Friday, May 29, 2009

The Curious Case of Chien-Ming Wang

In the past few days quite a few things have come to light concerning Wang's struggles. Now I've been very critical of Wang so far for his lack of performance this year, and for this I have to say I'm sorry. I was under the impression it was Wang's fault for his poor performance, maybe he didn't prepare properly over the offseason, or maybe he was trying to do something new and it just threw him out of whack. But no, instead it turns out that the entire Yankees front office is incompetent.

Before the offseason began the Yankees instructed Wang not to work out his legs due to his injury from last year. I'm simply baffled by this decision. What exactly were they thinking? The majority of a pitchers power comes from his lower body and core. So by not strengthening this area Wang was supposed to be successful how? In an interview with Andrew Marchand, Cashman admitted that it was a mistake to tell Wang not to work out his lower body, citing their lack of experience with the injury. Lack of experience? Really? Couldn't they have uhh, I don't know called one or two or even twenty five doctors in order to find out what the best course of action was? It's ironic that the Yankees insist on running their stadium like a mega corporation, but when it comes to their players they would rather play guessing games.


In other news if you have some free time be sure to check out www.1978Yankees.com. It's about a new book, The Greatest Comeback Ever: A fan's daily diary of the 1978 New York Yankees Championship Season. It's the only book ever written by a fan, live-time on a great sports season.

Tim Dierkes Q&A

We did a Q&A with Tim Dierkes back in December of last year. With the trade deadline in the not to distant I figured now would be a good time for another, so enjoy..

C2C-There have been some early reports saying the Yankee's have no room to add more payroll. You buying it?

Tim D-I'm not. I'd have to see what reports you're referring to, but I cannot see them spending all that money in the offseason and then drawing the line at a few million bucks to add a reliever in June.

C2C-This trade deadline might be the biggest buyers market we've ever seen come the trade deadline. Do you see the sellers being disappointed in their returns, due to the surplus of elite talent that will be available? Peavy, Berdard, Halladay, Holliday, and Hawpe just to name a few.

Tim D-I don't think the sellers will be disappointed. I don't see it as a surplus of elite talent. Take the starting pitching market: Peavy's suitors are greatly restricted, and Halladay probably will not be available. So if you want to bring in a #1-2 starter you have to roll the dice on a few months of Bedard. As for available high quality bats, I don't see too many impact guys either. It looks like a typical trade deadline in terms of talent available.

C2C-There have been a lot of reports that Stratsburg will be seeking a 50 million dollar signing bonus. It’s pretty clear he'll break the record, but do you see him actually getting the 50 million?

Tim D-No...I think most people see him landing in the $20-25 million range. I do think the Nationals will get him signed on August 15th, but over the years we've seen Scott Boras pull every trick in the book.

C2C-The Yankees rotation has been shaky at best so far. With Wang, Joba, and Hughes being somewhat of question marks right now. I know there was a lot of talk about Washburn last trade deadline could you see those talks being revived again?

Tim D-The Yankees don't have a strong need for starting pitching unless they decide to move Joba to the bullpen or someone gets hurt. If one of those things happens then I could see talks for Washburn revived.

C2C-Favorite Weezer song?

Tim D-I will go with My Name Is Jonas...but there are a lot of contenders from their first two albums.

C2C-Any crazy predictions you want to throw out there for the trade deadline?

Tim D-There will be many more rumors than actual trades. Wait, that's not too crazy. OK here's a prediction: Jake Peavy stays put. It wouldn't shock me if the Padres couldn't find a match and wait until the offseason.

C2C- Thanks Tim

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Should the Yankees Trade for Mark Derosa?

I saw on MLB trade rumors this morning that the Yankees might be considering making a run at Mark DeRosa. Is it just me though, or does this idea make no sense? I mean, don't get me wrong I like Mark DeRosa, he's a very good player and managed to post a wOBA of 376 last year. So far this year he has posted a wOBA of .338, which considering his painfully slow start at the beginning of the year is not to shabby.

