Archive for May, 2010
Yanks sweep O’s, improve to 19-8
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Photo credit: Kathy Willens/AP
After the Yanks got through seven innings with a 6-1 lead, I thought I’d rest my eyes for the last couple of innings. Unfortunately, the speculation about Andy Pettitte‘s early exit raged, and it kept my attention. I was both glad that I saw the action, but enraged because the Yanks bullpen let Baltimore back into the game. When Al Aceves recorded the final out the O’s had the tying run on base.
Pettitte will likely miss his next start with inflammation in his left elbow, though no one appears to think it’s that serious. Look for the Sergio Mitre Experience on Tuesday against Detroit.
Biggest Hit: Johnson gets it started
Photo credit: Kathy Willens/AP
In a game where one team takes a big lead early, we typically don’t see much fluctuation on the WPA leader board. There was no definitive play in this game, no at-bat that turned things around. The Yanks’ offense got going from the beginning, and Nick Johnson started it all. He got all of David Hernandez’s second offering, sending it all the way into the second deck. The ball left in a hurry, too. It might have been the hardest hit ball by any Yankee this year.
Johnson went 3 for 3 on the day while drawing two walks. He got thrown out at the plate on a close play in the third, but did score in the fourth on Mark Teixeira‘s two-RBI double. It’s too early to say that Johnson has shed his slump, but a day like this can be nothing but encouraging.
Photo credit: Kathy Willens/AP
Honorable Mentions: Swisher’s jack, Teixeira’s double
While Nick Johnson wasted no time in pulverizing a Hernandez pitch, the other half of the New York Nicks characteristically took his time. He watched the first four pitches, leading to a 3-1 count. Hernandez threw a fastball on the outside edge, but Swisher got all of it, rocketing it into the right field seats for the Yankees second run of the game.
Mark Hendrickson came in to relieve Hernandez with two outs in the fourth, which flipped Teixeira to the right side. Hendrickson opened with a curveball that missed high, and then threw another one that crossed the middle of the plate. Tex crushed it to right center, out of the range of fill-in center fielder Lou Montanez. Since there were two outs both Jeter and Johnson scored, which put the Yanks ahead 6-1. At that point they had scored in each of the first four innings.
Photo credit: Kathy Willens/AP
Biggest Pitch: Pettitte walks in a run
Elbow issues can wreak havoc on a pitcher’s control. Only 46 of Pettitte’s 77 pitches were strikes, 60 percent. That’s below where usually sits. It resulted in only two walks, though they both proved costly. With one out in the fourth Pettitte battled through an at-bat with Garrett Atkins, throwing seven pitches. The last was a misplaced cutter for ball four. That loaded the bases. It was the first time in 2010 that Pettitte faced a bases loaded situation.
Pettitte then went to work on Matt Wieters, dropping a curve on the low-outside corner for strike one. He then came back with an inside fastball which Wieters fouled off, putting him in an 0-2 hole. After a fastball out of the zone and a fouled-off cutter, Pettitte delivered a fastball up and in, and Wieters couldn’t hold up. Like Burnett the night before, Pettitte had struck out a batter at a crucial moment, with a runner on third and less than two outs.
Nolan Reimold then came to the plate, and Pettitte started him off the same way as Wieters, with a curveball on the low-outside corner for a called strike one. He missed with his next two pitches, both fastballs, before getting a called strike on a low and away fastball. After a foul on and up and in fastball, Pettitte missed low with his next two pitches, a cutter then a fastball, to walk in the Orioles first run. He came right back to finish the Orioles there, and then induced a ground ball double play to end the fifth. He might have been a bit off, but it didn’t seem like anything serious…
Gardner just keeps hitting
Heading into the season many were uneasy with the prospect of Brett Gardner starting in left field. That tends to happen with small guys who don’t hit for power. We’ve seen so many of them flop that we’ve come to expect it. I can’t tell you how many emails I got this winter saying that Gardner was nothing more than a fourth outfielder, and he’d be lucky to stick in that role for a few years. So far, though, Gardner has done nothing but silence his critics.
