Daily Archives: August 13, 2009

The Yankees avoided a post-Red Sox let-down by taking two of three from the Blue Jays, but they needed eleven innings to take the rubber game and a late-game comeback to win Game 2. Now they’re coming off a cross-country flight with Derek Jeter (foot), Alex Rodriguez (elbow), and Jorge Posada (middle finger on throwing hand) all smarting from being hit by the ball in Wednesday afternoon’s nearly-four-hour marathon.

The good news is they’re playing the Mariners. The Yankees took two of three from the M’s in the Bronx as June turned into July and the M’s are 9-10 over their last six series. Like the Yankees, the Mariners are also coming off a nearly-four-hour extra-inning win (1-0 in 14 frames over the White Sox) that saw their shortstop, the newly acquired Jack Wilson, leave with an injury (hamstring).

The Mariners are also a bad team that is wildly outperforming its Pythagorean record thanks to the league’s best defense and correspondingly strong pitching. Felix Hernandez, Erik Bedard, and Jarrod Washburn have combined to pitch 374 1/3 innings with a 2.76 ERA for the Mariners. Fortunately for the Yankees, Washburn is now a Detroit Tiger, Bedard is about on the disabled list headed for season-ending shoulder surgery, and Hernandez pitched yesterday and will miss this four-game set.

Which leaves what exactly? A team with the worst offense in baseball, a negative run differential, a replacement-level rotation, and a few spectacular glove men (Beltre, Gutierrez, Suzuki, and Wilson, who, like Jeter, is back in the lineup tonight).

Tonight, the M’s offer Ian Snell, a 27-year-old righty who has fallen hard from his breakout 2006 season and was toiling away in Triple-A for the Pirates, who were all too happy to unload him on the M’s in the Jack Wilson trade. The Mariners are banking on the moody Snell, who had fallen out with Pirates management, benefiting from a change of scenery that involves a pitchers park and a strong defense. It worked for one start, ironically in the Rangers’ launching pad. In his second Mariner outing, and first at Safeco, he walked six men in 1 1/3 innings before getting the hook.

I ridiculed the Wilson-Snell deal on SI.com. True, I took the short-view, analyzing the trade as the M’s attempt to thrust themselves into the Wild Card race (this was before they traded Washburn), but even looking at Wilson as a multi-year solution at shortstop on a defense-first team (a sketchy premise given the 31-year-old’s fragility and below-average bat, even for a shortstop), I find the trade uninspiring at best.

Snell faces CC Sabathia, who is coming off his biggest Yankee start (7 2/3 scoreless frames of two-hit ball in which he struck out nine Red Sox). CC actually struggled against the Mariners in July, allowing six runs on ten hits in 5 2/3 innings, and he’s been up and down since, often battling through a lack of command. Still, he’s 5-2 since that loss to the M’s, and that last start was a a beauty.

Alex Rodriguez, as previously scheduled, and Jorge Posada get the night off. Derek Jeter is in the lineup, of course. Jerry Hairston Jr. plays third and bats eighth. Jose Molina catches and bats ninth. The rest of the regulars are above them.

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Bronson Arroyo talks turkey.

Two comments from local sports talk radio that were uttered this week absolutely need to be addressed:

First, on Monday, Michael Kay, reveling in the Yankees’ sweep of the Red Sox, commented on his afternoon show that the Red Sox — and I paraphrase here — “finally misplayed their hand at the trade deadline by not getting Roy Halladay. They made the move for Victor Martinez, who doesn’t have a position. They tried to get Felix Hernandez from the Mariners. They should have given Toronto whatever it wanted to get Roy Halladay. They’re holding on to Clay Buchholz, who’s 25 years old. Getting Halladay would have put them in position to make a run this year and next year. The Red Sox finally misplayed their hand.”

To my former colleague, I say, “Huh? Did they really?” I don’t know about you but when I saw the news that the Sox got Victor Martinez and the Yankees’ big move was Jerry Hairston, Jr., the fan in me was sulking for a few hours. Then I got to thinking, “This puts Terry Francona in a bind as far as maneuvering Martinez, Kevin Youkilis and Mike Lowell. But that’s a decent problem to have.” Plus, who’s to say that the Red Sox didn’t offer everything the Blue Jays wanted? It’s entirely possible that Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi had no intention of trading Halladay to a division rival at this stage of the season.

