Lefty setup man Damaso Marte actually pitched in a game today, beginning his rehab assignment by allowing a run on two hits in an inning of work for the rookie level GCL Yankees. We heard this was going to happen the other day, but I don’t think any of us were going to believe it until we actually saw it. Marte has been MIA since April after coming back from the WBC with some kind of shoulder injury. A healthy Damaso Marte would be just as good as pretty much any reliever out there on the trade market right now, so I’m sure the team is eagerly awaiting his return.
Jeter’s house the biggest on the block
Derek’s house is bigger than beating you-know-who big. (Photo courtesy of Peter Masa/News Channel 8 in Tampa)
During the waning days of Spring Training, we touched briefly upon Derek Jeter’s new 30,000-square-feet house. While Jeter already owns a five-bedroom, five-bathroom house in Tampa, that was apparently not big enough, and he is currently constructing an eight-bedroom, nine-bathroom house on Davis Islands that’s nearly the size of a Best Buy.
Yesterday, as baseball waited out the All Star Break, Richard Mullins of The Tampa Tribune went inside the numbers on Derek’s new digs. It’s quite a behemoth on the Hillsborough Bay with views of downtown Tampa. Mullins explains more:
Kered Connors LLC, which lists Jeter as the “sole member,” purchased adjacent waterfront lots on Davis Islands’ Bahama Circle in 2005 and 2006. (“Kered” spells “Derek” backward.) Kered Connors paid $7.7 million for the properties at Bahama Circle and Baffin Avenue.
Because it’s one of a kind and unlikely to attract many buyers besides the ultrawealthy, the market value of the home is hard to determine. Using the rough selling price of waterfront Davis Islands properties, the home itself could be worth $6.2 million to $7.7 million, depending on features…
[Architect Gary] Hancock declined to offer many details about the property but said the design will be English Manor style, with lots of gables and stonework. A small service shed that’s nearly complete suggests the final property could have a slate-style roof, red-brick walls and light gray stone around the windows.
Built with two sprawling wings connected by a center section, the home will wrap around a pool on the waterfront side. Two separate three-car garages on each wing flank the front yard, with a drive-through portico along the middle axis to keep the Florida summer rains off guests. Two large boat lifts now stand out in the water of Tampa Bay.
It is a house fit for the king of New York baseball. For his part, though, Derek doesn’t want anyone else poking around his property. According to Mullins, Jeter will ask Hillsborough County for permission to construct a six-foot tall fence around his new home — the better to keep the gawkers out, indeed.
Poll: What was your favorite moment of the first half?
Every year, there are certain moments in the season that remind us just why baseball is the greatest game on Earth, and this year is no different. Sure, lots of us take this silly game far too seriously, but that’s only because we love it so much. We’re lucky to be fans of the greatest franchise in sports history, as the Yankees give us more great memories than we can handle at times.
With the second half set to begin tomorrow, I figured now was the best time to see what everyone’s favorite moment of the first half was. Here’s a few of the highlights:
May 8th: Alex Rodriguez homers on the first pitch after coming off the DL (video)
After a winter of self-inflicted controversy and a spring of injury, Alex Rodriguez returned to the Yankees lineup in Baltimore and promptly stepped to the plate with runners on first and second and only one out. In a scene straight out of a novel, A-Rod took Jeremy Guthrie’s first pitch and deposited it into the left field stands, reminding everyone in baseball what he’s capable of. They were the only runs the team would need that day, as they skated to a 4-0 win.
May 15th: Brett Gardner’s inside-the-park homer (video)
After visiting a children’s hospital earlier in the day and receiving a bracelet from a young girl who told him he would hit a home run if he kept it, Brett Gardner stepped to the plate in the 7th with the Yankees trailing the Twins 4-1. He’d entered the game in the 4th inning after Johnny Damon was thrown out for arguing balls and strikes, and blooped Jesse Crain’s 0-2 pitch into shallow left field. The ball squibbed past Denard Span and rolled all the way into the corner as Gardner raced around the bases for the Yankees first inside-the-park homer since Ricky Ledee did the honors back in 1999. The homer helped propel the Yankees to a 5-4 walk-off win.
