Jeter goes cold again
Posted by: Brian Heyman - Posted in Misc on May 12, 2011 
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Derek Jeter was riding a three-game streak of multiple hits and a seven-game hitting streak overall, but he was back to struggling in the Yankees’ 4-3, 11-inning loss to the Royals Wednesday night, going 0 for 6. His average dropped from .283 to .271.
Before the game, Joe Girardi couldn’t say who the real Jeter is at this point.
“He had a good month of September,” Girardi said. “He had an OK April. And his May has been outstanding. So if you want to ask which guy you’re going to get the whole year, none of us truly know.
“But we started to see in Detroit where the ball started jumping off his bat. It looked like the Derek that we’re used to seeing, and that’s what I’m seeing now, driving the ball to right field, hitting the ball with authority up the middle. He’s never been a guy who has pulled a lot of balls, so I don’t really worry too much about that.
“I think when guys are cold and guys are really hot, they’re always somewhere in between there, and that’s what you think you’re probably going to get.”
sorry but robertson is not the future closer as many of u guys say…hes a good reliever but him in the closer role? no thanks…Rivera will be sorely missed when he leaves cause he spoiled us yankee fans as no closer is that dominate for so long, even the next best hoffman’s final couple of yrs were bad….closer usually have a span of 3-4 yrs of dominace and then fade back to mediocity….Mo is something special
Jah-Buddha is the future closer.
One 0′fer = gone cold again???
One 0-fer and it’s back to taking Derek’s temperature. Oh Goody!
Costliest walk off ever?
Angels’ Morales needs more surgery, out for year
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c.....z1M8xCI5mi
talk about taking a guy’s temperature every day!
I don’t know that I’d say he’s “gone cold” after 1 game.
I guess if he has, he’s got plenty of company.
sorry but robertson is not the future closer as many of u guys say
================
Maybe, maybe not. The guy has had a terrific season so far though. Not going to kill him over one bad night given how effective he’s been, and I mean effective in big spots. His walk rate is still too high, and they may preclude him from being a closer, but he’s been a very good reliever.
doreen and i were just discussing morales, she had him clogging up her dl spot on her fbb team all season and then had soto go down yesterday, i had the exact same thing on another team.
almost as unbelievable and wang’s career going down the toilet from tripping over 3b.
i know thats an exaggeration but it seems that way
# Doc Iac May 12th, 2011 at 9:07 am
sorry but robertson is not the future closer as many of u guys say…hes a good reliever but him in the closer role? no thanks…Rivera will be sorely missed when he leaves cause he spoiled us yankee fans as no closer is that dominate for so long, even the next best hoffman’s final couple of yrs were bad….closer usually have a span of 3-4 yrs of dominace and then fade back to mediocity….Mo is something special
———————————–
they’ll probably trade for or a sign a closer when Mo leaves
mell i agree hes a good reliever, but for the reason u stated and cause relivers only have a 3-4 yr window i dont think hell be a closer, not sayin he anit good, but closer is another level
“i said last night that i thought baseball should outlaw collisions at home plate by passing a rule that the catcher cant block the plate when not in possession of the ball”
ys guy-
i’m not following the logic of this.
you want a catcher to catch the ball and then move into position to block the plate .
there is no confusion to the cacther when you can be on the plate with the ball coming. you can totally feel when to cover the plate. if the ball isn’t going to be there, you move. umpires see it too. i really don’t see the issue.
the only time i was ever on the plate when i wasn’t supposed to be was when a guy in semi pro ball attempted stealing second when his team was up ten runs in the last inning. the batter swung though and hit the ball off the center field wall. i watched the guy who attempted stealing all around the bases and when our center fielder and shortstop made incredible throws to not quite get there in time, i faked like i was going for the ball that was just hitting the mound and nailed the guy.
he wasn’t going to score without some pain after stealing with a ten run lead. everyone including the ump and his manager knew i hit him against the rules, but they also knew he broke an unwritten rule. neither one said a thing.
most modern catchers especially if they are good hitters “ole” tags anyway. very few catchers stand their ground. i just don’t see the problem.
I think a more appropriate title would have been “offense goes cold again”. On the whole Alex is struggling a lot more than Derek is right now…..
Robertson is better command away from being great. He has to cut down the walks….he puts himself in nearly every jam he gets into……aside from when Girardi drops him into an already brewing mess.
This is because its Brian Heyman reporting and not Chad. Chad would probably go for the “offense goes cold again” spin.
How many at bats do you think Gardner has cost Jeter this season? Last night he cost Jeter 2. The failed bunt (Oh by the way Jeter is a terrible bunter and I hate when he even fakes a bunt.) Then in another at bat Jeter waited, took a pitch or two only to have Gardner get caught stealing. When Gardner gets on base in front of Jeter, Jeter becomes a passive batter and, it seems, rarely comes through.
Really is kinda funny….Jeter has his what 7 game hit streak and 3 game multi hit game steak broken and now he’s cold. He had a bad night…..so did most of the rest of the team….including Joe G.
“THIS IS A 90-72 TEAM. ”
If you believe that, why the need for venting? They are going to lose another 58 games this year by your calculation so pace yourself.
Blake
I agree that Robertson is really close to being great. I like him regardless, he just seems to have that quiet confidence in himself. I had a feeling that he was going to come out and not live up to the expectations he set up for himself the night before. He does better once the inning has started and he has to come take care of things.
I think they should consider taking the green light off Gardner and start telling him when to go……if that’s what they are currently doing. He just doesn’t pick pitches well and I think the indecision contributes to his bad jumps.
catchers routinely plant thier foot to block the plate, reach up and catch the ball and then bring down the tag, it gives them an extra second or half second to tag the guy. it causes the runner to crash into the catchers leg to try to get the corner of the plate, and according to the rules, its illegal, imo.
“.Jeter has his what 7 game hit streak and 3 game multi hit game steak broken and now he’s cold.”
blake-
are the people who are saying jeter is washed up also saying pedroia is washed up?
pedroia is right there with about the same OPS.
