Hey, Jon!

Hey buddy!  How's it going?  Haven't talked to you in a while.  I just wanted to check in and see how things were.

I saw you on the TV last night, blowing a save.  That musta been a bummer, huh?  I know, I know, you must be wondering why I would ever waste my time watching you and the rest of you d-bag teammates.  Well it was an off day for the Yankees and I was channel surfing, and I saw you out there giving up the lead and I just couldn't turn that off.  Sure, your team came back and won the game in extras when Carl Crawford drove in his 8th run of the year and raised his tripleslash up to a scintillating .211/.250/.301 on the season, but you still blew the chance to win the game in regulation and get Josh Beckett the win he deserved.  That's gotta sting.

Anyway, I just wanted to say hey and let you know that I haven't forgotten about you.  It looks like your numbers are a little better to start this year than they were last year, but don't let that fool you.  You're still not that good, you're not Mariano and you never will be.  You're scary "stare in at the catcher" face still isn't scary at all.  You're still the same loudmouthed phony who completely blew the deciding game in the 2009 Divisional Series against Anaheim, and the same asshole who actually wore this shirt in public at some lame team dance-a-thon.

Good talking to you, chief.  Keep up the bad work.  Let me know when you guys and your scrappy $163 million payroll get back over .500.

Brett Gardner's Recent Resurgence

After April 25, Brett Gardner was sitting at .136/.190/.254.  He had lost the leadoff hitting role that he had been given out of ST, had 19 Ks to just 4 BB, and was looking completely helpless at the plate.  A lot of his issues could have been attributed to Gardner using his patience too much to the point that it was becoming a detriment to his approach.  He was taking too many strikes, getting himself behind in the count early, and then having no choice but to hack to try to stay alive.  Not being a particularly good curveball hitter, it doesn't take a genius to figure out where all the strikeouts came from with that approach.

Since then, however, Gardner has been on a mini-roll over the last couple weeks.  Over the last 13 games, he has raised his tripleslash to a much more respectable .233/.337/.389 with 13 hits (3 XBH), 8 runs scored, 3 RBI, and 10 BB to just 5 Ks.  I'm not going to pretend to be smart enough to come up with a sabermetric explanation for this turnaround, but I imagine it has something to do with Gardner adjusting his approach to what pitchers were doing to him early, being a little more aggressive early in the count, and generally having better pitch recognition than he did in the first month of the year.

Gardner and Jeter had been 2 of the 3 weakest links of the Yankee offense early in the season, raising questions about whether or not either of them should be leading off.  Lately, however, both have turned it around and now it might be time for Joe to re-examine his early-season strategy of having Gardner lead off against righties and Jeter against lefties.  Sort of a "strike while the iron's hot" approach.

The Captain Leads The Team To Victory (No Really. He Did)

(Haven't gotten to see the Jeter home run trot in a while.  Courtesy of The AP)

Whether it was a sign that all the talk about Jeter being "this close," "almost there," "looking good at the plate," or "needing to use his lower half more" was real and today was the result of that coming together or whether it was just a flash in the pan is irrelevant.  What's important is that the Yankee offense was dominant this afternoon in their 12-5 victory over the Rangers and Derek Jeter was the leader of the offensive barrage.

This was a line straight out Jeter's prime: 4-6, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 SB.  And it was a sign that there might still be some life left in his bat that had looked oh so slow and oh so weak through the first 30 games of the year.  After a week where the offense brought very little to the table, to have Jeter step up and have the kind of day he had could be a momentum starter for the rest of the team moving into this week.  Jeter came into today's game already 3-9 in the series with a couple runs scored, but tonight was the big break out, and it came on a day where CC wasn't at his sharpest again.

There were other contributors today as well.  C-Grand went 3-4 with 3 RBI and his 3rd homer of the weekend, Teix was 2-5 with a 2B, HR, and 2 RBI, Brett Gardner had 3 more hits and 2 more runs scored, and Frankie Cervelli managed to crank a grand slam in the 8th inning to slam the door on any potential Texas comeback.  But the story of the day was and will be Jeter, and justifiably so.  There hasn't been much to talk about that's been positive when discussing Jeter so far this year, and the endless stream of excuses coming from his coaches was getting a bit tiresome.  So even if this was just a one-night thing, it's still nice to heap some praise on The Captain for his throwback performance.

And if he really did turn a corner today and can carry this kind of performance forward, even better.

Can The Super Nova Explode All Over The Rangers?

Now that I think about it, that was probably a poor choice of words for this column, but just ignore that for now.

What's important is that the Yankees are riding a 3-game losing streak, not hitting worth a damn, wasting good outings from pitchers not expected to provide them and not picking up pitchers from some "Meh" outings that still gave them a chance to win, and not seizing opportunities to extend their early season divisional lead.  Now they start a new series tonight, a new opportunity to get their momentum going in the right direction again, and they have a young man on the mound coming off 2 consecutive confidence-building strong starts.

That man?  Super Nova.  A.K.A. Ivan The Terrible.

Here's hoping he's got all 3 of his pitches working tonight and he's more like Ivan The Awesome.

The Downside To An All-Star Veteran Lineup

(INCOMING!!!!  Courtesy of The AP)

The Yankees are an older team.  No surprise there.  It's something that has been brought up by the MSM constantly over the last 10ish years, and justifiably so.  The Yankees' lack of youth has got them into trouble in the past, whether it's because of injuries putting people on the DL, injuries affecting guys' performances, lack of depth to cover these injuries, or dudes just flat out not being able to play the game at their previous high level anymore.  In the last few weeks, we've seen pretty much every one of those scenarios play out.

Derek Jeter was the most scrutinized position player coming into the 2011 season after his less-than-Jeterian 2010, and so far the results suggest that Jeter might be heading for the twilight of his career quicker than we anticipated.  Old mechanics, new mechanics, or a combination of both have not helped him fix his issues at the plate, and now he's hitting groundballs at a record pace with no power whatsoever.  And his range at short is pretty much equivalent to mine.  The fact that he missed yesterday's game with some sort of hip ailment is the cherry on top of that garbage sundae.

