Game 21: Yankees at Orioles
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Gameday Thread on Apr 29, 2010 
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YANKEES (13-7)
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Marcus Thames DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Francisco Cervelli C
Brett Gardner LF
RHP A.J. Burnett (2-0, 3.20)
Career vs. Orioles
ORIOLES (4-17)
Adam Jones CF
Nick Markakis RF
Matt Wieters C
Miguel Tejeda 3B
Luke Scott DH
Ty Wigginton 2B
Rhyne Hughes 1B
Nolan Reimold LF
Cesar Izturis SS
LHP Brian Matusz (2-0, 4.38)
Career vs. Yankees
TIME/TV: 7:05 p.m./YES Network
UMPIRES: HP John Hirschbeck, 1B James Hoye, 2B Wally Bell, 3B Laz Diaz
WEATHER: So far this is the nicest night of the three-game series. There’s almost no wind and it actually feels really nice here in Baltimore. I’m sure it will be cold by the fifth inning, but right now it’s terrific.
GREAT SCOTT: The Orioles hitter with the best career numbers against A.J. Burnett? That would be Luke Scott, who has a .400 average, two doubles and two home runs in 15 a-bats. Adam Jones has eight strikeouts in 22 at-bats against the Yankees starter.
SECOND CHANCE: Orioles starter Brian Matusz faced the Yankees in one start last September. Matusz went seven strong innings for the win. The Yankees lineup that day: SS Derek Jeter, LF Jerry Hairston, 1B Mark Teixeira, 3B Alex Rodriguez, RF Nick Swisher, 2B Robinson Cano, DH Shelley Duncan, CF Melky Cabrera, C Jose Molina. Burnett also started that game, with Josh Towers pitching two innings of relief.
ON THE RUN: The Yankees are tied for sixth in the Majors with 19 stolen bases. The last time they had this many in March/April was 2001 when they finished April with 31 steals. Brett Gardner has nine stolen bases, tied with Juan Pierre and Michael Bourn for second in the majors behind Andrew McCutchen, who has 10.
UPDATE, 7:29 p.m.: After two hits and a sac fly gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Brett Gardner just made a nice catch — not quite a graceful catch, but a falling catch — here in the bottom of the first.
UPDATE, 7:57 p.m.: Wow. Wow. Wow. That should have been a single 10 different ways, but Robinson Cano got to the ball behind second base and made a terrific throw to Nolan Reimold to start the third. A.J. Burnett stood in the infield with both hands on his head. Just a terrific play. As the play developed I literally said the word “wow” outloud three times: When he got to the ball, when he made the throw and when Reimold was out.
UPDATE, 8:11 p.m.: Seriously. I can’t imagine there’s a better hitter in baseball right now than Robinson Cano. He just crushed a ball to center field and the Yankees are up 2-0.
UPDATE, 8:18 p.m.: Gardner hasn’t swung and missed on a pitch very often this season, and he wasn’t happy about doing it with two outs and two on here in the fourth. That ended the inning with the Yankees still up 2-0.
UPDATE, 8:49 p.m.: Cano with another double, and Thames follows with another big hit off a lefty. It’s now 3-0 Yankees with no outs in the sixth inning.
UPDATE, 9:04 p.m.: That was ball four, so it doesn’t count, but Francisco Cervelli just threw out Cesar Izturis by about five feet.
UPDATE, 9:08 p.m.: No brainer to send A.J. Burnett back out for the seventh. He’s well below 100 pitches seems to be having his way with the Orioles.
UPDATE, 9:27 p.m.: There really hasn’t been a lot to say about this game. Burnett is cruising, Cano and Thames are crushing the ball and the Yankees are still in front, 3-0. If things continue like this, it will be a perfect way to wrap up a long road trip.
UPDATE, 9:34 p.m.: Seriously. At this point, Cano is just showing off. His second home run of the game has made it a 4-0 Yankees lead in the eighth.
UPDATE, 9:58 p.m.: After eight brilliant innings from Burnett, Mariano Rivera is in to close out the game in a non-save situation.
Nyyankfanken April 29th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
Is it bad that I like cervelli catching over posada? I’m just a much bigger cisco fan.
—————————————-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNIJH71L_EY
Betsy,
Don’t know if you watch the Joe Girardi Show, but this clip was posted today. Girardi talking about Hughes’ transition to the rotation.
http://web.yesnetwork.com/medi.....id=7727555
Should be a very good game tonight. It would be nice to end the road trip with a win.
Lets go Yankees!!!
If Burnett hits anyone on Baltimore theoretically he should be ejected immediately and suspended for six games. Guthrie clearly wasn’t looking to hit Posada in the leg and was also pretty clearly remorseful about what happened.
Be the bigger person and don’t hurt someone (Wieters) who has no business getting hurt. Getting plunked with a 95 MPH fastball in any part of the body is no small deal.
The yankees have had an exceedingly difficult schedule this month. April is literally the most difficult month on their schedule.
They’ve made it through in terrific shape. If they had played this month at the level of quality they had played to start the last two seasons it could have been very ugly.
Last game of a tough 9 game road trip. The team is 4-4 on the trip. 4-5 wouldn’t be bad but I was hoping they could go 5-4. If they do that they finish the road trip 14-7. That’s playing exactly .667 ball.
I’d like to see AJ finish this out strongly. Tonight’s a game where context matters. The Orioles are an awful team. They really miss Brian Roberts. Adam Jones is having a miserable start to this season. Their bottom 3 in the line up are very light hitters.
This is the kind of game where the yankees biggest threat for losing is AJ just not having it and pitching them out of competition. Now so far this season he hasn’t done that. Tonight is a night were he doesn’t need to do a ton. He just needs to not over throw and pound the zone against a mediocre line up.
I’d be happy to see him pound the zone with his two seam fastball and get the O’s to hit it in the ground.
Jete!
G-C,
You’re soft. I can not disagree more. If A.J. does hit an o’s hitter tonight, he will not be ejected. That is when the umps will warn both benches.
These umps saw what happened last night and should recognize the teams are “policing” themselves.
Is anybody else’s sound off on YES?
I can hear the sound of the bat hitting the ball, prior to the pitch arriving and being hit.
But the voice of Kay is correct.
Tex is off to a Monster start. The Triple Crown is in his future.
What Guthrie is doing is almost as bad as it being intentional. It really does not matter if he shows remorse. He throws inside without knowing where the ball is going.
He almost hurt Tex and he did hurt Posada. If he continues pitching like he does against the Yankees, there will be more injuries.
Retaliation does not have to happen tonight, but at some point Guthrie needs to get the message to either stay off the inside corner or get control of your pitches.
Tex!!!!!!
Come on tex!
Tex’s swing from the right side has been ahead all season. But he’s really starting to look good right handed.
He’s coming along from the left side as well but he’s getting very close RH.
There you go tex.. That was a product of jeter bothering the pitcher.
Looking at this April schedule and knowing their usual April woes, I had em at 12-10 and hoped for 13-9.
They got the 13.
Alex just missed that pitch. He’s off by a little. Usually he parks that fastball
“They’ve made it through in terrific shape. If they had played this month at the level of quality they had played to start the last two seasons it could have been very ugly.”
