April 2008

Bad News for Yankee Bullpen

According to Peter Abraham, Brian Bruney has a torn ligament in his ankle and will likely miss the rest of the season.  Bruney had been pitching great and the Yankees are sure to miss his presence in the back-end of the bullpen.  Jonathan Albaladejo has been recalled to replace Bruney.

Rain Delays Continue to Vex Girardi

Joe Girardi cannot manage around a rain delay.  Less than a month into the season, that much is apparent.

Two weeks ago, Girardi made the unconventional (read: zany) decision, based on pregame weather reports, to scratch Ian Kennedy from a start in Kansas City and start Brian Bruney instead.  Rather than waste Kennedy in the event his start was cut short by an extended rain delay or the game was cancelled, Girardi thought it made more sense to “save” Kennedy for after the delay and use him in relief.  Of course, the anticipated rain delay never materialized, Girardi needlessly taxed his bullpen for five innings, and Kennedy only wound up pitching the final three innings.  Luckily for Girardi, his silly managerial move was rendered moot by the Yankees’ impotent offense, which was shutout in a 4-0 loss.
Fast forward to tonight.  Rain halts the game in the middle of the third inning with the Yanks up 3-0 on the White Sox and Phil Hughes in command.  After a 50-minute rain delay, rather than send Hughes back to the mound for another two or three innings, Girardi yanks him and goes to the bullpen — even though there’s still another seven innings to go and the bullpen is already down an arm because of Bruney’s ankle injury!  Unsurprisingly, the decision horribly backfired.  Russ Ohlendorf got touched up for 5 runs in the fourth and was forced from the game after only two innings of relief, leaving Girardi to patch together the final five innings of a game the Yanks were now losing from a ragtag group of Mariano, Joba, Billy Traber, and the ever-dependable duo of LaTroy Hawkins and Kyle Farnsworth.
Notice across the diamond, Ozzie Guillen had no compunction about sending Gavin Floyd back out to answer the bell.  Even David Cone was surprised not to see Hughes retake the mound.  As Cone had told the audience on YES earlier, pitchers are generally fine after anything less than a 90-minute delay.  Instead, the Yankees continue to baby their young pitchers and Girardi continues to struggle with how to manage around adverse weather conditions.
Not only did Girardi’s foolishly quick hook probably cost the Yankees tonight’s game, the emptying of the bullpen complicates the pitching situation for the upcoming four-game series in Cleveland.  Ian Kennedy goes tomorrow and the Yanks figure to be in need of some well-rested relievers to give them innings.  The most likely solution for the overworked bullpen is to place Bruney on the DL and recall either Jonathan Albaladejo or Scott Patterson.
In one month, Girardi has made two odd pitching decisions predicated upon unfounded weather-related concerns and one horrendous tactical decision to let Mike Mussina pitch to Manny Ramirez in a game-changing situation.  All three moves backfired.  Girardi needs to raise his game and start managing with common sense.  He is capable of being an outstanding manager, but he has at times shown a disadvantageous inclination to overthink matters.

Power Rankings: April 14

Parity continues to reign supreme, as teams struggle to separate themselves with little success.  For the second week in a row, the Arizona Diamondbacks earn the top spot, while the rest of the top ten remains muddled.

