On a rough day, Martin makes a good impression
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Mar 18, 2011 
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According to the numbers, this was an awful day for Russell Martin. The new Yankees catcher allowed three stolen bases, he let a third strike get past him, he threw a ball into the outfield, and he was charged with a passed ball. Bad day, right?
“I actually thought he did a pretty good job,” Joe Girardi said. “He must have blocked 48 out of 49 balls.”
A.J. Burnett said the same thing. Burnett was actually impressed with his new catcher this afternoon. Burnett said the stolen bases were because he was slower to the plate than usual (Girardi confirmed this), and Burnett also had his curveball going this afternoon, which meant a lot of balls in the dirt. One of them got past Martin — that was the strike three that turned into a run — and the other pitch to the backstop was a fastball that Martin tried to frame to steal a strike. Martin said he tried to get “a little bit too cute” and let the pitch glance off his glove. Burnett joked with him that it didn’t matter because everyone in the stadium would assume it was Burnett’s fault.
“He’s done good,” Burnett said. “He’s learned what I like to do, what I want to do and he puts that four-finger pitch (the changeup) down. That’s going to help me out this year. He’s doing well.”
Martin seems to be building a strong reputation with the Yankees pitching staff. Today he told Girardi that he wants to catch Freddy Garcia and CC Sabathia this weekend, just to get a little more time with them. He also wants to catch Phil Hughes next week because he’s worked with Hughes only once this spring.
The Yankees are also breaking in a new backup behind the plate, but Martin said he has an advantage over the young guys because his big league experience makes it easier to adjust at this level.
“I have a bigger sample of past pitchers to kind of reflect on that are kind of similar,” Martin said. “A big part of it is knowing the hitters and how big league hitters approach the game, and knowing the different types of hitters. It’s a process. You never stop learning.”
Associated Press photo of Martin with Brett Gardner
At least he’s not injured .
Or maybe I spoke too soon . Let’s wait until tomorrow and see .
Hope he’s not hurting .
And in Red Sox camp – Saltalamacchia had what one scout characterized as the best inning ever, as he completed every single throw back to the pitcher without bouncing one!
All these Spring Training injuries have moved the Yankees’ season over/under win total from 92.5 to 92.5.
“Too small a sample size, White noise.”
So I say months is a significant sample size. Then say remember Montero’s first two months, and this what you come up with?
I’d wait until LGY gets back…
Oh Lord. Martin’s been around Cashman and Girardi too much, “It’s a process.”
A new Lohud contest is in the wind. How many times will “It’s a Process” be uttered by the Yankees in 2011?
“All these Spring Training injuries have moved the Yankees’ season over/under win total from 92.5 to 92.5.”
That’s downright Stuckian.
Pedroia homers, but errors plague Red Sox
Buchholz allows one earned run, struggles with mechanics
MYERS, Fla. — Home runs from Brennan Boesch, Ryan Raburn and Andy Dirks lifted the Tigers to an 8-3 victory over the Red Sox on Friday afternoon at City of Palms Park.
Raburn’s three-run homer in the fifth inning was his third of the spring and second in as many days.
Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz was well off his mark from the get-go, walking the first batter of the game and allowing baserunners in all but one of the four-plus innings he worked in.
Clay Buchholz allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks. (Brita Meng Outzen/Red Sox)
“I struggled with command with every pitch,” Buchholz said. “I could never get comfortable on the mound. [I was] trying to make adjustments with my release point and went to both ends of the spectrum. [It's] definitely not one of my best outings.”
After Dustin Pedroia’s first homer of the spring put the Sox up 1-0 in the first inning off Max Scherzer, Boesch hit a leadoff homer three pitches into the second. It was Boesch’s second of the Grapefruit League season.
Buchholz worked around two singles to start the third and retired the side in order in the fourth, but he couldn’t record an out in the fifth. Overall, he allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks.
As shaky as Buchholz looked, the Red Sox’s corner infielders were just as culpable in the fifth. The Tigers put up a four-spot in the frame, which started with a single from Scott Thorman that Adrian Gonzalez couldn’t handle at first.
Kevin Youkilis was charged an error on the next play, which allowed Austin Jackson to reach and ended Buchholz’s day. Gonzalez made another error two batters later, and then Raburn followed with his homer off Hideki Okajima to give Detroit a 5-1 lead.
Fighting for a left-handed relief spot in Boston’s bullpen, it wasn’t a good day for Okajima or Dennys Reyes, the latter of whom was wild in his one inning of work.
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This isn’t good at this point. The S*x paid HOW MUCH for Adrian Gonzalez?
Their pitching is in the toilet. I’m not feeling real good about their chances this season.
” Burnett joked with him that it didn’t matter because everyone in the stadium would assume it was Burnett’s fault.”
This is why AJ is so hard to hate.
Get better, Gardner. We need your wheels out there.
