Postgame notes: “You know he’s going to be nervous”
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Notes, Podcast on Jul 19, 2011 
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It’s amazing the things that matter in the course of a 162-game season. Tonight the Yankees had their very best relievers available. The Rays were down to a 23-year-old kid who’d never pitched in a Major League game.
“You know he’s going to be nervous out there,” Russell Martin said. “But you’re going up there, and you’re not facing a rookie. You’re facing the guy who’s throwing the ball at you. Just trying to pick up the ball out of his hand, it doesn’t matter if he’s a rookie or a 20-year guy in that situation.”
Torres showed a big fastball tonight, and he had two outs with only a runner at third base. The inning was in his hands, but the Rays elected to intentionally walk Nick Swisher, then Torres walked Andruw Jones unintentionally. Martin’s at-bat lasted seven pitches, and he fouled off one 3-2 pitch before taking the ball four that decided the game.
“It’s not an easy thing to do, but (Martin) has shown patience in his career,” Joe Girardi said. “A lot easier for him than it would have been for me… Russell had a chance to see what he was doing to guys. You give the kid a lot of credit, he had some guts, 3-2 changeups, and we got fortunate that we got a run by walks, but for his first outing, that’s a tough situation.”
The Yankees didn’t have to worry about a similar situation. After A.J. Burnett struggled with walk issues of his own, the Yankees rolled out Hector Noesi (who stranded the bases loaded), Dave Robertson (who struck out his first two hitters on changeups) and Mariano Rivera (who closed out the win with a perfect ninth).
“We just got some guys on base,” Brett Gardner said. “We had some long at-bats, and some guys did a really good job of getting us started there in the eighth inning when we were down two, and I can’t say enough about the at-bat Russell had. That was the at-bat of the game. I don’t know how many pitches he saw, but a full count walk, and we had Dave and Mariano in there the last couple of innings. And that’s a pretty good combination.”
The Rays didn’t have that kind of combination, and that made all the difference tonight.
Here’s Martin.
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And here’s Burnett.
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• Pretty nice catch by Mark Teixeira to end the game. One of those little moments that kind of gets lost in a game like this.
• If you listen to the Burnett audio you’ll pick up the fact that he certainly wasn’t happy with his outing, but he thought he got better as the game continued. Girardi gave him credit for getting big outs when he needed them. “I had better stuff than the numbers said,” Burnett said. “Let’s not get too carried away with the six walks. There were some pretty good pitches in there. Overall, to be able to find a way to throw some zeroes after the four in the first two, I’m going to take some positives from that.”
• Burnett had a brief exchange with a fan as he walked off the field. From up here, I honestly couldn’t tell if he was yelling or just talking. Nothing too over-the-top, not that I could tell anyway. “I forgot it as soon as it happened,” Burnett said. “I couldn’t even tell you what I said or what he said. As soon as it happened, I just went in the dugout and started rooting for Hector.”
• Martin on Burnett: “He just didn’t have fastball command and it seemed like he was getting a little frustrated with that. He was able to calm down and keep us in the game. He ended up having a pretty solid start: Three earned runs, not too bad.”
• Brandon Laird showed up around 8:15 after having a flight delayed in Detroit. He said Kevin Long asked if he’d ever seen Torres, but Laird said he’d never seen him in Scranton/Wilkes-Bare, so he couldn’t give any sort of scouting report.
• Another big game from Brett Gardner who was 1-for-3 with two walks, a stolen base, an RBI and a game-changing takeout slide that broke up a double play and let the tying run score in the eighth. “I didn’t think I went in high or anything,” Gardner said. “I just went in pretty late and tried to get enough of him to affect his throw.”
• What made rookie Alex Cobb so good early? “He had an outstanding, I guess you’d call it a splitchange or a split,” Girardi said. “I thought he did a great job of throwing that at any time in the count.”
• No one seemed too sure what was happening when the lightning struck. It knocked out half of a bank of lights on the first-base side. “They asked me if we wanted to continue play through it or not,” Girardi said. “I said, ‘No, I don’t.’ I thought it was a big time in the game, and I want the lights all on in that situation. They said, ‘It will take 15 minutes.’ I said, ‘We’ve got to wait, then,’ knowing that it could mess up our pitcher too. I thought it was a big time and situation with Robbie Cano up and a runner in scoring position. I felt we needed to wait.”
