The Supposed "Rookie Starter Difficulties"

Every time the Yankees face an unheralded starting pitcher who they have never seen before, a sentiment echoes throughout Yankeedom. There's a collective "here we go again", as it has become a popular notion that they Yankees can't handle these types of pitchers. Last night, during the top of the sixth inning of the YES broadcast, Ken Singleton dropped a stat that is undoubtedly going to surprise you if you subscribe to that idea:

• In the past two years (since 5/27/07) the Yankees have faced 31 rookie pitchers for the first time. In that span, those pitchers have a combined record 3-18 in those games (after the Yanks beat Derek Holland last night).  

Wins and losses are never going to tell the whole story, but 3-18 paints a pretty clear picture. Singleton was about to say who the three pitchers were, but Brett Gardner dropped a drag bunt, which Derek Holland proceeded to throw away, just before he was pulled from the game and tagged with the loss. Ken didn't continue the thought after the commerical break, so I went back and looked them up. 

Matt Harrison - August 5th, 2008 - Harrison didn't completely shut down the Yanks, but did hold them to two runs in 6 1/3 innings pitched while Andy Pettitte let up 5 runs in 5IP.

Koji Uehara - April 8th, 2009 - The 35 year old Japanese transplant is not your typical rookie, and he had the luxury of facing Chien Ming Wang in one of his first three starts of the season. 

Matt Palmer - May 2nd, 2009 - Palmer, a 30 year old journeyman, slayed CC Sabathia with 6 1/3 innings of one run ball for his second of five straight wins. Despite an ERA of 4.76 with the Angels this season, Palmer still has a 5-0 record. 

So, why the perception that the Yankees are doomed when they face a rookie they have never seen before, especially a lefty?

For one, the stat that YES came up with is heavily caveated. It only looked at the past two calendar years, so it didn't include John Danks' victory on May 16, 2007. It consisted of only guys who the Yankees hadn't faced before, so it didn't acknowledge games like Scott Feldman's win on June 30th, 2008 because they faced him in relief on May 16th, 2006. 

Also, and I think most importantly, it only accounted for actual rookies, not just "guys who we think should suck". Baseball is unique because guys can linger for years on the periphery of the game, ducking in and out of the minors and changing organizations only to emerge at 29 or 30 years old in a starting role for a team in need. So when the Yanks lose a game to a guy like Dustin Mosely, Ryan Feierabend, Paul Maholm, or Jorge de la Rosa, it might not factor into that stat, but it registers in our consciousness. 

The underlying reason that we percieve the Yankees to have problems with rookie starters is our expectations. We see that the opposing pitcher is some no name journeyman and assume the Yankees should pummel him. When they do, we think nothing of it. But when they don't it tends to stick in our craw. When something goes according to plan, it's easy to forget about. You can eat sushi 100 times from the same place and hardly be able to tell each one apart, but if you ever get sick from it, you will remember the exact order for years to come.

Although the Yanks have losses to Uehara and Palmer this year, they have also disposed of Horacio Ramirez, Anthony Reyes, Anthony Ortega, Brett Anderson, Scott Richmond, Brain Tallet, Dana Eveland, Rick Porcello, Brad Bergesen, and the aforementioned Derek Holland. How many of those games did you remember?

Texas Two Step

In a game that featured both what's right and what's wrong with the Yankees at this stage in the season, the Yankees defeated the Rangers 9-2 to take the rubber game of the series and hold a share of first place for the first time since April 16, 2008.

In the first inning, the Yankees jumped out to a lead they would never relinquish, as Mark Teixeira launched a two run homer to left, his 15th of the season, good for second in the AL. Teix would add a hot shot single in the third and just miss a second long ball in the fifth when he tomahawked one to the centerfield warning track. Over his last 15 games Teixeira is hitting .426/.486/.918 with 8 HR and 22 RBI.

Hideki Matsui and Robinson Cano would also get in on the homer act, with Matsui homering to right in both the sixth and seventh innings and Cano crushing one to right in the ninth. The other Yankee runs would come on an RBI double by Derek Jeter in the second and a Kevin Cash two run single in the sixth.

Cash, getting his second start in the series, went 2 for 4, raising his average to a robust .231, and leaving him at 5 for 9 in the series. He also threw out 1 of 2 would-be base stealers on the night. After entering the series 1 for 17 on the year, and entering the game having caught just 1 of 9 on the bases, Cash is probably sad to leave Texas. With Posada set to come off the DL as soon as Friday, Cash may want to consider staying there.

All told, Jeter, Teixeira, Matsui, Cano, Gardner, and Cash all had multi-hit games. Every starter save for Johnny Damon recorded a hit. Damon gave the team a scare in the field, crashing into the left field wall at a time when the team can scarcely afford to lose another outfielder. Angel Berroa made another ninth inning pinch running appearance and got doubled up at the plate for the final Yankee out when he tried to score on a Jeter flyout.

From the mound, A.J. Burnett earned his first win since April 14th, and did so in an unusual manner. He went 6 scoreless innings, allowing only 3 hits, issuing 4 walks, and striking out 7. But, he threw under 60% of his pitches for strikes and needed 117 pitches to get through 6 innings, a whopping 19.5 pitches per IP.

