Postgame notes: Second guessing two runs at a time
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Notes on Apr 08, 2012 
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
After a two-run loss, it’s easy to second guess a couple of two-run innings. And in each case, the blame seems to be shared between two different Yankees.
The second guessing starts with the first inning, when Eduardo Nunez’s error opened the door for a couple of unearned runs. It was a bad play — looked like Nunez rushed, just like he did on so many of last season’s errors — but it’s worth noting that Hiroki Kuroda also walked back-to-back batters with two outs that inning. Kuroda had a chance to get out of it and couldn’t. It was a problem that didn’t go away. Kuroda wasn’t sharp tonight, and his first-inning command problems were a sign of things to come.
“I don’t think my rhythm broke because of the error,” Kuroda said. “If you’re a professional pitcher you’ve got to keep the game close no matter what happens, and I wasn’t able to do that today.”
In the seventh, the Rays added a couple of runs off left-handed reliever Clay Rapada, who let two of three left-handers reach base and struggled to throw strikes with his slider. The big hit, of course, was Evan Longoria’s double (initially ruled a home run but overturned). Right-handers hit .692 — yes, .692 — against Rapada last season, so what was he doing facing Longoria in the first place? That was Girardi’s call, and he explained that he used Rapada against five hitters because the game was already out of hand and he didn’t want to burn out another reliever in that spot.
“You’ve got (lefty) Joyce coming up too,” Girardi said. “It’s 6-2 and you’re down. It’s the (seventh) inning. We’ve got a lot of days early on. We have one day off in the first 16 or 17 days, so we can’t burn these guys out in the first two days.”
—
The Yankees have scored six runs in each of these first two games, so obviously the offense is doing something right, but it’s hard to miss the fact the Yankees keep hitting into a shift. Curtis Granderson hit into a shift twice yesterday, and tonight Alex Rodriguez ended the game by grounding into a shift up the middle. Mark Teixeira’s line drive in the eighth went from a two-run single to an inning-ending double play because of the shift.
“That’s the first time I’ve seen a shift like that,” Nick Swisher said. “Righties, lefties, it doesn’t really matter. It feels like there’s 15 guys on the right side of the infield or the left side of the infield.”
The Rays typically use a shift more often than any other team in baseball, but they seem to be using it more than usual this weekend. It’s common for Teixeira to see a shift when he bats left-handed, but the Rays seem to be shifting at least a little bit against most of the Yankees hitters.
“You really could play it against everybody,” Teixeira said. “Call me crazy, (but) I’m surprised people don’t play four outfielders sometimes. Game on the line, you don’t want a gapper, why don’t you put four outfielders out there? We’re not there yet, but I think we’ve gotten to the point where there’s so much information, computers are doing such a great job of showing you exactly where you need to play guys. That’s just the age of baseball we’re in.”
—
• Hiroki Kuroda said he didn’t have his command and didn’t have a single go-to pitch tonight. He uses a lot of pitches and usually has one he can really lean on. Tonight, they were all off. “Overall I wasn’t really sharp,” he said. “Especially I didn’t have my command today. I think that led to a lot of the trouble that I got into. … I really wish I could have continued what I had in spring training, but all my pitches were a little bit off and I didn’t have one pitch I could rely on today, so it was really disappointing.”
• Kuroda was very nearly hit by a broken bat in the sixth inning, but ducked just in time. “I saw the bat and I just ducked,” he said. “Best reaction I could have.”
• Swisher thought the umpires got the call right on Evan Longoria’s seventh-inning double. It was initially called a home run, but Swisher pointed out that a fan wearing a Yankees jersey reached over the wall to catch it. The umpires reviewed and ruled that the ball would have hit off the top of the wall. “I want to say yes (I could have caught it), but I’m not quite sure,” Swisher said. “I think it would have bounced off the top of the cage. I was definitely sure somebody reached over.”
• Girardi said he feels no need to talk to Nunez after today’s error. “He bounced back and made some plays,” Girardi said. “If I see I need to talk to him, I’ll talk to him. Not yet.”
• Rapada’s job is to get lefties, but he walked Carlos Pena and let Matt Joyce hit a bloop single for two runs. “I’ve got to be able to come into the game and throw my breaking ball for a strike,” Rapada said. “And I think I only did that once tonight. When I cripple myself with just throwing fastballs, it’s not going to get it done.”
• Girardi said he would have gone to Cory Wade had Rapada gotten Joyce out in the seventh, but after the Joyce jam shot, Girardi decided to try to stick with Rapada through Luke Scott.
• Girardi on starting the year with two straight losses: “We have a long, long ways to go. We have 160 games left. If at any point during the course of the season you make too much out of two games, you’re going to wear yourself out pretty quickly.”
• A parting word from Swisher: “We have a great team, so we have to come out here tomorrow and start proving that.”
Associated Press photos
Just made it back from the game. Some observations:
- Homeplate umpire stunk from my estimation, Kuroda got squeezed hard and I just checked pitchfx and he had atleast 8 strikes called balls. Terrible. Forced him out over the plate.
- The rays shifted on every single hitter, often in ways that I would not imagine (stacking the left side of the infield vs jeter) and it worked damn near every time.
- On the flipside, Kuroda got burned on 3 RBI hits by poor positioning by the Yankees. Had they played Pena straight up or with an extreme shift like the Rays employ they would have got him out, but instead they played their half ass shift and the ball skipped by where the 2B normally would be, Nunez was too far to the left to get to it and Cano too far to the foul line.
- Josh Lueke is a rapist and Rays fans actually cheered for him, disgusting.
- Girardi left Rapada in to face Evan Longoria, which resulted in the most predictable HR/Double ever. Rapada is a situational LOOGY. Deploy your players in the correct manner, Girardi.
