Performance issues in Spring Training are easy to write-off as no big deal*. Joba didn’t record an out against Team Canada? No sweat. It was only March fifth. That’s something for Future Joe to get worked up over. But what if Joba struggled against the Reds last night? Given my track record — I said not to get worked up over Hughes’s poor spring last year — I’d have continued not sweating, but there definitely would have been cause for concern. That’s not the case thankfully, as Joba tossed an efficient three innings.
He was so efficient, in fact, that in three innings he couldn’t get to his target pitch count. He needed just 29 to down the Reds, striking out three in the process. Stuff-wise Joba looked fine. He eased into his fastball, hitting low 90s in the first inning before ratcheting it up a few mph in the next two. His slider didn’t seem to have a ton of bite, but he got a couple of strikeouts with it, including a knee-buckling called strike three. It wasn’t Joba vs. Beckett good, but Joba’s performance quelled the murmur of concern surround him.
Phil Coke looked solid in his two innings of work, striking out three allowing three hits, and picking Brandon Phillips off first. He was hitting low 90s, a couple 93s on the gun, which is impressive to say the least. Igawa followed that up with two scoreless, two-strikeout frames. Chris Garcia struck out two and walked one in an inning, and Anthony Claggett finished things off with two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth.
On the offensive side of the ball, sure-to-be-optioned Juan Miranda crushed a homer to right center in the fourth, and Shelley Duncan hit his second of the spring in the seventh. Brett Gardner helped his case with two hits, though he did get caught trying to take second and he misplayed a liner right at him (tough sledding). Hideki scored from second on a single, Ramiro Pena picked up a double, and Jesus Montero went 1 for 1. It was a good day for both the offense and the pitching.
Plenty of folks watched Team Netherlands upset Team Dominican Republic last night, which means Robinson Cano should be back in camp in the next couple of days. Kevin Russo, please claim your spot in minor league camp. There’s little chance Cano will be around for tomorrow afternoon’s game against Detroit, but he could be back in the lineup Friday against Boston.
It was tough not to enjoy the game last night. If camp broke today, you’d have to believe Gardner and Coke would be heading north with the team. They’re really impressing this Spring. Now they’ll have to keep doing it for the next three weeks.
* That’s what she said!
Just 5 days 'til pitchers and catchers report.
Don’t forget Marte!
how humiliated are the d.r. players? crazy crazy upset
I think the fact that Netherlands did it twice is so amazing.
didnt the dutch only score 2 earned runs the whole tournament? i thought i heard them say that on sportscenter
haha i looooooooooooooooove seeing jose reyes lose. cant wait to see his “holy shit we blew it in september AGAIN?!11!!xdzc!1!!??!1!?!!” face when putz/k-rod blows it
What’s the asterisk in the first sentence for?
Damn! I blew my own joke.
haha, nice job.
Great “The Office” reference. i usually like to add “Giggidy Giddidy” to the end of all my “Thats what she/he said” jokes…
LOL
Dominican Republic didn’t have A-rod for the tourny and the Yankees won’t have him for a month, so I just hope the Yankees don’t show their bats as poorly as the Dominicans did without him.
as long as were not playing a collection of scrappy dutchmen we should be okay
No wonder the pitching from The Netherlands was awesome, Bert Blyleven is their pitching coach.
No wonder the entire team from The Netherlands was awesome, HENSLEY “BAM BAM” MEULENS IS THEIR BENCH COACH.
they are pretty gritty, wed never stand a chance
tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside
well im tired of u making a big deal of how i speak my English what i have to be perfect just to please u i really dont care what u think of me if im telling u that my English isn’t perfect u don’t have to go on and on with it just move on don’t read what i have to write and focus on sum one else.
That guys a prankster don’t worry about it bro. The dude’s always bustin on everyone.
u go gurl
Dude, it’s not just him. I completely respect people that try English and are not as fluent in it as they are in another language. However, You must know “u” is you and “i” is I. I mean we’re not asking a person that doesn’t speak English to rewrite The Constitution, just try some punctuation.
DAMN YOU TSJC A/K/A MR. SNARKY IRRELEVANT NON-SEQUITUR JONES! (or something like that)
You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to look like you at least give half a shit.
I’m not asking you to be a Rhodes scholar. I am asking you to not make your comments unreadable by just mixing in a period and a comma here and there.
Reading you is like talking to a guy with marbles in his mouth. If you listen hard you can make it out, but after a few hours it gets annoying as shit and you just want the guy to take the damn marbles out of his mouth and talk like a normal person.
Not to mention, the ability to punctuate is very similar in Spanish and English, so there’s no reason why he can’t do it.
You really care what Mr Snark aka Perpetually Unfunny Guy says about how you speak english?
Get over it.
I’m not the only one annoyed by it.
Actually, I was the one who raised this issue last night. Anyone over the age of 5 has to be irritated as shit over it by now. How hard is it to type out “you” and put a period after each sentence? It’s not as if Spanish lacks punctuation marks, or uses them differently!
He can speak any way he wants, but if he wants people to read his comments and take him seriously, he’s got to make a modicum of an effort. Else people will just ignore him.
So ignore him. Stop crying about it.
