Atta boy, Swish
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Apr 23, 2009 
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Nick, my 401K thanks you.
This guy is The Man, so glad we traded for him.
You cant fool me, that is clearly Jeff Van Gundy.
i thought you said andrew BRACKMAN…lol that would be funny
Swish!
This morning someone on here said they say him walking in the Financial District. He was walking slow wearing a blue suit and a Yankee hat. They walked past him and did a double take realizing it was Swish.
They didn’t say anything to him though.
let’s play madlibs:
Meanwhile, Wilson Betemit __________ in Chicago this morning causing ____________ to _________.
bah, those are supposed to be blanks before ‘in chicago’ and before and after the ‘to’.
…
Good job Nick. Next up-world peace.
I’d love to know how Swisher got this opportunity.
Nick Swisher over his career has been a high OPS, low batting average and high strike out player.
Many yankee fans don’t value that skill set much. He gets on base at a good clip because he walks, hits home runs, but doesn’t get many base hits and strikes out a lot.
It’ll be interesting to see how long this affection for Swisher lasts.
CB, I think fair weather fans who glom onto Nick because he’s a unique character will abandon him……and have already started to do so. Real fans will appreciate what he brings to the table (hey, he’s not perfect – just like 100% of the players currently in the majors) both on and off the field. The Yankees know what kind of player he was with Oakland so from their perspective, if they get what they expect from him, they will be thrilled. Fans? It’s their issue.
“Many yankee fans don’t value that skill set much.”
———-
I’ve always thought the pitches per at bat statistic was extremely valuable. It usually translates to higher OBP.
The Yankees from a few years ago used to wear out pitchers and get their pitch counts way up early (Abreu,Giambi,Sheff, etc). Guys either drew walks or made the pitcher work for the out. The more pitches you see, the better chance for a mistake pitch.
It tired pitchers as well as allowed the rest of the hitters to evaluate what the pitcher was throwing.
It seems to be a ‘skill’ that Epstein and Billy Beane also give value to.
I’ll go with your original…
Meanwhile, Wilson Betemit in Chicago this morning causing *Ozzie* to *throw-up*.
CB,
We just got a cheaper, livelier version of Giambi. The fact that he comes with a glove, and at a fraction of the cost is a bonus.
CB,
If Swisher bounces back to his 2006, 2007 numbers I’ll be psyched. .250-.260 is a fine batting avg when paired with a .370-.380 OBP.
Actually Swisher is only 28 so he could put up even better numbers than 2006-2007. That would be fun to watch
“Nardi, Eiland and Scott Aldred are all cut from the same cloth. They all get along well and have similar pitching philosophies.”
sj44-
thanks. it’s good they’re all on the same page. that’s not a given , so that’s why i was wondering.
“SJ44: methinks you’re going to have to work a little harder than that to convince randy that Eiland has any pitching philosophy.”
nick in sf-
i know he has one. i ‘d just like to know what it is. eiland doesn’t give out much info on what he does to the media . i’ve been roommates with pitching coaches like rick petersen, ross grimsley, and neil allen and worked under tony cloninger for two years and been around pitching coaches like bruce kison, stu cliburn, and a bunch of others.
i do have a level of understanding about what pitching coaches do. even with that background, i have trouble figuring out what eiland does. maybe he doesn’t emphasize any one thing. nothing wrong with that, but he is a bit of a mystery because of keeping things to himself.
he was riding the wave of hughes, kennedy, and joba last year but with the problems hughes and kennedy had last year, eiland is in a different position this year. i see no reason to give blind trust to any management person.
i think it’s entirely fair to question any coach the yankees have. it’s all about performance. one thing i liked that eiland did was tell, along with girardi, mussina that he had to pitch inside or go to the bullpen. that paid off for 20 wins.
so i’m not against dave eiland;i just have high standards, and i hope eiland turns out to be the best pitching coach in the majors. but if he doesn’t , i’m going to be on him. why not? the yankees should have the best coaches they can get, shouldn’t they?
Francesa: “The Red Sox have already set the tone for the weekend”
Seriously Mike….
m,
I agree with you. I think Swisher is a valuable player. They got a young productive starter while giving up almost nothing. With few position players in the minors and a barren outfield next year that’s an enormous pick up.
I’m just wondering what’s going to happen when he’s hitting .245 and coming close to racking up 120 k’s with around 20-25 HRs.
That’ll be interesting to see. I have a feeling that his .800 OPS isn’t going to make many people real happy if he’s hitting .245 with 100+ k’s.
Also CB – I just glanced at the previous thread and saw your post. I was annoyed at Andy during the off-season, but I did think we needed him back. I don’t know if he’ll keep this up, but boy, he’s been good. I also underestimated his leadership qualities in the clubhouse – CC and AJ (particularly AJ, I think) have leaned on him heavily. His experience and wisdom that he can share with them is priceless.
It sounds funny, but I was actually more intrigued by AJ than CC….I guess that’s what potential and talent do, they tantalize you. The Yankees did their due diligence with this guy and I appreciate that they were still willing to take a risk despite having bad luck with the Pavanos of the world. I have been incredibly impressed with him thus far. His ability was a given – no one ever questioned that -but now he combines that ability with a bulldog mentality; that’s tough to beat. Also, he couldn’t be a better teammate.
