Too Many Home Runs!

The Yankees hit too many home runs AGAIN tonight.  That kinda stuff might work now, but sooner or later they are going to have to start manufacturing runs without the long ball and play the hit-and-run game and blah blah blah sacrifice bunt blah blah blah stringing hits together blah blah blah A-Rod needs to pick it up blah blah blah the mainstream media doesn't know shit blah blah blah suck it, haters.

P.S.- Teix and C-Grand in a one-on-one duel in the HR Derby final?  That'd be cool, right?

P.P.S.- Back-to-back 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI nights for Eduardo Nunez, including one of the too many home runs that were hit.  I know it's the smallest of small sample sizes, but you can't say the kid doesn't look good out there.

An Issue With Swish's Splits

While reading the always excellent Mike Axisa game recap on RAB of last night's ass whooping of Alexi Ogando, I was struck by this particular bit on Nick Swisher: 

"I thought Paul O’Neill did a fine job of breaking down Swisher’s left-handed swing during the broadcast, showing how he was opening up early and getting off balance. He hasn’t had those same problems from the right-side, which is why he went 2-for-3 with a double and a homer off lefties Michael Kirkman and Arthur Rhodes while drawing just a measly walk off righty Alexi Ogando. Swish is now hitting .176/.315/.284 off righties but .356/.439/.576 off lefties. That has to fix itself at some point, right?"

For one, I had no idea that Swish's splits were that awful.  Admittedly, I had never checked them in great detail this season, so I just assumed he was equally awful from both sides of the plate early in the season and had been hitting equally better from both sides during his recent resurgence.  To justify my ignorance to this situation, I will point out that Swish hit .286/.330/.549 from the left side of the plate in 384 at-bats and .291/.414/.429 from the right side in 182 at-bats just last year.  Why should I have expected anything different this season?

But the second thing that struck me about this bit of info was Mike's assumption that this issue with Swish is something that should/will fix itself as the season moves along.  We're talking about an over 400-point difference in OPS from what is typically Swish's stronger side of the plate in 2.5 times more ABs.  This isn't just something that should be expected to work itself with a little BABIP luck here and there. This, to me, represents something fundamentally wrong with Swish's mechanics and approach as a left-handed hitter right now.  If Paul O'Neill can call it out clear as day on the TV broadcast, then surely other people can recognize it too.  And when it comes to recognizing problems with a swing and correcting them, there's one man on the Yankee staff that needs to be involved in fixing them.

"Paging Dr. Long.  Dr. Long, you have a patient suffering from a severe case of lefty-swinging unbalance waiting for you in the lobby.  Dr. Long."

Methinks that Swish and Dr. Long need to get together for a quick checkup on that lefty approach and get things straightened out, especially considering they've already put so much time and work into retooling Swish's approach that got him the career-best results he's already had as a Yankee.  And sooner rather than later.  He's going to face a lot more right-handed pitching this season than he is left-handed.  Getting that swing fixed against those righties will help get Swish's production back to where it should be a lot faster.  They didn't sit back and wait for Swish's approach to fix itself when he first got to New York.  Why wait for it to fix itself now?

Ladies And Gentlemen, Brien Gordon

(Photo courtesy of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.  Awesome name)

I don't know how or why the Yankees came to this decision, but yesterday afternoon they signed 32-year-old Brien Gordon, a former Phillies Triple-A pitcher, to take Bartolo Colon's spot in the rotation tomorrow.

Now Gordon has been lighting the world on fire this year, posting a 1.14 ERA and a 2.55 FIP for Lehigh Valley, the Phillies' Triple-A affiliate, and he's also struck out 56 batters to just 7 BB in 55.1 IP.  But the guy is 32 years old and in his 15th MiL season, way past the point of being a hot prospect, and he is still pitching in Triple-A.  So spare me the "he's a converted outfielder" talk and just say that if he were that good of an outfielder or a pitcher he probably would have made the show for more than 3 appearances with the Rangers back in '08.

And another thing that concerns me is what kind of effect, if any, this move has on guys like David Phelps and Adam Warren.  They have both been fantastic of late and for their organization to sign another outside guy to make a spot start over them is kind of like saying that the organization didn't trust them to come up and pitch well.  It doesn't pop quite as much as Gordon's 9.11 K/9, 1.14 BB/9 rates, but Phelps' 7.78,2.36 rates are nothing to sneeze at.

Basically, this deal is in the same vein as the Garcia and Colon signings in the offseason, a low-risk, high-reward move for the Yankees.  They're putting minimal money in a guy who has been on fire this season to make a few spot starts.  If he has any kind of success, the deal is a plus.  And if he bombs, then you just cut his ass and go to one of your group of internal youngsters until Colon comes back.

A Quick Dose Of Perspective

Just for the record, the Yankees came into last night's game with the following players on the DL:

- Pedro Feliciano
- Phil Hughes
- Eric Chavez
- Rafael Soriano
- Joba Chamberlain
- Bartolo Colon

And in addition to that, they now have Russell Martin and Derek Jeter banged up and possibly heading for 15-day stints themselves.  Essentially, the Yankees have been playing and are continuing to play winning baseball without 40% of what would be their starting rotation, 3 of their top 5 bullpen guys, their best bat off the bench, and their starting catcher and shortstop.  For all the bitching and moaning that I and others around the blogosphere have done about the negative aspects of the Yankee play lately, I have to admit that it's pretty damn impressive that they've been able to stay competitive and right at the top of the AL.

Lord knows the Fraud Sawx haven't had to deal with any issues to their catchers other than the fact that they both suck.  And Carl Crawford doesn't have any injury excuses to explain his still sub-.300 OBP.  So sorry if I've been unnecessarily harsh on you over the last month or so, boys.  You're doing a damn fine job with whatever 25 you've got on the active roster.

Except you, Cervelli.  You still suck.

The Yankee Catching Conundrum

For a team that's catcher-heavy from the top of the organization to the bottom, the Yankees sure are having problems with the position this year.  From free agents to backups to top prospects, everybody seems to be struh-gull-ing in one way or another.

