Yankees bats go silent again
Posted by: Brian Heyman - Posted in Misc on May 21, 2011 
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The Yankees managed just one run and four hits in Friday night’s 2-1 loss to the Mets, all off R.A. Dickey, who baffled them with his knuckleball over six innings. But they couldn’t hit Mike O’Connor, Jason Isringhausen and Francisco Rodriguez, either. This was one night after they scored 13 against the Orioles, which was one night after they scored one time in the first 14 innings against Baltimore.
This lineup should be hitting consistently by now, but it hasn’t happened.
“I wish I could explain it,” Derek Jeter said.
The team is batting .224 with runners in scoring position at Yankee Stadium, including .148 in this six-game losing streak at home.
“If you keep putting guys on, eventually it’s going to turn,” Joe Girardi said.
Girardi was asked about possibly tweaking the lineup. Of course, he did that last Saturday, dropping Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada, which led to those repercussions involving Posada.
“The last time I did something, everyone was in an uproar,” Girardi said. “I mean, we just scored (13) runs with that exact same lineup. When you face a knuckleballer, you never know what you’re going to get.”
The Subway Series crowd was subdued at times.
“When there’ s not a lot of offense, there’s not a lot to cheer about,” Girardi said.
The Yankees will see if they can do better tonight when lefty Chris Capuano starts for the Mets.
Randy
TheStraw
I find that doubles stat to be really odd. The team leads the league in every major offensive stat, including total bases, OBP and SLG( except for average 8th ),yet is last in doubles?
I am inclined to think that it’s just bad luck, but I am not so sure.
RISP is definitely going to even out over the long term.
Which is kind of encouraging considering we are right there near the top and have not even been close to firing on all cylinders.
Not a fan of the “tip of the cap” excuses the guys offer up so much of the time. This guy was considered a slug. Why do the Yanks have such a difficult time when other teams can hit a particular pitcher with ease?
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Dickey had a great season last year. This season he’s been struggling to control the knuckler but last night he had it. KRod looked pretty good as well. Let’s see what they can do with the lefty tonight.
It seems the Yankees will keep crediting the good pitching and the tip your cap stance to the other pitcher…the 13 runs scored the other night was an aberration as this offense needs a shake-up, Vazquez and Montero is a start as well as batting Cano 3rd, Tex 5th….you can say the line-up was truly exposed in the ALCS last year vs. the Rangers as Cano was the only one to truly hit….see this article from Kernan in today’s NY Post below, says it all perfectly…..
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports…..z1MzCxD8MX
“Why do the Yanks have such a difficult time when other teams can hit a particular pitcher with ease?”
Part of the dynamic of being a fan of the Yankees ( and Tar Heels
) is other teams give it that little extra to try to beat you, because you are best. I take pride in that as Yankee fan.
How a certain pitcher (or team) performs against others, is not always an accurate representation on how they will perform against the Yankees.
I have not watched the Mets this year, but Dickey was real good last night and that play by Reyes was the ballgame.
Anyone interested in Branyan? Dbacks released him….he murdered us last year. I was at the game where he crushed on into the upper deck. Although he’s not an on base guy either.
Tar,
They were chasing pitches outside the zone all night
I have watched all of Dickeys starts this year except for 2 and he looked exactly the same last night as he did during all his other starts
The Yankees are 6-11 in their last 17 games. You would THINK 12 games against the likes of the Mets, Toronto, Seattle & Oakland would help them turn it around, but losing 2-1 at HOME against the Mets isn’t showing much, right ?
“They were chasing pitches outside the zone all night”
Isn’t that the sign of a good knuckleball?
I thought early on the Yankees were going to get to him. It seemed he gained whatever confidence he needed and got stronger as the game progressed.
He got more K’s and less GB’s last night then he has in previous games, this year. I am not sure what that means, bad swings or good knuckle?
But yes, I do think the Yankees execution did leave something to be desired as well.
Every time the Yankees face an offspeed pitcher, they flail and then continue to flail for days. When a team is not hitting for so long, to simply repeat the batting order and expect different results is just planning to fail and it doesn’t take an Einstein to figure that out.
Here’s my order–for today
Jeter
Tex
Alex
Cano
Granderson
Martin
Posada
Swish
Gardner
It all begins and ends with the players, but Girardi’s steadfast stubbornness against altering the lineup is not helping much. I do not think a wholesale shakeup is even necessary. But, there is no conceivable reason that Cano is not in the 3rd spot and Tex in the 5th. None. Cano is the easiest choice for the three hole on this team since Don Mattingly. Imagine it is the mid-80′s. Could you even imagine Mattingly hitting 5th, with guys like Don Baylor, Dan Pasqua or Steve Kemp hitting 3rd?