After his 1 for 3 performance today, which included a walk, Gardner is hitting .346/.430/.432. Of the 40 times he’s been on base he’s attempted 14 steals and has been successful 13 times. He’s cut down on his strikeouts, a good sign for a guy who was overpowered at times last year, and is walking more. He won’t keep hitting at this level, but even if he cools off a bit he’ll be an immensely valuable player for the Yankees this season.
Oh, and he leads AL left fielders in wOBA.
Bullpen meltdown averted
The worst part of this game, clearly, came at the end, when the Yankees’ bullpen allowed four runs in the final two innings. Sergio Mitre, in his third inning of work, left two sinkers up in the zone, and Ty Wigginton crushed the second for a two-run homer. That’ll happen. Mitre isn’t exactly stretched out at this point, at least in terms of endurance. That happens when the pitching staff rarely needs a long man. The damage was minimal, though. Girardi immediately changed pitchers. Marte and Robertson finished off the inning.
Robertson came out to start the ninth, a move I applauded at the time. He hasn’t gotten a chance for consistent work this season, and it shows in the results. With a 7-3 lead and just three outs to go, it seemed like a perfect situation. He retired Garrett Atkins on three pitches to start the inning, but then came trouble. With Matt Wieters batting from his strong side, Robertson delivered six straight fastballs. Why he didn’t go with a breaking ball at any point I have no idea. The last one was thigh high across the middle of the plate, so of course Wieters deposited it in the second deck in right.
The next batter, Nolan Reimold, saw six pitches, five of which were fastballs. The lone curveball was actually a decent offering, dropping low and outside but just below the zone. Robertson then got Reimold to chase a high-inside pitch for strike two, missed high with a fastball for ball three, and then actually ran a pitch off the plate inside. Reimold got out in front of it, though, and crushed it off the foul pole in left. That was it for Robertson, but Al Aceves came on to finish the game.
WPA Graph
Were you worried? The graph says we shouldn’t have been worried. I was worried for a bit, though.
Next Up
The team gets an off-day tomorrow before heading up to Boston. Who the hell approves these schedules? First, second, and last Yanks-Sox series are in Boston. Anyway, it’ll be on YES at 7 p.m. Friday evening. Phil Hughes vs. Josh Beckett.
Stoneburner dominant yet again in Charleston win
Posted by: | CommentsGreg at Pending Pinstripes posted some statistical leaderboards for Yankee prospects. Who had Eduardo Nunez leading the system with a 7.6% strikeout rate?
Triple-A Scranton had a scheduled off day, as did the rest of the International League.
Double-A Trenton (5-2 loss to Akron)
Austin Krum, CF: 1 for 3, 1 R, 1 BB
Dan Brewer, LF & Luis Nunez, SS: both 0 for 3 – Brewer got hit by a pitch & K’ed
David Adams, 2B: 2 for 4, 1 R – 11 for his last 27 (.407)
Austin Romine, C: 1 for 4, 1 RBI, 1 K – hitting streak is up to 16 games
Brandon Laird, 3B & Reid Gorecki, RF: both 1 for 4 – Laird drove in a run … Gorecki stole a bag
Edwar Gonzalez, DH & Marcos Vechionacci, 1B: both 0 for 4, 2 K
Ryan Pope: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HB, 6-9 GB/FB – meh
Josh Schmidt: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 1-0 GB/FB
Wilkins Arias: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1-1 GB/FB
Grant Duff: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0-1 GB/FB – 23-4 K/BB ratio in 13.2 IP
Open Thread: The strike zone is slightly amorphous
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David Biderman at the Wall Street Journal posted a look at the strike zones called for each player on the Mets and Yankees, and to no one’s surprise, star players get star treatment. Well, except for Alex Rodriguez. Apparently some umps are out to get him, because strike zone is the third largest on the team. One of these days we’ll have robot umps and laser traced strike zones and everything will be nice and uniform. Until then … the human element!
Anyway, here’s tonight’s open thread. For the latest on Andy Pettitte, see our injury update post. In sports, you’ve got NBA and NHL playoff action, plus the Cardinals and Phillies are on ESPN (Penny vs. Kendrick). You know the routine, so have at it.