(My guess, and this is just a hunch with no inside information at all: Halladay goes to some team flush with money like the Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, Phillies or Dodgers, in a deal similar to the one struck between the Sox and Marlins that sent Hanley Ramirez to Florida and brought Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell to Boston. Halladay would obviously be the centerpiece, and I imagine Vernon Wells and his bloated contract would be an add-on, much like Lowell was in the aforementioned deal, in exchange for a name major leaguer and some major-league ready prospects.)

Back to Theo Epstein and the Red Sox “misplaying their hand” … Kay went on to say that having Beckett, Lester and Halladay 1-2-3, with Matsuzaka and Wakefield bringing up the back of the rotation when they come off the DL was a risk the Red Sox had to take, and they didn’t. I still believe they’re a playoff team without Halladay, provided their bullpen can hold up and Francona pushes the right lineup buttons.

Moreover, and Kay of all people knows this from being around the Yankees and Red Sox for so long, it would have been inconsistent with Epstein’s pattern to make a deal for someone like Halladay at the deadline. He’s more apt to jump on it in the offseason, like he did with Curt Schilling, arrange the trade and sign Halladay to an extension right away.

Your thoughts on this are welcome.

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Today’s news is powered by the late, great Stevie Ray Vaughan:

• Key Yankees bruised and ailing:

Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, both hit by pitches, are questionable for Thursday’s series opener against the Mariners — Rodriguez more uncertain than Jeter. Catcher Jorge Posada, who took a foul ball off his right hand and a series of other pitches off his body during Wednesday’s 4-3 win over the Blue Jays, is also unsure whether he will play. And closer Mariano Rivera, who woke up Wednesday with a sore right shoulder, is similarly in question.

[My take: Hughes should be the closer for the next week.  Give the Mo Man a full rest.]

• A very interesting quote from the manager on bullpen usage, courtesy of Baseball Prospectus:

. . . Girardi is being lauded for turning a bullpen that, beyond closer Mariano Rivera, was perceived to be a weakness to many mainstream observers coming into the season into a strong point. Girardi has pieced together a quality bullpen without having any of his pitchers ranking in the top 10 in the AL in relief innings pitched.

“The bullpen, to me, is something you really have to watch,” Girardi said. “You have to be careful that you don’t fall in love with one guy because then you wear him down and he no longer can be effective. The key is to be effective for the whole year, not just two weeks or a month.”

Girardi’s approach is not lost on his relievers. “Phillip Hughes is the eighth-inning guy but it’s not like he’s going to pitch every day,” right-hander Brian Bruney told the New York Post’s Larry Brooks. “Everybody responds to pressure situations because we’re rested and ready. Girardi is careful with the way he uses us. He communicates directly with us more than any manager I ever played for.”

[My take: So Aceves is NOT Scott Proctor?  And Phil Hughes REALLY DOES understand his role?]

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The Yankees had a scary day on Wednesday. In an afternoon rubber game against the Blue Jays, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, and Alex Rodriguez all got hit hard by baseballs, Jeter in the foot, Posada in the hand, and Rodriguez in the elbow. As fits how well things have been going for this team, however, the Yankees turned what what looked like a series of season-altering injuries into a pair of runs and yet another walk-off win.

Jeter got hit in the right foot by a 1-2 curveball from Jays lefty Ricky Romero leading off the bottom of the first. He crumpled to the ground like one of those old toys, but got back up, limped to first, hobbled to third on Johnny Damon’s ensuing double, made a slick baserunning play by drawing a throw home from Edwin Encarnacion on a potential inning-ending around-the-horn double play, then diving back to third ahead of catcher Raul Chavez’s throw, and finally scored on a Jorge Posada groundout.

Jeter didn’t get a fielding chance in the top of the second and in his next at-bat in the bottom of the inning, he ground to an inning-ending fielder’s choice and headed straight for the trainer’s room after hobbling to first. Fortunately, his x-rays were negative.