With Burnett done after six, the Yankees needed three innings from the bullpen. Despite a comfortable eight run lead, Joe Girardi would not let Brett Tomko pitch for the first time since Sunday. Nor would he immediatley turn to Chien-Ming Wang, who hadn't pitched since Friday and desperately needs innings.

Instead, Jose Veras got the ball for the twenty-first time this season, and turned in yet another representative performance: double, groundout, homer, walk, showers. David Robertson came on to clean up the mess Veras left and illustrated why he should have been on the roster ahead of Veras a long time ago, using six strikes on eight pitches in retiring both batters he saw.

Wang pitched the final two innings, and looked far better than he did against Philly on Friday. He needed just 26 pitches in working two perfect innings, throwing 69% of his pitches for strikes. He recorded two outs via strikeouts, two on the ground, and two in the air. The GB/FB ratio isn't quite what you'd like to see from Wang, but looking at it over a two inning outing isn't very telling.

What is telling is that his sinker looked good. It was staying down in the zone and his velocity was good. Wang looked like a far more confident pitcher last night. He's not where he once was, nor is he where he needs to be in order to be trustworthy again. But let's hope tonight was step one on the path to recovery.

Game 47: Texas Flood

Tonight matches the best home run hitting offense in the American League with its 4th least effective pitcher at keeping the ball in the park. In 9 games, A.J. Burnett has been tagged for 10 long balls, including three in his last start against the Phillies. The Rangers have hit 76 dingers in 45 games, three more that the Yankees in one fewer outing. What are chances A.J. can keep the flood gates closed?

Burnett has always worn the tag of "inconsistent" but with each passing start, he's inching closer and closer to "bad". He hasn't sported an ERA under 5.00 since his third start of the season and hasn't been on the winning end of a decision since his second. He's allowed at least two runs in every start this year, but has given the Yankees something they've sorely needed: over 6 1/3 innings per start. 

The Rangers counter with 22 year old lefty Derek Holland. This is only Holland's second start of the year, after making seven appearances in relief. He needed only 76 pitches to get through 5 2/3 innings in his last start, and based on his GM's attitude towards starting pitchers, he should be looking to take this one a little deeper. 

Lately, much has been made of Nolan Ryan's philosophy concernign managing the Ranger's pitching staff. Ryan has been amping up their pitcher's training regiment with the intent having them throw more innings and cope with the sometimes oppressively hot nights that accompany Summers in Arlington:

Pitchers, Ryan said, would be expected to last deeper in games. To handle the Texas heat, they would train harder, emphasizing sprinting over distance running and throwing live batting practice all through camp. Pitchers would do more long-tossing and coaches would pay more attention to the stress of each outing, not simply the number of pitches.

It sort of sounds like your typical crowing from old timey baseball folks who say that pitch counts are for pussies, but this has seemingly worked so far, even in one of the better hitter's parks in all of baseball. The Rangers lead the league in innings from their starting staff and were the last team in the AL to ask for 100 innings from their bullpen. Maybe that tough talk from Ryan, a Refugio, Texas native is really starting to pay off. 

When fellow Texan (Dallas born, to be exact) Stevie Ray Vaughan wrote the lyrics to the song below, he was probably talking about a night like last night. May is the rainiest month in Dallas, but if there's any "floodin' down in Texas" tonight, the radar indicates it will be contained to the San Antonio area. 

Well there's floodin' down in Texas... all of the telephone lines are down.
And I've been tryin' to call my baby... Lord and I can't get a single sound.

Joba's Off Night

"I could go on for days and days to tell you how bad I was. Plain and simple, I was terrible. There's no getting around it. I've got to do a better job of keeping my team in the game and not try to battle myself the whole time." ~ Joba Chamberlain, talking about his performance last night

If you want to take a pessimistic look at what happened last night, there's plenty to get riled up about. Coming off of a game where a line drive hit his shin, Joba's fastball velocity was down, and he gave up nine baserunners in four innings. Scarsely more than half of his 84 pitches went for strikes. For the sixth time in nine starts, he allowed a home run. 

On the bright side, however, just as his career line would have predicted, Joba struck out more than one batter per inning. Joe Girardi could have very easily let Joba come back out for the bottom of the 5th, but chose the cautious route, allowing critics to point to the fact that he only lasted four frames. It wasn't like he was getting torched or had already hit 100 pitches. 

What's important to note is that Joba's bad outings are rarely that bad. He gave up 5 runs in 4 2/3 innings in his second start of the year and 4 runs in 5 2/3 against the Red Sox. Of course, neither of those two are going to pass for solid outings. But if you are going to have a bad start, it's obviously better not to give up many earned runs, regardless of how few innings are thrown. That way, the bullpen theoretically has a chance to keep the other team from scoring, even given how unlikley the Yanks' relievers have made that seem recently.

It's also heartening to hear a 23 year old take responsibility for a bad performance like he did in the quote above, something one Yankee prospect seemed to have quite a bit of trouble with. He didn't make excuses about the rain delay, the umpires' strike zone or bad luck. Even when things go wrong, Joba says the right things. After last night, his ERA is still 3.97 and he's been the second best starter on the Yankees. 

