Burnett out as Yanks set ALDS rotation
ByUpdated (1:07 p.m.): This news shouldn’t come as much surprise to Yankee fans, but George A. King of The Post reported this morning that the A.J. Burnett will not be in the ALDS rotation. Instead, as the Yankees just announced via Twitter, CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes will make up their rotation for the best-of-five game set against the Twins. Sabathia will take the ball in Games 1 and 4 on short rest while Pettitte will pitch Games 2 and 5 on full rest and Hughes will go on Saturday nigh at Yankee Stadium.
The decision to sit A.J. is a no-brainer for the Yanks as Burnett showed little ability to command his pitches or get outs consistently during the second half of the season, but the move to start Hughes at home might raise an eyebrow or two. Hughes’ home/road splits are extreme, and the young right-hander had a road ERA 1.35 runs lower than his home mark while giving up 0.6 HR/9 IP on the road against a 1.7 mark at home. I have no problem, however, with Pettitte’s taking the ball for a potential Game 5 either. The Yanks have not yet said if Burnett will be on the ALDS roster.
As an addendum, Major League Baseball also announced the umpire crew for the Yanks’ set against the Twins. We’ll have Jerry Crawford, Hunter Wendelstedt, Greg Gibson, Brian O’Nora, Gary Darling and Chris Guccione for the ALDS. That crew seems to feature no one too awful as an umpire. Additionally, Major League Baseball announced that Game 4 will start at 8:07 p.m. ET on Sunday and Game 5 will start at either 8:37 p.m. on Tuesday or 8:07 p.m. ET if the Tampa Bay/Texas series is over.
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So what is the official/final roster?
Joe Girardi will unveil the ALDS roster later this afternoon.
The report does not indicate whether or not the Yanks plan to include Burnett on the roster as a potential bullpen arm
Hard to believe he won’t be. I think most would rather him come in for long relief than Gaudin, Mitre or Javy.
I’m not ready to throw the towel in on AJ yet. He can be incredibly frustrating to watch, especially this season, but something tells me he gets his act together. Hopefully sooner than later.
He’d better get it together eventually…he’s here 3 more years!
intelligent move.
yet they are going to a 3-man rotation with a physically not ready Andy Pettitte then?
NYY will have to be lucky, to advance
Andy is physically ready. He wouldn’t be slated for 2 starts if he wasn’t.
Andy Pettitte will pitch on full rest in games 2 and 5.
I’m guessing if he is not ready for game 2, Hughes will take his games and Burnett will take game 3.
But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
Let’s hope. I’d rather have a 70% Pettitte than a healthy AJ anyday!
There are off days in the schedule. Whoever pitches game 2 will pitch game 5 on normal rest. Using 4 starters is only the right move here if you’ve got 4 really good ones.
Well there is a good chance it won’t go to game 5 (with either team winning earlier). Also, if they pitch Pettitte in game 3 (not game 2), he’d only pitch one in the series anyways, thus would never pitch on short rest.
Well there is a good chance it won’t go to game 5 (with either team winning earlier).
Correct. Yanks in 4. Book it.
Even if the series goes 5, Pettitte won’t pitch on short rest because there are four days in between games 2 and 5. It’s all good.
Whoops didn’t realize that. Even better, though.
Minnesota will be lucky to advance, because they are the inferior team.
Pettitte will make his first start on normal rest and, if needed, he will start game 5 on normal rest too.
All of that.
Andy is a BEAST in the playoffs. Rest assured, he’ll be ready
So maybe Girardi is not as dumb as everyone makes him out to be?
Not dumb but very rigid. He has a plan and he’s sticking with it regardless of what is happening on the field. The LH pitcher is going to pitch to the the LH hitters even if he’s stinking it up.
Do you know why most managers rigidly go to platoon split matchups?
Platoon split matchups usually work.
Except in the cases of Chad Gaudin.
Actually . . .
