Heading south
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on May 06, 2011 
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This week, I’ve been able to look across the border to see Canada on my way from the ballpark back to my hotel. It was here in the northern part of the country that the Yankees started to go south, losing three games for the first time this season and generally playing sloppy baseball.
“You don’t like losing games like this,” Joe Girardi said. “You don’t. It happens. Sometimes frustration sets in by your players because you’re not getting base hits, or you’re swinging the bat well and you’re not getting base hits and things happen. You’re going to go through this as a club and you got to fight your way out of it. You have to come out and play a good game tomorrow and put these three games behind us.”
The Yankees won the opener of this series, and they had to get through Justin Verlander and Jose Valverde to do it. It might have been a sign of good things to come, instead it was an early peak. They’ve hardly hit since that night, and in the past two games base running mistakes and fielding errors have been costly.
Even when they did get a big hit yesterday, the play ended with Eric Chavez heading for the disabled list.
“There’s no question that this hasn’t been a pretty series for us,” Alex Rodriguez said. “We take a lot of pride in playing good, fundamental baseball. We have not done that the past three or four days. We expect to get back on the saddle starting tomorrow.”
To get back in the saddle, the Yankees are literally going south. They flew out last night, and I’m in the air this morning. Tonight, the Yankees open a weekend series in Texas. It’s time to move on and time to get going.
“We just have too much talent to go through a stretch like this,” Mark Teixeira said. “Hopefully it’s going to be over soon and we can start scoring five, six, seven runs a game again.”
Associated Press photo of Nick Swisher
I wonder if there has ever been an attempt to do research as to why certain players tend to be chronically hurt? Is it genetic, different bone structure, bad luck? Why can Cal Ripken play all those games and never suffer a serious injury and Eric Chavez break a bone rounding 2nd base?
Staying healthy is a skill that’s overlooked when assessing baseball players…..it’s almost like the 6th tool.
Yay…Friday’s finally here!!
Have a good flight Chad
Unfortunately this free fall will continue imo. Yankees looking at a 1-6 roadtrip right in the kisser. They just don’t look to have any fight in them on this road trip for whatever reasons. They look listless and tired. They still have a mediocre pitching staff at best and a lineup that has more holes in it then a block of swiss cheese, and now one of their better options off of the bench is probably out for the season. We’ll see but to me the free fall looks to continue.
chad and sam are decent writers, but do they every break any news? go outside the locker room or press box to dig up anything? get exclusive interviews or bring interesting opinions in to the blog? reference Pabe’s column about veritek last week if you want to see someone go outside the locker room and report about the home team. you may hate the socks and Pabe, but it is a solid piece of reporting that wasnt done from the pressbox/lockerroom. You have to WANT to get news and not just type up what’s right in front of your nose.
i like sam and chad, they seem like nice guys but i don’t really see them adding anything that isnt all over any other blog or paper regarding the yankees. it’s okay, but nothing out of the ordinary.
as for the blog, someone absolutely needs to be in charge and the ‘powers’ that be (specifically chad) does not think its his job at all and have continually allowed malicious and threatening posts, personal arguments and straight-up trolling to go on regularly.
the results speak for themselves, comments on game posts for the detroit series in the end of april 2009 averaged about 1300, and for the white sox series early may last year about the same. yesterday’s game post drew under 600 comments and the night before drew 404.
they have abdicated any responsibility for the content on this blog and even for the blog itself . they fiddle while the blog goes down.
“They just don’t look to have any fight in them on this road trip for whatever reasons”
how would you describe what the Red Sox are doing?
“Staying healthy is a skill that’s overlooked when assessing baseball players…..it’s almost like the 6th tool.”
blake -
i agree. unfortunately hughes seems to have fallen into the group of players who seems to always be getting hurt. i hope that trend changes because he’s obviouly got the potential to be a really good one.
i thought people were overreacting to chavez going down. he’s the back up. it’s not like alex got hurt.
injuries are going to happen in a year. if it stays with back ups, the yankees are going to be very fortunate.
blake – injuries seem to make as much sense as batters going into slumps, I guess. Sometimes, you just have to say “go figure”.
I found Alex’ take on Nunez’ errors interesting. Makes a lot of sense to me, FWIW. I keep Nunez as number 2 in the depth chart for all positions, and keep looking to play him more.
Thank goodness baseball is a daily game.
Chad – good job on the reporting. I know it’s hard, the part that YsGuy brings up, about the declining number of game posts, is something I have noticed, myself. The quality and tenor of the gameposts is why I have stopped reading/participating in that part of things.
Have a good day, everybody. Later.
my phillies prediction looks better every day. i was roundly blasted for it. 2 weeks ago i mentioned that they were still looking great and was roundly blasted especially when i said, that they would still be doing fine and utley would be getting ready to come back.
now its 2 weeks later and they are tied for the best record in baseball and utley is about to start his rehab.
…just sayin….
The first place I look and usually find Yankee news is on this site. Chad and co., I appreciate it.
I wonder how long the Yankees will stick with Jorge. The struggles of some of the others magnifies the need for something out of the DH spot. I foresee an acquisition rather than a Montero call up if the sub .200 continues. It will be difficult for Jorge, but all players get old and get replaced.
Joe,
Yea….just one of those things I guess. I’ve just always wondered why some players continually get injured.
