Gone Astray

Sometimes things don't go the way you want.

It has happened before, and it will happen again.

It wasn't as though CC Sabathia collapsed or had some sort of awful performance--the two runs surrendered were the same as in his ALDS game one performance--it was that Cliff Lee pitched the game of his life.

To have beaten Cliff Lee tonight, the Yankees would have had to pitch perfectly.

Until the ninth inning, the Yankees had just one batter reach second base, and none reach third.

There's not much else to day--it wasn't a bad managerial move that cost the Yankees the game; the other team simply pitched better.

Okay, so perhaps Brian Bruney should not be anywhere near a postseason roster, but this isn't really the point here.

You can debate how you would have pitched the top of the eighth--my faith in Robertson didn't work out the way I'd hope, but it happens--but it wasn't a bullpen that blew the game.

With the way that Lee pitched, even if the score had remained 2-0, the Yankees' chances were still slim--he was that good.

The first six innings, at least--before the Yankees went to the bullpen--were everything that a neutral fan would want to see in a World Series game: good pitching, good fielding, and played in a crisp manner.

Alas for us, we have a rooting interest that was on the wrong end of that game.

So what now, then?

For the first time this postseason, the Yankees find themselves trailing in a series, faced with their first real must-win of the month. Lose tomorrow, and it's 0-2 going to Philly--although, as we all remember previous occasions, it's not as though the Yankees haven't overcome that obstacle before.

The Yankees don't have to face Cliff Lee tomorrow; they have to face Pedro Martinez which is an entirely different story for reasons probably already familiar to you.

There is no reason to think that the Yankees will not fight. We've seen this team play too long this year with their swagger. They always seem to find a way.

As Douglas Adams would have said, DON'T PANIC.

There is still a lot of baseball left to play.

****

I will be at tomorrow's game. If you are going and would like to say hello, send an email or tweet my way.

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.

"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.

Ghosts? What ghosts?

The common refrain going around the Yankee fan base right now is that while nothing is guaranteed, and that the Yankees are not guaranteed to win their series against the Twins, there is a different feel around this year's squad than there has been in many years. This team is likable, fun to root for and really, really damned good.

So nevermind CC Sabathia's less than stellar postseason ERA or Alex Rodriguez's absence of a decent postseason since the ALCS of 2004.

This is a team where expectations are not just high for the free agents signees who make more in a year than some entire countries, but for those who have played only for the Yankees and those who came to the Yankees in unheralded trades. The team won 103 games in the regular season, and one or two players can't win 103 games all on their own. Though, God knows Albert Pujols tried.


As with any beginning, there are opening ceremonies of a sort. With the ALDS it's nothing too spectacular--full line ups and guys in uniform, but it's somewhat muted. It's good to be here, but there's still a while to go before the grand prize.



When the players are introduced, some receive particularly loud accolades--like Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter--while others receive, well, lots of non-accolades. Like Carl Pavano.



Because of the odd start time, the Stadium was still fairly empty as the lineups were being announced.



By the time the first pitch was thrown, however, almost every seat was filled.

The National Anthem always seems to add a sense of "this is it, this is what we live for."





As the Yankees take the field, there is a rush of excitement. As stated earlier, if you're a fan at that Stadium at that time, you're either way amped up, or you're dead.



With no other game going on at the present moment, the scoreboard instead displays the line up of both teams, highlighting the next batter to come to bat.



The blazing lights against the sunset make for an auspicious early game atmosphere.



The Twins took an early 2-0 lead that could have never have been: had a close pitch been called a strike three, CC Sabathia would have gotten out of the inning. Instead, a couple hits and a passed ball, and the Twins had a 2-0 lead.

That lead was, however, short lived.

Reason A: Derek Jeter



Jeter has done a lot of great things in his career and is something of an immortal among Yankee fans. Hitting a left field home run to tie a game? Awesome. And in the postseason? Well, there's only one Derek Jeter.



Hit a home run like that, then hear the entire Stadium erupt in chants of M-V-P! M-V-P! (Yes, we know it's going to Mauer. No, we don't care.)


Meanwhile, Sabathia must have been somewhat mindful of his rapidly escalating pitch count: he settled down and started to deal.



