Monday, May 14, 2012
Yankees.com: Snapping late tie, Teixeira finishes O’s
BALTIMORE—The Yankees have come to accept Mark Teixeira’s slow starts as par for the course, but the slumping switch-hitter delivered a big blow at a most opportune time.
Teixeira blasted a two-run homer in the seventh inning to put his club ahead and the Yankees made it hold up, posting an 8-5 victory over the Orioles on Monday at Camden Yards.
What a bizarre night. The Yankees 3-4-5 hitters combined for 7 hits and Rafael Soriano almost pitched his first 1-2-3 inning of the year, sabotaged by an Eric Chavez error.
Ivan Nova left the game in the sixth with a bruised right foot and sprained right ankle which sounds like a crappy night for his lower right leg. He’ll probably miss a start or two, but hopefully not much more than that.
Since I complain about Joe Girardi a lot, I’ll commend him for how he managed the bullpen tonight. I much prefer choosing pitchers based on match-ups to choosing pitchers based on the inning, and Clay Rapada, David Phelps Boone Logan and Cory Wade made it work. Losing Mo is a big blow, but since Girardi became Yankee manager they’ve had the best relief ERA in the majors so I think he’ll be able to handle it about as well as anyone could.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Yankees.com: CC wins fourth straight after Yanks erupt late
KANSAS CITY—Eduardo Nunez’s go-ahead RBI triple opened the floodgates in a four-run seventh inning as the Yankees rallied to top the Royals, 6-2, on Friday at Kauffman Stadium.
Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter also homered as New York snapped its three-game losing skid behind eight strong innings from ace CC Sabathia, who won his fourth straight start.
That was a much needed win, more to regain sanity than anything else.
Also, For now, Robertson, Soriano will split ninth.
This seems like a good idea if it means using Robertson in the higher leverage situations.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Crashing the Party
I decided to make use of my field pass during Yankees' batting practice on Friday afternoon. I figured that I should make the most of it before somebody wised up and revoked it.
Trying to remain as incognito as possible, I snapped off a few pictures using my phone (hence the poor picture quality). Click on any of them to enlarge.
I took this shot just as the Red Sox were finishing up their BP - all the Yankees were still in the dugout getting ready to come out and stretch.
Papelbon is right, Mo has a great smile.
CHB asked asked A-Rod about his favorite Fenway moments. I believe A-Rod mentioned his first major league game in July of 1994.
One of the funnier moments I witnessed was when Nick Swisher came into the dugout before taking BP. Russell Martin was just about to sit down with a reporter from a Canadian news outlet, and Swisher started yelling out, "French time? Time for French!?"
Another interesting thing I caught was Swisher talking to Ibanez about the difference between Yankee Stadium's short porch and the wall in left at Fenway. He said something about how if you get jammed at Yankee Stadium, you won't be able to muscle it out; but you can get jammed and still go deep over the monster. Or maybe it was the other way around. The funny thing was that it almost looked like he got jammed in his first plate appearance on Friday and he actually took it the other way for a HR over the monster.
Kuroda sitting down for an interview with Japanese TV. I only caught one word: Ichiro.
Every time I get an assignment for a Yankee game, I hope to see Mariano Rivera take the mound. So when Cody Eppley came in with a four run lead in the bottom of the ninth, I was a bit disconcerted. However, it only took one single off the bat of Jarrod Saltalamacchia for Girardi to make the inevitable call to the bullpen, and I once again got to see my absolute favorite player in action. Two strike outs and a ground out was all the Red Sox could muster against the greatest closer in baseball history, and the Yankees took the first game of the season series 6-2.
Happy Birthday Fenway.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Yankees.com: Yankees’ hot start fizzles in loss to Twins
NEW YORK—Joe Girardi offered up a prophecy Monday afternoon that he’d rather have not seen come true.
Just hours before his club took the field for the series opener against the visiting Twins—who have had remarkably little success at Yankee Stadium over the last 10 years—Girardi noted how formidable the heart of Minnesota’s order is again, with the resurgent health of Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, and the addition of outfielder Josh Willingham.
As formidable as the heart of the Yankees’ order?
Losing to the Twins at home is not something that can be spun. They stink, and now the Yankees have to try and make up for it. Taking the next three games would be a start to that.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Yankees.com; Ibanez ends drama as Yanks prevail in 12
BALTIMORE—Raul Ibanez provided the Yankees with the big hit that they’d been searching for all night, delivering a go-ahead ground-rule double that powered a 5-4 victory over the Orioles in 12 innings on Tuesday at Camden Yards.
I didn’t think Joe Girardi managed this game all that well, but I’m glad the team won. I didn’t really have a problem with using Boone Logan to start the ninth, particularly since he was on a short leash and got pulled as soon as the first batter reached. My primary beef was the whole sequence in the top of the 11th. After Russell Martin walked to lead off the inning, Girardi pinch-ran for him with Eduardo Nunez. The benefit to this is getting a stolen base threat into the game. Instead, Girardi had left-handed hitting Brett Gardner bunt Nunez to second against a RHP so that Derek Jeter could try to drive him in with the platoon disadvantage. This also meant that the next time Martin’s spot came up, it’d be Chris Stewart in his spot. It turned out to not matter, but I think Girardi would be better off not trying to be so active when an opportunity presents itself.
Of course if one of the Yankees #4 or #5 or #6 hitters could have gotten a hit in the fifty times they came up with a chance to drive in a runner it would have been a non-issue.
On the plus side, David Phelps was nails after a crappy outing by Freddy Garcia, as was Cory Wade. Raul Ibanez’s big hit was obviously cool, and Mariano Rivera closed it out with a perfect 12th inning, lowering his ERA to 7.71. The Yankees have a chance to head home at .500 if they can win tomorrow behind CC Sabathia, and after starting out 0-3 you can’t ask for more than that.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Was Intentionally Walking Sean Rodriguez to Pitch to Carlos Pena in the First Inning Defensible?
After sleeping off my annoyance about how the season opener went, I thought I’d look at the statistical implications of Joe Girardi’s tactical decision to walk Sean Rodriguez to get to Carlos Pena with runners on second and third with two outs in the bottom of the first inning yesterday.
The first thing I’ll say is that previous batter/pitcher matchup statistics are generally not predictive, as shown in The Book. So to me, the most relevant statistics are these CAIRO wOBA projections.
Rodriguez: .305 overall wOBA, .322 vs. LHP and .295 vs. RHP
Pena: .340 overall wOBA, .308 vs. LHP and .353 vs. RHP
The next thing I’d look at is run expectancy.
Using the run expectancy numbers from 1993-2010 we see that a team with two outs and runners on 2nd/3rd is expected to score 0.280 runs. With two outs and the bases loaded, they’re expected to score 0.334 runs.
So is it better to face a .322 wOBA hitter (Rodriguez vs. a lefty) with a run expectancy of .280 or a .308 wOBA hitter (Pena vs. LHP) with a run expectancy of 0.334?
Actually, forget wOBA. Let’s use linear weights instead.
Here are the linear weights values for the primary offensive events with runners on second/third and the bases loaded.
| MOB | 1b | 2b | 3b | hr | bb | k | out |
| -xx | 1.17 | 1.46 | 1.62 | 2.07 | 0.23 | 0 | 0 |
| xxx | 1.38 | 2 | 2.4 | 2.86 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
I don’t know why the RE for the HR isn’t equal to base runners plus batter, although I’m guessing Jorge Posada’s base ruining is involved in some way.
And here are the percentages of times Rodriguez and Pena would project to do each of those things vs. LHP.
| split vs. lhp | 1b | 2b | 3b | hr | bb | out |
| Rodriguez | .129 | .059 | .005 | .016 | .116 | .646 |
| Pena | .102 | .030 | .003 | .039 | .117 | .689 |
Multiplying those percentages times the run expectancy for that situation gives us this.
| split vs. lhp | 1b x RE | 2b x RE | 3b x RE | hr x RE | bb x RE | out x RE | RE |
| Rodriguez | .151 | .086 | .009 | .033 | .027 | 0 | .305 |
| Pena | .141 | .060 | .008 | .110 | .117 | 0 | .436 |
Add it all up and you see that the RE for pitching to Rodriguez with runners on second and third is lower than the RE for pitching to Pena with the bases loaded.
These REs for the values of a single, double and triple don’t factor in the outs, which means that we should probably expect a higher percentage of runners to score from second and third with two outs since they’ll be running on contact. That probably closes the gap some. But this shows me that it was likely not the right move to walk Rodriguez to get to Pena.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Yankees.com: Mo proves human, as Rays deny Yankees
ST. PETERSBURG—What could well turn out to be Mariano Rivera’s final Major League season began with an Opening Day blown save, as the Rays toppled the game’s all-time saves leader to post a 7-6 victory on Friday at Tropicana Field.
Joe Girardi should get at least half of the blame for his loss. His asinine decision to intentionally walk Sean Rodriguez in the first inning probably was as big of a reason for this loss as Mo’s blown save.
Friday, March 30, 2012
NY Times: Yankees Still Aren’t Certain About Rotation
“I know these guys are anxious to find out what we believe their schedules are going to be and when they’re going to pitch,” Girardi said Thursday before the Yankees played the Baltimore Orioles. “We’re just not quite there yet.”
Girardi said the issue would be discussed over the next few days in meetings with him, members of his staff and General Manager Brian Cashman and his staff. The hope, Girardi said, is to come up with a final five by Monday, but they are still collecting information as the pitchers make their final spring starts.
I’m pretty sure they’ve made their decision, and they’re just figuring out how to tell the one who’s not in it. I hope they’re not considering a six man rotation, but considering how frequently this team chooses the sub-optimal option it wouldn’t surprise me.
Monday, March 26, 2012
NYDN: Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez hit by 95-mph pitch by Detroit Tigers’ Brian Villareal
TAMPA - The Yankees got a brief jolt Sunday when Alex Rodriguez was drilled in the rib cage by a 95-mph fastball thrown by Detroit’s Brayan Villareal. A-Rod grimaced and crumpled to the ground, clutching his side.
He was up quickly and, neither he nor Joe Girardi was worried afterward.
“Everything good,” Rodriguez said. “Ready to go.”
“He’s OK, the doctor checked him out and he’s fine,” Girardi said. “I expect him back in there on Tuesday.”
Although it seems like Rodriguez is fine, this was a reminder of the biggest problem facing the Yankees this year. An injury to one of their starting eight position players would expose just how thin they are behind the starters.
In other assorted crap.
NY Times: Pineda Hits the Gas, and His Fastball’s Speed Jumps
I only watched a couple of innings from yesterday’s game and I didn’t see anything over 91. I’m still not going to worry about Pineda’s velocity until the games start to count.
NY Post: Joba leaves hospital; Yankees manager confident in comeback
If the Yankees can put together a sixth by committee until Joba’s return, they may be able to weather this blow. Seriously though, this sounds encouraging considering where things were right after the injury. I still doubt we’ll see him back this year, but I hope he’s able to make a full recovery.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
NYDailyNews: Yankees’ Freddy Garcia a hit again in return to mound vs. Detroit Tigers
Garcia has a 2.91 ERA in four spring starts, allowing 10 hits in 12.1 innings while striking out 11 and walking four. Girardi said he probably won’t decide on the back end of the Yankee rotation until April 3 or 4, meaning there is still time for Garcia to impress.
Garcia says he doesn’t mind the competition for a job, noting that “it’s making my thinking straight you concentrate better on what you’re doing.” But he did admit, “The way I pitched (Saturday), I needed it. I’m glad I pitched good.
“I’m glad I could come back and pitch. That’s really important, because we’re in competition. I don’t want to lose any starts.”
It’s nice to see Freddy Garcia pitching well after getting hit in the hand by a comebacker a couple weeks ago. The Yankees may not have 16 aces, but Freddy and Phil have so far shown they could be in the starting rotation of almost any team outside of New England.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Boston.com: Valentine blasts Girardi
When the inning was over, the Red Sox took the field but were waved off by the umpires. Valentine had righthander Clayton Mortensen warmed up and coming in from the bullpen.
“It was regretful that [Clayton] Mortensen warmed up though and then we were told that they weren’t going to play extra innings. I didn’t think that that was very courteous,’’ Valentine said.
“The umpire came over and said we couldn’t play. I don’t care about not playing. Why do I have to warm up my pitcher who’s trying to make a team? Come in in a tie game against the Yankees and maybe help him make a team, and instead he has to walk off the mound and take a shower. That’s just not very courteous.’’
According to their travel roster, the Yankees had seven pitchers available. One of them, D.J. Mitchell, threw in the bullpen during the game and could not have pitched. But the others could have.
“Usually there’s communication between the umpires and the manager and it didn’t happen tonight for whatever reason,’’ Girardi said. “I didn’t know they had another guy.’’
Valentine expected that message to come from Girardi.
“Usually you go over and say, ‘Hey, I don’t have any more.’ I don’t know. I haven’t been around in a long time,’’ he said. “Joe knows better than I. I guess you just walk off the field.
“I’m sure [Girardi] didn’t do anything deliberate. It’s just I have to answer a pitcher who’s trying to make the team. That’s why you use that bullpen.’’
If getting Mortensen in the game was so important to Valentine, perhaps he could have used him in one of the nine official innings, perhaps in one of the seven thrown by Aaron Cook and Ross Ohlendorf? And if giving Mortensen a fair chance to make the team is so important to Valentine, is there any reason he’s pitched a grand total of three times this spring?
Thursday, March 22, 2012
NY Post: Yankees see ‘night and day’ improvment from Hughes
“Night and day,” manager Joe Girardi said, comparing this year’s Hughes to a year ago. “He looks like the guy we had two years ago ... with an improved changeup.”
Hughes hopes that’s enough to get him back to where he was when he won 18 games. His spring ERA is 2.02 after he gave up two runs — when Matt Joyce launched a cutter over the center-field fence in the second — over five innings in a 5-2 Yankees win.
“There’s always a need for good pitching and as long as I go out and pitch well and am one of those guys, there’s gonna be a spot,” Hughes said. “Andy Pettitte [coming back], I don’t think about that. Six starters for five spots, I don’t think about that.”
That’s easier this year than last, when it appeared his arm was about to fall off. And while his velocity still hasn’t returned to the pre-2011 levels, he did hit 93 mph and also featured an effective changeup, which was consistently 10 mph slower than his fastball.
“I really hadn’t gotten a chance to throw as many changeups as I wanted to,” Hughes said of this spring.
But yesterday, he finished off two of his three strikeouts with the pitch.
“I took a step forward today,” Hughes said. “I haven’t had a great feel of it, ever.”
Last year, Phil Hughes ranked in the bottom 5% in wOBA and bottom 8% in swing-and-miss percentage in two-strike counts. It’s too early to know whether his change is going to be an effective pitch in 2012. But if it is, maybe we won’t be such Negative Nancies when Phil gets to two strikes this year.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
NYDN: Girardi Throws Down the Gauntlet
For Michael Pineda, Phil Hughes, Freddy Garcia and Ivan Nova, Pettitte’s arrival will be a wakeup call.
That’s what Joe Girardi is hoping for anyway. He’s looking for Pettitte’s return to inspire the rest of his staff.
