The LoHud Yankees Blog

Former Yankee and current YES Network analyst John Flaherty has agreed to break down the pitching match-up for every Yankees postseason game exclusively on the LoHud Yankees blog. Be sure to check him out on the pre- and post-game show on YES today. Here’s his take on the Game 5 starters:

YANKEES: RHP A.J. Burnett (0-0, 2.19 ERA in postseason)

WHAT’S HE THROW? “Two kinds of fastballs, power curveball, change-up.”

STRENGTHS: “I thought at the beginning of Game 2, his rhythm and tempo were fantastic. I had been worried about him being a little too excited but he looked under control, and that is critical for an emotional pitcher. His curveball was excellent despite the cold weather, and you would think he would be even more comfortable with the curveball out in California with the temperatures being better, so I look for that to be a crucial pitch for him again.”

WEAKNESSES: “I think the one negative we saw in Game 2 was when the Angels got on base, he got a little distracted – he spiked a few curveballs in the dirt and got a little out of sorts. The Yankees have made such an effort here to pay attention to baserunners, so there isn’t much you can do about that. The key is going to be limiting those opportunities – keeping the walks down and not hitting any batters, which A.J. has been known to do sometimes. You don’t want to give the Angels any free bases.”

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ANGELS: RHP John Lackey (1-1, 1.38 in postseason)

WHAT’S HE THROW? “Fastball, curveball, hard slider, but his pitch is his fastball. He’s got a straight one, a four-seamer, and a hard biting two-seamer.”

STRENGTHS: “I thought he was pretty good in Game 1 – the defense let him down quite a bit. He competes. If you’re the Angels and you have one guy in that rotation that you have a must-win, you want it to be Lackey. Make-up is not a problem with him. I like the fact that he throws both fastballs to both sides of the plate, so from a hitting standpoint you have a lot to think about. The velocity isn’t overpowering, but out of his hand you don’t know what to look for – is it diving or is it a true fastball?”

WEAKNESSES: “It’s really got to be a wait-and-see approach with someone like Lackey. I think the Yankees are going to pay attention early on, just like they did with Kazmir, and try to push that pitch count. The first couple of batters of the night, all the Yankees in the dugout are going to be paying attention to see, does this guy have his location tonight? If he does, you have to be aggressive because you can’t fall behind a guy like Lackey. If he doesn’t, they’ll try to make him work and get into that bullpen.”

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EDGE: “I favor the Yankees overal in this game because they’re looking to close this thing out. Judging by what you hear coming out of the clubhouse, they’re not looking ahead and they’re focused on the job they’ve got. I think Lackey is going to pitch a good ballgame but I think the Yankees are going to be too much in the end.”

Super-secret Joe Girardi would barely acknowledge that he has a player on the team named “Jose Molina,” let alone concede that Molina will be catching A.J. Burnett today, but let’s assume that he stays with that pairing.

Who is the Yankees DH tonight?

Girardi mentioned that Hideki Matsui has more “experience” at DH and that’s certainly true, but Matsui also is coming off an ugly 0-for-5 in Game 4 (with three strikeouts) and is 6-for-23 this postseason.

Jorge Posada, who has been on the bench the past two times Molina started, is only slightly better for the postseason (8-for-24) but has terrific numbers against Angels starter John Lackey (12-for-29). Against Lackey in Game 1, Posada was 0-for-3.

If it were me, I’d go with Matsui at DH. Using Posada there commits you to having either Molina or Francisco Cervelli in the lineup the whole night, whereas using Posada off the bench means he can be a straight sub for Molina and, late in the game, the Yankees will have both Matsui AND Posada in the lineup. It’s a tough call though. I could probably be convinced either way.

Today is a big day for baseball and we’ll have all the coverage from Angel Stadium, starting with Flash Points (John Flaherty’s pitching match-up analysis) in a few hours, but first I wanted to pass along a story that my editor, Susie Arth, brought to my attention. It’s about a rabid Red Sox fan donating bone marrow to a Westchester boy with a rare illness … who just happens to be part of a family of serious Yankees fans.

Thanks to Susie for letting us know about this and an even greater thanks to the Red Sox fan for what he did to help a child in need.

The Yankees are one win from the World Series and they don’t need any reminders about what happened the last time they were this close. The memories of 2004 are still fresh, so they’re taking it one game at a time, and Chad Jennings has all the details on the team’s approach to Game 5.

A.J. Burnett has been pitching behind CC Sabathia all season, and now he’s got a chance to provide the ultimate follow-up: A spot in the World Series. I looked at Burnett’s first season in New York in my column.

Joe Girardi figures to stick with what’s worked in Game 5, subbing in Jose Molina to catch Burnett and putting Jorge Posada on the bench. The notebook also has items on Derek Jeter’s health, an intriguing international free agent and more.

Tonight is the 29th anniversary of the Phillies’ first World Series title, and they celebrated it by winning a second straight National League pennant.

Whether the Yankees finish off the ALCS or the Angels stage a huge comeback, whoever faces the Phillies will have their hands full. The Phillies have Cliff Lee and a bullpen that seems to have stabilized, at least for the moment, as well as a lineup that is more “American League” than most teams that actually play in the AL.

Ryan Howard won the NLCS MVP, and said afterward that he has been impressed by the chemistry the Phillies have had this season.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been on a team that’s been so fun,” Howard said. “To be able to make it to this point again, it’s definitely something special.”

Meanwhile, Joe Torre and his team can’t seem to get past the Phillies. This is the second straight year they’ve been bounced by Philly in five games, and Torre – who has one year left on his contract and has said he’ll return – admitted it’s frustrating.

