Sabathia, Yanks roll in rain shortened contest
ByFor the first time in 2010, the Yankees on Friday night played a team that hasn’t appeared in an American League Championship Series within the last two seasons. The Rangers haven’t made the playoffs in over a decade, but they’re a formidable opponent that features the league’s hottest hitter and some of the best young arms in the game. Luckily for the Yanks, they had their best on the mound to keep the hot start going as the team won a game shortened by rain 5-1.
Photo Credit: Frank Franklin II, AP
Biggest Play: Curtis Granderson reaches on a fielder’s choice
All during the postseason, we saw the supposedly fundamentally sound Twins and Angels shoot themselves in the foot with botched plays game after game, and the same was true on Friday. Granderson stepped to the plate against lefty C.J. Wilson in the 4th inning with the bases juiced and the score tied at one. He fell behind 0-2 on fastballs before a third heater missed the zone for a ball. The fourth pitch was a slider that dove down, but Granderson got enough of it to tap it towards first. Long story short, Chris Davis threw the ball away as he attempted to turn the 3-6-3 double play (photo above), resulting in two runs for the Bombers.
As good as CC Sabathia was in this game (we’ll get to that a little later), Wilson matched him up until the 4th inning, and before the frame was over the Yankees led 4-1. With rain in the forecast and Sabathia on his game, that lead might as well have been 30.
Biggest Out: Nelson Cruz goes down on strikes
I’m going to go against the WPA grain here to say that Cruz’s backwards K to end the first was the biggest out of the night. Texas pushed across a run for a first inning lead when Vlad Guerrero drove in Michael Young on a sac fly, which brought the America League leader in homers (six), RBI (12), SLG (1.063), and OPS (1.510) to the plate with a man on second with two outs.
If Sabathia makes a mistake, there’s a very good chance the Yankees could have been down three runs before even coming to the plate, which changes everything. Instead, he got Cruz to foul off both a fastball and a changeup on the outer half for a quick 0-2 count, but couldn’t get him to commit to a slider and changeup in the dirt for the strikeout, so the count went even at 2-2. Cruz is a free swinger, but Sabathia and Frankie Cervelli didn’t mess around by trying to get him to chase something out of the zone, they went with the old reliable number one, pouring a 92 mph heater on the inside for a called strike three. The early threat was neutralized, the Yankees were down just one, and Sabathia would never look back.
For the record, WPA says that Michael Young’s fielder’s choice that saw Julio Borbon forced out at second with no outs in the 6th was the biggest out recorded by Sabathia on the night.
Photo Credit: Frank Franklin II, AP
Carsten Charles In Charge
The only thing that could stop the Yankees’ ace tonight was Mother Nature. CC Sabathia rolled right through the Rangers’ lineup after the first inning, striking out six in a row from the 2nd through 4th innings, and retiring 12 in a row from the 2nd through 5th. He threw 61 pitches through the first five innings, just 11 of which were balls.
Rain forced Sabathia from the game after just six innings and 73 pitches (58 strikes, 79.5%), which might not have been the worst thing in the world considering his massive workload last season. Every little break helps. Of the 22 batters Sabathia faced, not one saw a three ball count, and just five worked a two ball count. Only two got a first pitch ball. Two! Take a look at this strike zone plot, that’s what pounding the zone looks like.
CC struck out nine or more five times last year, but the first instance didn’t come until August 8th. He beat that by nearly four months this year. His initials stood for cruise control on Friday night, he had it all working and threw everything for strikes. Over his last two starts, Sabathia’s allowed just six baserunners (four hits, two walks) and one run in 13.2 IP with 14 strikeouts. I thought this guy was supposed to struggle in April?
Photo Credit: Frank Franklin II, AP
Happy Moments
It’s so easy to like Cervelli with his big doofy helmet and all out hustle and infectious energy, so it was fun to see him single in a run after Granderson’s fielder’s choice.
Brett Gardner stealing second on a pitch out. Fastest white guy in America. Granderson fouled off six pitches in an 11 pitch at-bat just prior to Gardner’s steal, which qualifies for one hell of an at-bat. Considering it was against a lefty, it’s even more impressive.
This win combined with the Blue Jays’ loss to the Angels gives the Yankees sole possession of first place in the AL East, and they’re tied with the Twins for the best record in the AL.
