Postgame notes: “He’s going out and dominating”
Posted by: Josh Thomson - Posted in Notes on Aug 20, 2012 
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Hiroki Kuroda will lead you to believe he has not tried harder, or focused with more intensity, in the absence of CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte. His ascendency to Yankee ace in their absence has been a matter of simpler things, like the command of his sinker and slider and the frequency with which he has thrown strikes.
“Not at all do I have that kind of pressure,” he said. “All I’m thinking about is trying to pitch my game and try to keep winning whenever I pitch.”
Of course, with the facts being what they are, it’s clear Kuroda has chased away fears throughout the clubhouse. He beat the Red Sox 4-1 tonight with eight strong innings and is now 9-2 with a 2.38 ERA in his last 16 starts.
“He’s been unbelievable,” Pettitte said. “He’s not just throwing good games. He’s going out and dominating.”
Indeed, Kuroda was at his best again Sunday. He threw 75 of his 112 pitches for strikes, allowed four hits and walked no one. The only blemish was a solo homer by Adrian Gonzalez with one out in the seventh. It hardly spooked Kuroda, who went on to throw a perfect eighth.
“Even if those guys are here we still need him. He’s a big part of this team,” Derek Jeter said. “He’s been pitching extremely well. If we had scored a few more runs for him, we’d have a few more wins. But we have a lot of confidence in him when he’s on the mound. He’s kept us in most games he’s pitched.”
A great stat on Kuroda: He had pitched 16 2/3 innings without allowing a run before the Gonzalez home run. Over that span, he had surrendered just six hits, all of which were singles.
He has now allowed three earned runs or less in each of his last seven starts, matching the longest stretch by a Yankee this season (Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova). He has also thrown six innings or more in those seven starts, a streak that is one shy of a career high set last year with the Dodgers.
• Ichiro Suzuki had three hits, including a pair of solo home runs to right off Josh Beckett that gave the Yankees a 4-0 lead. Ichiro later added an infield single, giving him a .322 average and three home runs in his first 87 at-bats as a Yankee. He batted just .261 with four home runs in 402 at-bats with Seattle.
“If he’d been a Yankee for a number of years, who knows how many home runs he might have hit,” Girardi said. “We know there’s power there.”
Ichiro said he was “embarrassed” in the sixth after he obliged fans asking for a curtain call.
• Alex Rodriguez and Pettitte both received good news from their X-rays tonight, although neither is quite ready to return. The exams did show improvement, and both hope to increase the intensity of their baseball activities soon.
Rodriguez, who has not played since July 24, will continue to do strengthening exercises with the training staff. He expects to have another evaluation after Thursday’s off day and hopes he will be cleared to swing then.
“It’s definitely healing good,” Rodriguez said. “The doctor was encouraged by the pictures, so we’ll continue to heal.”
Pettitte has not been on a mound since June 27 and has not been cleared to return to one yet. He will, however, continue to throw off flat ground and begin to push off the left leg during his those sessions.
“Hopefully, maybe when we get back from this road trip I can get on a mound,” Pettitte said. “The doctor hasn’t told me that yet, but I’m hoping that will be when it will be.”
• Derek Jeter had three hits and scored two runs. He extended his league-leading hit total to 163, four more than San Francisco’s Melky Cabrera, who just began serving a 50-game suspension for using performance enhancing drugs. He also moved within one of Nap Lajoie for 12th on the all-time hit list and one of Craig Biggio for 13th on the all-time run list. The 38-year-old Jeter now has 3,151 career hits and 1,843 career runs scored.
“My hope was that giving him a couple of DH days would keep him in the lineup and so far it’s worked,” Girardi said.
Jeter is now batting .373 in his last 15 games and has hit safely in 14 of them. His 163 hits and 26 doubles have already surpassed last year’s totals of 162 and 24, respectively.
• Robinson Cano was hitless in his previous 16 at-bats before singling off Beckett in the fifth. Cano had actually just one hit in his previous 25 at-bats – a home run last Sunday in Toronto.
• Curtis Granderson went 1 for 2 with an RBI double and drew two walks in his first start in the cleanup spot as a Yankee. It was just the second game he started batting cleanup in his career.
• The Yankees snapped their dubious streak against the slumping Beckett. They beat him in the Bronx for the first time since Aug. 8, 2010. He had been 5-0 in New York over his last seven starts.
