Feb
27
Open Thread: February 27th Camp Notes
By
(AP Photo/Brian Blanco)
Today’s goings on…
- The Yankees topped the Phillies 7-3 this afternoon. Ivan Nova looked about as good as a pitcher can look in February (four ground balls and two strikeouts), and Dellin Betances was wild but electric in his lone inning of work (three strikeouts and a walk). Curtis Granderson (opposite field) and Jorge Vazquez (second straight day) went deep. Brett Gardner (left field line), Nick Swisher (right field line), and Jorge Posada (left-center field gap) all chipped in doubles, in the same inning no less. Here’s the box score.
- Ronnie Belliard was scheduled to start the game at the hot corner, but was a late scratch because of a calf issue. It’s going to keep him on the shelf for more than a week according to Joe Girardi. Andrew Brackman (groin/hip) threw off flat ground and felt fine. (Bryan Hoch & Marc Carig)
- A.J. Burnett threw to hitters early this morning. He’s scheduled to start against the Astros on Wednesday. (Marc Carig)
- Tomorrow’s game won’t be on television, but among those traveling to Lakeland: Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Robbie Cano, Mark Teixeira, Russell Martin, Jesus Montero, Austin Romine, Andruw Jones, CC Sabathia (starter), Mark Prior, and Manny Banuelos. (Sam Borden)
Here’s the open thread for the night. The Knicks are playing the Heat at 8pm ET (ESPN), and today’s Yankees game is being rebroadcast on MLB Network at the same time. That’s it for local sports, talk about whatever.
108 Comments»
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The Tyler Austin Watch
so how about betances today? /impressed
Betances has really good stuff. A fastball that touched 97, a power change up, and just a nasty curveball. If he is able to continue to have good control like last year and improved command he will torment AA/AAA hitters. Then he can take place as the new “8th inning man”
Topping out at 97 mph in February is beyond impressive.
This confuses me. I thought the pitchers needed time (and sometimes more than one regular season start) to hit their regular season type velocity.
So that means Betances will be hitting 150 mphs by June?
It really depends on how long they have been throwing before, and he was not hitting 97 consistently so it is a little different.
My favorite part is that he struck out three and walked one in exactly 13 pitches.
Yeah, those pitch counts aren’t actually the real pitch counts.
not sure if serious…
thats not accurate. the guy he walked and one of his K-victims had a full count.
carlos ruiz can go f*ck off. mejicanito
Waaaah, annoyed I missed this game and that all the replays are while the Oscars are gone. Oh well – really glad to hear it was that awesome.
same. Except I’m too lazy to watch the encore anyway. I’m a guy who can’t watch encores if he knows what happens, just ruins the excitement
Of course the game manny plays we can’t f-ing watch. Fml.
Did Betances really have 9 swinging strikes? That’s what MLB.com said, but I find that hard to believe. If true though, that’s insane.
definitely, he was impressive. his breaking ball (going off memory) seemed up in the zone 100% of the time, but he got away with it. that nitpick aside, i loved what i saw.
NFW. The nastiest I can recall a Yankee pitcher looking is Joba v. 2007, and he topped out at 7 swinging strikes in 21 pitches.
Link
Betances today: 22 pitches; 12 strikes; 6 swing, 5 foul, 1 looking. Each 3rd strike was swinging.(h/t Mondesi)
Insane. John Lackey had 6 or fewer swinging strikes last year in 1/3 of his starts.
And ugly swings they were. It was quite impressive.
Does anyone else feel a bit cheated by Joba changing his mechanics on the mound? I’m glad he is going back to the waist like he did when he first came up, but if becomes successful again because of it, I feel like I missed a good two years of not only good Joba, but Joba the Starting Pitcher.
No s—. No reason why with the adjustment to earlier, more signature delivery he can’t be a starter. Meanwhile they’re messing around with Colon and Garcia. The Yankees have so twisted this thing up they can see left from right, or won’t. Joba is going to make them look awful foolish if he’s clean with his delivery and his velocity keeps rising – as a 7th inning guy. How about a dose of humility Yankees? Uh, we goofed. We gave up too soon. To make matters worse, that stupid GM accused the kid of being fat, and shot his mouth off on how he’d have to “earn” his right to be some ridiculous middle innings irrelevancy. Yeah, earn this.
he will be in the rotation next season….
So everyone’s (new) favorite lefty is playing in the game no one gets to see? Weak.
My favorite lefty will always be the same, eff you all fickle people. ;P
Would you mind telling Andy that I’m annoyed with him for retiring when he clearly can still pitch?