This staff can not survive on AJ and Andy alone. I’m sure CC will be fine, but it would be great if that would be sooner rather than later. This pen has been taxed beyond belief thus far……
Time to head home. I’m wonder how many times Francesa will mention the Mets should have broken up the core?
“Time to head home. I’m wonder how many times Francesa will mention the Mets should have broken up the core? ”
====================
The over/under is 5. I’ll go with the over.
saucY
April 23rd, 2009 at 5:18 pm
let’s play madlibs:
Meanwhile, Wilson Betemit in Chicago this morning causing _ to __.
Mrs. Oleary to tip over the cow, bumping Al Capone. Capone got mad, threw down his cigar in the straw and machine gunned Mrs. O’Leary. You know the rest of the story.
“The Yankees from a few years ago used to wear out pitchers and get their pitch counts way up early (Abreu,Giambi,Sheff, etc). Guys either drew walks or made the pitcher work for the out. The more pitches you see, the better chance for a mistake pitch.”
boston dave-
i think boggs going to the yankees had a lot to do with influencing other players as far as working the count . gene michael seemed to put together guys who who were good at getting the opposing pitch count up there.. those 1996 teams on could really wear down a pitcher and expose a bullpen.
i really like that kind of baseball. cb is right about swisher being more valuable than he appears even though he strikes out so much. he takes a gamble on striking out to gain a walk. i think it’s a good tradeoff in most situations.
I kind of love Swisher too much to care about the .245 average. He walks a ton, and as far as I’m concerned a walk is as good as a hit.
If everyone else in the line up does his job, Swish’s bat won’t be an issue.
“he takes a gamble on striking out to gain a walk. i think it’s a good tradeoff in most situations.”
Very good summary of Swisher’s game at the plate. When he swings he swings very hard. That combined with his willingness to take pitches really does make it an issue of willingness to strike out vs. walking + hitting a home run.
It’s really a matter of competing probabilities.
the other day i was watching the wheelhouse and they were talking about how the yankees have more problems than the mets. which is hilarious, i guess thats what i get for watching it in the first place lol
Any video of this hysteric event?
(back from a quick retirement)
Meanwhile, Wilson Betemit in Chicago this morning causing BALLS to CATCH COLDS.
Swish has his batting style, and at this point in his career, it’s not going to change.
He was a good pick up. The Yanks gave up players who had no role with team, for someone who has/will have a very definite role. He’s not Albert Pujols, or even Nick Markakis, but he is productive, which is more than can be said for several guys who are no longer on the team.
Doesn’t any one care about Swisher’s glove? I haven’t been impressed with his OF or 1st base play.
Swish’s defence certainly wont “impress” anyone, but I’d say he’s an average outfielder. Haven’t seen enough of him at first to make a judgement, but I do know that Cash was ready for him to be the starting first baseman before the Tex signing… maybe that was just smoke and mirrors.
I think Swish will be more .260-.270 ba-wise.
Well, compared to Giambi, he would’ve been an defensive upgrade at first. Swisher’s got a long-term deal — and I’m just wondering where he’ll settle in since I don’t see his strengths in the field.
Yep. The delusional bawlbabies of Boston are at it again. Is it Yankee envy or are they not happy with Youkilis at first base ?
http://www.bostonherald.com/sp.....in_Boston/
Wow. The guys on Son of Sam Horn are talking about getting a mid-level prospect back for Nick Green once Lugo comes back.
“It’s really a matter of competing probabilities.”
cb-
swisher has adapted what he does well, his skill set, with a strategy for hitting. i don’t leave the room when he’s hitting because it’s he’s a very intelligent hitter and is interesting to watch.
his power threat keeps pitchers from just throwing strikes down when he’s not swinging. i’ve noticed that every now and then he’ll swing early in the count when he thinks they’ll groove a strike. he knows when he’s going to do this . the pitcher doesn’t. advantage swisher.
this occasional swinging early in the count keeps the pitchers from taking advantage of him if he always took first pitches or early pitches.
he seems to understand that when a pitcher brushes him back the next pitch will likely be low and outside and he doesn’t give an inch when they go up and in with him ( like garza did when swisher took him deep on the next pitch).
all in all, i think swisher can be very valuable hitting anything above .250 as long as he gets those walks and power numbers.
“his power threat keeps pitchers from just throwing strikes down when he’s not swinging. i’ve noticed that every now and then he’ll swing early in the count when he thinks they’ll groove a strike. he knows when he’s going to do this . the pitcher doesn’t. advantage swisher.”
Swisher is seeing 4.5 pitches per at bat – which is phenomenal.
Gardner is seeing 4.0 pitches per at bat – which is still very good.
That said it’s been remarkable to see the difference in their at bats.
The difference between two guys who take a lot of pitches, strike out a good bit but are differentiated by the fact that one can hit for some power and that forces pitchers to not take chances with him. Coupled with his good eye that means walks.
Gardner is nearly the opposite. Takes pitches but when the pitcher needs to will simply throw a pitch down the middle rather than walking him.
It’s a very interesting contrast to watch their respective at bats.
forget Cramer, in Swish we trust.
I botched it, but thank you for playing vin, gb7, and SOS!
WHAT CAN’T SWISHER DO?
HE EVEN RIGHTS THE STOCK MARKET!
He is a self serving egomanic!!!ME ME ME. Look at me!