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.

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.

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

Sit tight

Sorry for the lack of posting lately... we'll be back in full gear come monday May 4th!

Go Yankees!

Yankees swept, don't panic

Yes, the Yankees got swept by the Red Sox at Fenway, but do i think we should panic? No, not yet.

The Yankees have started the season at 9-9, not great, but we haven't seen anything close to the greatness that this team can produce. Mark Melancon made his major league debut yesterday and pitched very well, the Yankees need a setup man, he could be our answer.

Luckily for the Yankees, Brian Bruney's injury isn't that serious and he could be back when he is elligible to come off the DL. Bullpen wise, the Yanks haven't looked so good, Marte, Coke, Veras, Ramirez...all have been terrible, but i believe both Marte and Coke will turn things around. Veras and Ramirez...yea...not so much...

The Yankees starting rotation hasn't been great so far this year, but it still is one of the best, if not the best, in the majors. I feel Chien Ming Wang will get his arm strength back and return to form, his ERA won't show it, but he'll help the Yankees alot down the stretch. CC Sabathia, generally a slow starter, hasn't even shown a glimpse of what he's capable of, though his start in Kansas City was great, i feel he is capable of more.

Joba Chamberlain hasn't been great to start the season and alot of you think he should move into the ailing bullpen. I won't condone that move unless i see Melancon and Robertson fail miserably, until then, keep him as a starter.

The Yankees offense has been suffering without A-Rod, but considering they are 9-9 right now, i'm not that worried, it could and should be alot worse. Robinson Cano is a beast right now, Jorge Posada has been consistent all year, Hideki Matsui is really starting to come around as is Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon. Several Yankees are slumping, Teixeira, Gardner and Swisher... but they'll all come around sooner or later, and when A-Rod comes back, i think it will take alot of the pressure off of some Yankees trying to do too much.

Yes, the last couple of games against the Red Sox have been bad, but honestly, the Yankees will recover and we all know it... even though some Yankee fans are contemplating jumping off a bridge at this point...

He's still the same old Melk...

Before you all jump on the Melky Cabrera bandwagon, realize, he's still the same guy he was last year who started off the season with 4 homers by April 24th. Remember? He had a very solid April hitting 299... after that...it went downhill, 234. in May and 207. in June.

Just remember who brings more to the teams overall winning mentality, clearly Gardner. There will be games where the Yankees will go up against team's aces and be dominated throughout the game, days like these the Yankees will rely on scrappy infield singles by Gardner to get on base. Gardner can put himself into scoring position with his speed and ofcourse we all know who follows him in the order, Jeter, Damon and Teixeira. Melky... can't really do those things, he got thrown out at second right before Ransom ripped a double which would have scored him. He also can be to blame for the 14 inning affair that we all sat through yesterday striking out with the bases loaded and 0 outs.

Ofcourse Gardner followed him with 1 out and the bases loaded and popped up, but still, put the bat on the ball. Girardi will still start Gardner, which is good, but i've talked to several Yankees fans who have told me they would prefer Melky after watching his recent success.

I'm happy for Melky Cabrera, it's exciting to hit a walk-off homerun, and he probably earned himself another start, but we need to remember that Gardner is the dynamic player the Yankees need, not Melky.