1. Boston Red Sox
Can't beat Baltimore, but then again, no contenders can. The acquisition of Gagne hurt at first, but he'll be fine. You better score on them in the first six innings because Okajima, Gagne and Papelbon don't give up runs very often. Surprisingly, offense will be the only question down the stretch run.
2. Anaheim Angels
They still really need a bat to protect Vladimir Guerrero, but won't give up any of their prospects. Pitching and the eventual collapse of Seattle will give them a playoff spot, but even without that bat, they're still a serious World Series contender.
3. New York Yankees
Beat up on sub-.500 teams and then swept Cleveland. A tough stretch with 7 against Detroit and a trip to the Angels will determine if they're playoff caliber team. Got rid of Jeff Karstens and the waste of roster space that was Mike Myers. Starting pitching needs to get better and Rivera needs his bite back on his cutter. Joba Chamberlain flat-out nasty.
4. Seattle Mariners
Way overacheiving and they'll fall off eventually. Or will they. Their expected record is 60-58 and they're 66-52. Few teams in history have played more than a couple games over their expected record so logic says they'll fall off. Logic also says Jeff Weaver shouldn't lead the league in shutouts, but he does.
5. Arizona Diamondbacks
Their expected record is 58-63 and they're 68-53. Thirteen times they've lost by double digits and yet somehow they're leading the NL West by 3 games. When they're bad, they're bad. When they're good, they're good. There's not much middle ground with this team.
6. Detroit Tigers
They're falling off even more this year than they did last year. But so is the rest of the AL Central. The starting pitching has been absolutely horrendous and the hitting has slumped. Fernando Rodney is back and Zumaya's almost back. That'll help.
7. Cleveland Indians
The oddense has been absolutely horrendous the past month or so and they just got swept, at home, by the Yankees to fall out of the Wild Card lead. Kenny Lofton hasn't been what they expected and Travis Hafner is having a bad year. Fausto Carmona's still a nice story.
8. Atlanta Braves
Not many teams can match the Smoltz/Hudson duo or the lineup of the Braves. Mark Teixiera has been the protection that Andruw hasn't been all year. Edgar Renteria's coming back sooner than expected and Dotel will solidify the bullpen when he returns. They're getting hot and healthy at the right time
9. San Diego Padres
The Padres are one of the few teams that match the Braves in the pitching department. Young and Peavy are 1-2 in the NL ERA race but the offense is pathetic most nights. They should be able to catch Arizona soon enough to earn a playoff spot again. And they may be able to win a series with Young and Peavy.
10. New York Mets
Just treading water waiting for October. Problem is, they may not be around come October. Moises Alou is coming around, but the Mets are 30-33 since June 1. They've let Philly and Atlanta hang around and it could end up costing them.
11. Philadelphia Philles
Tadahito Iguchi has filled in nicely for Chase Utley and the Phillies are trying to figure out a way to work Iguchi, Utley and Rollins all in the lineup when Utley returns. Kyle Lohse is considered an upgrade for their rotation though. Ouch.
12. Colorado Rockies
They hit really well and actually pitch okay this year. They'll fall short of the postseason though because of injuries to their starting rotation. They've lost Aaron Cook, Rodrigo Lopez and Jason Hirsh to injury and have replaced them with people like Elmer Dessens and Ubaldo Jiminez. Who? Exactly.
13. Chicago Cubs
Right now, they're just keeping pace with Milwaukee. With Milwaukee getting swept by St. Louis, that's not a good thing. They've been concerned only with the Brew Crew all year, but now the Cards are a game and a half back of them. Soriano'll be back eventually.
14. St. Louis Cardinals
Coming off a sweep of Milwaukee puts them ahead of the Brewers. Adam Wainwright starting to look like trading JD Drew was a good move and Izzy's back and closing. They have the highest starters ERA in the NL and have been outscored all year, but the NL Central is the place to win cheap.
15. Milwaukee Brewers
Ben Sheets is still a couple of weeks away from returning and this team is in a complete free fall. They starters are 1-9 in the past two weeks and the bullpen isn't much better. Ryan Braun may win the ROTY, but that's about all Milwaukee will win this year. Finishing over .500 may not be assured anymore either.
16. Toronto Blue Jays
They're still ticked at the Yankees, but they're playing better. Burnett's back (for now) and Halladay's going strong. Marcum has been money and the defense has been solid. Vernon Wells needs to remember he's a $100 million man.
17. Baltimore Orioles
They're a few good hitters and a closer away from being a pretty good team. They just went 4-2 against New York and Boston and are 27-23 under Dave Trembley. Eric Bedard is my Cy Young choice right now and Aubrey Huff is actually hitting some.
