Open Thread: The next step for Andy

April 21, 2012 by Mike Axisa 117 Comments

Yankees Pettitte — (AP Photo/Eddie Michaels)

While the news on Michael Pineda is not good, everything seems to be going a-okay with Andy Pettitte‘s comeback attempt. The Yankees confirmed today that Andy will made his next minor league start with Double-A Trenton this Wednesday and is scheduled for 80-85 pitches. They want him to make at least two starts of 100 pitches before considering him for the big league roster, so Pettitte is still at least three starts. Still, it’s good news. If you want to catch Wednesday’s game in Trenton, you can buy tickets here. I suggest not hesitating.

Anyway, here is tonight’s open thread. Old buddy A.J. Burnett is coming off the DL to start for the Pirates tonight, plus MLB Network will air a different game later on. The Rangers and Devil both have playoff games tonight and the Nets are in action as well. You folks know what to do, so have at it.

Rey22

Wow, what a game.
- jayd808
  
  I don’t know why I kept watching after it went 9 zip but I did. Thank God for making me a Yankee fan. Whatta game. The sheer irrepressible joy of Nick Swisher, the incredible batting intelligence of Mark Teixeira…and how I love Eduardo Nunez, no matter how much you crap on him here: .455 baby!
Manny

I actually feel bad for booby v.

But man i feel even better we won. What a game.
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa
  
  I have no pity for him.
- jjyank
  
  I don’t. He’s a douche, let him suffer.
- MannyGeee
  
  you know who I think is having the most fun with this? Tito Francona. and well deserved.
  
  the Sox org reeeeeeeeeally fucked him, karmically this was bound to happen to them
- Hall and Nokes
  
  I don’t feel any pity. But I sure don’t want him back in the TV booth anytime soon.
- jayd808
  
  Bobby V is getting shafted. Imagine bringing back the old manager for standing O’s while his flunky Pedey lectures you on “how we do things here” “This isn’t Japan.” You’re right about that you little rascist punk. I hope they ship a planeload of you fried chicken swilling beer guzzling losers for some clean shaven Japanese kids who want to play. Go Bobby V! Bring back Mark Melancon! You got the stuff Aceves! We’re behind you all the way. Love it.
mike_h

The Franchise is on tonight 9pm ET
Greg

By the way, in case you didn’t know, the Sox picked up Marlon Byrd for Michael Bowden and a prospect. Hurts their bullpen even more and Marlon Byrd is not scary at all.
- Needed Pitching
  
  Michael Bowden was already DFA’d
  how does this hurt their bullpen?
  - JohnnyC
    
    It hurts Peter Gammons even more.
http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa

A.J.’s held the Cardinals scoreless through four so far.
- Greg
  
  Make that 5 scoreless
- Steve (different one)
  
  Maybe he was like Ricky Vaughn, just needed his eyes adjusted….
- MannyGeee
  
  ha. go figure. then again, the Cards without Pujols and with Berkman on the shelf… Holliday/Beltran and a bunch of not much else.
http://twitter/TheRealJeromeS Jerome S.

The Red Sox are going to have a serious problem contending this year if they don’t get their shit together. Last year’s April was clearly an abberation; this year they’re obviously not this bad, but with a few exceptions their hitters are either old and past their prime or young and without much potential. The pitchers are mostly broken down and those in the bullpen verge on sadistically awful. It’s like watching a second-tier team, one that could compete in another division in another year; there are some talented players – Pedroia, A-Gon, Lester, Ortiz, and a bit of a drop-off from there – but there’s no depth in talent, no carousel of a lineup, no clear 1-4 or even 1-3 to compete in a series.
It’s early in the season, and virtually no stats at this point have any predictive value. Most importantly, no team can be counted out in April (or May, or even June…). But screw it, this feels right. It feels good in my gut. . The Red Sox are not a contending team.
Havok9120

Time to go read Over the Monster.

