Leverage, baby, Leverage

When Mariano Rivera began to warm in the seventh inning last night, there were a variety of reactions. Some liked the move, some did not, and I admit that, at first, I was a little worried--what if something happened, Rivera pitched two innings, the Yankees lost the game and then Rivera wasn't able to pitch a Game Seven?

Fortunately, I soon came to my senses, and remembered that I do believe in the concept of use-the-best-reliever-in-highest-leverage, as this is exactly what Girardi did last night.

In the top of the eighth inning, in a game that was still a two-run score, Girardi went with his best reliever to get the top--and then the meat--of the Angels' batting order: Figgins-Abreu-Hunter-Guerrerro-Morales.

Just as recently as Game 5, Phil Hughes struggled against that same part of the lineup, unable to get the one out he needed, and as big a Robertson fan as I am--and I'm a big one--when you have the option to go to Rivera, you take it.

Now, according to Fangraphs, the fourth inning in which the Yankees scored their first three runs was the highest-leveraged situation of the game, but at that time the starter was still pitching, and, well, ideally you don't remove a starter in the fourth inning.

Still, as the graph indicates, the leverage situation in the eighth inning was still much higher than that in the ninth.

The Yankees, last night, employed Mariano Rivera in the most effective way that they could. How is the mood repaying them?

The team's off to their fortieth World Series.


****

Stay tuned for more World Series/Turnpike Series goodies. I've got somehwere to be this afternoon, but plan on a Live Chat Tuesday evening, round 7.30. I will post a reminder tomorrow.

Anything is Possible

(photo credit: Nick Laham/Getty Images)


I had forgotten what it felt like.

Not the winning, but the euphoria.

This feeling, that nothing can touch us, that nothing can stop us, that for this moment, the baseball gods have smiled.

The Yankees, though, the Yankees were there to make sure I remembered.

***

No one said that beating the Angels would be easy, and it wasn't.

Six games, six games in which every emotion as a fan was tested: there was anxiety, nervousness, pleasure, pain, face-palming and, at long last, euphoria.

To be the champions of your league, you have to beat the best along the way.

The Angels were the only team in the league that played the Yankees well consistently all season, and so it was fitting that the road to the World Series would have to go through Anaheim.

When it came down to it, it wasn't just that the Yankees had ALCS MVP CC Sabathia and the Angels didn't, or that the Yankees had Alex Rodriguez and the Angels didn't, it was that the Yankees never forgot how to play fundamental baseball.

Fundamental errors cost the Angels games two and six; even just costing them one of those games would have been too much.

****

It is only fitting that Andy Pettitte was on the mound tonight.

He was there in 1996, he should be there again this season, when comparisons to the late nineties Yankees have been so apparent.

It was fitting, and Pettitte was vintage.

He only pitched into the seventh inning, but he kept the Angels to just one run, and you get the feeling that once the Yankees scored, the Angels never really had much of a chance.

There was Pettitte, and then there was Joba, where we held our breath, and then there was Rivera.


****

I've gone back and forth on Rivera in the eighth, but ultimately it was the right decision. As a proponent of the leverage argument, tonight's use of Rivera is exactly what should have been done, with him facing Figgins, Abreu, Hunter, Guerrerro and Morales in the the eighth inning, in a two run game.

You knew Rivera would be on the mound for the final out, regardless of the score.

It just wouldn't be right without it.

****

The work isn't done.

Philadelphia's not just a good team, they're the defending World Champions and with good reason.

Yet, you get the feeling, if anyone can beat the Phillies, these Yankees can.

We have watched this team, all season, dazzle us, surprise us, enthrall us and, most of all, make us believe.

And so we do believe.

The quest for 27 remains, and it closer than ever.

This team is showing us that they are of the Substance, that they are Yankees.

The euphoria is back.

Anything is possible.

Finally, Some Baseball on tap

For some reason, off days during the post season feel longer and more drawn out than those in the actual off-season.

Aside from the off-days which provide for cross-country travel, the other off-days seem an absurdity, especially when one considers that baseball is a sport that is predicated on the ability to play every day.

Really, even with the delay caused by the WBC, there's no good reason we should not have at least already started the next round by now.

Ah, well, at long last the Yankees can try again for a trip to the World Series tonight.

It is only a game six, but I don't think there's a single fan out there that would suggest the mood is anything less than a game seven atmosphere. There are too many reasons to not go to a game seven that might actually make this game the biggest must-win game of the season.

Now, just in case you're worrying, that's no reason to get negative.

After all, the Yankees are back in New York, they have their most experienced postseason pitcher on the mound, a rested bullpen, and CC Sabathia in their back pocket.

This is 2009, not any other year that might be entering your memory.

The Yankees have every conceivable advantage tonight; it's up to them to make it matter.

At long last, we have baseball.

When you assume...

We assumed.

We assumed and we started to plan, as though all that was left was tying up some gift ribbons and signing the greeting card.

We forgot, in the process, that the Yankees still had to win the game.

They had to win the game, in Anaheim, against the best Angels pitcher. Even on paper it was no easy thing.

We assumed, and we were wrong.


You can attach blame wherever you'd like, though only assigning blame does not do much. As my father has told me, some are in love with assigning blame and others prefer to fix problems.

So, here we go:

Some will blame AJ Burnett, some Joe Girardi, and some Phil Hughes.