This is not meant to be an attack on Tex, because I like him and think he has played well enough since he has been here. But his approach and low average simply do not warrant his position at No. 3, and certainly have not since Cano has come on.
In contrast, I think Tex is a much better fit at No. 5 behind ARod.
I think it is also time to bring up Montero if only to see if he can give the Yankees some kind of spark. Put him as the DH (apologies to Jorge). Hit him 6th. My lineup would look like this:
Jeter
Granderson
Cano
ARod
Tex
Montero
Dickerson/Swisher/Jones
Martin
Gardner
Girardi just makes me want to punch him. His saying that the lineup scored 13 runs the night before as some kind of great thing to cover for the inept offense last night is the ultimate insult to the fans. And by the way, the knuckleballer only threw 6 innings. There was a 1/3 of the game these stiffs got to hit against non knuckleball pitching and they did nothing.
Hey Hal, Levine, front office? You still read these boards? Go have a chat with your Pollyanna frozen in cement manager about his media relations again.
Between that doozy and his admitting he’s afraid to change the batting order because of the Jorge incident, I’d say you have pretty good grounds for termination.
If they promised me I could throw water balloons at Girardi in the great hall before the game I would pay $500 to do it today.
I’m sick and tired of a manager talking to the fans through the media like we’re idiots and we’re not seeing what we’re seeing. That act is getting old. Especially, with a 6 game losing streak at your home park that your team was supposedly built for.
Kernan’s article in the post was spot on this morning. I hope other writers have the courage to call out Girardi for the absolute idiocy of responding that he doesn’t want to think about changing the lineup because of what happened last weekend.
The inmates run the asylum and Girardi is nurse Ratchet w/o the cojones if you know what I’m saying.
At least the Mets are throwing a lefty tonight. Hollywood Nick will fell comfy with that unless he drinks too many 5 Hour energy drinks before the game and can’t remember the alphabet.
They lose tonight it’s 7 straight at home. Think about that for a second. That’s almost 10% of their home games lost in a row at their home park.
That’s not a first place team or a contender. That’s just sad.
You see how deceiving Tex is. Guys like Jerkface will point to his final numbers to validate the fact that he hits 30 and 100 every year but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Tex hit a 3 run jack last night in a blow out and then he hits a home run early last night and does nothing else.
Agon had 4 hits last night which was the 7th time he has had 3 or more hits in a game. The last time Tex had 3 hits in a game was April 20th which was also the only time he has had 3 or more hits in a game this year
hman23,
Tex has played well enough since he got here? Based on what?
G.Love:
Amen!
You wish you could explain it Jeter? How about your decline? Ta da!
Triple Short of a Cycle,
2009 – 2nd in the league in OPS. 2nd in MVP voting, Gold Glove
2010 – 1st in runs scored, 13th in OPS, Gold Glove, batted over .300 in postseason with some very huge hits
I actually should correct myself.
He has played better than “well enough.”
Had his 2010 postseason wrong, but I still stand by my point.
Triple,
Tex has magically morphed into a .250 power hitter with high on base %. The chances of seeing him get three hits in a game are slim to none. The game would have to go 27 innings for that to happen.
He’s Jason Giambi the sequel with the bat – a lefty masher who walks, singles and HR’s and no longer hits for average.
Until he starts hitting above .290 like he used to (and not .290 for a week) I’m pretty convinced this is what he’ll be for the rest of his deal. There is no artistry to his hitting. It’s mash and pull and wait for your pitch and go 1-4 with a walk mixed in.
He has great value, but this is not the 20+ million 1b the Yankees thought they were getting.
Let’s not forget the playoff game in 2009 where he won it with a walkoff HR.
They look deader than doornail. The offense, who most on this board said would carry the team, is not and will not. Swisher will rarely see a fastball and even more rarely hit an off speed pitch. Posada is still hitting well below .200 after more than a fourth of the season.
The attendance has significantly dropped, particularly the live bodies. The team went into the season without enthusiasm and the attendance shows the fans did as well.
They need to bring up Montero ands hope he will hit. It will, at least, create a level of new interest.
A team cannot have two positions, DH and Rf, both of which are offensive positions not hit. I sure wish the Mets weren’t winning enough to hold on to Beltran.
G.Love,
You need to get a life and stop taking this stuff too seriously or at least stop watching the post game shows.
Crawdaddy,
I don’t watch the post game shows. I read Girardi’s quotes in the paper this morning while drinking my coffee.
As for me having a life, I’m quite happy with the accomplishments and richness of my life and I’ll leave it at that.