Despite having over 70 pitches after the fourth inning, Sabathia pitched into the seventh inning and did not walk a single batter.

The Twins were the first to go to their bullpen--by this time the Yankees had already taken the lead.



Who did the Twins call upon?



I swear I'm not making this up.

Not too long afterwards, Hideki Matsui hit a home run--the type that screams HEY YAY INSURANCE RUNS! My friend Brent summed up our reactions pretty well.





With two outs in the seventh inning and the Yankees with a four run lead, Joe Girardi did the prudent thing and went to the bullpen before Sabathia's pitch count approached abusive levels. He left to a raucous ovation.



In came Young Master Hughes.



There was a massive Orlando Cabrera at bat just to end the seventh inning, but Hughes got the job done, and instead of having to face Joe Mauer with the bases loaded, Joe Mauer came up in the 8th with no one on.

This is the only game I've ever been to where I've actually heard people sing "God Bless America".



It was a stirring rendition courtesy of the NY Pops



This is just a really awesome late-game shot:




Out went Phil Hughes, and in came Joba Chamberlain. Phil Coke also made an appearance and had the best possible appearance for a reliever: one pitch, one out. It was nearly a double play, but Mauer was just a shade too nimble for Teixeira.




With a five run lead--and here it should be noted that two of these runs, yes two are the direct responsibility of Alex Rodriguez, something you haven't seen in an October write up for a while--it perhaps seems strange that the Yankees bring in their closer, but this is October. You don't take chances.

Enter Sandman. Exit Twins.










Magic number, that real magic number that all Yankee fans really care about, is now down to ten.

And we'll see you Friday night!

Yanks 2-hit Sox and Reduce Magic Number to 1 (postgame notes 26 September 2009)

As per my post on TYU:

Behind an absolute 7-inning, one-hit gem from CC Sabathia, the Yankees reduced their magic number for winning the AL East to one. One more Yankee win or Red Sox loss and the Yankees will be your 2009 AL East champions.

It should be noted here that the forecast tomorrow involves copious amounts of rain, so while we might all dream of the Yankees clinching while playing the Sox, they might not get the opportunity.

The pitching from Sabathia today should be the story, even more than the Yankees inability to hit with runners in scoring position, as this is the type of pitching the Yankees hope for--and even expect--from Sabathia in the postseason.

What's more, is that CC pitched most of the game while still scoreless. The Yankees simply refused to score with any runners on base (until the bottom of the eighth), getting their offense instead from a Robinson Canó lead off home run in the sixth.

The Yankees again ran against Boston, this time running against Victor Martinez instead of Jason Varitek. If defense--including catching--wins championships, then the Red Sox have some issues. The Yankees, with Damon in left, aren't perfect, but even Jorge Posada throws out more runners than the Varitek-Martinez tandem.

After a swing that saw the Yankees drop a series to the Mariners and lose the first of three to the Angels, the Yankees have now won four straight and are a virtual lock for the division.

Right now the Yankees' biggest concern is whether Andy Pettitte or AJ Burnett gets the ball in game two.

That's not a bad problem to have.

Yanks Sweep Double-header; Magic # down to 16

For a complete recap, check out my post on The Yankee Universe

• Perhaps it's a microcosm of how this season has gone for the Yankees, but both Sabathia and Burnett turned in stellar outings

• In the first game, the Yankees remained deadlocked at 1-1 in a pitchers' duel until the eighth.

• In the second game, the Yankees scored eight runs in the third inning, and never looked back, notching Burnett his first win since the end of July.

• Derek Jeter went hitless, the first time in his career in a double-header.

• Larry Mahnken of Replacement Level fame mentioned to me that the Yankees are now getting above league-average production at every position.
  

Yankees Sweep Baltimore; Rivera out with Tight Groin (Postgame Notes 2 September 2009)

View my complete recap at The Yankee Universe

• Marc Carig and Pete Abraham are reporting that Mariano Rivera has tightness in his groin and will miss a few days but could be back by the weekend.

• Sabathia struggled early--five hits in two--but picked it up afterwards and held Baltimore to one run.

• The Yankee offense exploded for seven runs in the 9th.