  1. Arizona Diamondbacks (9-3, LW: #1) – Along with Milwaukee, one of only two teams among preseason postseason contenders that has really distinguished itself thus far.
  2. Boston Red Sox (7-6, LW: #5) – Sox took 2 of 3 from Yankees and stay afloat despite Big Papi’s prolonged slump and Lowell’s injury.
  3. Milwaukee Brewers (8-4, LW: #7) – Brew Crew battered Johan Santana and Oliver Perez in taking 2 of 3 from the Metropolitans.
  4. Anaheim Angels (7-6, LW: #4) – Angels rank 1st in the AL in batting average, slugging, and stolen bases, and 2nd in runs scored.
  5. Chicago Cubs (7-5, LW: #10) – Derek Lee is carrying the Cubs offense while Soriano and Ramirez slump.  Ted Lilly has been pounded in each of his three starts this season.
  6. Cleveland Indians (5-7, LW: #3) – Offense is struggling and pitching ranks near the bottom in most every major category.  Tribe desperately needs Sabathia to get on track with a tough stretch coming up against Boston, Detroit, Minnesota, Kansas City, and the Yankees.
  7. New York Yankees (6-7, LW: #2) – Hit-and-miss starting pitching + a strong bullpen + an anemic offense = a mediocre record. Lefties Cano, Damon, and Giambi are struggling and A-Rod shows signs of slipping into a slump of his own.  
  8. Toronto Blue Jays (7-5, LW: #6) – Sweep-or-be-swept.  Last 9 games: 3 wins vs. Boston, 3 losses vs. Oakland, 3 wins vs. Texas.
  9. Philadelphia Phillies (6-7, LW: #8) – Pat the Bat’s .359, 4 HR, and 13 RBI start is as good as any in the league.  
  10. Chicago White Sox (7-4, LW: #17) – Should they be applauded for being 7-4 and in first place in the Central, or criticized for being one of only two teams to lose to the Tigers?
  11. St. Louis Cardinals (9-4, LW: #19) – Cards have the best record in baseball and the pitching staff is #1 in the NL in ERA, but the competition has been wanting.
  12. Oakland A’s (8-5, LW: #24) – No Haren, no Harden, no problem.  A’s had impressive week in sweeping Toronto and taking 2 of 3 in Cleveland.  Can they maintain the momentum this week against the White Sox, Mariners, and Royals?
  13. Minnesota Twins (6-6, LW: #14) – 2nd in ERA, 2nd in WHIP, 2nd in quality starts.  
  14. New York Mets (5-6, LW: #13) – Santana’s susceptibility to the home run ball is the latest addition to the growing list of concerns for baseball’s oldest team.
  15. Seattle Mariners (6-7, LW: #11) – Among the season’s early surprises, Raul Ibanez: .327, 5 HR, 13 RBI.
  16. Atlanta Braves (5-7, LW: #12) – Braves get John Smoltz back, only to lose Tom Glavine.  With Mike Hampton already on the DL, Atlanta can ill-afford for Glavine to make his first trip to the DL.  Chipper Jones leads the majors with a .408 batting average.
  17. San Diego Padres (7-6, LW: #21) – Pitching has been fantastic, but runs have been hard to come by.  This is a team that could use a little Bonds if it wants to contend.
  18. Kansas City Royals (7-5, LW: #18) – Royals played good crisp baseball in taking 2 of 3 from the Yanks, only to have the bats go silent in getting shutout twice by the Twins.  Still, Greinke and Bannister have been outstanding, posting miniscule ERAs both, and the Royals as a team rank 1st in the American League in ERA.
  19. Colorado Rockies (5-7, LW: #20) – 14th in the NL in batting, 14th in runs scored, 15th in ERA, and 15th in WHIP.  With numbers like that, the Rockies are lucky to be 5-7.  At least Matt Holiday heated up after a slow start (.340, 3 HR, 11 RBI).  The Rockies desperately need Troy Tulowitzki (.159, 0 HR, 0 RBI) and Brad Hawpe (.206, 1 HR, 3 RBI) to snap out of their awful slumps.
  20. Los Angeles Dodgers (5-7, LW: #16) – Tough week for the Dodgers.  First they get swept in Arizona, then they drop 2 of 3 at home to San Diego.  Joe Torre is learning what it’s like to manage a team without a $200 million payroll.
  21. Tampa Bay Rays (6-6, LW: #15) – Carlos Pena’s average may be in the sewer, but the Rays have to like the league-leading 6 HR.
  22. Detroit Tigers (2-10, LW: #9) – Last in the American League in batting, runs scored, slugging, ERA, WHIP, and quality starts.  Justin Verlander has a 6.52 ERA and the Tigers, as a team, have gotten just one quality start in 2008.  Is it any wonder why they’re 2-10?  Still, this is a supremely talented team that has plenty of time to get back into the mix.  Division rival Cleveland’s struggles take some of the sting out of the Tigers’ astoundingly poor start to ’08.
  23. Florida Marlins (7-5, LW: #29) – How are the Marlins 7-5?  They’ve gone 5-1 against the Nats and Pirates.  Mike Jacobs’ NL-leading 5 home runs have helped, too.
  24. Baltimore Orioles (7-5, LW: #28) – O’s have dropped 3 of their last 4, and with a rough schedule  this week (Blue Jays, White Sox, and Yankees), it’s a good bet their stay in first place will end by next Monday.
  25. Cincinnati Reds (6-7, LW: #22) – Reds have been getting solid pitching, but it’ll be difficult for them to keep pace in the Central with Ken Griffey, Jr. and Adam Dunn combining for just 2 HR and 11 RBI.
  26. Texas Rangers (6-7, LW: #25) – Rangers are having trouble scoring runs with Michael Young mirred in a slump and Hank Blalock contributing but 1 RBI.  Josh Hamilton (3 HR, 13 RBI) has been the only consistent source of offense.  Kevin Millwood has a 1.29 ERA and deserves better than his 1-2 record.
  27. Pittsburgh Pirates (6-6, LW: #27) – Xavier Nady, slugger?  The X-Man is hitting .333 with 4 HR and 13 RBI.  If/when the Pirates fall out of contention, he’ll garner a lot of interest on the trade market from teams looking to rent an inexpensive bat for the stretch drive.
  28. Houston Astros (5-8, LW: #23) – Berkman and Tejada are pulling their weight, but no one else is.  Hunter Pence (.180, 1 HR, 1 RBI) has been downright awful.
  29. San Francisco Giants (5-8, LW: #30) – T
    he predictions about the Giants being one of the worst teams of all-time this season were overblown.  The lineup stinks, but Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum give them a fighting chance to win every time they pitch.  At the very least, the Giants are better than the lowly Nats.
  30. Washington Nationals (4-9, LW: #26) – Lastings Milledge has been solid and Cristian Guzman has been surprisingly productive.  Tim Redding has pitched well, but when he’s your ace, that speaks volumes about your pitching staff.