Over there last 10 starts by era
Kuroda 2.40
Hughes 3.36
Garcia 3.64
Nova 5.52
BRING BACK ICHIRO NEXT SEASON PLZ
Ichiro with Yankees:
.322/.344/.506/.850
The Red Sox are 1 game ahead of Seattle in the WC standings
“Ichiro with Yankees:
.322/.344/.506/.850″
Kinda what the Yanks were hoping for……that with a freah start, with more rest….and with facing mostly RHP that he cpuld turn back the clock…..
So far its looking like maybe he can…..now they need Jones to step up because hes not doing his job against the lefties
Really like the current lineup they are using va RHP….when Tex is back maybe you slot him between Cano and Granderson there and have Chavez 6th.
Against LHP I think they should mix things up to get their best bats vs lefties in the middle ……
Ichiro
Swisher
Jeter
Tex
Cano
Martin
Granderson
Jones
Nix/Mcgehee
Are we still afraid of the Angels? They are two games over .500 and in real danger of not even making the postseason. They still could catch fjre…..but Im rreally surprised at that rotation and really surprised Greinke has been this bad…..hes got an ERA over 6 with the Angels……
Morning folks!
Pretty much a perfect game last night. Now if someone can slow down the Rays that would be a positive development.
Ichiro has been a very solid addition, but I agree Andruw needs to wake up or someone else will get those AB when Alex returns.
The Rays and the O’s need to slow down!!!!
No thanks to the Angels, sheesh! Where’s that rally monkey when you need it? And the Tigers????
“someone else will get those AB when Alex returns.”
Who though? As I posted last night (and not meaning to start a wild fire) Montero’s .930+ OPS and .350+ BA vs LHP would kinda be nice right now.
The last couple of years the offseason winners haven’t faired so well……the Red Sox “won the offseason” before 2011…..best team ever….didnt make the playoffs…..the Marlins and Angels rhis year were Co-offseason champs……Marlins are done and the Angels are 4.5 games out of the WC……interesting.
I’d be okay with the Orioles and Rays as the Wild Cards.
Good for the Yanks not to travel cross country. Ideally Baltimore stuns Tampa Bay in the W/C game.
Montero? Never heard of ‘im.
I might give McGehee or Nix some of those AB.
Since July 18 Andruw Jones is 7-52 (.135) with 1 HR and 4 RBI
That’s pitiful
morning guys!
big props to ichiro! his first couple of weeks here, playing just about every day while swisher was hurt, he was doing exactly what he did in seattle.
now with some rest under his belt, he is turning into vintage ichiro.
several people on here get all bent outta shape when joe sits arod or jeter or tex (or damon or matsui in the past) but that rest produces results in the weeks that follow.
I think the test definitely helps Ichiro……Joe is a master at this stuff and he gets no credit….hes great with bullpens and hes great at keeping these old dudes healthy …..for a team like the Yanks Im not not sure any manager is a better fit to be honest……Girardi’s strengths really fit this team.
one small setback, Pettite’s season could be over, if it’s not already too late to get him back in form before PS.
I’m not counting on Pettite at all. Just hasn’t gone well, and 40 year old bones heal slower than young ones.
yeah, cash, i’ve been posting about that since the end of july.
he hopes he can get on a mound when they come back from the road trip. that would be august 27th.
the international league’s first playoff round ends sept 9th, so theres little chance he can get in a game unless the scranton/wilkes barre/batavia/rochester yankees make the finals and the finals end on sept 15th. so at best he gets in 1 rehab game with them and the minor league season is over.
after that all he can do is throw sim games.
it doesnt look good for andy making it back now.
I think if all goes well, big if, P will have enough time to be contributor in the playoff. rehab game can be a concern with that time frame. but I think Yanks probably would have start their own sim games for Andy or Even Rod’s benefits. the main thing is if Andy doesn’t suffer any setbacks.
Well once they call guys up they could let Andy start every fifth day throwing progressively more each time, but that also depends on how big their lead is.
Off to see the Doctor. Lemme guess…
Eat less, drink less and get more exercise. That’ll be $ 150 please. SeeYa next year
Later
I agree Andy is a ? To some degree…..but if they can get him healthy then Sabathia, Kuroda, Pettite, Hughes/Nova/Garcia is a pretty darn good playoff rotation……
As of right now the Yanks would face the winner if a one game playoff between the Orioles and Rays.
Good morning all-
What a terrific game and win last night.
Pettitte- If he gets back to the Yankees by the middle of September he will have time to get 4 starts under his belt. Not counting on him, but there’s a chance he might be ready to contribute in the playoffs.
Kuroda and Ichiro-Yankees need to get younger, BUT, I sure hope they find a way to bring back both of them next year.