18. Minnesota Twins
Torii Hunter will probably leae after this season. Joe Nathan will probably be traded and Johan Santana will probably walk after 2008. The Twins are 7 back in the Wild Card, but they're done.
19. Los Angeles Dodgers
They can't score. The pitching hasn't been horrible, but they're the only team that doesn't have a guy with at least 16 home runs. They thought that their pitching was good enough to mask their lack of offense, but they were wrong. They're not San Diego.
20. Chicago White Sox
At least Bobby Jenks set a record this year.
21. Oakland A's
Dan Haren's been rocked of late and they don't score much either. Steve Phillips cursed them when he picked Bobby Crosby (.226-8-31) to be the MVP at the beginning of the season, though. Good pick, Steve.
22. Kansas City Royals
They're improving. Slowly. Billy Butler, Joey Gathright and Alex Gordon are all hitting and Gil Meche hasn't been as bad as Steve Phillips said he would.
23. Florida Marlins
They need to either shape up or ship out Scott Olsen. Dontrelle needs to hire a nanny to take care of that kid and they too, need a new stadium. And maybe a few fans.
24. Washington Nationals
Not much new here. Mike Bascik served up Barry Bonds' 756th home run, they lost a few more games. But the season is a success becase they're not the worst team in the National League!
25. Cincinnati Reds
Ken Griffey Jr's headed towards 600 home runs and Aaron Harang is dealing. Other than that, not much to smile about in Cincinnati.
26. Houston Astros
Craig Biggio got his 3000th hit and then became the only player to be thrown out trying to stretch their 3000th hit. Typical Houston. Craig Biggio finally is retiring (3 seasons coming) and there will be no magical second half run this year without Pettitte and Clemens.
27. Texas Rangers
Gagne, Mahay and Texiera all gone. At least they now have Jarrod Saltalamacchia, owner of the longest last name in baseball history. But he's only hitting .163-.212-.229 since the trade with zero home runs and three ribbies. But he's got the longest last name in baseball history!
28. Pittsburgh Pirates
Adam LaRoche has contributed more than Mike Gonzalez! Tom Gorzelanny and Ian Snell have been good (132 and 113 ERA+) the rest of the pitching...not so much.
29. San Francisco Giants
Barry Bonds, new home run king. Only reason to watch Giants now...Tim Lincecum.
30. Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Hard to win when the bullpen's best ERA is 4.74. Headed for 100 losses for the fourth time in franchise history. But Carl Crawford's good. And Scott Kazmir is way better than Victor Zambrano.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Life After Jorge Posada
Jorge Posada has been a staple in three Yankee championships and has been the most productive and consistent catcher over the past decade. But he's 35 years old and won't be around forever. Looking through the Yankees farm system, the most attractive option to replace Posada is Jesus Montero, who is 16 years old. He was signed out of Venezuela and has 80 power on a 20-80 scale, which means he has the potential to hit 40+ home runs at the major league level. There's no doubt that this kid can and will hit, but the Yankees question whether he'll even be a catcher when he breaks into the Major Leagues. He's 6'3 and 220 pounds, big for a catcher (and he's not done growing at 16). More than likely he'll end up playing first base.
So after Montero, the Yankees are frighteningly thin at the catcher position. So here's my solution. Make a deal with Atlanta. The Braves have both Brian McCann and Jarrod Saltalamacchia behind the plate and in the majors. McCann is 23, Saltalamacchia, 22. McCann just signed a big deal to be the starting catcher for at least the next four or five years, effectively blocking Saltalamacchia. Instead of playing revolving positions with Saltalamacchia and Scott Thorman, talk up the Yankees. The Braves just traded disappointing outfielders Ryan Langerhans and have a hole in left field. The Yankees just happen to have an extra left fielder in Melky Cabrera. So my proposition to Brian Cashman: package Melky Cabrera with a minor league arm or two (Claggert and Veras) and bring in Saltalamacchia. The Yankees have enough outfielders that can fill in for the regulars, but next to no catchers. The Braves have a surplus of young catching and a void in left field. Seems to be a match.