• All Eric Hinske does is come off the bench and hit HRs.
  

Yankees Walk Off (Again) (Postgame Notes 28 August 2009)

If the Yankees have a "secret sauce" to winning in 2009, it's gotta be that they've figured out the recipe for the walk-off win.

When the game gets to the bottom of the ninth and it's tied, one almost expects, now, that the Yankees will win--and the only question is who will get the game winning hit (or walk, or hit by pitch, or pop up...)

It's quite a simple thing, really: decent starting pitching, good defense at key points in the game (like that seventh inning that could have been so much worse), a spotless bullpen and the offense getting the right hit at the right time.

Sabathia was great through six and kind of came apart in the seventh; Alex Rodriguez and Jose Molina sort of saved him on defense.

Phil Hughes struck out the side in the 8th, Mariano Rivera was Mariano Rivera and Brian Bruney had a delightfully decent appearance and Robinson Canó hit a bomb with a runner in scoring position (and a runner on first, too).


The Yanks had another rather bad night with runners in scoring position, but when you have the best record in the league such things seem minor concerns.

The Yankees were fairly desperate to get tonight's game in given the horrible weather forecast for Saturday; they did so without so much as a delay, which is impressive given that the heavens have now more or less completely opened.

Yanks Beat Beckett (Postgame Notes 23 August 2009)

The Yankees' just-finished 10 game road trip was their longest of the season--and they responded by going 7-3.

Think about that for a moment.

That's the type of road trip that separates the contenders from the pretenders.

The Yankees, going into the series against Boston had only one thing they needed to do, and that was to not get swept. They accomplished that the first night, but tonight they won the series as well.

It's not very often a baseball team will get five home runs off of Josh Beckett (Matsui had two--all four of his hits on the road trip were home runs), but that is what happened tonight.

Funny game, that baseball.

The Yankees couldn't buy a run off of Junichi Tazawa yesterday, but scored in each of the first five innings today.

Some observations:

• Derek Jeter hit .500 on the road trip. Let me repeat. Derek Jeter hit .500 on the road trip. There's being good, there's going on a hot streak, and then there's that.

• The Yankees --okay, Robinson Canó--was doing his best Luis Castillo impression in the field today. He mitigated it a bit with one of five Yankee home runs, and I wouldn't get too concerned--one poor defensive game does not a season make.

• Sabathia wasn't unhittable, but he was what the Yankees needed, and the bullpen was (as it usually is in a win) excellent.

• It's going to be an odd series with the Rangers--the Yankees want to win, of course, but us fans have been rooting for the Rangers to win the Wild Card. Guess we will see who are true Yankee fans and who are just Red Sox haters...

• Nick Swisher had his consecutive-game-reached-based streak snapped, but this only underscores how great he's been this season--especially on the road.
  

Start Counting

The number 42 has auspicious significance for Yankee fans of this generation.

Thus, many have chosen tonight to utter, for the very first time since 2007 (well, 2006, really), the term "magic number".

It stands at 42 with 47 games to play.

For the unfamiliar, any combination now of Yankee wins and/or Red Sox losses equaling 42 will give the Yankees the American League East.


It's August 14th. A lot can happen between now and October 1st.

Yet, as we saw CC Sabathia dominate the Mariners and an A-Rod-less offense go beserk (thank you, Hideki Matsui, 2 HR 5 RBI night), it's hard not to think that good things are in store.

Just keep playing, Yankees. Use the clock. Take games off the schedule.

Win.

Thanks, Brian Cashman

AJ Burnett takes a one-hitter into the eighth on Friday--and the only hit was the very first batter of the game, a ball that possibly should have been caught.

CC Sabathia takes a no-hitter into the sixth on Saturday.

Mark Teixeira breaks a 2-2 tie with a moonshot on Sunday.

Eric Hinske would have won Friday's game had it not been for a spectacular catch by JD Drew.

*****

Some more awesomeness from the weekend:

The Yankees trailed in three half-innings all weekend. They went on to at least tie the game in the next half-inning each time.

Between Friday and Sunday, the Red Sox scored two runs. Two runs on one swing. Say what you want about Boston's offense, but Yankee pitching has to be at least somewhat responsible for this.