- Lots of rally killing double plays, some horrible PA (swinging first pitch after a walk etc), they were wearing down Price until they let him off the hook in a few innings
Some of the calls early for Kuroda were questionable, but that doesn’t force you to throw cookies over the heart of the plate. His command was off, as he said himself after the game.
- Gardner would have caught the broken bat texas league flare vs Rapada.
Some of the calls early for Kuroda were questionable, but that doesn’t force you to throw cookies over the heart of the plate. His command was off, as he said himself after the game.
–
Of course, not excusing him totally on the outing, not a very good outing, but crappy umpiring put him in some holes. He looked annoyed on the mound.
Expect Kuroda to bounce back. I don’t understand all the angst over his outing today. He didn’t have it today, but he will most days. I think people fear another Javy Vasquez, but Kuroda throws harder, has a full arsenal of moving fastballs and breaking pitches and a devastating splitter that just was off tonight. He’ll be fine.
good observations JF, thanks for the rundown (didnt get to see the first 6 innings or so)
I’m tired of seeing the Yanks look like “oh well, that woulda been a hit if they didn’t shift” and start adjusting.
It’s beyond me why more teams aren’t doing this.
It’s clear Maddon and the Rays have put a ton of thought into their shifts and it’s impressive.
If you study a how you’re going to attack a hitter, and you can combine that plan of attack with where the ball is most likely going to be hit….
shouldn’t be rocket science for these managers.
shouldn’t be rocket science for these managers.
–
They shifted on everyone so well that it was insane. A-rod hit a should be single up the middle (one of his specialties with RISP, right?) and Brignac fielded the ball way behind second base because he was freaking standing there, wth!?
They shifted on everyone in extreme manner. Twice Nunez & Jeter were up to the plate with the entire right field dirt from first to second open with no one standing in it. Insanity. (Neither hit it to the right side, but atleast Nunez hit a line drive single).
I’m tired of the “but he can hit a HR” excuse (not saying the players think that way but…)
take what the D is giving you. try to get the easy or easier hit and get on base.
If Tex is hitting .300, the runs and RBIs will come. I’m not sure he or anyone else is helping nearly as much by hitting 30HR if that’s about all they do.
Not at all a fan of Girardi thinking that the game is over down 4 runs in the 7th. Against the Rays pen 4 runs is attainable. He absolutely can not let Rapada face Longo there in that spot or ever for that matter.
Joe is acting crazy with worrying about how long the season is. Game 2 and he is already concerned about taxing the pen to much and giving regulars “half days” off.
Can we actually play to win a game here soon Joe?
You got a great team to manage, don’t try and think outside the box and make this to much of a science. Make the logical moves and the predictable ones. Positive results will follow.
If Tex is hitting .300, the runs and RBIs will come. I’m not sure he or anyone else is helping nearly as much by hitting 30HR if that’s about all they do.
–
In the 8th he should have bunted. They needed base runners not an rbi single.
http://isjoshluekearapist.com/
Jerkdude,
http://www.baseballprospectus......entMessage
Why all the surprise about Madden’s Ray’s shifting? This is nothing new, they do it more than any other team in baseball.
Teix is back to his bat waving, bobbing and weaving ways, Granderson is set to pull everything, Swisher and Martin are overswinging. Same old, same old. Well, the season is just begun, time will tell. Swisher’s mouth is still irritating me.
Why all the surprise about Madden’s Ray’s shifting? This is nothing new, they do it more than any other team in baseball.
–
I think the surprise is in the amount & effectiveness of their shifts. They shifted 200 times last year, if they counted how much they shifted in this game as an average that number will be easily broken.
Will someone please wake me when Jeter actually gets a clutch hit?
Jerkface,
Thanks for the recap. Much more colorful than Chad’s
I know it’s hard, but they’re going to need to pitch and hit better if tge want to beat the shift.
I’m repeating myself, but if you must get Nuney’s bat in there, don’t do it at the expense of defense. Put him at DH against lefties if you can’t live without his bat. 350 at-bats worth is not worth the equivalent innings of his glove.
> – Josh Lueke is a rapist and Rays fans actually cheered for him, disgusting.
Really? This crap is in the message boards? I’m sure all the fans were cheering because A: They knew of the mans past troubles and were proud of it. And B: They were cheering for him, not for their team to get the final three outs and go up 2-0 on the year over their biggest rivals.
Do we really have to be those fans? The ones who take out their frustrations on the rival team and their fans? Further more, I thought the point of the human race is to learn from mistakes, or would you like to be judged only by the biggest mistake you’ve made for the rest of your life? I know I wouldn’t. We’re humans. We get better. That’s kinda the point.
Really? This crap is in the message boards? I’m sure all the fans were cheering because A: They knew of the mans past troubles and were proud of it. And B: They were cheering for him, not for their team to get the final three outs and go up 2-0 on the year over their biggest rivals.
Do we really have to be those fans? The ones who take out their frustrations on the rival team and their fans? Further more, I thought the point of the human race is to learn from mistakes, or would you like to be judged only by the biggest mistake you’ve made for the rest of your life? I know I wouldn’t. We’re humans. We get better. That’s kinda the point.
–
A lady started a LETS GO LUEKE chant, not a lets go rays chant, and sorry, he brutally raped a girl and he doesn’t get a pass for that. They found his semen using an anal swab, she was passed out drunk and woke up nude in his apartment. Dudes a rapist, and a bad person, and ‘overcoming his past to become a major league reliever’ is a not a feel good story.
He lied to police, pleaded no contest to ‘false imprisonment with violence’, and gave a lueke warm apology in court. The rays are a worse organization for having traded for him. And baseball is a worse sport for allowing him to play in it, while ‘punishing’ players for far more benign things (like PEDs).
