2nd Half Starts Tonight

And it's about damn time!  After the Really Good Player Game break, shit's about to get real.  The trade deadline is looming, division races are heating up, magic numbers are starting to get important, and it starts tonight against the Blue Jays.  Here's the lineup, courtesy of LoHud:

1) Derek Jeter- SS
2) Curtis Granderson- CF
3) Mark Teixeira- 1B
4) Robinson Cano- 2B
5) Nick Swisher- RF
6) Russell Martin- C
7) Andruw Jones- DH
8) Eduardo Nunez- 3B
9) Brett Gardner- LF

Jones gets the start at DH tonight against a lefty.  Time for him to start producing a little, which means it's time for Joe to get him a few more ABs.

In Other Semi-Yankee Related News: Clemens Case Declared A Mistrial

"The federal judge presiding over Roger Clemens' perjury trial declared a mistrial Thursday because the prosecution revealed information that he previously deemed inadmissible." (courtesy of The NY Times)

Ouch.  Yeah, bringing back evidence that was already thrown out will get your case blown up 10 times out of 10.  I guess the prosecution MISREMEMBERED that critical step in legal proceedings.  BOOM!  Roasted.



I'll be here all week, ladies and gentlemen.

P.S.- If you think Roger Clemens didn't take steroids and didn't lie about it under oath, then you're an idiot.

J.C. Romero, Come On Down!

(Meh.)

The first piece of the Yankee deadline puzzle seems to be in place, as Ken Davidoff reported last night that the Bombers will be adding J.C. Romero today.  In the never-ending quest to find reliable left-handed relief pitching, this is probably the best option in terms of committing money or players to a viable arm, but still, this does more to shed light on just how crappy the Yankees' current options are than to make their bullpen better.

Romero has never been one to light the world on fire with his stuff or his command, and this year has been no different.  In 16.1 MaL innings with the Phillies, Romero has put up just a 5.51 K/9 while straight up walking the fucking yard with his 6.61 BB/9.  He gets by by managing to limit the damage of all the runners he puts on base, but his real value is as a lefty specialist and the splits support that.  He has a 3.46 FIP and 8.23 K/9 against lefties in career vs. 5.25 and 6.68 against righties in his career, and this year has been more of the same, with a 2.39 FIP and 8 K in 7 IP vs. lefties and a 5.24 FIP and 2 K in 9.1 IP vs. righties (small sample size alert!!).

Those numbers become more attractive when you look at the internal lefty candidates.  Randy Flores' stats in Triple-A look decent (2.95 ERA, 3.25 FIP, 3/1 K/BB in 21.1IP), but he's scuffled lately and has never bee able to hang full time in anybody's bullpen since 2002.  And Brad Halsey, after a strong start in Double-A, has come crashing back to Earth and now sits at a 5.85 ERA, 4.46 FIP, and a Romero-esque 6.28 BB/9.  Basically, if you're the Yankees and you're going to be eating off the steamed shit section of the buffet, why not take the best looking pile (Romero)?

The biggest thing to take from this latest move, should it become official today, is that the organization still doesn't have faith in Boone Logan.  He was better in June than he was in the first 2 months, but he still does nothing to inspire confidence when he's out on the mound (see: 1st-pitch plunking of Hafner against Cleveland), and the fact is he hasn't been good at getting lefties out.  14 Ks in 13.2 IP against lefties looks nice, but 21 baserunners allowed is just not good enough, and his FIP against lefties is over a full run higher than against righties.  Any way you cut it, that sucks.

Make no mistake, a move to get Romero is definitely scraping from the bottom of the barrel.  But when that's really where the Yankees already are in terms of the left-handed relief pitching, why not take another cheap chance to improve?

** UPDATE- 12:57PM- It's official.  Romero has signed with the Yankees.  He might be headed to SWB to pitch tonight.  **

Can We Finally Stop Talking About The Whole "Yankee Fan Guy Who Caught Jeter's 3,000th Has To Pay Taxes" Thing?

If you follow AB4AR's Facebook page, and you damn well should be if you aren't, then you probably saw my comment on the whole Christian Lopez saga on Monday.  In my opinion, it never should have been a talking point for anybody to begin with.  The guys did what any REAL fan would do, give the ball back to the person who deserves it and not turn the whole situation into a bargaining/auctioning drawn out mess.  Then the whole tax situation on the gifts he received from the Yankees came up and everybody was up in arms again.  Well this should help finally put this thing to rest.

"Miller High Life issued a statement Wednesday saying that the company would cover Lopez's tax bill....

Lopez will receive five percent of the entire chain's [Modell's] Yankees merchandise sales for one week. Both Modell and Brandon Steiner, CEO of Steiner Sports, guaranteed Lopez at least $25,000 each....

In addition, Topps will produce a trading card featuring Lopez that will be included in sets later this year. Company vice president for sports Mark Sapir says Topps employees were impressed by Lopez's selfless act.  Sapir says Topps also will have Lopez choose the image for its 2012 Derek Jeter card." (courtesy of Fraud Sawx fans.com)

So there you have it.  The guy is going to have the taxes on all his swag covered and he's getting even more money and his own baseball card.  What I said was correct all along.  Lopez did the right thing and he has been handsomely rewarded for it.  That's how it should happen.  And do you know how I know that?  Because I'm a selfish dick who never does the right thing and I've never had offers from companies to pay my taxes or make a baseball card honoring me.  It's pretty simple.

Case closed on this non story.  Let's get back to baseball.