G. Love,
I totally agree. I couldn’t have been more wrong when we signed him. He is nothing like the player I thought we were getting and when I said Agon would have a better year then Tex all I got were people responding with both of their lifetime stats to say they will have similar seasons or even some who said Tex would have the better year
Tex is not the problem. Nobody is complaining about Granderson’s season so far (with good reason). But if you compare stats, he and Tex are not much different in a number of categories. Tex’s OPS is over 1.1 with runners on. He also gives you stellar defense.
The problem is guys like Swisher, Posada having season long slumps, ARod having problems getting back to his early season form since his injury, and Girardi refusing to make changes to maximize the output.
The easiest decision is to have Tex 5th, and Cano 3rd.
hman23,
I never said anything about his fielding. He has also been a different hitter since August of 2009. and throwing out a Runs stat when a guy hits third on the Yankees is not a very useful stat. Last year Tex started to hit in June. JUNE. The guy you gave 20 plus million dollars to who was supposed to be a top 5 guy at his position took 2 months to start hitting
hman23,
I disagree. If Tex and Arod which are the meat of the order and the guys paid to be difference makers were hitting like they should we would have at least 3 more wins then we do.
Nobody is complaining about Granderson so far because he is not on this team to be a difference maker. Guys who hit second or last year when he hit toward the bottom of the lineup are not difference makers. Plus Granderson has gotten way bigger hits then Tex has this year
The offense has certainly been a problem so far this year, but I think it’s taking attention off some really important things. Our pitching has been phenomenal this year, just absolutely beyond expectations. Every time Garcia and Colon get the ball, they perform beautifully. It’s like we never had or needed Hughes in the first place. Combine that with CC getting back on track, AJ’s good start, and the flashes Nova is showing… we’ve got a very solid rotation so far.
Something to note: Offense is down league-wide this year. Normally, the “top” team is hitting something like .280, but this year it’s down around .260. The New York Yankees aren’t the only team having trouble with offense. I kind of wonder whether they’ve adjusted the baseball itself or whether the new stringent PED testing has been a blow to the hitters more than pitchers (because of the loss of amphetamines).
What I do know is that the offense will not continue to flail like this. ARod, Cano, Teixeira, Granderson, Gardner and the rest are enough to carry a team. Sure, Tex isn’t what we signed up for but he’s driving in runs. It seems that Tex, Swisher, and Jeter might benefit from another K Long session with tweaks to their swings. Something’s off with Swisher especially and we need him to be an impact bat against righties if we want to win in the playoffs (or even make them).
Posada probably has another two weeks to show he can hit or he’ll be replaced. You don’t stick with a guy like that for too long. I can also see Andruw Jones being released in the near future in favor of a Vasquez or Montero option so that we can maintain Dickerson’s presence in the lineup (he’s more versatile and plays pretty good D).
Offensive malaise is getting ridiculous…its not all of sudden going to get better as joe G. Believes. There is a problem with this team. We can’t face oriole pitching every night. I have a feeling nothing will get done to.change this and we will be a good 3rd place team with the old guard explaining at the end of the season that it was just an entire season where we just couldn’t hit. How about trying to manufacture some runs. Bunt steal move em over bring em in. Nah.
we have had Tex for 2 plus years and Girardi refuses to move him to the 5th spot where he belongs. It took the Red Sox 1 week to move their 20 million dollar guy to 8th where he still remains and nobody over there makes a peep about it
Switching Cano and Texiera in the batting order would have extremely marginal results, if any. The problem is not where they are hitting but they are hitting.
“The easiest decision is to have Tex 5th, and Cano 3rd.”
Against both RH and LH pitchers or flip flop?
I have always wanted to have Alex bat third. Not only more AB’S over the season, but he’s a much better baserunner than Tex or Cano.
The best hitter should hit third. Just call me “Tar-russa”
Since the game is decided by who scores the most runs, I think runs scored is pretty useful.
And defense is a huge part of the game.
And cherry picking your sample size — August 2009 through May 2010 it looks like from your above — is slanted to say the least.
Tex’s first year here had him leading the league in HRs, RBIs, and total bases. 2nd in MVP voting.
I am not saying AGon is not a great player — he is — and he is looking like he is heading for a very very good year — but lets see how the whole season shakes out before we judge the value of both signings. And his next year too.
I agree Tex’s slow starts have become frustrating, but he is still one of the best at his position, and I am happy to have him on the team. You would have to put AGon, Pujols, Votto (for now), Cabrera, Fielder ahead of Tex, but to imply he is a bust is a huge exaggeration.
Swisher has turned into a AAA player. Not even a AAAA player.
He can’t hit a curveball to save his life. At least with a guy like Maxwell who we call a AAAA player, he would hit for some power in between flailing away at breaking pitches.
Swish striking out on a curveball to end the game was probably the most predictable event of the season so far.
