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New York Yankees: Halos Starting Dan Haren Tonight

Posted by on 9 August 2011, 3:50 am

Arriving in the Bronx after winning eight of ten games on the road, the Yankees should be very pleased with that performance; except when both losses materialized in Fenway Park.

So, instead the Yankees come home shamed and self-conscious, but thankful for Monday’s off day to shake away everything Red Sox off their shoulders.

Not only the players, but also Yankee fans needed a breather after enduring the emotional rollercoaster that comes with losing to Boston for the 10th time this season.

BOMBERS vs. HALOS:

Admittedly still pissed but trying to focus on the upcoming series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim because the Halos pitching is a force to be reckoned with.

Angels skipper Mike Scioscia has only confirmed that Dan Haren will be on the hill to open the series, but otherwise mums the word.

The obvious guess is that staff ace Jeff Weaver will throw in Wednesday because that would be his scheduled start day, but no matter if it is Thursday the Yankees should expect to face the All-Star this week.

Luckily Erwin Santana pitched on Sunday so doubt he will be available for this series and as well as he has pitched that is a blessing for any opponent.

AJ Burnett, who seems to be irreparably flawed, will try to right himself again. Burnett will be up against a feeble Anaheim offense, who come into the Bronx only having scored four runs total in their last three-game set.

Without falter, Haren is the better pitcher as this season he is boosting a 12-6 record, a 2.81 ERA, with three complete games and two shutouts over 24 starts. Haren does not walk batters, issuing just 24 in total this season. This fact got more frightening when I looked at the top 50 pitchers on MLB.com and only Phillies Roy Halladay has allotted less with 20.

As usual after a solid first half, Burnett did not clock a ‘W’ in the month of July but in his defense he got zero run support in two starts where he went seven plus innings.

Otherwise Burnett’s 8-9 record, and 4.54 ERA paint a bad picture. On a positive note, Burnett has kept batters at a .241 average on the season, which is not as bad as you would think. His last start against the White Sox is one skipper Joe Girardi wants to forget, as he had to pull him out of the game shy of five innings, with a 13-1 lead.

The Yankees bats certainly made up for July by driving in 13 runs in four innings for Burnett in Chicago, but no one expects that vs. Haren.

Still, the Yankees can hit the hell out of the ball in comparison to the Halos and that is their big advantage in this series.

A NEW BASEBALL FORMULA; AND MY SERIES PREDICTION:

Everybody is constantly preaching about the importance of pitching in baseball, which I agree with completely but that is only one-half of the game. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Halos Starting Dan Haren Tonight’ »

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MLB Trade Rumors: Could The Yankees New Pitching Project Be Scott Kazmir

Posted by on 17 June 2011, 4:08 am
Scott Kazmir

Image by essny via Flickr

MLB Trade Rumors is reporting that New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman is planning to take a look at Los Angeles Angels outcast and ex-Tampa Bay Ray pitcher Scott Kazmir.

On June 16 2011, Kazmir was officially released by the Halos following a disastrous start in Tripe-A where he was 0-5, with an ERA north of 17.

Kazmir only made one start for the club this season before being demoted to Triple-A, but since arriving in Anaheim via trade back in 2009, Kazmir has been on a steady decline.

He first surfaced back in 2004 as part of the Devil Rays where he remained until the Angels traded for him in 2009.

In his five plus seasons in Tampa Bay, Kazmir had a 55-44 record, posting a 3.92 ERA in 144 starts. Kazmir was good, named to two All-Star Teams in 2006 and 2008; and in 2007 he lead the majors in strikeouts, fanning 239 batters that season.

Since the beginning, Kazmir had continuously agonized from strains in his elbow and shoulder due to lacking a consistent release point. My guess is the Angels thought his mechanics were fixable, as Kazmir was only 6 feet tall, short by MLB pitching standards but easier to tweak. Also, being 25-years old at the time and a lefty didn’t hurt either.

Well, the relationship between Kazmir and the Halos resembled an arranged marriage that seemed doomed from the start.

Incoming with hurt feelings that the Rays let him go, Kazmir hasn’t been able to recover and has been so ineffective it is mind-boggling.

First Kazmir’s velocity went south; then he lost total command of his pitches and was accused for his lack of work ethic.

Who really knows, but fact remains that in 2010 things got ugly. As Kazmir finished with a 9-15 record in 28 starts, posting a 5.94 ERA, giving up a career high 99 earned runs, 25 home-runs and he only pitched 150 innings in total.

This season, the Halos gave him another shot to get it together. Kazmir imploded in his first outing and was sent down to Triple-A immediately, where he as been up until a few days ago.

Kazmir is now only 27-year-old, and without question has exhibited consistent dominance for long enough periods that will leave him with options, but it is now or never.

So, presumably you can bet the Yankees are not the only team thinking about inking him to minor league deal.

Dan Martin from the NY Post reports the New York Mets have shown interest, ironically the team drafted Kazmir before handing him over to the Devil Rays. Maybe a welcome homecoming of familiarity would work?

No doubt all the factors of a good comeback story are certainly here.

Whether Kazmir wants to pitch for the remainder of 2011 on a Minor League contract is what no one can verify. The Halos still owe him a $9 million dollar paycheck for the remainder of the season, so if he does sign somewhere it is not cause he needs the money.

As for what I think regarding the Yankees signing Kazmir on as their new project?

Well, whether Kazmir can get better depends on whether he can turn his bitterness into motivation.

So, my opinion is that I don’t really care because Kazmir would only be seen in the Bronx if he righted himself, and who doesn’t love a good bargain buy.

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2011 MLB Team Preview: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Posted by on 31 March 2011, 4:23 am

Since the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim lost the 2009 ALCS to the New York Yankees, the ball-club has not been the one baseball fans were accustomed too.