Single-A: Gary Sanchez- He's started to come around with the bat lately, but Sanchez has lost a little bit of his preseason luster after being demoted to ExST because of reported "character issues," and he also has 18 passed balls on the season after last night's game.  It's only fair that some of the questions surrounding Jesus Montero and his defensive ability would also be asked about Sanchez.  And yes, I know the guy isn't old enough to legally drink, but this season still hasn't been as positive as last year was for him.

Triple-A: Jesus Montero- Speaking of The Chosen One, Montero is also experiencing some growing pains at Triple-A this year after not making the MaL team out of camp.  His mighty bat is not quite as powerful as it has been, as his tripleslash sits at .289/.333/.408 right now.  That's not bad by any means but not what we're used to seeing from Montero.  His defense is still not winning him any praise and he's dealt with injury issues and questions about whether or not he's pressing at the plate to prove he belongs on the big league roster.

Majors: Russell Martin- He hit .292/.378/.597 in April, .200/.333/.347 in May, and so far just .111/.200/.111 in June while missing 7 out of the last 10 games.  Obviously it would have been insane to expect Martin to keep up his torrid April pace all season, but I also didn't expect him to bottom out this badly over the last 6 weeks.  His back has been a lingering issue and can almost certainly be a contributing factor to his problems at the plate and kept him out of last night's game.  He needs to get that taken care and get back to 100% ASAP.

Majors: Francisco Cervelli- The biggest problem that Martin has, besides the bad back, is that Cervelli is his backup.  Allow me a quick rant here.  Francisco Cervelli is fucking terrible.  TERRIBLE!  His calling card his whole career has been a no-hit, solid-defense catcher who pitchers like to work with and who brings energy to the team.  He's certainly living up to the no-hit part with a .191/.250/.298 line in 47 at-bats, including a 29.79% K rate, but now he isn't even bringing anything to the table defensively.  He's allowed a couple of passed balls and thrown out just 2 of 20 base stealers.  The guy has been a black hole of baseball skill anyway you look at it.  These numbers wouldn't cut it in Triple-A let alone the Majors, but for some reason the Yankees continue to roll this guy out there, watch him contribute negatively to the team, and probably force Martin to get back into the lineup before he's physically ready because he sees how pathetic Cervelli is.

I like Cervelli as a clubhouse guy.  The energy and spunk and all that is a good thing to bring to a clubhouse.  But when that's ALL you're bringing as a professional athlete, and you don't have any positional skills to offer, then that just doesn't cut the mustard.  Francisco Cervelli straight up sucks as a baseball player and he shouldn't be on the active roster any more than Billy Crystal should.  Period.

Luckily it's not all bad attitudes, lack of production, and injuries for the Yankee catching team.  Austin Romine looks much improved at Trenton, hitting .298/.362/.421 with a career-high .357 wOBA and solid defense, and in limited time behind the plate J.R. Murphy has hit .297/.343/.463 with a .360 wOBA in A-ball.  But the biggest issue is the lack of depth and production coming from the Major League level right now.  And age, defensive skills, and years of team control aside, it's time to kick Cervelli to the curb and bring up The Savior.

Jeter Update

The official word on The Captain (not me) is that it's a Grade 1 calf strain, which is the lowest level of calf strain that one can suffer.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that it's unlikely Jeter will play tonight against Texas and even more unlikely he will be able to get his 3,000th hit at home during the rest of this homestand.

While the low level strain and Jeter's toughness are positives, the Yankees also have to be realistic about the situation.  The Horse missed 14 games with a similar injury last season, Jeter is 37 years old, and he plays a position that requires lots of movement and range, something his UZR stats show he already doesn't have.  Add in the fact that he's a groundball machine hitting leadoff, so the chances he'll be trying to leg out infield hits are high, and this is the type of thing that could linger all season long if it isn't allowed to completely heal.  It sucks, but the best thing to do is put Jeter on the 15-Day DL and see how it feels when he comes back.

Yanks Waste A Good A.J. Outing

It's not often that you get to see A.J. pitch into the 8th inning while giving up just 1 run on 6 baserunners allowed and striking out 8.  That's the type of game you HAVE to win and it's the type of game that good teams consistently DO win.  Unfortunately, the Yankees couldn't scratch together a run to help Good A.J. out tonight as they fell victim to their arch nemesis: the no-name pitcher with whom they aren't familiar.

In the bottom of the first, it looked like Carlos Carrasco was going to be in for a long night.  He gave up back-to-back singles to Jeter (more on him later) and C-Grand and then walked Teix.  But the Yanks could get nothing out of it and then stranded another 2 in the 2nd inning.  From then on, Carrasco seemed to calm down and he dominated the Yankee O through 7 shutout innings.  The Yankees certainly did their best to help him out, though, thanks to 0-7 with RISP, 8 men left on base, Brett Gardner's mind boggling decision to bunt with a full count on a pitch that was damn near over his head to lead off the 7th, Robbie Cano's continued unwillingness to take strikes early in the count, Francisco Cervelli's downright awfulness as a baseball player, and letting themselves get K'd in the bottom of the 9th by somebody named Chris Perez to end the game.

The loss sucks bad enough, but what makes it even worse is the real story of the night, that being Jeter leaving in the 5th inning after appearing to strain his calf on a swing.  No official word on what the injury is yet, but he was in pain almost immediately as he hobbled down the 1st base line and it looked like the type of tweak that will lead to at least a 15-day DL stint.  At this point, the Yankees pretty much have their own wing in the hospital.  Too bad for Jeter and all the fans.  I don't think I'm alone in saying I was getting excited about the possibility of him getting 3,000 at The Stadium.

More on Jeter's injury and Cervelli's suckiness tomorrow.

The Joba Chamberlain Experiment Has Officially Failed

( I miss these days.)

