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.

"You Can't Predict Baseball"

A week ago, would you have believed me if I told you that on a trip to Seattle and Oakland, the Yankees would go 5-2, losing games started by Joba Chamberlain and AJ Burnett (to guys named Fister and, uh, Tomko) but winning games started by Chad Gaudin and Sergio Mitre?

Crazy, huh?

This is the beauty of baseball--more than perhaps any other sport, the unexpected can and does occur.

And, of course, this is exactly what happened.

The West Coast Swing has long been a dread of Yankee fans--and no eastern time zone fan enjoys that the Yankees will return yet again in late September--but this time the Yankees did quite all right out there.

Once again, the Yankees won their games in a variety of ways, blowouts and one-run games, and with the exception of Seattle's one clunker, the pitching kept pitching like it belonged on a playoff team.


That said, there are a couple of concerns:

Alfredo Aceves cannot possibly be healthy. I refuse to believe it. His number since his spot start in Minnesota have not been Ace-like.

Phil Hughes isn't pitching very often. I'm not sure why. I want to trust that the Yankees know what they are doing, but if the long term goal is for him to be a starter, it would be nice to have more than, say, 6.2 innings in the entire month of August.

Alex Rodriguez has kinda sorta stopped doing that home run thing. It's a good thing his average is on the rise, but I think we'd notice his relative power outage a bit more if it wasn't for the amazing seasons Jeter, Damon, Teixeira and Canó are having.

Jorge Posada looks like he could benefit from a week off at the plate. Of course, every time I say that he goes and rips an RBI double so what do I know...



These are all minor concerns; things to think about not necessarily as something wrong, but something to cause you to keep your eyes open.

At any rate, the Yankees are more than 30 games over .500. Life is good.

Looking at the Yankees on an Off Day

The past two weeks have been not so much a Tale of Two Teams as it has a Tale of Two Offenses.

Both weeks the Yankees pitched decently--certainly well enough that they could have won nearly every game they played--but in the first week of interleague, the team was undone by their offense. Fortunately, the offense seem to have gotten back on track, and the Yankees have, accordingly, won accordingly--now five straight. Remember, a win is a win, even if it's against the not-as-good-as-they-should-be Braves or the hapless Mets.

The Starting Pitching

CC Sabathia: Biceps tendinitis be damned. To be serious, the Yankees made the right move in removing him in the game against the Marlins--he is too important of an investment to take any chance, but his pitching performance against the Mets, no doubt aided by the Mets' AAA line up (the degree to which it was aided is left to your opinion) removed any doubt as to whether or not Sabathia would have any lasting effects.


AJ Burnett: Pitched just good enough to lose in Florida (Josh Johnson is that good) and then pitched a gem against the Mets. The funny thing is, despite the seven one-hit innings, there were a fair bit of three-ball counts, and one has to imagine against a different line up the results may not have been quite so mesmerizing. Still, he trusted his stuff, and has pitched exactly as you would wish a #2 to pitch since his Boston start. In two starts against the Mets this year, the Mets couldn't score a single run.


Joba Chamberlain: He should have won the start against the Nationals--three runs over six innings gives your team a chance to win--but got absolutley nothing from the Yankee offense except wasted scoring opportunities. In a case of "what a difference offensive support makes", he gave up the same number of runs in only a third more innings pitched in Atlanta, but after Francisco Cervelli hit his first major league home run, the Yankee offense was sparked, and the Yanks' won the game easily, 8-4. So over his last two starts, Joba has not quite been an ace, but he's not exactly been bad or just okay. In other words--he doesn't belong in the bullpen. Not when he's the third-best starter in the rotation.


Andy Pettitte: Probably a two-week period he'd like to forget--he did win two of the three games he started (losing to the Mets), but only one of those wins, a 5-1 score against the Marlins where he had an RBI double (the Yankees pitchers did themselves well in interleague), was a decent start. Against the Braves he was staked to an 8-1 lead, but a couple defensive misplays later the score was 8-6 and he didn't get out of the fourth inning. The optimism for the Yankees and their fans is that Pettitte is historically a second-half pitcher; if he's healthy the better pitching appearances should be coming. At any rate, wins are wins, and Pettitte did have two of them.


Chien Ming Wang: Well, first of all, congratulations to him on the birth of his son, Justin Jesse (JJ). He hasn't necessarily pitched well, but he did get his first win last night, having been just that little extra better than he was against Washington and in Atlanta. The problem here is that it will be too easy to be convinced that Wang is returning close to form--he hasn't, yet. The first win of the season came against what is arguably one of the worst line ups in the league. Wang's next scheduled start, against Toronto (and hopefully not against Halladay) will be a lot more telling.



The Offense

The past two weeks have been a tale of two teams: in the first no such offense existed, and in the second it acted as though it hasn't missed a beat all season.