Alex is a baseball genius…he really is, and that was great advice about Nunez playing so deep. Furcal used to do the same thing….he played the position with his arm and relied on it too much….a good SS plays the position with his feet and really should very rarely have to gun the ball to first (only on very difficult plays). Note how Jeter attacks even routine ground balls to cut the distance between himself and 1B.
Y’s,
Cleveland is still in 1st place as well. I don’t think anybody said the Phillies wouldn’t have a great chance to win the division….just that their offense may struggle some. They have been playing over their heads offensively…..still only hold a 2 game lead over the Marlins and 4.5 over the Braves (who are starting to get it together). Still very early in the season.
Despite a less than stellar series, the Yankees are still in 1st place in the AL east. The Tigers were too good a team to have such a long losing streak, its not surprising they won a few. More disappointing to me was the sloppy play. While it is tempting (at least for me) to say Jeter would have made those plays, I know Nunez is a better player than he has been lately. Hopefully the hot weather in TX heats up the bats.
“and that was great advice about Nunez playing so deep. Furcal used to do the same thing….he played the position with his arm and relied on it too much….a good SS plays the position with his feet and really should very rarely have to gun the ball to first (only on very difficult plays)”
blake -
that was interesting hearing alex say that especially with the fact he had a still has a cannon for an arm.
the problem with young players is that they have to go through these learning experiences. having a vet like alex around helps shorten the ugly duckling period .
Differing POV’s isn’t the issue here.
We have ALWAYS had differing POV’s here. That isn’t the problem.
Trolling isn’t even the problem here. We have always had trolling here.
The incessant trolling? The stuff that doesn’t do anything to add to the conversation?
That’s tedious and unnecessary.
When you say the same things over 100 times in a thread, enough is enough.
That’s not “stating an opinion”. That’s intentional trolling.
If it was my blog, I would tell the people doing it to stop or they are gone because it adds nothing to the blog.
However, it’s not my blog. If the powers that be here don’t mind it and don’t care their post counts are way down, that’s their deal and that’s fine with me.
The big issue is the stalking that began on this blog and has extended off it toward some people.
It’s not only annoying but, it’s crossed over toward criminal behavior.
That’s the elephant in the room and it’s not been handled well by the Lohud people.
That’s why folks have left this place in droves and that’s why the DN crowd and dolts like Yankees ‘N More are here to do their thing.
Again, I have no problem if the powers that be at Lohud don’t mind trolling behavior because it’s their blog.
I have a big problem with their inaction on the stalking issue.
But, that’s just me. Reasonable minds can disagree.
Maybe the decrease in traffic during games is a good thing.
Separating the wheat from the chaff can be a good thing.
As far as “trolls” are concerned, why not humor them instead of attacking with a “holier than thou” attitude. Better yet, ignore them.
Sometimes a “troll” needs to be educated, not belittled.
After all, we all need a little understanding.
Some of these fans are true Yankee fans who cannot stand anything less than perfection.
Yes, they are frustrating, but have to be pacified by more patient Yankee fans.
Happy 80th Birthday to Willie Mays!
Personally, I don’t need to see too-numerous-to-count comments about Derek Jeter/Jorge Posada/Phil Hughes/pick-a-player being awful, day after day after day. And, it seems to come from the same few people.
Like SJ points out, it’s not about different points of view. It’s about harrassment, and worse.
Differences of opinion can be constructive. This stuff is destructive.
sj44-
i believe that a tipping point happens when certain unacceptable things are allowed on a regular basis and the blog gets out of control.
for anyone who’s been here for a while, it’s obvious this has happened on the blog.
it’s possible and understandable that sam and chad don’t want to attract the nut cases to themselves so they don’t take a personal stand.
but someone at lohud needs to moderate.
if that person need to be anonymous, that’s saying something in itself isn’t it?
Say Hey is 80?
I met Willie on an elevator about 15 years ago. He shook my hand and gave me an autograph.
I never saw him play, he retired 7 years before I was born, but no matter how old he is he’s always a young man in my mind.
Busted hip progress: still in the hospital day 7 (or is it 8?) Pain pretty well under control unless I do some thing stupid. I share my rehab classes twice a day with two ladies in their 80′s who routinely beat may ass at every excercise but “good leg’ kicking, and leave me ready for a nap while they go square dancing or something. It’s their unfailing good nature that makes their company pleasant, and their determination to recover from their hip injuries that keeps me inspired. Never thought I’d say or even think it,, but within a few days, one or both of those ladies is going down in the “lateral leg swing”!
Chronic Injuries have to be genetically predisposed.
Hamilton, stick Johnson , Chavez ..
Bad ligaments or something..
Agreed w cyber stalking, it should have zero tolerance, problem is how do they confirm or prove it I guess.
Cant police the world I suppose .. We need to hire a Charles Bronson Cyber sleuth guy for some justice..
Our intrepid ESPN NY writer took what Alex said and did yesterday re: Nunez as Alex trying to line himself up as the next Captain of the NY Yankees?
I always feel bad when people lose their jobs no matter how inept they are at them but I might be willing to make an exception if ESPN came to their senses with Matthews.
As far as the baseball opinions go, no matter what they are, who cares. IT’S JUST A SPORTS BLOG some people need to really get a life.