I watched the game. Did anyone see if the catcher-Martin- came out to the mound even once-that’s how connected those two are. If you want Kuroda back, is his batterymate coming back too?
I feel at times Joe leaves CC in a game too long. the wear n’ tear on that arm is begin to show….
Blake-
How does Ichiro generate enough power with that swing? He seems to be taking a half step back on every pitch.
Interesting piece on weei.com by alex speier about the repurcussions of the red socks signings of lester and beckett before last year and the effect it’s had on the socks vs. the yankees rotation decisions since then.
about kuroda refusing the trade deadline deal that would have sent him to the socks last year:
“(Intriguing game of revisionist history: How different would Red Sox history have been if Kuroda had accepted the trade and reinforced the rotation? Would the Sox have won two more games and reached the playoffs? Might a spot in the postseason have resulted in a decision to exercise Terry Francona’s two-year option? If that had happened, might it have resulted in a sense of well-being in the Red Sox organization that either would have led all of the clubhouse scandals of last season to be kept in-house or that might have instead turned them into a charming form of eccentricity? Such is the nature of the fact that the Sox missed the playoffs by one game a year ago.) ”
it’s a pretty good read.
http://m.nypost.com/p/sports/m.....9DEsSwIX2H
Good.column from Sherman covering a lot of.stuff
“How does Ichiro generate enough power with that swing? He seems to be taking a half step back on every pitch.”
If you watch him his legs and body are moving towards 1B but he always keeps his hands back……he keepa his hands ready to.hit and can therefore generate power …..its an unusjal way to hit…..not many guys could hit that way……takes incredible hand eye coordination
alex spieier must be a harry turtledove fan…. Onto ChiTown… where the underrated konerko keeps on raking. He murders Garcia….other notes of interests… tyler flower was suppose to be chisox catcher two years ago ( former brave prospect in exchange for Vasquez) but that all seem like pipe dream with Pierzyski raking his way to a pay day.
Blake-
Good article. Brings up many of the off season questions that you and others have pointed out.
What if Ichiro has just been in a funk for a year and a half and has figured it out……sound familiar? I really dont see a lot of physical decline other than hes probably a step or two slower running (still fast).
Lester I believe can be elite again……Beckett just isnt the same guy…..the loss of velocity is really hurting him….if there was one thing I could change about last night it would have been for either Chavez or Ibanez to get that big knock in the 5th there to blow it open and send Beckett pouting to the dugout early…..wouldnt have changed the outcome…..but it would have made me smile even bigger.
Too many decisions have to be made within the 5 day window after the end of the WS, the window when the Yankees have sole negotiating power.
Key FA’s-Pettitte, Kuroda, Rivera, Ichiro
Not so key FA, but Kuroda’s batterymate-Martin
Most likely they will exercise Cano’s option[15M], and Granderson’s[13M]
If the Yankees sign Rivera quickly, then maybe Soriano will opt out of his 14M for a guaranteed, but lesser yearly 3 year contract somewhere else to close.
Will the Yankees try to get close to or even under the 178M LT rate for 2013, taxed at 42.5%
Too many questions?
Thoughts?
Blake-
Yankes 1 for 8 with RISP. Have a double steal and I don’t think anyone came home. Left 16 men on base, 7 by Chavez alone.
Lot of arguing whether Chavez should have swung at that 3-0 pitch with the bases loaded, but it was down the middle of the plate.
“Lot of arguing whether Chavez should have swung at that 3-0 pitch with the bases loaded, but it was down the middle of the plate.”
It was right down the middle…..would the 3-1 pitch have been better? I didnt have a problem with it at….Chavez has been red hot and he got a cookie and just missed it……people get mad about outcomes……the process though is what you really should judge and that wasnt a bad decision…..if he hit a grand slam or even just a single or sac fly then folks would have loved it.
What you dont want is guys expanding the zone in a 3-0 count……if a guy thats hot gets a grooved get me over fastball the hack at it……
If the Yankees don’t resign Swiisher there are only two other switch hitters that I can think of that maybe they should target to trade for.
CF Dexter Fowler of the Rockies and 3B Chase Headley of the Padres
But do Fowler’s numbers away from Coors scare you away?
His stats:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/.....ter-fowler
the complaining about chavez swinging 3-0 i riduculous. he got a good pitch to hit, probably the best one he was going to get, he just didn’t produce with the hit. it happens. had he hit a grand slam nobody would be complaining about him hitting there.
nothing to see here, move on.
Blake-
Wish I could stay and chat with you, but I have to go, As always I enjoy your input.