Derek Jeter: To sideline him it's gotta be bad; as such that flu he had had to be pretty horrible. Still, with a lead off double last night, one has to think he's made a nice recovery. He still continues to play some of his best defense of his recent career. Happy Belated 35th Birthday.

Johnny Damon: Another flu victim, he was well enough to participate in a double switch last night. He's playing on a bad calf and could probably benefit from the recent days off he's gotten, especially when the Yanks have to play on turf in Toronto.

Mark Teixeira: Also admitted to not feeling so well. He has cooled off of late, but he did have a 2-RBI double last night, and the strikeout against K-Rod in the ninth wasn't so much a strikeout as it was the umpire deciding he wanted to go home (and that late on a Sunday night, who can blame him). As A-Rod gets hot (yet again), Teixeira will get more pitches to hit, and there he will excel. Despite the cooling off, Teixeira continues to play gold glove defense at first and hustle around the bases. Of all the Yankees' problems right now, he's the least of them.

Alex Rodriguez: Finally, finally, finally seems to be hitting as much for average as for power. The two days off seem to have done him much good, which should be a warning sign to the Yankees training staff. He NEEDS regular time off on a bum hit, even if he won't admit he needs it. Still, an A-Rod that's hitting well gives the Yankee lineup a whole 'nother dimension. The past three games, it should be noted, Rodriguez has played some of his best defense of his Yankee career.

Robinson Canó: Don't be fooled by his team-leading average. He also leads the team in DPs and with his low .OBP, there is a legitimate question as to what he's doing batting fifth. Of course, now that the Yankees return to the AL, they can hit Posada fifth and Matsui sixth if they'd so choose, and Canó has shown that he hits better lower down in the line up. Still, he's frustrating to watch--he can hit the hell out of the ball and he is working better counts this year than he was last, but you just get the feeling that a player of his talent should be better than he's been.

Jorge Posada Went into Saturday's game hitting .219 in June...and then promptly hit a three run home run. Still, the more important thing here may be that he and CC and he and Burnett seem to have figured something out, and that makes the Yanks' pitchers that much more dangerous. You would like to see Posada pick up the pace with his bat, but then again, without his bloop single last night, Rivera never gets a chance to bat!

Nick Swisher: An absolutely torrid June. As always, he can make a fan crack up--on Saturday's postgame report Kim Jones asked him about the home run he hit, but Swisher thought she was asking about the ball he hit that would have likely been a home run in any other park. He's continued to work 3-2 counts, which, yes, includes striking out, and he takes awful roots to baseballs--which leads him to make some spectacular catches.

Melky Cabrera: Hasn't really been right since banging his shoulder, and word has it he was also struck by the flu. Still, given the patterns of 2008, with the hot start and awful rest of the year, one needs to keep an eye on Cabrera. He, and Gardner, too, are best when the everyday starting position is not assured. One commenter on River Ave Blues made the comment that the most interesting battle this season is Good Melky vs. Bad Melky.

Brett Gardner: Had more hits in one game (5) than the Mets had in the first two games of the series as a team. Hasn't had a hit since, as the revenge of the law of averages takes hold. Still, Gardner has been playing his best baseball of his Yankee career, approaching a reincarnation of Homer Bush eleven years later.

Hideki Matsui: Think he misses the AL?

Francisco Cervelli: His home run in Atlanta seemed to be the thing the Yankees needed to turn the team around. Still has that same glint in his eye, but he must be getting a bit depressed--as Jose Molina nears recovery, Cervelli's days in the majors are likely numbered (for now).

Ramiro Peña: If three doubles in two days doesn't say "dude, I want to play more often," I'm not sure what does.

Cody Ransom: Biggest contribution to the team thus far may be giving Mariano Rivera his batting gear so Rivera could earn his first career RBI. He did have an RBI double in Atlanta, however.

Angel Berroa: So long, farewell, we barely knew yah!


The Bullpen

The bullpen, for the most part, seems to have happened on something of a roll. They still give up an occasional home run, but it's no longer been the utter liability that it was in the earlier part of the season. Is Phil Hughes the reason for this?

Only the baseball g-ds shall know.


Brett Tomko: Had a horrible appearance against the Mets and wasn't very good against the Marlins, either. He was much better against the Mets, but Citifield is very good at holding bombs in the park. He's kind of like Kyle Farnsworth, except you'd take Farnsworth in a fight.

David Robertson: Same old, same old. Strikes out a ton but walks too many to be trusted in a really tight spot. Still, when the other options at one point were Albaladejo, Ramirez and Veras, it's easy to understand why the Yanks would be so high on Robertson.

Phil Coke: Is back to an 'on-again' period. Still, I think the best part about watching him pitch is watching the postgame interviews that invariably follow.