Annoying moments
There’s not much that could have bothered even the most pessimistic of fans this game. Nick Johnson got thrown out on a straight steal to end the 3rd, but the replay showed he was either safe, or damn close to it. That’s about it.
Oh, wait. What the hell Robbie Cano? Just one measly single tonight? That’s not going to cut it. He obviously needs Melky Cabrera or Larry Bowa or Mike Borzello.
WPA Graph
You can get the full breakdown at FanGraphs’ box score.
Next Up
Quick turn around, as these two teams are back at it tomorrow afternoon at 1:05pm ET. A.J. Burnett goes for the good guys, Scott Feldman for the Rangers.
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The Tyler Austin Watch
Best news about the Saturday afternoon game, its on the MLB package!!!! Finally no longer blacking out early afternoon Saturday games as long as it starts 3 hours before the Fox game which thankfully usually start at 4 so I should be able to watch most of the Yankee Saturday afternoon games which arent on Fox.
BTW the Rangers offense has been awful so far this season.
Wait, does this mean I’ll be able to see the game here in PA on YES through DirecTV? That’d be sweet.
yea that would be very sweet…i loathe saturday day games, it seems like for the 3 years i have had the mlb package i’ve seen about 4 saturday games, all others have been blacked out. fuck fox…everything about them from there news to the sportscasters is ridiculous.
Granderson’s approach against LHP looks pretty good lately, though he still kinda strikes my amateur scout’s eye as just a bit awkward (but it might just be his batting style, which is somewhat weird). Overall, however, I love what I’m seeing.
(Extreme SSS alert)
Agreed. Based on what I heard and read from reports and articles during the off-season, I thought he would look a lot more ‘lost’ at the plate, but so far so good for grandy.
Also, I was hoping earlier for the Grandy Granny Slam. But meh, it could wait and happen against the BoSox, which would be a lot, grander.
(Extreme SSS alert)
Sample sizes only apply to statistics, not scouting observations. Granderson has clearly changed up his approach for last season, let’s hope it works over the course of the season.
Sample sizes only apply to statistics, not scouting observations.
Really? I think they do. You cannot make any definitive statement on a player’s ability using only 10 games. Sometimes a whole season isn’t even enough. If he is improved against LHP this year and gets better results(and really, he can’t do much worse than last year), we can probably safely say he actually improved. But it might be a fluke and he can revert to 09 levels the next year.
At the very least, I think you need at least half a season to make an good observation, but a whole year is probably more ideal.
You are missing the point.
Saying “Granderson is fairing better against lefties this year because of a changed approach” would actually be talking statistics – specifically, his results. It would be silly to say something like that after 10 games.
However, simply noting and analyzing the potential of a mechanical change in Granderson’s approach is different. You can’t draw any conclusions on results so far (see above) but you can certainly speculate on how this change will affect his overall ability. I didn’t interpreted your original post as simply analyzing the new approach, which is why I said the sample size is not really any issue. If you were indeed making assumptions based on the results so far, then so it is.
I didn’t interpreted your original post as simply analyzing the new approach
Whoops it is late.
That should read “I interpreted your original….”
Ah, gotcha.
To whoever runs the RAB twitter — yes, they played Sinatra after the game was called.
Heh. I was down in Tampa for Spring Training, and there was a game against the Braves that got delayed for about 90 minutes before ultimately being called. They played Sinatra once it was called.
That was my question. I guess they have to. Someone asked me if Sterling did the warble after announcing that the game had been called. I enjoyed that response.
Granderson might be my second favorite Yankee already.
1. The Jeter
-GAP-
2. Grandy? Hughesus? CCy? Robbie? Mo? Alex? Tex?
-other people-
-HUGE GAP-
25. Mitre
It’s fun to root for a likable team.
1. MARIANO
-Large Gap-
Fixed that for you.
Yea, for me I got Mariano #1, followed by a small gap to Cano, and then fill in the rest. Granderson is coming close to bumping up to the Cano territory though.
Yea Granderson has hit my top 3 I think…
1. Mariano
2. Phil
3. Grandy
4. A-ROD
5. CC
CC looked awesome tonight. I’m always happy for a win but I was almost sorta sad the game was called (though not really, cuz when he stumbled off the mound – and still got a swinging strike!!! – I had a heart attack) because watching him dominate was so fun.