How did he get from Texas to Tampa Bay? Wasn’t he in the Smoak trade?
What’s with Girardi resting his players with the season 2 days old? That was his excuse for giving away games last season.
I forgot how much his assine managing messes with the team and irritates me. He’s a horrible in-game manager as well as strategist.
The guys are playing as rigidly as Girardi with his binder.
Ugh…
assinine…
Some reporting on the rapist.
http://www.tampabay.com/sports.....sh/1203892
How did he get from Texas to Tampa Bay? Wasn’t he in the Smoak trade?
–
Yes, and a mariner’s front office guy got fired after it was revealed they traded for a rapist.
JF,
Just realized he went from Texas to Seattle. I remember the feigned “shock” after the trade.
The Rays seem to be shifting a lot more than they did last year, and the Yankees have hit into that shift a lot, that’s why all the comments. Gotta admit they’ve done that well. The Yankees don’t really have a lot of bat control guys that can put the ball where they want.
I’d be disappointed if the Yankees traded for, signed, or drafted that kind of player. There’s plenty of talent around with having to dip into that gene pool.
I love that people think athletes personal lives should have bearing on whether they play sports or not. This is something they do as a job, albeit a fun and rewarding job, but a job nonetheless. They aren’t running countries, or controlling other peoples lives and well beings. They are entertainment and nothing more, but apparently this means that they also have a different set of rules? What? If Lueke was a stock boy at Walmart, he wouldn’t of lost his job. how to the same rules apply elsewhere?
Criminal offenses are handled by the judicial system, and whatever punishment they dole out, the public is obliged to accept. Do I think the guy is a Dirtbag? Apparently so, but I’d rather him get the chance to learn from his mistakes and not be a dirtbag anymore than to see him endlessly dragged through the mud for the rest of his life.
I don’t want to be entertained by a rapist. There is a huge difference between major league baseball player & wal-mart employee. I would not want the CEO of Wal-mart to be a rapist, and if he were I’d hope he’d step down. There are different sets of rules in life as should be obvious if you look at the real world.
Unfortunately sexual assault/crimes of that nature are simply not taken as seriously in this country as they should be, and that is a whole nother can of worms regarding the oppression of women etc, which we should not open on a baseball blog. Suffice it to say, I will be making sure everyone knows Josh Lueke is a horrible rapist and continue to think he should be out of baseball. Serving 40 days in jail and being on probation has nothing to do with Lueke being a crappy human being (And what did he learn? He is a major league baseball player that got away with raping a girl and sodomizing her…)
He didn’t steal laptops from a school or hit and run. Drunk or not, he committed a brutal crime. Very few organizations would hire a guy with his record. Because there are a lot of other quality candidates to choose from.
Lueke is where he’s at (in baseball) because teams care about winning than image or quality of people.
There’s being the Marlin’s manager and saying you live Fidel Castro. And there’s sodomizing a girl who’s passed out. Both are stupid, but Lueke’s transgression scarred a girl for life. She doesn’t care about teaching moments. .
Sorry, but I stand by my belief that all sins are forgivable. I understand those who don’t but it’s where I stand.
Yesterday was not a good day for the Yankees.
At least we aren’t the Sux who were annihilated by the Tigers 10 zip and totally owned.
Another chance today to get things moving in the right direction.
MTU — good point. It’s always lovely to see Beckett humbled.
“Sorry, but I stand by my belief that all sins are forgivable. I understand those who don’t but it’s where I stand.”
Not everyone is a good christian. It’s the way of the world.
Rough start by the Yankees, they need to bounce back today.
Wang-
How are you ?
Long time no see.
Good to see you around again. Hope things are good in your world.
“That was Girardi’s call, and he explained that he used Rapada against five hitters because the game was already out of hand and he didn’t want to burn out another reliever in that spot.”
Except Swisher’s HR would have tied the game of they had held them to 6 there in the 7th…..I wasn’t a huge fan of putting Rapada on the roster for that very reason……he has zero versatility against RHP and I was afraid Joe would try to throw him in situations where he shouldn’t to get to another Lefty…..he should basically never face a right handed hitter unless the game really is out of hand (not 4 runs in the 7th) ….and certainly not with runners on and Longoria hitting……hate to say it but Madden has owned Girardi in these first two games……
MTU,
Agree….it does make me feel better that Beckett got destroyed…..that always gives me a good feeling in my soul.
Happy Easter everyone!
girardi didnt want to burn another reliever down 6 runs?
guess he was wrong cause we did come back, didn’t we?
he leaves crapada in against longoria?
bizarre….
maddon is finding ways to win, joe ways to lose.
“girardi didnt want to burn another reliever down 6 runs?”
Down 4 runs….they were down 6 runs after he didn’t burn another reliever……and ofthe course he had to burn one anyway because Rapada predictabley couldn’t get out of the inning.
Hi MTU,
I tend to go on “blog hiatus” during the off-season. Lack of time is the main reason, but I do read the comments occasionally just to see what you guys are up to!
Things are great here. Thanks!
Happy Easter!
Blake-
Happy Holiday to you as well.
I’d like to see 2010 Phil out there today.
1st half 2010 Hughes.
I agree about Rapada and Girardi’s use of him.
LOOGY only.
I hope Phil does well today…..he’ll face a lot of lefties probably so his CU and location will be key…….also not making mistakes with that cutter over the plate
Blake-
I hope Hughes ditches that cutter.
Don’t like the pitch for him.
Goes to Mr. Splitty in the future and/or Mr. 2 seam.
Command is definitely key for him.
He’s been sharp all ST. Time to make it happen when it really counts.
