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Astros Outright Jorge Barrosa
4 days ago
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Game 29: Been Caught Stealing
In the very first game of the 2008 season, Jorge Posada injured his shoulder when he slipped on a slick home plate while making a throw. It kept him out of the lineup for a few days, but he eventually returned and attempted to play through it. He landed on the DL from late April through early June, returned, then eventually underwent season ending surgery in mid-July.
While Posada was still trying to grind it out, the Yankees played an early season series at Fenway. In the series finale, the same game in which Phil Hughes turned in the poor start we referenced in yesterday's preview, Posada got the start as the DH. But as the Yankees found themselves trailing in the eighth inning and with an opportunity for a rally at hand, Joe Girardi pinch ran for Jose Molina. When the bottom half of the frame came around, Posada was forced behind the plate for the first time in five days. He was under strict orders not to throw.
It's doubtful that the Red Sox knew that, but it's obvious that they knew that Posada - never blessed with great run-stopping abilities in the first place - was nursing a shoulder issue. Coco Crisp led off with a single, and despite two throws to first, promptly stole second on the first pitch. Later in the inning Dustin Pedroia singled. He too successfully took off for second on the very first pitch. The Sox ran in every opportunity they had in Posada's one inning behind the plate. It was painful to watch.
Last year the Sox continued to run on the Yankees going 16 for 21 in stolen base attempts, including a curtain call inducing swipe of home by Jacoby Ellsbury on April 26th.
The Red Sox have had their own problems controlling the running game in recent years. They've allowed the most steals in the AL this year with 42, 55% more than the second place team, and are next to last in CS%. In 2009 they allowed the most stolen bases in the league, and were dead last again in CS%. The second to last place team was closer to fourth place, percentage wise, than they were to the Red Sox.
Just like the Sox weren't shy about exploiting Posada's weakness to years ago, the Yankees have taken advantage of their opportunities to run on the Sox of late. In the season's opening series they went four for five in stolen base attempts, including a steal of home by Brett Gardner. Last year, they were successful in 19 of 21 attempts against Boston, including a merciless seven for seven against Jason Varitek in a late September game.
The tide of The Series That Shall Not Be Named turned on a stolen base, and in the years since the two clubs have taken virtually every opportunity to run on each other. Why should they, when virtually no one is caught stealing?
Taking the mound today for the Sox is a guy who has been caught stealing, but not on the base paths. Clay Buchholz was notoriously arrested in 2004 for swiping and selling 29 laptops from his town's middle school. After bouncing up and down for parts of three seasons, Buchholz finally established himself in the Sox rotation during the second half of last year. He's pitched well through his first five starts, sporting a 2.97 ERA but his high WHIP (1.42) as well as his FIP (3.11) and xFIP (4.03) suggest he's gotten a bit lucky. His strand rate and BABIP are not out of the ordinary, but his HR/FB of just 3.3% is not something that will hold up over time. Buchholz has made three previous starts against the Yanks, two in 2008 and one last year, and they've touched him up the tune of 18 hits, 2 homers, 9 walks, and 10 runs in 15.2 innings.
CC Sabathia takes the hill for the Yankees. He has no known history of thievery, but he was a pretty angry guy yesterday. First, he lashed out at his fellow "209" resident Dallas Braden, calling him a clown and saying his argument was tired. Then, as Josh Beckett buzzed batter after batter in the sixth, CC got on the top step of the dugout to make his displeasure known. Sabathia has been excellent through his first six starts, with his only poor outing of the season coming when he allowed five runs through five and a third on Opening Night in Fenway. He's been masterful since then, with a 1.93 ERA over his last 37.1 IP. If there's any blemish on the Big Fella's record so far it's that both his walk and strikeout rates are as poor as they've been since 2003. In his first season as a Yankee, Sabathia posted a 2.22 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, and 31:6 K;BB ratio in 28.1 IP against Boston.
The weather was pretty nasty in Boston earlier today. The tarp came off the field, then was placed back on, but word is the game will start on time as it appears things will be nice enough come game time. What started as miserable morning here in CT has turned into a beautiful afternoon, so perhaps Beantown will have similar luck.
Today's game is on FOX with our friends Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. Perhaps we'll get lucky and someone will steal their microphones. Lastly, in the event this game runs late, Joe West wanted me to tell you all that coverage will switch to FX at 7:30 due to FOX's NASCAR commitment. This happened during that April series two years ago and FOX made the switch without any advanced notice. I was none too pleased about that.
Yankees:
Where to begin? As speculated this morning, Nick Johnson has been placed on the DL and Kevin Russo has been recalled. Jorge Posada is not in the lineup for the fourth straight day, and the sixth time in the last nine games. Word is he would have played today if not for the potential for a slick field. He's supposed to return tomorrow, but we've been hearing that for a few days now.
Robinson Cano was not in the initial line up, but after taking BP and the team decided he can give it a go. The order is looking pretty weak, so getting Cano back in there is an added bonus. Given his knee he'll DH in place of Marcus Thames, and Ramiro Pena will stay at second base. In Nick Johnson's absence it's Brett Gardner, not Nick Swisher, moving up to the two spot. Part of that is because the order needs Swish's pop in the middle with Posada and Granderson out. Most of it is because of all the stolen base stuff we talked about above. With the lineup a bit weaker than usual today, I expect the Yankees to try to use their legs to make up for some of the missing offense.
Johnson's MRI revealed an inflamed tendon in his wrist. He received a cortisone shot and will be out "several weeks". Commence gnashing of teeth and start the "Bring Up Montero" campaign.
Red Sox:
This isn't exactly the "A" lineup for the Sox either. With a lefty on the mound, the Artist Formerly Known as Big Papi hits the bench in favor of Mike Lowell. Ditto for Jeremy Hermida, who gives way to Bill Hall in left field.
While Posada was still trying to grind it out, the Yankees played an early season series at Fenway. In the series finale, the same game in which Phil Hughes turned in the poor start we referenced in yesterday's preview, Posada got the start as the DH. But as the Yankees found themselves trailing in the eighth inning and with an opportunity for a rally at hand, Joe Girardi pinch ran for Jose Molina. When the bottom half of the frame came around, Posada was forced behind the plate for the first time in five days. He was under strict orders not to throw.
It's doubtful that the Red Sox knew that, but it's obvious that they knew that Posada - never blessed with great run-stopping abilities in the first place - was nursing a shoulder issue. Coco Crisp led off with a single, and despite two throws to first, promptly stole second on the first pitch. Later in the inning Dustin Pedroia singled. He too successfully took off for second on the very first pitch. The Sox ran in every opportunity they had in Posada's one inning behind the plate. It was painful to watch.
Last year the Sox continued to run on the Yankees going 16 for 21 in stolen base attempts, including a curtain call inducing swipe of home by Jacoby Ellsbury on April 26th.
The Red Sox have had their own problems controlling the running game in recent years. They've allowed the most steals in the AL this year with 42, 55% more than the second place team, and are next to last in CS%. In 2009 they allowed the most stolen bases in the league, and were dead last again in CS%. The second to last place team was closer to fourth place, percentage wise, than they were to the Red Sox.
Just like the Sox weren't shy about exploiting Posada's weakness to years ago, the Yankees have taken advantage of their opportunities to run on the Sox of late. In the season's opening series they went four for five in stolen base attempts, including a steal of home by Brett Gardner. Last year, they were successful in 19 of 21 attempts against Boston, including a merciless seven for seven against Jason Varitek in a late September game.
The tide of The Series That Shall Not Be Named turned on a stolen base, and in the years since the two clubs have taken virtually every opportunity to run on each other. Why should they, when virtually no one is caught stealing?
Taking the mound today for the Sox is a guy who has been caught stealing, but not on the base paths. Clay Buchholz was notoriously arrested in 2004 for swiping and selling 29 laptops from his town's middle school. After bouncing up and down for parts of three seasons, Buchholz finally established himself in the Sox rotation during the second half of last year. He's pitched well through his first five starts, sporting a 2.97 ERA but his high WHIP (1.42) as well as his FIP (3.11) and xFIP (4.03) suggest he's gotten a bit lucky. His strand rate and BABIP are not out of the ordinary, but his HR/FB of just 3.3% is not something that will hold up over time. Buchholz has made three previous starts against the Yanks, two in 2008 and one last year, and they've touched him up the tune of 18 hits, 2 homers, 9 walks, and 10 runs in 15.2 innings.
CC Sabathia takes the hill for the Yankees. He has no known history of thievery, but he was a pretty angry guy yesterday. First, he lashed out at his fellow "209" resident Dallas Braden, calling him a clown and saying his argument was tired. Then, as Josh Beckett buzzed batter after batter in the sixth, CC got on the top step of the dugout to make his displeasure known. Sabathia has been excellent through his first six starts, with his only poor outing of the season coming when he allowed five runs through five and a third on Opening Night in Fenway. He's been masterful since then, with a 1.93 ERA over his last 37.1 IP. If there's any blemish on the Big Fella's record so far it's that both his walk and strikeout rates are as poor as they've been since 2003. In his first season as a Yankee, Sabathia posted a 2.22 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, and 31:6 K;BB ratio in 28.1 IP against Boston.