Now that I've had time to digest the Joba injury, accept that he's done for the season and some of next season, and think about his whole career as a Yankee up to this point, I think I can write this post without sounding like an angry, unintelligent fan who's just looking for someone to blame.  The bottom line is, regardless of whether people wanted him to be a starter or a reliever, regardless of what everybody thought about him as a pitcher, the Joba Era has been a complete failure.

Now I don't think there is one particular thing that can be called the reason for it being a failure.  There have been many missteps along the way, from the limited MiL experience (just 83.1 total IP through 3 levels in '07 before being called up), to the Joba Rules, to the transitioning of him and his approach back and forth from the rotation to the bullpen from 2008-2009, to the token "competition" for the 5th starter's spot that he was included in during ST 2010, to the bringing in of Kerry Wood and Rafael Soriano to hold down the setup role that had been his.  All of these things have added up to 3 years of good but not great results from Joba and the constant reminder of what could have/should have been after he burst onto the scene in 2007.

Because of the organizational mismanagement of his career, Joba has never really been given a fair shake at being a full-time starter or a full-time reliever/setup man since 2007.  The team didn't know how they wanted to use him, he didn't know how he was going to be used, and the injuries along the way only served to intensify that confusion about just where he belonged and where his skills could best be used to help the team.  And now that Joba has suffered an arm injury so severe that it requires Tommy John Surgery, it can be said with complete certainty that all the time spent vacillating on whether he should be a starter or reliever was a waste because in the end he still ended up never being able to replicate the explosiveness he had in '07 and he still ended up hurt.  Maybe he was just bound to have this injury occur eventually, and if that was the case then it would have been better to either commit fully to him being a starter or reliever, keeping him in that role, and getting the most of out him that could be gotten before the injury occurred.

It's impossible to say what kind of starter Joba would be today if the team would have stuck with their plan in '08 and given him the time to develop his secondary stuff and his approach.  It's also impossible to say if he would have been able to maintain the 11.00 K/9 rate that he held through his first 2 seasons if he would have been left in the 'pen.  Maybe we would be talking about the team's #2 starter right now or maybe we would be talking about the best reliever in the game not named Mariano Rivera.  We'll never know.  What we do know is that Joba was never given a chance to fully realize the potential he showed in either role, which was unfair to him as a player and unfair to us as fans.  The last 3 seasons spent drifting along the sea of uncertainty have essentially been a waste now that he'll spend the next year on the shelf.

For all the discussions about Joba and his role, and all the complaints about the player he's been since the beginning of 2008 (admittedly, some of those complaints coming from me), the numbers show that Joba has been a solid pitcher in his time as a Major Leaguer.  He has an ERA/FIP/xFIP tripleslash of 3.70/3.62/3.64 for his career, with 9.09 K/9 and 7.7 WAR accumulated in what equates out to about 3.5 years of baseball played.  He is still only 25 years old, and yet I can't help but feel like his best days are behind him and always will be.  As good as his numbers are, they could have been better if he would have been given a chance to live up to the expectations that the organization and the fans had for him.  I know I would feel a lot better about this upcoming TJS if I would have at least gotten to see him be fully committed to one role and watched that process play out over the last 3 seasons.  At least we would have known exactly what kind of pitcher he was and how good he would have been.  Instead, we still don't know and now we may never know.  And that's a damn shame.

Kei Igawa: Record Setter

AB4AR would like to be the first to congratulate Kei Igawa for setting the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankee all-time record for more innings pitched and most home runs allowed.  These records are a testament to Igawa's pedestrian stuff and dedication to being mediocre that have allowed him to be a constant staple of the Triple-A roster over the years.

So congrats, Kei.  I hope your teammates gave you the proper champagne shower in the locker room after the game.  You earned it, buddy.  I think we can now safely say that this was $46 million well spent.

/throws up

What To Do With The Roster?

The injury bug sucks, and it's been biting the Yankees hard over the last week.  The Yankee pitching staff was already hurting without Damaso Marte, Pedro Feliciano, Phil Hughes, and Rafael Soriano in the ranks, and then earlier this week they lost Joba Chamberlain, yesterday they lost Bartolo Colon and Amaury Sanit, and possible Triple-A replacement Tim Norton was also put on the DL earlier in the week.  Now Sanit is probably addition by subtraction, but it's a fair statement to say that the Yankee staff is in tatters right now and they need to get creative to stem the tide.

Coming into yesterday's game, Joe was carrying 13 pitchers, which was a ridiculous move when you consider that those 13 included Sanit, Jeff Marquez, and Lance Pendleton and not Hector Noesi, and even more ridiculous when you consider the fact that it left the Yankees with just 2 non-catcher bench players in Andruw Jones and Eduardo Nunez.  Things have already gotten straightened out a bit today with Noesi and Chris Dickerson being called back up to replace Colon and Sanit on the active roster and add a little more bench depth, but things still need to be figured out.

Noesi is the most likely choice to replace Colon in the rotation, but that isn't 100% certain.  David Phelps has been very good all season, Adam Warren has been great recently, and D.J. Mitchell pitched a pretty good start yesterday and is on the same schedule as Colon, making him the easiest to drop in.  If one of them gets called up to take Colon's spot instead of Noesi, then Noesi gets put back into the 'pen as the long man and somebody else has to go down.  That guy should be Marquez or Pendleton.  And the Yankees definitely don't want to play with fire by only having 2 available bodies on the bench, so Dickerson should stay.

It's a shitty situation to be in right now, but the Yankees have to figure out a way to make it work.  If it were up to me, I'd give Colon's rotation spot to Noesi, even if he can only work a short outing this next time out.  He has the highest ceiling of any of the candidates and has already shown he can get it done at the Major League level in his previous appearances.  I'd also think about strengthening the bullpen by swapping out Marquez and/or Pendleton for George Kontos a/o Ryan Pope from Triple-A.  You'd be upgrading the stuff and velocity of 2 middle relief options whose roles become more important with Joba and Soriano down while still having the option of carrying guys who can go more than 1 inning if needed.  Kevin Whelan was a good start, now it's time to get rid of the rest of the crap in there and at least have some solid arms.

