No Time To Panic, Or The Perfect Time?

I don't think I'd rank it up there with Pulp Fiction or A Clockwork Orange on my list of all-time favorite movies, but gun to my head, I don't think there's any way I could come up with a top 10 and leave out Toy Story.  That movie is flat out awesome, and if you don't agree then you have less of a soul than even I.  Arguably the best scene in that movie is the scene shown above in which Woody and Buzz Lightyear, alone and exposed in the outside world for the first time, argue about how best to handle the situation.  Bizarre as it may seem, that scene lends itself well to explaining the predicament in which the Yankees currently find themselves, and whether or not it's time to panic.

In Case You Haven't Had Enough Slump Coverage...

There's these 2 shit-flavored tidbits to hold you over:

- The Yankees' team .332 OBP is their lowest since 1992

This point was talked about multiple times by the ESPN broadcast crew last night, and I think it's very telling to what's gone wrong with this offense lately and all season.  There aren't a lot of grinders in this lineup anymore; there aren't guys who work counts, foul balls off, take walks.  There's a lot of hackers and a lot more swings and misses.  Probably explains why the Yanks have hit so many home runs but likely won't finish with a single 100-RBI guy.

- The Yankees have had 6 hits or fewer in 5 straight games for the first time since 1990

I don't care who you are, what side of the plate you hit from, and how much good or bad BABIP luck you have, that's fucking awful.  Awful.  Mike Axisa pointed this out in his game recap on RAB this morning and I can't think him enough for contributing to my early morning depression.

Game 135 Wrap-Up: TB 5 NYY 2

(If this was supposed to fire the team up, it didn't work.  Courtesy of The AP)

The Yankees used their off day last Thursday to reorganize their rotation and get their top 4 starters lined up for the first 4 games of this all-important, all-Baltimore/TB 10-game span.  That moved backfired on them, as they'd gone 1-3 heading into last night's game, and they had the outright lead in the division on the line and essentially their 5th starter, Freddy Garcia, tasked with holding on to it last night.  Garcia had been shaky at best his last few times out, and his margin for error was very small with an ineffective bullpen and weak-hitting lineup backing him up, but a good outing could help stop the boat from rocking so violently.  Needing to be a stopper, Garcia just kept things right on a-rockin'.

Game Notes:

- The offense drew blood early.  Alex Cobb got 2 quick outs in the top of the 1st, but then Nick Swisher worked a 2-out walk and Robinson Cano, DHing a day after tweaking his hip, drove a 2-1 fastball out to left for a home run and 2-0 Yankee lead.

- Top 3rd, runners on first and second, Swish at the plate with a 2-0 count, what happens?  If you answered, "Swish strikes out swinging on the next 3 pitches and Cano grounds into an inning-ending double play," congratulations.  And go fuck yourself.

- It took Freddy just 9 pitches to get himself in trouble, but he worked out and only gave up 1 run in the process. He wasn't so lucky in the 3rd when he got 2 outs on 2 pitches, then walked Ben Zobrist and gave up a 2-run HR to Evan Longoria, repeating Cobb's mistake and giving Tampa a 1-run lead.

- Both Garcia and a few Yankee hitters were unhappy with Tony Randazzo's strike zone in the early innings, and it quickly came to a head at the end of the top of the 4th when Randazzo ejected Joe Girardi.  Joe charged out of the dugout and got his money's worth, but nothing positive came from it.

- The 5th inning has been Freddy's undoing the last 2 times he's pitched, and last night was no different.  With a pitch count in the 80s, he gave up back-to-back HRs to Desmond Jennings and B.J. Upton to make it 5-2, but at least he got through the inning this time, right?  Right??

- At least the offense was supporting him.  Oh wait, no they were disappearing again.  3 hits and 5 baserunners through the first 3 innings, just 1 hit, 1 baserunner, and 10 straight retired by Cobb after that.

- Derek Jeter broke up the hitless streak with 1 out in the 8th, but watched Curtis Granderson and Swish strike out to end the inning.  A measly A-Rod infield hit is all they could muster in the 9th, and the Yankees went down quietly again.

