River Avenue Blues

AL East Roundup: 4/13/09 through 4/19/09

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Toronto Blue Jays

None of the Jays replacements we’ve contacted have come through, so you’re going to have to deal with ol’ Joe’s recap of the Blue Jays week. It’s a shame none of their bloggers stepped up, because they’re off to a remarkable start. They sit atop the AL East which, while it likely won’t last long, has to be music to Jays fans’ ears. With all the talk about the Sox, Yanks, and Rays, it must be nice looking down at them.

The week started off rough, with Jesse Litsch getting roughed up for four runs over three innings on Monday. Worse, he’s now on the 15-day DL with a right forearm strain, never a good omen. He won’t even throw a baseball for two weeks, and his return is currently set at four to six weeks, but that might be optimistic. Still, they came back and won it for Litsch. Travis Snider went deep for the second time in the game and gave the Jays an 8-6 win. After taking three of four from Minnesota, the Jays stomped the A’s for two out of three over the weekend. It could have been a sweep, but Brandon League blew Friday’s game in the eighth, allowing three runs for an 8-5 A’s comeback.

Week’s record: 5-2

Season record: 10-4

Injuries: RHP Jesse Litsch (15-day DL, forearm strain)

This week: Tue – Thu TEXAS; Fri – Sun @Chicago
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Fan Confidence Poll: April 20th, 2009

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Even though the Yankees went 4-3 last week, it seemed like everything went wrong. They lost their home opener thanks to a bullpen implosion, then suffered a historically bad loss two days later when Chien-Ming Wang continued to struggle.

Struggle is probably going a little easy on the Wanger, whose pitches have lacked their usual bite and are being left up in the zone. He was so bad in his second start of the year that Nick Swisher was forced to take the mound. The team is likely to skip Wang’s next scheduled start thanks to Thursday’s off-day, hoping the extra time off will help fix whatever is broken.

The New Stadium opened with an offensive bang, although that shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise. Even worse is that the expensive seats are practically empty, and that’s pretty embarrassing to be quite honest. At least the team managed to win a game started by old mate Carl Pavano. Xavier Nady’s season looks to be over thanks to an elbow injury, knocking a huge hole in the team’s offensive and outfield depth. I suppose there’s still a chance he won’t be out that long, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

It wasn’t all bad news though. AJ Burnett took a no-hitter into the 7th inning against the defending AL Champs, and Derek Jeter came through in the clutch for a win the next night. Jeter came through big time later in the week, helping the club to their first win in the New Stadium. Alex Rodriguez is getting ever closer to returning, while a cortisone shot seems to have cured Mark Teixeira’s ailing wrist. Things are looking especially good down on the farm, where Triple-A Scranton is off to a franchise record 11-0 start.

Please take a second to answer the poll below and give us an idea of how confident you are in the team. You can view the Fan Confidence Graph anytime via the nav bar above, or by clicking here. Thanks in advance for voting.

Given the team's current roster construction, farm system, management, etc., how confident are you in the Yankees' overall future?
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Whither Chien-Ming Wang

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From 2005-2008, Chien-Ming Wang, the Yanks’ Taiwanese right-handed sinker-ball specialist, was among the best pitchers in baseball. His 54 wins ranked him tied for 15th among all pitchers over that span, and his 3.79 ERA was good for 20th among pitchers with more than 500 IP since the start of 2005.

As the Yankees and their fans have come to learn, that success can all fall apart very, very quickly. Three starts and just six — six! — innings later, Wang finds himself atop another list, this one far more dubious. Of the 18 pitchers since 1954, to give up seven or more earned runs in three consecutive starts, Chien-Ming Wang’s totals are by far the worst of the lot.

Of the hurlers on that list, only Hayden Penn’s 27.00 ERA approaches Wang’s 34.50 mark, and none of the pitchers had managed to put together a WHIP of 4.83. We don’t however need those numbers to know that Wang has been bad. We can see it with our own eyes.

While we’ve used pitch f/x numbers to show that his pitches aren’t sinking and his release point is off, we don’t need these illuminating features to know what’s wrong with Chien-Ming Wang. He has raised his career ERA by over a quarter of a run to 4.08, and in a nutshell, his mechanics are completely out of whack. He’s not breaking his hands at the right point; he’s not lifting his leg enough; he’s not driving forward; and he’s not generating sink or speed because of it. Maybe he’s subconsciously afraid of putting too much pressure on his injured foot; maybe something else is wrong.