The Horse, as previously discussed, has been struggling since coming back from his sore oblique/back/whatever part of the body that is on horses.  And while there hasn't been any definitive proof yet, the weak results at the plate and talks of a "disconnect" in his swing suggest to me that he's still feeling the effects of that minor injury.  When he's been banged up over the last few seasons, it has been reflected in his performance, so logic would dictate that there could be something still wrong with him now.

And the guy brought in to provide some better backup for A-Rod, Eric Chavez, is now going to be on the shelf for a while after breaking a bone in his foot legging out a triple yesterday.  It's not something that can be tied to his previous injury history, but it's still an older player getting banged up and missing time.  And it hurts even more because Chavez had been playing like the Chavez of old all season.

Now all these dings to the veterans are bad enough, but when you consider that they open the door for the Eduardo Nunez/Ramiro Pena combination, that makes the sting even worse.  Nunez, God bless his heart, is an atrocious shortstop.  He has 5 errors already in just 22 defensive innings, and his throws to first are making the days of Chuck Knoblauch's breakdown look like an afternoon picnic in the park.  And Pena, God bless his soul, can't hit to save himself.  You could set a ball on a tee, give him an illegal aluminum softball bat, and I'd bet good money that he still wouldn't get the ball out of the infield.

Obviously none of this could have been foreseen, and obviously the Yankees weren't going to not sign/not play Jeter, A-Rod, and Chavez over Nunez and Pena just because of their age.  But it is that age that makes them risky plays, and regardless of how they've been playing, it's a bummer that their innings now have to go to Nunez and Pena, 2 below-average players.

Everything You Need To Know About This Series

That's it.  There's nothing more to say.  Let's just move on to Texas.

Quick Morning Rant On The Offense

To quote the late, great Vince Lombardi, "what the hell is going on out here?!?!"

12-62 over the last 2 games?  13 Ks to just 5 BB??  2 runs???  2 GODDAMN RUNS?!?!  You gotta be kidding me.  I try to put a positive sping on things yesterday. I give you guys a B- grade that you may or may not have deserved and THIS is how you thank me?  By getting shut out by Max Scherzer?  Come the fuck on!!  Mike at RAB leaves this beautiful gem of confidence at the end of his "curveball problem" post yesterday:

"... the Yankees face Max Scherzer tonight, and he doesn’t throw a curveball at all. He’s a fastball (63.3%), changeup (21.3%), slider (15.3%) guy and the Yanks’ still rank among the league’s best against each pitch."

... And I'm feeling good that I'm going to get home after my lacrosse game, check the box score and see that all is right with the world after a solid 8-3, 9-4 win and instead I get 8 shutout innings from Scherzer and another decent outing where the Yankee starter pitched deep into the game and limited damage wasted.

It's one thing to have an off day, it's one thing to lose when you're facing a good pitcher on a day where he's got all his stuff working.  But to get completely dominated by Brad Penny and Max Scherzer is just flat out unacceptable.  We're not talking Maddux and Smoltz in their prime here, gentlemen.  Brad Penny completely sucks.  Completely.  And Scherzer, talent and potential being what they are, hasn't exactly been racking up Cy Young votes since becoming a Major League pitcher.

I'm tired of the excuses about not using your lower half, I'm tired of hearing about guys being just off or putting good swings on pitches, and I'm tired of people not being able to string hits together and grounding into fucking double plays every time there is a slight glimmer of a rally forming.  Everybody needs to get their shit together and start hitting like the offense that leads the league in runs scored.

(Could you tell I haven't had my coffee yet this morning?)

Is The Yankee Offense Good Or Not?

(The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.)

I've seen and read a lot of things this season that could easily lead me to believe "Yes" or "No," at any given time.  And as I touched on earlier in the week, consistency has been the major issue.  Last night was just the latest example of that consistent inconsistency as the offense could never capitalize on the multiple opportunities they had to pick up CC, choosing instead to shoot themselves in the foot.  So this morning I woke up thinking that the offense really wasn't as good as all the home runs might be leading us to believe, but let's let the numbers do the talking.

The Evidence For (MLB rank in parentheses where appropriate):

- 146 runs scored (6th), .340 team OBP (3rd), .468 SLG (1st, and 20 points higher than the 2nd place team), .808 OPS (2nd), 46 HR (1st, and 10 more than 2nd place), 182 K (27th, or 4th fewest in MLB), .352 wOBA (2nd), 120 OPS + (3rd), 5.41 R/G (1st).

The Evidence Against:

- .254 Team BA (12th), 224 hits (26th), .268 BABIP (25th), .240 BA w/ RISP, .177 BA w/ RISP 2 Outs, 58% SB Rate (27th), 32 GIDP (4th most in MLB), .229/.295/.294 tripleslash in 109 AB from the leadoff spot.

So there you have it.  Basically the Yankees aren't getting a lot of hits, and aren't getting key hits with RISP, but they are making up for that by hitting for a ton of power and drawing a lot of walks.  On top of their untimely hitting, they have cost themselves runs by failing to execute on stolen base attempts (14 for 24 after last night's basepath fiascoes), and grounding into too many damn double plays.  Even though I didn't dig deep enough here to find out the statistical support, I think it's safe to say that if the Yanks were hitting for league average power, that probably would have cost them some wins already this season because of how bad their leadoff production and clutch hitting has been.

Now some of this needs to be taken in context.  The Bombers have played 2-3 fewer games than almost every team in the league because of rain outs, making their lower hit total more acceptable and their run/home run totals even more impressive.  And we can assume that some bad luck has certainly factored into the low BABIP value (thanks a lot, Brent Lillibridge).  But things like a poor SB rate and the GIDPs are simply inexcusable, and personally I find the low RISP numbers a little disconcerting given the bulk of talent in this lineup.  When you add everything up I think it's fair to say that the offense has been good, but not as good as it could be.  Some better baserunning and better situational hitting and the R/G, wOBA, OPS+, and Win totals would look even better.  For now, I'll give the offense a B-.

