Bullpen Injury Updates

The bullpen has been the biggest source of the Yankees' injury woes this season (see: Rivera, Mariano).  But over the past couple weeks, some of the key members who aren't lost for the season have been making progress towards their returns.  One will be able to return sooner than others, but both the short and long-term prognosis for the re-strengthening of Yankee bullpen depth looks good.

After the jump, here's a quick update on 3 key guys.

Game 57 Wrap-Up: NYY 9 NYM 1

(You'd be smiling too if you had a swing that sweet.  Courtesy of The AP)

I threw down the gauntlet before the game and the Yankees responded.  The overall sloppiness that permeated their series-ending game against Tampa on Thursday night was nowhere to be found in the Subway Series opener at The Stadium last night.  The offensive jumped all over Johan Santana early, and Hiroki Kuroda was spectacular as the Yankees cruised to an easy win.

Game Notes:

- After both pitchers worked quickly through the 1st, it looked like we could be in for a low-scoring night, but the Yankee offense struck in the bottom of the 2nd when A-Rod led off with a walk and Robbie Cano smacked the first pitch he saw for a 2-run homer.

- It didn't take long for the Yanks to build on their early lead, as they came right back in the 3rd and pounded Santana.  After getting 2 outs, A-Rod reached again and Cano did the exact same thing he did the previous inning, murdering a hanger for a 2-run HR into the second deck in right and a 4-0 Yankee lead.

- But it didn't end there.  Nick Swisher followed that up with a solo shot of his own, and Andruw Jones did as well for the Yankees' first back-to-back-to-back HRs since last season and a 6-0 lead.  Oddly enough, it was the same 3 guys who did it last year.

- It was hard to say if Santana was still feeling the effect of his marathon outing last week, as he struck out 5 early, but he did seem to tire quickly and his command in the strike zone was not there.

- Kuroda was the exact opposite.  He was money from the word go and waltzed through the first 5 innings, allowing only 1 baserunner on a Derek Jeter error and striking out 6.  He had all his pitches working and used all of them to stifle the Met lineup.

- Scary moment for Kuroda in the 7th. After losing his no-hitter the previous inning, he continued to mow down the Mets until he took a line drive off his left foot.  A-Rod caught it for the out, but Kuroda limped off the mound and did not return to the game.

- With Kuroda out, the Yankee offense turned it back on for some insurance in the bottom of the 7th with a sac fly by A-Rod, RBI double by Swish, and RBI single by Jones to make it 9-0.

- In Kuroda's absence, the Yankees used Cody Eppley and the recently called up Ryota Igarashi to finish the game off.  Igarashi allowed a late run in the 9th to break up the shutout.

Why This Subway Series Matters

(Typical Mets front office meeting)

I know I just linked earlier to the story on LoHud about all the "ho-hum"-ness to the Subway Series, and in a way I probably contributed to the seemingly worldwide apathy with my half-assed comment about it being a bummer.  But I can't just sit by as a diehard Yankee fan and Top 5 Internet Personality and allow myself to stoop to that level.  And not only that, I can't let Yankeeland and the rest of the baseball world stoop that low either.

I've massaged and tweaked and refined and matured this blog from a collection of uninformed nonsense to a pretty damn respectable source for Yankee news and insight over the last couple years. But the last time I checked, the banner at the top of the page still read "rabid Yankee homerism," and it's been a hot minute since I've dished out a big dose of that.  So this time, I'm not bringing any fancy sabermetrics or well-thought out logic.  I'm taking the gloves off, sticking a roll of quarters in my fist, and I'm coming out swinging.  Because this series this weekend does matter.  There is a perfectly good reason why this Subway Series matters, and you have to be pretty damn stupid to not realize it.

Rant Mode- "On"

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 6/8

Another week has come and gone in Yankeeland and this one finds the Bombers on the doorstep to the top of the division, where they rightfully belong, again.  I'm hopeful that I can get to watch at least one of the Subway Series games this weekend.  I'll probably get screwed on Saturday with FOX's dumb regional lineup nonsense, and if I can't find anything on the tube on Sunday, some poor bar patrons in my area are going to have to suffer through 3+ hours of me screaming at a silent TV for the final game.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, fishjam25 of Yankees Fans Unite wondered if Phil Hughes' recent turnaround means he's finally started to figure it out as a starter.