Yankee relief pitching allowed four runs in two games--two on one swing, and the other two in the ninth inning of a blowout game, using a pitcher with an ERA so high that it actually went down when the runs scored.

Yankee starting pitching allowed four runs over the sweep of the four game series. All four were in the first game.

The Yankees right now have their fourth seven-game winning streak of the season.

Cabrera Hits for Cycle and Yanks Avoid Sweep (Postgame Notes 2 August 2009)

After sliding into third and being called safe, Melky Cabrera leaped up, punched his fist in the air and shouted a Spanish phrase I won't repeat here.

He had just completed the cycle, saving the hardest hit to get--the triple--for the last.

It was the first cycle for a member of the Yankees since Tony Fernandez in 1995.

So if you got caught up in the remarkable-baseball-feat-hoopla, you can perhaps be forgiven if you forget the largest context in which the cycle was hit.

The 8-5 final score is not really indicative of a well pitched game, but it's a bit misleading--while the Chicago White Sox scored four of their five runs in one inning, the Yankees scored in four different innings.

Aside from the bottom of the third, CC Sabathia was just fine, but blowing the original 3-0 lead is a little, as Michael Kay says, disconcerting. While it's great to see a pitcher get it together after struggling early, Sabathia isn't being paid to just give the Yankees a chance to win; he's being paid to pitch quality starts.

Still, the Yankees get to leave Chicago with a win heading into a very much needed off day. They come back to face Halladay, have Mitre pitch on turf in Toronto, and then have four with the Red Sox.


Good thing the Yanks are in first, eh?


Oh, and for what it's worth, Jerry Hairston Jr. has been great so far. Not great as in Albert Pujols, but great as in, Brian Cashman still knows what he's doing and he's a major upgrade over Cody Ransom.

Concerned about CC?

Take a look at this list here.

The list ranks pitchers by "abuse points", with the pitchers that are most abused--that is, the most overworked--at the top.

Is it much of a surprise to see CC Sabathia at the top?

When the Yankees signed Sabathia, one of the selling points was that he was a workhorse. His effort with Milwaukee at the end of last season--pitching on multiple occasions on three days' rest--was Herculean.

The problem is, however, that the selling point of Sabathia being a workhorse was also a concern point.

It's perhaps, in some odd and cruel sense, kind of funny that we, as fans, bloggers, analysts, and what have you, put so much stock into the Verducci effect--the idea that too great an increase in innings for a young pitcher is an injury risk--and yet, at the same time seem to decide after a pitcher hits a certain age that being overworked is no longer a concern.

There's no denying that Sabathia has pitched a lot in 2007 and 2008, and that in both of those postseasons he struggled. Of course, we don't know the reason for struggling in those postseasons, but it'd be foolish to ignore the amount that Sabathia pitched during the season.

Could it be, now, that Sabathia is feeling the effects, in-season, of the past two years?


I'm leaving this question open. I'm no pitching expert, and Sabathia's inconsistency could be due to something completley different. I'm just suggesting this as a possibility.


At any rate, whatever's going on, the Yankees should hope they can figure something out--barring injury or rain outs, Sabathia's next two starts would involve facing Buerhle at Chicago and then Boston.


Alfredo Aceves Update: Via Pete Abraham, Alfredo Aceves has admitted to having a sore shoulder, though he doesn't think it's serious. Still, the track record for the Yankees and admitting the severity of injuries isn't exactly stellar.

Yankees Throw a Clunker (Postgame Notes 28 July 2009)

For only the second time since the All Star Break, the Yankees lost a game, and this one was a clunker in every sense of the word.

CC Sabathia wasn't sharp, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez air-mailed throws to first base, the bats were largely flat or else erasing rallies with double plays and poor baserunning, questionable calls, and as a whole the team reminded much too much of 2008.

Given the Yankees' recent play, however, this game seems much more like an aberration than anything else, though there is a legitimate concern to be had in Sabathia's ineffectiveness.

It's not that Sabathia was ineffective tonight, but that he has been inconsistent of late, and there is growing speculation that Sabathia's running into a tired arm because of the overwork in the last couple of years.