Have a great day.
so now that the jets have their regular offense all set all the wildcat has to do is tack on 27 points per game and they’re on their way!
Yep, agreed.
And on this team, the hitters you want most, in that situation are those two – Chavez and Ibanez. Both, just missed. Chit happens.
That was the easiest 3 run lead against Boston that I have seen in years. They were never in it. Man, Kuroda is on a tear.
I had never seen Ichiro smile, now he’s downright grinning. Inscrutable Oriental? Hah.
the last time the white sox beat the yankees in chicago, 8/27/10 the winning pitcher for the hose was freddy garcia.
Yankee Trader August 20th, 2012 at 8:57 am
Will the Yankees try to get close to or even under the 178M LT rate for 2013, taxed at 42.5%
Too many questions?
Thoughts?
————————
I think it depends a lot on how the season ends. If they win the WS I can imagine them basking in the glory and taking a riskier approach with cheaper alternatives. They would then have two seasons to develop players, make trades and gear up for another higher cost era after the austerity of 2014. I’d be happy with that (since it would come in the wake of a WS win!).
Yanks are ending a pretty tough stretch of games with this series against the ChiSox….then the schedule sofens a bit with Cleveland and Toronto.
The Rays are playing the Royals so just gotta maintain here…..try to keep that cushion.
Itll be interesting this year because the Yanks wont have the luxury of just resting guys down the stretch if their lead stays around this range…..you cant fall back on the WC like in the past because its one game…..gotta close out the division so while they do need to rest guys Girardi is doing a nice job of trying to do it along the way so they can keep the hammee down through September…..maybe thatll serve them well and keep them sharp heading into the playoffs.
Speaking of performance vs LHP, Justin Maxwell is hitting 284 .385 .519 vs them
“I think it depends a lot on how the season ends.”
=======================
exactly. so much speculation on what’s going to happen with ichiro, swisher, kuroda, whatever. none of that will be determined till we see what happens the rest of the way. what if swisher hits like this in the PS and wins WS MVP? doesnt that change the equation? is ichiro of the last 2 weeks going to continue or will his obp dip back below .300?
all the speculation is wasted at this point because none of these decisions will be set until after we see how this season ends. there’s 6 weeks of baseball left plus the PS.
“Speaking of performance vs LHP, Justin Maxwell is hitting 284 .385 .519 vs them”
Andrew has hit some homers but overall hes not getting the job done….hes got a reverse split and both splits are bad….his only job is to hit lefties and if hes not doing that hes really not pulling his weight unfortunately …he needs to pick it up or the Yanks need to find another option vs LHP going down the stretch….they pretty much have RHP covered now…..its sorta the opposite of usual
maxwell having a decent year. when we had him in ST, everybody on here wanted to keep maxwell and get rid of ibanez. i didnt see anyone advocating getting rid of jones to keep maxwell, just ibanez.
Trying to think of RH platoon bats that could be waiver deals….Soriano I guess if the Cubs ate all the money….but hes got a reverse split too…..though much better than Jones has been.
The Carlos Lee rumors kinda make you think the Yanks have considered upgrades for Jones’s role
Back from the Dr. Just as expected, but only had the co-pay. Do I thank Obamacare for a $ 15 physical or blame it? Sooo confuzzling
Pointed out earlier Andruw is a serious anchor around the offense’s collective neck.
He’s 7-52 (.136) w/ 1 HR & 4 RBI the last month. Gotta be a better RH bat than that off the waiver wire
I would estimate AROD will be back in 2-3 weeks. It would seem McGehee will be the one released. Perhaps, he would take a minor league assignment if no one claims him as the Pirates were about to release him too.
Not only has Kuroda pitched well, he has pitched deeply into every game. He has stepped up and save the bullpen in CC’s absence. I assume CC will have no real limiting pitch count on his start since he has only been out a bit over two weeks.
I am ready for the Rays to stop hitting and start losing. The LAA of Anaheim are going down the drain. Who would have expected it looking at their roster. Thanks for getting swept. I hope they don’t make the playoffs.
If Andy does not have enough time to be ready for when the playoffs begin, then maybe the Yankees plan might be to keep him off the roster for the ALDS and go with a rotation of CC, Kuroda, Hughes, Garcia/Nova … who knows, maybe they might even go with a 3 man rotation so they could potentially have CC and Kuroda start in Games 4 and 5, if necessary.
You can then have Pettitte continue to throw SIM games to get himself in shape and if the Yankees advance to the ALCS you then put him back on the roster and insert him into the rotation.
