Open Thread: Run Brett run!
By
Photo Credit: Kathy Willens, AP
I’m still not sold on his ability to be an everyday outfielder, but it sure was fun to watch Brett Gardner run wild against the Rangers. Dude went 5-for-6 with a walk, a hit by pitch, four stolen bases and four runs scored in the series, beating out three infield hits and almost a fourth. He’s tied for the league lead with seven steals despite starting just eight of the team’s 12 games. I don’t expect Gardner to maintain his .333-.444-.333 batting line all season, but I’ll sure enjoy it while it lasts.
Anyway, here’s your open thread for the night. You’ve got NBA and NHL playoff action, plus the Mets and Cardinals are your ESPN Sunday nighter. Hopefully this one doesn’t go 20 innings. You know what to do, so have at it.
359 Comments»
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The Tyler Austin Watch
Stolen from ESPN/Andrew Marchand:
“Since A-Rod returned from a hip injury in May 2009, the Yankees have played 160 games (including the postseason) and have won 109 of them.”
This team is good. And my favorite part is that they’re going to get better.
Non-baseball fans have been asking me how the Yanks look so far this year. My response is always, “They’re better than last year.” The lineup is diverse, the pitching is deep, the defense is consistently average (which is plenty), and they have more talent than any other team in the game.
Hopefully enough guys can stay healthy so we can get another dynasty brewing ::knocks on wood::.
They ripped the heart out of the Rangers, and ate it in front of them. That series seemed to be a message to other teams – if you don’t have your best stuff, don’t bother showing up.
“They ripped the heart out of the Rangers, and ate it in front of them. That series seemed to be a message to other teams – if you don’t have your best stuff, don’t bother showing up.”
+42
What’s unique about baseball is a team can be better than previous years, but end up falling short of prior accomplishments.
As you say let’s hope we stay healthy, things keep rolling and lady luck is on our side.
This has been an unusually fun start to the season, unlike previous beginnings.
Can’t wait to get to Oakland.
The dynasty baton is being passed to the new core of homegrown present and future Yankee all-stars:
Cano, Gardner, Hughes, Joba, Cervelli, and hopefully Montero
That’s awesome.
http://riveraveblues.com/off-t.....ent-843720
Jason Heyward makes Hank Aaron look like Brett Gardner
/ESPN’d
Jason Heyward is a better ballplayer than Hank Aaron, no doubt about it. Of course, Hank is 76 years old.
Nothing they do will ever surprise me. ESPN (tv) has been dead to me for some time now.
While they are at it, why not put in the recently DFAed Mike Jacobs for another comparison?
Alberto Callaspo single handedly saved my fantasy offense this week.
I need Wainwright to K six tonight to grab back K’s after my opponent had Matusz have a field day with the A’s.
So of course I couldn’t watch most of today’s game. Of course.
Awwww that stinks
. I was at the game. Andy is a (sexy) beast. Maybe you catch the replay?
Yeah, there’s a replay at like 11. I’m tired but it’s not every day Pettitte goes 8 innings so I’ll watch until I collapse
at this rate GGBG will steal about 92 bags. I’ll take that.
Yadier’s catching tonight.
He caught 20 innings last night. I’ve never played a single game of professional baseball, but just reading that I think I need to get both my knees replaced.
When Yadier Molina says he can go all night every night, he means it!
I so did not read that the way you meant it.
Me thinks you did milady.
My thighs hurt just THINKING about that, good lord
something naughty about thighs.
/tsjc’d
There were a smattering of boos after Johnson’s last K today… Was strike-3 the right call? I was wondering if the booing was for Nick or for the home plate ump, but I didn’t have a good view of the strike zone from where I was sitting. I’m sure it was for Nick but I’m holding out hope that it wasn’t.
They really shouldn’t put batting average on the scoreboard at all. Just put up OBP
“Was strike-3 the right call?”
Yes and no. It was high out of the zone, but in the ump’s defense he was calling it a strike all day for both sides.
Gotcha, thanks. So, not the best call, but the boos were probably for Nick. Whatever, not very surprising.
Might have been for the ump. I’m not 100% sure. None of the 3 strike 3′s were in the zone.
If NJ didn’t swing at them, they weren’t strikes.
This.
Nick is the type of guy who won’t offer at a 2-strike pitch if its out of the zone, even if the ump has been calling it all day. His discipline is that strong. It’s almost like he doesn’t want to set a bad precedent for himself.
But that’s the thing. If the ump has been calling it all day, it’s not out of the zone.
2-6 inches inside was a strike all day today. There was one at bat by Curtis where he fouled one of those off-should have been ball 4-would have been called strike 3. He walked on the next pitch. Nick didn’t have his usual ball 4 thing going on today…
Whenever someone says “Curtis” I keep thinking they’re talking about Chad Curtis.
Same here, old habits die hard.
Fun Fact
Tim Lincecum
Batting .333 with a wRC+ of 136
with 3 RBIs
He has given up just 2 runs over three innings and has been worth 1 WAR just three starts into the season. Domination. I wonder how long he will hold up, he seems to have adjusted to pitching with less velocity but he has gotten better.
20 innings in three starts*
Dear Roy—
Welcome to the NL.
Top this.
—TimmyJim
fun fact–Leroy is both Halladay and Lincecum’s middle name
….
Should I have a son, he’s totally going to be named LeRoy. Well, the second one. Because the first is going to be Julius James.
LEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY JENKINS!
/huge nerd
The NL Cy Young race is a three headed race between Lincecum, Halladay, and Wainwright. Every other NL pitcher should just give up.
Ubaldo says not so fast
I forgot about Ubaldo. Even after his no-no, I forget he exists.
Thanks to this blog, every time I see brett gardner steal a base or make a good catch I think of gritt gritner and laugh hard.
ugh, wrong place again
As I said in the Open Thread, he has more RBIs than ER so far this year. o_O
1 WAR???
WAR!?!? Good God!
I think Halladay has already been worth more than 1 WAR. o_O
yep – Halladay is worth 1.1 and Lincecum 1.0. Jimenez, Kuroda, and Sabathia are all tied for 0.8. I don’t think it’s updated through today, though.
tied for third with 0.8*
1.1
There hasn’t been a 10 WAR season by a pitcher since Fangraphs WAR started (though Johnson had a 9.9 in 2004)
Rally’s WAR has Pedro 2000 at 10.1 and considering how otherworldly that season was it’ll be tough to see anyone getting to 10 under their criteria
Jason Heyward had a walk-off hit today
Also, a homestand without a walk-off? This team has no heart!!!!!
If only they had resigned Damon
That’s nothing. Jason Heyward once had a walk off plate appearance. He just came up to bat and the other team lost it’s will to play.
/ESPN’d
hahah I love Heyward but it’s so true
Hey, guys and gals. TYU is looking for someone to cover weekends,writing two posts a day on Saturday and Sunday. I have had some interest in the role, but I wanted to open it up to the RAB community. If interested, email me at mandel42 at gmail, and preferably send a sample of your writing.
I was wondering what the heck was going on the past few weeks. It’s been me and nobody else.
Chris has a GF in MA and I had twins. Weekends got tough.
Have you asked Jamal or any of the other guest writers?
No, but many of them have told me in the past that they cant post regularly. I hope the rest of them just throw their names in the ring.
I’d love to write about baseball, but not until I get a job that’s less time-consuming.
(Usual week is only ~40-45 hours, but high-peak weeks hit 65-70. Add in my 2-4 hour/day commute… and…).
Brett will surprise us all season. I don’t think it’s too ridiculous to envision him having a .370 obp and a .400 SLG (his highest at AAA was .422 and I tend to see SWB as a pitcher’s park). With a .770 OPS and a great UZR with the stolen bases as a plus he’s the perfect player for an outfield spot on this team.
.370 OBP? Yeah that is a ridiculous envision.
I honestly don’t think so, especially with limited at-bats against lefties and his ability to turn outs into hits with his legs.His AAA stats were very good (.414 OBP/.422 SLG in 08)and they can’t be discounted because of a rocky road rookie season. I hope you’re wrong, you may be right, but I hope you’re wrong. I’m very optimistic on Gardner.
We all know about his AAA stats. There have been many posts and comments about why his minor league numbers may not translate as well as other players’. Put simply, Gardner’s numbers look like a product of taking pitches without regard to where they are in the strike zone. It remains to be seen if that approach will work in the bigs, or if he’s capable of adapting enough to remain productive. The odds are against him, looking at the dearth of players with similar skill sets in MLB history.
He’s showing you he has ability now… he doesn’t have to be Griffey up there, he’s just got to be a little better than Rizzuto.
No, he’s showing me that he’s managing to leg out some grounders for a week. Now, let’s say pitchers start pounding him inside, so he can’t smack pitches the other way…what does he do? We’ll see.
Also, bringing up griffey is a total red herring. I’ve never said that he needs to be a great hitter to be a useful player. The .370 OBP you cited would be STELLAR for a player with his skillset, and I think it’s completely unrealistic to think he can achieve that. I also think that he doesn’t need to achieve that to be useful. But we weren’t discussing useful, we were discussing whether a .370 OBP was in the realm of reason, and I do not believe that it is.
He had a .345 OBP last season. I’d say it’s optimistic to envision him putting up a .370, but it doesn’t seem unrealistic.
He is a perfect player for the Yankees since they only have Granderson, Jeter, and Arod (2 who are slowing down) to run. .370 is a bit high. If he has a good year I could see .350-.360 which would be unbelievable with his speed. I still don’t think he’ll be good enough for the NY media though since they prefer the big things instead of the little things.
I know Ike Davis is mashing, but wouldn’t it be silly to bring him up after just 37 PAs in AAA?
Think Omar has a plan?
This is what happens when you have a front office that knows its survival is directly tied to very short-term performance. Mejia and Davis in MLB in April.
I kinda feel bad for Omar. Oh well, he’s dug his own grave/made his own bed/whichever cliche you prefer.
While I don’t feel much pity for Omar since he definitely did more than his part in creating this awful situation, this is an untenable position for a F.O. to be in. This falls on ownership, in my opinion. They’ve set up a completely backwards and counterproductive set of incentives and motivations for their F.O.
This, and they’re far too reactive to their fan base. Which is a horrible way to run a franchise.
Why do you feel bad for him? Feel bad for Johan/Beltran who are spending their prime years on the Mets.
I feel terrible for Johan. ;_;
I really can’t bring myself to feel bad for him. His moves have been horrific. The Jason Bay signing for one. Calling up prospects that needs time like Meija or F-Mart. The only good thing he did was trade scrubs for Johan.