Phil Hughes: Has been untouchable out of the bullpen. Honestly, if the Yankees were to keep one of Hughes/Chamberlain in the bullpen (and I don't think they should...yet...), Hughes to me has been utterly filthy, and unlike Joba's bullpen appearances, he hasn't struggled in multi-inning stints. It has completely changed the complexion of the bullpen, and in turn has addressed one of the Yanks' most glaring weaknesses.

Alfredo Aceves Despite my high praise of Hughes, Aceves still gets my vote for team MVP. He continues to come in during nearly every possible situation and not only finds a way to get the job done, but finds a way to earn the win as well. Finding him may be the best thing the Yankees have done in the past two years. Or, if it's not the best, it certainly has to rank highly, especially when one considers the price.

Brian Bruney Has not looked sharp since coming back from his second DL stint, again struggling with control. Velocity will come as he pitches more, but he got the 8th inning job because he was throwing strikes. He needs to return to that form, or else the Yanks will have no end in site to the 8th-inning question.

Mariano Rivera So good that he gets his first career RBI and his 500th career save on the same night, and then addresses the entire thing with the understated class that has been the hallmark of his career. We can only wish him more success.

Looking at the Yankees on an Off Day

Once again, the semi-regular look athow the Yankees have performed thus far this season on an off day...


Starting Pitching

The starting pitching, which had gone through most of the month of May on an absolute roll, has struggled something of late. Part of the problem, it seems, has been placing Wang back into the rotation even though he is clearly not ready for it. I'm not sure if there's something contagious there, but it seems to go back to that old saying, if it ain't broke don't fix it, and CC-Phil-Joba-AJ-Andy was, if not perfect, certainly not the broken that CC-Joba-Andy-AJ-Wang has been.

CC Sabathia--Continues to be the one starter worth the $$ we signed him for; it's true he did not win his last two starts, but he should have won the start in Boston, going into the eighth inning having only given up one run, certainly a quality start. He, like some other Yankees, seems to be performing better on the road, but given how few teams have winning records on the road, the Yankees will take it.

Joba Chamberlain--The lack of command in his last two starts is more concerning than anything else. For some reason, in his last start, he could get to strike two but found it nearly impossible to get to strike three. Whether this is psychological or has a deeper root, we don't know yet, and that's disconcerting. He should get a start against the Nats if I'm remembering correctly; if that doesn't help him then the Yankees will have a serious issue with which to contend.

Andy Pettitte--Of late, he has not looked all that good. True, or the most part he's giving the Yankees a chance to win every game, but at times it seems like a miracle. I'm not sure anyone really thinks he's 100% healthy, but it's a credit to him to try to tough it out--he always has. He has, throughout his career, been a second-half pitcher, so we will see what happens here.

AJ Burnett--Night and day between Fenway and the Mets. It was nice to see him rebound as he did, especially when he got out of the bases-loaded, no-out jam without giving up a run. This could be a real turning point for him in this season, and if he can give the Yankees what they signed him for, even if only starting now, it will be well worth it indeed.

Chien Ming Wang--No one wants to give up on him, but the Yankees can't wait around too much longer. Simply put, he hasn't been effective enough to remain in the rotation when other options are readily available--and the Yankees' #1 option to replace Wang won't cost a thing.

Bullpen

Usually, I'd include the bullpen after the offense, but I think that right now the bullpen and starting pitching are so inextricably linked that it would be foolish not to include one right after the other.

The bullpen, of late, has taken a beating because the starting pitching hasn't allowed them a rest. Burnett's performance yesterday, along with the off day today, could not have come at a better time. Also, rumor has it that Brian Bruney will be activated on Tuesday--and, again, that could not have come at a better time.

Phil Hughes He's excelled in the bullpen, which is a slight problem because if we've seen what the Joba-to-the-pen debate has done, who knows what the Phil-to-the-pen debate could do. Anyway, he's been critical for the 'pen of late, but unlike David Cone, I'm of the belief that he will continue to do more good for the Yankees--not to mention for his own development--if he remains in the rotation.

Phil Coke Still has his moments. Sometimes, he's so automatic to make you wonder why he's not the 8th inning guy, but then, at a rate a little less than Farnsworth but still too much for total comfort, he'll loose it. He's one of the 'pen's better relievers, but he's still got a ways to go. Still, if you ever get a chance, llisten to his postgame interviews. He is a natural.

Alfredo Aceves Continues to be Ace, for the most part. Didn't get the job done in the Boston game that Sabathia started, but in his defense, without his services the Yankees might not be a .500 team right now. Okay, so it's probably not that drastic, but in terms of team MVPs...don't just look at the Yankees' record since A-Rod came back; look at the team record since Aceves was brought up from AAA.

David Robertson The same as he's been for about a season and a half: unhittable when he throws strikes. Unwatchable when he does not.

Brett Tomko Sometimes, he's thrown a couple critical scoreless innings for the team. Sometimes, like on Friday, he takes a bad situation and makes it worse. Still, right now most Yankee fans would trust him a heck of a lot more than...

