How Soon We Forget (and why Phil Hughes Does Not Belong in the Bullpen)

A lot is being made right now about the Yankees' bridge, or lack thereof, to Mariano Rivera.

I'm wondering, does anyone here remember how last year, for a while, that bridge was named Kyle Farnsworth?

Just sayin' is all.

The other thing that's caught my eye is people bringing up sticking Phil Hughes in the bullpen when Chien Ming Wang returns to the rotation.

I am, for the moment, against the idea for the following reasons:

1) Hughes is a 22 year old kid. Yes, still. He's the 20th youngest MLB player. He's still developing. If he was 27, 28, it'd be a different story, but he's not. He's still working all the kinks out after missing large time periods with injury. Baseball history is littered with starters that struggled early in their career and then turned into something incredible.

2) Hughes has a better chance of furthering his development if he goes down to AAA, where he can start every day, than if he has to remake his mentality. It's the old cross country racer-turned-sprinter argument. They're both pitching, but the types are so different they might as well be two different sports.

3) Joba worked as a short reliever because he could throw 100 mph heat without breaking a sweat. Phil's velocity is lower, and with his occasional control issues, it does not make a good mix for a set up man.


Now that Bruney's back, the Yankees have a little--not much--but a little more breathing room in the bullpen. If the starters can keep pitching into the seventh inning, then the rest of the bullpen should work itself out.

They're finicky things. Hell, the Mets have two closers this year and they still have bullpen issues. The Indians had the best bullpen in 2007 and have the worst in 2009 with largely the same staff. The Angels pen was shut-down-to-K-Rod in 08 and has pitched something awful in 2009.

El Comedulce (Postgame Notes 30 July 2008)

On a team overloaded with Designated Hitters, the Yankees picked up a new one today: Bobby Abreu.

Getting the start at DH to spell him from the field, Abreu had a mammoth day at the plate, going 3-4 with two home runs, three RBI and four runs scored--he either batted in or scored five of the Yankee runs today--and on two occasions, he did both.

More importantly, he helped the Yankees stop their losing streak at three, and helped them go into their four game series with the best team in the league, the Angels, on a high note.

Joba Chamberlain pitched great (can we say 'as usual' yet?)--six innings, one earned run. Still not as economical with his pitches as the Yankees would like, but also still technically a quality start.

Breaking News

According to ESPN, and confirmed by YES, the Yankees have traded Kyle Farnsworth to Detroit for catcher Ivan Rodriguez.

Lesson learned: When Cashman says the Yankees are content with Molina and Moeller, don't take him at face value.

Joba On the Spot (Postgame Notes 25 July 2008)

While you were busy dissecting one of the biggest trades the Yankees have made in the past three years, you may have missed one of the most dramatic and well-pitched Yankee wins this season.

Oh, and it happened to bring the Yankees to within one game of the Red Sox, as well.

Joba Chamberlain pitched an absolute gem.

Seven innings, three hits, one walk, no runs and nine strike outs.

Any question as to whether or not he belongs in the rotation was moot before tonight's game; now the question of whether or not he can pitch against the game's best starters has been answered with a resounding yes.

Joba didn't just keep pace with Beckett; he out pitched him. He got some great defense in the second inning from Melky Cabrera and Robinson Canò, but for most of the game he simply shut the Boston line up down.

Josh Beckett wasn't bad either--he beared down when the Yankees got runners on base, and the only run scored in the game was scored because the Sox had been playing the shift on Jason Giambi.

Joba Chamberlain was just better.

Kyle Farnsworth didn't have a bad inning so much as he got unlucky. Bobby Abreu played too deep on Lowrie and Lowrie singled, and then made the mistake off trying to field a nubber that would have gone foul off of Cocoa Crisp.

Mariano was, simply, Mariano.

There isn't much to comment about offensively--the Yankees didn't hit with runners in scoring position (1 for 9), but that was more a reflection of Josh Beckett pitching than the Yankee offense.

If the Yankees do a similar thing tomorrow against Wakefield, then there should be some concern.

There will likely be something made of the high pitch Joba threw to Kevin Youkilis in the seventh, which hit his bat (as opposed to his head), but one has to remember that at the time the game was 1-0. The last thing Joba probably wanted to do was give Youkilis a free pass on the bases.

