Aug
05

Game 107: Do not make fun of this man’s last name

By

As someone with a long Polish last name, I sympathize with Marc Rzepczynski. Any time people see more than eight letters and an ski at the end, it’s an opening for 1) gross mispronunciation, and 2) ridicule, because it’s not a good ol’ ‘Merican name — the “I’d like to buy a vowel” line is already old, at least in my mind. Yet I can’t empathize with him. My name is 100 percent phonetic. If you took the time to look at the letters, you could pronounce it with ease (when I took the GREs, the administrator said anyone who couldn’t pronounce it is an idiot…I liked her). Marc? Not so much. So please, for the sake of your host, let’s lay off the guy, at least on his surname.

And, for reference, it’s Zep-CHIN-Ski.

A 2007 fifth-round pick out of UC Riverside, Rzepczynski shot through the minors. He spent a full year at Class A Lansing last season, posting excellent numbers in 121 innings. The most impressive: just two homers allowed. In fact, in 254.2 minor league innings, spanning back to the New York Penn League in 2007 through his stint in AAA this season, Rzepczynski allowed just five home runs. FIVE. In the majors he’s allowed just one homer through 27.2 innings. His 3.1 percentage of fly balls hit for home runs is far, far below the league average of 7.8 percent. Normally I’d say he’s in line for a statistical correction, but it appears this anomaly is part of Rzepczynski’s skill set.

How does he do this? The double threat of strikeouts and ground outs. Rzepczynski has a 1.94 ground out to air out ratio, well above the league average of 1.07. He also gets 1.09 ground balls for every fly ball, again well above the league average of 0.78. He has also struck out 25.4 percent of all batters he’s faced in the majors, much higher than the league average of 17.8 percent. In fact, it seems the only reason he’s not pitching better right now is that he still has a case of the walks: 14.4 percent of major league batters facing him have walked, far above the league average of 9 percent. This could be a boon for a patient team like the Yankees.

Rzepczynski is mostly a fastball-slider guy, averaging 88 mph with the fastball — with considerable sink, of course. He also has an average curve and an average change, which he uses to mix things up. FanGraphs’ linear weighs for pitch types shows his slider to be his most effective pitch. I’m willing to bet that’s how he gets the bulk of his strikeouts.

On the hill for the Yanks is Sergio Mitre, who has supposedly worked out the kinks which hampered him in his last start. The Yanks aren’t asking the world. Just six innings, three runs. Then hopefully the Yanks can get to this rookie starter.

Oh, and as if you hadn’t already heard, the Yankees have recalled RHP Anthony Claggett. To make room for him on the roster, they’ve designated Cody Ransom for assignment.

Lineup:

1. Derek Jeter, SS
2. Johnny Damon, LF
3. Mark Teixeira, 1B
4. Alex Rodriguez, DH
5. Nick Swisher, RF
6. Robinson Cano, 2B
7. Melky Cabrera, CF
8. Jerry Hairston, 3B
9. Jose Molina, C

And on the mound, number forty-five, Sergio Mitre.

Categories : Game Threads

317 Comments

  1. GG says:

    Ransom gone and cats can breathe a little bit easier tonight.

  2. Dela G says:

    I feel his pain

    as a guy with an african name, i feel for you Mike

    (thats why people call me Dela G :D )

    Anyways,

    GO YANKS

  3. Straighten it out, Sergio.

  4. Andy In Sunny Daytona says:

    I thought you meant Meat Tray.

  5. Mike Axisa says:

    The season is over. The Red Sox called up Billy Traber.

  6. Yanks signed Russ Ortiz for MiL depth.

  7. I also have a-relatively-easy-to-pronounce last name that people screw up. Italian is phonetic as well, but people don’t get it.

    • King of Fruitless Hypotheticals says:

      my last name has never been spelled correctly on the first try by anyone to whom i was giving it.
      its amazingly awkward…its randle.

      r-a-n…d-l-e.

      they write r-a-n-d-a-l…wait what? d-a-l-e?

      candle. but with an r.

      c-a-n-d-a-l-e?

      ffs…
      i used to use handle, but sure enough, one lady says ‘oh, like the composer, and write r-a-n-d-e-l. sigh…

  8. My last name is ridiculously easy to pronounce…but people still find ways to fuck up my first name

  9. Accent Shallow says:

    Joe,

    How do you feel about the old Onion article “Clinton Deploys Vowels to Bosnia”, then?

