Game 63: Bringin’ the Heat
ByMan, it sure is a scorcher today. The little weather thing on my desktop says it’s currently 104-degrees in the city, meaning it’s about 120 out in the sun glazed tier seats, where Ben finds himself today. Lucky for him, he gets to see a primo pitching matchup.
Zack Greinke is just the kind of pitcher than can shut the Yanks down, a guy that changes speeds like a veteran and can hump it up to 96 if he needs it. Hopefully Joba is over his first start jitters, and can command his fastball enough to economize those 75-80 pitches he’ll be limited to. The Royals come into the game sporting a .312 team OBP, so hopefully they help get themselves out here and there.
Are you ready for some fist pumps?
1. Mr. 6 for 6, DH
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. A-Rod, 3B
5. Matsui, LF
6. Giambi, 1B
7. Posada, C – two consecutive games in this heat coming back from an injury? What is Girardi thinking? What’s the point of carrying three catchers then?
8. Cano, 2B
9. Cabrera, CF
And on the mound, the Winnebago Wonder, Joba Chamberlain.
Mike, you asked in another game thread about making a Cano for Greinke trade. Would u still make that trade after the Yanks kick Greinke’s arse today?
I would. One bad start wouldn’t deter me.
We have our own Greinke now!
2 pitches, 1 out. It’s … it’s … beautiful.
This ump definitely has a better zone.
Bah. Broken bat blooper. What can you do.
I love this first pitch swinging. They get lessons from Robbie?
A starter that can throw a fastball by a hitter. What a concept.
No, we need to save that fastball for the 8th inning because that inning is very important to the outcome of tha game.
The first six or so innings sets the tone for the eighth inning. Joba definitely sets the tone when he pitches.
I like how joba paces himself today, 96 mph to get the first 2 strikes then 98 to blow them away. I think Jorge has alot to do with it, he knows how to work talent.
DONT BREAK THAT BAT Johnny.
Check the NY Times’ “Bats” blog, it has a Q&A with Austin Jackson, a look at the Yankees’ Minor League games on Friday night, a profile on the Tampa Bay Rays’ recent 1st RD. picks from Rice University, a look back at Jason Giambi’s walk-off HR on Thursday afternoon and Jack Curry’s take on Manny Ramirez’s bitch-slap.
Can you link us please? Watching the game while making lunch lol I really dont have time to look.
Link isn’t going through. Mike said it gets caught in moderation sometimes. All the stuff I mentioned are right at the top of the list so you need not search for it.
I have to look into it, it seems that comments with links are going into moderation way too much these days.
Right sidebar, top link under Beat Writer Blogs.
Thanks.
The Q&A was interesting, he said that he thinks he made the right decision chosing Baseball over Basketball then he says that he thinks he would be in the NBA. You got to love devotion and playing for the love of the game.
Mike, gotta disagree with you there. The strength of this organization is our pitching. There is no way I would trade our ONLY young all-star caliber position player.
I know he doesn’t have the greatest start to the season, but let’s not forget, this is a VERY good player so far in his career.
Damn, Greinke got Damon on three pitches.
I’m a fan of the first-pitch curveball Joba threw to Guillen. Outside the box, me like.
Damon 0′fer 6 today?
That might be a Tim Kurk-gem for BBTN.
I’m sitting in the RF upper deck next time I go to Yankee Stadium, that’s the third time in four games.
I like sitting in the deck under it, since it
doesnt get wet there, sorry pressed enter by accident
10$ says that Joba knocks a royal off their feet.
Mike, I’m one of the biggest Zack Greinke fans there are and I agree in principle you always try to acquire front-line pitchers 25 and under but I am very, very hesitant to trade slugging players 25 and under who play an up-the-middle position (C, SS, 2B, CF).
Especially one who has shown to have a high ceiling, and could potentially bat in the middle of the order in a couple of years. That type of 2B is very very hard to find.
Let’s not forget that Cano plays a VERY good 2B. He’s not one of those “second basemen” that should really be in the outfield somewhere, like Sori.
A-Gonz would be a good fit in kansas city, he would easily take up that SS position over Pena jr. with just as good defense and much better hitting ability and would mix in well with all the speed on that team.
I see Gonzo as our future utility man. Betemit is a bench bat, but can’t play 2B or SS worth crap.
el coma du cei!