My New Rotation: CC, A.J., Garcia, Nova, Noesi

My New Bullpen: Mo, D-Rob, Boone Logan, Ayala, Whelan, Kontos, Pope

Thank You, Fausto Carmona

(HELLOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Courtesy of The AP)

Thank you, Fausto.  Thank you for dragging the Yankees out of the zombified state they've been in for the last handful of days after enduring another asswhooping at the hands of the Fraud Sawx.  Thank you for reigniting a fire within the offense that had seemingly been blown out, had a bucket of water dumped over it, and then covered in sand since about halfway through Wednesday night's game.  It was only one game, and sure, the Yanks could come out tonight and lay another egg, but it was good to see guys fired up again, it was good to see the lineup be patient and then string hits together to make pitchers pay for making bad pitches, and it was good to see home runs get knocked into the deepest parts of the park.

And thank you, Fausto, for waking Joe up.  Tt was especially good to see that he still has a pulse there in the dugout.  He's been just as MIA as the rest of his club lately, still clinging to the "we gotta make plays/one game at a time/come out tomorrow" cliche rope as the performance and health around him has been faltering.  It's a manager's job to get his guys ready to play and to keep them up, and you could hear in Teix's voice in his postgame interview that he was fired up after watching Joe go face-to-face with Manny Acta.  Hopefully that energy is still there in the clubhouse today and hopefully it carries through the rest of the series.

And thanks, Fausto, for giving Ivan Nova such an easy situation in which to work on fixing his issues and throwing strikes in a low-leverage situation to build some confidence.  2 runs and a season-high 6 Ks in 7 strong innings?  That's as good a performance as Nova has had all year, and he probably earned himself another 2 starts at least in the rotation as the Yankees continue to wait for Phil Hughes to return.

So thank you, Fausto.  Thank you for waking the sleeping giant, even if it was just for one night.  If they're all still awake and still remember your shenanigans from last night when they get to The Stadium today, then I feel bad for your starting pitcher today.

Bartolo Colon Is The 900,000 Dollar Man

** CAPTAIN'S NOTE- This post was originally posted on 5/18 and got deleted during the little technical issue that Blogger had a few weeks ago.  But since it's all sadness and rain clouds in Yankeeland today and I don't feel like talking about any of that, I decided to brighten things up with a little comedy and re-post this gold.  A "Six Million Dollar Man" reference AND more Bartolo Colon fat jokes in the same post??  GodDAMN, I am hilarious!**

Nothing like getting some stem cells from your own fat hips injected into your shoulder to rejuvenate your career, huh? 

"According to a story in the Dominican daily Dairio Libre, the new life in Colon's arm could be partially attributable to two treatments of stem cells - or "células madre" as they're called in the Dominican Republic, where Colon had the procedures. The doctors, Sergio Guzman and Leonel Liriano, told the newspaper they... sent "an invitation" out to Colon, which he accepted in March 2010. Guzman was quick to insist, though, that when they took fatty tissue and bone marrow from Colon's hip and injected it into injured tissues in his rotator cuff and elsewhere in his right shoulder, they weren't doing anything revolutionary." (via MLB Trade Rumors)

I don't know what was a more genius move, Colon opting for this treatment to try and bring some life back what was his completely dead arm or the Yankees for picking him up.  And if you don't think Cash knew that this had happened before he even started watching Colon in the Dominican winter league let alone before he decided to sign Colon, then you are just a dope.  Once again, Cash was playing chess while other GMs were playing checkers.

Apparently MLB is now looking into this situation after the report came out yesterday, but as Ben from RAB wisely pointed out, there really isn't much they can do and nothing illegal happened, so this was a calculated risk that has seemingly paid off for Colon and the Yankees.

Announcer: "Bartolo Colon.  Pitcher.  A man barely alive."

Cash: "Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to inject stem cells from the butt into the shoulder to create the world's first 38-year-old man-titted effective starting pitcher. Bartolo Colon will be that pitcher. Better than he was before.  Better...stronger...faster.  But still pretty fat."

Speechless

I really don't know what to say.  I really don't.  I had all the confidence in the world that the Yankees would sack up, rally behind CC last night, and at least salvage a win and a share of the division lead from this series last night.  I was so confident that I even broke out the sarcasm before the game when I made fun of the MSM and their collective hand wringing after the first 2 games.

Unfortunately the Yankees didn't hold up their end of the bargain, bowing down again last night 8-3 to Fraud Sawx Nation.  They led 2-0 after the first 2 batters in the bottom of the first and then managed to get nothing off of Josh Beckett for the next 7 innings, even when they had the bases loaded in the bottom of the 2nd.  That's just horseshit, no other to say it.

I'm well aware of the insignificance that this series will most likely hold in the grand scheme of the 162-game season, hence the aforementioned sarcasm yesterday.  But losing still sucks, losing to your biggest rival still sucks, and the sucktitude of any loss gets magnified when it comes as a result of playing piss-poor baseball.  This team still can't hit when it has to, it still plays sloppy defense, it still has questions in the rotation, and its bullpen is in complete tatters after yesterday's bad news about Joba.  I don't know when things are going to start turning around, and I'd like to say it will happen when the plummeting Indians come into town, but with the way the Yanks are playing right now, that's far from a certainty.

The best thing you can say about this series was at least somebody finally hit this asshole:

(Screen cap used courtesy of RAB)

Unfortunately, that doesn't do nearly enough to ease the sting of another beatdown.