- William Tasker of IIATMS looked back at Mel Stottlemyre and his incredible 1964 season.  Definitely a must-read if you aren't familiar.

- On Tuesday, el duque of It Is High... made his case for why the Yankees should jump at the opportunity to sign Jorge Soler before they lose the chance with the new rules kicking in.  He called him "Jose Soler," so that's a problem, but I can dig the logic.

- Joe Pawlikowski of RAB commented on the increasingly frustrating team inability to hit with RISP.

- Next Level Ballplayer scored an interview with Mason Williams and got him to talk about how he's worked on his swing and approach since turning pro.

- On Wednesday, William Juliano of The Captain's Blog looked back through Andy Pettitte's career numbers to show just how good he's been since coming back.

- On Thursday, Lisa Swan of Subway Squawkers commented on the recent anti-StubHub stance the Yankees have taken and how ridiculous it is that tickets for the upcoming Subway Series are being discounted.

- Greg Corcoran of Bronx Baseball Daily analyzed the different MiL promotional strategies and how they work best for different players.

- Speaking prospects, Suzanne Bange of NYY Universe got a few Twitter Q's & A's in with Cito Culver.

- Andrew GM of Pinstripe Alley mused on David Phelps' role and what the Yankees should do with him.  I already touched on this a couple weeks ago, but it's still a point worth bringing up.

- Mike Eder of TYA, and resident PITCHf/x wizard, broke down Andy Pettitte's brilliant start against Tampa the other night to show just how he managed to be so dominant.

- On Friday, Josh Thomson, subbing for Chad at LoHud, gathered some quotes from players about the lack of sizzle that this weekend's Subway Series has.  That's never good the hear from the guys who are going to be competing, but whatever.

We're getting grimy, gross, and grungy today for the Friday Jam.  When I was sitting around at my folks' house last Friday killing time before bar hopping with my buddy, while the rest of my family worked like suckers, I caught Soundgarden's performance at Lollapalooza 2010 on Palladium (great station, pisses me off that I don't have it), and it reminded me how much I love Soundgarden.  Nirvana gets all the credit, but IMO Soundgarden and Alice in Chains were far superior bands.  So here's a little ditty from Chris Cornell and the boys to dampen your mood if you're having a really good Friday.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.

Game 56 Wrap-Up: TB 7 NYY 3

("Double farts!!"  Courtesy of The AP)

Even with the Yankees playing better baseball overall over the past few weeks, their issues with RISP have remained constant.  Last night they had an opportunity to sweep a division rival and take the lead in the division, and had ample opportunities to win a game against a shaky David Price with CC Sabathia on the mound.  Things just didn't add up the way they should have, and the RISP Fail was front and center again.

Game Notes:

- CC came out dealing in the 1st, striking out 2 of the 3 hitters he faced, and it looked like my hunch of a dominant outing was in play, but his fastball command problems that have been a thorn in his side since ST reared their ugly heads again.

- The Rays scored 1 run in the 2nd, 2 in the 3rd, and 2 in the 4th on a combination of singles and doubles off of CC.  The 2 in the 2nd were aided by an A-Rod error that would have made it 2 out and nobody on in the inning, but CC couldn't pick his teammate up.

- While this was going on, the Yankees offense was creating plenty of opportunities but cashing in on few.  They put 2 on in the bottom of the 1st but got no runs, 3 on in the 2nd and got 1, and loaded the bases with 1 out in the 5th and got none.

- Price was far from sharp, as his command wasn't much better than CC's.  He threw 109 pitches in just 5 innings, walked 4 batters, and was done after that.  But due to the RISP struggles and CC's fastball struggles, he left with a 5-1 lead.

- CC found it late in the 4th and retired 11 of the next 12 batters he faced through 7, 6 of them via strikeout, but the damage had been done.  His stuff was very good again, the slider was devastating, but a handful of bad fastballs did him in.  We're closing in on this being a 3-month issue.  Time to fix it.

- The offense went silent through the middle innings, but came back a bit late.  Raul Ibanez singled in a run in the 8th to make it 5-2, but Clay Rapada and Cory Wade combined to cough up 2 more runs in the top of the 9th to put the game out of reach with an assist from Nick Swisher's error in right.

