Josh Johnson, who starts for the Marlins tonight, had an impressive rookie season under then-Marlins manager Joe Girardi in 2006. After working out of the bullpen in April, Johnson moved to the rotation in May and went 11-5 with a 3.14 ERA in his first 23 starts. Then, on September 12 of that year, Johnson’s start against the Mets was interrupted by an 82-minute rain delay, after which Girardi left the then-22-year-old right-hander in the game. Soon after, he developed elbow soreness. Johnson didn’t pitch for the Marlins again until mid-June of 2007, but after four starts, he was back on the DL and headed for Tommy John surgery.
Johnson finally returned to the Florida rotation last July and went 7-1 with a 3.61 ERA over the remainder of the season. Now 25, he enters tonight’s game against Girardi’s Yankees with a 6-1 record and 2.76 ERA on the season. The forecast calls for rain.
Johnson has been flat-out awesome this season. All but two of his starts have been quality starts. The Marlins are 11-3 when he takes the mound. His only two hiccups this season were a six-run outing against the Nationals back on April 18 and a four-inning outing against the Brewers on May 19 in which he held Milwaukee to two earned runs on three hits but walked five and left early due to a twinge in his pitching shoulder. Since then, he’s turned in six quality starts in six tries and completed at least seven innings in each of his last five starts, going the distance for the win over Toronto his last time out.
The Yankees counter with former Marlin A.J. Burnett, who was briefly a teammate of Johnson’s in 2005 (in fact, Johnson and Jeremy Hermida are the only remaining Marlins from that 2005 team and both were September call-ups that year). Burnett rebounded nicely from his failure in Boston his last time out, holding the Mets scoreless over seven innings while striking out eight. That was his seventh quality start in 13 tries for the Yankees. Burnett has put up consecutive quality starts just twice this season, once doing so by facing the same team, the Texas Rangers, in consecutive starts. A.J. has never faced the Marlins before, but he does have a career 3.20 ERA in Mrs. Arrllssberg Stadium.
Jorge Posada will catch Burnett tonight. Angel Berroa’s back at third base as the lineup repeats last night’s. Emilio Bonafacio is back at third for the Fish and hitting second.
Ok, I'll bring this over from the last thread:
...what is going on with Bob Shepard? The current PA announcer is…adequate..maybe. Is the Voice of God going to make one final, live (audio) appearance at the new park?
[1] He's 98 and apparently, extremely frail and at risk of a recurrent infection. Otherwise, he would have been there by now.
What's a land shark?
[2] Earlier this year, there were contradictory reports that he had (or had not) retired, and that he had (had not) gotten back to his "fighting weight" necessary to resume duties. Since then, everyone has been mum.
His current relative poor replacement was one negative aspect I noted about the new stadium.
[3] It has something to do with Saturday Night Live an/or Jimmy Buffet. This gives you an idea of how un-serious the Marlins organization is, And yet they have won two WS in the last 10 years or so. Go figure....you just can't predict baseball.
[3] It is also a very tasty beer
[6] mmm...beer!
[1] It’s difficult to replace Bob Sheppard, but to use Paul Olden has to be some sort of crime. At least it should be…
Paul Olden used to do Yankee broadcasts on CH 11 not too long ago, his voice grated on me.
Swisher's not a very good outfielder.
i don't know who is more nerve racking to watch field out there swisher or damon?
O"Neill's graciously covering for him, the lights, twilight, ball takes off on you...
Be that all as it may, Swisher is not a very good outfielder.
[8] It's impossible to replace The Voice of God, anyone's going to be in trouble. But didn't the Yankees have a back up for Bob already? Or is Paul that?
Berroa brings the leather!
paulie has been complaining about these lights a lot the last 2 nights
wow berroa has actually fielded well the last 2 games,which is amazing considering he has hardly played
Hanley fooled badly...
[11] Swish isn't a good fielder but he's an improvement over Abreu...
hanley ramirez is really good at the baseball
ooh yes - nice throw jorgie
Yes!
[15] and someone most yankee fans have never heard of (at least in mk's world)
[14] I don't know, actually. Abreu's problem was the wall, but otherwise, he was solid enough. And his arm was good. It looks to me like Swisher just has poor skills of judging the ball off the bat.
Why are we talking about MK in a speedo?
Have they no decency?
i gotsta go, y'all. hold the fort, have fun, play nice.
GO YANKS!!!
[19] Or he just has poor skills in general other than a decent batting eye, Weeping.
There used to be a term for players like Nick Swisher. They used to be called "Career Minor Leaguers"...
How else could he have earned the moniker, "Spanky McSkittles?"