Ho-Chaver. Not Ho-Shaver or Ho-Cuh-Var. It’s not that hard Michael Kay.
How in the world did Gload hit that pitch into right? It was practically in the other batter’s box!
Aviles’ stance is hysterical. He looks like a player in that old Nintendo game “Bases Loaded.”
Come on Posada, he was almost out of it!
its been almost 48 hours and Giambi still hasn’t swung at that pitch
This Chamberlain kid has a chance.
Is there anything on TV more annoying than those Mohegan Sun commercials?
Emmit Smith.
Gordon’s hit was really the only good contact against Joba so far, and he’s missing a ton of bats. Great stuff.
for those of you who appreciate Yankee history….Chamberlain = Allie Reynolds……
I think Joba’s going to have a much better K/9 IP than Reynolds (1423 Ks in 2492 innings)…
different era….back in early fifties, successful pitchers could walk as many as they struck out…..remember this is the time of Dimag and Berra…..check out their K rates……most sluggers put the wood on the ball….consequently, K rates far down in that time, aside from the early Bob Feller……..
Joey Gathright is some kind of athlete, I’ll tell ya.
damn what a nice catch
Melky is slugging .295 in his last 29 games.
http://www.baseball-reference......18:346:sum
LoL, Melky and slugging in the same sentence.
i understand why its happening, but the constant updates of joba’s pitch count is a little annoying.
I hate Jose Guillen
That was a hanger and a half.
Joba never would have thrown that slider in the 8th inning….
Since when did Jose Guillen start hitting righties?!
shut UP jose guillen. douche
That fastball has lost a lot of velocity this inning.
One more inning, with a short leash. Progress, at least.
Huh?
The last few fastballs he threw in this inning registered as:
99
100
97
96
96
95
96
That’s losing velocity?
Gameday says he’s still in upper 90s with his fastball. That as just a dead hanger. I think he was scared to walk guillen so threw a slider that was a strike.
He’s fine, he just hung one, it happens. I’d say he lasts another inning and a third
Is anyone listening on the radio? All of a sudden can’t get 880 or 1430. Related is there a good AM receiver out there so I don’t have to keep fucking with the antennae every time a truck goes by?
Greinke may have found his groove.
Yeah I’m finding that the Royals actually have some decent pitching. Thank goodness they’ll never keep it all together
They say his brother Luke is a great athlete as well.
Well if we can keep it close, we own their pen
Giambi flashing some range.
Good job getting that 1-pitch out.
Yeah, he belongs in the bullpen.
There we go! 9 pitch inning and he should be able to go 5 now
Man Greinke has it working today, he’s just nailing the corners with all of his pitches
Greinke’s dealin’
I wonder if they’ll let Joba go past 80..
If he’s still got the stuff, I’d let him at least close the 5th but it won’t happen and that’s why I’m not a MLB manager
it doesn’t look like he’s tiring but I doubt Girardi will let him go past 75ish if he scheduled to throw 65-70
Chipper Jones to “miss a couple games” due to a slight tear in his right quad. Jones is currently at a .420 Batting Average.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/articl.....p;c_id=mlb
Since when was Guillen a yankee killer.
Come on David, make a quick out
David Cone (thinking): Michael Kay shut the F up about the pitch count.
LoL, that was running through my mind as well.
Wow, that’s about the 4th time I’ve seen him throw the curve for strike one. And back to back changes? You know he wants to stay in
LoL, Jorge Posada doesn’t back down. He calls for the Slider, Joba shakes him off and he calls for the Slider two more times.
How can you tell what Posada was calling?
I love those CURE Auto Insurance commercials.His fingers, not too hard to tell when a runner is not on second. 1-finger is the Fastball, 2-fingers is the Curveball, 3-fingers is the Slider, 4-fingers that wiggle is the Changeup, 1-finger that you move in a circular motion is the Sinker, Cut-Fastball. It is universal, we use that in High School baseball as well.
The Big Cat is loose!
Dan Giese has some serious movement on that Two-Seamer.
waiting for Jorge to get pissed off enough to go out there and tell Joba “if you shake me off one more time I’m gonna slap you”
earlier in the game Joba kept shaking him off and he went out to the mound and had a talk
Is that some winnebago necklace, Its cooler than the redsox and they gay beads.