- Russell Martin hit a garbage time HR in the 9th, his 2nd in 3 games, and was one of the few bright offensive spots as he continued his hot hitting.

An "Oofda" For C-Grand

Curtis, Curtis, Curtis.  This is not how it's supposed to work, my dude.  I scratch your back, you scratch mine.  I slobber all over your nuts, you slobber...

Well OK, I guess we don't have to go there.  But still.  The Golden Sombrero?  Really???  Not kosher, bro.  Not kosher at all.

Groundballs Are Good

The Yankee rotation is in the midst of one of its hot streaks again, hopefully one that lasts a bit longer than just one turn or a turn and a half through.  A big part of that has been the 2 strong outings from Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova, the biggest early underachievers on the staff.  It's probably not coincidental that Hughes and Nova have the 2 lowest GB rates amongst the starting staff, but those rates have been trending in the right direction since the start of the season and are likely a big part of their recent turnarounds.

Hughes GB Rate: 30.9% in April, 33.6% in May, 38.1% in June

Nova's GB Rate: 42.5% in April, 46.5% in May, 54.5% in June

It's Time To Call Up Dellin Betances

(Get the kid back in pinstripes.  Courtesy of Michael L. Stein/US Presswire)

On paper, Dellin Betances is everything you would want in a pitching prospect. He's a big, hulking kid with top shelf electric stuff. With that combination, saying his ceiling is a right-handed Randy Johnson is not outside the realm of possibilities, and Betances is the most decorated prospect currently in the Yankee system. He's appeared on more organizational top 15, top 10, and top 5 lists than anybody, and has been on Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects 3 times, including each of the last 2 editions. He's also having arguably the worst year in his 6-year Minor League career this year, and at age 24 he's rapidly approaching make-or-break territory. That being the case, I think now is the time to pull the trigger and bring Betances up to the show and stick him in the bullpen.

Game 55 Wrap-Up: NYY 4 TB 1

(Courtesy of The AP)

Things are never as bad and hopeless as they seem when they're going poorly and they're never as good as they seem when they're going well in baseball.  In such a long season, with so many games, there are always going to be peaks and valleys, and the Yankees, after wallowing in a deep valley a few weeks ago, have been slowly rising back up towards a peak since then.  Last night, they found themselves just a half game out of 1st place in the AL East, with a chance to leap over at least one of the teams still in front of them.  A good start from Ivan Nova would have been gone a long way in helping to make that happen.

Game Notes:

- The Yankees took an aggressive approach against Tampa starter Alex Cobb early, and it quickly paid dividends in the bottom of the 2nd when Mark Teixeira beat the hated shift by smoking a hanging curve into the second deck in right for a 1-0 Yankee lead.

- Nova gave up a leadoff single to Desmond Jennings, but he was solid through 3.  He was throwing strikes, working from ahead in the count, and generally locating his fastball down.  He did miss over the plate a few times, but they didn't lead to any trouble.

- In case you thought you could predict baseball, the bottom of the 4th was a reminder that you cannot.  After Alex Rodriguez drew a 1-out walk, he was picked off straying too far away from first base on a freak passed ball that bounced right back to Jose Molina.  On the very next pitch, Robinson Cano lined a HR to right for a 2-0 lead.

- He had to work a little harder in the 4th, but Nova cruised through 7.  He threw some good sliders and backdoor curveballs, but the fastball was his best pitch and he was getting a lot of GB outs.

- Cobb really didn't pitch a bad game at all.  He made 2 mistakes that cost him, and they were 2 of only 5 hits he allowed in 7+ innings of work, but for the most part he held the Yankee offense in check and gave his team a chance before tiring in the 8th.

- Swish and Chavez's back-to-back RBI doubles off of Cobb in the bottom of the 8th provided some comforting insurance runs.

- For a guy who's had a tough year to date, it was a bit surprising to see Joe leave Nova in for the 9th.  I would have rather seen him go out on a high note, and leadoff back-to-back triples by TB to start the 9th immediately made the decision look awful. Soriano came on and went 1-2-3 for the finish.

Thoughts On Day 2 Of The Draft

Now that we're deep into Day 3 of the MLB Draft, it's probably a good time to look back on Day 2.  As a guy who's admittedly not even remotely intelligent about the MLB draft, I've made more of an effort to follow the goings on over the past few days to try to learn some more about the guys the Yankees have taken and how they might fit into the team's future plans.  Ty Hensley was a strong 1st-round pick on Monday, and it appears that the Yankees had another strong day yesterday.  Here's my quick take after the jump.