But what hole does Mark DeRosa really fill for the Yankees? Ya the three headed monster of Angel Berroa, Cody Ransom, and Ramiro Pena has been underwhelming to say the least, but to the point of adding 7 million dollars to the payroll as well as giving up prospects? I just don't think it's that bad yet. Also, while Mark can play the corners in the outfield just fine, he's unable to play center field, a position the Yankees are lacking at right now.

Speaking of prospects, the Indians are seeking major league ready pitching. Uhh... if by major league ready pitching they mean Kei Igawa, Alfredo Aveces, Phil Coke, and Jose Veras, then I'm sure we can work something out! In reality the Indians are probably looking for a prospect more to the tune of Ian Kennedy. Well, if Ian Kennedy were healthy I'd be more than happy to deal him (I'm probably in the minority here, I really don't see the ceiling everyone sees for him), but unfortunately he's not. With Wang and Joba's ineffectiveness so far, as well as Phil Hughes streakiness starting pitching depth is really not something the Yankees should be trading away regardless...

In other news Posada could potentially be back in the lineup as early as tomorrow. It should be exciting to see just how many runs the Yankees will be able to put up with both Posada and Arod in the lineup.

*Edit- I saw that Joe Pawlikowski over at River Ave Blues ,also just put something up concerning the Mark DeRosa rumors. I definetly suggest checking it out if your intrested in this.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Its a hard knock life

For Melky Cabrera. Seriously, you just got to feel bad for the guy at this point. After last years terrible, terrible, TERRBILE performance, it looked as if he had finally turned the corner, posting a wOBA of 371 so far this year (league average is around 336). Now it looks like he's going to be on the dl for at least 15 days.

Now what does this mean for the Yankees? Two things. First off, Brett Gardner will most likely become the every day center fielder. So far in limited playing time this year he has put up a wOBA of .343. In addition he has played some amazing defense, with a UZR of 6.5 through 232 innings. That would make him the third best defensive center fielder so far this year, if he had enough innings to qualify. So yea, while losing Melky might suck, it’s not the end of the world for Brett Gardner to fill in for him for a while.

The second thing though, is a much bigger problem. Who the hell is the Yankees fourth outfielder now? I'd throw out some ideas, but honestly I've got nothing. I guess they could bring up Austin Jackson (who's having a great year so far), but I doubt there going to risk stunting his development. Anyway, it should be interesting to see who in the Yankees minor league system gets the nod (I would be shocked if the Yankees made a trade).

In other news AJ finally had a good game going 6 strong innings with 7 strike outs against the Rangers red hot offense. I'm still not like the high amount of walks he's issuing (4 today), but eh, a wins a win.

Before I go here's a video Alex showed me the other day, you might even find this funnier than the video from Monday (*note not exactly G rated).

Monday, May 25, 2009

Remember this?



...hardest i've laughed watching a baseball game EVER.

Yankees Bullpen

Is anyone else worried about the bullpen in its current state, with Brain Bruney going back on the DL? Let's take a look...

Mariano Rivera- No complaints here it’s freaking Mariano

Alfredo Aceves- A good long reliever/spot starter, but not exactly who I think of when I'm trying to name shut down relievers

Phil Coke- *See Alfredo Aceves

Chien-Ming Wang- I don't know what Joe Girardi is talking about when he says he sees marked improvement in Wang. He still looks pretty awful to me, maybe I'm wrong and I'll come to eat my words this coming series but I doubt it.

Jose Veras- He's basically the definition of a loose cannon. He'll either come out of looking dominate with the ability to locate his fastball, or be unable to locate his fastball and walk nearly every batter he faces

Brett Tomko- How Brett Tomko is still in the majors’ amazes me. He has been terrible EVERY SINGLE YEAR for a grand total of ELEVEN YEARS. Here's an interesting stat for you aside from his rookie year Brett Tomko has never posted an ERA below or even approaching 4.