“If you don’t want somebody to take your job, pitch that way; it’s really simple,” Girardi said. “Let’s say the job was given to you and you were struggling; they’re going to look for someone to give the job to. You have to produce. That’s the world we live in in New York. It’s not like, ‘You’re this guy and we’re going to give you 20 starts no mater what happens.’ We don’t live in that world here.”
Is that really ‘the Gauntlet?’
Saturday, February 4, 2012
NY Post: Girardi says Yankees need some more offense
“I think it will be helpful,” Girardi said of potentially adding another hitter. “I think we’ve had a good offseason, [but] I think it’s important to our club that you add that other bat.”
General manager Brian Cashman is looking for a designated hitter to replace recently traded Jesus Montero. Former Yankees Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui are among the free-agent possibilities.
“Johnny has been a great player for a long time,” Girardi said. “There’s been a bunch of names talked about, and they’re all good players. [Raul] Ibanez, he’s had a great career, and Matsui has had a great career. Obviously, we know what Johnny and [Matsui] have meant to this organization and Ibanez has had success wherever he’s been. ...”
Well, except when he started out in Seattle. But that was like 12 years ago - he’s just hitting his stride now.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
NYDN: Yankees’ Mark Teixeira is set to lay it down this year like never before
The switch-hitter batted a career-worst .224 from the left side of the plate in 2011, often pulling the ball into the pronounced shift most opposing teams employ against him.
And he’s ready to try something drastic.
“When no one’s on base, if they’re playing a big shift, I might lay down some bunts this year,” Teixeira said before he was among the honorees at Tuesday night’s Thurman Munson dinner in Midtown. “I’ve been so against it my entire career. But I might lay down a few bunts. If I can beat the shift that way, that’s important.”
Joe Girardi approves. Binder™ was strangely silent when asked.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
NY Post: Yankees GM hopes to trade ‘excess pitching’ for bat
And GM Brian Cashman reiterated that he likely isn’t done tinkering with the roster, since the Yankees have seven viable starting pitchers.
“I think we’re going to look at our excess pitching,” Cashman said when asked about acquiring a bat. Girardi is confident it will work out.
Let me see if I get this.
1) Trade your best hitting prospect for a pitcher
2) Talk about how you now have an excess of pitching and would like to trade it for a bat
Is that right?
Thursday, October 6, 2011
NYDN: Every Yankees pitcher, from CC Sabathia to Mariano Rivera, ready for Game 5
With young Ivan Nova getting the ball, it is Girardi’s hope that he will be able to follow his usual winning formula of Rafael Soriano in the seventh and David Robertson in the eighth with Mariano Rivera closing things out in the ninth and advancing to Saturday’s ALCS Game 1 against the Rangers.
Girardi also said that, if needed, Rivera would pitch more than one inning.
“He’s the one-plus guy (Thursday night), yes,” Girardi said.
Hopefully Luis Ayala is not available.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
WSJ: The Yankees Have Many Postseason Roster Decisions
Even with the season ending Wednesday, the Yankee postseason roster is still not set—as a number of decisions could come down to whether the Yankees play Texas or Detroit in the first round.
A few things are set in stone: CC Sabathia will start Game 1 on Friday, and Ivan Nova will start the second game on Saturday. Freddy Garcia looks like the most likely option for Game 3 on Monday, but manager Joe Girardi wouldn’t commit. Meanwhile, it seems likely that Bartolo Colon would not make the roster for the first round.
It’s probably much ado about nothing to think about what the best postseason roster might be since the Yankees are going to do whatever they’re going to do. Then again, blogging by nature is much ado about nothing, so why not?
As the excerpt says, we know CC and Nova are going in 1 and 2. We also know that Girardi intends to start CC on short rest in Game 4, if necessary. That would allow Nova to pitch Game 5 on normal rest. So they probably only need one more starter. It sounds like that will be Freddy Garcia.
Catcher is one area where things get interesting. We know Russell Martin is a lock. Francisco Cervelli is out for the postseason. The only true backup catcher in the organization right now (according to their thought process) is Austin Romine. Romine is not a major league caliber offensive player right now, and may never be one. In an ideal series, he’d never play. So I think I’d rather see the Yankees take just Martin, with Jorge Posada and Jesus Montero available in an emergency. Should Martin get hurt, the Yankees would have the option to add Romine to the roster. They would also have the option to add him to the roster in the ALCS if they made it there by some miracle.
The thing with Posada and Montero is that they’re likely to be DH’ing if they’re in the lineup. So if one of them has to switch to catcher while already in the lineup as DH, the Yankees will lose the DH. For that reason I think you need both of them on the roster.
On the infield, the question is what combination of Eric Chavez, Eduardo Nunez and Ramiro Pena the Yankees will use to backup Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira.
For the outfield, I think you’ll see Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher, Brett Gardner, and Andruw Jones. Chris Dickerson’s probably a long-shot.
In my mind, these are the locks.
Starting Pitchers (3)
Sabathia
Nova
Garcia
Relievers (6)
Rivera
Robertson
Soriano
Logan
Wade
Ayala
Catchers (1)
Martin
Infield (4)
Cano
Jeter
Rodriguez
Teixeira
Outfield (4)
Gardner
Granderson
Swisher
Jones
That’s 18 players, which leaves seven spots which can be filled by some of the following players.
Other pitchers
Burnett
Colon
Hughes
Laffey
Noesi
Valdes
Other catchers
Montero
Posada
Romine
Other infielders
Chavez
Laird
Nunez
Pena
Other outfielders
Dickerson
Golson
I think/hope the Yankees will take Posada/Montero in lieu of Romine. I hope that they’re not going to employ a strict platoon at DH, since it basically means Montero will sit on the bench for the entire series with Detroit. I was hoping they could get by with one backup IF, but given A-Rod’s health issues I’d imagine they’ll take both Chavez and Nunez.That would leave them three more spots for pitchers, but I don’t see carrying 12 pitchers in a 5 game series. So that opens up a spot for someone like Dickerson or Pena or Romine I suppose.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Yahoo.com: Homer lifts cloud in Boston locker room
The Red Sox’s 7-4 triumph over the New York Yankees on Sunday night didn’t save their season. Three games this week against Baltimore allow them that opportunity. No, this reminded the Red Sox of who they are, a concept lost upon them during a September in which they’ve gone 6-18 and seen a nine-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the wild-card race whittle to one.
Everything has gone wrong in that stretch, and to see so many things go right edified everyone in a Red Sox uniform but Lackey. Hours after he exited the game following one of his best performances with Boston, he was still steaming about a text message from a media member “talking about personal stuff” he alleges he received 30 minutes before the game.
Although most of us won’t admit it today, last night’s game was not meaningless. If we were being realistic, we’d admit that Boston is probably the biggest obstacle in the American League for any team trying to advance to the World Series. We can pretend that Boston’s only as good as their September record, but that is delusional. For four months they have been the best or second best team in baseball, and they were predicted to be the best team in baseball by many coming into the year. Four bad weeks don’t change those things.
The Yankees could not have prevented Boston from making the postseason by winning last night, but they could have made it a fair amount harder. Should Boston qualify and end up being the reason the Yankees don’t make it out of the American League playoffs, we can remember that Joe Girardi felt Greg Golson, Ramiro Pena, Austin Romine and Scott Proctor were the guys to be playing in some of the situations that may have possibly won the team the game.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Yankees.com: Posada’s clutch hit delivers AL East title
NEW YORK—The New York Yankees captured their 12th American League East championship in 16 years Wednesday at Yankee Stadium with a 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Pinch-hitter Jorge Posada leveled the final blow in the eighth inning, a two-out, bases-loaded single that broke a 2-2 tie and put New York ahead for good.
The win gave the Yankees a sweep of a day-night doubleheader and, combined with Boston’s loss to Baltimore, mathematically eliminated the Red Sox from contention for first place in the division.
It’s obviously been a frustrating season for Posada, who’s been a hugely important part of the Yankees over the last 15 seasons. So in that sense it was cool for Joe Girardi to give him a shot in what is very possibly going to be the last meaningful PA of his Yankee career, and even cooler to see him come through.
If you assumed the two games of this double-header were 50/50 shots and the odds of Baltimore beating Josh Beckett in Fenway were about 25%, the odds of today’s events were about 6.25%.
But they happened, and because of that the Yankees are the champions of the AL East!
A fact that I’m sure is shocking to 45 of 45 ESPN “experts”.
And the 1927 Yankees can rest easy for one more season.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Yankees.com: Swisher provides only offense in walk-off loss
It was another one-run loss for the Yankees, who managed just four hits all night and had their three-game winning streak snapped.
“We’ve had three tough ones on this road trip, lost three games by one run,” manager Joe Girardi said. “It’s a tough one, because you figure your offense is usually going to score more than one run.”
Despite the loss, the Yankees maintained a four-game lead in the American League East thanks to Toronto’s 5-4 win over second-place Boston. New York’s magic number is now 11 and the Yankees will enjoy an off-day Thursday before heading to Toronto for a three-game set starting Friday.
Losing a game against a crappy team when your starter gives up 1 run over 7 1/3 innings is somewhat annoying, isn’t it?
I turned off the game when I saw Rafael Soriano warming up to come in, but it doesn’t seem like I missed much. My chief issue with last night was the way Girardi handled the 8th inning on offense. After Andruw Jones was hit by a pitch, Girardi pinch-ran for him with Brett Gardner. Miguel Olivo is a fairly good catcher in terms of stealing bases, but Girardi didn’t even bother trying to let Gardner steal, opting instead to give Seattle a free out by having Russell Martin bunt Gardner to second. I’ll grant that the bunt in and of itself is probably defensible if you look at things like run expectancy and win probability although it’s probably not optimal.
What was not defensible was what happened after the bunt.
Jamey Wright is a RHP who’s bounced around MLB for 16 seasons. He’s been about average for a reliever over the last three years (ERA+ of 104). He has the type of platoon split you’d expect from a RHP in his career, although it’s worth noting he’s been better vs. LHB over the last three season.
Still, there was no reason to let Eduardo Nunez hit after the Martin bunt. You have a fully stocked bench to avoid that from happening. When I saw Nunez coming up my first thought was “WTF?” Then I thought, “well maybe Girardi wants to be cautious with Eric Chavez and rest him.” That thought then melded into, “WTF?” He could pinch-hit for Nunez with Jorge Posada or Chris Dickerson and then use Ramiro Pena for defense if he didn’t want to use Chavez.” The defensive upgrade alone by replacing Nunez with a warm body makes it the smart move. Instead, Nunez, who’s hit .236/.288/.312 since the All Star Break over 172 PA, grounded out on the second pitch of his PA, shocking probably one person on the planet. Maybe two if you count Binder™ as a sentient being, and the Yankees didn’t score.
It gets better though.
In Nunez’s very next PA, Girardi PINCH HIT FOR HIM WITH ERIC CHAVEZ. If you were willing to do it in the 10th inning with two outs and the bases empty, why wouldn’t you have done it in the eighth inning with the go-ahead run on 2B and one out?
Anyway, it was a crappy game and a tough one to lose given the fact that both Tampa Bay and Boston had lost earlier. So I guess in that sense it was a fitting ending to a crappy road trip that saw the Yankees lose 4 of 7 games when they could probably have put away Boston in the AL East for good.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
NJ.com: Carig: Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez may be out of lineup for a few more days
Banged-up third baseman Alex Rodriguez may not return to the starting lineup until week’s end, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
With an off-day on Thursday, Girardi said before tonight’s game against the Seattle Mariners that he may wait to play Rodriguez, who is feeling the effects of a lingering thumb injury.
Since rushing him back into the lineup hasn’t worked, how about erring on the side of caution this time? At least we’ve got Eric Chavez and Nun-E in lieu of Cody Ransom and Angel Berroa this year.
Yankees.com: Yankees figure out Felix in rout
SEATTLE—The box score will tell you that the Yankees defeated the Mariners, 9-3, Monday night at Safeco Field.
But this was more than just a win to move New York further ahead in the American League East race. This was a win against Felix Hernandez.
For over three years, the defending American League Cy Young winner had New York’s number, going 5-0 with a 1.29 ERA in his last six starts against the Bombers. But the Seattle ace finally cracked, as the Yankees bats went off in a five-run fourth inning to help New York finally bring down King Felix.
Behind the big cushion, starter Phil Hughes kept the struggling Seattle offense in check. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning and was done after that, hurling 99 pitches and giving up just one run on five Seattle hits. Hughes has held opponents to two earned runs or less in six of his last eight starts.
It was nice to see an offensive outburst against one of the best pitchers in baseball after a pretty crappy stretch over the past week. I thought Hughes pitched okay. Not great, but decently.
Now it’s complaint time. You’d have thought that a 9-1 lead with three innings to go would have been a good time to perhaps take a look at someone like Andrew Brackman or Dellin Betances. Or, you know, you could run Scott Proctor out there for two innings and Luis Ayala for one.
Yay win, anyway.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
NJ.com: Carig: Yankees vs. Angels: Jesus Montero may start for catching-short Yankees
Manager Joe Girardi doesn’t expect Cervelli to return on the Yankees’ road trip, perhaps a sign of the severity of the injury.
“He was fine yesterday,” Girardi said. “For whatever reasons, the symptoms came today.”
Meanwhile, the Yankees are so short on catchers that they may call-up prospect Austin Romine to add depth. Starter Russell Martin left last night’s 6-0 loss to the Angels after he took a foul ball off his right hand. Veteran Jorge Posada caught for the first time all season, picking up for Martin in the third inning, but Girardi said he will likely not catch tomorrow.
Instead, rookie Jesus Montero catch in the big leagues for the first time, even though Girardi has said repeatedly that he didn’t intend to start him at catcher. Montero put on his gear just in case he was summoned to replace Martin.
“I don’t know,” said Montero, who has waited for an opportunity to catch. “I haven’t heard any decisions. I don’t know anything yet. I might catch. I might not.”
Since I am done watching the Yankees vs. the Angels, let me know how it goes.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Yankees.com: Yanks muster little at plate in loss to Halos
ANAHEIM—Maicer Izturis’ game-winning drive landed in Curtis Granderson’s glove, too deep in center field to attempt a throw, and all Derek Jeter thought about was the toss he should have made.
Izturis connected for a bases-loaded sacrifice fly facing Luis Ayala in the ninth inning on Friday night, lifting the Angels to a 2-1 victory over the Yankees that made Jeter’s hurried fifth-inning throwing error loom even larger.
“It boils down to giving them extra outs,” Jeter said. “I gave them an extra out throwing that ball away.”
More importantly, Jeter added, the Yankees couldn’t afford to cough up runs facing a stellar Jered Weaver, who limited the Bombers to just Jesus Montero’s homer over eight innings, striking out 11.
I’ll give Jeter a pass, since it was Jeff Mathis busting it down the line. It’s pretty hard to throw out a backup catcher on a routine grounder.
I didn’t get to see the game, but reading the recap and the game chatter here’s what I have to say about it.
1) Jered Weaver is a good pitcher, and from what I can glean he pitched well. Sometimes you face a good pitcher and he shuts you down.