“Ichiro later added an infield single, giving him a .322 average and three home runs in his first 87 at-bats as a Yankee. He batted just .261 with four home runs in 402 at-bats with Seattle.
“If he’d been a Yankee for a number of years, who knows how many home runs he might have hit,” Girardi said. “We know there’s power there.”
you mean it hard to hit home runs at safeco and easy to them to right field in yankee stadium?
interesting concept.
probably only applies to ichiro though.
one-trick pony rears and prances again!
maxwell having a decent year. when we had him in ST, everybody on here wanted to keep maxwell and get rid of ibanez. i didnt see anyone advocating getting rid of jones to keep maxwell, just ibanez.
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I wasn’t one of the people advocating for Maxwell in ST, but this isn’t true.
Some people wanted Maxwell over Ibanez, others instead of Andruw, but the majority actually wanted the Yankees to keep all three and showed how the Yankees could do so.
apparently safeco not only prevents homers but doubles, too somehow.
Not really news, but I was looking at the HR stats for Ichiro and noticed that, with the recent Jeter HR, the Yankees now have 10 guys that have hit at least 10 HR. That is amazing, and they are very likely to end the season with 9 that hit 15 HRs – just crazy.
With the short porch in RF Ichiro could get up to 10 HR this season, though hard to add him to that list since he still has only hit 3 of them in NY…
the last thing the yankees need is for ichiro to start trying to hit homers at NYS.
Interesting take by Joel Sherman on Swisher’s impending free agency.
He suggests that if the Yankees can get Swisher for 3 years $13 -$15 per, they should do that, keep Granderson next year and then let him walk because he’s going to get more money and years than Swisher would and in 2014 the Yankees will have more internal options ready to contribute (Mason Williams, Slade Heathcott, Almonte and Almonte) than they will in 2013.
Ys Guy August 20th, 2012 at 10:54 am
the last thing the yankees need is for ichiro to start trying to hit homers at NYS.
———————-
Why is that?
Ys Guy August 20th, 2012 at 10:13 am
one-trick pony rears and prances again!
————–
The notion that the Yankees should try to not hit home runs is probably the silliest bit of tripe that I’ve heard in a long time.
Yes, doubles are nice, but there’s no guarantee that you’re going to score standing on 2nd base and also no evidence to suggest that you’re less likely to make an out trying to hit a double than you are trying to hit a home run.
Beckett, Bobby V, and the R\Sox looked like a Sad Sack Organization last night. Thought it was hilarious that per ESPN, it was announced during the game that the R\Sox had Already made the decision to slice-and-dice on Crawford’s elbow. Then they just dropped that and went with the R\Sox party line that a meeting would be held Monday to decide whether to cut Immediately. It’s like nails onna chalk board, watching a R\Sox game on ESPN.
Yeah, I think us fans should be telling Ichiro how to hit…
I actually kind of like the idea of signing Swisher and letting Granderson walk. Swisher’s been very consistent throughout his career. I think Granderson will erode very quickly, it’s just a matter of when.
We could move Gardner to center.
Typo alert!!!!!!!!
Jeter has 3,251 career base hits.
austinmac August 20th, 2012 at 10:06 am
I would estimate AROD will be back in 2-3 weeks. It would seem McGehee will be the one released. Perhaps, he would take a minor league assignment if no one claims him as the Pirates were about to release him too.
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Yankees don’t have to release anyone. Alex and Andy will be back after 9/1 when rosters expand.
The question is who goes down when CC comes off the DL tomorrow – do you send out Phelps or Joba?
Yeah you can’t count Ichiro’s 3 HR w/ Seattle… but maybe he hits 7 more anyway?
I was actually an advocate of Dickerson/Maxwell over Ibanez/Jones feeling they could use the better speed and defense and already had enough power.
Since rosters expand Sept 1 they don’t have to do anything w/ McGehee if Alex is activated after that date.
The notion that the Yankees should try to not hit home runs is probably the silliest bit of tripe that I’ve heard in a long time.
—————-
The home run is the perfect outcome. You cannot hit a ball better than a home run. It’s not as if these team goes up hacking. Taking walks and hitting the ball with authority when you do swing is a perfectly fine strategy.
I bet Eppley is the odd man out, though I would probably send Joba to Scranton and have him pitch regularly.
blake August 20th, 2012 at 10:05 am
Trying to think of RH platoon bats that could be waiver deals….Soriano I guess if the Cubs ate all the money….but hes got a reverse split too…..though much better than Jones has been.