Yankees At The Break- Looking Ahead

(Definitely want to see a lot of this in the 2nd half.  Courtesy of The AP)

With one more off-day before the season starts again, we know where we've already been so far this year and we know where we are right now.  So the only left to do is gun the DeLorean up to 88 and try to look into the future to see what the rest of the season has in store for the Yanks.

Thanks to bad weather, the Yanks, along with the Orioles, have played the fewest games in baseball at 88 and have had the benefit of their schedule so far being home heavy.  Of their 74 remaining games, they will play just 32 at home and 42 on the road.  Those remaining games include 9 against Bahhston and 13 against Tampa, their 2 main competitors for not only a playoff spot, but what playoff spot they get.  They'll be on the road for 6 of the 9 games against the Fraud Sawx and 7 of the 13 against the Rays, an uphill battle for sure but not a situation in which the Yanks are incapable of doing well, especially considering recent history.  Also included are a couple of potentially big series against Anaheim, one at home and one on the road.

The biggest thing for the Yankees to overcome in the 2nd half will probably be injuries.  The 15 players that have already landed on the DL match last year's total and they'll be without The Horse for at least a month, maybe 2, because of his recent surgery.  With older players like Jeter and Posada, Joe will have to get creative to give guys rests as they need them, even more so now that his bench depth is all but depleted.  But once again, Eduardo Nunez will get to show whether or not he's capable of shouldering an everyday load as he'll get the majority of time at third in A-Rod's absence.  Questions also still linger about how long Colon and Freddy Garcia will hold up, and whether or not Phil Hughes has fully regained his shoulder strength.  There are definitely more than a few potential injury landmines that the team needs to avoid.

Performance-wise, everybody in the lineup not named Curtis Granderson should be looked at to step it up a bit to make up for the hole A-Rod left in the lineup.  Mark Teixeira, specifically, needs to get the BA and OBP back up to match his gawdy power numbers, and I'm interested in seeing if the seemingly rejuvenated Derek Jeter is a mirage or a real rebound from his last year's worth of at-bats.  Continued production from Cano and Swish will be vital, and a rebound from Russell Martin's 2-month long swoon would be nice.  The rotation's effectiveness will hinge almost directly on Colon and Garcia's continued strong performances and the performance of the defense behind them.  That effectiveness can be bolstered by a true return to form from Phil Hughes.  CC and A.J. almost don't need to be commented on.  We know what to expect from them, for better or worse.

The most interesting part of the 2nd half is always the injection of new blood into the lineup, and the Yankees certainly aren't afraid to cannonball themselves into the trade pool to improve their team.  Cash is already on the record as looking for pitching help, both in the rotation and the bullpen, but the return of Hughes and the possibility of Rafael Soriano returning soon makes these issues a little less critical.  One potential target, the kind and friendly Francisco Rodriguez, is already off the market after the Mets traded him to Milwaukee last night.  A temporary replacement for A-Rod could also become a high priority if Nunez can't repeat the success he had filling in for The Captain, and RAB already took the liberty of breaking down some of the candidates.  Whatever direction they end up going, you can take it to the bank that the Yankee front office will be active as the deadline draws closer.

The last, and potentially most fun, thing to look forward to is roster expansions in September.  There have already been enough calls for The Jesus to come up and bring some much needed pop to the C/DH spots in the lineup, but will the team actually do it?  There's also the stable of young arms in Triple-A (Phelps, Warren, Mitchell, Whelan, Norton) that could get a chance to make a splash should injuries sauce rotational havoc, and let's not forget about Ivan Nova down there in SWB either.

It's already been a great season and it's only going to get more exciting (and more frustrating) from here.  There's a lot to look forward to as a Yankee fan looking at the next few months.  Hopefully it ends with another playoff berth and World Series run.

The Hot Streak Is Over

So it looks like I was a little off with my predictions yesterday.  Oh well, you can't win 'em all.  I'm going to go ahead and lay all the blame squarely at the feet of Buck and McCarver.  Sweet Jesus those guys were awful last night.  Even for them.  I would have settled for Jon Miller and Joe Morgan.

Nice job by D-Rob coming in to cover for Beckett's sorry ass in the 2nd inning, though.  Now I just hope little Joshy ends up on the DL.  Then we'll see how many people want to criticize Jeter and Mo for pulling out because of injury questions.

AB4AR's Fearless ASG Predictions

I nailed it with the Cano call last night at the Derby, so I'm going to ride the hot streak and make some predictions for the uninjured, non-exhausted Yankees who are playing tonight.

- C-Grand: 1-2 w/ a single and a nice running catch in center.

- Robbie Cano: 1-2 w/ an RBI 2B and a slick DP turn with Ass-DREW-bull in the 4th.

- Russell Martin: 0-1 w/ a K and a BB.

- D-Rob: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K.

I don't know if there are any prop bets being laid on this stuff tonight out there on the interweb, but you loyal readers would be wise to print this out and lay a few bucks down if there are.  Don't worry, you can thank me in the morning.  Or use that money to buy the AB4AR t-shirts I've been meaning to design for months now.

Yankees At The Break- Where They Stand

(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

Yesterday, we looked back at what's already happened leading up to the All Star break, so today we'll focus on where the Yankees currently stand after the last 3+ months.

Currently, the Bombers are 53-35, 1 game behind the Fraud Sawx in the AL East, 0 in the loss column.  They are 30-19 at home, 23-16 on the road, and possess the MLB's best run differential at +121.  They are 5 games clear of both Tampa Bay and Anaheim for the Wild Card right now, with 2 games in hand over Tampa and 4 in hand over Anaheim, which works to their advantage.  They are an astoundingly good 26-5 in day games, a surprisingly sub-par 27-30 in night games, and have played the AL East and Central at a slightly above-.500 clip while feasting on the AL West and the National League.  They have also been better than usual against LHP, racking up an 18-8 record so far.  All in all, the Yankees are in a very good place considering the combination of serious injuries and uneven performances they've experienced so far.