Those problems though are for the Yankees to fix. Unfortunately, they have only a few ways of doing so. Because the Yankees added Chien-Ming Wang to the 40-man roster in 2003 to protect him from the Rule V draft, he is out of options. While Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, two other top-flight starters who struggled, were sent down to hammer out their kinks, that option is closed to the Yanks and Wang.

The team could look to disable Wang for a little while. Maybe he’s actually injured or maybe he’s just “injured.” Either way, a 15-day rehab stint in Tampa could help the team isolate the problems.

For his part, Wang wants to keep working through games. Joe Girardi, however, hasn’t committed to starting Wang in Fenway Park on Friday. With an off-day on Thursday, the team could skip Wang in the rotation while working on the side to end his slump. Right now, my money is on that move.

Whatever the outcome, the Yankees have almost been expecting this day. They haven’t locked Wang up to a long-term deal. Instead, the team has opted for arbitration and a year-to-year approach with the 29-year-old. It’s almost as though they expected the sinker to stop sinking and the lack of out-pitch to haunt them.

While possible, the Yankees need Chien-Ming Wang to rediscover his groove. Of all the possible problems heading into 2009, this one was so remote and so unexpected. The Yankees expected their worm-killer to pick where he left off last year. That he hasn’t is cause for concern.

Scranton beats former teammate for yet another W

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Chad Jennings has some undefeated stats for you. The four affiliates have a 29-12 record combined.

Triple-A Scranton (7-2 win over Rochester) the opposing starter was an old friend
Doug Bernier, Todd Linden & Chris Stewart: all 1 for 4, 1 R – Bernier doubled, walked & K’ed twice … Linden & Stewart each K’ed twice
Eric Duncan: 2 for 4, 2 R, 1 RBI – hitting .387 during his 8 game hit streak
Shelley Duncan: 1 for 3, 2 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Juan Miranda: 2 for 4, 1 2B, 2 RBI
Angel Berroa: 0 for 3, 1 RBI – 9 RBI in his last 6 games
Justin Leone & PJ Pilittere: both 1 for 4 – Leone committed a fielding error … PJ doubled
Jason Johnson: 6.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 HB, 10-7 GB/FB – 56 of 83 pitches were strikes (67.5%)
Mark Melancon: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 Bb, 1 K, 4-0 GB/FB – 9 of 16 his pitches were strikes (56.2%)
Brett Tomko: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1-1 GB/FB – 11 of 15 pitches were strikes (73.3%)

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Pavano pitches well, but Yanks take the game late

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So much for bombing Carl Pavano in his return to the Bronx. The oft-injured righty tossed six solid innings today, allowing just one run on four hits and a walk. Unfortunately for him, Eric Wedge replaced him in the seventh after 89 pitches, and the bullpen imploded immediately. Three outs after Pavano’s last pitch and the Yanks had taken the lead for good.

On a day when the Yankees needed A.J. Burnett to go deep into the game, he didn’t have much juice. His control just wasn’t there: only 60 of his 111 pitches were strikes and he walked seven batters. He only allowed three hits, including a dinky single to Travis Hafner in the first. Unfortunately, the other two were home runs, leaving him a 3-1 deficit upon exiting in the seventh. With the bases loaded, Jon Albaladejo induced a weak grounder to Ransom, who got Trevor Crowe at the plate. A routine grounder by Victor Martinez ended the threat.

Surprisingly, the Yanks had a bit of trouble hitting Pavano, who wasn’t exactly stellar in his first two starts this season. He didn’t have pinpoint control — 54 of his 89 pitches were strikes, or a hair over 60 percent. Yet he was still perfect the first time through the order. The Yanks managed a run the second time through on a Derek Jeter double, followed by Mark Teixeira reaching for and pulling an outside pitch through a hole on the right side. Pavano also pitched out of trouble in the sixth. Jeter helped him out with a double play, but the Yanks managed to load the bases before Nick Swisher struck out for the third time in the game.

The hero of the game, of course, was Jorge Posada. After Cody Ransom muffed a sac bunt attempt by laying it right back to reliever Jensen Lewis, who got Matsui at second, Joe Girardi sent up Posada to pinch hit for Jose Molina. Three pitches later the stadium was booming. Jorge had just barely cleared the wall in right field, though some arguing from Eric Wedge led to the first instant replay review I can remember of the young season. From YES’s multiple vantage points, it looked as if the ball was going to clear the wall and that the fan didn’t interfere. That the fan even leaned into the field of play is ridiculous; fans are spectators, not participants. No Yanks fans are complaining about the result, of course, but one of those plays could come back to bite the team in the ass one day.