I am no baseball manager and I've never played in an organized baseball game, but this is what I would have done:

In the seventh inning, I let Burnett come out to start the inning. He's at 80 pitches and has more or less been doing all right since that let's-not-talk-about-it first inning.

Once Mathis reaches, that's when I replace Burnett, instead of giving him the chance to put the tying run on base.

The reliever I bring in is not Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlain, but David Robertson. I know, it doesn't make a lot of sense, but both Hughes and Chamberlain have been hit this postseason and Robertson has more or less worked some miracles.

At this rate, Robertson right now is the most valuable reliever not named Mariano Rivera.

This isn't to detract from what Hughes or Chamberlain have done this season--and without Hughes, especially, the Yankees aren't even playing tonight--but both have had issues this postseason.


If I leave AJ in to face the first two batters and they both reach, I consider bringing in Mariano Rivera. It's undoubtedly the highest leverage situation at that point, but my issue arises if the Yankees don't add any more insurance runs and the game goes to the ninth still a two run game and your team on the road.

***

Unlike most of you, I suspect, I'm not all that bothered by Girardi's decision to pinch run for Alex Rodriguez in the ninth.

With two outs, and down by one, you do anything you can to tie the score, and while Rodriguez isn't a Molina, Guzman is much more likely to score from first. Again, your team is down two outs, so you don't have any more outs with which to work.

Nick Swisher, of course, killed us all with the 3-2 pop up. I don't know if he was swinging at ball four or not, but the Yankees lost the game in the seventh, after coming so close to winning.

***

So we go back to New York.

The forecast on Saturday calls for rain and thunder.

After everything that's happened this season, the possibility of being able to clinch at home, in the rain--possibly even, well, you know how--has a certain romanticism to it.

October baseball lives on.

Make the Turnpike Dream a Reality

Okay, not that "turnpike" and "dream" should ever really be used in the same sentence, but here we go.

End the ALCS tonight.

Don't let it linger, don't let it go back to New York.

There will be at least two more games at Yankee Stadium this season, but I don't want those two games to be played this round.

Close this out, and once and for all excise 2004. Excise it from our conscience, excise it from our memory. Get rid of it, and everything it symbolizes.

We want to remember what it is to feel that glory.

We want to vicariously join you in that dog pile, to know euphoria.

We've been waiting since Tuesday, since April, since, well, you know.

We don't want to wait any longer.

Jersey beckons.

I hate off days

I hate off days.

I hate them in the winter when all is cold and gray, and I hate them in the summer when they mean I can't just plop down on the sofa and watch some baseball while eating my dinner.

I hate them, most of all, in October.

I know why they're there, so the TV networks can get their audiences, and I know their hidden benefit: without them, the Yankees can't start Sabathia three times in a seven game series.

I still hate them.

I hate the way they drag on, delaying time when all you want is to play now, to finish it, to get to the next step, to be able to say what, out of sheer superstition, we will not yet say.

Perhaps this is wrong; perhaps I should love the off day.

The off days, after all, let the baseball season linger just that little bit longer, and make that off-season just a little bit shorter. When you live, breathe and die by baseball, anything that makes an off-season shorter should be welcome. Theoretically.

Really, though, who am I kidding?

I hate off days.

Triple the pleasure, triple the fun

[I will do a separate post detailing the umpiring or lack thereof in the morning. For the moment, let the Yankees' win in spite of the umpires speak for itself.]

For mere humans, starting a Major League baseball game on three days' rest is asking for disaster.

For one Carsten Charles Sabathia, starting on three days' rest is just another way to earn his paycheck.

We, lesser men and women, can only marvel as Sabathia is pictured in the dugout, yawning during the Yankees' at-bats.

This, of course, would be the best spot to mention how Scott Kazmir took forever between pitches, never looked quite comfortable and flirted with disaster the entire night. We'll get to the Yankee offense in a moment.

For now, Sabathia.

The Yankees' ace--and if he has not yet earned that moniker, he never will--was so good that he was still throwing mid nineties when his pitch count was roughly equal to that.

Sabathia was so good that his line is deceptive. He struck out five, but this has more to do with the fact that Sabathia was consistently getting outs early in the count--he walked just two through eight innings.

The last time the Yankees asked a starter to go on three days' rest in the postseason was Chien Ming Wang in 2007 and it didn't work out so well--the Yankees were eliminated that game.

That, in my mind, is all you need to know. In 2007, pre-foot-that-led-to-shoulder injury, Wang was a very good pitcher.

Sabathia, however, is an ace.

Aces do heroic things.

In the grand scheme of things, pitching a baseball game is hardly worthy of comment, but for us Yankee fans, tonight was heroism. Pure and simple.



Of course, if one starts talking heroes, one will have to bring Alex Rodriguez into the discussion.

Rodriguez hasn't just shattered the notion of postseason demons; he's gone way past obliterating them into ridiculous, other-worldly, and now...well, profound.

Rodriguez keeps asserting that nothing profound has happened, and that he's just in a good place, but, really, what he's done this October is, itself, profound.

There's no other way to describe it than that. Profound.


If the ALCS was over today, and you had a vote for the MVP, do you give it to Sabathia or Rodriguez, who has not only exceeded this round, but is perhaps the reason the Yankees made it this far in the first place?

It's a tough call.



While you're busy oggling Sabathia's and Rodriguez's performances (and oggle you should), don't forget the production the Yankees received tonight from one Melky Cabrera.

