“Battle mode all the time”
-
-
- July
- 9
-
On his best nights, A.J. Burnett is a three-pitch pitcher: four-seam fastball, that tight, chew-the-air curveball and an occasional change-up.
He had only his fastball tonight. But Burnett pitched into the seventh inning and allowed two runs against one of the more opportunistic teams in the league.
“Battle mode all the time,” he called it.
Give Jorge Posada a nod for this one. It’s easy to focus on those wild pitches that skipped by Posada. But if you were paying attention, Posada was able to cajole the curveballs Burnett used to strike out Michael Cuddyer to end the fifth inning with the bases loaded and Denard Span with two on and two out in the sixth.
“That’s what he’s capable of doing, that’s how good he is,” Posada said. “Even through he doesn’t have it, in the back of my mind that’s the pitch I want to go to and he made the pitch.”
The Yankees have a 2.86 ERA in their last 22 games and Posada has caught 17 of those games. All those who think he’s not a championship catcher, slap on a dunce cap and sit in the back of the class.
Here is Burnett talking about his night:
A few other observations:
• Interesting that Joe Girardi used Melky Cabrera in left field in the ninth inning tonight and not in right. Swisher is no Roberto Clemente out in right but Damon has been staggering around in left like Fred G. Sanford.
• Joe Mauer now qualifies for the AL batting lead. He’s at .388.
• Brett Gardner is 4 for 9 with four RBI in the series. The Yankees are getting .287/.356/.441 out of their center fielders this season along with 38 RBI and 24 extra-base hits. That’s more than anybody had a right to expect in March.
Day game tomorrow, Metrodome finale for the Yankees. Come back for more.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, July 9th, 2009 at 1:01 am by Peter Abraham.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
| 
iTunes
Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Josh Thomson
I wonder what is going on with Damon? Is he having trouble picking up the ball or is having some eye issues?
By the way, the way Brunett battle tonight is what you want Joba to do when he doesn’t have his best stuff and still pitch into the 7th inning. Hopefully, in time, he’ll get there.
Okay, just saw some highlights at mlb.com. Please don’t play Johnny tomorrow. Please? Let’s try: Cabrera/Gardner/Swisher
yankees.com has this headline: “On Thursday, Yankees will hand the ball to ‘Ace’”
===================================
Also, magic # is 77. meant to say 77 more games. Of course if the guys behind us lose some, we won’t need to win that many.
Why is nobody mentioning the fact that Giambi is hitting .195?
please DH Johnny today.
Did Damon rest yesterday? Remember the big flap last season in minny.
Also saw on the highlights that Girardi had a little talk with Swish after the scissor kick catch to end the inning. I’d be pretty afraid if Girardi put his hand around my neck like that.
Jorge must be captivated by the eyes too
“We wouldn’t be here without Cervelli and (Kevin) Cash,” Jorge Posada said, after guiding A.J. Burnett through six and a third rocky innings of a 4-3 victory over the Twins. “They’ve done an amazing job. It doesn’t go unnoticed. He’s got a bright future, obviously, and we’re looking forward to seeing him a little bit more.”
http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/.....-his-work/
Bankable Burnett…
Mo muzzling the Metrodome…
Twin Cities trippin…
Nicknames for Aceves–
“The Mexican Whale”?
or
“The Mexican Humming-Bird”?
What’s the Spanish word for “Ace”?
Primo?
Primera?
It’s easy for a pitcher to pitch well when he has his best stuff, but it takes a real grinder to get it done with only one pitch, and A.J. did that. My hat’s off to him.
Now maybe “Fettuccine” Alfredo can give the Yankees four or five quality innings tomorrow. The lineup could probably wear down Liriano. He’s definitely not the same pitcher. The velocity is down and that slider doesn’t bite nearly like it used to before the Tommy John surgery, and understandably so.
I’m sticking with “Ace”.
BTW, who was the kid in the white Yankees cap? The one with the beer? I certainly hope that wasn’t our #1 draft pick.
And what’s the deal with the Hefty bag jokes?
Ace = sinmiedo
Primo is cousin.
Primera is first when the subject is feminine.