If Marte and Bruney can't finally get healthy, it appears that yet again the Yankees will be in the market for a good arm come the trade deadline.

Yankees vs. Rangers 5/25

Lineup:

Jeter DH
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Swisher RF
Pena SS
Cash C

Pitching: Phil Hughes RHP vs. Matt Harrison LHP

Notes:

This is Phil Hughes' first start in Texas since he pitched 6.1 no hit innings here in 2007.

Brian Bruney is officially on the DL again... maybe next time he comes back at 100% so we don't have to deal with this again...

Yanks are coming off a great homestand, despite yesterday's dissapointing loss, they also have won 9 of their last 11.

...back later with updates from the game...

Update 2:19: It's 2-0 Yankees after 1 inning, Hughes on the mound now.

Update 2:22: I've noticed Hughes has been turning to his fastball more often in 2 strike counts. It is possible that the Orioles last time around struck out so much because they were looking for breaking pitches and instead hughes was throwing fastballs.

Update 2:42: very impressive inning for Hughes there... gave up a leadoff double to nelson cruz, then hit blalock... and got behind 3-0 on marlon byrd... then followed by 3 straight pitches to strike him out, then striking out chris davis on a nasty curve, and an equally nasty pitch to strike out teagarden.

Update 2:53: it's 6-0 Yankees now after a bunch of succesive hits by Damon, Teixeira, A-Rod and Cano.

Update 2:59: Hughes doesn't seem to have the same velocity on his fastball that he had in his previous start... he's averaging around 91-92... as opposed to his last start where he was hitting 95...

...as long as he has the command of his fastball today he'll be fine, if not, he'll get hit around a bit... still, his line through the first 3 innings have been good.

3 IP 1 hit 0 R 0 BB 3 Ks 38 pitches.

Update 4:01: it's 10-0 yankees now in the top of the 7th... hughes has been incredible through the first 6 innings.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Maybe he's not so bad

It's hard to embrace a player as good after a year of total suck, but maybe it's time we say the New York Yankees actually have a quality centerfielder in Melky Cabrera.

Players don't go from hitting 249. to hitting 317. without making some major adjustments, and it's clear that Melky has a new approach to the game. Last year he started out hot, showing a suprising amount of power and hitting close to 300... it got to his head and he became the popup machine we all know...and hate.

Melky now understands that he isn't the homerun hitting monster he may wish he was, but instead a solid hitter with mediocre power. Last year you would never see Melky drive the ball to the opposite field, this year...it's a completely different story.

Melky may have been helped by the contention for centerfield he was getting by Brett Gardner. It's hard to win a starting job back after losing it in spring training because you only get a couple of chances to prove yourself when given the oppurtunity.

Another big problem with Melky was his inability to hit in the clutch...he's certainly proved that he can do that, he has THREE walkoff hits so far this year... and we're still in May.

...i know it may be hard to forget what Melky did last year, but it's time to look forward and embrace that maybe Melky is actually...good?

-

By the way... the Yankees have been umbaleebable over the past week and a half.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Yankees vs. Phillies 5/22

Lineup:

Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Cash C

Pitching: A.J. Burnett RHP vs. Brett Myers RHP

*Ace's edit

Brett Myers Profile:

Brett Meyers was an integral part to the Phillies’s World Series run last year posting an era of 4.55 and an FIP of 4.52. This year has not been nearly as kind to him posting an FIP of 6.16. The velocity of his fastball as well as its movement is down significantly this year. This has led to an increase in his walk rate and a decline in his strike outs through nine innings (K/9). He has also a huge problem with the long ball this year giving up on average, just over 2 home runs per 9 innings. I'm going to make prediction for tonight, Brett Meyers is going to get absolutely shelled tonight, this will be AJ's game to lose.

Notes:

Gotta like how Melky looks in centerfield so far this year.... 320 BA? who'da thunk it....

Damon is back in the lineup after missing yesterday's game... Girardi also said Brian Bruney was unavailable to pitch today, i'm not sure why considering he did not pitch in yesterday's game.