Cabrera had two RBI early that put the Yankees up 3-0, and then two more late, after the game had reached the 'pouring-it-on' stage.

Many have remarked that the Yankees' bottom of the order is not producing, but Cabrera is batting .353 in the postseason.

If we expect an all star, Cabrera will disappoint, but if we expect a number nine hitter who stands a reasonable shot of getting on base as anyone, we ought to be well satisfied.


There are rumors that Cabrera repeated a certain phrase that he uttered after hitting for the cycle, but these are thus far unsubstantiated and I do not have DVR.



The Yankees now have a 3-1 series lead and will have their chance to close it out on Thursday. They needed to take at least one game in Anaheim and they've done that; now they're out for Angel blood.

Mariano Rivera and the....Spitball of Doom?

SERIOUSLY?

I know thinks are whack in California, but SERIOUSLY?



The Greatest Closer of All Time, and not-quite-mortal, and you think the Panamanian is throwing a spitball?


Sheesh, dude, if you forgot, you won the game yesterday.

Yeah, I know, you won in spite of Rivera's 1st-and-3rd, no out heroics, but, dude...

I mean, this is Mariano freakin' Rivera. He could probably beat you throwing one handed. blind and throwing with his left hand. 'Scuse me, I should have been clear about that.

He don't need no spitball.



More later.

A Taste of Their Own as Angels Walk Off on Yanks

Generalizations never achieve much, but in this occasion, one generalization can explain a lot.

The Yankees lost game three of the 2009 ALCS because Joe Girardi managed a road game as if he were still home.

You can call it over-managing if you'd like--and indeed, it probably was--but managing the game the way Girardi does at home is not nearly as much of an issue as it is on the road, especially in extra innings.

1) At home, one run by your team in extras and the game is over. You don't have to worry about scoring, and then pitching again in the bottom of the inning as you do on the road.

2) On the road, one run from the other team and the game is over. Your offense doesn't get another shot.


So here's the breakdown.

1) The Yankees' biggest issue in this game--and, it's looking like their biggest issue this series--is a lack of hitting with runners on base. Every Yankee run today was via a solo home run, and while the Yankees have had decent enough pitching to win when they score four runs much of the time, much is not all. The Yankees had golden opportunities to add to their lead, and they did not. Andy Pettitte made one bad pitch, and well, boom. A 3-1 cushion is not a big cushion, at all.

2) I don't have an issue with leaving Pettitte in to face Guerrerro although I admit that, since I did not have a computer handy, I don't know what his pitch count was at the time. My issue is with the pitch Pettitte threw: there was no reason, in that situation, to give Guerrerro anything to hit. Guerrerro swings at, well, everything. Sabathia and Burnett can blow it by the former Expo; Pettitte cannot.

3) Chamberlain looked awful. Girardi was quick with his hook, but, alas, not quick enough. Someone--and I can't remember where I read this, so apologies to whomever I should be citing--said that this postseason, Joba's fastball has been there but his slider has not, which may explain why he's been hooked quickly.

The great thing about going to games with well-informed fans is that you get excellent analysis as well, and I thus agree with the commenter known as TSJC: Joba tends to overthrow, as though he is too amped and trying to do too much. It's been an issue with him as long as he's been with the Yankees.

4) I did not agree with Girardi's decision to leave Hughes in to start a third inning. Hughes hasn't pitched more than two since what, June? May? And against the heart of the Angels' order, as well, it just didn't make sense to me. Girardi thus made the right call to bring in Rivera, and, well, Mo is simply not mortal.

First and third, no one out, and Rivera got out of the jam. At the time, the Stadium exploded and we thought it was perhaps destiny that we'd win.

5) The biggest issue I had with Girardi's overmanaging was bringing in Aceves to face Kendrick. Robertson had already had two outs, had little history vs Kendrick (if any at all) and is a strike out pitcher. Aceves, on the other hand, has a propensity for giving up fly balls, and as we all saw, the ball certainly carried today. At home, if the other team hits a home run, you still get a chance to get the run back the next day, but on the road, you do not.

As it were, Kendrick singled and Mathis drove him in with a long fly off the wall, but it is my belief that Robertson could have gotten the third out.

6) TSJC had an issue with Girardi replacing Damon with Hairston, not that he did it but when he did it. With the bases loaded and less than two outs, anything hit to left field is likely going to score the winning run, anyway. It makes little sense.

7) If Gardner is inserted into the game to pinch run, he has to run. He has to go on the first pitch--where there's pretty much no chance of a pitch out. Gardner's not in there to hit home runs, and the only reason to remove Matsui's bat is because you are going for the win right then, and need the RISP. If Gardner steals successfully, Posada's home run is a game winning, and not game tying (fallacy of the predetermined and all).

8) GOOD: Jeter's third pitch home run, holy crap what is A-Rod smoking and where can I get some, that Melky-Jeter-Teixeira play in the 8th to nab Abreu (where the heck was Canó on that? We were trying to figure it out!) Mariano is not mortal, and Teixeira is (again) worth it for his defense alone.


Okay. I think I touched on most of the important things. You can argue whether or not Sabathia should have pinch hit for Rivera instead of Cervelli, but there is no way Rivera was going to go out and pitch a second inning.

If Andy Pettitte pitches to Guerrerro a little differently, the Yankees are probably looking at clinching the American League pennant tomorrow and Girardi's overmanaging is a non-issue.