: )
[19] And range. Abreu had the range of a basset hound.
[22] It's true, he can't run the bases, either.
[23] Fair enough.
I hope they show the clip where AJ took out a truck window while warming up
That was a well-struck baseball.
that was a perfect pitch to smack into center
OK, that was not a cheap HR.
[23] LOL @ Basset Hound!
[28] Yep Ms October...
[22] yeah, which is why he has .505 slugging this year with a 131 OPS+ and a career OPS+ of 114.
He's an adventure in the outfield and on the bases on occasion, but to call the player that he is a 'career minor leaguer', is, well, nonsensical.
Anybody want to post some comprehensive defense Stats for Swsh.. I mean since we're talking about it? My impression was his numbers were slightly better then average (NOT in CF though).
[22] [31] I agree. Nonsensical. Embarrassing. Unacceptable. You, PJ, should be fired.
[31] Well I've never heard any mention of how many baseball tools of the "traditional five" he has, but kudos to you Cult for digging those stats up, I guess.
*shrug*
[31] I think PJ's point was that, once upon a time, players with such holes in their game might not have had the opportunity to make it in the majors. I don't know if that's so or if that was the point, but that's what I understood.
[32] According to Fangraphs UZR rankings, he's below average (UZR/150 -6.6)
[32]
SG over at RLYW projected Swisher at 11 UZR/150 for 2009 based on previous years.
Current update on noMaas has him at -6.6, slightly better for the year than Damon in LF.
[36] The problem is, though, that the average is meaningless. What if everyone sucks ass in the outfield, then who cares how any one outfielder compares to the average?
Nice pitching Kyle, er, AJ. Whatever your name is.
aj's breaking ball is sharp tonight
[35] Thanks for translating my English for those who don't understand the phrase "There used to be a term" and "They used to be called...", Weeping!
: )
[40] Yes it is, Ms October. He's doing a better job commanding his fastball so far too, the HR notwithstanding...
: )
[38] Think back to last year when Rodriguez & Molina were the catchers. Pudge was bad, but he wasn't as bad as Molina, therefore he was an improvement. It's the same concept defensively with Abreu in the field vs Swisher.
Oh my God!
He did *not* go around there!
Swisher - TzR (Total Zone Fielding Runs Above Average)
5 Seasons OF -7.1
6 Seasons RF 10.9
6 Seasons 1B -0.7
4 Seasons CF -26.6
4 Seasons LF 8.6
It looks like these number are cumulative over 5 years, so annually, he looks slightly (VERY slightly) above average at LF and RF, poor in CF, and better-then-Giambi at 1B.
I'm not sure how the 'OF' number is so low, as his CF games are only about 1/3rd of his total OF games. In any event, as a RFer, he looks about average (so far).
If really sucks when you guys make me answer my own questions. Please cut that shit out.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/swishni01.shtml
Lots if other Defensive Stats
[43] Yeah, sure, I get it. Still, sometimes it seems like minimal standards of competence are not observed in baseball, as when guys who aren't even sluggers can't bunt to save their lives.
[45] Heh heh.
[42] yep - if he can do this in a majority of his starts that would be great
[43] i think weepeing is just saying "average" is not much of a standard
(i guess tonight is translate night).
it's like who cares if you got a c on your paper just becuase your peers suck if your paper is not that good either
[48] Et voila ce que je veux dire. Tu as raison que c'est le soir de traduction. Merci et bravo, Mlle. October.
ugh those damn cowbells from tampa have made there way to miami
OK.... my Website programming skills are a little rusty, so it took a little longer then I thought, but here it is.
http://www.FirePJ.com/unacceptablebehavior/petition
Use your Bronx Banter log-ins, and sign the petition.
(there is a space to personalize your comments, if you like).
[51] "Not found."
Kyle--er, AJ is on fire.
Oh, for fuck's sake!
Try http://www.FirePJ.com/embarrassingbehavior/petition
[49] bon mot. je vous en prie.
(man that was hard)
Wow. Dude is fucking dealing.
aj a strikeout machine tonight.
so much for berroa's great fileding.
[56] Heh heh heh heh.
step it up oyf - that says not found too - this is UNACCEPTABLE!
[55] looks like http://www.firepj.com just goes to a domain register site.
Bang up job, there, Robbie.
it’s like who cares if you got a c on your paper just becuase your peers suck if your paper is not that good either
No, it's more like a c student replacing a d student.
[48] I'd like to believe that their flight to Miami will get the majority of a lot of things to become great!
: )
[41] i understand the term perfectly well. it's just not accurate in this case, there have always been players like swisher, always will.
but whatever.
