Historically fast start for A-Rod
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Apr 19, 2007 
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Only three players in history have reached nine home runs in fewer games than Alex Rodriguez – Mike Schmidt (10 games in 1976), Luis Gonzalez (10 games in 2001) and Larry Walker (12 games in 1997).
Gonzalez finished with 57 home runs and 142 RBI that season.
If Alex matches or betters that in the era of drug testing, it would be quite a statement.
Kei Igawa has allowed five earned runs in his last 11.1 innings. I didn’t get a chance to use this in my story, but when I asked Igawa if this was representative of how he pitched in Japan, he shook his head. “This is considered my minimum,” he said through his translator. “I have a lot I want to improve on.”
I asked Mike Myers about Igawa and he made a good point. Aggressive teams like Cleveland and Tampa Bay will have trouble with Igawa because he’s around the plate and throws two breaking pitches and a change for strikes. More patient teams will wait on his fastball.
Igawa is probably going to get 12 or 13 wins but he’ll also have some games when he’s at 100 pitches in the third inning. Once they get their injured starters back, he’s an acceptable fourth or fifth starter.
You can expect a lot of hype in the coming days as the team heads into Boston. But keep in mind that the Yankees are one game out of first with their rotation in shambles. Nothing that happens in the next four days is going to change the course of the season.
They will get their starters back and eventually Boston will go through some rough patches with their guys. If the Yankees head to Tampa on Tuesday two or three games out of first with the Wanger coming back, they’re in great shape.
Meanwhile we will close the day with some postgame audio clips from Joe Torre:
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And Alex Rodriguez (sorry for the scribbling):
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Pete to correct you on a few things. I honestly think you should erase this criticism of Kei Igawa. You constantly say he cannot throw strikes, yet in the spring and is the regular season he has gotten better.
Last 2 games
11.1 IP
3 BB
10 K
8 H
4 ER
I wouldn’t say those are bad numbers.
Plus this is a guy who is still saying he isn’t as good as he should be. He is basically saying he isn’t pitching as well as he should, which means he will continue to work hard each outing. Also, if Randy Johnson could win 17 games with a 5 ERA I could see Igawa winning 15 – 16 with a high 3 middle 4 ERA. I would think you didn’t watch Igawa pitch today because batters were way off balance which is what he needs to do. His breaking pitches were excellent, which makes his fastball better.
“I have the best lineup in the world,” Igawa said through an interpreter. “I’m very happy to have that.”
Japanese people choose their words very carefully, sometimes giving backhanded compliments or insulting people in a way so that the person being insulted doesn’t even know it. I don’t know if it was meant to be one, but I see this as a minor dig at a certain “Superstaaa” pitcher.
Igawa must feel like he hit the jackpot. Cha-ching. Cha-ching.
Pete,
It’s entries like this when you really remind me why I became hooked on your site since its inception. Excellent insight, your paper is super lucky to have you and keep up the good work.
i think igawa’s compliment was exactly that; a compliment made through an interpreter. what’s he going to say, “this offense is second only to the boston red sox?” let’s not try and create more drama than there already is between these teams.
the a-rod thing is ridiculous at this point. when he comes down to earth and ends up with an 0-fer, i wonder how many boos he’ll be met with. my hope is none, but my gut says otherwise. i’ve never been a huge fan of his, but it’s great to see him playing so well and enjoying himself.
speaking of 0-fers, i wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if alex’s hitting streak ends in boston, at which point we’re treated to our first he-can’t-hit-when-it-counts a-rod mini soap opera of the season.
i hope the injury bug has come and gone. if this team can stay healthy all year, the offense could score an insane amount of runs.
it’s be nice to see them finish off the tribe tomorrow and go in to fenway on a high note.
not yankee-related, but king felix left in the 1st inning of tonight’s M’s game with “elbow tightness,” thus submarining any slim hopes my fallback team may have had about hanging around for a while in the west. drag.
by the way, pete, the quote you illicited from igawa was used in the mlb.com story. so it’s kind of like you got to use it in a story, right?
kasey,
Oh, come on. I was just having a little fun. Daisuke must love it in Boston cuz he’s so revered, but he has to be a little envious of the Yankee’s run support.