June 1st: Joba Chamberlain’s belly flop double play in Cleveland (video)
After allowing the first two runners to reach base via a walk and single, Joba Chamberlain faced Indians’ catcher Kelly Shoppach with no outs in the 5th inning of a 1-1 game. Joba’s first two pitches were outside, and Shoppach squared around to bunt the runners into scoring position. He made contact on the third pitch but bunted it straight up and toward third base. Joba hustled off the mound and laid out almost in slow motion to make the catch, then jumped to his feet and fired the ball to second base to double off the runner there. The Indians wouldn’t score in the inning, and the Yankees walked away with a 5-2 win in one of Joba’s best starts of the season.
June 12th: Yankees walk off with a win when Luis Castillo drops the ball (video)
Having lost their last three games, the Yankees came into the bottom of the ninth against the Mets down a run in a see-saw, back-and-forth affair. The Mets brought in their shiny new closer to lock it down, and K-Rod retired Brett Gardner before allowing a single to Derek Jeter. Jeter stole second when Johnny Damon struck out, and the Mets opted to walk the molten-hot Mark Teixeira and face A-Rod. After working himself into a hitter-friendly 3-1 count, A-Rod popped K-Rod’s 28th pitch of the night up toward shallow right for an easy out. Except the out was never made because Castillo dropped the ball. Teixeira crossed home because he hustled around the bases, and the Yanks walked away winners in the most improbable fashion.
June 28th: Mariano Rivera walks with the bases loaded for his first career RBI (video)
With his team up by one and rallying for more in the top of the ninth, Mariano Rivera came to the plate for just the third time in the regular season in his career. The bases were loaded with two outs, but K-Rod’s first two pitches were outside. The next two were over the plate and Mo spoiled a third before taking the sixth pitch high for a full count. K-Rod’s 31st pitch of the night was again high, and Mariano took first base on a walk, picking up his first career RBI in the process. It’s almost an afterthought that he stuck around to pick up his 500th career save in the bottom half of the inning.
Those are just some of the highlights of the first half. Vote on your favorite below, but if you think another moment was the best of the first half – maybe Nick Swisher’s relief apperance, or AJ Burnett’s Immaculate Inning, or one of Melky Cabrera’s various walk-off hits – use the “Add an Answer” button to write in your own favorite moment.
What was your favorite moment of the first half?
First Half Review: Coaching Staff
At 51-37, with the third best record in baseball, leading the Wild Card and just three games back in the AL East, the Yankees had a fine first half. Yet it was a tumultuous three months, wrought with streaks and injuries and strange trends, causing mass panic at times among Yankees fans. Over the extended All-Star Break, we’ll go over each position to see what went right, what went wrong, and how things look for the second half. We already looked at the starting pitchers, relievers, corner infielders, catchers, middle infielders, outfielders and designated hitter, and now it’s time to discuss the coaching staff.
The expectations
After a somewhat rocky first season in New York, we were all looking for manager Joe Girardi to be a bit more honest and forthright when it came to discussing team matters. His in-game strategy was mostly fine, save his sometimes LaRussaian dedication to platoon matchups and the occasional boneheaded move that every manager is guilty of. It would have been nice to see a little evolution out of the manager in those regards, but I don’t think anyone was expecting it.
Pitching coach Dave Eiland was given over $240M worth of new toys this year and was expected to continue working with all the young arms on the pitching staff. Hitting coach Kevin Long was expected to get Robbie Cano back on track, and to also get Melky Cabrera back to being a respectable big leaguer. Organizational do-it-all guy Rob Thompson moved from bench coach to third base coach, replacing the sendtastic Bobby Meacham. Tony Pena went from first base coach to bench coach, and Mick Kelleher was the new guy brought in to take over first. Pena was moved basically to act like a second manager, giving Girardi a wingman in the dugout.
The results
It’s tough to say what falls under the cover of the coaching staff and what doesn’t. Girardi has been better with the media and Rob Thompson is doing a good job simply because no one is complaining about him. The pitching staff isn’t performing up to expectations, and the blame is being put on Eiland more and more with each passing day. Despite some ugly slumps, the Yanks offense has been good and there are few complaints about the job Long has done. Overall, the staff has done well, but let’s break it down individually.
Joe Girardi
Girardi vowed to improve his media relations over the winter and he’s delivered. While what he says isn’t much of a concern, it’s expected that the people running the team be truthful. If someone’s hurt and they don’t know how long they’ll be out, he says it, whereas last year he would try to play it off as minor and say it’ll just be a few days. Choosing words a little more carefully has gone a long way.