2) As I’ve gotten older, I’ve lost the ability to “hate” players. Frankly, if I was the absolute worst player in MLB history, I’d bat or pitch every time a team kept giving me a chance to do it. So I don’t hate players who aren’t particularly good. If their team puts them in a position to fail, that’s the team’s fault, not theirs. So with regards to using Aaron Laffey last night (or Scott Proctor the day before) in the absolute highest leverage a team can be in at the start of an inning, I won’t blame Laffey (Proctor) for that. I’ll blame Joe Girardi. If you think this game is unimportant enough to use Laffey in that spot, you shouldn’t have wasted David Robertson in the eighth, since now you probably won’t be able to use him in a game you may actually try to win tonight. If you think these games are unimportant, why not audition some of the people who have upside and may have a meaningful role with this team in the years to come? Perhaps they’ll surprise you and show that they’re ready now? Does anyone think Buck Showalter would have used Jack McDowell to replace Mariano Rivera in the 9th inning of the fifth game of the 1995 ALDS if he knew how good Rivera was? If Hector Noesi didn’t get a shot against Baltimore in extra innings in his MLB debut, would the Yankees ever have made him a useful part of their bullpen?
3) As I said, the Yankees always find a way to lose to the Angels, and it’s really infuriating. Your pitcher’s pitching brilliantly against them? Make an error that gives them the run that ends up costing you the win.
4) The Yankees are probably exhausted right now given the way their last three games have unfolded. A four hour rain delay in New York resulting in a game that ended around 2:00 am followed by a trip for a day game to Baltimore followed by a flight to the West Coast to play a game at 10:00 pm Eastern time. So maybe we’re seeing some effect from that.
5) Any schadenfreude from the Red Sox’s recent tailspin is pretty much gone with the fact that the Yankees haven’t been able to gain even one iota from it, aside from shortening the amount of time the Red Sox might have to catch them.
It’s still really unlikely that the Yankees miss the playoffs, and with Detroit and Texas in a near dead heat record-wise there’s not necessarily going to be a huge advantage from winning the division. So I can at least be happy that Bartolo Colon pitched well, something he hasn’t done as much of since his return from the DL. I can also appreciate the fact that Jesus Montero pulled a HR off one of the best pitchers in the league and helped make his case for full-time play. Also, the Angels are just two games back of Texas in the loss column and it wouldn’t necessarily be the worst thing in the world if they forced Texas to go all out down the stretch. It can only benefit whomever faces the AL West winner if the race goes down to the wire.
I seriously expect the Yankees to lose every game they play against the Angels. Because of that, I just can’t get that worked up about it anymore. As a card-carrying stat-nerd, I really have a tough time reconciling the fact that what’s happened in the past has no bearing on what happens now when these two teams play and that the talent on the field that given day should be the primary factor in who wins or loses with the way the Yankees constantly roll over for Anaheim.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Yankees.com: Gritty CC helps Yanks close gap on Red Sox
BOSTON—CC Sabathia had no worries about his inability to beat the Red Sox in four previous starts against them this year, noting that he’d done it before and promised to do it again.
The ace left-hander made good on that, firing a season-high 128 pitches and striking out 10 batters as the Yankees defeated the Red Sox, 5-2, on Tuesday at Fenway Park.
It’s rarely pretty when the Yankees and Red Sox play, but I’ll take a win every time.
CC really had to labor tonight, although he didn’t have the greatest strike zone to work with, but he was good enough to hold Boston to two runs over six innings. I thought Girardi should have pulled Sabathia after five, but it worked out I guess. That doesn’t mean it was the right decision, but whatever.
That plus three scoreless out of the pen was enough for the Yankees to pick up their third win in 13 tries against Boston this year. The Yankee offense was mostly from Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher and Eric Chavez, who combined for seven of the nine Yankee hits on the evening, with an assist from Francisco Cervelli, who hit his second HR of the season, after setting a record last year for the highest OPS by a player in 300+ PA who failed to homer.
Monday, August 29, 2011
NY Post: Yankees plan to cut to five-man rotation
Speaking before yesterday’s 2-0 loss in the opener of a day-night doubleheader at Camden Yards, Girardi said he will attempt to shave his suspect rotation from six to five arms following Thursday night’s game against the Red Sox in Boston.
“I’m not going to base it on one outing,” Girardi said of judging Bartolo Colon (yesterday’s starter), Freddy Garcia (tonight’s starter) or Burnett (who starts Thursday). “I don’t think it’s fair. The bottom line is that we need to pitch well. If we’re going to win the [AL East], we need to pitch better.”
Don’t worry Joe, I’m pretty sure the decision will be made for you on Thursday.
What I find interesting is the possibility that the people on the bubble are/were Colon, Garcia and Burnett. I don’t know if the author is inferring this or if I’m reading too much into this, but it does seem to indicate faith in Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova.
If I had to pick a four man rotation entering the postseason today, I’d probably go CC/Colon/Nova/one of Hughes or Garcia. Actually, I’d let CC opt out and then go Colon/Nova/Garcia/Hughes.
We’ll see how that looks a month from now if by some miracle the Yankees win the wild card.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
NY Times: One Lost Day Follows Another
BALTIMORE — In the wake of another disastrous outing by A. J. Burnett on Friday night, and with a compressed schedule of games coming up because of Hurricane Irene, Yankees Manager Joe Girardi was asked if Burnett would still make his next scheduled start against the hard-hitting Boston Red Sox next week.
After surrendering nine runs in five innings during Friday’s 12-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, Burnett is now the undisputed worst starter in the six-man rotation. Ordinarily the Yankees would be looking to whittle that rotation from six to five men, but with games piling up over the next few days and weeks, even Burnett will get more chances, Girardi said.
“With all these doubleheaders, we’ve got to play games,” he said. “So we need a six-man.”
If Burnett does get a start against Boston, it wouldn’t shock me to see him allow 10 runs without retiring a batter.
Since 1919, there have been 6,853 seasons where a pitcher made at least 25 starts in a season.
Of those 6853 seasons, there have been 66 where a pitcher made 8 quality starts or less. Assuming Burnett doesn’t make another quality start this year(an assumption I’d bet a lot of money on), he’ll be the 67th.
In Burnett’s defense, here’s a list of pitchers who I’d rather see Burnett starting a game over.
2009 Chien-Ming Wang.
2011 Pre-DL Phil Hughes.
I seriously would prefer to see Kei Igawa pitching over Burnett right now.
I’m generally not one who likes to blame the pitcher for the play behind him, but I don’t see how the team can’t be frustrated when they’re down by six runs in the second inning to a crappy team. I don’t know if that frustration is to blame for their subsequent sloppy play, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
Let’s make this as simple as possible.
| Player | Team | IP | TBF | H | R | ER | ERA | FIP |
| A.J. Burnett | Yankees | 347.2 | 1538 | 364 | 219 | 204 | 5.28 | 4.81 |
| John Lackey | Red Sox | 344.1 | 1525 | 393 | 203 | 191 | 4.99 | 4.17 |
| James Shields | Rays | 404.1 | 1689 | 407 | 199 | 183 | 4.07 | 3.80 |
| Joe Saunders | - - - | 368.1 | 1563 | 397 | 197 | 174 | 4.25 | 4.66 |
| Ryan Dempster | Cubs | 375.2 | 1605 | 360 | 195 | 174 | 4.17 | 3.87 |
| Carl Pavano | Twins | 395.1 | 1655 | 432 | 192 | 180 | 4.1 | 4.07 |
| Nick Blackburn | Twins | 309.1 | 1362 | 377 | 192 | 171 | 4.98 | 4.95 |
| Bronson Arroyo | Reds | 377 | 1572 | 370 | 191 | 183 | 4.37 | 4.97 |
| Paul Maholm | Pirates | 347.2 | 1527 | 388 | 191 | 171 | 4.43 | 3.99 |
| Jason Hammel | Rockies | 325.2 | 1425 | 362 | 191 | 180 | 4.97 | 4.26 |
A pitcher’s job is to prevent the other team from scoring. Burnett has allowed more runs than every other pitcher in MLB over the past two seasons.
Put that in your objective pipe and smoke it.
We’re not just talking about a couple of bad months. We’re talking about running the guy who’s been the worst starting in pitcher in MLB(who’s managed to keep his job) over the last two years out there every fifth day with little evidence that it’s ever going to change.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
TGS NY: Yanks, O’s watch hurricane
NEW YORK—Worried about Hurricane Irene possibly affecting games this weekend, the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles discussed playing a doubleheader Friday, but the Orioles said that isn’t going to happen.
The teams are currently scheduled to play five games from Friday to Monday, with a doubleheader on Saturday.
“Just business as usual and you hope for the best,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said following his team’s 22-9 win against Oakland. “Hopefully our game times don’t coincide with the hurricane but I’m not so sure how it’s not going to. Make the best of it, that’s all you can do.”
While the Friday forecast calls for partly cloudy conditions, according to weather.com, the hurricane is supposed to dump rain on Baltimore Saturday and Sunday, which could affect three of the five scheduled games.
A spokesperson for the Orioles said that the teams will not play a doubleheader Friday.
This could get ugly. Nice to see the Orioles being considerate, but there’s a pretty good chance any further postponed games won’t need to be made up at all, so they’re really just spiting themselves.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
NYDN: Joe Girardi asks Yankee captain Derek Jeter to bunt despite hot night at the plate against A’s
Derek Jeter already had reached base four times, including three more hits to boost his average this season to .295 while tying Rod Carew for 22nd place on baseball’s all-time hit list with 3,053.
But with the tying runs aboard with none out and facing a two-run deficit in the ninth, Joe Girardi called for the Yankee captain to bunt, giving up an out against shaky Oakland closer Andrew Bailey. Jeter dropped down a perfect sacrifice, but the Yanks scored only once more in falling short, 6-5, to the A’s at the Stadium.
The minute I saw that Jeter was squaring to bunt, I knew the Yankees weren’t going to win the game. I just can’t understand why you’d give a struggling closer his first out on a silver effing platter. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Yankees.com: Nova stellar as Yanks end trip with win
“I feel really confident in my slider,” Nova said. “We worked on it, we got it back, and it’s a pitch that, in situations, I can throw to left-handed hitters and get the out.”
Nova remained in control the rest of his day, but had to get out of jams with runners on in each of the next two innings.
After giving up a leadoff single to Jim Thome in the fifth, Nova allowed what was ruled a double to Danny Valencia, though it should have been caught. Valencia’s fly ball dropped between Curtis Granderson and Nick Swisher in right-center field. Two strikeouts and a groundout later, Nova escaped with the shutout intact.
“That game was won for us, to me, in the fifth inning,” said Yankees manager Joe Girardi. “He’s got second and third, nobody out, and he gets out of the inning. That was the ballgame. When you look at that inning, you try to tell yourself, ‘It’s OK to give them one, let’s try not to give them two.’
I agree with Girardi, that spot was huge, and it was nice to see Nova getting some Ks again after a couple of games where he didn’t do so hot in that regard.
Friday, August 19, 2011
NY Times: Girardi Trusted Umpire in Opting Not to Protest
MINNEAPOLIS — Joe Girardi came away with a one-run loss and a feeling of helplessness after an umpiring gaffe in Kansas City on Wednesday night. But he also learned a valuable lesson when he declined to play the rest of the game under protest. From now on, Girardi said Thursday, he will take a more cynical approach.
“From now on, I’m protesting everything,” he said with only slight exaggeration.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Gant Daily: Knee improving: A-Rod could be ready for return to Yanks Thursday
The slugger is scheduled to play two games for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday and Wednesday, and could re-join his major league teammates as early as Thursday.
“The timetable is still the same,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said after the Yankees were rained out of Sunday afternoon’s game against the Rays. “He’ll return sometime in Minnesota. I can’t tell you Thursday [with certainty], but I expect to see him sometime in Minnesota.”
A Thursday return means Rodriguez would have 41 games left to try and extend his meaningless but fun 13 year streak of 30 HR/100 RBI seasons. It’s a safe bet that he’ll be rested some over the rest of the season, so even if he remains healthy it’s almost impossible to see him getting the 17 HRs and 48 RBI he needs to keep it alive, but for the hell of it, here are the best 40 game stretches for HR and RBI in each season of his career.
| Dates | PA | HR | RBI |
| 6/24/02-9/11/02 | 178 | 22 | 48 |
| 6/2/07-4/19/07 | 181 | 21 | 52 |
| 7/5/99-8/27/99 | 183 | 16 | 35 |
| 9/30/01-4/15/01 | 190 | 16 | 48 |
| 7/5/03-4/29/03 | 183 | 16 | 46 |
| 10/14/00-4/29/00 | 181 | 15 | 40 |
| 4/13/05-4/27/05 | 173 | 15 | 38 |
| 4/16/08-7/30/08 | 171 | 15 | 38 |
| 5/16/09-8/9/09 | 175 | 15 | 28 |
| 8/27/98-4/21/98 | 192 | 14 | 33 |
| 6/11/06-9/13/06 | 167 | 14 | 42 |
| 5/17/97-8/27/97 | 175 | 13 | 34 |
| 5/11/96-8/12/96 | 184 | 12 | 31 |
| 10/17/04-7/15/04 | 191 | 12 | 29 |
| 8/14/10-7/1/10 | 169 | 12 | 40 |
| 6/8/95-7/21/95 | 139 | 5 | 19 |
2007 wasn’t that long ago, was it?
Thursday, August 11, 2011
CBS New York: With Ivan Nova’s Spot Secured, Who’s The Odd Man Out In Yankees’ Rotation?
“I think he took it as a challenge and said, ‘This is going to be the last time you send me down,’” said Girardi.
But who’s the odd man out? CC Sabathia admitted recently that he’s no fan of the six-man rotation, and Girardi said last night that the team has to “eventually get down to five.”
“Sometimes it’s not easy to just move one piece and say, ‘That’s it.’ Because you’ve got to worry about how it affects everything you do,” Girardi said. “Some guys are maybe a little more suited, if you do decide to move someone to the ‘pen, than others. Those are all things we have to take into account.”
The best move might be to put erratic starter A.J. Burnett in the bullpen. Or Phil Hughes, no stranger to relief duty, who is coming off an early-season “dead arm” period.
How the Yankees handle this will be pretty interesting. It’s a tossup as to whether Hughes or Burnett is the better choice for fifth starter right now, but I think the Yankees need to look beyond that and think about what will benefit them more in the long-term. To me that says put Hughes in the rotation. Even if he may be worse than Burnett right now over the rest of the season, he’s the better bet to be a valuable starter to the Yankees in 2012 and 2013.
Maybe Burnett would thrive in a role where he could come in and throw gas for an inning or two.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Sporting News: Jeter’s leadoff spot could be in jeopardy
New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi hinted that shortstop Derek Jeter’s days as the team’s leadoff hitter could be numbered.
Jeter hit leadoff Wednesday, while the surging Brett Gardner remained in the No. 9 hole. With the way he has been hitting and the speed he brings, Gardner might be better suited for the top spot.
“He’s going so well, it’s something I’ll definitely consider,” Girardi told the New York Daily News. “We’ll just wait and see what happens.”
Jeter, who has slumped since getting career hit No. 3,000 on July 9, has a .323 on-base percentage. Gardner’s .370 mark, meanwhile, is tops among the team’s regulars.
If Gardner really is the best OBP guy on the team now, getting him more PAs seems like something that should have happened sooner. Here are the # of PA for the Yankees by batting order slot so far this season.
| Split | PA |
| Batting 1st | 450 |
| Batting 2nd | 437 |
| Batting 3rd | 428 |
| Batting 4th | 420 |
| Batting 5th | 409 |
| Batting 6th | 401 |
| Batting 7th | 389 |
| Batting 8th | 377 |
| Batting 9th | 362 |
The Yankees have played 97 games and the leadoff hitter has had 88 more PA than the ninth hitter. Moving Jeter to second still means he’s getting more PA than he deserves, but I think we need to view this potential move as a reward to Gardner instead of as punitive to Jeter. Gardner’s earned more PA, so hopefully he gets them.