Thanks.
(Not that I want everyone to be Steve Carlton, hanging on when they clearly have nothing left, but I bet Andy had at least 2 seasons of being well above average left in him)
Andy pettitte wil teabag your ear
Even I don’t want that.
LOL! We all know Obama can’t throw a baseball!
Just saying- although Betances looked a tad wild today, I was incredibly impressed with his stuff. Michael Kay made a very good point (shocked that he did) it was probably one of the first times, if not the first time, that Betances had the chance to pitch in front of his family/friends for the Yankees on TV. It’s still February.. He’s pitching in the second ST game of the year for the Yankees, his hometown team.
I’m sure maybe he is a tad wild normally, but i’d bet we are going to see 75% of that go away when he gets comfortable with the idea. He could also be effectively wild in some way.
Just my two cents.
Dellin really shouldn’t be hitting 97 this early in the season. Maybe he was just geeked up to get into his first game, but you gotta ease your way into it big fella.
It appeared to me that he was overthrowing his fastball. He was probably trying to impress with it, he got the velocity but not the location. His stuff was still incredible.
I don’t wanna be a downer, but let’s not JIMP over one good outing by Betances. He smoked ‘em, but he has injury issues. And let’s not forget, it was only one inning facing spring-training fodder. All that said, looking forward to the MLB debut.
Howard is not spring training fodder!
/shun!
Give it a year
/zing’d
The last guy I remember striking out the side memorably in a ST game was Hamels. We can only dream Dellin becomes that good.
Speaking of “JIMP” and “spring training fodder”, remember last year and Frankie Piliere’s fawning report over Christian Garcia?
I may burst into tears right now.
he threw well, but he was definitely overthrowing.
they kept referring to ‘repeating his delivery’ b/c he was throwing so hard he was losing balance.
We have one of the best leadoff hitters in baseball, who will bat ninth.
Not bad though. He gets on base in front of Jeter, Grandy/Siwsh, and Teix, so he’ll get home no worries.
Girardi, during the game, said that the Yankees signed Jeter to be the lead off hitter, but nothing is set in stone.
Think Jeter will ever leadoff a game with 2 consecutive walks without takng a swing? Doubt it.
Gardy is frustrating-mostly to opposing pitchers. Not sure why he didn’t steal though.
Think Jeter will ever leadoff a game with 2 consecutive walks
That is kind of impossible.
Also, it is Spring Training. I get being excited about everything, but let’s not read too much into anything, especially not at this point. Just sayin’.
To be honest, and I’m not directing at you so much as making my own statement, I really don’t mind him swinging to get on.
The man is nearing 3000 hits for a reason. I know his decline is probably here, but he made his way through career swinging the bat fairly effectively.
I don’t think it’s fair to expect him to start trending to see more pitches per at bat when he’s nearing that milestone. We can all hope he is patient, but it would seem like that would be hard when your chasing a milestone that requires you to make contact.
Anyone doing the FB salary cap fantasy? My team is my handle.
I was able to watch the game in Tamps today in addition to seeing the starting infield plus Jones and Cervelli take BP. Betances absolutely dominated – hitters were shaking their heads in disbelief on the way back to the dugout. At BP, Arod looked to be in midseason form as he put on a show for the crowd launching homer after homer over the left field wall. I’m encouraged for the season.
ty
So I’m not sure if I should get MLB.tv this year. I get YES and live in NY, so I’d only need it for other teams. I have to admit that I’ve watched a couple streams last year and I’d prefer to get better quality streams and ease of use. Anyone want to try to convince me one way or the other?
Eh, not worth it.
If I’m the Phillies, Utley’s health concerns me to say the least
Montero didn’t look bad behind the plate. Even liked when he made a nice backhanded scoop in the LH batter’s box on a bad breaking pitch.
Agreed, but I wanted to see some Phillies run.
Montero has a strong arm but how that will translate to throwing out runners remains to be seen. Our pitchers-especially without Andy-are poor at keeping runners close. We’ll see what Martin can do soon as well.
I’ve heard he has a strong arm but slow delivery. He had below average numbers throwing out runners in AAA, so we’ll see. Maybe Pena or Girardi can give him some tips.
Love me some Betances. Hey everyone.
HI KIT!!!!!
HI BEXY! How are you, doll?
Good, good. Not watching the Oscars, but equally enjoying myself with some completely mundane Plants vs. Zombies playing. (I’m a huge nerd) =)
Haha, I love Plants vs. Zombies and I am a nerd too, yay.