The security issue is another deal entirely. It’s not Chad and Sam’s fault, a paper like LoHud has a management and legal component – and an IT department. They are the ones whose job and responsibility it would be to take the necessary actions to fix that issue. And despite what some who claim to know it all think; it can be fixed technically.
I believe that anyone who uses a second screen name or reveals personal information about others SHOULD BE BANNED PERMANENTLY WITH NO SECOND CHANCES GIVEN. NONE. ZERO.
A lot of former PED users seem to have recurring injury troubles after they start using. Having said that, I have no idea whether Chavez may have ever been a user, and I haven’t heard that he was.
upstate kate says:
May 6, 2011 at 9:39 am
Happy 80th Birthday to Willie Mays!——
I recently met Vic Wertz’s son. Spoke of his dad and willies famous catch… Great stuff…
i dont know anything about ligaments, but hamilton is on the dl because of a painful-to-watch belly-flop ‘slide’ into home plate. maybe he is genetically predisposed to bad technique.
It’s the bottlenecking that the trolling causes that has made this place like a bad A.M. radio sports talk show. Repetitive, redundant, vulgar, simple-mindedness that is meant to draw attention, not to an issue, but to the troll themselves.
There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. the ignorant are open to debate and the stupid just want to troll.
So a veteran team mate, who is known for helping younger players, stands up for someone struggling and it is being twisted into him doing it for his own personal agenda? Give me a break.
Tom in GA
hang in there!
pat-I’m sorry I missed that article.
I avoid reading his stuff at all costs. lol
well, at least with Pena on his way up the offence should get a kick-start…
As to Nick Johnson, I’m convinced that his continuing wrist problems result from the strain placed on the wrist due to the peculiar way he holds the bat. He curls the pinky down under the bottom of the knob of the bat, instead of wrapping it around the bat just above the knob.
YS,
Agree, bad technique trumps ligaments every time!
Hamilton is a stud, yet prone to injury, addiction. ashame we will never see his full impact potential over a career.
Gotta love the media hype on the Sox – From rotoworld
Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman believes the Red Sox, Brewers, Cardinals and Twins could all be amongst the teams that make a run at Jose Reyes.
Heyman also thinks the Giants, who have already been rumored to be interested in Reyes, and Mariners will likely express at least some degree of interest in the long-time Mets shortstop. Considering Boston’s well-stocked farm system and boundless cash reserves, it’s the most logical landing place for the still only 27-year-old Reyes, at least on paper.
Didn’t Boston empty their farm system for the most part last year so all of a sudden they have a well stocked farm system.
Obviously they had a great run bringing up Youkolis,Pedroia,Ellsbury,Paps and Lester but all of those guys happened years ago. Who have they brought up since who has become a star?
Johnson curls his pinky under the knob?
That hurts my wrist just thinking of it..
He’s had several other injuries too.
upstate kate, they just wheeled another broken hip case in here and the poor guy is yelling his lungs out in pain. I remember the first couple of hours til they can get you stabilized enough to start pouring on the morphine. At least when I run into the new guy in therapy, I shouldn.t be running dead last to th old ladies!
Wow…I totally forgot about Nick “Party in the USA” Johnson. Did he sign with anybody?
Erin May 6th, 2011 at 9:55 am
pat-I’m sorry I missed that article.
I avoid reading his stuff at all costs. lol
___
I used to follow him on Twitter until I realized that his stuff was always negative. Now I unfollow anyone who retweets him. much happier timeline that way.
Johnson signed a minor league deal with somebody, the Indians maybe?
ty-Matthews is the only NYY beat writer who I don’t follow. Just not worth it.
Tom
well there is that! Don’t underestimate those old ladies!
Triple:
I think alot of clubs will make a run at Reyes. The question isn’t who is making a run as much as who will meet and pay his ridiculous contract demands which have been said to be $ 100 to $ 120 million.
The Yankees had issues with severe hitting slumps last year too. We struggled through it but it ended our season prematurely. We have the same issues this season. Cashman did a great job this winter, but he and everyone else knew the risks with players like Chavez.
With the aging Posada, Jeter and A-Rod, we are unfortunately going to see more of what we did last year, Cervelli and Peña, back to back in the lineup in crucial game situations.
upstate kate May 6th, 2011 at 9:39 am
Happy 80th Birthday to Willie Mays!
==================
Ditto ! One of the true greats of all time.
Abe: Nick has had several other injuries, a couple of them of the bizarre type, but the thing that has really killed his career is the continuing wrist problems. I’m frankly surprised that all of the baseball geniuses who pay him millions of dollars a year to sit on the DL haven’t figured out the cause of his wrist problems. I have no idea if my theory is correct, but for Nick’s sake, it would be nice for him to try a different grip and see what happens.
as far as injury tendencies ,it’s like some people play sports with a force filed around them.
i remember in high school, a friend of mine who was the other outside linebacker on our football team, and he had that never get hurt quality about him.
one time we were playing an off season tackle sandlot game with no equipment with members of the varsity and anyone else who wanted to play. the baddest guy in town who didn’t play organized sports decided to take a shot at my friend with a knee to the head while my friend was on the ground after a play.
he nailed him solidly square in the forehead, and broke his knee. my friend got up and went back to the huddle like nothing happened.
