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New York Yankees: Why I hope you lose again tonight in Toronto

Posted by on 17 May 2012, 2:26 am

Watching the New York Yankees lose 8-1 to the Toronto Blue Jays last night has been no different from the other eight losses Yankee fans have had to endure this May.

Russell Martin

Russell Martin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hiroki Kuroda stunk, as he gave up three homers, seven earned runs in five innings pitched but that didn’t really bother me.

Would I have liked to see Kuroda have two good starts in a row?

Yes, but that will come with time as he did post six strikeouts in last night’s game too.

What drove me to almost throw my remote right into my flat screen about 10 different times were the Yankee hitters, if you can even call them, as I was under the impression that hitters actually hit.

This game came served on a silver platter for the Yankee bats.

Toronto had starter Kyle Drabek on the hill, who the Yankees had a .326 average against.

Also, Drabek had lost four of his last five starts, giving up five homers, 20 walks and 14 earned runs.

And if you did your homework, you would have anticipated Kuroda’s crappy start because he has flip-flopped between one bad and one good all season.

Still, it was the Yankees game to lose because the bats had such a big advantage over Drabek, which almost made Kuroda’s woes irrelevant. Or at least this is what I thought.

Instead, I was utterly embarrassed watching the game with two friends, one a Mets fan and the other a Phillies fan; so I cannot even image how the utterly mortified the Yankees must have felt.

Here are what the Yankees are doing very well right now:

-        Playing totally crappy, uninspiring baseball. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Why I hope you lose again tonight in Toronto’ »

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Mark Buehrle Shouldn’t Be Yankees Top Target

Posted by on 9 November 2011, 12:50 am
CHICAGO - SEPTEMBER 7: Mark Buehrle #56 of th...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The New York Yankees are reportedly interested in starting pitcher Mark Buehrle, who just wrapped up a four-year, $56 million contract with the Chicago White Sox.

George King of the NY Post reiterated this notion, but went even further by claiming that Buehrle could become the Yankees top target.

The 33-year-old lefty is receiving a lot of buzz and I expect he will get more considering this is one of the weakest pitching market to date.

Regardless, like all prospective free agents the same question remains, will Buehrle be a good fit in New York or not?

When discussing Buehrle the answers given have been mixed, which is understandable but expected at the same time.

See, even though Buehrle is ceaselessly dependable, he also comes with an uneasy amount of risk.

Here are Buehrle’s basic pitching stats from 2007-2011:

Buehrle has been with the White Sox for his entire career; below is Buehrle’s 162 game average from his pro-12 seasons.

It is not a secret that Buehrle is what is called a finesse pitcher; translation is throwing for accuracy without much speed. So, this explains Buehrle’s low walk numbers and why runners don’t get away with much on the bases when he is on the hill.

This explains Buehrle’s low amount of strikeouts and walks as it falls right in line with this type of pitcher. He is an a-typical finesse pitcher.

THE GOOD STUFF:

Without question Buehrle is durable, having never been on the DL, which is clear, as he has never pitched below 201 innings in his career. He holds the record, among active MLB starters, with 11 consecutive seasons posting 200+ innings pitched.

Buehrle’s career winning average is 15 games a season, but has won 13 games total in the last three seasons. His career ERA stands at 3.83, and it has stayed under 4.00 for four of the last five years.

MY THREE CONCERNS:

First, you have to presume that Buehrle will be looking for at least a four-year deal and he will be 33-years old by Opening Day 2012. That means the Yankees will have another player signed into his upper 30’s and you have to worry about regression. Continue reading ‘Mark Buehrle Shouldn’t Be Yankees Top Target’ »

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New York Yankee: Proceed With Caution

Posted by on 19 September 2011, 6:11 am

The message is plain and simple; New York Yankee fans need to go ahead with caution because three is a crowd.

The reality is the Yankees have not clinched a playoff berth yet and there making life awfully hard after losing the rubber game 0-3 on Sunday vs. the Toronto Blue Jays. It is hard to believe that the Yankees could very well be the man out, but as Justin Bieber says, Never Say Never.