Two sluggish off-seasons, sandwiching a missing 2010 post-season, which had only happened once before in the previous seven seasons, is not being taken lightly out in Los Angeles.

So, can the Angels take back the division they have owned for years? Or is the AL West heading into the post-Angels era?

Let’s take a look at the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim heading into the 2011 season.

Positives:

From the moment 1B Kendry Morales jumped in celebration with his teammates to celebrate his walk-off homerun, things took a turn for the worst in Los Angeles. Morales spent the rest of 2010 on the DL with a broken leg and his absence showed how vital he was to the team’s success.

Morales is finally back. Maybe not at 100% yet, but Morales’ presence alone and at the plate is something that the Angels have clearly been missing.

The only move worthy of Halo headlines was trading catcher Mike Napoli, who happen to led the team in home-runs last year with 26. Napoli was sent to the Blue Jays for outfielder Vernon Wells. Wells had 31 home-runs, 44 doubles, 88 RBIs with a .273 batting average. Those are the numbers that made the Angels trade for Wells. I think he will have a great season, revived by a new city that actually likes baseball and a stadium where fans come to games.

The clear strength of the Angels is their starting rotation, as it is solid from one to five. The top trio led by ace Jered Weaver who in 2010 followed right behind King Felix’s 30 quality starts with 27, led the AL in strikeouts with 233, and posted the fifth best ERA with 3.01 over a total just shy of 225 innings pitched.

Weaver is followed by another ace in Dan Haran, who the Angels picked up in July of 2010. Haran struggled at first, but the stats over his first nine starts are not totally trustworthy because he got no run support. Haran last eight outings were terrific going 4-0, over eight starts, posting a whopping 1.70 ERA. That is the Haran, the All-Star ace that the Angels were looking for. Now the Halos have Haran for an entire season now.

The Angels #3 is Ervin Santana won 17 games in 2010, posting a 3.92 ERA and is another innings eater throwing for 222 in total. Santana is trailed by a solid Joel Pineiro and the only uncertainty is Scott Kazmir but the top four are so good that Kazmir just has to get by without imploding.

Negatives:

Bullpen additions Scott Downs and Hisanori Takahashi make this bullpen legit, which is a staple of all successful Scioscia teams. The problem is the Halos don’t have a closer and this tends to present a problem no matter the team. Scioscia is a known magician, as he is one of the best managers in the game and this might be his biggest test yet. Continue reading ‘2011 MLB Team Preview: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’ »

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New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Angel-Style Baseball

Posted by on 22 July 2010, 10:59 am

The New York Yankees were elated to get the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim out of the Bronx as fast as possible, after beating them 10-6 Wednesday afternoon.

The Angels got a taste of their own medicine after dominating the Yankees the night before.

On Tuesday night, a beaten-up Angels team came into the series as the underdogs. The Halos are without superstar first baseman Kendry Morales for the remainder of the season.

Still, even before Morales broke his leg in walk-off celebration, the Angels had not been playing typical Angel-style baseball.

Manager Mike Scioscia’s motto is run, steal bases, sacrifice, hit for contact no matter what the situation. Since Scioscia took over in 2000, this type of overly-aggressive play has defined the Angels.

For Yankee fans, playing the Angels has been very unnerving for that reason. Also, it hasn’t stopped working for the Angels as Yankee Universe witnessed once again on Tuesday night. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Angel-Style Baseball’ »

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ALCS GAME ONE: It's Starting To Feel A Lot Like Christmas

Posted by on 17 October 2009, 1:29 pm

Christmas season is months away, but abnormally cold temperatures in NYC in addition to taking the first game in the ALCS Friday night, sure felt like it in the Bronx.

The stadium was freezing. Everyone bundled up but the fans enthusiasm was at an all time best. The team followed as the Yankees beat the Angels 4 to 1.

The game MVP was clearly CC Sabathia as he was lights-out and reigned again following his first start this post-season. The hot bats Angel bats of Chrome Figgins and old friend, Bobby Abreu went 0-8 with three of those strike-outs.

The Yankee bats raked in 11 hits and scored 4 enough to make it safe for CC to succeed.

John Lackey’s Angels lacked in every-way for their game-one starter.

The Angels made it relatively easy for the Yankees by committing three errors on textbook plays. It seemed like the cold might have literally frozen L.A.’s Halos right off their heads.

On a pop-fly hit by Matsui, Glove candidates Erick Aybar and Chrone Figgins stood there dumbfounded. The visible and textbook out hit the grass, not the glove.

Angels skipper, Mike Scioscia, must have read the riot act as that is just not Angels baseball. Angels get the least errors 85 on the season and errors like that will not make it in the post-season.

No one is taking Friday nights performance as any evidence for anything because it is just one game. The Yankees need to keep their business to Yankee baseball. This team shows up to play which is evidently on display anytime they take the field.

This Yankees team has the desire and the battle similar to the past 90′s teams, that made so accustomed to fans. The entitled days of winning are over and the Yankees have to prove themselves all again.

The expensive fresh faces of guys were just the breath of fresh air the Yankees needed to see that swagger back again.

Would I love to see the Yankees win the World Series this year? Yes, what fan would not want that.

Will it take to anger and criticism if the group does not?

Disappointment is a given. Finally, the demons of the past few seasons lack of spirit is gone.

I am at peace with the fact that this team gives it their all every game. The last couple years teams are ultimately gone.

The Yankees are champions for their fans already by playing with so much enthusiasm, giving not only the fans our spirit back but to an entire city.

*all photos in this post were taken at the ALCS game at Yankees stadium by LadyLovesPinstripes.com*

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