We’re in for another high scoring, bull pen factoring in the decision, need to play defense and not make outs on the bases game between the Yanks and Sox today.
Ivan Nova has made two appearances, 1 in relief and 1 start, against Boston and was shelled both times. 7 innings pitched, 8 hits, 6 walks, and a 6.43 ERA. Nova is a very good pitcher with terrific upside but today we’re going to see how he handles the pressure of the rivalry.
Clay Buchholz doesn’t fare much better against the Yanks, with a 1-2 record in 5 starts. In 28 innings he’s given up 36 hits, 19 runs, 14 walks and a 5.79 ERA.
All you can really say is that things are going to get ugly again today and who wins is anyone’s guess. If the Yanks can head into the 7th with some kind of a lead then they have Joba, Soriano and Rivera rested and ready. If Nova get shelled early, the long man this afternoon is going to be Freddy Garcia, who is listed as an available reliever. This is good news because without him we’d be forced to see reliever after reliever rolled out to eat up innings and try to give the offense enough time to get back into the game.
A positive move today by Manager Joe Girardi is to give Eric Chavez the start at DH for the struggling Jorge Posada. Chavez has never faced Buchholz, but Posada is 0-4 against him and is only hitting .154 so far this season.
Yesterday, Brett Gardner, showed why he can be a viable leadoff threat for this team: 2-3, 2 walks, a double, a triple, a SB, a RBI and 1 run scored. The team needs him on base in front of Jeter and moving to help create holes in the infield defense so the Captain has fewer chances to hit into double plays.
James is also a daily contributor to the Pride of the Yankees Blog at the Newark Star Ledger's website: http://blog.nj.com/yankees/index.html
Pride of the Yankees Blog at NJ.com
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Yankees vs Red Sox Recap 4-8-11
Here are a few quotes from my preview article that I published this morning. All of which pretty much happened exactly as I predicted:
1. “…what should worry you, as a Yankee fan, is that going home to Fenway and this team come to town [the Yankees] is exactly what the Sox need to jump start their season.”
2. “…overall in his career Lackey has made 19 starts against the Bombers and is only 6-8 with a 4.43 ERA. As a team the Yanks bat .280 against him so look for another early game explosion of offense for New York.”
3. “But it’s no better for Hughes: 6 starts, 2-3 record, 4.97 ERA and 21 runs in 38 innings pitched… He doesn’t need to hit 93 if he’s hitting his spots and there is movement on all his pitches. But if he misses over the plate, or walks too many batters… you see why I said this could be exactly what the Red Sox needed to turn their April around?”
4. “This one is going to be high scoring for both sides and will ultimately be determined on how long Hughes can keep it close. If he can get through 7 and Girardi can use only Soriano and Rivera the Yanks should win. But any scenario that has… Boone Logan in the game today is going only help the Red Sox.”
The Bright Spots
Brett Gardner showed why he can be a viable leadoff threat for this team: 2-3, 2 walks, a double, a triple, a SB, a RBI and 1 run scored.
Arod is locked in with another home run.
Bartolo Colon pitched 4.1 innings, struck out 5 and gave up only 2 runs.
What sucked
Phil Hughes only lasted 2 innings and averaged 90 mph. I’ve defended him pretty loudly, but I have to say that until he is hitting his spots with his off speed stuff that he isn’t a viable option in the rotation anymore. I predict he’ll get one or two more starts and then the team will put him on the DL with some phantom injury and Colon replaces him in the rotation.
Derek Jeter popped up a bunt as the 2nd batter of the first inning with Gardner on first and then hit into a rally killing double play ball in the 7th. With Martin and Gardner on 2nd and 1st I have to think Girardi was thinking about sending those runners to avoid the double play. It was all over my mind. He also left 4 men on base today.
Add that to Swisher and Posada going a combined 0-8 with four men left on base and the three of them alone stranded 8 of the 13 Yankee base runners out there today.
Looking Forward
Because Hughes could not get out of the 2nd inning we’ve burned Colon today so if Ivan Nova struggles tomorrow there are no other long relievers in the pen so it will be a mix of everyone else. And CC will be on his own to finish 8 innings on Sunday.
That’s why I say that a staff is an interdependent organism and your starters affect everyone else for the rest of the week.
James is also a daily contributor to the Pride of the Yankees Blog at the Newark Star Ledger's website: http://blog.nj.com/yankees/index.html
1. “…what should worry you, as a Yankee fan, is that going home to Fenway and this team come to town [the Yankees] is exactly what the Sox need to jump start their season.”
2. “…overall in his career Lackey has made 19 starts against the Bombers and is only 6-8 with a 4.43 ERA. As a team the Yanks bat .280 against him so look for another early game explosion of offense for New York.”