Jose Veras, who has seemingly been relegated to mop up duty. My friend Brent brings up a very interesting point: part of Veras' lack of control may stem from the fact that when he pitches and when he finishes his delivery, his head is not looking at the target. Isn't that the type of thing you learn about before you make the Majors?

Mariano Rivera Like we learned last year, there's something about tie games that makes Mo not Mo. An ERA under 2 in save situations and near in non-save situations--it'd be funny if it didn't mean so much to the team. Even Mo is baffled.


The Offense

Just when you think the offense has lost it, they come out popping for fifteen runs, and not on fifteen solo home runs, either. It seems like some guys are hitting and others are slumping always, but what's making this work is that the slumping and hitting guys keep switchin--teammates picking each other up when need be.

Derek Jeter Has been slumping a bit at the plate, but was 4-4 yesterday, so he may be coming out of it. More crucial, however, is Jeter's better play in the field. One source (I can't remember which) suggested that it was him playing deeper, so though his range may not have improved much, he is giving himself more time to get to balls. It's working.

Johnny Damon With the exception of yesterday when, well, no one was struggling, he's been slumping and there may be a physical reason for it, as he was worried about feeling some after effects of a concussion. The Yankees seem to be playing it down, but I'm curious to see if anything develops.

Mark Teixeira After his April, did anyone think he'd be leading the AL in home runs? You did? Really? Prove it. At this rate, he seems almost golden for at least one HR every series. Imagine if it becomes one HR every game.

Alex Rodriguez He should have been the last out on Friday, and instead is an inadvertent hero (okay, Luis Castillo was the real hero there). Yesterday he narrowly, and I mean narrowly, avoids hitting into a triple play. His one HR came against the Mets in the game the Yankees lost. Everyone's still waiting for him to take off, because if he doesn't, Teixeira may stop getting so many pitches to hit. To his credit though, Rodriguez hasn't forgotten how to work the walk.

Robinson Canó The problem with Canó hitting fifth is that while he can hit the heck out of the ball, his OBP is driven almost entirely by batting average, and not walks. It's true, he's been taking more pitches, but there are still too many pitches he hits as weak grounders, and not enough line drives, to really provide much protection for A-Rod.

Jorge Posada Has turned into something of a controversial player with his reported relationships with certain pitchers, but he's still hitting the ball pretty well since coming off of the disabled list. Truth be told, Posada's not had a career this long because of his defense....

Hideki Matsui It appears that all the Yankees have to do is tell Matsui that it's his birthday, and boom, Godzilla is unstoppable.

Nick Swisher Appears to be doing the every other month thing: a torrid April, tepid May, and heating up in June to the point that we're all just waiting for his next relief pitching appearance. Yesterday, while making a catch that helped (okay, maybe just a little) to distract from his disastrous defensive and baserunning miscues in Boston, Swisher knocked the Mets sign off of the scoreboard out in right, and in typical Swisher fashion, attempted to fix it. A little.

Melky Cabrera Has cooled down considerably of late, but he is still working counts much better than at any time last year, which suggests that the present slump probably won't last too long. If you haven't yet, check out Melky's splits, including his average in 'close and late' situations this season.

Francisco Cervelli Whatever the Yankees thought they were going to get out of their third string catcher, I don't think it was this. For example, without two of his three hits yesterday, one that was a bloop off the end of the bat, and the other relied on his hustle to get down to first base before Santana, the Yankees might not have won that game. He continues to do all the little things right, the pitchers rave about him, he's always beaming in the post-game interviews...he might not be Albert Pujols with the bat, but he's earning his pinstripes in the best way.

Brett Gardner The tendency with Gardner is that he tends to have his best games when inserted as a sub or otherwise not starting regularly. With Melky Cabrera playing as well as he is, the Yankees can afford to do that. The only issue here is Gardner not stealing when it's clear that if the Yankees put him in as a pinch runner, they do so for one reason: so he can steal a base.

Ramiro Peña His bat could still benefit from everyday play in the minors, but keeping him up here has been invaluable for pinch running and late inning infield defense.

Angel Berroa *insert age joke here* Likely to lose his spot upon the return of Xavier Nady, but since no date has been set for that, he's got himself some more time to spend most of the game sitting on the bench.




Xavier Nady, Jose Molina and Dámaso Marte have not appeared in a Major League game since the last off day

Looking at the Yankees on an Off Day

The Yankees have not only picked up the pace in the last few weeks; they've moved into a tie for first in the AL East.

Let's take a look at how they got there.

Starting Pitching

This has probably been the greatest improvement. The Yankees are 12-4 in their last sixteen games; in only two of the losses did they allow more than five runs. In six games, the opposition has been held to two runs or less and in 12 games the opposition has been held to four runs or less.