Tyyanks,
He does for whatever reason. He just nibbles a little too much I think sometimes and it gets him behind. He needs to come right after people.
The team is just old. Look at what the youthful Marlins are doing and Indians. What would happen if we lost key veterans to injuries Who is ready in the minors to come up and to make an immediate significant impact at the next level?
Randy,
Good question….”laser show” hasn’t hit many lasers this year so far.
The Yankees will win at least 10 more games than both the Indians and Marlins.
Robertson would be a closer on lesser teams, no doubt about it. Have you seen some of the other guys out there?
jeter’s not having a great year, but take a look at dunn, rios, pedro alvarez, kelley johnson, mark reynolds….jeter’s season isnt anywhere near these guy’s lousy starts.
ys guy-
i still don’t see the issue. there are different rules for runners hitting the catcher at home too.
you don’t see anyone running over the first baseman when he’s trying to catch the ball.
a runner can hit the catcher even if he’s setting up off the plate as you suggest, even on a force play.
just curious, what prompted this questioning about the catcher/runner rules? was there a particular play at the plate ?
if you are simply saying you want to change the rules to take collisions at home plate out of the game, then i can’t argue with you because that’s a preference, but if you’re saying runners should be able to hit catchers, but catchers can’t hit back, that makes no sense to me.
drob, hero yesterday, goat today. tough life being a major league relief pitcher…
blake-
because pedroia swings from his butt with all he has i would not be surprised to see him have trouble going deep into his career playing at an elite level. just not quite yet though.
YsGuy
I was thinking the same thing. Poor D-Rob
Its just a matter of getting everyone or at least the majority of our hitters to start clicking. They’ve all been pretty streaky outside of Granderson so far.
Where are they now?…….Andy Phillips.
http://www.al.com/sports/index.....to_be.html
randy, what prompted it was a discussion about changes in the game over the years, originally about pitchers hitting batters. my position was that they need to do what’s needed to stop collisions at the plate. your point about 1b is absolutely correct. not only should they not allow catchers blocking the plate without the ball, they should also outlaw any unnesesary contact by the runner with the catcher. it would have to be a judgement call, but bowling over the catcher in an attempt to knock the ball out has to be illegal and any contact not in the act of just trying to get a foot or hand onto the plate in a direct manner should be outlawed, too.
catchers shouldnt have to take a hit like we used to see all the time (ray fosse) and nobody wants to see a runner end up with a broken leg or collarbone or something. when you factor in the concussion situation, i think it becomes imperative to make it clear that intentional collisions need to be ruled out of baseball for everyone’s protectioin, especially kids who see this in mlb and do the same in little league and h.s.
STOP OVERTHINKING ONLY JETER’S HITTING. This team has much broader problems. The culture of the current lineup is exactly the same as last year, except older. There are no signs of improvement from anyone with RISP. Swish and Tex are KILLING us again ? they may have their moments this year, they may even get hot for 4-8 games at a time, but in the long run, our offense really is what it looked like in Sept. last year and in the ALCS.
is Gardner really the answer in left? What an awful basestealer-his speed is too often useless.
Swisher is back to being a LEGITIMATE .225 hitter for the past 100 games (like in Oak and CWS)
Posada = done
Texeira is not the hitter he used to be AND NOT WHAT WE PAID FOR. He?s been completely unreliable since August ?09 and shows NO signs of ever getting back to that.
A-Rod still a little productive but aging vets let their slumps last a little longer each time?his hot and cold streaks have killed us lately
Martin ? nice surprise but we need Montero to get up here already
If Larry Rothschild is getting credit this year, then obviously Eiland was not a good pitchign coach last year. So coaches do mean at least something, even at the MLB level. If that?s all true, then WHY DOES KEVIN LONG NEVER TAKE ANY HEAT? Long may very well know more about the physics of hitting than anyone that has ever lived. Great. Let him go teach a course at Fordham. The fact is that stats don?t lie and since Kevin Long came aboard, our situational and RISP hitting is INEXCUSABLE. Long needs to go and needs to be replaced with a Frank Howard-type who calls these guys out, throws them a bat and says ?see the ball, hit the ball?. These guys are all thinking way too much and being too technical about how they go about each swing. AND WHEN DID WE BECOME A LINEUP FULL OF HACKERS? We take no pitches, especially from no names. Our pitchers walk 8 people a game and we take 2 for ourselves. HACKERS! SEND LONG TO FORDHAM. OUR LINEUP SUCKS ? STATS DON’T LIE AT THIS POINT IN THE SEASON AND WE REALLY ARE A .250 TEAM. RISP NIGHTMARE IS INEXCUSABLE AND WE?RE HAMSTRUNG TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT UNTIL SPOTS FREE UP TO INFUSE SOME YOUNG BLOOD. IT?S MAY ALREADY , SO WAKE UP & START HITTING THE BALL ALREADY JERKOFFS!
Randy,
He’s certainly the equivalent of a max effort pitcher.
Hassey,
I suggest you watch the Twins, White Sox, Mariners, or Padres if you want to see teams with real problems…..heck even watch the Red Sox occasionally.
ys guy-
actually i can agree with you that they could change the rules at home for both runners and catchers and make the game a safer game without taking away from the game.
we don’t see runners annihilating fielders at second or third base either , and that hasn’t ruined the game.
it would take some getting used to , but i can see the logic for revising the rules at home plate to prevent concussions and serious injuries.
i was at a h.s. game in nj the other day watching the varsity game and on the adjoining field there was a really bad collision, which i didnt see, but heard. the catcher was laid out, his equipment was all over the field and the runner had scored and the 3b coach was all over his guy giving him the ‘atta boy’ for scoring. i cant speak to the specifics of blocking the plate or whether the catcher even had the ball, but that kid must have had a concussion, he was woozy as hell and walking sideways when he left the field. nobody in the stands, not the catcher’s coach seemed upset by the play, though. the only guy who i spoke to who saw it said it was a ‘clean play’.
“AND WHEN DID WE BECOME A LINEUP FULL OF HACKERS?”
They are leading the AL in OBP I believe. Your post lacks perspective.