It doesn’t apply to this situation, but in general, the Japanese are masters of the subliminal insult that often comes in the form of flattery. On top of that they are very careful with their words. Why do you think that Matsui still uses an interpreter for interviews? He speaks English. It’s because he wants to get the message just right.
As for what Igawa should have said? He should have said, “I’m very grateful for the lead my teammates gave me” but my guess is that he was awed by the whole thing (and it was awesome to have the team bat around two nights in a row) and was simply gushing.
BTW, are you the same ‘kasey’ that went on a Red Sox site and predicted that the Red Sox would win the division? I know you’re a fan, but you also seem to be a realist unlike the rest of us homers here.
Also, are all people in the Pacific Northwest as gloomy as you? Maybe it’s seasonal affective disorder. Doctors can give Rx for tanning booth sessions and insurance will cover it. Please, please lighten up!
Mel — while kasey does seem to be a bit of a downer, some fans just are that way. They are pessimists (they often call themselves “realists”) and forecast doom and gloom, but will watch every inning of every game and be pleasantly surprised when things don’t go as they predicted. I’m such an optimist that it was hard for me to come to terms with the fact that a lot of fans are this way, but I understand it better now. I’m not sure pessimistic fans like kasey CAN lighten up so easily, so we should let them root however they feel comfortable and then go “Ha! I told you so!” when the Yankees DO win the division.
Pete- No offense but have a little faith inthe team and the fans. Hopefully nobody is going to jump off any bridges if we loos 2 of 3 or all 3. The truth is we won’t though. Boston is having trouble getting offense consistant. Plus their pitching has been too good. It,s time for a little reality check from our front 5.
Pete is exactly right. No matters what happens this weekend in Boston, in the big picture (which is all that matters) it won’t mean much.
I would be shocked if Igawa won 15-16 games. He just isn’t that good. In a lot of ways, his stuff and his style of pitching doesn’t translate well in American baseball.
Everything is soft and up. A recipe for disaster in American baseball.
I would be extremely happy if he someone won 12-13 games, and logged innings. That would be more than an acceptable contribution to the team.
This weekend A-Rod is, objectively, the Most Valuable Player on either team. Even though this first Boston series is not a make or break one for the team or the season, A-Rod has given himself the first of several chances this year to break out of his personal hell in NY with a larger than life performance in Boston. He is poised to undo the “slappy” incident and the Varitek sucker punch and get back his pride. And don’t think Boston won’t go high and tight a few times. It should be riveting.
I have never been a big A-Rod fan and I may never own an A-Rod jersey, but I find myself thinking that Rod may finally be in a place to take advantage of this moment and write some Yankee history. He sounds like he isn’t fighting himself anymore, isn’t trying to be something he’s not and that is 99% of the answer. I hope he has a good road trip.
SJ44:
I think your assessment of Iggy is correct as of this moment. But we may not know what we have with Iggy until next season. This year he is learning a new league and doing what he can with his Japanese “stuff.” In Japan he didn’t need to keep the ball down apparently. Maybe he will learn to do that here by the end of the season. If he does that he can be Jamie Moyer or better. I want to see Iggy version 2.0 before I make up my mind.
“Speaking of 0-fers, i wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if alex’s hitting streak ends in boston, at which point we’re treated to our first he-can’t-hit-when-it-counts a-rod mini soap opera of the season.
A Rod’s hitting 3 HRs this weekend.
Only the completely uninformed and unintelligent would rag on ARod if he didn’t have a dominant hitting weekend in Boston.
As great a streak as this is, its not going to last forever.
I would hope Yankees fans have graduated beyond the juvenile delinquent dislike of the guy and support him no matter what he does in Boston.
why is it that people buy into the whole, “it doesn’t matter what happens in the beginning of the year, it only matters what happens late in the year” bs? that is one of the most over-rated, over-exaggerated quote ever. last time i checked, the games in april count the same as the games in august. are these games exhibitions or something? just because it isn’t the “home stretch” doesn’t mean that these games are meaningless. point is, winning games now is just as important as winning games late in the season. now i’m not saying that any single stretch of games will make or break the season, but to say, “nothing that happens in the next four days is going to change the course of the season” is quite ridiculous.
Boston is playing at their peak with no injuries and they are only a game up. Reminds me of early last year when the Yanks had all the injuries and the worry and Boston should have run and hid.