He pays what 140 million for a pretty decent lineup with no defense with a pitching rotation comprised of an ace followed by 4 number 4 starters? Good job.
They brought FMart up after a month in AAA and he struggled. They have Mejia in their bullpen after 44 IP in AA on a .500 at best team, instead of developing as a SP.
So yeah, he’ll be up after this game I’m sure. Then talk shows can claim they won like they do with Joba, then when Davis struggles they’ll blame Omar.
While I agree that Mejia should have more time starting in the minors, I’m not totally sold that he won’t end up in the bullpen. He’s a little guy for a power pitcher (6′ 160) and guys with a slight build often wind up as relievers.
I’ve heard some Mets fans bitching that they’re ‘ruining his future as a Starer’ ala Joba, but I think the two situations are different. Joba’s a big boy, he has a starters frame and 4 pitches. From what I’ve seen of Mejia, he’s a 2-pitch pitcher with a small build.
But you should at least keep Mejia in the minors to try to develop as a starter. The Mets appear to have a pretty decent bullpen right now. More importantly, they’re just not that good and they shouldn’t be concentrating on the bullpen because they need starting pitching much, much more.
Add to that the story about Manuel seeing Mejia working on pitches in ST and telling him not to do that (!!!!) and I see why Mets fans would be annoyed with the treatment of Mejia.
The Met’s don’t have the luxury of common sense.
Beyond silly. For both baseball and economic reasons. If they hold off a couple of weeks, he will not be a Super Two and his FA will be pushed back a year. The team is going nowhere, he still has trouble with lefties, and he’s been in AAA for a few weeks. Yet, nobody should expect the Mets to do the right thing. It’s this kind of thinking that has Frank Catalonotto as the cleanup hitter tonight.
Thank God I’m not a Met fan.
Reyes
Cora
Wright
Catalanotto
Francoeur
Matthews Jr
Barajas
Pagan
Maine
That’s is an awful lineup, Christmas came early for Adam Wainwright.
Catalanotto is batting fourth?
::head explodes::
Heh. And they actually won last night.
Only after the Cards had TWO position players pitch!
Seriously, LaRussa had been TRYING to give them that game for like HOURS and they finally took it.
and a pitcher play left field, and relief pitchers sent up to bat with the bases loaded and two outs when a hit would win the game twice which happened after Holliday was yanked putting the pitcher’s slot behind Pujols
La Russa fail
Pagan 8th and Mathews 6? I think Pagan is the superior hitter/everything.
the Mets will probably end up winning like 17-3 because that team makes no goddamn sense at all. And K-Rod will probably pitch the ninth with that score.
Jerry Manuel knows how badly the Mets need this game, and he’s going to show his players that he won’t take any chances!
Didn’t he say last week that he would be happy with one win in St Louis?
Omar said that to the media. That’s just ridiculous… you can think it, sure, but don’t say it. Argh!
Exhibit Z on why he should be fired
we’re up to like quadruple Z at this point, buddy
Whoa–b-ref has umpires on their splits pages now
major, major reply fail
Wainwright should get me the 6 K’s I need.
I need skip schumaker to score 1 run and I win my fantasy game. Think he can do it?
Hitting in front of Pujols and against John Maine? I’d say the line for Schumaker runs is 1.5
This team looks like it could easily score 950 runs when Tex get going and the summer comes around.
950 is a lot. They’ll be above 900, and I doubt anyone else in the AL will be. The Red Sox lineup looks like it’s taken a few steps back this year. The only other team I think will break 900 this year is the Phils.
Come on, they can score 1000+ runs
1000 runs is INSANE. I’m pretty sure only one team has done that since 1950. Do I think of all the teams out there right now, this one has the best chance of getting to 1000 runs? Yes. But it would surprise me, even with this offense.
I’m not sold on Gardner being an every day outfielder for any team, but I definitely think he’ll give us enough offense and defense to be well worth not paying market price for a “real” outfielder for at least the rest of this year. I think the yanks can easily hide a <.700 OPS that steals 30+ bases at a great % and plays great defense in this lineup.
I'm not saying that he's the long-term solution there, but I don't necessarily think that Crawford would be either. If we continue to field dominant lineups outside of LF for the next few years, I'd have no problem waiting until Slade or somebody else comes up to take that spot.
Of course, having Jeter/NJ/Teix/A-Rod/Cano/Jorge/Curtis/Swish right now is different from having those same guys a few years down the road, but I still think it's early to close the book on Gardner. This lineup would score runs if I was in the lineup, they can handle a year of Brett the Jet. And it will take at least that long, I think, to really know whether or not he can cut it at this level. If it turns out that he is a true 105 wRC+/+10 UZR player, then spending any money on LF would be insanely dumb.
30? At the rate he’s going, he’ll steal 30 by the end of May.
the rate he is going at includes his getting on base 40% of the time. I think 30 is a conservative expectation, but some people seem to assume he’ll steal 50+ and i just don’t know if he’ll get on enough. Pitchers tend to walk a lot more guys in the early season than later on, if my potentially hugely flawed perception is correct
Dammit pete, you got me all curious now.
Okay, going by 2009 splits across both leagues ( http://www.baseball-reference......=MLB#month ), and assuming my math is right:
March/April BB/9: 3.87
May: 3.47
June: 3.35
July: 3.35
August: 3.29
Sept/Oct: 3.49
5 of the Mets 9 batters tonight are hitting under .200
And 6 of their 8 position players are bench players
Meh, it’s April. One good night and they’re over .300.