If the Yankees were in first by a comfortable margin, I wouldn't be shocked to see them contemplating giving Sabathia a start off now and then, but with the race as close as it is, the Yankees do need Sabathia to at the very least give them a chance to win.

There's not much to say otherwise. Offenses go through rough patches, but given the eleven runs scored yesterday with the same line up, I don't think anyone is (while in their right mind) panicking. One just hopes the Yankees brush it off and put together a better effort tomorrow.

If there is a bright spot, Mark Melancon pitched in his first stint since July 10th and did not allow a run.


Chien Ming Wang News Chien Ming Wang met with Dr. James Andrews. The verdict is surgery--same as Posada had last season, and he is out for the year. (Via Mark Carig, Star Ledger)

We already suspected Wang was done for the year, but having shoulder surgery for a pitcher may very well be the kiss of death. I feel for Wang. It's tempting to assign blame, but in this case I don't think you can.


Live Chat:

I will attempt a live chat on Thursday, 6-7 PM, come on by and ask whatever's on your mind.

Baseball From the Bleachers

This is not the first time I've sat in the bleachers, but the last time I did, it was sunny and the entire stadium--the old stadium--was packed.

Tonight is different.

It's been raining all day, sometimes quite hard, and no one has any idea if the game will be played at all, never mind what time the game starts.

The Stadium is more empty tan full; those that have made it here are those for whom the game is everything--the real, true, hardcore fans.

There's something different about the bleachers.

Instead of the idea that each individual experience is important, the bleachers are about the experience as a community. Before you know it, you are high-fiving people you've never met before, engaging in chants and taunts that you would probably never consider on your own.

The most creative of the night?

In the late innings, long after the fans have made the rain delay pass via imbibing whatever was available, someone notices a fan wearing a Mets jersey sitting in the right field bleachers.

The normal chant is, of course, "ass-hole, ass-hole", but on this occasion my friend Brent gets an idea.

"Lu-is Cas-ti-llo", he starts.

The rest of us join in, poking fun at the Mets' second baseman whose dropped pop-up cost the Mets a game against the Yankees this season.

At some points in time, you almost forget what is happening at all during the game, though the game itself tonight was a good one.

CC Sabathia didn't have his best stuff, but he still gave the Yankees seven innings of work.

The Yankee offense wasn't stellar, but again did enough to build a lead, add some insurance runs, and thus give Sabathia and the bullpen (today taking the sole form of Phil Hughes) some extra breathing room--which they did not need.

All told, it was the seventh straight win for the Yankees, important as it were as it came after a long rain delay, did not burn the bullpen and increased the Yankees lead over both the Red Sox and the Rays.

Breaking Down the Yankees for the Second Half--The Rotation

So the All Star Game is officially over--and we can thus consider ourselves in the second half.

This is where it gets fun.

All of those days players got rested in the first half? Well, now they have to play. Now the pennant races start to heat up, and every move a team makes, be it a trade, a free agent signing or simply bringing someone up from AAA has even more added meaning.

What do we expect from the Yankees?

I'm going to do a series of posts addressing this, because there's so much to say that having it all in one post would a) kill your eyes and mine, and b) give me carpal tunnel at the age of 23.

So for now, I'm going to start with the starting rotation, because everything depends on the success and/or failure of these guys.

The Rotation

This is the biggest problem area for the Yankees, which is strange to say given how much was spent in the off-season to improve it.

The truth is, however, that outside of AJ Burnett's most recent string of domination, no one has emerged as an ace in the way that Mike Mussina did last year.

CC Sabathia and Burnett have been fairly reliable--although Sabathia's peripherals, the worst they've been since 2005 are a source of concern--but Andy Pettitte and Joba Chamberlain have been inefficient at best and the fifth starter is, right now, non-existent.


CC Sabathia

Last time out, in Anaheim, Sabathia's ridiculously low road BABIP (batting average on balls in play) caught up to him. If you look here, you'll see that his strikeouts are down, walks are up and K/BB ratio is the worst it's been since 2005.