Chad Gaudin, career:
.252/.324/.417 against RHB, 2.77 K/BB
.292/.386/.447 against LHB 0.91 K/BB
Chad Gaudin, 2010:
.287/.372/.488 against RHB, 2.42 K/BB
.283/.357/.567 against LHB, 1.85 K/BB
So yes, he does feature standard platoon splits, although he’s been uniformly terribly all year. What I do remember, though, is him coming in with the bases loaded in Tampa, and getting . . . I think it was Brignac to K, swinging.
Sometimes he makes dumb/questionable moves, it doesn’t mean he’s a dumb person. Anyone who says that is just speaking out of anger. Joe seems like a very smart guy, but sometimes he makes moves that are pretty questionable. Not including AJ in the rotation isn’t exactly rocket science, so I’m not sure why this move would qualify this kind of comment.
That said, every manager makes moves that seem odd/dumb/whatever so it’s not like someone else would do better.
In closing, I feel very confident about this series, gogo yankees but burnett sux lol whatevs
Well played.
This was a comment directed at all the male first name only handles that comment about fire Girardi.
Thank Mo!
I hope A.J. makes the roster then. He’s a much better option for long relief than Moseley, Gaudin or Mitre; he can miss more bats. Bring Nova and A.J. on board.
Burnett should be on the ALDS roster, he is a better longman than Sergio Mo-din. I’d take my chances with him over those three.
Rule 42: No portmanteau of crappy pitchers shall contain the word Mo.
How about Chadstin Mitre?
Chan Ho Moseley has morphed into…
Dustin Gautre!
Javstin Gautre. Don’t forget Javy.
I miss Roystin Sanchaladejo.
Gosh, how short sighted of me. I do like Dustin Gautre. Thomas-Javy is dead to me.
and yes TJSC, I too miss Roystin Sanchaladejo.
I’d happily take my chances of Andy in Game 5 versus Pavano. One side benefit to Hughes starting game 3 is that he should be available to throw an inning out of the pen in game 5 if necessary.
If it came down to a Game 5 I would think everyone would be available. Hell, you might even see CC for an inning if it came down to it.
I’d happily take my chances of Andy in Game 5 versus Pavano.
It’ll be Andy v. Liriano if it makes it to 5. Gardenhire is going with a 4-man rotation.
Liriano-Pavano-Duensing-Blackburn-Liriano.
(It won’t make it to 5.)
Do you think the Yankees really have a chance to sweep?
I mean that honestly not as in a “I can’t believe you think that” sort of way.
I think we do have a chance to sweep. I bet the Twins take one of the first three against us, though, and CC v. Blackburn is the final nail in the coffin.
Yanks in 4.
That’s true. I’m just worried if it goes to game 5 though. I feel confident that if we win at least 1 or the first 2, we could win in 4, just because we’ll be at home. I also think we have a slight advantage over the Twins, because of our records against them. We’re kind of in their heads, I think.
Oh, that’s right. Thanks.
Yeah, I don’t see the Yanks setting Hughes up to possibly pitch game 5. Pettitte will pitch game 2.
Also a good point Vin. If it goes 5 and the Yankees need Hughes and pull out the game, then I think you see the LCS rotation go the same was as last years, with Sabathia in game 1 and Burnett in game 2. If the Yankees advance Burnett will get the game ball at some point…
either that for the CS, or possible CC, andy, hughes, and AJ if they go 3-0
Golson over Kearns petition starts now. Contact over free swinger. I know it won’t happen. Kearns is an experienced solid major leaguer!
Golson struck out 23.6% of his AB in AAA and 26.7% in his major league career.
Kearns has a K rate of 28.8% this season and 24.3% in his career.
Golson isn’t exactly an upgrade in the contact skill.