It's a far cry from the 15-5 and 22-4 blowouts of April.

Let's take a closer look.

• CC Sabathia: Has turned it on. He lost his last start, to Philadelphia, but this has more to do with Hamels pitching well than him pitching poorly. He beat Baltimore and Toronto, allowing a grand total of three runs in those games, and perhaps most importantly, win or loose he always seems good to throw eight innings, which helps to save a really taxed bullpen.

• Phil Hughes: Has decided he really wants to stay in the rotation, apparently. he had a couple rough starts, but got better and in his last start against Texas was fantastic. With the exception of the one start in Baltimore where everything came undone in the second, the most notable accomplishment for him has been the way he's bent, but not broken, with men on base. last season all of those men score. This season they don't. Phil's growing up.

• Joba Chamberlain: Seems to have figured out the first inning woes by throwing a simulated inning before the start of the game, but needs to work on efficiency. Not sure if Joba's last start was a result of his poor numbers against Texas or some leftover weakness from getting hit in the leg with a line drive; probably a combination of both. I am wholeheartedly against moving him to the bullpen since i think it would kill his arm, but he does need to become more efficient.

• AJ Burnett: Had a couple tough luck outings, with a loss against Halladay and then a no decision against Minnesota; gave up absolute bombs to Philadelphia, but yesterday, thank your deity(ies), was very good against the Rangers. 118 pitches in six innings is too many; but six shutout innings a team will take every time.

• Andy Pettitte: He's been Andy Pettitte-ish. He'll give up hits and occasional runs, but somehow, as if by magic, always keeps the team in the game. He's been perfectly cast as the team's fifth starter; not quite his role in Yankee teams of yesteryear, but he's doing exactly as the Yankees needed him to do, and he's still historically a better second half pitcher.

• Chien Ming Wang: Now pitching out of the bullpen despite not being a bullpen arm. The trouble is, if Hughes keeps pitching well Girardi will be in no hurry to remove him from the rotation. It's an odd problem to have: too much starting pitching and not enough bullpen.

The Offense

Let's see here.

Since the last off day, the Yankees have scored at least three runs every game but one--and that was Halladay's start. In their wins, the Yankees have scored five or more runs ten times.

Even while missing Nady and Posada, and for most intents and purposes, Swisher, the offense is working like a $200 million team.

• Derek Jeter: Seems to have slowed his decline just enough. He's never hit for a whole ton of power, but seems much improved in that department over last season. He's still, perhaps, not entirely suited for the lead off role, but it's drastially reducing the team's GIDP that makes it all worthwhile.

• Johnny Damon: Has cooled off a little bit, but since he had basically been carrying the team for a while now, he's allowed. The right porch at the Stadium suits him perfectly and has turned him into a legitimate power threat at home.

• Mark Teixeira: There aren't really words to describe how awesome he's been since A-Rod has come back and, well, offered him protection in the line up. He's got twelve home runs already in May and is now in the league lead in that department. We knew he'd heat up in May with the warmer weather...but I'm not sure anyone expected this.

• Alex Rodriguez: Still has more home runs than singles and the scary thing (for other teams) is that his timing, while better, is still not all the way there. Now, if he had some serious protection in the line up--Matsui and Canó can be too streaky--there is no limit to the damage he could do.

• Robinson Canó: Was insanely hot, then cooled off, and now is pretty warm again. He is night and day with himself last year, and the Yanks are probably pretty happy they got the 'day' version this year.

• Melky Cabrera: Already has three walk off hits this season. It's not just that he's taking better ABs (and he is), it's that he's making them count. The shoulder injury looked painful on TV, but if what we're hearing is right than the injury should not be too devastating. At the very least, nothing is broken or dislocated and small mercies though they be, they still count.

• Nick Swisher: has cooled off something awful. He needs a day off (or three), but until Nady is back and with Melky hurt it won't happen any time soon. He's still managed to keep a very good attitude about the whole thing, but you can see he's pressing. Every hitter slumps; it's not the slump that matters so much as whether or not you can get yourself out of it.

• Hideki Matsui: Had also been slumping awful and then he hit two home runs last night Maybe the change of scenery was what he needed; at any rate, he needs a few more games before we can call the slump over.

• Brett Gardner: Seems to have his bwest games when coming in off the bench for someone that's been injured or tossed. Melky's getting the better swings; but Gardner doesn't look as lost as he did earlier in the season. Plenty of players--ie, Miguel Cairo--have fashioned lengthy careers off the bench.

• Ramiro Peña: Also been slumping, but the difference is he was never supposed to hit in the first place. His defense makes up for it, though. So the Yankees will take it.

• Francisco Cervelli: I thought this kid was a Mendoza line hitter at AA? He's still got virtually no power, but the fact that he's not an automatic out--and, in fact, has come up big in a few clutch situations--is not really going to upset anyone, either. He continues to do all the little things right and now there's debate if the Yannkees should keep him or Molina on the roster when Molina comes back.