3. “But it’s no better for Hughes: 6 starts, 2-3 record, 4.97 ERA and 21 runs in 38 innings pitched… He doesn’t need to hit 93 if he’s hitting his spots and there is movement on all his pitches. But if he misses over the plate, or walks too many batters… you see why I said this could be exactly what the Red Sox needed to turn their April around?”
4. “This one is going to be high scoring for both sides and will ultimately be determined on how long Hughes can keep it close. If he can get through 7 and Girardi can use only Soriano and Rivera the Yanks should win. But any scenario that has… Boone Logan in the game today is going only help the Red Sox.”
The Bright Spots
Brett Gardner showed why he can be a viable leadoff threat for this team: 2-3, 2 walks, a double, a triple, a SB, a RBI and 1 run scored.
Arod is locked in with another home run.
Bartolo Colon pitched 4.1 innings, struck out 5 and gave up only 2 runs.
What sucked
Phil Hughes only lasted 2 innings and averaged 90 mph. I’ve defended him pretty loudly, but I have to say that until he is hitting his spots with his off speed stuff that he isn’t a viable option in the rotation anymore. I predict he’ll get one or two more starts and then the team will put him on the DL with some phantom injury and Colon replaces him in the rotation.
Derek Jeter popped up a bunt as the 2nd batter of the first inning with Gardner on first and then hit into a rally killing double play ball in the 7th. With Martin and Gardner on 2nd and 1st I have to think Girardi was thinking about sending those runners to avoid the double play. It was all over my mind. He also left 4 men on base today.
Add that to Swisher and Posada going a combined 0-8 with four men left on base and the three of them alone stranded 8 of the 13 Yankee base runners out there today.
Looking Forward
Because Hughes could not get out of the 2nd inning we’ve burned Colon today so if Ivan Nova struggles tomorrow there are no other long relievers in the pen so it will be a mix of everyone else. And CC will be on his own to finish 8 innings on Sunday.
That’s why I say that a staff is an interdependent organism and your starters affect everyone else for the rest of the week.
James is also a daily contributor to the Pride of the Yankees Blog at the Newark Star Ledger's website: http://blog.nj.com/yankees/index.html
VIDEO: Alec Baldwin and John Krasinski Explain the Yankees/Red Sox Rivalry | Movieline
VIDEO: Alec Baldwin and John Krasinski Explain the Yankees/Red Sox Rivalry Movieline James is also a daily contributor to the Pride of the Yankees Blog at the Newark Star Ledger's website: http://blog.nj.com/yankees/index.html
Yankees vs Red Sox Preview 4-8-11
Yes, this is Boston’s worst start since World War II.
And what should worry you, as a Yankee fan, is that going home to Fenway and this team come to town is exactly what the Sox need to jump start their season.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Twins vs Yankees Preview 4-6-11
A rough loss last night is highlighted by two important factors we need to look at heading into Freddy Garcia’s debut for the Yankees tonight.
First, the unpredictability of the Yankee offense should be the biggest concern for the team. They’re like a tornado storm cell that forms in a matter of minutes, tears through mid western neighborhoods with destruction in their wake, only to disappear for the rest of the night allowing the hunkered down to re-emerge no worse for wear in order to rebuild.
As I wrote here and on my post over on the Pride of the Yankees page at NJ.com “No Home Runs, No Runs?” before the game yesterday, the Yankees have only scored 3 runs so far this season on balls not hit out of the park. I wrote about waiting for the Three Run Homer as a concern during Spring Training as a lobbied for Brett Gardner to be given the leadoff position and Girardi to become aggressive on the base paths.
First, the unpredictability of the Yankee offense should be the biggest concern for the team. They’re like a tornado storm cell that forms in a matter of minutes, tears through mid western neighborhoods with destruction in their wake, only to disappear for the rest of the night allowing the hunkered down to re-emerge no worse for wear in order to rebuild.
As I wrote here and on my post over on the Pride of the Yankees page at NJ.com “No Home Runs, No Runs?” before the game yesterday, the Yankees have only scored 3 runs so far this season on balls not hit out of the park. I wrote about waiting for the Three Run Homer as a concern during Spring Training as a lobbied for Brett Gardner to be given the leadoff position and Girardi to become aggressive on the base paths.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Twins vs Yankees 4-5-11 Preview
Today the Yankees face their first junk throwing lefty who pounds the strike zone with off speed pitches and good location. Brian Duensing is the Twins version of Cliff Lee, only not nearly as dominant.
Duensing has never made a regular season start against the Yanks, but he faced them twice in two post seasons and got hammered, going 0-2 with an 11.25 ERA combined. But don't get too excited, Yankee fans because, in his career Duensing is 15-5 with a complete game shutout and a 3.02 ERA to his credit. So he may be a little more Cliff Lee than he's not for our liking.