“They’re confident, they’re talented, and they’re going where we all want to go right now — the World Series,” Torre said.

One last thought: If the Yankees do make it to the series and face the Phillies, both teams better reinforce the upper-deck facings in right field; there could be a TON of home runs as two slugging teams face off in two hitter-friendly ballparks. That’d be some great, great theater.

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Back at it with Game 5 tomorrow. Be sure to check in all day for Flash Points, the game post and all the rest of the news and notes from Angel Stadium. The second batch of playoff Champagne is on ice.

Things are going well for the Yankees down in the Arizona Fall League. Brandon Laird was named the Week 1 co-Player of the Week, Ian Kennedy has yet to allow a walk and leads the league in strikeouts through two starts and Colin Curtis moved up to No. 3 in the Surprise Rafters batting order and went 3-for-5 with a home run, his team-leading second of the young season. He’s batting .367.

Also, Mike Dunn and Grant Duff have combined for 5.1 scoreless innings, Zach Kroenke has allowed one run in four innings and Austin Romine is batting .400 through 15 at-bats. It’s only been six games and the Fall League is a hitter’s league, so take some of those offensive numbers with a grain of salt, but so far, so good.

Other winter league notes…

• Jesus Montero is hitting .143 through four games in Venezuela. He’s clearly a bust.*
• Romulo Sanchez, who the Yankees got in a mid-season trade with the Pirates, has allowed one hit through 4.2 innings with two different Venezuelan teams. Why two? I have no idea. I know the guy was hitting 97 mph with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the Triple-A playoffs.
• Also in Venezuela, Reegie Corona is batting .300 with two doubles through six games while Josh Schmidt has yet to allow an earned run through 11 innings. Schmidt is a relatively nondescript right-hander, but he did nothing but put up great numbers in Double-A this season. He he never got a chance to move up, but he seems to be pitching like he has something to prove.
• Everyone’s favorite switch-pitcher, Pat Venditte, went two scoreless in his first winter league outing but got knocked around for three runs, two earned, in an 1.1 innings yesterday.

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* I’m kidding. Montero hasn’t played in two-plus months. He’ll be fine.

Tim McClelland is generally recognized as one of the best umpires in baseball – even Reggie Jackson admitted as much after yesterday’s game – but there’s no debating that he had a bad night in Game 4. If you’re interested in reading more about how McClelland handled his screw-ups, check out this story from his hometown paper.

My general feeling is that the Swisher call is the more debatable of the two. Did he leave too early? Probably not. But those side-by-side camera shots you see of his foot and Torii Hunter catching the ball aren’t necessarily as reliable as you might believe. TV people have told me that in those situations you’re trying to match up the times on two different cameras to give you the side-by-side look; there’s no guarantee that the times are synced perfectly, so the “proof” may not be as conclusive as you would think.

That said, there’s absolutely no debating the Posada/Cano call. That one was just bad. The best thing you can say about both calls is that, in the end, they didn’t end up impacting the result of the game.

It should come as no surprise, but it seems the Yankees could be on the verge of a meeting with top international free agent Aroldis Chapman, a 21-year-old left-handed pitcher out of Cuba.

There is a report that Chapman is coming to the United States to meet with several teams next week, with the Yankees “expected” to be one of the suitors. I talked to Brain Cashman briefly this afternoon, but Cashman wouldn’t comfirm whether a meeting is scheduled.

“It’s not in my best interest to talk about it,” he said.

It seems a good bet, though, that the Yankees will be involved. Chapman is one of the most highly touted prospects to hit the international market, and the Yankees have already been significant international bidders this year. In July they signed Dominican catcher Gary Sanchez for what was reported to be a $3 million bonus, the largest the Yankees had ever given to a position player.

The Yankees remember 2004. They know that no lead (whether it’s 3-1 or 3-0) is safe and so even though they’re only one win from the World Series, there was plenty of “one-day-at-a-time” talk in the clubhouse this morning.

“One game, win one game,” Joe Girardi said. “You don’t look ahead. You look at just trying to win a game Thursday and you go from there.”

Girardi wouldn’t commit to a lineup for Game 5 yet, but it seems likely that Jorge Posada will be on the bench again, with Jose Molina catching and Hideki Matsui at DH. If the Yankees are able to win the series out here, they’ll have nearly a week off before the World Series begins next Wednesday.

Not that they’re thinking about it. Derek Jeter said the Yankees are trying to take the same mental approach with these games that they’ve had all year.

“If you always have that mindset, you never have to change it,” he said.

The Yankees are on the field working out right now. To help you pass the time, here’s a bunch of audio for your listening pleasure.

First, we’ve got Mark Teixeira, who had some interesting insights into the conversations that he and Alex Rodriguez have had about hitting. He also talks about what he expects from his former teammates – particularly John Lackey – tomorrow night.

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Then there’s Johnny Damon, who discusses his own hitting as well as what he’s looking for from A.J. Burnett as well as the Yankees’ need not to look too far forward.

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Next is Girardi, who touches on all types of topics, including the health of Derek Jeter (he seems to be improving).

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And lastly we’ve got A.J. Burnett, who said that games like tomorrow night are essentially the reason why he signed with the Yankees last winter. There’s some good stuff in there from A.J.

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Stadium workers are out touching up the paint on the logos and the grounds crew is giving the outfield a mowing. The Yankees should be on the field in about an hour for a workout, with the Angels to follow. We’ll have more from the Yankees clubhouse and press conferences shortly.