• Kevin Cash: Has likely seen his last game action, which is okay, because he was pretty painful to watch with the bat.

• Angel Berroa: Who?
  

• Jorge Posada, José Molina and Xavier Nady have not played since the last off day.

The Bullpen

Oh, that bullpen. It's been better, but better does not necessarily mean good.

• José Veras: I loved him last year I do not love him this year. i don't know where that control went but it doesn't look like it's going to come back.

• Phil Coke: He's been okay. If you can find it, his postgame comments after his first (and probably only) career save are well worth a listen. It's hard not to like a pitcher who is so candid with the media, but asking the 8th inning of him may be a little too much.

• Alfredo Aceves: Alfredo Mendoza. Seriously, there's nothing else to say. Dude is great. Not perfect, but the best Mendoza-like guy we've hand in ates. If only Girardi would stop trying to proctor him...

• Brett Tomko: Has been kind of what we expected. Okay in low leverage situations; hold your breath in a tie game.

• Mariano Rivera: Between the walk offs and the blow outs he's not gotten a whole lot of pitching opportunities. Still, having seemed to have overcome his dead arm, Mo's the most reliable thing the Yankees have outside of, well anything. For what it's worth, it's Mo that's done and told AJ to "get the pie ready" during the walk offs, and Mo that sat as judge during the kangaroo court.

The Yankees are 3-3 in their last six but 12-4 in their last 16. The most impressive thing here is that they've followed each loss with a win, as if to say that they can't wait for their next nine game winning streak.

Looking at the Yankees on an Off Day

Now that the season is over a month old, there are some judgments that can be made. Although it's too early to know for sure what will hold out and what won't, there are some general trends:

• Whatever the team's problem, it's not the offense.
• The starting pitching can show flashes of brilliance, but has mostly been pretty average.
• The bullpen has two reliable pitchers and the rest are firestarters.

Let's take a more in-depth look, shall we?

The Starting Pitching

Joba strikes out 12. CC pitches a four-hit complete game. Yankee pitching of late has shown flashes of brilliance. Yet, for ever four hit complete game shutout, there's a pitcher that can't get out of the second inning.

The starting pitching was supposed to be the Yankees' strong suit, but it's been mediocre for the most part. While CC looks like all it took was a flip of the calendar page, others in the rotation look decidedly human.

• CC Sabathia: Yankee fans hope the four-hit complete game shut out of the Orioles is a sign of better things to come. That stopper performance is what the Yankees paid to get. Don't pay too much attention to CC's record here; the bullpen has been more than responsible for keeping CC from some more wins.

• AJ Burnett: Started off as the Yankees' stopper, but has faltered a bit since then. The match up on Tuesday against Halladay should be telling. His ERA is skewed because of the eight runs allowed in the one Boston start; other than that he's allowed, going backwards 3, 4, 3, 2 and 2--certainly enough to give his team a chance to win. The Yankees are 4-2 in his starts.

• Andy Pettitte: The Yankees are 4-2 in his starts as well, but his ER total has gone up: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 5. Not entirely surprisingly, the Yanks are 1-2 in his last three starts. Granted, Pettitte is supposed to be the fifth starter, so the Yanks aren't quite looking for utter domination here, but the rising ER totals are not a trend the Yankees would like to see continue.

• Joba Chamberlain: Opponents hit .480 off of him in the first inning, but after that, they're lucky if they reach base. The Yanks are only 3-3 in his starts, but this may perhaps be more the fault of a lack of run support (and, uh, that bullpen) than it is Joba's--he has not allowed more than five runs in a game, and when he did, the Yankees won that game. In the future, he'll probably be the pitcher more like the pitcher that pitched innings two through six against Boston as opposed to the first inning.

• Phil Hughes: Holy small sample size, Batman! Phil Hughes has looked progressively worse each start. It's only three starts, so you can't make much of it, but it's probably not much of a coincidence that Chien Ming Wang will make a rehab start for Scranton tomorrow.

• Chien Ming Wang: Told you it was the foot.

The Starting Line Up

The offense has been working quite nicely here. They've been held to less than four runs no more than five times over the course of nearly thirty games and have not yet been shut out. What's interesting here, though, is while guys like Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira are struggling, others such as Johnny Damon and Melky Cabrera have picked up the slack.

• Derek Jeter: Only hitting in the .270s, and this is a little concerning. His OBP is helped by his walks, but his OPS is nearly a hundred points lower than his career average. It's still early in the season, and Jeter struggled early last year, but it's getting to a point where Jeter's offense can no longer mask his not-very-good defense. If this was anyone else, you'd probably see a team trying to trade him while he still has residual value, but this is Derek Jeter. And you don't trade Derek Jeter.