Kearns in pinstripes: .235/.345/.324
Kearns as an Indian, 2010: .272/.354/.419
Kearns, career: .257/.353/.423
Kearns, MiL: .292/.395/.513
Golson, career: .200/.200/.267
Golson, MiL: .263/.309/.398
Greg Golson makes Austin Kearns look like Ted Williams.
Oh, and:
Contact over free swinger.
Kearns, K%: 24.3%
Golson, K%: 26.7%
Greg Golson is not a “contact hitter”. He’s not a hitter at all.
You should base your entire argument around defensive value being more important than carrying an additional pinch hitter; you might have a leg to stand on there. Maybe.
Just based on watching the last month of Kearns suck mostly. Golson hasn’t had many ab’s to compare but what I have seen with RISP/contact I have preferred.
/confirmationbias’d
/beliefperserverance’d
/irrationalprimacyeffect’d
It also seems like Kearns will be starting vs. lefties over Gardy, which is a little frustrating because of the defensive downgrade (and their splits vs. lefties are comparable).
That said I still think there is an argument to be made for Golson on the roster as a defensive replacement (this hinges on the fact that Swish is a bit hobbled), though I suppose then there is the problem of whose spot he takes.
I was talking about this on twitter yesterday, and Ben made a good point. Gardner and Granderson have to start against Liriano because of their defense alone. Target Field is too big to have Kearns roaming around out there. The Yankee offense has enough punch against LHP to carry Gardner and Granderson, I think. Keep those guys in there and let them run down everything in the OF and make CC even more effective.
Gardner’s defense and “poor” bat vs LHP >>>Kearns’ defense and “good”(?) bat vs LHP. IMO anyway.
It also seems like Kearns will be starting vs. lefties over Gardy, which is a little frustrating because of the defensive downgrade (and their splits vs. lefties are comparable).
Was Joe starting Kearns over Gardner down the stretch because he didn’t want Gardner in against lefties?
Or was he simply aggressively resting Gardner to keep his legs fresh for the playoffs, where he’ll start every night?
We don’t really know yet. We’ll have to see. I have a hunch it’s the latter.
Please I hope so.
/irrational Kearns dislike
Just found where I got this hunch from, this was in George King’s article in the Post today:
Although he whiffed 15 times in his final 32 at-bats, Austin Kearns is likely not only to be on the 25-man roster, but also starting in left field tomorrow night in Game 1 against Twins lefty Francisco Liriano.
“He certainly has struggled but that’s because of injuries,” GM Brian Cashman said of Kearns’ finger and elbow problems.
You lost me at “George King’s article in the Post”.
haha, I am glad that you are back on the boards after a short absence.
In a meaningful game in the postseason, I would not want Kearns to start. Pinchhitting is a different story, but Gardner, IMO, is the better option.
I think this move says 2 things. First, The obvious lack of trust the Yankees have in AJ Burnett in a short series this year. Which was his own doing. Even thought i personally don’t put a ton of stock into the Blue Jay game, because the Jays have murdered him all year, he dug his own grave that night.
Second, It illustrates the great trust the Yankees have in CC. If you look at the other AL playoff teams Ace’s (MIN-Liriano, TEX-Lee, TB-Price) none are pitching on 3 days rest for game 4. Because of that they are having to use their 4th best pitcher while the Yankees are able to ride the big man on 3 short rest. It’s an amazing luxury the Yankees have.
I agree with that on one hand, but on another hand I think that has more to do with the lack of confidence they have in Burnett to win a must-win game at the moment. The other three teams all feature four-man rotations with questions, but with less questions than the Yankees have at the moment.
I’m not so sure about that. I bet Joe Maddon is just as terrified about a Wade Davis ALDS start as we’d be about an AJ Burnett ALDS start; he just can’t trust David Price to be able to go on short rest because he’s never done it before.
CC demonstrating his ability to handle short rest with aplomb is a gigantic tactical advantage (and the reason I claimed the other day I’d take him over all other teams’ aces this postseason).