Randy Ruiz–a Bronx native, former Trenton Thunder teammate of Phil Hughes, and now a 31-year-old rookie with a career .304/.378/.531 line and 192 homers in the minor leagues–deposited an A.J. Burnett fastball in the visiting bullpen in the top of the second to tie the game at 1-1. Johnny Damon and Robinson Cano added solo shots in the third and fourth to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead.

Burnett gave that up in the top of the sixth when Ruiz and Encarnacion singled with one out and moved to second and third on a wild pitch. Chavez singled home Ruiz, then with two outs and a 2-2 count on Marco Scutaro, Burnett uncorked another wild pitch that bounced between Posada’s legs and brought Encarnacion home with the tying run. Burnett led the majors with 14 wild pitches entering the game, added three more to his total and also hit home plate umpire Joe West in the chest on the fly with a fastball that crossed up Posada, but refused to discuss his wildness after the game.

In addition to having to chase all of those wild pitches, Posada was hit in the throwing hand (specifically the knuckle of his middle finger) by a foul tip in the top of the eighth. He stayed in the game and said afterwords that his hand will be fine.

Meanwhile the game remained tied at 3-3. Romero left after a 1-2-3 sixth and 109 pitches. Brandon League followed by allowing just one baserunner in three scoreless innings. Burnett also left after coughing up the lead in the sixth, having thrown 107 pitches. Phil Coke, David Robertson, Phil Hughes, and Chad Gaudin, making his Yankee debut, combined for five scoreless frames in relief with Gaudin pitching around a single and a walk and striking out three in his two innings of work.

Gaudin, incidentally, looks like a converted position player, though he’s not. He’s short, but athletic in build, and effectively mixes a slider and changeup with low-90s fastballs. His stuff isn’t electric, but it’s legitimate, and the hitters will let us all know when it is and isn’t working. Perhaps because he’s spent most of the year starting, he worked from a full windup with the bases empty, something you rarely see from a relief pitcher these days.

Shawn Camp replaced league and pitched a 1-2-3 tenth, but he fell behind 2-0 on all three hitters, throwing just six of 14 pitches for strikes. In the eleventh, he threw ball one to Hideki Matsui but rallied to strike him out looking. He then got ahead of Alex Rodriguez 0-2 before hitting Rodriguez flush on the left elbow. Rodriguez wears a pad on that elbow, but he, too, crumpled to the ground, then walked into the grass toward the visiting on-deck circle, and knelt down in pain, holding his arm. He was behaving as if his arm was broken, but as Paul O’Neill explained on the YEScast, he was most likely just hit in the funnybone, which when it’s done by a major league pitch (in this case an 89 mph fastball), can render a hitter’s arm completely numb.

Rodriguez eventually took his base, but looked like he was going to hurl from the pain. Fortunately, he didn’t get the opportunity. In the space of the next three pitches, Posada singled him to second and Robinson Cano shot a gapper to the wall in right-center that brought Rodriguez home with the winning run.

Yankees win, 4-3 in eleven innings, thanks in part to the feeble Blue Jay offense leaving 14 men on base.

So now the walking wounded head out to Seattle. Jeter and Posada are both questionable for Thursday’s game. Rodriguez was going to get the day off anyway. Meanwhile, Gaudin will start on Sunday allowing the Yankees to push Joba Chamberlain back to Wednesday to keep his innings down. Word from Brian Cashman is that Joba will remain in the rotation throughout the regular and postseasons. These large gaps between starts are their plan for keeping his innings down, and his limit is now said to be higher than the 150 we’ve been assuming all season.

Oh, and Mariano Rivera was unavailable on Wednesday because of a “cranky” shoulder and the 25 pitches he threw Tuesday night, but should be available on Thursday as well. The Yanks just went 6-1 on a homestand that included a four-game sweep of the Red Sox, are 8-1 over their last nine games, all against division rivals, and are 9-1 over their last ten including wins in games started by Mark Buehrle, Roy Halladay, Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, and Rookie of the Year candidate Ricky Romero, and four of their last five wins were either extra-inning walkoffs or late-game comebacks. They’re feeling no pain right now.