Good times.
- jjyank
  
  Way ahead of you. Nothing like a nice cold beer, and cliff-jumping Sox fans at OTM after a Yankee pounding. Good times indeed.
- Sam P.
  
  Wow, no kidding. That’s a great read tonight!
Plank

Will Burnett bunt if he’s in a bunt situation?
velocitee

In other news, Montero went hitless today.
- Chen Meng Wang
  
  We’re still loosing the trade though, cause Pineda’s hurt.
  - Greg
    
    Eh, Noesi might cancel him out. He has been horrible for Seattle
  - JobaWockeeZ
    
    Campos makes it in our favor. I found it funny when analysts said he was the real gem but so far…
  - CJ
    
    Pineda is hurt. Maybe badly hurt. Trade looks like a loss
    - Plank
      
      What gives you the impression Pineda may be hurt badly?
      - mustang
        
        His MD.
        
        SevenAces
        
        You mean WebMD?
        
        mustang
        
        Yes, thank you for the correction.
      - mustang
        
        TOTALLY laymen guess but since all the MRI’s have been clean thus far and would think that it might not be anything major but then again I don’t have a MD.
        
        mustang
        
        a WebMD
- MannyGeee
  
  unlike everyone else, I see what you did there… veeeeeeeeery clever
  - Havok9120
    
    It all depends on if he MEANT to do that.
    
    If so, thats really good.
  - First time lawng time
    
    I don’t see it…
    - I’m sexy and I Cano it
      
      I’ll give you a hint: Philip Humber threw a perfect game against the Mariners
- Kevin G.
  
  Making the Campos trade look even better.
Ari Gold

Noesi and his 97 MPH heater will make us rue the day he was shipped to Seattle. Even if it looks like we added another top 100 prospect.
- Greg
  
  Did you see him pitch last night? Unless you are being sarcastic
  - Ari Gold
    
    Yea very sarcastic which is why I brought up the 97 MPH heater.
    - Greg
      
      Sorry, its very hard to denote sarcasm in text form
  - Reggie C.
    
    Noesi is going to be up-and-down for the bulk of the season, but I do wish Noesi well and hope he displays enough starter skill to stick in that Mariners rotation. If Noesi can hit 97 on the gun, he’ll never return to the minors. If Noesi can’t hack it in the rotation, he’ll undoubtedly get moved to the ‘pen.
Countryclub

Dante jr is back in the charleston lineup. Singled in 1st AB
- Greg
  
  A lot of people, including Mike, criticized the Yanks for picking him but so far I have not heard one real negative about his performance.
  - Chen Meng Wang
    
    Yeah, I remember Mike writing a not so stellar profile on him…looks like he’s shattering any notions we had about him.
    - Preston
      
      Most people thought he was just a power hitter, but he’s shown he can actually hold his own at third base and right now is a really good contact hitter. He hasn’t even really tapped into the one tool (power) that everyone agreed he had as a high-school prospect.
      - http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa
        
        Keith Law saw him take BP before last night’s game, said Dante’s swing has really cleaned up since HS.
        
        Plank
        
        Do you think Keith Law really likes his swing better now or is just making his report jibe with the output he’s seeing. How many times did Law see DBJ play in high school? I’m willing to bet it’s less than the number of times required to give an informed opinion on someone.
        
        I came across this the other day and I really like what I wrote.
        
        http://riveraveblues.com/2012/.....nt-3542932
        
        RetroRob
        
        Law is not a scout, although he does evaluate talent. Think of him as an aggregator of opinions from scouts whom he talks with constantly. He then supplements those opinions by seeing the ballplayers directly. I always find his comments interesting because they reflect the views of many scouts.
        
        He went to see Culver last year, who was actually hitting well when he saw him, and even had a couple hits in the game, yet he still came back with a very negative review, especially of his lefthanded swing. Nothing he’s said so far about Culver has turned out to be wrong.
        