Yesterday, I predicted that Brett Gardner and Derek Jeter would break out of their mini slumps that started the season, but Scott Baker made some adjustments after getting hammered in the first two innings and the Yankees never scored another run after two quick homers by Arod and Posada.
Jeter will be leading off today and is 3-4 lifetime against the Minnesota pitcher. With a lefty on the mound Brett Gardner is either back to the number nine slot in the order or he'll be given a day off as Girardi already said that Andruw Jones will make his first appearance today in left. Granderson may sit if Gardner plays centerfield, although I think that would be a mistake.
Brett's struggles so far aren't a question of needing more reps. It appears to be a mental thing as he looks to be guessing at pitches, but guessing wrongly. A day off and a little pinch running today might do him some good.
Duensing is in the same position today as Scott Baker yesterday: he starts against a team that has killed him. But the Twins make good adjustments and I’m thinking Duensing will do his best to keep everyone as off balance as possible.
Poor timing for the Minnesota fifth starter though as the Yanks are running CC Sabathia out on his normal rest and the Yankee ace owns the Twins. He is 13-8 with 4 Complete Games, two shutouts, and a 3.05 ERA in 28 starts.
Like yesterday, this game has the chance to get out of hand early in the Yankee’s favor, but as I posted last night, the team has only scored runs three times on balls that were not home runs so far this year. If Minnesota pitching can keep the Yanks in the yard, someone please tell me where the runs are going to come from? Power hitting isn’t necessarily clutch hitting and so far this season the Yankees have not put together a sustained rally.
I have little doubt that Duensing will out pitch CC today, but let’s take a deeper look at the game and hopefully the guys not hitting it out of the park can string together a handful of hits this afternoon so we don’t have to sweat out a 4-3 victory when it very well should be 8-3.
James is also a daily contributor to the Pride of the Yankees Blog at the Newark Star Ledger's website: http://blog.nj.com/yankees/index.html
Duensing has never made a regular season start against the Yanks, but he faced them twice in two post seasons and got hammered, going 0-2 with an 11.25 ERA combined. But don't get too excited, Yankee fans because, in his career Duensing is 15-5 with a complete game shutout and a 3.02 ERA to his credit. So he may be a little more Cliff Lee than he's not for our liking.
Yesterday, I predicted that Brett Gardner and Derek Jeter would break out of their mini slumps that started the season, but Scott Baker made some adjustments after getting hammered in the first two innings and the Yankees never scored another run after two quick homers by Arod and Posada.
Jeter will be leading off today and is 3-4 lifetime against the Minnesota pitcher. With a lefty on the mound Brett Gardner is either back to the number nine slot in the order or he'll be given a day off as Girardi already said that Andruw Jones will make his first appearance today in left. Granderson may sit if Gardner plays centerfield, although I think that would be a mistake.
Brett's struggles so far aren't a question of needing more reps. It appears to be a mental thing as he looks to be guessing at pitches, but guessing wrongly. A day off and a little pinch running today might do him some good.
Duensing is in the same position today as Scott Baker yesterday: he starts against a team that has killed him. But the Twins make good adjustments and I’m thinking Duensing will do his best to keep everyone as off balance as possible.
Poor timing for the Minnesota fifth starter though as the Yanks are running CC Sabathia out on his normal rest and the Yankee ace owns the Twins. He is 13-8 with 4 Complete Games, two shutouts, and a 3.05 ERA in 28 starts.
Like yesterday, this game has the chance to get out of hand early in the Yankee’s favor, but as I posted last night, the team has only scored runs three times on balls that were not home runs so far this year. If Minnesota pitching can keep the Yanks in the yard, someone please tell me where the runs are going to come from? Power hitting isn’t necessarily clutch hitting and so far this season the Yankees have not put together a sustained rally.
I have little doubt that Duensing will out pitch CC today, but let’s take a deeper look at the game and hopefully the guys not hitting it out of the park can string together a handful of hits this afternoon so we don’t have to sweat out a 4-3 victory when it very well should be 8-3.
James is also a daily contributor to the Pride of the Yankees Blog at the Newark Star Ledger's website: http://blog.nj.com/yankees/index.html
Monday, April 4, 2011
Twin vs Yankees Recap 4-4-11
If you’d like to talk all about Arod’s Homer and how Jorge Posada is on a tear so far this year I’d suggest the PR departments of the Yankees and Major League Baseball. I try to take a look beyond the obvious stories and find things that could lead to issues down the line.
Minnesota Twins vs New York Yankees Preview 4-4-11
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Detroit Tigers vs New York Yankees Recap 4-3-11
The Yankees lose today’s game 10-7 but it is very easy to blame today’s loss three simple things: Manager Joe Girardi’s game plan, Brett Gardner’s 0-5 at the plate and Bartolo Colon’s four runs allowed in relief.
