Yankees walk the tightrope then win
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jun 01, 2008 
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This was the first extra-innings road win for the Yankees since April 14, 2007.
Joe Girardi was on the horn with Brian Cashman after the game. Expect a new reliever tomorrow. No idea as yet who it will be. The bullpen is pretty beat up, especially given that they refuse to use Chris Britton in any sort of tight spot.
Great quote from Mariano Rivera on Ross Ohlendorf:
“That was great. That’s how capable he is, to pitch like that. It’s huge for his confidence, I think. He has great stuff and he showed it. That’s what I want to see, a young pitcher use his best stuff and go at them. I was thinking that this was the day he would do what he’s capable of doing.â€
Chien-Ming Wang is 0-2, 5.67 in his last five starts. He’s worried but claimed he is fine physically. His problem, he said, is inconsistency with his arm slot. The problem leaves his sinker high.
Wang trusts his secondary pitches but not enough to just abandon his sinker for an entire game.
Thanks for reading tonight and check back in tomorrow.
Thanks for all the late night updates Pete! Out with the wife tonight, nice to be able to catch up on the cell during dinner!
Wow. Maybe Patterson really is coming up. That guy who was posting earlier wasnt BS’ing. or was he?
me = she.
I gotta say, watching on TV you could see a lot of movement on some of Ohlendorf’s pitches…
Really impressive indeed…hope it continues!
Go Yanks!
oooops. sorry.
Watch out, Dyanasty, Joba was talking about you in the last thread
Christian Garcia has his fastball up to 93mph and his curve is nassssty
http://tinyurl.com/6okgx2
LHP Eric Threets available ?
Aw. Poor Wang. He’s worried.
Thanks Nancy Drew boy, that means he is on track maybe even ahead of the pace he is suppose to be at. If he gets to 95 by the end of the month that would be unbelieveable
no problem, zach
Love the blog, your constant updates are awesome! This is my best source for any up-to-minute Yankee info but I also appreciate the sprinklings of movie and music tidbits. Great stuff. The subtle sarcam and humor is cool too. Only thing is….Wang isn’t an ace. Sorry. Topline #2 starter, not dominant enough to be Ace. Little too inconsistent for my tastes.
That was a great quote from Mariano about Ohlendorf.
Ohlendorf realy does have a terrific arm and has very good stuff. The quality of his pitches can be very impressive. But he’s not consistent with them. When he leaves balls up they get hit. When he overthrows his ball straightens out. He’s got so much natural movement on the ball when he just throws it.
He needs to be put in a short man role in order to see if he can help this team. Until they put him in that role for a while I think it’s hard to know what they have in him. He may well need more time in AAA. But in another role besides long man he may be useful up in the majors.
Not enough to have great stuff.
i would bring up jb cox if i were the yanks, i cant see the disadvantage of giving the kid a shot to be the 8th inning man/future closer
looks like somebody might owe thunderfan an apology!
thanks, ham! i don’t mind if people don’t take my word. but i appreciate your support
on the record as saying I did not say thunder was wrong, just asked why should I believe him..that is all. I even ended it by saying “not saying your lying but explain how or why I shouldn’t”
no problem, brandon. however, thunderfan = female.
Yanks definitely need to do something about the pen. Now with joba out others need to step up. Time to let some guys go and bring up fresh arms
True, I used thunderfangabe’s statement as the basis for satire. At least I didn’t call her a guy!
really another female Yankee blogger, welcome thunderfan, watch out for Nick in SF
“True, I used thunderfangabe’s statement as the basis for satire.”
Somewhere Moboy is jealous over your wandering attentions…
haha thanks. no fear. nick is probably harmless.
If I have to apologize to Dynasty too, I might cry.
CB your thoughts on Eric Threets availability ?
Eric Threets throws very hard and has no idea where it is going.
He’s also out of options. So SF is basically not going to get much if anything for him.
I’d sign him to a minor league deal if he’s accept it and cut Heath Phillips from AAA. He’s not ready to pitch in the majors.
Without Joba in the pen, the 7th and 8th innings are going to be brutal. The reason this game went into extra innings tonight is because the bullpen couldn’t hold a 6-5 lead in the 7th inning.
