as they took their Connan-sized hacks instead of working the count and trying to build a rally. At one point during his post-game interview, Joe Girardi let out a heavy sigh. It got the attention of my wife, Emily, who was sitting on the couch reading a book. "Wow, he sounds stressed."
It rained from the third inning on. It was really heavy at times. Props to the fans who stuck around for the entire mess. Final score: Tigers 8, Yanks 4.
This weekend doesn't get any easier for the enemic offense what with Bedard and Felix Hernandez on the hill for the visiting Seattle Mariners tonight and tomorrow. What's the old saying about praying for rain?
Hey, at least I'm eating well.
About five or six years ago, my aunt Bis introduced me to ramps, a wild leek that tastes like a cross-breed between the garlic and onion families. Ramps are only around for a few precious weeks each spring. They look like green onions but have a subtle and distinct flavor that is all their own. Frankly, I think they are a little overrated--maybe my palet isn't sophisticated enough--but they are fun to use when they around, just to mix it up. Last night, I made a shotgun version of my favorite dish--I had four slices of guanciale stored in a ziplock in the freezer, and I used the ramps and a leek instead of onions.
There are several ways to make this dish. But here is a very solid recipe from the queen of Italian home cooking, Marcella Hazen.
Adapted from Marcella Hazen's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablesppoon butter
1 medium onion chopped fine
A 1/4 inch thick slice of pancetta (or guanciarli or bacon), cut into strips 1/2 inch wide and 1 inch long
2 cups canned imported tomates, drained and cut up
chopped hot red chili pepper, to tase
Salt
3 tablespoons freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
2 tablespoons freshly grated romano cheese
1 pound pasta
Recommended pasta (according to Marcella): "It's impossible to say "all'amatriciana" without thinking "bucatini." The two are as indivisible as Romero and Juliet. But other couplings of the sauce, such as with penne or rigatoni or conchiglie, can be nearly as successful."
1. Put the oil, butter, and onion in a saucepan and turn on the heat to medium. Saute the onion until it becomes colored a pale gold, then add the pancetta. Cook for about 5 minutes, sitrring every so often. Add the chili pepper and then the tomatoes, and salt and cook in the uncovered pan at a steady, gentle simmer for 25 minutes. Taste and correct for salt and hot pepper.
2. Boil pasta and cook until al dente. Toss the pasta with the sauce, then add both cheeses, and toss thoroughly again.
Tips from AB: Don't be afraid to liberally salt your pasta water. It'll give your pasta plenty o flavor. Also, it's always a good idea to reserve about a cup of the pasta water before you drain the pasta. This way if your sauce is too thick, you can always thin it out some with the water. I know Marcella doesn't use olive oil here, but I often do with this dish. The olive oil along with the pork fat gives the dish plenty of flavor. And if I do use olive oil, I will generally drizzle a bit of olive oil on the pasta and the sauce just before serving--maybe a couple of teaspoons worth. Also, I generally use about 3 cups of tomatoes, or a 28-oz. can (here's another version of the recipe that calls for more tomatoes than Marcella uses). Make sure when you buy canned tomatoes that they are whole peeled and not crushed, and make sure to get a can that says San Marzano, which isn't necessarily a brand but a variety of plum tomatoes.
Mmm, mmm, good.
Nice recipe, I'll have to try it sometime.
Where do you pick up guanicale in your neighborhood? If you're still living where I think you're living, there really isn't any good Italian butchers to get good quality stuff.
Know what I had last night for the first time in years? KFC. My wife picked it up on a whim. biscuits, gravy, some form of mashed pertaters, the works. I had to nuke it when I got home but it was a nice treat.
Of course I felt my arteries hardening in my wrists throughout the game, and I think one of my ribs cracked from the stress of watching our favorite team, but s'all good.
you know we could improve our outfield defense by replacing Abreu and Damon with two cauldrons of cold oatmeal.
Hey, welcome back to the Bronx, Bobby M!
I hope the Yankees' current need for starting pitching has pushed up Joba's timetable somewhat. One he recovers, he should get some starts in the minors and then be moved into the starting rotation. Let Hughes, Joba and Kennedy all learn at the same time.
Bleachers. $14.
email me: jen AT nosenseworrying DOT com
(salivating over the food pictures)
Britton looks like he downs a couple of bowls of that all'amatriciana for a mid-game nosh.
Umm, San Marzano tomatoes. Since we're speaking of food, is there anywhere near the Stadium to get a nice Italian sandwich? I will be at next Thursday's Wang-CC rematch, and am hoping to sample some fine NYC cuisine besides the hot dogs.