        If he still saw Bichette’s back side collapsing when hitting he certainly would not be shy in pointing it out.
  - Johnny O
    
    He’s still in Low-A. As Parcells said, let’s not put him in the HoF just yet.
    - boogie down
      
      Whom was Parcells referring to when he said that? Still a great quote.
      - Countryclub
        
        Curtis Martin when he was a rookie on Pats
      - Pat D
        
        I thought it was Jeremy Shockey in his rookie year, actually.
        
        Then again, being Parcells, he could have said it about a lot of guys.
- jjyank
  
  Good to see him back. I tend to disregard draft profiles. The Yankees (and other teams too) have different draft boards than BA or KLaw. For good reason too. Teams generally have more information than anyone else, so I always reserve judgement until after the a player’s pro career has started. Dante has given no reason to doubt him so far. Great bat and all reports on his defense have been surprisingly optimistic. Glad to see him back in the line up.
https://twitter.com/#!/Paddock9652 Stratman9652

Watch A.J. have a stellar end of his career in Pittsburgh. I wouldn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
- Betty Lizard
  
  I’d cry, but they’d be mostly tears of happiness. It’s inexplicable why I have such a reservoir go good will toward someone who pitched so poorly for us, but I do.
  - Paul VuvuZuvella
    
    Its because he’s a good guy and frankly, a class act. Congrats Betty, you have compassion.
  - MannyGeee
    
    he was a good dude, just didnt click here. thats all. HE was not without ulcer causing days an the mound, but such is life
    
    alot like Randy Johnson, one of the best pitchers on his time, just got here at the wrong time and maybe the fit wasnt there.
- RetroRob
  
  Are you kidding? This is the start of his HOF run!
Greg

Kemp!
Reggie C.

Kemp now has 9 homers.

I laughed off the 50/50 comment, but now i’m thinking 50 homers might be a tad on the short side.
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa
  
  He’s not going to have a chance to steal 50 bases if he keeps hitting all these homers.
  - MannyGeee
    
    meh, he’ll hit the 50 by july and force the IBB from there on through. These things have a way of working them selves out.
CJ

Who still wants to let swisher and/or granderson to walk to cut payroll? And replace him with Zoilo. Please stop.
- Needed Pitching
  
  nobody wants to cut payroll, but apparently the Yankees intend to do so, which means difficult choices will need to be made
  - Plank
    
    I get the impression that a lot of commenters are for cutting the payroll. I don’t understand why, but they do.
    - Plank
      
      do are
- mustang
  
  I still will be surprise if they keep Swisher.
  - Havok9120
    
    I’ll be interested to see what he wants. He shot a ton of his public negotiating position in the foot during the off season when he kept going on about how all he wants is to stay a Yankee and that, between what he’s made and what his wife makes (no idea what she does)money dooesn’t matter much to him or his family at all.
    
    My God I’d love him forever (more than I do now) if he was down for a majorly team-friendly contract. Not really EXPECTING it, but we’ll see.
    - Midland TX
      
      Opening offer: League minimum but he gets to wear #21 in RF.
Preston

DBJr. got the start today in Charleston, has a hit and a walk so far, so I guess his injury was nothing to worry about.
Greg

Somebody on Twitter came up with this:

The Bobby Valentine’s Day Massacre
- Havok9120
  
  They probably stole that from OTM.
Jimmy McNulty

I think the only way we can characterize what just happened is:

Holy Shit.

Tis all.
Steve (different one)

What happened to Youkilis? Didn’t catch why he was pulled.
- Greg
  
  Hearing a leg contusion
  - jjyank
    
    I’m hearing a vagina tear.
    - Ethan
      
      +1
    - Dino Velvet
      
      no, he choked on some fried chicken
- Spiff
  
  Lack of emotional and physical investment.
Greg

Pirates pull Burnett at 76 pitches after 7 shutout innings.
- mustang
  
  Wow and wow.
  