CB that was Fransico Liriano pitching vs SWB tonight, and Eric Duncan had 2 hits off him 8O… Gardner had 2 hard hit balls but went 0 for 4.
Brandon,
It’s a little disheartening with what’s happening with Liriano this year.
He went from the best young pitcher in all of baseball to a guy who can’t get Eric Duncan and Chris Stewart out.
It looks like he’s going to be one of those TJ recoveries that takes awhile. Hopefully he gets it back together.
The yankees have been very, very fortunate – the recovery their TJ guys have generally made has been remarkable.
Let’s cross out fingers on Brackman next year. He’s the wild card with this team’s staff in the future.
:fingers crossed:
“Without Joba in the pen, the 7th and 8th innings are going to be brutal.”
That is the risk Yankee brass was willing to take…lets hope they’re right!
Go Yanks!
I don’t think Karstens would have been called up anyway to fill in after Joba on Tuesday even if he didn’t hurt his groin. He was already at 66 pitches. I don’t think they’d let him throw that many if they wanted to use him in long relief on Tuesday (2 days rest). I hope it is Giese. I fear it could be Igawa.
But Patterson getting called up makes sense also, maybe sending Veras, Ramirez, or Britton back down. Maybe even Ohlendorf gets sent down because he threw so many pitches tonight and we need arms in the pen to pitch tomorrow.
Veras, Ramirez, Farnsworth, and Rivera all pitched in the last 2 games. And Ohlendorf threw 45 tonight. Who can they use tomorrow? Getting 7 innings from Rasner would be huge.
BTW sad what happened to Threets LH use to throw 104 mph now loss 10 mph after what happened
“They literally dodged a bullet there as Lamb missed a homer by a few feet.”
Umm…do you know what the word “literally” means? I believe the thing that Lamb hit was literally a baseball, and not literally a bullet.
Why the heck would anyone suggest they send Ramirez down? Maybe you haven’t noticed, but he is currently their best non-Mariano reliever. To make room for another reliever, either Hawkins should be DFA’d, one of Duncan/Enbserg replaced (preferably Duncan), or Ohlendorf should be sent down. In that order. Britton should remain with the big league roster. He is a decent relief option, yet the Yankees for some unknown reason never use him.
Whoops I forgot about Veras. I’d send him down before sending Ohlendorf down.
Yeah, just noticed that too…send Ramirez down? You’ve got to be kidding right?
Quick question for you guys:
Who do you think made a greater impact on the Yankees’ Playoff Push last year?
A) The addition of Clemens to the starting rotation.
OR
B) The addition of Joba to the pen.
oh brother …what do you think Dynasty
joba for sure. clemens had a few nice wins for us, but joba was key
Clemens was key for the young guys, but joba in the pen was nice
SEND BRITTON DOWN AND BRING UP COX, AND SEND DUNCAN DOWN AND BRING UP GADNER
If a roster move needs to be made, releasing Ensberg would make more sense. The Yanks bring in a pitcher for a few days to suck up some innings, and, after the bullpen gets a little rest, then bring in Lane and send a pitcher down.
GB7 your thoughts on Giants LHP Threets
Pete? Can you ask Girardi or Cashman directly about Britton for us? (Assuming you haven’t already)
I guess they won’t answer, but I’d love to know why they aren’t using him — straight from the horses mouth, as it were.
He seems very capable in the short moments he’s been allowed to pitch for the Yankees. It’s a terrible waste, and it makes both Cashman and Girardi look like they are bad assessors of talent (which may just well be the case).
“Pete? Can you ask Girardi or Cashman directly about Britton for us? (Assuming you haven’t already)”
ILL ANSWER THAT, BC HE SUCKS. HONESTLY, WHY IS EVERYONE OBSESSED WITH HIM? HE’S THE SIZE OF AN OFFENSIVE LINE MEN. WE GOT HIM FOR JARET WRIGHT, WHATS THAT TELL YOU??
COME ON BE LOGICAL HERE, THEY BROUGHT UP BRITTON BC WHO EVER ELSE THEY WANNA BRING UP WASN’T READY
Don’t buy the Ohlendorf stuff, though it’s good to see he’s getting encouragement from Mo.