  10. The Artist says:

    So we have an open thread, and all of a sudden ‘Russell NY’ has nothing to say.

    Maddening.

  11. wilcymoore says:

    Rzepczynski … 23-year-old rookie southpaw, rapid rise through the minors, .192 BAA in five starts with Toronto, 30 K in 27.2 IP, and – as you say – a tendency to NOT allow home runs.

    Pretty good stats for a kid without a blazing fastball. Let’s see how the Yanks handle him tonight.

  12. For the Spanish speakers here, if I wanted to say “I can’t wait for you to be a major leaguer”, should I use ser or estar? I keep thinking ser, but I don’t want to mess it up…

  13. dkidd says:

    my guess is ser, because “major leaguer” would be his profession?

  14. Mike Pop says:

    Got the fan umps tonight.

    • DougPinstripesForever says:

      They get on my nerves and how many times have they “umpired” our games? Also, they are blatant homers for the Blue Jays, even when they were at the Stadium. Seriously, if you
      are going to all this trouble to fan umpire, why be unfair to one team?

      Oh, wait, I forgot they’re pretending to be real umpires ;)

      • Mike Pop says:

        and they’re Canadian.

        It was funny to me at first, but now it’s just wiggidy wiggidy wack.

  15. Billy Shears says:

    You know, if they can give Russ Ortiz a minor league deal, they should be able to give one to El Duque. http://tiny.cc/BepcE

  16. The Artist says:

    I have a difficult to pronounce last name, it’s that of a small town in southern Sicily.

    But it has its advantages. Telemarketers always screw it up, so if I hear someone call me who can’t pronounce my name, I just say “Nobody here by that name” and hang up.

  17. Should I draw a doodle in my Jesus Montero get well soon card?

    It’d just be a stick figure hitting a home run, since I can’t draw anything more advanced than that….

  18. Salty Buggah says:

    We’re still waiting for ya Big PaP.E.D.

    If this was A-rod, he’d murdered literally by the media by now.

    • Charlie says:

      icudt with the big papi, i don’t know what happened to your second sentence

    • Dela G says:

      I cannot WAIT to see what the NYC Crowd will do to him man

      Hey Salty

      email me at delag26 at gmail dot com, it concerns gameday

    • Zack says:

      yeah and theo has to stop calling his courageous and facing this head on

  19. Rzepczynski with the defense (did I spell it right?)

  20. RT @mlbCozMets on Niese – MRI revealed complete tear of the right upper hamstring tendon – out for the remainder of the season.

    OW.

    That makes my arm not hurt so much.

  21. I don’t know why, but to me, Tex looks totally different batting right handed.

  22. Mike Axisa says:

    Damon got locked the fuck up by that bender.

  23. zs190 says:

    I’m watching the Sox-Rays games on ESPN and I can’t help noticing that David Price is also 90-92 in this first inning, much like Joba.

    • Accent Shallow says:

      Wonder why there’s no talk of him in the bullpen from the media? He hasn’t exactly been lighting the world on fire. Homer-prone, and walking the ballpark.

      • Mike Pop says:

        I remember just a little bit of discussion, nothing Joba like. But ya, there was just a wee bit there.

  24. Ivan says:

    Hey, at least his last name wasn’t as bad as Coach-K.

  25. Evan says:

    People have screwed up my first name a few times.

    Mitre, time to do your groundball goodness.

    • People screw up “evan”?

      At least Rebecca has spelling variants…

      • Evan says:

        Spelling my name hasn’t been a problem (except for the time I got a notice asking for “Evans”). Pronunciation has been an occasional issue though it’s usually with people who aren’t native English people.

      • Ed says:

        I’m not surprised. I’ve had people ask how to spell “Ed”. Never had anyone question “Edward”, but more than a few had no clue how to spell “Ed”. Some of them didn’t seem to believe me when I told them.

  26. Salty Buggah says:

    2 groundout, 1 K, 0 HRS…so far, he’s exactly what Joe said.

  27. Accent Shallow says:

    Mitre, if you walk Scutaro . . .

  28. Mike Pop says:

    Woot!