Kevin Cash is behind the plate again... still don't like how he calls a game but hopefully he shows us something tonight... a couple of hits would be nice.

Cano went 3-4 with a homerun from the 2 spot yesterday, unfortunately for him, Damon only fits well into the 1 or 2 spot in this very powerful yankee lineup.

Nady could play in a rehab game as early as next week; however, he has yet to throw a baseball and would only be able to DH when he is eligible to return. Might want to give Matsui some work in left soon... Swisher is going to need a few days off.

Of A-Rod's 7 hits this year, 5 of them have been homeruns...

...won't be covering the whole game tonight, but back later with updates...

Update 7:32: it's 3-0 now...2 run homerun by carlos ruiz the number 9 hitter... comeon A.J...

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

post game wrap up

The Yankees dominate the Orioles tonight winning the first game of the series 9 to 1.

Notes:

-CC was filthy tonight 7 innings 7 strike outs 1 walk and 3 hits, ya i'll take that especially against the Oriole's offense.

-Nick Swisher 0 for 3 with 1 walk.. give this man a day off or 5, something is clearly wrong.

-Arod and Tex both continue there home run streaks, speaking of Tex looks like he's finally coming out of his slump, this is the Yankees lineup I imagined at the beginning of the year.

-Brian Bruney looked good in his first game back with one scoreless inning as well as a strikeout. Hopefully we can see the bullpen back to its earlier year form.

Anyway Alex and I will be back on Thursday (perferably alive) as we'll be going to Boston to see the Red Sox game tommorow. Wish us luck and hopefully the Red Sox get their ass kicked.

Yankees vs. Orioles 5/19

Lineup:

Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Cervelli C

Pitching: CC Sabathia LHP vs. Brad Bergesen RHP

Notes: The yankees have won 6 games in a row and are now 1 game behind the division leading Red Sox....comeon... the Blue Jays arent for real...and if the Rays don't get their pitching in order.... they may be back to pre 08 form.

...back later with updates from the game...

Update 7:17: i genuinely hate brian roberts.

Update 7:29: Monster homerun by A-Rod... 2-1 Yankees.

Update 8:08: looks like another strong start by Sabathia so far tonight, 4 innings 2 hits 1 run 0 walks and 3 strikeouts.

Update 8:10: how bout this chin music. ... it's off the page!

Update 8:20: Michael Kay just compared a flock of birds flying... to parallel parking... i still don't know how he did it.

Update 8:22: you can NOT walk guys like greg zaun when guys like brian roberts and adam jones soon follow... take the easy out.

Update 8:24: Dontrelle Willis is mowing down the Rangers right now... really? Dontrelle Willis?

Update 8:44: why did francisco cervelli try stealing there? i'm pretty sure derek jeter is up with no outs.

Update 8:46: ohhh Michael Kay... you tease...

Update 9:09: CC through 7 innings...1 run 3 hits 1 walk 7 strikeouts.... now that bruney is back from the DL, gotta wonder if girardi uses him in the 8th with CC's pitch count over 100 pitches.

Update 9:29: by the way.... it's 9-1 Yankees.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Yankees vs. Twins 5/18

Lineup:

Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez DH
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Pena 3B
Cervelli C

Pitching: Andy Pettitte LHP vs. Glen Perkins LHP

Notes:

This is the final game between the two teams in this series, the yankees have won all 3 in walkoff fashion.

...back with updates later...

Update 7:13: it's already 1-0 twins in the top of the first, joe mauer singled to center scoring brendan harris.

Update 7:15: 2-0 twins, pettitte's got nothin.

Update 7:26: Mark Teixeira has arrived, 3 run homerun... 3-2 yankees.

Update 7:28: 4-2 Yankees, back to back homeruns by mark teixeira and A-Rod

Update 7:41: Yankees hammered Glen Perkins, it's now 6-2 and he is being taken out of the game. It's still the bottom of the first by the way.

