Game 126: Co-Ace
By
(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
The Yankees welcomed their ace left-hander back to the rotation last night, and tonight they have their ace right-hander on the mound. Hiroki Kuroda has been one of the very best pitchers in all of baseball this season — sixth most valuable pitcher overall in bWAR — and he’s been especially dominant of late, allowing no more than two earned runs in six of his last seven starts and no more than one earned run in five of his last seven starts. It’s been some run, let me tell you.
The Rays already lost to the Athletics, so the Yankees are guaranteed to lose no ground in the standings regardless of what happens tonight. Of course, I would prefer to see them stretch that AL East lead a little bit. Here’s the starting nine…
SS Derek Jeter
RHP Nick Swisher
2B Robinson Cano
1B Mark Teixeira
CF Curtis Granderson
3B Eric Chavez
C Russell Martin
DH Raul Ibanez
LF Ichiro Suzuki
RHP Hiroki Kuroda
Today’s game is scheduled to start a little after 7pm ET and can be seen on YES locally and MLB Network nationally. Enjoy.
CC Sabathia Update: Just in case you were wondering, Sabathia told reporters that he feels fine and had no problems with his elbow the day after his first start off the DL. He went through his regular between-start routine without a problem.
Rotation Update: David Phelps, who was available last night in the bullpen, will start on Monday against the Blue Jays. Thursday’s off-day gave the Yankees a little flexibility this week, and they’ve opted to give Phil Hughes an extra day of rest rather than start him on normal rest against Toronto.
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I came across this tidbit earlier. Not sure if it has been mentioned
“Bundy figured to get an inning here and there out of the bullpen, but not according to the latest rumor, which has the Orioles recalling him on Aug. 31 and giving him a start on Sept. 6 against the Yankees at Camden Yards.”
http://www.masnsports.com/scho.....eason.html
this should be a relaxing game to watch because, with the Rays losing earlier, I can watch knowing that this game means ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
In terms of life. In terms of baseball it means less then it would have.
In terms of life advice, you’re no Deepak Fucking Chopra.
And I don’t intend to be.
Greg, in terms of life all baseball is meaningless. In fact, as far as life goes, it would exist perfectly fine if nobody had ever picked up a ball and threw it at his friend, who then hit it with a stick. Sorry, but I had to.
Yet we all would have found another on some other blog. Fate, bitches.
I know it’s only rock and roll but I like it like it yes I dooooo
But if they win tonight than tomorrow becomes even less than meaningless… or is it negative meaning?
If the Yankees win tonight, then tomorrow is the true double whammy of no meaning:
1) They won the series and as we all know by now this means game 3 is gravy as all that matters is winning the series.
2) TB will not be playing and the Yankees would have just picked up 2 games, so they can afford to give one back without it “mattering” (and it’s only 1/2 a game, not a full one).
If the Yankees sweep Cleveland, they erase the damage done in the Chicago series like that.
Martin on the Sox/Dodgers trade: “We’re just not going to have as many four-hour games with Josh Beckett not throwing. That’s good.”
Pretty funny.
Looks like Beckett and crew are happy to be leaving.
https://twitter.com/Shredderpunto/status/239433228858044416/photo/1/large
Extra credit for anyone who can spot the bucket of fried chicken in the picture.
Is that Crawford at the back of the plane?? I thought he was leaving Boston to get away from such things!
/i had to.
So I just watched the movie Warrior with Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton. If you haven’t seen it I suggest win or lose by the Yankees tonight to watch it right after the game. It is the best film I have seen in a very long time.
In the spirit of life meaning more than baseball, my son started on the road to walking today. Took up to about seven steps on his own.
This changes EVERYTHING.
Congratulations
Why thank you.
Dude…you’re gonna have fun over the next couple months…they like to run before they have the walking thing down.
I’ll be fine once the TV is mounted, which we haven’t gotten around to yet. Then, I’ll truly exhale.
Well even then, babies run into things so be careful.
Congratulations. His radius of activity will now increase beyond your ability to control it. It’s gonna be a kick ass ride for a few years. Enjoy! Let the games begin…
Congrats! Our kids must be really close in age. Mine is standing on his own here and there and on the verge of walking.
13 1/2 months.
New rule: Whenever things get out of hand in a game thread, let’s just bring up babies.
I guess my Niece started early! She was waddling around her own first birthday.
They’re all a little different. It seems like mine will be a little earlier too, but who knows how long he’ll take from this step to that one.
The range of normal development with walking is massive. I’ve seen tiny eight months old walking like nothing.
Mine’s about 9 1/2 months, so somewhat close. I guess he could still have a little time to go, you never know how long it’ll be between milestones. It’s hard enough keeping up with him crawling everywhere and trying to eat anything that nears his hands. Walking and running is gonna be nuts to handle.
That’s why I laugh at you two and celebrate the fact my niece is my niece and not my daughter. I can spoil the shit out of her, but if she ever gets to much I just give her back to my sister.
Who cares? Let us know when he hits off the tee!
ietc
Awesome dude. Tell your son (who’s name I won’t disclose to the internet) congrats!
Belated congratulations from one old man to another! This really DOES change everything!
Great news about CC as well. I think I can almost exhale now there.
Missed last night’s game, as I was at Citi Field watching the Mets-Astros game with my good friend who is the Astros GM. Mets fans seemed extremely sullen and unenthusiastic, not surprisingly.
I can’t believe no one has asked this yet. It seems like it’s the elephant in the room all day.
WHAT DOES BIG MEMBER THINK OF THE RED SOX-DODGERS TRADE??
Where has he been the last few days?!
He is obviously busy obtaining additional inside information from his secret sources on Twitter and processing said information. Only then will he be in a position to produce a detailed analysis of the trade.
I know I mentioned already, but I can’t get this movie out of my head. Warrior was fucking awesome. If you have Netflix I suggest watching it like immediately. Far and away Hardy’s best effort, 2nd being Bronson.
Never saw it. I have my parents’ Netflix account linked to my xbox. I can watch Instant Queue, but can’t get discs. If it’s available on IQ, I’ll check it out.
Yeah, I just watched it instantly this afternoon. Not gonna lie: welled up and nearly lost it through out the entire third act.
Word. Maybe I’ll watch to tomorrow before or after the Yankee game.