 

Deconstructing Roster Construction

As I did last week when I ripped into Joe Torre, I'm going to start off positive. I like Brian Cashman. I think he's the right GM for this franchise. I think he does a good job with his resources, has revitalized the farm system, handles the media well, and has maintained both a level head and his dignity through eleven plus years in one of the most demanding jobs in sports. I think he has a vision for the future of this franchise and has a plan for how to execute it.

I also like Joe Girardi. Sort of. When it was clear that Torre was gone, Girardi was the guy I wanted to get the job. Despite his hokey "aw-shucks" routine, penchant for dishonesty with the media, a sometimes prickly relationship with his players, and his making of head-scratching moves on a nightly basis, I still think he's the right guy for the job. No sense changing horses mid-race - he still needs time to accomplish what he's here to do.

That said, I'm reaching the point of exasperation with how these two are constructing both the 25 and 40 man rosters and how Girardi is utilizing the former. These things are easy to miss when they're winning, but tough not to ignore when they're losing.

So without further ado, here's a look at some of the fat taking up precious roster spots. For an detailed explanation on how the 25 and 40 man rosters work, check here.

Honorable Mention: 40 Man Roster Division

Andrew Brackman and Juan Miranda

I'm not suggesting that neither Andrew Brackman nor Juan Miranda isn't valuable or isn't good. The problem however is that both these individuals were given Major League contracts when they first signed, meaning that they immediately had to be added to the 40 man roster.

Andrew Brackman is currently pitching in Low A-ball after missing all of last year following Tommy John surgery. I can't see him reaching the Bronx until September 2010 at the earliest, and likely later than that. Which isn't to say that he can't be good, because he certainly can. But right now he's taking up a precious 40 man spot. Had Brackman not been signed to a Major League deal, he wouldn't need to be added to the 40 man until after the 2010 season. Thank you, Scott Boras.

Had it not been for his Major League contract, Juan Miranda would not need to be added to the 40 man roster until after this season. The guy can hit, posting .275/.366/.468 over his minor league career. He cannot field however, being a first baseman exclusively and not a very adept one at that. Since the Yankees are set at that position for the next eight years or so, Miranda is stuck. He can't play the outfield, hasn't been tried there even, and the Yankees already have two guys who are exclusively DHs at this point. Miranda has value; why he isn't being actively shopped for a more usable player doesn't make sense to me.

The 40 man roster allows you a reservoir of 15 reserves for replacements and injuries. These two men represent greater than 13% of that. So right off the bat, the Yankees are in a hole. Add to that the five guys currently on the 15 day DL and the Yankees have exactly 8 of their 15 reserves that they could reasonably use right now.

Active Roster Division

Listed in Order of Ascending Value to the Roster

1) Brett Tomko

Brett Tomko has no business being on a Major League roster. None. Yet here is, representing 4% of a team that's supposed to be contending for the World Series.

He's terrible. He's 36. He's been in the majors for 13 years. He's turned in 9 different stints with 7 different organizations. He's been released three times in the last twenty-one months, each time by a team far, far out of contention. He's turned in an ERA better than league average only twice in 12 seasons, and not once since 2004, despite playing the majority of his career in pitcher's parks. What in the world makes the Yankees think he's a more compelling option than any number of younger pitchers they have in AAA? Because he can fool minor league hitters that he has a dozen years of Big League experience on?

Not only is he awful, he has no defined role. The former starter apparently can't be used as a long man because he's been a short stint reliever this year. Yet he couldn't be trusted to pitch the ninth in a laugher against Baltimore last week, or hold an 11 run lead for an inning against Texas Monday. What the hell do you call the guy who's lower than the mop-up man? Meanwhile the Yankees cut loose Eric Hacker to add Tomko to the roster. Great work guys.

2) Angel Berroa
Angel Berroa is quite possibly worse than Brett Tomko. The only reason Tomko is worse on this list is that the organization has any number of better options to do what Tomko does. They don't have those players who can do what Berroa does. Or what Berroa is supposed to do, at least.

Let's recap. The Yankees wisely chose Ramiro Pena over Angel Berroa to be the utility infielder coming out of spring training. When Cody Ransom went down with a torn quadriceps, Berroa was added to the roster. Not ideal, but I could at least understand why they move was made. Another IFer was needed, even if he had hit .231/.272/.322 (54 OPS+) over his last 772 MLB PA. The Yanks didn't really have any other viable options in the system. Maybe Kevin Russo, but he can't play short. Neither can Berroa - but at least he has played short.

"What's the worst that could happen?" I figured. Berroa was added to the roster on 4/25. A-Rod returned to the roster on 5/8. I figured Berroa was gone. Nope. Both catchers went down necessitating a 40 man move. I figured Berroa was gone. Nope. Brett Tomko was inexplicably added to the roster necessitating a 40 man move. I figured Berroa was gone. Nope.