11 at bats in the 9th inning this season for Swishalicious. One hit.
Giving one of the best hitters (currently) on our team one less AB per game doesn’t help matters either.
Has anyone in the Press shown Girardi, Gardners numbers and asked WHY????
Please do, if you haven’t.
I completely reject the idea five guys can or should carry a team . What kind of concept is it to accept 4/9th of the order does not hit? It is a concept that leads to loss after loss.
Tar,
I would hit Cano 3rd against both. He is actually hitting lefties better this year so far.
Personally, I would keep ARod at cleanup, only because of his lower average and strikeout rate.
But I can see having him 3rd too, much more so than Tex.
here comes the insanity on the ineup. I got an idea how about tex, swisher, cano, and others hit.
nice 3 and 0 swing by granderson… pop out to first. that is the yankee problem right there that ab. 3 and 0 count and granderson swings or flails at the 3 and 0 pitch. why did he swing? trying to hit a hr? probabability about 5%….not a smart move……………..
girardi needs to manage. put the take sign on more these guys are not smart enough and mature enough to be given the green light to make there own decisions…………..
hman23,
Runs scored is dependent on the rest of your lineup. Once you get on base you have no control over what happens.
It is not slanted since from August of 2009 he became a different hitter. That is when he started to change.
Here is a question. With the game on the line and Tex is coming up. Are you glad he is coming up and do you feel confident?
What kind of concept is it to accept 4/9th of the order does not hit?
============================
I think it’s called the NL Central concept
Giving one of the best hitters (currently) on our team one less AB per game doesn’t help matters either
——-
The insane part is giving the worst hitter on the team the most PAs.
Repost:
Ghostwriter May 21st, 2011 at 11:09 am
Since about this time last year, the Yanks have been putting the lie to the central contention of sabremetrics that OBP and slugging are all that matter when it comes to run production. The consistency and day to day variability of run production also has a powerful determinative influence. Scoring 13 runs one day, and 1 run the next is going to make for a .500 team; it almost doesn’t matter how good the pitching is if the offense is this erratic.
I trace the decline of this team’s ability to produce runs consistently to the departures of Matsui and Damon: We never replaced their clutch bats, although Granderson and Martin have picked up some of the slack. Even so, these problems of producing with men on base seems endemic to this lineup, it isn’t just Swisher and Posada, but it’s also ARod, And Cano–it’s up and down the lineup. If the problem is this endemic, then maybe the Yanks ought to consider shaking things up by bringing in a new hitting coach. For my part, I would shake up the lineup a bit, try to find a way to get a new right fielder, release jones, and move Swish to the bench or as part of a platoon.
Right now, A-Rod and Cano are killing us in the middle of the lineup, so I would try this order, at least until Cano and ARod start showing a little more consistency at the plate and with runners in scoring position:
Gardy
Jeter
Granderson
Tex
A-Rod
Cano
Martin
Posada
Swisher
And frankly, at this point, I very easily envision swapping Martin and Jeter in the batting order.
Triple Short of a Cycle May 21st, 2011 at 11:08 am
Here is a question. With the game on the line and Tex is coming up. Are you glad he is coming up and do you feel confident?
————————
Yes and yes. With the game on the line, I would take Cano, Tex or ARod.
If you look at his numbers with men on, he is actually hitting better than with the bases empty. Over his career, his numbers with men on look pretty darn good.
You just seem resigned to the fact that he will fail, so I guess I am not going to dissuade you from your pessimism, but the numbers do not play that out.
hman23,
Since you like stats so much, Tex has had one game this year where he had more then 2 hits
It’s getting old listening to Girardi defend the lineup. There is nothing wrong with switching it up as you can always go back to old reliable lineup.
I’ve been saying since last year that Tex should bat 5th and Cano 3rd.
Where is Billy’s lineup out of the hat when you need it?
Todays lineup:
Jeter
Grandy
Cano
Arod
Tex
Swisher
Martin
Posada
Gardner
Tomorrows lineup:
Jeter
Grandy
Cano
Arod
Tex
Vasques DH
Swisher
Montero C
Gardner
Triple Short of a Cycle May 21st, 2011 at 11:17 am
hman23,
Since you like stats so much, Tex has had one game this year where he had more then 2 hits
======================================
Actually, that’s not true. But even if it were true, what does that prove? Hman’s point is simply that Tex hits pretty well with men on base, which is true. He also has been hitting better than A-Rod and Cano with men on base.
Triple Short of a Cycle -
Like I said, his slow starts are frustrating. I never said that his 2011 to-date was MVP caliber.
But, his career shows that he starts slow.
“And frankly, at this point, I very easily envision swapping Martin and Jeter in the batting order’
This is a much better argument than Gardner, IMO.