Gardner won’t keep up this line, but he should have a slightly higher slugging (he’ll at least catch a few doubles or triples). If he hits, say, .280/.350/.370 with 40-50 steals (heck, maybe even 60…he’s already up to 7 after only 12 games, and even when he sits he can come in to pinch run) and good defense, that’s tremendously valuable for your 9th hitter.
Not that he’s horrific against lefties necessarily, but he could even maintain a higher average/OBP if they keep platooning him, even if the defensive hit may not be worth it in the end.
And that bunt that went foul his first AB. If he ever becomes half the bunter McCarver thinks he is…..does he ever drag them or always punch them down the 3rd base side??? I love Gardner. 100 SB’s on healthy legs. How many guys have done that in Yankee history?
Nobody, including Rickey Henderson. So, If Rickey couldn’t do it, and he got on the base ALL THE TIME, I doubt Gardner will be able to do it.
If Gardner can get 60 SB this year that would be truly impressive, but he will probably be closer to 40-50.
Nobody, and Ricky Henderson had Billy Martin as his manager in 1988, who was infamous for running like crazy.
100 sb’s? You’re dreaming broseph.
I would be surprised if Gardner got on base more than 140 or so times this year. That ain’t gunna lead to 100 SBs
Pavano got lit up today. I was getting freaked out/annoyed by how good he’d been.
IPK pitched really well today, good for him.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscor.....ego-padres
He’s been striking guys out like crazy so far (17 SO/14 IP). Walks too many, but he probably always will.
he’ll probably always have to to have any success with his stuff. I really think that in the same way that walks are very important and strikeouts aren’t that important for hitters, I think strikouts are very important but walks aren’t necessarily that important for pitchers. Having little control or command is one thing, but if you’re walking guys because you’re attacking corners and hitting them enough to rack up 10 K/9 like IPK is currently doing, you should be ok. Baserunners and extra pitches thrown don’t help, but fat strikes hurt more than balls do as a pitcher, and if your upside isn’t true dominance, then it’s worth developing yourself into a good damage-limiter.
I can’t believe LaRussa is staring Molina.
It’s like having Yadi be a shining example of Old School Toughness is more important to him than having a healthy catcher for the rest of the year.
Seriously. Look what happened to Russell Martin… these guys just get worn down.
I said the same above =)
He’s caught practically two games and he’s going to catch another one. The mentality behind him must be amazing.
I’ve said this before, but I want to buy John Maine some cheese fries and a milkshake and watch him eat them. I would then give him a hug. He looks scary skinny.
was he ill this offseason or something?
I almost hope so because he shouldn’t be that skinny. It’s like uncomfortable to look at him.
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com.....qkp6Et.jpg
baseball-reference added umpires to their splits pages. cool
did everyone see this yet? hahhaha
only the Mets
Ludwick is such an idiot
Also, Frenchy does have a pretty good arm.
Frenchy = Melky with a tad more pop?
soooo
I just read that as
Frenchy = Melky with a tampon?
good job (how come just “well done” got eaten by the spam filter?)
For someone who spent so much gift card $$ on books the other day, you have very poor reading skills
nah, I think melky has better OBP skills and a lot less raw power. And more range in the field. Like, I don’t think Frenchy is a credible CFer, and Melky is around league-average
That would be a fair comparison, as both Frenchy and Melky have fairly identical career wOBAs:
Frenchy: .320
Melky: .314
Frenchy was much better from 2005-2007, then he fell off a cliff
Wow Cardinals.
/Mets’d
Not meant to be a reply.
No, Joe, that’s not any outfielder at his best. The throw was up the line, but they got lucky because of where Ludwick happened to be. With a faster runner, that was likely a run.
Jeff Francouer does have a gun though. It wasn’t that far up the line, and was right where it needed to be.
LaRussa should kill Ludwick. This is the third baserunning fuck up he’s made in the past two nights.
Seriously, he’s clearly getting Mets disease from being near them
the Cards look BAD these last two games
yeesh, it gets worse
what the hell is going on, wainwright? i need your behind to deliver me a win against the mess!!
Damn straight.
The Cards look like the Mets. Wow
holy shit, wainwright just fucked up and made 3 runs score!!!
damn you!!
What the hell was that?
/Mets’d
Wainwright thought he was Scott Kazmir/Justin Verlander in the 2006 WS?
Kazmir’s throw was just a lob that went over Morales’ head. Wainwright’s throw was a bullet that Schumaker had to duck to avoid. Verlander’s was another similar to that of Waino’s.
Sounds like good ole NL Baseball to me.
I do not appreciate this crap, Wainwright.
Speaking of Omar, wasn’t he a pretty good GM for the Expos? IIRC he was, with a small payroll of course. Maybe he wasn’t, but that’s how I remember it.
He sent Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips, and Lee Stevens to the Indians for Bartolo Colon and Tim Drew. Colon made 17 starts for the Expos
I was gonna say, I think he was the one that made that TERRIBLE Colon trade
That was a horrible trade obviously, but there were different circumstances around that one, as they team was likely heading out and he was trying to win now.
Ehh, nevermind, that was earlier than I remember.
I was probably just giving him undeserved credit for the farm system they once had.
He also traded Jason Bay and Jimmy Serrano for Lou Collier.