Such as it is, the Yankees will send CC Sabathia out on three days' rest, and a stop-loss here would be crucial.

We said going in that this series would be a dogfight, and with two extra inning games already in the books, it has thus far lived up to its billing.

Watching a Road Game at Yankee Stadium

[Because there is so much about today's game to digest, I will do so in two posts, one talking about watching the game at Yankee Stadium, and the other about the game itself.]

As you likely know, Yankee Stadium opened its gates to the general public to watch today's game, free of charge.

Being otherwise unoccupied, I decided to go. The idea is one of which I am a fan--it gives fans a place to enjoy the game together without feeling obligated to purchase drinks or having to worry about being the only one interested in the game.

There were a large number of people that had the same mind set as me--many with young kids who arrived straight from school.

At the start, only the field level sections along the right field line were opened, but so many showed up that they eventually opened up the field level sections behind home plate, too.

They played the game on the large screen, and instead of commercials, we got DiamondVision shots of the crowd.

Out of all the fans there, the most striking man was a Johnny Damon lookalike, whose resemblance was so strong other fans were asking him for pictures. When Damon made a great catch late in the game, the section started chanting Johnny's name. The poor fan took it all in stride.

In the interest of his privacy, I won't post his picture, but, damn, he had me fooled.


At any rate, for your enjoyment, some pictures from this afternoon-turned-evening


No long lines, just the Stadium against an azure sky.


The Great Hall, in a late autumn light.


They also played the game on the TV in the great hall, but with the cushioned field and even Legends seats open, most opted to watch the game from the Stadium proper.


Our view of the screen. We--that would be Brent, RAB legend TSJC and I--sat in the section furthest right. 109, row 14. The seats filled up fast and we were lucky to get the ones we did.


You can sort of see how all of the seats were filled. I don't think they anticipated this many, although for an evening game they would have likely had to open all field and main seats, at least.


Some watch in the Great Hall. I went to the team store to get one of the gray sweatshirts the team's been sporting, but they only had them in sizes extra large. Maybe it's G-d telling me not to by a sweatshirt just yet.


The one criticism of the experience I could find, besides, you know, the game itself, was that there were not enough open concessions, and thus lines for beer and food tended to be extremely long.

It's a very minor caveat; the experience itself outweighs that one negative.

Anyway, getting a few thousand people to chant "Lets go Yank-ees" and "Mar-i-a-no" is a pretty cool thing.

Stay tuned for a post about the game itself, and what, exactly, went wrong.

Stadium to Open for Fans for Game 3

From MLB.com:

The Yankees announced on Sunday that they will open the Stadium Field Level and Great Hall to the public to watch the Yankees face the Angels in Anaheim as New York tries to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the ALCS.

"We wanted to provide a place for our fans to come together to cheer for our team, even if the game itself is taking place across the country," Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said in a news release. "This is a way of saying 'Thank you' for their continued support."

Turnstiles between Gates 4 and 6 will open at 3:30 p.m. ET for the 4:13 p.m. game -- broadcast on FOX -- and fans can watch it in the Great Hall or in the open sections of the Field Level. Food and concession stands, as well as NYY Steak and Hard Rock Café, will be open and available to fans.

Don't know about you, but I plan on going. I don't know if I'll stay for the whole thing, but for a 4.30 game, I will certainly stay for most of it. The weather, at least, should be slightly nicer.

At the very least, this is (and we presume it's free entrance since no prices have been announced) an awesome opportunity to watch the game with other fans without being in a crowded bar.

There's something special brewing this year, and the Yankees are letting us take part.

Fundamentals 2, Angels 0

Fundamentals. Fun-duh-MEN-tuls. Noun. 1) Something that is part of the foundation of another thing. 2) In sports, the key concepts that must be mastered before attempting advanced work.

Example: A fundamental concept of baseball is the ability to correctly catch and throw a baseball.

Example 2: Another fundamental concept of baseball is that when one's team takes the lead, that team is supposed to keep the other team from scoring.


Were the New York Yankees fundamentally sound tonight? No, not really--they had three errors in the game.

The difference, however, is that while the Yankees worked around their fundamental mishaps, the Angels did not.

Sure, AJ Burnett's wild pitch that led to the Angels tying the game at 2 could be considered an error if you'd like, but that was more typical bad-inning-AJ than it was poor fundamental play on the part of the Yankees.

On the other hand, the Angels' second error of the game directly caused the Yankees to score the winning run, a ground ball that should have gone for the sure out that went instead sailing past the target and allowing Jerry Hairston Jr. to score.

It won't be cast as an error, but attention should also be paid to the game tying home run Alex Rodriguez had in the eleventh inning.

From the Yankees' point of view, their third baseman has been the unequivocal MVP of the postseason thus far (though there is obviously a lot of way left to go). Rodriguez has hit three home runs this postseason, and every single one of those home runs has been a late-inning, game-tying shot; the two at Yankee Stadium coming in what, to that point, would have been the Yankees' last at bat.

From the Angels' point of view, it was a failure of their closer, Brian Fuentes, as the Angels now join the ranks of the teams that have blown a save or late-inning lead this postseason--Red Sox, Twins, Rockies, Phillies and Cardinals are all guilty here.

The Yankees?

Well, the legend of Mariano Rivera still grows.

He pitched two innings tonight, did not reach 30 pitches, and was simply outstanding.