In the second half the Yankees, theoretically, should have enough starting pitching depth that Sabathia doesn't have to pull a stunt like he did with Milwaukee at the end of 2008, but he will have to be better. The peripheral stats are something that more and more seem to be noticing, and the Yankees will need to decide how much of it has to do with moving to the AL East and how much has some other, undiagnosed cause, and thus, how concerned they need to be.

Sabathia is the biggest pitching investment the Yankees have made since, well, Pavano and Igawa, so expect that the Yankees will do everything possible to make sure he is right.


AJ Burnett

Burnett got off to a very rocky start, and found no love from the fans after, well, you-know-what-ing the bed in two starts in Boston. He was in desperate need of a decent start against Johan Santana of the Mets, and it is entirely possible that his ultimate turning point in the season came when he had the bases loaded, none out, and got out of the inning without giving up a run.

Since then, AJ has really been the Yankee ace. He has faced the Mets, Marlins, Mets, Jays and Twins in that time span and has not given up more than 2 ER in any of those starts.

His last pre-break start, however, was not so much dominant as it was getting lucky and delivering the right pitch to escape jam after jam. In the words of, I think, the Associated Press, he had nothing, but still found a way to win.

If there's one thing the Yankees would probably ask a genie to do, if such genies existed, it would be to reduce Burnett's walk total--which leads the league.

Against teams with weak offenses, like the Mets, the walks don't hurt as much because no one ever makes you pay, but against stronger offenses, like Boston, the walks are killer. Burnett's always had control issues--he walked nine when he pitched a no-hitter for the Florida Marlins--but the Yankees aren't paying him $88 million over five years so that he can dazzle you with spectacularly wild pitches.


Andy Pettitte

Here's where things begin to get dicey. While Sabathia and Burnett have some issues, they are, for the most part, giving the Yankees enough length to keep the team in the game and not overexpose the bullpen.

Pettitte and Chamberlain? It's a little different.


Pettitte actually started the season strong, pitching into the sixth inning (and often beyond) in each of his first nine starts. That efficiency hasn't lasted, and his ERA has jumped from under 3.00 at the end of April to nearly 5.00 now.

The easiest way to explain it is that it looks as though Pettitte's body is having trouble keeping up with the grind of pitching every five days--as is what happens when most pitchers not named Moyer or Paige reach their later 30s.

Pettitte's first start after the break will be very telling--if the extra rest seems to have helped him, the Yankees could possibly consider skipping a start or two of his down the stretch to give him some extra breathing room (but somehow I doubt they will). If, however, he still continues to struggle in his next two or three starts, the Yankees will need to address whether or not it really is beneficial to the team to have him pitching in the rotation. If the Yankees, by some miracle, acquire someone like Halladay (see my previous post), or if Chien Ming Wang miraculously regains his form (also unlikely), then Pettitte's trending ineffectiveness is easier to bear.


Joba Chamberlain

Ah. Well. Here we go. The Wunderkind of 2007 and pre-injury 2008 has struggled in 2009.

Everyone's trying to figure out the root cause of the struggle, if it's psychological or physical or mechanical, and watching everyone go at it like a rat race would be incredibly amusing if the consequences weren't so large.

Each cause of his struggle has different results: if it's mechanical, this would be the easiest to fix--the Yankees could try to fix him up here or send him to AAA to sort it out, and if Joba's as good a pitcher as he's supposed to be, he'll be a quick study. If, however, it was as simple as this one would have seen improvement already.

The real answer is that the root cause is probably more complex, a combination of perhaps a nagging shoulder, an inexplicable fear of strike three, and maybe, since we're making this like a soup here, you can throw in some could-be-conditioned-better for extra spice. Like paprika.

Anyway, what the Yankees need, and need almost immediately, is to see if there's any indication that they can get Joba right, or at least that they can get Joba to pitch past the fifth inning. If they can, great. If they can't, the argument to turn him into a Canadian becomes all that stronger.

I think--and this is just opinion here--that the Yankees still see quite a bit of potential in Chamberlain. He is, after all, only 23, and he has shown that, when right, he can touch triple digits in the seventh inning.

The talent's there. The Yankees have to figure out how to access it.


