When the Yankees entered the interleague circuit in June 2007, they were, gasp, below .500. They bowled through the first leg, though, sweeping the Pirates, partly thanks to the return of Roger Clemens, and then the Diamondbacks. In the latter series they outscored Arizona 18-4, with the closest game coming in the opener when they won 4-1. They left the series at 33-31, though they’d drop back below .500 after losing series to the Rockies, Giants, and Orioles. Of course, after that second loss to the Orioles they went 58-29 the rest of the way and made the playoffs, so all was forgiven.
That year the Diamondbacks won the NL West, and were leading the division when they entered Yankee Stadium. They left in third place, though unlike the Yankees they went to feast on Baltimore — twice, actually, regaining their division lead the second time through. This year the Diamondbacks are, uh, not so good. They’re 27-43, last in the West by 9.5 games. That’s not 9.5 games out of first, but 9.5 games out of fourth place.
Tonight the Yanks draw Rodrigo Lopez, whom you might remember from his years with the Orioles. He never walked a ton of guys, but he also didn’t strike out many and let a lot of batted balls leave the park. Why he remains in the league is a mystery. Yes, his ERA is 4.70, which isn’t bad for a starter on a team like the Diamondbacks, but he’s the kind of guy who could explode at any second. It’s really a surprise that his HR/9 is as low as 1.47 considering Arizona’s hitter friendly confines. He also sports a ridiculous 24.5 percent line drive rate, which is beyond silly for a guy who strikes out next to no one. You know what the league batting average on line drives is? Freaking .722. They yield a 1.693 OPS. How is this guy still in the league?
Just to pile it on: guess who has the lowest swinging strike percentage among qualifying NL starters. If you didn’t say Lopez, well, I don’t know what to tell you.
OK, I’m done ragging on Rodrigo Lopez…for now.
As for the Yanks, uh, hope that good A.J. shows up. That’s about it.
Lineup:
1. Derek Jeter, SS
2. Nick Swisher, RF
3. Mark Teixeira, 1B
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Robinson Cano, 2B
6. Jorge Posada, C
7. Curtis Granderson, CF
8. Brett Gardner, LF
9. A.J. Burnett, P
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.