The Carlos Lee rumors kinda make you think the Yanks have considered upgrades for Jones’s role
——————-
I think the Carlos Lee stuff was more about having Jones and Lee both play against LHP (at LF and DH) and Ibanez and Ichiro play vs RHP.
And Chip,
I’d say an OOGY goes away. Sorry Eppley.
I would retro DL TEX when CC returns. Get the guy right for Sept and the Playoffs.
montyque August 20th, 2012 at 11:02 am
Typo alert!!!!!!!!
Jeter has 3,251 career base hits.
——————————————–
I thought that was wrong but was too lazy to check for sure – makes sense given how long its been since he hit #3k and how good he has been since that day!
RadioKev August 20th, 2012 at 11:04 am
The notion that the Yankees should try to not hit home runs is probably the silliest bit of tripe that I’ve heard in a long time.
—————-
The home run is the perfect outcome. You cannot hit a ball better than a home run. It’s not as if these team goes up hacking. Taking walks and hitting the ball with authority when you do swing is a perfectly fine strategy.
——————-
Right – no hitter goes up there trying to hit home runs – he’s trying to hit the ball hard somewhere. If it goes out, that’s the best thing that can happen. Calling the Yankees “one trick ponies” for being better at that than other teams shows a clear lack of understanding of the game.
What’s more surprising – the Yankees getting swept in a four-game series in Oakland or the Rays sweeping in a four-game series in Anaheim?
I just can’t believe the way this crazy season is going. Who’d have thunk the Rays could possibly come back from 8-0 down against CJ Wilson or the Os from 5-0 behind against Doug Fister in Detroit. We’ve gone 9-3 in our last 12 games yet the Rays have still managed to cut the lead with an 11-2 run. Can’t see them dropping too many at home to the Royals and As this week, but the way this year has gone, they could get swept!
Meanwhile, the Yankee juggernaut keeps on trucking. The White Sox just got swept in Kansas. Will that make them easier or tougher to beat? The good news is that we have the useless Indians and injury-stricken Jays to follow. Then the serious business begins with 10 games in a row against the Orioles and Rays. That should go a long way to sorting out the pecking order in the AL East.
RadioKev August 20th, 2012 at 11:05 am
And Chip,
I’d say an OOGY goes away. Sorry Eppley.
——————-
I don’t think they’re going to cut anyone – whoever has options will go to AAA for a week.
ichiro did not take his usual swing when he hit those homeruns. he tried to hit them out and did. but it’s very unlikely ichiro can hit for average if he gets homer happy. its more important for this offense that ichiro get on base as much as possible than that he hits homers. this team has more than enough all or nothing hitters.
ichiro is best when he hits the ball to the left side and keeps it down. pulling a fly ball is not his game.
I would retro DL TEX when CC returns. Get the guy right for Sept and the Playoffs.
*******************************************************************
Not opposed to giving Tex the time, but you can’t carry 13 pitchers. That’s a waste of TWO roster spots.
CC in Joba to AAA is my preference, but I think it’ll be Eppley
If they DL Tex they sohuld grab a RH bat… Laird? Mustelier? Corbin Joseph?
ESPN calling Ichiro’s 2nd homerun a “porch job”. It was 10 rows back.
Ichiro has always been good for 5-15 HR a year. It’s nothing to be concerned about.
He has 5 HR in 116 AB in Yankee Stadium, while hitting .345
it’s amazing that we have these major injuries yet we still continue to win.
we have no drama on the team. guys that play hard and pull for each other. and are professional.
a team to be proud of.
cashman deserves recognition – not criticism.
post season is a crapshoot man – any team that gets in can win. that’s baseball these days.
in those situations it was great for ichiro to try to put it out, i was fine with it. but we have seen alot of guys go to trying to hit a homer every time up and i dont want to see ichiro go to that. but situationally it’s a good play. just don’t get homer happy.
Ys Guy August 20th, 2012 at 11:10 am
ichiro did not take his usual swing when he hit those homeruns. he tried to hit them out and did. but it’s very unlikely ichiro can hit for average if he gets homer happy. its more important for this offense that ichiro get on base as much as possible than that he hits homers. this team has more than enough all or nothing hitters.
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Ichiro hasn’t been hitting for average all year slapping the ball. Everyone who has played with him or managed him has said the same thing, if Ichiro wanted to pull the ball he would be a .330 hitter with 25 home runs a year.
Trying to pull outside pitches is bad; that’s when you pop the ball up or roll it over to an infielder. But when they pitch you inside you’re supposed to be quick enough to pull the ball.