The Early-Season MSM Panic Meter Is Rising Rapidly

"There are Yankees killers and then there are Yankees killers and then there is Ortiz, who is a serial murderer of Yankees pitching." (Vaccaro, The Post)

"The Yankees are a second-place team now after falling 11-6 to Boston. Heck, they are just 4 1/2 games ahead of last-place Baltimore in the congested AL East." (Sherman, The Post)

"At this moment, just a game separates the teams ... Still, it feels like Boston is ascending, distancing themselves from their distasteful start to the season." (Sherman again)

"There are a thousand ways to look at the Red Sox domination of the Yankees, but start with the fact that when the Yankees need A.J. Burnett the most, he comes up small." (Kernan, The Post)

"Say the Yankees face the Red Sox in the ALCS. Who are they going to pitch in Game 2 of that series?" (Kernan again)

"It's becoming the first half of 2009 all over again, and right now the Yanks can only hope this season ends the same way that one did. But after an 11-6 Yankee loss Wednesday night, the Red Sox clearly have the Bombers' number, beating them for the seventh time in eight games." (Feinsand, The Daily News)

"It could have been a wonderful night, the best of the season at Yankee Stadium, a comeback to talk about all season. Are you kidding? After being 7-0 down against the Red Sox? It was right there in the bottom of the sixth, all over the bases and all over the place. Gardner didn't score. Jeter didn't hit. Red Sox win again." (Lupica, The Daily News)

As you can clearly see from all the literary mass hysteria, these are trying times in Yankeeland.  We're at DEFCON 2 here, people.  Another sweep at the hands of the Fraud Sawx is imminent, nobody can pitch, nobody can hit, Joba is staring down the barrel of TJS, and the Yankees are already screwed in the hypothetical 2011 ALCS showdown they will have with the Fraud Sawx.  And there is only one man who can save us.

(Courtesy of The AP)

That man is you, Carsten Charles Sabathia.  Your team needs you.  The NY sports writers need you.  We the fans NEED you, Carsten.  We need you to rise up, put the team on your back, and help salvage this all-important regular season series in June.  The Sawx are ascending, like majestic flying unicorns, towards the sun and their inevitable World Series trophy.  They are dominating your team, they have your number, and the last 2 days have shown that there is NOBODY on this team except for you and you alone who can turn out a good start.  For God's sake, you're 1 game back of the division lead, man! ONE WHOLE GAME!!!  IN JUNE!!!  DO YOU NOT SEE THE IMPORTANCE OF TONIGHT'S OUTCOME?!?!?!?!

The fate of the team, nay, the fate of the entire UNIVERSE may very well hang in the balance tonight.  Because I think we all know that if the Yankees lose tonight, and go down a whole 2 games to Fraud Sawx Nation, 1 in the loss column, then the season is basically over.  And even if it isn't, clearly the last 2 games have proven that this dominance will carry over for the rest of the regular season and into the hypothetical ALCS.

So save us, CC.  Save us from this terror and this misery.  Give us something to believe in.  Don't let the doom and gloom that has crept over all of us after these last 2 "do or die" June games engulf us all.

No, Really. Can Somebody PLEASE Hit This Asshole?!?

"I don't care what Joe Girardi says.  Take it like a man.  I'm done with that shit."

Seriously, fellas.  If you aren't going to make pitches, limit damage, or get hits with the bases loaded, can somebody at least put this clown in his place?

Bad Day At The Office

In case you missed any of it, here's how the Yankees' day went yesterday.

- Joba was put on the DL with a strained elbow flexor muscle.

- To replace him on the roster, the Yankees claimed former MiL batting practice pitcher Jeff Marquez off waivers from the White Sox.  Then they optioned Hector Noesi down to SWB and replaced him with Amaury Sanit.  All that added up to a bullpen last night that consisted of Mo, D-Rob, Boone Logan, Luis Ayala, Marquez, Sanit, and Lance Pendleton.

- Not long after that, Russell Martin's back acted up on him and he was scratched from the lineup in the afternoon.

- A.J. was the worst version of Bad A.J. we've seen all year, giving up 7 earned runs on 7 hits and 4 walks in just 5.2 innings, and generating just 4 swings and misses on his 105 pitches thrown.

- A.J. compounded his ineffectiveness by not hitting or buzzing any of the Red Sox batters, neither early in the game as retribution or late in the game after they had shelled him to send a message.  But he did intentionally walk J.D. Drew.

- Francisco Cervelli airmailed 2 throws on attempted steals into the outfield.

- Curtis Granderson went 0-5 with 2 Ks.

- Brett Gardner failed to score on a wild pitch in the 6th that went all the way back to the wall behind the plate, despite Jeter waving him home almost as soon as the ball got away.

- Jeter followed that up with an inning-ending and rally-killing GIDP.

- Eduardo Nunez managed to successfully foul a ball off his own face.

- The Yankees lost their 7th out of 8 against the Fraud Sawx so far this season, 11-6, and lost the lead in the AL East.

Just a complete shit pile anyway you look at it.  Somebody hit the music...

Nick Starting To Be More Swisher And Less Punto Lately

(Are there any pictures of this guy NOT smiling?  Courtesy of The AP)

On May 26 Nick Swisher was at his lowest statistical point of the season.  He had just gone 0-3 against the Blue Jays and his tripleslash for the season was .204/.321/.289.  The .321 OBP wasn't horrible considering how low the BA was, but a .289 SLG is unfathomably bad.  I don't want to say that I could do that, because it's a well known fact to anybody who reads this blog on a regular basis that I was a horrendous player in my Little League days, but I think I could have closed my eyes on every swing, run into a few misplaced pitches here and there, and put up a .289 SLG.  The worst part about this was the fact that it was the 2nd game after Joe gave Swish 2 days off to get his shit together and the 2nd of the 2 games after the mini-vacation that Swish didn't collect a hit.  He was lost at the plate, sinking in the batting order, and the unintelligent portions of the Yankee fanbase had already written him off for this season and exercised their right to not pick up his option for 2012.

Since then, however, we've seen signs that the Swish we've come to know and love over the last 2 seasons is re-emerging from his 2-month slumber.  Since that fateful May 25 game, Swish has 10 hits in his last 33 at-bats, 6 of them for extra bases (3 2B, 3 HR), 4 runs scored, 7 RBI, and 9 walks to just 5 K.  His tripleslash has risen to .222/.345/.357, his OPS has crept above .700 for the first time since April 5, and his wOBA is back up above .300 at .315.  It's still a bit early to call him officially "back," but that undeniable positivity that I talked about when he came back from his benching on May 24 appears to have gotten Swish back on the right track.

