Despite Loss, Yanks Bring In Da Noesi, Bring In Da Funk

(image courtesy of bleacherreport.net)

Despite tonight’s final score of 6-4 and the fact that the game ended with the tying run at the plate in the person of Alex Rodriguez, it almost felt as though the game was over before it started this evening. Before you could say, “Play ball!”, the Red Sox had put together a lightning quick 3-0 lead thanks to Freddy Garcia pitching a little bit more like the over the hill righty most Yankee fans expected when he was signed than the bafflingly successful comeback story he has been thus far in 2011.

A 3-run deficit to Jon Lester, no matter how early, feels a bit like being forced to sprint up Mount Everest. Lester, one of if not the best lefthanders in baseball, has had an immense amount of success against the Bombers in his career, throwing to a 3.49 ERA with a 1.27 WHIP and a 3.00 K/BB ratio against New York in 13 starts. Thankfully, Lester didn’t look like his usually unhittable self from the get go, giving up a run and allowing the Yankees to load the bases with two outs. He even gave up a rocket of the bat of Nick Swisher (who had previously been hapless against him) with a chance to tie the game and extend the 37 pitch first inning. However, Kevin Youkilis made a tremendous and back-breaking diving stop to bail out his pitcher and end the threat.

To make matters worse, Garcia immediately gave the run back before departing with a bases loaded mess of his own with only two outs in the second inning. At that point, it just felt like the Yankees were fighting a losing battle. Yes, they managed to work Lester’s pitch count and had their fair share of opportunities to score. For whatever reason though, it never felt as though Lester was going to let them back in the game, particularly without the threat of the red-hot Mark Teixeira in the middle of the lineup after he was drilled in the knee during his first and only trip to the plate. It was the epitome of a bend but don’t break performance from the Boston lefty as he held the Yankee batters in check when it counted.

It wasn’t all bad news, however. While there’s certainly no case to be made that Teixeira coming out of the game was a good thing, the effect this game could have on Jorge Posada’s confidence could be. The struggling DH managed to go 3-3 with a walk, a run scored, and an RBI. Posada recorded his first two hits of the season against a lefthanded pitcher and raised his paltry batting average to within striking distance of the Mendoza Line. Yankee fans will be keeping their fingers crossed that a game like this will ignite the floundering veteran.

Even more impressive was the job done by rookie righty Hector Noesi. Making his first appearance in 10 days and only the fourth of his Major League career, Noesi was once again very impressive as he bailed out the Yankee pen and allowed them to rest their top-line guys despite getting less than two innings out of their starter. The 24-year old Dominican went the final six innings of the game allowing only 3 hits and a walk. The only blemish on his record was a two run shot by David Ortiz, who has been just about impossible for anyone to get out during the past week or so.

Noesi has done nothing but inspire confidence since making his Major League debut in that 15 inning affair against Baltimore during which he recorded the win. His poise has been remarkable as he’s been thrust into several very difficult situations and, where many rookies would collapse under the pressure, Noesi has thrived. He has only given up 3 runs on 11 hits and 5 walks in his first 15 1/3 innings in the Show. Despite some significant layoffs that could easily lead to rust, Noesi has exhibited very good control and one would expect his command (which is widely considered his best attribute as a pitcher) to get even better with some regular work. I have also been extremely impressed with his stuff. His fastball sits at around 93 MPH over extended appearances and he has excellent movement on everything he throws, inducing a lot of ground-balls. He reminds me a lot of Ivan Nova without all of the control problems that have plagued the Bombers other 24-year old rookie righty. I would not be at all surprised to see the two of them swap roles at some point this season and fully expect Noesi to have some success if/when that happens.

While you never want to lose a game (especially not at home and even more especially not against your biggest rival), this was the one game in this series in which I had the least amount of confidence in the Bombers’ chances. As I detailed earlier, Lester is a dominant pitcher who, despite a recent run of sub-par starts, always needs to be feared and has had his share of success against the Yankees, particularly in the Bronx. Garcia, despite his surprising start, relies on deception and does not have the type of stuff that you would expect to succeed against a potent and patient lineup like Boston’s (although the potential absence of Tex does loom large).

I said coming into the series that I expected the Yankees to be able to take two out of three, and that belief hasn’t changed. Tomorrow’s matchup should see a bit of offense and seems to favor the Yankees on paper with the ancient Tim Wakefield taking on the resurgent AJ Burnett. The series’ marquee duel on Thursday between Josh Beckett and CC Sabathia is a bit of a toss-up. Sabathia has been on a roll of late, lowering his ERA to 2.80, while his counterpart has been on a roll all season and is leading the league in ERA. That being said, I like the Yankee offense a bit better, particularly with Sabathia helping neutralize the Boston lefty bats, and think they will come out on the winning end this time.

Bringing It All Back Home

With the Yankees’ 5-3 win over their long time nemeses in Southern California, they wrapped up what can only be described as a phenomenally successful West Coast swing. The road trip was a true test for the Bombers and they passed with flying colors. Trips out west are never easy for East Coast teams, but the pitchers the Yankees had to face made this particular endeavor even more challenging than most. After dropping the first two games of the trip in match-ups against reigning Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez and rookie phenom Michael Pineda (both in heartbreaking fashion), New York managed to put together a 6-1 record over the rest of the stretch with the only other loss coming in another close call against Jered Weaver, who is currently 2nd in the AL with a 2.14 ERA.