Blake – Them’s fightin’ words. So far, their OBP reflects the 75 guys we get on base during our rare 12 or 15 run games. It doesn’t reflect the true situational hitting of this team over the course of the whole year. You know and I know that this specific collection of guys doesn’t regularly enough work counts at crunch time. They swing at everything. I have so much perpective that I’m dripping it all over your carpet.
one thing about the yankees philosiphy of winning every year is that there is little to no time for transition years. obviously rebuilding is out of the question, but what do you do with a guy like posada, who was such an intregal part of the organization for so many years. im not talking about just what to do in po’s case, more in general, if you are going to compete every year, does it mean guys are not allowed to stay with the team at all when they are deteriorating but still usable? if it wasn’t for his current contract, would you just tell jeter to get lost? its a tough situation and there are no easy answers and thats why some guy’s departures like bernie’s havent gone so well. and its one that this franchise is going to be dealing with very much in the next 5-8 years.
ysguy-
now that i understand where you’re coming from i do agree as i said above. i’ve had lots of concussions and lots of collisions at home plate though none of the concussions came from the collisions.
no. i’m with you , make it safer without taking away from the game. there’s no reason to have a kid like you describe get an unnecessary concussion.
Remember when George bowled over Bette Midler ? Now that was ugly.
Girardi thinks that Jeter “had a good month of September”?
I wonder which year Genius Joe is talking about.
It sure couldn’t be September of 2010. His OPS for that month was a resounding .715, compared with .710 for the entire year. On second thought, I guess that does signify an improvement, albeit a statistically insignificant one.
Jeter was “good” for the last 17 games of September 2010; not “good” for the whole month, though.
randy, im sure in your day if you ole’d the runner there would have been some references to being a *cat* for not blocking the guy!
Bronx Jeers May 12th, 2011 at 10:16 am
Remember when George bowled over Bette Midler ? Now that was ugly.
*********************
Classic.
Whats up with this Bum A-Rod, he`s stinkin up my TV.
When I was playing high school ball in NJ, the runner was automatically out for not avoiding contact with the catcher.
Plus, he’d be automatically suspended for the next game.
Tom in NJ, Did you play with a Tux?
tom, it is possible that it wasnt a classic collision, as i said, i didnt see it it could have been incidental contact, sometimes a runner with ‘catch’ a guys’ foot and spin him around going by or something. but that kid was not well when he left the field.
“Tom in NJ, Did you play with a Tux?”
No, but every player had a faberge egg in their hands.
If the runner slid, there was no problem with the play, even if contact was made. Runners couldn’t lower their shoulders into the catcher. And the catcher could not block home plate if he didn’t have the ball.
also in that same game i saw one of the funniest things i’ve seen on a ballfield in a long time. popup in the infield, nobody calls it and the pitcher, 1b, and 3b all go for it, all bump into each other and all 3 fall simultaneously onto their butts and the ball bounced directly in between the three of them.
i heard something similar happened in the met’s game the other day and ike davis went back to ny for tests yesterday!
Call up Montero
how’s montero doing behind the plate? anybody seen him catch so far?
Ledger_Yankees Leonel Liriano, the doctor who orchestrated Bartolo Colon’s PRP therapy in the Dominican Republic says no HGH was used in treatment.
Luke Murton stole home in last nights Tampa Yankee game on a double steal. There was a collision at the plate(something I have seen at many minor league games) the catcher didn’t get the ball on a bad throw from the SS and luke scored. Luckily both Luke and the Bradenton catcher are big boys so no one got hurt.
I like Robertson, but he walks far too many people. That was the problem last night and that has been his one problem over the years. This year he is walking batters at a 6+ per 9 innings and last year it was nearly five.
That being said, yesterday’s loss was on the offense. This team has far too many starters not hitting. The home run rate will not continue as it is historically too high. This team needs players who can hit a single when needed, a trait overlooked in the statistically driven evaluation. Runs win games and players who can bring in runners at third with less than two outs or get a hit with RISP have value. Far too often this year and last that didn’t happen.
I really don’t want anybody dripping anything on my carpet….its pretty new.
Anyway, no I don’t know those things at all….the Yankees are in first place and are underperforming as a team offensively. Long season…..things are never as bad.as they seem after a loss.
it just so happens that donnie collins posted on his scranton blog yesterday about whether anyone in aaa could help out the yankees at this point. here’s his take on jesus;
Jesus Montero
I’m throwing him on here for the sake of discussion. Teams have thrown him far fewer fastballs than a year ago, and he’s learning how to turn off-speed stuff into singles. But unless he gets a hanger, he isn’t driving it over the fence. I still think he belongs in Triple-A, but once he figures it all out, he’s a guy I’d want in the middle of my batting order for the next 15 years. Of course, I wouldn’t want him there until he’s ready, either. And he’s not. The best case scenario for Montero, to me, would be for him to be the backup catcher and part-time DH come mid-August or September. That, however, depends on him continuing to develop defensively (and he starting to show some consistency back there).
not a ringing endorsement from a guy who has watched him all season.
no HGH for Colon, but definitely some HJDs (huge jelly doughnuts)
Montero will probably struggle for a period when he does get called up…..prefer yourselves for it.
Martin is doing a great job defensively which is what he was brought in for. Anything he provides offensively is a bonus and I do believe he will start to hit again, he was never going to keep up that lace for the entire season. He’s had some bad luck in this stretch hitting balls at people, he’ll come around just as the rest of the offense will. Alex is the biggest factor…..when he hits its a great offense, when he doesn’t its still good but not nearly on the same level.
Blake – You’re exactly correct. Things are never as bad as they seem after ONE loss. But things ARE as bad as they seem after a full six weeks. By this point in the season stats don’t lie, and I see nothing in their approach or performance that says they’ll get the team BA back over .265 on the season. Or RISP over .250 for the season. I mean, come on, you at least have to agree with me that they’ve been disastrously laughable. bad. infuriatingly awful. you-have-to-be-kidding-me-kind-of-stuff. we-eventually-have-to-get-a-big-hit-no-i-can’t-believe-we-hit-into-another-dp-texeira-sux kind of stuff.
