Game 150: I Need To Know

This afternoon in Seattle, after a last second loss on Friday and a dominant win yesterday, the Yankees square off in a rubber match against the Mariners. Aside from the full slate of NFL games, two interesting match ups are taking place earlier in the day with implications to the playoff picture.

The Twins could pull to within one game of the Tigers with a win against them today which is important because the winner of the AL Central most likely facing the Yanks in the ALDS. Also, if the Rangers lose to the Angels, the Bombers will be in position to officially clinch a playoff berth by beating the Mariners. The Yanks would probably rather gain some cushion for home field advantage over the Angels because the Rangers are going to disappear from the picture soon enough, but those are some things to watch for.

Going for the Mariners this afternoon will be Ian Snell. After starting off the season poorly for the Pirates, Snell actually asked to be demoted to AAA back in June, citing "too much negativity" concerning his performances from the fans, media and even some bloggers. It was widely considered that he would be traded from the Pirates after the demotion and was, shortly before the non-waiver deadline. He, along with shortstop Jack Wilson, were exchanged for 5 minor leaguers, including catching prospect Jeff Clement.

Snell took Jarrod Washburn's spot on the roster after the lefty was shipped to Detroit, but hasn't performed well in his place. He has a 4.86 ERA in 9 starts but has averaged just over 5.0 IP an outing and has walked 30 while striking out 25. He's 4-2 over that stretch, but the team is only 4-5.

Joba Chamberlain toes the rubber for the Yankees this afternoon, making his 5th artificially shortened start in a row. His last time out was the most encouraging of the bunch, lasting 4 innings against the Angels, with the only run coming on a solo homer to Vlad Guerrero. He still wasn't especially efficient, needing 67 pitches to get those 12 outs, but it was an improvement over his previous efforts.

With only two starts remaining after this one in the regular season, Joba should be cleared for 5 innings this time out in order to work up to being fully stretched out for the postseason. It would be nice to know Joba is on the right track for October and good performance today would be a big step in that direction.

I need to know (I need to know),
Because I don't know how long,
I can hold on,
And if you're makin' me wait,
If you're leadin' me on,
I need to know (I need to know),
I need to know (I need to know).

Game 51: Patience

Sorry, G&R fans, tonight's song comes from a Cleveland-based hip hop group called the MuAmin Collective. I had never heard of them before vowing to find a song other than "Cleveland Rocks" for this post, but they've got a smooth jazzy style reminiscent of Mos Def, De La Soul, Reflection Eternal, Common, Blackalicious and some of GangStarr's early work, and it's right up my alley. 

Enjoy:

After Joba Chamberlain's last start in Texas, during which he was pulled in the fourth inning after giving up three runs, the predictable chorus of those who think Joba should be in the bullpen started chirping.

I don't think putting Joba in the 'pen is an indefensible position, not by a long shot. The Yanks are lucky to have in Chamberlain, a valuable weapon that could be deployed in one of two roles, neither of them are wrong. I just happen to think that one is less right.  

We saw Joba set the world on fire in 2007 as a set-up, consistently throwing 98mph with a disappearing slider. Those two pitches were good for 34 strikeouts in 24 innings and a 0.38 ERA. That's the lasting image of Joba Chamberlain people have as a reliever. 

If the Yankees could summon that Joba, even triple his ERA to 1.14 and assume that he could pitch about 60 innings a year, the B-Jobbers would have a leg to stand on. Unfortunately, that's not the Joba Chamberlain that is available to pitch for the Yankees this year. Present Joba still has minor shoulder problems that don't prevent him from pitching, but do make it difficult for him to warm up quickly and could lead to some of his first inning struggles. 

Brian Cashman, would you please summarize what I'm trying to say here?

If he's throwing 95 in the first inning, let people throw that argument out there," Cashman said. "We haven't seen that yet, so why would they think that's going to suddenly happen by going to the bullpen?

Thank you, sir.

Folks, Joba is a good starting pitcher. In 21 starts over the past two years, he carries a 3.25ERA, has fewer than one hit and more than one strikeout per inning. Injuries are a concern, of course, but we don't know enough to say whether pitching out of the bullpen would actually diminish that risk or not. Hang in there, this situation will play itself out. Don't overreact to every below average start. Have a little patience. 

Opposing the Jobinator tonight will be Jeremy Sowers. The lefty is making his third start of the year for the Indians. His other two were marked by ineffectiveness and had a ERA of 12 when he was sent back down to AAA. He was recalled on May 23rd and appeared against the Rays in the infamous 11-10 game on May 25th, where the Indians scored 7 in the 9th inning to win it. Sowers needed only 57 pitches to coast through 5 scoreless innings of mop-up duty after Fausto Carmona got KTFO, and collect a win in the process. 

Which Jeremy Sowers will show up tonight? Was his success in his last outing just a function of the game being out of hand? We'll find out soon enough. 

One other note: The Yankees are carrying a Major League record 17 game errorless streak into tonight's contest and Angel Berroa is playing third base. See where I'm going with this?

The Waiting

The scheduled off day today makes yesterday's loss a little bit tougher to swallow. The first game only seems important because it's the only one we have at the moment. Right now it's 100% of the season, after tomorrow, it will only be 50%, then 33%, 25% and so forth.

It's easy to read the symbolism into everything that went wrong yesterday and project it out towards the entire season.

The Yankees are fucked! Sabathia is a choker! Teix can't handle the pressure! Jeter can't get it done when it counts! Swisher over Nady! Send Phil Coke back to the minors!

The reality is that with each passing game, chances are, each of those things is going to be exposed for the small sample size, impulsive overreaction that it is. Unfortunately, right off the bat, we have to wait an entire extra day.

It's only about 47 1/2 hours from the end of yesterday's game until the beginning of tomorrow's, that's not what it feels like. It's as if you planned for months to go on vacation, and you finally get on the plane. But you take your seat, it's in the middle, you're sandwiched between two fat guys, the food sucks, the in-flight movie is Beverly Hills Chihuahua (don't fly Delta), and then you get stuck in a holding pattern over Aruba.

I think I speak for much of my generation when I say patience is not our strong suit. Maybe it's not just younger people, but those of us who live by RSS and Twitter feeds, and are beholden to the 24 hour news cycle. The internet has gotten so fast that it provides instant gratification with each click. We can fast forward on our DVRs and "Mark All As Read". All of that immediacy makes it difficult to see the forest through the trees.

The baseball season is a long haul, and we all know that. But after a long winter of pining for the MLB regular season, it's tough to forget about the only meaningful game we've seen in over 7 months. But a short time's a long time, when your mind just won't let it go. As Yankee fans, I think we are just anxious to put all of last season and the playoff failures of the preceding four behind us (2003 wasn't a failure).


At least Tom Petty understands:

The waiting is the hardest part,
Every day you see one more card,
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart,
The waiting is the hardest part.