In the six wins, they defeated a handful of pitchers who ranged from solid to excellent including Dan Haren, who is fourth in the league in ERA and a trio of talented young Oakland starters who all featured ERAs below 3.00 for the AL’s best pitching staff. Despite all of the top flight opposition they faced, the Yankee lineup managed to put up numbers only slightly off the pace of their league best offense has been averaging all year (5.14 RPG overall vs 4.78 RPG on the trip)

What really stood out, however, was the phenomenal pitching the Yankees received from a staff that, after much (understandable) off-season fretting, has the 4th best ERA in the American League and the 8th best ERA in baseball. Aside from Nova’s 3 2/3 inning clunker against Seattle, no Yankee starter gave up more than 3 earned runs in an outing. Backed by Colon’s complete game shutout against the Athletics and two outstanding 8+ inning, 1 run performances from Sabathia, the Yankee rotation managed to average 6 2/3 innings per start. They posted a ridiculous 2.72 ERA with a 1.12 WHIP, building on what has already been an unexpectedly stellar year (where all of the Yankees non-Phil Hughes starting pitchers have combined for a 3.46 ERA).

For all of the issues that have been discussed ad-nauseum online, on the radio, at the ballpark, and wherever else our national pastime is discussed, the Yankees have made it through the first third of the season with the most prolific offense in the game, the fourth best pitching staff in the AL, and the best record in the American League (only 1.5 games off of the Phillies’ pace for best in the bigs). Is there room for improvement? Without a doubt. But the Bombers have proven that, as awful as they can sometimes look, they’re one of baseball’s elite teams and, if they ever get going on all cylinders, will be awfully scary.

Now, the Yankees finally get to make the trip back east after a week and a half of games that started at unwatchably late Pacific time zone hours. Mercifully, they will only be making one more trip out their for the rest of the season. Of course coming home to the Bronx doesn’t mean their path is any easier. Their 10 game home stand will come against the three other AL teams that are currently in playoff position: Boston, Cleveland, and Texas.

Boston will be throwing their two best pitchers, Josh Beckett and Jon Lester, in the series (along with the corpse of Tim Wakefield) while the Yankees, thanks to today’s off-day, are able to skip the up and down Ivan Nova. They are opting, instead, to go with the shockingly successful Freddy Garcia along with Burnett and Sabathia. While matchups frequently end up not mattering in Yankees-Red Sox battles and games tend to just devolve into a compilation of crazy twists and turns, all three duels appear to be intriguing. The Yankee bullpen is, in my mind, the key difference in what I believe will be a 2-1 series win for the Pinstripes. Hopefully the Bombers customary slow start against the Sox is over and they can begin their gauntlet of a home stand with a bang.

LOST Finale Anniversary: Casting the Yankees on the Island

(image courtesy of rosenoer.com)

It’s hard to believe that it’s been a full year since the final episode of LOST aired. With that final, iconic shot of Jack Shepherd’s eye closing, six action packed, thought provoking, theory inducing seasons of the best show to ever grace the airwaves closed with it. Despite the show’s theme of “moving on” and “letting go”, it has stuck with me and I find myself thinking about it just as much now as when we were getting treated to the weekly craziness on that mysterious island.

Since, unlike Desmond, we unfortunately can’t send our minds back to a time when we still didn’t know how Locke got in the wheelchair or whether or not Henry Gale was an Other, we’ll just have to settle for getting our LOST fix by re-watching the Blu Ray set for the 20th time. Thanks to the series’ open ended conclusion and attention to detail throughout the course of the program, you can always find something you missed the first dozen or so times and you’ll always have a new crazy theory about what ol’ Smokey is really up to.

Of course, as exciting as the island mysteries were and as many discussions around the water cooler that the game-changing cliff-hangers created, LOST ended the way it started: as the story of some of the most memorable and beloved characters the medium has ever known. Given that this blog is about the Yankees and not about LOST (although, as my wife can and will attest to, I can babble on and on about the Numbers and DHARMA and Jack’s beard for hours on end), I figured the best way to pay tribute to the show I love is by re-casting it with players from the team I love, after all, all six of Hurley’s famous numbers have been retired by the Yankees. That’s right. It’s time to unveil which of the Bombers would take the place of which of the Losties should the boys in pinstripes end up on a crazy island in the South Pacific:

(image courtesy of rottentomatoes.com)

Derek Jeter as Jack Shepherd- This one’s sort of an obvious choice. The Captain has always been there to lead his team through thick and thin over the years, although with far less man-crying than his on-island counterpart. His longer than reasonable contract that he signed in the off-season would lead you to believe that Derek is going to have a difficult time letting go and knowing when to move on. Thankfully, Jeter has yet to go through that dismal bearded faze that Jack suffered through, although his performance over the last two seasons has Yankee fans screaming, “We have to go baaaaaack!!!” (to 2009).

(image courtesy of unrealitymag.com)

Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez as James “Sawyer” Ford- A-Rod has grown on Yankee fans over the years just like Sawyer has grown on LOST fans. Alex started his time in the Bronx catching a lot of heat for his post-season struggles, his rivalry with Jeter, and his aloof personality. As early as the first day on the island, Sawyer was pretty much universally hated amongst the castaways due to his antagonistic, selfish nature. The slick con-man was always a thorn in Jack’s side from the get go. Of course, a post-season home run binge in 2009 or jumping from a helicopter works like a charm as far as getting on everyone’s good side is concerned.

