Nuno Cracks The Code

Differences in Vidal Nuno last night. Better FB, better slider and, most of all, better location. Held the Red Sox to 0 for 8 w men on base.
— Jack Curry (@JackCurryYES) June 28, 2014

Not to make too much fun of Jack, because I think he's one of the best Yankee reporters and analysts out there, but this is about as "duh" a statement as you can make.  You mean to tell me a pitcher who throws a good fastball, good slider, and locates his pitches is going to have a good game?  NO WAY!!!  Hot Take City USA, population Jack Curry.

In all seriousness, good for Nuno for turning in a good start last night.  His team needed it to calm the talk about how he needs to be taken out of the rotation, and he needed it to get a little boost of confidence.  To have a start like he had at home can only help that confidence and hopefully it means more good starts like this for the next.  Hopefully it also leads to more groundbreaking analysis like this from the Yankee beat guys.

Joe Searching For Some Life On A Lifeless Ballclub

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

I didn't watch much of last night's game even though I had it on ESPN because the Rangers were obviously the priority, but I did have the Gameday feed up so I followed along enough to know that last night was another in what's become a common theme of Yankee losses.  It was their 4th in a row, 6th in their last 8 games, and the 6th straight game in which they failed to score more than 4 runs.  They scored early, with 4 runs in the 3rd inning, then never scored again as their below replacement-level 5th (4th??) starter and Quad-A middle relief corps slowly and methodically killed the 4-run lead they were given.

In boxing terms, last night's game was like a Floyd Mayweather fight.  The A's were the better team, the Mayweather in the matchup, and they knew it.  Instead of changing their approach, they stuck with what they do best, played their game, and slowly picked the Yankees apart by outclassing them as a baseball team and winning an easy decision.  Outclassed is a perfectly appropriate term here too, because last night the Yankees were outclassed by the A's.  The A's did everything better than the Yankees last night.  There was never any doubt, in my mind, that they were going to come back and win that game the minute Yoenis Cespedes hit his first home run to get them on the board.

Brian McCann Sucks

I mean really sucks.  It's startling how bad he's been at the plate.  He's been awful, no other way to describe it.  Here's where McCann's key offensive numbers rank among his fellow catchers:

• .218 BA- Last among 12 qualified/26th out of 29 w/ at least 100 plate appearances
• .275 OBP- Last qualified/27th out of 29
• .370 SLG- Last/25th
• .286 wOBA- Last/26th
• 75 wRC+- Last/26th
• 0.5 fWAR- Last/24th
• 5.6% BB rate- 11th/22nd

The only thing keeping his offensive ship afloat is the 7 HR he's popped (tied for 2nd best among all catchers) and the 22 RBI that puts him comfortably in the top 10.  The only thing he's truly done well this season has been catch.  McCann is generating almost all his value from what he's doing behind the plate.  What he's doing at the plate only seems to be getting worse.

Anthony Rizzo, Meet Dellin Betances

Rizzo: "OK.  I know he's going to try to get me to chase his curveball.  But I'm not going to do that."

/swings and misses at 1st-pitch curveball that hits him, swings and misses at 2nd-pitch curveball to go down 0-2

Rizzo: "Damnit!  Alright, now he's ahead so he's definitely going to try to get me to chase another one.  I gotta lay off this one.  I'm not going to swing."

Dellin: "K, see ya!"

/scene

(Screen cap courtesy of MLB.com)

An Airing Of Grievances From A Frustrating Weekend At Miller Park

(Avoiding this dude on Saturday Friday night was literally the only good play Jeter made all weekend.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

For those who didn't know, my family came out to Milwaukee this past weekend for the Yankees-Brewers series.  They hadn't been out here in a few years and our favorite baseball team coming out to my neck of the woods was as good a reason as any to break that streak.  The girlfriend was also along for the ride, so with her meeting the fam for the first time and them meeting her for the first time, it was a pretty big social event.