The weather was pretty nasty in Boston earlier today. The tarp came off the field, then was placed back on, but word is the game will start on time as it appears things will be nice enough come game time. What started as miserable morning here in CT has turned into a beautiful afternoon, so perhaps Beantown will have similar luck.
Today's game is on FOX with our friends Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. Perhaps we'll get lucky and someone will steal their microphones. Lastly, in the event this game runs late, Joe West wanted me to tell you all that coverage will switch to FX at 7:30 due to FOX's NASCAR commitment. This happened during that April series two years ago and FOX made the switch without any advanced notice. I was none too pleased about that.
I've been caught stealing once when I was five-Lineups-
I enjoy stealing, it's just as simple as that
Well, it's just a simple fact
When I want something I don't want to pay for it
I walk right through the door
Walk right through the door
Hey all right, if I get by, it's mine.
Mine all mine!
Yankees:
Where to begin? As speculated this morning, Nick Johnson has been placed on the DL and Kevin Russo has been recalled. Jorge Posada is not in the lineup for the fourth straight day, and the sixth time in the last nine games. Word is he would have played today if not for the potential for a slick field. He's supposed to return tomorrow, but we've been hearing that for a few days now.
Robinson Cano was not in the initial line up, but after taking BP and the team decided he can give it a go. The order is looking pretty weak, so getting Cano back in there is an added bonus. Given his knee he'll DH in place of Marcus Thames, and Ramiro Pena will stay at second base. In Nick Johnson's absence it's Brett Gardner, not Nick Swisher, moving up to the two spot. Part of that is because the order needs Swish's pop in the middle with Posada and Granderson out. Most of it is because of all the stolen base stuff we talked about above. With the lineup a bit weaker than usual today, I expect the Yankees to try to use their legs to make up for some of the missing offense.
Johnson's MRI revealed an inflamed tendon in his wrist. He received a cortisone shot and will be out "several weeks". Commence gnashing of teeth and start the "Bring Up Montero" campaign.
Derek Jeter SS
Brett Gardner CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano DH
Nick Swisher RF
Randy Winn LF
Francisco Cervelli C
Ramiro Pena 2B
Red Sox:
This isn't exactly the "A" lineup for the Sox either. With a lefty on the mound, the Artist Formerly Known as Big Papi hits the bench in favor of Mike Lowell. Ditto for Jeremy Hermida, who gives way to Bill Hall in left field.
Marco Scutaro SS
Dustin Pedroia 2B
Victor Martinez C
Fack Youkilis 1B
Mike Lowell DH
J.D. Drew RF
Adrian Beltre 3B
Bill Hall LF
Darnell McDonald CF
Morning M*A*S*H Report
A special Saturday good morning Fackers. How you feeling today? Shaking out the cobwebs from a rough Friday? If you are, you're in good company. Not with me of course, but with the Yankees. Except they're not hungover (not to my knowledge at least); it's more like death by a thousand paper cuts for them. Two more injuries last night to add to the ever-growing list of the walking wounded. Let's get you caught up on the comings and goings.
Firstly, before the game, the club made it official: Andy Pettitte will be skipped on his next turn through the rotation. Pettitte wasn't happy about it, and that's understandable. But at nearly 38 years old and with a history of arm problems, there's no need to tempt fate in May. When Pettitte got a little ornery about being skipped due to injury last year, we speculated that it might have something to do with the innings and roster incentives in his contract. His contract has no such clauses this year, so there's question about the lefty's motives this time around.
As expected, Sergio Mitre will make a spot start in Pettitte's stead. However, Mitre will start Monday, pushing Javier Vazquez into Pettitte's slot on Tuesday. The off day on Thursday ensures that Mitre, who threw 29 pitches in 2.1 innings of relief on Wednesday, will make hist start on a full four days of rest. Pushing Vazquez back lines him up to start the first interleague game at Citi Field on May 21st. Vazquez is the most experienced hitter amongst the Yankees' starters, and he's posted fair batting numbers over his career.
As we mentioned in yesterday's preview, Mitre's spot start has left the bullpen a man short. As such, outfielder Greg Golson was optioned out before yesterday's game, replaced by Romulo Sanchez. The big righty has been knocked around through five starts in Scranton this year. He was Scranton's scheduled starter last night; Kei Igawa got the spot start in his stead.
I understand the desire to have a full bullpen for a series at Fenway. However, even before last night's injuries, the Yankees had a short roster with the injuries to Pettitte and Jorge Posada. They also have their three best starters lined up for the series. Is sending out yet another position player in exchange for thirteenth pitcher really the best use of the roster spot?
That question becomes all the more pressing in light of the injuries the Yankees suffered during last night's game. In the fifth inning, Marcus Thames pinch hit for designated hitter Nick Johnson. Not because the Sox brought a lefty into the game, they hadn't. But because Johnson has been battling a sore wrist for sometime and felt that he had no strength in it. As Jay pointed out in the recap, given Johnson's injury history - including missing much of 2008 with a wrist injury - many fans are already calling the Johnson signing a bust. Let's wait at least until his MRI results come in until we start jumping to conclusions.
In the sixth inning, as Josh Beckett's control abandoned him, Robinson Cano took a nasty HBP on the inside of his left knee. He hobbled down the line to take his base, but lasted just a single pinch before he signaled for a pinch runner.
Johnson will be DL'd today. But with Cano likely unavailable, the club will recall another infielder rather than someone to replace Johnson as DH. Scranton infielders Kevin Russo, Reegie Corona, and Eduardo Nunez are all on the 40 man roster. Speculation is that Russo will get the nod and I think that's the right move. Not only has Russo been on fire of late (.357/.400/.548 over his last ten games), he's made appearances in center field and right field over the last week. He's likely the best offensive option of the three infielders at AAA, and with the Yankee outfield still being short in the wake of the Granderson injury and Golson demotion, Russo's versatility could be of value at this point as well.
Once Cano is back to full strength, the extra infielder will likely be sent down in favor of a better bat. That bat will most likely be Juan Miranda, who's hitting .267/.369/.465 at Scranton. However, Miranda has missed the last two games after taking an HBP on the elbow Tuesday. Apparently the injury bug has made it's way to Scranton as well.
I'm sure the picture will be a bit clearer closer to game time. We'll have further updates in the preview.
Firstly, before the game, the club made it official: Andy Pettitte will be skipped on his next turn through the rotation. Pettitte wasn't happy about it, and that's understandable. But at nearly 38 years old and with a history of arm problems, there's no need to tempt fate in May. When Pettitte got a little ornery about being skipped due to injury last year, we speculated that it might have something to do with the innings and roster incentives in his contract. His contract has no such clauses this year, so there's question about the lefty's motives this time around.
As expected, Sergio Mitre will make a spot start in Pettitte's stead. However, Mitre will start Monday, pushing Javier Vazquez into Pettitte's slot on Tuesday. The off day on Thursday ensures that Mitre, who threw 29 pitches in 2.1 innings of relief on Wednesday, will make hist start on a full four days of rest. Pushing Vazquez back lines him up to start the first interleague game at Citi Field on May 21st. Vazquez is the most experienced hitter amongst the Yankees' starters, and he's posted fair batting numbers over his career.
As we mentioned in yesterday's preview, Mitre's spot start has left the bullpen a man short. As such, outfielder Greg Golson was optioned out before yesterday's game, replaced by Romulo Sanchez. The big righty has been knocked around through five starts in Scranton this year. He was Scranton's scheduled starter last night; Kei Igawa got the spot start in his stead.
I understand the desire to have a full bullpen for a series at Fenway. However, even before last night's injuries, the Yankees had a short roster with the injuries to Pettitte and Jorge Posada. They also have their three best starters lined up for the series. Is sending out yet another position player in exchange for thirteenth pitcher really the best use of the roster spot?
That question becomes all the more pressing in light of the injuries the Yankees suffered during last night's game. In the fifth inning, Marcus Thames pinch hit for designated hitter Nick Johnson. Not because the Sox brought a lefty into the game, they hadn't. But because Johnson has been battling a sore wrist for sometime and felt that he had no strength in it. As Jay pointed out in the recap, given Johnson's injury history - including missing much of 2008 with a wrist injury - many fans are already calling the Johnson signing a bust. Let's wait at least until his MRI results come in until we start jumping to conclusions.
In the sixth inning, as Josh Beckett's control abandoned him, Robinson Cano took a nasty HBP on the inside of his left knee. He hobbled down the line to take his base, but lasted just a single pinch before he signaled for a pinch runner.