On the field, Girardi is basically the same guy as last year. There’s the occasional head scratcher but nothing extreme. If anything, I think we would like to see him a little less platoon crazy, maybe let Eric Hinske play third against a lefty when A-Rod needs a day off, things like that. Oh, and no more bunting before the seventh inning. Just don’t do it.
Tony Pena
Pena’s very respected around the game and is fine as Girardi’s right hand man, but his real value comes in his work with young catchers. Jorge Posada’s defense has improved considerably since Pena joined the team, and he helped nurture straight outta Double-A Frankie Cervelli into not just a passable Major League catcher, but a very good one defensively. In the unlikely scenario that Girardi gets pink-slipped midseason, Pena makes for a damn fine interim manager and would be in consideration as a long-term solution.
Kevin Long & Dave Eiland
The Yankees as a team are leading the planet in OBP (.358), SLG (.471), and (naturally) runs scored (495). There’s very little complaint about the offense, but it would be nice to see the nine-figure first baseman not suffer through prolonged slumps (which he’s already done twice this year) and to see Robinson Cano get back to his early season plate discipline. Something tells me that last part might be akin to asking him to squeeze water out of a rock.
The pitching staff as a whole has been a disappointment, especially when they’ve issued more walks than all but one other AL team. They’ve thrown just 48.2% of their pitches in the strike zone and have one of the worst first pitch strike percentages (57.8%) in the league. Joba Chamberlain hasn’t taken to any recent instruction and it’s Eiland’s job to get him right. If the pitching staff continues to flounder and if it leads to another early postseason exit, Eiland is the member of the coaching staff most likely to get the axe.
Rob Thompson & Mick Kelleher
Thompson has been an upgrade over the departed Meacham simply because we haven’t seen a runner thrown out at the plate seemingly every game. The Yankees boast a mediocre 70.9% success rate on stolen base attempts (the break-even point is around 72%), but I don’t think we can attribute that to Kelleher not being able to read pitcher’s moves or anything like that. He’s done wonders working with the infielders, with Derek Jeter enjoying his best defensive season ever and Cano rebounding well with the glove.
I’m not really sure what bullpen coach Mike Harkey does other than answer the phone and occasionally stand in the batters box when guys are warming up before the game, so I can’t really say anything about the job he’s done.
Expectations for the second half
The biggest expectations for the coaching staff the rest of the year fall on the shoulders of Dave Eiland, as we all want to see the pitching staff start performing up to its capabilities. There’s only one starter on the team that needs to nibble on the corners to survive, yet for some reason everyone’s doing it. Eiland has to correct that — his job depends on it.
Meanwhile, it would be nice to see Girardi employ Phil Hughes as a multi-inning relief ace, but that seems like just a pipe dream and I’m not expecting it. The team has looked lethargic at times (they had one foot in the batter’s box and one foot on the beach in Anahiem over the weekend), so Girardi does need to get on them a bit and make them realize that every game counts. One thing we know for sure: if the team falls short again, the coaching staff is the one that will feel the pain.
The worst .400+ OBP seasons
Yesterday we had a little fun by looking at some of the best offensive seasons put up by a player with a sub-.300 OBP since 2000, so now it’s time to turn the tables and look at the “worst” offensive seasons by a player who had a .400+ on-base percentage. Remember that when you say someone had a bad season with a .400 OBP that it’s relative, because anytime a player gets on base 40% or more of the time, they’re damn productive.
We’re using the same criteria as yesterday: 400 plate appearances minimum from 2000-2008, with wRC used to determine who was the least productive player. Is it the perfect methodology? No, but for what we’re doing it’s fine. I’m not trying to prove anything, just having a little fun. There have been 169 instances by 70 different players when someone has put up at least a .400 OBP in at least that many plate appearances this millenium. As you can imagine, we’re talking about the best of the best here. Bonds, Pujols, A-Rod, Manny, Chipper, guys like that make up the majority of the list. There are a couple of one and done guys like Matt Lawton, John VanderWal and JT Snow mixed in as well. You can see the full list sorted by wRC by clicking here.
Here’s the five “worst” seasons by a player who managed to make outs no more than 60% of the time.
Player: Mitch Meluskey, Astros, 2000
Stats: .300-.401-.487, 21 2B, 14 HR, 69 RBI, 1 SB, 66.9 wRC
Catchers aren’t expected to produce much offensively, but when one has the kind of season Melusky had in 2000, it’s reason to get excited. When the player has that season at age 26, it’s reason to get really excited. Unfortunately Meluskey’s bat wasn’t the only thing that did the talking that year, because he was kind of a dick and had a few run-ins with vets Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell (he also punched outfielder Matt Mieske in the face during a June altercation). He was traded after the season to Detroit in a six player swap that brought Brad Ausmus back to Houston, and managed to get into just 20 more big league games in his career.