I think ill take this post over Heyman’s no nothing tweet.
I love the rain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....re=related
” Angle of Repose ”
Always have wondered what that book is about .
m March 18th, 2011 at 6:37 pm
” Burnett joked with him that it didn’t matter because everyone in the stadium would assume it was Burnett’s fault.”
This is why AJ is so hard to hate.
Get better, Gardner. We need your wheels out there.
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I have a soft spot for our troubled pitcher, AJ.
This outing doesn’t sound all that bad to me. Sounds like AJ was working that curve ball. He was being deliberate with Martin not getting enough time to throw. It’ll get ironed out. Keep the change up, get his nasty curve in shape and it’ll all be good. The fact that he has no walks is a good sign.
Give Gardy time to heal. We need Brett the Jet. He should have told Girardi before hand and sat out this game.
OFF TOPIC…..
Charlie Sheen is doing a one man show around the country in theaters and they are selling out?
I can understand someone being drawn to watch a train wreck but can’t understand paying $50 to do it.
Bucholz struggling, Gonzalez making errors, Youklis making errors, Reyes stinking, Okajima giving up homers. Beckett dropped to 4th in the rotation.
How much worse can it get!
http://www.smileyvault.com/alb.....ed-065.gif
Chad
How did Brackman look? Any comments on him from Girardi?
AJ is fine and will continue to be fine. No problem with AJ.
Book it.
“How did Brackman look?”
Tall.
“Any comments on him from Girardi?”
“Tall.”
“Any comments on him from Girardi?”
I thought Bracky threw the ball great for us.
“Bracky ” ???
Brackman: “It’s a process…I expect to throw better as time goes on.”
Cashman: “It’s a process….first I start with draft beers…that add whiskey shots–which I drop into the beer glasses…next I move on to taquila shots…by then, the old women in the bar are looking pretty good to me–if you know what I mean….What io I think of Brackman? No, that would require a lot more alcohol.”
is it just me or is manban more consistent than aj?
don’t get me wrong, i don’t think he should break north with the team, but he’s really shown something this spring
kd March 19th, 2011 at 4:07 am
is it just me or is manban more consistent than aj?
____________________
You are both more consistent.
Consistent? How do you measure consistency in baseball?
AJ had problems today, but he still hasn’t walked a batter in 13 innings this spring. That’s a great stat for someone who ranked low in that area last season.
I have high hopes for CC, Hughes, Burnett, and Nova in the rotation. That might end up as one of the best units in the league this year. Nova’s new slider is really interesting.
Out with: “The New York Yankees: Pride, Power, Pinstripes”
In with: “The New York Yankees… It’s A Process”
I can hear Michael Kay now….
i was talking about his pitching proficiency. this is not an actual statistical measurement, what i mean is when a pitcher tries to throw a specific pitch, the percentage of time it’s goes where he wants it to be. nor example, a high and low and away fastball. it just seems to me that manban is more accurate than aj.
don’t get me wrong. i agree that aj has a top 10 arm. he just needs top ten accuracy.
in my non-professional opinion, manban is more accurate. therefore, he’s more consistent.
I was just thinking that by almost any definition or measurement, almost any pitcher is more consistent than AJ.
You might want to raise the bar there.
JF–It’s a cutter/slider or culider
Of couse Kay will make it all about him and his personal life…
Kay: “It was a process…In order to get Jody to marry me, I had to convince her I was AROd and wealthy….”
I’m going back to sleep…good night morning people…
Nova’s slider challenges pitch type by grip type. Should pitches simply be judged by the end result or the intent behind the pitch? By all accounts Nova has failed at throwing a cutter, but the by product is a pretty good slider. For Nova, I would think you’d just say he throws a slider and be done with it. But how about all those different fastballs which don’t quite end up how they should?
Randy gets his panties in a twist because of the fastball bucket, but suppose a pitcher throws a 4-seam and a sinker and for a game he throws a bunch of sinkers and some of them don’t sink and end up classified as 4-seams. Technically they’re just really bad sinkers.
Nova throws a really bad cutter that happens to be an excellent slider.
Good morning, morning people.
I think Lohud is trying to tell us something….
*****
I think I have a draft “strategy,” but here’s my question: how do you pick a team when you don’t know who the other 13 people are going to pick? Or, rather, you pretty much know who everyone WOULD pick for the most part, and it’s the same as yours?
And I realized that the draft process alone is going to take about 5 hours. And I only “realized” that because my husband asked. I was focused on picking players, that’s it!
And as far as injury reports go, how much emphasis do you put on that? Do you avoid drafting a player who has been on the report but the report says, “expected to be ready opening day?” Exactly what is a serious enough injury to keep a guy from getting drafted (aside from out and out being on the DL)?
And what happens if you can’t set your team for a week? (I’m vacationing the first week of the baseball season and I did NOT want to have to bring electronics this time.)