Johnson will be DL'd today. But with Cano likely unavailable, the club will recall another infielder rather than someone to replace Johnson as DH. Scranton infielders Kevin Russo, Reegie Corona, and Eduardo Nunez are all on the 40 man roster. Speculation is that Russo will get the nod and I think that's the right move. Not only has Russo been on fire of late (.357/.400/.548 over his last ten games), he's made appearances in center field and right field over the last week. He's likely the best offensive option of the three infielders at AAA, and with the Yankee outfield still being short in the wake of the Granderson injury and Golson demotion, Russo's versatility could be of value at this point as well.
Once Cano is back to full strength, the extra infielder will likely be sent down in favor of a better bat. That bat will most likely be Juan Miranda, who's hitting .267/.369/.465 at Scranton. However, Miranda has missed the last two games after taking an HBP on the elbow Tuesday. Apparently the injury bug has made it's way to Scranton as well.
I'm sure the picture will be a bit clearer closer to game time. We'll have further updates in the preview.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Game 28 Recap
1. The first three innings of this contest were dominated by the pitchers. Josh Beckett recorded six strikeouts and the only hit he gave up was a seeing eye single just past Dustin Pedroia. Phil Hughes mowed through the Sawx as well, recording only three strikeouts and the only baserunner he allowed as a walk to Jason Varitek. 2. Josh Beckett ran into a little trouble in the fourth, though. He allowed a one out walk to Mark Teixeira and A-Rod followed with a sharp single to right. Robinson Cano struck out by fouling back a 96mph fastball into the glove of Jason Varitek. Nick Swisher took an ugly swing over a cut fastball inside, looked terrible in the process, and then took a 4-seamer away and fell behind 0-2. Beckett wasted a fastball at eye level and then buried a curveball in the dirt to even the count. Swisher must have been looking for the hook again because when Beckett went back to it, Swish smashed it where the cameras are placed over the centerfield wall and put the Yanks up 3-0.
3. J.D. Drew got the first hit off of Phil Hughes and it came via a one out single in the fourth. The Fackin' Youkstah followed with a liner that rolled into the left field corner but was held to a single by a nice defensive play by Randy Winn. Drew was on third with one out out for David Ortiz and Big Sloppy lofted a deep fly to right center that he admired as if it might have been a home run but it fell into Swisher's glove shy of the warning track, putting the Sox on the board. Yanks 3, Sox 1.
4. Josh Beckett officially came unraveled in the sixth inning. A-Rod led off the inning with a double that rolled up to the Green Monster and then Beckett hit Cano in the knee with a pitch. The runners moved up on a passed ball while Nick Swisher was at the plate but Swisher ultimately struck out. With first base open, the Sawx elected to intentionally walk Brett Gardner to face Francisco Cervelli, who was already two for two on the night. After working the count full, Frankie called time just before Beckett delivered the pitch. Beckett was clearly annoyed by the move and lost payoff pitch up an in, walking in a run.
Swinging at the first pitch he saw, Randy Winn popped a single to left, drove in a run and brought Derek Jeter to the plate with the bases still loaded. Beckett plunked Jeter in the ribs, forcing in another run. At this point, Beckett already had 105 pitches and clearly had lost his control but Terry Francona opted to leave him in. Marcus Thames then grounded a ball between short and third that Marco Scutaro fielded and flipped to Adrian Beltre. Beltre had strayed off the bag when the ball was hit and Winn barely beat him to the base, extending the inning. Beckett ran two pitches inside to Mark Teixeira - one dangerously close to his knees - before Teix singled and chased Beckett from the game in the process.
A-Rod (who had led of the inning, if you'll recall) hit a sac fly off of Hideki Okijima to put the Yankees up 8-1. Ramiro Pena struck out to end the inning but the damage had obviously already been done.
5. The Red Sox got one back in the bottom half of the inning off of Phil Hughes. J.D. Drew doubled leading off, moved over to third on a ground out and was singled home by David Ortiz.
6. Randy Winn singled to lead off the eighth, took second and third on wild pitches (from Tim Wakefield to Victor Martinez) and scored on a sac fly by Marcus Thames.
7. David Robertson came into pitch the 8th and after striking out Pedroia, walked Jonathan Van Every and Youk. Ortiz struck out looking then Adrian Beltre knocked an RBI since to make it 10-3. Boone Logan pitched the ninth and allowed a single to Victor Martinez
IFs, ANDs & BUTs
- Phil Hughes pitched seven strong innings, striking out eight and allowing 7 hits and walking one. His fastball was sitting in the mid-90s all night, mixed in a cutter that was was between 88 and 91. The two heaters accounted for about 90% of his 101 pitches, with the remaining 10% were curveballs.
- Beckett really looked like he was in command early in the game but the pitch from Swisher really tipped the balance. Beckett had Swish off balance and 0-2 but couldn't put him away and the Yankees never looked back.
- You've gotta wonder about the intentional walk to Brett Garnder. At that point there was one out and men on 2nd and 3rd and although Garnder has been solid at the plate this season, he's not exactly a guy Josh Beckett should be afraid to pitch to.
- Nick Johnson was pinch hit for by Marcus Thames in the fifth because he had to be removed from the game to a sore wrist. Apparently this is something that's been going on for a while, he's going for an MRI and looks to be DL bound. Yes, this kind of sucks, but let's wait to see how serious this is going to be before we start jumping to conclusions like this and this.
- Josh Beckett hit Robinson Cano square in the knee on a 0-2 pitch during the top of the 6th inning. Cano attempted to stay in the game but had to be punch ran for by Ramiro Pena. Cano almost certainly isn't going to play tomorrow, so it's likely the the AAA call up is going to be an infielder. Good chance it will be Kevin Russo.
- Frankie Cervelli picked up two hits, scored a run and drove in one via the bases loaded walk from Beckett.
- Boone Logan pitched the ninth and allowed only a single to Victor Martinez.
- According to Marc Carig, CC Sabathia was not pleased with Beckett's, um, lack of command. Beckett probably wasn't doing anything intentionally - or at least shouldn't have been since the bases were loaded when most of shit went down - but he kept throwing inside anyway. Something to keep in mind considering that Sabathia is starting tomorrow.
The game is at 3:10 and on FOX.
Game 28: Station Blues
Twenty one months ago, the Yankees arrived in Boston for a three game weekend series, much like the one they will play this weekend. In the Friday night game, Boston sent Josh Beckett to the mound, just as they will tonight. He was opposed then by a young right hander from the Yankees, just as he will be tonight. Despite tossing seven innings of one run ball that night, Beckett was outdueled. Joba Chamberlain did him one better, going seven shutout innings of three hit, one walk ball, fanning nine Sox on the night. It was, and remains, the best start of Chamberlain's career.
Tonight Phil Hughes gets his crack at Beckett and the Sox. Hughes and Joba have been linked throughout their young careers. Both are former first round picks, Hughes in 2004, Chamberlain in the supplemental round two years later. Both made their much-heralded Major League debuts in 2007, Hughes as a starter in late April, Chamberlain as a set up man in mid-August. Both were counted upon to be key contributors in what proved to be a disappointing 2008 season, Hughes exiting with a stress fracture in his rib in late April, Chamberlain hitting the DL with a sore shoulder in early August. Both battled for the fifth starter spot in Spring Training this year, with Hughes emerging the victor.
They've also been a study in contrast thus far. Hughes is seen as poised and collected, Chamberlain as demonstrative and impulsive. Hughes took some time to find his footing as a Big Leaguer; Chamberlain burst on the scene with a storybook rookie campaign, earning instant celebrity. Hughes took some lumps as a starter before emerging as a dominant reliever last year and finding his way back to the rotation this season. Chamberlain debuted as a dominant reliever, experienced early success as a starter before scuffling through much of last year, and is back in his former set up job this season.
I'm not sure what bearing all of that has on tonight's game, other than that I'm hopeful Hughes can turn in a Fenway performance tonight that equals that of Chamberlain's there nearly two years ago. Given Hughes' success through his first four starts this year, there's no reason he can't turn in such performance tonight. At the very least, it should go better than Hughes' only other career start at the Fens, a two inning outing two years ago in which he allowed nine baserunners and seven runs, six earned. For his career, Hughes sports a 7.62 ERA and 1.92 WHIP in 13 IP against the Sawx, but he has struck out 15 batters over those frames.
The Yankees last saw Beckett on Opening Night, touching him up for eight hits, three walks, and five runs while forcing him to throw 94 pitches through just four and two thirds. He exited in line for the loss until Chan Ho Park let him off the hook. He pitched better in his second and third starts, but then got knocked around to the tune of 23 baserunners and 15 runs over 10 innings in his next two starts. He pitched well against Baltimore last Sunday, and enters tonight with a 6.31 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, and just one decision through his first six starts. His K/9 is the lowest it's been in his career, and his BB/9 is at its highest since his subpar first season in Boston. FIP and xFIP say Beckett should be better off than his traditional stats say, but even those numbers aren't too pretty for a guy who's supposed to be fronting the rotation of a contending team. Most of the Yankee regulars have had success against Beckett; they'll look to keep that going tonight.