Player: Edgar Martinez, Mariners, 2002
Stats: .277-.403-.485, 23 2B, 15 HR, 59 RBI, 1 SB, 67.5 wRC
Edgar Martinez was an absolute monster in his prime, posting at least a .425 wOBA from 1995-2000, and it took a severe hamstring injury in 2002 to finally slow him down. His offensive output was still pretty amazing despite the injury, and this “bad” .403 OBP season for Edgar is a career year for most. Fun Fact: Edgar’s 147 career OPS+ is the exact same as Alex Rodriguez’s. He was some kind of hitter.
Player: Nick Johnson, Yankees, 2003
Stats: .284-.422-.472, 19 2B, 14 HR, 47 RBI, 5 SB, 72.0 wRC
Nicky J’s second season in the big leagues was also one of his most productive, but he was expendable with Jason Giambi in town. At 24-yrs old he walked more than he struck out (57-70 K/BB) while playing with the pressure of being a high profile rookie on the Yankees, and looked like a budding superstar when he flashed the leather. Johnson was shipped off in the Javy Vazquez trade after the season (hey, look at that, someone in yesterday’s post was also traded for Homerun Javy … small world), and as we all know he’s struggled with injuries since. When he’s healthy, the dude can rake.
Player: Melvin Mora, Orioles, 2003
Stats: .317-.418-.503, 17 2B, 15 HR, 48 RBI, 6 SB, 76.4 wRC
It’s funny, because if you look at Mora’s career, there are two seasons that stick out like sore thumbs: 2002 & 2003. Discounting those two seasons, his career OBP is .336. Mora’s had himself a nice long career and he’s made himself a ton of money, but it’s almost like he gave the whole plate discipline thing a try and decided it wasn’t for him. Weird.
Player: Austin Kearns, Reds, 2002
Stats: .315-.407-.500, 24 2B, 13 HR, 56 RBI, 6 SB, 76.6 wRC
A major prospect viewed as a key ingredient in the future of the Reds organization, Kearns had a monster rookie season as a 22-yr old and looked like a budding superstar (used that one twice in the same post). Alas, it remains the best season of his career, as he’s since bottomed out with the Nationals (.210-.317-.316 over the last season and a half). He’s still just 29, so maybe there’s still hope he can turn it around.
* * *
As you can see from this graph, there are a few players who were more productive with a sub.-300 OBP than some players with a .400+ OBP. Well, based on wRC anyway. Kinda crazy, but weird statistical quirks like this happen all the time. Take pitches kids, you don’t have swing at everything.
Photo Credit: CollectSports.com
A stroll down Joba Lane: Starts 6 through 10
Yesterday we took a gander at Joba Chamberlain’s first five starts. The idea is to take look at his control (though not necessarily his command), pitch breakdown, and velocity to see if we can find any trends. Yesterday’s installment didn’t yield much (tough to do so with five starts) beyond the obvious. Throw hard, throw strikes, mix your pitches. Let’s see how well Joba did that in starts six through 10.
May 10 @ Baltimore
Synopsis: Joba gives up a first-inning three-run bomb to Aubrey Huff, who fist pumps on his way around the bases. People freak out for no reason. Joba finishes six innings, though he allows 11 baserunners. The Yanks pulled ahead in the top of the seventh to hand Joba the win.
Pitches – Strikes: 104 – 64 (62%)
Breakdown: 65 fastballs, 22 sliders, 10 curves, 5 changes
Average and Max FB: 93.4, 97
Notes: Better strike percentage, decent mixture of pitches, though he’s still heavily favoring fastball-slider, and good velocity. His fastball went for strikes 58.5 percent of the time, which isn’t great but is doable. He also threw his curve for strikes 60 percent of the time, and slider 68 percent. First inning aside, this was a pretty good start. It is, however, when they started having him throw a simulated first inning before games.
May 16 Minnesota
Synopsis: Another strong six inning for Joba, but not without flaw. He walks four and gives up a home run. Still, he allowed just two earned runs in that span, which should have been enough for a win. The bullpen blew it for him, but the Yankees won in extras on a walk-off homer by A-Rod.