Game 54 Wrap-Up: NYY 7 TB 0

Andy Pettitte is the best starting pitcher on the Yankees right now.  I know the Rays offense blows, but the guy just mowed them down like they didn't even exist yesterday.  Why did he retire again?

Game Notes:

- Pettitte didn't allow an XBH last night.

- He threw first-pitch strikes to 17 of the 25 batters he faced in 7.1 innings of work.

- He threw 70 total strikes out of 103 total pitches.

- 17 of those 70 strikes were swinging strikes (24.3%).

- 9 of his 10 strikeouts were swinging.

- His Game Score of 82 matched the season high for a Yankee starter that he set last month in his 8-inning gem against the Reds.

- Andy Pettitte is fucking awesome.

Curtis Granderson Is Just Dirty

(When it comes to making guys pay for poorly-located pitches, the Grandy Man can, and often does)

I've done a post where I wondered how Curtis Granderson was going to repeat his 2011 performance, and I've done a post where I questioned how he's been able to exceed his 2011 performance.  I was fully prepared to just do a post today where I stopped analyzing and just slurped him for how awesome he's been, but it looks like William Tasker of IIATMS had the same idea as me and already beat me to it.  Oh well, I'm going to slurp anyway.

- wOBA- .394 in 2011, .382 in 2012
- wRC+- 146 in 2011, 140 in 2012
- SLG- .552 in 2011, .551 in 2012
- ISO- .290 in 2011, .290 in 2012
- BB%- 12.3% in 2011, 12.6% in 2012

Simply put, C-Grand is mashing the shit out of the ball all the time.  He's still hitting line drives at an obscenely absurd clip (26.2%), he's still hitting home runs at an even more obscenely absurd clip (31.5% HR/FB), and he's managing to do it while still swinging and missing at a lot of pitches (11.4%).  He hasn't really gone on any kind of extended hot or cold streak, and his BABIP is actually down from last year, but when he gets ahold of one it's going to be trouble for the opposing pitcher.

There haven't been a lot of guys in the lineup who have met or exceeded expectations recently, but Curtis is one of the few.  He's been the most productive, and arguably the most valuable, Yankee for the past year plus.  I know Robbie Cano put on a hell of a show at the HR Derby last year, but I would love to see what Curtis could do this year.  They way he destroys anything that catches too much of the plate in game situations, just imagine what he could do with a BP pitcher of his choice lobbing them into his kill zone?

Introducing The Yankees' 2012 1st Round Pick- Ty Hensley

(Courtesy of Sarah Phipps/The Oklahoman)

Full disclosure, I don't really follow the MLB Draft at all.  There's always enough going on in Yankeeland for me to talk/write about, and I can cover that a helluva lot better than I can the draft.  I don't start getting too into prospects until I know they're a part of the organization, and there are already plenty of guys out there who are way more knowledgeable about the draft than me, so I just leave that heavy lifting to them.

That being said, I did stay awake last night long enough to see who the Yankees chose with the 30th pick in the 1st round and gather a little intel on the kid, and word around the cooler is that the Yankees got themselves a damn fine pick at 30.  So without further ado, please give a warm welcome to Mr. Ty Hensley.

Whatever Happened To The Ibanez/Jones Platoon?

The Raul Ibanez/Andruw Jones DH platoon was supposed to be the Yankees' cheap filling of the hole left in their lineup after Jesus Montero was traded away.  Brett Gardner's elbow injury and delayed comeback from the DL has thrown a bit of a wrench into those plans, and both players have been forced into more OF duty than the Yankees anticipated (especially Ibanez) while the DH spot in the lineup has become a revolving door.  Even with the loss of roster flexibility created by the Gardner injury, there's really no reason to get away from the L/R platoon plans for Ibanez and Jones, especially with a manager like Joe Girardi who loves to play the matchup game.  Lately, though, it seems as though Joe has gotten away from that tactic, particularly in late-game situations, which is puzzling considering that Ibanez and Jones were signed to fill those exact roles.