Round 1 Goes to the Red Sox

If Phil Hughes keeps getting knocked out before the fourth inning, the Yankees will have no trouble keeping him under his innings limit for the season.  As it was in his last start in Kansas City, Hughes’ problem was his inability to spot the fastball, which caused him to pitch continually in hitter-friendly counts — a big no-no when facing a lineup as potent Boston’s.  On the plus side, his fastball had good movement (perhaps it was even too good) and his velocity was his best of the season.  Hughes’ fastball was consistently clocking in at 93-94 mph, which is in-line with what was reported when he was in the minors and up from the 90-91 he was throwing in his first two starts.

Cano is having better at-bats.  The hits still aren’t there, but he’s seeing the ball better and exercising more plate discipline.  He needs to get back to driving the ball the other way.  Right now, he’s pull-happy and his front shoulder is flying open, causing him to roll over the ball and hit a lot of weak grounders to second.  Cano is most dangerous when he’s hitting to all fields.
Giambi also looked better at the plate, connecting for a couple of home runs in the series.  He’s not piling the hits up yet, either, but he made good, hard contact all weekend.  He could be primed to breakout this week.
This was a series the Yankees really could and should have won, even without Jeter.  Wang’s gem on Friday night set things up perfectly for a big weekend, but Girardi’s controversial decision not to walk Manny backfired and probably cost the Yanks a win on Saturday.  Despite Hughes digging the team a 7-run hole on Sunday, they fought back admirably and the game was still there for the taking until Damon hit into a backbreaking double play that, in all honesty, Melky should have avoided by pulling up before Pedroia could tag him out.
The Yankees just aren’t hitting right now.  They’re not hitting with runners on.  They’re not making productive outs.  They’re not hitting home runs.  Even their characteristic patience has been in short supply, Sunday night’s working over of Matsuzaka notwithstanding.  Until this lineup wakes from its slumber, it’s going to be very difficult to put together a winning streak.

