Quickly recapping a loss

by 41 Comments

Montero does it again in a loss
Musings on in-stadium economics

We knew the winning streak wouldn’t last forever, but that doesn’t mean we still can’t be disappointed by tonight’s loss. Let’s recap this one bullet point style:

  • CC Sabathia was not sharp at all. He had plenty of hair on his fastball to quote Michael Kay, but he couldn’t locate it nor could he get any consistency out of his secondary pitchers. After a ten start run of complete dominance, Sabathia was due for an outing like this. It sucks, but it is what it is.
  • The 1-2-3-4 hitters combined to go 1 for 15 with a walk. That won’t get it done.
  • Robbie Cano (3 for 3 with a walk) and Hideki Matsui (2 for 3 with a homer) came to play. Good for them.
  • Al Aceves was fantastic out of the pen, but was sending him out for a third inning really necessary? He was getting outs and had a very low pitch count, but can you trust him to go through the order twice? It’s a tough call, I can see the argument for either side.
  • Jorge Posada‘s thumb is bothering him, and he might not be able to go tomorrow. Jose Molina is due back next week, so reinforcements are on the way if needed.

Thankfully we have a quick turn around and the team will be back at it tomorrow at 1pm. AJ Burnett vs Brian Tallet in the boogie down. See you then.

Montero does it again in a loss
Musings on in-stadium economics
  • alan

    We’d better not go into a bad strech against our divisional foes!
    Go get them, AJ.

  • Andrew

    Will Mark Teixiera ever hit another HR? Think the streak is 70+ AB’s now…

    • Little Bill

      Nope. His little run in May was just luck. I was expecting him to hit 120 HRs this year, but it’s apparent now that he may only hit 40-50 this season which is unacceptable.

      • http://twitter.com/tsjc68 tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside

        I can’t believe that jerkface is making all that money. Unless he hits 10 homers in the next 12 AB’s to make up for his lackadaisicalness, he needs to personally apologize to me for being such a buttmunch.

        Sincerely,
        Sports Talk Radio Caller Guy

        • http://www.retire21.org Mike R. – Retire 21

          Who knew Teixeira was a Dominican name???

          • Mike Pop

            Remember. Best move Boston made was NOT getting teix so they could keep mike Lowell at 3rd. Right, Steve Philips?

  • Little Bill

    So what happened to Fransisco Cervelli? He and CC just weren’t on the same page. I heard a rumor that most of the pitching staff hates the way he calls a game. Regardless, with his .290 OBP and .633 OPS I still think he should be starting over the old Posada who has no energy, grit, heart, will to win, gut, soul, grace, or passion. Jorge Posada is a poor man’s Fransisco Cervelli.

    • Charlie

      Enough of the sarcasm already. I don’t think anybody actually suggested Cervelli was better than Jorge, so just let it go. He is fun to watch, and Posada isn’t but obviously Posada is a better player and a better catcher.

      • Little Bill

        What are you talking about? There were plenty of people suggesting it. Don’t you remember the whole cERA debate? “Cervelli’s cERA is lower and he’s so fun to watch and he brings energies!!!! True Yankee!”

        Poor Posada was practically thrown to the curb as many were questioning his ability to call games even though he was the primary catcher during the glory years of the late ’90’s. It was ridiculous and deserves ridicule. I can’t wait till Molina comes back and we’re rid of a AA catcher who needs a lot more work.

        • OldYanksFan

          You must be nuts. There are a lot of Catchers who play better D then Po, and lots who call a better game. But nobody questions the fact that his bat makes him an elite Catcher. People are impressed with Cervelli because he did better then expected and was not a black hole. And for a kid with no MLB experience, seemed to handle our pitchers well.

          Posada has an injured thumb, the primary reason he didn’t play… especially with a day game today. The issue was CC was living between the belt and the letters. His pitches were up, up and up, and he was hit hard.

          There are many, many, many great offensive players that are poor at other aspects of the game. Manny can’t field, run or think, but the Sox were happy to have him. Papi will never win a GG. Piazza was a butcher behind the plate, but his bat made all the difference. So it is with Posada. You can admit his weaknesses but still love the guy and be glad he is on our team.

        • JP

          You’re selecting out one side of the debate. The general consensus was that cERA was a crock, and meant nothing. But lotsa people commented on Jorge’s “abrasive personality” (I think Joe Paw’s post mentioned it), his stubbornness, his meh-ish ability blocking balls, his history of having several pitchers prefer other catchers, etc.

          It was a reasonable debate, as I recall. Only the rare, single-neuron poster suggested Cervelli should be the full time catcher.

          But I think most of us would like to preserve what’s left of Jorge’s legs and back, which means seeing him in the DH role more often as time goes on.

          And given expectations, ya gotta admit Cervelli hasn’t disappointed.

      • Ed

        Sadly, plenty of people did suggest it. They insisted Posada at DH and Cervelli catching was better than Matsui at DH and Posada catching. Make sure to check the comments any time a pitcher gets hit hard with Posada catching, you’ll see plenty of it.

        • JP

          I can’t speak for everyone, but I never said Posada/Cervellis was better than Posada/Matsui. What I argued, and others too, was that doing this once in a while–giving Posada lots more time at DH, wasn’t a bad thing. We suggested that possibly, if the pitchers liked Cervelli more, and his general defense was better than Jorge’s, the obvious loss of offense was mitigated some by other factors. The obvious other mitigating factor was that if you avoid a major injury to Posada by playing Cervelli more, you’re trading off a loss of offense now for a healthy Jorge in the stretch run and playoffs.