So after Montero, the Yankees are frighteningly thin at the catcher position. So here's my solution. Make a deal with Atlanta. The Braves have both Brian McCann and Jarrod Saltalamacchia behind the plate and in the majors. McCann is 23, Saltalamacchia, 22. McCann just signed a big deal to be the starting catcher for at least the next four or five years, effectively blocking Saltalamacchia. Instead of playing revolving positions with Saltalamacchia and Scott Thorman, talk up the Yankees. The Braves just traded disappointing outfielders Ryan Langerhans and have a hole in left field. The Yankees just happen to have an extra left fielder in Melky Cabrera. So my proposition to Brian Cashman: package Melky Cabrera with a minor league arm or two (Claggert and Veras) and bring in Saltalamacchia. The Yankees have enough outfielders that can fill in for the regulars, but next to no catchers. The Braves have a surplus of young catching and a void in left field. Seems to be a match.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Phil Hughes, Phenom
The Yankees have played nineteen game and lost eleven of them. The starting pitching has been downright awful outside of Andy Pettitte, sporting a rather unattractive 5.65 ERA, and that's including Andy Pettitte's numbers. That 5.65 ERA is good for 11th best in the American League, behind only Texas, Seattle and Tampa Bay. It's also the 26th best ERA in baseball behind the three aforementioned teams and Florida. The Yankees starters have combined to throw 94.1 innings in 19 games. In layman's terms, that less than 5 innings per start. So Yankee starters aren't even qualifying for wins!
Andy Pettitte, Carl Pavano (DL), Mike Mussina (DL), Jeff Karstens (DL), Kei Igawa, Darrell Rasner, Chase Wright (optioned to AA), and recently Chien-Ming Wang have made starts for the Yankees this year. Four have been disable and everyone else has been ineffective, outside Pettitte. So the Yankees felt it was time to call up uber-prospect Philip Hughes to start tonight against a top 5 Blue Jays offense. He's had very impressive Minor League numbers in two full seasons, but struggled mightily with command and location in spring training. He was 23-8 with a 2.24 ERA in 48 minor league starts. He struck out more than 10 batters per nine and posted a sick 0.86 WHIP in 253 career minor league innings.
Here's my take: it's too early. Hughes averaged 5 innings per start in the minor leagues and I can't imagine him being allowed to toss a complete game in his major league debut. We've already established that the Yankee starters go about 5 innings a game, and that'll probably be how long Hughes goes (given he doesn't throw 80 pitches in three innings). The Yankees planned on limiting his innings this year, trying to build up his arm strength for future 162-game major league seasons. His numbers in the minors don't matter. He can work on developing his curveball and focusing on finessing his location and command of his secondary pitches. In the Majors, especially for a struggling Yankees team, his performance does matter. He'll be asked to give the team a chance to win. Even with his impressive K/9 (10.2) and K/BB (4.9) numbers, Hughes' command is still raw and unreliable. I thought he needed one more full season at Scranton before calling him up again, but the Yankees' current pitching situation made the Yankees believe otherwise.
The Yankees have one of the deepest farm systems, regarding pitching in baseball. There are other starters within the organization that are more polished and MLB game ready than Hughes. Tyler Clippard, Steven Jackson and Ross Ohlendorf probably would do as well as Hughes will tonight, without compromising Hughes' future.
Andy Pettitte, Carl Pavano (DL), Mike Mussina (DL), Jeff Karstens (DL), Kei Igawa, Darrell Rasner, Chase Wright (optioned to AA), and recently Chien-Ming Wang have made starts for the Yankees this year. Four have been disable and everyone else has been ineffective, outside Pettitte. So the Yankees felt it was time to call up uber-prospect Philip Hughes to start tonight against a top 5 Blue Jays offense. He's had very impressive Minor League numbers in two full seasons, but struggled mightily with command and location in spring training. He was 23-8 with a 2.24 ERA in 48 minor league starts. He struck out more than 10 batters per nine and posted a sick 0.86 WHIP in 253 career minor league innings.
Here's my take: it's too early. Hughes averaged 5 innings per start in the minor leagues and I can't imagine him being allowed to toss a complete game in his major league debut. We've already established that the Yankee starters go about 5 innings a game, and that'll probably be how long Hughes goes (given he doesn't throw 80 pitches in three innings). The Yankees planned on limiting his innings this year, trying to build up his arm strength for future 162-game major league seasons. His numbers in the minors don't matter. He can work on developing his curveball and focusing on finessing his location and command of his secondary pitches. In the Majors, especially for a struggling Yankees team, his performance does matter. He'll be asked to give the team a chance to win. Even with his impressive K/9 (10.2) and K/BB (4.9) numbers, Hughes' command is still raw and unreliable. I thought he needed one more full season at Scranton before calling him up again, but the Yankees' current pitching situation made the Yankees believe otherwise.
The Yankees have one of the deepest farm systems, regarding pitching in baseball. There are other starters within the organization that are more polished and MLB game ready than Hughes. Tyler Clippard, Steven Jackson and Ross Ohlendorf probably would do as well as Hughes will tonight, without compromising Hughes' future.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Mr. Torre
Let's talk about Joe Torre.
1996-2000: Four American League pennants, four World Championships, including a rare three-peat.
1998 -125 wins
2001-2003: Two American League pennants, zero world championships and an embarrasing ALDS loss to Anaheim.