  29. That pitch had great movement.

  30. pat says:

    Spent the day putting large pieces of wood through an industrial wood chipper. Man that shit is awesome.

  31. Dela G says:

    52 MPH Strikeout?

    Thanks YES GUN

  32. Jake H says:

    So far so good.

  33. Salty Buggah says:

    Damn, Mitre’s got his control and secondary pitches working today so far

  34. Mike Axisa says:

    That was a hanger.

  35. Drew says:

    I still have some confidence in Serg. I love me some sinkers.

  36. Damn, that one was just bad luck.

  37. Accent Shallow says:

    If we’re on grass, that’s the third out.

  38. Drew says:

    Dang Robbie gotta stop that ball.

  39. Dela G says:

    Damn, just slipped by cano

  40. Salty Buggah says:

    ah damn, get out of this Surge

  41. Dela G says:

    one more strike

  42. Worse idea:

    mixing Mitre and turf or ammonia and bleach?

  43. Mike Pop says:

    Grrrr

  44. SouthernYankeeFan says:

    shit

  45. Dela G says:

    and the floodgates….

  46. Mike Axisa says:

    Same shit as last time out. Two quick outs, bam, rally.

  47. This is a bad flashback to last week–two quick outs from Mitre, then it all goes downhill.

  48. nyrfan says:

    its going to be a long game

  49. Salty Buggah says:

    damn, good start but not finishing off hitter after getting to 2 strikes on the past 3

  50. Tony B says:

    this is chicago all over again

  51. Ivan says:

    Yo, Mota is a Bitch.

    Like seriously, u can’t hit guys and run away.

    • Drew says:

      ha he got thrown out of the game. Prince is a big baby, you hit Manny, expect to get hit back.

      • Zack says:

        exactly. Mota is going to meet Fielder at the plate? If Fielder had a problme you take care of it right there like every other player does, you dont try to get into the opposing clubhouse. dude’s a freakin hot head

  52. Dela G says:

    oh god

  53. pat says:

    Ugh, a bunch of crap.

  54. SouthernYankeeFan says:

    come on get out of the inning

  55. Drew says:

    If Serg didn’t have bad luck he’d have no luck at all.

  56. Salty Buggah says:

    Cmon Surge, get out of this.

  57. BigBlueAL says:

    How about just forfeiting every time Mitre is scheduled to start so at least nobody gets injured and the bullpen gets a day off.

  58. Dela G says:

    thank god

    the ball bounces to someone

  59. Tony B says:

    .205 average ftw!

  60. Rick says:

    Mitre sucks. How those mechanics??

  61. Mike Pop says:

    Jason Bay with an A-Rod like home run. 2nd inning?

  62. nyrfan says:

    and bay just hred, start a bad night

  63. Hova says:

    Sergio, please don’t kill our bullpen before the Red Sox come to NY for a four game series. Begging you man. Please don’t.

  64. yankees boy says:

    Hopefully this will be Mitre’s last start.

  65. How much BS does this Lend America thing smell like?

  66. Dexception32 says:

    Um, the game did just start right? I think Mitre was just doing his best Roy Halladay impression, Eiland told him to follow his example and he took it literally.

  67. nyrfan says:

    haha Dick Pole

  68. Salty Buggah says:

    OK, Surge just shut em down from here and give us 6 solid

  69. Drew says:

    It’s impossible for me to look at his name and not try and pronounce the R.

  70. Mike Axisa says:

    Oh good, the fake umpires are back. That novelty didn’t wear off after the first inning we saw them or anything.

  71. putt says:

    I know their overall value has been well-defined by a lot of people here, but am I crazy or do Wells and Rios tend to rake against the Yanks? I know the numbers bear it out for Rios, I’m not sure about Wells though.

    Note: this post was not an indication that I’d want either one of those contracts!

    • Mike Pop says:

      Ya, Rios rakes against the Yanks. My buddy who’s not an avid baseball fan, more of a football guy. Every time Yanks play Toronto, he always brings up how Alex Rios pwns them.

      • putt says:

        Every team has 1 or 2 guys that seem to do that. I guess that makes sense when you think about it, but I find myself yelling at the TV at least twice a night, “God, that guy kills the Yankees!” I know it’s partly just being a biased fan, but oh well.