Well that’s not that way he wanted to end his day
The media makes so much out of this pitch count bs, that I’m sure it affects how Joba is attacking the hitters.
Too bad he couldn’t get through the 5th. Can’t complain about this outing at all, made one bad pitch.
I love thos CURE Auto Insurance commercials.
Pitch count be damned he could have finished that inning
“Some companies think education and credit score have something to do with car insurance. (Bleep) them. What, I can say (bleep)?”
That is my new favorite commercial.
for the people that missed it,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jgc_HyHOITA
HAHA the first base coach for Kansas city has the last name “Kuntz”
Yeah, it’s Rusty Kuntz.
http://www.santamariaindians.c.....yKuntz.jpg
hahahaha wow. Rusty Kuntz.
That’s hilarious. I wonder if he was teased in his youth. I bet he pronounces it Koontz.
It is pronounced Koontz. And I can almost guarantee you he was teased as a child, and as an adult. Heh.
Rusty wasn’t his birthname though, was it?
It was Russell, nevermind.
There’s two outs, worry about the hitter.
Fall down range. Love it.
seriously. You can’t complain though, he save a run.
Bold prediction: Dan Giese will become the new Scott Proctor.
Son. Of. A. Bitch.
Yah but Proc had much more stuff
Hey! Hey! Johnny Be Good!
Saaaahhhhwiiiiiiiiing and a miss.
Wow. 68 mph bender after a 96 mph heater? Not fair.
Wow, a 68 mph curveball after seeing all those pitches.
Wow has Grienke got a bender or what
Im pissed jeter didnt even run to first, is he that old?
He didn’t know the ball hit the dirt. He looked back like he was surprised when Miguel Olivo tagged him on the back.
he thought it was a clean strikeout, no big deal
Did YES or anybody else give a measurement on A-Rod’s shot yesterday?
I was wondering the same thing. I also want to know abreu’s today, and Giambi’s 2 up in the upper deck
Gathright has got some skill in center field.
Too bad he can’t hit.
That seems to be a reoccurring theme on the royals.
Who the fuck does he think he is? Andruw Jones…circa 2000?
CURE Auto Insurance owns.
damn Gathright is sick
shoulder popped out… ouch
Great pitching duel in Fenway Park, Erik Bedard against Justin Masterson. Masterson’s Sinker seems to be a bit slow today, topping out at 90-91MPH. I thought he can run it up to 92-93MPH.
Kam Mickolio, one of the guys sent to the O’s in the Bedard deal, has the exact same scouting report as Masterson: 92-94 sinker, good slider but needs improvement, funky borderline sidearm delivery. Mickolio’s about 3 inches taller, and he’s a year older, but it goes to show how two extremely similar pitchers get hyped differently because of their markets.
LMAO, Hanley Ramirez is abusing the Reds right now. Just hit his second 2-run homerun.
He is the fucking man.
David Cone is the man. He knows damn well he likes the Latinas.
posada needs to be skewered for that…
agreed, just takin his time jogging back there, but at least the next AB was an easy popup in fould territory (okay, well with A-Rod no popup is easy…)
I want pain inflicted on that man. I’m so serious.
Dan Giese just throws strikes and mixes his pitches really well. Me like.
I wouldnt mind melky’s lack of production if he played cf like gathwright…
there aren’t many who can play CF like Gathright though…
Some dude just bust his ass so bad, I need a replay.
Thank you Giambi, one for the Bleacher Creatures!
We need to exercise Giambi’s option as he just hit another homerun.
Uh, no.
Sarcasm, my brotha.
That’s what I figured, but I wasn’t taking any chances.
lol.
Giambi is the fuckin man right now
Fuck my Justin Morneau pick for AL All-Star 1B. The Giambino!
He keeps hitting like this and he’s gonna get it
I think the Chamberlain / Giese combo is a good one. Is Giese willing to be a 7th/8th inning guy? Joba/Deeg/Mo sounds good to me.
I don’t know why the Snoop Dogg / Willie Nelson friendship is “unlikely.” It’s all about the weed.
Given Geise’s career so far, I’d bet he’d be willing to play catcher if it meant he could stay in the bigs.
Make that bullpen catcher
Robbie Cano has sure been real patiently lately.
someone said something to him. Like “do it again and I’ll f you up.”