2001 - Steroids helped Luis Gonzalez to 57 home runs (26 more than his second best season) but a bloop single over a drawn-in infield sealed the Diamondbacks Cindarella season.
2004-2006: Zero American League pennants, zero world championships, zero playoff series wins.
2004 - A normal and sanitary person would change the sock, but Red Sox starting pitcher/drama queen didn't and helped the Sox overcome a 3-0 deficit and advance to the world series, where they'd sweep the Cardinals.
Joe Torre is a Hall of Fame manager, of that, there's no doubt. If there's one rip against Torre, it's his inability to micromanage. He's one of the best managing over the course of an entire season, keeping everyone happy and productive. But when it comes to in-game decisions, there are better. Quite a few better.
Part of the micromanaging includes the use of the bullpen. Joe Torre overuses his bullpen, often falling in love with a reliever after a good stretch of outings, using them way too frequently and quickly burning them out. Perfect examples, Ron Villone and Tanyon Sturtze. He seems to be headed that way with Luis Vizcaino. The Yankees bullpen is on a pace to set a record for bullpen innings. Now, in fairness to Joe Torre, he has had some pathetic outings to cover in the past few weeks.
But tonight's 6-4 loss is completely on Torre's shoulders. The Yankees score twice in the top of the seventh inning to take a 3-2 lead over the Devil Rays and Chien-Ming Wang comes out in the bottom seventh. He strikes out the first batter, then serves up a single and a double to put runners on second and third with one out. At this point, Wang has thrown 81 pitches and hasn't labored all night. Torre decides to call the bullpen again. Vizcaino comes in a intentionally walks Baldelli. Here's my problem. If you're going to intentionally walk a guy to load the bases with a one-run lead, does it make more sense to:
A) bring in a flyball reliever that's more likely to induce a sacrifice fly
or
B) leave in the double-play guru to induce an inning ending double play?
B, duh. But after Vizcaino retires Harris, Torre brings in Mike "The Biggest Waste of A Roster Space" Myers to throw Carl Crawford a 68 mile-per-hour hanging slider (which has become all too common from him) that Crawford deposited into the right field seats and gave Tampa Bay a 6-3 lead.
Typical Torre. He's been great for the team and city, but after this year, it's time for the managerial debut of Donnie Baseball and a return to the bench coach for Joe Girardi. Those two minds next to each other on the bench would make the Royals a contender. Well, maybe anyone except Kansas City. The Yankees are no longer the team they were during the late-90s dynasty, and Torre is no longer the best fit for this team.
The Yankees now sit at 8-11 and in last place with five straight games looming against Toronto (2) and Boston (3). However, after that there is a hopeful stretch. Twelve straight games against the AL West (6 each against Texas and Seattle). In 2006, the Yankees won 7-of-10 against AL West teams in early May to jump back into the thick of the AL East, and in 2005 they won ten in a row against AL West teams to get back into things. Hopefully, things turn out very similar this May.
1996-2000: Four American League pennants, four World Championships, including a rare three-peat.
1998 -125 wins
2001-2003: Two American League pennants, zero world championships and an embarrasing ALDS loss to Anaheim.
2001 - Steroids helped Luis Gonzalez to 57 home runs (26 more than his second best season) but a bloop single over a drawn-in infield sealed the Diamondbacks Cindarella season.
2004-2006: Zero American League pennants, zero world championships, zero playoff series wins.
2004 - A normal and sanitary person would change the sock, but Red Sox starting pitcher/drama queen didn't and helped the Sox overcome a 3-0 deficit and advance to the world series, where they'd sweep the Cardinals.
Joe Torre is a Hall of Fame manager, of that, there's no doubt. If there's one rip against Torre, it's his inability to micromanage. He's one of the best managing over the course of an entire season, keeping everyone happy and productive. But when it comes to in-game decisions, there are better. Quite a few better.
Part of the micromanaging includes the use of the bullpen. Joe Torre overuses his bullpen, often falling in love with a reliever after a good stretch of outings, using them way too frequently and quickly burning them out. Perfect examples, Ron Villone and Tanyon Sturtze. He seems to be headed that way with Luis Vizcaino. The Yankees bullpen is on a pace to set a record for bullpen innings. Now, in fairness to Joe Torre, he has had some pathetic outings to cover in the past few weeks.
But tonight's 6-4 loss is completely on Torre's shoulders. The Yankees score twice in the top of the seventh inning to take a 3-2 lead over the Devil Rays and Chien-Ming Wang comes out in the bottom seventh. He strikes out the first batter, then serves up a single and a double to put runners on second and third with one out. At this point, Wang has thrown 81 pitches and hasn't labored all night. Torre decides to call the bullpen again. Vizcaino comes in a intentionally walks Baldelli. Here's my problem. If you're going to intentionally walk a guy to load the bases with a one-run lead, does it make more sense to:
A) bring in a flyball reliever that's more likely to induce a sacrifice fly
or
B) leave in the double-play guru to induce an inning ending double play?
