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New York Yankees: Things are about to get harder.

Posted by on 17 April 2012, 3:26 am

Pavano on the hill at Yankee Stadium - 04.16.2012

After a lovely weekend of taking two of three from the Angels, the Yankees looked good minus Phil Hughes.

Last night the Yankees opened a four game set in the Bronx against the Minnesota Twins with a 3-7 loss.

It didn’t help that Carl Pavano (aka. American Idle) was on the mound for the Twins, as considering his history in New York losing to him didn’t sit well with Yankees fans; of course not much does these days.

Minnesota is in town for three more games, and the Yankees have manhandled the Twins over the last decade, winning 33 of their last 44 meetings in the Bronx; so winning the next three games should be mandatory.

Reality is the Yankees cannot really afford to lose any of them, as things are about to get a lot harder starting this Friday when they head to Fenway Park.

Their schedule is about to get kicked into high gear and the Yankees could very well wind up in a hole come mid-May if they don’t take advantage when possible. Figuring out which way this team will go is the million, I meant billion-dollar question.

Attempting to come up with a logical formula of where any team will be a month from is fundamentally impossible and might even send Bill James brain into a tailspin.

Still, like every team, the Yankees have issues that need to be ironed-out sooner than later but time is not on their side…look for yourself. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Things are about to get harder.’ »

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Yankees won Baltimore battle but war starts tomorrow vs. Halos

Posted by on 12 April 2012, 2:14 pm
Albert Pujols

Albert Pujols (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Yankees finally are back in New York after a road trip where they both got and did some sweeping.

After starting the season losing three games to the Rays, the Yankees went into Baltimore and did the opposite against the Orioles.

Two of the three wins went into extra innings, but the Yankees battled and now will open up at the Stadium at an acceptable .500 but the war hasn’t even begun yet.

The Yankees are set to host the Los Angeles Angels, who lost their opening series to the Royals and are now tied in a series vs. Twins that ends today before the three game set in the Bronx.

With the 2012 season still so fresh it is presumptuous to label any team for certain, but I can say both teams are considered to be serious playoff contenders in 2012.

The competition is sure to be steeper, and looking at both teams neither is performing up to expectations just yet but this weekend should expose any weaknesses. Here is a breakdown of tomorrow’s match-up.

PITCHING:

MLB.com lists the probable pitchers for game one of series as follows:

Friday – Ervin Santana vs. Hiroki Kuroda

This match-up is a toss-up as both Santana and Kuroda struggled almost identically in their 2012 debuts. Both pitchers threw for 5.2 innings and struck out just two batters. Santana gave up two homers, five earned runs and issued two walks; compared to Kuroda giving up one bomb, four walks and allowing four runs to score.

Bottom line is both Kuroda and Santana are capable of way better performances but whether that happens for one, both or neither tomorrow is the question.

Looking back, the Yankee bats have a career .281 batting average against Santana, but over the last three seasons that number jumped to a .325. Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano have given Santana the most problems, and with the Captain’s hot bat now you can expect him to be a big factor in tomorrow’s game. A-rod has had two homers and six RBIs in his last 15 at-bats vs. Santana so hopefully his almost dead bat in Baltimore going tomorrow. Continue reading ‘Yankees won Baltimore battle but war starts tomorrow vs. Halos’ »

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New York Yankees: Being too un-risky proving costly

Posted by on 8 April 2012, 7:44 pm
Joe Girardi

Joe Girardi (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon notoriously gets called out for making ‘risky moves’ all the time but after this weekend’s sweep of the New York Yankees that label seems unfair and inaccurate.

A risk is supposed to be hazardous, as you are acting in spite of what could go wrong.

And the only jeopardizing things I saw during the first series of the 2012 season came from the Yankees bench. Here are the three ‘safe’ moves that potentially lost the Yankees games:

1)    Intentionally walking Rays Sean Rodriguez in the first inning, of the first game of the season against CC Sabathia was senseless. Sabathia always takes a few starts in the beginning of the season to get rolling and he was clearly struggling with his control. To purposefully bring up power hitter Carlos Pena instead of letting CC strike out Rodriguez with breaking balls, which he did later in the game was over managing the Yankees ace. It ended with Pena hitting a grand slam.

2)    Again in the first game, but in the ninth inning, Girardi walked two Rays to get to Pena again who hit a rocket to deep centerfield, which won the game for the Rays. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Being too un-risky proving costly’ »

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New York Yankees: Not exactly the start I was hoping for

Posted by on 7 April 2012, 1:48 am
Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees deliver...

Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees delivers a pitch. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The 2012 Opening Day between the Yankees and Rays was not exactly the start New York fans were hoping for, as the game was more than just a loss.

The Yankees were entering the bottom of the ninth with a 6-5 lead, and skipper Joe Girardi called on Mariano Rivera to finish off the Rays.

That is where things got ugly, as Mo allowed a single, a double, which led to a run scored, and no outs.

Girardi had no choice but to instruct Mo to walk the next two batters intentionally so the bases would be loaded. Next he swapped Nick Swisher for Eduardo Nunez to crowd the infield in hopes that the Rays Sean Rodriguez would bunt.