More relevant to this post than that were my expectations for the series.  Despite losing the DH and coming in not playing the best baseball in May, those expectations were very high.  The Brewers were 4-6 in their last 10 games before this series and had been playing .500 baseball for the past few weeks after their white hot start.  I thought the Yankees were set up perfectly to come in off their series win in Anaheim, get another road series win, and set themselves up for an extended run of success against a relatively weak schedule over the next few weeks.  They got the W on Friday night, but for the most part these 3 games were not encouraging.  All in all, the weekend was a constant series of reminders of just how flawed a ballclub the Yankees are.

Carlos Beltran, Professional Hitter

When you've been around for as long as Carlos Beltran has (15 full seasons plus partials in 1998 and this season), you're going to learn a lot about what it takes to be a successful hitter.  With a .365 career wOBA and values of .355, .359, and .362 in the last 3 seasons as he's moved into his late 30s, it's fair to say Beltran has picked up his fair share of important lessons and personal tips.  He spoke to David Laurila of FanGraphs for a post that went up on Friday about some of those tips and his general hitting strategy.  It was a very interesting look inside the mind of one of the best all-around hitters of the last 20 years.

For me, the highlight of the post was Beltran talking about knowing the feeling in his legs from pitch to pitch and knowing if he has them under him for his swing based on whether or not he feels like the wind is blowing him off-balance.  That's some next-level veteran stuff right there.  I also liked Beltran's self-described approach of always going up there looking for the 1 pitch he wants and being willing to wait for it.  The guy has seen everything at this point in his career and he knows the value of going up to the plate with a plan and sticking with that plan.  Based on his early .538 SLG and team-leading 5 homers, I'd say that plan is working out well.  The average and OBP will come up in time.  When it does, Beltran could really put up some big numbers hitting in YS3.

Another Day Of Firsts For Nuno Today

Vidal Nuno will make his second start in place of the injured Ivan Nova this afternoon against the Angels.  It will be his second start at Yankee Stadium in his short Major League career and his first afternoon start.  It will also be the first time he's faced the Angels and their big hitters like Albert Pujols and Mike Trout, a frightening thought for a young pitcher, but keep this in mind.  On the other side of the matchup, it's the first time for them and the rest of the LA lineup against Nuno.

The Angels no doubt have their scouting reports and video on Nuno to prepare themselves for today's game, but Nuno may have a slight advantage in this first time matchup.  As a pitcher who throws a lot of different pitches and a lot of offspeed stuff, he gives opposing hitters plenty to think about up there.  They don't know his tendencies and they don't know what the ball looks like coming out of his hand.  He played that to his advantage very well last Sunday when he tossed 5 shutout innings against the Rays.  If he's commanding his stuff, maybe he can do it again.

Expect a healthy helping of sliders, 4-seamers, curveballs, and sinkers today, and maybe a changeup or 2 for good measure.  Don't expect to see high velocity, but hopefully the mixing of pitches and lack of familiarity will help Nuno help his team even up this series.

Thoughts On Nova's Injury

(That image hurts my elbow.  Courtesy of the AP)

Looking at his career history, maybe we should have seen this coming.  The partially torn UCL in Ivan Nova's right elbow that caused him to leave his last start early and landed him on the disabled list is not an isolated incident.  Nova has a history of arm injuries dating back to his early days as a Major Leaguer and a history of command and performance problems that seemed to be precursors to these arm injuries.  In a year where multiple pitchers are going down with major arm injuries each week and have been since late in Spring Training, Nova's name was the most probable of all the Yankee pitchers to get added to that list.

And yet there's still a level of shock that came with the announcement that he had suffered the UCL tear.  Maybe it was the hope that this was going to be the year Ivan put it all together.  Maybe it was the belief on a lot of people's parts (myself included) that he was going to take that next step this year.  Whatever it was, Nova's injury is a crushing blow and one that I fear could have a harmful effect on his career going forward.

