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Yankees waste ninth inning comeback, fall to D’Backs in extra innings

April 18, 2013 by Mike 50 Comments

For a while there, it looked like the Yankees were in for their third straight come-from-behind win over the Diamondbacks. Instead, they only delayed the inevitable. New York dropped its first extra-innings game of the year 6-2 in 12 innings on Thursday.

Philthy Phil Philanthropist
After two straight dud starts to open the season, Phil Hughes held Arizona to two runs in seven innings in the series finale. Both runs came on solo homers of course, it wouldn’t be a Hughes start without some dingers, but that was it. He allowed six hits but he didn’t walk anyone, and he struck out six. A whopping 75 of 109 pitches were strikes (69%), and outside of the homers, he only allowed one runner to make it as far as second base.

Two runs in seven innings is plenty good enough to win, but instead Phil exited the game in line for the loss. That part really isn’t his fault though. I’ll take this kind of outing another 28 times or so between now and October, it was pretty much the Hughes we saw after April last year. The homers are maddening as hell — both leadoff an inning — but they’re just part of who he is at this point. As long as he continues to limit base-runners in front of the dingers, he’ll be just fine. Good job in this one.

Can’t Touch The Lefty
Left-hander Patrick Corbin looked like he was trying to finish what Wade Miley could not on Wednesday. The New York native wears #46 because he grew up idolizing Andy Pettitte, and he held Pettitte’s team to two measly hits in seven innings of one-run ball. His seven strikeouts were one short of a career-high.

Outside of a sixth inning solo homer by Robinson Cano, the Yankees had no answer for the D’Backs left-hander. That has become a theme on the young season, getting shutdown by southpaws, but it’s not terribly surprising when guys like Ben Francisco and Frankie Cervelli are hitting fifth and sixth. They just aren’t middle of the order hitters at the big league level, yet there they were in prime spots for the New York freaking Yankees. To call the team’s lineup against lefties feeble is an insult to feeble lineups everywhere. They’re borderline non-competitive against southpaws until some of the injured guys, specifically Mark Teixeira, return.

Cervelli Ties It
Can’t say I was expecting Cervelli to hit a solo homer off J.J. Putz to tie the game with two strikes and one out in the ninth, but that’s exactly what happened. The Arizona closer hung a cement-mix splitter and Frankie hit it right into the first row of the left field stands. If there is such a thing as a Yankee Stadium cheapie to left field, that was it. I’m not going to go as far as saying it was reminiscent of the 2001 World Series, but we’ve certainly seen the Yankees stage late-inning comebacks against the D’Backs before.

Can’t Hold Out Any Longer
The Yankees bullpen had been on a pretty great streak coming into this game, having allowed zero runs in their previous 15 innings. That dates back to the first game of the Indians series. That can’t last forever though, and the scoreless streak came to an end at 19 innings when David Phelps let things get out of hand in the 12th.

Phelps allowed a leadoff double in each of his two innings, but he was unable to escape the second jam like he did the first. Arizona loaded the bases with one out, then took the lead on Cody Ross’ single before former Yankee Eric Chavez broke things open with a bases-clearing double. Phelps seems to have a knack for either pitching very well or very poorly. There’s not much of a middle ground. This was one of the poor outings.

Leftovers
The Yankees had two prime opportunities to put runs on the board but were unable to capitalize both times. Uber-setup man David Hernandez loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, but both Cano and Kevin Youkilis struck out to end the jam. Cano actually swung at a pitch that hit him for strike three. Later on, the Yankees put the leadoff man on base against Heath Bell but were unable to score. Bell is awful and failing to score against him (in a small ballpark, no less), makes the loss well-earned in my book.

Cervelli had an interesting night aside from the game-tying homer — he committed not one but two errors on catcher’s interference. He simply jumped the gun with his mitt and put it in the path of the hitter’s swing. Frankie appeared to be in some pain after the first one, which came a half-inning before the homer. I guess his finger didn’t hurt too much.

The 9-1-2 wrap-around portion of the lineup went a combined 1-for-14 with three walks, and nearly all of that came during the bases loaded failed rally in the eighth. Hey, the Yankees had the right guys up at the plate in that situation and just didn’t score. No one to blame but themselves there.