Update 7:53: Ken Singleton said Delmon Harris about 5 times... it's Delmon Young you fool!

Update 8:03: is anyone else sick of the yankees calling mauer and morneau the M&M boys? i'm pretty sure that title belonged to Mantle and Maris... but... i guess it's being used freely now.

Update 8:21: i wonder if David Cone uses the 'jerking off' term today to describe a pitcher.

Update 8:29: the yankees have been playing some insanely good defense today.

Update 9:15: i'm a little curious as to what happened to this umps strike zone over the last half inning... the pitch that jeter struck out on was a foot off the plate, and the one that damon struck out on clearly broke around the plate.

Update 9:27: Girardi is going to bring in Jose Veras with runners on base and a 2 run lead... this is a recipe for disaster.

Update 9:32: such a dumb move by Girardi.

Update 9:33: Andy Pettitte looked terrible today... but it's the middle of the 7th now and the yankees have the lead 6-4.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Yankees vs. Twins 5/17

Lineup:

Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Swisher RF
Cabrera CF
Pena 2B
Cash C

Pitching: A.J. Burnett RHP vs. Kevin Slowey RHP

Notes:

I missed yesterdays game unfortunately, but i can tell it was a good one, back to back walkoff wins... nicee...

Cano is probably just getting a day off, he's played every game this year and he could use a break.

Swisher really needs to start hitting, his strikeout average is significantly higher than his batting average.

...back later with updates from the game...

Update 1:17: This ump is not giving A.J. any close calls... and kevin cash... again... can't frame for shit.

Update 1:37: give Nick Swisher a day off... i could produce more than him at the plate right now.

Update 2:00: huge double play there, the way slowey looks so far, we have to keep the twins from scoring as much as possible.

Update 2:09: it's the story of Mark Teixeira's yankee career.... guy has a huge day... and the next day he can't get a runner in from 3rd with less than 2 outs... pathetic.

Update 2:15: i like how michael kay and paul oneill just gave halladay his 8th win today even though the game is still relatively close and it's only the 5th inning.

Update 2:19: Burnett is using his 2 seamer to lefies more than i've seen him use it all year... it's pretty nasty.

Update 2:33: Slowey just made Melky look like a bum.

Update 2:52: Kevin Cash is terrible. the score is still tied at 0 by the way, going to the top of the 7th now.

Update 3:01: Ok, i think YES's radar gun is off a tad... that curveball was just clocked at 93 MPH.

Update 3:04: again... melky cabrera... throwing so hard and being off by 30 feet does not work.

Update 3:08: COMEON KEVIN CASHH

Update 3:25: it's 2-1 twins over the yankees... but there is a runner on 3rd with one out for melky right here.

Update 3:26: tie game, sac fly by melky.

Update 3:31: i don't trust Albaladejo at all.

Update 3:33: can we please... uhh... dump kevin cash already?

Update 3:49: huge play by teixeira saved the yankees right there, still 2-2 in the bottom of the 8th.

Update 3:52: if mo comes in with the game tied in the 9th, i see someone hitting a homerun off him.

Update 4:15: hey... he didn't give up a homerun!

Update 4:40: Johnny Damon!!!! walkoff homerun!!! yankees winnnn

Friday, May 15, 2009

Yankees vs. Twins 5/15

Lineup:

Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Cash C

Pitching: Phil Hughes RHP vs. Francisco Liriano LHP

Notes:

Yankees are coming off of a succesfull roadtrip going 4-2, including taking 2 of 3 against the division leading Blue Jays.

Kevin Cash gets the start tonight, probably just giving Cervelli a rest, but i don't like his style, and i don't know how succesfull he'll be with Hughes tonight. Phil's style relies on getting the calls on the corners, Cash doesn't frame the ball well, so we'll see how that goes.

Melky Cabrera is back starting in centerfield, Brett Gardner will return to the bench... i liked what i saw from Brett though and when Melky comes back to earth... which he will... i hope Girardi sticks him back into CF.

