More (Late) Thursday Morning Musings

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

- Is it just me or is the CC Sabathia velocity thing getting a little overhyped now?  I know it was a concern in his first few starts simply because they were the first few starts back after surgery and after a scaled back ST, but at this point shouldn't everybody just let it go?  CC's outing on Monday wasn't pretty, but it had nothing to do with velocity.  He threw the ball harder in that start than he did in his previous start.  CC's problem on Monday was location.  He missed with a few offspeed pitches up, and he caught more of the plate than he wanted to with a few early-count fastballs.  The previous three starts and the rest of Monday's outing are proof that CC can be effective without throwing 94-96, and he's been making the transition to a more refined offspeed game for over five years now.  His changeup is really good, his slider is really good, and he knows how to mix pitches to both right and left-handed hitters.  He's going to be fine.

More after the jump.


- Speaking of old pitchers who know how to get it done with lower velocity, how about Andy Pettitte this season??  He took the L last night, but he gave the team 6 innings of 3-run ball, he struck out 10 batters to just a single BB, and every one of his starts this season have been at least that good.  He's giving the Yanks everything they would want from a #2 starter, and he's their #3.  While it's incredibly cliche to use this phrase to describe him, it is very accurate.  Andy Pettitte ages like fine wine.

- It's a good thing the Yankees never got seriously involved in the Justin Upton trade talks this offseason, huh?  I'd hate to have a 25-year-old righty power outfielder who's hitting .316/.402/.797 (.494 wOBA) with 11 HR on the team right now knowing how much salary he would have added to the payroll.

- I touched on this last week, when things weren't looking so hot with the back end of the rotation, but now I'm starting to wonder if Phelps and Warren are being misused, particularly Warren.  He's pitched just twice since April 3rd, once since April 9th, and both of those appearances were in meaningless mop-up duty.  He's proven himself to be a more reliable option than Shawn Kelley and maybe even Joba in the small amount of work he's gotten, and yet Joe has shown zero willingness to use him in any important situations.  If all he's here to do is pitch once every 10-12 days, wouldn't he be better served starting at SWB?

- Francisco Cervelli- .361 wOBA, 0.5 fWAR.  Chris Stewart- .353 wOBA, 0.1 fWAR.  Gotta love those small sample sizes.

- It's Sherman, so you always keep that grain of salt in play, but his report of Pineda touching low-90s during his sim game this week was fantastic.  I've stayed very calm and reserved about the whole rehab situation with Pineda so far because of the nature of the injury.  If he's going to keep progressing the way he has without any setbacks, that's definitely going to start changing to excitement come summer time.