My favorite stat out of all that is the 9-5 BB-K ratio.  We saw a lot of swinging and missing from Swish in May, even while he maintained a solid BB rate, so it's good to see him get back to seeing the ball, squaring up on it, and putting good swings on hittable pitches, all while not sacrificing his trademark patience and good eye at the plate.  If he can keep doing that and putting himself in good hitters' counts, this recent resurgence should continue.  And with the continued inconsistency of the heart of the order, that would be a welcome sight for Yankee fans.

Can Somebody Please Hit This Asshole?

(No, really.  Somebody needs to hit this asshole.)

Seriously, dude.  Why don't you stand and admire it a little longer?  Dick.  And then to say this after the game:

“I’m a home run hitter. It’s not like I do it all the time. But it’s part of the excitement. What can I tell you? I just went deep. You want more emotion than that. I just went deep. It’s another homer for Papi.  That was one of the Papi good ones."

“That’s Papi style.  You saw that before.” (via The Post)

Jesus Christ, bro.  Try not to sprain your AC joint patting yourself on the back.  Yes, you're a home run hitter.  And that's EXACTLY why you shouldn't have standing there like Barry Bonds hitting his 73rd admiring the fucking thing.  Let's review; you hit a home run off a rookie pitcher in what, at the time, was a 3-run regular season game in June.  Not September, not October, June.  You want to celebrate that?  Be my guest.  But don't be surprised if A.J. or CC stick one in your or one of your teammates' ribs before the series ends and don't bitch about it afterwords.  See how you feel about "Papi style" then.

Oh, and tell your buddy Papelbon to calm down with his celebration too.  Dude, you're coming off a game where you completely imploded  and got yourself suspended and then you allowed a run to score and had the tying run at the plate last night before getting off the hook.  Not exactly worthy of yelling and screaming like you just saved Game 7.

But hey, if the Sawx want to treat their typical early-season dominance like it matters, be my guest.  Just don't make excuses when you get swept in September again and don't bitch and moan when Joba buzzes Youk's tower again.  You want to make yourselves targets?  Don't be offended when the hunters shoot at you.

(Photos courtesy of Anthony J. Causi at The Post.  Crosshair Photoshop work by Swanny Duckson.  Douchebaggery courtesy of Fraud Sawx Nation.)

The Fraud Sawx Have Freddy's Numbah

(Yeesh.  Courtesy of The AP)

Freddy Garcia has now made 10 starts this season.  In those 10 starts, he is 4-5 with 60 hits, 22 walks, and 9 HR allowed in 58.1 innings, equaling out to a 3.86 ERA, 4.74 FIP, 4.20 xFIP, and 1.41 WHIP.  For the most part, he has been serviceable as the 4th/5th starter, if not downright good at times.  But after last night's gong show at The Stadium, it's clear what his Achilles heel is and it really comes as no surprise.

In 2 starts against the Sawx this year, Garcia's line looks like this:

7 IP, 10 H, 5 BB, 8 ER, 3 HR, 5 K, 10.29 ERA, 2.14 WHIP, 0-2

Now when he's been on this season, Freddy has pitched effectively against most offenses.  His movement on his off-speed stuff and his pitching intelligence have been enough to allow him to get by with a heater that has about as much zip to it as your average Little Leaguer's.  But against a good hitting team, that dog just don't hunt and last night the Sawx, a very good hitting team on a very hot hot streak,  just punished Garcia and got enough off of him early before Joe pulled the plug to hold on.

You look around the AL and you don't see many teams with lineups half as good as that of Bahhston, or the Yankees for that matter.  As long as he stays healthy, we can expect to get the same marginal service from Freddy against the rest of the league with a good start thrown in here and there, and with the Yankee offense that should be enough to be successful.  But if this is the best he can do against Bahhston, then Joe might want to think about juggling the rotation to keep him out of it the next time they come to town instead of Nova.

Teix KO'd In Top Of The 1st

Jon Lester kneecapped Teix in his first at-bat a few minutes ago.  All indications are it looks pretty serious, as Teix was writhing in pain after taking a pitch right off the right kneecap, and he hardly put any weight on his right leg at all as he was helped off the field.  Surprisingly, Jorge was brought in to pinch run for him, but I don't think we'll be seeing Teix for the next couple days at least.

Update coming later when it's available.  For now I will just say that's bush by Lester.  Whether it got away or not, there's no reason for that to happen in the 1st inning of a game.  That's retaliation-worthy as far as I'm concerned and the umps better allow the Yankees to exact their pound of flesh, preferably later in the game when Joba or D-Rob or somebody with a little heat on the fastball is in the game and not Freddy and his BP fastball.

** UPDATE- 8:18PM- X-rays were negative and the official word is that Teix has a knee contusion.  He'll be re-evaluated tomorrow but it looks like our worst fears won't be realized with this one.  Still, Lester can S a D. **

Yanks-Sawx Round 3- Something Has To Give

(Calm down, Youk.  You're fine.)

Both of the Yankees-Fraud Sawx series this season have gone negatively for the Yankees.  They lost 2 out of 3 in Bahhston earlier in the year and were rudely treated to their first sweep at the New Stadium in mid-May.  Since that disastrous 3-day period, both teams have been on a tear and this time the Sawx come back into town sitting just a game behind the Bombers for the AL East lead.

Both teams have been driven by a particular part of the roster lately, one coming as no surprise for one team and one a bit of a surprise for the other.  As friend of AB4AR Larry Koestler pointed out this morning on TYA, the Sawx have been mashing the shit out of the ball for the last 2 weeks to the tune of a .367 team wOBA.  After 2 months, the lineup is finally starting to live up to the hype and there are probably still pitchers having nightmares about their most recent outing against Boston.  Now, this is not to say that I'm lightening up on my anti-Frad Sawck stance.  They still suck.  Unfortunately, their offensive performance of late has not.