Watching ESPN or MLB Network, one would think that the Yankees were already packing for October. All the media focus has been solely on the AL Wild Card standings, along with a lot of long-winded banter excusing why the Red Sox are stinking lately and how they are still the best team in the AL.

Well, reality bites because even though the Bombers continue to lead the AL East by 4.5 games, not winning on their own merit is a cause for concern.

There is still a week left for the Yankees to get hot again, as limping into the playoffs is not an ideal scenario.

Over the next week the Yankees will face the Rays seven times and the Red Sox three. Just typing that scenario actually makes missing the postseason way to possible in my mind.

So, my point is that all Yankee fans need to stop acting entitled and be humbled instead.

Why?

  1. I will start with the apparent reason that three’s a crowd; this necessitates one, or possibly two of the AL East teams going bye.
  2. And the other reason is how hard pressed it would be to find more than a handful of baseball experts that didn’t pick the Red Sox as the AL darlings throughout the season; other than my favorite perennial debater, ESPN’s Skip Bayless who said preseason that the Bombers were not nearly done just yet.  I mean the Yankees were not supposed to be leading the AL East with just 11 games left on the season, as the Yankees forecast was to fail. Continue reading ‘New York Yankee: Proceed With Caution’ »

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New York Yankees Magic Number

Posted by on 17 September 2011, 1:06 pm

If you watch or read anything about MLB during the month of September, than you certainly heard the term ‘Magic Number’ over and over again.

With the New York Yankees losing 5-4 to the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night, accompanied by a Boston Red Sox win; the Bombers magic number lingers at 7 for a postseason berth, and 10 to win the AL East division for another day.

So, what is the infamous Magic Number? And how is it calculated?

To put it simply, it is the number of games a division leading team has to win to secure winning their respective division.

A win drops a division team’s Magic Number down by one; and so does a loss by the team right below them in the divisional standings.

If the AL East leading Yankees want to win the division, they have to win or the Red Sox have to lose a combination of 10 games with 13 games left to play. For a playoff spot, the Yankees need to win and the Red Sox have to lose to form a concoction of 7 games total.

In essence the Magic Number only applies to division-leading teams because the formula is as follows:

So, plug-in the Yankees 90 wins and the Red Sox’s 63 loses:

163 – 90 Yankee Wins – 63 Red Sox Loses = A Magic Number of 10

With the Yankees ahead three games in the loss column over the Wild Card leading Red Sox; for a playoff berth you minus that number, which is three from the Magic Number of 10, which equals 7; and that is the number of games the Yankees need to clinch a spot in the postseason.

I hope my explanation helped, and didn’t just confuse you more. The Magic Number is a pretty straightforward method that only applies to the top team in each division, but in September who else really matters anyway? Actually a lot if you play in the AL East like the Yankees. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees Magic Number’ »

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New York Yankees: Champagne Super Nova

Posted by on 3 September 2011, 12:53 am

There is nothing else to say about New York Yankee pitcher Ivan Nova except that he is darn good.

This 24 year-old rookie tacked on his 15th win on the season vs. the Toronto Blue Jays last night, as the Yankees won 3-2.

Nova held the hard-hitting Blue Jays to just three hits, two earned runs and while fanning four. Nova did walk two batters, but one of the walks was intentional to keep Jose Bautista’s bat silenced, as he leads the Majors with 38 home-runs and better to be safe than sorry.

Nova pitched seven solid innings, winning his 11th game in a row and that is all manager Joe Girardi could wish for before handing the lead over to the bullpen.

Not only did Nova get another ‘W’ but also he continues to verify his dependability. The rookie is 16-0 when the Yankee bats get him a lead and that number looks to only get better.

For any team rolling into the playoffs Nova’s evenness is precisely what you would want and need to see. Especially considering the first-round of the playoffs consists of that insufferable and killer five game series that hardly permits for mistakes.