Vineyard Yankee,
The issue I had was not with who will make a run at Reyes it is this constant narrative in the media of the Red Sox having this deep and well stocked farm system
Nib,
It is amazing for all the $ and science that habit and “comfortableness ” are sometimes hard to break even if detrimental..
I guess baseball is a ‘feel ‘ game and Players don’t wanna risk what’s worked for them.?
I believe that Nick Johnson is a member of the Cleveland Indians at this time.
Triple:
Thanks for clarifying. If they do go after Reyes I guess another of Theo’s ‘prizes’ (Lowrie) will be considered a bust in Beantown.
With the aging Posada, Jeter and A-Rod, we are unfortunately going to see more of what we did last year, Cervelli and Peña, back to back in the lineup in crucial game situations.
—–
When is Pena going to play?
When did Peña play last year? When Girardi deemed it necessary.
…he played in 85 games and had 167 plate appearances.
randy – that’s quite a story.
tomingeorgia – those old ladies didn’t get to be old by “accident”
Don’t get frustrated, just hang in. Giuseppe Franco (the guy who blogs here, not the guy on TV) can probably give you some first hand advice on that.
Pena will just be taking up space on the bench, Nunez will continue to play in front of him imo. They might have been better off promoting someone (Vasquez) who can DH once in a while for Posada.
“With the aging Posada, Jeter and A-Rod, we are unfortunately going to see more of what we did last year, Cervelli and Peña, back to back in the lineup in crucial game situations.”
How many crucial game situations last year were decided by back to back Cervelli and Pena failures?
Nunez has had issues with throwing in the minors. Probably lack of playing time puts him out of whack, as he is inclined to throw without setting and he has a very live arm. QFT that Alex’s observation on Nunez’s errors shows again how Alex is such an astute student of the game. He misses nothing that is happening on the baseball field.
We had better be able to hit Harrison tonight. Bringing up Pena was a predictable move. Who else would they have brought up to as an utility infielder? Vazquez cannot play D. Montero’s out of position, and players like Laird and Suttle aren’t yet in the conversation. Let’s just hope our bats show up in Texas.
tyanks, Banuelos’ outing against Portland last night began and ended with a lack of FB location (his velocity wasn’t an issue, sat 91-93 and topped at 94); he just couldn’t command his pitches, but he battled. I expect he will be closer to his old self next outing. I think 4BB’s is a career high (he was getting squeezed early but just couldn’t hit or get many swings on the outside part of the plate to righties).
Heckuva game though. Trenton won in 11, and Melky Mesa had a good game on both sides of the ball. I was complaining about his long swing just seconds before he hit his homerun. CoJo kept his hitting streak alive with an RBI single, knocking in the penultimate run to make the score 7-6 before Johnson’s sac fly to tie the game in the 9th. Brewer had the walk-off walk to win it in the 11th. It was nice to take 3 of 4 from Portland (Red Sox AA team) and Suttle continues to hit 2/5: 3B, RBI, BB.
tomingeorgia, glad to hear you are making progress!
Forgot to add that Nunez has limited experience at 3B and can be overly aggressive there; Pena is a better bet playing 3B.
Tom
Some of those old ladies probably had kids before epidurals were the norm. They know how to work through the pain for the reward.
Pena will just be taking up space on the bench, Nunez will continue to play in front of him imo. They might have been better off promoting someone (Vasquez) who can DH once in a while for Posada.
____
I dont get what Vazquez has to do to get promoted?
I mean, why do they even bother having him in the system?
If .300/9/27 isnt enough to get you a change with Chavez out for a month, then what’s the point really?
Because Pena offers nothing on the bench other than late inning defense.
pat May 6th, 2011 at 10:35 am
“With the aging Posada, Jeter and A-Rod, we are unfortunately going to see more of what we did last year, Cervelli and Peña, back to back in the lineup in crucial game situations.”
How many crucial game situations last year were decided by back to back Cervelli and Pena failures?
********
Why don’t you tell us.
Forgot to add that Nunez has limited experience at 3B and can be overly aggressive there; Pena is a better bet playing 3B.
___
The only way Pena should be up is if Nunez is down.
Makes no sense to have them both.
When did Peña play last year? When Girardi deemed it necessary
—–
Pena was the BUI last season.
Nunez is the BUI this season.
Are you saying Pena is coming up to take over Nunez’s job?
“Why don’t you tell us.”
Your premise to substantiate, not me.
ac1 May 6th, 2011 at 10:41 am
Forgot to add that Nunez has limited experience at 3B and can be overly aggressive there; Pena is a better bet playing 3B.
___
The only way Pena should be up is if Nunez is down.
Makes no sense to have them both.
________
Joe likes to have two UIF’s, especially with too older IF’s in Alex and Derek.
People complain about Posada but Vazquez is a K machine who barely walks, and what is his position? Don’t tell me 3B or DH, and he is not getting time at 1B with Tex around. Also his lefty splits are not good.
*two* older IF’s
The Yankees had a record of 53-32 in games when pena played.
The team was 26-15 when he started.
Oops… hit submit instead of return
“Why don’t you tell us.”
Your premise to substantiate, not me.
Off to a meeting now but look forward to the results of your research later.
I don’t think you need two back up infielders that play the same positions. I’d rather have an extra bat on the bench.