I agree with the second paragraph. Skill-wise, I’d say he’s relatively even with the other lefty aces, although I would argue that he’s more durable (290 lbs) than the other aces, allowing him to go on short rest. Also, the Yankees have the advantage, because we have Mariano Rivera to get 6 outs, therefore we don’t necessarily have to rely on our ace to give us 8 or 9 innings.
That’s also very true. I take back my previous comment. Really… everything I’ve read and watched about the Twins, Rays and Rangers and their post-season chances regards “why they could advance” to the series, while with the Yankees, all the reasoning centers around “why the Yankees won’t advance” to the series. That makes the Yankees the clear favorite.
I think you are over complicating it. It is probably just that the Yankees feel they have a better chance of winning with CC on short rest than AJ on full rest.
Lee is pitching in game 4.
Really?
ESPN’s Rangers blogger Richard Durrett makes numerous mentions of Tommy Hunter being the scheduled Game 4 starter for them.
http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas.....n-for-alds
Where did you hear that they’re going to Lee in Game 4?
Not. Hunter is.
Credit goes to CC’s wife’s cooking
So I suspect the final ALDS roster to look like this:
Pitchers:
CC
Hughes
Pettitte
AJ
Mo
Robertson
Wood
Logan
Joba
Javy
Nova (or Gaudin)
Hitters:
Jeter
Swisher
Teixeira
A-Rod
Cano
Jorge
Granderson
Gardner
Berkman
Kearns (ugh, but you know Girardi will take him)
Cervelli (kinda miss Molina, not gona lie)
Thames
Nunez
Pena
Agree/Disagree?
**Personally, I would only take 1 of Pena/Nunez, but you know Girardi will take both. Also, I would take Colin Curtis or Golson over Kearns. Not a major step up, but I’ve seen enough of Kearns lately. And offensively, I’ll take Miranda over one of Pena/Nunez/Curtis/Golson, only because he has some power.
Swap Nunez for Golsen as a PR or late inning defensive replacement.
Reports are that the Yanks see Nunez as the better basestealing threat. He may not necessarily be faster, but his speed is certainly good and, apparently, he knows how to use it better for stealing than Golson does.
Replace Javy with either Gaudin or Ring.
SP (3): CC, Andy, Phil
RP (8): Mo, Joba, Wood, DRob, Logan, AJ, Nova, Ring/Gaudin
Starters (9): Sado, Tex, Cano, Jeter, CentWAR Centaur™, GGBG, GrandyMan, Swish, Marcance Berkahames
Bench (5): Lancus Thamman, Cerv, Kearns, and two of Golson/Peña/Nuñez
I have a question, what is the CentWAR part of CentWAR Centaur? I get the centaur part (lol) though.
And, I honestly do not believe Girardi will not put Javy on the roster, whether he belongs there or not. Only because he’s a veteran and stuff. I would prefer him over Gaudin or Ring in Target field, because if he doesn’t give up homeruns, he’s pretty useful
Yeah that last sentence probably sounds stupid. LOL.
This season, Alex Rodriguez became the newest member of the career 100-WAR club.
107.4 fWAR (22nd)
101.9 bWAR (20th)
http://www.fangraphs.com/caree.....8;min=1000
http://www.baseball-reference......reer.shtml
You have 26 peoploe by the way. Marcance Berkathames is 2 people.
I listed him twice, once as Marcance Berkahames the starter and once as Lancus Thamman the backup.
Oh. Didn’t catch that. My bad.
On a catching note (rant), with Posada and Cervelli throwing out a combined 15% of the runners this year and AJ Burnett notoriously bad at holding runners close (which no doubt contributed to Cervelli’s poor numbers) can we please start Posada whenever Burnett pitches?!? I like Cervelli’s heart, hustle and his 2 out hits, but taking Posada’s bat out of the lineup when AJ is pitching (if it gets that far… and I realize this is speculative… is dangerous. It worked last year with Jose Molina, but Molina is also much better at neutralizing the running game.