No Yankee had more than one hit, and only Vernon Wells (two walks), Cano (homer and walk), and Francisco (single and walk) reached base twice. At one point Corbin retired 14 of 15 batters faced.

Box Score, WPA Graph & Standings
MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs some other stats, and ESPN the updated standings.

Source: FanGraphs

Up Next
The Yankees are off to Toronto for a three-game set with the new-look Blue Jays starting Friday night. Pettitte is scheduled to start the game after missing some time with back spasms, and he’ll be opposed by Brandon Morrow.

Murphy goes deep three times in Trenton loss

April 18, 2013 by Mike 42 Comments

Got a series of infield promotions, courtesy of Josh Norris: IF Francisco Rosario to Low-A Charleston, 2B Rob Refnsyder to High-A Tampa, and IF Ali Castillo to Double-A Trenton. All the second basemen moved up a level, basically. Hopefully that’s not bad news for 2B Angelo Gumbs, who is on the Tampa DL.

Triple-A Scranton (5-4 loss to Rochester)

2B Corban Joseph: 2-5, 1 R, 1 2B — seven hits in his last 19 at-bats (.368) with two doubles and a homer
3B David Adams: 2-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K —seven hits in his last 13 at-bats (.538)
LF Zoilo Almonte: 1-5, 1 2B
CF Melky Mesa: 3-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI — seven hits in his last 13 at-bats (.538) and he hasn’t struck out in three games now … how about that?
RHP Dellin Betances: 4 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 1 WP, 5/1 GB/FB — 45 of 76 pitches were strikes (59%)

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Game 14: For The Sweep

April 18, 2013 by Mike 669 Comments

The Yankees pulled off their first improbable win last night, at least in the sense that for most of the game, it didn’t feel like they had much of a chance. Wade Miley was on cruise control, the Diamondbacks scored some runs early … that kind of stuff makes a game feel like a loss in a hurry. Instead, the offense came through late and here we are looking at a potential sweep.

Of course, to get that sweep the Yankees will have to rely on Phil Hughes, who hasn’t pitched well at all this season. If that’s not enough, they’re also going to have to overcome left-hander Patrick Corbin, who will be on the bump for Arizona. The Yankees come into the game with a wimpy little 58 wRC+ as a team against southpaws, so they’re really going to earn this sweep if they manage to pull it off. Here’s the starting lineup…

CF Brett Gardner
LF Vernon Wells
2B Robinson Cano
1B Kevin Youkilis
DH Ben Francisco
C Frankie Cervelli
RF Ichiro Suzuki
SS Eduardo Nunez
3B Jayson Nix

And on the mound is the right-hander Phil Hughes.

Tonight’s game is scheduled to start at 7:05pm ET and can be seen on YES. Enjoy.

Update: Jeter has small crack in ankle, out until after All-Star break

April 18, 2013 by Mike 120 Comments

4:22pm: A CT scan revealed a small crack in the area of the previous break, according to Brian Cashman. “We’re looking at sometime after the All-Star break,” said the GM. Jeter had been having more trouble with the ankle recently, but he doesn’t need surgery. Just rest.

4:06pm: Derek Jeter made an unscheduled visit to see Dr. Anderson in Charlotte following yesterday’s workout, Joe Girardi confirmed. He wouldn’t elaborate, only saying “put two and two together.” Brian Cashman will discuss the situation shortly.

Jeter, 38, did not workout last weekend and recently had his baseball activities scaled back. Sure sounds like he had another setback of some sorts, but maybe it’s just something minor and he’ll be back on the field in a few days. I wouldn’t hold my breath though, ankle injuries are never easy. Based on yesterday’s poll, RAB readers expected Jeter to return to the team in no fewer than four weeks.

Speed game has yet to get going for Yankees

April 18, 2013 by Mike 16 Comments

Thanks to the offseason losses and Spring Training injuries, it appeared as though the Yankees would be relying on speed to generate offense this year more than they have at any point in the last 15 years or so. Surprisingly great starts from guys like Vernon Wells and Kevin Youkilis have made the loss of power basically nonexistent — the Yankees have hit an AL-leading 20 homers. The speed game, however, has yet to show up.