While winning one game doesn't mean that the Yankees will win the series, it is the best way to start.

More to come on the Nady/Marte trade, stay tuned.

Messing with the Johan (Postgame Notes 28 June 08)

What better way to follow two blowouts (one bad, one good) than with a 3-2 nailbiter?

Today's game was without question the marquee pitching match up of the series, with Andy Pettitte and Johan Santana as the starters, and one way or another, the game had added significance as there are many (this blogger not among them) that believed the Yankees missed a chance to acquire Santana in the off season.

For his part, Santana did not pitch all that poorly--in fact, he even struck out the side in the second--but he got burned by the Yankees capitalizing on walks, and an utter lack of capitalization from his own offense.

Andy Pettitte pitched like Andy Pettitte, getting himself into trouble, and then almost effortlessly working himself out of it. He had his trademark double play, as well as a game-changing pick off of Jose Reyes to end the fifth.

The Yankees' offense looked silly the first three innings, but were able to scratch out the three runs when the opportunities arose, which was more than enough support for their pitchers.

Kyle Farnsworth kept paramedics everywhere busy with fly outs that flirted with disaster--the second out of the inning, caught by Johnny Damon, was about a foot shy of being the tying home run--but pitched a 1-2-3 inning. Farnsworth is probably the King of Relieving Dangerously.

Jose Veras continues to pitch well, and is fast becoming the most reliable arm in the bullpen outside of Mariano Rivera.

Speaking of Mariano Rivera.

Today he threw twelve pitches--ten of them strikes.

On the season, he has 42 strikeouts, three walks.

That's a K/BB ratio of 14.

His ERA on the season is 0.74.

Somebody, please get this guy a Cy Young?



Darrel Rasner will take the mound tomorrow, looking to rebound from a poor start in Pittsburgh. From the You-didn't-really-need-to-know-that files: In the four game series the Yankees are playing this weekend, he, Johan Santana and Dan Giese were the only starting pitchers not to have a first or last name begin with the letter "P"

A Healthy Dose of Optimism

Don't look now, but there's a team that's just won nine of twelve games to move to four games over .500. In the past three games, they gave up a grand total of five runs while scoring 23 themselves. In the past six, they've given up 15 runs while scoring 34.

With the exception of one bad start in Oakland, the starting pitching has been exquisite--even going back to the last game of the Kansas City series, despite the Yankee loss.

Mike Mussina deserves a spot on the All Star team. Whether or not he gets it is, of course, up in the air, but if there's any Yankees' pitcher not named Mariano Rivera that deserves a spot this year, it's Mussina. He has been the Yankee stopper, on pace for twenty wins this season, which is all the more amazing when one considers that at the beginning of the season, most of the fan base (and even the experts) figured he'd be lucky to win ten games all year.

Joba Chamberlain's transition to starter has not been flawless, but he's improved significantly in each start, and in his next one, he will not have a pitch count limit. In his last start he allowed just one run over six innings while throwing 88 pitches--and hitting 97 MPH on his last pitch.

Andy Pettitte looked more like his old self in his most recent start, getting both the ground balls and the double plays, and Chien Ming Wang looks as though he has emerged from his pitcher's slump, though it may be a while before he makes his next start.

While Darrel Rasner faltered in his last start, it was most likely fatigue after having thrown 110+ pitches in his previous outing. With the exception of that start--one clunker in seven starts--he has given the Yankees a chance to win every time he steps on the mound.

The bullpen, too, has stepped it up a notch. Kyle Farnsworth recorded a save in the Yankees' 2-1 victory on Friday, and then pitched the eighth in Saturday's game, which, at the time the Yankees lead by only two runs. Jose Veras and Edwar Ramirez have been excellent; after pitching in five games out of six, Mariano Rivera has not pitched now in four games, so he should be available in the upcoming Padres and Reds series. Though he has given up a couple ninth inning home runs, he has not blown a save opportunity.


The offense, it seems, has finally figured out a way to score runs. Johnny Damon has been utterly on fire--currently hitting over .330, he is perhaps the Yankees' most valuable offensive player of the moment.