Catching Up With The AB4AR Top 30

(Gone but not forgotten... )

A little over 5 months ago, I dipped my toe in the prospect pool and made my first attempt at creating a top Yankee prospects list.  Over a week at the end of December/early January, I unveiled my inaugural AB4AR Top 30.  Some picks were actually pretty good (ranking Rob Segedin 17th when many others didn't even have him on their lists).  Some were downright horrible (ranking Tyler Austin 30th).  Mine was really the first list that came out prior to the 2012 season, so I think for a first try it wasn't bad, but now that it's MLB Draft time, everybody is coming out with their updated pre-draft lists (see here and here).

To be quite honest, I've never really understood the value of re-doing the rankings so early in the MiL season.  Too much credit can be given for a really hot start, too much punishment can be given a really crummy start, and I don't think guys deserve to be bumped down the rankings just because they are hurt.  And let's not forget that the SS and GCL leagues haven't even started up yet.  It's no knock on the guys and sites that do it, but personally, I don't see how I'm supposed to honestly say that I think one guy has moved up over another when he hasn't even gotten 1 PA this year.

I can't.  And I won't.  But what I will do is revisit my Top 30 list from late last year/early this year and give a quick run-through of what each guy is doing and how that may affect his stock moving forward towards the eventual unveiling of the 2012/2013 edition of the AB4AR Top 30.  So if you're ready, I'm ready.  Let's take a look.

Monthly Minor League Report (May): The Upper Levels

(Where are the strikeouts, guy?  Courtesy of Martin Griff/The Times)

The lower levels were covered on Saturday before I went AWOL for the wedding, so I'm playing catch-up today.  One day late isn't that bad, right?  I mean, when you were faced with the kind of spread I was faced with at this wedding (Brooklyn Brewery beer on tap, top shelf liquor, killer after-party bar), it would have been downright un-American to curb my celebrating so that I could wake up early enough to write this yesterday.  So here it is today, the completion of the AB4AR Monthly Minor League Report for the Month of May.

Game 53 Wrap-Up: NYY 5 DET 1

(Who are you and what have you done with Phil Hughes??  Courtesy of The AP)

Being on the losing end of a walk-off win sucks.  It sucks even more when it happens on a game-winning sacrifice fly.  That's exactly how the Yankees lost on Saturday to even up this series in Detroit, and it put a major damper on their chances to get out with a series win considering yesterday's pitching matchup was Phil Hughes vs. Justin Verlander.  Now the Yankees have hit Verlander before, but with Hughes been so hot-and-cold this season, it's almost impossible to predict what kind of outing he would give in comparison.  As luck would have it, yesterday was a Good Phil outing, and not just a regular one but possibly the best Phil outing we've ever seen.

Game Notes:

- The Yankees didn't waste any time jumping on Verlander, as Derek Jeter hit the first pitch he saw, a changeup that was up in the zone, for a leadoff HR and a 1-0 lead.  They followed it up with a pair of walks, a passed ball by Omir Santos, and a sac fly from Mark Teixeira to make it 2-0.

- Verlander wasn't sharp early, and it showed.  His trademark electric stuff was there, but he couldn't establish consistent command of any of his pitches and his pitch count quickly increased.  He made a rookie mistake to Alex Rodriguez in the top of the 3rd, throwing him 5 straight fastballs.  The Horse turned the 5th one (a 3-1 pitch) into a souvenir and it was 3-0 Yanks.

- In direct contrast to Verlander, Hughes had much better fastball command than he usually displays.  He worked both sides of the plate well with it, generally worked from ahead in the count, and kept the Detroit hitters off balance.

- After working through 3 scoreless frames, allowing a hit and 2 walks, Hughes made his first and only mistake of the day in the bottom of the 4th when he hung a first-pitch curveball to Prince Fielder.  The Tigers were on the board, but Hughes was money from then on.

- The Yankee offense quickly got that run back in the 5th on a double by Curtis Granderson and a 2-out RBI triple by Robinson Cano, who scored on a throwing error to make it 5-1.  Yay for hits with RISP!

- After giving up a run on 2 hits and 3 walks through 5, Hughes really hit his stride in the final 4 innings.  He gave up only 2 more hits, didn't walk a batter, and struck out 5 of his 8 total on the day.