Pitches – Strikes: 108 – 66 (61%)
Breakdown: 65 fastballs, 16 curves, 14 sliders, 11 changes, 2 two-seamers
Average and Max FB: 93.4, 97.1
Notes: Again, everything looked good in this start except the walks. He still threw his fastball for a strike 60 percent of the time, combined with 69 percent on the curve and 71 percent on the slider. His change was at 54.5 percent. This start looks a bit more like the Boston start. Joba mixed his pitches well, threw a decent number of strikes, and had a six-inning, two-run performance.
May 21 Baltimore
Synopsis: Adam Jones comebacker hits Joba in the knee. He faces two more batters and surrenders two more singles. Girardi removes him from the game.
The breakdown here is worthless, but Joba’s average fastball was about 92.
May 26 @ Texas
Synopsis: Again Joba has a rough first inning. He walks four guys through four innings, using up 84 pitches in that span. The five strikeouts are nice, but do not compensate for the three runs allowed. Anyone remember why, other than his wildness, Joba didn’t come out for the fifth? It was only a 3-1 game at that point.
Pitches – Strikes: 84 – 46 (55%)
Breakdown: 53 fastballs, 13 sliders, 9 curves, 9 changes
Average and Max FB: 90.4, 93.3
Notes: So maybe Joba came out because Girardi noticed something wrong. His fastball was not only its slowest of the season, but he also threw it for a strike just 47 percent of the time. That will not get the job done. He threw his slider and change for strikes around 75 percent each, but failed to throw the curve for strikes. It was a decent mix of pitches, but when you don’t throw strikes, it’s going to hurt you.
June 1 @ Cleveland
Synopsis: After a clunker in Texas, Joba comes out guns blazing. He’s efficient, effective, and overall awesome as he holds down the Indians. Bonus points for the flying leap double play.
Pitches – Strikes: 106 – 66 (62%)
Breakdown: 65 fastballs, 21 sliders, 14 curves, 4 changes
Average and Max FB: 93.9, 97.6
Notes: Velocity? Check. Mixing pitches? Check. Throwing strikes? Decent: 57 percent with the fastball, ditto the curve. The 85.7 percent strike rate with the slider makes it seem like there were tons of swings and misses. That’s the idea, though. The fastball and curve set ’em up, the slider knocks ’em down. His slider also averaged around 85 this game, a tick higher than I’d noticed it in his previous starts.
Again, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out the issue: throw strikes. Joba dropping his velocity from 95 last year to 93, 94 this year doesn’t seem to be as big an issue as his ability to throw strikes with it.
The one thing we’re not seeing here, and something I’d delve further into if I could in an expeditious manner, is his performance in these starts when he has two strikes on a batter. How many more does he throw with two strikes? To the eye it would seem a lot, especially lately. Without looking, I ‘m willing to bet that it plays right along with our Joba mantra of throw hard, throw strikes, mix pitches.
Next up are starts 11 through 15. Those probably won’t be too pretty, but they’ll be nicer than his last two, which we’ll touch on Friday.
Staten Island jacks their way to a win
(the post title is an ode to a short lived FOX sitcom, two points if you can guess which one)
Keith Law says that after watching him at the Futures Game, Jesus Montero reminds him of Frank Thomas because of the way he hits off his front foot.
Triple-A Scranton is off until tomorrow. The All Star Game is on ESPN2 right, but if you can’t watch you can follow along via Gameday and chat about it here.
Double-A Trenton is off until tomorrow for the All Star Break. Jorge Vazquez has a shoulder injury and was unable to participate in this afternoon’s Homerun Derby, which was won by New Jersey high schooler Mike Fassl. No, really. A high school kid won the Double-A Eastern League Homerun Derby. As for the actual game, the Southern All Stars beat their Northern counterparts 5-3.
Eduardo Nunez: 2 for 3, 1 RBI – started at short & batted second
Reegie Corona: 1 for 2 – took over at short in the top of the 6th
Jorge Vazquez: 0 for 3 – started at DH & batted fifth
Jesus Montero: 2 for 2, 1 PB – took over behind the plate in the top of the sixth
Zach McAllister: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 1-2 GB/FB – 11 of 16 pitches were strikes (68.8%) … started the game for the Northern Division
Josh Schmidt: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1-0 GB/FB – 10 of 17 pitches were strikes (58.8%) … pitched the fourth
Mike Dunn: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 1-2 GB/FB – 10 of 21 pitches were strikes (47.6%) … pitched the sixth