Derek Jeter's average isn't quite as high as he'd like, but his eighth inning home run on Friday illustrated why he has been dubbed Captain Clutch.

Alex Rodriguez has also been on fire since coming off of the disabled list; he's had two home runs in the past two games--a sign that he is utterly locked in--and, in other just-off-the-dl-news, Jorge Posada gives an added punch to the Yankee line up.

The rejuvination of Jason Giambi also continues--whether because of the 'stache or thong, though, is a question best left unanswered, and Hideki Matsui is still among the league leaders for batting average.

What does this all mean?

The Yankees have climbed to four games over .500, and while there's no guarantee, it feels like the Yankees have finally broken through the .500 barrier. There's still a while to go before they can catch Boston, but it's not quite time to worry about that just yet.

Currently, the Yankees are only 3.5 games back in the Wild Card--trailing only Oakland (from whom they just took two out of three) and Tampa Bay.

So while you're sitting there waiting for news on Wang, perhaps it will cheer you up to remember that these are the Yankees, and no season is ever over before July 4.

Moose-ic to the Yankees' Ears (Postgame Notes 14 June 2008)

In the last fourteen innings he has pitched, Mike Mussina has given up runs in just two of them.

While the two home runs total five earned runs, it also means that in his last fourteen innings, over two games, Mussina has pitched twelve shut out innings.

After last season, you would have been hard pressed to find any Yankee fan that expected Mussina to win ten games this season. If you were on the lookout for a fan who thought Mussina would win ten games before Father's Day, you would have probably spent an eternity waiting for Godot.

Yet, here we are, two hours before Father's Day, and Mike Mussina has ten wins--most of them not flukes, either.

If one subtracts the starts against Boston, Mussina's record would sit at 10-2, not that 10-4 is anything to be ashamed of, either. In fact, by having ten wins already, Mussina could theoretically win 20 games this year--something he has never done in his long career.

That the Yankees are averaging over four runs a game when Mussina starts doesn't hurt, either--and tonight they scored double that.

After Carlos Lee hit a three run home run for Houston in the bottom of the first to give Houston a 3-0 lead, things did not look all that encouraging--Houston starter Wandy Rodriguez entered the game with an ERA of 1.99 and no earned runs allowed in his last thirteen innings.

However, Alex Rodriguez, who lead off the top of the second, hit a solo home run (with a little help from a fan knocking Hunter Pence's glove out of the way), which Jason Giambi followed with a double and Melky Cabrera an RBI single.

In the next inning, Alex Rodriguez was intentionally walked for Giambi, who worked a two out walk to load the bases. Cabrera followed Giambi with a four-pitch walk of his own, to bring in the game's tying run and the Yankees never looked back.

Catcher Jose Molina followed with a two run single, and, in the later innings, the Yankees padded their lead with pinch hits from Robinson Canò (who this season is 2-3 as a pinch hitter with 2 RBI) and Wilson Betemit, whose two run double in the top of the ninth missed being a three run home run by inches.

The Yankees made it interesting when Ross Ohlendorf turned the game into a one run affair with the tying run at third base before getting out of the seventh and when they had Kyle Farnsworth pitch the eighth on back to back nights, but for once, the stars seem to be aligned in the Yankees' favor as they are now a season high three games over .500 (alas, since both Boston and Tampa won today, the Yankees did not pick up any ground in the division, but it's a little too early to be worrying about the pennant quite yet--six games in June is hardly out of reach).

It might be worth noting, that last year, the Yankees had their first extended winning streak of the season when they started interleague play--sweeping Pittsburgh and Arizona while on their way to winning nine in a row.

Maybe a little National League is all the Yankees need to get rolling.

Blast Off (Postgame Notes 13 June 2008)

When Kyle Farnsworth came in to pitch the ninth inning of a 2-1 baseball game on Friday the 13th, you could hear a collective groan from Yankees fans world wide.

Kyle Farnsworth, normally so ineffective during high leverage situations that he gets booed at Yankee Stadium, could not possibly handle the ninth inning of a one run game.

Right?

Not so fast. It took the help of a great throw to second from Jose Molina, but Kyle Farnsworth worked around a hit batsman to lead off the inning and recorded his first save since 2006.

Despite the miracle performance from Farnsworth, however, the real story of the game was Joba's third start.