I honestly didn’t think I liked it, because I never really watched MMA, but the story,acting, and cinematography are all incredible. Tom Hardy and his estranged brother enter the same fighting tournament, hilarity does not ensue.
Interesting. I’ve never watched MMA either, despite having a couple friends that are into it.
I might get crucified for this by some on this board, but I’d definitely say it’s the Rocky of this generation.
Well I’ll check it out and get back to you on that lofty expectation.
What’s a more droning, sleep inducing sound?
The drum or John Flaherty’s voice?
Kuroda’s pitches are up early
Kuroda’s looking for the feel
Why does it look like his back is bothering him? Hopefully he’s just not quite fully loose yet.
Good pitch there. Settle down, HIROK.
Not so good a pitch there. Yuck.
Yeah, I feel like I jinxed that. My apologies.
fuck
Aargh!
indescribably lame.
Well fuck. Hope the Yanks brought their bats.
The reverse lock strikes early.
So you’re saying the game is over already?
/greg’d
No, I was just pointing out a method.
Better not say anything. I greg here yet?
Well there’s really no reason to be negative today because this game MEANS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
Hiroki failed us. Offense needs to bail us out.
Well…hopefully Hirok pulls a Hughes and doesn’t allow anything else the rest of the game.
Masterson basically sucks ass. So I’m not too worried.
Man that’s depressing. Full honesty here.
Cheer up, bro! Have a cocktail!
You shouldn’t be so depressed about a game that MEANS NOTHING.
It doesn’t mean anything,but Kuroda had been going so well that expected it to continue.
Another reason not to expect anythig in sports.
I can almost hear John Sterling saying “YCPB Suzyan.”
We can get 3 off these bum easy. let’s go
After the joke that was the Top 1st I thought ‘Well I’ll go run a quick errand at the corner store, Hiroki should have no problem first time through the order way he’s been pitching lately’. Uh, guess not. And with the way this bloated flatulent offense has been playing that’s the ball game right there. Rays lose, give them a chance to get some ground back and this is what they do with it — just like how they squander their chances when they have RISP.
I thought the last few starts that they kept Hiroki in for too long. They needed to since their bullpen is so bad and he was the only reliable pitcher they had but those pitches/innings _do_ add up over the course of the season.
bloated flatulent?
WELL YOU KNOW MEAN GENE THE HULKSTER THINKS YOU’RE FULL OF GRADE A BOLONEY WHATCHA GONNA DO BRUTHA WHEN THE PYTHONS RUN WILD ON YOU!
*grunt*
I miss the hitting out of his mind Chavez.
Hurry back A-Rod.
Wait, A-Gon’s response to the collapse last year was that it was “God’s will”? Seriously? Maybe that ticks me off more than others, because I am an atheist. But really? Question for you believers out there, because I can’t wrap my head around that rationale: does God give a shit about a sports team? Does his “will” actually affect what happens in a petty game? Man that grinds my gears.
Sorry if I offended anyone. I just don’t get it.
really? He said that?
According to Michael Kay on the broadcast.
I have a question for anybody that answers yes to his question. Why is God concerning himself with sports when he should be dealing with the fact so many of his believers go to bed hungry and dying of thirst because he gave them water that is undrinkable.
Also, apologies for offending anyone, but the fact that religious athletes say shit like this really pisses me off.
+1
Exactly, that’s my point. If you believe in God, how the hell can he be more focused on the outcome of your baseball team and not the several innocent civilians getting blown up by artillery fire in Syria every day? Or many, many other examples?
http://www.boston.com/sports/b.....ord_a.html
There’s one article for you.
Wow..Crawford is more of a man than Gonzalez. I never thought I’d say that.
Seriously, you’re a MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER and you’re going to bitch about the SCHEDULE?!?!?! What is wrong with you? Do you have any dignity as a person to not be able to stand up and say “This is our fault, we should’ve and could’ve played better.” Instead you’re going to hide behind “God’s plan” and the fucking schedule?! I officially have more respect for Dustin Pedroia than Adrian Gonzalez.
I loved this take on it from a Padres blog.
http://www.gaslampball.com/201.....n-gonzalez
Yup, it’s kind of ironic that them trading away maybe the number 2 excuse maker in baseball could allow them to sign the number 1 excuse maker in baseball.
*sigh*
Okay, answer from a believer: God’s will affects EVERYTHING if you’re a believer in the Abrahamic God. So yeah, the collapse was God’s will. The victory was God’s will. Wins, losses, everything is God’s will.
You guys are just bringing up the problem of evil all over again, as if the classical scholastic philosophers have never addressed it before.
As a promise to Mike I promise I won’t even pay attention to any of the responses and I’ll pretend this never happened and I’ll never mentione religion again, even to respond to somebody.
But come on. This isn’t even worth mentioning. He’s a believer who is trying to be optimistic about his situation by pointing out that ultimately God won’t lead him wrong. There’s nothing wrong with that. It was a throw away comment.
Fair enough. I disagree firmly, but I won’t argue about it.
You’re right, this isn’t the time, or place for a fundemental debate on religion. I would like to address one thing you said though “you guys are just bringing up the problem of evil all over again, as if the classical scholastic philosophers have never addressed it before.”
Two things:
So what that scholastic philosophers have brought it up? The question hasn’t been answered to my satisfaction.
The God I was taught about as a child is omnipotent. If he wanted to, he could erase evil with a thought.
Free will?
I mentioned that I am an atheist, but I am also a confirmed Presbyterian, technically. So I do know where people are coming from, I just disagree.
I’m a confirmed Catholic, technically, I too disagree. I’m really trying to not get into a religious discussion, because I can talk about religion for hours and I’d really rather not on a baseball forum lol.
True that. Some other time, Plouffy.
Shit. He does look a little less limber than usual. He’s not curling his back quite as much as usual in his windup.
Hiroki doesn’t have it tonight…I guess he was due for an off night seeing as he hasn’t had one in a few months.
Every pitcher does throw a clunker now and again. However, its a really inopportune time for it.
Is there ever an opportune time for a clunker?
When you have everything wrapped up in the division or at the beginning of the year when their’s plenty of time.
Compelling.
Yeah, our best bet is that he can grind through 5, not allow too many more runs, Lowe pretends to be good again, and Masterson starts getting some pitches up.
throw strikes.
Kuroda failed us tonight. It happens. Hopefully Lowe is pissed that Cleveland cut him and he will shut them out.