Pettitte likely to miss next start with mild inflammation in left elbow
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Update by Ben (6:04 p.m.): An MRI on Andy Pettitte‘s left arm has revealed “mild inflammation” around the elbow, the Yankees announced a few minutes ago. The team says the pitcher will be “treated conservatively” and “evaluated on a daily basis,” and Brian Cashman earlier said that Pettitte will probably miss his next start.
At this point, I believe that Sergio Mitre will take Pettitte’s turn in the rotation against the Tigers in Detroit on Monday. Despite allowing a two-run home run to Ty Wigginton, Mitre threw 2.1 serviceable innings today and is more stretched out than Alfredo Aceves. The Yankees, for what it’s worth, do not seem to consider Joba Chamberlain an emergency starting option this season.
With his win today, Pettitte improves to 4-0 with a 2.08 ERA, and no one wants to see Andy go down for long. The good news is that Pettitte’s elbow isn’t strained. Inflammation will subside with rest and treatement. Obviously, we’ll be following this story closely over the next few days.
* * *
After staying relatively healthy throughout April, the Yanks have seen a number of their starters go down with injuries. While Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera should be back soon, now it’s Andy Pettitte who ails. Marc Carig reports that Pettitte felt some tightness in his forearm during his start against the White Sox, and it flared up a bit again in the fifth today. Apparently he felt it in the upper part of his forearm this time (sorry, no one quite explained this well). He’s off to get an MRI.
Update (5:04 p.m.): Not to get everyone’s hopes up, but Dave Eiland just said “it’s no concern,” a half dozen times during his media meeting.
Update (5:28 p.m.): Though the team’s press office, Andy Pettitte said the following: “Anytime you’re talking about the area around the elbow, you start to worry a little bit. I think it’s going to be fine but I’ll know more after the MRI.”
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Kathy Willens
Game 27: For the sweep (+ chat!)
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Photo Credit: Kathy Willens, AP
Two games into the series, the Yankees have two wins. It’s their eighth series win in nine tries, something only two other Yankee teams in history can claim (1928 & 1938). Yes, it’s been 71 years since the Yanks have won eighth of their first nine series. Cool stuff, huh?
On the mound to try for the sweep this afternoon is Andy Pettitte, who took a little bit of a beating at the hands of the White Sox last time out, but has been stellar overall. Mariano Rivera is available to close the door in the 9th if needed, but Joe Girardi indicated that he would like to play it safe and give him another day if at all possible. Joba Chamberlain is unavailable to close after working the last two nights. My guess is that if push comes to shove late, Al Aceves will work the 9th.
Here’s the lineup…
Jeter, SS
Johnson, DH
Teixeira, 1B
A-Rod, 3B
Cano, 2B
Swisher, RF
Gardner, CF
Cervelli, C
Winn, LF
And on the mound, Andrew Eugene Pettitte.
Get away day for the Orioles, who have to be in Minnesota for a series starting tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05pm ET and can be seen on YES. I’m holding our weekly game chat today, so join in when the party starts at 1pm. Enjoy the game, chat’s after the jump.
A sense of uneasiness when Marte enters
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Photo credit: David J. Phillip/AP
It came as no surprise last night when A.J. Burnett walked out of the dugout at end of the seventh. In the past, it might have been a bit more shocking. We’ve grown accustomed to seeing pitchers exit at around the 100-pitch mark, especially if he’s already completed seven innings. This year, however, it seems that Joe Girardi has become a bit more willing to let his pitchers cross that barrier. All of his starters, save for Vazquez, have started innings at or above 100 pitches.
When Burnett walked Nick Markakis with one out, though, it was clear he would leave the game. At 107 pitches and with his velocity fading — none of the seven fastballs he threw that inning broke 92 mph — the walk represented a logical end point for Burnett’s night. He had the game pretty well at hand, having dominated the Orioles for 7.1 innings, but there was a bit of trouble brewing. The walk brought Matt Wieters, the tying run, to the plate.
After Phil Hughes pitched seven innings on Sunday and CC Sabathia finished eight on Monday, the bullpen was well rested. Only Joba Chamberlain pitched on Tuesday, and only Mark Melancon, since optioned to Scranton, pitched on Sunday. Girardi had his pick of arms to face Wieters, who had homered off Sabathia on Monday. Normally this would have been Chamberlain for certain, but with Mariano resting a sore flank, Girardi wanted to use Joba in the ninth. His choice to face Wieters was lefty Damaso Marte.