First Big Test For Tanaka Tonight

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

We've seen him struggle a little bit early in games and then find his stuff and dominate late.  We've seen him handle 2 relatively deep and powerful divisional lineups with 2 completely different approaches and then watched him manhandle a shallower NL lineup.  In 3 starts, Masahiro Tanaka has been everything the Yankees and their fans hoped he would be.  He's been the best starter in the rotation and his early success provides a measurable amount of confidence that the team can absorb and overcome the loss of Ivan Nova.

Tonight he'll face his first "real" test as a Yankee when he takes the mound in Fenway to open another series with the Red Sox against their ace Jon Lester.  There's nothing on the line in the grand scheme of things, but like it or not, Yankee pitchers are always judged in part based on how they perform against the Sox.  The Sox were connected to Tanka this past offseason, albeit not nearly as closely as New York, and their fans will remember that and see Tanaka as another case of the big budget Yankees "stealing" a player away with their money.

The environment will be hostile, the lights will be bright, and the opposing lineup will have more than a few dangerous, experienced, smart hitters in it.  Tanaka's already aced his first few Major League quizzes.  He takes his first test tonight in his first true taste of the Yanks-Sox experience.  Based on what I've seen so far, I'm expecting him to score well.

Teix Still Not Sold On His Wrist Strength

(Courtesy of the AP)

It's been a slow and steady process for Mark Teixeira as he's worked his way back into playing shape from last year's wrist injury.  From basic strengthening exercises to dry swings to batting cage work to full BP to playing in actual ST games, one would hardly call this a "normal" Spring Training for Teix and all along he's said the most important thing is making sure his wrist feels good all the time, no matter how he's swinging.  According to what he told Kevin Kernan of The Post on Thursday, he's still not 100% confident that the wrist is completely healed:

“I’m not trusting that the wrist is healthy.

I’m just trying to protect it.  Taking your ‘A’ swing, taking that swing that is 100 percent and I need to trust that I can do that and not feel pain. I need to finish my swing instead of protecting my wrist. Last year, to protect my wrist, I didn’t finish my swing."

Teix is batting a meager .086/.289/.114 in 35 PA this spring, with 10 BB and 11 K.  His only XBH is a double he hit as a right-handed batter a few weeks ago, so obviously the numbers fit somebody who's admittedly not swinging normally and holding back.

Keep Talking To Me, Ivan

(Courtesy of Jonathan Dyer/USA TODAY Sports)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Coming off back-to-back shaky outings in which he was touched up for 17 hits in 9.0 innings pitched, Ivan Nova got back on track yesterday with a brilliant start against the Atlanta Braves.  He worked 6.1 scoreless, effortless innings, giving up only 2 hits, striking out 5, and not walking a batter for the 4th straight outing.  It was a start right out of Nova's 2013 2nd half catalog.  Fastballs located down in the zone, a lot more GB outs than balls in the air, and a big swing-and-miss curveball.  Brian McCann, who said he wanted to play in yesterday's game specifically for the purpose of catching Nova again, was gushing after the game, and any uneasiness people may have been feeling after watching Nova's previous 2 starts was quelled.

So The Yankees Basically Won The Pineda-Montero Trade Yesterday, Right?

(Fist bump city.  Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

The title of this post was a topic that came up on our daily email thread yesterday, mostly jokingly if I interpreted the email correctly.  The now infamous Michael Pineda-Jesus Montero trade of 2012 has been an easy source of comedy in the baseball world with how poorly the deal has turned out for both sides thus far, but the more I thought about it last night, the more I think the joke is actually true.  Even if he wakes up today, has his right arm fall completely off of his body, and never throws another pitch for the Yankees again, Pineda's start yesterday guaranteed a W for the Yankees on that deal.