- It was truly an outstanding performance for Hughes.  His fastball command was excellent and his curveball was working well as a swing-and-miss out pitch.  He definitely proved to Joe that he was worthy of finishing this game off, and he did it on 123 pitches for his first career 9-inning complete game.

I Like This Phil Hughes

It wasn't enough to trick me into falling back in man crush love with the guy, but that was a fantastic job on the bump by Phil Hughes today.  He was confident, aggressive, and totally in command out there.  He used his fastball, curveball, and changeup brilliantly to keep the Detroit lineup guessing, never wavered from his approach, and actually got stronger as the game went on.  Round of applause for you, Phillip.

Can we get some more of these performances and fewer of the batting practice stinkers from Anaheim, please?  That'd be awesome.

Belated Site News: Slow Weekend

I thought I was going to be able to work my usual weekend work rate in this weekend.  I really did.  Obviously that didn't happen.  Apologies for the missed game recaps and other stuff, but there was just too much going on this weekend and way too many drinks consumed, and I had way too good a time to drag my sorry ass in front of the computer the next mornings

Things will start getting back to normal tomorrow.  Game recap will be done, and I still owe everybody the MiL Report for Triple-A and Double-A.  So check back tomorrow for that stuff and we'll get back into the usual routine.

Monthly Minor League Report (May): The Lower Levels

(This dude can play a little bit. Courtesy of Brian Bissell/Future Star Photos)

I promised it last week, and I'm delivering it this week.  The latest installment of the AB4AR Monthly Minor League Report.  Let's dive right in and see how everybody's favorite prospects are doing, shall we?

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 6/1

Dude, it's June already.  June.  That whole "time flies when you're having fun" line is a load of crap.  Time flies when you start getting older.  It just naturally does.  I'm convinced there are only 20 hours in the day now that my irresponsible college days are well in my rearview mirror.  And I've traveled home twice in less than a week, so that's not helping the feeling either.  Anyway, onto the links!

- On Monday, William Juliano of The Captain's Blog made a case for the Yankees pursuing a trade for OF David DeJesus.  Definitely wouldn't hurt to see Ibanez back in his DH-only role.

- On Tuesday, Vizzini of NoMaas followed up on his campaign to properly call out MLB umpires for the shitty jobs they do with some more thoughts.  I stood and applauded when I finished reading this.

- Dan Pfeiffer of NYY Universe unveiled his Top 15 Yankee prospects list.  In-season prospect rankings?  I'm there.  Definitely has Cito Culver too high, though.

- William Tasker of IIATMS wisely threw fire on the potential "Martin or Stewart" catcher debate before it could really even get started.

- Mike Eder of TYA once again worked his PITCHf/x magic to look at CC Sabathia's command issues this season.

- On Wednesday, Greg Corcoran of Bronx Baseball Daily went through the rotation man by man and gave reasons why there is still room for optimism moving forward.

- Donnie Collins of The SWB Blog had the details on Pat Venditte's mystery injury and they weren't good.  Good thing he's got another arm.

- Anthony Rushing of Yanks Go Yard commented on Curtis Granderson's continuing positive production.

- David Waldstein of The NY Times had some numbers and player thoughts on the lineup's bases-loaded futility this season.

- On Thursday, Joe Pawlikowski of RAB discussed Rafael Soriano and the success he's had since taking over the closer role.  I'm not a huge Sour Puss fan, but I have to give him credit.  He's done a good job.

** Also worth noting that Mike Axisa has started up his 2012 draft prep series, highlighting players the Yankees could target in the upcoming draft.  If you want to be well-informed about the draft, this stuff is must-read. **

- Speaking of the draft, EJ Fagan of TYA laid out his high-level strategic plans for the Yankees' draft this season.  Stay tuned for more stuff from EJ and Eric Schultz as the draft gets closer.

- Andrew Marchand of ESPNNY actually made some sense in this piece about flip-flopping A-Rod and C-Grand in the lineup.  I could have done without the A-Rod/steroids reference, but it's not worth picking nits when I'm actually on board with something Marchand writes.

- On Friday, Jesse Schindler of Bleeding Yankee Blue mused on Dellin Betances' command problems and hinted at a move to the bullpen, a move that I'm convinced is coming later this year.

- WhatWouldJeterdo of Pinstripe Alley explained why he has stopped hating Boone Logan for the time being, and with what Logan has done in the first 2 months, that lack of hate is well-deserved.

