You’ve let me down for the last time son

July 2, 2007 by Mike Axisa 10 Comments

After going 0 for 5 with 2 K and 7 LOB against the best pitching team in the AL (by a helluva margin I might add), Robbie Cano was dropped from third to ninth in the lineup by Joe “Look, I already told you, I have people skills; what the hell is wrong with you people!!!” Torre. Way to instill a little confidence in the kid Joe; god forbid you give him more than…I dunno…one frickin’ game to prove himself.

If it was calling the shots, I’d have given Robbie at least 2 or 3 more games to show me whether or not he can cut it in the 3-hole. Day-night splits be damned, you don’t hit .340+ over a full season in the major leagues by accident. If Joe’s not going give Robbie a fair shake, then he’s got to do either one of two things: a) move Jeter to the 3-hole full-time, or b) go old school and bump everyone in the lineup up a notch (A-Rod bats 3rd, Posada 4th, Matsui 5th, and so on).

It’s July 2nd and the team’s 11 GB in the division (9 GB in the Wildcard), it’s time to stop fuckin’ around with the lineup and get the best players the most AB’s possible.

Stuart

Cano has earned the 9th spot.. he is playing terrible. he and ABreu should fight it out to see who hits 9th..

In the long run it will not scar Cano emotionally to be moved around in the order…

heneeds to start hitting and all will be fine
Mac

Those day/night splits are terrifying. Reminds me of Kei Igawa and his “I need thick sunglasses just to see the strike zone” pitching style…
mg

I disagree Stuart. I think that Cano is the sort of hitter who has the most to benefit by being surrounded by strong batters. He tends to be more of a free swinger than most hitters and he’s likely to benefit from having pitchers feel they have to throw to him. He’s been hitting poorly but he’s also been given no protection in the lineup. If you’re going to experiment with putting him in the 3 hole, they ought to at least give the experiment time to succeed or fail. One game is the ultimate small sample size and not nearly enough time to judge whether he hits better in the 3 hole.
Stuart

MG, my point is his #’s with RISP are so low that you have to weigh what is best for a players long term growth and the immediate needs of the team..

Again were all these guys bat is irrelevant if they start hitting.

Damon, abreu, cano, and matsui are killing this team.,. there #’s are so down from expectations it is scary……
mg

I hear ya. I think his numbers with RISP would improve if pitchers didn’t feel like they could work around him and not have to throw him a good pitch because next up is Cairo or Nieves or Phillips or whoever. I also think that if he’s getting pitches he’ll regress to a mean a lil closer to last season though certainly not .340. He’s a guy who we all know isn’t gonna have an OBP much higher than his batting average so it’s important to put him in a position to get pitches and hope he starts hitting doubles again. I think it would happen. Maybe not. Either way, I think we’re very close to the point where the players development for next year can be weighed against the team’s interests. If Damon, Abreu and Matsui don’t start hitting like tonight it doesn’t matter, we’re done.
Stuart

mg. nice conversation you are correct the lefties have to produce else we are toast..
Rick

A-Rod is now hurt. It just keeps getting better, better and better
Stuart

they need to call up a infielder for Tuesdays game just in case.

which pitcher will the ysend down? I pray it is not Ramirez else these guys are friggin clueless and will never give young guys a chance unless a gun is held to there head…

DFA; Myers, VIllone, and the rest before Ramirez…
brxbmrs

I think Torre should have pulled Cano out of the 3 spot after the first pitch in his first AB – Torre should have told Robbie that he gets one pitch to hit a 9 run HR – after all, we have “proven veterans” on that team.

Listen it wasn’t like Joe was debuting Robbie in the #3 hole against the best pitcher in the league….and stats be damned, the kid needs to step it up if he;s going to take valuable AB’s away from Sui and Abreu.

Seriously, I was hoping they’d give him 5 games or so in a row as the #3. I am surprised they even tried it, so I guess I gotta be happy with what I got.

Last night sort of made up for it though, seeing Melky (who eventhough isn’t a “proven veteran” slaps the ball all over the field and understands how to work a count and has a good eye) in the 2 slot. I love Melky, the only position player on the team other than Robbie who didn’t serve in WW II.

Jeter again proved last night why he may be one of the best hitters in the last 30 years – put him anywhere, he gets the job done.

Hopefully Cashman doesn’t DFA Melky today b\c he missed that HR in his 3rd AB – after all, he only reached base 3 times last night and I know Cashman is looking to bring back Tony Womack b\c he fits Joe’s criteria – he knows how to pronounce his name and he’s a prov…you get the idea.
brxbmrs

Stuart,

My guess is they send down Wang after tonight – C-Rod wearing that obscene word on her shirt has the front office extra sensitive to profanity – after all, we need to think about the children.