Joe Morgan’s Big Bag of Gaffes

During last night’s Yankees-Red Sox telecast on ESPN, Joe Morgan once again made a number of foolish, unsubstantiated claims, as is his custom.  Here were the highlights…
In the top of the first, Morgan and Jon Miller were discussing how the Yankees were the only team in the league that had yet to steal a base.  Morgan, in all his ignorance, claimed that the Yankees are a stationary team and that with Jeter out of the lineup, Damon and Cano are the only stolen base threats.  Clueless Joe was apparently unaware that (1) the Yankees ranked fourth in the AL in 2007 in stolen bases with 123, (2) they had three players steal over 20 bases (Damon, A-Rod, and Abreu) and five players (the aforementioned three plus Jeter and Melky) with double digit stolen base totals last season, and (3) the Yankees stole 27 bases in 22 spring training games.
Morgan was guilty of a sin widespread among members of the sports media: a loss of perspective.  The sports media has an amazing proclivity to hype a fast or slow start at the expense of a player’s or team’s entire body of work.  We saw another great example of that phenomenon earlier in the telecast when ESPN’s resident Red Sox cheerleader, Peter Gammons, was gushing to the audience about how Matsuzaka has learned to stop overthrowing, how he’s so improved from last season, how he’s so much more comfortable, how he’s so much more efficient with his pitches — based on all of two starts!  As if to mock Gammons’ unwarranted enthusiasm, the Yankees worked 6 walks off Matsuzaka, touched him up for 4 runs, caused him to throw 120+ pitches, and knocked him out after five innings.  Vintage Daisuke.  The unremarkable proposition that two weeks worth of work are insufficient to negate an entire season’s worth is unassailably sound and levelheaded.
As for Morgan’s comment about Cano’s asserted base stealing prowess, that was just another example of his stunning lack of preparation and familiarity with the teams appearing on Sunday Night Baseball.  Cano has all of 10 stolen bases in 20 attempts during his three-plus-year career.  Anyone who follows the Yankees even casually knows that Cano does not steal bases.  Morgan would have known that he simply bothered to look at the stat sheet.
Morgan’s buffoonery was not limited to his discussion on the Yankees’ base stealing capabilities.  Later in the game, Morgan claimed that many Yankee fans were still upset that Cashman refused to trade Phil Hughes for Johan Santana during the off-season.  While there were some fans who wanted Cashman to make that deal last December, they were a small minority.  The vast majority were unwilling to part with Hughes for the “privilege” of paying Santana $150 million because of the belief that Minnesota, with Boston’s meddling assistance, was demanding an inordinately high price from the Yankees.  The ire of the pro-Santana contingent stems not from Cashman’s rejection of December’s Hughes-for-Santana proposal, but from the rejection of Minnesota’s revised February offer of Kennedy and Cabrera for Santana, which many considered a fair trade.
Morgan is not without virtues as an analyst.  He’s solid at dissecting what’s actually going on between the lines and he brings the unique perspective of Hall of a Fame ballplayer to the broadcast booth.  He also generally avoids the irritating habit of stating the obvious and attempting to pass it off as insight, unlike Tim McCarver.  Yet his faults are great — namely, his penchant for making ill-informed comments about the teams and players he’s covering and his thinly-veiled anti-Yankee bias — and that makes watching a Sunday night game on ESPN almost unbearable.

Who’ll Stop the Rain?

As this rain delay in Boston continues, one is left to wonder why Mussina was allowed to pitch to Manny in the sixth with two out, runners on second and third, and the Yanks clinging to a 2-1 lead.  That decision is especially perplexing in light of the mammoth home run that Manny hit two innings earlier and his tremendous history against the Yankees.

With first base open, the smarter move would have been to intentionally walk Ramirez and let Mussina take his chances against Youkilis.  Mussina had great control today, having not walked a batter all game.  The possibility that he would walk in the tying run in a bases loaded situation was remote.  Given the choice of facing Manny Ramirez or Kevin Youkilis with the game on the line, one would have to be crazy to pitch to Manny.
Girardi will be second guessed for this one, and rightfully so, unless A-Rod can come through against Papelbon when the game resumes.

Yankees Draw First Blood

Chien-Ming Wang was utterly magnificent last night.  He didn’t just have no-hit-type stuff, he had perfect game stuff — and he no doubt would have accomplished that immortal feat had it not been for three small plays: a throwing error by A-Rod (who had made a spectacular stop on the play), a misplayed fly ball by Abreu, and a bunt single by Coco Crisp.  When Wang is on, he has the ability to dominate an opposing lineup more efficiently and effortlessly than any other pitcher in the league.  He can just lull a lineup to sleep.  Wang has carried a no-hit or perfect game bid late into a game a number of times during his short career (most recently last May against Seattle).  Sooner-or-later he is going to finish one.