Offensively, it's pretty easy to say that the Yankees are the 2nd best in baseball behind the Fraud Sawx, with a small window to argue that they are #1.  They currently rank 2nd in team OPS (.784), wOBA (.346), wRC+ (116), and WAR (21.6), 3rd in R (455), and 1st in HR (123).  There are 3 legitimate All Stars in the lineup in C-Grand, Cano, and The Horse, with Mark Teixeira putting up All Star-caliber power numbers.  Those guys have carried the load with the likes of Swish, Jorge, and Jeter rebounding from slow starts, Gardner and Russell Martin bringing up the rear in terms of production (while still remaining productive offensive players), and the bench chipping in a little here and there.  Really nothing out of the ordinary for the type of lineup the Yankees roll out on a daily basis.

Pitching is where the team has actually overachieved.  Currently the Yankee staff ranks 9th in MLB in ERA (3.46), 12th in FIP (3.76, which is 4th in the AL), 11th in K/9 (7.03), and 7th in WAR (12.2).  In fairness, a lot of that has to do with the combination of CC, D-Rob, and Mo, but for the most part the rest of the staff has chipped in admirably.  Both Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon are pitching well above expectations and, save for Colon's quick DL trip, have stayed healthy.  A.J. has rebounded from his awful 2010 to get back closer to his '09 numbers.  And Ivan Nova, before being sent down to make room for Phil Hughes, has held his own in his first full year as a Major League starter.  Despite all the injuries to the 'pen, the Yanks are getting solid contributions from guys like Luis Ayala, Hector Noesi, and Cory Wade, and Boone Logan looks like he's starting to get out of his funk.

Defensively, the team has really shined this year, Jeter and Cano's range be damned.  They currently rank 4th in baseball in UZR (25.0) and 1st in UZR/150 (7.5), which tells a better story than their middle-of-the-pack FP and E numbers.  All 3 OF are playing above average, Teix and A-Rod are still Gold Glove worthy at the infield corners, and Russell Martin has been an upgrade over Jorge and Frankie Cervelli behind the plate.  When you add up the defensive with the top-of-the-heap offensive and pitching numbers and it's easy to see why the Yankees are one of the best teams in baseball again.

Injuries are the biggest issue for the Yanks right now.  A-Rod had his meniscus surgery yesterday and will be on the shelf for at least a month, and Jeter, Mo, Swish, and Russell Martin are all a bit banged up from the wear and tear of the first half.  On the positive side of the injury report, Phil Hughes is back and in the rotation, his strength and velocity looking much better than they did in April, and Rafael Soriano and Damaso Marte have started throwing again.  Joba is still out for the years, and things don't look promising for Pedro Feliciano or Eric Chavez, but as a whole the team is starting to get healthier than they have been the last few months.  And that's a good thing when you consider how well they've already done.

DON'TCHA KNOW?!?!?!

(If ya don't know, now ya know.  Courtesy of The AP)

Robbie Fucking Cano!!!!

Didn't I tell you?  I told you.  I fucking told you!

"He's got the type of smooth, easy swing that I think can translate well to an event like this. He won't tire himself out, and if he gets in a groove, watch out."

And he kept that smooth swing going all night, had plenty left in the tank at the end, and put on a goddamn show!  Dude was so money.  There's no other way to describe it.  He barely even broke a sweat, for crying out loud!  Sure, I was in the middle of literarily drooling over Kate Upton when I called it, but I still fucking called it tonight.  I am a genius.  And Robbie Cano is a truckstick.

(How do more people not read my shit?!?!  It's G-O-L-D.)

Kate Upton Is A Yankee Fan?

It certainly appears so now, doesn't it?  Which means I just became a Kate Upton fan.

HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Side note, what's everybody thinking about Robbie's chances in the Derby tonight?  He's got the type of smooth, easy swing that I think can translate well to an event like this.  He won't tire himself out, and if he gets in a groove, watch out.  I also don't buy into the theory of him messing his swing up by participating.  Watch him during games, the swing never changes.  It's his problem of swinging too much that gets him in trouble.  I honestly have no clue how these new team rules work, so I don't know if he can actually win or not, but take it to the bank that Robbie Cano is putting up double digits in his round tonight.

Alright, enough of my half-hearted HR Derby analysis.  Back to Kate Upton:

(Photos courtesy of Total Pro Sports)

Derek Jeter And The Meaning Of 3,000 Hits

(Courtesy of The AP)

I wanted to wait a little while to write this post.  Typically, something that historic being done by a Yankee warrants immediate commentary, but in this case I needed time to collect my thoughts and really think about what I have to say.  And even now, as I sit here at my desk, I still don't even know the right way to talk about this, so it will still just come out as a rambling mess but here it goes.

As a Yankee fan, Derek Jeter has always been and  will always be my favorite player, and I don't think it's a stretch to say that would be the case for many other Yankee fans from my generation.  He is our Thurman Munson, our Mickey Mantle, our Joe DiMaggio.  Years from now, when I'm talking to my kids and grandkids (assuming a member of the female gender is unfortunate enough to procreate with me), I won't be telling them about Nick Swisher's exploits in right field or how underrated a player Tino Martinez was during his time in pinstripes.  I will be talking about watching Derek Jeter play and how good a player he was, plain and simple.  So to have those feelings as a fan makes something like what Jeter accomplished on Saturday even more special.