The Yankees hearkened back to the days of flannel uniforms for their trip to Boston, heading down to the station in New Rochelle yesterday and hopping a three car private train up to Boston's South Station. Despite the spat of minor injuries of late, things have gone quite well for the Yankees since they last were in the Hub. They've won eight of nine series, have the second best record in baseball, and generally life is good. It would be tempting to say they're sitting on top of the world, but Tampa's still a game and a half in front, and as past seasons have taught us, where things are in May aren't always indicative of where things will be in October.
After a disastrous three game sweep at the hands of the Orioles left the Sox with the blues, Boston has taken four in a row and are back on the right side of .500. A series win this weekend would do a lot for their psyche and for that of their fanbase. Regardless of what happens over these next three games, both teams are going to have to work all the summer if they want to work this fall.
Sitting on Top of the World quickly became a cross-genre standard, covered by Charlie Patton, Big Bill Broonzy, Ray Charles, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, the legendary Howlin' Wolf, Bill Monroe, Carl Perkins, Memphis Slim, Doc Watson, Chet Atkins, John Lee Hooker, and numerous others. Once rock and roll exploded and artists started looking back at roots music, bands like the Grateful Dead and Cream performed the tune as well, and it continues to be performed by contemporary blues and roots artists like Robert Cray, Taj Mahal, Jack White and a host of others.
Growing up in the north Mississippi hill country, Luther and Cody Dickinson learned the tune from one their mentors, Othar Turner. When the brothers Dickinson joined with Chris Chew to form the North Mississippi Allstars, they included a version on their debut album of traditional hill country blues songs, Shake Hands with Shorty. Their version however, was dubbed "Station Blues", as that's how they learned it from Turner.
The performance above comes from NMA's 2004 appearance at Bonnaroo, dubbed the Hill Country Revue, and featuring Jim Dickinson, hill country legend R.L. Burnside, his son Duwayne - then a member of NMA, the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band, and R.L. Boyce - who emcees this particular performance. It's a lengthy clip, from the NMA documentary Do It Like We Used to Do. Turner had passed away at 95 a year earlier, and the band pays tribute to him by playing his "Shimmy She Wobble", made famous in Scorsese's Gangs of New York, as a segue into the song.]
-Lineups-
Yankees:
Jorge Posada is out for third consecutive game. Chad Moeller was not recalled, as previously speculated. However, pitcher Romulo Sanchez is up, with Greg Golson, on the roster for all of two games, being sent down. I'm not quite sure I understand this series of moves. I suppose with you can never have too deep of a bullpen for a series in Fenway Park, and with Sergio Mitre likely earmarked for a Tuesday spot start, the pen is a bit short.
Red Sox:
Courtesy of old friend Pete Abe
Tonight Phil Hughes gets his crack at Beckett and the Sox. Hughes and Joba have been linked throughout their young careers. Both are former first round picks, Hughes in 2004, Chamberlain in the supplemental round two years later. Both made their much-heralded Major League debuts in 2007, Hughes as a starter in late April, Chamberlain as a set up man in mid-August. Both were counted upon to be key contributors in what proved to be a disappointing 2008 season, Hughes exiting with a stress fracture in his rib in late April, Chamberlain hitting the DL with a sore shoulder in early August. Both battled for the fifth starter spot in Spring Training this year, with Hughes emerging the victor.
They've also been a study in contrast thus far. Hughes is seen as poised and collected, Chamberlain as demonstrative and impulsive. Hughes took some time to find his footing as a Big Leaguer; Chamberlain burst on the scene with a storybook rookie campaign, earning instant celebrity. Hughes took some lumps as a starter before emerging as a dominant reliever last year and finding his way back to the rotation this season. Chamberlain debuted as a dominant reliever, experienced early success as a starter before scuffling through much of last year, and is back in his former set up job this season.
I'm not sure what bearing all of that has on tonight's game, other than that I'm hopeful Hughes can turn in a Fenway performance tonight that equals that of Chamberlain's there nearly two years ago. Given Hughes' success through his first four starts this year, there's no reason he can't turn in such performance tonight. At the very least, it should go better than Hughes' only other career start at the Fens, a two inning outing two years ago in which he allowed nine baserunners and seven runs, six earned. For his career, Hughes sports a 7.62 ERA and 1.92 WHIP in 13 IP against the Sawx, but he has struck out 15 batters over those frames.
The Yankees last saw Beckett on Opening Night, touching him up for eight hits, three walks, and five runs while forcing him to throw 94 pitches through just four and two thirds. He exited in line for the loss until Chan Ho Park let him off the hook. He pitched better in his second and third starts, but then got knocked around to the tune of 23 baserunners and 15 runs over 10 innings in his next two starts. He pitched well against Baltimore last Sunday, and enters tonight with a 6.31 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, and just one decision through his first six starts. His K/9 is the lowest it's been in his career, and his BB/9 is at its highest since his subpar first season in Boston. FIP and xFIP say Beckett should be better off than his traditional stats say, but even those numbers aren't too pretty for a guy who's supposed to be fronting the rotation of a contending team. Most of the Yankee regulars have had success against Beckett; they'll look to keep that going tonight.
The Yankees hearkened back to the days of flannel uniforms for their trip to Boston, heading down to the station in New Rochelle yesterday and hopping a three car private train up to Boston's South Station. Despite the spat of minor injuries of late, things have gone quite well for the Yankees since they last were in the Hub. They've won eight of nine series, have the second best record in baseball, and generally life is good. It would be tempting to say they're sitting on top of the world, but Tampa's still a game and a half in front, and as past seasons have taught us, where things are in May aren't always indicative of where things will be in October.
After a disastrous three game sweep at the hands of the Orioles left the Sox with the blues, Boston has taken four in a row and are back on the right side of .500. A series win this weekend would do a lot for their psyche and for that of their fanbase. Regardless of what happens over these next three games, both teams are going to have to work all the summer if they want to work this fall.
I went down to the station[Song notes: Another blues song, another song with a lengthy and storied history. "Sitting on Top of the World" was first recorded in 1930 by the Mississippi Sheiks, taking elements from earlier songs by Al Jolson, Tommy Johnson, and Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell, whose "You Got to Reap What You Sow" featured old friend Tampa Red.
Looked out in the yard
Get me some freight train
Work done got hard
But now she’s gone, but I don’t worry
Sittin’ on top of the world
I worked all the summer
Worked all the fall
Had to take Christmas
In my overalls
But now she’s gone, and I don’t worry
Sittin’ on top of the world
Sitting on Top of the World quickly became a cross-genre standard, covered by Charlie Patton, Big Bill Broonzy, Ray Charles, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, the legendary Howlin' Wolf, Bill Monroe, Carl Perkins, Memphis Slim, Doc Watson, Chet Atkins, John Lee Hooker, and numerous others. Once rock and roll exploded and artists started looking back at roots music, bands like the Grateful Dead and Cream performed the tune as well, and it continues to be performed by contemporary blues and roots artists like Robert Cray, Taj Mahal, Jack White and a host of others.
Growing up in the north Mississippi hill country, Luther and Cody Dickinson learned the tune from one their mentors, Othar Turner. When the brothers Dickinson joined with Chris Chew to form the North Mississippi Allstars, they included a version on their debut album of traditional hill country blues songs, Shake Hands with Shorty. Their version however, was dubbed "Station Blues", as that's how they learned it from Turner.
The performance above comes from NMA's 2004 appearance at Bonnaroo, dubbed the Hill Country Revue, and featuring Jim Dickinson, hill country legend R.L. Burnside, his son Duwayne - then a member of NMA, the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band, and R.L. Boyce - who emcees this particular performance. It's a lengthy clip, from the NMA documentary Do It Like We Used to Do. Turner had passed away at 95 a year earlier, and the band pays tribute to him by playing his "Shimmy She Wobble", made famous in Scorsese's Gangs of New York, as a segue into the song.]
-Lineups-
Yankees:
Jorge Posada is out for third consecutive game. Chad Moeller was not recalled, as previously speculated. However, pitcher Romulo Sanchez is up, with Greg Golson, on the roster for all of two games, being sent down. I'm not quite sure I understand this series of moves. I suppose with you can never have too deep of a bullpen for a series in Fenway Park, and with Sergio Mitre likely earmarked for a Tuesday spot start, the pen is a bit short.
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Johnson DH
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Brett Gardner CF
Francisco Cervelli C
Randy Winn LF
Red Sox:
Courtesy of old friend Pete Abe
Marco Scutaro SS
Dustin Pedroia 2B
J.D. Drew RF
Kevin Youkilis 1B
David Ortiz DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
Jeremy Hermida LF
Jason Varitek C
Darnell McDonald CF
New York Already One Up On Boston This Weekend
We're still about four hours away from the first pitch of game one of this weekend's series, but New York has already notched is first victory over Boston on the weekend. This morning, the annual media game was held at Fenway, with the New York writers laying a 20-3 beatdown on Boston.