• How’s this for a bad ending to a rough day? Torre was optioned to Triple-A immediately after the game. Joe Maddon said the Rays have to add a fresh arm and Torres wouldn’t be available for a few days.
Associated Press photos
Ashmore’s interview with Cashman today.
http://thunderbaseball.wordpre…..n-cashman/
Good stuff, Chad. And great comment in the last thread about Gardner going in hard to break up double plays lately. I live the way he’s playing overall. When he gets on, good things usually happen. Abs his SB rate us ever improving.
As for Torres, you feel for the kid. But it worked out to our advantage. Blame Maddon for ripping through relievers when we were only 2 runs back.
BTW, who died? I saw that there were some concerned fans on LoHud?
*love the way…
GB…Good piece you provided us with…….I was impressed with Cobb tonight as Tampa just has a wealth of quality arms in their system………AJ ended up with a decent start considering his early issues……Game thread tonight was unbearable….Doris from Rego Park showed up for the first time in awhile and disappeared and ran for cover it seems…….I wonder how many of these kooks kick their dogs when things aren’t perfect in their lives….Goodnight all
I’m looking forward to seeing Laird and taking a shot every time Michael Kay refers to him as Gerald like he did throughout ST.
Did I also mention how excited I am to see Eric Chavez play for the TY tomorrow. I could care less about Soriano.
My boss texted me after AJ allowed the 4 runs and said she was glad he brought his A game. It was such a thrill to say the same back to her about Kyle Farnsworth when he blew the save. I know they were inherited runners but still. Its always much nicer going in to work when the Yankees win.
pat m,
you said it. there seem to be just a few people to make this place tough
that said, tampa has some pretty impressive pitchers. if they only had a couple of power bats that came along, they’d be a lot more scary
Pat, Cobb looks like a keeper tonight. First time that I’ve seen him. 4 walks, but, not what I’d call wild. When he missed, it was low and usually not by much. If he pitches like this, Shields will be in another uniform by next spring.
I didn’t even bother to read the game thread, Pat, but, I bet I can tell you what the usuals said, everything from the nightly three way she-said-she said crap, to Stuart Little with his constant moron and Burnnett The Hillbilly to the constant harping about Jeter from the Illigitimate Chilldren Of Bill James and then the usual flood on unnecessary sabermetric crap. I;m sure that the other trolls whined and declared the game lost after the first walk.
That’s why I stayed away. It’s a nightly repeat…like “Groundhog Day”.
Have a great night, Pat. Thursday is just around the corner and you can torture us with your visions of little blonde pool cleaners.
i was at the game tonight. my seats were to the left of the foul pole in right field, right under the Tropicana orange. some observations:
- Burnett was pretty bad tonight imo. more than a couple of his outs were loud ones, his control sucked, and i think everyone in attendance saw his errant throw in the first happening in slow motion.
- Noesi was throwing some heat tonight. I am really interested to see him compete for the fifth starter job in 2012.
- Farnsworth was throwing heat in the bullpen. It was hard to watch the game while he was warming up because it sounded like someone hitting a cinder block with a sledge hammer.
- Tampa Bay fans were melting down. This guy was literally beating the seat next to him with his fist yelling about how disgusted he was at the crowd. My favorite quote: “THIS ISN’T HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE WHEN THIS TEAM COMES HERE!! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!”
I thought Burnett pretty much sucked. He struggled just to avoid a total blowup. Not many positives to take from that game. I’ve tried to be patient with the guy but lately I’ve just decided to accept that he is a #5 and any occasional performance will be a bonus.
Remember when AJ signed and everyone was concerned about his durability due to his injury history? How many are wishing he wasn’t quite so durable now?
AJ in complete denial, that’s an awful lineup he faced. Kotchman batting cleanup, Longoria at 65% (will likely need surgery in the offseason on his foot), the dumbest and laziest player in the baseball (BJ Upton) batting 5th, and several guys that belong in Triple A, Sean Rodriguez and Johnson especially. Maddons love for Rodriguez is beyond me.
Winning this year would cost the Rays too much in revenue sharing dollars which is based on a 3 year average, that’s the only way I can explain them not doing anything to bolster their lineup despite a payroll 30 million less than last year.