Teixeira is back hitting 3rd, i wonder what Girardi's reason for this is... probably something along the lines of... "He's the guy i want hitting 3rd every day, period." ...yeaa... sounds like Joe.

...back with updates from the game...

Update 7:12: Hughes has a blistering fastball tonight (94 MPH), let's see if he can locate it.

Update 7:18:
Johnny Damon may have some of the most entertaining interviews i've ever seen.

Update 7:19: Teix looks different at the plate today... i don't know what it is, but he looks more relaxed... then again he is batting from the right side of the plate so we'll see ... maybe not, he just struck out swinging on a ball in the dirt.

Update 7:25: 1-0 on a homerun by Justin Morneau... honestly, he struck out on the 3rd pitch of the atbat, but kevin cash didn't frame the ball at all and it was called a ball...

Update 7:31: Mark Teixeira needs to start making those picks at firstbase... that would've been a big double play there... now runners on the corners with one out.

Update 7:36: with all things considered, that inning went pretty well for Hughes... leadoff homerun, then two walks... botched double play ball... only one run allowed.

Update 8:08: Johnny Damon just got thrown out of the game arguing balls and strikes... a-rod is up now with the bases loaded and one out.

Update 8:16: A-rod struck out by the way...

Update 8:25: Melky Cabrera... what is the point of throwing so hard if you are off target by 30 feet?

Update 8:33:
Melky Cabrera is terrible.

Update 8:39:
3-0 Twins in the top of the 5th, Justin Morneau just hit his second homerun of the game.

Update 8:40:
i don't know if anything in baseball is funnier than watching A-Rod try to catch a simple popup.

Update 9:28: 4-1 twins in the bottom of the 7th,i don't know how the twins got their 4th run, but the yankees got one on a derek jeter solo shot... had to step out for a bit.

Update 9:37: Brett Gardner just hit an inside the park homerun.... HOLY SHIT that was intense.

Update 10:04: Edwar Ramirez reminds me of a dinosaur... like he looks like a dinosaur...

Update 10:32: i think brett gardner earned himself another start.

UPDATE 10:45: MELKY!!!!!! YANKEES WIN 5-4!!!!!!

Closer Look: The Yankee Rotation

This past offseason the Yankees made headlines signing two of the premier pitchers on the market, CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett to huge contracts. So far the Yankees rotation similar to the lineup has not performed anywhere near as it was expected to. Let’s take a closer look

FIP is an ERA equivalency calculation which takes into account just things the pitcher controls and defense is removed from the equation, just FYI if you didn't know.

FIP's of Yankees starters from last year (that have pitched this year):

CC Sabathia- 2.91
AJ Burnett- 3.45
Chien-Ming Wang- 3.74
Andy Pettite- 3.71
Joba Chamberlain-2.65 (skewed by his time as a reliever last year)
Phil Hughes- 4.34


FIP's of Yankee Starters this year:

CC Sabathia- 3.89
AJ Burnett- 5.09
Chien-Ming Wang- 24.12 (SIGH)
Andy Pettite- 4.54
Joba Chamberlain-4.74
Phil Hughes- 6.64

Alright, Phil Hughes and Joba I'll give passes to, there young, need more experience, growing pains, yaddi yaddi ya etc etc...

Chien-Ming Wang? Who’s that?

Andy Pettite- so far this year he has looked shaky at best. His FIP puts him at league average 4.54 way up from his FIP of 3.71 from last year. What’s different about him though? Mainly, he's striking out less hitters and walking more, but why? To find out lets examine the pitch f/x data courtesy of fangraphs. The velocities on his pitches are roughly the same, with his fastball velocity sitting at about 90 MPH. The vertical and horizontal movements are about the same on all of his pitches except one, arguably his most important, the cutter. The Vertical movement is a little different, but I am willing to chalk that up to sample size for now as its still moving a decent amount. The horizontal movement is the scary part, normally his cutter has a horizontal movement value of roughly -4 this year it has a value of -.4. What exactly does this mean? Basically his cutter isn't... well... uhh... cutting. I don't think I have to tell you why throwing a cutter which dosen't cut will not work in the big leagues. To make up for this he's throwing his slider 15% more of the time than last year, and his cutter 20% less of the time. If Pettite has any hope of success this year, he will either have to find his cutter again or learn to throw his slider for strikes more often.