In my eyes Nova has rendered himself postseason reliable to follow behind ace CC Sabathia, but that is all contingent on the Yankees earning a playoff berth first.

While Nova appears to have fallen from heaven, the Yankees are still in need of a solid third arm to complete this three-headed monster. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Champagne Super Nova’ »

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New York Yankees: Rangers Paying For Red Sox Bullying Again Losing 12-4

Posted by on 16 June 2011, 6:01 am

For the second night in a row, the New York Yankees gave the Texas Rangers a good old-fashioned whooping with an identical score of 12-4.

Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira went 3-5, going deep twice from each side of the plate. Tex hit his 20th homer on the season batting right in the first inning and in the sixth he hit a bomb from the left side for #21.

Tex’s 21 home runs move him into a three-way tie with Yankee teammate Curtis Granderson and Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista for the most homeruns in baseball.

The Yankees are on a role winning five of their last six games, but what other choice did they really have following the abomination against the Red Sox.

I cannot speak for all Yankee fans, but I am still reeling in fury over the 1-8 record against Boston.

Since I am not a player, I don’t have to adopt the philosophy that when a game ends you have to leave it on the field and get ready for tomorrow.

My guess would be the Yankee players are struggling to apply this to Boston or at least they shouldn’t be able too because it was that pathetic.

Reminding myself that this same scenario played out in 2009, when the Yankees were 0-9 vs. Boston at the All-Star break. This works for about ten minutes, until I recall that I was pissed off back then too.

The Yankees have a chance to sweep this series on Thursday afternoon, which might stop ESPN from throwing the Rangers another bone this season excusing why they are under-performing.

Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz are healthy again, so maybe it’s finally time to get off the Texas bandwagon. I am still standing firmly behind my anti-Rangers campaign of being an overrated ball-club.

For the Yankees the bottom-line is there is only one way, one thing that needs to be done in order for the team and fans to feel right again….and we all know what that is.

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New York Yankees: West Coast Road Trip Schedule

Posted by on 26 May 2011, 1:21 am

Following winning the rubber game 7-3 to take the series against the Toronto Blue Jays, the New York Yankees are on their way out West for the first time in 2011.

Here is the schedule for the next three series on the other coast:

DATE VS. TIME (EST) PROBABLE PITCHERS
Friday, May 27th @ Seattle Mariners 10:10pm Burnett (5-3) Pineda (6-2)
Saturday, May 28th @ Seattle Mariners 10:10pm Nova (4-3) Hernandez (5-4)
Sunday, May 29th @ Seattle Mariners 4:10pm Sabathia (5-3) TBA
Monday, May 30th @ Oakland Athletics 4:05pm Colon (2-3) TBA
Tuesday, May 31st @ Oakland Athletics 10:05pm TBA
Wednesday June 1st @ Oakland Athletics 3:35pm TBA
Friday, June 3rd @ Los Angeles Angels 10:05pm TBA
Saturday, June 4th @ Los Angeles Angels 9:05pm TBA
Sunday, June 5th @ Los Angeles Angels 3:35pm TBA

The Mariners and A’s both have young and talented pitching staffs, so the Yankee bats will play a big role in these two series. Finishing off the trip in Los Angeles against the Angels who are never an easy win, especially for the Yankees

Where will the Yankees be when they return back home?

Honestly, this road trip will be a true test for the Bombers, who leave atop the AL East (27-21) by just a half a game above the Boston Red Sox (27-22). The Tampa Bay Rays (26-23), Toronto Blue Jays (24-25) and Baltimore Orioles (23-24) are all very much in the hunt, as the AL East is as tight as can be.

The one thing that is for sure is that the Yankees return to the Bronx to play host to the Red Sox, Indians and Rangers so there is really no room for error.

On one hand, Yankee fans will get to know what this 2011 team can handle; and so will GM Brian Cashman who will probably use these next few weeks to establish whether a trade is absolutely necessary or not.

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