In Appreciation Of The Back Of The Rotation

(I bet none of you thought I would even start this many games this season.  Courtesy of The AP)

At the start of the season, the prevailing thought was that the Yankee rotation was going to be CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Phil Hughes as the sure things and then a rotating series of older veterans and unproven youngsters who would be expected to bridge the gap to the trade deadline when the Yanks could then try to trade for a Chris Carpenter or something close.  That alone was a frightening potential scenario when you consider that calling A.J. a "sure thing" is about as safe as calling Charlie Sheen "mentally stable."

After Hughes stumbled out of the gate and then had to be turned into glue in the form of his DL stint because of a dead arm, the panic meter should have risen to somewhere around 9.7-9.8, but instead the Yankee rotation has been better than anybody anticipated so far, and we all have Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, and Ivan Nova to thank for that.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to take any of the credit away from CC or A.J., as they have more than lived up to their end of the bargain.  But without these other 3 solidifying the back end and then some, this team would not be sitting at 17-9 right now.

In their 11 combined starts after Colon's beauty last night, this is the combined line for Colon, Garcia, and Nova:

66 IP  58 H  26 BB  24 ER  51 K  5-2 Rec.  3.27 ERA  1.27 WHIP  6.95 K/9

That's not just good 'back of the rotation' production.  That would be considered above average MIDDLE of the rotation production.  And when you consider that these numbers are all slightly inflated because of Nova's rough earlier outings that equate to 43 H+BB and 15 ER in 27.1 IP as a starter, it makes everything that much more impressive.  Colon and Garcia, the 2 guys who nobody except Joe believed in, have allowed just 30 hits and 9 ER combined over their 38.2 IP in 6 starts.  That's not acceptable "replacement level" production from your 4th or 5th starter, that's ALL-STAR LEVEL production from any starter.

And the best part about all these numbers is that they don't only demonstrate how good these guys have been, they demonstrate how consistent they've been.  Of their 11 combined starts, 8 of them can be classified as Quality Starts by the standard definition (6+ IP, 3- ER Allowed).  And within those 8 quality outings, 5 of them can be classified as what I would call "High Quality Starts" (6+ IP, 2- ER Allowed).  Save for Nova's 2 early stinkers, these 3 have given the Yankees a damn good outing practically every time they've taken the hill.  Colon has been downright DOMINANT in his 3 starts.  I think you'd be hard pressed to find anybody in Yankeeland who foresaw this high-quality output from this trio, but you also wouldn't find anybody who wouldn't have been thrilled to Michael Jackson zombie levels if somebody told them this is what they'd get.

Is it going to continue for the foreseeable future?  Who knows.  Is it sustainable over the next 136 games?  Almost certainly not.  But that doesn't matter.  What matters is that the Yankees are getting a huge bang for the minimal bucks that Cash spent on these guys in a time when they need it most.  We all scoffed at the decision and now Cash is the one laughing at everyone who doubted the decisions.  If one or more of this trio starts to falter or gets hurt, hopefully by then Phil Hughes will be back to full strength and back in the rotation to pick up the slack.  But for now, we should just sit back and enjoy the ride because it wasn't supposed to be this smooth.

The Horse Gets Spooked

 
After starting the regular season spitting the same hot fire he was in ST, The Horse seems to have thrown a shoe over the last 2 weeks.  Before he missed his 2 games in mid-April because of the sore oblique, he was sitting at a God-like .385/.500/.821 tripleslash.  Since returning he's seen those numbers drop to a mere mortal .269/.379/.551 and we all know that centaurs of his athletic caliber don't just experience that kind of drop off for no reason, so what, exactly, is going on with him?

Friend of the blog Larry Koestler touched on the subject yesterday with his post on A-Rod's rough week at TYA and came to the conclusion that it was A-Rod's free swinging that was too blame.

"... during the past few days A-Rod chased quite a few more pitches out of the zone, and made less contact with those pitches than he had been. He also swung more often in general, taking cuts at more than half the pitches he saw, but made contact at a distinctly poorer rate (66.7%, down from his season average of 78.4%).

The weaker hacks have unsurprisingly resulted in a lousier batted ball profile, with a 0% Line Drive% during the past seven days (compared to 11.5% on the season) and 47.1% GB% (compared to 41% on the season)."

You don't need to be a genius to look at that chart and realize that The Horse has lost some of his patience and reverted to a more Cano-like approach at the plate, and the results just haven't been working for him.  So we know the cause of the dip in numbers, but what is the cause for the increased swing rate.  The way I see it, it can be only one of 3 things:

1) A-Rod is trying to adjust to the pitchers pitching him differently after his scalding hot start.

2) A-Rod is still feeling some lingering effects of the oblique tweak and his swing mechanics are off.

3) A-Rod has become a bit more antsy at the plate since returning from injury because he has been following the news about Uncle Mo getting ready for the Kentucky Derby.

Now scenarios 1 and 2 make a lot more baseball sense, but I wouldn't rule out scenario 3 as being the true root cause.  Back in early March, The Horse had to be the odds-on favorite to win the Derby, but with Uncle Mo coming back into the picture and taking back some of the action,it's not unreasonable to think that that news had a negative effect on him.  I mean, A-Rod is good, but Uncle Mo is enough to stir even the greatest of centaurs.

In any case, I don't think this is anything to worry about.  A-Rod has had some issues before and he always works them out with Dr. Long.  A little video session here, some extra BP there, and he should be right back to his usual self.

(Chart via TYA and FanGraphs)

The Offense Wakes Up Just In Time

Well so much for consistency.  Whether it was Justin Verlander finding his stuff or the Yankee O losing their's, they went dormant again after putting 3 runs on the board in the first 1.2 innings.  That allowed the Tigers to creep back into the game over Bartolo Colon's strong 7 innings and deny him a win that should have been his.  But in the end, the offense woke up a bit in the 9th thanks to some wildness from Jose Valverde and secured the W.