Don’t know Ace. Probably the same word. Only they would say ah-say.
“And what’s the deal with the Hefty bag jokes?”
OF walls in the Metrodome are baggies
sinmiedo is “without fear”
That fits.
Ooohh, I like that pronunciation, Bronx Jeers.
It’s actually two words:
Sin miedo
“Ace” could be el mejor.
Cool nickname for Ace, don’t you think?
“Sin Miedo”
pat,
That’s what I thought. Was thinking it could be the ceiling as well, you know the ones that stretch and have odor-protection.
So, o/t, but did you guys hear about the Xavier kid that dunked on LeBron at his camp? And he had the Nike people confiscate the unauthorized tapes? It must’ve been a bru-tal posterizing.
Okay, so there’s a coffee farm on Kauai called, “Badass Coffee” and its logo is a burro.
If it’s not Ace, his nickname needs to have some derivative of “Badass” in it.
“Nicknames for Aceves–”
The RAB guys call him “Mexican Gangster Homes”
“Sin Miedo” arrives…
Aceves es su nombre…
Fearless of the Twins…
“We wouldn’t be here without Cervelli and (Kevin) Cash,” Jorge Posada said, after guiding A.J. Burnett through six and a third rocky innings of a 4-3 victory over the Twins. “They’ve done an amazing job. It doesn’t go unnoticed. He’s got a bright future, obviously, and we’re looking forward to seeing him a little bit more.”
The eyes even got to Georgy.
That plastic is ridiculous. Looks like you could run right through it.
That whole stadium is ridiculous. It’s gotta be the worst park in the majors. A baggie-dome?
Bronx,
If we had baggie-walls, Gardner wouldn’t have concussed, and Abreu would probably be in pinstripes…
I don’t like the on-field bullpen. Ridiculous.
M,
True. But what’s behind those baggies. I guess pull out bleachers. For football games.
I went there a couple of years back. I think the game started at 11:00 am. Sunday game. There was a football game right after.
Yanks magic number to clinch AL East: 80
Yanks magic number to clinch playoffs: 76
I saw a few Final Fours there…..During the baseball season, you walk through two sets of doors and you can here this wooosh sound from the air pressure that keeps the roof up……Much better than the Kingdome….Not as nice as the Astro Dome…..1988 NBA All-Star weekend was great
” but Damon has been staggering around in left like Fred G. Sanford.”
Sorry but I just read this.
Pete,
Dead solid perfect on the imagery and the best laugh of my day.
Definite water cooler material.
Good night all.
The Yankees are finding a way to win irrespective of the game situation that presents itself, which is kind of cool.
Really? What did they do? Roll a gridiron carpet right over the turf?
New magic is now *76*.
It’s been obvious for months that Swisher is a better defensive OFer than Damon to almost everyone. I’m glad Girardi finally noticed.
Peter,
Now wait a second. Youre focusing on pitches that Posada caught?
He did his job, for jiminey crickets–so, that is not the story here.
He missed 2 or 3 (almost more) in the same inning costing 2 runs.
No one ever said he stunk–not that I read. But he has had past trouble with pitches in the dirt.
A catcher is to move his damn body to the ball if he cant catch a pitch. BLOCK THE BALL AT ALL COST.
I love Posie, but he too makes some mistakes from time to time. No big deal and certainly not worthy enough to call someone out as a dunce over.
No kidding, “he’s a Championship catcher”–he plays on a Championship “TEAM”
I do point out that this malay-at-the-plate happened on the day Cervelli was sent down–which stinks for him.
Informative Read
Go Yank(s)!
Paddy
Two interesting guests previewed for Dan Patrick tomorrow.
The kid that dunked on LeBron, and YES’s very own Al Leiter. He’ll dish on where HE thinks Halladay will end up.
Why in the world would someone “play Swisher for Damon?” Dont they like Damons bat over Swishers? Or Matsui’s? Who DHs so that someone’s favoriter player can play?
Do these fans actually watch the game or is this a sopa opera?
Swisher has got to start hitting like a Yankee if he wants to play for them.
Melky IN RF, GARDY IN CF, DAMON IN LF. Leave it alone.