This is not good.
guess it’s gonna be a Lowe night.
The fact that he is taking forever and still not throwing strikes is making this much worse.
Looking like this is going to be a Lowe night.
Thanks Tex!
We really don’t need to worry about the Rays for a bit. They’re off on Sunday and then they play the red hot Texas Rangers
It’s not about “worrying.” It’s about adding to that lead any opportunity you get. No, it’s not the end of the world, or anything like that, but any time we don’t take advantage of a Rays loss is a missed opportunity to gain additional breathing room. Still a lot of head-to-head games against them left. It’d be nice to not have those series decide the division.
Kuroda will get his shit together.
Wait, so Greg, you’re standing by your statement that this game means nothing because the Rays lost?
Yes, in terms of needing to win.
You would like to win to stretch the lead.
That doesn’t make sense. If they win, that increases their chances of winning the division. If they lose, that decreases their chances of winning the division. That’s why this game matters (same as every other game).
Jeremy Guthrie is really bad. It’s fitting that he’s on the royals.
already down 3? Hiroki shitting the bed?
Look who’s back! Where’d you go last night?
Stop playing tough guy, bitch.
Not for hypocrits and whiners who come and go.
You’re a hypocrite and a whiner…except you never go.
Unfortunately, he never goes away.
He’s too busy trying to convince us that momentum and a good media relationship are essential to having a successful baseball team.
I had to work, dumbass.
At the exact point when the Yankees took the lead? Seems a bit strange.
I’ll send you my time log, boss.
The thing about Kuroda is that he doesn’t pitch well on the road.
He got beat up by the Red Sox, pitched very well against Seattle, and barely hung on against Detroit, giving up only 3 runs but 10 hits.
Why the F is Martin batting 7th? Lefty/righty; shmefty flighty.
He sucks and should bat 9th. Sorry, if you’re hitting below The Mendoza line that should be an unwritten rule.
Yes. But Joe’s binder clearly says: lefty/righty, righty/lefty.
Masterson in his career is 2-3 with a 3.31 ERA against the Yanks so he pitches them tough.
Masterton has two pitches so you basically know what you’re going to get. Let’s see if the second time around we shit on this guy.
From your lips to omniscient omnipotent god’s ears!
Justin Masterson vs:
Oak: 5.2 IP 9 H 7 ER 2 HR
Det: 4.0 IP 10 H 7 ER 4 BB
Min: 5.2 IP 7 H 8 ER
TB: 4.1 IP 9 H 8 ER 4 BB
Tonight against the Yankees…no hitter.
He pitches them well. 2-3 with a 3.31 career.
Luke Hochevar vs:
TB: 9 IP 8 H 0 R 8 K
8 IP 1 H 0 R 10 K
NYY: 2.1 IP 7 H 7 R 0 K
YCPB, SUZYN!!!!!!!
Argh. I think it’s time to add Masterson to the list of pitchers who have the Yankees number. Yanks should definitely be in on him if Cleveland makes him available. I love groundball pitchers who throw gas.
Do we really want a GB pitcher with Jeter and A-Rod manning the left side of the infield?
http://www.baseball-reference......6260.shtml
Does he “have their number”?
Hey four runs ain’t bad!
Not bad, but not “has their number” either. Let’s see how it plays out.
Best part of that game was Cory Wade
They have their number until the Yanks beat their asses. Then we think another guy does. Rinse.
Greg, you are delusional thinking that whether the Rays won or lost *today* determines whether it matters if the Yanks win or lose *today*. The season outcome is not determined by whether teams win more or less when other teams win or lose, but by the final season record of each team.
the funny (scary?) thing is, he really believes in this shit.. crazy people should not be allowed on a computer..
If not for crazy people the internet would be pretty boring.
…and the Dutch, who are always crazy on the internet.
It doesn’t make it useful for the two of you to fight like toddlers on game threads.
This.
Greg’s comments aren’t always rational or anything, but the incessant berating of him lately is just as (if not more so) obnoxious. Let’s just talk about the Yankee game, hm?
You guys are right, I’m sorry.
He just doesn’t want to accept the fact that we’re playing like shit right now and if we can’t score off this guy who has two pitches, then some people are going to get negative on this blog
Kuroda looks like he’s loosened up a bit more and is curling his body more on the windup.
That Sugardale hot dog behind the plate looks fucking gross.
And surprise surprise, Hawk is questioning the strike zone for Quintana
Mattingly is one
Can Towers stop dangling Upton? Either you trade him or you don’t! Stop teasing.
Moose was just in the booth for the Orioles broadcast. Looks good.
95 with a little sink. Nasty
Bautista just got taken out of the Blue Jays Orioles game.
Dodgers got him.
Really? Wow. They are not fucking around.
pwnd
be fair to yourself, we all jumped over to mlbtr the second we read that.
Masterson picked a really bad time to start being dominant. Also he’s getting some generous calls from the ump.
I have just been informed by my wife that Snooki is in labor!
Fuck. I really thought the Mayans were right, the world isn’t going to end for another 4 months. How can this be possible if the demon spawn is born today?
Aw come on, I feel bad for the kid. It’s not his fault that his Mom thinks orange is a legitimate skin tone.
I shudder to think of that girl as a mother.
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tum.....1_1280.jpg
Holy shit. That bitch should have be sterilized a long time ago.
Snooki never said that. That’s a Grade A Bullshit quote, written by some dude on Reddit, that went viral. It’s made up.
Damn. I really hoped it was real. Stupid Internet.
HOLY SHIT!!!!1111!!!11! OMG THIS IS BIG NEWS OMG!!!!!!1111!!11!!!111!!
Cano’s coming back.
#DJ1720K
impossible to hit with a strikezone this big
Teix was delusional there. That was a beautiful strike.
Agreed.
That was a good call. Mark just got fooled on the breaking ball.
Some entertainment during a so far shitty game.
https://twitter.com/YankeeSource/status/239511639009923072/photo/1
Hahaha
Teixeira always takes those pitches that are too close to take.
Let’s trade Teixeira and A-Rod for Hanley and Gonzalez.
STFU Tex that was a strike.
Yunel Escobar is legit awful.
Yup. He has no big standout tool. Just an okay shortstop.
Good defense.
You looked in his pants?