If he's being converted he should get 3-4 starts in AAA, not 2-3 inning middle stints in the bigs. We don't want him in blow-outs because we can't then use him in games that matter and he takes up a roster spot. And he shouldn't be messing around in close games. The shift to starting involves about 3 weeks off the roster and I don't think we should be finessing that, too.
Looks as if everyone was wrong about Hughes not really being hurt. Read yesterday that Damon is hobbling again, too, but gutting it out. I've SEEN that movie.
Weird stories about Tabata, too, and team keeping mum on possibility he had a suspension for bad attitude. He sure ain't hitting.
Glum Friday ... a sweep will do that to you.
Aside from it never being good to be outscored over any period, the Yankees vulnerability in these middle innings is having the added impact of decimating the bullpen and placing added pressure on the offense. The only way to cure these issues is to get better starting pitching because until and unless Arod and Posada return, the offense isn't going to improve much.
At this point, I don't think you can keep running Kennedy out there. He needs to go back to the minors for a few weeks to regain some confidence and, at the very least, get more substantial innings. In the meantime, the Yankees have to hope Rasner can be at least league average (which would be a Pedro Martinez-like improvement over what they have been getting) and then piece together the 5th starters for the rest of the month. Due to off days, they really only need three starts from the 5th slot in May, so even a carousel from Scranton might do the trick. It's early still, but the Yankees are teetering on a hole that will be much bigger than last year's. Girardi and Cashman need to shake things up.
the injury bug is biting the wrong minor leaguers as well, compounding our problems
The offense is obviously all sorts of banged up (the two best hitters on the team - maybe the 1st and 3rd, but close enough - are on the DL), but there are also guys who just aren't getting it done. The team is helpless against LHP right now.
The three pitchers the Tigers sent out there should've been POUNDED under normal circumstances.
Um, we could offer Chan Ho Park or Esteban Loiaza soon. Good control! One horrible inning is a given for each but they'd come cheap. Offer not good in any stores.
I also think the deep holes being created by the pitching is weighing on the offense. The root of the problem relies on the mound, and the solution will only be found there, at least until Arod and Posada return to the lineup.
Take last night, Melky gets that hit, drives in two runs, we're up 6-4. The pen usage becomes totally different. You'd be seeing Joba and Mo instead of Albaladejo, hence a very likely win. Take any of almost every game we've lost when we we've had RISP. So many chances to break games open and we score one or two runs. That's why we're losing.
i think many people were hoping for a fast start by the offense, were hoping for at least one of hughes and kennedy to come through, and many people were hoping for major manegerial changes to be in place - we basically haven't gotten any, so it has been a somewhat frustrating beginning of the season that has been made so much worse with the injuries.
to me much of this is an intertwined vicious cycle mess - not enough run support - crappy to mediocre to average pitching in the vast bulk of non wang starts - which in turn has lead to hitters not being patient in later innings - which has led to the pitchers trying to be perfect -throw in some really awful defense - and on and on - we have seen this ugly rerun a few too many times
Also, by lumping pitching together, you are not getting a clear look at the contribution of the starters...made more "blurry" by the standout performance of Wang.
It's not worth finding reasons; IPK's been totally lost this year, and it's not like he looked sharp yesterday.
If through his next 2-3 starts he clearly isn't getting better, then you send him down. But for now, you have to build on it.
I mean, heck, last night he was one out from a 5 inning start! These days, thats pretty good!
I don't get the sense that anyone knows what's wrong, and if they don't know what's wrong, how can the fix it.
It's easy to say, IPK isn't throwing enough strikes, but why isn't he throwing strikes? Is it mental? Is it physical/mechanical? Is it fixable? I have no confidence that the organization knows WTF is wrong with these two supposedly high ceiling pitchers.
I get that young pitchers often struggle early in their careers, but these guys are giving up a run an inning. That's not tennable, or acceptable.
I'm not saying this is an easy thing, and I'm not insinuating that I think Cash or Eiland or whoever are doing something wrong or bad, but it's really really frustrating, and what starts to creep in is the feeling that we've been duped. That maybe, this is who Ian Kennedy is, and shouldn't somebody have known that?
I understand the frustration at the lack of seeming solutions, thats whats bugging me to. But it isnt exactly unheard of for these things to take awhile. Look at what happened to Doc Halladay. A season of pretty solid success followed by a complete debacle of a 2000. As in a 10 ERA and some disastrous starts and bullpen appearances way worse than what weve seen.
And it wasnt until the end of the season and the start of the next that they finally figured out what was wrong and sent him down to A ball to rework himself. I know thats an extreme case, but Im just saying, these things can take time and patience.
Wouldnt you gladly take a horrible 2008 from Hughes and Kennedy if it meant putting them on a Halladay type track? Or even somewhere in the range of that?
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