Throwing out baserunners is only part of the problem. The other part is blocking balls in the dirt and limiting passed balls/wild pitches.
Posada’s still worse than Cervelli in that regard, I’d say.
And catching pop-ups if your Cervelli.
I know it was only twice, but the first time cost Javy 3 unearned runs…in a game we lost by 3 runs.
Kind of off-topic, but relates to the ALDS and playoffs. I kind of see not having “HFA” as an advantage, because if we win just 1 game on the road, we get the advantage. If we win 2, we have a strong chance of not even seeing a game 5 or 7, therefore making the original “HFA” mute. Just my opinion anyway.
It’s going to be even more hilarious when Cliff Lee and C.J. Wilson no-hit down the Rays a few times this week and eliminate them, giving us an easier ALCS matchup altogether.
The Rays winning the division may ultimately be a pyrrhic victory for them.
If we manage to beat the Twins and advance to the ALCS, and Texas beats Tampa, I think we have the mental edge over them, just because of their playoff history against us. Also, (I really hope I’m not jinxing this). Isn’t it something like every time we’ve beaten Texas in the postseason we win the World Series? At least it seems that way in the ’90s.
I don’t think Elvis Andrus and Josh Hamilton care bout the NYY/TEX playoff history. Elvis because he was like 10, and Josh because he was ROLLIN’.
HFA is definitely somewhat overrated in baseball. There’s a tactical advantage to HFA in hockey (location of benches and when lines can change). There’s an undeniable officiating advantage in basketball.
The advantages just aren’t as significant in baseball. Maybe it makes it a bit easier to determine when to bring in your closer in a tie game. The umpires seem to be evenly mistake-prone.
Also, in the 7 game series, I think the team without HFA has a nice edge of getting 3 straight home games. The home team can get comfortable and build a little momentum at home then take it on the road in game 6. Or maybe I’m just thinking too much about 2004.
It is overrated. Unless if we’re playing the Angels in the ALCS or DS, I don’t think it matters as much as everyone says it does. The Yankees can win on the road. The only thing I’m worried about is lately they’ve been relying TOO MUCH on the long ball and that’ll be a problem in Minnesota.
Ehhhhh. Again, I think this team needs HFA. I don’t think you can take HFA stats overall over the years, you have to look at a particular team. This team needs HFA in my opinion.
http://www.baseball-reference......2010#hmvis
If you go player by player, everyone’s splits besides Cano, Swish, and Gardner are pretty drastic. I don’t think you can reference the 2000 Yankees team and say not having HFA is ok because of that…just for instance. This team most resembles last year’s team, and last year’s team lost one home playoff game.
But if they win just ONE game on the road, they then have HFA.
And as we pointed out to you when you brought those splits up previously, the flipside of that is that our pitching is better on the road.
YS3 is an offensive park. It’s natural to expect that our hitters would hit better there. That doesn’t mean by default that we need HFA; we don’t.
Granted, the pitching is better, but the splits are not nearly as drastic (.734 OPS against at home, .707 away).
And FWIW, CC Sabathia pitches better at home (.605 home/.699 away).
It is a given that Yankee hitters would hit better at home, the point is that the home/road splits are severe for many key players. Stating that they pitch better, if only slightly, on the road doesn’t make that fact disappear. Declaring that they do or don’t need HFA is probably a bad choice of words. In my opinion, I believe they stand a much better chance of winning with HFA.
And in our opinion, nobody ever stands a much better chance of winning with HFA, ever.
Because it’s only one extra home game. It’s not like the entire series is played in one park only, NFL style.
Pitching is more important than offense. IMO
I would be shocked if Girardi doesn’t opt for Ring as a second lefty for this series. He is IN LOVE with matchups.
As he should be.
Strongly disagree.
Ring is a) the sort of pitcher you never want facing an opposite handed batter, unlike Marte/Logan, and b) not a lock to get major league lefties out.