Trying to find when he took over the Expos, and I think Minaya himself wrote his wiki page
That’s right, that deal was made the year before the Expos were supposed to be contracted, so as far as he was concerned there was no long term planning.
That being said, it was still a horrible deal and Omar is mediocre at best as a GM. He’s great in press conferences, though. Hilarious stuff.
What should be the catch phrase for the NL?
NL baseball! Better than AAA!
NL baseball! Just like the AL, but with less talent!
NL baseball! Thank God for Albert!
NL baseball: We have more strategy, or something
NL baseball: Our pitchers can try to hit!
NL baseball: where our genius managers bat relievers behind the best player in the game
NL Baseball! You never have to hear about Jason Varitek’s “game calling abilities!”
NL baseball! We might win the All-Star Game when Mariano Rivera retires!
NL: the only place where you’re safe from the Yankees during the regular season!
…I mean, except for interleague play, that’s totally true.
yeah, was going to reply to myself and say “sort of”
NL baseball! We make 20 inning games boring!
Yeah I know, lame.
NL Baseball! Where Jamie Moyer strikes people out!
Dear Santa,
I would like midnight in some location in the USA to pass before this Mets-Cards game ends.
No, Jon Miller, facing a pitcher who hits decently for a pitcher is not like facing Ichiro
Colby Rasmus is hitting .179 with an .807 OPS?!?!
He just got cut in my league, I might have to pick him up.
Pujols fail?
I don’t think I’ve ever put those two words so closely together in a sentence.
impossible. There was probably a rule change, so whatever Albert did was actually a major FTW, as per uzhe
Is Brendan Ryan as good at short as he’s looked?
10.6 UZR at short last year so I’ll just say yeah.
Too much Met stuff. Much more interesting to dream about Bret and those 100 sb’s. OK-I’ll settle for 75
http://www.baseball-almanac.co.....isb2.shtml
Good luck to Brett but I doubt it’s happening
I don’t want it to happen. If he’s hitting 9th, do we want him (after reaching base safely) creating outs with Jeter/NJ/Tex coming up?
Dude can hit .220 for all I care as long as he can keep getting in position to steal bases. He’s so much fun to watch.
I keep wanting your name to be Ada.
So the Mets are rushing Ike Davis to the show because, apparently, they ‘have to win now’.
Poor Mets fans. It’s gotten to a point where I can actually express this sentiment.
then…um…shouldn’t they have, like, spread the Bay money around a bit and made some smarter acquisitions this offseason?
Damn you devils, why is Brodeur the only one on this team that can play 60 minutes!?
I suddenly had the blast-from-the-past urge to Wikipedia John Rocker. Dude was messed up.
He’s still my least favorite baseball player ever. Ugh.
You and the rest of the world, pretty sure. He was an almost laughably bad person. Fitting that his last significant season ended with an ERA of 6.66, am I right?
the only time I ever out-and-out rooted for the Mets was when they were playing him. I wanted them to LIGHT HIM UP. There’s no “almost” in that laughably bad person thing.
Asians and koreans and russian and indians and Mexicans! How the hell did they get here?
What the fuck happened to the Devils? Brodeur was on fire but somebody else has to do SOMETHING. 5 shots on two power plays? They looked like the seventh seed tonight. They need a serious turn around to win this shit.
5 shots on EIGHt power plays. Typo.
Kovalchuk needs to step it up. He looks too hung up on being a team player now that he has great players surrounding him, but sometimes he needs to be selfish and show why we got him.
I agree.
They just totally shut down in the third period. Brodeur looked phenomenal, though.
visited a few red sox sites today out of curiosity. the nation is panicking
totally. It’s ridiculous. Guys, it’s been like 12 games and you’ve played good teams other than Kansas City, calm down. I saw someone ask “Did Lester’s cancer come back?” WTF is wrong with people?
Of course I would love it if they just totally screwed up and were out of contention most of the year, but I can’t see that happening.
Hate to equate, but a lot of Yankee sites look the same when they lose 5 of 6
This.
This is very true, not claiming anything different.
also, 5 of 6? Try like two in a row. Not that this Yankee team will lose two in a row ever
It’s not too bad around here with the bridge jumpers, but LoHud gets insane.
Yep. And NYYFans.
though the difference is just that NYYFans is pretty quiet/fun when things are going well. LoHud would be panicking about something if the Yankees were on a 37-game winning streak.
But…but… teh DEFENSE AND PITCHING!!
They still love their Varitek though.
Dude has been their hottest hitter. They actually look forward to his at bats. That I can feel some pity for.
Pedroia is slugging .808 O_O
JD Drew’s line so far: .139/.225/.222/.447, 20 OPS+ oh my goodness gracious. I don’t think that includes today’s game, though.
There’s no way their offense stays that bad, though, honestly. And Lester will get better.
They need some more things to be happy about, like this. (safe)
http://johnsterling.blogspot.c.....going.html
Opening day Lineup 2012
Jeter SS
Grandy LF
Tex 1B
A Rod 3B
Cano 2B
Montero C
Posada DH?
Crawford/Werth/Other RF
Gardner CF
Rotation
CC
Lee
Hughes
AJ
Joba
and of course Mo in the bullpen
Chances I’m right?
You forgot Swisher.
I’d just put Swisher back in the Crawford/Werth spot. I don’t see both Lee and one of those two.
Let’s be honest here, Steve. We’d put Swisher anywhere.