I thought the official scorer made a bum call on A-Rod’s “error.”  Alex had to range to his right, toward the line, just to get to the ball, and while Pedroia isn’t a burner, it would have taken a perfect play to get him out.  That’s an infield single, not an error, in my eyes.  After all, had Pedroia bunted the ball into play and A-Rod made the same exact throw, no error would have been charged.
Abreu badly misplayed what should have been a fly out by Drew into a home run.  It was a routine fly that he could have camped under and caught simply by extending his arm high into the air since the fence in right center is so short.  Abreu never had a good sense of where he was in relation to the wall, though, and so he needlessly attempted a jumping catch.  His momentum took him into the wall and he rebounded away from the ball before he could make the play, costing Wang both the no-no and the shutout.
Abreu was often criticized in Philadelphia for being “afraid” of the wall.  While I believe that’s an unfair characterization, he’s not a particularly comfortable or adept fielder once he gets around the warning track.
Regardless of the “what-could-have-beens,” it was a phenomenal pitching performance by Wang and a good win for the Yankees that gets this series off on the best possible foot.

No Jeter

Kat O’Brien, Newsday’s Yankees beat writer, has the starting lineups for tonight’s game over on her “On the Yankees Beat” blog.

Unfortunately, it looks as if the Captain will be missing this one…

The Yankees are Coming! The Yankees are Coming!

Fri, April 11: Chien-Ming Wang (2-0, 1.38) vs. Clay Buchholz (01, 5.40)

Sat, April 12: Mike Mussina (1-1, 3.09) vs. Josh Beckett (0-1, 9.64)
Sun, April 13: Phil Hughes (0-1, 5.00) vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka (2-0, 1.47)
Yankees Batting Rankings
  • 8th in BA (.253)
  • 13th in R (31)
  • t7th in HR (8)
  • 14th in SB (0)
Yankees Pitching Rankings
  • t5th in W (5)
  • 4th in ERA (3.68)
  • 3rd in SO (69)
  • 6th in BAA (.252)
  • 4th in WHIP (1.27)
Red Sox Batting Rankings
  • 2nd in BA (.276)
  • t6th in R (42)
  • t7th in HR (8)
  • 12th in SB (2)
Red Sox Pitching Rankings
  • t5th in W (5)
  • 12th in ERA (4.55)
  • 1st in SO (80)
  • 1st in BAA (.228)
  • 9th in WHIP (1.40)
Yankees Team Leaders
BA: Bobby Abreu, .333
HR: Melky Cabrera, Hideki Matsui, and Alex Rodriguez, 2
RBI: Alex Rodriguez, 7
R: Alex Rodriguez, 7
W: Chien-Ming Wang, 2
ERA: Chien-Ming Wang, 1.38
SO: Brian Bruney and Chien-Ming Wang, 8