And to Valverde, why aren't you dancing and gyrating around the mound now, you fat P.O.S.?  Save a game when it matters and then come back and talk to me.

Taking A Moment To Discuss The Story Of The Day

By now, everybody knows about the events that unfolded over this past weekend that culminated in the killing of public enemy # 1, Osama bin Laden, so I won't go into the details of that.  And I don't want to get political at all here because that's not who I am and that's not what this blog is about.  But as somebody with a family member who was a first responder and a survivor of the 9/11 attacks, I feel like I have to say something about this story.

Whether or not we all realize it, we live in a country that is still suffering the effects of the events that occurred on September 11, 2001.  One of the biggest effects was the uncertainty surrounding bin Laden's whereabouts over the last 10 years and the always lingering possibility of future attacks taking place.  While it certainly doesn't put a period on the war on terror or completely close the wounds that 9/11 left, the resolution of this one effect does help bring some closure to those of us who have a direct connection to that day.  Knowing that the man responsible for trying to and succeeding in killing our friends and family members has met the appropriate form of justice allows us to breathe a small sigh of relief.

But beyond that, the fact that we live in a country that has remained steadfast in its commitment to bringing this man to justice over the last 10 years, and succeeded in that commitment, is the real story.  Personally, I feel incredibly proud and honored to live in a country that not only allows me the freedom to write a blog like this where I constantly call into question the manhood and intelligence of other people while using the occasional F-word (something that would get me killed in other counties), but also has a large group of people who I will never meet and who don't know me yet commit themselves and their lives each and every day to protecting my freedom and my ability to write and express my feelings through this blog.  I know there are millions and possibly billions of people around the world who can't say that and don't have that same level of freedom and protection that I have, so I feel incredibly lucky to know that there are people out there who have my back every second of every day, offering me protection from other people in the world who hate me and hate the freedoms that I have by being a citizen of this country.

In the grand scheme of things in the world, this blog is as insignificant as a speck of dust, but it's important to me and it's something I love to do.  So to the people who were involved, directly or indirectly, in the events that took place over the weekend, and to all the men and women in our armed forces around the world who give me the opportunity to do what I do every day on this simple, little Yankee blog, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I only regret that I will never get the chance to thank you in person.

AB4AR's State Of The Yankees After The First Month

 (Swish is just as happy as I am about the first 25 game.  Courtesy of The AP)

It's only been 1 calendar month (plus a few days) and only 25 games for the Yankees this year.  And I'm smart enough to know that 1 month and 25 games is not a sound basis for evaluating the overall performance of players nor for predicting what the rest of the season will hold.  But it does offer enough of a sample size to make some broad statements about the positives and negatives of the team as a whole, and also provide some slight insights as to what the future may hold and what adjustments may need to be made moving forward.

Overall there is a lot to like about the first month of the Yankee season.  The offense is getting solid production from some of those expected to perform well (Cano, A-Rod) and some who have been pleasant surprises (Martin, Chavez).  Guys like Teix and C-Grand have bounced back early from subpar 2010 campaigns to help carry the torch and pick up the slack for what has been a rotation in flux and some slumping veterans.  That being said, the rotation really hasn't been as bad as expected, certainly not as bad as one might think it could have been with Phil Hughes' early struggles and trip to the DL.  CC is doing his job at the top as the ace and the rest are filling in behind him and offering solid contributions, especially A.J., whose pairing with Larry Rothschild seems to be working very well.  And despite some bumps in the road, the bullpen has been solid thanks to the core of Mo, Sour Puss, Joba, D-Rob, and Boone Logan.

Behind the basic numbers, though, there are some black marks on the offense.  The results have been 'feast or famine' in that the home run is accounting for over 57% of the team's runs early and there have been multiple instances of potential big innings being thwarted by failure to get hits with RISP or the always-dreaded GIDP.  And as great as the Cano-Horse-Teix-C-Grand-Martin quintet has been, the Jeter-Swish-Gardner-Posada foursome that makes up the rest of the lineup has been equally awful, balancing out to a .251/.335/.474 team tripleslash.  They are still 1st in baseball in OPS and 2nd with a .353 wOBA, but the offense has yet to put together a significant streak of games where everybody has been producing and doing the right things at the plate, and that has cost them a few close games early on.  It's scary/sad to think about what their numbers and their record could be if they were getting more consistent production from everybody.

The pitching, in my opinion, has exceeded expectations so far.  The starting rotation has combined for an 11-5 record in their 25 starts with a respectable 3.88 ERA and 1.34 WHIP, numbers inflated slightly by Phil Hughes' horrific results.  Eliminate him and the Yankees have 4 starters with ERAs below 3.93 (and 3 below 2.25), WHIPs below 1.28, and an average of 7.59 K/9.  And Ivan Nova has put together 2 consecutive solid starts to help ease the concern about his status moving forward.  The bullpen has been even better, especially when you factor out Nova and Freddy Garcia's bad 1.2 innings, all averaging out to a team ERA/FIP/xFIP tripleslash of 3.72/3.72/4.02, which isn't going to win any awards but has certainly been more than enough to win and better than I expected.

The biggest thing the Yankees have been lacking has been consistency, both at the plate and on the mound.  If they can establish that and get the offense and pitching on the same page, they can be very dangerous moving forward.  The biggest issue they need to address is the future of Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada.  Their early number suggest that their age has finally caught up with them, and Joe will need to make the call about whether or not Jeter should be moved down in the lineup and whether or not Jesus Montero should be called up to replace Posada in the lineup if the 2 elder statesmen's performance doesn't pick up.  It's not a situation that anybody is going to want to address, but if things continue down the path Jeter and Posada are already on, it's a decision that will have to be made.

A plan also needs to be put in place for solidifying the rotation if guys like Garcia and Colon either start to fade (possible) or get hurt (likely).  As good as they have been, their history suggests that these results won't hold for the rest of the year.  And with Hughes on the shelf indefinitely and Kevin Millwood opting out after his Triple-A bomb job last week (thank God), internal options are a little light so the kids in Triple-A or potential trade options should be explored now so that the team can be prepared to react and fill the gap if the time comes.