(image courtesy of lost.wikia.com)

Jorge Posada as Danielle Rousseau- After 16 years on the island, these two have, without a doubt, seen better days. Granted, in Jorge’s case, he just can’t hit anymore and had his catcher’s mitt taken away. That’s a lot better than Rousseau’s dilemma of going completely insane and having her daughter taken away, but it’s still not exactly ideal. We can only hope that Jorge can go out with a little more dignity than Rousseau and Girardi wont take on the roll of Keamy by putting the 5-time world champion out to pasture.

(image courtesy of tvovermind.zap2it.com)

Mariano Rivera as John Locke– As Charlie said back in season one, “If there’s one person on this island I would put my absolute faith in to save us all it would be John Locke.” I don’t think there’s any doubt the baseball world feels the same way about the Great Mariano. The most notable similarity between Rivera and Locke are that they’re both my favorite in their respective world. I have the same confidence when Mariano takes the mound as I did whenever Locke did anything in season one (the 2001 World Series is pretty much Mo’s version of letting the timer in the hatch run out) and I just can’t help but rooting for them. Thankfully Rivera’s made way fewer missteps along the way. It’s also possible that the Smoke Monster has taken the form of Mariano, since I’m pretty sure the guy can’t possibly be human.

(image courtesy of sl-lost.com)

Brett Gardner as Boone Carlyle– According to Locke, Boone was a sacrifice the island demanded. According to Girardi, Gardner’s at-bats are a sacrifice that bunting demanded. Both are such senseless losses, too. Didn’t Boone know that plane was unstable? Couldn’t Locke have told Jack what really happened? Doesn’t Girardi know that bunting doesn’t actually increase your chances of scoring? Can’t he just let a guy with a .355 career OBP swing away instead of giving away free outs? His at-bats didn’t die. They were murdered.

(image courtesy of lost.wikia.com)

Boone Logan as Dr. Leslie Arzt– Shortly after anytime Boone enters a game, you know he’s going to go all Arzt on us and just blow up. His control is about as stable as the dynamite that blew the disgruntled science teacher to kingdom come. Unfortunately, it’s a lot less funny when Logan combusts on the mound than when Arzt does near the Black Rock.

(image courtesy of moviesfilmsmotionpictures.files.wordpress.com)

Bartolo Colon as “Hurley” Reyes– Bartolo and the lovable Hurley have a lot in common, and it’s not just their comparable waistlines. Originally, both of them were brought in for some comic relief (admit it, you thought the Colon signing was pretty much a joke, too). Over time, they’ve both grown to be come integral parts of their team. Hurley, while at first mostly a vehicle for Sawyer’s awesome nicknames, eventually not only became a candidate, but actually took over as protector of the island! Colon has become something of a savior in his own right as his unbelievable performance for a weakened rotation.

(image courtesy of 2.bp.blogspot.com)

Rafael Soriano as Nikki and Paulo- Just one big mistake right from the get go. Soriano has not fit in during a short stay marked by poor performance. After being bit by the (injury) bug, he’s been buried alive on the DL.

(image courtesy of richlovatt.com)

Joba Chamberlain as Walt Lloyd- After an extremely promising first season that had fans excited and salivating at possibilities for their seemingly bright futures, both Joba and Walt disappeared from the face of the Earth. A Fireballing pitcher with ace potential and a little kid with psychic powers really managed to capture everyone’s imaginations; neither one delivered on the hype of their youth, leaving the fans to wonder what could have been. On many nights, I feel like Michael, staring into my television and shouting, “Jooobbbaaa!!!!”

(image courtesy of foreverafangirl.com)

Curtis Granderson as Desmond Hume– For the first few months that Granderson donned the pinstripes, it seemed like he may as well have been down in the hatch, pushing the button every 108 minutes, but in mid-August that hatch was demolished and Curtis developed some serious superpowers. He’s managed to hit an astronomical 30 home runs in the Yankees’ past 97 games. While Desmond was impervious to electromagnetism, Granderson is now impervious to left-handed pitching. 8 of his 16 home runs have come against southpaws after only 6 the previous two years. I’m also pretty sure some of those shots have managed to travel through time and made the poor pitchers’ noses bleed. Pour that man a MacCutcheon!

(image courtesy of gawkerassets.com)

Nick Swisher as Mr. Eko- You can’t help but love Nick Swisher and you can’t help but love Mr. Eko (although Swish was never a murderous drug dealer, so it’s even easier to like him). Swisher’s enthusiasm and love for life are infectious and inspiring. He had the New York fans hooked right from the start. Eko was the one castaway from the tail section that everyone latched onto right away and who instantly became a fan favorite. And while Eko was well known for his ability to bash some Others with his Jesus stick, Swish has a lot of pop in his bat as well. Thankfully, there are no Smoke Monsters around to pre-maturely end Nick’s stay in the Bronx.

(image courtesy of todoseries.com)

AJ Burnett as Ben Linus– No matter how many lies Ben told throughout the years, we always believed him no matter what he said. He really means it this time! You always expect him to come around and be the hero you thought he could be. AJ Burnett isn’t all that dissimilar (if we ignore the whole genocidal maniac aspect of Ben, obviously). For years, he’s teased us with his phenomenal natural talent. No matter how inconsistent he always was, we always thought, “this is the year he’s finally going to put it all together and become that ace we know he can be.” But it never happens. AJ is AJ just like Ben is Ben. In the early goings of 2011, Burnett has gotten our hopes up yet again thanks to his improved control and consistent, solid starts. Hopefully this season is Burnett’s version of when Ben pushed Hurley out of the way of that falling tree and finally redeemed himself after hitting rock bottom the year before.