******
Is Brett Gardner going to be okay?
Is Lohud fixed now?
And what’s the deal with this fantasy magazine? They take points away if a batter strikes out, yet they don’t give SO totals in their player information. Nor do they give the number of walks, which you get a point for.
Doreen March 19th, 2011 at 7:38 am
And what’s the deal with this fantasy magazine? They take points away if a batter strikes out, yet they don’t give SO totals in their player information. Nor do they give the number of walks, which you get a point for.
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Doreen, think of your draft issues this way. You’re having a better time than some posters are having after every ST loss or minor twinge. At least, you’re normal.
Good morning
Doreen, the draft won’t take 5 hours because most people don’t take the entire time to pick. And I think I’ll change it to 45 seconds between picks.
Unless you are 1st, you really don’t know who is available. That’s why if you have a pre-set list, you need to edit it as we draft.
It is fun though, you’ll see
Doreen,
When in doubt …pick Yankees
GB7 -
I can’t get worked up over spring training games. I’ve paid about 50% attention to them.
I almost dred reading this board after the first regular season looss, or, God forbid, first 2 game losing streak. At least the trolls are somewhat humorous, although annoying. The regulars tend to get just plain stupid. There are 3-4 players that should they start slowly will really bring out the lunacy.
YankeesPR Yankees PR Dept.
by AnthonyMcCarron
NYY Lineup vs. TOR (1:05pm at GMS Field – YES/WCBS) Jeter 6 Martin 2 Teixeira 3 Rodriguez 5 Cano 4 Posada 0 Jones 9 Nunez 7 Mesa 8 Garcia 1
I almost dred reading this board after the first regular season looss
*******************
GB,
The Yanks are going to loose a game this season? I thought they are supposed to go 162-0.
Running out for a manicure. Catch you all later.
Interesting to see that Nunez is getting the starting job in left field.
GB7 -
I’m not going to follow game threads this year (unless they’re winning). And I’ll probably avoid “morning after” loss threads, too. It’s just not good for my mental health. After so many years here, I finally realize, people want to rant and vent and it’s best to let them do it and not try and talk them through. Different strokes for different folks, you know?
Too many times last year there was pitch by pitch battering. If you believed half the junk written, I don’t know how the Yankees managed to win a single game.
LOL. Doreen, I should probably do the same, but, I like train wrecks. I satisfy my sick fetishes with my electric train sets.
I think Nunez is coming north with the team.
pat March 18th, 2011 at 6:51 pm
OFF TOPIC…..
Charlie Sheen is doing a one man show around the country in theaters and they are selling out?
I can understand someone being drawn to watch a train wreck but can’t understand paying $50 to do it
================
I booked one show at RCMH in April and the tickets sold quickly, then a second show was added. It is called ‘ My Violent Torpedo of Truth’. I am donating $ 1.00 of every ticket sold to the Red Cross for Japan disaster relief. I will be touring all over the U.S. doing these shows, about two dozen in all, it will be a riot.
WINNING ! !
http://www.nydailynews.com/gos.....r=ny_local
LO HUD IS BACK…HOORAY.
Good morning morning people. I didn’t sleep much last night, and I may try again.
45 seconds to pick a player; I will have a panic attack. After the first half of picks, it’s iffy. Oh well, what everybody wants to do.
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GB, et al, I missed you all last night. Even if I don’t post, I often read the comments, but it seems silly to say something just for the sake of it.
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There has been very little said about Andruw Jones. Does that mean he is not going to make it with the team, especially with Nunez playing outfield.
GB7 -
A la Gomez Addams?? LOL
aj being erratic?
i can’t believe it. who would have thought that could ever happen!
i just hope brian is on his A game with moving around all the parts to get this team off to a good start.
Doreen March 19th, 2011 at 8:33 am
GB7 -
A la Gomez Addams?? LOL
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I guess you could say that I’m on a lower level to Gomez. I haven’t gotten around to blowing up bridges yet, and Tish doesn’t walk in driving me crazy by speaking French.
new post (arrow thingy)
just a question, how much did charlie sheen pay for an ad in the comments section?
SAS March 19th, 2011 at 8:27 am
LO HUD IS BACK…HOORAY.
Good morning morning people. I didn’t sleep much last night, and I may try again.
45 seconds to pick a player; I will have a panic attack. After the first half of picks, it’s iffy. Oh well, what everybody wants to do.
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GB, et al, I missed you all last night. Even if I don’t post, I often read the comments, but it seems silly to say something just for the sake of it.
=============================================
There has been very little said about Andruw Jones. Does that mean he is not going to make it with the team, especially with Nunez playing outfield.
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Good morning, SAS. Hope all is going well with you and your family. Things are good around here. Had a great St. Patrick’s Day.
Jones isn’t having a very good spring, but, he’s got the team made.