And hey Nick Johnson got a walk….LOL
:: astonished stare ::
Seriously? This is like how after the near no-hitter by CC on a day when the Yankees scored 10 runs, you were complaining about Nick Johnson taking a walk. Which isn’t even a bad thing!!
Wait that actually happened?
I just find a designated hitter who cant hit an unique concept…he is fortunate to have his reputation as I swear he gets more strikes called balls than anyone…it looked like 3 out of the four balls were strikes…i just like to bust on NJ because we gave up a true warrior in Matsui and replaced him with someone who success is tied to the poor eyesight of MLB umpires
Please back up your asinine opinion with some sort of evidence.
A+
“True Warrior” who couldn’t play the outfield any more and spent a good portion of 2008 on the DL. I like Matsui too but darn near every post you have is embarrassing. You also have an insane anti-NJ bias that you should stop, because it’s also embarrassing and all you do after Yankee wins or losses is whine about him. The Yankees could win 75-0 and you’d be here complaining about how he took four walks.
When Johnson starts hitting I will stop complaining….I promise
No you won’t, you’ll keep whining about how Matsui had a double three weeks ago or something
Yea, why’d we let Matsui get away? He hit a friggin’ home run against us in that series! That Johnson loser didn’t do that or anything.
Wait a sec…
I just looked at some previous posts, I didn’t realize (but I guess should have assumed) you’re just an idiot. Sorry. Carry on.
Ok Einstein….
I don’t care if his position is bullpen coach, anyone that can double the walks of an entire baseball team (Astros as of yesterdays games) is a badass…He has like 4 hits and his OBP is .450…Thats ridiculous, and once TEX joins the team this offense is going to explode. Big Papi is a DH and he is an embarrassment, so we have far from the worst DH.
walk = single
I almost pooped my pants when Johnson got hit in the arm. It also was an awful game to actually attend. It was extremely cold and then the rain, my girlfriend was pissed at me because shes a Met fan and I made her come and it rained.
because shes a Met fan
Well there is your problem right there.
It is more of just a David Wright fan, still sucks but not as much.
my girlfriend was pissed at me because shes a Met fan and I made her come
You’d think this wouldn’t make her mad
(sorry for that, buddy. Jealous you were at the game, sorry the weather was so very crappy.)
Don’t be, go to one thats sunny and beautiful.
ietc
C.J. Wilson was just in the MLB Tonight studio on MLB Network and they reviewed the Granderson at bat. That 0-2 pitch sure looked like a strike to me. But Mitch Williams was practically rising our of his chair ready to go hunt down the home plate umpire. I’d have taken his humble critcism seriously if he didn’t really come off as sucking up to Wilson.
That’s why I just can’t take MLB Network too seriously. Mitch Williams.
it’s a pretty good reason. Him and Harold Reynolds. And Peter Gammons.
CJ wasn’t dealing like CC, but he definitely pitched better than five runs in six innings. The defense behind him was embarrassing. There were a number of plays that weren’t called errors that really should have been (wooooo counting stats).
I liked Harold Reynolds when he was on Baseball Tonight, but he seems to have become very…childish, I guess is the best word, since he’s been on MLB.
I’m not afraid to admit I used to like Gammons. Then about 4-5 years ago, or whenever he had that health issue and he turned back into a Red Sox homer, he became largely intolerable. But even so I felt that he was fair to the Yankees during that time. Still, he’s not much of an objective journalist anymore.
Also, that raises a good point. Who’s become a bigger homer over the last several years: Gammons or Jayson Stark? Stark became dead to me when he wrote that Overrated/Underrated player book and he rated Dave Winfield the most overrated RF of all time.
Then
about 4-5 years ago, or whenever he had that health issueright around October 2004 and he turned back into a Red Sox homer,Yea, it might have been around then. I really don’t care enough to remember. I’m still trying to pretend that October 2004 didn’t happen until it is possible to have the memories surgically removed.
Oh I used to like Gammons too. He was a great reporter who kept his Sox bias out of things. He’s an okay reporter now, but he’s such a homer it’s friggin’ ridiculous. I actually think he’s pretty fair to the Yankees, he just turns into some squealing six-year-old boy at Fenway Park when it comes to talking about Pedroia, Varitek, Beckett, Bard, or any Sox prospects.
