ByThe Yankee catching situation, in which their backup backup catcher has now started five games this season, may clear up soon. While Pete Kerzel at MLB.com reports that Jorge Posada is still out indefinitely from behind the plate, Ed Price tells us that Jose Molina could return as early as tonight. At this point, it’s clear that the Yanks are begin less than forthcoming with news on Posada’s shoulder. · (10) ·
Looks like a suspension for Farnsworth
By · CommentsDefend your teammates, get suspended. That’s the message MLB is apparently sending to its players. Mark Feinsand is hearing a rumor that Kyle Farnsworth will be suspended for throwing at Manny Ramirez on Thursday night. It should be of the three-game type, though an appeal is almost certain. To me, this is beyond ridiculous.
Say what you will about the location of the pitch. It was behind him, but I saw it as being more towards the shoulders than the neck/head. Plus — and I don’t know why I haven’t read this elsewhere — Kyle Farnsworth has no control of his pitches! Have we not learned this over the first two years of his contract? It stands to reason that Farnsworth could have been aiming for the middle of the back, where they hit A-Rod, and just missed by a bit.
All this does is allow aggressions from one team to go unrequited. So if you want to hit someone, you’d better make sure none of your guys were hit recently. Because that’s retaliation, and you’re on the hook for a suspension. Hit the guy first, though, and you’re in the clear.
Does this make sense to anyone?
ByGuess who isn’t happy with Kyle Farnsworth? Don’t hurt yourself typing too much there, buddy. You might re-aggravate your shoulder injury. · (10) ·
Charleston’s co-catchers continue to rake
By · CommentsTriple-A Scranton (9-5 win over Charlotte)
Brett Gardner & Greg Porter: both 1 for 5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K – Porter drove 2 runs in
Juan Miranda: 1 for 4, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Shelley: 2 for 5, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 K – only 2 more days until he can be called back up
Jason Lane & Cody Ransom: both 1 for 5, 1 K – Ransom smacked a 2-run homer & committed a fielding error
Eric Duncan: 2 for 3, 2 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 1 HBP – yay Eric!
The Ghost of Kei Igawa: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K – don’t look now, but Igawa has a 20-4 K/BB ratio in 22.2 IP
Sean Henn: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K – 15 of 22 pitches were strikes (68.2%)
Scott PAtterson: 2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K – he’s been pitching for basically a year straight thanks to winter ball, I betcha he’s working through a case of dead arm right now
Game 18: Those pesky Orioles
By · CommentsNine and friggin’ nine against the Orioles last year. That’s pretty unacceptable for a team that basically had the inverse of the Yanks record. They hope to get off on the right foot tonight, as they take on the erratic — and that’s putting it mildly — Daniel Cabrera.
In his career, Cabrera has pitched 72.2 innings against the Yanks, to the tune of a 4.95 ERA. What’s strange is that while he’s struck out 7.52 per nine inning over his career, he’s only struck out 5.2 per nine against the Yankees. He’s walked 5.31 per nine over his career (hence the 5.02 lifetime ERA), and 5.70 per nine vs. the Yanks.
So he has struck out fewer hitters and has walked more vs. the Yankees compared to the rest of his career, yet his ERA vs. the Yankees is a tick lower than his lifetime ERA. Strange stuff. Could tonight be the night luck really catches up to him? We started moving in that direction last year, tattooing him for 20 earned runs (21 total) in 27 innings, with 18 strikeouts to 17 walks.
Really, Cabrera should be sick. He’s 6’7″ and has nasty stuff. But control problems have plagued his career, and not even the tutelage of Leo Mazzone could fix him. His ERA has climbed every year since 2005, and he has yet to crack a league-average ERA.
For the good guys, Phil Hughes takes the mount, trying to regain his form. And what better team to do it against than the Orioles? Yeah, they may be 9-7 now, but I can’t seem to figure out how. They only have three guys on the offensive side with an OPS+ above league average — and Luke Scott won’t be hitting .380/.456/.600 for much longer. Then again, it stands to reason that Ramon Hernandez will raise his paltry .152/.160/.326 line.
Oh yeah, and Edwar is in the house! Albaladejo is sent down, which is fine and good, since he tossed three innings last night. You might be asking what happened to Scott Patterson, but I don’t think it’s a big deal. Edwar will be gone once Joba comes back, which probably won’t be too far in the future.
Your lineups:
1. Johnny Damon, LF
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Hideki Matsui, DH
6. Robinson Cano, 2B
7. Jason Giambi, 1B
8. Melky Cabrera, CF
9. Chad Moeller, C
And on the mound, number thirty-four, Phil Hughes
And for the O’s
Roberts
Mora
Markakis
Millar
Scott
Huff
Jones
R. Hernandez
L. Hernandez
Transforming the Stadium
By · Comments
This photo — originated with the Yankees — is making the e-mail forwarding rounds right now. It’s the Stadium, mid-Papal setup. As you can see — click to enlarge — all of the Yankee Stadium advertising will be covered up before this weekend’s Mass at the Stadium. I wonder what song the Cardinals will all pick during the Yankee Jukebox segment after the top of the first inning.
Perusing the Internet this afternoon while waiting for my chance to head outside to enjoy this 75-degree weather we’re having, I came across that clip from last night’s Baseball Tonight via The Big Lead. As I watched Peter Gammons offer up his holier-than-thou take on Kyle Farnsworth’s seventh-inning pitch to Manny, I couldn’t believe how biased Gammons was being.
In the clip, he laughs off Kyle Farnsworth as “AAA pitchers … I mean, please.” Please, Peter. Please.
Please go back and watch the clip of Farnsworth throwing behind Manny. Please note that Farnsworth’s pitch, had it hit Manny, would have hit him in the exact same spot as A-Rod‘s hit-by-pitch the night before. And please spare us the faux-outrage. You’re better than that.
Kyle Farnsworth shouldn’t throw at Manny’s head, and he didn’t last night. He threw Manny an exaggerated brushback pitch after Manny had spent five of the last seven days taking batting practice off the Yankees’ starting pitchers. Biased TV commentators…I mean, please.
ByI bet most young Yankee fans would be hard-pressed to identify Ed Barrow, one of the greatest Yankees executives of the early 20th Century. To that end, Daniel Levitt’s new book, Ed Barrow: The Bulldog Who Built the Yankees’ First Dynasty, soon to be reviewed here by me, is required reading for all Yankee historians. Levitt sat down for an interview with David Laurila for Baseball Prospectus’ Unfiltered blog. Check it out. · (1) ·
BySG at RLYW wonders if Moose is cooked, and it’s hard to disagree with him. While SG notes that Mussina was two bad pitches to Manny away from throwing a decent game, to me, the more telling sign came in the first inning.
With Jacoby Ellsbury off second, Dustin Pedroia came to bat, and Mussina threw a 1-2 85-mph that Pedroia lined hard to a leaping Robinson Cano. The ball was tattooed, and the Yanks escaped unharmed. But it was clear that Mussina had nothing last night. How many more starts will he be allowed to make? · (39) ·