The Sox would be in real trouble right now if they had played the Yankees schedule.
XBH for Tex.
I’m a pacifist by nature, but I can understand retaliation. Just have to be smart about it.
And no one’s trying to hurt anyone. But people do get hurt. Especially with guys like Guthrie on the mound.
GJ Alex
Alex one handed that pitch down and away in the zone and hit it to the wall in RF.
good piece of hitting by Arod there.. Tex might be starting to heat up a bit….he’s looked good from the right side for awhile now.
“Alex one handed that pitch down and away in the zone and hit it to the wall in RF.”
he has unbelievably strong wrists and just creates so much backspin, especially when he hit the ball to RF it just carries forever.
The wind knocked Rodriguez’ fly ball down. It’s blowing right to left at 13 MPH
Is Tex naturally a RH hitter?
Matusz doesn’t throw his two seamer to LH hitters as often as RH but he threw a good on in on the hands to Cano.
That was interesting. Given how well Cano has beeing hitting the inside pitch to RF I’m surprised he tried that pitch.
But that’s what Matusz can do – provide a lot of different looks to a hitter.
# blake April 29th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
Is Tex naturally a RH hitter?
Yep.
blake-
I believe Tex’s natural side is the right.
Swish is lefty. Melky sucks.
what’s cano’s batting average when RISP this season?
Carl, CB,
Thanks, I was just curious.
Jones is hitting .202. Just throw a fastball. Don’t walk him.
jz166
.316
Cano’s hitting .316 with 9 RBI. Looks like nothing to whine about, huh?
Nice two seam fastball from AJ to get Jones. He just needs to challenge this line up.
I’m watching this on MLB. This may be the first time I’ve watched a game on MLB but I don’t want to listen to the Baltimore broadcast and I am really sick of Michael Kay. Well I don’t know if this is something they feature every game they broadcast, but at the end of the half inning they showed something they called “Virtual 9″. It was their rendition of how the game was going to play out, and they show all of the players as virtual players. Baltimore is leading 3-0 at the end of 5 (something like that) with Garrett Atkins doing all the damage. Jorge Posada gets some kind of hit, blah blah blah, and I think it ended up 5-3 Orioles. I may be wrong on that.
First of all, wouldn’t it be better to show it before the beginning of the first so that they don’t make themselves look real stupid? They went through the whole game, showing which innings would add runs etc. 3-0 Orioles at the end of the 5th isn’t a possibility since the Yankees have already scored. Jorge hitting isn’t a huge possibility since he isn’t playing – though I guess he could come in if he had to.
Pretty dumb.
web gem
Gardner. That’s what elite speed will do for you!
those were two really nice swings from Markakis and Wieters. AJ’s 2 seamer has quite a bit of movement tonight.
I think Jeter’s single puts him one hit behind Griffey for the active MLB hits leader.
http://www.baseball-reference......tive.shtml
Not a good ball and strike inning, but, Burnett got out pretty cheap. 16 pitches and 9 strikes
Trisha
check ur email.
___
I guess the voice is off too. Is anybody else’s YES sound ahead of the picture????
If Thames was in left, AJ is still out there on the mound.
thanks Carl.
Markakis and Wieters did the right thing trying to do the other way. They try to pull those pitches and they break their bats.
Wonder if that’s their scouting report? Those two at bats looked very similar.
AJ’s curveball command was off that inning. Four seamer was ok. His two seamer looked good.
Today would be a good game to try that change up we keep hearing about.
nice to see thames hitting so well….just stay away from lf lol
I don’t care what people are saying about Thames now based on what happened in Spring Training.
Fact is, the guy is getting on base. It’s not pretty sometimes, but he’s on base. That’s what counts.
He’s been great for us.
If Thames keeps hitting then we may see this lineup more often against lefties.
Marcu Thames is the Robbi Cano of RH platoon hitters.
This line up looks so different without posada’s bat.
CR9 – no email!
Guthrie shows remorse
Jorge shows a nasty bruise
pound these punk-ass punks!
Mr. Johnson may not be seeing time against lefties if Thames keeps hitting.
BG and Nick Johnson get so many fastballs down the middle.
I’d like Gardner to make Tejada field a bunt sometime in this game.
Movies… songs… video games…. haiku…. there’s just so much violence these days.
gardner having an intimate moment with his bat..
“Is anybody else’s YES sound ahead of the picture????”
SPOILER ALERT: Kay is no less arrogant in the future.
That at bat was interesting. Looked like Matusz was trying to pitch the Grittster up in the zone to try to induce a fly ball. And it worked.
Pitchers are going to adjust to the opposite field slap swing Garnder has used so effectively. They are probably going to try to pound him up and in to make it difficult for him to hit the ball on the ground the other way.
And Gardner will need to make adjustments back. It’ll be interesting to see what he does in response.
trisha
Ill resend it later!
___
LOL Nick. I dont understand why it would be doing this. Isnt anyone else’s YES suffering the same problem.
RalphieD (OPPC) April 29th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
gardner having an intimate moment with his bat..
———————————————————————————————————————-
The way he’s hitting right now, he can take his bat out for dinner and drinks and then sleep with the bat if he wants to.
Another reason to hope for an Oriole pounding is the bad way Matusz pronounces his name.
It should be Ma-toooooose but instead it’s Mat-us.
That was a must-pronounce-correctly name and he still couldn’t do it! That’s unacceptable!
And Guthrie is a Stanfurd guy? Mystery solved.
CR9 -
Conspiracy?
(Just joshing, ya CR9)
Why is Cervelli patting the ground with his mitt while AJ is in the middle of his wind up rather than setting up the target?
“Why is Cervelli patting the ground with his mitt while AJ is in the middle of his wind up rather than setting up the target?”
thats much to Wojo like.
Conspiracy, it is then
Nice play by Tex…I have a feeling he breaks out in a big way tonight.
The Red Sox are awaiting to play the Orioles again, again.
To my untrained eye, Cervelli looked pretty ‘quiet’ on that last pitch. Success!
“The way he’s hitting right now, he can take his bat out for dinner and drinks and then sleep with the bat if he wants to.”
the real question is what does a bat eat and drink..i figure they like some cedar planked salmon and a nice woody chardonnay…
a lot better strikes to balls that inning…11-4.
If AJ is going to throw strikes and get ahead of people all year then this rotation could be really special.
Terrible at bats. Make the kid work please.
Last year when Matt Wieters came up the comparisons and superlatives really got out of hand.
An O’s fan put up a great blog what was a real kick playing on some of those endless superlatives. This was a good one:
“Since 1986 No Children Have Been Born In Goose Creek, South Carolina. The Reason? Nobody Scores When Matt Wieters Is At Home.”
http://www.mattwietersfacts.com/
AJ barely got down the dugout steps.
Teixeira can’t get a bullet to escape a glove or a pop fly to parachute in.
Tex doesn’t hit many the other way. You’d hope one out to right would dink in just based on the RF likely positioning. But he just hits the ball with so much loft it gave Markakis time to recover.
a seven-pitch inning? wt?
Wow nice way to work the count. Lol.
Good job aj though I like what I see.
OMG CANO!!!
CANO!!!!