B, duh. But after Vizcaino retires Harris, Torre brings in Mike "The Biggest Waste of A Roster Space" Myers to throw Carl Crawford a 68 mile-per-hour hanging slider (which has become all too common from him) that Crawford deposited into the right field seats and gave Tampa Bay a 6-3 lead.
Typical Torre. He's been great for the team and city, but after this year, it's time for the managerial debut of Donnie Baseball and a return to the bench coach for Joe Girardi. Those two minds next to each other on the bench would make the Royals a contender. Well, maybe anyone except Kansas City. The Yankees are no longer the team they were during the late-90s dynasty, and Torre is no longer the best fit for this team.
The Yankees now sit at 8-11 and in last place with five straight games looming against Toronto (2) and Boston (3). However, after that there is a hopeful stretch. Twelve straight games against the AL West (6 each against Texas and Seattle). In 2006, the Yankees won 7-of-10 against AL West teams in early May to jump back into the thick of the AL East, and in 2005 they won ten in a row against AL West teams to get back into things. Hopefully, things turn out very similar this May.
Alex Rodriguez and the Yankee Offense
We're about two-thirds of the way through the first month of the season, and Alex Rodriguez is off to a historic start. Below are his numbers through eighteen games (with the next best player, or league leader in parentheses)
AVG: .400 (.400 - Joe Mauer, Matt Holliday)
HR: 14 (7 - Ian Kinsler, Jimmy Rollins)
RBI: 34 (22 - Jeff Francouer)
OBP: .453 (.553 - Jim Thome)
SLG: 1.053 (.804 - Barry Bonds)
OPS: 1.507 (1.270 - Barry Bonds)
R: 26 (21 - Jose Reyes)
He's already tied the Major League record for home runs in April (Albert Pujols, 14) in April and is one RBI behind the April record for RBIs (35). Many analysts will try and tell you that A-Rod's off to such a good start because he's "seeing the ball better" than he had in the past. That's a bunch of crap.
He's seeing the same ball as he has every year in his career. The difference this year is, he's collapsed his strike zone and isn't watching strikes go by. As you may remember about A-Rod last year, when a pitcher made a mistake, Rodriguez would get overanxious to produce and pop those mistakes up, instead of driving them over the wall. This year, as evidenced fourteen times, he's driving them. And to all fields. Alex Rodriguez has traditionally been an excellent opposite field power hitter. Few, but not many of his home runs last year were to right-center and right field. This year, in addition to his black-seat blasts, he's shown the ability to hit the ball where it's pitched.
Another part of A-Rod's game that has vastly improved is his late-game performance. In 2006, Alex Rodriguez had 8 ninth-inning RBIs. This year, he has driven in 9 runs in the ninth inning through these 18 games.
But let's not focus solely on A-Rod. Another player that has been extremely impressive is Jason Giambi. Claiming that he's turn full-time DH to help the team, even though he didn't think he could produce in such a role, he's hit four home runs (14th in baseball) and driven in 17 runs (5th in baseball) all while hitting .310. Giambi hasn't hit over .300 since 2002, his first season with the Yankees. But if he can continue using left field occasionally, there's no reason he can't continue having multi-hit games. His patience is a part of the reason he's hitting well. Last year, he saw 4.37 pitches per plate appearance (#P/PA) and is seeing 4.33 #P/PA this year. 2006 was his career high, and so far in 2007 is second only to 2006. He hasn't walked at the same rate this year (.388 OBP) as in previous years, but the lineup around him helps. He'll get his 100 walks, 35 homers and 100 RBIs and hopefully continue with the high average.
Bobby Abreu has enjoyed shedding the "power-hitter" tag. He's hitting .306 with a .404 OBP this year. Of his 22 hits, only three have gone for extra bases (2 doubles, 1 home run). But he's the perfect hitter after Damon and Jeter and before Rodriguez. Abreu walks, a lot. He's walked thirteen times in eighteen games. He, like Giambi is seeing over for pitches a game. By doing that, it enables Alex Rodriguez, standing on deck, to get a sense of what kind of stuff the pitcher has that night.
Derek Jeter for a change, is off to a fine start. Typically a slow starter through eighteen games, Jeter is hitting .316 with a home run and six RBIs. One thing noticeably different in his number this year is in the strikeout column. After averaging 114 strikeouts from 2005-2006, Jeter is on pace to strikeout just 71 times in 2007. He's putting the ball in play and continuing to put up impressive averages. And wouldn't you have guessed, his one home run was off Dasiuke Matsuzaka, leading off the inning following Boston's four consecutive home runs. Classic Jeter.