Hope he acts like a cork-in-a-bottle.
A win today and a beatdown of the O’s and things are look a lot different.
Its a small sample….but the Yanks should look at what Cespedes is doing when they decide on Soler……
Blake-
I have just one thing to say in regards to that.
and it is a #.
189
edit: looking
MTU,
I think its fine as a pitch to throw occasionally …..but he really struggles with it against lefties…..ifs not sharp enough and he doesn’t bury it far enough inside……..he should just try and back door it away or not throw it…..cause when he tries to come in it often just spins right into the happy zone for leftists. Hitters.
why is tex acting surprised when he grounds the ball to exactly where he’s prone to ground it???
maddon has this info and uses it to get outs and win games.
instead of posturing on the field tex plays into their hands and acts surprised.
maybe he was really mad at robbie for inexplicably running into the dp or maybe he can adjust…
Blake-
Are we talkin’ baseball or politics ?
“happy zone for leftists” ? Cuba, Venezuela ?
Yeah. Seen Hughes get eaten up too many times with that cutter. Especially by some of the TB guys.
I don’t like the pitch for him. I know others disagree.
I’d like to see Hughes go with 3 offerings right now and that cutter is not one of them.
Its a small sample….but the Yanks should look at what Cespedes is doing when they decide on Soler……
====================
The Days of Wine and George are Over.
This is Hal’s time.
Time to be efficient and cost conscious.
MTU,
Lol….lefties
Joe Girardi sometimes seems like the Jockey in the Kentucky Derby who does not know when to go to the whip, or refuses to use it altogether.
And speaking of horses, we’re out in the middle of nowhere yesterday hiking around on slickrock and to our amazement what do we see ?
A wild horse out on the slickrock.
Stupid bugger nearly slipped and killed himself.
We were all relieved when he disappeared back into the hills.
(I’d make one of those “amazed ” smileys but I don’t know how)
MTU,
Wow….that’s cool.
This is where we were :
https://picasaweb.google.com/109721757058432487394/YantFlatColorBowl?authkey=Gv1sRgCOGRk_CcuKXTgQE#
Can you imagine seeing a horse out there ?
Not a very bright animal.
MTU — wow to seeing a wild horse and double wow to those photos. Gorgeous.
The horse probably went back and told his buddies ……can you imagine seeing people out here
nice pics.
Wang-
That is one of my favorite local spots.
Just glad he did not fall. He slipped but recovered and made it out.
We think he was an escapee from a local ranch.
He had 4 white boots which is an indication of weak legs.
That wasn’t good either.
Well anyway. He might not have been very bright but he was very lucky to make up for it.
Blake-
Mr. Ed ?
MTU, the smiley face is made using two steps:
1) Hold down the shift key plus the colon sign (if you use the semi-colon, you get the winking face)
2) Hold down shift key plus the closed parenthesis key (it’s above the 0 on my keyboard).
Hope that’s not too confusing
Happy Easter.
****
Don’t want to over-react to two games, but I’m a little confused by Girardi’s logic about Rapada being the Yankees were down 6 runs, and then in the post-game talking about how his team always plays to the last out. Especially, Price was out and the Yankees almost always hit mediocre relief pitching.
The over-shift s*cks. And I’m going to be prepared for other teams to start using it. The Yankees easily scoren8-10 runs both games without it. BUT the two big guns keeping Tampa contained in the early innings contributed the majority of the reason why they lost both games.
I don’t have a lot of quarrel with the Nunez thing, ONLY because we don’t know the true nature of any lingering “iffiness” of Jeter’s calf and they were on turf. But Nunez has got to do better. (Understatement of the day.)
I mean the two big guns NOT keeping Tampa contained. SMH
MTU, I’ll bet that horse was just treasuring his freedom. Little rebel…
Wang-
Well then he’d better find a safer place to play or it will be short-lived.
Happy easter everyone.
Probably was a Red Sox fan’s horse.
“I’m a little confused by Girardi’s logic about Rapada being the Yankees were down 6 runs, and then in the post-game talking about how his team always plays to the last out.”
That’s been a complaint of mine re Girardi for ages — waving the white flag before the fat lady sings. Of course in the press conference he can’t justify it, so the logic of his moves is never there.
Then there’s his head-scratching moves like loading the bases for CC in the first inning…what?!
Good morning and Happy Easter. Fantastic uplifting pictures MTU. Great to see Wang back in the fold.
I would imagine that the other managers are now going to start using more shifts against the Yankees until they can show teams they can go the other way, rather than just trying to overswing for the 3 run, Earl Weaver strategy, homer.
Game one. Shields pitching-always tough on the Yankees who were probably expecting a low scoring game. Jeter leads off with a single. Granderson up-facing 3 infielders on the right side. Instead of laying down a bunt, or even trying, he hits into a shift aided DP. With his speed a bunt would have men on 1st and 2nd no outs followed by Cano and A-Rod. The Yankees would probably have had a few runs that inning.
It’s got to be very frustrating to the Yankee hitters, when practically all of them are facing a zone shift defense, and haven’t proven in the past that they can go the other way.
MTU April 8th, 2012 at 8:00 am
Probably was a Red Sox fan’s horse.
Did the horse look fat and drunk?
YT-
Glad to raise your spirits. It’s Easter after all.
Happy Easter, I watched the game, I’d agree with most of the comments about some of the tactics and decision making.
Monkey see Monkey do, these guys keep trying to pull everything they are going to get the same medicine game after game until they prove that they will keep the other team honest.
Early yet but it looks like we are getting a normal Tex start of the season.
“Don’t want to over-react to two games, but I’m a little confused by Girardi’s logic about Rapada being the Yankees were down 6 runs, ”
Actually they were only down 4 runs before Rapada pitched to Longoria……pretty sure it was 6-2…
Hi YT!