And the statement that Derek Jeter was/is a very good baseball player, regardless of what all the Jeter haters out there want people to think, is a fact.  And his reaching 3,000 career hits and beyond on Saturday afternoon is a testament to that.  Out of all the men who have played professional baseball in history, only 28 of them have ever achieved 3,000 hits in their career.  It is not something that can be easily accomplished.  It takes an almost perfect combination of career longevity, closely tied to healthy and injury luck, and consistent upper level baseball skill.  There is no way to luck into 3,000 hits.  You have to be a damn good hitter to do that.  And the plain fact of the matter is that Derek Jeter has been a damn good hitter for almost his entire career.

Yankees At The Break- Looking Back

(Easy choice for best first half moment, no?  Courtesy of The AP)

The Yankees started the 2011 season, like most years, with a multitude of questions surrounding their team.  And, like most years, the main questions were related to the pitching staff.  After being stiffed by Cliff Lee for Philly, the Yankees were left without a viable option to replace the retired Andy Pettitte in the rotation.  Rather than reach on the rest of the overpriced, undertalented trade and FA markets, the Yanks made do with an internal promotion (Ivan Nova) and a couple of cheap scrap heap options (Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia) who weren't expected to do much more than steal innings until another young Triple-A pitcher was ready.

As luck would have it, those 3 would turn out to be much more valuable to the rotation and the team in the first half than the likes of A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes.  Burnett has been better than in 2010, but still hardly worthy of the type of money the Yankees are paying him, and Hughes, after a career high workload in 2010 came out of the gate with no velocity and no movement on his pitches to start 2011 and was quickly shelved for almost the duration of the first half with shoulder inflammation.  In Hughes' absence, Bartolo Colon has been a leading candidate for Comeback Player of the Year, posting a 3.20/3.56/3.19 line in 90 innings, good for 1.6 WAR.  Nova and Garcia have also been more than serviceable, pitching 183.2 innings in 31 combined starts and picking up 15 wins and 2.1 WAR.  Not Cy Young worthy to be sure, but definitely better than anybody anticipated, as evidenced the team's 9th ranked 3.46 ERA.

The anchor of the rotation, as usual, has been CC Sabathia.  If the talks of his possible opt out after the season are distracting him, he certainly isn't showing it as he current holds a 2.72/2.50/3.09 line in 145.2 IP, good for an MLB leading 13 wins and an AL leading 4.8 WAR.  If there was any internal doubt about whether the Yankees should re-sign him if and when he opts out of his current deal, Sabathia has all but erased that with his tremendous first half.  Looks like cutting the Captain Crunch out of his diet really paid off.

The offense, expected to have fewer holes and question marks than the rotation, has actually underperformed a bit despite being 3rd in baseball in runs scored, 2nd in OPS, 2nd in wOBA, 2nd in wRC+, and 1st in HR by a wide margin.  The Yankees currently have 4 players with 50+ R and 50+ RBI apiece at the break (C-Grand, Teix, The Horse, and Cano), the first time that's been done by a Yankee team since the late 30s, but save for Granderson you could make the argument that each of the other 3 is having a "down" year.  Early struggles by older players like Jeter and Jorge Posada also didn't help matters, nor did April slumps for Nick Swisher and Brett Gardner.  All 4 of those guys have rebounded since then, but with The Horse's injuries, Teix's inability to hit anything other than a HR, and Cano's refusal to take pitches, there are still improvements that can be made.

Offensively, the MVP has been Curtis Granderson.  A year after flailing through the first half of the season and having his swing completely rebuilt by Kevin Long, Granderson is putting up numbers that have him on pace to shatter all his previous career highs.  He is tied for the team lead with Teix with 25 HR, has 63 RBI from the 2-spot in the lineup, has scored an insane 79 R, and currently leads the Yankees in SLG, OPS, wOBA, wRC+, and WAR.  If the consistency he has shown would have been matched by a few more of his teammates, we would likely be talking about the clear cut #1 offense in baseball.

More than the hitting exploits of C-Grand, the pitching greatness of CC, or the surprising performances of Colon and Garcia, the biggest talking point for the Yankees in the first half was injuries.  To date, the Yanks have had Jeter, A-Rod, Russell Martin, Eric Chavez, Rafael Soriano, Joba, Pedro Feliciano, and Damaso Marte miss significant portions of time because of injury, with Swish and Mo also missing a few games recently.  The majority of the bullpen guys won't be back this year, which makes the jobs Mo and Dave Robertson have done that much more important, but with A-Rod now on the shelf for the next 4-6 weeks Joe and Yankee fans everywhere need to start saying their prayers that the rest of the team can stay healthy.

All things considered, the first half of 2011 has to be considered a success for the Yankees.  With the injuries they've suffered and the guys they're rolling with in the rotation, one would certainly not expect to be sitting 18 games over .500 at the All Star break, but that's exactly where they are.  And with the Phil Hughes injury, the CC opt out talk, the plague of bullpen injuries, the Jorge "day off" saga, and the recent Jeter march to 3,000, there has been no shortage of storylines/distractions along the way.  Now they need to regroup, rest up, and start getting healthy for the stretch run in the 2nd half.

Boss

Keep moving, folks.  Nothing to see here.  Nothing at all.  Certainly not the guy with the most wins in MLB who has put up 31.2 innings of 1-run ball (the last 23.2 of them scoreless) while allowing just 22 H, 6 BB, and striking out 42 in his last 4 starts, all of them wins.  Certainly not the guy who's making a solid case for being considered the best pitcher in baseball even though nobody is really talking about him as such and he wasn't even picked to the All Star Game.