We're kicking it old school for the Friday Jam.  I know there's talk of bringing Jimi Hendrix and Marvin Gaye back as the next 3-D hologram performers after the buzz over the Tupac one, and I certainly hope that doesn't happen.  I like to remember Hendrix as he was in his prime, not as a money-making technological freakshow.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.  I know I will.

Bloop Singles, Huh?

("Line drives are better, you say?  I don't believe you.")

I hope I'm taking this quote out of context.  It certainly wouldn't be the first time I've done it.  But if I'm not, and Joe was serious when he dropped this line talking about A-Rod's lack of power yesterday, then this is a pretty big head scratcher.

“Everyone gets caught up in home runs.  I get caught up in runs and RBI. That’s what I get caught up in. You go out and try to swing for the fences every time and hit .200, that’s not what we want. We want him to get on base, and we want him to be productive. However that happens, I don’t care. I don’t care if it’s bloop singles with the bases loaded every time. I really don’t. I get on K-Long when guys line out. I say, ‘So?’ Bloop singles, I’ll take them.”

I agree that getting on base is always a good thing, and A-Rod has done a great job of that this season.  But to say you'd rather see your cleanup hitter hit bloop singles instead of line drives?  That's just comically wrong.  Bloop singles and just getting on base would be fine from A-Rod if he were hitting in the #2 spot.  But from the #4, you want line drives and hard contact because that's what gives him a better chance to drive in runs.

The Horse is healthy and he has been productive. And those are both good things.  It would be better to see the SLG, ISO, HR, and OPS numbers start to increase a little.  Less blooping, more lining drives.

P.S.- If Joe actually gives K-Long crap when people line out, Long should laugh in his face and/or slap him.

AB4AR "Best Of The Month" Awards: May 2012

It's that time again, gang.  Time to rip a page off the calendar, which means it's time to hand out some end-of-the-month awards.  Bit of a strange month for the Yankees, but there were still some good performances and memorable moments.  After the jump, check out the winners for May.

Russell Martin Tells Laz Diaz To Kiss His Rings

(Relevant)

Shitty umpiring in MLB is nothing new, and there's been a string of horrid examples of that recently.  There's guys like Joe West and CB Bucknor who are still convinced they're the center of attention.  There's Mark Wegner blatantly ignoring baseball code and tossing pitchers for no reason. There's Tim Welke just straight not giving a damn if first basemen are actually on the base.  But the whole Laz Diaz-Russell Martin "throwing balls back to the pitcher" thing from last night might take the cake.

Martin wasn't happy with some of the ball and strike calls earlier in the game, and rather than be a professional and just take it, Diaz decided to assert some false authority over Martin as punishment for Martin daring to question his umpiring abilities.

"He told me I had to earn the privilege (to throw the ball back to the pitcher). Even at the end of the game after I get hit in the neck. I’m like, can I throw the ball back now? He’s still like no. I’m like you’re such a (expletive). Like for real. Unbelievable. I even told him like when there’s guys on base, I like to keep my arm loose. No. I’m not letting you throw a ball back. That’s pretty strange to me."

"He told me I have to earn the privilege. Now, thinking back, I should have shown him the gold Rawlings sign on my glove. Unbelievable.” (Martin after the game)

Click "Read More" to get the full rantiness.

The Yankee Catching Conundrum

I know this is going to come as a complete shock, but the Yankees really haven't gotten much from the catcher position this season.  After breathing life back into his career last year, Russell Martin has regressed back to his 2009-2010 levels of offensive futility (.187/.333/.333, .309 wOBA, 90 wRC+).  And Chris Stewart, despite my best efforts to hype up his early production, has settled into the exact no-hit/all-field role we all anticipated him filling as CC Sabathia's personal catcher Martin's backup.  This adds up to a combined .196/.314/.313 tripleslash, .290 wOBA, and 77 wRC+ in 192 PA over the team's first 50 games from the catcher spot.  Production-wise, that wOBA ranks 19th in MLB, probably more of a testament to the overall offensive weakness of the position than anything else.  The Martin-Stewart tandem has been good for 0.8 WAR (T-16th in MLB), mainly on the strength of their positive defensive ratings, but with the up-and-down production of the lineup this season, some offensive improvement at the position would be helpful.