| Player | WPA | pLI | Pitcher | WPA | pLI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeter | .151 | 0.65 | Igawa | .054 | 0.94 |
| Giambi | .132 | 0.58 | Proctor | .006 | 0.11 |
| Abreu | .094 | 0.61 | Henn | .004 | 0.04 |
| Phelps | .084 | 0.53 | Britton | .001 | 0.04 |
| Damon | .067 | 0.67 | |||
| Cano | .031 | 0.67 | |||
| Cairo | .000 | 0.01 | |||
| KT | .000 | 0.02 | |||
| Posada | -.015 | 0.63 | |||
| Melky | -.052 | 0.54 | |||
| Alex | -.056 | 0.83 |
You just gotta love these offensive romps. You also have to wish they could do this night in and night out, but hey, we’ll take it when we can get it. We’ll also take that pitching performance from Igawa every time, though we know he’s not going to deliver it.
As one of Igawa’s most vocal detractors, I have to say that he was rather impressive last night. He threw 92 pitches through six innings, 62 for strikes, which really makes me wonder why he didn’t come out for the seventh inning. You knew Henn and Britton were throwing the 8th and 9th, so was it Joe’s and Gator’s concern for Igawa’s confidence (get him out while he’s ahead), or was it Joe’s compulsory use of Scott Proctor?
Yeah, I’m going to bring it up, even though my intention is not to kill the buzz of another win. I just don’t get it: with another game against Cleveland and three against Boston in the offing, why does Joe have to go to Proctor? The dude pitched in five straight games last week, and has pitched in nine of the Yankees 13 games this season. An extra day off is only going to help him at this point. Some of my angst will subside if he’s not available for work today — but I’m not sure Joe has ever strung together the words “Scott Proctor is not available today.”
The good news is that he hasn’t allowed a hit in his last three appearances (3.2 innings), hasn’t allowed a run in his past five, and his walk last night was his first in four outings. He’s starting to hit a groove, and I just don’t want him being overused and burned out.
But, if my biggest complaint about a game is the use of Proctor with a 7-run lead, I think we’re in good shape. All the starters got a hit, and Alex hit yet another bomb (yeah, it was a “tack on,” if there is such thing, but what are you gonna do, tell the guy to stop hitting homers?).
Rasner vs. Fausto Carmona this afternoon. I’ve been worried about our inexperienced pitchers going up against the Cleveland offense, but after looking through their order, they’re nothing to fear, at least at this point. True, their top three — Sizemore, Michaels, and Hafner — are producing, and Ryan Garko has promise at the No. 4 spot. But after that, it’s a mess of guys hitting under .250 (though Peralta and Delucci have decent OBPs).
Bonus
Here are two batting lines. Name each player:
Player A: .191/.296/.213
Player B: .180/.208/.180