Nothing to see here.  Just move along.

P.S.- Screw the stupid HR Derby team thing.  Why not bring CC to the ASG to pitch against all these guys and see how many can actually get a hit off him.  $100,000 to the charity of choice of the first player who gets the ball out of the infield off of CC.

3,000!!

The 3,000 Hit Club has its newest member, and that member is Derek Jeter.

After leading off the bottom of the 1st with a solid single off of David Price, Jeter came up with 1 down in the bottom of the 3rd and worked a 3-2 count against Price before yanking a slider that just hung up enough into the left field seats for a home run and his 3,000th career hit.  If you wrote it up as a Hollywood script, you would be told to go back and change it because it would be too cliche.  But you wouldn't expect anything else from The Captain.

MLB.com already has the video up, and you can watch the whole thing right here.  It was cool to see Jorge Posada come out to be the first to greet him at home plate, and cool to see Johnny Damon come out of the vistors' dugout and applaud.  Just the latest and greatest in the long history of classic Jeter moments.

Congratulations to Derek Jeter on this historic accomplishment.

Let's Talk About Meniscuses

Specifically The Horse's right one, which was revealed to be slightly torn after his MRI yesterday.  A-Rod was already scheduled to be out of the lineup last night as a result of the MRI and the now well documented pain he has been playing with in the knee, and now the amount of time he could stay out of the lineup becomes an even bigger, and much more important question.

He could continue to play through the injury, as he has already been doing and doing well.  For all the talk about his dreaded homerless streak since early June, The Horse has continued to play solid all around baseball, racking up hits and walks at the plate and playing arguably the best defense we've seen him play since he transitioned to the hot corner.  Obviously now we can assume that this meniscus tear is causing some, if not all, of the lack of power that we've seen from A-Rod, and he doesn't look comfortable running the bases, but he has played at a very high level with this injury already.  And with the Yankees far from clinching a playoff spot at this point in the season, it goes without saying that the team is in a better position to when with him in the lineup, even if he doesn't hit home runs.

The other option is surgery, something that would likely put A-Rod on the shelf for at least a month.  Without him in the lineup, the team could struggle even more than they already are this week, but down the road during the regular season stretch run it would be much more beneficial to have a 100% healthy Horse than one playing at whatever percentage he's currently at.  And while the injury may or may not get any worse, it certainly isn't going to get better the more he plays on it.  If A-Rod is at 75% right now, it's possible that continued wear and tear and him trying to compensate for the injury could have him at 50% heading into October.

Recent offensive struggles aside, the Yankees have been very good all year, both at the plate and on the mound.  One would think that they would be able to hold down for the fort for 4-6 weeks without A-Rod, especially if Cano and Swish continue to swing hot bats and Teix can start to be more consistent.  And with Bartolo Colon and Phil Hughes back in the rotation, and CC pitching like a man possessed, there is more than enough talent to get the job done.  This is the same injury that CC pitched through last season, but he was only playing once every 5 days.  Joe doesn't have that option to try and give A-Rod that much rest.

It's a tough decision either way, but if it were up to me, I would want to see A-Rod get completely healthy and be ready to go for the end of the regular season and the playoffs.  We've already seen what a healthy Horse can do when he's locked in in the postseason, so whatever has to happen to be able to get him back to that health level is something I would be in favor of doing.

An Open Letter To The Team- Find The Offense

Guys,

What's the deal?  Last time I checked, Jeter was the only player in the lineup on the verge of reaching a major milestone and yet everybody seems to be playing like the spotlight is on them and they can't handle it.  And he's one of the few who's actually getting some hits here and there lately?  What the hell are the rest of you doing?  The 9 runs in support of CC the other night were nice, but just 9 combined runs in the other 4 games of this 1-4 stretch?  That's just completely pathetic.

I'm tired of watching Robbie swing at the first pitch, or the second, or the third, and make outs with runners on base.  I'm tired of watching Russell Martin beat hittable pitches into the ground like he's doing a Jeter impression, and I'm really tired of watching Teix pull off of everything too early and either hit lazy fly balls to right or ground out into the shift.  I love ya, Teix, and I've been making excuses for you because of your low BABIP, but you're about to dip below .240 on the year and that's just not acceptable.

We've been through this enough this year, and it has to stop.  Cut the shit with these week-long offensive dry spells and live up to your reputations and high team wOBA and hit the fucking ball with some authority and score some fucking runs!!  You got shut down by goddamn Jeff Niemann last night!  Stop playing tight because of the 3,000 hits thing, calm the fuck down, and be professionals.  Everybody knows you can do it, so start doing it.  Christ.

Thanks,

Brad

Does Derek Jeter Look A Little Better To You?

(Look at the range!!  Courtesy of The AP)

Even though i didn't see it until the highlights were on BBTN, I'll admit that I rolled my eyes when I saw The Captain's first hit since coming back from the DL come on another dinky infield single that he beat into the ground.  But since that play, Jeter has looked a little more lively at the plate and in the field, at least to me.

His double later in the game on Tuesday night was a legit shot into the deepest part of Progressive Field and appeared to be on an inside fastball.  Granted, the fastball caught more of the plate than intended, but that's still the type of pitch Jeter has been struggling on since last summer.  On that particular pitch, he looked much more like a the Jeter of old, timing his swing perfectly, and pulling his hips and hands through the zone quickly to get around on the ball and make solid contact.  When I saw that play on the highlights, the eye roll turned into an intrigued eyebrow raise.

