The LoHud Yankees Blog

A lot of these statistics mean absolutely nothing, but I wound up looking through some of the Yankees relievers splits on baseballreference.com and thought I’d post some of the numbers. Again, most of these are just curious groups of stats that don’t have much real meaning in the course of a baseball season. What can I say? On slow days like this, I sometimes click aimlessly through baseballreference for an hour. That site fascinates me.

Make him the lefty specialist
Damaso Marte’s career numbers against left-handed hitters: .197/.294/.287
Mariano Rivera’s career numbers against left-handed hitters: .206/.256/.261

Earning the losses
Mariano Rivera’s career stats are basically a series of 1s and 2s. Nothing but low ERAs and low opponents batting averages, but it does seem that he’s earned his losses.
In games when Rivera got the save: .163/.207/.199 — 0.64 ERA
In games when Rivera took the loss: .446/.508/.750 — 16.08 ERA
The difference of course, is that Rivera has 526 saves and only 52 losses.

First pitch matters
Dave Robertson has faced 322 batters in his big league career. Twenty three of those at-bats ended after one pitch. The other 299 lasted at least two pitches.
In 154 at-bats when Robertson fell behind 1-0 
31 walks, 40 strikeouts, .248 batting average
In 145 at-bats when he went ahead 0-1
7 walks, 59 strikeouts, .203 batting average 

If you can’t beat him, trade for him
There are nine teams Chad Gaudin has faced at least 10 times in his career.
Los Angeles Angels, 19 games, 5.40 ERA
Texas Rangers, 21 games, 5.37 ERA
Cleveland Indians, 11 games, 5.12 ERA
Seattle Mariners, 15 games, 4.82 ERA
Toronto Blue Jays, 14 games, 4.22 ERA
Kansas City Royals, 12 games, 2.86 ERA
San Francisco Giants, 11 games, 2.76 ERA
Boston Red Sox, 15 games, 2.64 ERA
New York Yankees, 10 games, 1.96 ERA

The opposite of A.J. Burnett
Mark Melancon pitching to Jorge Posada: .163/.308/.233 — 8 Ks, 5 BB
Mark Melancon pitching to Jose Molina: .333/.529/.500 — 2 Ks, 5 BB

The later the better
Alfredo Aceves actually has pretty good numbers the few times he’s pitched the first five innings of a ballgame, but with his role primarily out of the bullpen, he’s generally gotten better and better as the game’s gotten later and later.
Sixth inning: .284/.302/.431
Seventh inning: .293/.361/.480
Eighth inning: .214/.244/.333
Ninth inning: .077/.143/.308
Extra innings: .063/.118/.063

Keep him in the rotation
Make Andy Pettitte a lefty specialist at some point? Maybe not. In his career, Pettitte has actually allowed a higher batting average against left-handed hitters (.271) than against right-handed hitters (.270). Last year, lefties hit a whopping .282 against him.

Kiko Calero had a 1.95 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP through 67 appearances last season. Chad Bradford missed much of the year with injuries, but was healthy for the final month and a half and has only twice in the past 10 years finished with an ERA in the 4.00s. Jose Valverde had a 2.33 ERA last season and led the National League in saves the previous two seasons.

All three are still free agents. So are Octavio Dotel, Kevin Gregg and D.J. Carrasco. Same with lefties Ron Mahay and Jamie Walker, who were not so long ago multi-year, multi-million-dollar pitchers.

The Yankees seem to have interest in absolutely none of them, and that’s probably a good thing. In the unpredictable world of relief pitchers, every team seems a bit hesitant to dish out big money and long term contracts, and the Yankees have not needed to do either in recent years. They’ve filled a spot here and there, but the Yankees have largely built their bullpen from within. They developed Dave Robertson, did a great job scouting Alfredo Aceves and found success in temporarily converting Triple-A starters to late-inning relievers.

When the Yankees have run into bullpen trouble — Ron Villone’s 5.04 ERA in 2006, Kyle Farnsworth’s 4.80 in 2007, LaTroy Hawkins’ 5.71 in 2008 and Damaso Marte’s 9.45 in 2009 — it’s generally come from players brought in from the outside.

There is occasionally a desire to be proactive rather than patient, but in the bullpen, cheap youth seems to trump expensive experience. That’s been the Yankees model these past few years, and it’s been working.

So, apparently the ball that Alex Rodriguez hit for his 500th home run will be auctioned off online.

SCP Auctions said bidding will begin Jan. 20 for the ball recovered by a college student at the old Yankee Stadium when A-Rod hit No. 500 on Aug. 4, 2007. You might recall that it was a screamer off KC’s Kyle Davies.

SCP also sold the balls Barry Bonds hit for his 755th and 756th home runs; No. 756 went for $752,467. If that seems insane to you, consider that Mark McGwire’s 70th home run run ball from 1998 sold for $3 million at auction. Wonder how much it’s worth now?

There’s been no official release from the organization, but the Yankees online roster lists a new name among the non-roster invitees: Right-handed pitcher Zack Segovia.