Gammons is definitely a bigger homer. Stark was mostly quiet until 2008ish.
Which is what I think makes Stark’s homerism more offensive. Hops back on the bandwagon as the Phils run to a World Series.
That’s why I like guys like Buster Olney, Keith Law and Rob Neyer. They’re fair and their writing is interesting. Sure, Neyer doesn’t like the Yankees. But he’s always said that and he posts a lot about the Yankees and he’s usually good and fair with his analysis.
Tim Kurkjian has always maintained his objectivity, too.
That makes sense about Stark… I think Gammons’ constant overhyping of Boston prospects just really, really annoys me. Like, there was some article a little while ago about the “young guns” (I hate that phrase for some reason) in the AL East, and he basically wrote off the Rays’ pitching and Joba and Hughes… and then you could hear him heavy-breathing about Buchholz and Casey Kelly.
I don’t mind Olney, Law, or Neyer. Haven’t seen much of Kurkjian because ESPN is generally terrible.
oh and re: Reynolds, the sexual harassment thing frankly makes me a little uneasy, though who knows exactly what happened there. Anyway, he’s just annoying and dumb and he’s annoyingly obsessed with Ichiro (also, wow, Ichiro after tonight .261/.306/.283). Jeter to an extent, too, but less so.
Mitch was slurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrping Wilson. No gag reflex.
I agree, Pat. If you want to “breakdown” egregious umpiring, your focus should be fairness and not partiality to whichever pitcher that was nearby who didn’t have better shit to do after the game.
ew dude
I’ve got one more annoying moment for you, though it’s not necessarily for this game:
Now that CC has been dominant with Cervelli catching, people are going to want him to be his personal catcher. I already noticed several on Twitter (I know, I know, a lot of them don’t know what they’re saying and the typical B-Jobber types but that’s probably how the majority of Yanks fans are) say how CC should be caught by Cervelli every start. Their opinion shouldn’t mean much but that’s how it started with AJ and Molina last year. I am really afraid that the media is going to now emphasize this and then Girardi, as much as I trust him, will employ Frankie as CC’s personal catcher.
Though I guess if it does happen, I won’t be as pissed because with CC you can afford a drop in offense and F-Cerv is awesome.
That is how I feel, I really like Cervelli, and I know he has probly played over his head to this point in his career,but he is fun watching in a game, and I agree if you had to caddy a backup catcher with a pitcher it would be CC since he is clearly the best pitcher.
I’m not so sure that he’s playing over his head. I think the scouts may have been wrong about Cervelli’s upside on offense. Since his debut last May, he’s looked like he has the potential to be a .270 – .290 hitter. On defense, he was one of the best catchers in the minors. His timely hitting and baserunning is what has caught a lot of people by surprise.
Between Cervelli and Montero, the Yanks have great options for Posada’s replacement.
I can see what you mean. I think that your hope is that Sabathia is your ace and would be the pitcher who “needs” the least amount of run support. Therefore, having Cervelli catch him rather than Posada is when you can most “afford” to have Posada out of the lineup, presuming he does not DH.
I actually think that Cervelli caught tonight because Girardi wants Posada to catch Burnett again tomorrow to further put that story to bed. If Posada had caught tonight, he wouldn’t catch tomorrow.
Of course, I don’t think Girardi is doing it on purpose and probably won’t unless CC bombs a couple of times more with Posada catching. It’s just a coincidence for now.
The 4 C’s are IN!
The CC/Cervelli Connection
Printing $hirt$ a$ I po$t.
11 balls thrown in CC’s first 5 innings is simply astounding.
I know Thames sucks the big one in LF…and every ball that is hit in the air that he doesn’t catch could have been by Brett Gardner.
but the guy has been on base 6 times out of his 11 PAs.
Posasa is sure given alot more slack about his crappy defense than Thames is for his.
because Posada is a borderline at worst HOF catcher due to his offense and continues to be at nearly 40
Why do you bother?
I’m like Don Quixote in that way. Also “Posasa” is a funny typo
If you had said “Samosa,” that’d be a tasty typo.
/Bad joke’d
/Hungry for a samosa’d
/What I said doesn’t make sense’d
this comment is hilarious
Yeah, being vastly more valuable at the plate will do that. So will being tolerable defensively at a vastly more valuable position.
yea I did the whole hate on Thames thing too, but he has shut me up with the offense. at this point I like him more than Cody Ransom and Wilson Betemit, then again I like the 4th string assistant trainer more than those 2 as well.