/unintended innuendo’d
I didn’t realize Swish would still be around in 2012. As for Lee, I don’t really see the Yankees pushing for him, but he does seem to be the best arm available in free agency the next few years, unless I missed someone.
I think Swish stays. LF I’d say Crawford. CF is Grandy and RF Swish.
Being pessimistic on the FO I’d say Joba is stuck in the pen forever. So…here’s my rotation.
CC
Lee
AJ
Javy
Hughes
Javy might end up staying on a one year deal. This team looks mad expensive though. More so than now at a quick glance.
I think it’s going to be hard to get both Lee and Werth/Crawford. Both Swish and C-Grand get more expensive next year. Only way it happens is if we do not resign NJ, Pettitte, and Vazquez. I think.
True. It’s probably either Crawford or Lee. I wouldn’t mind either choice.
Though the rotation I’d like to have which is somewhat unlikely is…
CC
Lee
AJ
Hughes
Joba
Granderson?
The Pirates are 7-5 despite being outscored by 22 runs. Impressively fortuitous.
I always liked the Pirates. I’m kind of impressed by the efans in Pittsburgh. The ballpark is pretty empty, but it’s not as empty as most shitty teams. Plus, I like Honus Wagner.
you can thank them getting crushed a lot and getting a lot of wins via walk off
Gary Matthew Jr is a good defense outfielder.
Joe Morgan everyone.
but but but teh catch in 2006!!!
To Joe, a good defender is anyone who’s not widely known as a good hitter and made a highlight-reel play that Joe happened to see at some point in the last few years. Anyone who doesn’t fit that bill, if he’s a veteran who’s not widely known as a good hitter, he’s a professional hitter. The same is true of anyone who used to be a good hitter, but is much, much older now. Anyone who used to be a brand-name hitter…he stays a great hitter until he retires, and then Joe talks about what a shame it is that he can’t find work (I’m sure that when Jermain Dye crosses Joe’s path as an NL pinch hitter later this season, we will hear these words.)
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....erId=28864
So far, IPK has had 2 good starts and one bad one. But he’s striking guys out like crazy in the NL West (17 SO/14 IP). Good for him, I hope he does well out there.
I hope he does well too but so far I’d say one good start, one okay start, one bad start.
Arizona’s bullpen is BAD
Yeah, that 3 run start would look better if he pitched deeper into the game.
That. It’s nice to see him striking out people, but as JGS said, he’s not that efficient so far. That’s pretty much what you’d expect from him being so young, though.
very inefficient, but not too bad. good luck to him
I too am pulling for him, but his “good” starts were against the Padres. His poor start was against a legitimate major league team, however. His performance in AAA would indicate that he could shut down the Pads.
Holy cow the O’s scored 8 runs today. That’s like, quadruple their to-date average. Brian Matusz and Matt Wieters are going to be demi-God’s(there’s only one MO) down here. And by down here, I mean in the DC/Bmore area.
I do hope they get better so I can watch quality baseball during the 13 game plan I purchased at Camden Yards. That bullpen is a wreck. It belongs on the Mets.
Matusz is really really good. Helps my teams a lot.
I don’t normally put much stock into how a pitcher “looks” on the mound, but my goodness. Matusz does not look like a rookie.
Orioles’ bullpen is an embarrassment to baseball just like the Yankees and Red Sox
Holy cow the O’s scored 8 runs today.
Against Brett Anderson no less.
The Mets have a ‘Stoner’ and the Yanks have a ‘Stoneburner’.
I think that says everything about the two franchises.
I can see it now…
“Stoneburner blazes one down the pipe”
Anyone else a little bummed out seeing Harden be a shell of the pitcher he used to be? Both he and Kazmir are in their 20′s and are already turning into finesse pitchers, which is kind of sad.
I’m glad the Yanks beat both of them, but a few years ago both of them were special to watch. A few injuries later and they both look spent.
It’s always sad to see this happen to pitchers
They are too afraid to throw strikes because of their lack of velocity. Its a shame, but it seems like these days pitchers are afraid to throw anything in the zone, but you cant blame them against a team like the Yankees who can crush anything in the strike zone.
Believe it or not Joe, 60 percent of the time Albert Pujols will fail.
I’d be interested to see how the Yanks would play against the Cards in the world series. Keeping Puljos on a lease would be a difficult task, especially in the new stadium.
And the Carpenter-Wainwright duo is a tough match. It would be interesting that’s for sure and I though they’d end up in the World Series.
Bad luck in a short series can do a lot. I’m looking at you Matt “Dropping Routine Ball” Holliday.
Yeah, I thought they were going to the Series last year. Their team seems pretty top-heavy in talent but when you have two aces at the top of your rotation, that will usually get you by in a short series. Just didn’t work out that way though.
just intentionally walk him, and be done with it
Holliday might do something though.
that’s okay because LaRussa would have taken him out of the game in the sixth to put Brad Penny there for some reason
The Cardinals have 2.5 credible hitters, 2 starters, and a WACK bullpen. The NL teams I worry about are the Phillies and Giants.
Phillies because they’re AL-caliber and have Doc
Giants because anything is possible with Tim-Cain-Zito-Tim-Sanchez-Cain-Tim.
Giants don’t scare me. If the Cards have 2.5 credible hitters, what do THEY have? Guys like Renteria are off to a fast start but they will cool down. The Cards’ rotation is equally scary in a short series, though I think the Cards’ bullpen is worse. In the NL West the Rockies and Dodgers scare me more (though the latter really needs to get their bullpen together).