• Johnny Damon: En Fuego. Not only does this guy have a hitting streak, but he has an extra base hit in seven straight games. Yesterday, it won the Yankees the game. Yes, there's a caveat that it's a contract year and he's playing for a contract, but if it helps the Yankees win, how much of a caveat can it be? I'm not sure we'll see 40 home runs from him, but whatever he's eating for breakfast, it's working.
  

• Mark Teixeira: Struggling as all struggling has ever struggled before. Hovering around the Mendoza line is not how he wanted to start out in pinstripes, but perhaps he's beginning to come out of it. The double in the rain to tie the game against Tampa would have been a seminal moment had the Yankees found a way to win the game.

• Alex Rodriguez: One pitch, one home run, and Alex Rodriguez has more home runs than David Ortiz, who did not miss the first 28 games of the season. Alex only has one other hit and has swung at a bunch of pitches out of the strike zone, but no matter how much you rehab, there's nothing quite the same as facing ML starters who have already had a few weeks in real game situations to practice. He might not run well, but he should hit just fine once he's had a few more games.

• Hideki Matsui: Was the Yankees' hottest hitter while A-Rod was still rehabbing. He's cooled down some, but he no longer looks awkward and lost like he did at the beginning of the season. Godzilla's always been fairly streaky; when he's right and protecting Teixeira and A-Rod, there should be some interesting offensive games.

• Nick Swisher: Doesn't like hitting at the New Yankee Stadium. His numbers overall have come way down, more in line with his career numbers as opposed to deity-like. He still seems to work the count every at bat, and guess what? On this team, working the count seems to be contangious. And as long as he keeps being a bon vivant, campaigns such as VoteSwisher.com will continue to have an actual shot at working.

• Robinson Canó: Has cooled off after a torrid April. As per most of his career thus far, he's hitting much better on the road than at home, which may partly be why the Yankees don't seem to have much luck at the new Stadium. Still, if your number 7 hitter hits .300 or better for the most part of the season, you can't find too much to complain about.

• Melky Cabrera: It's too early to call this a breakout season, but it seems to be how this is shaping up. Melky was given a second chance when Gardner couldn't, well, hack it, and he's taken every advantage. It's a small sample size galore thing here, but if he keeps taking pitches like he's taking, the likelihood he'll regress will grow slimmer and slimmer.

• Francisco Cervelli: He's not in there for his bat, and yet, if he doesn't beat out an infield hit yesterday, the Yankees don't win that game. Every time he's interviewed in the clubhouse, he is positively beaming. If only he hadn't missed so much of last season with that wrist injury...

• José Molina: Has a grand slam. Which is cool. And a strained quad. Which is not.

• Jorge Posada: Never injured before the big, bad contract of doom, and now injured twice in two years. At least this is his hamstring and not his shoulder, so he should not be gone for too long. When the Yanks get his bat back, with A-Rod, it's going to be one heck of a line up.

• Brett Gardner: Seems to have gone MIA except for late inning defense. That's what happens when you are given a chance and you can't take advantage. It's also why spring training stats mean nothing.

• Ramiro Peña: Was good enough as a fill in for A-Rod to still be on the ML roster. Didn't hit much but wasn't necessarily an automatic out, and played doable defense. Wouldn't be surprised to see him spell A-Rod or perhaps even Jeter every once in a while.

• Angel Berroa: He's on the Yankees? Since when?

• Xavier Nady: Will attempt some light throwing to see if he can start rehab or if he will need a second Tommy John surgery. The injury didn't seem like a big blow to the Yankees at the time, but depth is only nice when you don't have to use it.

• Kevin Cash: Has yet to make appearance as a Yankee.

The Blow Bullpen

Somehow, someone in the bullpen thought it was a good idea to watch footage of the 2008 Mets and try to emulate them as best as possible. Mariano Rivera and Phil Coke decided that wasn't for them, but they haven't been spotless, either.

• Mariano Rivera: Gave up back to back HRs for the first time in his career to Tampa Bay. He's not injured, apparently, since his command's okay, but his velocity's a bit down. This is probably a repercussion of the shoulder surgery and he should be okay, but it doesn't help that he was, well, so darned good last year.

• Phil Coke: The only other reliable reliever. He's not flashy and he struggled in the beginning of the year, but he has calmed down a lot since then and (generally) gets the job done. In the absence of Bruney, the 8th inning is his.

• Jonathan Albaledejo: Occasionally pitches a bunch of scoreless innings, and occasionally gets tagged. Flip a coin; that's basically what it comes down to.

• Edwar Ramirez: See above.

• José Veras: Last year's seventh inning guy has utterly no command this year. Aside from one good performance against Oakland, has shown absolutley nothing to suggest he can get batters out. What's even more frustrating is that he's out of options, so the Yankees are basically stuck.

• Dámaso Marte: Why did the Yanks wait so long before DLing him? Such things continue to blow my mind.