- If you want to try to put a positive spin on this, you could say at least A-Rod looked good and smooth at third base.  That's something I guess.

BOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Booooooooooo!!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another Look At The Underwhelming Offense

(One of many not getting it done presently.  Courtesy of The AP)

I'm not going to bother trying to tip toe around the facts, because we're all smart enough to know what they are.  The Yankees are an absolute mess right now.  They're 4-9 in their last 13 games, their division lead is down to just 1 game, they're in the middle of a 10-game stretch against the 2 teams closest to overtaking them for the AL East lead, and they're showing no signs of turning anything around.  The roster is a jumbled mess of banged up superstars, old guys finally having their flaws exposed after being forced to play more than they should have earlier in the season, and middle-of-the-pack players turning in inconsistent performances, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the 1-9 lineup card that Joe fills out every day.

AB4AR "Best Of The Month" Awards: August 2012

The Yankees started the month of August with a shrinking division lead and they finished August with a shrinking division lead, a lead that has shrunk down to practically nothing after their poor start to September.  As bad as things have been, the Yankees actually did play above-.500 baseball in August with a 15-13 record, but that does little to distract from the team's rapidly-deteriorating margin for error.  Plenty of players got hurt in August, continuing a trend that just won't go away, and those injuries appeared to finally catch up to the old Yankees this month, as the rest of the healthy troops couldn't rally to support their DL-stricken teammates.  But as always, there were some good moments and good performances from some, and that's what these "best of the month" posts are al about.  So forget about all the negativity and impending panic and just look back on the good times from last month.

Game 134 Wrap-Up: TB 4 NYY 3

(Once again, good but not great.  Courtesy of The AP)

The Orioles are the closest threat to the Yankees' slim division lead after taking 2 of 3 over the weekend, but the Rays have been no slouch right behind them.  Tampa isn't just playing for a Wild Card spot with their recent hot streak, they are very much in the discussion for the AL East crown and can make that discussion even more interesting with a series win over the stumbling, bumbling Bronx Bummers.  The Yankees had the right man on the mound to put the breaks on their skid in CC Sabathia yesterday afternoon, and a recent whipping boy across the way in James Shields.  A-Rod was back in the lineup,

Game Notes:

- Tough start for CC.  He got dinked and dunked to death in giving up an RBI single in the 2nd inning, then gave up a solo HR to B.J. Upton to start off the 3rd.

- After getting shut down the first time through the order, the Yankee lineup broke out for 3 runs off Shields in the top of the 4th.  The big hits were a Robinson Cano double and a Raul Ibanez RBI triple with some infield hits sprinkled in, including A-Rod's first hit off the DL.

- The Rays manufactured a run on a double steal and an RBI groundout in the 5th to tie the game back up, but they wouldn't have been able to if CC hadn't given up a walk and a base hit to start the inning.

- As they've done time and time again, the Yankee offense went completely off the grid after their 1 big inning.  Shields sat them down in order in the 5th and the 6th, and they wasted the 2 baserunners they did get in the 7th and 8th with immediate GIDPs.

- Sabathia was hardly the shutdown pitcher his team needed him to be yesterday, but he gave them a chance with 7 innings of 3-run ball.  I was surprised to see Joe go to him to start the 7th, but with the kind of middle relief he's gotten lately, a tired CC is a way better option and CC came up with arguably his best inning of the game.

- D-Rob came in to hold a 3-3 game in the bottom of the 8th and promptly gave up a leadoff single.  That one was erased by a nice call and great throw by Russell Martin to nail the pinch runner stealing, but Robertson did allow 2 more hits and steal after that to give Tampa the 1-run lead heading into the 9th.

- Joe played the bench game brilliantly in the 9th, pinch running Eduardo Nunez and getting a steal and pinch hitting Curtis Granderson for Martin against Rodney, but Granderson struck out and the division lead was down to 1.