Speaking of Jeter, since going 5 for 5 on the day he got his 3000th hit, he has been beyond terrible.
| Dates | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO | GDP | avg | obp | slg | woba |
| 7/10-7/20 | 31 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 | .200 | .226 | .200 | .197 |
| Dates | isoD | isoP | babip | FB | GB | LD | IFH | fb% | gb% | ld% | bb/pa | k/pa |
| 7/10-7/20 | .026 | .000 | .286 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 0.0% | 90.0% | 10.0% | 3.2% | 29.0% |
FB: fly balls
GB: ground balls
LD: line drives
IFH: infield hits
woba: weighted on-base average
isoD: Isolated plate discipline (obp - avg)
isoP: Isolated power (slg - avg)
babip: batting average on balls in play
Yes. He’s hit 20 balls into play, and 18 of them were on the ground. Yes, he’s struck out almost one-third of the time. On the plus side, he’s only hit into one double play. So there’s that.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Is David Robertson being Used Less Optimally As TEIG?
For the most part in his Yankee tenure, Joe Girardi has done a good job of putting together a bullpen. The primary thing he’s managed to do is identify players’s strengths and weaknesses and use them in situations that they are best suited for.
Unfortunately for whatever reason, the Yankee “brain” trust felt they should ignore this strength and hand him an official eighth inning guy. Thus came the unbeleivably foolish Rafael Soriano signing.
In doing so, they took what was one of Girardi’s main strengths and effectively lobotomized it. Now, the situation and matchups don’t matter. The only thing that matters is the inning and the score. This was painfully obvious to me when Girardi “officially anointed” Joba Chamberlain as his 7th inning guy. Think about what that says. The only benefit that comes from that is reducing managing a bullpen to an if->then->else strategy. If you’re going to do that, you may as well program a freaking Apple IIc to manage your pen.
This was not really as much of an issue when the Yankees theoretically had three good to very good relievers who were all capable of pitching well near the end of the game in Chamberlain, Soriano and David Robertson. However, now that the Yankees have lost Chamberlain for the season and with Soriano out indefinitely, things have changed.
From the start of the season through June 11th, Robertson entered games in:
The fifth inning twice.
The sixth inning six times.
The seventh inning 13 times.
The eight inning 7 times.
The ninth inning or later 8 times.
His average leverage index for those appearances was 1.50. Leverage index tries to measure the importance of a situation that a player is facing. So coming in with runners on in a close game is a higher leverage situation than starting an inning in a blowout would be. His win probability added was 0.79 over 114 batters faced. Win probability just compares how much a player’s performance based on the leverage improved or decreased their team’s chances of winning compared to an average performance. I don’t like WPA as a tool for comparing different players, but I think it has its uses. Since I’m trying to see if Robertson’s change in usage has changed his impact to his team, I think it works here.
Since June 13th, Robertson entered games in:
The fifth inning 0 times.
The sixth inning 0 times.
The seventh inning 0 times.
The eighth inning 8 times.
The ninth inning or later 0 times.
His average leverage index for those appearances was 1.49. His win probability added was 0.10 over 34 batters faced.
So before becoming the official eighth inning guy, his WPA per batter faced was 0.007. Since then it’s 0.003.
I guess we should hope for a solid recovery from Rafael Soriano. I sure as hell don’t want to see the Yankees trading for a Francisco Rodriguez/Heath Bell type.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
NJ.com: Yankees’ Mariano Rivera sits out, leaving A.J. Burnett to go long
Girardi said he would have considered leaving Burnett in the game as late as the eighth inning. Set-up man David Robertson would have been the Yankees’ closer had they taken a lead into the ninth.
I fortunately didn’t get to see most of the game, but all this blaming of Burnett seems misplaced to me. I’d blame Gardner for not calling off A-Rod on the foul pop up that would have likely let Burnett escape the inning unscathed, and Girardi for his steadfast insistence on getting “length” from Burnett. Burnett was put in a position to fail by Girardi, and Girardi’s the one to blame for that.
Monday, June 13, 2011
NY Times: With 18 Hits, the Yankees Are Humming Again
There was no meeting, no pep talk, no nothing after the Yankees were embarrassed by Boston last week. “Report at 4 o’clock the next day, that was it,” Curtis Granderson said. Every series has its own pace, its own rhythm. And at Yankee Stadium the thump-thump-thump of the Red Sox has given way to the off-key stylings of the Cleveland Indians..
The Boston series pissed me off to the point where I haven’t watched an inning of baseball since. I suppose I should be happy that the Yankees are beating up on a slumping Indians team, but if anything it’s just a reminder to me about how pathetic they were against Boston. Maybe I’d feel differently I’d watched the games.
I realize it’s not rational, but who said being a sports fan is rational?
Saturday, May 28, 2011
TGS NY: Joe’s handling of ‘pen not so mighty
David Robertson got out of a bed in Tuscaloosa, Alabama at 4:30 a.m. Eastern time Friday morning. Nearly 20 hours later, he was on the mound at Safeco Field, doing his job to perfection, pitching an overpowering eighth inning against the Mariners.
Trouble was, the game had already been lost two innings earlier.
But that’s what happens when a manager sticks to a game plan even if the game no longer fits his plan.
Robertson, back from a mission of mercy to his tornado-ravaged hometown, was no doubt the most tired man in the Yankee bullpen. He was also the only one able to do his job. Unfortunately, by the time he was asked to do it, it was too late. At the time, the Yankees trailed 4-3, and that’s the way it would stay.
I didn’t get to watch the game, so I’d be interested in everyone else’s take, but here’s how I see the situation. With Burnett at 97 pitches with five walks through five innings, I don’t think anyone would quibble with the fact that he was pulled prior to the sixth inning. So the question then is who should have started the bottom of the sixth. With Adam Kennedy (LHB), Miguel Olivo (RHB) and Carlos Peguero (LHB) due up, I can understand the thought process behind starting the sixth inning with Boone Logan. You need to get four innings out of your bullpen, so unless you want one of Robertson, Joba Chamberlain or Mariano Rivera to pitch two innings you needed to get some outs from someone other than those three.
Logan allowed a leadoff single to Kennedy. So now with a RHB up and with the likelihood of a pinch-hitter for Peguero to re-gain the platoon advantage, going to the bullpen for a RHP made sense as well. Unfortunately, Girardi opted for Luis Ayala instead of Robertson and that’s when the game was lost.
Ayala probably would have pitched an inning at some point in the game, so the real problem is that he and Logan didn’t do their jobs. However, once Kennedy reached Girardi should have used a better pitcher due to the leverage of the situation, and not the pitcher who’s ordinal spot in the bullpen hierarchy was now due. If you intended to pitch Robertson or Chamberlain if necessary anyway, they’d have been the better choices in that spot. If they extended themselves to get out of the inning, you could then go to Ayala to begin the seventh with whichever of Robertson or Chamberlain wasn’t used as a safety net to get the game to Rivera.
Again, the real issue is that Logan and Ayala didn’t execute. But it’s fair to say that Girardi’s deployment of the bullpen after Logan is also culpable.
The Yankees really don’t have much margin for error on this road trip if you look at the schedule for the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays over the rest of this West Coast swing.
| Date | Yankee | xW | xL | Red Sox | xW | xL | Rays | xW | xL |
| 5/28/2011 | @ Mariners | .58 | .42 | @ Tigers | .53 | .47 | vs Indians | .58 | .42 |
| 5/29/2011 | @ Mariners | .58 | .42 | @ Tigers | .53 | .47 | vs Indians | .58 | .42 |
| 5/30/2011 | @ Athletics | .51 | .49 | vs White Sox | .62 | .38 | vs Rangers | .54 | .46 |
| 5/31/2011 | @ Athletics | .51 | .49 | vs White Sox | .62 | .38 | vs Rangers | .54 | .46 |
| 6/1/2011 | @ Athletics | .51 | .49 | vs White Sox | .62 | .38 | vs Rangers | .54 | .46 |
| 6/2/2011 | @Mariners | .54 | .46 | ||||||
| 6/3/2011 | @ Angels | .54 | .46 | vs Athletics | .59 | .41 | @Mariners | .54 | .46 |
| 6/4/2011 | @ Angels | .54 | .46 | vs Athletics | .59 | .41 | @Mariners | .54 | .46 |
| 6/5/2011 | @ Angels | .54 | .46 | vs Athletics | .59 | .41 | @Mariners | .54 | .46 |
| 4.32 | 3.68 | 4.72 | 3.28 | 4.95 | 4.05 |
At this point Boston and the Rays have around a one game advantage over the Yankees over the next nine days, at which point the Yankees will return home to face Boston, Cleveland and Texas on a nine game home stand. It’s not inconceivable that the Yankees could be trailing Boston and/or Tampa Bay by three or four games by then. And that’s not exactly the kind of home stand that would allow the Yankees to catch up if they falter on the rest of this trip.
Right now I’ve got Boston projected to finish around 93-69, the Yankees around 91-71 and Tampa Bay around 88-74. If that’s how things still look by the end of this road trip I’d happily take it.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Yankees.com: Andruw homers twice as long ball lifts Yankees
NEW YORK—A day removed from his team’s second walk-off win of the season, a flashback to the fun of his title-winning team of two years ago, manager Joe Girardi offered a caveat when discussing the boost it could give the Yankees.
“As we know, momentum starts and stops with your starting pitcher,” Girardi said, “and Freddy’s throwing the ball well for us, and we need him to do it again.”
Freddy Garcia threw the ball well, allowing three runs on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings. But it was the long ball that helped the Yankees take the rubber match of their three-game series with the Blue Jays on Wednesday with a 7-3 win.
I keep waiting for Garcia to get shelled. I hope I’m waiting for another six months.
In other news, the worst signing ever continues to get even worse.
Yankees setup man Rafael Soriano has an inflamed ligament in his right elbow that could keep the former All-Star out up to two months. Yankees GM Brian Cashman said that Soriano was examined Wednesday by orthopedist Dr. James Andrews in Pensacola, Fla. Andrews recommended that Soriano rest the elbow for about two weeks before beginning a light throwing program. Cashman doesn’t think Soriano will be able to face hitters for at least six weeks.
So the draft pick the Yankees gave away will be used before Soriano’s pitching again. I wouldn’t be surprised if whoever the Rays draft with that pick ends up providing more value over the next three years than Soriano, even ignoring contracts. In fact, I’d bet on it.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
NY Post: Yankees’ Soriano to test elbow in bullpen session
Rafael Soriano could get back on a mound today or tomorrow as he tries to recover from inflammation in his right elbow…..
Soriano’s absence has forced Girardi to juggle his bullpen arms, using Joba Chamberlain and David Robertson in the eighth inning.
The Shutdown Bullpen™ is nothing without Soriano….
Thursday, May 19, 2011
How Bunt Happy is Joe Girardi?
I found out Baseball Reference tracks sacrifice bunt attempts, so let’s see if Joe Girardi bunts more than most other managers.
I’m only looking at AL teams, since the silly rule that makes pitchers bat in the National League means they have a higher percentage of bunt attempts in general.
First, here’s how the AL looks over the four seasons that Joe Girardi has been Yankee manager.
| Year | Tm | Att | Suc | % | Att/Gm |
| 2008 | LgAvg | 53 | 34 | 65% | 0.33 |
| 2009 | LgAvg | 52 | 36 | 68% | 0.32 |
| 2010 | LgAvg | 58 | 38 | 67% | 0.36 |
| 2011 | LgAvg | 16 | 10 | 65% | 0.38 |
| Total | LgAvg | 179 | 118 | 66% | 1.10 |
This data does not include foul bunts or missed bunts. It’s only for bunts that were fielded, so any PA where a batter attempted a bunt then reverted to swinging away is not included here.
Here’s the same data for the Yankees.
| Year | Tm | Att | Suc | % | Att/Gm |
| 2008 | NYY | 39 | 31 | 79% | 0.24 |
| 2009 | NYY | 48 | 31 | 65% | 0.30 |
| 2010 | NYY | 48 | 33 | 69% | 0.30 |
| 2011 | NYY | 18 | 10 | 56% | 0.44 |
| Total | NYY | 153 | 105 | 69% | 0.94 |
In this case, it’s safe to say perception doesn’t really match reality. Since you should bunt at times even if it’s not optimal to make it something the opponent needs to at least think about for game theory purposes, it’s tough to say that Girardi is bunting too much. Especially when 10 of the 18 attempts in 2011 have been with Brett Gardner, who has a very good chance of reaching safely when he does bunt. Granted, that’s just a prelude until he gets caught stealing, but still…
I guess we have to find something else to complain about. Does anyone have any thoughts on the Rafael Soriano contract? How about Joba Chamberlain possibly getting another chance as a starter?
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Yankees.com: Yanks’ jolt better late than never (aka Joe Girardi is a Dummy)
Mariano Rivera blew his third save, but Robinson Cano drove in two of the Yanks’ three 15th-inning runs. .
Bartolo Colon pitched about as well as a pitcher can pitch tonight, throwing mainly two and four seam fastballs on the edges of the strike zone over eight scoreless innings and needing just 87 pitches. This of course makes the decision to pull Colon after the eighth something that was questionable.
I was fine with it. Almost all the evidence we have about pitchers shows that they are less effective on each pass through the batting order. It’s part of the reason why bad starters can be good relievers. With the top of the Orioles lineup coming up in what would be their fourth look at Colon, pulling him was a defensible move. That’s particularly true when you’re going to Mariano Rivera to try and preserve the lead.
That it didn’t work out tonight doesn’t change that.
That doesn’t absolve Joe Girardi of some of the blame for this game almost being a loss though.
I don’t think I can overstate how stupid it was to bunt with Brett Gardner in the top of the 12th inning. Consider this:
A right-handed pitcher was on the mound.
Due up after Gardner (who bats left-handed) were Eduardo Nunez, Russell Martin and possibly Derek Jeter, all of whom hit right-handed.
Gardner was the best hitter due up out of that group given the platoon advantage. Instead, Girardi gave away an out which was far more important to his team’s chances of scoring a run than advancing a runner by one base so one of the three weaker hitters due up next could try to drive him in.
It’s even more egregious since it was the second time in the game that Girardi pissed away an out, although bunting with Eduardo Nunez was a bit more defensible.
Fortunately for us, the Orioles weren’t able to take advantage of Girardi’s generosity and Hector Noesi pitched four scoreless innings in his MLB debut despite allowing eight baserunners and the Yankees miraculously scored three runs in the top of the fifteenth inning and held on to win. Maybe one they didn’t deserve, but a win regardless.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Yankees.com: Pigs Fly
ST. PETERSBURG—Alex Rodriguez homered twice and David Robertson pinned the bases loaded in a big spot, as the Yankees finally exhaled with a 6-2 victory over the Rays on Tuesday, snapping a six-game losing streak.
Rodriguez’s second home run off James Shields was a sixth-inning laser that cleared the center-field fence, providing a slim lead, but there could be no guarantees during a stretch when nothing seems to have gone right.