Earlier today at the Pride of the Yankees Blog I wrote a piece that was my rebuttal to the worries about Phil Hughes lack of velocity in Spring Training where my argument was taking a little off the fastball while really becoming a pitcher with a full arsenal of cutter, change, slider and curve is worth the trade off because he will be fresher over the course of a long season, winning more games in September and October.
And I thought Hughes pitched very well today because every batter not named Miguel Cabrera looked off balance at every at bat, which is why I am coming down on the manager’s game plan for how Hughes should pitch Miguel Cabrera. In my game preview this morning, I warned that Cabrera was hitting .417 in his career against Hughes and that there isn’t a hitter on the Tigers with the sheer ability to hit it out as easily as him. Why Girardi didn’t have Hughes pitch around the one guy who hits him well and can take him deep is beyond me. Hughes refuses to come near Cabrera and he doesn’t hit those homers the Yanks win 7-6.
Bartolo somehow managed to get through 4 innings today, but he gave up four runs. The Twitter world was going crazy reminding everyone that this is the reason he shouldn’t have made the starting rotation. He had a bit of a schizophrenic outing as he would get hammered on at bat then get the likes of Miguel Cabrera looking at a called third strike.
And finally Brett Gardner. I’m about to pull out my year old post about his lack of a game plan and situational hitting. An 0-5 day as the team’s leadoff hitter is not a great start to keep Yankee fans off his case. But what frustrates the most is how yesterday he bunted twice when he need to get a hit, but didn’t do it when most needed today.
With Russell Martin leading off with a double in a very close game everyone in the stadium expected a bunt. Move Martin to third and any ball in play would get them a run. But Gardner never even tried to sacrifice and wound up striking out. The Yanks got nothing in that inning which provided Detroit with bigger insurance.
Why Giradi didn’t specifically call for Brett to bunt there is something I wish I had a press pass to ask him myself.
This team has the offense to explode on a daily basis, but that doesn’t mean they will blow everyone out. Games can still be close and when you lose 10-7 that means you need to be prepared to take advantage of every chance to score runs, and determine what players on the other team you need to pitch around. It doesn’t feel like there was a specific plan in place today for winning this game.
James is also a daily contributor to the Pride of the Yankees Blog at the Newark Star Ledger's website: http://blog.nj.com/yankees/index.html
Earlier today at the Pride of the Yankees Blog I wrote a piece that was my rebuttal to the worries about Phil Hughes lack of velocity in Spring Training where my argument was taking a little off the fastball while really becoming a pitcher with a full arsenal of cutter, change, slider and curve is worth the trade off because he will be fresher over the course of a long season, winning more games in September and October.
And I thought Hughes pitched very well today because every batter not named Miguel Cabrera looked off balance at every at bat, which is why I am coming down on the manager’s game plan for how Hughes should pitch Miguel Cabrera. In my game preview this morning, I warned that Cabrera was hitting .417 in his career against Hughes and that there isn’t a hitter on the Tigers with the sheer ability to hit it out as easily as him. Why Girardi didn’t have Hughes pitch around the one guy who hits him well and can take him deep is beyond me. Hughes refuses to come near Cabrera and he doesn’t hit those homers the Yanks win 7-6.
Bartolo somehow managed to get through 4 innings today, but he gave up four runs. The Twitter world was going crazy reminding everyone that this is the reason he shouldn’t have made the starting rotation. He had a bit of a schizophrenic outing as he would get hammered on at bat then get the likes of Miguel Cabrera looking at a called third strike.
And finally Brett Gardner. I’m about to pull out my year old post about his lack of a game plan and situational hitting. An 0-5 day as the team’s leadoff hitter is not a great start to keep Yankee fans off his case. But what frustrates the most is how yesterday he bunted twice when he need to get a hit, but didn’t do it when most needed today.
With Russell Martin leading off with a double in a very close game everyone in the stadium expected a bunt. Move Martin to third and any ball in play would get them a run. But Gardner never even tried to sacrifice and wound up striking out. The Yanks got nothing in that inning which provided Detroit with bigger insurance.
Why Giradi didn’t specifically call for Brett to bunt there is something I wish I had a press pass to ask him myself.
This team has the offense to explode on a daily basis, but that doesn’t mean they will blow everyone out. Games can still be close and when you lose 10-7 that means you need to be prepared to take advantage of every chance to score runs, and determine what players on the other team you need to pitch around. It doesn’t feel like there was a specific plan in place today for winning this game.
James is also a daily contributor to the Pride of the Yankees Blog at the Newark Star Ledger's website: http://blog.nj.com/yankees/index.html
Detroit Tigers vs New York Yankees Preview 4-3-11
The thrust of all the discussions around the Yankees today is the supposed velocity issues from Phil Hughes in Spring Training...
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