Hopefully the Bombers will be able to quell any troubles thrown their way by the Others in the American League and Cashman (who obviously has the role of Jacob) will be able to pick up some additional candidates along the way to protect the island. We’re probably never going to be treated to another show like LOST, but at least we’ve still got our Yankees. This has been a lot of fun and I look forward to hearing what other players You All Everybody would like to cast as other characters! After all, if we can’t talk about the Yankees together, we’re gonna die alone.

Bombers Snap Skid, But Worries Remain

On the strength of the 620th and 621st home runs of Alex Rodriguez’s career following after a much ballyhooed prolonged slump, the Yankees finally snapped their stomach churning six-game losing streak. Brett Gardner’s 3-4 performance and a solid, albeit unspectacular outing from Ivan Nova played supporting roles in the 6-2 Bomber victory. Even the embattled Jorge Posada contributed a couple of hits for the sputtering Yanks.

Unfortunately, one nice win against a division rival does little to erase the despicable display the team has put on over the past couple weeks (and obviously this past week, in particular) where they’ve gone a dismal 4-10, particularly when that stretch features a home sweep at the hands of their bitter rivals. A lot of problems have been exposed during this stretch, drama has been created, and injuries have arisen. All in all, a promising 17-9 season with a comfortable first place lead has evaporated and in its place stand a tenuous hold on 2nd place (only 1/2 game out of 4th) and a troubling 21-19 record.

The collapse (well, I guess that’s a little over-dramatic. “Slide” might be a more appropriate term for a two-weak rough patch, but it feels an awful lot like a collapse) has been the responsibility of every facet of the team. Pitching (both starters and members of the ‘pen), hitting, defense, base-running, clubhouse/media issues, and injury have all played their part.

High ticket item and major disappointment Rafael Soriano landed on the DL earlier today with elbow troubles that have limited him to just one game since May 8. His absence has opened a hole in the bullpen that has cost the Yankees several times and caused other relievers to become heavily taxed. Despite his spotty performance, Soriano lengthened the bullpen. Without him, both Robertson and Joba have blown games in big spots for the Bombers. On top of that, fewer reliable relievers means guys like Buddy Carlyle and Luis Ayala have been relied on in extra-inning situations where, ordinarily, a better option would have still been available.

A strong point for much of the early part of the season, the starting pitching faltered mightily over the past week with all five starters getting hit hard at least once. They frequently fell victim to the big inning, none uglier than the Bad News Bears-esque second inning against the Royals on May 12 in which Nova surrendered 6 runs. All five starters have seen their ERAs rise in the last two trips through the rotation: Sabathia (from 2.68 to 3.47), Burnett (from 3.71 to 3.99), Garcia (from 2.88 to 3.22), Nova (from 4.08 to 4.33), and Colon (from 3.00 to 3.74). Granted, not all of the performances have been bad, but most of the worst non-Hughes starts have come since this slide began.

The outpouring of runs can’t all be put on the pitching staff, however. Over this run of games, the Yankees defense (which is a bit of a misnomer) compiled a whopping 14 errors, which led to 12 unearned runs. The comedy of errors culminated with A-Rod’s costly muffed grounder at one of the game’s crucial moments on Sunday night. When a pitching staff is struggling, they need their fielders to pick them up and that simply hasn’t been the case these past couple of weeks.

On the nights that the pitching has gotten their act together, they’ve been let down by the offense. Including tonight’s 6 run performance, the offense has only managed 4 runs per game during this skid. As I outlined in my last post, the team has been absolutely dreadful with runners in scoring position. Until tonight, A-Rod was mired in a horrific slump and the rest of the lineup (Nick Swisher in particular) has been just as bad. After a brief ressurgance, Jeter has reverted to his early-season form. Russell Martin has come crashing back to earth following a tremendous first month in pinstripes. Only (really) early MVP candidate Curtis Granderson and the recently awakened Brett Gardner have provided major offense for the Bombers.

Of course, nobody’s struggles have been more publicized than Yankee lifer Jorge Posada who is likely in the last year of his career and definitely in his final year in pinstripes. The five time World Series champ has struggled mightily all season long. Age and the rigors of over a decade an a half behind the plate have finally taken their toll. Posada, a feared hitter for the majority of his time in the Bronx, actually saw the Royals walk the embattled Nick Swisher intentionally in order to face Jorge with the sacks packed. He struck out to end the inning. The whole situation reached its ugly peak when, after being slated to bat ninth, Posada asked for the night off. The local and national media sensationalized the story, turning an already ugly ordeal even nastier. I’m not sure I have much of a problem with Posada asking for a night off to clear his head. After all, he’s been abysmal and looks lost at the plate. Having said that, his timing could not have been worse in terms of creating a media firestorm. I’m sure the controversy will do nothing to help fill the void left by his failing skills and, although things have settled down, I don’t believe this will be the end of Posada’s difficult season. I only hope the same can’t be said of the team as a whole.

Unfortunately, today had some terribly saddening news that put the game and any on-field struggles or successes into perspective as the game lost all-time great Harmon Killebrew after a battle with cancer. While I never got to see the slugger play, anyone who knows the game is well aware of what an impact Killebrew made on the game. He hit 573 home runs in his historic career, leading the league 6 times, to go along with an astounding 1584 RBIs. Only Babe Ruth had more 40 home run seasons than Killebrew’s eight. Killebrew was one of the best hitters to ever grace the sport and, by all accounts, was a great man. Here’s a wonderful article written by Jim Caple about the person he was. Baseball lost one of its best today and he will be missed.