According to the folks at Baseball Prospectus, teams that win championships need good defense, strike out pitchers and lock-down closers.

Is it any wonder, then, that the Yankees are the only team in 2009 to have not lost a postseason game?

****

There will be many comments about Joe Girardi overmanaging the bullpen. Indeed, this is my gut reaction as well.

The more I think about it, however, the more I'm not that bothered by it. Who expects a postseason game to go 13 innings, after all?

With the off-day tomorrow, all of the relievers will get their day of rest, so by the time they play again on Monday, it will be a non-issue.

"This New Guy We Got"

When you can get 45,000+ fans all chanting your name in a LCS in your first year in New York, you're obviously doing something right.

CC's something?

8 innings,
4 hits
1 run
1 walk
7 strikeouts.

Yeah, I don't know about you, but I'd say that new guy did pretty well for himself.

Sabathia and the Yankees were also helped by some pretty poor fundamental play by the Angels--the one play we'll remember years from now was a Luis Castillo-esque dropped pop up (well, not so much dropped as no one bothered to try to catch it) by Eric Aybar that directly led to the Yankees 2nd run in the first.

The two runs were all that the Yankees--and Sabathia--would need.

Sabathia was helped by solid fundamental play and good defense on the part of his team, and the Yankees simply outplayed the Angels.

The Yankees did not get a ton of offense, but they had enough to take advantage of the Angels' misplay. Tonight was only the second time ever there had been a game at the new Yankee Stadium without a home run, but the Yankees were able to tack on the two insurance runs to provide the extra cushion everyone likes so much.

Maybe it has something to do with the cold...New York is a cold weather city, after all...then again, when one considers the way Robinson Canó looked more like a ninja than a baseball player, maybe not.

The best moment of levity came late in the game, when FOX aired a conversation between Joe Girardi and Tim McClelland, the home plate umpire, as Girardi went to bring in Mariano Rivera. Rivera, who has more postseason saves than anyone else in history. You may have heard of him. It went something like this:

Girardi: We're bringing Rivera.
McClelland: Who?
Girardi: This new guy we got.
McClelland: Up from AAA?


Well, for what it's worth, that real new guy, CC, was worth every single cent tonight.

Constructing the ALCS Roster

The cool thing about the postseason is that teams that advance to the next round can adjust their roster, for whatever reason--maybe someone gets hurt, maybe someone is better against one team than another.

With the ALDS over, the Yankees can now construct their ALCS roster.

This roster will largely remain the same--the differences come down to basically whether or not, against the Angels, you want an extra pinch runner or an extra arm out of the bullpen.

For the ALDS, the Yankees went for the extra bullpen arm and stuck with just Brett Gardner and Jerry Hairston as pinch runners.

Here is the way I'd construct the roster for the ALCS, bold selections are explained below:

1) Derek Jeter
2) Johnny Damon
3) Mark Teixeira
4) Alex Rodriguez
5) Hideki Matsui
6) Jorge Posada
7) Robinson Canó
8) Nick Swisher
9) Melky Cabrera

10) CC Sabathia
11) AJ Burnett
12) Andy Pettitte
13) Chad Gaudin

14) Brett Gardner
15) Jerry Hairston, Jr.
16) Freddy Guzman
17) Jose Molina
18) Francisco Cervelli
19) Eric Hinske

20) Joba Chamberlain
21) Phil Hughes
22) Mariano Rivera
23) David Robertson
24) Alfredo Aceves
25) Phil Coke


Chad Gaudin/Joba Chamberlain: I put Gaudin in fourth starter's spot because, at the moment, I have more confidence in his ability than I do in Joba's. There are a couple of points here: Joba has not started since his final start of the season, which I was, uh, fortunate enough to attend in person. He was, more or less, awful.

While Gaudin, through the course of the season, was a roll of a dice once one hit the sixth inning, the five innings he did get through were much cleaner than those Joba pitched.

It's entirely possible, come Game 4, depending on what the scenario is, that Joe Girardi asks CC Sabathia to go on three days' rest and thus the Gaudin/Joba debate becomes moot. Still, Girardi has shown a tendency to play-by-the-book and it's hard for me to imagine him, in the ALCS, asking Sabathia to go on such short rest unless the Yankees were down 3-0 in the series.

There's no question about keeping Joba on the roster, merely a question of where he would best be used. If you think Joba, and not Gaudin, should be the game four starter, please feel free to say so in the comments.


Freddy Guzman: My major move here is that I take Damaso Marte off the roster and put Freddy Guzman on it. It's not just that Marte was completley ineffective in his one appearance, but that if Johnny Damon continues to struggle as he is, Girardi might give a thought to starting Gardner--the considerable loss of potential power may, in fact, be negated by the improvement in outfield defense--and having Guzman on the bench means that doing so would not leave Girardi without a pinch runner for Posada or Matsui.

I still remain of the opinion that if you're going to have someone not named Jorge Posada catch--which I don't agree with, but can live with--that your better option is Cervelli, who is a more than adequate defender and not an automatic out in the line up.

Since there's utterly no chance of Girardi removing Molina for Cervelli, however, I will have to let the three catchers stand as is. If the Yankees are going to start Molina, they almost have to carry Cervelli--as, in game 2, if Posada pinch-hits for Molina and then someone pinch runs, you still need another catcher.