I still don’t understand why HGH can’t be used to help an injured player come back sooner
hardwired7 May 12th, 2011 at 10:45 am
no HGH for Colon, but definitely some HJDs (huge jelly doughnuts)
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LOL Who could blame him??
Prepare….not prefer.
YankeesPR Happy 86th birthday to Yogi Berra!
Did Bartolo diss the Captain?
“Colon said he wanted to get back into baseball,” Purita recalled. “He could not throw the ball without horrible pain, but he felt he still had something left in the can, so to speak. I told Colon this will be a lot less painful than facing Derek Jeter. He said: ‘Derek Jeter? He has never been a problem for me. I always strike him out.’ ”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05.....sq=bartolo colon&st=cse&scp=4
“I mean, come on, you at least have to agree with me that they’ve been disastrously laughable. bad. infuriatingly awful.”
Even after a bit of a slump overall and losing 3 of 4 to Detroit…..they are still on a 95 win pace…..and they really haven’t played nearly as well as they are capable.
Who’s available in the pen tonight? The way I see it, just Joba, Logan, Carlyle and Ayala. Not great.
What were the Yanks going to do if they tied up the game last night? Why were they playing for a tie?
There aren’t enough innings in this bullpen right now.
i guess ‘purita’ didnt ask colon about facing arod….
Before the season started, I expected that we would have to score at least six runs virtually every time AJ, Freddy or the Bart man pitched just to stand a chance of winning. As it turns out, they have pitched to a much higher level than I expected. To be honest, given the way they have pitched, this team should be somewhere around the 24-10 mark. Given how hard it is to win on the road, you simply cannot afford to toss away games like last night (not to mention against teams like the Royals). There’s no way you can blame any of our relievers, including Robertson, for this defeat. It should have been 6-1 or 7-1 going into the seventh inning. It was all down to the offense. I keep reading about how Kevin Long is the best hitting coach in baseball (and probably the highest paid now). I know he can’t go out and hit for A-Rod, Tex or Jeter but surely if he was really that good, we wouldn’t have so many players slumping at the same time? It just doesn’t add up.
Will this season be a case of Dr Jeter and Mr Hide?
Blake – I’m not disagreeing with any of that. I know their pace and I know the effect of the new young fireballers are having on AL parity. Their pitching has kept them in it and I only mean that their offense (and defense if you want to get down to it) has been bad, awful, etc. My point in all of this is to say that I don’t beleive their offense will ever come around. Sure even bad hitters have 4-8 game hot streaks (maybe even twice a season if they’re lucky). But by this point in the season, the stats are telling us that it is what it is, absent infusing someone by 7/31 who hasn’t yet been infected with the Yankees RISP or LOB disease.
“What were the Yanks going to do if they tied up the game last night? Why were they playing for a tie? ”
That’s what it looked like…….
Attaboy, Bruce B. That’s what I’m talking about! SPREAD THE GOSPEL! K-LONG MUST GO!
Hassey,
The one thing I will agree with you on is Tex. He is def not the guy I thought they were getting when they signed him. I’ll admit I never followed him on a day to day basis when he was on other teams. The only thing I knew about him was that he got off to bad starts in April.
After a slow start in 09 he took off and had a great year until the playoffs where he was pretty much an automatic out. Last year it took him until June to get going and again he was awful in the playoffs and when he got hurt against Texas I didn’t think they lost much as far as his bat goes. He seems to be a 270 hitter. I feel like I am watching Giambi in later years with a better glove.
It is discouraging when the Red Sox who lost out on Tex had to settle for the consolation prize of Agon who after a slow start is going insane right now
hassey, all the items you listed are concerns, but even with all that, they are doing well and are not in much danger of missing the PS. and arod is cold, tex isnt doing much, cano hasnt been ripping it lately and we know that all will hit.
another thing, whether or not they raise thier season’s obp or whatever up to some arbitrary level means nothing. all that matters is what they do from here on out.
calm down, guy, there are problems but if i didnt know better i’d think you were describing the mets or twins…its not that bad…
“My point in all of this is to say that I don’t beleive their offense will ever come around”
Well if that’s your opinion then you are entitled to it….I just don’t see them continuing to slump as a team all year……too many good and professional hitters to do so IMO.
last night’s lose is the most pathetic one so far this season.
if a team loses 5+ games in a row, they wanna play against Yankees to turn around!
They will lose weekend series to sux
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Come on Triple, drink more of my Kool Aid, you know you like it. Tex is only one symptom of the bigger problem – K-LONG MUST GO!!!
Teixera has 9 homers and a .958 OPS……..since when is that terrible? He’s actually off to a much much better start than usual and historically starts heating up soon.
k long, genius in august, must go in may! welcome to ny!
As usual, there is a huge chasm between fans that just cheer for the team no matter what — and fans that cheer for the team while being realistic about their shortcomings.
I knew it was only a matter of time before the “fire K-Long” posts started.
JTHC: there’s only one thing pathetic around here, and you see it every time you look in the mirror.
Jeter isn’t their biggest problem at this point, but when you say that his April was OK (.256 .313.278 .591), you have no credibility.
So again, I”m not sure why reporters even bother to ask Girardi about him.
YsGuy – I’m not sure what you mean by last August (Granderson’s changes?), but Long is still a genius, maybe even a physics-of-hitting savant. He just isn’t an effective MLB hitting coach. The guys seem to love him and they don’t doubt any of his science or insight. But the stats show he isn’t effective overall. Do you recall any other 2-4 year period where chunks of proven guys all went into EXTENSIVE slumps all at the same time. Maybe an O’Neill here, a Randolph there, a Roy White here here, even a Mantle there. But these guys now all go into DEATH slumps for 100 ABs at a time and no one seems to be able to work there way out of it other than to say “my batting practice went well, I can feel it’s coming soon”. It doesn’t just happen during live games unless you MAKE that happen during live games. No doubt every hitter has slumps but the hitting coach’s job is to find a way to change the guys mental/physical state (akin to the Dog Whisperer) in such a way that the slumps are minimized. And Long doesn;t seem to be able to do that.