RISP Failures Doom Yanks Again

(image courtesy of yankeeanalysts.com)

It’s difficult to put into words just how awful tonight’s Yankee loss to the KC Royals was, but I’m going to attempt to do just that. When your starting pitcher throws a 1-hitter over the course of 7 innings and only surrenders one run, you should win the ballgame. When, in that same game, your offense records 12 hits, 8 walks, and a hit batter, you should really win that game.

Unfortunately, when your bullpen gives up a run in 3 of the 4 innings they pitch (2 on two-out hits, no less) and your offense grounds into two double plays and leaves another 15 on base while going an ungodly 2-16 with runners in scoring position, the end result is an ugly 4-3 loss in 11 innings.

I’ll start with the good (also known as AJ Burnett and Curtis Granderson). Somebody forgot to tell Burnett that the calendar switched to May, because he has been absolutely outstanding in his two post-April starts. While Burnett has gained a reputation of faltering once the season’s first month comes to an end, he seems to be doing an excellent job of putting that to rest. Alas, the Bombers are 0-2 in those two games, so AJ has nothing to show for it. The defense and offense let him down last time. This outing it was the bullpen and offense doing the honors.

Over those two starts, Burnett has gone 14 innings and allowed only 3 earned runs on 4 hits while striking out 11. Tonight, while he struggled with his command (issuing 5 free passes), he battled through to shut down one of the most potent offenses in the American League. The lone blemish was the first career home run off the bat of uber-prospect Eric Hosmer. Games like this where he had trouble throwing strikes would have resulted in one of Burnett’s trademarked implosions, but his work with Russell Martin and Larry Rothschild seems to have taught AJ how to curtail those disastrous innings. He appears to be more focused than ever and has excelled at limiting the damage when he gets himself in trouble, which has allowed him to post a tremendous 3.38 ERA and 1.12 WHIP. It’s still early (not that early anymore, though), but Burnett has given the Bombers more than even the most optimistic Yankee fan could have hoped for so far.

Granderson continued his hot hitting, providing most of the offense from this woeful lineup. He went 2-5, plus a walk and a stolen base. Both hits were big moments for the Bombers. His third inning home run gave the team a 2-0 lead and he added some exceedingly rare damage with runners in scoring position with his game-tying RBI single in the 10th.

The rest of the offense, however did not follow suit. Jorge Posada delivered the team’s only other hit with runners in scoring position thanks to his RBI single in the 2nd to give the Yankees the game’s first run and, overall, had a pretty good game. However, in a crucial spot following an intentional walk to load the bases, Posada struck out to end the inning and send the game to extras. Russell Martin grounded out with the bases loaded to and an inning on two separate occasions and flew out with a runner on second in another at-bat. The remaining members of this cast of characters did not do anything to inspire confidence either and combined to waste a fine performance by their starting pitcher.

They also gave away a couple outs thanks to ill-advised bunt attempts. Sacrifice bunting is almost never a good idea and tonight was no exception. You give away a valuable out with only a minimal benefit and, as we saw tonight, there is no guarantee that it will even succeed. On top of that, it allows the pitcher to record an out without throwing many pitches.

In the bottom of the 8th with Brett Gardner on first, Derek Jeter tried to bunt him into scoring position. Considering how poorly the team had been performing all night with RISP, the smart move would have been to allow Jeter to hit away. Scoring Gardner from first with three outs to work with is a much better proposition than scoring him from second with an out already in the books. Of course, it never got to that point because Jeter popped up the bunt for a quick, effort-free out.

Even more absurd was the inexplicable bunt that Gardner laid down in the 10th inning. With the Yankees down a run, Joakim Soria came in and walked Russell Martin on 4 pitches. He then threw the first two pitches to Gardner out of the strike-zone as well. With a 2-0 count, Gardner bizarrely tried to bunt his way on and fouled it off. Soria followed that with yet another ball, so, 8 pitches in to his outing, he had thrown 7 balls with the only strike coming on a bunt attempt. In an extreme hitters count and with a pitcher on the mound who is seriously struggling with his control Gardner maddeningly bunted the next pitch (presumably in an attempt at a hit, which didn’t really make it any better of a decision) and sacrificed Jeter to second. It was completely inexcusable to give away a free out like that in that situation and even though the Yankees eventually tied it up in that inning, it very well may have cost them the game.

As far as the bullpen is concerned, as disappointing as their performance was, it’s hard to get too angry with them. Because they were without Soriano and, for some mysterious (or at least mysterious while I’m writing this) reason, Joba for the evening, the bullpen was extremely shorthanded. David Robertson has been excellent for the most part this season, including a Houdini act to help win the game the previous night, but his lack of control got him in trouble and a terrible 1-2 pitch to Wilson Betemit cost him the lead just before he was able to get out of the inning. Buddy Carlyle pitched very poorly, but he is a mop-up man and not all that good to begin with. It’s hard to expect him to pitch well in a big spot. That’s just not what he’s here for, but by the time he came in, there weren’t many options. As long as they get Soriano and Joba back in short order and as long as Robertson pitches like he usually does, the bullpen will be fine. The starting pitching has been more than fine. Now it’s up to the offense to pick up the slack and bring home some runs once they get men on base.

Bombers, We Have A Problem

(image courtesy of yankees.lhblogs.com)

This afternoon’s disappointing loss to the Tigers raised a lot of red flags. In fact, the entire four-game debacle, in which the Yankees went 1-3, was quite disconcerting all around. The team’s struggles on offense continued and their reliance on the home run was blatantly exploited. Their defense and base running abandoned them, as well. As it surprisingly has been all season, the starting pitching remained the Bombers’ best unit.