Either through draft picks or trades the Rays manage to keep churning out good pitching in the farm system. It’s why they could part ways with Garza and still have a competitive pitching staff with more good ones on the way. By the time David Price leaves for free agency, LH Matt Moore will be ready to step up.
Too bad the O’s can’t score 10 runs and actually win a game.
AJ, I thought, did a good job keeping the game within reach. While I agree his stuff is good enough to be a #2, he doesn’t command it enough to show it. But after the first 2 innings, AJ did a great job battling through it to A) last 6 innings and B) not do a complete blow up like he would have done last year. If it were 2010, he would have melted down and dropped a 10 spot on the rays and left after the 2nd inning. So he, Rothschild and Martin are doing something right. If folks here would just stop thinking of him as a #2, and more of a 3 or 4 starter, I think people would calm down on him a little bit. At this point, folks should see him as he is, not what his stuff could potentially be. In my mind, he gets a little slack because of #27.
DBacks released Aaron Heilman and his 6.88 ERA. Who’s going to wager Cashman signs him to a minor league deal as reclamation project #2348?
The bad news is that Moors will probably be darn good long before Price leaves.
*Moore *
Buster_ESPN NYY are one of the teams that have had conversations with the Mets about Carlos Beltran,but unless pure salary dump,can’t see it happening.
Luckily Buster is almost never right.
Indians and Pirates both in 1st place in July…..when was the last time that happened? Has that ever happened? Im happy for the Pirates…..that town deserves a decent club.
Watched the Pirates last nite. Crazy fans there that are starved for a winner. Good for them.
Good morning all-
Some interesting #’s for Nunez and updates on Soriano and Chavez from NY Post:
Eduardo Nunez has 17 RBIs. Nine have tied the game or given the Yankees the lead. His ground-out RBI in the eighth last night tied the score, 4-4.
Rafael Soriano is slated to pitch tonight for Single-A Tampa. It will be Soriano’s first game action since May 13 against Boston. He has been shelved with an inflamed right elbow
Eric Chavez, out since May 6 with a fractured left foot, is scheduled to be the DH in the same game. Girardi says Soriano, who was supposed to be Mariano Rivera’s set-up man, will likely require a minimum of three minor league outings before being considered for the major league roster.
“I don’t have a number on it,” Girardi said. “Let’s see how he feels.”
As for Chavez, Girardi wants the left-handed corner infielder to be able to play a complete game before coming off the DL.
“He has been out for a while. He needs at-bats,” Girardi said. “The question is how far can he go in the first game. We need him to play nine innings when he gets here.”
Pittsburg is a real sports town…..if they give them a competitive club they will support them like crazy. That’s a real feel good story of the season so far……I kinda doubt they can go the distance and hold off the Cards, Brewers, and Reds……but it’ll be fun to find out and you never know…..Hurdle has done it before with the Rockies.
I hope Buster is right…….
Tampa is scary in how they just churn out pitcher after pitcher; at some point , the old argument that they are always drafting at or near the bottom of the daft has to stop. For me, I don’t buy it anyway – it’s still hard to develop pitching, very hard, even for teams who do get high draft picks. The Rays have an exceptional strike rate………..
Getting Chavez back would be nice…..if he could stay healthy at least until Alex gets back.
Blake-
Now that Alderson has stated that the Mets will pick up the remainder of the $$ left on Beltran’s contract, wanting better prospects of course, expect the small market contending teams to pursue him.
Will he be a Pirate in the next few days? SJ’s nephew a Met?
In order for the Yankees to get him what good prospects will it take now?
I very much want Chavez back – there’s no guarantee he will hit like he did before, but at least he will give us great D
Betsy,
The Rays are very well ran…..Moore has a chance to be a stud to go along with Price in a couple of years. The Jays are also being ran very well now and they’ll spend more money than the Rays will. If the Rays could get out of Tampa and actually start generating some revenue then you’d have a scary club. Aside from the Orioles and their “attitude “…..the AL East is really really good.
Trader,
Yea that’ll make the price higher……but id you’re the Pirates do you give up a top prospect to rent Beltran when that still likely doesn’t give you enough to win it all. I just don’t see them getting a top 20 player for him and think its in the realm of possibility that the Yankees coukd make the best offer with second tier guys in their system.