I’m not predicting who is going to play when, no one knows that. It depends on when players gets rested or is injured. If Cano bruises his hand, A-Rod and Jeter get nicked up and need a rest, etc. We in essence traded Chavez for Peña and with a team that is struggling at the plate that is problematic. With Vazquez and Montero available it’s a peculiar decision IMO.
correction – or are
Pena is a really good back up infielder by the definition of one that plays every now and then….he’s a good defender at all 3 positions and can run a little. Let him be the back up…..and let Nunez play every day at SWB. JMO
I’m not predicting who is going to play when, no one knows that. It depends on when players gets rested or is injured.
——
Minutes ago you predicted Cervelli and Pena will be hitting back to back in crucial situations.
pat May 6th, 2011 at 10:50 am
Oops… hit submit instead of return “Why don’t you tell us.” Your premise to substantiate, not me. Off to a meeting now but look forward to the results of your research later.
***********
I don’t need to substantiate my opinion.
Joe likes to have two UIF’s, especially with too older IF’s in Alex and Derek.
People complain about Posada but Vazquez is a K machine who barely walks, and what is his position? Don’t tell me 3B or DH, and he is not getting time at 1B with Tex around. Also his lefty splits are not good.
___
Logic here makes no sense. Chavez couldnt play 2b or ss. So why should his replacement have to be able to?
ac1 May 6th, 2011 at 10:39 am
Yup. It would be neat to see what Vasquez can or can’t do before they send him elsewhere or cut him loose. I believe he is approaching 30 with no position to play on the big league club.
Did I say when LGY?
ac1 May 6th, 2011 at 10:52 am
Joe likes to have two UIF’s, especially with too older IF’s in Alex and Derek.
People complain about Posada but Vazquez is a K machine who barely walks, and what is his position? Don’t tell me 3B or DH, and he is not getting time at 1B with Tex around. Also his lefty splits are not good.
___
Logic here makes no sense. Chavez couldnt play 2b or ss. So why should his replacement have to be able to?
_____
I think it is more about Pena being able to play a decent 3B. I too would prefer a bat off the bench, but I am thinking that is their logic in having the two. We have no bat after Chavez that can play a decent 3B. Nunez does give us some pop off the bench though.
Yankeefem
Thanks for the update. Jose Ramirez pitches tonight for Tampa. The game is in lakeland and I am planning on going depending on the weather.
We have lost 8 in a row so its been tough, hoping that playing a team closer to their record will help.
Glad to hear the CoJo kept his hit streak alive, I was keeping track of the game through Twitter. So many times last season the TY would be trailing going into the 7th and would end up tying and winning it. I guess they brought that with them when they moved up. Also good to hear that Suttle is still hitting and that Mesa is providing good D and hitting those Homeruns.
lol about Vazquez. People complain about Posada… When Vazquez makes contact, watch out, but often he doesn’t. I have seen him hit and probably seen him K 33% of his AB’s, and that was mostly in AA. So, he is not exactly the kind of situational hitter we are looking for. People complain about HR’s without OBP and too many K’s; however, if that is what you want, then Vazquez is your man.
Did I say when LGY?
——-
So you don’t have any idea when Pena would play or the situation/s that would call for Pena to play or the times when Joe will play BOTH Pena and Cervelli, but you are predicting Pena and Cervelli will be back to back in crucial situations?
Frankly, I would rather see Montero, who hits for average and situational, up than Vazquez. But that won’t happen.
*situationally*
LGY – it happened last year when both were reserves on the team and I see no rational reason to suspect it won’t happen again. The bottom line is that on a team with hitting issues lately we brought up a zero bat.
LGY May 6th, 2011 at 10:59 am
Nitpicking BS when WCYF is just speaking in general terms. Hopefully Pena, Nunez and Cervelli won’t all be in the lineup at the same time. Please let it go.
Pena and Cervelli were back to back in the starting lineup 11 times last year.
yankeefeminista May 6th, 2011 at 10:59 am
Doesn’t really matter who makes the out does it ? (Posada or Vasquez) If Posada were hitting .280 then it may be a different story.
LGY –it happened last year when both were reserves on the team and I see no rational reason to suspect it won’t happen again. The bottom line is that on a team with hitting issues lately we brought up a zero bat
——
Like the rational reason that Nunez is the BUI and Martin is the starting catcher compared to last year when Pena was the BUI and Cervelli the Starting Catcher?
tyanks, I do miss watching J-Ram. Again if you can find out what percentage he is throwing his slider and how it looks, that would be much appreciated. Hope to see him keep his walk rates down again.
As for Manny, he got out of a bases loaded first unscathed and K’d the last two batters. He just didn’t have it otherwise, although he threw some nice swing and miss changes. He threw a limited number of CB’s and Portland wasn’t really biting on those. Venditte picked up Manny and pitched well, giving Trenton a chance to win. Trenton’s combination of pop and speed always keeps them in the game. Fun team to watch with lots of talent. I am hoping to see Betances pitch on Monday; He should be able to go a couple of more innings. He threw mostly FB’s last time I saw him, so I am interested to see more secondary pitches this time around.
Nitpicking BS when WCYF is just speaking in general terms. Hopefully Pena, Nunez and Cervelli won’t all be in the lineup at the same time. Please let it go.