Then last night there were a couple more plays that were attention grabbing.  The diving stop up the middle from the bottom of the 4th inning (shown above) was something I can't remember seeing from Jeter in a long time.  As I said last night, it helped that he was already playing closer to the 2nd base bag, but when we've come to expect him to reach out and miss by a few feet on balls like that, it's nice to see Jeter leave his feet and actually come up with the ball.  And even though it didn't mean a thing in the overall context of the game, Jeter's double in the bottom of the 8th was another flashback to the good old days when he used to murder first-pitch fastballs into the gap.  Once again, his timing and swing looked much more in tune than they have this season and there was actually some OOMPH behind the swing.

That play, the rope he hit to center in his 2nd at-bat, and the walk he drew in what was a great at-bat against Justin Masterson as he was on cruise control were all signs that this recent DL stint might have done more for Jeter than just give him time to heal his calf.  He looks a little quicker in the field, on the bases, and at the plate.  Is it just a mirage or the results of an incredibly small sample size for an older guy coming off extended rest?  Could be.  But at the very least it's encouraging and good to see.  If Jeter can keep this up through the next series against Tampa, he could not only do more than just limp across the finish line to 3,000 hits, he could also slow down, at least temporarily, the shoveling of dirt onto his career as a valuable player.

Hughes Review

By now, everybody knows Phil Hughes' line from last night.  His 5 innings of 6-hit, 2-run ball were by far his best outing of the season and right on par with what the Yankees had been getting from Ivan Nova.  There were plenty of reasons to be encouraged by Hughes' start last night, none more important than the fact that he maintained velocity all the way through his 5 innings, though the ESPN gun did have him sitting lower in the 5th.  But digging deeper, we can find some issues with Hughes' performance.

Coming into the game last night, I thought the 2 most important things for Hughes to do was get ahead in the count and keep the ball down.  If he could throw strikes early, he could at least set himself up to get some defensive swings on the fastball or bad swings at his offspeed stuff in the event that his velocity or command abandoned him.  And being a flyball pitcher, any time Phil has gotten the ball up in the zone, he's paid for it.  As it turns out, neither of those things were a major problem for Hughes last night.  He threw 57 of his 87 pitches for strikes (65.5%), and threw a first-pitch strike to 18 of the 25 batters he faced.  And for the most part, he did a good job of working down in the zone and on the outside corner, especially against lefties.  Every time he did get the ball up he gave up a hit, at least 3 of the 6 hits come to mind.  But all 6 hits were singles and save for the Gardner play at the warning track, there weren't any flyballs that were hit well or in the gaps.

What really hurt Phil last night was his inability to put guys away with 2 strikes, something that has plagued him since he became a starter.  Hughes was 0-2, 1-2, 2-2 on the majority of guys he faced last night, but he didn't quite have the little bit of extra zip on the heater or sharpness on his breaking ball to put guys away.  The Indian hitters did a good job of fouling off fastballs in and laying off curveballs away to make Hughes throw more pitches.  And his breaking stuff, while good for a few pitches here and there, really was never a threat to the Indians.  For the most part, Hughes' curveball never came near the strike zone, making it easy to lay off and forcing him to go back to the fastball to try and get a strike, which is what I think was the major contributing factor to him not putting hitters away.  The Indian hitters knew the fastball was coming, and even though they didn't do that much with it last night, they were still making contact (Hughes registered just 3 swings and misses, a 3.45% swing rate).

The fact that this has been a recurring issue for Hughes is actually something I think can be called a good thing.  We aren't talking about a dead arm or lack of bite to his stuff today, instead we're talking about the normal issues with Hughes.  And seeing as how this was his first game back on a Major League mound in almost 3 months, I feel comfortable chalking that up to rust.  We've seen Hughes be sharper before, so it's reasonable to expect that his stuff will regain that sharpness as he gets back into a groove of pitching on a regular basis.  Being consistent with the curveball and the change have always been key factors for his success.  After last night, it looks like the fastball is well on its way back to being what it was and what we expect, so now Phil can focus on tightening up his offspeed stuff to put guys away.

Yanks-Indians "Return Of Hughes" Live Blog

The Yanks are nationally televised tonight and Phil is back on the hill.  That can only mean it's time for another live blog.  I'm assuming I'm going to get the ESPN broadcast team of McDonough, Sutcliffe, and Aaron F'ing Boone, which is tolerable, so that's good.  The Yanks aren't dicking around with the lineup tonight, throwing their version of the A-lineup out there:

1) Derek Jeter- SS
2) Curtis Granderson- CF
3) Mark Teixeira- 1B
4) Alex Rodriguez- 3B
5) Robinson Cano- 2B
6) Nick Swisher- RF
7) Jorge Posada- DH
8) Russell Martin- C
9) Brett Gardner- LF

And on the mound it's Phillip Joseph Hughes.

Just a quick note on Mo, whose triceps injury I have admittedly not focused enough on.  LoHud is saying he's still not a sure thing to be able tonight.  He's going to throw before the game and then see how he feels.  If he can't go, that's added pressure on the Luis Ayalas, Boone Logans, and Corey Wades of the world, who will almost surely be needed to bridge the gap from Hughes to the 9th inning.

Check back here some time before 7 Eastern/6 Central to get this thing kicked off.

What Should We Expect From Phil Hughes Tonight?

(It'll be good to see Phil back in the pinstripes tonight.  Courtesy of The AP)

The prodigal son makes his return to the rotation tonight in the rubber match against Cleveland.  It'll be the first time since April 13th that Phil Hughes has started a game for the Yankees, and the results leading up to his DL stint and recent rehab were quite ugly.  In 10.1 innings over 3 starts, Hughes put up an ungodly 13.64/8.56/6.34 tripleslash with 2.61 K/9 and 3.48 BB/9.  It's not a stretch (yeah it is) to say that I could have probably gone out there with my high-60s heater and 50s offspeed stuff and put up those numbers.