Am I the only person who thinks the effects of hitting/pitching coaches is a bit overrated?
I’m not saying their guidance can’t help to improve a pitcher or hitter.. but I dunno that I’ve ever been convinced they play an integral role in a players success.
I can’t blame Kevin Long for Swisher pulling his macho I’m gonna hit the ball out of the park junk on every at bat. He’s been doing that since the post season last year and he’s been swinging out of shoes striking out all along. Swisher is overrated. He gets so much love because he acts like a fan favorite, but he’s not a middle of the order hitter to rely on. He’s in his prime, but you could fool me if he is showing that.
Kevin Long isn’t to blame for Posada not being a good hitter anymore. Omar Minaya is to blame for that. Posada would not be on this roster if Minaya didn’t take Posada out to lunch and offer him a 4 year deal to go the Mets. Cashman did not want to go 4 years on Posada and right now we are seeing why. Whether he’s done or he’s “adjusting” to his DH role, he’s a void at DH.
You gonna blame Long for Arod going into the hole this month? Arod looked like an MVP candidate in April. Blaming Long for Jeter’s struggles is dumb when Jeter ignored all of Long’s advice and fought it until going back to what he did previously.Gardner came up this season handed the starting job and imploded out of the gate looking like a guy from AAA. How is that Long’s fault? Long’s been preaching to him on how to fix the swing and he’s finally starting to see results.
Granderson is hitting and leading the league in HR’s. He took Long’s advice.
Blaming the hitting coach is stupid. Blame the players. This team is completely frustrating to watch because they lack the special Yankee team ingredient when someone different steps up each night to win the game.
Instead, they only hit when everyone hits and turn those wins into beer league softball games with double digit run totals that make their run differential look gaudy. But too often this offense is ice cold. This team is not capable of rallies as presently comprised.
Last night then KC walked the struggling Swisher to pitch to our DH was the ultimate slap. They had a relief pitcher on the mound who had thrown close to 60 pitches. Jorge knew the arsenal and he couldn’t get the job done.
People have said it before in other seasons and it stands to be said again – This team needs some contact hitters who can hit for average. All this HR hero to the RF seats yields more misses than hits.
If Montero is the kind of hitter who makes solid contact and is tough to K and can hit to all fields, he should be up here hitting.
The production we’re getting out of RF and DH is pathetic. Those are 2 offensive positions and we’re throwing pitchers hitting out there.
They will lose weekend series to sux
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No offense but statements like are just plain dumb and baseless. Why would you think that, because of how well the sox are pitching/hitting right now up in Toronto? The Yankees haven’t lost a series at home yet and are playing a team under .500 this weekend, but apparently you think they will lose this series because they had an ugly game at the plate last night. They’re still in position to win this series against KC.
It’s like all the geniuses that were on here in April saying that Colon spent all his stamina in ST and that he would contribute nothing. How’s that working out so far?
Wanting to fire the hitting coach 6 weeks into the season is a sign of a realistic fan?
I’m not saying Kevin Long is either a good or a bad hitting coach as I really don’t know whether he is or not. What I am saying is that when A-Rod’s knocking the ball into the cheap seats and Robby Cano is on fire, he’s hailed as a genius. So when the Yanks score a combined total of five runs off those much-feared pitchers Kyle Davies and Vin Mazzaro, you have to ask wtf is he doing in batting practice to put it right?
“Wanting to fire the hitting coach 6 weeks into the season is a sign of a realistic fan”
It’s George-esque in his prime, when he was sort of nuts.
Brian, Please investigate what they are doing to help Gardner steal more effectively. Is he watching tape? Is he getting info from the bench to steal, his ‘greenlight’ aint working. How many DPs has he ran into waiting for the 5th pitch to the next batter? Why dont they have a base stealing coach working with him? He was good last year, hes bad now, which is unacceptable with his speed. if his instincts/reads are that bad than how are they tutoring him? He needs to stop the thought of bunting until he gets his bat and base runnung skills down first..
Happy Birthday Yogi! my favorite Yogism, His kids told him “the man for the venitian blinds is here”, Yogi thinking it was a charity said ” go in my pocket and give them some change”.
Blake – Come on, I know Tex-s overall stats. Way inflated by the first week. How can you not say that he has been disappointing and underperforming? The real question and problem is – what if this really is all he’s got an he’s not underperforming. The season is a 162 chapter book, and just because the first few chapters got your interest doesn’t make it OK for the next 30 chapters to suck. It just doesn;t a good book make. If you can’t at least admit to me that Tex is unreliable and disappointing, then, well…I just don’t think we can see each other anymore.
“Do you recall any other 2-4 year period where chunks of proven guys all went into EXTENSIVE slumps all at the same time”
Pretty much every team….every year.
“The season is a 162 chapter book, and just because the first few chapters got your interest doesn’t make it OK for the next 30 chapters to suck.”
The next 30 chapters haven’t been written yet…..you are assuming they will suck.
i was never a ‘long is a genius’ guy and i’m not a ‘long must go’ guy now, i think both are extremes. i dont put alot of weight on the hitting coach at all and even less so when it comes to established ml hitters like arod and tex. those 2 guys are the key to the lineup and they are not hitting well right now, so the offense is suffereing. they are responsible for thier success or failure and right now they are not succeding.
at the same time, the yankees are scoring a ton of runs, not so much the last 2 weeks, but still well up there in the league at scoring, so things arent all that dire with the offense. it will come around, arod is going to bust out of it any time now, he always does and tex is actually ahead of hit normal early-season hitting pace at this point.
i dont think that firing the hitting coach at this point is anything more than a knee jerk reaction and would have little to no effect . we need arod and tex to start ripping the ball more than anything, and while the waiting is frustrating, it is going to happen and likely very soon.
Teixeira in May:
.281 .395 .625 1.020
in April:
.253. 388 .519 .907 .
What am I missing?
If that’s a problem, the Yankees need more like that.
“It’s George-esque in his prime, when he was sort of nuts.”