Was that a three pitch inning for Matusz?
wow what a play by robbie…incredible
wow what a play.
Good lord Cano is on fire
You won’t see that anywhere else.
GB7-
Who was the last second baseman with Cano’s arm?
Cano is just ridiculous.
Wow!
But I bet it doesn’t make web gems because he didn’t get dirty.
I think he’s the only 2b in baseball that makes that play.
I’m amazed. When Jeter is ready to give up SS, Cano could easily be heir apparent.
Just a great, great throw by Robinson.
Who was the last second baseman with Cano’s arm?
——————————————————
Knoblach———————NOT!
Robinson Cano is so good it’s scary.
anyone remember the days when Cano was a liability in the field? He’s just gotten better and better and now he’s just unconscious.
Who did Cano replace at 2d base?
He was an in-season call-up, right?
OMG CANO!!!
CANO!!!!
_______
For a moment there I though he hit a homerun.
Doreen-
To get on web gems you cannot be lazy or have a loser gene.
CB, does it seem like Burnett has backed off on his speed to get control of his fastball this year?
AJ is throwing heat
97 mph and right were Cisco had the glove, and ump calls a ball.
CB -
For sure.
AJ is bringin the chedder tonight.
Did Jones a favor there with the curveball.
“Who did Cano replace at 2d base? ”
Doreen-
You’re memory is protecting you from bad thoughts.
Tony Womack…
Cano came up in 2005. I forget who he replaced that season but the season before I belive it was Miguel Cairo who saw most of the 2b time in 2004.
CB April 29th, 2010 at 7:53 pm
GB7-
Who was the last second baseman with Cano’s arm?
Cano is just ridiculous.
———————————————————————————————————————-
Manny Trillo. Carbon copies..he and Cano.
# Doreen – GTLU Standings, Updates, Calendar & Rules April 29th, 2010 at 7:55 pm
Who did Cano replace at 2d base?
He was an in-season call-up, right?
———–
Kenny “catch the ball” Lofton?
“Who did Cano replace at 2d base?
He was an in-season call-up, right?”
Tony Womack
He was called up late April 05.
They Just said Hughes best starter in this league?
I keep seeing a lady in the stands that looks like celebrity attorney Gloria Allred:
http://www.fansoffieger.com/allred.jpg
But it could just be a random brunette.
Robby is smooth as silk. This is for you Yankguy, wherever you are. When Robby first came up I couldn’t stop talking about his defense and said I saw him as a future GG. You insisted that his skills as a 2B were “average at best” and he would never develop into an elite 2B because he lacked “natural talent.”
But then you also dismissive of my stance that 1B was an important defensive position, with you saying that anyone could play first.
Way to go.
Wang came up around the same time. Didn’t he throw 6 perfect innings that game?
that game would be his first major league game. my bad.
“They Just said Hughes best starter in this league?”
best 5th starter is what they said I belive.
# CB April 29th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
“Who did Cano replace at 2d base? ”
Doreen-
You’re memory is protecting you from bad thoughts.
Tony Womack…
——
Oops….I got the wrong “bad Yankee.” Lofton was an outfielder. What was I thinking?
atta boy Alex
I think I know who, but I don’t want to embarrass myself if I’m wrong.
Burnett’s pitch count has beem consistant so far, tonight. 16, 15, 17.
“does it seem like Burnett has backed off on his speed to get control of his fastball this year?”
GB7-
I don’t think he is. To me it looks like he’s just been much better about repeating his delivery consistently and not over rotating. He was really a mess out on the mound last year at times.
He wasn’t repeating his mechanics, his release point was varying, etc.
He looks much more collected and staying within himself in his delivery.
Looking at the data – AJ’s average fastball was 94.2. So far this year it’s been 93.6. So it’s really pretty close.
The other think I think he’s done more of in the early going is to use his two seam fastball more than he did early on last year. But I might be misremembering that.
Looking like a gold glove infield all around.
Was it Womack? That was my guess.
Thanks. I really could not recall. But yes, Wang came up about the same time.
Is Betsy here? Anyway, in that video clip I posted, Girardi gave all the credit to Eiland for working with Hughes and getting him to this point. Very nice tribute to the pitching coach.
Watching good defense all around tonight.
MLB question from one broadcaster to the other: I wonder who the Yankee mascot is going to be this year. Last year it was Kate Hudson.
m, are you reading the comments section on tape delay???
Cano!!!
Robbie. Defense. Offense. Total package.
What lightening fast bat he has.
Hip, hip, Cano?!
You Cannot be hotter than CANO!!!
ok Cano is officially freaking me out LOL
GB7-
When is the last time we’ve seen a bat at 2b as good as Cano is right now?
lefty/righty it makes no difference… Cano is playing MVP caliber baseball right now.
That’s Matusz abuse!
(which should rhyme but does not
)
Breaking News:
Robinson Cano Is Believed To Be A Robot. Real Robinson Cano Still Not Found.
Trading Melky away was the best thing to ever happen to Cano’s career. No more goofing around, it’s time to play some baseball.
Nick,
You’re not going to get me to post that acronym no matter how funny you try to be!
2009-Year of the Ox
2010-Year of Cano
DONTCHA KNOW!!!!
Like I said before, I dont care how Marcus Thames does it, he’s getting on base.
While I agree that if Cano hits 40 HR, while changing his approach by just swinging for the fences, it’s not good for the team.
But for Erik Karros to immediately assume that Cano cannot hit 40 HR while maintaining a great approach at the plate is ridiculous!
CANO!
m:
Robbie’s quickly ascending to the next level.
http://baseballsnatcher.mlblogs.com/superstar.jpg
Thames hitting .563 in a reserve role.
I didn’t want him on the team. I was dead wrong.
But I still don’t want him to see the outfield.
That was the first extra base hit Matusz has allowed to a left handed batter all year.
CB April 29th, 2010 at 8:03 pm
“does it seem like Burnett has backed off on his speed to get control of his fastball this year?”
GB7-
I don’t think he is. To me it looks like he’s just been much better about repeating his delivery consistently and not over rotating. He was really a mess out on the mound last year at times.
He wasn’t repeating his mechanics, his release point was varying, etc.
He looks much more collected and staying within himself in his delivery.
Looking at the data – AJ’s average fastball was 94.2. So far this year it’s been 93.6. So it’s really pretty close.
The other think I think he’s done more of in the early going is to use his two seam fastball more than he did early on last year. But I might be misremembering that.
———————————————————————————————————————-
It just seems like there not as much effort in his pitches…more smooth. Maybe it only appears that he’s backed off.
Did you see the answer to the last strong armed 2nd baseman? Manyy Trillo.i
It was an out but much better approach and swing from Granderson that time.
Gotta like the Cisco kid, but geez he has a small head!!!
CB April 29th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
GB7-
When is the last time we’ve seen a bat at 2b as good as Cano is right now?
———————————————————————————————————————-
Other than Utley, probably Ryne Sandberg. I always thought of Jeff Kent as a 3rd baseman playing at 2nd.
Nick,
Never mind.
And I don’t know what the tape delay comment was about.
Tampa is just cruising!
