Archive for August, 2009
Arodys dominant as SI rolls over Aberdeen
Posted by: | CommentsIn case you missed the news, Jesus Montero is done for the year with a fractured finger. Mike Ashmore says he may still play in the Arizona Fall League, which I believe was probably going to happen anyway.
Triple-A Scranton (3-0 win over Pawtucket)
Ramiro Pena: 0 for 1, 1 K – ejected for arguing balls & strikes in the first
Eric Duncan: 2 for 3
Colin Curtis & Yurendell DeCaster: both 1 for 4 – Curtis doubled & K’ed … DeCaster drove in a run
Austin Jackson: 2 for 4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 SB, 1 CS – 4 for his last 10, so he’s starting to come around
Shelley Duncan & Frankie Cervelli: both 0 for 3, 1 K – Shelley walked … Cervelli picked a guy off first with a snap throw
Juan Miranda & John Rodriguez: both 1 for 3 – Miranda walked intentionally … J-Rod doubled & K’ed twice
Doug Bernier: 0 for 2, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Josh Towers: 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 11-7 GB/FB – 57 of 96 pitches were strikes (59.4%)
Damaso Marte: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 0-1 GB/FB – 10 of 20 pitches were strikes … his rehab assignment is up two weeks from today
Jon Albaladejo: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 2-2 GB/FB – 7 of 9 pitches were strikes
Open Thread: A little Melky magic
Posted by: | Comments
Way to go, kid.
Here’s the clip of Melky’s cycle in case you missed it; it’s the 15th in Yankee history. I wonder how many guys have picked up the first three legs of the cycle from one side of the plate, then finished it off from the other like the Melkman. Can’t be many, right?
There have been 263 no-hitters and 286 cycles in MLB history, but think of it like this: on any given night, there are just 30 chances for a no-hitter (one per team), but there are 270 chances for a cycle (nine hitters per team). The event-per-opportunity ratio for a cycle is way, way smaller than it is for a no-hitter. Crazy, huh?
Anyway, use this for your open thread for the night. The Dodgers and Braves matchup on ESPN’s Sunday night game, but feel free to talk about anything here. Just be nice.
The “crapshoot” nature of the playoffs
Posted by: | Comments“My shit doesn’t work in the playoffs. My job is to get us to the playoffs. What happens after that is fucking luck.” – Billy Beane
Many fans I know object to that quote. They think that the inefficiencies Billy Beane exploited work well in the long-haul, but fail miserably in a short series. And, in their defense, Beane’s playoff run in the early 00s bears that out. However, the recent play of the Yankees and Red Sox better illustrates Beane’s point than his words do.
After rolling through the first four teams after the All-Star Break, the Yanks hit a snag, dropping three straight to the White Sox. The Yankees are obviously a good team, but hit a rough patch. It happens to the best of teams. The Red Sox also hit a bad patch, right as the Yankees were rolling. Both teams are on the same level, yet both have slumped, and slumped hard, over the course of the season.
What if those teams hit a rough patch in the beginning of October? It’s unfortunate, but it happens. The 2006 Yankees are a good example. They had a great regular season, but hit a terrible patch against Detroit in the playoffs. Hell, they even played well enough in the first game, but slumped in the final three. It happens during the regular season, and it can happen in the playoffs.
You hope your team can focus and avoid a slump when the games matter the most. The great teams, so goes the reasoning, will be able to do this. But in an age of increasing parity, rough patches hurt that much more. A team can hit a few bumps in the road over a 162-game season, but if they slump just a little during the playoffs it’s over. Even the best team in the long haul can have four bad games.
This is just something to chew on as we enter the off-day. We’d like to believe that players can elevate themselves in October, but sometimes they just can’t. I don’t think that’s necessarily a reflection of the team’s character. I think it’s in the nature of baseball’s marathon schedule.
Game 105 Spillover Thread II
Posted by: | CommentsLeadoff triple, and you will get … NOTHING!!!
Game 105 Spillover Thread
Posted by: | CommentsGood thing they gave up that out to move the runner over.
Montero out for remainder of season with fractured finger
Posted by: | CommentsPeteAbe has the news. Montero broke the middle finger on his right (throwing) hand after catching a pitch in last night’s game. He’ll be out 4-6 weeks according to the team, meaning he’s out for the rest of the minor league but could return in time for a stint in winter ball. Montero finished the season at .337-.389-.562 with 17 homers.
Game 105: What the hell happened?