Blake, that’s why I’m a bit shaky on the Yankees’ future. They NEED at least one of Betances and Banuelos to be a top starter and the other one to at least be good/very good. Their lineup is going to be undergoing a serious transition in a few years and, overall, if they want to compete for WS every year, they have to start developing their own players. Tex’ contract is going to be a complete burden.
Jimenez pitches against Braves tonight in Coors, where he has a 5+ ERA while Colon goes. Will be interesting to see how both do.
There was a Yankee scout Sunday to observe lefty Wandy Rodriguez. Hard to tell from these stats whether anyone would pursue him. Lot’s hits but double digit strikeouts.
IP H R ER BB K HR PIT B-S BFP ERA Opp AVG
W Rodriguez 5.2 8 4 4 3 11 0 118 44-74 28 3.67 .269
Love that picture of Tex.
One last reminder that E:60 is doing a segment on Granderson tonight.
Blake-
The Pirates might not have enough to win it all with Beltran, but if he produces. fills seats, and they win the central, that alone will boost excitement and ticket sales for next year.
AJ is what he is… a remarkably gifted maddeningly underachieving pitcher. He always has been and he always will be. Even in his “breakout” season with Toronto when he won 18 games and struck out 231 batters he still had a 4.07 ERA. He laid quite a few eggs that year, just not against the Yankees and Red Sox and thus the big contract.
I expect him to perform in the back half of his deal the way he has in the first half. Actually I prefer this AJ — more consistent with no dominant performances — to the roller coaster rides of the previous two seasons.
Trader,
That’s true….
Regarding Wandy…..I think there was at least one report that said the Astros were asking a similar price that the Rockies were for Ubaldo…..if I were Cashman I would respond to that with a LOL…..click….dialtone……
Tex’ contract is going to be a complete burden.
————————————–
Can someone tell me why Teixeira, who rather than working only with the weights in the offseason, spent a lot of time on his hitting[the other way], communicating with Long, still can’t hit the other way against the shift, especially away from YS where there isn’t an inviting short porch in right??
How does his approach help him to prepare for the next pitch-continous wiggling and twirling the bat. Granderson was a bat twirler as was Swisher to some degree. Now they cut down on the bat movement by resting it on their shoulder first.
Will Tex be a burden or will he go to Long for help and be able to adjust to the shift??
Did you people see that ?
Robertson has added a CU to his arsenal.
He now has 3 pitches to carve hitter’s up with.
Ever wonder if he could be converted to a starter ?
Damn that kid is good. Just goes out there evey time and does his job.
One of my faves.
And Noesi isn’t exactly chopped liver either.
AJ is what he is… a remarkably gifted maddeningly underachieving pitcher.
———————-
86w183-
He’s even a more maddingly pitcher to watch on the mound with continous variation in his arm slot and time between pitches. Would a trade of onerous salarieslike Zambrano or Lowe, improve the Yankees chances? I doubt it.
Blake-
Plus Wandy Rodriguez, sore elbow and all, has a prohibitive contract.
I can see Beltran similar to what David Justice was to the Yankees as a pickup at the trading deadline of 2000.
If he could be signed to a 2-year deal, he could take up Jorge’s DH at bats (and salary) when he’s gone after this year plus spell the OF corners to keep them fresh. Hold the fort until Slade Heathcott and Melky Mesa and others can make strides at AA and AAA.
Will Bartolo have controlo tonite ?
I sure hope so.
MTU
Those two changeups for strikeouts were unhittable pitches.
There was a lot of banter, jokingly, of stretching him out to be a starter.
MTU July 19th, 2011 at 8:43 am
Will Bartolo have controlo tonite
*****************
Groan.
IMO the Yankees should not give up a top prospect for Beltran.
If that’s what the Mets want let them go elsewhere.
He’s a rental.
Now if they want Igawa and Cervelli I’m fine with that.
Seriously, give ‘em a B type guy. No more.
My question on Beltran is how does he improve the offense if he takes AB’s away from the current OF’ers? If Posada sits on the bench and Beltran helps in the OF while the others DH those games or he DH’s, then I say trade for him
blake July 19th, 2011 at 8:12 am
I don’t remember what exactly was said last nite during the Pirates game but it was something to the effect that the Brewers are terrible away from home which should help the Pirates. To me the guys they keep running out there as their SP’ers (Morton, Karstens and Maholm) and the closer Hanrahan have really been the glue for them. A feel good story.