Monthly Minor League Report (August): The Upper Levels

(Austin was the no-doubt best hitting prospect in the organization this year.  Courtesy of Mark LoMoglio)

The top 3 levels of the Yankee system, despite being arguably the most affected by injuries this season, have also been the source of the greatest success.  Both Triple-A Empire State and Double-A Trenton have won their divisions and will be participating in their respective postseasons, and High-A Tampa saw a lot of players on its roster at various points in the season who played very well and upped their prospect value as part of that team.  And even with the injuries hindering some of the big names up here, the Yankees still end the season with almost all of their prospect gems hidden somewhere in these 3 teams.  They aren't as top-heavy with MLB-ready talent as you'd like to see, but they have plenty of potential MLB talent that's getting closer.

The A-Horse Returneth

It's probably too early considering the minute amount of rehab innings he's played, and it's definitely seems more like another desperation/panic move influenced by the team's dwindling division lead, but no matter the reason, the Yankees have decided to bring Alex Rodriguez back and insert him into today's starting lineup.

I am very nervous, and very surprised, that the Yankees made this move after only 2 rehab games, neither of which are enough to draw a definitive conclusion on the condition of A-Rod's hand.  He DH'd in one game, played the field in the other, and did some side drills yesterday instead of playing a third game, which to me suggests that the hand is still not fully healed and nowhere near able to handle the stress of playing every day, be it in the field, just at the plate, or both.  But with the way the Yankee offense has looked lately, I guess the decision makers are thinking that even the presence of A-Rod in the cleanup spot is a better option than Andruw Jones or Eric Chavez at this point.  And you know what, even if the hand isn't fully healed I would have to agree with that logic.

Here's hoping this quick comeback doesn't lead to a follow-up DL stint.

Game 133 Wrap-Up: BAL 8 NYY 3

(Not the outing Phil had in mind.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

There probably hasn't been a win this season as big as the one the Yankees got on Saturday afternoon.  Down 2 runs late in the game, with a possible 1-game division lead on the line, and they did just enough to get the lead back and hold onto it to stabilize their slide for a day.  They had a chance to turn that into a series win and a much more comfortable 4-game lead yesterday, and had Phil Hughes and his excellent home start stats on the mound to try to get it done.  Their already short lineup was missing Curtis Granderson, who was resting his sore hamstring.  In his place was Chris Dickerson and the host of other lefty platoon bats.

Game Notes:

- Dickerson had a great season in Triple-A, mainly because he still has the ability to punish right-handed pitching.  In his first start this year in the show, he demonstrated that when he yanked a Chris Tillman cutter for a 2-out, 2-run HR in the bottom of the 2nd to get the Yankees on the board.

- Hughes was rolling early, mixing in his offspeed stuff (including The Slutter) well with his fastball, which he was commanding to both sides of the plate.  The first time through the order, he held the O's to just 1 baserunner and struck out 4.

- The Hughes Cruise looked like it was coming to an abrupt stop in the top of the 5th after Mark Reynolds fought back from a 1-2 count to CRUSH a HR to left to cut the lead in half.  But Phil worked around a couple of singles with a couple of big strikeouts to keep the damage to 1.

- Hughes' 5th-inning save was apparently just delaying the inevitable.  He lost his bite on his offspeed stuff and his command of his fastball in the 6th, and gave up 4 runs on a walk and 3 hits without retiring a batter.  Why he was left in to face Reynolds again is beyond me.

- There was no shortage of the Yankee offense shooting itself in the foot again in big situations, like back-to-back inning-ending double plays from Russell Martin and Derek Jeter in the 6th and 7th.  Jeter came up empty with RISP all day.

- Joe was forced to play mix and match with the bullpen bottom feeders after Hughes left (more on Joe later), and it didn't work out for him in the 8th.  5 pitchers combined to give up 3 ER on 3 hits and 2 walks to make it an 8-3 Baltimore lead.

- An Ichiro GIDP and a weak Andruw Jones flyout to right ended another ugly effort by the Yankees and cut the division lead back down to 2.