Yayyyy! Nerd friends! *hugs*
*hugs back*
oh where is TSJC to make some inappropriate comment
I know…this is like the perfect opportunity for him. He’s missing out. *shakes head*
Dellin was electric, so was Joba yesterday. Jorge Vasquez is clearly trying to win that bench spot.
is there really a place for Jorge Vasquez if he is our top hitter in ST? Trade value?
Jorge Vazquez’ place is unfortunately AAAA.
Maybe we can get more out of him than we got from Juan Miranda’s rare moment(s) in the sun. The guy has a quick bat-impressive power.
That’d be interesting. Even if he out plays Chavez or Belliard, the Yankees would role with one of those guys first and then drop them if they have Randy Winn type seasons. At least he’s putting on a good show for the scouts. From what the Phillies have seen, Cashman should see if he can trade Vazquez for Hamels.
Oh what is this shit? No watching ManBan? At least we got to see him at the Future’s Game but come on maaaaaaannnnnn.
would it be wrong to assume that the housing market in Trenton is down?
I mean, who wants to live in Trenton?
There are non-hideous areas of Jersey (hard to believe, I know), but Trenton is not one of them.
I’m about 5 mins away from Trenton, it’s not awful
this comment was approved by moi
i was just referencing to everyon that trashes Trenton. I’ve been there a couple times. not especially bad. just a crossroads of a city. nothing wrong with that
Not much news on the Kay wedding although he seems to have lost some weight. He has been tight-lipped about it-not one of his strongest traits.
/successful early husband training
Is nobody watching the Knicks? What is Outsiders era Ralph Macchio doing sitting behind Spike?
I’m digging in the permafrost
I’m scratching out the lines I never thought you’d cross…
(Either I’m totally misreading your comment or you are a fan of my favorite band.)
I know, I know, I rule.
What did you think of Majesty Shredding? I was very pleasantly surprised — I think it’s awesome.
I love it, but I love all their albums so that’s not saying much. So freaking cool.
Going to see them play Radio City Music Hall in a couple of weeks, I’m so psyched.
Gardner has 4 ab’s so far and has 3 walks and a double. He has swung at one pitch if memory serves.
Gardner will have a 1.000 OBP and still will lose MVP to Dustin Pedroia.
Gardner = 1.000OBP
Pedroia = 1,000,000,000.000 Grit
Grit >>>> OBP
I like what I’m reading about the Betances performance
Michael Kay was going crazy about Betances. He said he might try ketchup is he pitches like that again.
Saw the post-game interview with Betances and Jesus. Holy cow, I didn’t realize how tall Betances was until I saw him towering over Jesus.
I was also surprised by that. He’s a giant.
Hard to believe, but Brackman and Andy Sisco are bigger than Dellin.
I don’t use Twitter, so I can’t “retweet,” but I thought this interesting:
“@SBerthiaumeESPN Javier Bardem & Josh Brolin now returning to the top of the gay wedding cake they came down from.”
Wow. Just because they both wore white tuxedos. Makes me wonder about Mr. Berthiaume…
Yeah … he’s getting in trouble for that.
I really, really hope so. I’ve not been sure why he thinks he’s all that special all of a sudden.
Oh, and R.I.P. to The Duke of Flatbush.
After I watched HBO’s Brooklyn Dodgers special from a few years back, I felt that those Dodgers teams must have been a special kind of fraternity. Seeing more of them pass on is such a sad inevitability. And after all, Duke was to the Dodgers as The Mick was to the Yankees.
The Boys of Summer is absolutely the sort of book any bookish little kid should read, especially if he/she is a baseball fan.
(Not too little, there’s some weird stuff about Kahn discovering women in arguably the worst possible way)
Knicks beating the Heat great…. Watching James choke as they are doing it priceless!!!!!!
My early impressions:
Nova looks like an above average major league starter. consistently in the mid 90′s, throws strikes, keeps the ball in the park. His curve looks at least ML average to me. Really looks like a 4.00 to 4.50 ERA guy. I think he’s underrated.
Noesi 92-94 on a very straight fastball. No breaking ball to speak of in his first appearance. I don’t know how a guy can have a succesfull ML career with really no usable secondary pitches. Hopefully his breaking stuff is better than what he showed yesterday. A bit disappointed in what I saw.
Betances has true power stuff. Best case scenario he’s Ubaldo Jimenez worst case Latroy Hawkins (when he was good). Of course he needs to avoid a serious injury. I hope the Twins were watching his performance today.