Cano is on his way to MVP voting this year. Hate to say it but maybe trading Melky was indeed good for Cano. And the Yankees. What an infield! What a team!
very weird for gardner to swing at that pitch…he cant do anything with that, that is good
m: The tape delay commmen was in reference to the folks who answered the question already in the comment section here before you gave it a crack. Not much of a joke.
Good luck with your contest? I feel pre-disqualified, whatever it is.
Cano may be the best hitter and fielder on the team, if Tex and Arod ever get going, look out.
In case anyone forgets, Robby hit the field running, so to speak. He was second in voting for rookie or the year his first year and was voted to the All Star Game his second! (but got injured).
I still maintain that he has so much natural talent and is so good at his job that people think he is underperforming a lot of the time because he makes everything look so effortless.
I called him the bomb from the get go. (Doreen, can I put that under perspicacity?)
“It just seems like there not as much effort in his pitches…more smooth. Maybe it only appears that he’s backed off.”
GB7-
Oh I agree with your observation – but I think that appearance of less effort really gets at the improvement in his mechanics.
AJ has always generated ridiculously easy heat. The best I’ve ever seen him throw was the end of 2008 with the Jays. He was just playing catch with the catcher and hitting 94-95 regularly.
So far this year he’s looked much more like he did in 2008 when he was good than the way he looked last year.
He’s much more compact in his delivery. He’s not rotating as aggressively as he turns his back to the hitter. Everything is just more coordinated.
And that definitely makes him look like he isn’t throwing with the same exertion. But the velocity isn’t any different.
Saw the Trujillo comparison. That is very interesting. Never saw him play obviously but I’d always heard he was real good defensively. Didn’t know he had such a good arm.
I think the best 2b arm I saw was Bobby Grich, though I was only a kid when I saw him. He had a very good arm but Cano is much more agile than Grich. Alomar also had a good arm, though I think Cano’s is better. Alomar was a great defensive player. Just brilliant.
Robbie is playing like Rogers Hornsby right now.
Wieters had no chance there…good sequence by AJ.
We need a right hand hitting outfielder. Can’t play both Gardy and Curtis vs leftys, there will be no outfield production.
Trisha -
Sure, why not!
M, I just got back from cheering on the company softball team. I had seen the clip on the Joe G. show, but watched it again earlier. It was a neat clip – Phil and Eiland have been together for awhile, I think 4 or 5 years. He probably knows Phil as well as Phil knows himself.
How’s AJ looking? I have to catch up now, lol
Can I ask what Shatner is arguing about? The ball was on home plate. FAIR!
Trisha
Cano reminds me of Devon White, the ex Blue Jay CF. People always underrated how good he was – especially in the field – because it never really looked like he was trying. What they mistook for lack of passion was that he was so extroadinarly athletically gifted…so graceful and effortless that he was trying but it still looked easy.
We don’t get to see it in games but I hear Mariano is like that as well. Just so unbelievably athletically gifted that even at full effort, it looks effortless.
Ah, I get it. I didn’t refresh before I posted. I fail.
AJ looks very good. So far this has been the best he’s looked this season.
I really hope this is what we’re going to see from him the whole year.
Even for AJ, last year was a poor control year. He walked a lot of guys even for him.
He’s looked so much better to start off this season compared to last.
Trisha, I’m giving you credit for winning the argument with Yankguy.
He is still serving his timeout.
m: your integrity was never in question.
I hate that Avis commercial. I hate the “adjective” “wicked.” A lot.
And, the team ahead of the Yankees in the standings is beating the K.C. Royals 6-0 and looking to add more runs.
That pesty team has got to be stopped.
a really good inning for Burnett. 12 pitches, and still firing under control. 60 on the game. a chance for 7+ innings.
M, who said Phil was the best 5 starter in the league? I don’t even know who all the 5th starters are, lol.
@Doreen:
that commercial is one of my favorites! A timeless classic!
“Who’s ready to rent some cahs?”
It’s frustrating that Tampa keeps winning, but I have to remind myself it’s a long year and we’ll have plenty of chances to beat them. It’s also frustrating that the Sox got nice and healthy against bad teams and now their pitching is settling in (which we knew it would). I hate seeing media pundits say the Rays are the best team in baseball..Ah, I guess I don’t like a lot of things, lol.
Seems like AJ is pitching a very good game; I know he was disappointed in his year last year. I hope he proves everyone wrong about him.
@Nick in SF -
For me it’s like nails on a chalkboard!
Total domination.
Trillo was liquid smooth at 2nd base. He had the same side armed flip to first and a rocket arm when going out to cut off throws. He had the same “lazy” tag as Cano. Trillo played for the Cubs and Phillies, mainly.
Swish just missed that one!
Despite all the hoopla around Cano, this still feels like a game we will lose — afterall, AJ is always on the verge of an implosion.
The thing about Tampa is keep in mind that they’ve had an easy schedule, home a lot, and have yet to slump. There good but it is early.
Guess the currently letter-less acronym?
Mmmmm. Let’s see. Something to do with laughter…. GWCTMF ?
That pitch to Swisher was a great example of why a change up can be such an effective pitch.
Matusz was up in the zone with that change. It was in an awful location. But the change in speed – around 10mph slower than his fastball – had Swisher out on his front foot.
Swisher was able to pull the pitch but had already shifted his weight and couldn’t hit it with real authority.
Most pitches you miss with location that bad and it gets crushed. But that’s what changing velocity while maintaining arm speed does.
# gyhu April 29th, 2010 at 8:30 pm
Despite all the hoopla around Cano, this still feels like a game we will lose — afterall, AJ is always on the verge of an implosion.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————
LoHud quiz!!!!!
What “type” of troll wrote this?
At this point in the season forget useless labels that are thrown out there for starters and think about this. How many starters in the American League would you take on your team ahead of Phil Hughes in terms of expected results this year?
I’d say:
Sabathia
Lester
Beckett
Garza
Shields
Verlander
Hernandez
Lee
Greinke
Anyone else?
Alomar was definitely the gold standard as a defensive 2nd baseman. He had gifts that you can’t teach. smart player who really anticipated where the ball would be hit. It was like Edgar Cayce returned as a 2nd baseman. He also had speed that can’t be taught.
Saying that Melky’s departure is in some way attributing to Cano’s success so far this year is not giving him nearly enough credit and just feeds the ridiculous Pedroia gritty and Cano lazy commentary.
He is a player with great ability who is just now entering his prime and has worked his tail off for 2 years now with Kevin Long. That is why his seems to be putting it all together this year and really all that needs to be said.
Hi…is the score still 2-0? Thanks
Michael Kay is such a nimrod. Mo is a great yankee but second greatest of all time? How could you say that a relief pitcher, no matter how good, is better than Lou Gehrig, Joe D, Mickey, Yogi, Whitey, etc
SAS-
The score is still 2-0. AJ looks like he’s in control of the game so the game feels more distant than the score.
But it is only 2-0. The yanks had Matusz on the ropes that first inning but didn’t hurt him enough. They gave him a chance to settle in and he has.
AJ looks great though.
SAS: Yes.
Yes it is SAS
# Patrick April 29th, 2010 at 8:37 pm
Michael Kay is such a nimrod. Mo is a great yankee but second greatest of all time? How could you say that a relief pitcher, no matter how good, is better than Lou Gehrig, Joe D, Mickey, Yogi, Whitey, etc
Gotta agree with Michael Kay. Mo is on another planet man.