Though Joba did not get the win--the game was tied at one when he left--it was easily the best of his three starts so far. He went six innings, gave up six hits, one (earned) run and while the walks were a little to high, he left with a pitch count of 88--7 of those pitches intentional balls--cutting way down on his pitches per inning. His last pitch, in the sixth inning hit 97 mph.

While there still might be some arguing that Joba should still be in the bullpen, if only for lack of other options, Joba is well on his way to proving he belongs in the rotation. Whether or not he can make it as a number one starter will take a few more seasons to know for sure, but the progress he has made in his three starts so far is remarkable.

Coming out of the bullpen, Jose Veras looked possibly the best he's ever looked at the major league level, and for the seventh and eighth innings, it looked like he got better with each pitch.

The Yankees were lucky the pitching was as good as it was, because, as has become common this season, there was not much offense. An RBI single from Alex Rodriguez in the first and a solo home run from Derek Jeter was all that the Yankees got.

However, for the first time since April, the Yankees are two games over .500, the high water mark of the season, and for that reason, as much as the pitching, tonight's win was one of the most satisfying of the season.

An Open Letter to the 2008 New York Yankees Bullpen (PG Notes)

Dear Bullpen--

I realize it's only April 19 (or 20th, depending on your time zone), but even so, you've been on quite a ride this year. For the most part, you've done what's been asked of you, something that wasn't done a whole lot last year, so, minus that one game in Tampa, thank you.

I realize the starting pitching has not been there. I would like to believe that, like the offense, it will eventually come around. I mean, it has to, right?

So I can't directly apologize for the poor starts from the staff, though growing pains might explain a little of it. However, I can say, that as a fan, I really do appreciate the job you're trying to do--the new and improved Brian Bruney, the 1-2-3's from Kyle Farnsworth (there's been at least one), Ross Ohlendorf and Billy Traber getting it done, LaTroy Hawkins giving it his all...and, of course, Joba and Mo--Really, the effort is not going ignored.

Trust me, I wish there was some magic spell I could do to get the Yankees to score with RISP or to get the staters to go more than five innings in a start. However, I got deferred from Hogwarts, so I'm afraid I can't be of much help other than to offer this encouragement.

Hold fast.

Rebecca

Same Ole, Same Ole (Postgame notes Exhibition Game Two)

Some notes from today's exhibition game:

1) It looks like there's going to be some competition for the first base spot, and if competition gets guys to produce, I'm all for it. Giambi had a great game, and looked good even on defense.

2)Jason Lane, a guy you might not have been aware of before today, hit to the hard half of the cycle, with a home run and a triple.

3) A-Rod and Posada each just missed their own home runs, and Bobby Abreu is already having a great spring. In fact, if you didn't know it was Abreu's walk year before, you'd probably recognize it now.

4) A bunch of notes pitching-wise:

--Andy Pettitte had an okay first (for him) and a great second. As per Andy Pettitte Start Regulations (tm), there was a double play and a pick-off.

--Steven White couldn't finish his two innings and did not look sharp at all. Four runs and five hit in 1 and 2/3 innings.

--Scott Patterson only pitched 1/3 innings but did his job.

--LaTroy Hawkins looked great, one inning no BBs, hits or runs.

--Kyle Farnsworth picked up where he left off, giving up a home run on his second pitch, but he settled down after that. It's only one inning for one game so it's too early to make any judgments; next few times out should tell us a lot more. However, John Sterling, Suzyn Waldmen and Michael Kay all have amazing timing.

--Sean Henn, (surprisingly) did not give up a run.

--Brian Bruney, despite looking much better conditioned, did not pitch well. Three hits, two runs and a walk in an inning of work. He and Farnsworth need to be able to pitch well for us to be able to start Joba as a starter, so there's some work to do there.

--Jose Veras looked great. I think he threw a grand total of six pitches, but I might be wrong on that.


5) I like the no extra innings in spring training.


6) That is the first TV I've watched since the episode of "House" after the Super Bowl. That was 5 February. Which means...I had gone 25 days without watching TV. And no, I did not watch the Oscars or any American Idol. My TV must have been mad at me; it randomly turned off in the middle of the game (and then turned back on again).