I’m legit amazed/angry on how the Orioles/Rays are still in it.
Amazed that the Rays are in it? They have a very solid team.
The Rays = Starting pitching and stealing bases
The Orioles = Bullpen and winning close games
Winning close games = lucky
The Orioles are just a bunch of lucky fuckers.
I’m never amazed by the Rays. That’s a solid organization. Cliches like “don’t look at the names on the back of the uniform” actually do apply there.
Kuroda is a different pitcher now.
Both pitchers are getting a big strike zone.
At least both of them are now. In the first couple of innings it was just Masterson.
That third strike looked too hittable.
I think the Yankees are going to win this game.
Back from the gym. I hate games in which your normally-great starting pitcher struggles out of the gate, settles down, but you’re then playing catch-up, but probably not as much as Hiroki Kuroda hates it.
Great opportunity to gain some additional breathing room back. Gotta take advantage of as many of these opportunities as possible this late in the season.
Welcome back, R-Tils.
Granderson kind of sucks. It’s not a slump anymore.
He was really hot in Chicago.
Two singles in 11 at-bats with 4 K’s is really hot?????
congrats to Russell on being the worst Yankee hitter in over 40 years.
If batting average is your sole criteria on judging a hitter, sure.
I’m legitimately impressed that he managed this feat as a member of a currently first place team and almost undoubtedly a 90+ win team.
A tip of the hat to the Amazing Mr. Martin.
Martin will be lucky if he gets a minor league deal next year.
He’ll easily get a major league deal. Probably a multi-year one too.
This.
He’ll easily get a MLB deal. He’s not even the worst starting C in baseball, never mind all the backup catchers who are worse.
This is so far from reality, I don’t even know what to say.
I see this has been a banner game so far…
http://files.sharenator.com/fu.....-70813.jpg
wait never mind. I thought there was 2 outs.
Ibanez/Jones might be the worst platoon we have ever had.
Ibanez has been decent…Jones has been dead in the water since the end of the Boston series he was out of his mind in.
Ibanez has not been decent.
His wRC+ is exactly 100. That’s decent. Not above average, but average. Just because you dislike a player doesn’t mean he’s playing worse than he actually is.
108 wRC+ against RHP.
Except he hasn’t just faced RHP. He HAS faced lefties and done terribly and also played defense and done terribly.
He’s a platoon player. I couldn’t care less about 47 plate appearances sprinkled throughout the year against LHP.
They’ve had their moments but yeah they haven’t been exactly lighting it up this year. I’m hoping Ryan Ludwick declines his mutual option next year with the Reds and signs with us. Would be a great RH DH/OF. Hell he’d even be a nice replacement for Swish.
This team is so slow and old. Cash needs to infuse some young blood into this team.
It’s funny you say that, meanwhile Derek Jeter (aka one of the oldest players on the team) is having an outstanding year.
And Chavez has been great overall too. “Infusing youth” sounds nice, but it’s not that easy.
When I say team I obviously don’t mean everyone. I mean I don’t consider Cano old and Jeter slow.
Not a good argument. ONE case of an exceptional year for a player over 35 does not refute Banana’s claim, which is true. Slow and old is about right.
Jeter
Chavez
Mariano(when he was healthy)
A-Rod (when he was healthy)
Kuroda
Pettitte (when he was healthy)
Ibanez(to a lesser extent)
and all the injuries I mentioned were all non-age related fluke injuries.
Age increases the likelihood of ‘fluke’ injuries.
Like Pettitte getting hit by a comebacker and ARod getting hit by a pitch in the hand? I guess you could argue that Mo’s ACL tear was due to age, but that’s really all.
Even that is tenuous.
In reply to both, it doesn’t change the likelihood of getting hit (though reaction time could be argued, I guess), but the wear and tear of age and other things their bodies have been through over time increase the odds of damage being done.
How is it any more likely for Andy to get hit with a comebacker than Phelps, or Alex to get hit in the hand instead of Cano?
Joseph and Mustelier will be on the team next year. Maybe even Adams and Zoilo Almonte with his brother Abraham not far behind.
Then you’ll want the old and slow players back because those four (or five) will fucking suck. If two of those guys are on the roster at the same time, something went horribly wrong.
That’s BS. Mustelier could easily match what Jones has done and while Joseph probably won’t match Chavez he still has potential. Adams might need another year to replace Nix, ditto Zoilo and Ibanez so I could see us retaining Ichiro and signing another bench outfielder to replace Iboonez.
Oh, sure. Mustelier’s 6% walk rate in the minors really has me confident that he won’t hack at enough terrible pitches to match Andruw’s .451 SLG.
Mustelier’s K rate in AAA is 12.7%. That suggests to me that he is not a ‘hacker’ and will make contact. He will not slug like Andruw but I think he could have a much higher on base percentage and play just as good defense in the corners. He also is likely a better baserunner since Andruw is old, slow, and fat and smiles when he strikes out 30% of the time.
“easily match”? Are you serious? He’s literally never had a single MLB at bat. Can we stop projecting non-prospects as being locks?
Can we stop pretending that Andruw Jones is an asset? If Mustelier sucks then guess what, we aren’t in a worse position than we are with Andruw on the team.
Mustelier could absolutely be worse. Maybe not, but he could be.
Andruw’s been a big disappointment, but he’s still been close to league average offensively. It’s entirely possible Mustelier can be worse than that.
I don’t think Andruw will be back, but I don’t think Mustelier will be the replacement.
He’s not an asset at all, but there are better options out there than both of them. I’d take Hunter on the team before either of them next season. I know he’s generally hated by NYY fans, but the dude can still field and hit a little bit. Definitely enough to platoon.
Joseph has some potential offensively, but he hasn’t played third since 2010, despite an organizational need given Arod’s injuries. I’m guessing there is a reason for that, and Joseph likely won’t be considered as a replacement for Chavez.
I have been told that any middle infielder could move to third. So I don’t see what the issue would be. CoJo could get regular at-bats against righties at DH, 3B, and occasionally 2B next season.
I’ve read that he doesn’t have the arm strength to play third. The fact that he hasn’t played 3rd at all in a couple of years despite being blocked by Cano at 2B would seem to indicate they don’t see him as a 3B. I may be wrong.
Maybe as injury callups. I’m guessing none of those guys are on the opening day roster unless it’s filling in for an injury.