When Girardi tapped his left arm on his way to the mound, I experienced a sinking feeling. Burnett had worked so hard, had pitched so well, and had out-dueled Orioles youngster Brian Matusz. If anyone could throw that all away with one pitch, I thought, it was Marte. There was nothing about the matchup with Wieters that made me comfortable. Even though he fares better against righties than lefties, I still would have preferred Al Aceves in that situation.
This runs counter to my initial feelings when the Yankees acquired Marte in 2008. After years of testing out lefty reliever after lefty reliever, it appeared that the Yanks had finally found their man. Though his numbers looked bad after joining the Yankees, much of that came in just one outing, a 40-pitch endeavor that never should have happened. I have no idea why Girardi left him in so long, but he had no business throwing anything past pitch 30. His poor start in 2009 left many Yankees fans sour on him, and even a dominant World Series run didn’t make many people more comfortable with him on the mound.
Marte has done little to quell the uneasy feeling this year. Though he didn’t allow a run of his own until Kendry Morales took him deep on April 25, he had a penchant for letting inherited runners score. In fact, he has allowed half the runners he has inherited to score — and that includes his strand of Markakis last night. In other words, while the Morales homer is the only blemish on his game log, he has still done plenty of damage. Those inherited runners hurt, mainly because Marte’s job usually comprises retiring just one batter.
Last night’s appearance, though, will perhaps make me less uneasy next time Girardi taps his left arm and calls for Marte. After missing with his first pitch he came back with a faster fastball, 92 mph, low in the zone. Count even, he then dropped a slider low and inside, a perfect spot to a righty who doesn’t hit lefties too well. Wieters took it for strike two. Marte came back with a similar pitch, this one a bit more under the hands, and all Wieters could do was foul it off. He didn’t bite on the next slider, which ended up in the dirt. On the last pitch, though, Marte shined. After the pitch in the dirt he elevated a fastball, this one 93 mph, and Wieters took the bait. He swung right under it for strike three.
That, of course, was only the second out of the inning, and with righty Miguel Tejada at the plate Girardi again went to the bullpen, this time to Aceves. And then, as if the baseball gods were telling me that my intuition sucks, Ace came within five or six feet of surrendering a game-tying homer.
I doubt I’ll actually feel less uneasy when Marte next enters a game. He has been shaky enough during his time in pinstripes that we don’t know what to expect. Last night’s batter faced, though, at least gives me a bit more hope. Not only did he do his job, but he did it well. I loved the pitch sequence, loved the location. A few more appearances like that and maybe I won’t curse Girardi for going back to Marte in big spots.
Park close to throwing off a mound
Posted by: | CommentsBuried at the bottom of Bryan Hoch’s latest notebook is a note that injured reliever Chan Ho Park is scheduled to throw off a half mound tomorrow, and could possibly throw a full mound session the next day. If all goes well, he should make a few rehab appearances in minor league games next week, which could perhaps have him back with the big league team in time for next weekend’s series against the Twins (my admittedly optimistic timetable).
Yankee relievers not named Mariano Rivera have a 4.53 ERA through 26 games, so CHoP’s return will be welcome. Of course, when your starters pitch as deep into the game as every non-Javy Vazquez Yankee starter has recently, the shaky middle relief becomes less of an issue.
Yanks’ battery leads the way to 4-1 victory
Posted by: | CommentsWith the Yankees 4-1 win over the Orioles last night they’ve secured yet another series triumph. Their one series loss balances out with their one sweep, meaning that even if they lose tomorrow they’ll still have a .667 win percentage. They do have a good chance to sweep, too, as the pitching matchup favors them. Then again, it seems like the pitching matchup favors them every game these days.
Chalk up this win to Burnett and Cervelli. The former brought his best stuff and flummoxed Orioles hitters for 7.1 innings. The latter not only played some excellent defense, including an incredible catch while falling into the dugout, but also had a 3-3 night at the plate. Even when he made an out it was a sacrifice that led to a run.