Yeah I don’t remember the last time he waited 5 pitches to swing. I’m not even upset about him grounding into a double play if he watches 8 pitches
Ken Griffey Jr. will be up in the Top of the 8th inning, so keep an eye on that. MLB.com has the free, live look-in.
Is Jose Veras getting ready for some 8th inning work?
I’m assuming Kyle farsworth has been knocked a peg or two down the bullpen order, ah wells.
couldn’t happen to a nicer lunatic
I’m convined, let’s just let Giese pitch out the rest of this game and give the pen a rest
Agreed.
Buster Posey with his 2nd HR of the day. 1 word: beast
do they use metal bats in college baseball ?
aluminum or something
Yeah, aluminum. Supposedly they’re designed so that they simulate wood, but I don’t believe it for a second.
Wood bats break, aluminum bats dont which is the difference. Rivera would be as effective in a metal bat league because they can hit the pitch coming in on them
San Fran should be thanking all kinds of Gods that he fell to them.
definitely. Anyone heard if Bleisch (spelling?) will be pitching game 1 for Stanford next Saturday in Omaha? If so I gotta clear my calender… I don’t see why he wouldn’t be though
Depends who they play. If they face a lefty heavy lineup (say Az State or Miami), then I imagine he starts. But if it’s a righty heavy team, they might hold him back to Game 2. College coaches are cool like that.
that was close. ok let’s stay away from him. he has no opposite field power.
Whew…
Isn’t that the second HR David DeJesus has just missed in this series?
Dan Giese in the hizzy.
I really hope they don’t pull him for the 8th, the guy hasn’t allowed a runner yet other than via strikeout
I was there in 99′ also!
Johnny Damon does have a shot to have a 20/20 season.
It seems like all they hype about Hughes and IPK have been over shadowed by these other pitchers called up that weren’t as expected.
I agree, Veras, Edwar, Giese and Rasner have been huge! Maybe that’s a good thing though, it does take the pressure off
Then again, now theres nowhere to put Hughes and IPK when they become healthy again.
IPK to AAA Phil stays, send Britton down, he serves no purpose. Who should leave the rotation once Phil gets back? I have no clue
Josh Hamilton in the HR Derby at Yankee Stadium? Oh boy!
No one’s going to hit one out of the Stadium during the Derby. How many guys could realistically do that? Dunn, Howard, that’s it really.
Maybe someone clanks one off the video screen or something, but not out of the Stadium.
Giambi
I don’t know man, Dunn and Howard have hit some majestic beauties in their respective careers. They could yank one out in RF, hopefully.
No one will even get close, Mantle was the closest but I don’t think it will ever happen. Maybe in the new yankee stadium but I dont remember what the stands look like beyond the outfield
I don’t think it’ll ever happen during a batting practice or home run derby. You need either a good fastball or a lot of spin (like a curve) to get that distance. You don’t get that extra energy you need when a guy is just lobbing them into you
When did Johnny start with the high socks? Maybe that’s helping him. Channeling the Babe.
Hes wearing a thong.
Well I’m not intimate with him so I did not know that. But I can see the high socks.
Kay is turning into Sterling with the almost HR calls.
Two things, how in the fuck did that not get out and I can’t blame A-Rod for being tagged out, everyone thought that was out of here.
It should have been gone. It missed by about an inch. I don’t blame him for being tagged out. He got 2 runs in.
A-Rod is the man. Maybe now we can let Giese pitch for at least another inning with a 3 run lead
if Girardi does leave Giese in now I don’t know if he ever will…
Michelle Kay needs to shut the f up. Good job by cone putting him into place.
Im sure Kay wants the yankees to lose by a run so he can come back and say i told you so.
LoL, the baseball Gods took that HR away from A-rod because the Yankees were already ahead so they rendered it meaningless before the NY media could by not even making it a HR.
woh michael gay?
That’s a good point. When in doubt, you can always turn to the baseball gods for an answer.
You know what’s really cool, playing the ‘27 Yankees and the ‘98 Yankees head-to-head on whatifsports.com.
I’ve never cared about All-Star voting… But is it time to start a campaign to get Damon/Giambi/others elected, since the game is in the Bronx this season? Other cities get their guys elected all the time (for example – ChiSox fans had campaigns to elect Podsednik and Pierzynski).
I was just thinking the same thing…some base posts to this effect please. Thank you.