CC Sabathia- Even after yesterdays performance his numbers are still less than stellar for his standards. He's striking out rougly one less batter per 9 innings and walking roughly 1 more batter per 9 innings. His line drive, ground ball, and fly ball rates have reamined steady, as well as his velocity and pitch selection. I'm sure he will improve from where he is right now, but by how much is the real question. Just how much of his numbers were a product of playing in the national league last year? Now I'm not hating on the NL, but lets face it the Pirates batting line up, from last year especially, was not the scariest thing in the world.

AJ Burnett- The biggest disappointment of the year so far (Chien-Ming who?) with his current FIP differing from his projected FIP by over 1.5. You don't have to look very far to find out what’s wrong with him. He's striking out 2 less batters per 9 innings than last year, as well as letting up over 10% more fly balls this year. This increase in fly balls has led to an increase to his homerun rate per 9 innings. Unfortunately the short porch in right field has not helped this issue at all. Stuff wise and pitch selection wise everything seems to be the same. Hopefully, his homerun rate regresses somewhat, and his strike out rate goes back to what it was last year, otherwise it looks as if we may have another Carl Pavano esque contract in the books for the next 5 years.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Yankees vs. Blue Jays 5/14

Lineup:

Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Gardner CF
Cervelli C

Pitching: CC Sabathia LHP vs. Brian Tallet LHP

Notes:

Melky Cabrera isn't in the starting lineup, probably getting a days rest and Brett Gardner definitely earned himself another start after his performance yesterday.

Jeter is back in the lineup after missing the first two games with an oblique pull, Matsui is back in the lineup aswell.

Maybe Joe Girardi should pull Mark Teixeira out of the spot light a bit and bat him 5th or 6th until he gets his act together, yesterday was a start, but he's still hitting 202. Meanwhile you could bat A-Rod 3rd with Matsui cleanup, or the other way around, but maybe Teix's struggles have come from the pressure being put on him in the 3 hole.

...back with updates from the game...

Update 7:37: it's 1-0 Yankees on a Nick Swisher bases loaded walk to force in a run, we're in the bottom of the 2nd and CC is on the hill.

Update 8:10: 1-1 after Alex Rios just hit a solo shot to center.

Update 8:25: i thought Al Leiter was the MLB networks problem now?

...meanwhile, it's 2-1 Blue Jays now... Rod Barajas doubled off the wall in right and it was bobbled by Swisher which allowed Rolen to score...how unfortunate.

Update 9:24: I had to step out, but it's 2-2 now in the bottom of the 7th, not sure how the yanks tied it up, but they did.

Update 9:34: Matsui led off the top of the 8th with a homerun to right center, it's now 3-2 yankees.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

What is wrong with Mark Teixeira?



To say that Mark Teixeira has been somewhat of a let down so far would be a huge understatement. But what exactly is wrong with him? To find out lets take a look at his current stats and compare them to his career norms.

The first thing to look at his walk and strikeout (K) rates. His walk rate is actually way up at 16.5% from his career average of roughly 12%. His K rate has remained steady with his career average at about 22%. Even though it appears he has improved his patience at the plate, both his OBP and SLG percentages are about 100 points below his career average at .338 and .434 respectively. The biggest culprit is pretty clear though, his batting average on balls in play (BABIP), currently at a whopping .184. A large portion of that is bad luck, as a BABIP that low is not sustainable, but there also appears to be another culprit, his line drive percentage(LD%). His LD% is down over 10% while his fly ball percentage (FB %) and his ground ball percentage (GB %) are up about 10% each. To give you an idea of how big a difference this can make, the league average BABIP on line drives is about .700 while the BABIP for ground balls and fly balls between .230 and .250... Ya that can make quite the difference.