George signed the checks so he was entitled to a little bit of nuts.
G Love – I agree with you 150% and I am sorry if I did not explain myself well all morning. I am actually blaming Long and ALSO saying that this specific collection of hitters is bad. THIS year’s Posada, THIS year’s Tex, THIS year’s Swisher (April-JUne 2010 an aberation). A good line-up is like fine tuning your stereo – all of the equalizers have to be just right in order to win the WS that year. Right now, even though we are still in first, and the Stones still sound good enough on your old stereo for you to get lucky with your girl, even she can tell the sound is way off. But please don;t say my opinions about Long are stupid…it hurts my feelings
“randy, im sure in your day if you ole’d the runner there would have been some references to being a *cat* for not blocking the guy!”
ysguy-
we also boxed without head gear as ten year olds too in organized tournaments, but times have changed.
one funny thing that happened to me that relates to how i was brought up playing baseball was when i was playing in a pre season exhibition game with teammates like cesar cedeno, joachin andujar, jose cruz , ron washington etc. i walked, and i totally wiped out the shortstop breaking up a routine double play and the whole bench was laughing and telling me it was only an exhibition game.
i was so pumped up though playing with these guys, i guess i got a little carried away. i also in that game after the first guy struck out , threw down to third base and over threw the third baseman and hit the left field wall on one bounce.
there may have also been some high octane coffee involved
blake May 12th, 2011 at 11:27 am
“Do you recall any other 2-4 year period where chunks of proven guys all went into EXTENSIVE slumps all at the same time”
Pretty much every team….every year.
Fair comment…but not every team has a star-studded batting lineup like the Yankees. I don’t believe Cano ever goes into a slump, he simply loses patience and discipline at the plate. A-Rod is a completely different case. When he’s on, he has a Rolls Royce swing. When he’s off, he performs like a 20-year–old Toyota Corolla.
hassey: Wow, if Tex continues for the rest of the season with the same kind of stats he has now – 40 HR, .957 OPS, I think everybody would be real happy.
As usual – some are exaggerating what some are saying here. I don’t see any groundswell of opinion to fire K. Long. I do think a discussion about the importance of hitting and pitching coaches is a valid and an interesting dialogue to have.
“George signed the checks so he was entitled to a little bit of nuts.”
Sort of like an extension of the Golden Rule?
Maybe the guys just can’t hear KLong. He should try speaking to them in CAPS, that should get his point across.
I really think this bad stretch has just been a product of some poor play and general bad luck. The hitting is happening but not at the right times. You don’t strand that many men on base without people getting on. We’re getting out opportunities but we just haven’t been getting the breaks. The tide will turn. It always does.
The one thing they may need is another OF for quality depth.
the stats say otherwise, but i think most yankees fans right now would say that tex hasnt come through in the big spot as often as we expect him to in the long run. but point taken, he has actually done better than the perception of him has been. and much better than his usual april. that bodes well for how he might do in june july and august.
i understand every criticism hassey brought up, i just think the overall is much better than the picture he’s painting. i think the day after a tough performance like last night’s is not the best time for a year-in-review analysis. that was, as many have said, as ugly a game as they have played in a long time and skews the view of the overall performance to the negative side.
imagine how the red socks fans must feel right about now after all that ugliness last night!
“Come on Triple, drink more of my Kool Aid, you know you like it. Tex is only one symptom of the bigger problem – K-LONG MUST GO!!!”
What exaggeration? They wrote it and are the most vocal person this morning pointing out shortcomings.
I am starting to believe that the critical comments on this blog fall into four categories:
1) Fact based- Comments such as “Lousy bunt laid down by Jeter/Gardner” or “Alex’s swing is rusty” or “Jorge looks bad tonight”. These type of criticisms are acceptable criticisms.
2)Opinion Based- Comments such as “Girardi made a bad decision there”, or “Cashman need to do something at the deadline”. These types of comments are usaully acceptable although occsionally they may be overly cynical such as ” This is what we get for 200 million”. Still, these type of comments, if reasonable, generally make this a great blog.
3) Predictive comments- Comments such as “They will lose the series to the Sux” or “This is a 90 win team” or “these guys are finished”. These comments are baseless and add nothing to any legitimate discussion.
4) Statistical Analysis- These are the trickiest types of comment because each person has a different idea of which stats matter. Statistics are not absloute and they tend to ignore perspectives that a common sense viewing will yield. I blame Billy Beane.
In my opinion, there are too many comments of types 3 and 4 on this blog and not enough of type one.
hardwired7 May 12th, 2011 at 11:40 am
Maybe the guys just can?t hear KLong. He should try speaking to them in CAPS, that should get his point across.
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Shame-great post @ 11:41. Totally agree.
randy i played midget football and had my hand stepped on during a play, went to the sidelines and the doctor, who by chance was actually my pediatrician, taped my fingers together and told me to get back in there.
years later in the navy i broke my thumb on the same hand and the xray showed 3 healed breaks in my very crooked little finger!
different times!
“The tide will turn. It always does.”
Probably, but some age-related declines may mitigate that.
“Sort of like an extension of the Golden Rule?”
Which one? Do unto others as you would like them to do to you or he who has the gold makes the rules?
My opinion on the hitting is that while overall the Yankees have had some issues with situational hitting and have not looked good during those instances, they have more than made up for it by hitting for power. Last night they just failed in multiple facets of the game. But generally, the bats have done enough to win most games. While you can be critical of that and look for ways to improve, I don’t see how it can be viewed as a colossal failure. The team is 20-14, has the second best record in the AL and is on pace to win 95 games.
“Which one? Do unto others as you would like them to do to you or he who has the gold makes the rules?”
The latter.
I have to get to work (Mississippi Riverboat Gambler by day), but I just wanted to give you all a teary sign off and say I love you all. Except The Straw – who are you to say that my posts are unacceptable (3) or lack common sense (4)? I forgot more about baseball in the past 10 minutes than you will learn in the next 15 years. What will you call my 90-72 predictive comment when it proves true? I’m a gonna come looking for ya in October, so be ready!
