Adjusting the Joba Plan
One day later and already the Yankees are changing the plans.
Tyler Kepner first broke the news early this morning that the Yankees were considering changing their weekend pitching plans. A few hours later, George A. King III reported in The Post that Joba would start on Sunday and then get a few extra days off this week.
According to King — and remember, this is an unconfirmed report from everyone’s favorite tabloid — the Yankees were concerned that by throwing Chad Gaudin and Sergio Mitre in back-to-back games, they would be left short-handed in the pen and with only Alfredo Aceves as a long-relief option. Mitre will get the ball on Saturday; Joba will pitch Sunday; and then Joba probably won’t start again until the Texas series at the end of the month. The Yanks may very well give him eight or nine days between starts.
Some fans will be up in the arms over this news, but I have no problem with it. The Yanks don’t short-hand themselves right now, and by stretching out Joba’s rest, they can better line up their rotation. In the end, it’s all about the innings, and a column by Joel Sherman drives home that point today. He writes:
Let’s consider this from a different perspective. In 2007, Chamberlain was progressing wonderfully as a starter in his first pro season. Without interference, he would have thrown 120 minor league innings, positioning him for roughly 160 innings between the minors and majors last year and roughly 200 this year. But the big club needed a reliever, and Chamberlain was instrumental in getting the 2007 Yankees to the playoffs.
That ignited a debate about his true role while retarding his normal progression, because he was never returning to the minors. But the Yankees have a prescribed innings total for each prospect and this is the time of year throughout their system that they are giving extra day’ rest or limiting innings as, for example, they have just done with Ivan Nova at Triple-A. Few notice because it is happening in minor league towns. But Chamberlain is still going through his build-up phase in New York.
Of course it is tough to give Chamberlain more rest or fewer innings in a playoff race. But, I believe it would be negligent to flush all precaution. It is a tough tightrope, but a necessary one to walk.
Sherman makes a similar point in a blog post as well. He says that the Yanks’ “Win-Now” attitude in 2007 cost Joba innings this year. It is, supposedly, a lesson in balancing patience and planning for the future with the demands and allure of a World Series title.
There is only one problem with Sherman’s charge: It’s not quite accurate. A look back at Joba’s innings tells a slightly different story. In 2005, at the age of 19, he threw 118.2 innings, and the next season, he threw a hair under 90 innings. At that point, the Yankees would have wanted him to throw around 120 in 2007, and between three Minor League stops, a stint in the Bronx bullpen and 3.2 postseason innings, he reached 116 innings.
As the Yankees have done with Andrew Brackman this year, so they did with Joba in 2007. Whether it was going to be in Scranton or the Bronx, Joba would have moved to the bullpen at around the time he did. In the end, he still reached his 2007 innings.
With 2007 in the books, the Yanks’ goal for 2008 was to bring Joba up to around 150 innings. When he went down with a shoulder injury in August, however, those plans were scraped. Joba returned to the bullpen in September, and the Yanks, for reasons unexplained, never had him start again. He finished 2008 with just 100.1 innings, and here we are in 2009 with the Yanks shooting for around 160 innings for Joba.
Despite this history, Sherman’s point still stands: The Yankees are wise to keep a close eye on Joba. Next year, he should be at a cap of 180 innings, and that will be enough to end this constant obsession-slash-controversy over Joba. He is and remains a starting pitcher.
Bounce back players helping to power Yanks
When asked what three additions have meant most to the 2009 Yankees, the first names that probably come to mind are A.J. Burnett, CC Sabathia, and Mark Teixeira. All three signed with the Yankees over the off-season, and they’ve been excellent upgrades over their 2008 counterparts. Still, Dave Pinto has three different names in mind: Jorge Posada, Hideki Matsui, and Robinson Cano. Both were on the 2008 team, but the first two missed significant time with injuries, and Cano had a horrible first half and a good but not compensatory second half. Their returns to form this year have been a huge difference for this year’s team.
In 2008 Robinson Cano stepped to the plate 634 times and hit .271/.305/.410, his worst season since he was a rookie in 2005. His defense also suffered, as we saw him have trouble making some routine plays. It came at a curious time, as Cano had signed a four-year, $30 million contract over the off-season. Baseball fans love narrative, and this one wrote itself: Cano was lazy and he needed Larry Bowa to return to form.
This year Robinson has appeared at the plate 489 times and is hitting .318/.352/.513. He already had 18 homers and a team-high 32 doubles (tied with Tex). He still has his ups and downs, but that’s inherently Cano. He doesn’t necessarily rely on waiting for his pitch. Instead, he relies on timing, and sometimes his timing is going to be out of whack. That means a slump here and there, but as long as he can keep those limited, as he has this year, he’s going to be a valuable piece of any Yankees team.
Despite knee troubles that kept him out of action for two months, Matsui didn’t have a terrible 2008. He hit the DL hitting .323/.404/.458, which is fine for a 34-year-old with bad knees. Problem was, the injury came at a poor time. The Yankees were trying to pull of their second-half surge, but their offense sputtered in early August. A healthy Matsui would have done wonders then. He came back on August 19, but posted a paltry .209/.269/.326 line over 93 plate appearances the rest of the way. It left open the question of Hideki’s effectiveness in 2009.
This year Hideki has almost hit his plate appearance total from 2008, but is performing at a much higher level. The Yankees made the decision to keep him out of the field this season, and it’s paying off, as he’s hitting .269/.365/.516. We saw some extreme streakiness from Matsui earlier in the year, but it’s seemed to stabilize a bit lately. His .881 OPS is fourth on the team, and he’s had his share of big hits. The Yankees went on a similar post-break run this year as last, but this year were able to sustain it. Hideki is a big reason for that.