He is IN LOVE with matchups.
See: 2009 ALCS Game 3.
That was rough.
Still don’t understand why he went to Aceves over Robertson, with only 2 atbats as evidence. Especially when Aceves almost lost the game the night before.
I know his argument was that Kendrick is a good FB hitter, and Aceves has a better repetoire of soft stuff. If it had worked out, people would’ve lauded him. But it’s a pretty narrow limb to go out on.
See: 2009 WS Games 1,3,4 and 6.
?
As far as Girardi loving matchups, Marte vs. LHP in the World Series. It’s not totally black and white, but he loves matchups for a reason, there is usually evidence to back up a decision based on matchups.
Oh I see. Yeah I didn’t understand, only because I couldn’t think of anything that standed out in those games off the top of my head.
“That crew seems to feature no one too awful as an umpire.”
I’m sure someone will step up and have their “one shining moment.”
One other thing to think about – pitching CC on short rest in Game 4 sets him up for Game 1 of the ALCS on regular rest. They can then maneuver his games/rest as they see fit after that.
Of course, we’re a long, long, long, long way from thinking about the ALCS. Let’s get 3 of 5 first.
Not to put the cart before the horse, but that is a very significant piece of information. If the other series goes to a game 5, it would mean two things. One – either Lee or Price would be unavailable until game 2 on short rest or game 3 of the LCS at the earliest. Two – it would be one hell of a game that shouldn’t be missed under any circumstances.
Side benefit of no Burnett is no thought of starting Cervelli. And Girardi would have at least thought about it.
So the Twins were second in doubles and triples hit at home this year. They have little HR power and Target Field makes it even harder. Seems like outfield defense/speed will be extra important against their offense.
/Gardy plays every game
I know your shtick is hating Kearns, but while Kearns isn’t Gardner in the OF, he is a pretty great defender, both anecdotally and per UZR.
That.
In fact, we no longer have any bad OF defenders at all. Gardner, Granderson, and Golson are all excellent; Swish and Kearns are the least talented, but they’re both still very, very solid defenders adept at getting to flyballs and turning them into outs.
Playing him over Gardner would be too much to take. Anecdotally or statistically…
I feel better about Gardner putting the ball in play, and throwing out runners with his cannon arm.
Could be worse. It’s not like we’re starting Thames and his Gold Glove in left field.
Where’s Cuzzie?!
Speaking of rosters and players in the postseason and all that,
Do you guys think that previous postseason track records (eg last year) could foreshadow how certain players (eg Tex, Cano, Swish) perform this year?
I hope those 3 do the ARod turnaround this year.
No. Not at all. Although the playoffs seem to drag on for weeks, not very many games are played. The small sample size warning applies.
However, I do think some players are better equipped to hit good pitching than others. And last year, Swisher’s swing seemed to be at a point where he was having a hard time hitting against pitchers who didn’t make mistakes and threw quality breaking balls. I expect him to unleash his new swing on pitchers this postseason.
I believe the only way something like postseason struggles carry over from year to year is if its a mental issue. And I don’t think us fans have a good understanding of various players’ mental states.
I just hope A-Rod repeats what he did last year and we see April 2010 Cano again.
No. Teixeira was terrible last year, but with the Angels the year before, you couldn’t get him out. Is he suddenly “un-clutch” now? It all means very little, if you ask me.
I remember him not getting very many hits and getting out alot. But I distinctly remember that the hits he did manage to get were in big situations. (ie. the walkoff homerun in the ALDS, the homeruns vs. Pedro in Game 2, etc).
Vs Liriano Is it:
Gardy
Jeter
Tex
Arod
Cano
Thames
Po
Kearns
Grandy
or
Jeter
Grandy
Tex
Arod
Cano
Thames
Po
Kearns
Gardy
Where’s Swish?
oh shit, swish
Please take Kearns of that list.
off