DONNYBROOK August 20th, 2012 at 11:07 am
I would retro DL TEX when CC returns. Get the guy right for Sept and the Playoffs.
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Wasn’t around this weekend – does fabricating a website and product to try and cover up his steroid use erase any questions that Melky did the drugs by accident
I’d LOVE to see those aNgels suffer; keep them out of postseason.
they are ‘the team to beat’ in AL, according to ESPN and WFAN experts. LOL
it’s amazing that we have these major injuries yet we still continue to win.
Indeed it is. As someone said on the radio the other day, the Yanks are known for having the highest payroll in baseball yet it’s Cashman’s bargain-basement buys that have kept this team afloat.
Ys Guy August 20th, 2012 at 11:17 am
in those situations it was great for ichiro to try to put it out, i was fine with it. but we have seen alot of guys go to trying to hit a homer every time up and i dont want to see ichiro go to that. but situationally it’s a good play. just don’t get homer happy.
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Again though – I don’t see anything that makes me believe Tex would be less apt to hit a pop up if he was trying to drive the ball to the Right Center wall for a double than over the wall for a home run.
Guys are trying to make hard contact. That’s all.
“I would retro DL TEX when CC returns. Get the guy right for Sept and the Playoffs.”
If its still not right tonight and two weeks off will fix it then yes they should DL him and get it right……after this series the schedule lightens up and they coukd manage…..
Most important thing is getting everyone as close to 100% as possible for playoff time
Both those balls Ichiro hit last nighr would have left Safeco too….especially the first one.
No way Phelps should be doing time in AAA at this point. Also, the monkey-see, monkey do continues in MLB via the 6 Man Rotation. Would the Yanks get in the conga line when CC returns???
YS Guy –
Think of it this way with Ichiro. He loves taking the ball to left, so the pitcher tries to counter that by busting him inside. By showing that he is fast enough to take that inside pitch and do a lot more damage by pulling it, he ensures that pitchers will continue to give him outside pitches that he can slap to left.
Ichiro took his usual swing. The swings were level and he hit the underside of the ball. No uppercut trying to lift the ball. I wouldn’t say he is trying to hit homeruns, he will just drive the ball if he can.
Wasn’t around this weekend – does fabricating a website and product to try and cover up his steroid use erase any questions that Melky did the drugs by accident
…and to think people were actually praising him for coming clean and admitting he used PEDs!!! Every single one of these drugs cheats thinks he can beat the system, which begs the question, how many are actually succeeding?
DONNYBROOK August 20th, 2012 at 11:23 am
No way Phelps should be doing time in AAA at this point. Also, the monkey-see, monkey do continues in MLB via the 6 Man Rotation. Would the Yanks get in the conga line when CC returns???
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Well someone has to and it makes more sense to send down the guy with options and call him up in a week then to release a guy and lose him for good.
DL TEX, go to a 6 Man Rotation, and Nobody gets sent down.
Ichido also slapped a single in the 56 hole…..he did with meatball fastballs what youre supposed to do last night.
Beckett looks terrible……he has nothing on the ball….Yanks should habe scored 8 or 9 runs last night.
DONNYBROOK August 20th, 2012 at 11:29 am
DL TEX, go to a 6 Man Rotation, and Nobody gets sent down.
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If Tex doesn’t play today they could go that route – but he’s said he’s playing. They could also put D-Rob on the paternity list since his wife is about to give birth.
blake August 20th, 2012 at 11:30 am
Beckett looks terrible……he has nothing on the ball….Yanks should habe scored 8 or 9 runs last night.
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It’s not even his stuff really – he just looks completely disinterested. As if this is just something he has to do another few times this season and then he gets to go home. It wouldn’t shock me at some point if he just drills a couple of players to get ejected and take an early shower.
Last night, Beckett looked like Cone when the slide began. Trying to Trick hitters. It’s hard for a leopard to change his spots.
Austinmac,
The Yankees aren’t releasing ANYONE when Arod returns. Hello? September? Expanded rosters?
Chip,
You’re right on the roster expansion. I forgot that 2-3 weeks gets us into September.
Beckett was throwing 90-91 last night instead of his former 94-95. He doesn’t look like the same pitcher. It will be very hard to move him, a disgruntled, unproductive pitcher with a huge contract. Since Lackey will come back next year, the team will be overloaded on the crappy, unhappy pitchers.
austinmac August 20th, 2012 at 11:43 am
Chip,
You’re right on the roster expansion. I forgot that 2-3 weeks gets us into September.