Talking about the pitching now would make me too depressed, I'll address it later.
AVG: .400 (.400 - Joe Mauer, Matt Holliday)
HR: 14 (7 - Ian Kinsler, Jimmy Rollins)
RBI: 34 (22 - Jeff Francouer)
OBP: .453 (.553 - Jim Thome)
SLG: 1.053 (.804 - Barry Bonds)
OPS: 1.507 (1.270 - Barry Bonds)
R: 26 (21 - Jose Reyes)
He's already tied the Major League record for home runs in April (Albert Pujols, 14) in April and is one RBI behind the April record for RBIs (35). Many analysts will try and tell you that A-Rod's off to such a good start because he's "seeing the ball better" than he had in the past. That's a bunch of crap.
He's seeing the same ball as he has every year in his career. The difference this year is, he's collapsed his strike zone and isn't watching strikes go by. As you may remember about A-Rod last year, when a pitcher made a mistake, Rodriguez would get overanxious to produce and pop those mistakes up, instead of driving them over the wall. This year, as evidenced fourteen times, he's driving them. And to all fields. Alex Rodriguez has traditionally been an excellent opposite field power hitter. Few, but not many of his home runs last year were to right-center and right field. This year, in addition to his black-seat blasts, he's shown the ability to hit the ball where it's pitched.
Another part of A-Rod's game that has vastly improved is his late-game performance. In 2006, Alex Rodriguez had 8 ninth-inning RBIs. This year, he has driven in 9 runs in the ninth inning through these 18 games.
But let's not focus solely on A-Rod. Another player that has been extremely impressive is Jason Giambi. Claiming that he's turn full-time DH to help the team, even though he didn't think he could produce in such a role, he's hit four home runs (14th in baseball) and driven in 17 runs (5th in baseball) all while hitting .310. Giambi hasn't hit over .300 since 2002, his first season with the Yankees. But if he can continue using left field occasionally, there's no reason he can't continue having multi-hit games. His patience is a part of the reason he's hitting well. Last year, he saw 4.37 pitches per plate appearance (#P/PA) and is seeing 4.33 #P/PA this year. 2006 was his career high, and so far in 2007 is second only to 2006. He hasn't walked at the same rate this year (.388 OBP) as in previous years, but the lineup around him helps. He'll get his 100 walks, 35 homers and 100 RBIs and hopefully continue with the high average.
Bobby Abreu has enjoyed shedding the "power-hitter" tag. He's hitting .306 with a .404 OBP this year. Of his 22 hits, only three have gone for extra bases (2 doubles, 1 home run). But he's the perfect hitter after Damon and Jeter and before Rodriguez. Abreu walks, a lot. He's walked thirteen times in eighteen games. He, like Giambi is seeing over for pitches a game. By doing that, it enables Alex Rodriguez, standing on deck, to get a sense of what kind of stuff the pitcher has that night.
Derek Jeter for a change, is off to a fine start. Typically a slow starter through eighteen games, Jeter is hitting .316 with a home run and six RBIs. One thing noticeably different in his number this year is in the strikeout column. After averaging 114 strikeouts from 2005-2006, Jeter is on pace to strikeout just 71 times in 2007. He's putting the ball in play and continuing to put up impressive averages. And wouldn't you have guessed, his one home run was off Dasiuke Matsuzaka, leading off the inning following Boston's four consecutive home runs. Classic Jeter.
Talking about the pitching now would make me too depressed, I'll address it later.
Monday, April 23, 2007
April Sweeps, Bring May Streaks
Boston 7, Yankees 6
Boston 7, Yankees 5
Boston 7, Yankees 6
From that, one could easily assume that the Yankees and Red Sox were evenly matched, with Boston having a slight edge. But the series, while played well by Boston, is misleading.
Curt Schilling (7IP, 5R)
Josh Beckett (6.2IP, 5R)
Daisuke Matsuzaka (7IP, 6R)
Boston's top three starters got lit up to the tune of a 6.97 ERA. The Yankees starters, however, were not any better at 8.56. But let's look at those.
Andy Pettitte (6.1IP, 2R) - best start of the six starters, by far.
Jeff Karstens (4.1IP, 7R)
Chase Wright (3IP, 4R)
Jeff Karstens was making his first start of the season, having been activated earlier in the day from the disabled list. It was his seventh career start. Chase Wright has even less experience, as he was making his second career start, and only his second start above AA ball.