I actually remember Segovia from my time covering the Phillies organization. From roughly 2003 to 2007, he was constantly a mid-level, high-potential prospect in the Philadelphia system, but arm problems constantly slowed him down. Segovia had Tommy John surgery in 2003 and missed all of 2004, but he had a massive resurgence in 2006 (the year before the Yankees came to Scranton). He had 11 wins and a 3.11 ERA through 17 Double-A games that season, then made the Phillies opening-day roster in 2007.

That was pretty much his Phillies peak.

Segovia got into one big league game with the Phillies — five innings, five runs, eight hits – before going 1-9 in Triple-A and finished the ’07 season back down in Double-A. He sank all the way back to A-ball the following year and eventually wound up with the Nationals, where his career had another resurgence.

Last season, Segovia worked exclusively out of the bullpen for the first time in his career. With Triple-A Syracuse, he had a 2.54 ERA with four saves and a .184 opponents batting average. That earned a call-up to the big leagues, where Segovia made eight apperanaces: Three were really good, three were really bad and two were not great but not awful.

I remember Segovia as a guy perpetually on the verge of a breakthrough, and maybe that breakthrough happened last season. The Yankees have plenty of right-handed relief options in Triple-A, so their scouts must have seen something in Segovia they like. He turns 27 in April, and he’ll be coming to camp as a non-roster invitee. No harm in giving the guy a look.

Back in July of 2008, the Yankees traded for Damaso Marte. A few months later, they signed him to a three-year deal with an option for a fourth. At $4 million per year, it’s not a tiny contract, but it’s not an especially big one either. Probably a reasonable risk for one of the better left-handed relievers of the past decade.

Problem is, of course, Marte was awful in the 2009 regular season before redeeming himself in the playoffs. Some of the struggles might have been because of an injury, or maybe because of the generally unpredictable nature of major league relievers. Whatever the reason, the Yankees need those problems to go away next season. Having traded away both Phil Coke and Mike Dunn this winter, Marte is by far the top left-handed option on the roster, and one of only three potential left-handed relievers on the 40-man. A fourth option was just added with the minor league signing of Royce Ring.

Damaso Marte
Despite last year’s ugly season ERA — a shockingly bad 9.45 through 13.1 innings spread across 21 games — Marte was actually good against left-handers last year. As a strictly left-on-left specialist, last season actually gives no reason for concern.
Career vs. LH: .197/.294/.287
2009 vs. LH: .120/.214/.280

Boone Logan
Back in 2006, Logan went into spring training having pitched a total of four games above rookie ball, but he somehow made the White Sox opening day roster. With his career suddenly pushed much faster than expected, Logan’s first big league appearance spanned two scoreless innings, but he ultimately had an 8.31 big league ERA that season. Since then, he’s been up and down (in terms of going from the big leagues to the minors, and in terms of his success at the major league level). These are his big league splits the past three years.
2007 vs. LH: .221/.296/.291
2008 vs. LH: .291/.324/.505
2009 vs. LH: .231/.318/.308

Wilkin De La Rosa
The young prospect of the group, De La Rosa is a converted outfielder who pitched last year out of the Double-A rotation. Mark Newman has said De La Rosa is likely to return to the Double-A rotation for the start of 2010, but I’m not ready to completely rule him out of the big league mix. It seems unlikely, but possible that he’ll make such an impression in big league camp that the Yankees change their plans.
2009 AA vs. LH: .159/.274/.262
2008 LA vs. LH: .182/.291/.250
De La Rosa also made three High-A starts in 2008 and three more in 2009, but those sample sizes are too small to mean much.

Royce Ring
Signed a minor league deal, Ring will get a chance to pitch in spring training but seems more likely to open the season with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. His career big league splits against lefties are OK but not great (.229 average, but a lot of walks leading to a .350 on-base percentage). He has allowed only two left-handed home runs in 159 career appearances against lefties in the majors.
2009 AAA vs. LH: .208/.296/.264

Eric Hinske is officially a member of the Atlanta Braves, but it’s the corresponding move that caught my attention: To make room for Hinske on the 40-man roster, the Braves designated Brandon Jones for assignment.

Jones entered the 2008 season as the Braves No. 4 prospect according to Baseball America. He was ranked ahead of Gorkys Hernandez and even ahead of Tommy Hanson. The three players ahead of him were Jordan Schafer, Jordan Heyward and Jair Jurrjens, which is a pretty strong group. Jones was seen as the Braves’ left fielder of the future.

Clearly, his stock has dropped the past two years. Jones hit .267 with one home run in 41 big league games in 2008, and his Triple-A numbers that season weren’t much better. Last year, though, Jones was solid with Triple-A Gwinnett (.281 with seven homers, 28 doubles and a .360 on-base percentage).  He just turned 26 in December.

Best I can tell, Jones still has one option remaining. He had his contract purchased at the end of the 2007 season and would have been optioned in 2008 and 2009.

