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...

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.

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.

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

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.