In the series opener, Bartolo Colon was, once again, spectacular. He gave up 3 runs in 7 innings and was actually better than that solid line would have you believe. It was enough for a 5-3 win thanks to Justin Verlander’s early struggles and a 9th inning rally against the impressively irritating Jose Valverde.

CC Sabathia and Freddy Garcia were not that lucky. Both hurlers put forth decent yet unspectacular efforts of 7 innings and 4 runs against. Under many circumstances, that would be enough for a Yankee pitcher to win. They kept the team in the game and provided length. Unfortunately, a combination of boneheaded base-running (none more laughable and horrendous as the 6th inning on Tuesday where both Robbie Cano and Jorge Posada ran into completely befuddling outs) and abysmal performance with runners (6-32 over the course of the series) in scoring position hung an ‘L’ on each of them.

Wasted opportunities have been a Yankee trademark of late and today’s game was no different. Despite getting 13 runners on base, the team was only able to drive three of them in. While I have long posited that it wasn’t a problem that the Yankees have relied so heavily on the home run, I guess I failed to take into account games played at cavernous Comerica Park (Seattle and Oakland could provide similar challenges). I think good hitters can hit home runs off of good pitchers and the Yankees have a bunch of hitters good enough to poke one out against just about anyone.

Unfortunately, when you’re playing at a park where you can hit a ball 420+ feet and still have it land in the centerfielder’s glove (like what happened to Jorge Posada), the stadium can be more effective at preventing the longball than the pitcher is. The Yankees hit a number of long drives today that would have had a good chance of getting out of most AL ballparks, but in Detroit, they remained playable. If there’s anything to take solace in, it’s that most of the teams likely to be contenders play in offensive ballparks and they are, thanks to the unbalanced schedule, done playing in the Motor City for the rest of the season. The games against the Mariners and Athletics at the end of the month do bear watching, however. If the Bombers don’t start having a little more success with runners on base, those two opponents could give the Yankees a lot of trouble.

They will also be in trouble if they continue to give runs away like they did today, regardless of the ballpark. AJ Burnett pitched a phenomenal ballgame, carrying a no-hitter into the 6th inning, but got off to a rocky start thanks to his own sloppy play. He plunked Tiger centerfielder Don Kelly to open the first inning and allowed him to advance all the way to third base on a wild pick-off throw. After allowing Detroit on the board with a sac fly, Burnett became a completely different pitcher. The oft-enigmatic righty only allowed one base-runner after Kelly until the 6th inning and that was on an Eduardo Nunez error.

You might want to get used to that phrase: “Eduardo Nunez error”. Say it a few times. Let it role off your tongue. It’s become a pretty frequent occurrence in the early goings of the 2011 season. In only 22 innings at shortstop, Nunez has managed to commit a Knobloauchian 5 errors. None have been more costly than Nunez’s 7th inning blunder today. After getting into trouble by loading the bases with nobody out, Burnett managed to retire two batters while only allowing one of the runners to score, putting the Yankees behind by a manageable score of 3-2. He then induced an easy grounder from Don Kelly that should have gotten him out of the inning relatively unscathed. Instead, Nunez hurled the ball over Mark Teixeira’s head, allowing two runs to score and effectively ended the Yankees’ chances of salvaging a series split with the Tigers. Given Eric Chavez’s unfortunate foot fracture, Nunez could be needed to play a larger role in the near future and, while his offense and running ability have been eye opening, his defense has been appalling and could continue to cost the Pinstripes games if something isn’t done about it.

Hopefully, the Yankees will be able to get their act together as they prepare for a re-match of last year’s ALCS against the Texas Rangers. They will certainly need to play crisper, smarter baseball if they hope to have success in Arlington against a quality opponent. The ballpark in Texas is certainly more suited for the Bombers’ homer happy style, but if they play like they have so far this week, the Yanks will be headed back to the Bronx without much to show for this road trip.

Bats Come Back to Life

(image courtesy of pinstripedbible.com)

After scoring a paltry 5 runs on 13 hits over the span of three games, the Yankee bats exploded for 12 runs on 13 hits tonight. They were held hitless over the first four innings by White Sox hurler Edwin Jackson (although they managed two runs thanks to four consecutive walks and a sac fly by Robinson Cano) before bombarding Jackson with four consecutive hits to open the fifth. The Bombers managed to hit for the cycle in those four at-bats (a home run for Brett Gardner, a double for Eduardo Nunez, a triple for Curtis Granderson, and a single for Nick Swisher), which chased the shell-shocked Jackson from the ballgame and opened the floodgates. By the end of the frame, the Bombers had an 8-0 lead on the strength of 7 hits.

The 12-run outburst was a true team effort. Of the starting nine, only Eric Chavez and Jorge Posada failed to record a hit, while four separate Yankees had multi-hit efforts. Everyone other than Nunez (who had two hits and scored three runs) managed to get an RBI. Perhaps most importantly, two of the Yankee hitters who had been struggling the most, Nick Swisher and Brett Gardner, had the two best performances. Swisher got off the snide by going 3-4 with a walk, 3 runs, and 4 RBIs. He capped his night off by finally hitting his elusive first home run of the season. Gardner got in on the power action as well, starting that massive fifth inning rally off with a solo homer. He also recorded a double, walk, stolen base, and scored three runs. Obviously, it’s only one game, but the Yankee lineup can be awfully scary if they can get these two key contributors from last season back on track.