The company line is that the Yankees want another infielder around until they're sure A-Rod is healthy. A-Rod has not looked 100% in the field nor on the bases. Yet, he has started all 18 games since returning, 16 of them at 3B. He's completed all but 5 of those games, never being removed before the 8th nor before the outcome was all but settled. Are you sure yet?

Meanwhile, the biggest thing of value Berroa has done has been to warm up the pitcher when the catcher makes the last out of an inning. Since May 4th, he has appeared in five games, never earlier than the eight inning. He has zero plate appearances in that time. Zero. In that same time frame Brett Gardner has been used as a pinch hitter four times.

So basically the Yankees are saying that saving A-Rod 5 innings in the field over the past 3+ weeks has been worth sending Brett Gardner up as a pinch hitter rather than Shelley Duncan, John Rodriguez, Todd Linden, or Juan Miranda. The Yankees value their washed-up second back-up infielder more than they did the careers of young pitchers Stephen Jackson or Eric Hacker.

Pete Abe likes to joke about how old Berroa looks. I think the guy may actually be a cockroach, because it appears it'll take a nuclear winter to get him off the roster.

3) Jose Veras
Here's the thing about middle relievers: There's a reason they're middle relievers. They're not good enough to start and they're not good enough to close. With a few exceptions, anyone below the third guy in a pen is essentially a replacement level player. If he's not doing the job, chances are you have someone else behind him in the pen or below him in AAA who can.

Despite a high WHIP (1.41) and high BB/9 (4.5) last year, Veras was pretty effective over 57.2 innings, with a 124 ERA+ and a K/9 of 9.8.

This year he is not effective at all. The WHIP is up (1.45), the BB/9 is way up (6.1), the ERA+ (82) and K/9 (7.0) are significantly down. He's worse in every conceivable way and seems to go 3-0 on the first batter every time he's entered a game.

Yet the Yankees won't get rid of him because he's out of options. They can't send him down without exposing him to waivers and are afraid they'll lose him for nothing. I say "so what?". They got lucky, catching lightning in a bottle with him last year. He's no good this year. Relievers are volatile like that. That's how it works. Meanwhile Mark Melancon, Anthony Claggett, and until yesterday, David Robertson, rot away in Scranton.

As with Berroa and Tomko, Veras is a waste of a 40 man spot that could be better used on someone else who could give them more roster flexibility and at least equal performance.

4) Kevin Cash
Here's the catch-22 about being the Yankees. When you trot out a waste of a uniform like Kevin Cash and his career OPS+ of 36, people say things like "You're the Yankees. How in the world can you spend $200M and still have to resort to Kevin Cash?". And in a way, those people are right.

But at the same time, if you're the Yankees, how do you lure a decent catcher to sit in AAA and be an insurance policy behind Posada and Molina, and maybe even Cervelli, without paying him an arm and a leg, and having everyone bitch about how much money you spend?

With Posada coming off surgery and Molina being a zero offensively, Cashman should have had a better insurance policy lined-up, preferably one who wasn't a worse hitter than Molina. But I can understand at least, why that may not have happened.

This shouldn't matter much longer. Posada could be back by the weekend and Cash should immediately be DFA'd. If they send Cervelli down first I'll flip my lid. Who cares if they lose Cash? Number 1, he's awful. Number 2, what are the chances of needing a fourth catcher again this year? Number 3, they still have Chris Stewart and PJ Pilittere at Scranton if such a situation arises. And Number 4, last year's emergency catcher, Chad Moeller, will likely be DFA'd Friday when Baltimore activates uber-prospect Matt Wieters. I would not be surprised at all to see Moeller sign a minor league deal with the Yanks.

I can't wait to be rid of Cash.

5) Chien-Ming Wang
I almost feel bad putting him on this list. I'm very confident that Wang can return to form. However, as I stated last week and as RAB put far more eloquently, I think the Yankees have botched his return very badly.

He is clearly not right yet. But in order to get right, he's going to have to do it at the Major League level, because there's no way he gets through waivers and there's very little chance of DLing him again after the first one was kind of suspect. But because Joba took a liner and the Yankees apparently hate the other pitchers on their 40 man, they panicked, deviated from a course of action they had planned just the day before, and foolishly rushed Wang back into a role for which he is neither suited nor ready.

What's more is he has to fix his problems working out of the pen despite having relieved just four times in his entire professional career. And much like Tomko, I have no friggin' clue how Girardi intends to use him. Last night Joba was pulled after four innings and Girardi went to Aceves for the second straight day. If you're not going to use Wang when your starter only goes four, when are you going to use him?

Now, Wang has gone four days without pitching. He's a sinker baller. Sinker ballers need work and they even tend to pitch a bit better when slightly fatigued. Wang's sinker is not sinking, which is a big cause of his problems right now. I have no clue how he's going to get straightened out. I fear 2009 may turn out to be a total loss for him.

If you're keeping score at home, that's five of the twenty-five men on the active roster. Twenty percent of the active roster offering little or no value to the club right now. Throw in an injury that will likely sideline Melky for a few days and the Yankees essentially have a 19 man roster. A lot of this can be fixed by players getting healthy, but much of it is of Cashman's and Girardi's own making. I hope that once players start returning, the Tomkos, Berroas, Verases, and Cashes of the world are finally exiled and some players that offer a little more flexibility are added to the roster.

