How ’bout that Robbie Cano?
Game 41: Getting greedy
The Yankees are an irresistible force. The Orioles are not an immovable object. We’ve seen that over the past two nights, and the Yanks will give it another go this evening, sending ace-in-training Joba Chamberlain to the mound to complete the sweep of the Orioles. It seems like Yanks fans are getting greedy, gearing up for a ninth straight victory. But, as Kenny Singleton is wont to point out, it just feels like they’re going to win every game. He was referring to the atmosphere in the clubhouse, but it infects the fans, too.
No one forgets Joba’s last outing against Baltimore. It was defined by one play: the fist-pump by Aubrey Huff following a first-inning homer. Joba didn’t think much of it, or at least didn’t play it up in the media. He went on to finish strong, allowing no runs after the homer while striking out five. The nine hits were a bit high, but that’s the life of a budding pitcher. His last start against Minnesota was a bit more dominant. He looks to build on that tonight.
Adam Eaton takes the hill for Baltimore. Last time he faced the Yankees was another infamous game. Phil Hughes let things get out of hand in the second, which was a shame because Eaton is a pretty terrible pitcher. They got him for four runs in five innings, but that wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit. The Royals smacked him around in his subsequent start, for seven runs in five innings. The Yanks have seen him recently, so let’s hope they can put a similar hurt on Eaton.
Johnny Damon apparently tweaked his neck while leaping for Adam Jones’s homer. While Phil Hughes would have appreciated a save, the jump was pretty futile. He’ll sit out today with hopes of returning tomorrow. Speaking of Hughes, the Yanks announced that he will make another start, on Monday in Texas, while Chien-Ming Wang will take the hill on Friday for Scranton.
Lineup:
1. Derek Jeter, SS
2. Robinson Cano, 2B
3. Mark Teixeira, 1B
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Hideki Matsui, DH
6. Nick Swisher, RF
7. Melky Cabrera, LF
8. Francisco Cervelli, C
9. Brett Gardner, CF
And on the mound, number sixty-two Joba Chamberlain.
Also, be sure to check out Matt from Fack Youk’s post on the Yankees’ work with cancer patients. I thought it was a very good read.
Hughes to start Monday as Wang goes for Scranton tomorrow
The headline says it all. The Yankees have announced that Chien-Ming Wang will make at least one more rehab start and that Phil Hughes will take one more turn in the rotation. Wang’s start is set for Scranton tomorrow, and Hughes is scheduled to pitch on Monday afternoon in Texas. The Yanks will then reevaluate their options and determine if they wish to use Thursday’s off-day to slot Wang back into the Big League five. “We just want to see him have the stuff he had in the bullpen,” Girardi said, explaining the team’s decision.
Stark: Yankee Stadium HR controversy overblown
In his latest Rumblings and Grumblings column, the verbose Jayson Stark took on the Yankee Stadium home run controversy. Since Stark’s piece features nearly 4000 words of non-Yankee items before getting there, let me just excerpt:
Those home runs might be flying. But we’re hearing that the Yankees don’t plan to make any firm judgments on the home-run propensity of the new Yankee Stadium until after the summer breezes kick in and the old stadium is dismantled.
The club has been told by its engineers that when the old park is out of the way, the wind currents off the East River should hit the new stadium differently and actually reduce home runs.
In the meantime, we’ve studied the home-run data over at hittrackeronline.com. And even though the new stadium has proven to be 55 percent easier to hit a home run in than the average park, data shows the wind effect might be less dramatic than popularly believed. For instance:
- Of the 70 outside-the-park home runs hit at the new park through Wednesday, only three were estimated to have carried an additional 10 feet or more because of wind. And all three were hit on the same day (April 18).
- Only 12 homers were estimated to have carried an extra five feet or more because of the wind (four of those 12 were just hit Tuesday and Wednesday, by the way) — but seven actually had their distance knocked down by five feet or more because they were hit into the wind.
- And of those 70 home runs, 27 would have been home runs in all 30 parks in baseball, 43 would have been homers in at least 25 of the 30 parks and all but 18 would have been home runs in at least 20 of the 30 parks. Just two were judged to have been homers only in Yankee Stadium.
So is this just a place where pitchers make one gruesome pitch after another? Seems hard to believe that’s the only explanation. But that’s why all those engineers make the big bucks, right?
For those interested, the raw data, including number of stadiums at which a ball would be a home run, can be found at this page.
Now, I take issue with Stark’s conclusion. He says that “the wind effect may be less dramatic than popularly believed.” That’s not really what this study has shown. For all we know, without the wind, new Yankee Stadium would be playing like a pitcher’s park as the old one did.
What this study shows is that the stadium isn’t contributing to an explosion of home runs because of its dimensions. Based purely on distances traveled, balls that land behind the fences at new Yankee Stadium would land behind the fences at most Major League ballparks.
At the same time, though, the numbers trend toward the high end of a hitter’s park. According to Stark, 18 of 70 home runs would be out only at 10 of the 30 parks. That certainly puts the stadium is rarer company that A.J. Burnett and CC Sabathia would like.
In the end, though, we’ll left with the same conclusion: The Yankees have played 19 home games, and it’s just too early to pass final judgment on the stadium’s weather effects and home run tendencies. But hey, what’s a few more words worth of spilled ink on the topic anyway?
RAB Live Chat
Nady takes BP
Via Bryan Hoch, Xavier Nady took batting practice yesterday for the first time since going down with an elbow injury last month. “It felt good,” said Nady. “I was more hesitant the first couple of swings, but I was swinging the bat good. I’ll do this for a couple days, and hopefully by Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I’ll be letting it loose out there.” Nady expects to continue his rehab next week down in Tampa. His bat will be a welcome return to a club currently sporting a bench of Angel Berroa, Ramiro Pena, Brett Gardner and Kevin Cash.
2009 Draft: Yanks show interest in Renfroe
Via the fantastic ESPN Draft Blog, the Yanks have shown a lot of interest in prep shortstop David Renfroe, most likely for their second pick, number 76 overall. Renfroe, who hit .509 for South Panola HS (Mississippi), is an excellent athlete and a top two-way prospect. MLB.com’s scouting report says he has above average offensive potential and possibly the same on defense, and that his game plays up because of outstanding instincts. His father played professionally for nine years, so he’s also got good bloodlines. Here’s a clip of Renfroe going deep in a showcase game.