If Lamb had gotten under that pitch one more millimeter, everyone would be saying “DFA Ohlendorf” now instead. One millimeter on the bat or two feet on the garbage bag that is the Metrodome wall does not define a pitcher.
Ollie has good stuff, but thusfar he’s being a Matt Clement (circa 2000) lite–same odd knack for giving up runs at inopportune times inspite of good stuff–without the nasty breaking pitch nor the ability to pitch as a starter.
Would be very glad to be proved wrong and hope this outing would help him turn the corner though.
Just a 10 sec search for Britton’s career line would show: 71IP, 56H, 25BB, 46K with a 1.14 WHIP and 3.3 ERA. Why do you think he “sucks”?
Cashman had already commented on Britton, per NY Times:
“The Yankees’ reluctance to use Britton has been confounding to many Yankees bloggers, and Brian Cashman sounded similarly baffled when asked about Britton on Wednesday. Cashman said he would never tell his manager how to run a game, but he seemed hopeful that Joe Girardi would give Britton more of a chance.
“It’s about opportunity,†Cashman said. “He has not failed in any capacity at any level. Every chance he’s gotten, he’s had success, period. That’s what defines Chris Britton. I can’t tell you any more than that.â€
I just don’t think Britton is good, or the “answer”. Ohlendorf and Veras have the best stuff besides Mo, plus Edwar.and how come no one is saying how farns did a good job today? everyone want’s to knock him when he does bad.. Don’t be so fast to sit there and knock certain players, veras,farns,ohlendorf all did a good job today and kept us in the game..
Brandon, Threets would be a good deal for the Yanks if he’s a cheap trade, or, even better on a waiver deal, but, I don’t think he’d clear waivers. Maybe a deal involving Traber and/or Duncan, or, some such deal. NYY needs some lefties in the system, but, on the cheap, he’s worth a shot. Not sure what the deal was on not taking a flier on Breslow, although he’s been released by three teams in three years, although he’s had good numbers in the three stints in the ML.
Ohlendorf has the best stuff? No, you’re losing further credibility. Ohlendorf has “stuff” like Farnsworth has “stuff”. He’s Krazy Kyle’s twin. Yes, he went after guys last night and it paid off. However, he got well into a jam again, and it could easily have gone the other way. He’s a few inches away from a grand slam homer run most of his innings.
Britton is way better than that guy.
Good thing we have the ace, Wang, pitching Cy Young caliber ball every 5 days.
Pete, why not point out in your post (alongside the fact that his ERA is nearly 6 in his last 5 starts) that he is a “true ace”? Because if I remember your posts from last month, you’d write things like “if he’s not a true ace, I don’t know what is”… Hmmm…
Oh, I see Brandon Webb pitched another shutout. Is a true ace? If so, then Wang is in his class, right?
Jesus….Give the “Ace” crap a rest. Are Sabathia, Beckett, Oswalt and Verlander supposed to be aces? How are they doing this year?
Britton is not way better.. what r u watching?? u should be a Mets fan..and take britton too
Has anyone railing on Britton ever actually seen him pitch for an extended period of time? He is pretty solid as middle relievers go
Missed the game but checked the box score…why do they hate Britton so?
Pete, next time you talk to Joe G. tell him that people all across the land have joined in a hunger strike until Britton gets in the game. He’s getting the D. Rasner treatment- it will take something apocalyptic, like two more injuries in the pen, before they use him and then he’ll finally get appreciated.
By the way, for those who are saying Britton sucks, here are his stats-
2006 Baltimore- 53.2 innings, 46 hits, 17 BB’s, 41 K, 3.35 ERA, OP avg .228, WHIP 1.17
2007 NYY- 12.2 innings, 9 hits, 4 BB’s, 5 K’s, 3.55 ERA, OP avg .196, WHIP 1.03
2007 Scranton- 57.1 IP, 51 hits, 14 BB’s, 58 K’s, 2.51 ERA, 1.13 WHIP
2008 NYY- 4.2 innings, 1 hit, 4 BB’s, 0 K’s, 1.93 ERA, op avg .067, WHIP 1.07
2008 Scranton- 13 innings, 12 hits, 4 BB’s, 12 K’s, 2.08 ERA, WHIP 1.23
Clearly this is someone who sucks and should not be in the pen- tongue in cheek- particularly since we have such better options at the moment. We can’t be having pitchers with career ERA’s in the low-mid 3′s, particularly when there is “Give up a run every other inning” Farnsworth, “Throw one good inning and then implode” Ohlendorf (although props tonight), and “I am just not good” Hawkins available.
enjoy minny pete!