All in all, I would give the Yankees a B for the first month, close to a B+.  To lose Phil Hughes and not miss a beat in the rotation has been huge.  If they can get some consistency from the offense, better results from Soriano in the 8th, and stay healthy, the summer should be a fun time to be a Yankee fan.

Weekend Series Recap

The fam was in town to visit this weekend, hence the lack of updates and material on the blog.  But that don't mean I wasn't paying attention to what was going on in Yankeeland.  A series with Toronto that started out ugly ended up being another series win and an extension of the division lead, which is always good news.  Let's take a quick trip back in time to review all 3 games.

Friday: 5-3 L

If you saw the quick post on the AB4AR Facebook page on Friday night, then you know that Friday was U-G-L-Y without an alibi.  Freddy Garcia was meh at best in his worst start as a Yankee to date, but still gave his team a chance to win.  Unfortunately, the rest of the team took that chance and flushed it down the toilet thanks to a failed bases loaded/nobody out situation in the 5th, Dave Robertson heaving the ball into center field in the 6th when he had a Blue Jay runner in a rundown, which led to 2 runs scoring, and the offense going 0-8 with RISP and striking out 10 times.

The one offensive positive was Robbie Cano cracking 2 solo home runs, but overall it more inconsistency and failure to capitalize on the situation.  The Horse and Swishalicious were particularly bad, combining to go 0-9 with 2 Ks and 1 BB, including 0-5 combined with RISP.

Saturday: 5-4 W

A.J. Burnett took the mound yesterday, looking to build off his last start, an 8-inning, 1-run gem earlier in the week against Chicago.  While he wasn't that good, he was still effective at limiting damage on a day when his offspeed stuff was not there.  Over 6 innings he allowed 4 ER on 9 hits, but didn't walk a batter and like Garcia, he left his team with a chance to win.  That chance was something they managed to take and capitalize on in the first 3 innings, putting all 5 of their runs on the board against Toronto starter Kyle Drabek.  There was no one big star in the lineup, as 7 guys each had 1 hit, 5 guys each scored 1 run, and 5 guys each had 1 RBI.

What was frustrating was the offense's inability to build on their fast start.  After Drabek left the game, the Blue Jay bullpen held the Yankees hitless in 5.2 innings of relief.  Good thing the Yankee 'pen was up to the challenge of matching Toronto in the form of "The Formula."  Joba, Sour Puss, and The G.O.A.T. went 3 shutout innings to preserve A.J.'s win.

Sunday: 5-2 W

The rubber match today featured Ivan Nova looking for another good start to solidify his spot in the rotation after Kevin Millwood bombed in his last Triple-A audition outing.  Like he was in his last start, Nova was effective despite not being dominant or consistent.  In 6.1 innings of work he put 10 runners on base, but worked out of his seld-made trouble with key strikeouts and ground balls to only allow 2 ER.  Once again, Nova showed a better ability to mix his pitches up the 2nd and 3rd time through the lineup to remain effective, and Joe gave him a bit of a longer leash than we've seen, allowing him to start the 7th inning with a pitch count approaching 100.

Offensively, it was Teix that got the Yankees started with a solo Teix Message in the 1st inning and C-Grand that closed it out with a 3-run job in the 5th, one of his 2 hits on the day.  Brett Gardner continued to look better at the plate, singling to get himself back to the Mendoza Line and walking twice.  But he also got caught stealing for the 4th time this year, so clearly something needs to be worked out there.  So and Mo handled the 8th and 9th again and the Yankees head towards the rest of May at 16-9.

There was some bad pitching, but mostly good.  And there was some good offense, but mostly bad.  A-Rod went 0-9 with 4 Ks in the series and has just 3 hits and 1 RBI since his 6-ribbie game against Baltimore last weekend, dropping his season BA to .274.  Also, Robbie Cano left the game in the 9th with a bruised hand.  The Yankees have already announced that he's day-to-day, so that's something worth watching heading into this coming week.

Stat Of The Night

0.

That was the number of earned runs that Rafael Soriano allowed tonight in the 8th inning to preserve a 1-run lead in the eventual 5-4 Yankee win.

I know!  I didn't believe it at first either when I read that in the box score, but I swear it's true.  The guy actually managed to hold the lead.  Who knew he had that in him?  It's like Sterling always says, you just can't predict baseball.

Slump Busting Like You Read About

(Ahhh, the sweet smell of home runs.  Courtesy of The AP)

It wouldn't be an unfair statement if you said that the 2 worst non-Posada offensive players for the Yankees so far this season have been Nick Swisher and Brett Gardner.  Gardy lost the "vs. righty" leadoff role almost as soon as Joe gave it to him after ST and Swish's power numbers coming into last night were only slightly better than Derek Jeter's.

Last night all that changed, however, as Gardy and Swish sparked the Yankee offensive outburst in the 5th inning that effectively ended the game.  Swish went 3-4 with 3 R, 4 RBI, a walk, and his first home run of the season.  Coincidentally it was his first hit from the left side of the plate this season* (* - probably not true) and it was good to see Swish smiling again as he crossed the plate after hitting the homer in the 7th.  His numbers this year still don't like that great overall (.237/.351/.303 w/ 3 XBH), but last night was a positive sign that he could be turning it around.

Gardner continued his recent power surge that has come out of nowhere in the last week with a HR and a 2B, giving him 5 XBH, 3 of them HR, over his last 6 games.  He also drew a walk, stole a base, and scored 3 runs.  Gardner's line after last night is also nothing to write home about (.169/.229/.385), but at least he's starting to make contact and make hard contact at that.  His 21 Ks in 65 ABs is a gross number, by any standards, and these last couple of games suggest that Gardy might be getting away from his overly patient approach and starting to swing at the strikes pitchers are throwing his way.