Figures Rodriguez would pick a blowout to finally get a couple of hits. Jorge Posada also got a couple of hits and has moved his average up to .179. Yay! In less good news, Derek Jeter’s OBP is down to .309.
I thought Girardi walking Joyce to bring in Robertson with the bases loaded was dumb, but it worked out this time. Unfortunately that means positive reinforcement for more stupidity down the road when it won’t work. I don’t know if Girardi’s love of the sac bunt is more damaging than his love of the intentional walk, but at some point both are going to come back and bite the Yankees in the posterior.
In even better news than an exceedingly rare but ultimately meaningless Yankee victory, Rafael Soriano is no longer using up a roster spot while providing no value or negative value.
The Yankees put reliever Rafael Soriano on the disabled list Tuesday, but, befitting their fortunes recently, they also dealt with a matter unrelated to his ailing right elbow.
Soriano, who had pitched once in the Yankees’ last seven games, will miss at least another two weeks after magnetic resonance imaging revealed inflammation in his elbow. But also problematic were comments he made after the Yankees’ loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday, their sixth in a row.
Soriano heaped blame on the offense, not the bullpen, for the Yankees’ skid.
I find it hard to believe that the fact that the Yankees won for the first time in a week on the day they DL’ed Soriano is a coincidence.
Meet The New A.J. Same as the Old A.J.
A.J. Burnett entered last night’s game with a fine 3.38 ERA. After blowing a 5-1 lead by surrendering five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning that’s now up to 3.99.
I was optimistic about Burnett after his spring training, primarily because he appeared to have much better control. To this point in the season that hasn’t really been the case.
Here’s how Burnett’s peripheral stats looked heading into last night’s game and his average projected peripherals pro-rated to the same # of innings.
| Player | Team | Lg | Role | Type | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | HBP | SO |
| A.J. Burnett | Yankees | AL | SP | Actual | 51 | 39 | 23 | 19 | 6 | 18 | 3 | 39 |
| A.J. Burnett | Yankees | AL | SP | Projected | 51 | 51 | 28 | 26 | 6 | 21 | 3 | 44 |
The primary difference here was the 12 hit difference. While there are certainly pitchers who show the ability to induce weak contact and get fewer hits allowed than average, Burnett’s not someone who’s ever demonstrated that. Because of that, expecting him to continue to pitch as effectively as he has prior to last night was not realistic unless he improved his walk rate or strike out rate.
Instead, Burnett decided to start his correction. Here’s how his actual performance and projections compare now.
| Player | Team | Lg | Role | Type | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | HBP | SO |
| A.J. Burnett | Yankees | AL | SP | Actual | 56 | 47 | 29 | 25 | 9 | 19 | 3 | 42 |
| A.J. Burnett | Yankees | AL | SP | Projected | 56 | 57 | 31 | 29 | 7 | 23 | 4 | 49 |
Burnett’s really not the reason the Yankees lost last night. Although he was only around 80 pitches when he lost it, Joe Girardi was probably still to slow to go to the bullpen. He probably should have had someone warming after the first two hitters in the sixth doubled and homered so that Burnett wasn’t left in to face another five hitters.
Girardi’s really not the reason the Yankees lost last night either.
When the Yankees signed Rafael Soriano, I figured it was a stupid move because it was an overpay for someone who was good, but not really necessary. Instead, what’s happened is the Yankees are paying a ridiculous amount of money and gave up a draft pick for a high-maintenance player who has made them worse. In addition to his own horrible pitching, he’s held a roster spot despite not being able to pitch more often than not. This has necessitated the Yankees using their other relievers more frequently, which then restricts their availability. This has too often put the team in a position where they’re playing with a 22 or 23 man roster.
It’s meant trying to extend starters a bit longer than they should have been, and using weaker relievers in high leverage spots.
I don’t know how many games it’s cost them, but I’m pretty sure it’s cost them some. It almost certainly cost them last night’s game, as Girardi sat on his hands while watching Burnett give up the lead because he didn’t want to go to a short bullpen.
Truth be told though, the real reason I have been so against the Soriano signing is that I bought this set of knee pads in anticipation of the time when I’d be kneeling before him, and now I can’t return them. Does anyone want to buy a pair of un-usued knee pads?
The Yankees need to stop dicking around with Soriano and either put him on the DL or pitch him. As it is now he’s actively hurting the team even when he’s not able to blow the leads himself.
Whoever was behind the Soriano signing should be fired.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
NJ.com: Fans question bunting in Yankees’ 4-3 loss to Royals
In the eighth inning and the game tied 2-2, Derek Jeter popped up a bunt with Brett Gardner on first base. And then in the 10th, down 3-2, Gardner bunted Russell Martin over to second despite a three-ball count with no outs. Jeter’s bunt didn’t work out, but Gardner’s did as the Yankees tied the game later in the inning.
I realize part of the calculus in bunting with Gardner is that he has a better than average chance to reach safely, but I still can’t justify Girardi’s constant willingness to give away outs. It’s become more irritating than his love of the intentional walk and I see no evidence it will change.
Bunting with Gardner ahead 3-0 was so exceedingly stupid that it defies words. You had three pitches to see if the pitcher would advance the runner for you without costing yourself an out, and instead you willingly gave them a free out. Yeah, they tied the game, but who’s to say they don’t score more runs if Gardner reached safely.
Bunting with Jeter was not as dumb, but still dumb. Moving a runner into scoring position in front of hitters who hit a lot of singles and don’t walk much or hit for power makes sense. Moving a runner into scoring position in front of hitters who walk a lot and hit for power has less impact. What category do Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixiera and Alex Rodriguez fall into?
I think I’m ready for a new manager.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Yankees.com: Nova’s stamina key in Yankees’ win
NEW YORK—The seventh inning used to be uncharted territory for Ivan Nova. Through the first 10 starts of his career, the Yankees right-hander did not throw a single pitch after the sixth inning and often needed to be removed well before that. But his last two starts have been a different story.
Nova pitched into the seventh for the second time in as many starts—and picked up a win for his efforts—in the Yankees’ 5-2 victory over the Blue Jays on Sunday. Unlike on Tuesday, when New York’s bullpen and offense wasted Nova’s start against the White Sox, the Yankees rewarded Nova with some run support to take the three-game series from the Blue Jays and finish their seven-game homestand with a 4-3 record.
I didn’t think Nova would make it out of the fourth with the way he started, but he finished up pretty well. I find a 4-3 homestand a bit of a letdown, especially when you consider the fact that the White Sox have gone 1-14 (soon to be 1-15) in their games vs. teams other than the Yankees since April 13, and 2-2 vs. the Yankees at DNYS. I know they’re not as bad at that record, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying. The Yankees are going to be heading out on the road for a pretty long trip now and I just feel like they didn’t take the full advantage that they could have in this home stand.
Anyway, back to today’s game. The big hit was Curtis Granderson’s three run HR that broke a 2-2 tie, and I was happy to see Girardi using matchups to navigate out of the seventh in lieu of his standard push-button formula. He let Nova start the inning, and after an out and a walk he pulled him for David Robertson, who got one out but also allowed a walk, then went to Boone Logan vs. lefty Adam Lind for the final out.
In other news, Robinson Cano has a bruised hand and is day to day, and Kevin Millwood has opted out of his deal with the Yankees.
He will be missed.
Cano, not Millwood. Hopefully it’s a short-term thing.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Yankees.com: Rafael Soriano Stinks
Homers by Robinson Cano and Brett Gardner supported Ivan Nova, who worked 6 1/3 innings and handed a lead to his bullpen, but Rafael Soriano surrendered two late runs.
Soriano is now directly responsible for two of the team’s eight losses so far this year. Good thing he’s signed for the bargain price of $12M per year.
The Yankees had a chance to win it in the ninth despite Soriano, but after a leadoff infield single by Derek Jeter, Joe Girardi thought it would be smart to give away one of the last three outs the team had by bunting with his team leader in HRs. I don’t like bunting in general, but it’s especially foolish when you’re doing it in front of power hitters who walk a fair amount, because the difference in run expectancy for a runner on first vs. a runner on second in front of those types of hitters isn’t really worth the value of the out.
So after Girardi stupidly had Curtis Granderson bunt Jeter to second, Mark Teixeira walked, and Alex Rodriguez lined a pitch to the wall in RF where Brent Lillibridge made a nice catch to preserve the lead. Robinson Cano followed up with a line drive towards the RF corner and Lillibridge made a game-ending diving catch. Either one of those plays would have probably won the game for the Yankees if they weren’t made, but they were.
It’s pretty frustrating seeing the Yankees wasting good starting pitching. And I’m really starting to find Girardi’s decision-making annoying.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Yankees.com: Colon gives Yanks more than enough to win
TORONTO—Bartolo Colon struck out seven and pitched into the seventh inning in his first Major League start in more than a year, leading the Yankees to a 6-2 victory over the Blue Jays on Wednesday at Rogers Centre.
One of the most impressive stories of the Yankees’ young season, Colon came to camp as a curiosity to the coaching staff, but he quickly convinced the team that he had something left to offer in his 37-year-old arm.
Sliding into the rotation in place of Phil Hughes, who has suffered from a lack of velocity, Colon proved that his three previous effective relief outings for New York were no fluke.
IMO, Colon’s pitching has looked very good every time out this season. Even in the games where he gave up runs I thought he was solid, and tonight he was great. He started off a bit slowly, but after allowing a homer to J.P. Arenciba in the second inning he retired 12 straight Blue Jays, 7 via strikeout. Unfortunately, his track record of late indicates that relying on him to be part of the rotation over the course of a full season is probably foolish, but the Yankees may as well keep running him out there as long as they can.
Some other quick thoughts about tonight:
- I thought Girardi did well with the bullpen tonight. He may have left Colon in for one batter too long, but I liked that he kept Robertson in to pitch the 8th instead of replacing him since he’s not “the eighth inning guy.’ I also was fine with starting the 9th with Pendleton. A four run lead with three outs to go is actually a pretty low leverage situation. That he ended up having to relieve Pendleton with Rafael Soriano doesn’t mean it wasn’t the right call initially.
- My hunch that Curtis Granderson was going to have a big year is starting to feel a bit more realistic
- In his career prior to 2011, David Robertson had thrown about 61.5% of his pitches for strikes. Including tonight, he’s thrown 71.0% for strikes so far this year. If that’s sustainable, he might be the second best reliever in the Yankee bullpen.
Yankees.com: Mo shoulders blame after Yanks fall in 10th
“It wasn’t a good night tonight,” Rivera said. “I didn’t make good pitches. I think the guys did tremendous today. It’s my fault.”
Rivera had been perfect in seven previous opportunities, but it was easy to see he wasn’t sharp this time out.
“It happens. Mo is as close to perfect in these situations as you can be, but as we know, no one is perfect,” manager Joe Girardi said.
#### happens. Girardi tried to blow this game in the sixth by leaving in A.J. Burnett for at least two batters too long, only to be bailed out by David Robertson who came in with the tying run on third and the go-ahead run on second with one out and struck out Yunel Escobar and Travis Snider to preserve a 4-3 lead. From there, the auto-manager took over and did what it always does in this situation. If inning = 7, then pitcher = Joba Chamberlain. If inning = 8, then Rafael, Soriano. If inning=9, then Mariano Rivera. Chamberlain and Soriano did their jobs, and Rivera didn’t.
I think the Yankees are one of only two teams that has yet to lose two games in a row this season. Their hopes for extending that will fall on Bartolo Colon tonight.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Wall Street Journal: Yankees Juggle Bullpen
In the space of a few days, the bullpen the Yankees had invested so much in during the offseason—the bullpen that was not so long ago regarded among the best in baseball—suddenly included a pair of rookies in Hector Noesi and Lance Pendleton.
...Girardi can take solace, however, in the knowledge that his intimidating plans for the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings remain intact. Joba Chamberlain, Rafael Soriano and the evergreen Mariano Rivera have all proven themselves healthy and effective.
Chamberlain, in particular, has provided comforting news for Girardi. Showing signs that he is recapturing the blazing speed that made him such an exciting prospect in 2008—before his failed experiment in the rotation—his fastball has touched the high 90s, leading Girardi to believe that he is routinely throwing harder than he was last season.
I keep hearing about how Chamberlain has regained his velocity and is throwing well, but it seems like a load of crap to me.
2010: Average fastball velocity: 94.6
2011: Average fastball velocity: 93.6
He really looks like the same guy to me that he was last year and while that’s serviceable, it’s not exactly worth the plaudits he’s been getting. I’d still rather see David Robertson pitching over him in most high-leverage situations, because I feel Robertson’s a more effective pitcher, even if Joba beats him in FIP.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
NYDN: Feinsand: So he’s your eighth-inning guy, Joe?
There’s not much to say about Joe Girardi’s decision to send Rafael Soriano out to the mound for the eighth inning of a 4-0 game on Tuesday night. Dave Robertson was rested and ready, Soriano had thrown 19 pitches on Monday night and admitted that his fastball isn’t where it ought to be thanks to the frigid conditions.
Yet there he was, on the mound in a four-run game. I’ll let Girardi explain his thinking. Here are his postgame quotes.
Why Soriano, Joe?
“Because he’s our eighth-inning guy and you can’t assume. If you’re 4-0 in the ninth, you don’t go to Mo, but you’re trying to get it to that point. We just didn’t get it done.”
If you were committed to him, why did you take him out with the bases loaded and the score 4-1?
“He threw 19 pitches yesterday and he was at 32 today. Physically, I’m not going to blow him out on April 5. He’s not a guy that throws that many pitches in an inning, so I felt it was time to get him out.”
You should read the whole post just to count how many times Girardi says “eighth-inning guy.”
I"m actually angrier now than I was last night. If you didn’t want to blow him out on April 5, why is he pitching for the fourth freaking time in the fifth freaking game of the year in a situation that was low leverage. Now you don’t have him or Mo for today’s game with a pitcher who is almost certainly going to need the bullpen, and you’ve essentially told David Robertson that you don’t trust him to get three outs before giving up four runs.
It is my belief that pitcher fatigue is not just about number of innings/pitches thrown. It’s also a function of frequency of usage. Pitching isn’t just a stress on the muscles, it’s a stress on the tendons and ligaments and joints and if those don’t get enough rest to recover then it’s probably not long before injury strikes. If the Yankees are going to whine about the Mets abusing Pedro Feliciano, why would they turn around and abuse their own sacred “eighth-inning guy?” Especially one who has a past history of injuries and who you have committed to for a ridiculous amount of money for a ridiculous amount of years.
It was kind of cute/silly to hear that Girardi officially anointed Joba Chamberlain as his “seventh-inning guy”, but if it’s indicative of a thought process that will see him using pitchers based on a formula instead of using the best pitchers in a given spot based on their skills/talent/previous usage/expected future usage it’s far from cute and silly. It’s going to cost the Yankees games, like it did last night.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Yankees.com: Joe Girardi gets Possessed by Joe Torre
Rafael Soriano and Dave Robertson combined to allow four Twins runs in the eighth inning after CC Sabathia tossed a gem, retiring the final 17 batters he faced.