The idea of creating runs though speed revolved around two players: Brett Gardner and Ichiro Suzuki. Eduardo Nunez joined the mix once it became apparent Derek Jeter’s ankle would prevent him from starting the season on time. Gardner’s return from injury and a full season of Ichiro meant the team had two 30+ steal (maybe even two 40+ steal) candidates on the roster, and in the past Nunez has stolen bases at a clip that suggests 30+ is doable for him as long as he got enough playing time. A hundred total steals from those three seemed entirely possible.

Instead, 13 games into the season, the Yankees have stolen three bases as a team. Two of those steals came four innings apart in the same game, when Wells and Chris Stewart (!) took advantage of Ubaldo Jimenez’s slow delivery to take second base with ease. Nunez stole a base in the second game of the season and that’s it, three steals in 13 games. They’ve been caught three times as well (Gardner twice), and those six stolen base attempts are a bottom-five total in baseball. Definitely not what I expected.

The surprising power output means the lack of steals have not hurt the Yankees, but it is an area where they should be getting more production than they have. I don’t think any of us seriously thought Gardner would still be sitting on zero stolen bases 13 games into the season, especially since he’s been hitting reasonably well — .256/.333/.426 (110 wRC+). Ichiro has been awful, so I guess his excuse is that he simply hasn’t been on-base enough to use his legs. We’ll see how long that continues.

Moreso than maybe any other non-base hit offensive event, stolen bases tend to come in bunches. If the Yankees run into a particularly poor-throwing catcher at some point soon, Gardner would wind up stealing like six bases in a three-game series. It’s inevitable that he and Nunez and even Ichiro will get going on the base paths at some point, but I didn’t think we’d be sitting here halfway through April will just six stolen base attempts to the team’s credit. It’s not a huge problem or anything, but at some point these guys need to create some havoc with their legs to supplement the homers. It’s a big part of the reason why they are on the roster in the first place.

More science, more baseball, more success

April 18, 2013 by Matt Warden 21 Comments

Last night, my brother hooked me up with his 2013 MLB Preview edition of ESPN The Magazine. As I was perusing through the articles, one particular piece caught my eye. An author by the name of Anna Clemmons wrote about a sports facility in Foxborough that opened last June. The facility is Mass General Orthopedics Sports Performance Center.

The article begins by discussing Minnesota Twins prospect Andrew Ferreira, standing shirtless on a fake pitcher’s mound with “62 button-size reflective markers attached to his body.” Ferreira throws 25 pitches off of a fake mound in a simulated pitching session. Meanwhile, the facility’s bioengineers gather and analyze huge amounts of data about the athlete under observation.

The 22 high speed LED 3-D cameras reveal arm speed, rotation, but most importantly isolate the movements of various muscle groups and how they behave under duress. The cameras expose inconsistencies in body motions, in addition to tracking velocity and pitch movement. In other words, Ferreira’s session basically represents the strange, albeit fascinating, nebulous where anatomy begins to merge with advanced baseball metrics. What’s more incredible, is that Ferreira’s personal evaluation cost him only $75.

After reading the article, my mind immediately arrived at two conclusions. First, this is pretty awesome stuff – it actually reminds me of the type of innovation that a guy like Ray Kurzweil might endorse. If knowledge is power, than boy, athletes could potentially have a lot to gain. What was once seemingly proprietary (and probably limited) information is now cheap and completely available, and can be accessed by any player looking for a competitive (legal) edge. As the facility notes, their job is not to replace the pitching coach. It’s designed to revolution how players train.

The second thought was that I hope the Yankees are absolutely keeping their eye on this type of technology if they haven’t already begun exploring like options. Obviously player development and injuries are not entirely controllable, and as we all know, setbacks are inevitable. After all, players still have to execute a plan, and injuries can happen to even the most durable guys. Still, if there is any possible way of preserving players and helping them reach their maximum potential, I think it should be explored. A small investment now could pay off in a big way down the road. I would think that nominal cost would pay for itself and then some the first time a player who may not have been able to “put it all together” was able to do so thanks to a different approach.