—-
It’s nitpicking to ask someone to substantiate a baseless prediction?
Ok….
Thanks for clearing that up. As long as we speak in general terms I can make all the dumb predictions I want.
Vineyard Yankee May 6th, 2011 at 11:09 am
yankeefeminista May 6th, 2011 at 10:59 am
Doesn’t really matter who makes the out does it ? (Posada or Vasquez) If Posada were hitting .280 then it may be a different story.
_________
Posada hit the ball to the wall yesterday in a big ballpark. I don’t assume he will make outs; he is hitting the ball hard. Vazquez doesn’t have the OBP a productive Posada has. I prefer Posada.
tyanks, how is Higgy looking? I saw that he was 2/3 yesterday.
LGY May 6th, 2011 at 11:13 am
Does it really matter that much ? ?
Basically it is this:
“Hopefully Pena, Nunez and Cervelli won’t all be in the lineup at the same time”. Can you just imagine the posts if all three started in the same game ?
Question for all you stat freaks out there:
The Yankees team BAPIP this year is .269, compared with an AL BAPIP of .285. Only one Yankee regular (Cano. at .302) is above the league BAPIP.
What, if anything, does this mean?
yankeefeminista May 6th, 2011 at 11:13 am
It would be nice to see Posada get some solid base hits and RBI’s as opposed to just HR’s.
Why would those 3 be in the lineup at the same time? Further, Nunez is a much better hitter than the other two, so why should his bat be categorized with Pena’s and Cervelli’s?
niblick, its a newish stat to me and i’ve discouted it quite a bit. thinking about it lately, i’ve decided that all it tells you is that guys are not hitting the ball well when they do make contact.
matsui could go 2 weeks where all he did was ‘turn over’ and ground the ball to the right side. then he’d get on a streak of hitting line drives all over the field. so his babip was lousy when he was rolling it over and great when he was hitting liners.
i keep reading people interpret low babip to mean hitters were ‘hitting into bad luck’ or somesuch. to me, its not luck, they are just not hitting the ball with authority.
seems like a pretty useless stat to me.
Vineyard Yankee May 6th, 2011 at 11:20 am
yankeefeminista May 6th, 2011 at 11:13 am
It would be nice to see Posada get some solid base hits and RBI’s as opposed to just HR’s.
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On 5/1 vs. Toronto, he had a double, on 5/2 he had a single and a 2 RBI double, and on 5/3 he had two singles.
Tom in N.J. May 6th, 2011 at 11:08 am
Pena and Cervelli were back to back in the starting lineup 11 times last year.
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Thanks for looking that up Tom.
Baseless LGY? And that’s not counting the times when they didn’t start.
Whose the fool now?
Thanks for looking that up Tom. Baseless LGY? And that’s not counting the times when they didn’t start. Whose the fool now?
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Huh???
What does last season have to do with this season?
RiverAveBlues . @cgrand14 donates $50K to help NYC?s PSAL buy new safer wooden bats. This is why we love Curtis Granderson. http://bit.ly/kjseMy
YF:
Because you never know what Girardi may do or who he may rest on a given day. Injury also may be a factor down the line.
Hopefully Posada continues to improve his OBP and BA going forward.
Read Jon Heyman’s story today about the six teams that “could use” Jose Reyes.
The Yankees are not on the list.
Of course, the Yankees “could use” Reyes. I would think even some of the strongly biased Jeter fans would admit the Yankees, at this point, would be a better team with Reyes at SS than they are with the current version of Derek Jeter.
I would also assume we all recognize WHY the Yankees were not on Heyman’s list of six teams. It has nothing to do with NEEDING Reyes and EVERYTHING to do with deferring, AGAIN, to Jeter.
The inability/unwillingness to make a tough emotional but obvious baseball decision on Jeter continues to haunt this franchise.
By keeping him here, and deferring to him at every turn, the Yankees are not only forced to start Jeter at SS on the daily basis, but are also forced to bat him leadoff, can’t pinch hit for him in critical situations, and now we can’t even entertain adding one of the best players going at a position where we have a MASSIVE hole.
This is getting ridiculous.
Vineyard Yankee May 6th, 2011 at 11:20 am
yankeefeminista May 6th, 2011 at 11:13 am
It would be nice to see Posada get some solid base hits and RBI’s as opposed to just HR’s.
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doubled in two runs two or three games ago and had two doubles in 3 games. Po’s going to hit. Patience
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Yankfem, I was actually sort of pleased to see ManBan struggle a little yesterday. It’s good for these kids to have to work out of trouble, & in that first he did after throwing what, 30-plus pitches??? I also like that he just doesn’t give in. I forget who that big left-handed kid is for Portland, but he smacked a pitch on the outside part of the plate the other way – the first one any batter had really gotten a good piece of. I believe it was the first LHB he had faced, & he may have slept on him some after seeing all the righties & workig mostly outside on them. But next AB for that guy, MB threw him nothing outside & got him to dribble a jam shot to Cojo for the out. IIRC 3 RHB cracked opp hits against him & there was one solid pull shot against him. I liked that Oscar Tejeda for Boston. Weird as bleep batting stance, but you can see he’s got a fast bat & pop. I think he’s one of their prized guys.