The Fifth Starter

At this point, you just feel bad for Chien Ming Wang. He wasn't quite right in Spring Training, but it went ignored (because hey, it's Spring Training), and he imploded in the beginning of the year. He had a long and largely inefficient road back, but finally, finally looked something like the Chien Ming Wang of old while dueling Roy Halladay on July 4th--before he promptly strained his shoulder.

I don't believe in coincidences, so the fact that Wang got hurt while Halladay was starting for the Jays has to be considered some sort of divine sign, no?

Anyway.

There are those that would prefer to see Hughes or Aceves take the fifth spot, instead of Sergio Mitre and whomever the Yankees end up trading for (and they probably will), but there are problems with each.

Hughes, first of all, is not stretched out, and as I detailed in a recent post, the process of stretching him out, at this point in the season, might simply just take too long and create more problems for the Yankees and their bullpen than the ones it solves.

Aceves could be a perfectly competent starter, but when he's removed from the bullpen, the bullpen seems to fall apart. I'm not sure it's him, personally--although you have to consider the eerie similarity between his numbers and Mariano's of 1996 (his ERA has risen from 2.49 from 2.02 after his spot start, but if he stays in the bullpen it will likely come down again)--but I think there's a case to be made that his value lies in since he can pitch so many innings, the short relievers pitch less. The less the non-Mo short relievers pitch, the more they remain hidden, and the more they become a strength.

All we really know about this spot is that the next time it comes round it's probably Sergio Mitre's shot--but after that, who knows?

Obviously, the sooner the Yankees figure something out for the long term, the better, but don't be surprised if one good Mitre start spells another, and the Yankees try to recapture the ghost of Aaron Small circa late summer 2005.

They Don't Need No Stinkin' Homers (Postgame notes 07 July 2009)

They were playing in the Metrodome, aka the Homerdome, but the Yankees won 10-1 tonight without the aid of a single home run.

Unless, of course, you count the grand slam that A-Rod hit that Carlos Gomez just happened to time perfectly, jump up and steal.

At any rate, the 10 Yankee runs came on singles, bloops, walks, a triple (Gardner)--perhaps none more important than a 2-out bases loaded hit from Robinson Canó (yes, THAT Canó) that turned a 5-1 game into a 7-1 not-tie-able-by-a-grand-slam lead.

In other words, while CC Sabathia was excellent, which is great considering his poor start against Seattle, the real star of this game was the Yankee offense.

The offense proved tonight it doesn't have to hit home runs to win ball games, it can do plenty of other things, too.

Mark Teixeira perhaps best exemplifies this--he had four hits tonight, and they were all singles.

In fact, thirteen of the sixteen Yankee hits tonight were singles.

Against a starting pitcher that had been untouchable over his past four starts, the Yankees thrived.

The best part is that they get to throw AJ Burnett at 'em tomorrow and have an excellent chance to win the series.

CC Shaky as Yanks fall to the Mariners (Postgame Notes 2 July 2009)

The Yankees did not play a particularly horrid game--certainly not their worst of the season--but their ace did struggle on the mound.

Meanwhile the Seattle Mariners were finally able to mount an offense (if you get a chance to see Russell Branyan hit the restaurant--yes, the restaurant--do it), and got the same pitching they've had all season that's actually among the best in the majors.

Put the two together, and you get a Seattle win.

For the Yankees, the real concern here is not the hitting, but whether or not CC's shaky outing was just one of those things, or if it is in some way related to the biceps tendinitis he had earlier. It probably isn't, but given the amount invested in him, it's best to be sure.


Seattle never led by more than four runs; the first four run lead was the fault of Sabathia and the second could possibly be attested to Girardi leaving Alfredo Aceves in the game too long. At any rate, Branyan hit a moonshot, and coming as late in the game as it did, it was a bit of a death knell.

The good news is that tomorrow is a day game, a quick turnaround so that the blah-ness of today's game can be quickly forgotten.

Of course, the Blue Jays must be considered a stronger opponent than any of the Braves, Mets or Mariners, but the Yankees took two of three from them earlier, and there is no reason to think they can't at least split this series (taking three of four would, of course, be wonderful; all four would be beyond awesome, but I hear beating Roy Halladay is hard.)