  The NL sucks did he even have one game like this last year?
  - mustang
    
    7 innings, 3H, 2BB, 7SO and 76 pitches !!!!!
  - Steve (different one)
    
    He had a few games like that, I think the yanks didn’t score in any of them….
mustang

With the Pineda injury the key now is Andy because I can see a least some good in Hughes but Garcia looks done.

Well they can skip Garcia’s next start to buy some time until Andy gets here. Remember when the Yankees had too much starters seem like only a few weeks ago.
- Havok9120
  
  Because it was.
  - mustang
    
    I was being sarcastic I know it was.
Johnny O

Does anyone remember a more awesome April game!?!?!? I don’t. (I’m drinking so my memory is bad, but still…)
- jjyank
  
  Agreed on both counts (awesome April game, but also kinda been drinking since like 3)
  - Havok9120
    
    Drinking since 1, my time, and its 11 now. That said, that’s the greatest comeback in my lifetime by several orders of magnitude, and blows the Clemens game out of the water.
    
    Why that may not make it the best regular season game during that time, its certainly near the top of the list.
NoH

Man, I can’t believe I was out and missed this one. It would have blacked out by MLB.tv anyway, so oh well. I can wait to watch the archive of it.
First time lawng time

7inning shutout. I’m so proud of AJ.
Freddy Garcia’s 86 mph Heat

Sounds like I picked a hell of a day to take off from baseball. A 9 run Yankee comeback and a perfect game?? Seriously?

Also it may be time to think of a new handle.
- jjyank
  
  I’m enjoying the “Red Sox LOLpen” meme. Good a handle as any.
Sean

Who’s rolling Wednesday to Trenton? I got 2 club seats.
jjyank

For those who are wondering: First comment in the “reaction” post at Over The Monster goes as follows:

“Here’s my quick reaction.
Shits self
Throws up
Begins cutting holes in paper bag to wear over head while wearing Red Sox jersey in public
But seriously, just an embarrassment. That’s all I have to say. Someone better take control and get that team playing the way it should.”

Almost spit my beer out reading that. Almost.
Dino Velvet

Yankees are still hitting tooo many home runs. They were lucky to win today considering how many rally killing bombs they launched.
- jjyank
  
  +1
  
  I never understood that. Isn’t hitting a home run the single best thing a hitter can do? How is doing that too much a bad thing?
  - Ted Nelson
    
    I think that was born as a strawman. The real argument was that they relied too much on the HR, and weren’t able to score other ways. I don’t particularly think it was true, but that was the logic: not that hitting HRs was bad, that not scoring outside the HR is bad.
    - jjyank
      
      Sure, I get the argument that relying on the homer could be unsustainable. The reason I never understood it, is because the Yankees have a lot of power hitters. A-Rod, Cano, Tex, Granderson, Swisher…hell even Martin to a lesser extend (for a catcher). That’s over half the lineup, composed of power hitters. I’m speaking generally, not to you Ted. Just voicing my confusion on how a power oriented team can hit too many home runs.
    - Havok9120
      
      You’re quoting the ESPN logic used during that season. The original line was uttered by Joe Morgan during an ESPN game where we “killed the rally by hitting a homerun in that spot.” When Jon Miller called BS on him, Morgan defended the statement to the tune of “it gives the pitcher a clean slate and takes the pressure off.”
      
      From what I remember, that was where the meme originally came from, at least for me.
Steve (different one)

Has Teixiera ever hit an opposite field HR from the left side as a Yankee? What a crazy game.
- Havok9120
  
  Several times, but not in at least one and possibly 2 seasons.
  