Red Sox Team Leaders
BA: Kevin Youkilis, .324
HR: Jason Varitek, 2
RBI: Manny Ramirez, 8
R: Kevin Youkilis, 8
W: Daisuke Matsuzaka, 2
ERA: Daisuke Matsuzaka, 1.47
SO: Daisuke Matsuzaka, 22
AL East Standings
1. Baltimore 6-3, .667
t2. New York 5-5, .500, 1.5 GB
t2. Boston 5-5, .500, 1.5 GB
t4. Tampa Bay 4-5, .444, 2 GB
t4. Toronto 4-5, .444, 2 GB
Quick Hits
  • Hughes and Buchholz will each be making their first career start against their respective archrival
  • David Ortiz’s Lifetime Numbers vs. Wang: .500 (15 of 30), 2 HR, 10 RBI
  • Manny Ramriez’s Lifetime Numbers vs. Wang: .591 (13 of 22), 2 HR, 5 RBI
  • Varitek is a .333 batter with 1 HR and 8 RBI in 30 career ABs vs. Mariano Rivera
  • Ortiz’s career numbers vs. Rivera: .350 (7 for 20), 1 HR, 4 RBI
  • Rivera owns Manny Ramirez (.216 BA and .297 SLG with 11 SO in 37 career AB)
  • Varitek vs. Mike Mussina: .133 BA, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 60 AB
  • Ramirez has battered Andy Pettitte throughout his career (.431, 4 HR, 19 RBI)
  • Ortiz’s career numbers vs. Farnsworth: .000 with 4 SO in 7 AB
  • Beckett has struggled against most Yankee regulars: Jeter (.304 / 1 HR / 1 RBI), Melky (.318 / 0 / 3), Cano (.389 / 1 / 4), Giambi (.333 / 2 / 6), and Posada (.400 / 0 / 2)
  • Cano (.083), Abreu (.000), A-Rod (.125), Matsui (.143), and Cabrera (.000) have all been baffled by Daisuke Matsuzaka, while Damon (.385 / 1 HR / 4 RBI), Jeter (.333 / 2 HR / 3 RBI), Posada (.556 / 0 HR / 2 RBI), and Giambi (.500 / 0 HR / 3 RBI) have all hit him well
  • Yankee batters have pounded Hideki Okajima: .324 BA, .595 SLG, 2 HR, and 5 RBI as a team
  • The Yankees have a combined .191 BA with 1 HR and 7 RBI in 47 career ABs vs. Jonathan Papelbon
Outlook: You have to like the Yankees chances in game 1 behind Wang despite his horrific track record against Ortiz and Ramirez.  Saturday’s game does not look to be the most favorable pitching matchup for the Yanks, though Mussina threw very well in his last start and Beckett did not.  Sunday’s game is interesting and likely to decide the series.
Matsuzaka had a 2-1 record vs. the Yanks last year, but also posted an awful 6.12 ERA.  His two wins were the result of good run support rather than impressive pitching.  While he does have good numbers against roughly half of the Yankee lineup, the other half hits him very well.  And both halves draw walks and make him work — thus his high ERA.  Matsuzaka isn’t scaring anyone in pinstripes (or, in this case, road greys).  On the other side, I think Hughes is tailor-made to pitch effectively against Boston.  He has a good, strong fastball with movement that’ll challenge Boston hitters and a superb 12-6 curveball that will keep them off-balance.  Boston’s lineup tends to have most of its success against pitchers who predominantly rely on pitches other than their fastball rather than power pitchers of Hughes’ ilk.
The Yankees still aren’t hitting like they should be, but the Red Sox haven’t been tearing the cover off the ball and their pitching staff has been walking a lot of batters (which is why they have such a high WHIP despite ranking 1st in the AL in BAA).  I like the Yankees to win Sunday’s contest and pull out a 2-1 split in Beantown.

Zzzzzzzzzzz…

Tuesday’s game was one of the most boring I’ve ever seen.  When two pitchers struggle with their control as much as Hughes and Bannister did and the umpire has a terribly inconsistent strike zone, that’s a recipe for one slooooooow-moving game.

There were three things that struck me about the game.  First, the Royals are very skilled at manufacturing runs.  They don’t require a string of two or three hits in order to score a run.  The Royals live by the credo of get him on, get him over, get him in, and they execute it quite well.  They’re aggressive on the basepaths and they don’t make unproductive outs, which enables them to turn a lone hit or walk into a run.
Second, Phil Hughes struggled because he was unable to locate his fastball.  He struggled with command of his curveball also, but it was his inability to get the fastball over consistently that caused him to constantly fall behind hitters.  Part of Hughes’ wildness was due to the weather, part of it was due to the home plate umpire’s ever-evolving strike zone, and part of it was due to overthrowing.
Finally, the Yankees continue to struggle at the plate.  A-Rod looked especially lost, striking out four times and earning the golden sombrero.  Even more concerning than the lack of hits and runs is that with the exception of Matsui and Abreu, nobody really seems to be making solid contact right now.  Too many players are taking weak and flailing cuts and giving away at-bats.  With so many potent bats in the lineup, you have to figure the offense is going to bust out soon; it’s just we’re still waiting for some indication of when.
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