SAS
Yes
2-0 / bottom 5th/ 2 out/
Burnett at 71 pitches.
AJ is really working that fastball…much more efficient than the curve.
RT @RiverAveBlues: Derek Jeter is now the active co-leader in hits. He’s tied with Ken Griffey Jr
1 minute ago via TweetDeck
verrry cool
Thanks for the updates … I so appreciate them. Will be back in NY next Tuesday or Wednesday and then I’ll ask other stupid questions.
That fastball AJ threw to strike out Hughes was an unbelievable pitch. That’s about as good a fastball as a right handed hitter can throw to a left handed hitter.
95 mph and ridiculous arm side run making Hughes lose balance and reach for the pitch.
No chance whatsoever. It looked like the kind of swing LH hitters have off of good change ups from RH pitchers only the pitch was 95.
The things AJ can do out on the mound…
This is the pitcher that the Yankees signed for $82 mil/5 years. Burnett still had a similar year in 2009 as his 2008 was….just not as consistant. Very good and very bad, bit, his playoffs were just fine. He lost a couple of wins because of lack of offense.
Cano missed another lol wooow
can somebody check canos bat lol
Wow Again.
If only the rest of the team could hit this guy!
LOL @ CC’s reaction in the dugout to Cano’s hit….
Lord, what a swing. You could hang a week’s worth of laundry on those line drives.
Thames!!
AL pitchers are having nightmares about pitching to Cano.
This is a guy with no holes in his swing at all. His swing is so perfectly balanced and his hands are so good that he literally cannot be pitched to.
thames =o
Cano gets full credit for doing what he’s doing, but attention must be paid to the organizational decision to insert him in the 5th spot in the lineup.
Well done, brain trust.
I think because of the implosions he had in the ALCS and World Series a lot of people forgot just how well Burnett pitched in the playoffs last year. Everyone remembers how he turned the WS around in game two, but a lot of people forget that he really did pitch exceptionally well in both ALDS Game 2 and ALCS Game 2.
The guy proved last year that he is indeed a gamer and I think he could make a lot better out on that 82 million dollar deal over the next four years than almost any of us thought he would.
Like that!!!!
I hate to admit it
, but Mr. Cano is indeed looking very good both at the plate and in the field!
Thames continuing to prove doubters like me wrong with his bat.
Did he not pull that bunt back in time?
Cano looks like Don Mattingly at the plate right now.
# CB April 29th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Cano looks like Don Mattingly at the plate right now.
Hornsby
The only thing wrong with that double by Cano is that he hit it so hard at there wasn’t enough time to get it in the air.
@Nick in SF
(I don’t really want to open the can of worms again, but I think being willing to put Cano in the #5 is why Matsui was not the priority people thought he’d be.)
Cano really hot now. Hopefully this just continues more and more. Remember when people were doubting he’ll ever live up to his contract. Now nobody has a problem with it. How much do you think he’d get on the market if he continues like this all year and he’s an FA after the year?
Maybe the Rod Carew comparisons weren’t so far off after all… Cano is in a world all by himself right now batting .400
“Cano gets full credit for doing what he’s doing, but attention must be paid to the organizational decision to insert him in the 5th spot in the lineup.”
Letting Matsui go was painful. But this unintended consequence may be one of the positives to emerge from that decision.
AJ has had much better command and is getting ahead much more often early in this season…his stuff is just starting to round into form but if he continues throwing strikes then the Yankees really can match anyones top of the rotation.
WOW This game is on MLB..hip, hip, hooray
Come Gardy….dont make the last out again!!
gardner robbed of at least a double.
Good catch – hung up a little too long? It looked like it was g oing to drop in to me.
Hmmmm, secret design vs. unintended consequence.
Either way, it took faith in Robbie.
Matusz is a very impressive young pitcher. He’s 23. He’s thrown a handful of games and is really keeping his composure out there and executing pitches when he needs to.
He just ran into a red hot hitter tonight. But other than that he’s been very impressive.
The AL East is packed with good young pitching. And the O’s are going to be able to draft another good one this June.
He may be cute but he’s not too bright….
Ledger_Yankees Markakis just said that The Price is Right Theme was from Wheel of Fortune. Unreal.
There really is nowhere to pitch Cano. You hear about quarterbacks that can make all the throws…well Cano can hit all the pitches. The only way to pitch him is to try and get him to chase, which pitchers have been successful at in past years.. this year he is starting to take that away as well..if he continues with that approach he really has no limit..he has Manny type natural hiting ability.
Jeter would have caught that one if he hadn’t been afraid of getting dirty.
at least that’s what about players who don’t dive for grounders.
Letting Matsui go was painful. But this unintended consequence may be one of the positives to emerge from that decision.
———————————————————————————————————–
Also overlooked is the fact that the lines at the Stadium sushi stand is much shorter now. Really, you’re in and out now.
at least that’s what ***I hear ***about players who don’t dive for grounders
Great stop.
GB7-
When AJ is locked in like he is right now what pitcher does he remind you of?
I’m trying to think of a guy who can generate velocity so easily and at the same time generate so much life and movement on the ball while at the same time having that great hook?
I can’t think of a real good comparison. He is a really different guy.
That was a really great stop by Cervelli on that ball in the dirt. He has great feet for a catcher.
come on dp on a sinker AJ
I hope the O’s get good soon so they can’t draft any more pitchers, lol. ‘Tis true the East has a ton of good young pitchers; how I wish Joba could make it as a starter so we’d have two top young pitchers…..
GC, people remember AJ’s game 5 implosions, but without his game 2 WS, there’s a good chance the WS never gets back to NY. Some people will always be disappointed with him, but he works hard and is a great teammate. You just live with his quirks because he’s a good pitcher.
It seems to really come and go quickly for AJ…hopefully it hasn’t gone.
Cano’s turning a player that can “carry” a team when he’s hot.
almost
Ouch, that’s awul English by me; I repeated one word 3 times in the span of one paragraph, lol
Just sad.
Michael Kay is trying to jinx us as usual. “It feels like a blowout, but this game is really close”
It doesnt feel like a blowout!
Despite all the hoopla around Cano, this still feels like a game we will lose — afterall, AJ is always on the verge of an implosion.
?????????????????????????????????????????????????
hmmmmm
Good gracious Wieters is slow. It looks like he is fighting himself running down the line.
AJ threw a great two seamer with nice movement and sink to weiters and got almost exactly what he needed.
The pitch was almost too good as Weiters just made awful contact and hit the ball too slowly.
Who would have guessed that with one less start, Andy Pettitte would have more strikeouts than AJ Burnett?
He just knew he hit a three run bomb
pistol pete April 29th, 2010 at 8:18 pm
We need a right hand hitting outfielder. Can’t play both Gardy and Curtis vs leftys, there will be no outfield production.
——————————————————————————–
Last time I checked Marcus Thames was hitting .588 with an OBP above .600.
Swisher’s a swith hitter and Thames right-handed…..
CB April 29th, 2010 at 8:58 pm
GB7-
When AJ is locked in like he is right now what pitcher does he remind you of?