That lineup in Boston cant score enough runs and the bullpen is weak at best.
“As great a streak as this is, its not going to last forever.”
agreed. and as much as it pains me to say, so far the Red Sox pitching has been the best in baseball. i think a-rod will hit schilling, but i won’t be shocked if he struggles with matsuzaka the first time he sees him.
Murphy, I think you are wrong. You claim that 99% of A Rod’s problem was mental? How about 12 extra pounds and mechanics that were failing him because of his inability to trust his swing anymore?
I really feel like certain fans are WAITING to be able to get back on A Rod’s case. IF that is true, you should all be embarassed. I’m sorry. I just can’t boo a guy who’s consitently been one of the best in baseball
Pete, you forgot to mention that Luis Gonzalez also ended 2001 with arms the size of tree trunks.
This photo is enough for me to conclude that those statistics were PED-enhanced. Look at his arms…that’s just not right.
Not for nothing, but you also wonder whether a natural player would have been able to muscle that pitch from Rivera into center field to win that WS.
I would absolve A-Rod from this charge, however. He has too much to lose and is capable of those statistics anyway.
No HTML in the comments, eh? Well, here’s the link to the photo I mentioned.
http://worldseries.mlb.com/ws/.....rms300.jpg
this is for the “Cashman should have traded Melky for Gonzalez” crowd that was on here a few days ago:
“As he struggled through his first few Spring Training outings, Braves left-handed reliever Mike Gonzalez indicated he was healthy. But just two weeks into the season, Gonzalez finds himself with a tender elbow that will be evaluated via an MRI on Thursday.”
Pete: One quick note about Cleveland. Living in the greater Cleveland area, I see the Indians a lot and I disagree with the idea that they’re an “aggressive” (meaning free swining, I assume) team. Sure, they’re not as patient as the Yankees, but last year they were 4th in the AL in team walks and 3rd in the AL in team OBP–a sign they’re quite a patient team. And last year, Cleveland was second in the AL in runs scored. This was a very good hitting team that Igawa beat last night.
Actually, Tom, your argument is quite ridiculous.
Yes, every game counts the same in the standings — but it’s the contenders and not the pretenders who win the tough games during the dog days of August and the pennant stretch.
Every team is basically on equal standing right now because they haven’t played enough games to distinguish the good teams that will be in the thick of the pennant races the last two months from teams that are playing well right now but will inevitably fold by the trade deadline.
The Yanks have the talent, depth, and a level of experience that will keep them in the hunt all season and the same can’t be said for the vast majority of teams in MLB.
That is why the games in April don’t mean as much as the games in August and September–because there are a lot fewer teams still in the hunt for a postseason berth and every win at that point can be crucial.
I agree with Cleveland Mike…this wasn’t some group of amateurs that Kei Igawa beat yesterday. This was one of the best offenses in the Majors, and Igawa should walk away knowing that.
A-Rod’s early season success at socking the ball can only be attributed to his wearing his pant cuffs higher this year, thus showing more “sock.”
OK, really bad jokes aside, he really does seem like he’s a man with something to prove this season. It seems like he did a bunch of soul-searching in the off-season, which maybe was the reason behind all of the comments about his relationship with Jeet in ST. Booing him when he hits the inevitable slow-down is something only the ignorant fan will do. I’m really pulling for him to have a big weekend.
you have some good points . first , this coming red sox series is just 3 games . second , the red sox are throwing thier best starters and we’re starting are worst ( no offense to kei , wright or karstens ) . third , we are only 1 game out with 3 out of five starters on the dl . i hope to win all 3 games of the series at fenway ( maybe friday’s)but 1 is more within reason .
Anaconda – The games in April and May determine how important those games in August are. Tell the White Sox in ’05 and the Tigers in ’06 that the early games don’t mean as much as the August games.
i really, really, really don’t think pete or anyone intend to say that the games in april and the upcoming series this weekend don’t mean anything. i actually think everyone is basically saying the same thing – pete is urging fans not to overreact no matter who wins, because even if one team sweeps, there are still 13 games, all of which count equally, left between them, many of which will likely occur when the yankees are healthier, and possibly when the red sox are not.
i would guess that pete is not saying that these games don’t count at all, but that they only count just as much as all the rest, so don’t get too worked up either way, which you guys apparently can’t help but do.