It's never fun to lose games, especially to Boston, but after the weekend, I feel surprisingly good. Why? Because Boston barely won every game when we threw our farm team up on the mound. Yes, the Yankees have the deepest minor league pitching, but it's a few years away from seriously contibuting. I bet Jason Varitek could go down to AA ball and tee off there. Well, maybe not Varitek, but certainly Ramirez, Drew and Lowell could.
The Yankees lost because they had no pitching - that certainly won't last. Three starters were on the disabled list and the bullpen (which had been the best in the American League in both ERA, WHIP and BAA) was overused due to the fact that the starters were on the DL. As the starting pitching returns, starting with Chien-Ming Wang on Tuesday, the bullpen will return to throwing normal innings. I'm convinced that had the Yankees had healthy starters and a rested bullpen, the sweep would have been the other way around, and it wouldn't have even been close. If the starters had been healthy all season, we'd have seen more games like Pettitte's, and a rested bullpen to protect the leads instead of giving them up.
The Yankees offense also wasn't at full health and yet they still managed 6 runs a game against Boston's top 3 starters (the supposed best top 3 in the game). Hideki Matsui did not play due to a hamstring injury (he's due back next week). Johnny Damon missed a game and Jorge Posada missed two games. Posada's absence also hurt the younger pitchers more. The starting outfield for the second game was Kevin Thompson, Melky Cabrera and Bobby Abreu.
I'm not trying to take anything away fron the Red Sox, because they won a game against the Yankees in Boston (which hadn't happened in 8 previous attempts) but they beat minor league, and beleaguered pitching.
I'll take this time to remind everyone that on this date last year, Boston sat four games ahead of the Yankees and managed to finish third in the division, 11 games back. Boston also won 4 of the first 5 games between the two teams in 2006, and by much larger margins than they did this weekend.
So, Boston Red Sox fan, celebrate now as you do every April. We'll see what comes in August and September, when both teams are at full strength. Something parallel to last August if I'm not mistaken. Boston has an uncanny knack for impressing themselves.
DAISUKE MATSUZAKA
Want to talk about overhyped? The Red Sox shell out over $51 million just to talk to the guy, then need just about every minute of the negotiating period to screw the poor man. Then spring training comes and Dice-K starts against Boston College and does well. Who woulda thunk? [Note sarcasm] Then the regular season starts, he's good, and he's labeled a god. Let's look at the offenses he faced.
Kansas City - 10th in runs, 10th in average (1ER)
Seattle - 14th in runs, 8th in average (3ER)
Toronto - 8th in runs, 4th in average (2ER)
New York - 1st in runs, 1st in average (6ER)
Even I understand that Mizzou isn't a National Championship contender because they beat Murray State in September. Pitching well against teams with offenses in the lower half of the league isn't all that impressive. Why? Because you won't see those teams in October. You'll see the team you got shelled by.
Matsuzaka served up 6 runs to the Yankees, and it probably should have been more. Wil Nieves [a backup catcher] hit two absolute rockets right at people. One with a runner on third, on with the bases loaded. If both of those find holes, that's three more runs with innings still going.
Another suggestion, Mr. Matsuzaka - you keep showing up umpires, you'll be in for a long summer. Umps have no time for you putting your hands on your hips and looking up to the sky and taking two steps towards the dugout after a pitch six inches off the plate. Maybe in Japan, but not here. Although even with his antics, the strike zone surprisingly, ranged from Alex Rodriguez's shoelaces to Bobby Abreu's chin, at least, when the Yankees batted. For Boston it seemed to be from the bottom of Julio Lugo's belt, to the top of Julio Lugo's belt.
Every series has it's breaks. Everything broke Boston's way this time, as is the norm in April. Nobody ever won a World Series in April.
~Andy Pettitte - Jeff Karstens - Chase Wright - Darrell Rasner - Kei Igawa
~Chein-Ming Wang - Roger Clemens - Andy Pettitte - Mike Mussina - Carl Pavano/Kei Igawa
Is one rotation better than the other? One run a game better? If the answer is yes, then Boston's in trouble. If the answer's no, then you probably have some mental handicap and should schedule a game against the Red Sox. They'd beat you and be impressed with themselves.
Boston 7, Yankees 5
Boston 7, Yankees 6
From that, one could easily assume that the Yankees and Red Sox were evenly matched, with Boston having a slight edge. But the series, while played well by Boston, is misleading.
Curt Schilling (7IP, 5R)
Josh Beckett (6.2IP, 5R)
Daisuke Matsuzaka (7IP, 6R)
Boston's top three starters got lit up to the tune of a 6.97 ERA. The Yankees starters, however, were not any better at 8.56. But let's look at those.
Andy Pettitte (6.1IP, 2R) - best start of the six starters, by far.