I’m trying to think of a guy who can generate velocity so easily and at the same time generate so much life and movement on the ball while at the same time having that great hook?
I can’t think of a real good comparison. He is a really different guy.
———————————————————————————————————————-
From years ago, a young Jim Palmer, or, recently, probably Halladay. Nothing is straight this year.
This article says the Yankees worry about everyone except CC:
http://web.sny.tv/news/article.....38;vkey=10
Gardy and Grandy 0 for 6 vs the lefty. We cannot keep these two playing together vs a lefty. Gardy may hit them a little better but has zero power and poor Grandy just absolutely can’t hit leftys, never has, never will. We need to get a right handed bat to play the outfield vs leftys. Thames is a great righty vs leftys as a dh but is a disaster in the field. Unfortunately Johnson has no defensive flexibility and can only play first so Girardi’s lineup has little flexibility. If we get a bat and Tex and Arod get going the offense will be scarry. Right now it’s sputtering.
aj got lucky in the 6th though
Great pitching by AJ there. He executed the pitches he needed to with runner son base.
The key to that inning was how he got ahead with first pitch strikes to both Wieters and Tejada.
He threw a great two seamer to weiters and generated the groung ball to SS. Weiters was already down 0-1 and took a very defensive swing.
Then he came back and threw strike one to Tejada. That ball Tejada hit was a mistake – it was up in the zone. But AJ has so much life on the ball Tejada couldn’t do much with the pitch hitting it to the deep part of the park.
But if AJ fell behind 1-0 to Tejada I think he would have done more damage to a fastball up in the zone. He would have been able to take a more aggressive pitch and looked to pull the ball.
The neat thing about playing the Orioles is that Jim Palmer is usually around to talk to. Today he was talking to Phil and then Mo (during which Phil was listening in). That would be quite an education,listening to those men talk pitching.
Jeter has been hacking away this season. He only has 3 walks. Robinson Cano has 6.
Robbie consistently squares up the ball better than anybody in baseball….If he stays committed to this level of strike zone discipline he will have a season like Tony Gwynn in ’94 only with 30+hr power production.
As CB said he is right now simply the most dangerous hitter in the league as he has the perfect combo of strike zone discipline, pitch recognition, bat speed and consistent “true” contact on the sweet spot that right now he has no holes in his swing.
It will only get better for him when Tex and ARod wake up because he’ll constantly be coming to the plate with multiple men on base and the pitcher in deep s H I t!!! and in the zone that he’s in now it won’t even be a fair fight…
yuck
Amazing how consistently deep the Yankees starters have gone in games so far this season.
As long as the starters pitch like they have been, we can live with the “weak” hitting OF.
What’s your solution, pistol pete? Ineligible answers include Matsui, Damon, and Dye.
The orioles pen is really bad. Surprised the yankees haven’t done more damage against them.
The team is very lucky that Cano and Posada have been so hot. Those two and the starting rotation have carried this team through the most difficult month they’ll have all year.
Does anyone think Yankee pitchers are making an effort to pitch to contact more this year?
Weak hitting OF? Sure, Gardner has no power, but Granderson and Swisher absolutely do. I don’t think the Yankees need to make any moves.
What is Robbie Cano’s chances of winning Player of the Month?
He’s probably getting alot of supporters for the AL 2B at the All Star Game.
Is there a way to find out what the average innings per start has been for the Yanks’ SP? The only games where the pitcher has left early have been Javy’s starts………..fortunately, because the pen has been iffy.
The Yankees really just have been in an offensive funk since Phil’s game in Oakland; even beforehand, it was only a few players doing the heavy lifting. Kay was talking about that today, about how Yankee fans should be ecstatic because of the team’s record and that they haven’t even played well. I beg to differ in the sense that up until the last game in Oakland, the Yanks have played extremely well. You can’t just say that most of the hitters haven’t hit, so therefore the team is playing badly. The team consists of more than 4 or 5 players….
Captain’s,
That’s pistol pete’s opinion, not mine. I love this roster and the way Girardi is using it.
No offense in support of Stoneburner in Charleston. he had a bad 4th inning with a leadoff triple and a homer on the first two pitches of the inning.
6 innings, 5 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts.
Here’s the game day box in Scranton’s win.
Russo continues to hit and McAllister was very good in a no decision
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.....a_swbaaa_1
Coming into this game, Yankee starters were averaging just under 6 1/3 innings per start.
Saying Robbie will hit .390+ this year is a pretty bold prediction on its own, but with 30 HR power also would be an historically great season.
Cano looks amazing so far this year but I think we need to temper our expectations a bit.
Somebody posted that the HR by Cano was only the first(?) extra base hit of Matusz this season. So, people will complain that Gardner and Granderson aren’t hitting him? Seems like he’s a pretty darn good pitcher against lefties. I wouldn’t worry about it so much, considering that Gardner was hitting better than .300 against lefties before today.
trenton lost in a slugfeast as Mitchell got hammered. Laird and Brewer are heating up. Romine had the day off.
Here’s the final box.
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.....a_swbaaa_1
Captain’s Blog, thanks! That seems like a very strong number……..
GB, thanks for the info! Romine probably didn’t want the day off, lol, as he’s been hot as a pistol.
Tampa yanks won and Noesi was outstanding with 0 walks and 13 strikeouts in 6 innings.
here’s the final box.
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.....a_tbyafa_1
“Is there a way to find out what the average innings per start has been for the Yanks’ SP? ”
Coming into today yankee starters were averaging 6.4 innings per start (this is accounting for the 6 inning rained out start CC had).
That is phenomenal length. That is tied for first in the AL for most innings by the starting staff.
Tampa is also getting 6.4 innings per game from their starters.
And with the yankees that 6.4 per start includes Javy’s starts obviously. And Javy obviously has given great length year in and out of his entire career.
When Javy turns it around this staff is going to be unbelievable. On top of the length, the yankees are 4th in the AL in ERA (and this also of course includes Javy’s ERA of 9).
“What is Robbie Cano?s chances of winning Player of the Month?”
Oh I bet they’re very very good.
And whoever said that one of the best things that happened to Robby was Melky being traded, I certainly understand that perspective. This may be a little out of the box but I’m thinking that Robby got some of the focus religion when Melky was traded because it verified to him that those who don’t produce disappear – or something.
Castillo has been great for the O’s. This AB will be interesting.
Cano!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ha ha ha
cano is really locked in.
maybe he doesn’t want to be called lazy anymore
Man, Cano…
What else can you say about Cano?????
“I DON’T BELIEVE WHAT I JUST SAW” – Jack Buck
ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME !!! Robbie Cano!
anyone else bowing down to Cano right now? Wow.
OH MY ACHING BACK.
Kryptonite is this kid’s snack cake!
HOLY S***
Thats like his 3rd HR of the game (with that double included)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CANO NO NO NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Robbie Cano….wow!!!
he just off the charts
i like the looks Hughes an Vazquez were giving Cano on the bench.
Cano’s ability to clear his hips through the ball so smoothly is just breathtaking.
Maybe Robby has been secretively been dating Kate Hudson?