“…You would THINK 12 games against the likes of the Mets, Toronto, Seattle & Oakland would help them turn it around….”
************
I’ll be at all three games next weekend! At this point, the M’s rotation vs. the Yanks looks to be: Pineda, Felix, Vargas. Any idea what the match ups will be?
Plus, Tex walks more than the average hitter, so counting the number of hits he accumulates in a game is skewed. In several of his two hit games, he also drew walks. So he has had multiple games in which he has been on base 3 times or more.
Ghostwriter,
What other game besides 4/20 has he gotten more then 2 hits?
hman23,
So you thought the Yankees signed a 260 to 270 hitter when they got him?
Triple Short of a Cycle May 21st, 2011 at 11:26 am
Ghostwriter,
What other game besides 4/20 has he gotten more then 2 hits?
=============================================
There has been 9 of them by my count:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/.....k-teixeira
Ghost, you’re not counting very carefully.
Ghostwriter,
I said more then 2 hits not 2 hits
So Triple,
What stats besides how many 3+ hit games are important in your book?
From your earlier posts, we get that runs scored do not matter to you and are overrated — even though that is how you actually score a game and decides who wins.
And it seems you do not care much about OPS, HRs, RBIs or total bases. Or fielding percentage. Or average with men on, runners in scoring position, bases loaded.
Besides multi hit games (with 3 hits or over) or batting average, apparently, what other metrics should we use to judge players?
Yankees look like they will end up like the 1968 Team.
Triple Short of a Cycle May 21st, 2011 at 11:30 am
Ghostwriter,
I said more then 2 hits not 2 hits
============================
Oh, I see. So, then why is more than 2 hits, an important metric? What does it prove?
There is no defending Tex hitting consistency compared to Agon. Gonzalez is a much more consistent hitter who uses all fields and will dwarf Tex stats from now until their careers end IMO.
I howled when we got Tex and we won a ring with him but Sox get last laugh and the better player. Yes Tex may be a bit better defensively but no comparison on hitting.
hman23,
My point with that stat is that for the moat part Tex goes 1 for 4 every game with a walk and a single. other times he will pile on stats when the rest of the team is hitting. Arod carried them in the playoffs in 2009 and Cano last year. Tex has and will never carry this team in the playoffs. He is Giambi with gold glove defense.
Runs scored matters for the team but not to prove whether a player is good or not. Stick Gardner at the top of the lineup and move Jeter down and see their run totals switch places.
Why would keep bringing up fielding I don’t know because I never questioned his fielding
Ghostwriter,
Great hitters are capable of getting 3 or 4 hits in a game. Agon has done it 7 times this year.
Its one thing to have a difference of opinion in thinking one is better then the other but I got ridiculed in the off season for saying Agon would have a better year and hit 300, 40 HRS and drive in anywhere from 120 to 140 as long as he was healthy
This is a team of feast or famine, reminds me of the 2006-2008 days where we had a bandwagon line-up in which if one person got a big hit, then everyone would chime in. That day.
If nobody gets a big hit, everybody starts pressing and you end up with crap offensive performances like last night.
Unfortunately, we have a rigid as a clock manager who thinks the status quo is perfectly fine as guys will eventually play to the back of their cards. Jeter and Posada are in fact the proxy managers. On the Yankees you have the priveledge of having a guarenteed spot in the line-up even when you don’t produce. And if you pout, the mgr and gm make excuses for you and you get your way and go on a tear and hit .175.
Very frustrating team to watch given their talent level and really there is no excuse for their record given the advantage of home field they’ve had to this point.
NYY is in trouble and I don’t think
sorry for the left off comment…. I don’t think Girardi is a guy capable of leading this team to greatness and I think Cashman is too risk averse to make needed changes.
Giving one of the best hitters (currently) on our team one less AB per game doesn’t help matters either.
Has anyone in the Press shown Girardi, Gardners numbers and asked WHY????
______________________________________________
2011 Offensive Wins Above Replacement:
Brett Gardner: 0.2
Derek Jeter: 0.2
Gardner’s large sample for the year is more predictive of what he will do tomorrow than a slice based on last few days of April and first few of May. And, if you want to slice, he now has one walk in his last 56 plate appearances and his OBP hasn’t budged since May 3 at its current .336, only marginally better than Jeter’s .313.
Also, Gardner has had the benefit of only hitting from one side. Hasn’t looked good against lefties this year and his OPS split is poor. He’s gritty and gutty and does the best with what he has but is not the savior, regardles of where he bats.
Triple Short of a Cycle May 21st, 2011 at 11:37 am
hman23,
My point with that stat is that for the moat part Tex goes 1 for 4 every game with a walk and a single. other times he will pile on stats when the rest of the team is hitting. Arod carried them in the playoffs in 2009 and Cano last year. Tex has and will never carry this team in the playoffs. He is Giambi with gold glove defense.