On the Yankee side of things, pitching has been the name of the game of late.  In the same 2-week span, the Yankee pitching staff has put together an AL best 2.91 ERA and 3.33 FIP.  CC has been a beastly man amongst boys, Colon continues to pitch well, A.J. has been serviceable, and somehow Freddy Garcia is still getting positive results with everything but the kitchen sink.  And to top it all off, the bullpen trio of Mo-Joba-D-Rob has held up their end of the bargain by putting zeroes up on the board.  If you would have taken a poll of Yankee fans on Opening Day and asked if a rotation that included Colon and Garcia would be part of an AL-leading anything over a 2-week span, I don't think you would have had many votes in the "Yes" column, but it's the truth.  While the offense still hasn't quite found its stride, the pitching staff has carried the team through this most recent stretch of success.

So starting tonight we've got the Sawx lineup against the Yankee rotation.  Which group will continue their hot streak and which will have their momentum halted?  And more importantly, how many times will I curse myself for moving out to WI, giving up the YES Network, and not having an ISP that allows me to get MLB broadcast package on my computer?

P.S.- Truth be told, I could give a shit if the Yankee starters get shelled in all 3 games.  It'd just be nice to see the boys take 2 of 3 and win a series to increase the division lead.

Yankees Draft Dante Bichette

How does that taste, all you Yankee haters who thought the Yankees were screwed picking 51st while the rest of their division had half the picks before them?  A little Dante Bichette right in your eye!  This guy was the MAN back in the day.  I remember playing RBI Baseball '94 on my Game Gear growing up and straight dominating the world with him and Andres Galarraga on the Rockies.  Dude could rake.  40 homers, 128 RBI, and a .413 wOBA in '95, 31, 141, .380 in '96.  That's some solid production any way you cut it.  Sure, the guy is probably older than dirt now and I have no clue how he managed to re-attain his amateur status for this draft, but that's beside the point.  The Yankees added a Major League caliber power hitter with the 51st pick in the draft.  Dante Freakin' Bichette, baby!

Wait, what?  It's not him?  Kid?  What are you talking about?  Dante Bichette JR.???  He has a kid?  After all the 'roids he did?  No way.  Is his kid any good?  Is that a good pick?

People don't seem to think so.

Oh.  Well that kinda sucks.  Now I just feel like an idiot.

Uhhhhh...

...

Draft Day, Draft Day, Draft Day!!

The MLB amateur draft starts tonight, which is always big news if you're a baseball fanatic.  Admittedly, I am not as big a draft freak as others, even though I love me some Yankee prospects.  I just don't have the time or the resources to follow up on all the potential talent out there at the HS and college level, so I leave that to the professionals who do and get my love on once guys officially become Yankees.

Last year's crop of talent was a lot of high-upside, low-risk variety from what I understand, and the Yanks are already getting solid returns from the likes of Rob Segedin (3rd Rd.), Tommy Kahnle (5th), Kyle Roller (8th), and Dan Burawa (12th) in A-ball and when short-season SI starts up, we'll get another look at the Cito Culvers and Mason Williams' of the world.  And with the Yankees not picking until the 51st pick this year (thanks a lot, Randy), expect them to be aggressive on someone who drops down the board from their slot.

And that right there is the extent of my 2011 MLB Draft preview.  Like I said, I'm not exactly Mel Kiper when it comes to this and I don't try to be.  If you're looking for excellent draft coverage, check out the stuff from the boys at The Yankee Analysts and anything that Mike Axisa writes about at River Ave. Blues.  Once the draft is over and I get a chance to follow up on these guys' thoughts, I'll weigh in with my take.  Maybe.  Until then, follow them and trust what they say.

West Coast Road Trip Thoughts & Afterthoughts

(High fives all around!  Courtesy of The AP)

- Before they went out on the road, I said I would be happy with a 5-4 record from the Yankees on this 9-day tour of some of the best starting pitching the AL has to offer.  So the fact that they came in 6-3 and extended their lead in the AL East is more than fine with me.

- That being said, it is a bit frustrating to look back on the series and see just how close the Yankees were to going 9-0.  A few hits with RISP here and another fluke Mo BS there in Seattle, and just a couple hits anywhere in the first game against Anaheim and things would be looking really bright right now.  I hate to rain on the parade by saying that there's always some "yeah, but... " scenario with this year's Yankees, so I just won't say it.

- A theme for the 2011 season that continued through this trip was the solid starting pitching.  From the end of the Seattle series through the Oakland one, the Yankees got 4 straight good performances from their rotation: back-to-back lights out jobs by CC and Colon followed up by 2 solid starts from Freddy and A.J.  I don't care who you're playing against, 6 runs allowed over a 4-game span is damn good.  CC followed up his beauty with another gem Saturday against the Angels and Colon was pretty decent yesterday, so the rotation continues to at the very least exceed expectations and at the most carry the team.

- The "Get Jorge The Hell Out of the DH Spot" campaign is in full swing now.  He started the trip hitting .178/.298/.357 and he finished it hitting .178/.290/.349.  He had 2 of his 3 hits for the whole trip yesterday, and even then he managed to ruin the double by inexplicably trying to stretch it to 3rd.  I don't care if it's more ABs for Andrew Jones, more for Chris Dickerson, or more for Chavez when he comes back.  If the Yankees aren't going to call up Jesus now, they need to do something with what they've got because Jorge is D-U-N DONE.

- Robbie Cano showed some signs of breaking out on the trip, getting 10 hits (6 for XB), scoring 6 runs, and also driving in 6.  His patience and selection at the plate still leaves a lot to be desired, but he is getting back to producing for a run-production spot in the lineup.

- Similar situation for The Horse, who also gather 10 hits, 7 runs, and 7 RBI over the 9-game trip.  He looks more comfortable at the plate and his swing looks much more in tune with his body than it did a few weeks ago.  Joe just needs to keep the guy healthy and give him a day every week at DH to do so, even if it means putting people in the first-base seats at field level in danger by playing Nunez at 2rd.