Jeff Karstens (4.1IP, 7R)
Chase Wright (3IP, 4R)
Jeff Karstens was making his first start of the season, having been activated earlier in the day from the disabled list. It was his seventh career start. Chase Wright has even less experience, as he was making his second career start, and only his second start above AA ball.
It's never fun to lose games, especially to Boston, but after the weekend, I feel surprisingly good. Why? Because Boston barely won every game when we threw our farm team up on the mound. Yes, the Yankees have the deepest minor league pitching, but it's a few years away from seriously contibuting. I bet Jason Varitek could go down to AA ball and tee off there. Well, maybe not Varitek, but certainly Ramirez, Drew and Lowell could.
The Yankees lost because they had no pitching - that certainly won't last. Three starters were on the disabled list and the bullpen (which had been the best in the American League in both ERA, WHIP and BAA) was overused due to the fact that the starters were on the DL. As the starting pitching returns, starting with Chien-Ming Wang on Tuesday, the bullpen will return to throwing normal innings. I'm convinced that had the Yankees had healthy starters and a rested bullpen, the sweep would have been the other way around, and it wouldn't have even been close. If the starters had been healthy all season, we'd have seen more games like Pettitte's, and a rested bullpen to protect the leads instead of giving them up.
The Yankees offense also wasn't at full health and yet they still managed 6 runs a game against Boston's top 3 starters (the supposed best top 3 in the game). Hideki Matsui did not play due to a hamstring injury (he's due back next week). Johnny Damon missed a game and Jorge Posada missed two games. Posada's absence also hurt the younger pitchers more. The starting outfield for the second game was Kevin Thompson, Melky Cabrera and Bobby Abreu.
I'm not trying to take anything away fron the Red Sox, because they won a game against the Yankees in Boston (which hadn't happened in 8 previous attempts) but they beat minor league, and beleaguered pitching.
I'll take this time to remind everyone that on this date last year, Boston sat four games ahead of the Yankees and managed to finish third in the division, 11 games back. Boston also won 4 of the first 5 games between the two teams in 2006, and by much larger margins than they did this weekend.
So, Boston Red Sox fan, celebrate now as you do every April. We'll see what comes in August and September, when both teams are at full strength. Something parallel to last August if I'm not mistaken. Boston has an uncanny knack for impressing themselves.
DAISUKE MATSUZAKA
Want to talk about overhyped? The Red Sox shell out over $51 million just to talk to the guy, then need just about every minute of the negotiating period to screw the poor man. Then spring training comes and Dice-K starts against Boston College and does well. Who woulda thunk? [Note sarcasm] Then the regular season starts, he's good, and he's labeled a god. Let's look at the offenses he faced.
Kansas City - 10th in runs, 10th in average (1ER)
Seattle - 14th in runs, 8th in average (3ER)
Toronto - 8th in runs, 4th in average (2ER)
New York - 1st in runs, 1st in average (6ER)
Even I understand that Mizzou isn't a National Championship contender because they beat Murray State in September. Pitching well against teams with offenses in the lower half of the league isn't all that impressive. Why? Because you won't see those teams in October. You'll see the team you got shelled by.
Matsuzaka served up 6 runs to the Yankees, and it probably should have been more. Wil Nieves [a backup catcher] hit two absolute rockets right at people. One with a runner on third, on with the bases loaded. If both of those find holes, that's three more runs with innings still going.
Another suggestion, Mr. Matsuzaka - you keep showing up umpires, you'll be in for a long summer. Umps have no time for you putting your hands on your hips and looking up to the sky and taking two steps towards the dugout after a pitch six inches off the plate. Maybe in Japan, but not here. Although even with his antics, the strike zone surprisingly, ranged from Alex Rodriguez's shoelaces to Bobby Abreu's chin, at least, when the Yankees batted. For Boston it seemed to be from the bottom of Julio Lugo's belt, to the top of Julio Lugo's belt.
Every series has it's breaks. Everything broke Boston's way this time, as is the norm in April. Nobody ever won a World Series in April.
~Andy Pettitte - Jeff Karstens - Chase Wright - Darrell Rasner - Kei Igawa
~Chein-Ming Wang - Roger Clemens - Andy Pettitte - Mike Mussina - Carl Pavano/Kei Igawa
Is one rotation better than the other? One run a game better? If the answer is yes, then Boston's in trouble. If the answer's no, then you probably have some mental handicap and should schedule a game against the Red Sox. They'd beat you and be impressed with themselves.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Future Yankee Signings
Two exams left before spring break will prevent me from posting the game results right now, but here's a nice two year plan for the Yankees.
2008 Free Agent Signing
2009 Free Agent Signing
2008 Free Agent Signing
2009 Free Agent Signing
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