Let’s remember this about A Rod. He’s a father now and that changes your perspective. Suddenly the daily bs is much less important than raising a child. He got things in proper perspective at which point things like the perception of him and Jeter off the field are just completely unimportant. So the burden was off of him even before he said the words. So he has a fresh state of mind this year, has lost 12 pounds and has rededicated himself to his craft and having fun. Is it me or is A Rod constantly smiling, even when he’s not, you know a smile is underneath. Good for him and good for Natasha.
nyystadiuminsider.com NICK:
Easy there tiger. I was trying to be positive about the guy. Although I’m pretty sure I didn’t use the word “mental” I do think he was fighting himself. Interestingly, apparently you agree with me.
You wrote: Murphy, I think you are wrong. You claim that 99% of A Rod’s problem was mental? How about 12 extra pounds and mechanics that were failing him because of his inability to trust his swing anymore?
I agree that adding 12 pounds wasn’t a great idea but an athlete as good as he is physically can tell if he’s too slow or fat immediately and he could have lost the weight. That’s purely physical. But if he didn’t “trust” his swing, as you claim, I think that’s part of the emotional side of the game, don’t you?
Hey why did Igawa only go 6 if he was looking better as the game went on and his pitch count was in the low 90′s?
They used 3 relievers including Henn who we might need for today if rasner doesn’t pitch out of the 4th inning!
because Torre is trigger happy
“I agree that adding 12 pounds wasn’t a great idea but an athlete as good as he is physically can tell if he’s too slow or fat immediately and he could have lost the weight.”
even though you might think it by looking at me, i am not a professional athlete, so this is just my opinion, but i think the issue is that he couldn’t just lose the weight immediately.
it took him several months this season to take the weight off properly through diet and a different exercise program. there is only so much gym time you can log once the season starts.
also, he and Kevin Long studied hours of video to pinpoint exactly what happened to his swing last season. perhaps because he was bulkier he let his swing get too long, or he was using a higher leg kick to generate more bat speed that his uppoer body wasn’t providing.
my only point is that it is not so easy to completely change your body and reconstruct your swing in the middle of the season.
My thoughts about Iggy only going 6:
1) The pitch count was getting up there and he was due to tire.
2) Joe wanted to get him out of there before bad things happened and ruined an otherwise ego building game.
3) Proctor needs to stay consistent and benefited from the limited use last night.
4) Henn is fine, stop worrying.
5) Great Briton definitely needed the work having just been called up.
6) Look at who Joe didn’t use.
Murphdog,
I agree with Britton and Proctor, but would you bring in Henn again this afternoon in the 5th inning?
hmmm:
OK, I’ll grant you that maybe it’s harder to lose the weight if it’s muscle and that finely tuned athletes are different from you and me (OK, maybe just me). But c’mon. Dealing with 12 pounds is not “completely changing your body” unless you are a 100lb swimsuit model. It wasn’t fat around his belly.
The point of the earlier post was that Nick wanted me to believe that A-Rod’s troubles were purely physical, related to the 12 pounds. That’s just not true. And all I said was that Rod was fighting himself in ’06. I think I’m in a safe place on that one.
Cleveland Mike: Good points on the Tribe. I was relaying what Mike Myers said. I think from a pitcher’s standpoint they are aggressive in that they will go after pitches early in teh count. I think they draw a lot of walks because of the disparity between the top half and the bottom half of their lineup.
Igawa led Japan in strikeouts several times, so he’s more or less going to go after hitters. I never said Cleveland was free-swinging or impatient. Just aggressive.
JeffNJ: Alex’s daughter is 2.5 years old. If being a dad is making him great this season, what happened last year? Let’s not get carried away with looking for reasons. He lost some weight, the lineup is intact, he’s mashing. Losing Sheff and Matsui last season was probably harder on him than anybody else. He got into some bad habits early in the season and struck out a lot. A real lot.
Marc:
Maybe I wouldn’t bring in Henn today for two or three innings but after winning the first two I think Joe is prepared to take a gamble with Rasner and leave him in for a while even if he is giving up runs. In other words I don’t see Joe going to the pen too fast today. Joe will save his powder such as it is for Boston.