JACK ONE, ICHIRO!!!!!!
You’d watch
Surprise, surprise.
Bottom of the order used to be a lot more fun when it was good
That’s something Cash needs to work on in the offseason. Our bottom third of the order can’t continue being auto-out central. I’m not asking for 30HR guys in the bottom of the order but at least guys who are decent situational hitters and can keep their batting average close to .300.
Oh, close to .300? That’s it?
You know what I mean Mike. Better hitters. We can’t all be as eloquent as you!
Juan Pierre come on down!
Bad luck again. They got good contact on two balls and they didn;t fall.
Maybe Ibanez’s wasn’t good contact but as Kay said, it was ticketed for center field.
Yeah and the Indians pushed 3 across with one out. Just good luck I guess.
No that was crappy pitching.
There is no such thing as “luck” — there are just things that happen and things that don’t. “Luck” is something projected onto a thing that happens by someone observing or experiencing it. Saying “that line-out was bad luck” is a sort of moral complaint about the world: “that line-out was the sort of hit that ought to get one a base, but it just so happened that it didn’t; the hitter did not receive his just moral reward for his hitting, through no fault of his own”. But the world is meaningless; things happen as they do just because there is nothing else that could possibly happen; to talk about “luck” is to act as if one has a privileged sense of judgment about actually meaningless things.
spot on.
The problem is that there’s no way to decide what’s luck and what isn’t. Is it bad luck if you take a swing that would be very good if only the ball stayed straight, but the swing misses because the ball breaks? Is it bad luck if you just happened to be genetically predisposed to taking those bad swings at breaking pitches, like many of the Yankees seem to be? And so forth. Of course, we can have a meaningful discussion with each other about what’s “bad luck” and what someone is “morally responsible” for – e.g., we might come to an agreement that bad curveball hitting means he’s just a “bad player” not that he’s a good player merely having “bad luck”. But we don’t really need a single self-satisfied overlord appointing himself to tell us what’s luck and what isn’t.
Anyone know the Yankees BaBIP with RISP?
.273
What’s league averaga?
.293
Well look at that. The Yankees have been stung by that this year.
Yankees also have a lower than average LD% and higher than average IFFB% in those situations. It’s not all luck, quality of contact has been an issue as well.
Meh, babip isn’t everything. You also have to take into account LD% and the like.
Nice!
Russell Martin just bailed out Kuroda big time, excellent play by the Russ Bus.
Cleveland’s backup catcher has a high batting average than our starting catcher.
Let that soak in.
And the Yankees lineup as a whole is far, FAR better than the Indians lineup as a whole.
So does Chris Stewart.
Two on and no out.
Time to make some hay.
This is their golden chance
This feels like the reverse of the last few games. Tribe scored early but didn’t capitalize on Kuroda’s shittyness enough. Yanks poised to do damage.
Solid piece of hitting there.
Get some more.
It’s amazing how many Yankee RISP hits don’t result in runs.
Damn…If only it was a little higher and Derek could’ve just run.
Good baserunning
Tags all around and Jeter scores. I approve.
Well, that’ll work.
Any run counts.
Bases loaded, no outs. Time for a K and a DP.
Nice baserunning.
Love the sac fly! Great Tex! I feared a double play there especially with a groundball pitcher…
Crooked number time let’s go
Avoid the DP Chavez.
Oh that was some poor luck there.
MORE BAD LUCK
Or you could say the defense had him played perfectly.
oh Chavezombie.
Fuck. that was smoked.
THERE IT IS AGAIN
Or you could say the defense did its job and had him played perfectly.
Really? Choo had to reach for it.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
this is ridiculous. everything is smoked and they get one fucking run.
Did Russel Martin run over babip God’s puppy or something?
I’m just going to tell myself that these bases loaded, RISP issues will sort themselves out. Unreal.
Well, that was disappointing. Like Mike said, it does look like the reverse of last night, right down to the same score. Hopefully that will change in the last 3 innings though.
The Yankees BaBIP in scoring situations has not been kind to them all year. And it shows again. UNbelievable.
You’re playing the worst team in the league and you can’t manage more than 1 run with the bases loaded and no outs? Really? Try to get a hit Chavez. Maybe Martin could hit .200 this season.
Did you watch that inning?
You are honestly blaming the Yankees offense for that? You must be smoking something.
The Indians should make Carlos Santana available instead of Choo. Assuming his pitch framing is good.
I forgot to add:
#spoiled Yankee fan
Sugar Land Skeeter Roger Clemens striking some guy out
http://assets.sbnation.com/ass...../roger.gif
lulz.
Hey guys, I just yelled “FUCK!!!” really loud and gace the tv the middle finger. I’m just saying.
“Russell Martin’s batting average has not been kind to him this year.”
“Jon Lester’s ERA has not been kind to him this year.”
- A really strange way of speaking that imagines statistical measurements are moral persons which can be “kind” or “not kind” to the human beings the statistical measurements are supposedly about
BABIP with RISP is something that much harder to control than ERA or batting average.
You cannot “control” statistics.
You do things. Or, things happen, which is the same thing. Statistics measure those things that happen.
It’s a measure of how much Kuroda’s pulled it together that he’s now got a lower pitch count than Masterson. I think he was about 25 pitches ahead of him after the 2nd.
I’m surprised they let Kuroda start today instead of Phelps. Couldn’t Hiroki have used the extra day of rest since he’s old?
They are going to have to hit a homer to win this game if this bad luck continues. I counted 4 hard hit balls with runners in scoring position that were diverted or hit right at people.
They’re BaBIP with RISP is .20 points below the league average. And it has showed tonight.
Would it be good luck for them to hit a home run? I think it would be good luck in a completely neutral situation. Given that they are really in need in a home run in this situation, because of their bad luck elsewhere (a bad luck which we can apparently reasonably expect to hold for the rest of the game), it seems that we can say it would be _especially_ good luck to hit a home run. Here’s hoping for good luck!
Home runs don’t win ballgames. We’re going to need to get a single- bunt-single our way in two consecutive innings because small ball wins games.
That makes no sense.
I don’t care how they score, but runs win games. If they get them by HR or if they get them with the ol’ “small ball” inning I don’t care. All I know is it’s completely possible for somebody to hit a 3 run homer and give us the lead, or hit a 2 run homer right now and tie.