*shrugs*
Is it me or do those cowbells sound like cicadas?
So... Hanley is 25 making $5.5m/yr. He's the best offensive SS in MLB, with a career OPS slightly over .900. Anibal Sanchez is 25, making league minimum, with a 4.12 career ERA.
Beckett and Lowell make about $23m/yr.
No doubt, the Sox made good use of the trade, but I wonder who got the better deal.
[63] be nice to have one "a" outfielder sometimes :}
This Johnson guy can pitch.
Matt Holliday has a .818 OPS this year, .854 on the Road, He is a better fielder and runner then Matsui. Does that make his value (a younger) Matsui-like? A 'B'?
Yankees are wasting a great AJ outing. That is unacceptable.
well johnson gets slightly easier to hit after the 3rd time through a lineup, but damn he looks good right now
1st time through lineup: 215/286/281
2nd: 216/254/302
3rd: 242/281/359
[65] Heck, in the old days (before the DH) there were arguable more defensive hacks in the field--there was no DH to hide them in. In those days they were first basemen and corner OFs.
Nice fastball.
Man, he even has a crazy tatoo like Kyle.
How the hell is Pavano even on the list? He barely pitched at all.
So Swisher is an average-ish fielder with a 2009 OPS of .886.
Abreu defensively was somewher between terrible and the worst OFer in MLB. As a Yankee, he had around a .840 OPS.
So you are complaining about Swish?
[76] are there any other former marlins who pitched for the yanks?
the kevin brown hate is pretty solid.
ARod to PH late in the game?
andy looks like he wishes joba would stfu
[71] They're scared. It's plain and simple.
Kevin Brown is blamed for game 7, unfortunately, but he wasn't a bad acquisition
Sox up 2-0 after 6. Beckett with a 3 hitter.
Wow, Derek. Terrible hack.
this here johnson fella's good tonite.
no one (that i can think of) has looked even remotely good at the plate - johnson has them completely fooled
Jesus.
I mean, yeah, this guy is pitching well, but, well, this is unacceptable!
(I'm half joking.)
[86] He is throwing the baseball rather on the well side.
[78] I dunno. I'd rather narrow down the list to just three. And I get the Kevin Brown hatred, I'm part of that club. But 35 starts vs. 26, 14-13 record vs 9-8, and less money.
Hell, just narrow the list down to Leiter & Burnett. The other two should go play in Chilicothe.
Michael Kay is such a doofus, god bless him.
Brownie pitched 206 innings over 2 years for the Yanks, with a 4.9-ish ERA. Made $15.7m/yr. Not exactly good. (BUT WE HADDA WIN NOW!)
Too bad we can't say they're getting URP'd tonight...
Burnett having the only hit really isn't what I had in mind.
[73] read about a guy i'd never heard of before over at BBTF a couple of day's ago: Zeke Bonura.
1st baseman with a good bat in the mid 30's.
Here's what one of the older guys on the site had to say about him
Zeke Bonura was widely derided for his defense. It was a running joke among his peers, writers, and after a while filtered out to the fans. I doubt it would take more than 0.4 seconds on Google to find a half dozen Zeke Bonura/Jimmy Dykes/fielding items. Dykes, his manager at the White Sox, was exasperated on a daily basis by the inability of Bonura to do more than catch a thrown ball. Branch Rickey used Bonura as exhibit A when discussing why fielding percentage was misleading since it was well known that Bonura was instructed to pretty much let grounders go that were more than one step away to his right since he tended to just make matters worse when attempting to field his position. On balls to his left Dykes did ask him to try to cut down on doubles. Didn't work.
I grew up with guys on the playground mimicking Bonura failing to pick up a ball that was sitting idle on the ground for cr*ssakes. When he was in Washington Al Schacht had lots of fun putting a ball on the ground and treating it as a land mine, grenade, etc to represent how Bonura "fielded" his position.
...
Zeke was known as "Banana Nose".
The VERY common heckle to Zeke about his fielding was "Next time, use your nose!" Or something about trying to sniff the ball off the ground.
[92] Tigers URPed the Brewers today. With a kid up from AA.
Well, this has been fun, but I gotta run. With any luck the Yanks stay close and Johnson is lifted for a PH.
nice throw again jorgie
Good call, nice tag, OK throw.
The rumors of Jorge's demise are exaggerated.
[93] The old days were fun!
So the only hit the Yankees have is by their pitcher? Otherwise not only are the Yankees getting shut out, but they're getting no hit.
[98] Yup... he's right back to being a 25% CS catcher, which is about average. Too bad he can't call a game or handle pitchers.