—> Tease Swisher to DH, play 1b, and DH when its time; if he wants to help the team.
Battling Paddy
Something for you all to go to sleep or wake up to:
“• Brett Gardner is 4 for 9 with four RBI in the series. The Yankees are getting .287/.356/.441 out of their center fielders this season along with 38 RBI and 24 extra-base hits. That’s more than anybody had a right to expect in March.”
It’s not just that they’re hitting, but that they’re being clutch.
As a sub, Gardner slugs .889 and has an OPS of nearly 1.5, which is just flat out insane. And the sample size isn’t five games; it’s 29.
As for Melky–17 of his RBI have come in situations Baseball Reference classifies as “high levels”.
If clutch exists–and I was at the game on 15 May–these two have found it.
Damon has issues with the puff-a-lump ceiling and walls at the metro. Seriously, that sky-high pop up could’ve been stuck in a cyclone the way Damon was cha-cha-cha-ing under it.
Nice news: Heyman reporting that the Boss attended a birthday party at Steinbrenner field last week.
What does “hitting like a Yankee” entail, exactly? You want him to hit like Cody Ransom? Cody Ransom’s a Yankee, so that would be hitting like a Yankee.
Swisher has an OPS+ of 125. He’s fine.
No, we want our players hitting like a Red Sock…
Actually, I wouldn’t mind too much if they hit like a Ranger in Arlington.
“I saw a few Final Fours there…..During the baseball season, you walk through two sets of doors and you can here this wooosh sound from the air pressure that keeps the roof up……Much better than the Kingdome….Not as nice as the Astro Dome…..1988 NBA All-Star weekend was great”
Carrier Dome is similar. And let me tell you, the Metrodome is the Ritz compared to the Carrier Dome.
“As a sub, Gardner slugs .889 and has an OPS of nearly 1.5, which is just flat out insane. And the sample size isn’t five games; it’s 29.”
Technically true, but it’s twenty-one plate appearances. That’s five games worth of trips to the dish. Utterly irrelevant.
What’s wrong with Damon? Uh, he’s terrible in the outfield. THat’s what’s wrong with him. He is still fast, but idk if his head is bobbing when he’s running, or his route running has really declined, or what… he’s just shaky out there… That being said, the Yanks are playing great lately. They keep this up in the second half and they will be right on track for another postseason berth.
Alfredo Aceves: He’s tomorrow starter and he’s excited about it. “How many pitches did I throw Sunday?” he asked. Forty-three. “How many did Joe say I could throw tomorrow?” Sixty to 65. “I should be able to throw more than that,” he said. Really, it’s no wonder Girardi loves the guy.
From Kim Jones, if you haven’t read the entry you should. Reading about Cervelli will make you want to cry. He seems so passionate. (And Betsy, read what he says about AJ!)
http://kimberlyjones.mlblogs.com/
Yanks could use tomorrow’s game and the ASB to stretch Hughes back to starting length. Think they’ll do it? Nah, but if he tosses two or three tomorrow in relief of Aceves then throws 65-70 pitches in a simulated game Tuesday or Wednesday, he could give five innings when they need that fifth starter after the break and be full strength after that. Of course, they won’t do that, but it wouldn’t be terribly difficult or risky to stretch him back out, given that he was starting relatively recently.
Kevin S,
I think they’ve made their choice. Aceves will start in place of Wang. If he’s solid as usual, maybe they’ll stretch him out over the break.
They probably don’t want to repeat history and yank him back and forth like they did with Joba.
Some have mentioned trading for a SP not named Halladay, but really, why would you?
We have the answers in-house imo.
But as the trade deadline approaches we’ll be hearing about those Seattle pitchers…
A rotation of CC-Roy-AJ-Ace-Wang would be nasty. Trade Joba.
Take out Wang and add Pettitte I forgot about him
“Why is nobody mentioning the fact that Giambi is hitting .195?”
probably because it’s what everyone expected.
and the thought of his golden thong, makes one want to vomit
“That whole stadium is ridiculous. It’s gotta be the worst park in the majors. A baggie-dome?”