        Guys like Kendrick come to mind…

  72. The Artist says:

    Mitre was not only NOT bad that inning, he was actually pretty good. He’s a sinkerballer, so (just like Wang) when he gets a ground ball he’s done his job. If they find holes, you have to live w/it. The Rios AB was a broken bat blooper that found a hole, that can happen to anyone.

    I liked what I saw, and if he keeps it up he’ll be fine. Just some bad luck that inning.

  73. Dela G says:

    attaboy swishahouse!

  74. Great swing, Swish.

  75. Salty Buggah says:

    nice Swisher…now DO NOT GIDP Robbie

  76. Mikebk says:

    can we bring back tomko. lol.

  77. Mike Axisa says:

    Joe Inglett is still in baseball? Good for him.

  78. Zack says:

    Erik Bedard is getting another MRI on his shoulder.

  79. pat says:

    damn, hit on the screws.

  80. Dela G says:

    that was easy for the blue jays outfielders….

  81. charlespoet says:

    ok enough of this bullshit. Offense needs to bury this guy next inning. Now if only Sergio “don’t call me a BP pitcher” Mitre can hold Toronto to no runs this inning, we will be in good shape.

  82. Dela G says:

    this should be a very easy text poll

  83. Rey22 says:

    Damn, I always get Rod Barajas and Gerald Laird confused for some reason.

  84. Tony B says:

    Anyone see that guy Jon Niese’s injury today it looked painful

  85. Jordan says:

    Joe Inglett? Really Mitre? Really?

  86. Dela G says:

    that kinda sucked there with that no name no 9 hitter

  87. I know my memory and eyes and ears are selective and probably wrong, but it seems/sounds like everything hit against Mitre is just ripped.

  88. Salty Buggah says:

    DP time!!!!!

  89. Chris B says:

    Gameday has Mitre at 92 consistently with his fastball. Not bad.

  90. ShuutoHeat says:

    Did Singleton just say “Brahaha” ?

  91. nyrfan says:

    pena baby

  92. Is it just me or does Mitre look vaguely like Fez from That 70′s Show?

  93. BigBlueAL says:

    Carlos Pena just hit a HR off Penny that hasnt landed yet.

  94. Dela G says:

    mitre takes FOREVER to throw to someone on a base

  95. Charlie says:

    Mitre just can’t stay in this rotation. He’s just too hittable to survive in the AL East. And I don’t why people downplay the significance of the yanks’ fifth starter. They’ll need every good start from every member of their rotation to win this division and hughes/aceves/anyone else gives them a much better chance at doing that. Mitre just sucks. Period. End of story.

    • Charlie says:

      *don’t know why

      • Mike Pop says:

        I hate these types of comments.

        We all know there are better option(s) than Mitre in the pen with Hughes or Aceves. The Yankees say Hughes isn’t moving out of the pen. Yes, a dumb move because we all want him to be more value in the rotation and reach his innings. They think him in the pen makes them a better team.

        Mitre has had 3 starts, 3! Not 10, not 11. Maybe Cash is looking at waivers as we speak, trying to work out a deal. We don’t know. If Mitre continues to be shit, and is starting his 8th or 9th game, then let’s bitch more.

        Right now, he is what he is.

        • Charlie says:

          i’m sure cash is looking at waiver options, though its upsetting they won’t move hughes to the rotation. And every start counts, so every one with mitre pitching hurts the yanks’ chances. And he’s probably not getting any better, he’s 28, has essentially sucked his whole career, and now he’s pitching in a brutal division

    • The Artist says:

      So let it be written, so let it be done.

      Charlie has spoken, and the debate is over.

      Period. End of story.

  96. Dela G says:

    MITRE WITH THE BACKDOOR!

  97. Mike Axisa says:

    Nice bounceback inning.

  98. SouthernYankeeFan says:

    that was i like to se mr mitre.

  99. Salty Buggah says:

    there ya go Surge

  100. Rey22 says:

    Looking at the Pena HR celebration in the dugout, how the hell do all these players come up with these elaborate handshakes with all these twists and turns?

    • Zack says:

      oh shit celebrations? bean them!

    • putt says:

      I have 32 handshakes, one for each of my students. Most of them are pretty basic, but some of them are MLB quality (mostly from the big, sport-crazy boys in class). Parents are amazed that I remember them, but I think it’s just ingrained in my dna.