Hassey,
Don’t take it personal. Wasn’t calling you stupid. Just the knee jerk “fire the hitting coach/pitching coach” as a solution for the teams troubles is silly.
I don’t have the knowledge at hand, but can someone name an instance when a hitting or pitching coach was fired in season and the team suddenly turned it around and began hitting or pitching better?
The only thing I can think of is when the Mets railroaded Willie out of the manager seat and all of a sudden Delgado who wanted Willie fired started hitting like an MVP candidate.
The Yankee offense problem isn’t the coaching. It’s not Girardi. It’s the highly paid/praised players who, outside of Grandy, only hit when each other is hitting and the pitcher is falling apart by the onslaught.
One of the great things about some of the great Yankee teams we’ve seen is someone different carried the team every game and came up large. It was rarely the same guy. Some days it was Bernie. Sometimes O’Neil. Sometimes Jeter.
This group, for the most part, has a group mentality to an extreme. Whether it be that they are all pressing or that they see the guy get out in front of them and throw up their hands and say, “well I can’t do it then” I don’t know.
What I do know is it’s the middle of May and our RF and DH are horrible hitters who are making it easy for the opposing pitcher to get through the game once they get past Cano.
One of my criticism’s of the Boston lineup this off season was all the praise was unwarranted because I felt they were only 4-5 deep and the rest of the lineup could be easily pitched to.
Our lineup is 4 deep and less than that when Arod is slumping. Right now Grandy, Tex, Cano are the only guys you have to really worry about.
The performance of Swisher and Posada is not acceptable and losing Chavez hurt the team because he was a better DH option than Jorge is.
Giving away home games like last night will bite the team in the rear in the latter parts of this season.
The Yankees need some youth and some serious hitting ability to be infused into this lineup. If Montero is one of the top 5 prospects in the game because of his hitting ability he needs to be up here. Even if he struggles and his .230, he’s 70 points better than Jorge.
The Yankees should not be using DH as a place to hide old vets who can’t field anymore and whose contracts are keeping them here. DH should be used as an offensive weapon. When the KC Royals walk a guy to get your DH, it’s the ultimate slap in the face.
Hassey-
I have been a Yankee fan for 35-40 years, so unless you are actually Ron Hassey I think I can be your equal in baseball knowledge. I didn’t say your post lacked common sense, I was referring more to the guys who spout OBP and OPS while ignoring basic stats like wins, losses and RBI.
But I don’t agree on the 90 win thing.
The good news is I think Girardi heard me screaming from left field last night (melky certainly did) about those bunts. Atrocious managing by Girardi last night. Good think I had all those heinekens.
I was referring more to the guys who spout OBP and OPS while ignoring basic stats like wins, losses and RBI./i>
Please just stop yourself there.
Straw – No wucking furries. We’re still tight, and I consider all of you my equals. That’s what makes us all one big ugly family.
Irreverent-
Why? Show me where those stats measure things like hits with runners in scoring position and/or game winning hits. Look at Melky in 2009. His averages were atrocious, but I can think of at least three instances where he won games with clutch hitting. Stats don’t tell the whole story.
I was referring more to the guys who spout OBP and OPS while ignoring basic stats like wins, losses and RBI.
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funniest thing I read all day
Patrick-
Elaborate…criticizing or agreeing?
As far as Robertson goes, he has good stuff alright, but not closer stuff at this stage.
When Mo goes, I don’t know who’ll replace him, but we don’t have HIM anywhere in the org. right now. Possibilities, maybe.
To close, you can throw 100 mph, or have a great cutter, etc., but you still have to locate and walk very few. ( and have the confidence to do so ) IMO
Only 1 Mo !
TheStraw – Stats are not supposed to tell the whole story, they are supplements… and Melky “winning” a game with an arbitrary late inning hit doesn’t have anything to “prove”. He’s no more likely to repeat that performance the next day because he got one or two timely hits.
Yankees Yankees-Orioles game that was postponed April 22 will be made up Aug. 27 at 1:05 ET as part of a day-night doubleheader at Camden Yards.
TheStraw – Only people that ignore statistics feel the need to draw the line between stats and observation. People’s nose are not stuck inthe book, so to speak… and assuming that is foolish.
Elaborate…criticizing or agreeing?
–
Criticizing.
OBP and OPS are basic stats. wins, losses and RBI’s are meaningless stats
jimbaumbach Hal Steinbrenner would not commit to wanting Cashman back next year but said they will base decision on more than just this year’s team.
Irreverent-
I agree with your statement. But some here want to use them as gospel to “prove” why they believe the Yanks are old/ washed up/done. I’ve watched them for far too many seasons to buy into that. When Johnny Damon makes a heads up play to essentially win Game 6 for the Yankees, how do you quantify that except to say it was a great play?
Can someone tell me if the Yankees or Girardi explained why
Joba did not pitch last night?
I already am aware that Soriano was not going to pitch, but why was Joba passed over?
Warning Track Power May 12th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
Can someone tell me if the Yankees or Girardi explained why
Joba did not pitch last night?
I already am aware that Soriano was not going to pitch, but why was Joba passed over?
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he had pitched 3 out of the last 4 games
Josh Hamiliton , Nelson Cruz . .now Ike Davis … MAN my fantasy team is hurting !
“I already am aware that Soriano was not going to pitch, but why was Joba passed over?”
There is a Yankee “rule” that a relief pitcher cannot pitch 4 games in 5 days. Using Joba last night would have violated that rule.
The Yankees have these rules in order to tie one of their hands behind their back. It would be unfair competition otherwise…
TheStraw May 12th, 2011 at 12:00 pm
Irreverent-
Why? Show me where those stats measure things like hits with runners in scoring position and/or game winning hits. Look at Melky in 2009. His averages were atrocious, but I can think of at least three instances where he won games with clutch hitting. Stats don’t tell the whole story.
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Straw, Cabrera hit .274 in 2009. Hardly “atrocious.”
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I find myself wishing Pena could be the mgr. The bunt on with Gardner ahead 3-1 is one of the worst things we’ve seen. Joe may sound smart when he talks but the case is building against his in game baseball IQ
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The name of this thread is an embarrassment.Very tabloid mentality I would say.