Hey — I don’t play baseball, so let me ask those of you who do or have played: Is it really difficult to hit the other way?
I thought Tex was going to try and work on that during the off-season. I know it’s only two games, but he seems to be the same ‘ol Tex at the plate.
Wang-
Nope. But he had the right IQ level.
I was shocked to see that Thomas Kinkade passed yesterday. We have a couple of his prints. Only 54? RIP
MTU — those smiley faces are awesome.
Two things I’m really looking forward to seeing more of this season:
1) Eduardo NunEz at SS or 3B against every LHS
2) Clay Rapada facing RHBs especially really good ones like Evan Longoria
MTU — that’s offensive to the horse. Snort.
Some bright spots.
Jeter looks great…..night and day different than a year ago…..bat speed looks good…..he’s hitting the ball hard.
Alex looks good….hit two balls hard back up the middle that Madden stole from him.
Granderson had a nice day
Wade looked good….
LGY — bite your tongue!
Gary-
I did not know that.
Sad.
Loved what he brought.
Gary — yeah, he may have been ignored by the critics, but real people loved him. So very young.
LGY,
Unreal right…..the Nunez thing is just a bad idea……it makes Gardner a platoon player and puts a worse defender in LF and either at 3B or SS far too often. If Alex or Jeter need a day off every 10 days or so…..then give then a full day off……I’ve beaten the Rapada horse too much already but that was one of the worst decisions I’ve seen Girardi make as a manager……
The most disturbing thing about last night is this:
That was Girardi’s call, and he explained that he used Rapada against five hitters because the game was already out of hand and he didn’t want to burn out another reliever in that spot.
Joe-Statements like that and you lose respect. Better find a way to beat the shift, get some wins against some very difficult opponents this month, or up in the booth Lou, might be called out of retirement!
Wang-
Must be something about not starving and being an Artist.
Not genuine enough for some.
Good forbid the guy could actually have talent and make a living too.
Every Manager has a quota of bonehead moves per season.
Girardi just used up at least one yesterday.
Swishers homer could have tied the game……Joe managed last night like the last time they were in Tampa last year…..when they really didn’t care if they won or not.
Starving for your art is not what it’s cracked up to be. I thought his paintings were uplifting, and in this world, that’s a good thing.
Gotta sign off for now. Enjoy Easter everyone!
Unreal right…..the Nunez thing is just a bad idea……it makes Gardner a platoon player and puts a worse defender in LF and either at 3B or SS far too often.
——-
Yeah, we have been talking about this since last season. It’s really difficult to tell if Nunez is a net positive because his defense is just so bad.
The Yankees are taking a run saving machine out of LF and putting an error machine on the left side of the IF.
Kinkade was on a mission and had a passion for what he did. Like many others he gets dinged by the establishment because he doesn’t conform to their way of thinking. I think he brought joy and happiness to many people with the vitality and brightness of his work. Plenty good enough for me.
I see where Felix Hernandez was lit up by the A’s yesterday to the tune of 6 runs in 6.1 innings and Colon didn’t fare any better- 7 runs in 4.1 innings.
I could understand the lineup yesterday to sit Gardner because Price is so tough on lefties….but Chad’s post yesterday indicated it’ll be the norm. Gardner’s defense plays no matter who is pitching…..and they really need to see what he is…..if theybsee him as a platoon guy then they should shop him and see if someone will buy him as an every day CFer……he’s starting to get more expensive…..is starting to get closer to 30……personally id like to just see them let him play and make Nunez a back up utility player instead of trying to invent a way to get him on the field.
It Easter so I think it’s time for some more beauty.
And for me to put in a shameless plug for a really wondeful non-profit organization know as the “Grounds for Scultpture”.
It’s right in some of your back yards in Hamilton, NJ
Please consider vsiting it if you love Art and want to support a great institution who is not into things for profit only.
I only ask one thing of you.
Please do not reproduce these photos in any way. I’d appreciate that.
That said. Enjoy. And spread the word if you live in the area.
https://picasaweb.google.com/109721757058432487394/GroundsForSculpture?authkey=Gv1sRgCMzQ2qHv6rPMfA#
Felix, Haren, Bumgardner, and Latos all pitched rather poorly yesterday…..it’s early…..
Photo#14-Edvard Munch “The Scream.” That was me last night after the last out of a Yankees loss.
I’m not worried about Kuroda bouncing back, he has a track record.
Joe Girardi is not a good manager I am worried about him continuing to be a liability.
I don’t expect much from managers but as a minimum I expect their actions to be neutral to the outcome. More often than not, Girardi’s moves or non-moves hurt this team and have for 4+ years now.
YT-
Today will be different.
Happy Easter everyone.
Good article by Carig and pitch framing as new org philosophy:
http://www.nj.com/yankees/inde.....witterfeed
Grounds For Sculpture website:
http://www.groundsforsculpture.org/
YT-
I don’t know if it’s intentional or not but that website seems to need work.
I offered them those photos gratis to help promote the place. As of yet I have not heard back.
Blake and all,
Couldn’t agree more about letting Gardner play every game. His speed and D more than make up for the average at best platoon. Rodney dangerfield of the team.
Nunez has a longgg history of stinking defense at this point… Crazy to let him average 1:3 errors to attempts it seems.
Girardi said the cement under the dirt makes it hard on players legs? Wow, I cant imagine they’re happy with that? I’d rather have a tired top lineup than this garbage …
The other Rodney Dangerfield on this team at times is Ivan Nova.
If the Rays are going to employ the shift like they have been doing, isn’t it smart baseball that would look to use that against them?