Stop changing your handle.
BUSTED.
anyone else notice “bam bam” meulens coaching for the netherlands?
Wow, working The Office and How I Met Your Mother into one post? Kudos.
Which part is from The Office?
“That’s what she said!”
Well, I mean, the saying has been around just a little bit longer than The Office.
Oh, I know.
[Peter and Brian are building a crib]
Brian: “Insert Rod Support A into Slot B.”
Peter: “That’s what–”
Brian: “If you say ‘That’s what she said’ again, I’m going to pop you.”
Did anybody bother watching Chris Garcia’s inning? How did he look? How hard was he throwing? He’s arguably the 2nd most talented pitcher in the entire farm (behind Brax).
I wasn’t watching, but according to some Lohud posters (I know) he was hitting 92 with the fastball, and got his strikeouts via the changeup which looked very good.
I thought he looked really good. I was particularly impressed by his change up.
I was flipping back and forth, but you can see what all the fuss is about. Very live fastball, lots of movement, and his change was filthy. Curve wasn’t there yet.
Using Lohud posters as your research?
Wow.
I’m shocked they didn’t have him at 110mph with a 12-6 curve and a biting slider.
I was impressed with the amount of action on his fastball. Obviously, his change looked superb as well. I didn’t realize how wiry he was and how many ‘moving parts’ there were to his delivery (cliche, I know). I am looking forward to seeing him progress this year.
garcia looked very good. fastball at 90-92. seemed to be missing down and away with the fastball a little. the pitch he seemed to go to often was the splitter/change ( i am not sure what it was but it had a nasty downward break and made a couple of guys look foolish -btw cone wasnt sure what it was either but sade his grip looked maybe like a change up. if anybody has a better idea of the pitch please post it) i was also imprssed with ajax – he looks legit. i understand the granderson comps although maybe not quite as fast
I saw the same pitch. I don’t know what it was but it was offspeed and had a lot of downward movement. He definetly has good stuff.
after looking at grandersons sb’s maybe i am overating his speed
Good speed doesn’t always translate into stolen bases.
It’s really not fair how easily Joba can hit 90mph with his fastball.
CHOKE!!-DR!!
Mike read the mail please!!
That WBC game was fun to watch. Is it bad I was hoping for the DR to lose…so I can see Cano when I head to Fla for Fri and Sat’s game?
does this mean you were somehow rooting FOR sidney ponson?
Looks like Girardi went to Joba and said if you have another bad outing, we’re putting you back in the 8th inning.
joba just didnt wanna hear francessa kicking and screaming
just to start the debate, Igawa looked pretty non-terrible last night.
his fastball was down in the zone, which is the key for him, and he threw some nice off-speed pitches.
i wonder if the Yankees were not wrong in their assessment that he could fill out the back end of a major league rotation, they just picked the wrong division to import him into.
i could see him having success outside of the AL East.
Some more quality innings, maybe he gets his value up where someone claims him on waivers
In San Diago.
I second that.
Igawa for Teahen.
This isn’t a debate.
Igawa is terrible and spring results and career minor leaguers means nothing.
The guy doesnt have the stuff to compete in the big leagues. That’s it. Theres no debate.
He may not have the stuff to compete for the Yankees. However, it’s entirely possible that some team in the NL may become interested. We’re not asking for Pujols in return here!
Also, it’s pretty silly to be so absolute about anything. You never know what can happen or what stupid thing some GM may do.
The guy doesnt have the stuff to compete in the big leagues. That’s it. Theres no debate.
thank God you were here to settle that.
it’s much better than having a nuanced discussion about the differences in leagues, ballparks, etc.
keep up the analysis!
But Joe….Joba gave up 3 hits, 3 HITS!!! He cannot be a starter, he would of only gave up one hit and struck 2 out in the 8ht Inning!!!
Agreed. He should only be limited to one inning, approximately 60 times a year.
/John Harper, George King, Mike Francesca, et al.
Impact more games!
More is more than less is.
Q.E.D.
Yep. Getting 3 outs with a 3 run lead is the most impossible task in the world. Only Joba can do that.
On the bright side, knowing that there are people dumb enough to actually think Joba belongs in the pen is fulfilling in a Darwinist way.
When the apocalyptic nuclear winter comes, we’ll all have plenty to eat, because there’s no way Mike Francesa and the other B-Jobbers are smart enough to stay alive without modern technology and daily instructions from television.
Now set up men are important but look at it from a financial standpoint.
Sabathia is making 20+. Even average starters make 10+.
The best reliever on the market made 12. Set up men make nothing. Cruz could barely find a job.
It’s obvious what GM’s value more.
and what overweight radio personalities value mroe as well
The three best things in the world:
1) Sandwiches
2) Joba in the bullpen
3) Nate McLouth
Sincerely,
Mike Francesa
1a) Diet Coke.
Why do they invite players on the 40-man that stand no chance of making the team? If it costs options, why waste them for 2 weeks of big league exposure – and by the time they pitch in the game, they’re facing AA and AAA hitters/pitchers anyway. Explanation?
the explanation is that it doesn’t “cost options” to pitch in spring training with the big club.
Thanks for the link love, Joe!
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