Tropicana Field may not be the best park in the MLB, however it blows the Metrodome out of the water
I am sorry to see Cervelli go back to AAA. We will miss his his energy and charm.I hope Molina can adequately replace him, otherwise we will regret this decision, like Pena’s demotion instead of Ransom.
Cervelli will take a flight back East tomorrow morning. He knew the time was coming when he would be sent down, as soon as Molina was ready. “I might cry a little in my hotel room, and I don’t cry often,” he said, sitting in front of his locker during a long pregame chat. “But my mom always told me to have fun in whatever I do. So I’ll go to AAA and have fun. I’ll be back. I know I’ll be back. And I’ll bring Pena with me.”
i copied & pasted the above from kim jones blog
http://kimberlyjones.mlblogs.com/
i love what cervelli said in the last 2 lines.
Pete,
I usually agree with your take on things, but not here. We should focus on him “cajoling” a curveball from AJ and forget passed balls that lead to runs?
Since when is a catcher putting down two fingers and suggesting a pitch cajoling anything? Who says AJ doesn’t paint a fastball on the outside corner for strike three if he doens’t throw the curve? Who says he doesn’t groove a fastball and the guy pop’s it up anyway? I’m a Posada fan, but let’s not give too much credit to the guy for simply calling a pitch that ended up working out.
Halladay to the Yankees is not a “never”. Remember when Tex and CC were NO WAY coming to the Yankees, as per Mr. Peter Meister ? Don’t ever underestimate the deep pockets that the team is willing to dig into, all !
i don’t think defensively we lose a thing.
probably gain a lot.
the offense.how much better is cervelli over molina???
i am more concerned with keeping ransom over pena.
it is nice to know we developed a catcher,infielder,a few outfielders,relievers & many more to come.
gardner
melky
coke
robertson
ace
pena
cervelli
what this does is lowers payroll in the future & it allows us to cover for injuries much better in addition we have trade chips.
it first & foremost depends on if we wan’t halladay.
if we do & decide to try & get him we have a real chance to get him.
a lot of things come into play.
are we vwillinbg to give up what it takes to get him?
i can tell you one thing.
i would not wan’t to face the yankees with cc
burnett
halladay
& if there is a way to keep hughes,joba,montero look out.
give up
ajax
romine & 3 other goods prospects.
i don’t see us getting him without one of joba/hughes though.
“Cervelli will take a flight back East tomorrow morning. He knew the time was coming when he would be sent down, as soon as Molina was ready. “I might cry a little in my hotel room, and I don’t cry often,” he said, sitting in front of his locker during a long pregame chat. “But my mom always told me to have fun in whatever I do. So I’ll go to AAA and have fun. I’ll be back. I know I’ll be back. And I’ll bring Pena with me.”
Ha!…Fred G. Sanford in the outfield….great visual there.
It’ll be interesting to see the make up of the Yankees’ outfield next year. Could be 100% different.
If they’re playing in the Metrodome and the roof is still white, that’s probably why Damon looked like he was having trouble picking up the ball. Everyone has trouble picking up the ball there. Always have, and as long as the roof is white, always will. Casting colored/tinted light up there helps only a little … it’s still not easy. Not an ‘eye issue’ or whatever with Damon.
if ace pitches well they will keep him in the rotation because he will already be in the middle of getting stretched out.
right now we have 4 starters with joba being a major question mark.
it’s going to be even harder to see the ball today bc its a day game, does anyone think johnny sits today and our outfield is hinske/gardner/swisher?
btw im glad GI joe pulled swish aside after that stupid jump catch, maybe next time he can inform him that hes not that fast lol
Fred Sanford…Redd Foxx! A great man who is missed…
AJ was terrific last night because he had to battle all night. People questioned whether the guy could compete without his best stuff and I think we’ve seen this year that he can – last night was just the most recent example. Yesterday could have been a bad outing, with AJ having just one pitch that he could trust, but he made it work – an example of him growing into a pitcher rather than just a thrower?
I really like Posada and AJ together, too – though Jorge did have a hard time with AJ’s curve last night,lol.