If they shift on the players, why aren’t they working to at least sometimes hit the ball or bunt the ball away from the shift. No need to do it every time, just a couple of times would have Maddon looking like a fool.
If a manager is going to make moves like that, why isn’t the Yankee manager looking for how to counter that and exploit that?
Teixeira knows how the shift had hurt him big last year, has talked about it, has said he will bunt or hit the other way, but doesn’t. I know you can’t change the whole way you play, but you can stick a finger in the eye of the opposition by sometimes making their moves against you work against them.
Jackson-
Thanks for the Carig article.
“Fast’s research estimated that Martin saved the Yankees 15 runs with his pitch framing in 2011,while Posada cost the Yankees 23 runs in that department in 2010. And they paid attention to the Rays, who quickly jumped on the chance to sign Molina after a two-year-stint with the Blue Jays.
Said the person with knowledge: “The Blue Jays are going to miss Jose Molina.”
Convinced that Fast’s research was valid, the Yankees defied convention. When prospect Austin Romine’s back injury flared up, creating the need for another catcher, they traded for Stewart.
Over the past five years, Stewart has saved his teams 10 runs just on his pitch framing, a high number considering his limited playing time.”
One thing that Cervelli did behind the plate, that maybe the pitchers found annoying, was that he had about 2-3 different crouches, some where he stretched out one leg and sat on the ground.
“Fast’s research estimated that Martin saved the Yankees 15 runs with his pitch framing in 2011,while Posada cost the Yankees 23 runs in that department in 2010. And they paid attention to the Rays, who quickly jumped on the chance to sign Molina after a two-year-stint with the Blue Jays.
I don’t see how those calculations can be all that accurate……lot of variables to account for….seems a lot like educated guessing to me.
Who’s the Alfred E Newman on the team- “What Me Worry?”
Swisher?
Nice pics MTU.
YT-
I think the next thing should be for the Catcher to have a butterfly net handy.
Very important.
I think the way they go about tying their shoelaces is critical too.
Wonder who the genius who thought this one up is ?
Forget offense. Concentrate on how pitches are framed.
Yup. Sheer genius that is.
Glad you enjoyed them Blake but even more important.
If you are some how invading the North go visit.
You won’t regret it.
‘Jeter looks great…..night and day different than a year ago…..bat speed looks good…..he’s hitting the ball hard.’
Not really, he still only gets his hits when nobody is on base and hits weak grounders with men on. Same old Jeter.
As far as the shift, Maddon has upped the ante on that move because he knows the Yankee hitters have very poor bat control. These two games have shown what an advantage a good manager is.
You might find this article on Mark Teixeira interesting when compared to other hitters % opposite field homeruns.
http://bronxbaseballdaily.com/.....-comeback/
Let’s hope we get one good start out of our 5 guys or it’ll be chaos!
The shift is insulting for some reason that pros can’t exploit it… The annoNcers act as though players can choose where they hit the ball at will on other teams, why not yanks?
I find Girardi puzzling sometimes. Inknow, I know, I’m the first one on this blog. On opening day, he manages like its Game 7 of the World Series. Intentional walks in the first inning, five infielders in the ninth, etc., etc. Then yesterday, the game is “out of hand” in the 7th inning when the Yankees are down 6-2, and we don’t want to burn too many relievers out at the beginning of a long stretch. Obviously the fallacy of the predetermined outcome comes in to play here, because the Rays wouldn’t have put the reliever that we got the runs off of into the game, but we DID end up with the tying run at the dish in the 9th, right?, and it would have been the go-ahead run if perhaps Rapada hadn’t allowed all those runs when he did. I just don’t get it. If we lose the division by one game later in the season, was this one really that far out of hand that we shouldn’t have tried to win it?
And, I don’t like this “cement under the dirt.” stuff. Call me crazy, I know our guys are a lot older than some of the Rays…but the Rays have to play on it EVERY HOME GAME. We just do it about 9x per season. Jeeze.
“The shift is insulting for some reason that pros can’t exploit it… The annoNcers act as though players can choose where they hit the ball at will on other teams, why not yanks?”
Teams often used a shift against Fielder last season and there were times when the Brewers needed a base runner late in the game and he would take the most awkward, late swing and hit a slow ground ball through the left side of the infield for a hit. If the Yankee hitters just aren’t good enough to do it, that’s a pretty stinging indictment of their baseball skills.
Will other managers be smart enough to duplicate Maddon’s strategy? When you have Granderson and Tex refusing to go the other way, it’s managerial malpractice not to use a shift.
If teams continued to shift that way on Alex I think he’d adjust to it and exploit it….he’s got the bat control and can use the field well enough to do that…..the problem with Teixera is that his LH swing is totally built for pull power…..he’s improved it a little with regards to swing plane but it’s still difficult for him to go the other way mechanically…
Jerkface with the morality… LOL
I have no problem with having a criminal on my team. I dont care if he’s raped people, murdered people, whatever. If he helps us win in the future or helped us win in the past, I dont care one bit. And I know for certain, boston teams dont care if they employ criminals, as long as they win ballgames.
Anyone remember Manny Ramirez, the elderly abuser, throwing down a 65 year old traveling secretary employee of the Red Sox?
Blake-
Then he needs to do what he’s threatened to do.
Drop down an ocassional bunt.
Grandy certainly should be able to do that if they are gonna shift on him.
Great pics MTU
Great pics MTU. Happy Easter
JCPD-
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed them. Coming from you that’s a real compliment.
Grandy certainly should be able to do that if they are gonna shift on him.
—————————————
MTU-
Mentioned earlier, but in Game 1, first inning, Granderson faced 3 infielders on the right side of the infield, and hit into the shift, into a DP. Cost the Yankees a few runs when Cano and A-Rod followed with singles but were stranded.