If you want an interesting story from today, the SD/HOU game was delayed because of bees.

Yeah, you read that right.

Yanks Meet the Mess (Postgame Notes 26 June 2009)

Quietly, or perhaps not-so-quietly, it looks like the Yankees have begun to emerge from their June swoon.

In the past three games, the Yankees have scored at least eight runs...and, while these games weren't necessarily laughers, given the timing of the scoring, the wins still count.

Tonight, the Yankees did the type of things that a competitive team needs to do: pitch well, take advantage of the other team's miscues, and add a couple of tack on runs just for form's sake.

Let's break it down:

1) Pitch well...

CC Sabathia, apparently recovered from his biceps tendinitis, had a very good outing, allowing just three hits in seven innings. Had the Yankees not blown it open in the 8th, he would have come back out again.

Although he was no doubt the beneficiary of a very pitcher-friendly appeal umpire at first, Sabathia's performance was what the Yankees needed after Pettitte's struggles and thus the stretching of the bullpen last night.

While Sabathia may not have received the attention that the FA success stories of K-Rod and Raul Ibañez have, he is pitching up to the standards expected of an ace. His record doesn't reflect it as the Yankees haven't always scored on his behalf, but he is clearly giving the Yankees what they need.


2) Take advantage of the other team's miscues...

The New York Mets had three infielders commit an error in the 2nd inning, though, strangely, Luis Castillo didn't have any of them. Ok, bad joke aside, the Yankees turned the three errors into four runs, all with the names like Gardner (who had the game of his career, thus far, with five hits), Peña, Sabathia...(Sabathia is no automatic out).

With the early lead, the Yankees didn't falter. It's a good thing they got the lead, too, because after that inning the Yankees had only one baserunner until the seventh inning.


3) Score some tack on runs...

I don't know if the Yankees want to play mean and keep Mariano Rivera from getting his 500th save, but you can't really complain about the tack on runs.

Three runs can be erased with one swing. Seven can't. And with eight runs to work with, you have more than enough time to change pitchers if yours starts to struggle (thankfully, Tomko was excellent).

And, you know what, the tack on runs weren't useless.

They meant that CC didn't have to pitch the 8th, got the Yankees a comfortable lead, and let them rest Teixeira and A-Rod, if only for a half inning. Still, with a flu bug going around, any rest would likely be welcome.




AJ Burnett takes the mound tomorrow, but the real interesting pitching match up comes Sunday when Wang takes on Livan Hernandez.

Oh boy.

Yankees Do Just Enough to Beat Lowly Nats (Postgame Notes 16 June 2009)

Someone must have sent the Yankees a memo: beating the Nationals (or, as some prefer, Natinals) is a simple affair.

Hang in against the starter, get a few off the bullpen and pitch competently on your own side.

Was it the best game the Yankees have played all year?

No, probably not. The pitching was decent sure, but the offense could have been much better. Still, when one plays a team on pace for as many losses as the Yankees had wins in 1998, one's flaws are more easily hidden.

The offense was able to do just enough--take the lead, and add one more as insurance--to win without making one sweat too much, though, it could be argued, against a starter with an ERA over 5, they should have probably done more.

CC Sabathia pitched two outs into the 8th inning; Brian Bruney faced one batter and retired him, and Mariano Rivera, with some help from the Yankee defense (which, when one keeps the Nats in mind, isn't to be underestimated) retired the side in order in the ninth. Rivera, for the record, is fast approaching his 500th save.

The only real concern of the evening--don't mind the offense, they don't like hitting guys they've never seen--is that Derek Jeter left the game with left ankle stiffness. No word yet on the severity, but losing Jeter's bat for any length of time wouldn't be a good thing, to say the least.

Also, the Yankees might want to consider giving Alex Rodriguez a day off--while they probably don't want to play Angel Berroa and Ramiro Peña in the same game if Jeter is out for any length of time, Rodriguez needs the day off. Really, really, really.


Tomorrow, Chien Ming Wang, the proud new papa, will get what might be his last chance to stay in the rotation. Expect a quick hook if he can't get it going--the games against the Nationals are must wins because, really, do you expect Boston to drop any against the Nats?