================================================
ARod has only 8 multi-hit games, compared with 9 for Tex this year. (2 games with more than 2 hits)
Ghostwriter,
1 might one to look at the age of the 2 players when comparing them.
Tex is in the “prime” of his career and Arod is not. Talk to me when Tex has a postseason like Arod did in 09
Brett Gardner is slowest fast guy I’ve seen in MLB in the last 10 years. Has anyone ever seen a bullet like Gardner get less use out his legs?
He has a lot of determination, a keen eye and a great glove in the OF, but I feel the game is tough for him,, he lacks base running instincts.
Triple Short of a Cycle May 21st, 2011 at 11:40 am
Ghostwriter,
Great hitters are capable of getting 3 or 4 hits in a game. Agon has done it 7 times this year.
Its one thing to have a difference of opinion in thinking one is better then the other but I got ridiculed in the off season for saying Agon would have a better year and hit 300, 40 HRS and drive in anywhere from 120 to 140 as long as he was healthy
===============================
I guess that I see your point.
When Arod is locked-in, IMO he is the best hitter in baseball. Unfortunately, for whatever the reason(s) he has just 3 weeks of this,, the other 4 weeks have largely been putrid.
His performance, Cano’s sudden lack of plate discipline and Tex’s morphing into a Giambi, is killing this team over the last few weeks.
These guys are capable of putting a serious hurtin on pitchers and they need to pick it up big time.
I don’t think anyone is suggesting that putting Gardner 1st in the order will turn this lineup into a 1000 run offense.
The main point many of us are feeling/thinking is that the batting order needs to be tweaked. Guys need to have their cages rattled a bit.
The whole, “we’ll weather the storm” approach seems to breed complacency and then outrage when a change is suggested.
Against RHP the lineup should be;
Gardner
Granderson
Cano
Arod
Tex
Martin
Swisher
Posada
Jeter
Against LHP;
Jeter
Granderson
Tex
Arod (DH)
Cano
Swisher
Martin
Jones
Nunez
I don’t understand why a team that is flailing can’t make this kind of adjustment and see how it plays out.
It’s not just Jeter and Posada running the ship here. I think Tex’s ego is being coddled by Girardi who can’t even imagine moving him in the order. He’s not the best hitter on the team.
Gardner gets great use of of his legs in the outfield…..but he just struggles to get good jumps on the basepaths and he struggles reading moves and pitch sequences as to when to run. Either way…..he’s been playing better lately.
Agon is a more consistent hitter than Tex but it really is an irrelevant point. NYY never had a shot at Agon whereas they did have a shot at Tex, who was a premium hitter at the time.
TEX was a great signing by NYY at the time. We’ll see how the next few years go….
Only BOS had a shot at Agon, as BOS’ mole in SD, Jed Hoyer, made it clear he would only trade Agon to BOS or keep him.
Gardner has been playing better lately nobody arguing that point. The challenge for Gardner is what to do when he gets on base, he is like a dear in headlights. No instincts, all fear, and unfortunately now, really showing a lack of confidence.
yankee21 May 21st, 2011 at 11:41 am
===========================================
Spot on. Except I would say that it reminds me more of the 2010 team. At any rate this team is too talented for their performance over the last year, or so. And the fact that the Yankee management doesn’t see the problem(s) is disappointing. Girardi is perfectly content to sit around and wait for a winnig streak that will paper over the problems for awhile. If this team goes anywhere this year, it will be despite Girardi.
The more that I think about it, the more I think that Cashman should can Long, or hire a bench coach to assist Girardi with strategy.
Girardi is a by the book manager who in his 3+ years has consistently demonstrated a reluctance to rock the boat. It is clear he does not have the whatever to challenge icons.
Once you’ve reach icon status on NYY, you’re set for life in Joe G’s line-up.
I was 100% in favor of his hiring. I was wrong.
G. Love May 21st, 2011 at 12:01 pm
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I liked my lineup better than yours, because you still have ARod in the cleanup spot, despite the fact that he isn’t hiting with men on base or in scoring position. Neither is Cano for that matter.
I agree that Gardner does seem to have very little natural baseball instincts and that might limit his ceiling if he can’t steal 50 bases…..but he’s still their best option right now and he is what he is. He’s playing great defense and he’s meant to be a complimentary piece to the main cogs in the lineup ……who are underperforming thus far. They need to get Swisher going…..they need to get Jeter, Tex, Alex, and Cano performing like they are capable…..and they at some point need to get something from the DH spot. Its time to call up Montero…..its almost June. The offense has been struggling and he’s the best hitter in the minors……its time to see what the kid can do and if he can helpm
I thought Tony Pena would be a good bench coach. I also thought Tony Pena would be a great catching coach.