Home runs don’t win games. Small ball doesn’t win games. Runs win games. And home runs score runs, every time.
Sorry. This is a close game and home runs cannot be hit in those games, only stat padding ones in YS3.
Sarcasm meter broken then?
Some of that is probably the result of the shift our big bats/ no avg guys hit into.
maybe they should try hitting the ball softer?
God is that right field playing mind games with me.
Yankees’ BABIP with the bases loaded is .173. I assume thats going into tonight.
That’s way below the league average.
Baseball would be one frustrating sport if that was league average.
Perhaps if all we hit are extremely soft dribblers we can get hits and score runs.
damn you Choo
does that mean Aceves will be on the trading block? I’d be interested
I wonder if Jeter will be able to do it again next year.
Ichiro really can’t hit anymore. It is too bad that age makes baseball players not hit as well as they used to, and makes people in general less physically fit to perform in the world. Every time I see him waste another Yankee at-bat, I think “Man, it’s bad luck for the Yankees that aging exists.”
Tell that to Josh Beckett.
Tell that to the Captain and to Andy
a swish homer would be nice right about now
Cano homer would be even better
can’t argue with that
Those two men on base are just going to be headed right to the LOB stat. I have no confidence in this club to knock runners in right now. It’s HR or bust.
And you know why that is?
Cano hasn’t hit a home run in a while. He’s due.
Sweet, Cleveland didn’t go to a lefty. Pestano is good but right handed so Cano might be able to knock one in.
I don’t know why but I have a lot more confidence in Cano than Teix here… even though Robbie’s numbers suck with RISP
Make this count, Tex.
C’mon Tex you’re overdue
Cano’s plate discipline has been much better this year than last year.
Meh. Anecdotally it seems like he still swings at a lot of crappy pitches. But his BB rate is up.
Cano’s the best hitter on the team. He needs to do better than just pass the baton there.
Like swing at a pitch off the plate and get himself out?
Yeah he should get himself out swinging at a pitch out of the zone.
Are you kidding? That was a tough AB.
of course.
Fuck. YOu. Baseball.
Un-fucking real.
God.
That’s four times in this series alone with the bases left loaded.
Mostly due to bad luck.
Three of the four innings ended on flyouts/popups and double play balls.
That’s not bad luck. That’s not getting the job done.
I bet you NOBODY here predicted THAT would happen, amirite????
Bad luck. He just missed it and popped it up.
Sadly, I don’t think this is sarcasm.
Squaring the ball up isn’t luck, it’s skill. Bad luck would be if he squared it up and hit it at somebody.
So Mark Teixeira is not a good player?
Didn’t say anything remotely like that.
You’re just never going to get it, are you? Not everything is attributable to luck.
In Baseball it is. The whole game is essentially luck. Players can’t direct the ball where they want to go.
So the difference between Miguel Cabrera and Chris Stewart is that Cabrera is luckier?
You’re really just not even worth getting into this with. It’s really sad if you actually believe everything you spout on here.
I’ve been keeping quiet, but I just want to state my agreement. You’re right-Johnny Bench wasn’t better than Russel Martin. It was totally luck. And Mickey Mantle was no better than Shelley Duncan-luck. And Jeter? Why, if it weren’t for luck, he’d suck!
Thank you for finally opening my eyes, Greg.
+1
I’m still waiting for him to call a HR that goes 500ft “lucky”
…because you know if the batter swung a cm or two lower it might have been a ground out or a popup.
You’d think ANY hitter in baseball would “luck” their way into a 25 HR season or a .300 batting average at some point.
“YAGJ”
(Yet Another Greg Justification)
I would love to know the Yankee’s BA with bases loaded. In other news, I think after that I’m going to take a break from baseball for a few days…
Aw what bad luck. If that pitch had only struck Tex’s bat 1cm lower it would have been a slam.
Sick of hearing this shit about getting unlucky. They’re just flat out not getting the job done, not getting the bit hit in the clutch. Teix was swinging for the fences there instead of just trying to get a hit and tie the ballgame.
THe stats say otherwise.
I’d love to see the ‘unlucky’ stat.
babip can be considered a “luck related stat.” Sure it has its roots in LD% and FB% and GB% but if a team has an high LD% and a low babip one could argue they are an unlucky team. Also, you’re record in 1 run games is largely due to luck. Had one thing broken another way the outcome is completely changed. Luck plays a bigger factor than some of you are giving it credit for, and not as much as Greg is.
Greg doesn’t realize BABIP normalizes to a league average for Pitchers, not hitters.
He also doesn’t realize one of the reasons the Yankees have a low BABIP is because they hit a lot of HR’s (which don’t count as a BIP)
No, Greg said that in baseball the whole game is essentially luck. None of us are going completely in the other direction. forensic asked for the “unlucky stat” and you pointed out that BABIP depends largely on variables that swing wildly from game to game, as do one run wins.
There is no “unlucky stat”. BABIP, as you pointed out, has factors the players are responsible. There are a lot of variables people can’t control but denying the skill of the ballplayers completely is ludicrous. None of us are denying luck completely. We’re just reacting to Greg’s insanity posts.
Can’t wait for Joe’s postgame. “Hey we put some good at bats on them. That’s baseball”
Man, BABIP screws the Yankees again! Bad luck! That pop-up could have fallen.
Remember the ALCS against the Angels in 2009?
I don’t even…
Had to turn the game off last night after the Risp failures. Cant take it again tonight. Hopefully, turning the game off again tonight works as well as it did last night.
Just to cheer everybody up http://25.media.tumblr.com/tum.....o1_500.png
And here coems the fucking anger. STOP THE ANGER!
You gonna sic the luck police on everyone?
Unlucky AB…. another cm or two and Martin would have a HR on like 4 or 5 of those foul balls.
Pestano just got really lucky. Or did Martin get unlucky?
That’s bad luck because Hannahan should have gotten out of the way.
BABIES!
lol, well done.
I think Hiroki’s saying, well I tried long enough and now I’m just giving up. Can’t really blame him with all the men LOB. I’ve never seen a more unclutch team than this one. HR or bust. They’re all trying to hit the big HR like Swisher did last night.
Yup. That’s exactly what he was saying. Funny way of showing it, having guys hit into double plays like that. Must be an Asian thing.
He was thinking it then he heard his high school coach saying “run.” and decided against it.