Beckett was throwing 90-91 last night instead of his former 94-95. He doesn’t look like the same pitcher. It will be very hard to move him, a disgruntled, unproductive pitcher with a huge contract. Since Lackey will come back next year, the team will be overloaded on the crappy, unhappy pitchers.
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Yeah, but I think that even the reduced velocity is more that he just doesn’t care – it’s like when you’re at work and don’t want to be there – your work doesn’t suffer because you all of a sudden forgot how to do it, it suffers because you just don’t care.
Last night’s game was just flat out fun. Watching Kuroda own the sad turtles of Boston, Jeter hit Beckett like it was nothing and Ichiro go all batting practice on that lout was pure joy.
I’m loving Ichiro as a Yankee. I was excited when we got him because I did feel like the pinstripes would bring something special out of him. Watching him hit has been so much fun. His batting style reminds me slightly of Daryl Strawberry if you take out him pulling his hips out before he swings.
Kuroda is money. They need to bring him back. I’m not going to call him our ace, but it’s not hard to see this guy is a very special pitcher.
Yankees have to hold on and keep winning. The Rays and the O’s (the O’s?) aren’t going away and winning the division is very important this year. If we have to pitch our #1 in a wild card play-in game, it means our ALDS rotation will definitely include guys who haven’t been consistent. They have to win the division and I hope Cashman has made Girardi aware of that.
And on a side note this Melky stuff is sad and infuriating. He tried to commit fraud against the game. It’s one thing to cheat. It’s another to come up with a scheme like he did to trick the league into letting him off the hook. I know they said there won’t be any additional punishment, but I’m wondering if he gets a longer ban than 50 games. I’m really having a hard time believing the stuff coming out about him and I thank God he’s as far away from Cano as he is.
“It’s not even his stuff really – he just looks completely disinterested. As if this is just something he has to do a”
Nah ita his stuff too….juat like Orel said during the broadcast those pitches Jeter hit eats him up at 95…..he gets too them and smokes them at 91/92. He does look totally uninterested though……the Sox wont turn the page until that clod is off their roster.
the fake website is bizzarre but i dont see it changing anything. i dont believe mlb will try to extend his suspension and im sure if they did, it wouldnt stand up in arbitration.
apparently jeff novitzky is investigating for the fda but i dont think the gov’t is going to let him spend another 10 mil getting melky’s wrist slapped.
teams that would have gone after him as a possible bargain because of the suspension (mets?) aren’t going to change their minds because of the fake website incident.
Some team will take a chance on Melky. He’s still a good bet to hit better than he did in Atlanta and if he doesn’t he can still assist the team’s webmaster.
Y’s,
Maybe. Maybe not. This is really the first time we’ve seen evidence that a player got caught and attempted to defraud baseball to get out of it.
It’s got to be weighing on Selig. It’s one of those commissioner moments in the game where he can choose this to make an even larger statement about the how clean the game is now and will be in the future.
There’s 2 separate issues here; the positive test and the attempt to defraud baseball.
I’m not sure he’s going to just take his 50 game punishment and get off scott free here.
G love,
Agree….they should already be asking Kuroda’s agent about next year…..hes really fun to watch with that 2 seamer/slider/split/kitchen sink assortment he throws…..
The Ichiro move was brilliant ……if you read about how it went down there were several teams interested in him but they were dragging their feet and Cashman came in aggressive and did the deal quick….same with Lowe.
Even if Ichiro tails off it was a great risk to try…..sometimes great players figure it out….figure out a way to be good again….Jeter did it….maybe Ichiro will and the ballpark and more rest will help him.
blake,
I don’t think Ichiro’s just on a little hot streak. I think he’ll be consistently good for the rest of the season. He’s had nothing to play for in Seattle for years now. There’s something to be said for playing on the right stage with the competitive juices flowing. I’m wondering if that 1st curtain call has him secretly wanting more. Hearing your name chanted like that in Yankee Stadium has to be pretty frickin’ cool.
after mlb got beat by the union and the arbitration process in the braun case, i think mlb won’t want to push the website issue.
same for novitzky. no longer a federal prosecutor after losing big in the bond’s case, he’s not going to be able to go after melky and the fake website as an ‘investigator’ for the fda.
. “I’m wondering if that 1st curtain call has him secretly wanting more. Hearing your name chanted like that in Yankee Stadium has to be pretty frickin’ cool.”
Yea you know it is…..hes played in front of nothing in years…..hes a guy that loves that stage……I agree with you and think its got a chance to be a real.difference making move for the Yanks…..
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