I blame A-Rod.
Game 54: Progressing to the mean
Chien-Ming Wang will make his first start since April 18th today, following three progressively better relief outings in which he knocked 18.43 runs off his ERA. Six innings of three run ball today would trim close to another three-and-a-half runs off that mark. Wang says he’s good for about 80 pitches, so six innings seems like a best case scenario today, maaaaaybe seven if the sinker’s really on. If it’s not, well then expect to see plenty of Al Aceves because Phil Hughes is unavailable until tomorrow.
I’m not going to lie, at first I was disappointed in the move to swap Wang & Hughes, but clearly it’s the right thing to do. As good as Hughes has looked of late, a healthy Chien-Ming Wang definitely gives the team a better chance to win. Of course the key is health. If Wanger isn’t right, Hughes will slot right back in to the rotation, but for now he’ll help shore up another hole. Jay Jaffe of Baseball Prospectus wrote a piece for ESPN today explaining why this was the right move for the team, and I recommend you give it a read. It’s stuck behind the Iron Curtain of Insider though.
The weather doesn’t look too pretty, but it sounds like they’ll be able to get this game in. The almighty Derek Jeter saw his 16 game hitting streak come to an end last night, so now’s as good a time as any to give him a little breather. Here’s the lineup:
Damon, LF
Swisher, RF – .346-.457-.577 in his last 9 games
Teixeira, 1B
A-Rod, 3B
Cano, 2B
Matsui, DH
Melky, CF – .280-.302-.360 in his last 14 games
Cervelli, C
Pena, SS
And on the mound, Chicken-Wing Wang. (/McCarver’d)
Oh, and AJ Burnett has been suspended six games for throwing at Nelson Cruz the other night. Burnett has filed an appeal and is eligible to pitch until the hearing is complete.
2009 Draft: Scheppers stock dropping
Keith Law tweeted that RHP Tanner Scheppers, once projected to go as high as #2 overall to the Mariners, is dropping on draft boards because of bonus demands and questionable medicals. Scheppers was a top ten talent for the 2008 draft, but fell to the Pirates in the second round after suffering a stress fracture in his throwing shoulder. He didn’t sign and is currently playing for the independent St. Paul Saints.
Marc Hulet recently interviewed Scheppers for Baseball Analysts, and (surprise surprise) Scheppers said his shoulder feels great and is stronger now than it was before the injury. Scheppers said Dr. Lewis Yocum attributed the injury to “normal wear and tear on an overworked arm,” and he spent four months doing strictly shoulder strengthening excercises as part of his rehab.
I don’t know what kind of bonus money Scheppers is looking for, but I’m sure he and his agent are looking for a Major League deal. In terms of talent, he’d be a steal for the Yanks at any point, and then you just have to hope the doctors like what they see.
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Should the Yanks bring back Betemit?
The White Sox will designate infielder Wilson Betemit for assignment today so they can call up uber-prospect Gordon Beckham, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the Yanks should try to reacquire Betemit. Sure, we all remember watching him strike out a ton and boot grounders all over the infield, but when Angel Berroa and his .266 OPS occupy a bench spot, almost everyone’s an upgrade. Betemit would give the Yanks something they don’t have right now: power off the bench (.174 IsoP). And as an added bonus, he’s a switch hitter. The only downside is that Betemit’s kinda expensive ($1.3M this year), but that extra cost is worth the upgrade over Berroa. What do you guys think?
Montero picks up a hit in AA debut
Two years ago today on DotF, Mitch Hilligoss’ South Atlantic League record 38-game hit streak came to an end.
Chad Jennings spoke to farm director Mark Newman about a ton of things, so check it out. Dellin Betances is a week or two away from returning, but neither Bradley Suttle or Jairo Heredia will be back anytime soon.
Triple-A Scranton was washed out. I’m guessing they’ll play two tomorrow.
Double-A Trenton (8-0 win over Bowie)
Justin Snyder, Kevin Smith & Marcos Vechionacci: all 1 for 4, 1 RBI – Snyder doubled, drew a walk & K’ed … Smith K’ed three times … Vech doubled & K’ed
Colin Curtis & James Cooper: both 1 for 3, 1 K – Curtis hit a solo & scored another run … Cooper drew a walk & scored a run
Chris Malec: 1 for 5, 1 3B, 1 K, 1 E (fielding)
Noah Hall: 1 for 3, 1 R, 2 BB
Jesus Montero: 1 for 4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K – Mike Ashmore has video of his first AA at-bat & his first AA hit
Edwar Gonzalez: 2 for 4, 2 R, 1 3B, 2 RBI
Wilkins DeLaRosa: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 1 Balk, 4-6 GB/FB – best start since his first outing of the year
Kanekoa Texeira: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 WP, 1 HB, 6-1 GB/FB – his second 2+ IP save in the last four days
Report: Wang to start tomorrow
According to multiple reports, Chien-Ming Wang will make his first start since April 18th tomorrow against the Rangers. Phil Hughes will work out of the bullpen for the time being. Wang’s three relief outings since returning from the DL have gotten progressively better, so the writing for his return to the rotation has been on the wall for over a week now. I imagine once Brian Bruney and Damaso Marte return from injury, Hughes will return to Triple-A Scranton and continue working as a starter.
Improved defense helps Yanks get to the top
When the Yanks’ streak of 18 consecutive games without an error ended on a Jorge Posada errant throw last night, it ended a fun little streak, but not one that tells us much of anything about the Yanks defense. You can’t make an error on a ball you can’t get to, after all. But as Peter Gammons notes, the Yanks took off when Alex Rodriguez returned not because of the extra offense, but because the pitching staff finally righted itself.
Recently, the Yankees have gone on a big-time roll and taken first place in the AL East, all after the return of Alex Rodriguez. However, the key difference hasn’t been offense, although the tandem of A-Rod and Mark Teixeira is similar to what David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez once were with Boston. With A-Rod and Teixeira in the order, the Yankees’ runs per game have only risen slightly. The Yankees’ ERA, though, has dropped by more than two runs, as CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Joba Chamberlain and Co. have come together as a power rotation.
The Yankees’ rotation is made up of hard throwers who get minimal hard contact, and put little pressure on the defense. Teixeira, the owner of two Gold Gloves, has made the infield much better, and Melky Cabrera’s defensive matrix is the best of any major league center fielder. Last year, the Yankees were near the bottom in defensive efficiency, but this year they are 13th out of 30 major league teams.
I’m not sure what defensive matrix Gammons is referring to, but UZR has Melky at a studly 13.4 in CF. When he moves over to RF, that mark improves to 24.3 and Brett Gardner adds his 19.3 UZR to the mix. Gone is Bobby Abreu and his -25.3 UZR last year and in comes Nick Swisher’s just about league average -0.3 mark. Robinson Cano has improved his UZR by 12.5 runs from last year. You don’t need any fancy stats to tell you the difference between Jason Giambi and Mark Teixeira at first, and even Derek Jeter has gone from -0.7 UZR last year to 3.0 this year, the highest total FanGraphs has for the Cap’n. As a team, the Yanks have gone from a squad with a -5.4 UZR rating last year, third worst in baseball, to a better than league average UZR at 0.4 this year, good enough for 14th in the league.
By no means are the Yankees a great defensive squad, but as Joe Girardi said, they “make the plays they’re supposed to.” They couldn’t even do that last year. Better defense means more batted balls are turned into outs. More outs means fewer pitches by the pitchers, and fewer pitches by the pitchers means fewer innings thrown by the bullpen. It’s the baseball circle of life, and it’s helped the Yanks to the best record in the American League.