It's extraordinarily tempting to want to add another pitcher. Six doesn't seem like enough, and while I still stay far, far away from Brian Bruney, there's a part of me that doesn't have any issues with putting Mark Melancon on said roster, even if he's just along for the ride in the sense that Jeter and Rivera were in 1995.

If you keep Guzman on the roster, and you don't remove either Molina or Cervelli, the tempting thing to do would be to remove Eric Hinske--Hairston is probably better defensively in the outfield, and certainly the faster runner--but the extremely superstitious person in me balks. Hinske's got some seriously good World Series luck that you don't want to touch.


It's pretty amazing how intricate the arguments can be when choosing between just one or two players that, all told, are not expected to have an impact on the series the way that Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez might, but then, it's not too hard to remember how Luis Sojo and Jose Vizcaino basically won the 2000 World Series for us, and then we know the importance of every spot on the roster.

Are A Couple Yankee Pitchers Pitching Injured? (Game Notes 10 and 11 July 2009)

Brian Bruney and Joba Chamberlain have been, well, awful of late.

So, here's the question: Do you think they are injured?

Brian Bruney's spent most of this season on the DL. He has looked awful since coming off of it, and tonight's performance is no different. There's a 1:2 K/BB ratio, and when he does throw strikes they're getting hit hard.

That Bruney, a power pitcher, has already been on the DL twice this season with arm problems, and if that's not a giant red flag, I'm not sure what is.

If he's right, he's a crucial piece of the Yankee bullpen, but if he's not, the Yankees might panic and overpay for Huston Street, et al.



Joba Chamberlain fell to the Yankees in the draft because of injury concerns.

He ended up on the DL last summer with a rotator cuff/labrum injury, and while he has a couple of decent starts this season, his mediocre ones far outnumber them.

It's hard to imagine that Chamberlain is suddenly afraid of the strike zone, but the nibbling and inefficiency need to be addressed. The last thing the Yankees want to do is have to find two other starters instead of one, but that may be their only option if Chamberlain can't pick it up.

We have seen Chamberlain's flashes of brilliance, and we know that young pitchers can struggle. The mediocre Joba is not the Joba that will have a lengthy major league career.

What we do know, however, is that the Yankees have to figure out what's causing the problem. It's hard to imagine that they haven't at least considered the possibility that the shoulder isn't right, and remaining mum on it would seem to be the correct PR move. As long as Chamberlain keeps taking the ball every five games, however, one must assume the Yankees think he's healthy.

Right now, I wouldn't be so sure.



*****

The inability to beat the Angels in Anaheim, is what, a decades-old thing now?

It's gotten old. Way old.

Yankees vs Angels, 3 May 2009: A Liveblog (With Eli picture!)

11.05 AM: First things first, come meet baby Eli!


Isn't he utterly adorable?!


11.06 AM: Raining here in the Bronx. A lot. And the band or rain extends back into PA. Still, it's two hours before game time and there's clear weather after. The Angels don't return to Yankee Stadium, so they'll do all they can to get this game in, but my gut's telling me we're probably looking at a 3 PM or 4 PM start. They can't start much later than that or else they'll risk cutting into ESPN'S ~*exclusive*~ broadcasting time.

Radar for your reference can be found here

Actually, it looks pretty darned bad, don't it?


11.12 AM: Dámaso Marte is on the DL. Anthony Claggett, he of the can't-stop-the-bleeding-let-Cleveland-score-14-runs-in-one-inning has been called up. I don't really fault Claggett here; the Yankees don't really have a better option without messing with the 40 man.

11.57 AM: Today's lineup from LoHud:


Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Cabrera RF
Berroa 3B
Gardner CF

Why no Peña is really intriguing/bothering me, especially with Berroa's, uh, ability to field. I guess Swisher's elbow is still sore, and I hope he doesn't miss much more time. I'm sorry, but I still don't like Cabrera and Gardner in the same line up.

12.03: Via LoHud (link above): Swisher is only available to DH, which I guess means he'd be available to pinch hit if needed, but the Yanks don't really have a spare outfielder, so maybe he can only PH for Berroa or some such.

No word (that I know of) on why Berroa over Peña. Could just be I'm making a big deal out of nothing. That's usually the case.

12.09 PM: According to Girardi's press conference, Berroa's in simply because it's a lefty pitching. Peña switch hits, but hasn't had many PAs against LHPs.

1.26 PM: The radar looks worse every time I look. Right now the question isn't if they'll call the game, but how long they'll wait.

1.46 PM: Sox and Rays on TBS if you're bored.

2.14 PM: Official: Game PPD.

Some Notes Before I head Out To the Game

My nephew, Eli Harrison, was born at 5.10 this morning, weighting 8 lbs and 4 oz. This is by far the most important news of the day.

Nick Swisher 'tweeted' that he was sore.

If the Yanks win today, it'll be a series win...when's the last time the Yanks won a four game set with the Angels?

Catch you all later!

Because All Yankee Fans Should Be Born After a Yankee Win (Postgame Notes 1 May 2009)

My baby Niecephew (my wonderful, loving brother and his wife decided they wanted to be surprised) is due to arrive in this world at about 2 AM.

He/She/It will arrive on the heels of quite possibly the most dramatic Yankee win thus far in the young season.

It's hard to pick where to start, here.

At first it seemed like the Yankees would find a way to grit-out a subpar Andy Pettitte and win 4-0 or perhaps 4-2, then it seemed like the curse of the awful bullpen would hit again and the Yankees would lose 9-4, and then, finally, in the later innings, the Yankees said, "our bullpen may be bad, but, dude, we're not like Anaheim bad."