At this point I’d say only Giambi, Damon, Matsu and Posada deserve to go. Posada because no Catcher in the AL is having any kind of good year. Mike Napoli has 10 HRs but can’t make contact consistently (what’s new?) and Jason Varitek has 6HRs, but fuck him.
A-Rod, Jeter and Rivera will get in no doubt. I want Mussina to get in but he might get embarrassed pitching against the NL lineup, it might get real ugly.
It’s a big “if,” but if Giambi stays healthy and keeps hitting, he should go to the ASG over Youk. I don’t know where the voting stands, but Yankees fans have to start filling the ballot boxes for Giambi.
I don’t know how Cone tolerates Kay. He’s so good-humored in that mid Western way. He never gets snarky but lets Kay know he’s an idiot. But Kay is too much of an idiot to pick up on the subtlety.
“Pretty much nothing except three strikeouts…” I didn’t realize strikeouts were a negative on a pitcher’s line Mr. Cone.
Good to see Girardi was compelled to remove Giese from the game. That’s what you want your manager to do, remove pitchers that are pitching effectively because they have to follow the cookbook.
If Giese is taking Karstens’ opportunity to shadow Joba here, and even if Joba is up around 90 next outing, safe to say Giese is easing in at this point into the “long man” role for the short term? with Ohlendorf re-re-converting to a 1-2 IP per?
I’d hate to see Giese have a semi-bad outing and Karstens get plugged in there.
And with the third catcher, anybody have an idea how it’ll play?
I don’t think they will keep a third Catcher on this roster past this week.
Can we also send shelly duncan down while we’re at it? I pretty much think the whole league has figured out this one trick pony.
Once Posada proves he’s healthy, aka throws out a few runners, they’ll DFA Moehler who I think has proved enough to get picked up by another team. If Giese gets sent down, they’ll be an uproar the way he’s pitched. Unfortunately, I think we may see another Brittongate moment
I would of liked to see Giese back out there for another inning, but apart of me wants to see what Veras can do on back to back days. I wonder if Veras is going to be the next new temporary 8th inning guy.
I think it is head-to-head between Veras and Edwar Ramirez.
Veras is making a strong case for himself. Plus he’s got typical 8th inning stuff
I like how we alternated pitching styles today with Joba, Giese, and then Veras.
Must be extremely hard for the KC players to get into a good groove.
Hmm….I think Veras just gained the upper hand.
Buster just missing his third homer to warning track straight out center field
A streamer of milk?
Girardi is turning into Joe T. Is Veras his Proctor?
No, he’s giving Veras a chance to prove he can be the set-up man. I have absolutely no problem with that
I’m being facetious
he’s so much better than Farnsworthless
Lol, sarcasm is so difficult to pick out sometimes, my bad
wtf, since when has nancy drew hit for boston?
2009 Yankee rotation- Wang, Joba, Hughes, Rasner, Giese? lol
Where’s CC? O yeah we decided the 8th was more important and made him out set-up guy
No no, CC’s the LOOGY.
That’s my bargain basement rotation- only $5 1/2 million.
If I’m the Yankees, I sign Joba for 5-7 years right now
Bad idea. As awesome as he is, he’s still a pitcher and they have a tendency to blow out shoulders and elbows, or just start sucking for no reason in particular. They have the money to pay him a $10M arbitration award if need by.
That “lock up the young players” stuff is for small market teams.
When has Nancy Drew hit, per, other than at Florida State?
*period
Again Cone quietly makes Michael Kay seem like a complete and utter idiot.
Now if we only could get someone to put Sterling in check…
why is kay so dumb?
Left temporal dysfunction- his father was right handed and always smacked him on the left side of the head.
Fantastic post.
It’s so comforting to see Rivera come out of the pen. Can you imagine if we hadn’t resigned him? Hopefully he can prevent Melancon from taking his job for the next 4 years
Mo’s ERA+ went from 1185 to 619 yesterday. Cut him.
Yeah he’ll have to pitch twice as many innings without allowing another run to get that back. He’s obviously done
Bullpen success sans-Joba?!?!?!?! Shenanigans!!!11!!!11!
I hope they keep Giese around. They’d be crazy not to but they do a lot of crazy things I can’t fathom.
its nice having Posada back
Profantasybaseball preview of closers said about Mo “The veteran has lost a lot of his magic.”
To which Mo says, “Magic this.”
pwned.