It was great to see the kiddos come back all the way.Too bad barely anyone was there to witness it! Maybe when the weather warms up.
teixeiramark25 #Yankees fans support http://www.dreamteam25.org & have the chance to spend a day with me at Yankee stadium. Announcing our first winner Friday!
# Niblick May 6th, 2011 at 9:52 am
A lot of former PED users seem to have recurring injury troubles after they start using. Having said that, I have no idea whether Chavez may have ever been a user, and I haven’t heard that he was.
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I’m afraid that you hit the nail on the head there ! And when they retire, a lot of them will have more problems, because of usage. Depends on how much they used. Most will pay the piper.
Not many from the last 15 years would I be surprised at as having used, and only a few would shock me.
I don’t need to substantiate my opinion.
Congrats WCYF on the most arrogance possible in one post.
Larry – A team with a fulltime shortstop trading for another fulltime shortstop would be ridiculous, just like you.
J. Alfred Prufrock May 6th, 2011 at 11:41 am
Yankfem, I was actually sort of pleased to see ManBan struggle a little yesterday. It’s good for these kids to have to work out of trouble, & in that first he did after throwing what, 30-plus pitches??? I also like that he just doesn’t give in. I forget who that big left-handed kid is for Portland, but he smacked a pitch on the outside part of the plate the other way – the first one any batter had really gotten a good piece of. I believe it was the first LHB he had faced, & he may have slept on him some after seeing all the righties & workig mostly outside on them. But next AB for that guy, MB threw him nothing outside & got him to dribble a jam shot to Cojo for the out. IIRC 3 RHB cracked opp hits against him & there was one solid pull shot against him. I liked that Oscar Tejeda for Boston. Weird as bleep batting stance, but you can see he’s got a fast bat & pop. I think he’s one of their prized guys.
It was great to see the kiddos come back all the way.Too bad barely anyone was there to witness it! Maybe when the weather warms up.
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Jorge Padron was the lefty you refer to. He also plays a nice first base. Manny just didn’t have location, and got hit harder than I have ever seen him hit, although no XBH. However, I agree that he grinded it out, regardless of stuff, and being in that situation, having to execute pitches with runners on, and pitch from the stretch is all good for the learning process. Manny also faced some pretty good hitters. I like Tejeda too and Middlebrooks is another one of the RS specs who has a nice bat. How back some of those balls that Che-Hsuan Lin tracked down in CF? Between him and Melky Mesa that was quite a fielding clinic!
Weather last night wasn’t too bad, but it’ll be nice to have some sustained heat to aid the arms and performances once the kids are stretched out and in peak form.
YankeesNmore, troll on!
WCYF – And that’s not counting the times when they didn’t start.
Whose the fool now?
You are the fool for assuming they “failed” every time they batted back to back. Jump to conclusions much? This is what happens when you don’t do your own research and don’t base your opinions off of things that actually HAPPENED.
*How about* it should read
Irreverent Discourse May 6th, 2011 at 11:48 am
Larry – A team with a fulltime shortstop trading for another fulltime shortstop would be ridiculous
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Not when the SS they’d be getting is exceptional and the one they have sucks.
Erin May 6th, 2011 at 11:35 am
RiverAveBlues . @cgrand14 donates $50K to help NYC?s PSAL buy new safer wooden bats. This is why we love Curtis Granderson. http://bit.ly/kjseMy
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I do love Grandy’s commitment to the community and to inner city kids.
The bigger reason for the injuries is the push of these ball players is to have a body of a Mr. Olympic instead of a ball player. One only has to look at the push to lower body fat to the 5%-6% range. Muscle will tear or be stressed a lot easier than fat. Doesn’t mean they would be better off as fat slobs. They are bigger and stronger and faster, but, that goesn’t mean that they are in better baseball condition. The muscle is so tight that something has to give. It’s either tissue or bone. It’s a constant explosion of muscle movement and something has to give.
you never saw this sort of injuries before that days of 3-4 hours a day of weight work, and certainly not with pitchers. Mantle had injuries, but, much was traced to bad underpinnings, but, like Harmon Killebrew, who also had constant muscle pulls and tear, was heavily muscled. You don’t see those type of injuries with the thinner types like Aaron, Banks, Frank Robinson.
Larry – Reyes is “exceptional” now? hahahaha
His hamstrings are like a ticking time bomb. Anyone that signs or trades for him will be disappointed before the end of that deal.
I’ll take my chances with Jeter.
… and I’m sure you wouldn’t complain about Cashman trading for a guy with bad hamstrings, would you? That would be so unlike you! Whining for no reason.
A University of Georgia rehab trainer dropped into visit with my dear little old ladies and me a few minutes ago. I asked him a question: If Russell Martin and I showed up with the same hip injury on the same day, how would our therapy differ? Answer: Martin’s probably in better over all shape and could go a little harder, but otherwise, same exercises, flexibility drills, drugs, and probably ten to twelve week rehab schedule. My Goal: Walk my daughter down the aisle to her marriage. I already have white tie, tails top hat, patent leather dancing pumps and the general savior faire for the job.. All I need now is a leg to stand on and a little Astaire magic
i keep reading people interpret low babip to mean hitters were ‘hitting into bad luck’ or somesuch. to me, its not luck, they are just not hitting the ball with authority.
seems like a pretty useless stat to me.