Well, Ms. O, I guess you have your answer.
[101] maybe they've started letting Frankie Brains call the game for Posada from the be ... AWWWWW FUCK!!!
Now THAT was.....
Johnny, johnny, johnny.
wtf?
UGLY!
no es bueno, BLINKY.
Embarrassing...
Terrible pitch, terrible play
UN....
Swisher would have had that...
haha a double
c'mon AJ, on top of the curve.
It hit him right on the glove.
[102] yep (for now at least) - dear jesus
JJ with only 79 pitches through 6. He looks to go 8 unless something changes next inning.
i don't criticize melky much, but he did not back that play up very well either
Did somebody mention Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau while that ball was in the air?
I know I didn't...
How about some of that contagious hitting we all know doesn't exist?
: )
alright Blinky, time to atone.
Avenge yourself here Damon.
or not.
Well that's not getting it done, Johnny.
alright a walk to get the rally started
Posada is so damned slow, I can't believe they didn't get him out.
2 baserunners?!? is this allowed?!?
Way to go Robbie
Well they got a baserunner past second base...
: O
if they have a camera in dead centerfield, why are we watching from the one in left?
yes, nice ab swishy
Well done, Nick Swisher.
Yay @ a two out RISP hit!
: )
Yes, a run! Now if only Johnny Damon hadn't booted that ball, we'd be tied.
wow why on earth wouldnt he throw it in the dirt again?
Come on, Leche.
Sigh.
christ - not pretty
Dang.
Leche strikes out on three pitches. I think he's returning to his mean.
eeek.
not so pretty AJ.
cokey - must be a lefty!
Well... can't complain about AJ tonight.
EDPC!
[143] He did a very ACCEPTABLE job.
yeah he pitched well - as i said earlier i will stop my complaining about him if these are the majority of the outings we get from him
Ha! Funkytown on the stadium organ
good job EDPCokey!
i'd rather ph matsui - give arod the complet days off and try to keep matsui swining since he is definitely not playing the next week
[148] yeah cokey has really done well lately.
That effort by Burnett reminded me of his Tampa outing in The Trop, two runs allowed, fastball command, cowbells and all!
Now for the win...
: )
Matsui, then A-Rod? I guess Alex will play 3d.
Nice one, Hideki.
the power of Gritner, c'mon Alex, come through here!
nice hit matsui
i really hope gardner is up to this
And Gardy's in.
[152] Or they'll send Pena in to play 3b
god look at that flacco
wow ... uggla just saved a base there.
Big Wheel swipes again!
Yeah, Gardy.
[157] Ah, yes.
You think maybe we can win this thing?
i hope the asshole that decided to bring the cowbells in goes to sleep with that sound ringing in his(or her) ears
whoa where was that
DOUBLE STEAL.
If they can't get Gardner home from 2B with no outs, they deserve to lose.
Come on now, Derek, elevate the baseball, please.
[163] Yes I do!
: )
[164] Heh heh heh heh.
[164] The Marlins gave the cowbells to the fans. They were tonight's giveaway.
[166] deja vu all over again
Bunt, Derek.
[171] yeah that's the asshole i'm talking about - whoever in the marlins that thought it is so great in tampa let's do it here too
Oh, God.
What's going on now?
mk is really wedded to those rules about making an out at 3rd
[175] I'll take a wild guess and say "Crunch Time?"
: )
I'm getting nervous.
Bad pitch to try to bunt, Cap'n
Scooter is rolling over in his grave. Holy cow, what kind of a bunt is that.
I don't mind the cowbells. Columbus Clippers, ring your bell!
Now, those freakin' thundersticks are another story.
[176] He just likes to use his ominous voice.
fuck another dp
I fucking knew it.
Motherfucker.
Motherfuckerfucker.
Clutch double play there, Cap'n.
fucking horrible.
just awful, awful, awful.
That's why I wanted him to bunt.
Fuck!
Derek hits too many ground balls.
It's not over yet.
JD can redeem himself.
I'll take Dan Meyer for the loss on a redemptive, 2 run homerun by Johnny Damon.
well johnny has another chance to atone
[176] "MK is really wedded to those rules about making an out at 3rd."
I think that's the only thing that would answer "YES" to a proposal from MK, Ms October...
: )
[190] What you said!
"If they can’t get Gardner home from 2B with no outs, they deserve to lose."
Oh Shit!
Just poke it into left, man.
Come on...
If the Yanks win this one, I'll give PJ his job back.
Steal home, Brett!
"Don't turn the channel 'til that last page."
Oh, God.
Of course he went.