Congrats go out to LoHud's Chad Jennings, the offensive star of the morning with a two run inside-the-park homer. The New York Times' Tyler Kepner hurled the first five innings, then Bryan Hoch of yankees.com/MLB Advanced Media played the role of Mo with a scoreless final frame. Friend of the blog Marc Carig had the hardest hit ball of the day, but flashed only warning track power. I've yet to see any reports on how old friend Peter Abraham did after pulling his reverse-Johnny Damon last year.
Kepner was the Times beat writer through last season, but was promoted to national columnist after shortstop Jack Curry took a buyout and joined the YES Network. No word on whether Boston will protest Kepner's eligibility.
More links? Why not?
Congrats go out to LoHud's Chad Jennings, the offensive star of the morning with a two run inside-the-park homer. The New York Times' Tyler Kepner hurled the first five innings, then Bryan Hoch of yankees.com/MLB Advanced Media played the role of Mo with a scoreless final frame. Friend of the blog Marc Carig had the hardest hit ball of the day, but flashed only warning track power. I've yet to see any reports on how old friend Peter Abraham did after pulling his reverse-Johnny Damon last year.
Kepner was the Times beat writer through last season, but was promoted to national columnist after shortstop Jack Curry took a buyout and joined the YES Network. No word on whether Boston will protest Kepner's eligibility.
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More links? Why not?
According to this tweet and this grainy photo, David Ortiz was grilling for students at my alma mater earlier today. I'm dubious about the picture, but if anyone should know when something is totally cooked, it's gotta be Big Papi, amIright?Back with the preview in a bit.
After touching on the same topic twice already today, let's go for three. RAB passes along that AAA Scranton has activated catcher P.J. Pilittere, possibly indicating that Chad Moeller could be on his way up. Or since Posada is out taking earlier BP, maybe he's fine.
If you never want to think of Joe Torre in the same light ever again, read this story passed along by Deadspin's Drew Magary.
And with a tip of that to Moshe Mandel from TYU, Mystique and Aura has a post on 2008 first round pick Gerrit Cole, the one that got away.
Fun With Shutdowns and Meltdowns
Based on a conversation which originated at Beyond the Boxscore and continued over at The Book blog, FanGraphs created two new stats for relief pitchers based on WPA. Fortunately there are no intimidating acronyms. The positive one is "Shutdowns (SD)" and the negative one is "Meltdowns (MD)". I think everyone can understand that.
The Yankees are tied for the fewest meltdowns in the MLB with 8 but they've also had the second fewest appearances by relievers this year primarily due to the length their starting pitchers have provided for them. Yankee starters are averaging 6 1/3 IP per start and on nights when Javy Vazquez isn't pitching that number jumps over 6 2/3.
Looking at it another way, the Yankees' ratio of meltdowns to shutdowns is better than 1:2, which is good for 7th best in the league. Without getting my hands too dirty, that seems like a pretty good way to rank the performance of team's bullpens so far this season. When sorted by meltdowns/shutdowns, the teams fall out into three distinct tiers.
Tier 1: These teams all have a better than 2:1 shutdown to meltdown ratio. Most of them have an ERA better than league average with the exception of the Tigers (13th), Nationals (18th) and Pirates (dead last).
(The columns next to ERA and MD/SD are the
team's league-wide ranks in those categories)
What's apparently right away is that there is a decent general correlation to ERA but some extreme outliers (likely due to the fact that it's still early in the season).
The Tigers have a bullpen ERA that is slightly higher than league average but still have the best MD/SD in the MLB. Detroit has converted 80% of their saves (tied for 4th best in the league) which is a good indication that they have been getting the job done when it matters but giving up a lot of runs in low leverage situations. The Nationals are in the same boat with a bad ERA (19th), high SV% (11/13) and a solid MD/SD (5th). The Pirates are an interesting case, as their ERA is clearly inflated by having eight losses by seven runs or more, including two games they lost to the Brewers by a combined 33 runs. Those big losses have essentially no effect on WPA after a certain point but are given equal weight in ERA.
Tier 2: All of these teams have between a 1:2 and 3:4 MD/SD ratio.
The Reds have the fourth most relief appearances in the league so it makes sense that they have the most shutdowns with 33 and are in the top 5 for meltdowns with 18. They might have a good ratio but their ERA is indicative of the fact that their 'pen is over-taxed. Paging Aroldis Chapman. The Red Sox are in a similar situation with fewer shutdowns but a lower ERA. The Mariners are the only team in this cluster with an ERA in the top 1/3 of the league.
Tier 3: The final tier consists of teams who have more than 3 meltdowns for every four shutdowns. Four of them - the Cubs, Dodgers, Giants and Royals - have more MDs than SDs.
Incredibly, the Giants, who are leading the league in bullpen ERA, have only 10 shutdowns (last in the MLB) and are second to last in terms of their MD/SD ratio.
Clearly, over the course of the season, teams like the Giants and Tigers are going to see their ERA and MD/SD ranks converge on each other. The Giants will get some good performances from their relievers when it matters and the Tigers will see their guys give up some runs when it counts too.
Neither ERA nor MDs and SDs are perfect ways of measuring reliever's contributions but each brings their own unique perspective. And when combined with or contrasted against each other they have a way of teasing out information that we might not have known before. It should be interesting to keep on eye on these stats as the season goes forward and FanGraphs includes them on the player pages.
Friday Grab Bag
Look what some fackin' jokah sent to Derek Jeter. Bubble wrap. Because other Yankees have been getting injured. Ha, ha. Now if you'll excuse me, I have something to mail to David Ortiz.
The Yankees are likely skipping Andy Pettitte next time through the rotation just to make sure he has enough time to heal up, but it appears a DL stint won't be necessary. As Joe from RAB says, now Vazquez's recovery just got a little more important.
Mike at RAB has a look at David Robertson that differs a bit from Matt's this morning. It isn't just bad luck; he's missing his spots pretty badly too.You know how it seems like Brett Gardner hardly swings at anything? We'll that's because he hardly does. The other side of the coin: he hits pretty much everything in the zone that he does offer at.Someone is saying Robinson Cano isn't clutch. FETCH THE TAR AND FEATHERS!Eno Sarris from Bloomberg Sports looks at just how lucky Phil Hughes has been this year.The 2010 Yankee-Red Sox beat writer series kicks off today.
Rob Neyer takes a stab at defining all the eras in both Yankee and Red Sox history. Jason at IIATMS calls Neyer out for passing Donnie Baseball over. I can understand where Jason is coming from; every Yankee fan will remember those years as the Mattingly era. But I think Rob was trying to do Mattingly a favor by not slapping his name on the failures of those years. Bonus points to Jason for pointing out that Dave Winfield's decade as a Yankee is woefully under-appreciated by Yankee fans.
Also from Neyer, readers at ESPNNewYork and ESPNBoston voted on the all-time teams for both franchises. Rob Neyer Baseball then ran one thousand simulations of a best of seven series between the two squads, and chose one as being representative of the final results with the appropriate drama. You can start with Game One here, and follow on from there.I can't wait to see Dustin Pedroia's laser show tonight. It would be even better if he wore one of these.And they say baseball players are immature...Here's a long lost profile of David Foster Wallace that ran in details magazine back in 1996 but hand't made it to the internet until now.I wonder how that former flame-throwing, reptile-smuggling prospect did in his much-anticipated return to the mound last night.Bill Baer of Crashburn Alley tries to diffuse some of the city-on-city hatred that characterizes rooting for sports teams. It's worth noting that he's from Philly and has a reason to.Jonah Keri talks to Will Leitch about the Rays' hot start.Does Steinbrenner really mean "stone burner"? That's what Pinto says.AWW WTF, LT? In light of the most recent charges levied against Lawrence Taylor, former Giants reporter Ernie Palladino revisits the infamous incident that resulted in LT telling him, "you're the only guy I know who's crazier than me".
And now for some rather random videos:
This has been making the rounds but it's too unintentionally hilarious not to post here. From Rich Lederer at Baseball Analysts, this is what you get when the people that made Dazed & Confused set their sights on Wiffleball.
Via the esteemed Tommy Bennett, times are apparently pretty tough in Cleveland right now:
Via Neatorama, here is the best video of a former boxer enjoying a spot of tea you will see all day. And also, Tyson doesn't like Canolis? What. The. Fuck?
Via Bad Left Hook, today is the 5th anniversary of Corrales vs. Castillo and the most electrifying round of boxing ever captured on camera. RIP Chico.
If It Wasn't For Bad Luck, D-Rob Wouldn't Have No Luck At All
Good morning Fackers. Entering play yesterday, the Yankees pitching was second in the AL at 3.56 R/G and third in ERA at 3.45. All that despite the well-documented problems with Javy Vazquez as well as some spotty relief work, particularly from David Robertson. In fact, as my friend and frequent commenter Gripp pointed out to me, Vazquez and DRob have combined to allow 38.9% of the Yankees earned runs while pitching just 12.5% of the innings.
There are any number of theories about Vazquez' troubles. Aside from speculation about his head and his guts, he's having noticeable mechanical issues. The numbers also suggest Vazquez has been a bit unlucky. Both his FIP (7.94) and xFIP (5.56) are ugly, but not nearly as ugly as his 9.78 ERA.