“OK, I’ll grant you that maybe it’s harder to lose the weight if it’s muscle and that finely tuned athletes are different from you and me (OK, maybe just me). ”
i was just messing around…i’m not so finely tuned…
“The point of the earlier post was that Nick wanted me to believe that A-Rod’s troubles were purely physical, related to the 12 pounds. That’s just not true. And all I said was that Rod was fighting himself in ‘06. I think I’m in a safe place on that one.”
maybe. probably. but it could have been a snowball-type thing where his physical problems STARTED a confidence crisis. i don’t know the answer.
“He got into some bad habits early in the season and struck out a lot. A real lot.”
i don’t disagree with the bad habits part, but here is an interesting fact:
strikeouts in MVP 2005 – 139
strikeouts in “bad” 2006 – 139
the fact is that A-Rod strikes out a lot. most (not all) great hitters do. it’s because they see a lot of pitches and get themselves into deep counts. deep counts often result in K’s and BB’s.
A-rod’s also given some credit to hitting coach Kevin Long. They’re trying to get Alex to be a pure hitter. Trying not to outguess the pitcher. See it, hit it. These are words out of Alex’s own mouth.
Of course, the biggest reason are the socks. Having his good luck charm Minky on the team probably has a little to do with it. Peter may be on to something about Alex feeling the pressure with Mats & Shef out last year (even though Jeter was carrying the team-part of the problem? and both those guys are missing from the lineup this year) But for whatever reason Alex has freed his mind and is playing ball. Which is all that the Alex critics were imploring him to do. The 12 pounds makes a big difference, but the load on his shoulders was much heavier.
hmmm:
I don’t want to get into another “A-Rod; Is It Him Or Us” thing. There’s some chicken vs. egg for sure on the weight or the head being the issue last year. The fact is, however, that at some point last year he was hearing voices in his head and they weren’t all saying he was “smart enough, good enough, and darn it people like me.” I’m glad that seems to be over.
As mel succinctly observes: “Alex has freed his mind and is playing ball. Which is all that the Alex critics were imploring him to do. The 12 pounds makes a big difference, but the load on his shoulders was much heavier.” Wish I had said that in the first place ; )
My point exactly Dustin. The games that one wins in early in the season are proportionate the the games that a team does not have to win towards the end of the season.
murphydog,
Thanks. I think that the fans were getting on Alex because he was lacking confidence (and looking either silly or scared at the plate). This year? Well, Alex was 0-3 yesterday at the plate before the one-handed shot and not a peep from the boo-birds. Why not? Yankee fans are fickle right? They can change their minds in the course of a game right? Either they’re amazed by his HR binge or they’re liking the newer, more confident Alex. It’s probably a combination of both. We all said it would take something epic to get the attention of the Yankee fans. To keep their attention he’s going to have to stay confident when the power dims.
On the other topic, all the games are important late or early in the season. The ones that become more significant are the ones against top division rivals like Boston & Toronto.
A solid series by the Yankees this weekend will do psychological wonders for our team (able to win without our ‘A’ team) as well as maybe psyche out the Red Sox after having dominated them in the last Fenway series last year (out of respect to the VT victims this week, I won’t use the name commonly referring to that 5-game series) The Red Sox have a lot of confidence because of their pitching staff, so to either beat them at their own game (pitching) or just playing smashmouth baseball can go far. Their pitching staff are vets unlike the ones that the Yankees have beat up on lately, but can you imagine being an opposing pitcher and having to face that circular lineup that turns over so quickly?
Baseball seems to be more of a mental game and confidence goes a long way. So while these games are ‘unimportant’, a good performance at Fenway can boost the confidence and morale of a team. The real season doesn’t start until the Yankees play the Sox anyway, right?
Hey I watched the game last night and I was impressed with Igawa. I mean, I just heard a stat saying the Yanks had the 3rd best ERA in the league. And at this point in the season, with the injuries the team has had…..that’s pretty darn impressive. I’m not worried. I’m going to be at Fenway tomorrow night and I’ll be wearing my Yankee had proudly
Unless Arod goes into a MAJOR slump sometime this summer, I think he has silenced the boo birds for this season and I think he will have so much fun this year that he will not even consider leaving NY.