Obviously I don’t know what goes on between him and his players or his MGR, but I see shoddy defense by the catchers, including Martin, and I don’t see any out of the binder moves by Girardi. What value is Pena really serving?/
yankee21 May 21st, 2011 at 12:11 pm
moves by Girardi. What value is Pena really serving?/
None that I can see, which is really disappointing, because I like Pena, and I thought that he would be a real asset to the club. It seems to me that he is on the same page as Girardi. This groupthink doesn’t serve Girardi well, because Girardi needs to be challenged in his assumptions and ideas. I can’t help but think that this team would be much stronger if Zimmer was sitting next to Girardi in the dugout.
I would rate RF production, DH production, Middle of the order production, ahead of who is hitting first on the “must get better” priorty list.
RISP will (and must) get better.
I am also on the call up Montero bandwagon, with the caveat that I have no problem with them waiting for his super two status to be settled. Which should be soon.
Reality check:
2011 is the New York Yankees 98th year in existence. They have won it all 27 times and failed to win it all 70 times. Unfortunately, I think this is one of those years.
“I am also on the call up Montero bandwagon”
I have mixed feelings about it. The team clearly needs a shot in the arm, and Montero might be able to provide it. However, it is far from a slam dunk that he will be able to come up and contribute right away; the more likely outcome is that he struggles with hitting ML pitching. I also think that bringing him up now will be doing him a disservice in terms of his development. By all accounts, the kid needs work on his catching, and he won’t get that, sitting in the dugout, watching Martin.
“I have mixed feelings about it. The team clearly needs a shot in the arm, and Montero might be able to provide it. However, it is far from a slam dunk that he will be able to come up and contribute right away”
Ghostwriter
I agree. But I feel like if he comes up he should take Cervelli’s spot with time at DH. Hopefully give Martin a little more rest than he is getting now.
Also that time on the bench will be spent sitting next to Posada, Pena, and Girardi. That is not necessarily a bad thing.
Normally when a starting pitching staff gets as little run support as this team has (except for blowouts) the manager eventually gets vocal about it. Not the case here. One lame excuse after another.
Every Yankee pitcher has been victimized at least once by no run support. The runs scored are very misleading. See stranded runners for the real reason.
Until Montero can play in the field more than once a week, it’s not worth bringing him up. Having said that, if Cervelli can’t show a little more defense, I might be convinced that Montero in the bigs is a good idea.
Vasquez, a player with little fielding value and a big bat is worth bringing up.
All I want to know is would the Mets be willing to swap managers with us?
say what you want. Look this up. I will bet that the only major league team in either league playing last night that batted their two corner outfielders 8th and 9th are the Yankees. While they have a lot of issues lets start with that. Gardener is supposed to be a base stealer yet he has only 6. Yes hes hitting better but he strikes out too much for a guy with no power. For the Yanks to not score more than one run last night is crazy. Meanwhile Bosox bludgeon their opponents. The lineup should be adjusted but Girardi knows more than anyone right?
“I was 100% in favor of his hiring. I was wrong.”
Cash forced Cano on Torre, so he can force moves on Girardi as well.
If not, it’s on him.
June 1st is a fair deadline date. If nothing changes with the massive underperformers and/or decliners by then, moves have to be made and no one feelings can be spared.
Again, if not, then some players are more important than the team, and rhetoric to the contrary is bs.
“sometimes you have to tip your cap” -Yanks in August while sitting in 3rd place
need more contact/ball in play and less HR or nothing
Hey Cash and Hal do you realize that the team would be a lot better without Jeter, Posada, Swisher, Jones and Girardi?
For just one day I would like Joe G to do what he should do to help this team win independent of an icon’s feelings.
For just one day, I would love for ownership (preferably Hal) to speak out and say this is not acceptable. And then back it up with action instead of mere threats.
Just one day tell it like it really is instead of resorting to typical BS cliches.
This team is grossly underperforming and when you factor in what it costs to pay for a ticket and park the average fan is paying for steak and getting served horse-meat.
Ownership and management on down appears to be is putting the priority on deferring to icons instead of putting out a winning product. The Yankees brand is getting tarnished in the process.
Now behind doors this may not at all be happensing, but what you see on the field since August of last year is all too much surface without any substance.
I don’t see many players trying to hit HR. I see them trying to hit the ball hard somewhere. The one exception is Swisher. He seems to try to hit a HR most of the time.
Free Montero
yankee21,
Your post is very on point. The front office isn’t going to stand for a lackluster inconsistent season where good pitching performances by outcasts no one else really wanted is wasted.