But Javy's bad luck has nothing on David Robertson. The New York Times' Bats Blog touched on it last week, and it's only gotten worse since then. Robertson has been knocked around in each of his last three appearances, allowing eight baserunners, two home runs, and six runs over just 1.2 IP. Opponents are hitting .545/.615/1.182 against him over that stretch. But it's not as bad as recent events would suggest.
On the season, Robertson sports a comical 14.21 ERA and 2.37 WHIP. His FIP is a still ugly 8.13, but his xFIP is a respectable 3.91. His peripherals are good. He's striking out 11.37 per 9, just a tick off from the 12.04 mark he posted through his first two seasons. He's walking 2.84 per 9, a major improvement on the 4.62 rate he had entering the year. His LD% is a career low 13.0%. So why have things gone so bad for DRob?
First, his HR/FB rate is currently at an unbelievable 33.3%, as three of the nine flyballs he's allowed have gone over the fence. When he's kept the ball in the yard he hasn't had much better luck, as his BABIP sits at a lofty .504. His strand rate is an absurdly low 50.9%. A third of his flyballs are leaving the park. Half of his balls in play are turning into hits. Half of the runners he allows to reach base come around to score. That's a recipe for disaster, and a disaster it has been. It's also a recipe for a big time regression to the mean, and with any luck that'll be coming very soon.
Compounding the problems for Robertson has been his sparing and sporadic use. Of his nine appearances this year, seven have lasted less than an inning, including his last four in a row. Three of them have been six pitches or fewer. Four of his appearances have come on three days rest. One came on a full week's rest. He hasn't been pitching often, and when he has, he hasn't stuck around for long. He's thrown just 2.1 innings in the last three weeks. Part of that is a function of his own ineffectiveness thus far, but much of it is due to the strong performance of the Yankee starters coupled with Joe Girardi's hair trigger tendencies with his middle relievers.
The good news is that Robertson's poor numbers have accumulated over just 6.1 IP. It's an extremely small sample size. His HR/FB rate, BABIP, and strand rate are beyond unsustainable. As they correct themselves and as Robertson accumulates more IP, the results will straighten themselves out. Further, his K rate remains amongst the best in baseball and he's made improvements in his walk rate and LD%. Of course these metrics are also subject to small sample size caveats, but whereas the bad numbers are so bad that they can't possibly last over time, the good numbers aren't so good as to be unbelievable.
Depending upon what the Yankees choose to do with the Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte injuries, the team could find themselves in need of a roster spot in the coming days. Robertson is one of the few players who both has options and isn't too indispensable to consider sending down. That, combined with Robertson's poor performance thus far, could land Robertson on a bus to Scranton. While he would certainly benefit from regular use and perhaps from the confidence that would come with getting back on track, I don't think there's anything wrong with David Robertson that can't be worked out on the Major League level. I wish Joe Girardi would stop using him as a sporadic ROOGY; his results are overdue for a nice turnaround.
There are any number of theories about Vazquez' troubles. Aside from speculation about his head and his guts, he's having noticeable mechanical issues. The numbers also suggest Vazquez has been a bit unlucky. Both his FIP (7.94) and xFIP (5.56) are ugly, but not nearly as ugly as his 9.78 ERA.
But Javy's bad luck has nothing on David Robertson. The New York Times' Bats Blog touched on it last week, and it's only gotten worse since then. Robertson has been knocked around in each of his last three appearances, allowing eight baserunners, two home runs, and six runs over just 1.2 IP. Opponents are hitting .545/.615/1.182 against him over that stretch. But it's not as bad as recent events would suggest.On the season, Robertson sports a comical 14.21 ERA and 2.37 WHIP. His FIP is a still ugly 8.13, but his xFIP is a respectable 3.91. His peripherals are good. He's striking out 11.37 per 9, just a tick off from the 12.04 mark he posted through his first two seasons. He's walking 2.84 per 9, a major improvement on the 4.62 rate he had entering the year. His LD% is a career low 13.0%. So why have things gone so bad for DRob?
First, his HR/FB rate is currently at an unbelievable 33.3%, as three of the nine flyballs he's allowed have gone over the fence. When he's kept the ball in the yard he hasn't had much better luck, as his BABIP sits at a lofty .504. His strand rate is an absurdly low 50.9%. A third of his flyballs are leaving the park. Half of his balls in play are turning into hits. Half of the runners he allows to reach base come around to score. That's a recipe for disaster, and a disaster it has been. It's also a recipe for a big time regression to the mean, and with any luck that'll be coming very soon.
Compounding the problems for Robertson has been his sparing and sporadic use. Of his nine appearances this year, seven have lasted less than an inning, including his last four in a row. Three of them have been six pitches or fewer. Four of his appearances have come on three days rest. One came on a full week's rest. He hasn't been pitching often, and when he has, he hasn't stuck around for long. He's thrown just 2.1 innings in the last three weeks. Part of that is a function of his own ineffectiveness thus far, but much of it is due to the strong performance of the Yankee starters coupled with Joe Girardi's hair trigger tendencies with his middle relievers.
The good news is that Robertson's poor numbers have accumulated over just 6.1 IP. It's an extremely small sample size. His HR/FB rate, BABIP, and strand rate are beyond unsustainable. As they correct themselves and as Robertson accumulates more IP, the results will straighten themselves out. Further, his K rate remains amongst the best in baseball and he's made improvements in his walk rate and LD%. Of course these metrics are also subject to small sample size caveats, but whereas the bad numbers are so bad that they can't possibly last over time, the good numbers aren't so good as to be unbelievable.
Depending upon what the Yankees choose to do with the Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte injuries, the team could find themselves in need of a roster spot in the coming days. Robertson is one of the few players who both has options and isn't too indispensable to consider sending down. That, combined with Robertson's poor performance thus far, could land Robertson on a bus to Scranton. While he would certainly benefit from regular use and perhaps from the confidence that would come with getting back on track, I don't think there's anything wrong with David Robertson that can't be worked out on the Major League level. I wish Joe Girardi would stop using him as a sporadic ROOGY; his results are overdue for a nice turnaround.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Baseball Loses Another HoFer
Less than forty eight hours after the passing of Ernie Harwell, baseball has lost another Hall of Famer, as former Phillies ace Robin Roberts died this morning at 83.At just 23 years old, Roberts was already in his third Big League season when he had a breakout year for the 1950 Phillies. The Whiz Kids emerged atop a tight N.L. Pennant race, thanks in no small part to Roberts starting three times in the season's final five days (h/t BLS). Roberts started and won the clincher against the Dodgers on the season's final day, going the full 10 innings and allowing just one run.
The Phillies went on to be swept by the Yankees in the World Series, a meeting we recapped in two parts prior to last year's Fall Classic. Due to his heavy workload down the stretch, Roberts was unavailable to start the opener, but came back to start Game Two, yet another start on short rest. In a forgotten pitcher's duel, both Roberts and the Yankees' Allie Reynolds held their opponents to a single run through nine. Roberts finally buckled in the tenth, allowing a solo shot to Joe DiMaggio. Two days later, Roberts returned with an inning of scoreless relief, but it was too late, as the Yankees swept the series.
That 1950 season served as a springboard for Roberts, who remained one of the NL's top starters for the remainder of decade. He led the NL in wins every year from 1952 through '55, starts from '50 through '55, complete games from '52 through '56, innings pitched from '51 through '55, and strikeouts in '53 and '54. He was an All-Star from 1950 through '56, and in the days before the Cy Young Award, finished in the top seven in MVP voting five times.
Roberts began to decline in the late fifties, and after a dreadful 1961 season, the Phillies sold him to the Yankees. Roberts pitched well for the Yankees in Spring Training, but the team elected to go with the rookie Jim Bouton rather than the 35 year old Roberts. He never appeared in a game for the Yanks and was granted his release in May. He immediately latched on with the Orioles, and enjoyed a bit of a career renaissance, lasting five more seasons with the O's, Astros, and Cubs. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1976.The Phillies retired Roberts' number 36 during a Spring Training game in 1962, while Roberts was with the Yankees. It was the first number retired by the Phillies and the first time in history an active player's number was retired by his former team. The Phillies will remember Roberts for the remainder of this season with a commemorative patch on their jersey and by hanging his uniform in the dugout during games.
The Obligatory Andy Pettitte & Injuries Post
Entering his start against the White Sox last Friday, Andy Pettitte was cruising through the early goings of the 2010 season. He took the mound that night at 3-0 through four starts, with a 1.29 ERA. He had allowed just 31 baserunners through 28 IP, hadn't surrendered a home run, and was holding opposing batters to anemic .216/.287/.258 line.
Clearly Pettitte was due to come back to earth a bit, and that he did. The White Sox touched him up for four runs in the first two frames. He settled down from there, shutting the Pale Hose down the rest of the way and exiting with the score tied after six innings. It was his first non-quality start of the season.