Regardless of what you have or will hear about Girardi’s decision, it was without question the Yankees best option at the time. The Yankees were looking for the double play at either first or third and home plate.

Rodriguez wound up not bunting, but Mo struck him out.

Than came up Carlos Pena, who was 0-11 lifetime against Rivera but he had the hottest bat of the night by far including a grand slam off Sabathia in the first inning.

Well, Pena came through again and hit a deep ball over Brett Gardner’s head and the Rays won the game 7-6.

 SHOULD YANKEE FANS BE WORRIED ABOUT MARIANO RIVERA?

Well, the Yankees and Rays are both playoff contenders and even though this is just one-game, remember that is what last season came down too.

I understand that players are adjusting but what made this loss sting was that Mariano Rivera could not do his job and that is something Yankee fans are not used too.

Rivera is by far the best closer ever to step on a mound, but he is almost 42-years old and in 17-seasons has yet to regress at all, so convincing myself that it is all good after a blown save plus a loss on Opening Day is hard to do.

When it comes to Mo it stings in the hearts of Yankee fans, and New Yorkers are not supposed to care like that about anything but championships but this time it is different.

Now getting back to answering my question of whether I am worried about what transpired at Tropicana Field yesterday afternoon…in my mind no I am not, but in my heart yes.

All I know for certain is that yesterday is over and hopefully the Yankees get a win today.

ABOUT CC SABATHIA?

The table below is for all Yankee fans, including myself, that got chills when Rays Carlos Pena hit a grand slam off ace CC Sabathia in the first inning of the 2012 season. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Not exactly the start I was hoping for’ »

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Yankees vs. Rays: 3 things to watch as 2012 starts

Posted by on 5 April 2012, 11:13 pm

The start of a new baseball season makes me feel like a kid on Christmas again.

CC Sabathia

CC Sabathia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am both excited and nervous just thinking of what the 2012 season could bring.

Finally, it is the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays turn to open the season tomorrow at Tropicana Field.

Two division rivals, that are both primed to make the post season, and with 162-games left to be played anything can happen.

The AL East is as much talented as it is torturous, and it looks to be a battle-royale once again in baseball’s toughest division.

So, what should Yankee fans be watching against the Rays this weekend?

Here are three situations I will be keeping tabs on….

1) The starting pitching match-ups are fierce.

CC Sabathia vs. James Shields – Friday

Hiroki Kuroda vs. David Price – Saturday

Phil Hughes vs. Jeremy Hellickson – Sunday

Out of all three, I will be closely watching Sunday’s match-up of Hughes vs. Hellickson as it intrigues me because I haven’t seen a really productive Hughes since before the 2010 All-Star Break.

Also, Hellickson, who won the 2011 AL Rookie of the Year, and Hughes have very similar  stats against each others active hitters, so I want to see if Hughes can hold his own without the Yankees having to score 6+ runs for him to get the win. Continue reading ‘Yankees vs. Rays: 3 things to watch as 2012 starts’ »

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New York Yankees: 2012 Pitching Rotation Is All Set

Posted by on 31 March 2012, 9:12 pm

2012 New York Yankees rotation announced...

New York Yankees skipper Joe Girardi and pitching coach Larry Rothschild’s decision about the starting rotation got made for them last night.

There were six pitchers for five spots, but with the now confirmed news that Michael Pineda does have shoulder tendentious, the heated competition will pause for a moment until Andy Pettitte decides he is ready to go.

Pineda will start the season on the 15-day DL and Yankee fans can only that hope this injury doesn’t linger.

So, here is the official 2012 Yankees starting pitching rotation:

1) CC Sabathia

2) Hiroki Kuroda

3) Phil Hughes

4) Ivan Nova

5) Freddy Garcia Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: 2012 Pitching Rotation Is All Set’ »

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The New York Yankees infatuation with Phil Hughes

Posted by on 29 March 2012, 12:26 pm

Two days ago, Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News claimed that New York Yankees pitcher Phil Hughes has captured a spot in the rotation and I have pondered over this ever since.

Phil Hughes pitching on April 18, 2008 against...

Phil Hughes pitching on April 18, 2008 against the Baltimore Orioles (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At the start of Spring Training the impression was that CC Sabathia and Hiroki Kuroda were the only two with confirmed spots in the starting rotation and the rest were up for grabs between Ivan Nova, Phil Hughes, Freddy Garcia and Michael Pineda.

Right from the start it felt like a rigged competition.

It just seemed that the Yankees were determined to give Phil Hughes a starting spot as long as he pitched somewhat decently.

GM Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi cannot seem to shake the 18 games he won in 2010, which I could understand more if 14 of Hughes wins were not in games when the bats scored 6+ runs. And he only pitched a total of 176 innings and that is very low for a pitcher who made 31 starts and went 18-8.

And some reason, I still don’t trust Hughes as a starter as the only time I truly felt confident watching him on the mound was when he pitched in relief in 2009.

The main question I have is if this real competition is based on Spring Training stats, because if it is than Hughes securing a spot is not really justified. Continue reading ‘The New York Yankees infatuation with Phil Hughes’ »

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