          • Tony

            Yankee fans are spoiled and forget the offensive advantage we’ve had at C for the last 11 years. Add that to the typical “everyone loves the backup catcher” thing AND “everyone loves the mediocre prospects with little upside” thing, and you’ve got a perfect storm of insanity.

  • Charlie

    why a day game tommorow? Does that mean a night one on Saturday or what?

    • http://www.puristbleedspinstripes.com Rebecca-Optimist Prime

      It’s a holiday weekend. We get four straight day games, actually.

      • yankees=warriors

        4 straight day games?!
        I think I’m gonna die after this stretch!

  • http://kikojonesusa13.blogspot.com Kiko Jones

    All 4 games vs the Jays are 1:05 PM; Reinforcements? Surely you must be joking to call José Molina that.

  • http://theyankeeuniverse.com Moshe Mandel

    Weeds> all other TV.

    That is all.

  • JGS

    hmm…I was at the game tonight and was wondering why Posada didn’t pinch hit for Cervelli with a man on second and one out (7th?). I guess a sore thumb would explain it.

    I also thought A-rod would be the first one to hit one off the restaurant. that ball was crushed

  • andrew

    in my opinion aceves should not have been in there for a third inning.

    give it to hughes or robertson.

    but regardless the game was truly lost by cc.

  • crawdaddie

    Some fans crack me up, last week they dogged out Girardi for taking Aceves out of a game in Florida after throwing 40 something pitches and thought he could’ve gone another inning. Now, they’re dogging him out for leaving Aceves in for 30 something pitches and not bringing in some rookie pitcher.

    Girardi can’t win when a player fails to execute after making a decision.

  • The Fallen Phoenix

    Personally, I think that the Yankees ace relief trio – Hughes, Coke, and Aceves – are probably all good for two innings on any particular night, and sometimes three. I think it’s a coin flip at that point, and the call can be made either way.

    There’s a difference between dogging Girardi for switching after a pitcher mows down a side in nine pitches, and you KNOW that pitcher is good for a 2nd inning, and dogging Girardi after a pitcher has gone through the order (or most of the order) in two innings, and you still have a fresh reliever (or two, or three) available in the pen.

    That said, I do agree with Mike – I don’t think there was a right or wrong answer re: Aceves tonight. Personally, I might have gone to Robertson to start the 9th, but I also acknowledge that’s playing a bit more conservatively, and although Aceves did face one batter the prior night, he should have been rather fresh since he hadn’t seen any game work in almost a week before that. Normally, I’d probably err on the side of leaving a guy in for a longer, rather than shorter, outing, so I had no fundamental problem with Girardi staying with Aceves in the 9th.

  • JeffG

    Surprised Hinske didn’t get a pinch hit at bat if Jorge’s hand is bothering him. Also seemed odd that Bret was riding the pine again. Wonder if he could have made a play on Ichiro’s second double?
    – Anyways we’re not going to get them all right. Seattle did seem like a very beatable team though.

  • crawdaddie

    One more thing, defensive metrics might show differently, but my eyes tell me that Melky’s range in CF isn’t that great because he lacks the speed to makeup for his route mistakes.

    • Mike Pop

      He shuffles to the ball.

  • Mike Pop

    There was 7 or 8 times I would of had hinske pinch hit last night. What was Joe G thinking?

    /fan who loves grit

    Sucks to lose that game with such the pitching advantage but it happens. I guess Cc really is only a nl pitcher. Dominated the mets but can’t beat the M’s!!!!

  • Dexception32

    I totally agree, Melky and Gardner take some horrific routes, but Brett can make up for it with his speed, and Melky really never even sprinted after that ball, he got fooled. I hope we see Gardner today, Burnett tends to be fine if he gets those one or two good plays in the outfield during his starts…

    • Mike Pop

      Burnett will have another dominant start today. He’s in the zone! Keep reducing your bb’s and keep tallying those k’s buddy. Thanks.

    • JP

      This was not the first time we’ve seen a CF get fooled at NYS. Melky looked like Upton did on a couple of flyballs a few weeks back. (More evidence the ball carries more than these guys expect–and evidence that it’s more than just wall dimensions accounting for the homer increase).

      • Tony

        People assume Melky is fast and a great fielder because he has little power and no plate discipline. Think again!

        • JP

          No plate discipline? He’s at least average for plate discipline. Cano is the one with “no” plate discipline.

  • pat

    Oh shit, I didn’t realize Branyam’s homer HIT the Mohegan Sun bar thing.

  • http://bronxbaseballdaily.com Matt ACTY/BBD

    I’m annoyed that Aceves pitched into the ninth but I’m more annoyed that CC went back out for the sixth. I know it didn’t really come back to bite the Yankees but, as I said last night, there was really no reason for him to still be out there after he was getting hit hard and had thrown ~90 pitches. Just because CC is classified as a workhorse doesn’t mean he needs to get up to 100 pitches every game.

    • Accent Shallow

      I’m not so much annoyed, but it did seem unnecessary. Why coax every possible out from a pitcher who’s clearly struggling?

      • http://bronxbaseballdaily.com Matt ACTY/BBD

        Word. Just because he can throw a lot of pitches doesn’t mean he should every time out.

    • Charlie

      agreed, as you probably know from my comments last night

  • e mills

    I think we see Gardner CC’s personal CF after Melky didn’t catch Ichiro’s flyball last night (yea it was tough, but who doesn’t think Gardner doesn’t catch that ball?). That, those flares off the ends of the bats, and 1-15 from the top of the lineup is what lost the game. It wasn’t Joe’s fault, nor Aceves.