Patrick-
I mean team wins, not pitcher’s personal records. And how are RBI a meaningless stat? They are what produce runs that win games.
g love did you read the quote about jesus montero i posted above?
TheStraw – I’m not so sure bold declarations like that are being made, not by any intelligent poster here anyway…
Your Damon comment is the same disconnect though. There is no need to prove why every single play in baseball happens. Damon makes a great heads up play and that’s all it is… a great play.
That great play doesn’t alleviate him from the realities of the rest of his game though. he gets an extra taken base on his advanced base-running statistics, it gets rolled into the pile with all of the other great and poor decisions he has made and predictions are made based off of that. There is no need to statistically prove why he was able to see 3rd base was open.
C O L O N G A T E – T H E P R E L U D E
NEW YORK (AP) – Major League Baseball is examining a procedure performed on Yankees right-hander Bartolo Colon last year that involved stem cells being injected into his painful shoulder and elbow, according to The New York Times. Joseph R. Purita, an orthopedic surgeon in Boca Raton, Fla., told the newspaper he flew to Colon’s native Dominican Republic and helped a team of doctors there with the treatment on the 2005 AL Cy Young Award winner. He said he has used Human Growth Hormone in the procedure before, but not in this case with Colon.
HGH is banned by Major League Baseball.
“The Yankees did notify us and we are looking into it,” league spokesman Pat Courtney told the Times for a story posted on its website on Wednesday night.
“Warning Track Power May 12th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
Can someone tell me if the Yankees or Girardi explained why
Joba did not pitch last night?
I already am aware that Soriano was not going to pitch, but why was Joba passed over?”
Girardi’s clearly resting him early for the playoffs.
The Yankees hit .293 in last night’s game.
They had 12 hits. ELEVEN of those 12 hits were singles.
Everytime the Yankees offense has a bad game people call for high average hitters. The Yankees hit for a high average last night.
The reason they lost is because singles friggin suck. It took them 3 hits to get just 1 run in the 2nd inning last night.
The team didn’t hit for enough power last night. They were a crappy singles hitting team for the night.
10:43 am quote from the scranton yankees blog.
Also, to your point above… RBI’s are a resultant statistic. The batter has no control over runners being on base when he gets up. He has no control over the baserunner taking an extra base when he shouldn’t have, or an umpire blowing a safe/out call at home… or a runner being fast enough to score from first on a LD single.
Why does he need “extra credit” for that hit, which is merely just another hit with the coincidence of a runner being in position to score?
“The name of this thread is an embarrassment.Very tabloid mentality I would say.”
Your irony detector must be malfunctioning today.
Erin May 12th, 2011 at 12:08 pm
Warning Track Power May 12th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
Can someone tell me if the Yankees or Girardi explained why
Joba did not pitch last night?
I already am aware that Soriano was not going to pitch, but why was Joba passed over?
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he had pitched 3 out of the last 4 games
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That didn’t bother me actually. Joe showed some responsibility there. We have Boston in for 3 on the weekend & no break, each worth a full game. What does bother me is he goes to the BP sometimes too early (last night wasn’t an instance of this with AJ having thrown what 115 pitches or so).
New Post: LoHud Yankees chat tomorrow at noon
LGY – I disagree, the team hit for plenty of power last night… right at the outfielders. 4 LD rocket shots stolen from the boxscore, add those doubles in and there is no lack of power.
Right, but those are intangibles that must be taken into account. Suppose Jeter struggles all year this year, but then gets a game winning double in a signifcant playoff game. Do we say that he got lucky given his trends, or that his experience made him clutch? It’s a fine line..
Wave Your Hat May 12th, 2011 at 12:14 pm
“The name of this thread is an embarrassment.Very tabloid mentality I would say.”
Your irony detector must be malfunctioning today.
. Unlikely.
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prior to last night, joba pitched 3 of the previous 4 days. sweeney said this am that the yankees dont want him to go more than 3 out of 4 days and then a rest day. i think that applies to mo and soriano also.
“Do we say that he got lucky given his trends, or that his experience made him clutch?”
Some posters here do not believe in clutch hitting, so for those that question has an easy answer.
Y’s,
I just went back and read it. If that’s the case and Montero isn’t really ready then I guess there is no solution.
But I also saw a guy like Hosmer last night learn on the job. He looked baffled by breaking stuff in the game, but still put a quality at bat together in the pinch and got a run in.
I would like to think Montero possessed the same ability to learn on the job up here. Keeping a guy in AAA to learn to hit off speed stuff isn’t the best idea when he’s not seeing MLB quality off speed stuff — he’s seeing AAA off speed stuff.
TheStraw – We say that he got a hit, and someone happened to be on base. Nothing more, nothing less.
Can his experience lead him to excel in a high pressure situation? Sure.
Are you going to try to predict human stress levels with after-the-fact stats? No.
Are you going to purposely bet against what is most statistically probable because a player might be “clutch”? No.
WYH – I wouldn’t say that people don’t believe in clutch hitting, that’s unfair. You just don’t use flukey incidences it to make predictions.
“WYH – I wouldn’t say that people don’t believe in clutch hitting, that’s unfair. You just don’t use flukey incidences it to make predictions.”
Yes to the second sentence, but there are definitely people who don’t believe in, or are at least agnostic about, clutch hitting, if what is meant is an innate ability to hit in the clutch. There is little statistical evidence of it.
i agree and certainly the guy who writes that blog is not a scout. but i think the key is his development as a catcher. obviously that guy thinks he is progressing, which is great but i think the yankees feel that he needs somewhere near 80 games or so to really get it down to the point that he can handle being a major league catcher and dont want to bring him up before that. think of how wieters and saltalamaccia were supposed to be awesome hitting catchers and struggled when they came up. there has been speculation that they were overmatched behind the plate and it carried over.
everything is adjustable and injuries to catchers are so common that he is likely to see time in the bronx before september, but for now i think they want him working behind the plate 5 times a week until they think he’s got it down.