Biggest HitBunt: Pena’s sacrifice
In case we haven’t made it lear, we use Win Probability Added (WPA) to determine the biggest moments of the game. You can click on the WPA link to read a full explanation of the stat. If you’re really interested in WPA and its applications, read this thread on The Book Blog. (And if you’re really hardcore, read the comments.) This is a long way of saying that I don’t think Pena was responsible for the biggest WPA swing of the game. He happen to be the guy who got the carousel started, though.
Photo credit: Kathy Willens/AP
Through four innings Orioles starter Brian Matusz got through the Yankees’ lineup with few troubles. His only earned run came on Francisco Cervelli‘s triple, but even that wasn’t totally his fault. Most of the blame goes to Adam Jones, who dove for a ball that only he thought he could catch. A web gem it was not, and the Yanks took advantage a batter later when Pena grounded one to short. That was in the third. Two innings later, Matusz would again run into the buzzsaw that is the bottom of the Yanks order.
Matusz started the inning in the worst possible way, by walking Brett Gardner. That can cause problems. Cervelli then continued his good luck ways, blooping one into right. With runners on first and second with none out, and with the top of the order due up, sacrificing Pena was a pretty obvious choice. After popping one up and having it roll foul, he successfully laid down a good one. It went to the left side for Matusz to field. What followed made me think of the opening lines of this song. (Pardon the Fred Durst cameo; it was 1998, after all.)
Just as A.J. Burnett had done in the third, Matusz threw it past the second baseman covering first. That was more than enough leeway for Brett Gardner to score, breaking the 1-1 tie. Four batters and two walks later, the Yankees added another run to that tally. It would be enough to topple the Orioles.
Biggest Pitch: Burnett’s blunder
Photo credit: Kathy Willens/AP
Through the first two innings it looked like Burnett had stuff that would baffle the Orioles all night long. Garrett Atkins opened the inning with a single, but no problem, right? Burnett has actually been inducing grounders, so the double play was an actual possibility. But instead he walked Rhyne Hughes, bringing up Cesar Izturis in an obvious sacrifice situation. He laid it down and Burnett fielded, but he threw it too far to Cano’s glove side. The ball got past him, which allowed Atkins to score and give the Orioles their first lead of the game.
Though first two batters were reversed (hit-walk for the O’s and walk-hit for the Yanks), the two botched bunt situations were pretty much identical. The 7-8 hitters got on, setting up a sacrifice for the No. 9 guy, with the Nos. 1 and 2 hitters waiting to break open the game. Both pitchers threw the ball away, allowing the lead runner to score. The difference, of course, was that Burnett struck out the next three hitters, while Matusz recorded two outs before walking two straight to force in a run.
The dominance of Allen James
Photo credit: Kathy Willens/AP
Heading into last night’s start, we saw a bit of a different look from Burnett. Last year he was a high-strikeout, high-walk, high-flyball guy. This season, however, he’s struck out far fewer batters, just 5.40 per nine, compared to 8.48 per nine last year. His walks, though, are also down, 2.43 per nine to 4.22 last year. Meanwhile, his ground ball rate rose from 42.8 percent to 48.5 percent. It’s still early, and there’s no telling if these peripherals will hold up. Watching him deal, though, it sure looks like he knows what he’s doing.
Burnett allowed just one run last night, though because it scored on an error it was unearned. How a pitcher can skate by with an unearned run on his own error is beyond me, but then again I dislike the entire concept of earned runs. This time, though, he had his strikeout stuff, sitting down eight Orioles. Even better, three of them came with a runner on third and less than two outs. In fact, in every runner on third, less than two outs situation Burnett recorded a strikeout.
As if the return of his strikeouts wasn’t good enough, Burnett also recorded eight outs on the ground. With 7.1 innings pitched, Burnett recorded 22 outs. Sixteen of them were a strikeout or a groundout. There was nothing unimpressive about this start.
Can’t forget Cervelli
Photo credit: Kathy Willens/AP
No one wants Jorge Posada‘s bat out of the lineup. He’s one of the top offensive catchers in the league, one of the few that can hit for power. Thanks to Francisco Cervelli’s torrid start, the Yanks aren’t missing Posada as much as they could. He was one of the heroes last night, involving himself in nearly every scoring situation.