• David Robertson: Good when throwing strikes. Doesn't always throw them, however.

• Mark Melancon: Needs more time at AAA, believe it or not. Kid's still young and coming off of TJ surgery. He'll be fine, but just not yet. Right now, it's about building the confidence so he's not afraid to throw strikes.

• Brett Tomko: Heard the debut didn't go so well, but was dealing with an awful migraine at the time so I missed it.

• Alfredo Aceves: the Mexican Gangsta may yet save the bullpen. The reason he didn't pitch in Hughes' debacle was because the Yanks weren't sure if Joba could start. Since Joba could and did start, Aceves should be raring to go the next time a starter fails.

• Bruney, Bruney, o where art thou Brian Bruney?
  

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.

Off Day Notes

What's this, a day without baseball? Whatever are we to do with ourselves?

Well, don't worry--the Yankees might not be playing, but there's plenty of baseball elsewhere, not to mention hockey and basketball playoffs if that's your thing, or, if it's as gorgeous outside as it is in Syracuse right now, go on outside and throw a Frisbee around. Days like this don't come around often enough.


That said, this is the only off day the Yankees have for another thirteen or so, so it might be a good time to take stock of what the season has shown so far. There are a couple of things that everyone should have noticed by now:

1) The starting pitching has been healthy and...uh, outside of Chien Ming Wang and Andy Pettitte, not very good. Granted, I'm not sure anyone expected that every start from Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy would have gone six innings, and I'm not sure anyone expected anything significant from Mussina, but there's only so long the inability to get to the sixth inning really hurts the bullpen and the team. Phil Hughes looks like he's getting on the right track, his most recent start better than the first two, but he still has to mind the pitch count. It looks like Ian Kennedy will need to make some mental adjustments, and Moose...well, he's Moose.

1a) Outside of his most recent start, Chien Ming Wang has been excellent. Maybe he's not an Ace, but without him, we'd be 7-13 at best right now.

1b) Andy Pettitte has improved with each start to the point that yesterday he was perfect through 4.2 innings. He is showing why he's been worth every penny of the $16 million.


2) The offense has had a couple of good games, but needs to step it up, especially with runners in scoring position. Right now we're getting more production out of the eight and nine spot (Melky and Molina/Moeller) than we are out of six and seven (Giambi and Canò).

2a) As Damon goes, so goes the offense, and Damon has been struggling. He's shown a few signs of life so one hopes that he'll be able to pick it up, but we can't wait forever.

2b) Jason Giambi has been so bad that he makes albatrosses look like swans. Check out this post from Replacement Level to see just how bad it's gotten.

2c) Guys whose first or last name begins with "M" have been hot. I'm looking at Hideki Matsui, Melky Cabrera, Jose Molina, Chad Moeller, and to some extent, Morgan Ensberg. They have been carrying the offense this far.

2c1) It's not likely that Moeller will continue to produce at the level he's been producing at, but one hopes the Yankees ride it all the way through.

2d) Derek Jeter has been on fire since coming off of the DL, and A-Rod has regressed to "superhuman" as opposed to the "immortal G-d" he was last year.


3) The bullpen has, for the most part, done an excellent job. They've been over used, especially Ross Ohlendorf, but with the exception of the one game in Tampa where Canò had to pinch-hit homer for the Yankees to win, they have done what's been asked of them.

3a) It might be too much to hope that Brian Bruney has changed, but it's a strange feeling of not panicking that comes over me when he comes into the game.

3b) Same with Kyle.

4) It's much too soon to come to a decision on Joe Girardi as manager. Given the awful weather the first two weeks, the spate of injuries and the lack of sufficient pitching and offense, Girardi should be given some credit for the fact that the Yankees are 10-10 right now. He's had some questionable in-game calls, but so has every other manager.

Some Off Day Notes

I am about to head home for Yom Kippur...it's a four hour drive to my corner of New Jersey from Syracuse, so the schedule makers sent a blessing in disguise when they made today an off day.

Trust me, you do NOT want me driving a car and listening to the baseball game at the same time. There is not much good that can come out of that...

I will be able to watch the game on Saturday, and maybe the one Friday night as well, but definitely not the one on Sunday, so I need you all to keep the OPTIMISM going for me, okay?

I would like to say

גמר התימה טבוה

to Shaun Green, Ryan Braun, Kevin Youkilis (yes, even him) and any other observing Yom Kippur, ball player, blog reader or passerby.



I did a little layout editing last night, the picture on the top of the side bar is my own, taken on 6 July 2007. Check out the ClustrMap...see where your fellow readers hail from!

I think, maybe after the season, I'll work on a customized layout, similar to the one I have on my LiveJournal (only in navy blue, silver and white, and not the red and black I have!), and give this a little sprucing up...

...For now though, it's the content that matters.


I'll catch you all later tonight or sometime tomorrow.