Monthly Minor League Report (August): The Lower Levels

(They just keep finding these great relief prospects.  Courtesy of MiLB.com)

With the big down year had by the top prospects in the upper levels of the Yankee system, the spotlight turned to the higher-profile kids in the lower parts.  The Austins, Williamses, and Sanchezes of the world got the lion's share of the coverage, and justifiably so.  Now that we've come to the later part of the MiL season, and the end of the road for some teams, those big names have been promoted and the focus turned to a different batch of players in the lower levels.  Some of them made good impressions, especially guys from this year's draft, but the major theme for the top hitting and pitching names down here this past month, and for most of this season, has been underperformance.

Game 132 Wrap-Up: NYY 4 BAL 3

(Somebody's glad to be back.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

The heat is getting turned up on the Yankees as they begin the final month of the regular season.  They've been mediocre for weeks now, lost a major chunk of their division lead in the process, and got their asses handed to them in the first game of a very key series against Baltimore on Friday night.  They weren't showing any signs of turning things around anytime soon, and called up a larger-than-expected group from Triple-A yesterday to try to bring some fresh arms and legs in to inject a little life into the club.  David Phelps was on the mound yesterday afternoon against Wei-Yin Chen, trying to do what Hiroki Kuroda couldn't the day before and get the Yankees back in the win column.

Game Notes:

- It wasn't a good start for Phelps, who didn't have nearly the command he's shown all season.  He walked 3, gave up 2 hits, and hit a batter on his way to allowing a run in each of the first 2 innings.  Only some well-timed double plays helped limit the damage.

- The Yanks had another injury scare when Curtis Granderson left after the bottom of the 2nd with hamstring tightness, but all indications are that it's nothing serious and he could play today.

- Phelps got through the 3rd in order, but started off the 4th by giving up a home run to Matt Wieters to make it 3-0 Baltimore.  He still wasn't locating, the lineup still wasn't hitting, and it looked like another beatdown in the making.

- Fortunately, Robinson Cano started the turnaround quickly in the bottom of the 4th by getting the Yankees on the board with a homer of his own.  It was just a solo shot, but with 2 outs and in an 0-2 count, it was a boost the Yankees needed.

- Phelps didn't make it out of the 5th, and it was up to the Yankee bullpen to hold the Orioles at 3.  Boone Logan was brought in to pitch the 6th and the 7th and he came up big, pitching around a walk, a hit, and an error to throw 2 goose eggs on the scoreboard.

- After laying dormant for most of the first 6 innings, the offense finally came alive with 2 outs in the 7th.  Jayson Nix drew a walk to put 2 runners on, Eduardo Nunez singled a run in on the first pitch he saw to make it 3-2, Ichiro and Derek Jeter walked to force in the tying run, and a fielding error by J.J. Hardy helped Nunez score the go-ahead run.  It wasn't pretty by any means, but it was enough.

- The Yankees switched to their better defensive lineup to preserve the lead, and D-Rob and Sour Puss did the job in the 8th and 9th.  Soriano looked especially nasty for the second straight time after his last blown save.

What The Yankees' First Batch Of Call-Ups Tells Me

September call-ups in baseball are a yearly tradition like no other, right up there with The Masters or The Super Bowl.  Today was the first day that teams could call players up to an expanded 40-man roster to finish the season, and the Yankees didn't waste any time going for reinforcements.  They brought up 6 guys - Francisco Cervelli, Eduardo Nunez, Cory Wade, Adam Warren, Justin Thomas, and Chris Dickerson- and DFA'd Ramiro Pena for a second time this season to make it happen.  Some of these moves were expected but there are a couple names on that list, Warren and Dickerson in particular, there were a bit surprising, at least to me.  Why, you ask?  I'll tell you why.

Game 131 Wrap-Up: BAL 6 NYY 1

(Courtesy of The AP)

No need to write an intro for this game.  Shit was pretty self-explanatory.