NO! Keep the loser gene away from Robi!
kd April 29th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
cano is really locked in.
maybe he doesn’t want to be called lazy anymore
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It shouldn’t have been said in the first place. immature, maybe, but not lazy.
Nice matchup, Trembley
tough lefty versus Cano
Robbie’s smile tells all
I’m home!!!!
Dear Melky,
STAY AWAY!
I’M AWESOME,
Brandon Awesome
# Tom in N.J. April 29th, 2010 at 9:31 pm
i like the looks Hughes an Vazquez were giving Cano on the bench.
———–
Were they “why can’t you do this when I pitch” looks?
I hope that when Robby cools off a little (he will, there is no way anyone can continue to rip the ball like this all season) this blog remembers that he can put up numbers like this with or without RISP.
Erica – to catch you up, Robinson Cano is insane!!!!
Cano’s swag is at a high request for his new batting music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht1RQbSAcSY
“Nice matchup, Trembley”
With cano being so hot what exactly was Trembley thinking?
Did he really think playing match up baseball with Cano was going to help?
Matusz – the best pitcher on the O’s – is very tough against lefites. LH hitters have hit .216 against Matusz over his short career.
And Cano just destroyed Matusz.
Albers was throwing very well. He was throwing hard and with good movement.
And Trembley takes out the guy throwing well to play match up ball with a guy who could care less if a lefty, righty or martian is throwing the ball.
NYY626 – Go Andy! April 29th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
Erica – to catch you up, Robinson Cano is insane!!!!
************
Excellent!!!!!
I managed to find the Sports Illustrated on my way home.
And I witness the office softball team’s first ever doubleheader sweep!
I hope Cano’s red hot hitting carries into the homestand. I bet he’s salivating to hit in Yankee Stadium.
Jim Palmer had an interesting comment about AJ a couple of innings ago-he said Dave Eiland has been getting AJ to challenge hitters more this year in the middle of the strike zone instead of nibbling. This way he gets ahead early in the count and can expand the strikezone later-it’s obviously working, he’s just cruising tonight and has been a different pitcher from last year.
I just wish Tex and Arod were getting on base more during Cano’s hot streak.
Cano’s shooting star
Kirk’s evasive maneuvers
Bring O’s more tribbles
Robinson Cano
beyond lefty-righty games
bring on the Martian!
“Maybe Robby has been secretively been dating Kate Hudson?”
lol…i throughly enjoyed that
MG-
Unfortunately memories are all too short. You know that.
I’d guess that at some point this season Cano will be back to being called “lazy,” etc. by some in the fanbase.
I’d actually be surprised if that didn’t happen.
Cano was just smiling in the dug out. Under even slightly different circumstances people would point to stupid things like that to criticize Robbi.
Ah, the master is back!
Welcome, Dynasty.
113 pitches for AJ. I’m suprised Joe leave him in.
The 11 ground ball outs is what’s been impressive.
Hell of a job by AJ
AJ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nice job by AJ.
Dynasty,
Big typo on your blog
wow bad spelling by me *thoroughly*
fantastic job by AJ
Lost in the night because of Robbie’s performance is AJ.
That’s about as good as he has pitched for the Yankees.
Very quietly, he’s off to a great start so far this year.
Burnett is a better pitcher pitching to Cervelli, truth be told the entire staff would improve if he were the primary catcher. We would suffer a power outage from the catching position offensively but could use Jorge as a DH/part time catcher and trade Johnson for a more flexible right handed bat that could play the outfield. Johnson really ties up Girardi’s flexibility, is always hurt , slow, and a lousy 2 hole hitter.
Erica – always OPPC – Sesame Street Mafia and GTLU supporter April 29th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
NYY626 – Go Andy! April 29th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
Erica – to catch you up, Robinson Cano is insane!!!!
************
Excellent!!!!!
I managed to find the Sports Illustrated on my way home.
And I witness the office softball team’s first ever doubleheader sweep!
_________________________________________________________________________
The SI interview is great. And congrats to the softball team!! I wish that my company had a team. Not that I’ve played since 8th grade lol, but I’d give it a go….
AJ pitched a great game on a night where the non-cano offense just wasn’t there.
Great example of how valuable starting pitching is.
As long as the starting pitcher was good the team was able to take command of the game with only 2 of the nine guys in the line up doing much.
Dynasty
LMAO!!!!
It’s the Orioles’ Trials and Tribble-ations!!
“It shouldn?t have been said in the first place. immature, maybe, but not lazy.”
Absolutely correct. One of the things Robby said after he was benched was that thing that hurt him the most was hearing people say that he was lazy. He said that he never let down. He might not have been getting the results but it wasn’t from lack of trying.
Stupid ass fans.
MLB just mentioned that AJ keeps rolling along on his road tour – I think they said tour – and pointed out that he was 7-0 on the road going back to last season.
What was one of the big bugaboos for AJ last season? He couldn’t pitch on the road.
CB, you’re right but not our’s, that’s for sure. Robby’s my 2nd baseman for the next 10 years and that hasn’t changed since 2006. There is no timetable for a young player becoming a true star-I think the Yankees have two of them blossoming this year-Robby and Phil Hughes, who I think has started his breakout year as a starter.
i think curtis might be the one to be platoon. brett smoked the ball twice last 2 at at bats
Why is Shatner changing pitchers again??? You were content to leave Jim Johnson in for 3 innings, and nearly lose a 3 run lead as a result!
gardy joins the party…that could of been his 2nd double (or 1st double after a triple) if not for a really nice catch by reimold earlier
NYY626 – Go Andy! April 29th, 2010 at 9:42 pm
The SI interview is great. And congrats to the softball team!! I wish that my company had a team. Not that I’ve played since 8th grade lol, but I’d give it a go….
**************
I don’t play. I cheerlead.
And I take full credit for the second win. We were down by 4 and I had some of the players children sitting around me (ages 3-5). In an effort to amuse them with one out, I taught them the “We want a hit” chant.
The efforts worked and we wound up batting around that inning and scoring 9 runs.
I called the kids my little rally monkies…
Gardner does OK vs lefties; seems they keep throwing curve/slider down and away to him and he is pushing them into left field.
“The 11 ground ball outs is what’s been impressive.”
When AJ is at his best hitters just don’t get any lift off the ball. He generates large numbers of ground balls.
When he’s right he’s generating around 48-50% ground balls. That’s
That was actually one of the major things that happened with AJ last year that really hurt him. He only generated 42% ground balls. The year before for Toronto he was at 49% grounders.
This year he’s back to doing what he usually does – before today his ground ball rate was 47%.
pistol pete April 29th, 2010 at 9:42 pm
Burnett is a better pitcher pitching to Cervelli, truth be told the entire staff would improve if he were the primary catcher. We would suffer a power outage from the catching position offensively but could use Jorge as a DH/part time catcher and trade Johnson for a more flexible right handed bat that could play the outfield. Johnson really ties up Girardi’s flexibility, is always hurt , slow, and a lousy 2 hole hitter.
———————————————————————————————————————-
Yeah. it’s pretty obvious just how bad the pitching staff has suffered over the years with Posada catching.
Erica – rally monkies are
but thats cute lol
And Andy and Hughes have just been awful throwing to Jorge as well, what’s their combined ERA’s-1.5?