Posted by: | CommentsAfter looking so good coming out of the All-Star Break, the Yankees have looked slow and sloppy over the past three games. It does happen, even to the best teams. The Red Sox just got over one such period, when their offense failed and they just couldn’t do anything right. The difference here is that the Yankees offense is working — they did have eight hits yesterday and 12 on Friday — but they’re just not knocking them in while on base. That, and the pitching has completely blown up.
They’ll try to right the ship today by not starting Cody Ransom sending out CC Sabathia. The big lefty could use a big start today after his poor showing on Tuesday in Tampa, and the Yankees could use it after the past two performances.
Having spent most of his career in the AL Central, CC has seen plenty of the White Sox. For his career he’s 14-4 with a 3.65 ERA over 165 innings. However, plenty has changed since Sabathia’s debut in 2002. He’s a different pitcher, and the White Sox are a completely different team (obviously). He didn’t fare too well against them in 2008, allowing 11 runs over 20.1 innings, though that was mostly due to a ridiculous six homers allowed in that span, a rarity for CC. 2007 was more like it, when he allowed just six runs over 21 IP, because he allowed just two homers.
You might have heard a bit about the myth of Mark Buehrle. After all, he did retire 45 straight batters, a major league record, and happen to pitch a full perfect game among them. After the perfecto he sat down the first 17 Twins batters he faced, but faded after that. A walk, single, and ground rule double broke up the perfect game, no hitter, and shutout in a span of three batters. Trouble continued in the seventh, with a HBP, single, single, sacrifice, single, leading to four runs. Octavio Dotel would walk Justin Morneau with the bases loaded to hand Buehrle his fifth earned run of the game.
So yes, Mark Buehrle is good. He survives with great control, walking so few batters that it masks a low strikeout rate. The real key to his success this year is that he’s allowed fewer hits than innings pitched. Retiring 45 straight batters will do that for your stats. He’s never allowed fewer hits than innings pitched since 2002, when he allowed 236 hits in 239 innings.
I hate to put a must-win label on any game, lest the Yankees fall into the trap they did last summer against the Red Sox, or the one Tampa Bay put themselves into last week. Yet they pretty much have to win this one. Getting swept going into an off-day with A Boston on Toronto sandwich coming up? Yeah, might want to win this one.
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 fifth-two, CC Sabathia.
Thirty Years Ago Today
Posted by: | CommentsThirty years ago, the Yankee family lost one of it’s greatest and most beloved members. Just like today, the last game the Yankees played before Thurman Munson was killed in the plane crash was against the White Sox in Chicago. The YES Network is going to air a tribune to Munson before today’s game, starting at 1:30pm. It’ll be a good opportunity to sit down, take a step back, and remember there are more worse things in the life than losing a few baseball games.
Get this man off the team
Posted by: | Comments
Let’s look at some numbers, shall we?
- Cody Ransom vs RHP: .200-.289-.415
- Cody Ransom vs LHP: .176-.243-.265
- Cody Ransom vs all kinds of pitchers: .200-.268-.347
- Cody Ransom in day games: .182-.250-.341
- Cody Ransom in night games: .294-.294-.355
- Cody Ransom with the bases empty: .121-.237-.242
- Cody Ransom with RISP: .217-.280-.348
- Cody Ransom leading off an inning: .000-.000-.000 (11 plate appearances!)
- Cody Ransom when he sees a pitcher for the first time in a game: .000-.136-.000
- Cody Ransom when he sees a pitcher for the second time in a game: .286-.286-.429
- Cody Ransom when he sees a pitcher for the third time in a game: .143-.250-.286
- Cody Ransom as a 3B: -32.9 UZR/150
- Cody Ransom as a SS: -6.3 UZR/150
- Cody Ransom as a 2B: +1.2 UZR/150 (woohoo, barely above average!)
- Cody Ransom as a 1B: -28.6 UZR/150
- There are 399 Major League players who have gotten at least 80 plate appearances this year, and just 27 of them have been worth less to their team than Cody Ransom in terms in wins over replacement, or WAR.
There is no reason for this man to occupy a spot on any team’s 25-man active roster. The fact that he is employed by the Yankees and is on their $201,449,189 payroll is an insult to my very existence. Roster spots are precious because they are limited, like outs in a game, yet the Yankees continue to waste one on this sorry excuse for a ballplayer and expect to survive in a division where efficiency and maximizing resources reigns supreme.
Get Cody Ransom of this team and away from a Major League ballclub.
Just 21 days 'til pitchers and catchers report.