Or something like that.


Andy Pettitte had far from his best stuff tonight. By the time the game got to the sixth inning, it seemed like some sort of miracle that the Yankees were still up 4-0.

It's worrying because, although the Yankees won the game, it's his second so-so start in a row. He hasn't been downright awful in the way Chien Ming Wang has, but he has struggled. Then again, Boston has hit him well of late and the Angels are, well, the Angels, so it probably isn't worth getting too fussed over at the moment.

The Yankee bullpen, on the other hand, is a concern.

As soon as Pettitte left the game, everyone held their breath, and it failed.

One shouldn't worry about Melancon tonight: he made one bad pitch, but he was not responsible for loading the bases. The attempt to nab the runner coming home on ball four showed a pretty amazing gymnastics ability...

José Veras, however, looks flat-out awful right now. He can't seem to find an out pitch and is constantly nibbling--I still haven't figured out how he put together those three scoreless innings against Oakland.

Edwar Ramirez always seems to struggle against the Angels, so perhaps the Yankees were lucky the game didn't get out of hand with him pitching.

Jonathan Albaladejo had a 1-2-3 eighth (with some defensive help), which has to be considered refreshing after he struggled in Detroit.

Still, there are some major bullpen issues in that the Yankees don't know what they're going to get. Until pitchers have set roles, like they did last year when at their best, they will probably struggle. Hopefully the Yankees find a way to fix that, because once they do, there simply may be no stopping this team.


The Yankee offense is making it look like 2008 was a fluke, and instead they've picked right up off of 2007, with the ability, seemingly, to score runs almost at will.

It's not just that the Yankees are scoring runs, it's that they are scoring them almost every game. In 23 games they've been held to less than four runs three times, and they have never been shut out.

Oh, and Teixeira's hitting about .192 and A-Rod isn't in the line up...

Not only that, but tonight, after the offense fell behind 9-4 after being up 4-0, they didn't give up, and showed a type of fight that we seldom, if ever, saw last season.

Right now, the clutch hitting is coming off the bats of Melky Cabrera and Ramiro Peña--perhaps the two guys you would normally consider least likely to be RBI men, but without their contributions in the 8th inning tonight, the ninth, in which Brian Fuentes didn't retire a single batter (Teixeira walk, Matsui single, Canó single, Posada walkoff hit), would not have mattered.

If anything, tonight's win can serve notice to the rest of the league: even if this team currently has the 13th worse bullpen in the AL, they can still find a way to win.


Nick Swisher did get HBP in the elbow and had to leave the game. However, X-Rays are negative and he is Day-to-Day.

Oh, and just for the fun of it: the Yankees have assured themselves at least a series split with the Angels.


***

I will be at tomorrow's Yankee game, sec 309, row 7, seat 22 or 23. Feel free to come by and say hi. Alas, I don't have a fancy phone, so if you want to email to set something up, you'll have to do it tonight.

Pinch Live-Blogging. Game 23: Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim) at New York Yankees

Hello all! Elizabeth here from Blogging The Mystique. The game's already underway, so let's dive in, shall we?

Oh lookie there. The top of the first is already over. I don't type fast enough, apparently.

Top of the 1st
*Pettitte looks like, well, Andy Pettitte. Couple-a baserunners, no runs, nice little pickoff. The 13 year-old in me wants to say "LOL @ Torii Hunter!!!!11" but I'm not 13, and I do not type like that. Seriously. You can't prove it. Nyuh! Nice pick by Andrew Eugene.

*Also,because I'm probably the biggest Melky fan in the world, I have to point out that that was a nice catch by Melk for the second out. Sometimes it's just about making the challenging catches look easy. Not, like some other Yankee centerfielders would show you, about making the simple catches look challenging.

0-0 Middle of the 1st.

Bottom of the 1st
*I like seeing Cap drawing walks, because his BB rate dropped dramatically from 2007 to 2008. I'd still like to see him bring his overall OBP up, however, because I'm getting a little annoyed with the jeers of "Jeter's in decline!" And when I don't want to hear something, I usually shut it out. Which involves me putting my hands over my ears and screaming. Ahem. Not 13. I swear. I also like that Jeet's been stealing some bases. Smart baserunning is often more important than sheer speed *cough* Brett Gardner *cough*

*Two walks in a row and a hot shot by Tex? Forget the fact that that was a 3-1 put out. Tex was doing his job. I'm excited for his inevitable hot streak. Gotta love his swing. Not as sweet as Cano's, in my opinion (I tell everyone who will listen that Cano has the sweetest lefty swing I've seen since Donnie.

*Speaking of Cano.....Have I mentioned that his natural swing is to send everything up the middle? That was some nice bat lag. 2-0 after the sac fly by Sui and the RBI single by Canoe.

*Oh hi there, Jorge Posada. Nice to have you healthy this year. 4-0 Yankees. Little FYI: Did you know that Jorge has his mask specially made with extra-wide ear guards because the ball was clipping his ears? No foolin'

(At this point I feel I should point out that it appears as though Rebecca's updates are way more concise than mine. I hope I don't offend those with short attention spans)

*Melky was.....robbed. Yeah, that's it. I refuse to say anything negative about him. Hmph.