Finally, it’s impossible to talk about the 2008 season and not mention the loss of Jorge Posada. He and the team downplayed shoulder pain in Spring Training, and it turned out to be bad. Really bad. He hit the DL at the end of April in hopes that rest and rehab would heal it, but that just wasn’t the case. From mid-June, when he returned, to mid-July, when it was finally clear that he couldn’t go on, Posada hit .248/.380/.371, a far cry from the power he’s displayed in the past. Overall, the Yanks got a .230/.290/.335 line from their catchers, something they haven’t been used to.
After hitting the DL in May, it seems like Jorge’s been just fine physically. Among AL catchers with at least 200 plate appearances, Posada ranks third in OPS. The Yankees as a team are also third in the AL in catcher OPS. They were ninth last season.
While Tex, CC, and A.J. have been fine additions to the team, the Yanks have gotten what they’ve needed from their in-house guys, and then some. Before the season started, we asked which Yankee had the best chance of bouncing back from a poor 2008. Unfortunately, there was no all of the above option. That would have been the correct one. Jorge, Hideki, and Cano (and even Swisher) have all come around and have helped the Yankees greatly in 2009. They’re as big a part of the team’s success as the new guys.
It’s all Yankees in 11-1 drubbing of M’s
Last night was one of those games where everything goes right. The offense piled up 15 hits, seven of which went for extra bases. CC Sabathia tossed eight dominant innings, striking out a season-high 10 and allowing just five baserunners. It added up to a landslide Yankees victory to kick-off a seven-game West Coast trip. Even with A-Rod and Posada sitting this one out, the Yanks still managed to pummel the Mariners, 11-1.
The Yankees started hitting early, and didn’t let up all game. They scored in five of nine innings, and put up multiple runs in four of them. Their seven extra base hits included a long home run by Derek Jeter, two shots to right by Hideki Matsui, and two doubles down the right field line by Damon. It helped that M’s manager Don Wakamatsu left in starter Ian Snell for six-plus innings despite obvious ineffectiveness.
One side effect of the offensive explosion, as requested yesterday, is that it gives Mo another day off. He proclaimed himself fit to close today, but Girardi will certainly feel more comfortable handing him the ball tomorrow after two full days’ rest. Not that he’d be uneasy if it came down to that tonight. It’s just that concerns about Mo’s “cranky” shoulder will be a day further in the past tomorrow. As the Yankees try to put some more distance between themselves and the Sox, Mo’s presence will be crucial.
On the mound, it was all Carsten Charles. A few weeks go, Mike commented on an article questioning CC’s contribution. Not his net contribution, which is decidedly positive. But rather his contribution in relation to the expectations. At the time Sabathia was 10-6 with a 3.67 ERA, quality by any measure, but was it ace-quality? CC didn’t help his case with an erratic start against Tampa Bay, and then a hot and cold start against Chicago. But over his last two starts CC has tossed 15.2 innings, allowing just five hits and one run, striking out 19 to four walks. They’ve been the definition of dominant.
During the month of August over his career, Sabathia has startd 49 games and has a 31-9 record, pitching 339 innings and allowing just 119 runs (3.16 ERA). Last year it was his best month, as he allowed just six runs over 48.1 innings, striking out 51 and walking eight. That was an insane year, and a repeat shouldn’t be expected — especially because it came in the much weaker NL Central. STill, CC has done his job these last two times out, and in emphatic fashion. He’ll get another tune-up start in Oakland before he gets another shot at Boston in Fenway. CC’s gotta be geared up for that one.
The game was awesome in every way. We had the pleasure of seeing the Yankees rack up hit after hit, run after run. We witnessed one of CC’s most dominant starts of the season. And we got it all in under three hours, a treat for a weeknight West Coast game. With the win and Justin Verlander’s dominance of Boston earlier in the day, the Yankees are again 6.5 games ahead of the Red Sox.
As if things couldn’t get any better, Carig notes that A-Rod is 50-50 for tomorrow. Considering how hard he got hit on the elbow and how questionable things seemed before the game, that’s quite good news. However, with Mitre and Gaudin going Saturday and Sunday, perhaps it’s best to have A-Rod feeling 100 percent for those games. The team might need the offense a bit more.
For tomorrow night, it’s Andy Pettitte vs. Ryan Rowland-Smith. A Friday West Coast game isn’t bad at all.
Game 115 Spillover Thread II
This one’s good for the ol’ run differential.
Game 115 Spillover Thread
I like where this is going.
Staten Island nearly no-hits Auburn in win
Make sure you scroll down for tonight’s game thread.
Triple-A Scranton
Game 1 (4-2 loss to Norfolk in 7 innings) makeup of yesterday’s rain out
Kevin Russo: 0 for 1, 2 BB – he’s been on base 133 times in 65 games
Reegie Corona, Juan Miranda & John Rodriguez: all 0 for 3 – Corona committed a throwing error on the same day he was named the Best Defensive Second Baseman in the Eastern League
Austin Jackson: 1 for 2, 1 BB
Shelley Duncan, Cody Ransom & Yurendell DeCaster: all 1 for 3 – Shelley hit a solo jack & K’ed … Ransom doubled & scored a run
Brian Peterson: 0 for 3, 1 K – Frankie Cervelli will be back from his hand injury soon, so his days are numbered
Romulo Sanchez: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 WP, 4-3 GB/FB, 1 E (fielding) – 49 of 80 pitches were strikes (61.3%)
Mark Melancon: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 HB, 3-2 GB/FB – 24 of 37 pitches were strikes (64.9%)