Game Notes:

- Bad Starting Pitching- Hiroki Kuroda pitched 8.1 innings, but he wasn't all that great in those innings.  He gave up 3 runs in the 2nd, which was all the Orioles needed, and 1 in the 6th.  2 HR allowed was Kuroda's undoing.

- Bad Relief Pitching- Derek Lowe managed to give up 4 hits and 2 more earned runs with 2 outs in the 9th to really put the game out of reach.

- Bad Hitting- The lineup went 5-32 as a team, with just 1 walk and 12 strikeouts.  Robinson Cano and Nick Swisher were a combined 0-8 with 6 Ks, and the team went 0-4 with RISP.

- Bad Managing- Joe decided to remove Kuroda with 1 out in the 9th to go to his awful middle relief corps even though Kuroda was at 99 pitches, and then didn't pinch hit for lefties Eric Chavez and Raul Ibanez against lefty Brian Matusz in the bottom of the inning.

- Yankee baseball!  Heroes remembered.  Legends born.

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 8/31

We get paid bi-weekly at my company, which means 2 months out of the year there are months where I get 3 paychecks.  August happens to be one of those months, and today happens to be the payday for that glorious 3rd check, and I gotta tell ya, that's a great feeling.  For a non-commission-making cubicle monkey like myself, that 3rd check is like a brick of solid gold being placed into my hand.  Some of us from work have the company seats to tonight's Brewers-Pirates game, and if I had the time beforehand, I would stop at the bank and get my check converted into singles just so I could drag a garbage bag full of money into the stadium and go Pacman Jones on people's asses.  The 3rd check is license to spend, and I'm telling you right now, I'm going to stimulate the economy in a big way tonight.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, Matt Duggan of Pinstripe Alley ditched the defensive ratings and just looked at Curtis Granderson's decrease in number of balls caught this season to show how poor he's been defensively.

- Brien Jackson of IIATMS explained why it's not out of the realm of possibility for the Yankees to end up in the same situation the Fraud Sawx were in before the big trade.

- On Tuesday, SJK of NoMaas reminded everybody of how horrid Derek Jeter's defense has been this season.  It's only fair to touch on that if we're going to praise him for how great he's been at the plate.

- On Wednesday, Mike Eder of TYA analyzed D-Rob's transformation into a more Mo-like pitcher.  There are certainly worse pitchers to emulate.

- Trevor Wolff of Sliding Into Home issued his "State of the System" Minor League address, and touched on guys like Tyler Austin and David Adams.

- On Thursday, William Juliano of The Captain's Blog talked about the importance of context when discussing the great art of sac bunting in relation to the Yankees' loss on Wednesday.

- Chris Carelli of Yanks Go Yard discussed the small deadline moves the Yankees made in place of a bigger one and how little of a positive impact those moves have had.

- The team of Mike Ashmore and Josh Norris posted another interview with Mark Newman, this one touching on selections for the Arizona Fall League and Dellin Betances.

- Ashmore also scored some interview time with Brian Cashman at the press conference to announce the contract extension with the Trenton Thunder.  Cashman talks about the new deal, September call-ups, and young guys who've impressed him this season.

- Fishjam25 of Yankees Fans Unite reviewed the lay of the land for the Yankees right now, and set the stage for this weekend's series against Baltimore.

- On Friday, Mike Axisa of RAB did his weekly mailbag, and I'm linking to it just for his take on the upcoming Rule 5 eligibility situation this offseason.  Some players worthy of protection are probably going to be left exposed.  It will be interesting to see if any teams take a shot at some of them.

This week's Friday jam is simple, straightforward, badass rock and roll.  Old school Metallica, perfect for a night of drinking PBR cans and trying to pretend that Brewers-Pirates is entertaining.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.