  Good times.
goterpsgo

http://ru.memegenerator.net/instance/19147732
Johnny O

If the Yankees win tomorrow for the sweep, what are the odds Bobby V gets fired? 25%? It’s probably unlikely, but it’s certainly not crazy.
- Havok9120
  
  Much, much lower. John Henry would probably have to step in to make it happen, and the Sox fans don’t seem to think that that’ll happen. I tend to agree.
jayd808

The man had a three year plan to recreate the Mets and he’s done it in 14 games. He’s a baseball genius and deserves our utter respect and support.
jayd808

Whats’ this about Keith Olbermann taking over as manager for the Sawks?
JFH

As Warner Wolf would say, “If you had the Red Sox and nine runs today….you lost!”
pistol pete

I’ve always hated Valentine, his arrogance, his hubris, his know it all attitude. When he was with the Mets he always submarined the players in the media. It was no wonder nobody wanted him for 9 years after his stint with the Mets. He’s falling flat on his arrogant face in Boston and I’m loving it. He’s got nowhere to go now. He’s alienated his most popular players, has a ton of players hurt, and has no bullpen. A formula for disaster. This couldn’t possibly happen to a better guy.
TomH

Did anyone notice the grim expression on ARod as he circled the bases after his HR on Friday? He kept that face on as he entered the dugout and took his spot on the bench. It made me wonder if he hurt something on that swing.
jjyank

On another OTM note…some guy was bitching about his fantasy points. Apparently he had both Aceves AND Doubront, and was ripping Aceves for costing Doubront a win. Who the hell has a guy like Dourbront on his fantasy team? I’m a Yankee homer as much as anyone else, but damn. I have Gardner (sucks losing those steals), Swisher, A-Rod, and D-Rob (gotta love the K rates) on my team, so I am definitely a homer. But correct me if I’m wrong, isn’t have Doubront on your fantasy team a bit like having DJ Mitchell (or someone similar)? Just feel like that’s an absurd fantasy team choice, even for a Red Sox homer.
- Pat D
  
  Well, he is taking the ball every fifth day, so you would hope he’d get some fantasy wins because he has a pretty decent lineup hitting for him.
  - jjyank
    
    Still though. After the year Freddy Garcia had last year, he remains undrafted in my league. Just seems lie homerism over took rationality in making a fantasy pick like Doubront. I know all fantasy leagues aren’t the same, but just looking at mine, guys like Ryan Voglesong, Phillip Humber, Liriano, Mike Minor, Kyle Lohse, Bart Colon, Jason Vargas, Kyle Drabek, Chris Sale, Alexi Ogando are all still free agents. Gotta believe the guy that has Doubront doesn’t have any of these (superior) players available. Just struck me as a little absurd to be bitch about Doubront’s fantasy stats, when he is likely to be simple back end fodder.
- JobaWockeeZ
  
  Do you know how rare starting pitching can be if you’re playing in a league with more than 12 people? In the RAB leagues getting a Doubront is a must.
Midland TX

There are some choice comments on USS Mariner, where the consensus is that Eric Wedge’s hacktastic “aggressive” lineup is at least partially if not mostly responsible for the perfect game.

“Does anybody out there own a T-Shirt Shop? There might be a market for some “FEW” shirts. The “F” can mean at least two different things.”

“God dammit, Wedge. Unless Olivo is dating your daughter, put him on the freaking bench!”

“What’s more amazing – the perfect game, or Wedge pinch hitting for Olivo??”

“Leave to a Mariner to even check swing on a pitch about 100 feet outside that bounced up. Leave it our manager to PH someone who just isn’t a good hitter.”
Fin

So if the Yankees skip Freddy’s next start he only has one or two starts before being replaced. What do the Yankees do with him? I would think at this point he has virtually no trade value. I’m guessing with the Pineda situation (who knows when or if he will pitch for the Yankees this year)they send Phelps down to AAA and get him regular starts to be the next pitcher inline should a starter get hurt or Hughes be ineffective.

If Freddy pitches as poorly in his next couple of starts as he has so far, might the Yankees release him? I would think that he gets some time to work out his issues as the long man in the bullpen before that happens. Being sent to AAA is tough on Phelps who right now is probably better than Hughes and Garcia.