Thanks to the outpouring of offense, it’s easy to look CC Sabathia’s fantastic outing since, for once, it wasn’t actually necessary. The Big Man went 7 innings and gave up 3 runs, all of which were unearned do to some exceptionally shoddy fielding behind him in his final inning of work. After having two on with no outs in each of the first two innings, Sabathia settled in and clamped down on the scuffling Chicago offense, allowing only one hit from the third through the sixth innings while recording six strikeouts over the course of his performance.

Sabathia’s work provided the Yankees with their 7th straight quality start. Over the last five games, each Yankee pitcher has allowed one earned run or fewer (good for a microscopic 0.72 ERA over that span), a feat the team had not accomplished since 2002. Despite tallying only his second win of the season, Sabathia is off to his best start over his first six appearances since 2006 thanks to a 2.27 ERA.

CC was followed by the surprisingly effective Lance Pendleton who went two scoreless innings to finish the game and, despite very unimpressive stuff, has yet to give up a run in his 5 1/3 Big League innings.

With the pitching on a roll and the bats having awakened from their slumber, the Yankees could be poised to go on a tear.

Colon Cleanses Yankees’ Losing Ways

Last night’s game was pretty much par for the course for the Yankees: Limited hitting and great starting pitching. Thankfully, this time the hitting was just competent enough to get the Bombers through the game with their 13th win of the season and not waste Bartolo Colon’s second phenomenal start.

The hitting got off to a promising enough start as Robbie Cano launched a three run bomb in the bottom of the first inning. That’s all Colon would need on this night, which is a good thing since the Yankee lineup was shut down in their final 7 at-bats. Over that span, they only managed three more hits and a walk; the exact same total that they put together in that opening frame.

The Yankees still rank near the top of the league in offense and they have so many good hitters that it’s hard to imagine the team-wide slump will continue too much longer, but these last three games have been pretty abysmal from an offensive standpoint. Brett Gardner, Derek Jeter, and Jorge Posada have all been mostly inept for the entire season, begging the questions of whether Gardner was a flash in the pan and if Father Time may have finally caught up to the previously ageless superstars. Nick Swisher has also struggled mightily in the early goings of the 2011 campaign, but he’s young enough and had enough success over the course of his career that there’s no real reason to worry about him going forward. He will, in all likelihood, snap out of it at some point but, for the time being, the Yankees’ affable rightfielder looks lost.

As bad as the offense looked, Bartolo Colon was positively masterful. He was hitting 96 MPH on the radar gone in his 8th inning of work and continued throwing his devastating two-seamer. In the midst of this “33 games in 34 days” stretch, Colon was able to do something the Yankee rotation has been excelling at in the past week: allowing the bullpen to rest. It marked the 6th straight quality start by the Bombers (beginning with Colon’s last start) and was the third time during that span that the Yankkes were given 8 innings by the starter. The bullpen, which had been taxed so heavily in the first 15 games has had a chance to recuperate and, hopefully, will make them more effective going forward.

The most important thing I can take from this game is the brilliance of Colon. I know that a sample size of two starts plus a few lengthy bullpen stints isn’t an awful lot to go on, but Colon has been dominant. He looks a great deal like the Cy Young caliber pitcher he was in Anaheim and Cleveland all those years ago. His stuff has been, possibly, the best on the entire staff and his control has been great. A guy who was considered an extreme long-shot to make the team out of spring training; Colon has made the most of his opportunity and given Yankee fans a lot to be excited about.

Nobody is more surprised about this turn of events than I am. I expected very little, if anything out of the hefty hurler, but maybe a year off has allowed his arm to recover a bit from whatever injuries had piled up over the years. I’m still skeptical that he will be able to remain healthy through an entire season, but I believe that as long as the Yankees manage his pitches and give him an extra day off here and there, he could provide many more innings than initially expected. Despite those concerns, this first month has come with the shockingly wonderful realization that, until (if?) Colon breaks down, the Yankees could actually have a top of the rotation starter on their hands. I’m certainly not about to complain about that.

Yankees Fall to ChiSox in a Clint Eastwood Loss

(image courtesy of youpolonia.com)

The Yankees were mere inches away from capping the night off with some sweet, savory pie. That’s when Brent Lillibridge snatched it away and forced a big heaping helping of cauliflower down their throats instead. The 27-year old, who is a middle infielder by trade, ended the contest on not one, but two outstanding, game-saving catches. The absolute ropes hit by A-Rod and Cano would have, at the very least, each tied the game and, in all likelihood, would have sent the Bombers home winners.

While the drama in the bottom of the 9th was certainly exciting/excruciating, the real storyline of the game came in the 8 innings prior. It was truly a Clint Eastwood performance from the Yankees, featuring a whole lot of good, bad, and ugly.

The Good
The starting pitching, which was rightfully looked at as the largest weakness of this Yankees ball club heading into the season, had been nothing short of phenomenal over the past four games heading into tonight’s contest. Since Nova’s cringe inducing relief outing in Toronto, Yankee starters had tossed 28 2/3 innings, allowing only 6 runs on 16 hits while striking out 23 and only issuing 7 free passes. Nova kept the train rolling tonight as he put forth his best effort of the season.

The youngster went 6 1/3 innings, giving up only one run on five hits. That one run was aided by some shoddy defense. Curtis Granderson was unable to hold on to a sinking liner by Alex Rios, resulting in a single. It was a tough play, but one Granderson probably should have made. Rios then took off for second on a stolen base attempt. Gustavo Molina had him dead-to-rights, but Robinson Cano dropped the perfect throw, putting Rios in scoring position where he was brought home on Gordon Beckham’s RBI single.