(Also, the guy next to the fan in question had a mitt. I’m sorry, but no one over the age of 14 should bring a mitt to the game unless you have hooks for hands.)

Brian Bruney, while not striking out a batter, dominated the Indians’ four, five, and six hitters, effectively laying a bridge to Mariano Rivera. The Yanks added some insurance in the eighth off once-bullpen-ace Rafael Betancourt, and Mo slammed the door with a quick ninth inning. The Yanks salvaged a split in the series despite two of the most lopsided losses they’ve seen in years. That has to feel good. It also keeps the Yankees above .500 at 7-6 on the season.

Think about those six losses for a second. Four of them were absolute blowouts, started by the Nos. 1 and 2 pitchers in the rotation. The other one was the game in KC which got everyone up in arms over the bullpen. One has to figure that the blowouts won’t happen as frequently from this point on. Two came with CC Sabathia on the mound, and it’s unlikely we see much more of that. Two came from Wang, who will either improve or be replaced. In other words, this team looks to be in better shape than their record indicates.

Oakland comes to town next for a three-game set before the Yanks head up to Boston. They might not get in the game tomorrow night; the weather looks pretty grim. Both teams have an off-day on Thursday, though Oakland has to fly back West for a weekend series against Tampa Bay. Oakland does come back to town July 24 through 26 and the two teams share an off-day on the 23rd, but Oakland would be coming from out West. With the possibility of skipping Wang’s start in Boston, the Yanks might not want to play a double header this week.

Game 13: Yanks hope to turn the tables

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Carl Pavano hasn’t been quite as bad as Chien-Ming Wang this season, but he hasn’t exactly helped the Indians in his two starts. After allowing nine runs in one inning on April 9, he came back on Tuesday with a six-inning, four-run performance, lowering his ERA from 81.00 to 16.71. The Yanks hope to do to Pavano what the Indians did to Wang yesterday and send his ERA over the 30.00 mark. They’ll have A.J. Burnett, by far their best pitcher to this point (though it’s just two starts), hopefully keeping them in the game.

The last time Carl Pavano faced the Yankees was with the Expos in 2000. He allowed five runs on seven hits over 4.1 innings. That means next to nothing right now — not only was it nine years ago, but there are only two current Yankees who were in that lineup. Jeter went 1 for 5 and Posada went 1 for 2 with two walks and two RBI — though the two RBI came on a home run hit off reliever Mike Johnson; the runner on base was Pavano’s. Pavano also pitched for the Expos against the Yankees in 1998, allowing four runs (three earned) in five innings. Luis Sojo played short that game and Joe Girardi caught, so zero current Yankees were in that lineup.

A.J. Burnett has started five games against the Indians in his career, pitching 30 innings to a 7.20 ERA. That’s about the last thing the Yanks need. Worst of all, Burnett struck out only 22 in 30 innings, far off his career mark. He also walked 18, never a good number with 30 innings pitched. His last outing against them came in the first game of a double header last May 12, wherein he pitched 7.2 innings, allowing three runs and striking out seven to three walks. That’s not a stellar start, but the Yanks would certainly take it today, especially the 7.2 innings part.

To ensure there are enough arms in the pen, the Yanks have called up Steven Jackson to replace Anthony Claggett. It looks like Edwar Ramirez (58 pitches) and Jose Veras (just 43 in 3 IP) won’t be available today, and Damaso Marte (23 pitches) will only be used in a dire circumstance. That means Jackson, Coke, Albaladejo, Bruney, and of course Mo should be available for an inning or more. Again, all we can do is hope that it doesn’t come to that.

Girardi has shuffled the order again today, though I still don’t get the Gardner leading off thing. He has speed, but he’s having a hard time getting on base this year. Matsui returns to DH, giving Jorge a full day off.

Lineup:

1. Brett Gardner, CF
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Johnny Damon, LF
4. Mark Teixeira, 1B
5. Nick Swisher, RF
6. Robinson Cano, 2B
7. Hideki Matsui, DH
8. Cody Ransom, 3B
9. Jose Molina, C

And on the mound, number thirty-four, A.J. Burnett