The Jackson Report: 5/27

(Picture via Chad Jennings)

After Melky Cabrera was taken out in the first inning of last night's game, Matt and I pondered the implications of a DL stay for Melky. Obviously, one of the first courses of action that we discussed was whether or not the Yankees should call up Austin Jackson.

(Click to enlarge) 

Jackson has had a great deal of success against AAA pitching this year. His BA, OPB, and SLG are all higher than his minor league career numbers (which all of, save for one game, were accumulated at AA or lower). He's hit safely in 34 of 41 games, had 15 multi-hit efforts and is currently riding an 8 game hitting streak.  Since we last checked in, Jackson has raised each of his slash stats and tacked on 5 more doubles and 5 more RBIs. His numbers are better with men on base than with the bases empty, and better yet with runners in scoring position.

There are some glaring holes in his game, however. During that stretch, he struck out 11 times (more than once per game on the year) and still has yet to register a home run at AAA. Both of those weaknesses project to be exacerbated by a jump to the Bigs. 

Being that a couple weeks without Melky would leave Brett Gardner as the only competent defensive CF on the roster it seems as though Jackson would at least have to be considered for a promotion. Matt and I agreed on this assessment but differed on the course of action. 

-----

Jay says: I'm favor of the promotion, provided that it would only last until Melky was able to come back. Just in terms of a roster move, the alternative would be keeping only one capable CF on the 25 man roster, thus hamstringing Joe Girardi pretty severely. Damon or Swisher could play center in a pinch, but neither have manned the position at all this year and represent significant defensive downgrades. Jackson's offensive numbers project to be better than Gardner's at the MLB level and it would be had to imagine someone this side of Little League hitting worse that Swish is right now. 

In terms of Jackson's development, I feel like in most aspects of life, taking on a challenge is usually a positive thing. I wouldn't want him to languish on the bench, but one would assume that making his debut on the big stage and getting some at bats against major league pitching would probably make AAA seem a little easier by comparison when he went back down. 

Matt Says: I'm opposed to a promotion. There's no question Austin Jackson has been playing well at AAA. He's 4th in the IL in AVG and 2nd in OBP. However, he has not yet accomplished what he needs to in AAA in order to move on. While his slugging percentage is good, he's yet to homer. He's shown continued improvement with his BB rate (up to 11%), but his K rate has also jumped up to 28.4% after being under 22% each of the last two years.

I agree with Jay in that you need to challenge players, but Jackson is already being challenged. He's been fast-tracked through the system. This is only his fourth year of full-season pro ball and he is one of the youngest players in the IL. Give him the full year in AAA and don't make another ill-advised knee-jerk reaction.

Further, 40 man roster spots are in short supply right now (more on that later). I'd hate to DFA another player to add AJax for a quick fix. If a CFer is needed in Melky's absence, add Todd Linden. AJax needs to play everyday; Linden could be a usable bench piece. If he isn't, there's no harm in cutting him loose and adding someone else. Once AJax is added though he isn't going anywhere. And once he's called up that arbitration clock starts ticking.

In Melky Cabrera, the Yankees already have a CFer whose development may have been stunted by rushing him to the Big Leagues. I hope they don't repeat that mistake with AJax. 

The commenters say: (...leave your thoughts below)

That Was Kind Of Painful

When Kevin Millwood threw out the first pitch of last night's game, it was already 10:30 EDT and there was still a faint drizzle coating the field. Ken Singleton first estimated that the delay would only last about an hour when the game was scheduled to start and a thunderstorm cell was moving through the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but as I periodically refreshed the radar, it seemed to have stalled out right over the park. It didn't start raining for more than an hour, but when it did, chunks of hail and bolts of lightning caused the Rangers to ask fans to clear the upper decks. The final length of the delay: 2:24.

Derek Jeter busted a single to left-center to start the game, but the Yanks failed to get anything going in the first. The bottom half of the inning was significantly more eventful, and not in a good way for the road team. 

Ian Kinsler, the first Ranger to come to the plate, took a 2-2 pitch out to deep center field. Melky Cabrera tracked it, came close to making a nice catch, but couldn't slow down and face planted into the wall. 

He came away clutching his shoulder as his right arm hung limp. He still managed to throw the ball back towards the infield with his left hand, but Kinsler had already reached third with a stand-up, lead-off triple. It seems as though the Yankees simply can't make it through a series in the state of Texas without suffering an injury. Brett Gardner came in as a replacement, and the latest word on Cabrera is that he had sprained his shoulder and is day to day.

With Kinsler standing on third, Michael Young came to the plate and pulled one to A-Rod, who was standing about 10 feet from thrid base. Alex looked at Kinsler, who stutter-stepped over towards home, and instead of throwing to first, A-Rod made a dash and narrowly tagged out Kinsler at third. 

The aggressive, heads up play gave Joba some breathing room, but it was short lived.

There were two outs and a man of first after Chamberlain retired Michael Young on a force out to second base and it looked like Joba was poised to escape the inning unscathed. But Nelson Cruz laced a double to left, then David Murphy worked a walk. With the bases loaded, Marlon Byrd knocked a base hit and the Rangers grabbed the lead 2-0. 