Okay so it’s pretty clear he is just making worse contact, which means he must be swinging at more pitches outside the strike zone right? Wrong, he has actually swung at 2% less of pitches outside the strike zone this year. So he must be making less contact with balls in the strike zone? Again, wrong he is only a percentage point lower than when he had his monster year last year. The only place where there appears to be a huge discrepancy is his contact rate with balls outside the zone, which is 20% higher at 70% than his career average of 50%.

So what exactly does all this mean? One of two things in my eyes. One, he has just been extremely unlucky so far and it’s just a matter of time before things start to go his way. Or two the pressure of playing in New York is affecting him, and he is starting to press. Whatever it may be if he does not start to produce better the Yankees are not going to go very far this year.

*Note- he is a solid buy low candidate for anyone who plays fantasy baseball

Yankees vs. Blue Jays 5/12

Lineup:

Gardner CF
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Cano 2B
Cabrera RF
Cash C
Pena SS

Pitching: A.J. Burnett RHP vs. Roy Halladay RHP

Back to business: Hey everyone, sorry for the lack of posts lately, schools finally out and myself aswell as Mike (Ace) will be posting alot more frequently.

Notes: Derek Jeter is out of the lineup with an oblique pull and Swisher is probably getting a days rest, he's been terrible since getting hit on the elbow in the Angel's series.

...back later with updates durring the game...

Update 7:11: Johnny Damon slashed one down the left field line and got thrown out at second... i don't blame him for making the attempt considering we are facing the Yankee killer Roy Halladay tonight...

Mark Teixeira then followed with his signature popup... middle of the 1st.

Update 7:15: Kinda got the feeling that A.J. is overthrowing a little bit to start tonight, he's hitting 96 on average with his fastball.

Update 7:19: that new white castle commercial is disturbing.

Update 7:31: A-Rod just can't make errors like that in important games like these when your teams struggling, that was an inning ending double play, now there are runners on first and second with 1 out.

Update 7:36: Melky Cabrera may be hitting 329. but he still sucks.

Update 7:59: I don't know what it is... but i'm really frustrated with how kevin cash is calling this game.

Update 8:04: well, game over... 2-0 Blue jays, and i'm sure they're not finished scoring this inning, 2nd and 3rd with 0 outs... kevin cash suckssss.

Update 8:10: I am done with kevin Cash right now, send him back to where he came from... 3-0 right now... should be 2-0....

Update 8:26: is anyone else sick of seeing that fingerless lady in the anti smoking commercial 100 times per yankee game?

Update 9:01: Kevin Cash really needs to be punished for the way he's performed this game.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Game 1 Yankees vs The Devil err Red Sox

Lineup:

Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Posada DH
Cabrera CF
Molina C
Berroa 3B

Notes:

-the bottom third of our order just looks bad

-Teixeira is terrible lately I don't see him turning it around this series

-Can our bullpen stop being a blowpen?

-The Yankees are actually favored to win this game in vegas

-Arod should be back within a week, happy days are here again!!!

Back later with updates...


and a rain delay =/ at least seinfelds on?

and we're back!

-passed ball by molina runner scores not a good way to start the game at least hughes looks pretty good tonight 9:32

-Steve Phillips is actually praising Phil Hughes I'm shocked

-Lester strikes out the side and Lowell homers great.. 2-0 red sox

-End of the second 3 walks 1 K for hughes so far, a little worrisome 9:57

-Melky ultimate rally killer, never fails 10:07

-Melky followed by Molina is just painful 10:09

-Terrible jump by Nick Swisher 3-0 Red Sox Hughes is at 75 pitches still in the third 10:24

-Yankees up in the bottom of third Red Sox still up by 3 I gotta run though hopefully the game dosen't get delayed next time, anyway laterz 10:30