I wonder if Jones might make sense for the Yankees to put in a claim, if only because their outfield is pretty thin in the upper levels of the minor league system. Jones bats left-handed, so he’s not exactly what the team is looking for at the major league level this season, but he could be a nice bit of competition in spring training and good depth during the year.

Yesterday, Baseball America reported the Yankees signing of outfielder Reid Gorecki. Today, Joel Sherman adds two new names to the list of minor league signings: Outfielder David Winfree and left-hander Royce Ring.

Winfree is an interesting, Shelley Duncan-type addition. He has a lot of power from the right side and played pretty well last season in his first shot at Triple-A, hitting .273 with 14 home runs and 31 doubles (he also struck out 88 times and drew only 28 walks). Right now, Duncan is a more polished hitter, but Winfree’s only 24 and could thrive under hitting coach Butch Wynegar. He played third base early in his career, but has been strictly a corner outfielder the past two seasons. Baseball America ranked Winfree as the Twins No. 28 prospect entering last season, writing that he had as much power as anyone in the system other than Angel Morales.

As for Ring, his name is probably familiar. He has 94 games of big league experience with the Mets, Padres and Braves. Last year he was in the Cardinals system and had a 3.04 ERA in Triple-A Memphis, with a 3-to-2 groundout-to-flyout ratio. Those are solid numbers for the hitter friendly Pacific Coast League. Lefties had a .208/.296/.264 line against him. In his major league career, lefties have hit .229 against him. As far as Triple-A left-handed pitching depth goes, Ring is a good guy to have around.

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If you click on the Sherman link, you’ll notice that he’s expecting the same thing Sam and I are expecting: that Johnny Damon won’t sign back with the Yankees. Sherman says the Yankees are targeting Xavier Nady and Reed Johnson but have only $2 million to spend in left field (at least, that’s what they’re telling agents).

It was a bit lost in the shuffle of yesterday’s Mark McGwire announcement, but the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum has announced its Legacy Awards that will be given on January 30 in Kansas City.

Among those being honored is Mark Teixeira, who will be given the Josh Gibson Award as the American League’s home run leader.

I think it’s cool that the NLBM recognizes the stolen base leaders in each league. People don’t really get worked up about stolen bases anymore, but the Negro Leagues had Cool Papa Bell, so how could the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum not give a stolen bases award?

For those who are interested, Joe Posnanski wrote a terrific book about Negro Leagues Baseball Museum co-founder Buck O’Neil. Check it out.

The first 2010 Spring Training game will be Tuesday, March 2 in Port St. Lucie, Fla., where the Braves will visit the Mets. The Yankees play their first game on April 4 against the Phillies in Clearwater, and the first full slate of Grapefruit and Cactus League games will be played on Friday, March 5.

Here is ESPN’s Spring Training broadcast schedule, which begins and ends with the Yankees. The MLB Network will announce its Spring Training broadcast schedule some other time. 

Monday, March 22, 1:05 pm
Yankees at Phillies
Clearwater, FL

Tuesday, March 23, 1:10 pm
Braves at Mets
Port St. Lucie, FL

Wednesday, March 24, 1:05 pm
Phillies at Braves
Disney, Lake Buena Vista, FL

Thursday, March 25, 1:05 pm
Mets at Cardinals
Jupiter, FL

Friday, March 26, 1:05 pm
Tigers at Braves
Disney, Lake Buena Vista, FL

Monday, March 29, 1:05 pm
Twins at Cardinals
Jupiter, FL

Tuesday, March 30, 1:05 pm
Red Sox at Rays
Port Charlotte, FL

Wednesday, March 31, 1:05 pm
Twins at Yankees
Tampa, FL

Thursday, April 1, 1:05 pm
Twins at Red Sox
Ft. Myers, FL

Friday, April 2, 1:05 pm
Orioles at Yankees
Tampa, FL

I don’t like days like today. There was nothing enjoyable about reading Mark McGwire’s confession this afternoon, no fun in watching him cry on television tonight. McGwire made his decisions, and we’ve seen the results: Home runs, magazine covers, uncomfortable questions, a congressional hearing and now a tearful interview of regret.

I don’t think McGwire lied tonight when he told Bob Costas that he believes the steroids had no impact on his numbers. I think that’s false, but I think McGwire believes it. He said his first Little League at-bat was a home run. We all know he was a great home run hitter in college. As a big league rookie, he hit 49 out of the park. If anyone could naturally hit 70 in a season, why not McGwire?

Problem is, we’ll never know. McGwire didn’t do it naturally, and so we’re left with numbers that are both permanent and fleeting. Numbers that will never go away, but will be dismissed almost immediately. McGwire is left with questions he’ll never be able to answer to everyone’s satisfaction.

“A lot of athletes, when they love doing something, sometimes their body breaks down and they have the fear of not doing something they love,” Shelley Duncan said in a very nice piece by Tyler Kepner. ”They’ll resort to anything. Sometimes when that happens, you do stupid things.”

McGwire did a stupid thing, and today he admitted it. Some will forgive him. Some won’t. As for me, I just think days like this are always sad days in baseball. Sad for the player. Sad for the fans. Sad for the game.