- I know he's The Fireman, but "The Magician" might have been a more appropriate name for D-Rob yesterday.  He pulled a David Blaine, completely setting up his own death-defying situation by walking 2 men to load the bases before managing to escape right before our very eyes without allowing a run.  Ta-da!!!!

- If all you're doing is looking at Mark Teixeira's BA and complaining that he's not playing well, then you're an idiot.  The guy is straight raking right now, and if the 18 HR and 41 RBI don't do it for you then maybe the .914 OPS, 149 wRC+, .394 wOBA, and career high .291 ISO will.  Just a little BABIP luck (Teix's is currently .236, 32 points below his career low, which was set last year) and we're talking about Teix as the leading MVP candidate instead of C-Grand and Jose Bautista.

- Props to Joe for ditching the formula yesterday in the 6th, going to D-Rob early to preserve the lead, stretching Joba to get through the 7th and the 8th, and finishing things up with Mo.  A 6-3 trip looks and feels much better than a 5-4 one, Joe knew it, knew his horses were rested, and rode them to victory.  If only he could do that all the time.

- Now that the Yankees are coming back home, the Jeter 3,000 watch will kick into high gear.  Just one question, if his next 14 hits are all seeing-eye grounders through the hole at short, do we still applaud?

- CC is a monster.  Last 4 starts: 4-0, 33 2/3 IP, 28 H, 5 BB, 6 ER, 20 K, and he never threw more than 118 pitches in any start.  That's not just dominance, that's EFFICIENT dominance.  The power of the pants is undeniable.

- Best highlight of the trip, hands down, was the video of Torii Hunter falling into the stands on Cano's HR on Saturday as the small contingent of Yankee fans parted like the Red Sea and let him faceplant into the concrete.  Call them classless if you want (haters), but you gotta give Yankee fans credit.  They know when to get involved and when to stay out of the way.

- Off day today, then the fahckin' Sawx come into town for 3 starting on Tuesday.  The Yanks have pushed Nova back a day to line up Garcia, A.J., and CC for the series finale, while the Sawx have scratched Clay Buchholz from his Wednesday start and will instead throw Tim Wakefield.

Rotation Upgrade Options- Internal

Ivan Nova might have done just enough on Friday night to not lose his spot in the rotation the next time through, but still didn't do enough to guarantee his spot moving forward.  If he continues to not be able to keep runners off the basepaths and not generate any swings and misses, sooner or later the time is going to come where he'll be kicked to the bullpen and a new arm will be inserted into his spot, especially after Cash went public this week saying he was looking to upgrade the rotation.  With the trade market not quite heated up yet, the first place to look for a Nova replacement would be internally.  Here are the 4 top candidates.

Hector Noesi- He's always been plugged as a Nova 2.0 type, a guy with better stuff and even better command, and Noesi got called up earlier this season when the Yankees needed help in the 'pen.  He was pitching relatively well in Triple-A (3.92 ERA, 3.73 FIP), and has performed admirably in his limited innings for the Yankees (0.96 ERA, 3.15 FIP in 9.1 IP).  Noesi has already shown that the moment isn't too big for him, evidenced by his 4 shutout innings of relief in picking up the win in extras against Baltimore, and actually has a higher K/9 rate and lower BB/9 rate in the Majors than he had with SWB.  Most important, though, has been Noesi's ability to get swings and misses, Nova's biggest Achilles heal.  In his 9+ innings of work, Noesi has a 12.8% swinging strike rate, and the lack of info on him suggests that rate could stay consistent, at least for a little while before teams start to adjust to him.  If Nova got hurt tomorrow, Noesi would be my first choice as a replacement.

Carlos Silva- Silva was the last of the Yankee "Free Agent Veteran Scrap Heap" initiative earlier in the season, and has stuck around longer than Kevin Millwood after 5 starts in the Yankees' MiL system.  Looking at just his 3 starts in Triple-A, there are reasons to be hopeful that Silva could be better than Nova and reasons to be concerned that he might be a carbon copy.  In his 3 starts for SWB, Silva has pitched 18.1 innings, giving up 7 earned runs on 16 hits and 4 walks.  On the positive side, he has shown the ability to go deeper into games than Nova has been and has been much better at keeping guys off base.  On the negative side, Silva has struck out only 8 batters in these 3 outings, with his K total decreasing each time out.  His stuff sits somewhere between that of Nova and Freddy Garcia, so if he can't get guys to swing and miss in Triple-A, what's to say he would do it against better competition in the Majors? 

David Phelps- This guy (copyright: Jon Gruden) has been the best pitcher on the SWB staff so far this year, and is the most ready to come up and pitch at the Major League level.  In 11 starts so far, Phelps has put together a 3.29 ERA, 3.94 FIP, 1.27 WHIP, has increased his K/9 rate from his 12 Triple-A starts last year, and has a K/BB ratio over 3.  He throws more strikes than Nova, walks fewer guys than Nova, and provides more length than Nova.  In his last 3 starts, Phelps has gone at least 7.1 innings every time out, with 16 K to just 3 BB.  His stuff might not play up to the Major League level as well as it is right now at Triple-A, but with Phelps' makeup and approach, it's reasonable to expect that he could provide results at least slightly better than Nova's.

Phil Hughes- He of the mysterious dead arm that was still never definitively diagnosed, Hughes has been on the recovery trail since his MRI, receiving cortisone shots, throwing off flat ground, and as recently as yesterday throwing off a mound in a simulated game.  While there haven't been any velocity readings on Hughes, the general consensus is that his arm speed and ball speed are looking good through the zone, and Hughes could be on his way to some rehab starts beginning in Extended ST.  The timetable for his return is still far out (at least a month), but if Hughes has recovered from whatever ailed him early in the year, and his arm strength and velocity is back, he would be a huge addition to the rotation and a huge upgrade over what Nova has been providing.