Yankee Trader July 19th, 2011 at 8:37 am
Tex’ contract is going to be a complete burden.
————————————–
Can someone tell me why Teixeira, who rather than working only with the weights in the offseason, spent a lot of time on his hitting[the other way], communicating with Long, still can’t hit the other way against the shift, especially away from YS where there isn’t an inviting short porch in right??
How does his approach help him to prepare for the next pitch-continous wiggling and twirling the bat. Granderson was a bat twirler as was Swisher to some degree. Now they cut down on the bat movement by resting it on their shoulder first.
Will Tex be a burden or will he go to Long for help and be able to adjust to the shift??
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There’s no telling how many runners Teixeira could move along if he got quiet in the batter’s box and slapped some hits down the 3rd base line rather than continuously swing for the fences.
Will Bartolo have controlo tonite
————————-
hammy fine. No Problema!!
YT-
As if he needed more.
That kid has a lot of pitching aptitude to go along with everything else.
Before this he picked up that wicked curve to the point it’s now the best in the system.
His demeanor is awesome. I only wonder about the endurance and how
his arm would hold up in that role.
He’s so valuable doing what he does I doubt the Yanks would even consider it.
It just makes for interesting speculation to me. Won’t happen IMO.
Unfortunately gonna have to miss two events I would have like to seen.
How Colon throws the ball, and how U-Jim does.
Off to the Mountains for a day or so. It’s supposed to be around 105 here today.
At least we won’t get smothered in dust like Phoenix.
Yankee Trader July 19th, 2011 at 8:37 am
The thing that I notice is all the movement with Tex at the plate (including the bat waggle) Both Grandy and Swisher worked with Long to be still more at the plate and imo it has worked wonders for both of these guys. A mystery why Long hasn’t tried this concept with Tex as well as something to get that uppercut flattened out.
Drives me nuts to watch and see the Tex shift on all the time and he never punches the ball through the left side of the IF.
New Post- Gardner: “You’ve got to do what you can to get that run”
MTU
The relief combination of Wade, Robertson, Noesi, and Rivera has been very good. Now if Logan, Ayala, and pre 2011 Soriano can do their jobs in a close game, the bullpen will be set. However I hope Cashman gets another quality bullpen arm, either righty or lefty, if righty who can mow down lefties with equal aplomb!! Did I use the correct word- APLOMB
Noesi, Nova and those still waiting in the wings, are the future pitchers of this team, and I hope we don’t give them away for a short term fix.
If the Rays can be as successful as they are with giving their young pitchers a chance to develop, why can’t we learn from what they’re doing.
Trust and patience – Cashman, please have some with our young studs.
I’m for getting Beltran as a 4th OF and every day DH.
‘Ever wonder if he could be converted to a starter ?’
===========
A little guy with alot of heart, grit and good stuff. Question in my mind would be could he hold up physically to the rigors of starting ? Also it would further muddy the waters with all the SP we are developing in the mL. He is a huge piece in the pen for us now.
MTU -
Don’t you’re snake buddies like the heat and sun? Have a safe hike, look forward to seeing the pictures.
YT-
you’re one smart cookie. Vocabulary of a Shakespeare. You did good.
Still after Adams I see.
Morning Al.
Ever notice, all the smart people are here in the morning.
Al-
Not really. They actually seem to prefer cooler weather. Guess it gets
pretty cold in China and Tibet.
Al-
Then what heck am I doing here ?
Making all the smart people look good I guess.
VY-
He’s a good one. Ever notice how muscular that kid is ?
Legs look like small tree trunks. Solid.
MTU -
Hoping to be Colon – ized tonight with a good game. I think if he forgets about his leg, and just pitchers as he did before the injury, he’ll be OK, but, if he’s still afraid to push it, then bad news all around.
MTU -
How do you feel about the Yankees going after Beltran?
I’m all for it, and like to see him as the 4th OF, and DH. He could be the extra bat we need, and with the Mets willing to eat salary, it could be a good deal. If we don’t go after Beltran, I’m sure the Sux will.
MTU July 19th, 2011 at 9:09 am
Must get a lot of power from driving those legs when he pitches. he just keeps getting better and better.