Just because you have a potentially great bullpen doesn’t mean you have to use them IN EVERY SINGLE GAME THAT YOU HAVE A LEAD IN. Soriano had pitched in three of the first four games of the year, and there was no sense using him tonight with a four run lead.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Lohud: Jennings: Pitching staff (almost) set
Joe Girardi announced this morning that Ivan Nova will be the Yankees No. 4 starter and Freddy Garcia will be the No. 5.
Bartolo Colon will be the long man.
The staff would be set, but Pedro Feliciano might open on the disabled list. In fact, that sounds likely.
I wonder if Feliciano on the DL means Romulo Sanchez gets to start the year in the pen?
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
NYDN: Bartolo Colon close to locking down final spot in New York Yankees’ starting pitching rotation
“It is impressive; when you watch him, it’s pretty simple how he does it,” Girardi said. “He’s kind of reinvented himself. He still throws up to 93, but you’re not going to see that 97 or 98 we used to see in the seventh and eighth inning.”
There are still questions about Colon, most surrounding his bulky 267-pound frame. Colon acknowledged at the start of camp that he was about 25 pounds overweight.
“It is somewhat of a concern because of his stamina and if we get into the dog days, how his body holds up,” Girardi said. “It hasn’t been cool here and he seems to bounce back well from day to day. In Anaheim, I’m not sure what weight he pitched at, but he was fairly large there, too.”
Fairly large?
What will Girardi be calling Colon? Barty, or Coly?
Monday, March 21, 2011
NYDN: Yankees dominate Phillies behind CC home runs from A-Rod, Teixeira
With just 10 days remaining until their March 31 opener, the Yankees looked terrific in an 8-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at Bright House Field. CC Sabathia allowed one run and six hits in 6-2/3 efficient innings, Alex Rodriguez homered (again) and doubled, upping his spring slugging percentage to an absurd 1.000, and Mark Teixeira homered, too.
It all put Joe Girardi in a giddy mood - he could barely stop smiling in his postgame briefing, saying, “It’s how you draw it up. You want to see it all start to come together.”
..
Of all the streaking Yankees, though, none is hotter than Rodriguez, who has hit in all 13 of his spring games, has homered in four of five and knocked in at least one run in seven straight. He is batting .432 with five homers and six doubles in 37 at-bats.While A-Rod tries to downplay the eye-popping stats, even Girardi couldn’t help gushing. “Stay right where you’re at, Alex, and we’ll leave it at that,” the manager said. “The way he’s driving the baseball, it’s what you’re used to seeing from Alex and you can’t ignore it.”
I probably shouldn’t be, but I am expecting an MVP-type year out of Rodriguez now.
Monday, March 7, 2011
NJ.com: Carig - Yankees’ Eric Chavez, Eduardo Nunez inch closer to making roster
Chavez, the former Gold Glove third baseman, is 8-for-17 in spring training games. Known for his defense at third base, Chavez has played at first base for the Yankees, making him an intriguing option as a backup corner infielder.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi said the only issue with Chavez remains health.
“He seems to be doing real well right now,” Girardi said. “There’s nothing that I’ve seen from him that would tell me he’s been hurt the last couple of years.”
There’s a Nick Johnson on line one Mr. Girardi.
Meanwhile, Nunez is off to a fast start in his attempt to win a job as the Yankees’ utilityman, going 6-for-21 in spring. Today, Nunez hit a three-run homer, his first of the exhibition season, in the Yankees’ 7-1 home victory against the Phillies.
“I think I have a good chance,” Nunez said. “I’m working hard.”
So much for Ronnie Belliard…
Monday, February 28, 2011
Looking Ahead To 2011 - Jesus Montero
On a team loaded with players who are past their peak, there may not be a more intriguing player than Jesus Montero. He’s listed as one of the top 10 prospects in baseball in just about every list I’ve seen.
At the tender age of 20, Montero has stomped through the minors, hitting a collective .314/.371/.511 in his first four professional seasons and now sits on the cusp of making his MLB debut after a strong season in AAA in 2010, where he hit .289/.353/.517 in 504 PA.
That’s an impressive overall line, especially for someone who may be able to play catcher at the MLB level, but hidden in the line is the way Montero finished the year. Here are Montero’s 2010 splits by month.
| month | pa | ab | h | 2b | 3b | hr | bb | k | gdp | babip | avg | obp | slg | woba | gb% | ld% | fb% | pop% | hr/fb |
| 4 | 80 | 73 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 4 | .276 | .247 | .313 | .384 | .320 | 51.7% | 18.3% | 26.7% | 3.3% | 11.1% |
| 5 | 90 | 79 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 16 | 7 | .222 | .190 | .278 | .316 | .268 | 45.3% | 20.3% | 29.7% | 4.7% | 4.5% |
| 6 | 105 | 99 | 28 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 21 | 0 | .338 | .283 | .324 | .505 | .362 | 39.0% | 20.8% | 32.5% | 7.8% | 9.7% |
| 7 | 93 | 76 | 26 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 16 | 2 | .368 | .342 | .441 | .632 | .450 | 38.7% | 22.6% | 37.1% | 1.6% | 20.8% |
| 8 | 101 | 92 | 31 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 17 | 0 | .348 | .337 | .386 | .620 | .423 | 46.1% | 18.4% | 31.6% | 3.9% | 25.9% |
| 9 | 27 | 27 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1 | .389 | .370 | .370 | .852 | .500 | 38.1% | 23.8% | 33.3% | 4.8% | 37.5% |
| 4-5 | 170 | 152 | 33 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 29 | 11 | .248 | .217 | .294 | .349 | .293 | 50.4% | 20.2% | 29.4% | 4.2% | 7.5% |
| 6-9 | 326 | 294 | 95 | 25 | 2 | 18 | 28 | 60 | 3 | .353 | .323 | .380 | .605 | .417 | 43.1% | 21.8% | 35.1% | 4.9% | 20.0% |
babip: Batting average on balls in play
gb%: Percentage of batted balls that were ground balls
ld% Percentage of batted balls that were line drives
fb%: Percentage of batted balls that were fly balls
pop%: Percentage of batted balls that were infield pop ups
hr/fb: Percentage of fly balls that were home runs
Over the last four months of the season, Montero hit .323/.380/.605 in 326 PA. The peripherals in his underlying stats point to some bad luck in April/May and some better luck from June through September, but regardless, Montero was a beast after a slow start.
You can use selective endpoints to pretend someone is better or worse than they are, but as I’ve mentioned before I’m more inclined to see them as genuine signs of development for a minor league player, particularly one at Montero’s age.
Here’s how Montero projects in 2011.
Offense
| projection | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA | BR | BR/650 | BRAA | BRAR |
| bill_james | 442 | 403 | 54 | 115 | 29 | 1 | 21 | 67 | 0 | 0 | 39 | .285 | .348 | .519 | .371 | 69 | 102 | 16 | 38 |
| fans | |||||||||||||||||||
| cairo | 508 | 467 | 58 | 122 | 29 | 2 | 18 | 67 | 1 | 1 | 41 | .261 | .327 | .448 | .338 | 65 | 83 | 4 | 30 |
| marcel | |||||||||||||||||||
| oliver | 173 | 159 | 23 | 47 | 9 | 0 | 8 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 12 | .296 | .341 | .503 | .361 | 25 | 95 | 5 | 13 |
| pecota | 480 | 442 | 61 | 125 | 25 | 1 | 18 | 66 | 0 | 0 | 30 | .283 | .329 | .466 | .343 | 63 | 86 | 6 | 30 |
| zips | 598 | 539 | 66 | 149 | 34 | 2 | 28 | 87 | 0 | 0 | 47 | .276 | .338 | .503 | .359 | 87 | 95 | 16 | 46 |
| average* | 440 | 402 | 52 | 111 | 24 | 1 | 18 | 62 | 0 | 0 | 33 | .276 | .333 | .477 | .349 | 60 | 89 | 8 | 30 |
| 2010 | 504 | 453 | 66 | 131 | 34 | 3 | 21 | 75 | 0 | 0 | 46 | .289 | .353 | .517 | .372 | 78 | 100 | 17 | 42 |
wOBA: Weighted on-base average (does not include SB/CS)
BR: Linear weights batting runs
BR/650: BR pro-rated to 650 PA
BRAA: BR above an average player in projected playing time (adjusted for park, but not for position)
BRAR: BR above a replacement level player (adjusted for park and position)
2010: Un-adjusted 2010 performance
*average does not include bill_james or fans
There’s very little question about Montero’s bat playing in MLB right now. CAIRO is actually the least optimistic system about Montero on a rate basis, although that’s because it doesn’t realize he’s a Yankee since he hasn’t played for them yet. Once you account for that, a more realistic CAIRO projection would be something like .500/.600/.800.
Seriously though, that is a tremendous set of offensive projections, particularly for a catcher. According to ZiPS creator Dan Szymborski:
I have 4 catchers offensively in the last 40 years (including minor league translations) at the level of Montero at his age: Bench, Simmons, Carter, and Montero (they show up pretty soon in his comp list).
A full-time Montero would project to be worth almost four wins above a replacement level catcher offensively. Oh, and he’s 21. If the average projection is a true gauge of his current offensive level and he makes the standard gains a player makes in their early to mid-20s, he’d have a realistic chance at being a five wins above replacement level catcher offensively.
Here are Montero’s CAIRO percentile forecasts.
| cairo % | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA | BR | BR/650 | BRAA | BRAR |
| 80% | 533 | 490 | 69 | 140 | 36 | 4 | 23 | 79 | 2 | 2 | 50 | .285 | .365 | .516 | .383 | 85 | 103 | 21 | 47 |
| 65% | 518 | 476 | 63 | 130 | 32 | 3 | 21 | 73 | 2 | 2 | 45 | .273 | .346 | .482 | .361 | 74 | 93 | 12 | 38 |
| Baseline | 508 | 467 | 58 | 122 | 29 | 2 | 18 | 67 | 1 | 1 | 41 | .261 | .327 | .448 | .338 | 65 | 83 | 4 | 30 |
| 35% | 457 | 420 | 49 | 105 | 24 | 1 | 14 | 57 | 0 | 0 | 34 | .249 | .308 | .413 | .315 | 51 | 73 | -3 | 20 |
| 20% | 406 | 374 | 40 | 89 | 19 | 0 | 11 | 47 | 0 | 0 | 28 | .238 | .289 | .379 | .292 | 39 | 62 | -9 | 11 |
Anything less than that 80% projection is unacceptable IMO.
Base Running
I’m going to imagine that Montero’s not much of a base runner, although hopefully he won’t be Posada-level horrific.
Defense
And this is really the biggest question with Montero. Before he wound up on the side of a milk carton, Kyle took a look at Montero’s defense, comparing Montero to his teammates while looking at just about every area that the catcher could possibly impact. His conclusion?
To state the obvious, Montero does an awful job blocking balls in the dirt. His PB rate is nearly three times that of his teammates, and Scranton pitchers are charged with more WP when he’s the catcher, too. Over 130 games, Montero would be expected to give up 14 PB and 28 more WP than his teammates, which would be about 11 runs (7.5 runs below IL average rates).
Montero’s arm, however, has not been quite as poor as expected/advertised. His CS% is a bit below average, but far better than his teammates’ – runners have also run more often on his teammates, though they do run against Montero at a rate far higher than the league average. I don’t doubt that he has a poor arm, but I suspect Scranton pitchers aren’t doing a very good job with baserunners either.
I think I could live with the passed balls and stolen bases assuming Montero improves even a tiny bit, but the biggest concern I have after collecting this data is Montero’s receiving. Pitchers simply don’t throw as many strikes with him catching, and their BB/9 is 0.94 higher while their SO/9 is 0.56 lower. Scranton pitchers have an ERA over half a run worse with Montero behind the dish (and the FIP difference is 0.40 runs, or about 52 runs over 130 games). However bad Montero may be, I don’t believe he’s truly responsible for the whole difference, but the difference is far greater than I expected when I started the process.
Kyle noted that there is the dreaded small sample size issue with his analysis, and also made the point that none of what he founds means Montero can’t improve. I also wonder if some of the limitations in Montero’s game are more apparent when receiving minor league pitchers who may not have the command that MLB pitchers will have. Of course, MLB pitchers throw harder and have nastier pitches which will present a whole new set of challenges.
But frankly, we just don’t know. With Joe Girardi, Tony Pena and Jorge Posada around, the Yankees have close to 5000 MLB games caught worth of potential mentors to Montero, although hopefully he pays less attention to Posada and more to Pena.
Russell Martin is likely to be the primary starter behind the plate at the start of 2011. However, if he underperforms or Montero shows enough offensively and defensively to be a clear upgrade on Martin, Montero will almost certainly get some significant playing time. If he’s the backup to Martin, he will also probably see some time at DH. I’m not sure if they’d consider him playing some first base, and the Yankees may want to avoid overloading him with things to learn right now so it’s probably not something we’ll see in 2011.
This season has a chance to be a very interesting one if Montero and some of the pitching prospects get to show what they can do at the MLB level. There may be some bumps in the road along the way, but it’ll be fun to watch, even if the Yankees fail to make it into the postseason.
Montero wasn’t the big story out of yesterday’s game though.
MLB.com: Betances turns heads with flashy debut
And if it is true that you never get a second chance to make a first impression, at least Betances can rest his head tonight knowing that he made a good one. The 22-year-old struck out the side around a walk, firing a fastball that had the Yankees asking questions.
“Hey,” Curtis Granderson asked a reporter, looking up from his locker and nodding toward Betances. “How fast did they get him?”
The answer, at least according to the YES Network, was up to 97 mph. Pitching the fifth inning of the Yankees’ 7-3 win, the 6-foot-8 Betances struck out Domonic Brown and Ben Francisco before he lost Carlos Ruiz to a walk. Betances came back to fan Wilson Valdez for the third out.
“Pretty good for the first time being out there,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “You kind of want to see how the kids react the first time out and what they do the next couple after that. I’m sure there are some emotions that go in there, some butterflies. There have got to be.”
Betances is probably still a very long shot to make the Opening Day MLB roster, but a few more outings like yesterday’s and he may force himself onto the team.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
MSNBC: Report: Yanks, Girardi agree to 3-year deal
According to Mark Feinsand and Bill Madden of the New York Daily News, the Yankees have come to terms with manager Joe Girardi on a three-year, $9 million contract extension.
The deal also reportedly includes bonuses should the Yankees reach the ALCS and/or World Series.
No word on how much Binder was re-signed for.
The psychology behind how fans view their team’s manager is interesting. Most sabermetrically-inclined Yankee fans could not stand Joe Torre, primarily after 2001. There were a myriad of reasons why, including his bullpen management, the way he played favorites, and his old-school mentality regarding statistical analysis. We pined for someone who’d used statistical analysis to make smarter moves.
By just about all accounts, Girardi’s an intelligent guy who is cognizant of advanced metrics and who does make use of statistical analysis. However, in comments he makes regarding matchups and such one gets the sense he uses statistics that aren’t the most meaningful, such as batter/pitcher matchups and Phil Hughes pitching well in Texas based on two starts.
So us stat dorks got what we wanted, but it still wasn’t good enough. It’s possible that at least some of the public comments about why he does some of the things he does are subterfuge, but there’s no way to know how much of that is true.
So I guess the question is if it’s better to have a manager who’s open to statistical analysis but doesn’t seem to use it in the best way versus an old-school guy who prefers to manage on gut and feel. I’d probably lean to the former.