That was the Phil Hughes with the high-80s fastball, little to no movement, and even less confidence.  Tonight he returns after 3 solid MiL rehab starts, the last one a gem, with his fastball back, his arm strength back, and by the sounds of it, his confidence back too.

“I know it’ll be good.  I know my stuff is there, I just have to execute pitches. I know if I do that, I’ll be fine. I’m not going out there with any wonder or curiosity or doubt. I’m just going out trying to execute every pitch I can.”

This is a complete 180 from the version of Phil Hughes we were seeing and hearing back in early April.  And that, more than the velocity and arm strength, is a great thing.  But the question still remains about what Hughes will look like out there on the hill tonight, and what should we realistically expect from him?  If he can repeat the velocity and maintenance of it through 5-6 innings like he did in his last rehab start, I would be happy with that.  I'm sure Joe and Larry Rothschild are going to have him on some sort of pitch count closely tied to what they're seeing on the gun so as not to risk re-aggravating the shoulder inflammation that was supposedly causing his early-season dead arm.  If he makes it up to that pitch count with better velocity on his fastball and some more bite than what he showed early in the year on his offspeed stuff, I could honestly care less what his line looks like.  I'd be happy with 3-4 runs allowed in 5-6 innings of work.  It would be an improvement over what he produced earlier in the year and a sign that he's moving back towards being the Phil Hughes we remember from last season.

Let's remember that the Yankees don't need Hughes to come back and become the #2 starter that some were expecting him to be on Opening Day.  He's essentially replacing Ivan Nova's 4.12/4.42/4.21 line and 0.8 WAR from the 5th spot in the rotation.  There's no pressure for him to come in and light the world on fire, so for his first time out after an extended absence there's no reason to expect anything more than what Nova has given the Yankees as long as the indication is that he'll continue to move towards exceeding Nova's output.  And coming off a year where he went 4.19/4.25/4.13 with 2.4 WAR, we all know Hughes is capable of that.

Tonight we, like Hughes and the Yanks themselves, should not be looking for anything more than some low-to-mid-90s on the gun and Hughes looking more comfortable on the mound.

Quote courtesy of LoHud.

Can Somebody Explain The CC Snub To Me?

(Best pitcher in the AL?  Top 3?  Courtesy of The AP)

How the hell did CC Sabathia NOT get selected to the All Star Game?  I mean, really, how does that happen?  The guy is statistically one of the 3-5 best pitchers in baseball this year, let alone the AL, he's a big hulking monster of a man, which is always fun for matchups, and anybody who has ever talked to him says he's one of the most friendly, down to earth, gregarious people in professional sports.  The All Star Game was made for players like CC, and yet somehow he managed to get snubbed by the rest of his fellow players and the AL managers who vote for the reserves, most likely because they all felt some sort of unwarranted unfairness for the Yankees already having 6 players on the team.

Well you know what?  That's just too fucking bad.  It's not A-Rod, Cano, C-Grand, or Jeter's faults that they got selected by the fans.  Shit, 3 of those 4 guys deserve the votes they got because they're the best players at their position in the league.  And Jeter, like it or not, is still a big star and a big draw because of the fans, and that's supposedly what the All Star Game is about, right?  Tell me how many fans out there don't like CC Sabathia.  Tell me how many people would rather watch Aaron Crow and Brandon League pitch an inning against Prince Fielder, Matt Holliday, and Brian McCann.  Aaron Crow walks 4.14 batters/9.  Brandon League only strikes out a hair over 6 batters/9 and has an ERA/FIP/xFIP tripleslash that is good at best for a reliever.  And don't even get me started on Chris Perez or Jose Valverde.  If people think 6 Yankees is too many, first of all get bent.  Second of all, why would you select Russell Martin?  Don't get me wrong, he's having a nice year, but he's been cold over the last 2 months and has been injured too.  If there's a Yankee that didn't deserve the spot, it's him.

These are the facts.  After last night, CC is now leading the AL in wins (12) and is tied with Jered Weaver for the lead in WAR (4.3).  His ERA (2.90) is lower than those of Felix Hernandez, David Price, and C.J. Wilson.  His FIP (2.56) is better than those of Josh Beckett, James Shields, Gio Gonzalez, and Justin Verlander.  And he's thrown more innings (136.2) than anybody in the AL except Verlander.  You could make the case that CC should be STARTING the All Star Game, let alone be on the roster.

I know with his next scheduled start coming on Sunday that he most likely wouldn't be available to pitch anyway, but that's beside the point.  There are a handful of other pitchers who will be in the same boat and they still got picked.  The point is a player who is more deserving than almost every other pitcher on the roster got snubbed and there's no good reason for it.  Brandon League, Chris Perez, and Jose Valverde have no business being on the team, and each of their respective teams already has a representative, so it's not like they are there for that.  At the very least, CC should have been chosen and then you could bring in one of those guys as his replacement once it's announced that he won't be pitching.  That way he would be recognized for how well he's pitched and one of the other guys, relievers who are used to pitching one inning, could get a nod too.

Just like it's called the "Hall of Fame" and not the "Hall of Very Good," this game IS still called the "All Star Game," not the "Bunch of Pretty Good Players Game."  When you're picking the team, you should pick the best players first and then fill in with subs as needed, and there's no possible way anybody could argue that CC Sabathia is not one of the best pitchers in the American League this year.  Once again, the anti-Yankee bias seeps through and screws something up.  And it's even worse this time because the bias came from CC's own colleagues and not the media.