I can’t remember Granderson facing a shift like that, but with his speed a bunt would have been a certain way to get on base and extend an inning against a pitcher, Shields, who has been tough to score runs off of.
You can check out spray charts for ground balls here:
http://katron.org/projects/baseball/hit-location/
Doesn’t work for switch hitters because you can’t seperate handedness.
You can see almost all of the Yankee hitters pull or hit up the middle ground balls, even if they can hit opposite field in the air. Even Cano. Even Jeter mostly. Basically only Gardner hits a fair number of ground balls opposite field.
MTU, can’t wait to get a new variety to my collection of pics.
I wouldn’t be surprised that the next few managers the Yankees face-Scioscia, Showalter, and Gardenhire, use the same strategy, until the Yankees prove they can overcome the penchant to look for the “Earl Weaver” 3-run homer to overcome the shift, swinging from their heels.
JCPD-
It’s gonna be easy.
Can’t wait to see what you come up with.
JCPD-
Next time you are down in NJ be sure to visit the GFS if you have not already done so.
You’ll love it.
Here’s a stupid thought. Maybe Teixeira should turn around when he gets to the plate and bat righthanded against a righty, and watch the infielders scramble to get back into position!
blake April 8th, 2012 at 8:15 am
Swishers homer could have tied the game……
===============================
Do you really think Swish hits a HR to tie the game?
Too much pressure.
MTU, not sure when the next time I’ll get down to NJ is, but I will check it out.
MTU,
Thanks for the amazing photos. It looks like another planet.
Jerkface wrote:
Unfortunately sexual assault/crimes of that nature are simply not taken as seriously in this country as they should be, and that is a whole nother can of worms regarding the oppression of women etc, which we should not open on a baseball blog. Suffice it to say, I will be making sure everyone knows Josh Lueke is a horrible rapist and continue to think he should be out of baseball. Serving 40 days in jail and being on probation has nothing to do with Lueke being a crappy human being
///
I’m heading out, but I wanted to acknowledge this post and to say I strongly agree with your comments. The culture, in general, is in a way complicit in crimes against women, since it fairly shrugs at violence against women, and encourages the view of them as objects; only one’s own mother, daughter, or sister being exempt. I also did not know about Lueke, so thanks for the information.
///
Now, Happy Easter to all, and go Phil Hughes! Go Yanks!
Mac-
Thank you. My pleasure.
Perhaps you should visit this Planet some time ?
Explore a little.
Time to go. Enjoyed the posts and especially the wonderful photos this Easter Sunday-enough to make me smile after very frustrating Yankee 2 day losses in the Trop.
Until later.
YT-
See ya.
Have a great day pardner.
Don’t let your spurs get tangled in your stirrups.
At least our team is less worrying than the Red Sox. The sports talk radio up here is going to be good
Time to walk the Mops.
BIAW
Oh, and I like our chances today. Hughes has been our sharpest pitcher early this season, so I’m hoping that trend continues today.
Plus I own him in two fantasy leagues.
If teams start to load up on IF ala the Rays, our team batting average is going to be .200. And we’ll only score when we get extra base hits on balls in the air…
Joe Girardi was too scared to let CC face Sean Rodriguez with 2 on and 1 out in the first inning of a game…but is just fine letting Clay Rapada face Evan Longoria… Awesome.
I thought if they wanted a second LOOGY they couldn’t really go wrong with Clay Rapada on the team, but that was with the understanding that he would be employed correctly.
If you wanted to pitch to Longoria why not use Boone Logan? If he is too hurt to play put him on the DL and call up Kontos.
If he is too hurt to play put him on the DL and call up Kontos.
————————————-
I hate to break it to you but………….
I have no problem with having a criminal on my team. I dont care if he’s raped people, murdered people, whatever.
———————————————————————————————————-
If it were your mother, sister, wife, how would you feel?
Maybe your name should be asinine.
“If you wanted to pitch to Longoria why not use Boone Logan? If he is too hurt to play put him on the DL and call up Kontos.”
Kontos gone….but they should call up Mitchell or somebody if Logan can’t pitch. Rapada has no versatility and having a true pure LOOGY around might be too risky with Girardi’s super rest mindset…..you can’t ever let him pitch to a righty if the situation has a chance to be important….
Go Phils today. Hughes and Mickelson. Hughes needs to not throw bad cutters to Pena, Joyce, etc……
eboland11 No lineup posted yet. Chris Stewart already here so he very well may be behind plate for Hughes today about 1 minute ago · reply · retweet · favorite
maybe we can get Nunez in there at 3rd as well…..maybe get Ibanez some time in LF and Chavez some 1B time.
How is a game “out of hand” when you are down only 6-2 in the bottom of the 7th and have the middle of your order with Swish, Cano and Alex coming up? There is keeping the bullpen fresh and then there is being stupid. Win the game, and rest people in the next outing. But then again, if Girardi is going to rest DRob to pitch Ayala in the playoffs when we are in a 5 games series-do or die, then why would Girardi try to win an early April regular season game? You have got to wonder what bizarre thinking goes into these decisions.
As far as Mike Fast’s catching metrics re: pitch framing, I posted Fast’s original BP article about pitching defense last season, and questioned those metrics then. Link here, but not sure if sub is required. http://www.baseballprospectus......entMessage
Not sure how we can so buy into such unquantifiable metrics. But they are our answer as to why the Yankees had to have Stewart as a backup over Cervelli. And like Cash says, he doesn’t make a move anymore unless it has been sanctioned by fangraphs or now former BP sabermetricians… Scary.
