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New York Yankees: Wilson vs. Hughes

Posted by on 14 April 2012, 7:42 am

KURODA vs. SANTANA compared to WILSON vs. HUGHES:

Photograph of Phil Hughes taken on April 29, 2...

Photograph of Phil Hughes taken on April 29, 2008 at Yankee Stadium. 04:50, 1 May 2008 . . Mandalatv . . 1,272×954 (691 KB) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you looked at Kuroda and Santana’s career stats vs. the active hitters prior to yesterday’s game, the Yankee win was already a lock.

Not taking anything away from Kuroda, but no one foreseen a less than an inning away from a complete game performance considering his last and only two both took place in 2008.

Kuroda also did have some success and experience against Angles Albert Pujols back when he was a Dodger, and that is advantage that the other Yankee starters don’t have.

As for Santana, the majority of the Yankees bats have always whacked the heck out of him except for Swisher, he came into the game with a career .182 average against him. Swisher came into yesterday with a hot and confident bat, which proved lethal.

Still, as a whole the Yankees had hit almost .300 against Santana making the match-up in favor of the Yankees from the get-go; pending that Kuroda as back to his old self.

Looking at this afternoons game, it is just not as cut and dry.

WILSON vs. HUGHES:

Looking at today’s match-up it is not as clear-cut  because Phil Hughes’ stats read like a script to Jekyll and Hyde. He went from 2010 All-Star to being almost ineffective last season and now I think he is somewhere in the middle.

And that makes it easy to pick CJ Wilson as the clear winner, but in baseball it is the unknowns that make it so fun.

Analyzing Hughes is tough; he did show up in shape this spring, and pitched well in camp but that has yet to carry over.

Hughes didn’t look sharp at all in his first regular season start down in Tampa. He was pulled after throwing 99 pitches in four and two-thirds innings; he allowed two walks, two runs and one homer, while striking out five.

That is why I think the outcome of this game depends heavily on Hughes performance and how he handles Pujols. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Wilson vs. Hughes’ »

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Yankee fans welcomed home Bronx Bombers with open arms

Posted by on 14 April 2012, 2:55 am

OPENING DAY WAS A GEM….

Welcome home Yankees!!

It was another Opening Day for the books at Yankee Stadium, as fans got to welcome the players, say goodbye to a legend and watch the Bombers beat the Angels 5-0.

After a terrible first start against the Rays, pitcher Hiroki Kuroda took to the hill and he was brilliant.

Kuroda didn’t allow a run to score, pitching shutout ball into the ninth inning. He gave up five hits, walked two, struck out six and got a well-deserved, roaring ovation from Yankee fans.

Kuroda got insurance from the Yankee bats early, as Nick Swisher hit a three-run scoring double off Ervin Santana in the first inning. Than A-rod tacked on another run with a bomb to center field in the third inning, the 660th of his career; and Granderson went deep in the fifth, his second on the season. Continue reading ‘Yankee fans welcomed home Bronx Bombers with open arms’ »

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New York Yankees: Are you loving David Phelps

Posted by on 11 April 2012, 12:50 am

The New York Yankeesgot there second win of the 2012 season, but it was far from pretty as leaving 12 runners on base is just not going to cut it.

Derek Jeter is playing better than ever!!

I could easily rant about all the Yankees missed opportunities in the 5-hour, 12-inning win vs. the Orioles but I was so impressed by someone not named Derek Jeter.

And that would be pitcher David Phelps, who has thrown 3 innings with five strikeouts in his two appearances this season.

The 25-year old righty had a great spring posting a 2.08 ERA over 17+ innings pitched. That earned Phelps the annual James P. Dawson Award given to the top rookie in camp, along with a spot on the 25-man roster as a long-reliever.

Phelps was a starter in the minors and that might be why he got overlooked because the Yankees have better options.

Even though Phelps doesn’t have lights out stuff to be a top starter, he certainly has displayed how effective he can be out of the bullpen.

Phelps has terrific command of his two and four-seam fastball, and he also has a sinker-slider combination that has improved. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Are you loving David Phelps’ »

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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: My never read theory about Michael Pineda

Posted by on 1 April 2012, 3:56 pm
Michael Pineda

Michael Pineda (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I wrote this post almost two weeks ago and never published it because when I read it to a friend and my father they both said I was being oversensitive about my theory of what could happen to Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda.

So, I wimped out.

And now look what happened…last time I don’t listen to my gut because I totally regret it now.

So here it is the theory I did NOT publish, just a day late and a dollar short.

Everyone in Yankee Universe remembers the disasters of 2008.

Not making the playoffs for the first time in 14 seasons was not exactly the ideal sendoff for the historic old Stadium that the franchise had called home since 1923 but that is not what I am talking about.

I am referring to the Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain fiasco.

In 2008 the ‘Big 3’ was deemed the “future of the franchise” and the New York media had a field day with them, especially Chamberlain after throwing the infamous “bug game” in the 2007 ALDS in Cleveland.

The problem came when dealing with the pressure and relentless attention paid by the New York media vultures. The press hounded these kids and made everything that much harder, as there was no room to fail.

If you don’t think that the media wasn’t one of the major culprits that hindered the trios development you are crazy.

Yes, everyone is well aware of the media that comes with playing in New York but it should have been more controlled by the Yankees front office, or some veteran players could have stepped in.

Regardless, what happened to Hughes, Kennedy and Chamberlain seems to be getting repeated with the Yankees new young pitcher Michael Pineda.

It is only the second week of Spring Training and Pineda has already stated a few times that he is very uncomfortable with the 20 or more media that surround his locker.

The 23-year old hails from the Dominican Republic; English is his second language and like most who are bi-lingual, it doesn’t flow out as easily. Add that to the fact the Pineda is already shy by nature and you have a recipe for trouble.

I get that the media hounds come out in droves for anything and everything Yankees related, but there has to be a better solution to protect guys like Pineda; at least for Spring Training so they can get adjusted.

There is no fine line drawn between reasonable and merciless regarding young, imports like Pineda. Having five reporters is reasonable, but having 30 is not and considering the detrimental effects that added anxiety can have on someone’s psyche it has to be fixed.  Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: My never read theory about Michael Pineda’ »

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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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