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Its not something that can be used in isolation, but if you look at how many flyballs, groundballs, and linedrives a team hits, as well as a few other factors, you can get an expected BABIP. The Yankees are far below their ‘expected BABIP’, and you can’t handwave being 20 points under the league average by saying they are always making weak contact. Look at the game against Chicago. Cano and A-rod hit the ball as well as you can expect and they got 2 outs. That dings their BABIP. Especially Cano’s, which they found that only 3 RFers ever made that catch out of something like 90 attempts in 2010.
It was a special play. Every time a player lines out, hits a huge flyball that the centerfielder dives or makes a great running catch on, or a ground ball up the middle that the pitcher snares blind or the SS/2B make great diving plays on, or balls in the hole that still make outs because there is a force somewhere other than 1st.
All these things contribute. I can handwave your handwaving of the stat due to ‘weak groundballs’ just as easily by considering all the possible forms batted balls can take.
# GreenBeret7 May 6th, 2011 at 12:00 pm
The bigger reason for the injuries is the push of these ball players is to have a body of a Mr. Olympic instead of a ball player. One only has to look at the push to lower body fat to the 5%-6% range. Muscle will tear or be stressed a lot easier than fat. Doesn’t mean they would be better off as fat slobs. They are bigger and stronger and faster, but, that goesn’t mean that they are in better baseball condition. The muscle is so tight that something has to give. It’s either tissue or bone. It’s a constant explosion of muscle movement and something has to give.
you never saw this sort of injuries before that days of 3-4 hours a day of weight work, and certainly not with pitchers. Mantle had injuries, but, much was traced to bad underpinnings, but, like Harmon Killebrew, who also had constant muscle pulls and tear, was heavily muscled. You don’t see those type of injuries with the thinner types like Aaron, Banks, Frank Robinson.
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Don Drysdale made that exact comment when he was announcing for the Angels.
Not enough body fat to protect muscles.
But, the PED use is a culprit too. As they certainly build muscle with workouts.
GB7 – Very good points. If the system is stressed it will only break easier.
YF – that must have been the kid who ran down one of two Cojo smokers that somehow found a glove. Best catch I’ve seen out there in a long time & couldn’t believe he got there. Cojo is nearly the model hitter. A shame his position is 2B. yea Melky was his smooth self & the homer was nice. When he connects the ball travels.
4NYY – The PED use makes the muscles stronger than the tendons and ligaments holding them in place, so as they bulk up they “exceed their own limit” so to speak.
YNM’s theme song?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....re=related
Jorge is probably responsible for a big chunk of the Yanks’ low BABiP. His BABiP is .133 which is just not sustainable. When it inevitably bounces up the Yankee BABiP will bounce up too.
New Post: Pitching matchups in Texas
Jose Reyes is probably looking at a 12-15 million dollar contract over a minimum of 4 years as a FA.
So, you are proposing the Yankees acquire Reyes and have 29-32 million dollars a year tied up at the SS position for the next 3 years? lol
And you wonder why you are mocked here.
You need to get out more and breathe fresh air.
It could you put together a cogent and intelligent post every once in a while.
You never saw these kind of injuries in the past because players couldn’t afford to get injured. Most of them had 2nd jobs and had to play through the little things.
Tom in N.J. May 6th, 2011 at 12:08 pm
YNM’s theme song?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…..re=related
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priceless.
By the way, Irreverent Discourse, did u see your comment from Cliff Lee trade day I re-posted last night???
Something about how important it was to make that deal and “get Cliff Lee” here, thus increasing the opportunity to avoid his going elsewhere in the offseason… Something about free agency not being a guarantee if he’s traded someplace else…
You were wise then… Funny that you have changed your tune now.
SJ44 May 6th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
Jose Reyes is probably looking at a 12-15 million dollar contract over a minimum of 4 years as a FA.
So, you are proposing the Yankees acquire Reyes and have 29-32 million dollars a year tied up at the SS position for the next 3 years? lol
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Whose fault is that the Yankees have $51 million tied up in a guy who can’t play???
Irreverent Discourse May 6th, 2011 at 12:04 pm
Larry – Reyes is “exceptional” now? hahahaha
His hamstrings are like a ticking time bomb. Anyone that signs or trades for him will be disappointed before the end of that deal.
I’ll take my chances with Jeter.
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Of course you will.
Amazing that so many who ignore the $51 million the Yankees just tied up in a washed up Derek Jeter, then turn around and talk about how stupid somebody would have to be to sign or trade for Jose Reyes.
Can’t change that now, why keep crying about it? Adding more toxic money to the problem isn’t going to help. Your complete lack of a “solution” surprises no one.
Larry – I saw the post, I was ignoring it’s stupidity. Nothing i said changed because of what happened. The Yankees best shot at signing him was trading for him, but not at any cost. Not with the future of the SS position in the franchise in doubt. If Jeter retired Nunez would be the starting SS… unless you think JJ Hardy is an answer.
When given the chance, he went with something he was familiar with. He strung the Yankees along to get a better deal from Texas and jumped at first sign of an offer from Philly. He flopped from leaving years on the table to leaving money on the table, a clear sign he had no intention of signing with NY.
I like how you waited until the new post came up, and then tried to hide all of your responses on the “last thread”.