With the way The Horse, Cano, Martin, and C-Grand have started the season, the Yankee offense has already been plenty dangerous.  If Swish and Gardy start heating up now, the lineup becomes even more so.  Last night was just one game, but it looked like a step in the right direction.

Example # 2,354,728 For Why The Mets Organization Is A Joke

"...It's been widely reported that the franchise has around $430 million in bank debt. But a potential investor who spoke to Fortune on condition of anonymity points out that the team's liabilities are closer to $625 million, from a buyer's perspective...

... Mets financial statements disclose another $100 million in what the team calls "contingent liabilities." Much of that is deferred compensation still due to players long gone from the Mets roster. The documents give two examples of these liabilities: Bobby Bonilla, who left the team in 1996 and has $1.2 million per year coming to him for the next 25 years, and Bret Saberhagen, who left in 1995 and is owed $250,000 annually through 2029." (via Fortune)

And people say the Yankees were dumb for giving Soriano $35 mil for 3 years.  At least they're handing out checks to players who are still ACTIVE IN THE GAME OF BASEBALL.  Compared to these contingent liabilities, the Kei Igawa, Carl Pavano, Damaso Marte, and Nick Johnson contracts were highway robbery for the Yanks.

Just another day in the life of the most poorly managed organization in professional sports.  And another easy layup of a blog for me.  Thank you, Wilpons.  Thank you.

/secretly wishes I was Bret Saberhagen right now

Slow Day Mini-Linkapalooza

I'll be honest, I am hung over as a bastard today, so the synapses aren't all firing upstairs.  What's the best way around that?  Links.

- Will at IIATMS shows us what we all already knew.  Bartolo Colon is a badass.

- Eric Schultz at TYA compiles everything you could ever want to know  about this supposed circulatory issue that Phil Hughes has.

- Mike Axisa at RAB breaks down just how awful Nick Swisher has been so far in 2011.  An ISO only slightly higher than Jeter's?  Sheesh.

- And no surprise here, but Kevin Kernan at The Post is still an idiot.

And as always, I bring this visual peace offering to make up for my horrible blogging today.  This time we've got Blake Lively as a redhead.  Enjoy.

Keep building the AB4ARmy, people!  "Like" AB4AR on The Book.  And if you already do, find somebody else you know and get them to "Like" it too.

The Sh*t List Gets Its Newest Member

(BOOOOOOOO!!!  Courtesy of The AP)

Rafael Soriano, COME ON DOWN!!!!  You've just been elected the newest member of the AB4AR Shit List!!

/standing ovation from everybody who hates Soriano right now

After 10.1 innings of 12-hit, 8-walk, 9-earned run baseball with a 7.84/5.55/6.58 ERA/FIP/xFIP tripleslash and a BB/9 rate that is HIGHER than your current K/9 rate, all adding up to -0.2 WAR, I think you've more than earned this honor.  And the mopey, seemingly indifferent attitude that you have carried with you along with this horrible performance should help ensure that you stay on the List for some time to come.

Congratulations, jackass.

Updated List:

A.J. Burnett
Damaso Marte
Kei Igawa
Nick Johnson
Randy Levine
Joe's Match-up Binder
** Rafael Soriano** (Inducted 4/27/11)

Ouch. My Dick

(Guess which person in this video represents Yankee fans and which person represents Rafael Soriano)

Question of the Night:  As a fan, what's a bigger kick in the junk?  Having your $35 million setup man puke all over his shoes to turn a 1-0 9th-inning deficit into a 2-0 9th-inning deficit to waste a brilliant start by A.J. Burnett or having your $35 million setup man shit the bed to turn a 2-1 8th-inning lead into a 3-2 8th-inning deficit to waste a damn good start by Ivan Nova?

Obviously the correct answer is blowing the lead, because that takes a win off the board.  But you could also call it a trick question because getting kicked in the junk sucks equally every time it happens.

Soriano will get roasted tomorrow and rightfully so.  After tonight we can officially say he has sucked so far.

Rafael Soriano: The New Kyle Farnsworth?

(I don't know what you're smiling about now, Raffy.)

 Let me preface this by saying there is no statistical support for this post.  In fact, if you check Farnsworth's B-R page, you'll find that his first 10 appearances as a Yankee were actually far better than Soriano's, so this is strictly my personal opinion based on what I've seen so far.  But as I sat in my armchair last night watching/screaming at the TV during the 9th inning when Soriano idiotically, and almost smugly, pointed to the sky to let his infielders try and catch a pop up that landed about 10 feet from him for a leadoff single and then threw a horrible 2-strike pitch to Paul Konerko to give up the insurance RBI single, I was overcome by a strange feeling.  It was a feeling I haven't had for a few years now, ever since Kyle Farnsworth was traded, but it was that same feeling I used to have when he took the mound.  The feeling that I never know what is going to happen when Soriano takes the mound, and I instantly start thinking the worst when he's pitching.

His performances thus far have been rather Farnsworthian in their consistent inconsistency and their absolute inability to ever be somewhere in the middle.  Soriano started off with 2 strong outings, then had his 4-run meltdown against Minnesota when he couldn't throw a strike.  He followed that up with 2 clean outings and then had his 3-hit, 1-walk, 2-run near disaster against Texas.  And then last night he looked very shaky in the 9th inning of a 1-run game, effectively killing the chance of a Yankee miracle in the bottom half after having 3 pretty good outings prior.  All of that adds up to a 6.75 ERA, 6.13 xFIP, 17 baserunners allowed in 9.1 IP (7 via BB), and only 6 Ks.  Not exactly what I was expecting for $35 mil for 3 years.

But beyond the performances themselves, the approach has been the most frustrating thing about watching Soriano, and the thing that most makes me recall the horrible days of Farnsworth.  Soriano is inconsistent with his fastball location, he isn't attacking hitters with it because of the inconsistency, and when he does get ahead in counts he suddenly goes away from being aggressive with the fastball and tries to get cute with his slider, a pitch that hasn't served him well so far in 2011.  And as soon as a runner gets on base he becomes even more picky with his pitch selection and location and he gets himself into trouble.