Offense, where you care to admit it or not, is not the issue. The Yankees scored 6 runs in each game against two of the best pitchers in baseball. If the pitching had done their job, they would have won 2 games. As far as Nunez goes, his error put one runner on base. He isn’t the one that walked two batters on base and allowed a hit. He didn’t lay a beachball in there for Lobaton to hammer against the wall or for Joyce to take out a row of seats.
“Offense, where you care to admit it or not, is not the issue.”
so far I agree in general…..but Joe didn’t show much confidence in the offense by declaring the game over in the 7th.
***whether*** you care to admit
“Offense, where you care to admit it or not, is not the issue. The Yankees scored 6 runs in each game against two of the best pitchers in baseball. If the pitching had done their job, they would have won 2 games. As far as Nunez goes, his error put one runner on base. He isn’t the one that walked two batters on base and allowed a hit. He didn’t lay a beachball in there for Lobaton to hammer against the wall or for Joyce to take out a row of seats.”
Yeah, keep defending a literal butcher in the field. But, hey, if you enjoy Nunez bobbling routine grounders, more power to you!
and with Nunez it’s not an isolated thing…..he was awful defensively last year and every ball hit to him you hold your breath…..he just looks shaky out there….
if it’s a playing time issue and he needs to play every day to stay sharp then it’s a problem because he’s not good enough to play every day for the Yankees and he’s a borderline liability defensively as a utility guy. I’d like to see him get better….and I like his offensive potential and speed….but he’s not a prospect anymore….he needs to clean it up defensively
He made an error. He didn’t lose the game.
hopefully just first game jitters for Nunez….we’ll see if it continues like it did last year or if he’s improved….
The season is still young..
“He made an error. He didn’t lose the game.”
nope probably not…but they did lose by 2 runs which is how many scored in the 1st inning….he makes that play then maybe they don’t score that inning….you never know. I don’t like this platoon thing with Gardner anyway so it’s just something to watch given how shaky Nunez was defensively last year……as I said….hopefully it was just first game jitters and he does better.
Remember when some folks said we had too much pitching? False, we have too many pitchers, not enough pitching.
Tex’s work hard on his new approach this past off season, and so far, it ain’t working.
And please, please stop blaming the umps for poor pitching and location.
“Remember when some folks said we had too much pitching? False, we have too many pitchers, not enough pitching.”
I think it’s too early to say that……are the mariners saying the same because Felix got hit yesterday? How about the Rays with Shields? or the red with Latos? they’ve played 2 games and I still think the rotation is going to be good.
Is shoot him up with Toradol the new rub some dirt on it?
http://mobile.newsday.com/inf/.....nopaging=1
Toradol is good stuff….
RIIP, Mike Wallace. you were one of the best of the newscasters. Age 93. That’s the hard part to believe.
The likelihood of it being my mother, sister, or daughter is so minimal. And I wasnt talking about rape or showing a lack of respect for women, I was speaking of any crime committed against any gender or any race.
Jeter 6, granderson 8, cano 4, Rodriguez 5, teixeira 3, swisher dh, ibanez 9, Gardner 7, Stewart 2, Hughes 1
YF-
I was hoping you’d show up around here this AM.
There are couple of links I posted on here earlier which I think you need to see.
Just look back a ways.
One is the Photos of GFS. I decided to share the place with everyone especially since it’s Easter.
Enjoy.
YF-
8:42 and 7:45 posts.
New thread —–>
Both Teix and Granderson are hooking the outside pitch. How have things changed? A breaking ball down and away eats them up.
Swisher, Martin and Jones are overswinging, how have things changed?
The shift is the best thing that is happening to this team. Baseball is all about adjusting. This will force the Yankees to adjust. If they don’t, they will lose.
I’m sorry, four runs in the ninth in a laugher, isn’t production, it’s stats padding. They’ve done the same thing for the last two years – wait for the soft middle relievers. This year, more of the same. Thankfully it’s early in the season, they have time to adjust.
“hopefully it was just first game jitters and he does better.”
But he couldn’t field last season, so it wasn’t jitters. He’s just no good defensively.
It’s a bit difficult to say that Teixeira is “hooking” everything. He hit a ball into the short/third base hole that was flagged down, and another was a liner into short right field. Looks more like he’s hitting the ball to all fields. It was pretty much the same the night before. The one that’s trying to pull everything is granderson.
I said a while back, that with all the rest Jeet and A-Rod are gonna get, I would deal Nunez before his increased use exposes his defense and his trade value drops. Nunez gave away 2 runs in the 1st inning and then totally butchered that pickoff play\rundown. Nunez should be dealt, and a decent hitting utility player like Keppinger acquired. Nunez has plenty of trade value due to his playing multiple positions and his mix of speed and power coupled with his Not having reached his celing offensively.
Ridiculous that Girardi had to Ask the Umps to review the Longoria HR\2B. The Umps shoulda been headed to the review room before Girardi could even get on the field. That play was Obvious to ALL.
I’m still bucking for Gardner to get the leadoff spot FULLTIME for at Least a 30 day trial.
If Cano continues to attempt to hit Everything 9 Miles, regardless of the hitting situation, I would get him outta that 3 Hole. He seems to think that is All that is required outta a 3 Hole Stick.
To me, Kuroda did Not look as bad as his line indicated. HP Ump had an Extremely small strike zone, and Kuroda does Not throw hard enough to pipe-the-ball and get away with it. Kuroda’s walks were due to his refusing to give in to hitters. This same mindset used to garner praise for Smoltz Glavine, etc. Considering the Huge pitch count that Nunez inflicted on Kuroda in inning 1, coupled with the HP Ump’s extremely small strike zone, Kuroda actually pitched a pretty good game. If this had been a Playoff Game, NO WAY Kuroda woulda been slated to pitch with this Ump and his strike zone behind the plate.