Pettitte made his next start yesterday, and while he held the O's to a lone run, he pitched in and out of trouble all afternoon. He allowed eight baserunners through five, and was the beneficiary of a pair of inning ending double plays. His outing was done after just 77 pitches.
While I certainly won't complain about Pettitte's result in either game, both Yankee wins, but the two starts share a common bond beyond not measuring up to the standards of Pettitte's first four starts. In warming up for last Friday's outing, Pettitte felt stiffness in his forearm. Clearly, it wasn't enough for him to miss the start, and the Yankees responded by lightening his workload between Friday and yesterday. He had pain again during his warm up yesterday, this time more in the elbow and triceps area than in the forearm.
Pettite underwent an MRI following his exit. The results are encouraging for the most part, showing no structural damage, just inflammation in the elbow. As precautionary measure, Pettitte will likely miss his next scheduled start; Brian Cashman implied as much before the test results were even known. At this stage in the season, there's no reason to push it. Pettitte is going to be needed in September and October (and hopefully November too); may as well give him the rest and rehab he needs now.
The next scheduled start for Pettitte is Tuesday in Detroit. Relievers Alfredo Aceves and Sergio Mitre are candidates for spot duty. Scranton starters Ivan Nova and Romulo Sanchez are on the 40 man roster, though the Christian Garcia injury could conceivably open a spot for other starters Zach McAllister, Jason Hirsch, or Dustin Moseley. Currently, McAllister, Moseley, and Sanchez are lined up Monday through Wednesday.
Most likely though, the start will go to Mitre, and I think it should. As the long man in a seven man bullpen, Mitre hasn't been getting much work, particularly with how well the Yankee starters have been. Alf, coincidentally or not, suffered from arm issues and ineffectiveness after his spot start in Minnesota last July, and right now he's too important a piece in the bullpen to take him out of play for the upcoming Boston series.
Of course Pettitte's elbow issue is the latest in a string of bumps and bruises for the Yankees over the past week: Jorge Posada's knee and now his calf, Curtis Granderson's groin, potentially Alex Rodriguez' knee, Mariano Rivera's side, etc. There are rumblings throughout the media and blogosphere about the Yankees collective age, or even more tenuously, the SI Jinx.
As for me, I'm far from panicking at this point. Aside from Granderson's groin pull, none of these appear to be major issues, and since Granderson is the only one of the bunch on the right side of thirty, there's likely to be less concern about him moving forward. As for the others, these are the occupational hazards of professional athletes in their mid-thirties. None of this should be surprising or alarming. Yes, the Yankees have been extremely lucky that all these key contributors have remained relatively healthy through the years. But as unlikely as it is for all of these veteran players to avoid major injury year after year, it's equally unlikely that all will simultaneously suffer major setbacks.
And for that matter, all of these guys have dealt with injuries at one point or another, most within recent years. Posada missed nearly all of 2008 and spent a month on the DL last year. A-Rod spent time on the DL in 2008 and missed the first six weeks of last season. Mo seems to need to shutdown for a series here or there at least once a year; don't you remember his "cranky shoulder" early last September? Pettitte has dealt with elbow issues since early in his career, so yesterday's events aren't necessarily the product of his advanced age. None of this is anything new.
With an older roster like that of the Yankees, injuries are always going to be a looming concern. But there's nothing that has happened in the past several days that should ratchet up the level of concern all that much. If anything, perhaps we should be relieved that everything appears to be a minor issue. Of course, with the team currently sitting at 19-8 with the second best record and run differential in baseball, the tabloids need something to create alarm.
(Photo from Getty Images)
Clearly Pettitte was due to come back to earth a bit, and that he did. The White Sox touched him up for four runs in the first two frames. He settled down from there, shutting the Pale Hose down the rest of the way and exiting with the score tied after six innings. It was his first non-quality start of the season.
Pettitte made his next start yesterday, and while he held the O's to a lone run, he pitched in and out of trouble all afternoon. He allowed eight baserunners through five, and was the beneficiary of a pair of inning ending double plays. His outing was done after just 77 pitches.
While I certainly won't complain about Pettitte's result in either game, both Yankee wins, but the two starts share a common bond beyond not measuring up to the standards of Pettitte's first four starts. In warming up for last Friday's outing, Pettitte felt stiffness in his forearm. Clearly, it wasn't enough for him to miss the start, and the Yankees responded by lightening his workload between Friday and yesterday. He had pain again during his warm up yesterday, this time more in the elbow and triceps area than in the forearm.
Pettite underwent an MRI following his exit. The results are encouraging for the most part, showing no structural damage, just inflammation in the elbow. As precautionary measure, Pettitte will likely miss his next scheduled start; Brian Cashman implied as much before the test results were even known. At this stage in the season, there's no reason to push it. Pettitte is going to be needed in September and October (and hopefully November too); may as well give him the rest and rehab he needs now.The next scheduled start for Pettitte is Tuesday in Detroit. Relievers Alfredo Aceves and Sergio Mitre are candidates for spot duty. Scranton starters Ivan Nova and Romulo Sanchez are on the 40 man roster, though the Christian Garcia injury could conceivably open a spot for other starters Zach McAllister, Jason Hirsch, or Dustin Moseley. Currently, McAllister, Moseley, and Sanchez are lined up Monday through Wednesday.
Most likely though, the start will go to Mitre, and I think it should. As the long man in a seven man bullpen, Mitre hasn't been getting much work, particularly with how well the Yankee starters have been. Alf, coincidentally or not, suffered from arm issues and ineffectiveness after his spot start in Minnesota last July, and right now he's too important a piece in the bullpen to take him out of play for the upcoming Boston series.
Of course Pettitte's elbow issue is the latest in a string of bumps and bruises for the Yankees over the past week: Jorge Posada's knee and now his calf, Curtis Granderson's groin, potentially Alex Rodriguez' knee, Mariano Rivera's side, etc. There are rumblings throughout the media and blogosphere about the Yankees collective age, or even more tenuously, the SI Jinx.
As for me, I'm far from panicking at this point. Aside from Granderson's groin pull, none of these appear to be major issues, and since Granderson is the only one of the bunch on the right side of thirty, there's likely to be less concern about him moving forward. As for the others, these are the occupational hazards of professional athletes in their mid-thirties. None of this should be surprising or alarming. Yes, the Yankees have been extremely lucky that all these key contributors have remained relatively healthy through the years. But as unlikely as it is for all of these veteran players to avoid major injury year after year, it's equally unlikely that all will simultaneously suffer major setbacks.
And for that matter, all of these guys have dealt with injuries at one point or another, most within recent years. Posada missed nearly all of 2008 and spent a month on the DL last year. A-Rod spent time on the DL in 2008 and missed the first six weeks of last season. Mo seems to need to shutdown for a series here or there at least once a year; don't you remember his "cranky shoulder" early last September? Pettitte has dealt with elbow issues since early in his career, so yesterday's events aren't necessarily the product of his advanced age. None of this is anything new.
With an older roster like that of the Yankees, injuries are always going to be a looming concern. But there's nothing that has happened in the past several days that should ratchet up the level of concern all that much. If anything, perhaps we should be relieved that everything appears to be a minor issue. Of course, with the team currently sitting at 19-8 with the second best record and run differential in baseball, the tabloids need something to create alarm.
(Photo from Getty Images)
Thursday Morning Linkarooski
Joe Girardi would have split the last 4 links up into their own posts.R.J. Anderson at FanGraphs examines Robinson Cano's season to date and finds that the only part of it that's definitely not sustainable is his home run rate.Moshe from TYU directs us towards a glowing profile of pitching prospect Jose Ramirez written by a fan who goes to a lot of Charleston River Dogs games. The post includes video and some detailed scouting and is certainly worth scoping out.On Tuesday, Rob Neyer looked at the first month of results from trade that brought Curtis Granderson to the Yankees. With Granderson on the DL, it's obviously not looking very good on our end, but neither Austin Jackson nor Ian Kennedy would be on the Major League roster right now and Phil Coke would probably be the 10th man in the bullpen. The players that the Yankees gave up didn't have the potential to be as valuable to them so far this year as Granderson did. Maybe this goes down as a bad trade eventually (especially if Austin Jackson has magically learned how not to strikeout), but there's pretty much no chance it ends up looking as bad as it does right now.Speaking of Martha Stewart's favorite Yankee, Curtis Granderson wrote a tribute to Ernie Harwell over at Big Leage Stew.Also at BLS, author Jason Turnbow lists 10 unwritten rules of baseball that you may or may not have heard of. Most are pretty intuitive but I didn't know you weren't supposed to swing at the first pitch after back-to-back home runs.