“i think curtis might be the one to be platoon. brett smoked the ball twice last 2 at at bats”
He didn’t get the results tonight but Granderson had several good at bats tonight against lefty pitching.
His at bats to me against lefties have generally looked good. He doesn’t need to be great against lefties – if he hits .250 against them that will be fine.
Curtis is just in an overall slump right now. If he keeps having these kinds of at bats he’ll be fine against lefties.
Posada’s a boarder line hall of fame catcher.
yea hopefully, that dp was a line drive.
i hope he can hit them
CB April 29th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
“The 11 ground ball outs is what’s been impressive.”
When AJ is at his best hitters just don’t get any lift off the ball. He generates large numbers of ground balls.
When he’s right he’s generating around 48-50% ground balls. That’s
That was actually one of the major things that happened with AJ last year that really hurt him. He only generated 42% ground balls. The year before for Toronto he was at 49% grounders.
This year he’s back to doing what he usually does – before today his ground ball rate was 47%.
———————————————————————————————————————-
Those grounders will get him int the 7th and 8th innings a lot more than the strikeouts. All he needs for the rest of his career is the well-placed strikeout and a lot of ground outs. Strikeouts are pretty numbers bit fewer walks and lower strikeouts worked pretty well for Wang. Imagine a healthy Wang instead of Vazquez, though I still think that Vazquez bounces back with 15-16 wins and a low 4.00 ERA with 200 innings and close to 200 strikeouts.
Hey guys !
Pistol Pete why are you talking about Posada. The guy hasn’t done anything wrong so far. And the pitching staff has been just fine with him behind the plate.
CB Grandy’s not going to hit 250 vs leftys he’s only a 250 hitter combined. Just exactly what at bats are you talking about when Grandy looked good vs the leftys. Yankee fans need to get their heads out of the sand, I love Grandy and he’s an improvement over Melky but let’s face it he can’t hit leftys, can’t plain and simple, look at the stats, they don’t lie.
92. Heat baby.
“We don?t get to see it in games but I hear Mariano is like that as well. Just so unbelievably athletically gifted that even at full effort, it looks effortless.”
GGBG, I don’t think there is a better way to express it. It almost defies description.
Squeezed
Cano is unreal right now
the team is 14-7 after tonight with 2/3 of the games on the road, a tough schedule, Teix, Johnson and Granderson not hitting, Arod not hitting particularly well, Vazquez stinking it up, the bullpen sucking, and Girardi overmanaging. Any other complaints?
Pistol Pete thought Curtis Granderson was a switch hitter.
That is all you really need to know about him.
93. nasty cutter.
CB, thanks for that info! The SP has really been tremendous (darn it, Tampa!), and when Javy gets going – look out! If Phil can give us length (as he continues as a starter), wow.
I took a shower and missed Cano again – AND the looks Javy/Phil gave him; I’ll have to catch that on replay.
I am sooooooo proud of AJ. How odd – he’d had such a poor spring and here he is pitching as good as he’s ever pitched.
LGY,
Thanks, but can you be more specific?
AJ Burnett basically throws two pitches (3 if you want to differentiate the two seam and four seam fastball).
Tonight AJ just had his great fastball. No one was going to hit it. No one. He threw 76% fastballs.
Think about that. The pitcher threw 76% fastballs. That’s amazing. The O’s might not be good but very few pitchers could throw fastballs 3 out of every 4 pitches without the other team catching up eventually.
AJ is fortunately one of those guys who has so much life on his fastball he can just keep throwing it and no one is going to square it up.
When he’s off he can be very bad. But when he’s on he’s just great.
And tonight he was clearly on.
How hard do people actually think it is to be a catcher on a night like tonight. The pitcher throws 2 pitches and he’s throwing one of them 76% of the time.
As a catcher you’re putting down 1 finger and catching the ball. AJ wasn’t nibbling tonight. There were no strikes to delicately “frame.”
It’s amazing. AJ just blew threw the O’s and people seriously think it was due to Cervelli?
It’s just beyond belief and completely short changes AJ and his talent.
Hey get off pistol pete. He is entitled to his opinion. No need to be nasty about it just because you don
Hey get off pistol pete. He is entitled to his opinion. No need to be nasty about it just because you don
Hey get off pistol pete. He is entitled to his opinion. No need to be nasty about it just because you don
ballgame!
absolutely zero offense tonight for Charleston. Not a great game for Stoneburner, but, if that’s the worst he doesm he’ll win more often than lose.
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.....x_crdafx_1
because you don’t agree.
Maybe the fourth time will be the charm.
LGY So do you think Grandy will hit leftys well, if you do you’re nuts, after about 6 yrs hitting 211 lifetime things won’t change.
Kim again w/ sexual advances to Robi
Keep on plucking that chicken!
Pistol Pete
Why are you so negative? You sound like a Red Sox fan. I’ve never seen one positive post from you.
Can jete and cano have their little love fest after every game? Cause I quite enjoy them….
Well, they won the “must win” game some have said this was.
That means they get to play tomorrow! Yay!!!
Let’s just be happy with the win and forget the negative nancies……..
Dynasty,
Javy’s last name is spelled with 2 z’s. Vazquez.
Posada in my opinion will be a HOF catcher the rings and the resume make him a HOF’er he has the best total resume of any catcher in his era
SJ44 April 29th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Well, they won the “must win” game some have said this was.
That means they get to play tomorrow! Yay!!!
*************
You mean the 141 games to follow still matter? Whew!!!!!
“It’s the Orioles’ Trials and Tribble-ations!!”
Good one, CR9!
The next game is also a must win. I hope these guys are not celebrating; they should be all business. They have a whole season to play before they are allowed to be happy
If Dynasty were to say hai to everyone, would that he a hai coup?
good win!
The funny thing about the 10 greatest Yankees by WSJ is there’s no pitcher. LOL
Baseball articles on WSJ? oh, no.
Damned, K. Jones? What else is there to say about those two homers? They were screaming line drives. It’s scary, but, that double may have been it harder than the homers. Is it possible than anybody asks more inane questions than her? A junior high school newspaper reporter asks more poignant questions.
New thread
new post
Can´t wait to go the the game tomorrow.
Can somebody tell me where I can get some quality anointing oils for Robbie´s feet?
Jeremy,
They aren’t 21-0. That makes some people angry and negative.
Well this was a good game. Burnett continue to pitch well and Cano is on fire.
SJ44 April 29th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Well, they won the “must win” game some have said this was.
That means they get to play tomorrow! Yay!!!
———————————————————————————————————————-
yeah, but, tomorrow really is “A must win” game. the rest have just been pretend must win games.
LGY,
Thanks–will fix that!
No problem dude.
If you want to put me on the payroll, I will edit your posts.
I’m sorry for Melky fans…but we should have gotten rid of him for some time now.
Jeremy I’m not negative just realistic. When I hear nonsense like Grandy had good at bats vs leftys I need to comment. I’ve said it in nearly every post that Grandy is an improvement over Melky and I supported the trade but I hate Yankee schills that aren’t realistic. He can’t his leftys, we’re weak vs leftys with Gardy and Grandy in the lineup together, what’s wrong with that, it’s the truth.