Screw Pedro Feliciano And The Left Arm He Signed His 2-Year Deal With

(Used courtesy of Mike Ashmore)

As we move ever closer to roster expansion tomorrow, the biggest name on the list of potential call-ups is Pedro Feliciano.  The left-handed reliever hasn't pitched an inning for the Yankees since signing a 2-year, $8 million contract before last season, instead spending his time rehabbing a serious arm injury.  He's been on the rehab trail for some time now, allowing 2 ER with 8 K/3 BB in 6.1 IP over 7 appearances at various levels of the MiL system.  He's currently scheduled to make his next appearance today for SS Staten Island and then likely return to the Yankees' active roster.  It's a move that's never not going to happen, as this is exactly what roster expansions are all about.  But if I had my say in the matter, I'd tell Pedro to pound sand.

Gut Check Time For Phil Hughes

(No, not that gut)

Cue the John Cena music, because Phil Hughes' time is up and his time is now.  In his 7-year professional career, Hughes has been a 1st-round draft pick, a top-flight Yankee prospect, a top 5 blue chip prospect in all of baseball, a future ace, a promising young arm, an injury-prone question mark, a dominant reliever, an encouraging project, an out-of-shape failure, and now a solid middle-of-the-rotation contributor.  He's had enough ups and downs, changes to his role and pitching style, and injury problems to last an entire career and yet he's still only 26 years old.  Hughes has bounced back nicely in 2012 after last year's disaster, and he now finds himself rapidly approaching a crossroads in his career path as it relates to being a New York Yankee.

The Horse Is Getting Ready To Canter

Via Peter Botte of The NY Times:

"Alex Rodriguez will DH on Friday for Class-A Tampa, and if all goes well, he will play 3B there on Saturday."

Well polish your saddles, sharpen your spurs, and get ready to strap on the feed bag, folks, because The Horse is coming out of the stable!  News like this couldn't come at a better time.  This offense needs help in the worst way, and even an announcement of a middle-of-the-order bat getting back on the field is helpful.

AB4AR's 3-Year Anniversary

First off, I have to say that I'm glad I even remembered that today is the anniversary of the start of AB4AR, because I completely missed it last year and didn't even realize I had missed it until about mid-October.  I was that in the zone dumb and so I made doubly sure I didn't botch it again this year.

Now that the full disclosure of my idiocy is out of the way, I can get to what I really want to say.  Three years ago, I finally worked up the courage and the motivation to start a Yankee blog.  I had no idea what I wanted it to be, or how I wanted to cover Yankee baseball, but I knew I wanted to write about the Yankees.  That lack of direction was very clearly reflected in the early days of AB4AR, which are almost embarrassing to read when I go back and look at some of that stuff.  The subtitle on the banner of this site reads "attempting to balance rationality and basic baseball logic with rabid Yankee homerism."  In the early days, that balance was about 20% rationality and basic baseball logic and 80% rabid Yankee homerism.  Today, I'd like to think that balance has shifted to 80% rationality and logic and 20% homerism, and that's what I want the site to be.

I've turned this little site from a place where I could air my grievances with the UConn basketball team to something somewhat legitimate in the Yankee blogosphere.  I've had the opportunity to interact with and work with some of the best Yankee blogs and bloggers out there and that makes me feel good.  I take pride in the fact that this is just a one-man operation that churns out new content almost every day out of the year, and I take pride in the fact that people out there, whether you like and agree with my takes or hate them and think I'm an idiot, take time out of their days to read what I write.  I have absolutely no problem saying that very often I put more time and effort into writing for AB4AR than I do my actual job, so to know there are other Yankee fans and writers out there reading my stuff is awesome.

So to everybody out there who does read, or has read, something on AB4AR, even if it was only one post, thank you.  Thank you from the bottom of my black, sarcastic heart.  It's a pleasure and a privilege to be able to do this, and I'm looking forward to keeping AB4AR going into a 4th year, a 5th year, and hopefully much more than that.

A Demonstration In Extreme Roster Rigidity

(I pictured Cash doing this in his office after yesterday's game)

I've tried to touch on the subject in more positive ways over the past few days, but after yesterday afternoon's debacle, I really don't have the energy to try to put a positive spin on the situation.  I really don't even have the energy to try to analyze or hypothesize what could be done to help the situation.  So instead, I'm just going to state the facts and the numbers that make up this ever-expanding 25-man roster of underperforming platoon players.