In the second, Brett Gardner hit a one out single and proceed to steal second and third with Hideki Matsui at the plate. Matsui stuck out, Swish worked a walk and Gardner was stranded after Frankie Cervelli grounded out to second. 

The Rangers plated another run in the bottom of the 4th via a Chris Davis homer, his tenth of the year. True to his nature, Davis also struck out twice last night, bringing his league-leading tally to 66 in only 162 plate appearances. Joba made it through the fourth, but that was where his night would end. He had only thrown 84 pitches, but the combination of having to wait out the rain delay and his obvious ineffectiveness (4H, 4BB) cut his night short.

Mark Teixeira finally put the Yankees on the board with a deep blast in the the right field upper deck in the bottom of the fifth that the announcers somehow estimated at only 391ft. I demand a recount. It was his 14th of the year putting him in second place in the AL. 

Trailing 3-1 entering the 6th inning, Brett Gardner led off with a single and promptly swiped second, Gardner's third and Yankees fifth base nabbed from the battery of Millwood and Saltalamacchia last night. 

Matsui capitalized on this robbery and drove Gardner home with a double. Godzilla scored two batters later on a Cervelli single. 

Appearing for the second night in a row, Alfredo Aceves came on in relief of Chamberlain. He worked a scoreless fifth inning, but coughed up the lead in the sixth. AA allowed a single and a double to begin the 7th and was replaced by Phil Coke, who allowed both inherited runners to score. Coke served up Chris Davis' 11th homer of the year in the 8th before David Robertson pitched a scoreless frame in his first outing since being recalled from Scranton. Final score: Yanks 3, Rangers 7.

Between the rain delay, the injury to Melky and Joba's struggles, this was a particularly excruciating contest to sit through. Play was sloppy and the contest didn't wrap up until 1:39AM, although the outcome felt like it was decided when Coke couldn't clean up for Aceves about a half hour earlier. You win some, you lose some, and some kind of suck. I think we know which two apply to this one. 

Game 46: T for Texas

Give me a T for Texas, give me a T for Tennessee
Give me a T for Texas, give me a T for Tennessee
Give me a T for Thelma, woman made a fool out of me.

One of the unique things about Lynyrd Skynyrd was their three guitar line-up. Initially it was Allen Collins, Gary Rossington, and Ed King. When King departed in 1975, one of the band's back-up singers, Cassie Gaines, recommended her younger brother as a replacement. Steve Gaines first played with Skynyrd on May 11, 1976. The 26 year-old was brought into the band, and just three months later they gave the above performance of Jimmie Rodgers' Blue Yodel No. 1, or T for Texas as they called it, in front of 120,000 people at Knebworth Fair. Gaines is the tall bearded fella standing to Ronnie Van Zant's left, playing a black Les Paul.

Steve Gaines was a revelation and a revitalization for Skynyrd. Despite his relative youth, Gaines was at ease amongst the road-weathered band, routinely outplaying Collins and Rossington. He began co-writing with Van Zant for material to be on the Street Survivors album and Van Zant even let him take lead vocals on one of the tracks. To my ears, the Gaines material on Street Survivors represents the finest work on the album, if not Skynyrd's whole catalog. He was a prodigy, and Van Zant predicted a very bright future for the young guitarist.

Then came the plane crash. And just like that, at 28 years old, Gaines was dead, as was his sister, Van Zant, and Skynyrd's assistant tour manager. There's no telling what the artist could have gone on to had he been lucky enough to survive.

Talent and potential are funny things like that. As a fan of music or sports, you can see certain people that just seem to have "it", and it's one of the true pleasures of being a fan to watch that talent displayed and to see that potential fulfilled. On the flip side, as A Bronx Tale taught us, there's perhaps nothing more disappointing or saddening than seeing potential go unfulfilled, to see talent wasted or snuffed out.

Just as Skynyrd featured three guitarists, the Yankees have featured three young starting pitchers in recent years, all of whom have sufficient talent and potential to excite the fan base. One, Ian Kennedy, had a disappointing 2008 and it now appears that his 2009 is lost thanks to an aneurysm. A second, Phil Hughes, spun a gem yesterday, and a third, Joba Chamberlain takes to the hill tonight.

This is the Yankees only trip to Texas this year, and I'm sure they're happy about that. Chien-Ming Wang suffered his lis franc injury in Houston last year and has not yet displayed anything close to his pre-injury form. Meanwhile, up in Arlington the Yankees have seen the two crown jewels of their young arms suffer injuries in each of the last two years. In 2007 it was a pulled hamstring for Phil Hughes, derailing his no hit bid. Last year, it was a shoulder injury to Joba Chamberlain, suffered in the same game that may have begun the demise of Damaso Marte as well.

It was an unfortunate injury for Chamberlain. That game would mark the 12th and final start of 2008 for him. Despite a relatively poor performance that night, his numbers as a starter for the year were outstanding: 3-1, 2.76 ERA over 65.1 IP, 1.30 WHIP, 10.2 K/9, and 2.96 K/BB while opposing batters hit only .245/.319/.322 against him. That my friends, is scary good for anyone, let alone a 22 year-old rookie. If you want to talk about wasted talent, just kick up the old "Joba to the bullpen" argument.