YES!!!!! I needed that home run. The run Holliday scores is the deciding run for one of my leagues.
I was so hoping home run and it happened.
Damn, Rasmus unloaded on that shit.
The Mets are idiots for rushing Ike Davis. They might be lucky if he ends up like Wright did when he was called up after 112 ABs at AAA.
The Mets are idiots…
In other news tomorrow is April 19.
The Mets are idiots.
for rushing Ike Davis. They might be lucky if he ends up like Wright did when he was called up after 112 ABs at AAA.FTFY
How many of the Yanks AAA players would start on the Mets?
I can think of Igawa and Miranda off the top of my head.
That might be silly enough to rush Montero, too. Nova might be able to crack the rotation as well.
Jason Hirsh would crack the rotation as the number two starter.
Jesus would definitely start. He’s latino, young and not ready. Fits them perfectly. Though a not ready Jesus is still probably than Rod Barajas.
But Joe Beningo and Evan Roberts told me that Barjas and Blanco were “professionals” and the Mets didn’t really need any help at catcher!
He’s also a catcher
Montero.
Miranda
Montero
Igawa
Novs
Albie
Melancon
We should trade them all (minus Montero) for their draft pick in 2011, 2nd-3rd overall pick sounds nice to me.
OO man, the Yanks with the 2nd overall pick would be NArsty.
Albie and Melancon would be a lock too
I predict Gardner steals 60+ bases
I concur.
I agree, if he hits the ball the other way every time he gets to bat he could have a .400 avg
I just realized Matusz has both of Baltimore’s wins haha
Also, I was reading the game thread and people with irrational NJ hatred are really silly.
Pop quiz: right now, who has the better record? The Mets or the Red Sox?
Mets?
The Pirates. Think it will last?
Nats as well, no?
The thing is when the Nats win this year, it seems pretty low-key. But then when they lose, they lose huge and embarrassingly.
hence the -17 differential despite the .500 record. Still, Livan Hernandez threw a 4-hit shutout last night
much more accurately:
hence the .500 record despite the -17 differential
are they tied?
Mets 4-7
BoSux 4-8 (1-5 @ home)
now they’re tied I think.
Just one more strikeout Wainwright!
there ya go
Now he’s just showing off
“A pitcher hitting .242 is like a regular hitter hitting .300″
So at first glance I wanted to laugh at Joe, and rejoiced when Orel seemed to mock him a little bit, but then I wondered, relatively speaking, if he’s actually right. And then I realized it’s late on a Sunday and the weekend’s over, and I really don’t want to do research.
So I’m going back to laughing at him. It’s better this way.
Adam Dunn hitting .242 could be very much like Juan Pierre hitting .300, only better.
Right, I was trying to give him as much credit as possible, and just think about avg, without any context or other(more relevant) stats.
Simply, if you rank pitchers 1-180(whatever the number is), what rank would a .242 avg give you? And then do the same with batters, look up that rank, and check if the average is around .300
I probably could have done the research in the time it took me to try to explain that.
you mean .242 avg. against? No one had that last year but here are guys that were close:
JA Happ (.241)
Jarrod Washburn (.244)
Justin Verlander (.244)
Honestly… it doesn’t really tell you much, I guess. Verlander was clearly elite. Happ got lucky with BABIP. Washburn had an amazing defense behind him in Seattle that helped him get lucky.
oh wait that probably wasn’t what you were looking for were you? You were probably looking for pitchers and their BAs.
It’s all position-relative, so…yeah, a pitcher who hits like a backup middle infielder is actually a lot better than what most NL teams are getting out of the pitcher’s spot. There have been a couple articles I’ve seen that have talked about this, usually talking about Micah Owings (as he is a recent example of a pitcher who’s actually an OK hitter). On Fangraphs, or maybe baseball-analysts.com, I think.
http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/nDY2T
Last year, there were nine pitchers (Min. 10 PA) who hit better than .242.
oh, that’s what Andy Sonnanstine is good for
Umm pretty fucking wild this volcano business.
I got 5 quality starts in fantasy day. I really needed a day like this.
Early season stats
Yankees have the best home record (5-1)
Rays have the best road record (6-0)
Boston has a worse record than the Mets, Pirates, Nats, and KC
Also, a Astro win combined with a Boston loss makes them equal
I like this season so far
In all fairness, at this point last year the Marlins were the best team in baseball (Blue Jays in the AL) and the Mets had a better record than the Yankees, Sox, and Phillies
I just enjoy seeing Boston suffer
Same. They usually start off decently and then fall apart after the ASB. Hopefully it’s start of slow and falling even more after the ASB.
I think it’s the Sox’s turn to be out of the playoffs.
At least I know 2004 isn’t the only playoff series they constantly mention.
they seem determined to make fans of one team watching the game completely miserable. Yankee fans in Yankee games with the constant 2004 mentions/video clips. Mets fans in Mets games with the constant 2006 mentions/video clips.
There needs to be a certain 2003 ALCS moment said some more.
Teh walk-off!!
In all seriousness, every time the Yanks play Boston at home and they are trailing, the 2003 ALCS has to be mentioned at least one million times.