The unwillingness to use Britton is pathetic. Cash isn’t happy about it. I like Girardi, but he should have to explain himself because it’s hard to believe that Hawkins or Alby or a number of other relievers that he has used are any worse.
^ should read: are any BETTER.
Thank god Wickman is not on the team these days. Come on Joe, put the fatass in, Britton deserves at least a shot.
Click my name, check out my blog.
OK…THIS needs to be the Pitching Coach’s top priority then, right ? This problem was fixed earlier in the year and needs to get fixed again….or Hank needs to come down there and start crackin’ skulls !
Watching the bullpen without Joba is a tense experience.
Except for Ramirez I don’t trust any of those guys.
Part of that may be that Girardi has not been able to give them defined roles.
I am not criticizing Girardi for that though because he is still trying to figure out who works best where.
But the non-use of Britton is baffling. I tivo’d through the game, and didn’t see but did he even warm up last night?
It apppears Girardi is saving him as the mop-up guy to be used in blowout losses only.
Patterson got called up. Bout’ time.
A move must be made on Jason Lane per his contract. Bring him up and send Ensberg packing.
Betemit is next on the hotseat.
good news about jorge from kat obrien in newsday:
“Posada (right shoulder tendinitis) made two strong throws to second base and told The Associated Press: “The second one was better than the first one. It felt good throwing the ball. I’m happy with it. I’m happy with the way I felt.”
wow. not much “He’s not a true ace!” and “Send Ollie down!” talk tonight. are we making……progress?
they’re finding ways to win again, and are winning games in bunches, just like they did last year. the team only, hopefully, gets stronger from here.
when all is said and done, Wang will work it out and have another superlative season. i would love to see Ollie gain that consistency on the MLB level, since he may be the guy we have up here right now with the best arsenal for that 8th inning.
Something to ponder when talking about Ollies stuff, arsenal, whatever…his strikout rates have never been great and he has given up well over a hit per inning over his professionaly career. Guys who have great gun readings without the great dominance indicators (k/9, h/9) are often overvalued for their terrific “stuff”. It is still too early in his MLB career to determine this, but let’s not get too velocity happy when there is reason to believe he may not pitch up to his gun readings.
Good news about Jorge. Can’t wait till he gets back with the team.
“Chien-Ming Wang is 0-2, 5.67 in his last five starts. He’s worried but claimed he is fine physically.”
I noticed he looked worried. CMW used to always look chilled as a cucumber even if he had a rough inning or two but lately to me he seems more stressed out and when he has a couple bad outs he can’t seem to regain his composure. He was making so much progress with his new pitches I hope this is just a temporary slump.
Lots of guts shown by Olendorf, very eye-opening. Mo continues to be a god to me. I’ve always sad, take half of the $209 million payroll and spend it on some mad scientist to clone Mo, the team will win every year for eternity:-)
Great coverage Pete, you have been rocking all week. Can you give us the latest stasch count on the team? Giambi, Johnny, Kevin Long and who else??
May I ask where I can find the story about Patterson getting called up?
Plus, who was sent down for him?
All Britton lovers, you will see him pitch today. Let us see how he does.
I wonder what is the fascination about him. His stuff is not super. Though he is so big, for a releiver he throws only high 80s. As good as his ERA looks, in the chances he was given at ML with Yankess, if I recall correctly, he let the inherited runners score. If Torre did the same and now Girardi is doing the same, there must be reason for it. They do not have to explain this to us! Then why is he being recalled? That is how the system works. When you need an arm for only a very short period, you do not make major moves to 40. Britton is on 40 and hence he is the logical choice and their intent was to use him as a mop up man if needed. And that need did not arise.