Anyway, if you get a chance, check out the website. It’s cool stuff and it’s definitely the future of sports.

CC Sabathia’s new reality

April 18, 2013 by Mike 52 Comments

We all knew this would happen eventually. The unnatural act of pitching has a way of wearing down even the most durable athletes over the years, sapping velocity and arm strength after thousands of innings and tens of thousands of individual pitches. Andy Pettitte went through it, Mike Mussina went through it, Pedro Martinez went through it … heck, even Mariano Rivera went through it. Father Time remains undefeated.

At age 32, with just under 2,700 total innings on his arm, it appears CC Sabathia has lost his best fastball. He topped out at 91.2 mph with his fastball last night and averaged just 90.1 mph according to PitchFX, a bit short of the 90.7 mph he averaged during his first three starts. Last year he averaged 93.0 mph. The year before it was 94.7 mph. The year before he became a Yankee it was 94.9 mph. It’s been a gradual decline over the years, just like it was for Pettitte and Moose and Pedro.

When most pitchers lose their fastballs, the initial results tend to be very bad. Sabathia is not most pitchers though; he’s used his diminished heater to post a 2.57 ERA (2.69 FIP) in 28 innings across his first four starts of 2013. After allowing four earned runs to the Red Sox in five innings on Opening Day, the left-hander has allowed just four earned runs in his last three starts combined. The diminished fastball hasn’t led to diminished results, at least not yet.

Adjusting to life with a new, slower fastball can’t be easy. Mussina is one of the smartest pitchers I’ve ever seen, yet it took him all of 2007 to learn how to work with reduced heat. Roy Halladay is arguably the best pitcher of his generation, but he’s having a devil of a time figuring it out in Philadelphia right now. Part of the problem, at least initially, is just denial. No world-class athlete wants to admit his skills are declining, especially pitchers and their fastballs. Sabathia, however, seems to be very aware that his heater doesn’t have as much oomph as it once did.

“I’m hoping some more velocity comes back. If not, we’ll work with this,” said the southpaw to Mark Feinsand after last night’s win. “It’s reality. You never know. I’ve never been through anything like this, so I don’t know. I’m not going to lose sleep over it. I’ve been pitching for a long time. Eventually, it was going to happen … It’s something everybody is going to go through. We’ll see if this is my time.”

With the obvious sample size caveat, it does appear to be Sabathia’s time. I’m almost certain he’ll add a tick or two as the season progresses and the weather warms up, pretty much everyone does, but his fastball is down quite a bit this year compared to his first four starts of last year — 90.6 mph in 2013 vs. 92.6 mph in 2012. The velocity drop has been real early on and not even Sabathia is denying it.

“It’s definitely going to be hard, but I’ve got guys in here that I can turn to like Andy,” added CC. “We can work on game plans and just try to keep getting better as a pitcher … If I make pitches (I can be effective with less velocity). I always felt like that. I would take some off to make pitches when I had more velocity, try to stay at 91-92, then hump up when I needed to. I can pitch at this.”

Saying and thinking he can pitch with reduced velocity is an entirely different thing than actually doing it. The early signs on promising, but who knows what will happen when the weather heats up and the ball starts carrying a bit more. We saw the Diamondbacks hit a number of long fly balls last night, long fly balls that would have presumably been a lot more dangerous had it been the middle of July or August. This is very much a wait and see thing.

Sabathia suffered the first arm injury of his career last summer and needed offseason elbow surgery. His fastball velocity has been dipping for a few years now. This is his new reality, and he not only seems to be completely aware of it, he doesn’t seem to be bothered by it at all. That’s reassuring but only to a point, because I don’t know if Sabathia can continue to be an ace-caliber pitcher with reduced velocity, especially if it continues to slide in the coming months and years. One thing I do know is that whenever CC stops pitching like an ace — it will happen at some point, it’s inevitable — it won’t be from a lack of effort. If there’s anyone who can figure this diminished fastball thing out, it’s Sabathia.