Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Really, the Yankees Don't Have It So Bad

Despite a six-game win streak (yes, really), some are still complaining about the Yankees.

So I thought, in the perpetual spirit of optimism (and Schadenfreude), I'd go through and list some of the other teams I've been following, and their issues, because after you do that you realize that the Yankees' not-yet-solid 8th inning and inability-to-hit-pitchers-they-don't-see are not really the biggest problems they could have.

The teams that I've picked are purposefully not bad teams--in fact some have a reasonable chance to win their division--but if they are going to October, they've got a bit of a bigger hill to climb.


Boston Red Sox: Just had the bullpen blow a 10-1 lead to the Baltimore Orioles last night. That says a lot about the bullpen, especially that the law of averages may be beginning to creep back up....Dustin Pedroia has weaker stats than Brett Gardner (no, really!) Mike Lowell just went on the DL, and Kevin Youkilis got hit hard with a pitch in the 9th last night. They still have a lot of pitching depth--Buchholz is still in the minors--and David Ortiz has begun to emerge from a black hole, so I don't think anyone in Sox nation is really all that worried...but they do have some issues.

Toronto Blue Jays: The team that started off by feasting on the weak AL Central now has a bear of a schedule, with still more than 40 games to go against the Rays, Sox and Yanks. The one time the Yanks played them, they took two of three, losing only Roy Halladay's start. As always, the rest of the starting rotation has been patched together with glue, and that awful Vernon Wells contract looks worse by the hour.


New York Mets: David Wright has less HR right now than David Ortiz, even with Ortiz's slow start. They've lost five straight and are fielding a line up that is usually only seen in Spring Training. Jerry Manuel is practically begging for Omar Minaya to get a hitter, or, well, anything, but Minaya has done nothing, yet. Ending this here would be merciful.


Philadelphia Phillies: This team is all sorts of awesome on the road, but for whatever reason can't win at home. They should have pulled away from the NL East as the Mets crashed, but they went and lost 11 of 13 instead and are pretty much only still in first because their division is that bad. If the good pitching Braves can start hitting, the Phillies will really have to watch their backs.


St. Louis Cardinals: @Matthewhleach is one of the writers I follow on Twitter. At the end of every night, he remarks that the Cardinals are on pace for __ wins. I've watch that number go from 90 down to 84. Watching Albert Pujols hit is pure joy, but there is utterly no one to protect him in the line up, so as the division races heat up, he should see less and less pitches to hit. The Cardinals overpaid for Mark DeRosa, sending Cleveland their version of Mark Melancon, and now, just three games later, DeRosa is hurt.




So there you have it. Things aren't perfect in Yankeeland, but compared to some of our other baseball compadres, they are quite rosy.