Soriano is a power pitcher, and I understand that his fastball velocity hasn't quite been there early on, but that shouldn't change his approach.  Everything works off the fastball and when he's getting ahead in the count with it, he needs to stick with it.  If he's going to try for a corner, try with the the heater, not a sloppy slider.  Attack hitters, force them to take a defensive swing because they aren't sure if you're going to throw another fastball or waste a pitch.  Don't allow them to get back into a hitter's count by throwing junk and give them a fighting chance when they get to a point where they KNOW you're throwing a fastball.

All of this crap was enough to make me want to throw my beer bottle through the TV screen when Farnsy was the one doing it, and that was when I expected him to do those things because I knew he sucked.  Soriano does not suck.  He's a better pitcher than Farnsworth, with better stuff, but he's not using it to his advantage right now.  Dude needs to sack up and stop tip-toeing around hitters.

And for the love of God, get your sorry ass off the mound and catch the pop up next time!

Hughes Suffers Setback Today

These are never words you want to hear from your manager when describing a pitcher's side session leading up to a potential rehab start:

"Not good."  "... didn't bounce back like we thought it would."  "... obviously a setback." - via Mark Feinsand 

"I don't feel so good about it now.  I'm concerned." - via Jack Curry

Unfortunately for Yankee fans, those are the words coming from Joe's mouth today after Phil Hughes' session was cut short after a few pitches because his arm had no life and his pitches had no stuff.  The rehab start is obviously off and Hughes' return to the rotation now becomes a big fat question mark.

A few weeks ago, when I was discussing the situation, I said that a plan needed to be made to address Hughes' problem and "if it means going out in the 'pen during his side sessions and getting a gun on him while he tries to correct the mechanical flaws, the fine.  That's a solid starting point.  But if that doesn't help, then medical solutions need to be looked at, be they MRIs, scopes, rest, whatever."  Well I think it's safe to say that after today's results, it's time for the MRIs, the scopes, the rest, and whatever because throwing isn't working.

In the mean time, let's all keep praying that Freddy and Bartolo can keep their 2005 resurrection going.

Joe Broke All Kinds Of Bullpen Commandments (On Easter)

(He didn't carry them all the way down the mountain for you to break them, Joe)

There's nothing surprising about Joe Girardi making bad bullpen decisions.  In all honesty, it feels like he's made more bad ones than good ones since taking over as manager.  Maybe it's his backwards way of thinking when it comes to 'pen management, maybe it's the fear of getting second guessed if he thinks outside the box, maybe it just comes with being a guy named "Joe" who manages the Yankees.  We all know the last one wasn't a bullpen genius either.  Whatever the case, I've come to expect the worst when it comes to bullpen decisions from Joe and yesterday was no exception.  But to commit that many bullpen atrocities on Easter Sunday?  That's practically grounds for excommunication from humanity.  5 commandments broken in just a few hours.  5!!  Let's review them.

- Thou shalt not take thy veteran starter out of the game when he is pitching well and does not have a high pitch count.

Just in case anybody has forgotten, Freddy Garcia was on the mound yesterday.  Not Manny Banuelos or Dellin Betances or some other young guy who is having his innings and pitch count carefully monitored.  Freddy Garcia is a 12-year MLB veteran who should have no questions about his arm strength anymore.  If Joe was concerned about how little he had been used and that being a factor in his decision, then that's his fault for not using Garcia enough early in the year.  The Yankees didn't bring him in to pitch short innings, they brought him in to provide LENGTH.  And that's just what he was doing yesterday, to the tune of 6 dominant shutout innings.  When a 12-year veteran is giving you that kind of outing, you don't take him out until he shows signs of breaking down.

- Thou shalt let thine reliable relievers finish an inning, even if they get into trouble.

Dave Robertson has been lights out this year.  Dave Robertson was called in to pitch the 8th inning because Sour Puss was unavailable.  Dave Robertson gave up 2 hits in the 8th inning yesterday, but had also gotten 2 outs and hadn't allowed any runs when Joe decided to pull him.  Luke Scott was coming to the plate.  There was no reason to take D-Rob out of the game in that situation.  Relievers are going to give up hits, it happens.  As long as they don't give up runs and hold the lead, who cares how they get there?  Luke Scott isn't exactly a world beater down at the bottom of the Baltimore lineup, and D-Rob is tough against lefties.  If you bring him in to pitch the 8th, let him pitch the 8th!!

- Thou shalt bring in thy lefty specialist when the situation calleth for it.

According to a LoHud postgame report, Joe decided to bring Mariano in to finish the 8th instead of Boone Logan because he didn't want to use Logan for just one batter.  ...  ...  Huh?  What???  That's what Boone Logan is there for!!!  he's a lefty specialist.  You bring him in specifically for situations like that: 2 on, 2 out, 1-run lead, lefty batter (Scott) at the plate.  Anything you get beyond that from Logan is gravy.  Now granted he provided a whole lot of gravy when he did get the call in the 10th and 11th, but to say you don't want to use your lefty specialist out of the 'pen to face a lefty because you don't want to use him for one batter is asinine.

- Thou shalt not bring in thy 41-year-old closer for a 4-out save in a game in April.

I know Joe's logic on this one.  It was a close game, we wanted to win, Mo was working on 4 days' rest.  But that still doesn't change the fact that he's already been used quite a bit this year, he was coming off a rough outing in which he threw more pitches than usual, and he's 41 freaking years old!!!  He doesn't need to be in a game for extra outs, throwing extra pitches in April!!  Now you've wasted another outing from him when he didn't have his best stuff and threw too many pitches and in turn wasted a chance to use him tonight or tomorrow because he threw so many pitches.  If Joe is Linus, then Mo is his security blanket.  The only problem is, Joe is squeezing the blanket too tight and ripping it.  Dude needs to let it go and trust his other pitchers. 

- Thou shalt not have inconsistent different standards for thine reliable relievers.