As always, Nova’s stuff was excellent, but there were two key differences that set this apart from his other more disappointing starts. First was his control. Nova only walked two hitters, which was a much needed change after he had struggled to throw strikes this season. Additionally, Nova has typically had trouble getting through the opposing lineup the second and third times, but he was just as strong in the later innings tonight as he was at the start. Unfortunately, his great effort was wasted due to:

The Bad
Aside from a couple of solo home runs by Cano and Gardner, the offense was once again stymied. Over the last two games, the Bombers allowed Chicago starters to go 15 innings while only surrendering a measly 2 runs on five hits. Even with the struggles of Jeter, Gardner, and Swisher, the Yankees have had one of the most potent offenses in the game, so it’s hard to get overly concerned based on two bad games, but the team’s inability to perform at the plate in this series has cost them the last two games and wasted some brilliant starting pitching. They continue to slug home runs at a record pace, but they’ve been otherwise inept against the White Sox. Granted, Phil Humber and Gavin Floyd pitched a couple of fantastic games, but it hasn’t been pretty. With that being said, the two runs the Yankees managed to score would have been enough to win if it weren’t for:

The Ugly
There’s really no way to describe Rafael Soriano’s performance tonight (and to this point in the season, for that matter) other than ugly. I figured we were in for a quick inning when Soriano took the mound throwing 97 MPH gas. He hasn’t thrown that hard all season, so it was a pleasant surprise to see him doing so. Unfortunately, the inning was anything but quick. The mopey righty struck out the first hitter he faced before plunking Carlos Quentin. He then promptly gave up a two-run bomb that ended up losing the game for the Yankees. Soriano’s demeanor on the mound is also concerning. He seems to visibly lose his edge when he begins to struggle and never regains his composure once it leaves. After his disappearing act in the clubhouse after blowing a 4 run lead earlier in the season, his attitude is definitely something that bears watching.

The crowd at Yankee Stadium doesn’t seem to have taken too kindly to Soriano’s poor performance and surly disposition, either, which could be even more cause for concern. Yankee fans famously have the ability to make things very difficult on their own players and, given what we have already seen of Soriano’s personality, things could turn very ugly if his struggles persist. What was once billed as a shut-down bridge to Mariano has been a disaster to the tune of a 7.84 ERA, 1.94 WHIP, and 0.88 K/BB ratio. If the Yankees are to go far, they will need Soriano to right the ship and fast.

Captain Qdoba to the Rescue

(image courtesy of nydailynews.com)

When Brian Cashman went dumpster diving this offseason, performances like the one Bartolo Colon delivered last night were about as unexpected as hearing a tolerable Nickleback song. That being said, Colon was nothing short of brilliant in his first start since 2009. In his 6 2/3 innings of work, Captain Qdoba shut down a dangerous Blue Jays lineup to the tune of 2 runs on 5 hits with 7 strikeouts and only 2 walks.

One of the runs and three of the base-runners came in the 7th inning after Colon started to tire. The other run came early on a second inning home run from JP Arencibia, after which Bartolo retired the next 12 hitters. His velocity remained in an impressive 92-94 MPH range all through his outing and the movement on his sinker was consistently outstanding. Even after his pleasantly surprising performances out of the pen, there remained a good deal of doubt as to whether Colon would be able to sustain his stuff in a starting role. Last night that question was answered in the affirmative.

Between Colon and Freddy Garcia, who pitched even better over the weekend, the Bombers are hoping to catch a little lighting in a bottle a la Shawn Chacon and Aaron Small back in 2005. From watching the two, I think Colon has a much better chance of sustaining success thanks to his significantly more impressive stuff. Garcia was getting by with smoke and mirrors, throwing an assortment of junk at his opponents and keeping them off-balance. Unfortunately, I fear that once the league has seen a bit more of this incarnation of Garcia, he will get hit and hit hard. Colon, on the other hand, looks like his old self. The rotund righthander may not throw 98 MPH anymore, but his fastball is still a force to be reckoned with and, if he is able to stay healthy and maintain his stuff over the course of the season, the Yankees may have found themselves a diamond in the rough. That being said, many people, the team’s front office included, are skeptical of his ability to do so. As with all bargain-basement reclamations, the odds are against him, but the early returns are giving plenty of reason for hope. The only real option is to take the ride as far as it will go and enjoy it while you can.

Almost as important as the quality of Colon’s and Garcia’s starts are the lengths of them. The Bomber bullpen has been severely taxed by a bevvy of close games and insufficient innings from the starters. Mariano Rivera’s blown save came on his 5th game in 8 days and his 10th appearance in only 15 games. Joba Chamberlain has also pitched in 10 games while Rafael Soriano has appeared in 9 and David Robertson in 8. With the Pinstripes about to embark on a stretch where they will play 33 games in 34 days, getting length from their starters is going to be vital. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that the team’s success over the next month or so is going to hinge on getting a predominance of 6 and 7 inning starts out of the rotation (with some 8 inning affairs thrown in by CC Sabathia along the way). They simply can’t keep trotting their relief corp out there to save the game night after night. So far, they have been bailed out by a couple of rain-outs and an abundance of off-days, but it’s not a trend that can continue as the season moves along. Colon and Garcia are going to be a key part of that and, thanks to pitching clinics like the one Colon put on while turning the Blue Jays into his own personal highlight reel, there is cause to legitimately believe it can be done.