It may not happen, but there’s really no reason to think that a manager can’t improve as he gains more experience. Let’s hope that’s what happens with Girardi going forward.
Monday, October 25, 2010
USA Today: Moving on: Yankees begin mulling offseason upgrades
“I don’t know how you measure, quantify any of it,” Girardi said. “It all stinks.”
My careful and detailed analysis says this is dead-on.
Speaking of Girardi…
NY Post: Girardi deal likely to be for 3 years
There is no chance the Yankees and Joe Girardi announce a
contract extension today when the manager and Brian Cashman will talk at Yankee Stadium.
Eventually, a deal will be struck. Hal Steinbrenner and Cashman think highly of Girardi, who likely will sign a three-year deal.
As for Girardi’s staff, none of the coaches is signed beyond the end of the month.
There’s no backing evidence in the article, so take it for FWIW. If Girardi does sign for 3 years, it’s good news for Josh Hamilton, because it will give him a very good shot at beating Barry Bond’s career record for IBB. If it was only for two years, it may have been a bit tight.
In other “news”, A.J. Burnett keeps quiet as Yankees return to Bronx to clean out clubhouse following ALCS ouster.
There wasn’t much action in the six hours the Yankees opened their clubhouse to reporters Sunday, with just lefty relievers Damaso Marte and Boone Logan addressing the media on a futile cleanup day at the Stadium.
A.J. Burnett also made a late appearance Sunday at the Stadium, but the $82.5 million Game 4 ALCS starter declined to comment before cleaning out his locker for the winter.
So two of the three players who showed up, one of whom hasn’t pitched in four months, talked to the media? This is news? This is HEADLINE-WORTHY?
I hate the offseason.
Update: Eiland out.
Bob Klapish (and others) are tweeting that At Yankees press conference: Dave Eiland fired by GM Brian Cashman for “private” reasons.
Not sure it’s technically a firing since his contract was up, but either way he’s gone. Rick Kranitz was Girardi’s pitching coach with the 2006 Marlins and won Major League Coach of the Year from Baseball America, but is currently employed by the Orioles so I’m guessing he’s not an option. Wonder what Mel Stottlemyre’s up to…
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Rangers Beat Yankees, Win ALCS 4 - 2
It’s our first reaction as fans to say “our team lost” rather than the other team won. No one should be able to beat our team, they can only beat themselves.
The Rangers beat the Yankees. They outplayed them this series. We can talk about why it happened, but that’s the bottom line, and that’s why they’re going to the World Series and the Yankees are going home. The Rangers outscored the Yankees 39-18 over the six games of the ALCS.
Joe Girardi did not manage a good series IMO. While his biggest flaw prior to this series was a love for the sacrifice bunt which is actually probably not nearly the issue we made it out to be, I refuse to think his strategy of IBB half the Rangers lineup was anything but asinine. Of course, a proper analysis of each situtation when it came up would tell us more, and I’d guess it probably won’t be as bad on paper as it ended up turning out. But that doesn’t make it any less aggravating right now.
As poorly as I thought Girardi managed, to the point where I really don’t care if he is not back next year, the Yankees lost because the Rangers out-hit them and out-pitched them. Although they won CC Sabathia’s two starts, he really didn’t pitch that well. Phil Hughes didn’t pitch well either, obviously, and Andy Pettitte’s gem came in a game where Cliff Lee pitched one of the best games you’ll ever see.
Is it Dave Eiland’s fault that some of the key Yankees didn’t pitch well in 2010 after pitching well in 2009? Or is it the fact that pitching is unpredictable and volatile? Do we blame Eiland for Hughes and Joba Chamberlain having “disappointing” seasons, or do we blame ourselves for setting unrealistic expectations for young pitchers and ignoring the historical fact that the majority of pitching prospects don’t become elite pitchers?
To be honest, I think calling Hughes’s season disappointing is a stretch too, even though it didn’t end well, but that’s a post for another day.
The bullpen didn’t distinguish themselves much in this series either, but most of the damage done came in games the Yankees were already well on their way to losing. Sure, Girardi could have used Mo in games earlier and kept them closer, but I saw nothing from the offense that indicated they would have come back from a 7-3 deficit rather than a 10-3 deficit.
Of course, the offense is as much to blame as the pitching. Give some credit to the Rangers for pitching well, but that doesn’t make the performances by anyone not named Robinson Cano any less frustrating.
I try not to think of any Yankee season where the Yankees don’t win a World Series as a failure, because the odds are against even the best team in baseball in any given year winning the World Series. But when you don’t win your division and have to back into the postseason as the wild card, getting your asses handed to you in the ALCS doesn’t feel like much of an accomplishment to me. I wouldn’t call this season a failure, but I wouldn’t call it an achievement either.
As far as where the Yankees go from here, emotion would tell us to get rid of all the chokers and bring in new blood, Working off emotion is probably stupid though.
The Yankees shouldn’t need to make drastic moves to be in a position to be back in the hunt for the World Series, but they do need to be smart about this offseason, because many of the key players on this team aren’t going to be any better than they are now and some will almost certainly be worse, and adding a few veteran band aids to try and coax another World Series out of them may be as fruitless as it was this year.
I haven’t really thought about who the Yankees should go after in 2011. Obviously most of the talk will be about Cliff Lee, but my first impulse is he alone wouldn’t make this team a clear World Series favorite. I’m also not sure the Yankees will be able to just outbid everyone for him. If Texas decides to try and keep him, they’ll have the advantage of no state income tax in any bid they make for him, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a team like the White Sox go after him hard as well.
You also have the questions about who to bring back in 2011. While the idea of letting Girardi and Eiland go seems tempting, it would depend on who would replace them, wouldn’t it? I’m certain no matter who the manager ends up being, he’ll have flaws that we fixate on anyway. Jeter and Mo will obviously be back, but the terms of their returns will be the subject of much conjecture. Do the Yankees eschew Carl Crawford and stick with Brett Gardner, or do they try and trade Gardner for something they can’t get through free agency? Do they promote Jesus Montero to the majors, and if so is it as a catcher or a DH? Does that mean the end of Francisco Cervelli’s reign of terror, or does it mean more Jorge Posada at DH?
Anyway, I don’t feel like thinking about 2011 yet. I’m just going to get very inebriated at this wedding I have to serve in today and forget about baseball for a few days.
Friday, October 22, 2010
SI.com: Heyman - Yankees Plan To Bring Back Girardi
The Yankees plan to bring back manager Joe Girardi at a raise, no matter what some fans may say about his reliance on his ever-present binder. He is well-liked by Yankees honchos Hal Steinbrenner, Randy Levine and Brian Cashman. Girardi hasn’t been great in the ALCS, though, as he got greedy by staying too long in Game 4 with A.J. Burnett, who has been brutal and was pitching on 17 days’ rest. Burnett should have been removed after five very good innings, rather than be left in to try to pitch out of a sixth-inning jam.
Perhaps the raise will keep Girardi from doing commercials.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Rangers Whip Yankees To Take 3-1 ALCS Lead
Yeah, I know that the game isn’t technically over, but I’m taking my chances.
A.J. Burnett pitched much better than I expected, but you couldn’t help but feel that every out he was getting was coming on borrowed time, and that at any point he’d lose it. Unfortunately, the guy who makes the decisions in the dugout decided to keep him in there after getting five innings of two run ball out of him. I guess I’m fine with starting the sixth with him. Hell, I’m even fine with letting him pitch to Cruz after Guerrero singled. And once he got Cruz, sure, let him pitch to Kinsler.
But if you don’t think he can get David Murphy out, you don’t PUT THE GO-AHEAD RUN ON BASE INTENTIONALLY. That was epically stupid. You bring in Boone Logan to pitch to Murphy. If they pinch-hit with Jeff Francoeur, big deal, it’s Jeff Francoeur.
And you don’t leave Burnett in to give up a cookie to Bengie Molina that probably ended your season.
The offense gets some blame too, just like they should be getting for this entire series. Blowing a first and second no-out chance to build on a 3-2 lead with your 3/4 hitters up in the bottom of the fifth was probably just as important as the Girardi foolishness that followed.
I suppose losing Mark Teixeira doesn’t help either, although with the way he’s hit in the past two postseasons who’d notice him being gone?
So now we just hope this team can win three in a row against a team that’s outplayed them in just about every way for just about the whole series aside from one inning. Except for Robinson Cano, an oasis in a desert of suck.
Can they do it? Maybe.
Will they? Probably not.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Taco Bell Ad with Mo and Girardi
Thanks to colin for the heads up.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Yankees.com: Berkman’s damage all Pettitte needs to win
MINNEAPOLIS—When Lance Berkman was approached with a list of interested teams he could waive a no-trade clause to join in late July, the veteran slugger selected the Yankees, believing they would have the best chance of winning a World Series.
Berkman seized his opportunity to help that cause on Thursday, hitting a tiebreaking homer and a go-ahead RBI double as the Yankees defeated the Twins, 5-2, in Game 2 of the American League Division Series at Target Field to take a 2-0 advantage in the best-of-five set.
A career Astro before this year, Berkman had hit just one home run in pinstripes before connecting off Carl Pavano in the fifth, then added a big hit in the seventh to provide the necessary support for good friend Andy Pettitte, who improved his all-time numbers with his 19th victory in postseason play
I have been nervous about Andy Pettitte’s starts in the postseason given the shakiness of his last two regular season starts, but that sure feels dumb now.
It’s also nice to see some of the guys who were acquired by Brian Cashman in deals that have been criticized for much of the year being the key contributors in tonight’s win.
Curtis Granderson has been very good the last few months, and he’s carried that into the postseason.
And Lance Berkman’s track record should have spoken for itself. He was an outstanding hitter at one time, and even if he’s not what he once was, he’s an asset to this team and he showed it tonight. Sometimes good players have 30 bad PA.
If you could have any closer in baseball right now for the rest of the postseason, is there anyone you’d take over Mo?
I think Joe Girardi’s managed the first two games of this series very well, both with his lineup and bullpen decisions as well as with his strategy.
But tonight belonged to Pettitte. I don’t know if he’s going to be back next year, and he probably doesn’t know either, but I’m glad he’s here in 2010.
Twins in 4 is the new prediction BTW.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
ESPN NY: Girardi hogging spotlight down stretch
Girardi is very careful not to say that he is managing like the Yankees are already in, but his actions belie his nonsensical words. The Yankees’ magic number to clinch the wild card is still just three, meaning they would guarantee at least a tie if they win Sunday night.
“We’re still in a good spot,” Girardi said.
With that in the back of his mind, Girardi continues to use his pitchers as if it were spring training. Girardi is valuing health over home-field, which is not an unreasonable way to go. However, the jogging to finish line approach may play better in theory than in reality. As programmed as many of the Yankees act, they are still people.
It’s still very unlikely that the Yankees miss the postseason, but if they do, Girardi should be front and center when we assign blame. I have been extremely unimpressed by his managing down the stretch, with the caveat that there may be reasons that we’re not aware of for some of his asinine decision-making.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Yankees.com: Mo falters as Yankees stumble in 11
BALTIMORE—The Yankees called Sunday’s 4-3 loss to the Orioles tough, frustrating and disappointing. But really, the best adjective for it might just be fitting.
A road trip that started with a walk-off loss in the 13th inning at Texas ended with a walk-off loss in the 11th inning at Baltimore. In all, the Yankees lost six of nine on the trip, with five of the six defeats coming by one run and four of them coming in walk-off fashion.
“This whole road trip was like this for us,” manager Joe Girardi said.
I was on the road and missed this one, and I’m pretty glad I did. And Girardi’s right, this road trip was awful, so this game probably was the right way for it to end. If only Alex Rodriguez got punched out Friday night…
It seems like Petttitte pitched well, which is probably the most important thing, but having not seen the game I’m just going by his line.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
The Curtis Granderson Bunt Last Night
I’m pretty sure I’ve written the same basic thing I’m going to write in this entry before in another situation with a bunt gone wrong, but it may be somewhat therapeutic for me to think a bit more deeply into a strategy that I didn’t agree with on first sight.
The situation that presented itself came in the top of the 11th inning of last night’s 1-0 Tampa Bay victory over the Yankees. Leading off the 11th, Austin Kearns singled off Grant Balfour, which brought up Curtis Granderson.
The run expectancy in the average situation where a team has a runner on first base and no outs is 0.980.
Grant Balfour is a right-handed pitcher. He’s a fastball/slider guy primarily and has been pretty good so far in his career, with a career ERA of 3.89 and a career FIP of 3.48.
Curtis Granderson is a left-handed batter. Granderson, as has been well-documented, hits right-handed pitching much better than he hits left-handed pitching.
Due up after Granderson were Colin Curtis, a left-handed batter and Derek Jeter, a right-handed batter.
As saber-leaning fans, we generally think bunt = bad. The truth of the matter is that’s not necessarily true. The decision on whether or not a team should bunt in a specific situation is actually a pretty complex one.
In the case of what would be considered a successful bunt:
- You are basically trading a runner on first with no outs for a runner on second and one out.
- Part of the calculus here is that there’s a non-zero chance the bunter may also reach successfully, as well as the risk that the bunt is a poor one that is either caught in the air or bunted such that the defense can force the lead runner which means all you’ve done is given away an out.
- Another reason to bunt is to stay out of a potential double play. You’re giving away one out to eliminate the possibility of two outs and no one on.
- The run expectancy for a runner on second and one out is .708, which is .272 runs LOWER than a runner on first and no outs.
You also need to factor in who is pitching, who is batting, who’s on base, and who’s on deck and in the hole.
- Is the pitcher hard to hit or more likely to induce a double play?
Balfour’s not a groundball pitcher, getting around 34.1% in his career, 32.0% so far this year. His career BABIP against is essentially league average (.303), but he does strike out a good percentage of batters faced. He doesn’t show much of a platoon split.
- How good is the defense of the team you’re bunting against, at least at first base and third base?
Scouts like Carlos Pena’s glove, but defensive metrics don’t. The truth is probably in the middle. On Evan Longoria there’s not much difference of opinion, he’s probably one of the top two or three defensive 3B in MLB. So the chances of a misplay on a bunt is almost certainly lower against Tampa Bay.
- Is the batter a risk to hit into a double play or make a non-productive out?
In 2010, Granderson has come up to the plate in a double play situation (runner on first, fewer than two outs) 176 times. He’s hit into 3 double plays, so about 1.7% of the time. League average is around 10-11%. Granderson does strike out rather frequently, and a strikeout in this spot changes the run expectancy from .980 to .564. So the difference between a strikeout here or a successful sac bunt is about .144 runs.
- Is the on-deck hitter better than the guy who’s currently at bat?
Colin Curtis projects to hit for around a wOBA of .301, although a bit better against a RHP. Curtis Granderson projects to have a wOBA of .365, and better than that against a RHP.
- What about the batter in the hole?
Derek Jeter projects to have wOBA of about .322 right now, and worse against a RHP.
Bunting in front of a player who is more of a three true outcomes guy (BB, K, HR) is generally a bad idea, because what they do is less likely to be worth more if a runner is on second base instead of first. Similarly, bunting in front of a player who’s more likely to put the ball in play and not likely to hit for extra bases is generally more likely to be a good idea.
I think it’s fair to say that Curtis and Jeter are the types of players who are more likely to hit singles than have one of the three true outcomes, so moving a runner into scoring position in front of them isn’t a bad idea.