I posted this in the game-thread, but I feel like it is necessary to repeat it:
To piggy-back on what someone said earlier about Nick Johnson having more walks than the Astros:
Nick Johnson: 11 BBs in 44 PAs
Houston Astros: 8 BBs in 345 PAs
he’s useless what is the point of DHs that don’t hit?!?!?!?!?!?!?
2010 OPS Matsui 165 NJ 123—advantage to date Godzilla
yo, it’s 10-11 games. Also, keep in mind that OMG JOHNSON HASN’T BEEN HITTING!!!!!! and he still has a really good OPS+. And just because your whiny, anti-NJ-biased self thinks every pitch he takes is a strike doesn’t mean he’s not one of the elite baseball players when it comes to recognizing the strike zone.
You are not very good at making me be nicer to people like I said I was going to be a few days ago. Boo. ;_;
Derek Bell is disappointed with you, bexy.
I suck at O:S. Like really badly. Just because I must… defend… my… Nick… Johnson… against… people… who… think… walks… are… somehow… bad…….. (insert “Man of La Mancha” Music here)
Also I need to get to sleep.
If you ever need inspiration:
http://riveraveblues.com/wp-co.....utdown.jpg
“I must… defend… my…
Nick…Johnson…”I knew it!
haha I had that written originally, realized how wrong it sounded, and changed it
I believe it is called the Designated HITTER, not the Designated Walker. Amiright, Dally?
It’s anchorMAN, not anchorLADY!!!
And that is a scientific fact!
Bears can smell the menstruation….
This team is very, very good. The rest of the league needs to be very afraid.
yep. Nick johnson at DH and Javy Vazquez are probably the biggest drama items for this team. Other than that, I think we’re in ccruise control. We won’t be playing meaningful games in Oct.
Sorry, I meant meaningful games in Septermber
The last two years Sabathia has stunk through april, and gotten going after his first really good start. Based on that statistically invalid premise, I think CC is going to be HUGGGE this year. Like 22-6/3.04/229-63/231.2 good.
First game of the season in person for me today… weather appears to have cleared up a bit (:knocks on wood:).
All right, I’m going to be the bubble burster here: Stop expecting this team to be be 1998, or close (105 or over wins). I know we’re off to a great start. I know we don’t have many weaknesses. But you know what? It’s the first game of our third series. Do you know how difficult it is to win 105 or more games? It happens very, ver, very rarely. I would be perfectly happy with 96 wins or so.
We’re being fooled by the SSS…MIGHT the Yanks be this good? Yeah. Sure. Is it very likely? No it’s not. More likely is that this is just a hot start. They’ll cool off a bit, everybody will panic for no reason, and then they’ll get hot again and everything will be fine. But I think 105 wins is just unreasonable to expect, and it’s also unreasonable to think they won’t be playing meaningful games in September. Red Sox have started slow, but they’re really good, as are the Rays. I think we win the division, but after a struggle, not with ease. Dnot’ go comparing this team to 98′. It’s not fair.
Sorry, it’s the first game of the FOURTH series. So, expectations are back on. YYYYAAAAAAAYYYY.
Whoops, minor typo there. Sorry.
Yes, for one thing the ’98 team benefited from playing a first year expansion team many times. The Red Sox and Angels were also not as good that year, nor were the Tigers. I think he league overall is much better now than it was in ’98, so to expect them to come anywhere close to that win total is asking too much.
the 1998 Yankees had a losing record against the Angels :X
But I agree with poster’s assertion.
On the other hand:Last year they won 103 games while:
ARod missed a month, struggling for a few weeks after
Posada only played 111 games
The #3 SP was useless then hurt all year
Nady missed the whole year
Joba was awful in Aug/Sept
Sergio Mitre made 9 starts
Cano hit .200 with RISP
The defense in 3B/LF was poor last year (Compared to healthy ARod and Gardner)
Marte basically missed the whole season
So it’s not like everything went perfect for the Yankees last year
So what makes you think everything will be perfect this year? Nothing crazy happened last year, just normal stuff.
I didnt say things would be perfect this year.