Oh god, I read that NYT article..
That’s just bad luck for the Indians because Jeter didn’t make an error.
After a very shaky start, Kuroda managed a good start.
Now about that run support ….
A double play. Hey what BAD LUCK for the Indians, If that ball had been two feet to the left the score would be 4 – 1.
It’s good luck for the Yankees that they had good enough luck to get that double-play.
Granderson striking out.
Well, there’s a shocker.
Oh, come on. He’s just unlucky!
No John, it’s not the velocity or deception.
It’s all luck!!!
Right down the middle, fuck. Gtanderson what are you doing.
Please for the love of god Martin get on here so our 1-2 in the 9th doesn’t have to be Ibanez/Ichiro. That would be terrible luck.
Darn…no such luck.
This is the problem for Hiroki. He can’t make a mistake. If he doesn’t win 1-0 he won’t win. It’s just like Felix. I don’t know if this helps his Cy young candidacy or hurts it.
A-Gon 1st AB = 3 run HR. lol.
They’re lucky that he might be lucky enough to be worth $260 million.
lmao you’re going all out on this luck thing
Sorry, couldn’t resist. Hopefully that’ll be the last one.
what a shitty effort from the offense.. 3 games in a row now..
Can you believe that luck? Hannahan was right there
Unlucky AB…. another cm or two and Martin would have a HR on like 4 or 5 of those foul balls.
Pestano just got really lucky. Or did Martin get unlucky?
AGonz hitting a three run homer in his first Dodger at bat.
Of course.
Meh, he got lucky.
Yankees haven’t won a single game this year where they trailed after 8.
Buck that trend tonight.
HIROK
Offense
Not like this is something new….Nope…..poor Hirok, 3 runs should be nothing to this lineup but no…
Sadly, you combine their usual run support for Kuroda with their general poor road play over the last bunch of weeks and this is what you can get.
Unfortunately, you can’t erase that 3 run homer, but it is very impressive that Kuroda settled down and shut them down for the likely CG. Looked like he wasn’t lasting 4-5 innings.
Kuroda 8IP ruined by one bad pitch and an ineffective offense. yuck.
Ibanzez – Flyout
Ichiro – K
Jeter – Groundout
The 9th inning is already scripted.
I’d reverse it for Ibañez and Ichiro
4 hit ball over 8 innings – that’s a pretty damn good effort for Kuroda and a game the Yankees should win.
The only game I can think of this year where Hiroki was picked up by his offense was the crazy game against Beckett at Fenway in July.
Hard to remember any others.
Clutch Raul. Clutch.
nice AB by Raul
Holy shit was he safe.
safe.. but it’s nice that the ump wants to go home
Swinging strike 1….
Always good to try for the game tying 2 run HR with the bases empty.
Sometimes, I am enlightened to hear the frustration in Michael Kay’s voice coming through.
Rays already lost today, and lost 2/3 to the A’s, a very nice gift from Oakland. This is looking like a total missed opportunity.
Totally. Gotta use moments like these to put some distance there. Too many games against the Rays left.
I figured the Yankees have to win five of the six games against the Indians and Jays in order to be in a relatively comfortable position, entering that stretch against the O’s and Rays.
As it stands, they’ll need to win their next four games to make that come to fruition.
I mean……not having a dogfight in the AL East is a luxury, but it’d sure be nice for those series against the Rays to mean less.
Like you said, missed opportunity.
The Rays lost so this game meant nothing.
/greg’d
Whenever I miss a game, or the majority of it, and the Yankees lose a proverbial, non-descript 4-1 game or something, I often hear conjecture like “you didn’t miss anything”.
Hogwash. I’ll never buy such logic. I always deal with things better when I saw what happened.
Not to distract from your crack, however.
I missed last night’s game, but watched this one.
I’d much rather have reversed that. I could do just fine only hearing about games like this.
I agree. I’d much rather watch a win than a loss, regardless of the circumstances.
Eh.
I’m a bit of a masochist. If things go bad, I need to see it. It’s like this beyond just baseball-related matters. I have a very active imagination, and the last thing I want to do is set the wheels in motion on that.
‘Cuz if I do, disaster abounds.
Now THIS is my least favorite type of loss.
I also hate Duane Reade and am waiting entirely too long for my dinner to be delivered. Fuckety fuck fuck.
Duane Reade?
NYC pharmacy chain. Best known for severely understaffing at all hours of day and making you wait in line for an eternity. The one near me is the absolute worst for this.
Why was I thinking you were in Miami, or at least some part of Florida?
I lived in Miami for 14 years, but have been back in NYC since 2001. You weren’t crazy.
Ah, ok. That makes sense, thanks for reassuring some semblance of sanity for me.
Oh i live in NYC so I know all about Duane Reade. I was wondering why you were hating on DR but I hear you., They suck
My Duane Reade also moves everything around every few months, which means you never don’t walk around completely lost in there.
At least they have one on every corner. If you don’t like one, you can just cross the street.
I hate blown saves much more than this type of loss.
Nah. This is all types of bad. Starting pitcher gets off on the wrong foot, shakes it off and has a great game, but the team can’t pick him up. Hate that. Of course, that goes hand in hand with not executing with RISP.
I could always forgive a Mo blown save because, when you beat Mo, you’ve beat the best that ever lived.
I agree with you on this one. Blown saves SUCK.
Pitiful.
Agonizing loss. Ugh.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.
So, now that the game is over, a random “me” update:
I’ve FINALLY started getting around to playing Portal. As addicting as it is I’ve been stuck in the same small area for about 45 minutes of playing time. Fucking frustrating.
The game itself, though, is pretty fucking awesome.
The Rays lost to a tough ballclub today. We lost to one of the worst teams in the league. Now the series hinges on a battle of the 5 ERA pitchers. And if we lose, we will have gained no games at all on Tampa despite them playing a playoff contender and us playing a sinking ship.
From now on, whenever the Yankees lose at Yankee Stadium, they should play the McCartney/Lennon classic – ‘All You Need Is Luck’.
or this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOdZ21tQMBs (SFW)
Just a disgrace. Now tomorrow we need to pray that “good” Freddy shows up or else we’ll lose a series to a team that hasn’t won one in a really long time.
I keep thinking I’ll wake up and this RISPFAIL nightmare will be over. Unfortunately it looks like the theme for the 2012 season will be “can they win without hitting at all with RISP?”