Is he better than hawkins? May be. But experience counts too. If one had to go by the comments here, every one in the bullpen except Rivera should have been DFAd by now.
I think today’s move will involve sending Duncan to AAA even if a pitcher is called up. Ensberg will still be on the team.
i think we should all be happy that the management and manager this year has shown a willingness to swap guys frequently and keep that scranton shuttle running. i love that they are willing to keep plugging in guys to find what works. it will be interesting to see who comes up today – i’m wondering if it would be patterson. however, he did throw 2.1 innings yesterday. great line – 2.1 IP, 6Ks (!!!)
There is no link…I know things. Patterson is in Minny right now. And he deserves it.
inconsistency with his arm slot?
How times have we heard this before?
Wow, so Patterson’s in Minny, hope we getto see him play today.
Wang will work his issues out. I have no worries there. Yanks won in extra innings on the road, that’s all that matters.
Guys, here what Tabata said about the incident the other day:
Something happened in the field — a pop-up or something, a misplay — and the coaches said (I) wasn’t hustling enough,†“They took (me) out of the game, but it wasn’t anything special.â€
And the Last Yankee Fan, I have that book that your link goes to!
Jorge,
Check the game thread last night. Wang was getting killed about “not being an ace”.
The guy can’t have shaky starts or his ace status is debated ad nauseum by some Yankee fans.
Despite being unable to stay on top of his sinker (that allows the ball to sink), he kept the team in the game.
Which is what ace pitchers without their best stuff do on nights when they aren’t on.
If Abreu makes a play on a very catchable ball in right, he gets the win.
Ollie definitely showed some guts last night. That has to be a huge confidence booster for him.
You can see they is beginning to put some things together. You don’t win 8 out of 10 by accident.
If they can tighten up the defense (the last two nights have not exactly been pretty to watch in that regard) get Jorge back healthy and contributing, and Joba has a smooth transition to the rotation, June and July could shape up to be fun months for the Yankees.
The bullpen? Clearly a work in progress. Which means, opportunities are available for guys who pitch well to get PT in big spots.
Patterson didn’t pitch last night. David Robertson pitched 2 1/3 and struck out 6 in Scranton’s extra inning win.
I’d say the Yankees also have to clean-up their base running (it’s good that they’re being agressive, but they’re also making mistakes).
JRVJ, totally agree, I’m really liking the aggressiveness though.
I wouldn’t get too excited about Patterson who is a journeyman who turns 29 this month, but we can hope. The Britton situation is baffling. His career has been solid, if unspectacular, but it’s hard to lok at himand Hawkins and conclude Britton is the one to ignore.
I am excited that Robertson threw 2 1/3 last night striking out six and walking NONE in getting the win for SWB. Heath Phillips threw 3 2/2 without walking anyone, which is also encouraging.
Ohelndorf has tremendous upside. If he hadn’t been used in every friggin’ inning he might have settled into an important role by now. Leave him in the late innings and let Hawkins be the long guy… he can’t blow a game in the first five innings, can he?
That outing by Ohlendorf had me on pins and needles, but it was great to see him pull it together. And, also, that’s why you don’t pitch your closer in a tie game on the road–so he doesn’t have to pitch two innings.
Anyway, it’s disappointing about Tabata’s attitude. Granted, he’s been through more in his life than most of us will ever see, but I still kind of want to shake him…
Unless they’re bringing up the long reliever which will shadow Joba (whomever that will be), I’d say that whomever’s coming up today will be back down on Tuesday.
In essence, today they Yanks will be getting a short reliever…..
my bad in re: patterson.
“I wouldn’t get too excited about Patterson who is a journeyman who turns 29 this month, but we can hope.”
I don’t generally get excited about relievers, at all. You just need solid guys who keep the lead more times than not.
Why all this talk about Eric Threets? The guy is a loose cannon and at best may be good to hit a batter. I watch this guy in SLC and he is a wreck. The guy even came off the bench and blew up on some dudes in front of us. No way this no class bum could make it in the majors. If the fans in SLC can rattle him, what is going to happen in NY, Chicago, Oakland, Philly? They should AA this bum and get some class back to their organization.