Game 130 Wrap-Up: TOR 8 NYY 5

(That pretty much sums it up.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

As we vented our current frustrations with the Yankees on our TYA email chain yesterday, I tried to sum it up by saying it's one thing to lose a game, it's another thing to lose a close game, and it's a completely different thing altogether to continue to lose close games because you're playing the same brand of bad baseball.  That last thing describes this current Yankee slump and pretty much every other bad stretch of ball they've had this season.  When they lose, it's usually defined by failure to advance runners and consistently drive in guys with RISP, sloppy play in the field, inability to finish off opposing hitters and innings, and bad relief pitching.  It was all on display yesterday, and it was downright ugly.

Game Notes:

- The Yanks didn't waste any time jumping on Jays' starter J.A. Happ, with table setters Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher doing what they've been doing for the last 2-3 weeks and scoring on an Andruw Jones single and Curtis Granderson groundout for a 2-0 lead after 1.

- CC Sabathia was sharp to start, but gave up 3 unearned runs in the top of the 3rd that was equal parts shitty defense, crazy good BABIP luck, and failure on Carsten's part to pick up his D and put guys away with 2 strikes and 2 outs in the inning.

- He was picked right back up in the bottom half, thanks to some positive BABIP luck for the Yanks.  With 2 runners on (walks), Granderson lined a ball into left that Rajai Davis misplayed into a 2-run double and the Yanks were back on top 4-3.  It was curtains from here on out.

- Sabathia left a slider up just enough for Yunel Escobar to crush it for a HR in the 6th to put Toronto back on top 5-4.  In the 3rd and 6th innings, Sabathia gave up all 5 of his runs (2 earned) and all 9 of his hits.

- There were plenty of chances for the offense to respond, in fact they put runners on base all day.  But 3-17 with RISP ain't gonna get it done, nor is coming away with 0 runs in a bases loaded, 1 out situation like they did in the 4th.

- Behind CC, 5 middle relievers combined to give up 3 R ( 2 ER) on 3 H and 2 BB in just 2 innings.  More poor defense helped (the Yankees had 3 fielding errors on the night), but this group is just pathetic right now.

- It wasn't a horrible outing by CC (see above), with 8 Ks and 0 BB, but his failure to get a final out in the 3rd and HR in the 6th were enough to help the team lose.  The Yankees needed a full shutdown outing, not just 5 innings.

Optimizing The Platoon-Heavy Lineup

The announcement of the Mark Teixeira injury was the latest blow in the battle between the baseball gods and the health of the Yankee players, one that will leave the lineup even shorter and less flexible than it already was with Teix still active.  The Yankees made a move to add Steve Pearce to the roster yesterday, but that's hardly enough to make up for the loss of Teix in the middle of the order.  A post by Mike Axisa on RAB yesterday on how the Yankees can go about managing the lineup with Teix and A-Rod out caught my attention, in particular Mike's idea of just playing to the platoon splits:

"With Teixeira out of the lineup, the Yankees would have four players for four spots against righties — Dickerson, Ichiro Suzuki, Raul Ibanez, and Eric Chavez. Chavez has to play third and Ichiro an outfield corner; that’s the easy part. Having Dickerson around allows them to keep Ibanez at DH and put Dickerson in the other outfield corner while the switch-hitting Nick Swisher plays first. Against lefties they would have Andruw Jones, Casey McGehee, Jayson Nix, and the recently-acquired Steve Pearce for those same four positions: Jones at DH, McGehee at third, Nix in left, and Pearce at first with Swisher in his usual right field."

It's not ideal in the sense that there will be a lot of guys not getting regular at-bats, but with the collection of slightly-below to slightly-above average platoon hitters the Yankees have at the moment, it's probably the best option to maximize the lineup's output potential.  If you'll allow me a moment to put on my manager pants, here's how I would build off of Mike's suggestion and create the 2 platoon lineups.