Nova Starting To Figure It Out

(Courtesy of the AP)

You know what the best part was about Ivan Nova's outstanding ST start yesterday?  It wasn't the no hits or walks, it wasn't the 4 strikeouts, it wasn't even the insane strike rate (86.11%!!!) or the fact that the Washington hitters only managed to put 2 balls in the air.  Nope, it was what Nova had to say after the game when he talked to reporters about the outing:

“I don’t want to be going back and forth every time.  I just want to be a pitcher that the team can trust every five days. I just want to do my job every five days. That’s one of the goals that I really want, that I want to be consistent. I think I can do that and be really good. My body feels good, so I’ll just wait until the season and prove what I can do.”

Nova hasn't always been the most accurate or self-aware when it comes to his personal evaluations of his outings.  Multiple times we've heard him tell the media that he felt good and thought he was pitching well after some of his more disastrous outings, and answers like that tend to indicate a certain level of immaturity that pitchers need to overcome to reach their full potential.  What he had to say yesterday sounds nothing like the Nova of old and more like a pitcher who's starting to put the mental and emotional pieces to his game together to match his natural physical gifts and plus stuff.  If that's the case and Nova is growing up and adding a more mature mental approach to the physical side of his game, watch out.

The Legend Of Tanaka's Splitter Grows

McCann said Tanaka's splitter "falls off the table." But, more importantly, his motion on the splitter is exactly the same as on fastball.
— Jack Curry (@JackCurryYES) February 21, 2014

Austin Romine after facing Tanaka during live BP this a.m.: ''I'm glad he's on our team. His split...I've never seen anything like that.''
— Pete Caldera (@pcaldera) February 21, 2014

Austin Romine on Tanaka's Splitter: "I had to turn around & ask what the pitch was. Never seen a ball move like that before. It’s special"
— Daniel Barbarisi (@DanBarbarisi) February 21, 2014

Austin Romine's reaction on first seeing Masahiro Tanaka's splitter: "Wooooo!''
— wallace matthews (@ESPNNYYankees) February 21, 2014

Some more fun facts about Masahiro Tanaka's splitter: It actually rotates clockwise and counter-clockwise at the same time, it was Tanaka's best man at his wedding, it was originally supposed to be involved in a program with CM Punk for Wrestlemania before he walked out on the WWE, and in some laboratory tests it's shown the ability to slow the spread of cancer cells.  Yes sir, it's going to be something when he starts throwing it in games...

On CC's Weight

(Courtesy of Deadspin)

Last week this picture of CC Sabathia at a Knicks game made its way around the interwebs and naturally people started talking about it.  Sabathia's weight has been an increasingly popular topic of conversation over the last few years, as he's made more of an effort before seasons to drop a few pounds and then usually ended up putting them back on by the end of the year.  This offseason Sabathia made a concerted effort to not only lose weight but tighten up the rest of his body, and this picture provided some insight as to how much those efforts worked, as did his ST weigh-in result of 275 pounds over the weekend.

The major loss in poundage and somewhat gaunt appearance in that picture have caused a bit of a stir in the NY sports world and parts of the Yankosphere.  The feeling has apparently shifted from "good for CC for trying to lose some weight" to "jeez, look at how much weight he's lost!  That can't be good" and for the life of me I can't figure out why.  Yes, that picture does make CC look like a combination of Forrest Whitaker and E.T. when he get sick and pale and Elliot finds him lying by the river, but it's just 1 picture.  The shots of him in camp show that he's still a big dude, and even if he wasn't that's no reason to speak or think negatively about his attempts to get into better shape.

Aggressive Yankee Offseason Approach Being Thwarted On Multiple Fronts

("Psssst.  Do you think it's time offer Robbie a bonus package based on running hard to first base?"/Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

The Yankees entered this offseason knowing they had a lot of work to do.  Luxury tax avoidance goal or not, they were and still are an old team with a ton of roster holes to fill.  Years of focusing their efforts on older free agents, overpaying to retain some of their own, and sticking to their outdated and foolish team policy of not negotiating new deals while they still had team control over guys has caught up to them, and the Yankees find themselves very much in need of a makeover this offseason to avoid slipping into another down era.