  101. Working out w/Brady Anderson? Uh oh…

  102. Dela G says:

    Lol at training with Brady Anderson

    Steroid Freak if there wasn’t one

  103. Salty Buggah says:

    Who knew Hairston can OBP?

  104. Dela G says:

    Keep Brady away from everyone

    • Zack says:

      similar to the stories that Matt Holliday and others were training with Mark McGwire this offseason

      • Dela G says:

        You know what’s funny about that? Holliday scrapped the stuff mcgwire taught him and has been on a tear ever since.

        He’s back to the leg kick

  105. pat says:

    With that walk you can tell Hairston is proud of his eyes.
    /flash’d

  106. Jordan says:

    As much as people are down on Mitre, his pitches just seem too good sometimes to give up just yet. His sinker is 92-93 and you just saw on his last pitch he has a nice looking curve. I haven’t fangraph’d him yet as far as pitch values, but they’re probably not any good because of his limited poor performance. However, from what I can recall he has a FIP around 4.00, which for a number 5 is good in the AL.

    I want to believe his performance so far is bad luck based, but that’s because he shows flashes of something good and he’s light years better than Sidney Ponson and Russ Ortiz and the like. Or I want to hope so at least.

    • yankees boy says:

      even ponson had a good start once in a while..

    • Dela G says:

      he just got back from TJ surgery

      i think he will be good next year

    • I want to believe that too, but the contact he gives up is just too hard; like I’ve said, his tRA is 5.65 (85 tRA+, same as ERA+) and he’s given up a 25% line drive rate. Dudes hit the ball very hard off of him.

  107. How is Saltalamacchia hard to pronounce?

  108. Mike Axisa says:

    Yikes, that could have been ugly.

  109. Hairston: Can run the bases, too.

  110. Dela G says:

    Thanks Hairston for running well there

    good job

  111. I wonder how everyone would’ve reacted if Swisher did what Hairston did.

  112. Dela G says:

    Jeterian

  113. nyrfan says:

    great base running by hairston

  114. Mike Pop says:

    That was “good effort”.

    Tim McCarver rolls his eyes.

  115. Inglett is lucky he didn’t break himself on that play. That was ugly.

  116. nyrfan says:

    you know who would have made that play?

    Damon would have made that play

  117. Drew says:

    we can hit groundballs too.

  118. Dela G says:

    Wow that was AWESOME baserunning by jeter there

    2-1 blue jays

  119. Jordan says:

    Every time Jeter slides into third at the Rogers Centre, my heart skips a beat.

  120. And with Jeter’s hit, my Beat the Streak stays alive! It’s now up to…two. Or three, I can’t remember!

  121. Mike Pop says:

    That was all grit!!!!!!!!!!!

  122. Salty Buggah says:

    DAMON!!! cmon tex no DP

  123. Charlie says:

    i think damon’s about to go on a big hot streak like he did in april/may. possibly a-rod too

  124. Mike Axisa says:

    Hustle Tex. Nice.

  125. Mark Teixeira’s hustle is underrated

  126. Dela G says:

    MARKY T WITH THA HUSTLE!

    2-2 TIE GAME!

  127. The Artist says:

    YES!!!

    Nice hustle by Tex!

  128. The action on Tex’s cheeks while he runs makes me laugh every single time.

  129. That’s twice Encarnacion hasn’t been able to get the ball out of his glove this series.

  130. pat says:

    I didn’t think I’d like Tex very much aside from him putting up good numbers but I friggin love this guy. Such an awesome all around ballplayer, I think we’re really lucky to have him.

  131. Ivan says:

    Tex is that dude.

  132. nyrfan says:

    no way thats a strike

  133. Dela G says:

    damn i didnt think that was a strike 3 to alex

  134. SouthernYankeeFan says:

    tough night so far for Arod.

  135. SouthernYankeeFan says:

    tough night so far for Arod.

  136. A-Rod has guessed wrong on two two strike pitches tonight.

  137. Salty Buggah says:

    well tie game…cmon Surge

  138. [...] the second time in a week the Yankees get Jays lefty Mark Rzepczynski, whose name you should not make fun of. Remember, it’s Zep-CHIN-Ski. He pitched well through six last time out, striking out seven [...]