Phelps and Warren looked pretty average to me.
Warren threw a bit harder and showed better secondary pitches. Trade them and Laird NOW before their stock dips.
I would’ve liked to see Montero tested with a base runner but he actually caught the pitches that were thrown to him today. Surprising after some of the scouting reports I read this winter.
I really don’t think you can call Nova an above average ML starter with only two innings of work under his belt this spring.
BINGO!!!!
Two Spring Training games just wow
And we know he can get through 2 innings just fine. Let’s see him have some success the 3rd time through.
He LOOKS like an abover average ML starter. Not basing that on just the 2 innings he threw today.
Very tough to draw conclusions after one televised inning. Noesi has averaged almost 9 k/9 for his career. He’s not doing that on just the strength of a well placed fastball.
And yet Nova, who throws a straight fastball and has a 6.3 K/9 in the minors (and 2.12 K/BB vs 5.61 for Noesi) looks like an underrated, above average starter.
Good point Pat.
Now, I’m not trying to subvert the values of good pitching and good defense, but whenever I hear that a team is focusing on those aspects as opposed to upgrading offense and it is treated as a new/novel idea, it annoys me. One year it was the Red Sox, this year it’s the A’s. I’d rather have a plus bat with mediocre defense than a black hole in the lineup with great defense. Jorge Posada has never been a defensive whiz, but damn he could(can) hit. Hopefully Montero will fit into this category.
Speaking of Montero, I was expecting a statue behind the plate today from what I’ve read. He looked pretty comfortable and I liked the sweeping backhand catch on a pitch in the dirt at one point. And the first ball he hit at 3B was a goddamn rocket, just bad luck, and the broken bat single was hit hard as well. Hopefully he can hop to AAA for a while to continue to improve on his defense every day and continue hitting as well as he has, and we’ll see him in the Bronx this summer.
Now, I’m not trying to subvert the values of good pitching and good defense, but whenever I hear that a team is focusing on those aspects as opposed to upgrading offense and it is treated as a new/novel idea, it annoys me.
Defense is the new OBP. It’s undervalued. It didn’t work out due to injuries but Mike Cameron signed for peanuts compared to what Jason Bay got despite having the higher WAR.
Obviously no one could have forseen Beltre’s resurgence as a hitter as he was signed for his glove. He got 10 million yes but that’s a bargain for what they got out of him.
Sure you can argue you have to upgrade the offense before defense but when Jayson Werth is getting a 7 or something year deal then it’s pretty hard to do that.
Defense may be underrated, but let’s not turn around and overrate it. I absolutely agree with Sean’s original point “I’d rather have a plus bat with mediocre defense than a black hole in the lineup with great defense.”
“Mike Cameron signed for peanuts compared to what Jason Bay got despite having the higher WAR.”
That would be great if 4.4 were higher than 5… but it’s not. Bay had been a 5 WAR player 3 of the 4 seasons before he signed. Cameron was a 37 year old CF.
“Obviously no one could have forseen Beltre’s resurgence as a hitter as he was signed for his glove. He got 10 million yes but that’s a bargain for what they got out of him.”
It was only a bargain because of his resurgence with the bat. He was better defensively in 2009, but only a 2.5 WAR player because his wOBA was .305. His 4.6 jump in WAR came entirely on offense. His fld fell.
“Sure you can argue you have to upgrade the offense before defense but when Jayson Werth is getting a 7 or something year deal then it’s pretty hard to do that.”
Werth has been at 5 WAR for three straight seasons and his wOBA was .400 last season. I’m not saying that was a smart deal, but he’s an elite player. His wOBA has been .382 or above for 4 straight seasons. He was also an above average defender in 08 and 09. You don’t been to add an All-Star to improve your offense.
That In Memoriam segment was terrible. At least they had the screen on the whole time, unlike last year or even two years ago, but it was way too brief.
Nothing against Lena Horne, but to single her out for special recognition isn’t much better than what they did for John Hughes last year. They didn’t do these kind of special tributes for Robert Mitchum, James Stewart, Gregory Peck, Marlon Brando, and Paul Newman in years past. They barely did anything for Katharine Hepburn for Christ’s sake!
Sorry, rant over.
Dellin Betances looked great, Ivan Nova looked really good and if Jorge Vasquez keeps this pace he should be heading north with the Yankees. A prediction, Jesus Montero will be the Yankees back up catcher this year.
Montero’s defense is fine. The only thing I see that may be below average is quickness. Cervelli is quick and his defense was, at best, average last year.