To their credit, the Yankees prepared themselves well for this offseason and have been among the most, if not the most active team since the offseason officially began.  They've been engaged with nearly every big name MLB free agent, they've done extensive research and scouting of the top international free agents, and they've been proactive in trying to re-sign their own free agents that they're interested in keeping.  Yet despite their best efforts, and despite multiple assurances by the highest-ranking front office members that they would not, the Yankees find themselves being slowed down and even delayed in executing many of their big offseason plans.  It's been frustrating to say the least and potentially problematic if the team is still trying to build their next championship contender on a luxury-tax avoiding budget.

Let's Talk About Mark Teixeira

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

There are headlines aplenty going around the Yankee infield right now.  When you've got $50-60 million worth of players whose statuses for next year are all in some sort of doubt, that'll happen.  The one name that is absent from the conversation is that of Mark Teixeira, and that's probably just fine with him.  Never one to draw a lot of media attention with what he does on or off the field, Teix has slid almost into Kevin Youkilis "don't even both talking about him" territory after having season-ending wrist surgery in early July.  Considering his importance to next year's team, it's probably time to dust him off and get him back in the offseason discussion.

No Mo This Weekend Was The Right Thing To Do

(Courtesy of the AP)

Along with Andy making his final career start in front of his second home fans, the only other source of buzz to this weekend's season-concluding series in Houston was what else Mariano Rivera had in store for a goodbye.  Would he pitch?  Would he play the outfield?  How much would Joe let him pitch if he was going to play the outfield?  Turns out the answer to all those questions was either "no" or "none".  After Joe said he was letting Mo call his own shots for the series, Mo ended up not pitching or playing at all in the final 3 games, citing arm soreness and general fatigue and a desire to respect the game and not play when he wasn't at his best.

CC Already On The Road To Reinvention

While he won't make another start this season, and it's still unknown how his hamstring injury will impact his offseason training/throwing schedule, CC Sabathia has already started working on his mechanics and approach in preparation for what everybody hopes will be a bounce back 2014.

Sabathia spoke to the media at length on Tuesday about his struggles this season, what he needs to work on to be better next year, and what he's already started working on to make that transition from power pitcher to pitcher.  There were references to changes in delivery and mechanics, bullpen work between starts in the past few weeks, and most interestingly, Sabathia saying he's started watching video of opposing hitters.  It's not something he's ever done before this season, and Sabathia acknowledged the need to start doing it as part of his pregame preparation, saying:

“I feel like at certain times, I kind of fell in the same pattern, pitching the same way.  Hitters watch video and they know what to expect out of me, so it’s only right for me to do the same thing.  I've always been a guy that never watched video and that’s something that I need to change. My preparation for games probably needs to get a little better in that way."

I was a bit surprised to read that CC has never watched video before.  I figured in today's modern age of analysis that would be at least a small part of every pitcher's prep routine.  If it's something he thinks is going to help next year and he's already started doing it, then good for him for manning up and not being stubborn about changing.  It's what older pitchers have to do to survive, and CC recognizes that he's an older pitcher now.  If he's already begun the transformation of his game, that's reason to be encouraged about a turnaround next season.

Someone Tell The Fat Lady She's On In Five

(Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

A little less than 6 weeks ago I buried the Yankees.  In a post that admittedly made me look a little dumb in retrospect, I took their brutal loss to the lowly White Sox and first reported team meeting of the season as signs that it was time to close up shop and end all hopes of that late season playoff charge ever happening.  They proved me wrong for the better part of the last 6 weeks, showing enough offensive firepower and a knack for getting big hits and big outs that hasn't been there for most of the year as they pulled their way back into a Wild Card race nobody seems interested in winning.  But the last 4 games - and the 7 total runs scored by the Yankees in those games - have exposed them as being true playoff pretenders, or rather re-exposed them for being the same team they've been all season.  They're old, they're injured, they're not very deep, and they're not very consistent.  Those qualities never add up to a postseason berth over the course of 162 games, and they don't appear as though they're going to buck that trend for the Bombers this season no matter how many more team meetings they have.