Hughes exacted some measure of redemption yesterday in his return to Texas, turning in his second impressive start in row with eight innings of shutout ball, allowing just four base runners while fanning six. Chamberlain looks to follow suit tonight in his first Texas appearance since his injury last year and his first start since taking a liner off the shin last Thursday.

I for one look forward to watching these two young pitching prodigies fulfill their potential and display their talent in the Yankee rotation for several years to come.

Has Anyone Seen This Man?

When Damaso Marte was placed on the DL on May 3rd with left shoulder tendinitis/ inflammation, he had only pitched 5.1 innings in the first month of the season, allowed 14 baserunners and 9 earned runs.  Entering 2009, he was considered one of the Yankees best options for the 8th inning, but now he has faded into the oblivion of the disabled list. It's been over three weeks since he's been placed on the DL and the latest updates I could find were that he's started a throwing program (on level ground) but there is no timetable for his return.

Since coming to the Yankees as part of the Xavier Nady deal, Marte has not been good. At all. In 32 games in pinstripes (23.1 innings) his ERA stands at 7.60 and he has a WHIP of 1.521. Much was made of the one outing in Texas on August 4th last year where Joe Girardi left in him for 42 pitches, a total he had reached only one other time since April 20th, 2002. That's all well and good, but he had the entire offseason to recover and as documented above, was terrible to begin this year. 

Perhaps the Yankees are taking their time with Marte's return because he is less than two months into the 3 year/$12M contract they gave him this offseason. By the time the free agent market collapsed, it looked like a pretty bad deal. Now that he has been ineffective/totally absent for the first seven weeks of the season, it's starting to look worse.

Despite the epic suckitude Marte has displayed with the Yankees, he still has a career ERA of 3.43. He's 34 years old, so perhaps injuries are catching up to him and his best baseball is him. However, the Yankees could really use to stability at the back end of their bullpen and unfortunately, barring a trade, Marte still represents one of their best options.

Yankee Rehab

As we collectively shake off the rust from a three day weekend and the unofficial start of summer, several Yankees are now shaking off the rust down in Tampa.

Jorge Posada, Jose Molina, Xavier Nady, and Cody Ransom all went to Tampa Sunday to continue their injury rehab.

The AP reports that Posada could be in Extended Spring Training games this week, Nady could DH in minor league games in the next couple days, and Molina may be ready by week's end.

The return of either catcher will help the Yankees, allowing them to DFA the worthless Kevin Cash, who despite having a three hit day yesterday is still batting just .182. Getting rid of Cash will open up a 40 man roster spot as well and the Yankees would be wise to add Shelley Duncan, Todd Linden, or John Rodriguez so they that they have another bat at their disposal on the 40 man. Cash will assuredly clear waivers and will likely wind up back with Scranton.

Posada was having a tremendous season before injuring his hamtstring, hitting .312/.402/.584 and his return will deepen the line-up and make the bottom third of the order slightly less of a black hole.

Nady's return will create an interesting roster situation as both he and Matsui will be relegated to designated and pinch hitting duty. The original plan was to hold Matsui out of the field until the Yankees visit an NL park, but his surgically repaired knees have given him trouble this year. Matsui has grown progressively worse in the field over the past several years and probably shouldn't see the outfield in anything other than an emergency situation. Still, having one or two bats of that quality available on the bench will be a luxury the Yankees have not enjoyed this year.

Ransom is on the 60 day DL and not eligible to return for another month. Given his poor play prior to his injury and the emergence of Ramiro Pena as a viable infield option I'm not so sure we'll see Cody Ransom in pinstripes again.

It's Not Unusual

(I thought umpire Carlton Banks' punch
outs were a little over the top as well...)

I don't think too many people would have expected that Phil Hughes would turn in a better performance today than his last time in Arlington. Perhaps some would disagree that today was better than 6 1/3 innings of no hit ball, but the object of the game is to avoid giving up runs, not necessarily hits. No-hitters are captivating and are remembered as historically significant, but as far as the scoreboard is concerned, they are no different than any other scoreless performance. 8 innings of shut out ball are better than 6 1/3, no matter how you cut it. 

Hughes gave up only five baserunners - three hits, a walk and a hit batsman - while striking out six. He threw 65 of his 105 pitches for strikes and dropped his ERA nearly two runs to 5.19. Twelve of his remaining outs came via fly balls, as opposed to six on the ground. That ratio isn't necessarily encouraging, but the fact that he kept that many fly balls in the park in Arlington is impressive in it's own way. 

The young righty wasn't the only bright spot on the day. A-Rod went 5-5, drove in four runs and raised his average from .189 to .259 in the process. Mark Teixeira went 2-4 with a walk and 2 RBIs, his 35th and 36th on the season. Even Kevin Cash got in on the party, notching three singles. The Yanks stacked up 19 hits (9-20 w/RISP) and only stuck out three times.

Robby Cano went 2-5 while driving in two runs and apparently found some time in the top of the 5th to praise be to God. 