Joba comes in in the 7th and gives up a 2-run homer, cutting a comfortable 3-run lead to a tight 1-run lead, yet he is allowed to finish the inning.  D-Rob comes in in the 8th, doesn't give up a single run, but gets yanked at the first perceived sign of trouble because he let 2 runners get on.  Boone Logan, a lefty specialist, is not desirable to come in and get 1 lefty batter out, but he's OK to use for 1+ innings against righties and lefties with a long rain delay in between?  Somewhere along the line, Joe needs to establish some consistency with these guys and stick to it.  There's no reason that D-Rob shouldn't be given the same length of leash as Joba, if not longer, given his results.

Let go of your pre-ordained plans, Joe.  Let go of your stupid roles, your stupid rules, and your stupid bullpen binder.  Trust your veteran starters to pitch well, and trust your middle relievers to get the job done holding leads.  If they don't, so be it.  It happens, everybody has a bad day.  But you have to at least give them the opportunity.  You put all your trust in Mo and even he cracks every now and then.  You need to have that same trust in the Jobas, D-Robs, and Boone Logans of the world for the bullpen to be successful.

Yankees Overcome Weather & Joe Girardi To Win In 11

(Well it took a while, but at least we can celebrate.  Courtesy of The AP)

Well today was an adventure, wasn't it?  The game starts off with single, home run, walk, walk for the first 4 Yankee batters, and it looked like another woodshed beating of Orioles starter Jake Arrieta was in the cards.  But Arrieta got it together and managed to throw 6 innings of 1-run ball from there to keep his team in the game, striking out 9 Yankees in the process.

Arrieta was countered by Freddy Garcia, who turned in a" Godfather: Part II"-version of his first start of the season, again going 6 shutout innings, again allowing just 2 hits, but this time also having 7 Ks.  He had good life on his fastball, consistently reaching the upper-80s, and he changed speeds brilliantly between that, his slider, and his curveball, generating 15 swinging strikes and keeping the Oriole lineup off balance all day.  When he has all 3 pitches working, he can be tough to get good swings against, and he had all 3 working and then some today.

Unfortunately for Freddy, he must have been pitching too well for Joe's liking, as Girardi inexplicably pulled him after 6 innings, with a pitch count only at 90, and after he had just struck out 2 batters the previous inning.  Garcia showed no signs of tiring, no signs of losing his command, but Joe's position as a slave to his bullpen binder and a slave to his predefined bullpen roles forced him to make the first of multiple bad bullpen decisions that cost Garcia a win and the Yankees the lead (Trust me, this will covered in much greater detail tomorrow).

After Joba gave up a 2-run homer and Mo coughed up the lead for the 2nd straight outing in the 9th, the Yanks traded 0s with the O's into the 11th, where, after a rain delay, they managed to strike for 3 runs thanks to some timely hitting and bad fielding from Baltimore.  It wasn't pretty, and it certainly didn't end up finishing the way it looked like it would at the beginning of the day, but the Yanks get another W, they sweep the series, and they now sit 12-6 heading into their series with the White Sox tomorrow.

Other quick game notes:

- Jorge looked awful again: 0-4 with 2 Ks.  With as bad as he has been at the plate, you have to wonder at what point the Jesus-O-Meter will start percolating again.

- No Soriano in the 8th today?  What was up with that?  At least Joe didn't go COMPLETELY by the book with that call, but I'd still like to hear an explanation.

- 4-6 for The Captain today, including a 2B.  Sure, not all of them were well struck, but at least they found holes.

- Brett Gardner is flat out lost at the plate.  0-5 today with 4 Ks for his first golden sombrero of the year.  I know he had a couple XBH yesterday, but it's time for Joe to start thinking about getting Andruw Jones some more at-bats.

How Close Is Kevin Millwood To Joining The Yankee Rotation?

Of all the WTF-eliciting pitching signings this season, the most bizarre has to be the recent signing of Kevin Millwood,a guy the Yankees looked at multiple times and decided they didn't see anything they liked and a guy who the rest of MLB said the same thing about when he didn't end up getting one offer to join a team before the season started.

After they did sign him, Millwood justified everybody's lack of interest early by looking downright awful in his first couple of MiL outings.  His fastball was sitting low-to-mid-80s, his secondary stuff was nonexistent, and he seemed like he'd be out of a Yankee uniform before he even had a chance to wear on.  Then he had a solid start in Double-A, earned a call up to Triple-A for another start last night, and wouldn't you know it, the old bag of crap actually pitched alright.

"The 36-year-old right-hander allowed two runs across seven innings of work, striking out three and getting nine ground balls against just one walk and three air outs. Sixty of his 95 pitches were strikes (63.2%). Donnie Collins spoke to a scout who clocked Millwood at 85-86 mph mostly, though he did touch 89 on occasion." (via RAB).

Not a bad outing, but still some causes for concern.  The velocity still isn't there, it's even lower than Phil Hughes' has been, which could get Millwood into trouble if his secondary stuff isn't there and his fastball location is a little bit off.  The fact that he put the leadoff runner on in every inning also doesn't bode well for his future in the Majors, if he has one.  You make mistakes like that in Triple-A with diminished stuff, you give up a couple runs; you make mistakes like that against the Fraud Sawx or the White Sox, you get lit up.

Millwood has time for one more outing before his opt-out clause kicks in, and although he hasn't lit the world on fire in his auditions, the fact that the Yankees keep throwing him out there against better competition and the fact that he hasn't completely blown up leads me to believe he's going to get a shot with the Yankees after his next Triple-A start.  The Yankees have been pushing Ivan Nova back in the rotation due to all the rain delays, so he appears to be falling out of favor with Joe early.  Unless he comes back strong in his next start and looks more like he did in his first outing of the season, Millwood will probably be taking his spot next time around.  Is it the right move?  Hard to say without having seen Millwood against big league hitters yet.  But it does show just how desperate the Yankees already are for starting pitching.

(P.S.- Did anybody have Garcia, Colon, AND Millwood in the same Yankee rotation at any time this season in their office pool?  I know I sure as hell didn't.)