P.S.- Is is Yankee fan treason to say that I would rather CC be on the All Star team than Mo?

The Bright Side For A.J.

(Hang in there, Baby Huey.  Courtesy of masslive.com)

Tough loss for A.J. last night, in the style that we're all too familiar with.  He cruised through 6 innings, then got rattled, missed spots, and completely blew up in the 7th after Gardner and The Horse couldn't come up with the foul ball that would have ended the inning.  But...

At least he's not John Lackey.

Same contract, same money, but the performance Lackey is putting on this season makes A.J.'s 2010 look Cy Young-worthy by comparison.

- 7.47/4.99/4.83 ERA/FIP/xFIP tripleslash in just 72.1 IP
- Career low 5.60K/9 coupled with a career high 3.36 BB/9
- .301 BA against, .875 OPS against, 1.63 WHIP
- 9.17 ERA at home

"Those types of numbahs ahh NAWT going to cut it in fahhckin' Beantown, chief!  This is the home of the fahhckin' Bruins.  The grittiest, toughest team with the most hahht since the '04 Sawx!!!"

Seriously, though.  John Lackey sucks.  I wouldn't let him pitch a game in the Little League World Series right now.  So A.J. can take solace in the fact that at least he's doing more to live up to his overpriced, undeserved contract.  Right?  Right??

The Captain Says Happy 4th Of July

(Awwww, how festive.  Courtesy of The AP)

And I do too.  I hope everyone has enjoyed a safe and fun Independence Day.  And what better way to cap it off than to have The Captain return to the lineup tonight and resume his quest for 3,000 hits?  Well I suppose we could start fixing the economy and creating more jobs, but the Jeter 3,000 hits thing is a close second.

In all seriousness, despite him being a shell of his former self at this point and in no way deserving of being the leadoff hitter over Gardner, it IS good to have Jeter back in the lineup.  It just looks right with his name in the box score, and at least we know he won't botch any of the plays he does make.  Those plays have been a little too brutal to watch with Nunez and Pena at short these last couple weeks.

P.S.- I want that jersey and I want it now.

The $900,000 Man Hasn't Missed A Beat

Well it certainly looks like the doctors did a great job of rebuilding that hammy, huh?  Bartolo Colon returned to the rotation yesterday afternoon and picked up right where he left off.

6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 80 pitched (56 strikes)

That's pretty much the type of line he was putting up before he left, save for maybe another inning or two, but Colon continues to make Cash look like a genius.  Now it's Cash's other offseason diamond in the rough to complete the sweep today.  Go get 'em, Freddy.

(Kevin Long taugh him everything he knows.  Courtesy of The AP)

P.S.- Forget everything I said in the post below about who's coming up and who's going down.  The Yankees chose to send Brien Gordon to Triple-A SWB yesterday and keep Noesi in the 'pen.  Good call.

The Picture Starts To Clear Up As Arms Return To The Roster

(Sorry, Ivan.  I thought you were going to stick around.  Courtesy of Charles Wenzelberg/NY Post)

Bartolo Colon is scheduled to start this afternoon's game against the Mets, taking back the rotation spot that had been held by Brien Gordon over the last couple outings.  Phil Hughes is probably only another week or 2 away from joining him back in the rotation, leaving the Yankees with a decision to make on who keeps the 5th rotation spot and who gets bumped.  Joel Sherman of The Post helped shed a little light on where the Yankees are leaning when it comes to that decision:

"...the Yankees are leaning strongly toward sending Nova to Triple-A to reinsert Hughes, I have learned....

The lingering fear remains about Colon and Garcia making it through a season physically, and, really, Hughes is now in the same category. By putting Nova at Triple-A along with Hector Noesi (who is to be demoted today to make room for Colon) and Adam Warren, the Yankees would have adequate protection for the inevitable breakdown; with Nova the obvious first choice for a return."

On the one hand, this decision makes sense.  Colon certainly has proven he is worthy of a spot, and Freddy Garcia has also exceeded expectations.  And with the commitment the Yankees have made to Hughes (and with memories of the mishandling of Joba still not dissolved), it goes without saying that he will be in the rotation and not shuttled back to the bullpen.  With Colon and Garcia being as cheap as they are, pitching as well as they are, and being the biggest health question marks, there's no reason for the Yankees to not continue to roll them out there until they blow up or get hurt again.  And if/when that happens, it's to the team's benefit to have Nova and Noesi already stretched out and ready to step in and fill the gap rather than sitting in the bullpen.

On the other hand, the argument could be made that this decision doesn't exactly fit in with the "best chance to win" philosophy that is supposed to dominate decision making at the Major League level.  Sure, Brien Gordon had solid relief numbers in Triple-A, and we've already covered the return of the Meat Tray.  But are those 2 really better pitchers than Nova and Noesi?  Noesi, save for one disastrous outing, has looked very good working out of the 'pen, and there has always been the thought by some that Nova's stuff could play up out of the pen, helping to eliminate his low K/9 rate he has as a starter.  And with the litany of injuries suffered already by major bullpen guys, isn't it to the team's benefit to have better pitchers filling those gaps in the bullpen?

All in all, I think the Yankees are making the right call here.  I honestly believed it was a foregone conclusion that Gordon would be DFA'd once Colon came back, but if the Yankees are committed to keeping Nova and Noesi stretched out as starters then it makes sense to keep Gordon around for the time being.  I will say, though, that I am going to be a bit more uneasy knowing that if Garcia or Hughes or A.J. has a bad start, we're going to see Mitre and Gordon coming in to put out the fire instead of Nova or Noesi.