In this particular instance, another factor that needs to be considered is that Granderson had worked the count to 2-0. In his career, after Granderson has worked the count to 2-0 he has hit .311/.505/.644.
This hasn’t been therapeutic at all. It’s actually made me angrier. Girardi basically ignored that fact that Granderson projects as a .365 wOBA hitter who actually projects better than that against RHP AND who almost certainly projects better than that when ahead in the count 2-0, to take two shots at scoring with decidely inferior hitters given the matchups.
I find this move indefensible. In fact, I almost find it fireable.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Rays 1, Yankees 0: Joe Girardi Complaint Thread
I don’t even feel like recounting all the ways that Joe Girardi has managed over the last few games that make me question how good of a manager he is. Granted, we don’t know the all the rationale behind some of them, including the health of players we may think should be playing more than they are.
But tonight, I really need a rationalization for these two moves:
- Replacing Boone Logan after he faced ONE BATTER with Chad Gaudin against a team that had no fewer than five left-handed bats on the bench
- Bunting with Curtis Granderson AHEAD IN THE COUNT 2-0 and Austin Kearns on first base in front of Colin Curtis and Derek Jeter. There are times the bunt makes sense, and there are times it doesn’t. Without going into all the things that should be considered, I’ll just say that having the lefty Granderson bunting against a righty in front of a player who has a grand total of 47 AB in the major leagues, and who last got a hit in an MLB game in July is probably not a high percentage move. You’d have thought after Girardi gave away an out on a 3-0 count and the way it came back to bite him on the ass a few days ago he’d have been a little less gung ho about making it more likely for his team to NOT score, but apparently not.
Without knowing the availability of the arms in the bullpen, I can’t really kill Girardi for going to Sergio Mitre to start the 11th.
Frankly, I’m not sure Girardi really cares about the division any more, because with the way he’s managing it sure doesn’t seem like it. So maybe we shouldn’t care either.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Yankees.com: Long ball burdens Hughes as Yanks cooled
NEW YORK—Phil Hughes served up three home runs, and the Yankees saw their eight-game winning streak halted in a 7-3 loss to the Blue Jays on Sunday.
It was the second time this season that Hughes had surrendered a trio of long balls, and both have come against the Blue Jays—an unsurprising fact given Toronto’s stranglehold on the Major League lead in home runs. Vernon Wells, Aaron Hill and John Buck were the perpetrators on Sunday, with the first two blasting particularly frustrating two-run shots on 0-2 counts.
“Two 0-2 pitches cost him the game,” manager Joe Girardi said. “He wasn’t too bad. But when you make those mistakes 0-2 against a club that, when you make those mistakes they’re usually home runs, it cost him the game.”
“Those are the two worst pitches I made in the game,” said Hughes. “This team pounces on mistakes, and that’s what they did today.”
It’s a good thing that mistakes are easy to overcome in the postseason.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
NJ.com: Carig: As pennant race heats up, Yankees face pitching decisions
A string of five ineffective starts has caught up to the veteran right-hander, who may have started his last game for the Yankees. Manager Joe Girardi said on Tuesday that Vazquez is going to be skipped on Sunday in favor of rookie Ivan Nova.
I approve.
“I saw a toughness, I saw a resiliency,” said Girardi, who believes Nova’s stuff is better than what he showed against the Blue Jays. “It’s only one start and you don’t want to make too much of it but he got the bases loaded with nobody out and Vernon Wells up. He could have caved right there. But he didn’t. He continued to make pitches.”
I just saw the fact that he was not Vazquez, which works for me.
“We’ll be flexible with Hughes as we’re moving down the stretch here,” Girardi said. “You never know what he’ll give you every night so you don’t want to get too locked in.”
Something to keep in mind: Vazquez’s presence in the bullpen could make it easier to shorten Hughes’ starts to keep him under the cap.
Unless you want to win the games, of course.
Also, Girardi said the team is likely to stay at 13 pitchers for the rest of the month.
Sure, if you’re missing your cleanup hitter as well as your starting DH, add more people to the bullpen.
Although I guess it’s only for six more days.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
NY Post: Yankees waste chances in rain-delayed defeat
Tampa couldn’t hit and lost. Boston flushed another lead and lost. And the umpires at Kauffman Stadium refused to call a game the Royals were leading in the home fifth despite torrential rain.
Instead, the umps allowed the rain to fall for two-plus hours and resumed the action. And still, the Yankees couldn’t shake the lowly Royals, dropping a 4-3 decision in front of 30,680.
The defeat left the Yankees two games ahead of the Rays and six up on the third-place Red Sox in the AL East, but has to be viewed as a missed opportunity.
“We had a couple of opportunities to win the game and we weren’t able to get it done,” said Joe Girardi, whose club went 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 runners.
When play resumed after a second rain delay of 2 hours and 10 minutes in the fifth inning, the temperature had dropped to 73 degrees, which was a welcome relief from the 98 it was when Kyle Davies threw the first pitch.
Mike Cole was right! Just give the Red Sox the 2010 AL East division title now.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Yankees.com: A-Rod can’t rescue silent Yanks late
ST. PETERSBURG—The Yankees’ bats were largely helpless against James Shields in a commanding performance on Sunday, as the Tampa Bay Rays posted a 3-0 victory over New York at Tropicana Field.
Shields stifled the Bronx Bombers to move Tampa Bay back within one game of first place in the American League East, firing 7 1/3 innings of scoreless ball and limiting New York to just four hits on 11 strikeouts, one shy of his season high.
Maybe I’m crazy,. but I’d think that with your ace going in the rubber game of a road series against the team that’s neck and neck with you in the division, you wouldn’t bench your cleanup hitter for a utility IF hitting .209/.247/.220 on the season and you wouldn’t bench your starting LF either.
But maybe I’m crazy.
You also have to wonder if Mark Teixeira would have made two of the plays Lance Berkman failed to make that directly led to Rays runs. I don’t think that’s a big deal though, my guess there is that Joe Girardi wanted to let Berkman feel a bit more comfortable and DHing can be a bit rough for some players. Berkman did make one nice play too.
With the way James Shields pitched today, it probably wouldn’t have mattered anyway, but I really can’t fathom what Girardi was thinking when he wrote out today’s lineup card.
I’m also not really sure why Girardi needs to keep CC Sabathia pitching over 110 pitches in games that look like they’re going to be losses anyway. Maybe save some of those bullets for a winnable game?
It was a crappy ending to what was a pretty intense series, but the Yankees entered it with a two game lead over Tampa Bay and a 7.5 game lead over Boston and saw both of those leads shrink by a game (thanks for nothing, Detroit). So there’s no way to spin it as anything but disappointing.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
New York Magazine: Yankees Win While Joba Sits
Joe Girardi had a decision to make last night: After seven and a half innings, the Yankees held a slim 3-2 lead thanks to Curtis Granderson and his rediscovered power stroke. Javier Vazquez had pitched well, but he’d worked into and out of a jam in the seventh and had thrown 96 pitches. In a perfect world, Joba Chamberlain, the alleged bridge to Mariano Rivera, would enter the game, but Chamberlain has been pitching himself out of that role for some time now, most recently Sunday afternoon, when he allowed a two-run home run to Scott Podsednik.
So Girardi brought Vazquez out to start the eighth, and one base on balls later, Vazquez was walking back to the bench, David Robertson was trotting in from the bullpen, and Chamberlain remained anchored to the bullpen bench.
Yay! Controversy!
You get the sense the media have been salivating to write this story for a while.
I’m really not sure what to make of Joba’s season. Obviously his 5.95 ERA is ugly, but ERA isn’t necessarily the best way to evaluate a pitcher.
ERA can be heavily influenced by the defense behind the pitcher, or by a unusually high/low batting average on balls in play(BABIP), or by strand rate. For a reliever, since they pitch relatively few innings, a few bad outings or a few runners passed on to another reliever who proceeds to let them score can really skew a pitcher’s ERA. Also, a reliever may come in with inherited runners and allow a bunch of them to score while not allowing a high rate of his own to score, so he can have a good ERA despite hurthing his team.
There are a few different ways to deal with these limitations. If we want to get a better idea of a pitcher’s skill while ignoring the effects of BABIP, we can use FIP. What FIP does is weigh the HR, BB/HBP and Ks by a pitcher to get an ERA equivalent number that regresses a pitcher’s BABIP to league average. The idea behind this is that a pitcher has direct control over those outcomes, whereas the defense behind him is part of the calculus of non-HR hits. Joba’s FIP is 3.01, which is pretty good.
Although pitchers do have direct control over HR, BB and Ks, the number of HRs can fluctuate in ways that will skew their FIP. The league average pitcher allows HRs on around 10% of their fly balls, so if you see a pitcher who’s significantly higher or lower than that then there’s a pretty good chance they will regress towards league average going forward. If you want to account for that, you can look at his xFIP (expected FIP) which replaces HRs by fly balls times league average HR/FB rate.
I don’t think it’s good analysis to just look at a pitcher’s FIP and xFIP and say he’s been unlucky or lucky and will be better or worse going forward. I mean, it’s fine, but it shouldn’t be the sole argument of any decent analysis. And I really can’t accept any value metric that is built around either of those two metrics. Joba has NOT been worth what his 3.01 FIP thinks he’s been worth. He has been worse than replacement level this year, and I’m not going to blame his defense for his BABIP when the Yankees have a 3.94 team ERA and a 4.20 FIP. That’s a pretty good indicator that the Yankee defense has been better than average. So what’s more likely, that they play good defense behind everyone EXCEPT Joba, or that Joba’s getting hit because he’s not pitching well?
Even saying that, ERA’s not necessarily better to use than FIP or xFIP, particularly for a reliever. Partial innings, strand rate, and sequence of events allowed could make an ERA misleading. HR, 1B, BB, out, out, out = one run allowed. BB, 1B, HR, out, out, out = three runs allowed.
To account for that, you can use component ERA, which looks at everything a pitcher’s allowed and converts it to linear weights batting runs or wOBA.
Joba’s allowed the equivalent of 26.6 batting runs, and a wOBA of .348. So his batting runs component RA is 5.67, which is not very good although it’s better than his actual 6.16. In terms of wOBA, you can subtract the league average wOBA (.332) from Joba’s .348 and divide by 1.15 and multiply times batters faced to see the run difference between Joba and league average. In this case that’s about three runs worse than average, and would give him a component RA of 5.10.
We do have the whole small sample size thing here. It’s possible that Joba’s having his version of Robinson Cano’s 2008, a year we’ll look back on in twenty years and laugh about. But I don’t think that’s what’s happening here.
Let’s talk about Curtis Granderson instead. My offer to bet that Granderson will hit closer towards his projection going forward than he had prior to the All Star Break still stands.
Monday, July 26, 2010
NY Daily News: Joba Chamberlain tests Joe Girardi’s patience in tense eighth inning
After Joe Girardi said last week that Joba Chamberlain needed to earn the role of eighth-inning man, the reliever tested his manager’s patience Sunday. Chamberlain began the inning by walking the Royals’ No. 9 hitter, Chris Getz, and then allowed a two-run homer to Scott Podsednik.
Girardi was ready to yank him for David Robertson.
“If it’s something that we have to do, we’ll address it,” said Girardi of putting Robertson in the eighth-inning role. “I was prepared to bring (Robertson) in if Joba gave up another baserunner.”
Joe Girardi tests my patience in tense eighth innings when he puts Chamberlain in. I’ve said it before, but I’m more surprised when Chamberlain doesn’t give up a run than when he does.
Is it possible he’s due for a correction in his BABIP and will start pitching better? Sure, it’s possible, but I’d rather find out by using him in lower leverage situations.
I think Joba’s actually throwing harder now than he was at the beginning of the season, but I’ll need to check the Pitch FX data on that. It doesn’t seem to be helping anyway. I think the biggest problem with him is that his slider isn’t the devastating pitch it was in 2007 and the first part of 2008, whether it’s because he’s not throwing it as well or whether it’s because batters have adjusted to it.
I’d seriously consider trading him at this point. Even if you think it’s selling low, there’s a chance his value could go even lower than this.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Yankees.com: Yanks win one for The Boss, Sheppard
Joe Girardi’s eyes were damp, and several of his Yankees stared into space as they stood clapping. Most everyone at the Stadium was on their feet, cheering, for about three minutes following a video tribute to George Steinbrenner, part of the emotional ceremony Friday night celebrating the famous owner before the Yanks’ first game since The Boss’ death on Tuesday.
Steinbrenner and The Voice - P.A. announcer Bob Sheppard, who died on Sunday - were both feted during a 20-minute tribute in which closer Mariano Rivera laid two long-stem roses on home plate to honor each Yankee icon and shortstop Derek Jeter called both men “shining stars in the Yankee universe.”
After honoring The Boss, the Yankees then honored Steinbrenner’s prime directive - to win - by rallying to beat the Rays, 5-4, in front of 47,524. Nick Swisher hit a game-winning RBI single in the ninth inning off Lance Cormier, knocking in Curtis Granderson from second base and bringing most everyone in the ballpark to their feet. “The agenda today was winning,” Swisher said. “On a day like this when we celebrate his life, we’ve gotta take him out with a ‘W.’... It was Mr. Steinbrenner’s day.”
A fitting ending to an emotional game for the Yankees.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Yankees.com: Yankees hang on for fourth straight win
NEW YORK—Nick Johnson and Nick Swisher belted solo homers, while Andy Pettitte hurled five sharp innings before exiting as the Yankees defeated the Orioles, 7-5, completing a series sweep at Yankee Stadium.
Pettitte limited the Orioles to one run on six hits, getting the benefit of three double-play grounders, but yielded the mound duties to long reliever Sergio Mitre for the sixth inning.
Permitting just a bases-loaded walk to Nolan Reimold in the fourth, Pettitte owns his lowest career ERA (2.08) through six starts of any season and is now undefeated in his past nine starts against Baltimore.
Another win, but another potential injury scare, this time with Andy Pettitte. Nick Johnson had his best game of the year, raising his batting average by .037 points, and his SLG by .09. The bullpen, well, let’s not go there. Although I will say that I don’t think Girardi was playing platoon percentages when he made his pitching changes, I think he was trying to get some of the relievers some work in what seemed like a low leverage situation at the time. That they didn’t execute isn’t his fault.
Andy Pettitte Update: Chad Jennings is reporting that:
This is the latest from the Yankees regarding Andy Pettitte:
MRI results, taken today at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, on Andy Pettitte, revealed mild inflammation of his left elbow. It will be treated conservatively and will be evaluated on a daily basis at this point.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
MLB.com: CC falls just short in bid for no-hit history
ST. PETERSBURG—CC Sabathia flashed half of a smile as he started the long walk into the dugout Saturday, greeted by applauding manager Joe Girardi and congratulated all around by the Yankees infield.
The ace left-hander chased a dream for 7 2/3 innings in a 111-pitch performance at Tropicana Field, trying to keep his usual cool and steady composure as the zeroes continued to pile up across the center-field scoreboard.
The bid ended as Kelly Shoppach dropped a two-out single into shallow left field, but Sabathia’s powerful effort was plenty for the Yankees to cheer about as they coasted to a 10-0 victory over the Rays in front of a Saturday crowd that hung on the hurler’s every movement.
Teixeira also got his first hits of the season, and Cano thinks it’s July.
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