Baseball America to issue their mid-season Top 25 prospects today. Jesus Montero will be #6. He’s in a mini-funk right now (1 for 20, 7K’s, no walks) but that’s nice recognition. news. Wouldn’t be shocking to see Ajax slip into the Top 25 as well.
LOL I just read AJ’s comment about how he settles himself down with humor when he’s struggling. Y’all? You can take the boy out of the south, but not the south out of the little boy. I guess…..
As I predicted from the first moment the Blue Jays said they’d “listen” to offers for their ace pitcher they are looking to link either Vernon Wells or Alex Rios to the trading of Roy Halliday.
IF the Yankees were to agree to something like that the prospect “cost” would be reduced dramatically. I wouldn’t even consider Wells who is already 30 and is due almost $ 100 M over the next five years. Rios however is two years younger (28) and “only” has about $ 60 M over the next five seasons. He also fills the long term need for a RF.
Rios and Halliday would cost less in 2010 than Pettite, Matsui and Damon combined. Promote Austin Jackson and you’ve gotten younger, more athletic and cheaper.
I’d offer Wang, Cabrera/Gardner, Pena (rather keep Nunez) and Cervelli/Romine and see if that was close. Eventually, though I don’t think a deal gets done without Hughes/Joba.
Cervelli’s a revelation. He’ll be missed. But, as he said, he’ll be back. I like that he was thinking of Pena, too. I especially like what his teammates, most notably Posada and Molina, had to say.
I watched Baseball Wives last night. Close games make me nervous, so I watched the show and switched back to YES at commercials.
It was fine. Jorge was extremely moving when he was talking about his son.
And the show went to lengths to say how much baseball players miss because they’re on the road so much.
Here’s the thing. The baseball season is approximately 7 months long. Half that time is on the road, half that time is at home. So they’re only not home about 3 months of the year, in total. The other 5-ish months of the year, they are home FULL-TIME.
I’m not saying it’s not grueling. I’m not saying it’s easy for baseball wives to cope with their husbands being gone during times when they really could use them home. But there are millions of other husbands who travel for their work or who work shifts or who simply work long hours who miss important events and school plays and holidays, etc. These players are highly compensated for the “inconvenience” playing baseball causes in their lives.
The ladies were all lovely and charming. I actually liked them and enjoyed the courtship stories. At the end of the day, they’re just people who happen to be in the baseball world. They deal with things that all of us have to deal with.
I’m thinking of the time I had to take my daughter into a specialist in NYC and she was maybe 7 years old at the time. And tiny. And they had to give her this stuff to do a test and they had no bedside manner and I heard my daughter screaming. And then on the drive home, my daughter vomited in the car. My husband had to work that day. I was on my own. We dealt with it. I’m sure many of you moms and dads have similar stories. So, what I’m saying is I empathize with these ladies, but they don’t deserve a pedestal unless we all get one.
The other thing that struck me was: Scott Proctor did not smile once. Not once during the entire time he was shown, and it was quite a bit. Maybe a quarter smile. That was it. And Cole Hamels is really a cutie.
A friend from St Louis emailed me last night.It seems all the buzz in the show me state,is the Cards wanting Halladay. Toronto is asking for a front end pitcher,and loads of prospects.
“Swisher is no Roberto Clemente out in right but Damon has been staggering around in left like Fred G. Sanford.”
good one Pete.
and when Damon finally reaches up to snare the ball in his stumbling shaky manner, you can almost hear him say – “I’m coming Elizabeth, I’m coming”
But my mom always told me to have fun in whatever I do. So I’ll go to AAA and have fun. I’ll be back. I know I’ll be back. And I’ll bring Pena with me.” WHAT A GREAT QUOTE
Stop with the excuses for Damon. Last time I looked there was no roof on Yankee Stadium and he plays the outfield just as badly there. He apparently spent the off season getting fielding tips from Bobby Abreu on how to play the outfield like a drunken camel on roller skates.
As for Posada, certainly he’s not the worst but as catchers go he’s one heck of a DH. I always thought the ability to actually catch the ball was sorta integral to being a catcher, hence the title “catcher”. Maybe they can just rename the position “and the throw gets past Posada”.