"Maybe we already are seeing the beginning of The Core Four morphing into The Sore Quad." ~ Guess WhoIn the NYT, Karen Crouse wrote about the connection between Mark Teixeira and PGA Tour pro Ben Crane.Cliff from Bronx Banter nails what makes Francisco Cervelli so much fun to watch.Over at The Hardball Times, Josh Levitt thinks that the likelihood of the Yankees signing Carl Crawford has gone down since the beginning of the season, mostly because of Brett Gardner.Dallas Braden is still chirping about the incident with A-Rod, talking about how they do it "in the 209", waxing all philosophical about "respect for the game", intimating that he's going to throw at him and that they will probably fight before this is all over. Dude, your 15 minutes is up. You had it rough on the mean streets of Stockton, we get it, but you're the only one who is still upset about this. So if you need A-Rod to beat some sense into you before you let it go, that's your problem.Also from the farm system, Greg Fertel offers up some sabermetric-style Yankees MiLB leaderboards.Via Pinto, the story of a player who was selected twice in the 1970 draft (one of those times by the Yankees).You know what the Yanks need? A washed up, left handed corpse who can't hit or play the field and every fan of the team despises. If they didn't want to sign Barry Bonds when he was looking for a job and probably still productive, something tells me that they aren't going to sign Big Sloppy after the Red Sox decide that he's not even worth a roster spot despite being owed the remainder of his $12.5M salary.Even though it involves the Red Sox, I enjoyed this story from WoW.Via Jason, Jesse-Douglas Mathewson takes a methodical look at the length of games and finds some interesting correlations including, curiously, attendance (although that might be swayed by Yankees-Sox games). That post is part three of a four installment series, so here are one, two and four.Meech from the Fightins' discovers the real problem with the Phillies bullpen. Let's just say that a high walk rate isn't the only thing they have in common with Al Leiter.Rinku and Dinesh got their new "cards of baseball" from Upper Deck (and are looking forward to seeing Ironman 2).You know you're old when you are leaning on the halcyon days of 100 years ago to make a point about what's wrong with baseball today. Players used to make about 50 times less back then they do now, even after adjusting for inflation. The game done changed.Here's a short interview with Larry from Wezen-Ball from USA Today's website that went along with his appearance in the actual paper.I'm with Tango, I think WPA is just fine the way it is.A Yankees-Mariners game will be broadcast in 3D this July. That would be great if anyone actually had a 3D TV.The Angels have the fourth worst run differential in the league, notes Dave Cameron, and while they aren't truly that bad, it doesn't bode well for the rest of their season.Hey look, Milton Bradley has already gone off the wagon. The "Kanye West of baseball" bought him a spaceship and flew away from the ballpark after striking out with the bases loaded on Tuesday night.The assumption that Tiger Woods makes his competition play worse? It's actually true.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Game 27 Recap (With Update On Pettitte)
1. After taking a strike from David Hernandez in the first inning, Nick Johnson lifted a fastball that was down and in up into the second deck in right field to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. 2. In the second inning, Nick Swisher worked the count to 2-0, then 3-1 and yanked a heater on the outer half of the plate deep into the gap between the bleachers and lower level of seats closer to the foul pole. 2-0 Yanks.
3. The Yankees loaded the bases in the third inning via a single by Derek Jeter and walks by Johnson and Mark Teixeira. A-Rod lined a single up the middle, scoring Jeter but Johnson was called out trying to score at home plate. The strong throw from Luis Montanez beat him but Orioles catcher Craig Tatum appeared to miss the sliding Johnson with a swipe tag. Since there were still no outs, it's pretty terrible for Johnson to get thrown out at home, but I would have been upset if they didn't send him given how long it took for the ball to get to Montanez. The takeaway: Nick Johnson is even slower than I thought.
Nonetheless, the Yanks went up 3-0 on A-Rod's single but got nothing more as Robinson Cano struck out swinging and Nick Swisher flied out to center.
4. Andy Pettitte packed the sacks with one out in the fourth inning on back-to-back singles by Nick Markakis and Miguel Tejada and a walk to Garrett Atkins. Andy struck out Matt Wieters on a high fastball but let the count go full on Nolan Reimold before walking in a run. Tatum grounded out to end the inning but the O's cut the Yanks' lead to 3-1.
5. David Hernandez walked Brett Gardner to begin the bottom of the fourth. Frankie Cervelli bunted past the pitcher's mound and instead of throwing to first, Miguel Tejada looked towards second but ultimately just held onto the ball. It was scored a hit but that was generous considering Tejada had plenty of time to get the out at first.
With runners of first and second still with no one out, Randy Winn bunted the runners over. Jeter then tapped a ball to short, scoring Gardner, but Cervelli got hung up between second and third. It may have been a blunder but it seemed as if Julio Lugo, when he first fielded the ball, was looking towards home and was distracted by Cervelli straying off the bag. At the least, it was a somewhat productive blunder.
Nick Johnson followed with his second walk of the game and Mark Teixeira lofted a double to deep right center just past the try of an oncoming Montanez, scoring Jeter and Johnson. The O's intentionally walked A-Rod to get to Robinson Cano, who struck out to end the inning. 6-1 Yanks.
6. Andy Pettitte left the game after 5 innings (more on that below) and Sergio Mitre took the mound. Mitre pitched scoreless sixth and seventh innings and got one out in the eighth before surrendering a single to Julio Lugo. Ty Wigginton made him pay with an absolute blast into the mezzanine level in right field, making it 6-3 Yanks.
That was the last batter Mitre faced as Joe Girardi called on Damaso Marte and David Robertson to finish out the inning.
7. The Yanks plated a run with two outs in the 8th inning to make it 7-3. Randy Winn knocked a single, stole second and was driven in when Nick Johnson "singled" to second. Wigginton pretty clearly booted the ball but for whatever reason it was ruled a hit.
8. Matt Wieters homered off of David Robertson with one out in the top of the 9th. It was a fastball over the middle and Wieters - like Johnson and Wigginton also did today - mashed it into the mezz. The next batter, Nolan Reimold, worked the count full and took DRob deep, high off the left field foul pole. 7-5 Yankees.
Boone Logan came on to try to get the final two outs and promptly walked Rhyne Hughes. Logan then got Montanez to fly out to shallow center but after getting ahead 0-2 on Julio Lugo, lost him to a base on balls.
And on Cinco De Mayo, Mexico's favorite son, Alfredo Aceves, came into close the game. Ace got Wigginton to fly out to deep right and that was that.
IFs, ANDs & BUTs
- Andy Pettitte had thrown just 77 pitches when he was pulled in the 5th inning. He wasn't especially sharp during that time, allowing 6 hits and two walks, but had limited the damage, only allowing one run and keeping his pitch count relatively low.
- When Pettitte loaded the bases in the fourth inning and it was just the first time he's done that all season.
- Pettitte felt some stiffness in his elbow during warm ups - something that dates back to his start against the White Sox although back then it was the top of his forearm and now it's in the back of his elbow, according to Joe Girardi. Andy took it easy during his bullpen session between the two starts but felt it it pop up during warm ups today. He felt fine during the first four innings but after the fifth, Girardi coaxed out the fact that he was a little stiff. Pettitte's going for an MRI (update: the results are in - just some mild inflammation) but based on what Girardi said during the press conference, it sounded like they removed him for precautionary reasons and hopefully it's not too serious.
- Posada, Mo and now Pettitte? SI COVER JINX!!!1!11! Encase Jeter in glass immediately!
- Yankee pitchers induced three inning-ending double plays, two by Pettitte in the second and fifth and one by Sergio Mitre in the seventh.
- When he took the field today, Derek Jeter tied Lou Gehrig for second place on the Yankees' all-time games played list.
- Nick Johnson had an excellent day at the plate, reaching base five times in five plate appearances with two walks, a single, a double and a home run. He drove in one run (they took the one in the 8th away) and scored two (can't take those away).
- Johnson was the only Yankee with more than two hits and Cano was the only batter who didn't get one.
- Mark Teixeira had a couple of hits and a walk. Amazing what turning the calendar to May has done for him.
- The picture of Johnson they show on the scoreboard now includes a ridiculously cheesy photoshopped mustache, an homage to his real one.
- There were
fourthree very generously scored hits today. Cervelli's bunt, Teixeira's double, Johnson's grounder in the 8thand Teix's nubber to first after that(Teix's play was changed to an error). - There was an odd play in the sixth. Garrett Atkins dribbled a ball down the third baseline that looked like it was going to go foul. It bounced along the foul line, hopped over the bag and hit the line one more time before A-Rod snatched it up and threw to first to get Atkins, who wasn't hustling. YES cameras showed Dave Trembley and he was not pleased. With Rhyne Hughes nipping at his heels and Atkins struggling, that could be turning point as far as his playing time is concerned.
- After using two pitchers to get through the first 7 1/3 innings, Girardi started matching up and ran through 4 in his quest to get the last five outs. The only two pitchers left in the 'pen were Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera, both of whom Girardi said were unavailable before the game. Luckily Aceves shut it down, but things got have gotten ugly real quick if the O's tied the game. That's Joe Girardi bullpen management for you, folks.
The win tonight completes a sweep over the O's and gives the Yanks their 8th series win out of 9. They have tomorrow night off and are heading up to Fenway to face the Sox on Friday.
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