I would also like seeing replays of future closer Daniel Bard blowing it with back to back homers by Damon and Teix. My fave 2009 regular season moment right there.
nah ESPN just mentions how Bard throws 100 MPH over and over
This is Wainwright’s first game against the Mets since then. It was inevitable
It’s funny. There’s Yadier Molina who if you remember in the 2006 NLCS where Adam Wainwright threw a beautiful curveball to Carlos Beltran to strike him out was a key offensive player in that series.
Like seriously?
I thought the same thing. Heh
I know it’s only 10 games , but I’m so torn up about Ajax current .311/.367/.444. I love me some Grandy, but I feel like I’ve been following Ajax since he was a baby. I’m glad he’s doing well, but can’t help feel a twinge of regret that he’s gone.
We will have to see where he is at around June, he could be back in AAA for all we know.
Yea, yea I know. I was honestly expecting him to come out of the gate a little overwhelmed. Good for him.
I applaud Jackson for starting the season in a strong fashion. I too remember following Jackson’s debut in Charleston, and name-dropping him into conversations us fans always have concerning future Yankees lineups.
Grandy’s acquisition immediately improved the ball club’s offense, OF defense. Perhaps Jackson’s ridiculously fortuitous BaBIP made it difficult for Cashman’s cadre to project how Jackson would fare in big league role in 2010, and that could’ve helped push the trade through. Who knows…
that last curveball wainwright threw outside to wright reminded me of 2006
Lol, Wainwright has a hit. A double, of all hits.
I’d seriously die of laughter if this game went to extras again.
I think it might…
/joewest
TCWA.
What’s with the fucking Lew Alcindor goggles?!
the worst thing in the world might be Miller pronouncing foreign names
He adds an accent to everything. It’s quite annoying.
wowowowowowwoowowowow
ballgame over
Well that’s ballgame probably. No extras. Oh well.
eh, Ryan Franklin still has to pitch
I assume it’ll be Wainwright since he batted for himself this inning.
And Franklin’s pitched the last 2 days and 3 of the last 4
Good point. I just went save situation! in my head.
/chokarashi’d
Redemption for Ludwick? Hmm
manuel should’ve left pedro to do pitch, he too could’ve easily given up a HR
Ludwick’s redeemed himself for his shitpoor baserunning. I would have laughed if he somehow missed first base.
shitpoor – best word ever
what’s Waino’s pitch count? Also, he’s pretty
He’s up to 103 or 104. Is he AP pretty bex?
no one’s that pretty
For one of my classes last week, I had to do a presentation on being a female sports fan. I wound up focusing a lot on balancing being a “female” and being a “legitimate fan.” You balance excellently, bexy. kudos.
aw. Hat tip.
I feel kinda bad going on about Pettitte/other players, honestly. Like, I feel like I just come off as shallow. But I really love baseball. It’s awesome. Take yesterday’s games. A no-hitter, a completely ridiculous 20-inning game… baseball is awesome. It would still be if everyone looked like Youkilis and Lackey. And to a large extent, I really love all the stats and minutiae involved in the sport.
Shallow alert: The cute guys don’t hurt though
No, but that’s one of the things that makes you awesome! Like, I see so many girls who are super defensive about looking at the players, because they’re all like, “I watch the game! I don’t watch the players!” But in most cases that’s simply not true. We’re not blind … we do watch the players. But that doesn’t mean we’re not super serious baseball fans who love the game and are extremely knowledgeable about it.
The defensiveness is one of my pet peeves with a lot of girls who are serious sports fans. So fangirl away, my dear. It’s refreshing. And makes me feel less self-conscious about my own fangirling.
Bex you can SABR it up with the best of em, when you gush about your crushes and whatnot it is endearing. You don’t come off as shallow at all.
I laughed. Thanks though, pat
I should also add that from what I’ve seen you balance very well too. And I like your blog.
Thanks! It’s a fun little thing to keep up… gives me some non-academic writing time.
this cg performance by Wainwright just sunk mt fantasy ship. He had 2 huge starts and now I’m set to lose this week by about 3 points. and Pujols didn’t help by going 0-5. FML
I feel for you. My team was sucking today too.
I’m 0-2 to start the season and I probably have the best overall team. My hitters have been crushing the ball but my pitchers have thrown nothing but clunkers. Gallardo, JJ, Cain, Floyd, Scherzer did not perform well this week
thank you wainwright for the complete game
my fantasy team appreciates you
Mutts lose again. Here’s a tip Omar, pitching wins games.
I dunno, they got pretty good pitching these past few games. Their hitting is worse right now. Wright and Bay were terrible this series, Francoeur is starting to cool down, and I don’t think Reyes is doing much.
Bay looks as alive as JD Drew right now. I had thought Bay’s debut would go alot smoother than it has. My mistake as he’s killed one of my fantasy teams.
this, especially considering how he carried the Sox early on last season. He MURDERED the Yankees during the 0-8.
Sorry about your fantasy team.
With the 7th pick in the 2010 draft, Minaya has to pick the best starter available to the club. I’ve been told that the Wilpons abhor going over-slot with any 1st rounder, but if the club wants to retain its fan base, it needs to select and sign impact talent.
Continual 5 inning efforts from starters will assure the Mets a 4th place finish in its division. I’m not a Mets fan, but I feel sorry for that team.
And that drafted player won’t help the Mets for two years at minimum.
They need to draft the best player that’s there, damn the money, and go into a full rebuild.
Love the movie reference, Run Lola Run is one of my favorite movies!
I’m betting Gump.
Umm holy epic ending to Spartacus. I really hope for another season.