What am awful offensive showing, someone tell Tex and Raul it’s okay not to swing for the fence with every AB, a single is okay every once and while. Terrible game.
One bad pitch at the wrong moment + hard-hit balls that refused to fall in = grueling loss.
And, of course, a sign that the team will lose in the first round. (Kidding. I need to specify that, because someone will say it for real)
The Yanks have played .500 ball since the all-star break. Shaky rotation, NO middle relief, Lowe sucks, Eppely and Rapada are an accident waiting to happen. DRob is good but not like last year. We have two guys who hit for avg; the rest are below .270. Tex, Swish (who HAS been hot lately) and Granderson strike out way too much. Martin is awful at the plate. Chavy, Ibañez and Ichiro are OLD and probably running out of gas…
Ichiro is 300/320/460 since joining the Yankees, so he’s hitting better by running out of gas?
Ibanez has looked done for about a month. All those games in the field seem to have taken a toll. Ditto for Jones. Chavez has clearly been excellent being pressed into extensive time but he has cooled off as well. At least Cano showed some life today. Other than Jeter and Swisher there ain’t much going on other than a homer every now and again from Grandy.
Thisntema better figure things out. They are going to lose again tomorrow making the road trip a one win trip. Not good
I’m glad that’s determined. The Yankees should just forfeit tomorrows game then, so they can avoid potential injuries and get an extra day of rest for players.
Because they are all old and need their rest
Dude, mock as you must. This team has been the same inefficient team they were in May. Other teams are playing better all around.
And they turned things around in May and went on a big run.
This slump will end as well.
RISPFAIL is making this a very long season. I’m emotionally drained. Goodnight all
Yankees RISP: 1-7, LOB 9.
And the one hit didn’t even drive in a run. That’s getting to be extremely annoying.
By contrast look at the tigers. 8th inning, two outs, bases empty, their first baseman hits an opposite field single, next guy up hits a single, their fatass first baseman Prince Fielder went from 1st to 3rd (if he can, why can’t most of the Yankees?) , next guy up hits a 2-run double and they lead now. So let’s check that off:
-8th inning
-2 outs bases loaded
-1b hits an OPPOSITE FIELD SINGLE
-1b goes first to third on a single (he’s also morbidly obese)
-clutch double
-did I mention it’s the 8th inning?
-5 hits in a row, no homers
-lineup chugging along, no big blow and then shut down.
If an “inferior” lineup can do that, why can’t the Yankees? Oh and nerds, spare me the saber metric shit. Some things go beyond stats.
Yankees haven’t had a 5 hit rally all season.
By contrast, the Tigers do it every eighth inning.
The tigers are so gritty that every win they’ve had has been held together through spit, duct tape, prayers, and good old-fashioned American elbow grease.
Wait, what?
“If an “inferior” lineup can do that, why can’t the Yankees? Oh and nerds, spare me the saber metric shit.”
No. We will not spare you logic and reason. The statistics are formed from events that occurred during the game. They are the accurate measure of what happens.
The Yankees are a better team than the Tigers in every way. Screw five-hit rallies. What a crap argument.
Oh and nerds, spare me the saber metric shit.
You know I’d go research the sabermetric shit but I’m too lazy to leave my Mom’s basement.
You nerds with your science and information! Give me gut feelings! All I care about is what a player looks like with a mouthful of chaw! Does he get his uniform dirty?
THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT MATTER.
Yanks need another outfielder. When the rosters expand I would bring up two catchers so girardi could pinch hit for Martin after the 5th inning. Martin is horrible. He has cost this team at least 10 games. He is worst catcher hitting wise they have ever had. That includes the immortals frank fernandez, Matt nokes,and Jake Gibbs. It is absurd he is hitting 190 range. Even in the 1960s when the yanks sucked , a190 hitter was hard to find. And his defense is at best average. Why did genius cashman let Jose Molina go?
personally, I’ve been wondering for weeks why they haven’t given Dickerson a look; he’s raking; it’s time
I’d like to see it, but they’d have to release Ichiro or Ibanez, and they won’t do either. Hopefully they bring him up in September.
Jake Gibbs, Now there’s a name from the nightmare years-the Yanks sucked in the 60s but at least their payroll wasn’t outrageous and my dad didn’t have to donate a kidney to buy me a hot dog and soda in the RF bleachers.
Amen brother Amen!!!
I hope there’s another Jose Molina somewhere because the one I know of is all of 2 hits away from hitting in that same .190 range.
Jose Molina is batting .209. Seriously, find another team or better yet, another sport.
hey… .209 is solid bro. That’s about 20 points higher than martin.
Gotta love someone complaining about Martin’s offense and then complaining that the Yankees no longer have a guy who’s making more outs (while hitting for less power) than Martin.
Why did girardi decide to tinker with the lineup? He had granderson in that sixth hole for a while and it seemed the offense was starting to hit a groove. Then.. he decides to move grandy to the fifth hole. Not saying that has anything to do with us sucking.. but just curious. Also.. its pretty laughable that the YANKEES have a .190 hitter in their 7th hole. Its literally just like having a pitcher in the lineup… maybe worse.
He moved him because Chavez is no longer hitting out of his mind and deserving of the higher lineup spot.
what did granderson do to merit being moved up in the lineup? I must have missed something.
He did nothing to merit it. But, he’s generally a better hitter than Chavez, as aggravating as many of Granderson’s AB’s can be, and is higher on the totem pole to determine things such as this.
Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. We have two guys that hit for avg. and now that the HR derby is cooling off somewhat, the flaws are showing. Swish has been on a tear lately but he Tex, Granderson, and Jones strike out way too much. Chavy and Ibalez have cooled off which is no surprise: they are OLD. Then there’s the pitching….
Teixeira doesn’t strike out too much at all. He has one of the lowest strikeout rates among power hitters in all of baseball. He gets painted with a wide brush mostly because people don’t know what they’re talking about and strikeouts are a generic complaint.
I know you dont love Tex. However, I have to ask what constitutes a “power hitter”? While we are at it, is Tex a good power hitter?
KC put up a 6 spot in the 7th to tie the Suxies. Maybe the evening won’t be a total loss baseball-wise.
Ciriaco out at the plate in the 10th. A Red Sox loss and another Adrian homer in LA would be kind of nice.