7.40 PM: Rebecca here! Thanks Elizabeth for letting me get caught up on my email. Tremendous news on the personal life front, check out my Twitter for details.

Andy's command seems to be a bit off here, with the lead off walk to Napoli.

7.47 PM: Hot damn, Robbie Canó is doing it all right now, and the Angels line into the inning ending DP. I wonder if he and Nick Swisher are hanging out after the game. If he is, the kicking ass is certainly rubbing off.

7.55 PM: Ramiro Peña got some legs, don't he? It'd be kind of awesome if Teixeira started to hit. How you have a .197 average and a .360+ OBP completely baffles me.

8.01 PM: Swisher's been taken out of the game. He did get hit rather hard in the elbow. Here's hoping it will be okay after a night of ice and isn't any more serious than that.

8.19 PM: So Andy got rattled last inning and hasn't had his best stuff.

Meanwhile, I like Peña a little more every time I seem him make a play.

8.22 PM: And of course I say that and Pettitte has a much better inning.

Still waiting for word on Swisher. Have to hope it's just precautionary to keep the swelling down. I know the Yanks' offense has been a strength, but I'm not sure how many they win with both Gardner and Cabrera in the line up--since there's no precedent for Cabrera to be able to keep up his torrid April.

I just used 'torrid' in a sentence.

My brain, it's gone.

8.29 PM: good thing we got those four runs early, no?

8.36 PM: One strike away from an official game with rain falling. This may yet become important.

8.38 PM: Interesting play there to end the inning. More important, x-rays on Swisher's elbow were negative and he has a bruised elbow. Hopefully some ice takes care of it and he's good to go sooner rather than later.

8.45 PM: The only player who looks worse at bat than Teixeira right now is Brett Gardner. That kinda says something.

8.58 PM: Man, it's pouring, isn't it? Weird, I don't see any rain here, but then again it's dark out and the blinds are down.

9.01 PM: The way Andy's been pitching tonight, Yanks are lucky it wasn't more than two runs.

9.05 PM: Pettitte simply couldn't get the last out there. Once again, Mark Melancon gets thrown into the fire.

9.09 PM: One pitch from Melancon and now it's 5-4 Angels. Why the hell can't the Yankees get this last out?

9.24 PM: Game went downhill when Swisher left. This is so, so totally not a coincidence.

9.31 PM: José Veras is flat-out awful right now.

9.36 PM: Like I said, Veras is flat-out awful right now. Girardi should have left Melancon in.

9.39 PM: With all the money the Yankees have, can they buy a half-decent bullpen?

9.45 PM: Bullpen is blowing this open...if Melky doesn't make that play, it's what, 11-4 Anaheim? Man. It's painful.

9.51 PM: Brett Gardner wishes he could hit like Ramiro Peña right now...

9.54 PM: Jetes, that was so, so totally not the time to almost GIDP.

9.56 PM: Guess this isn't our game, is it?

10.14 PM: On a line up that includes Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui, no one is clutching like Melky Cabrera and Ramiro Peña!

10.33 PM: Nervous yet?

10.39 PM: Best. Fucking best. Win. Of. The. Year.

Okay, it's May 1...but still...

Bottom of the Order Comes Through, Yanks finish April Above .500 First Time Since 2006 (postgame notes 30 April 2009)

Given the struggles of Chien Ming Wang, the injuries to A-Rod and Nady, the low RISP batting average and the sweep in Boston, it may be hard to believe that the Yankees have finished April above .500, but they indeed have.

At the worst, they would have finished the month at .500, and that itself would have been an improvement over the last two seasons, but they didn't just win tonight, they also beat the one team that's given them fits and starts for over a decade in the Anaheim Angels.

AJ Burnett did not have his best stuff, and occasionally looked like he was getting hit very hard, but somehow managed to make it through seven innings keeping the Yankees firmly in the game.

It was certainly not his best start of the season, but he gave the Yankees a chance to win and they took advantage.

Johnny Damon had a solo home run, furthering calls of "bandbox!", but the big offensive moment of the game came in the 8th inning.

In a tie game, Melky Cabrera's single put the Yankees ahead 5-4, and then Ramiro Peña's two-run double, his first two career RBI, put the Yankees ahead 7-4 and the team didn't look back.

Phil Coke pitched an excellent 8th inning with the game tied--it looks more and more like the early season troubles were flukes, though it's still early to tell--and Mariano Rivera bounced back and got through the ninth allowing one hit and nothing else.

I would like to caution that while it seems Rivera is getting hit more this year (and, well, he is) may seem worse than it is simply because of how dominant he was last year. He struggled in April '07 as well and managed to survive the year intact, no?

Ramiro Peña is looking more and more like should have been the placeholder at 3rd all along. He plays an excellent glove and is not an automatic out, and came through in a big place today. He should be sent back down when A-Rod comes back, because he really should play every day. He's not considered a top prospect for the Yankees, but he's taken advantage (or, at least, it seems that way) of the opportunity here.

Mark Teixeira continues to struggle; whether this is his normal early season struggles or if his wrist is hurting a bit more we don't know. He's still walking so his OBP is still up there, but the .200 average can't continue to hit in the three spot if he doesn't pick it up. It's still early and signs say he will recover, especially once A-Rod comes back.


Robbie Canó, thanks perhaps to Bobby Abreu's defense, now has a career-best 17 game hitting streak. He had an 0-fer the rest of the night, but his hit came in the 8th inning--the right time.