Man, that was weak.
Weak job, Team.
And yes, unacceptable.
ugh - just have to say fuck a goat in the ass
Bad Johnny, bad bad Johnny. No cookie for you tonight.
It ain't over yet, but christ on a crutch. What a wasted opportunity.
Wtf was up with Derek's ab?
Anyone know what the plan was there?
I'm pissed now.
[196] I'm retired OYF, and have been for five great years... so far...
You guys can keep those job thingies.
[203] The plan was to make you weep with tears of rage.
Yankees do deserve to lose now. Except for AJ, who'll actually take the loss.
[205] No kidding.
[200] Missy!
NIce pitching, Phil Hughes.
wow hughes was impressive
wow ... marlins announcers just making stuff up now ... "the yankees are hoping that hughes can be their 8th inning solution ... deliver games to their hall of fame closer, rivera"
uh ... no.
[200] Although... that comment sort of reminds me of the NH state joke.
[200]
=8 - 0 !
[210] Ya gotta love the "experts," Cult!
LOL
I had to suffer through most of this on the radio, but was lucky to catch those two stellar ABs by Jeter and Damon. I really would have liked to see the Yankees try a double steal or even a hit and run there. How many times do we need to see the Gardner steal and Arod walk followed by a DP? A blown opportunity combined with giving up the lead run on a dropped fly ball is a horrible way to lose a ballgame.
Since the 9 game winning streak, the Yankees have won more than two-in-a-row once (3 games from May 27-30). The Yankees inability to sustain good play doesn't bode well.
alright this guy sounds farnsworthian
[200] On second thought, maybe that would be the closest MK would get to a marriage, Ms October...
: )
Yay, Teix!
Man, held to a single.
Fuck.
Teix would have had that, btw.
[216] haha :}
[217] Smartly held...Carroll has a good arm.
cripes po
well, better than a double play ... let cano have a shot
Sigh.
(It tells me I'm not allowed to say "sigh": "Duplicate comment detected. It looks like you already said that.)
???
Fuck these clowns.
[222] I DIDN'T MEAN AT 'A SHOT' AT GROUNDING INTO A $%%^R%$AS#$^ DOUBLE PLAY DAMMIT!!!!
@#$%@^#$!! #$@@$%!!!
Johnny Damon is the goat of this game, followed closely be Derek "double play" Jeter.
[224] works better than [223] anyways ...
Matt Lindstrom walks the ballpark, but the Yankees go up there hacking in the 9th. Only awful ABs over the last two innings prevented the Yankees from winning this game. The inconsistent play from this team continues.
Very disappointing.
Seems like there were a lot of DPs in this game.
I wonder if people realize how much different this team is when ARod is playing and ARod is ARod.
[230] GIDP - D Jeter 2, R Cano. via Yahoo.
[227] :)
Bah! Burnett deserved better than that... for reals!
"Uncle!"
They'll take the series tomorrow with CC from these "cowbell types!"
Have a good evening everybody!
: /
Ah well, off to an exciting Saturday night of vacuuming. Good night all.
The Jeter AB was the turning point of this game. I really hate the indecision of having Jeter swing than bunt than swing. You need to pick a strategy and than give Jeter the best opportunity to execute it. I am so fed up with Girardi that I even doubt my own objectivity, but I sitll can't help but come away from so many of these losses thinking that if the Yankees had a better manager many of the outcomes would be altered.
Hughes may be very close to being their third or fourth best pitcher.
Jeter hit a grounder up the middle that may have made it through if Uggla was playing where a 2b normally plays.
I really hate the indecision of having Jeter swing than bunt than swing.
Actually, it was bunt, swing, bunt, swing
Girardi is really an excuse machine. Instead of just saying Johnny Damon dropped an flyball and it really hurt us, Girardi talks about the lights.
As for the double plays, Girardi says it's part of the game. That's good to know...I guess trying to stay out of them isn't?
Damon is now a liability defensively. I wish they could add a two-way OFer.
Burnett's an excuse machine as well; he mentioned the lights...
Damon says he didn't lose it in the lights.
Damon says he butchered the play
I knew Damon would take accountability...he is one of the few that owns up to a mistake.
If you knew what it was doing, why'd you miss it?
Because he's getting old and losing his skills, imo
Now, if we could just get Girardi to admit it every time he botches game strategy. If might get repetitive, and it wouldn't change things, but it would relieve a little of the frustration.
Oh well, go Dodgers...maybe Torre can help keep the Yankees in the WC lead for at least another day.
[236] Agreed. That was senseless. No plan, whatsoever, or so it looked. PIck a lane, buddy.