The Yanks got out early and gave Hughes and Cash room enough to breathe and be aggressive with their pitch selection. As the 11-1 final score would indicate, the outcome of the game was never in doubt. Why can't they all be like this one?

Game 45: Memories Live

First and foremost, it is Memorial Day. Although I know we all understand what the day signifies, it must be noted as we barbecue, sit on the beach, play golf, throw lawn darts or otherwise, that this holiday honors those who gave their lives for the country. Or rather, had their lives taken from them. These weren't Kamikaze pilots or suicide bombers. They were mostly people my age or younger who had previously assumed they were coming home. No one ever thinks it's going to happen to them. I'm guessing there are some active military members in our readership, perhaps some who are deployed overseas. Much respect to you folks as well. 

-----

It's also sort of fitting that today, Phil Hughes makes his first return to the Ballpark at Arlington, the scene of Yankees' fans fondest memory of the youngster. We refer back to it as Hughes' high point, although we've already seen the heartbreaking ending. The date was May 1st, 2007, and the highly touted 20 year old rookie was making his second ever Major League start. In his first, he gave up four runs in 4 1/3 IP but struck out 5, giving fans brief glimpses of his nasty curveball and reason to be optimistic.

I still remember this game quite vividly. Well, Hughes' halves of the innings anyway. He was finding Jorge Posada's glove with nearly every pitch, when he didn't Posada would stand up and attempt to reassure Phil as he threw the ball back. 

Hughes issued three walks that night, but erased two of them with double plays. He had faced only one batter over the minimum once he retired Michael Young to start the seventh inning. He got ahead on future teammate Mark Teixeira 0-2 when it happened. Hughes awkwardly rolled his ankle and came up clutching his left hamstring and was immediately taken off the mound, no-hitter still intact.

I remember watching it and thinking it was basically the worst thing that could have occurred within the context of the game. It wasn't the injury that bothered me so much, although that was certainly disheartening. I just wished he had given up a hit or not. The game was left in suspended animation and we were all left to ponder "what if". It was like the ending to the Sopranos before David Chase told us all to fuck ourselves in cinematic form. 

Part of what's great about watching sports is that we get definitive answers. I don't watch sports whose games end in ties. The Yankees were already up 9-0, so we knew what the outcome of the contest was going to be. Since about the fourth or fifth inning, the only question left to be determined was whether Hughes could complete the no-hitter. 

It's been over two years, and thanks to guys like Clay Buchholz and Anibal Sanchez, we know that early no-hitters aren't surefire indicators of impending Major League success. That night though, it wouldn't have mattered. 

In my lifetime, ain't too many things better,
than watching your first son put his sentences together,
Yo, it kinda make me think of way back when,
I was the portrait of the artist as a young man.

More Melky Magic Not Quite Enough

When Melky Cabrera redirected a Brad Lidge fastball back up the middle to score Ramiro Pena and tie the game in the ninth inning, it seemed as though there was room for another walk-off this homestand. It was even more realistic of a possibility in the 10th inning, when Jeter and Damon were standing on first and second with no one out. 

Mark Teixeira came to the plate with two hits already, one of which was a broken bat home run. This was the first of it's kind I have seen; Teix was left holding just a shard of maple in his hand while the ball carried the wall and nearly into left field bleachers. 

There were warnings of a strong wind blowing out to left, but that's still a pretty super-human act. Unfortunately, that would be the last of his heroics for the day, as Clay Condrey got Teix to ground into a double play and effectively killed the threat in the 10th. Girardi neither double stole Jeter and Damon, nor started them on the 3-2 count, both of which would have likely kept the Yanks from suffering a inopportune twin killing.

Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless 10th frame but was removed in favor of Brett Tomko in the 11th. Girardi was willing to use Mo for more than three outs even after the game turned into a blowout on Thursday night, but with the game on the line today, opted not to.

Tomko got two quick outs, but gave up a walk to Chase Utley what would turn out to be a game winning double to Carlos Ruiz. Despite only playing in two games this series, Ruiz reached base 9 times (6H, 3BB) and drove in three runs. He was also at the plate for both of Johnny Damon's ill fated attempts to score, in the first inning on Friday night, and during the third today.

That run would prove to be important as both starting pitchers held up their end of the bargain and made crossing the plate difficult. Hamels went 6 innings and surrendered 2ER while Sabathia lasted 8 but gave up 3. 

After the Phillies took the lead in the 11th, the Yanks went down quietly in the bottom half of the frame, and leveled their record in extra innings this year to 3-3. Had the Yanks managed to score first in extras, it would have been their 5th walk off win in the 10 game homestand, but as it stands, they went 8-2, and picked up 3.5 games in the standings. Despite losing all five games against the Red Sox this year, the Yanks trail them for the division lead by only one game. 

The Yankees embark on a seven game road trip tomorrow, which will take them through Cleveland via Texas. The Rangers are a surprising 26-17 while the Indians are a disappointing 17-28. The Bombers won't have to worry about any of those momentum-killing off days, as they only have one in their next 19 games (this Thursday), which includes series against the Red Sox and Mets.