Normal stuff is ARod having surgery before ST? The #3 starter being useless then having season ending surgery? The starting RF (even though Swisher is better) playing 7 games before needing his 2nd TJS? The team giving a SP 3-4 inning starts?
That’s all “normal”?
Yes. Normal problems throughout the year. Almost every team has them.
BTW, Cano hitting 200 with RISP wasn’t that big of a deal considering his excellence everywhere else.
Right. But like Dexception said below, 15 day DL’s are one thing, season ended things or surgery during ST is something different. And in Aug/Sept they basically had 3 starts + Mitre and Joba doing nothing, yet still pulled away from the competition.
They have a Top 5 AL Rotation, Best lineup, bullpen that goes Mo-Joba-Drob-Marte-Aceves-Park. Unless major injuries occur (ie, not normal pulled hamstrings) then 100+ Wins is not a crazy prediction.
You’re talking about normal problems. Every team has them, except incredibly lucky ones. Beckett was in and out of the rotation last year. Dice-K was out all year. Big Papi wasn’t out, but he was basically nonexistent during the first half.
100+ wins-optimistic, but not ludicrous. 105+-unfair. That almost NEVER happens. They would have to be unbelievably good. It’s nearly impossible (NEARLY).
Could it happen? Yes. Are we making too big a deal of a hot start? I think so.
Well Beckett is always in and out of the rotation, that’s him.
They won 103 games last year, and improved their team this year. People thinking they can win more isnt crazy.
Did they improve? Yeah, a bit. But honestly, last year they got incredibly lucky that all those problems were able to be solved so quickly. 103 is a shitload of wins. 105 is unreal. It almost never happens. I think it’s unfair to project those expectations on the team.
What does Beckett “always” being hurt have to do with anything? Robbie “never” hit with men in scoring position. Does that mean it wasn’t a problem? Just because Beckett being injured is always a problem doesn’t make it less of a problem.
I still dont see how they got ‘lucky’ last year.
Because it’s not like Beckett is a 230 IP horse, then Sox got unlucky and Beckett couldnt pitch for a full season. They got out of Beckett what they always get out of him, just over 200IP, great for stretches, mediocre for stretches- it was his 2nd best year with the Sox.
Last year was Cano’s worst performance with RISP, not his normal suckiness
No, 2008 was really bad.
They expected more from Beckett.
Anyway, if you don’t see how they got lucky last year, then I don’t know what to say.
Well unless we are the Mets, I don’t think thats true. Getting nothing out of CMW is pretty extreme. Losing a former All Star like Nady again pretty extreme. Having A-rod take not only the first month off, but many more games than usual, and the entire season in the field off extreme. We’re not talking 15 Day DL’s here, these are all significant impact circumstances and yet still the 103. I think we have a very good chance at meeting or exceeding that simply as a result of the versatility we’ve gained this year. We can beat you with pitching, we can slug you to death, and we can manufacture. Combining that with what I beleive will be a far superior defense this year. (see A-rod looks excellent, and outfield is primed for awesomeness), and I got no problem telling you the optimism meter on this season should be Arod shot off Nathan big. This should indeed be a season of Great Expectations, so everyone get your “Dickens” on and get ready to hear alot of Sinatra.
Nady-Very overrated
Losing CMW-A big deal, but we did have CC, Andy, and Pettite
A-Rod-He missed one month.One he got back we won over 90 games. Plus the lineup was great w/o him anyway.
It’s unfair to expect this team to be 105 plus win good. That is ridiculously good. If everything goes WELL we’ll win 96+ games, but to win 105+ we’ll need to get some lucky breaks AND everything will need to be perfect. It’s unfair to expect that, especially with the Sox and Rays in our division.
I don’t think they’ll win as many games at ’98, but expecting 105 wins at this point is very fair. I thought they were a better team than last year’s on paper coming into the season and that has translated on to the field. They’re 7-3 against agruably 4 of the 5 best teams in the league. It’s not like they’re beating up on the Royals and the A’s. If last year’s team could win 103, I see no reason why I can’t expect 105 from this team at this point.
Not only is that a nice pitch chart for CC but it looks like the homeplate umpire was doing his job last night. Kudos!
I agree that last night’s game was a good one. Only sad it had to come to an end so soon. Props to Cervelli for getting the man at third in with less than two outs. Pretty sure that gets him a golden star in K-Long’s book.