Phil Hughes' New Pitch

The biggest talking point from last night's stellar 1-run outing by Phil Hughes was his introduction of a new/old pitch to his repertoire.  The Yankosphere and PITCHf/x are calling it a slider, and it damn sure looks like one...

(Courtesy of Mike Eder, TYA gifmaster)

... but via his postgame comments last night, Hughes himself is referring to it as a slider/cutter combo, bringing back together the pitch he abandoned earlier this year and the pitch that he abandoned far longer ago when he was still in the Minors.  The pitch certainly appears to slide more than cut, but if Phil is saying it's both then who am I to argue?  Plus, if it slides and it cuts then there's already a perfect name for it.

The Slutter.

Thank you, thank you.  I'll be here all week.

Game 129 Wrap-Up: NYY 2 TOR 1

(Always good to see Phil rise to the occasion.  Courtesy of The AP)

It's been a pretty black and white season for Phil Hughes in 2012.  He's made 26 starts and has 24 decision, 13 of them wins and 11 of them losses.  Of course there's some offensive support, bullpen work, and plain old luck that goes with determining what a pitcher's record is, but Hughes' results this year have been indicative of a guy who's either been right on his game or way off of it in most starts, with very few shades of gray in the middle.  The Yankees needed Phil to be on last night to help them avoid a series loss to the basement dweller of the AL East and he came up big.

Game Notes:

- Hughes walked leadoff hitter Rajai Davis to start the game, but quickly corrected that and looked sharp through the first 3 scoreless innings.  He was throwing all 3 pitches again, a good sign that he's continuing to improve his changeup, and mixing them well.

- He got a little run support in the bottom of the 3rd when Jayson Nix and Ichiro Suzuki hit back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second with 1 out.  The scalding hot Nick Swisher singled to drive in Nix and the Yankees led 1-0.

- The Yanks manufactured another run in the 4th when Steve Pearce walked, took second on a wild pitch by Ricky Romero, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on a Curtis Granderson sac fly.  It wasn't as sexy as Teix hitting doubles and homers, but it got the job done.

- Hughes struck out Adeiny Hechevarria with fastballs in the 3rd inning, and he tried to do the same in the 5th but missed and gave up Hechavarria's first career HR.  It was an unforgivable mistake, but the only one Hughes would make on the night.

- There was some trouble in the 6th after Hughes walked the first 2 batters, but a brilliant leaping catch and double play turn by Robinson Cano on a line bailed him out.  If your offense is hurting, you better be playing some good D, and the Yankees did last night.

- And the offense was hurting after the 4th inning.  They put 2 on in the 5th but didn't score, and then they were retired in order in the final 3 innings.

- The bullpen needed a rest, which Hughes gave them with his 7 strong innings, but Joe pushed for the win by going to the D-Rob/Soriano well for the third straight game.  They got the job done, in perfect fashion, to secure the win and likely ensure that we won't see either of them today.

Screw It, Call Up Mark Montgomery

(Used courtesy of Josh Norris)

These are perilous times in Yankeeland, friends.  Injuries have the lineup disintegrating into one giant platoon (or more accurately, TWO giant platoons), the rotation is still operating at just 60% of its ideal capacity, the bullpen is essentially Rafael Soriano, David Robertson, and pray for 7 strong from the starter and no extra innings, and there's still over a month of regular season baseball to play.  The division lead that felt safe and sound 2 months ago (opening myself up to some ridicule there) has shrunk to a competitive level and the Yankees are limping to the finish line.

There isn't much that can be done to address the holes in the lineup or rotation.  They will take care of themselves as guys come back from injury or continue to operate as they are if it turns out those guys can't make it back.  But the bullpen can be helped, and when rosters expand in a few days the Yankees will have a chance to really help themselves if they call up a certain pitcher.  And I'm not talking about Justin Thomas or Pedro Feliciano here, I'm talking Mark Montgomery.  More than any other roster expansion addition, he can offer exactly what the bullpen needs right now.