In the third his leadoff triple led to the tying run. In the fifth his single put the Yankees in a favorable position. He even scored the run when A-Rod walked with the bases loaded. Then in the eighth his sacrifice put Brett Gardner on third with one out, which set up the Pena sacrifice fly.
That doesn’t even cover what he did while donning the tools of ignorance. The kid looks like a natural behind the plate. He blocks pitches well, using his glove and chest protector to keep the ball in front of him. He showed excellent tracking skills when he ran down that fly ball that was about to land in the Yankees dugout. There’s not much more you can ask of a backup catcher.
Joys
All accounted for above.
Annoyances
All accounted for above. Which is to say that errant throw in the third, but even that lasted all of a minute. Hard to stay annoyed when Burnett comes back and strikes out the next three guys.
WPA Graph
I would like to take this WPA graph behind the middle school and get it pregnant.
Next Up
It’s a getaway day for the Orioles, as they’ll play a 1 p.m. game tomorrow. David Hernandez against Andy Pettitte. And then the Red Sox.
Romine goes deep again in Trenton loss
Posted by: | CommentsTriple-A Scranton (12-4 loss to Norfolk)
Kevin Russo, CF: 1 for 3, 1 R, 2 BB – played center for the first time in his life … there’s no true CF on the roster now that Golson’s in the bigs & Curtis is on the DL, so I guess he’s the guy for the foreseeable future
Reegie Corona, 2B: 1 for 2, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K
Eduardo Nunez, SS, David Winfree, RF & Chad Huffman, LF: all 0 for 4 – Nunez drove in a run & K’ed twice
Juan Miranda, 1B: 0 for 3, 1 K, 1 HB, 1 E (throwing)
Jon Weber, DH: 1 for 4, 1 2B
Robby Hammock, 3B-C: 0 for 2, 1 R, 2 BB
Chad Moeller, C: 1 for 3, 1 R – not sure why he left the game in the 9th … probably just because it was a blowout … if they were going to call him up, he wouldn’t even have played considering the risk of injury
Matt Cusick, 3B:Â 0 for 1
Zach McAllister: 3 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1-4 GB/FB, 1 E (throwing) – 41 of his 58 pitches were strikes (70.7%) … 28 baserunners (4 HR) & 14 ER allowed in his last 15.1 IP
Amaury Sanit: 2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 WP, 3-0 GB/FB – 25 of 37 pitches were strikes (67.6%)
Zack Segovia: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 HB, 2-1 GB/FB – 18 of 26 pitches were strikes (69.3%) … three baserunners & zero runs allowed in his last 5.2 IP after putting 19 men on base & allowing ten runs in his previous six innings
Tim Norton: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 1-2 GB/FB – 12 of his 20 pitches were strikes (60%)
Game 26: Good A.J., or Bad A.J.?
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Photo Credit: Nick Wass, AP
Between Phil Hughes‘ dominance and Javy Vazquez‘s suckiness and Andy Pettitte‘s awesome April and CC Sabathia just being the man, it seems like A.J. Burnett has been the forgotten man in the rotation. Hard to imagine when there’s only six pitchers in the game making more money than him, but that’s what’s going on.
Burnett has been pretty damn good in his first five starts, posting a 2.43 ERA, 3.37 FIP, and 4.33 xFIP in 33.1 innings. His strikeout rate is way down at 5.40 K/9, but so is his walk rate at 2.43 BB/9. Burnett’s ground ball rate is back up to 48.5%, his pre-2009 levels. The strikeouts (and sadly, the walks too) will regress back to the mean and he’ll finish with close to one an inning as he always does, but right now A.J. seems to be flying under the radar.
Here’s the lineup, which will face Brian Matusz and thins about pretty quickly after the five-spot…
Jeter, DH
Swisher, RF
Teixeira, 1B
A-Rod, 3B
Cano, 2B
Thames, LF
Gardner, CF
Cervelli, C
Pena, SS
And on the mound, Allen James Burnett.
Despite some afternoon drizzle, the weather looks fine for tonight. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm ET, and will be broadcast on YES. Enjoy the game.
Just 21 days 'til pitchers and catchers report.