They’re coiled up and ready to snap. Last weekend’s Jorge debacle was a glimpse into what the front office thinks of the hitters who aren’t hitting. They’re ready to move on and if the team struggles at home this weekend and loses 7 or 8 straight home games, they will react.
The Yankees can’t afford for this team to be an afterthought in this area. With what they are charging and what the Bronx are charging us to park there the place will look like Tampa Bay after Jeter gets his 3000th hit and that hysteria is over.
Changes are going to come if this continues. Jeter, Tex, Cano and Arod are all safe due to contracts and in Cano’s case talent. Grandy’s safe too for now.
Swisher should be the one worrying the most. They will not pay him 10 million next year for this nonsense.
While we don’t know who is available and who isn’t, I’m pretty sure Cashman and the front office are ready to make some change of scenery type moves and shake the club up.
Girardi is one of those ex-player managers in my opinion who still sees himself as a one of the boys as evidenced in part by his childlike names for them. He’s not tough enough, he is intimidated by players with stature, he is too unemotional, and he doesn’t seem to have the skills to motivate. He manages by the book often to his and the teams detriment and never from his gut as instinctive baseball managers often do. His embrace of small ball at strange times in a game, unwillingness to make lineup changes and repeated inclination to not remove starters until it’s too late is perplexing at best and poor managing at worst. Worst of all is he seeming tolerance for mediocrity. I would love to see Girardi get angry, call his team out and tell them their play is not acceptable and won’t be tolerated. But that is not Joe.
Ownership had a chance to go in a different direction over the winter with respect to Jeter but at the end caved and deferred to an icon, paying what amounts to an average SS, elite $$ over 3/4 years. Sent the wrong message.
Ownership had a chance to go in a different direction with respect to the Posada BS last weekend, but at the end of the weekend, PO was a good guy, a good soldier, a misunderstood gamer, who is now betting 7th and playing 1B.
The manager and GM and ownership have not demonstrated they are coiled up and ready to snap. I don’t see any signs of that, and that is troubling.
I don’t think there is any way they will give Swisher a new contract…..but there has to be a better option available or him just to totally tank the rest of the season before they won’t pick up his option……they’d likely pick it up to trade him if nothing else.
They can live with Jeter as long as he is passable at SS, and he is, but not batting leadoff.
But in order to do that, they have to get much better at DH and RF.
Girardi told Sterling this week on the pregame that they think Nunez is really coming on offensively. Right now, he could be their best supplementary OF option, or even at DH.
The Yankees had really no other options at SS this past winter……the contract is everyones issue and though its an overpay ….its not going to affect their business elsewhere. They offered Cliff Lee 160 million bucks and gave Soriano an obscene obscene deal for a set up guy.
Rich,
If they are going to keep Nunez in the big leagues (and not playing SS every day at SWB) then they need to get him more work in the outfield so that he can play more positions and therefore play more. He’s shown he can hit and make things happen on the base paths…..Im not sure about his outfield ability but with his speed and arm he could probably learn to play out there. He could be a nice super utility guy for now…..
To be fair the contract prevents them from signing Reyes or possibly trading for Tulo if he becomes available.
But that’s besides the point.
They were going to sign Jeter no matter what, and I’m fine with that.
Rich in NJ is correct. The complaint is to not remove jeter at SS, it’s to have him bat in the bottom of the lineup
Rich,
They could still sign Reyes if they wanted …..they could technically move Jeter to RF after this season and decline Swisher’s option if they chose to do so. Im not sure Id want Reyes longterm though and that’s likely to be a bigger factor there than Jeter IMO……also if they could get Tulo then there is no way Jeters contract would stand in the way…..he’s not available and wont be until Jeters contract is over.
Any suggestions as to why Swisher has been so bad this yr?
he’s not available and wont be until Jeters contract is over.
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And by that time he will be Jeter’s age
blake
I don’t disagree. My point is that Jeter’s contract may impose some constraints. They could put Jeter in RF, but I don’t see that happening.
So again, Jeter is here. If he can up his OPS back above the .700 level, and continue to be fairly solid at SS, they’re fine, at least for now.
But that necessarily means they have to have less patience with Swisher and Posada’s offensive issues.
Read your sentence wrong ignore whatever I wrote
Against All Odds May 21st, 2011 at 1:39 pm
Any suggestions as to why Swisher has been so bad this yr?
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At this point, I’m tempted to think that he is just reverting to form, as a player with good patience at the plate and a tendency to swing from his heels–a career .250 hitter. In other words, last year is starting to look like a fluke. However, I’m mystified by his lack of power: With those big cuts of his, I would expect more homers. I’m also quite surprised by his lack of effectiveness against lefties. So, there might be something else happening than simple mean reversion.