Why on earth would Greg Golson be playing?

Who should play instead of him?

Oh Christ. What happened to Kearns?

Good question...

The way the Yankees have been playing, House Money seems like it will still work out. With Kearns and Swisher down, I have no problem with Golson in RF. Berkman and the Ripper on the bench, and both could have big ABs before the end of the game.

3) HBP on the hand a couple of games ago, right?

[3] Kearns has been battling a bruised thumb.

The left field sun looks real bad today

Damn, Gardner came way in to catch that popup.

Great slide by Hill, but Gardner's arm has really been a revelation.

Baaaaadddd curve ball...bad call at second?

What the hell was that?

Hopefully Hughes doesn't let one bad breaking ball scare him away from the pitch. He really needs to get that pitch working.

Put the glove in front of the bag next time, Ramiro!

I don't know who told Phil Hughes that anytime he goes 0-2 he must start throwing awful waste pitches until he gets to 3-2, but that man needs to dealt with

Cutter...nice.

[13] There was an article in one of the papers today about how Mussina really worked with him on the curve when they were together. Maybe the Yankees should ask him to drop by.

Ouch.

Nice fucking location.

15) of course, the guy who told him to groove an 0-2 pitch is no genius either.

That's how Lyle Overbay runs?

If Hughes is just going to stand there throwing fast balls all game, just shut him down and get ready for 2011. The Yankees have not done a good job with his development.

[20] No, in fact he is not.

But I think I still might take it over the pitch high and outside, the pitch in the dirt, and the pitch over the head. Usually in that order.

I'll take that

speed get that hit?

22) you mean putting him the BP as the fastball-only-throwing-eigth-inning-guy last season didn't help him develop his repertoire?

[25] Yeah. It was a dribbler.

Oh jesus

Sigh.

Water is wet.

Jeter should never get the chance to ground into a double play with Gardner on base.

[27] thanks

[26] He has had an entire spring and season to develop his other pitchers, but the Yankees have let him regress as the season has gone on.

[26] I'm horribly frightened by Girardi insisting that they're now not going to skip him. It suggests to me that they've got something creative in mind.

Which almost never ends well.

Now i defend Jeter a lot. That being said, before last season Girardi moved him into the leadoff spot explicitly to avoid Jeter grounding into DPs. So why this season is he now back in #2 hitting more grounders thaever? And if he is to bat #2, couldn't they try to avoid the DP with a hit and run or something?

[31] You have to remember that Yankee baserunners aren't allowed to run before there are two strikes.

I have no idea why, but its been like that for three years, so I've just accepted it.

31) agreed.

[35] Well he did show bunt on the first pitch. So he's got that going for him.

[35] We don't do plays.

Decent swing by Alex...

That HR pitch from Hughes was just a mistake ... You could see how it was supposed to be outside corner ran back over the plate. It's annoying but in some ways a 10 pitch foul ball filled AB would have annoyed me more.

[35] Girardi is in a tough spot because, let's be honest, he has to bat one his worst hitters atop the lineup. I can see wanting to use Gardner's OBP and speed atop the lineup, but then I do think you have to treat Jeter like an NL-style #2 hitter. Of course, against righties, he should really be batting 8th or 9th, but we all know that will never happen.

[10] The play wasn't helped by the phantom tag attempt by Pena.

42) oh sure, no doubt. But that is why we should be seeing more hit and runor even straight steal attempts...or even bunts...all of which fit within the traditional arsenal of plays to run with a number two hitter, so there would be little chance of giving offense to Jeter.

Now, I think we may need to give Hughes...or maybe Girardi...credit for luring Toronto into the reverse first inning two run HR jinx.

[44] I agree 100%, but Girardi has an established track record of not managing the offensive part of the game. Hopefully, the team keeps hitting like they have so it wont matter much.

[35] Don't think Jeter stays in the box long enough to run a play; I don't see Girardi calling a hit and run within the first couple of pitches in an at bat.

That's more like it, Phillip...

McDonald is really one of the best SS in the game.

[47] Maybe he should try every once in a while, honestly. If I can watch the same and see that if the Yankees do anything at all, its not until two strikes, I'm sure Cito Gaston has figured it out. Maybe if you were to run a play or steal a base on the second pitch, you'll catch the other team asleep at the wheel.

Defensive and baserunning shortcomings aside, Posada has quietly put together another one of his typical years. Well, I guess the shortcomings are part of his typical year too....

Cecil has a knack at making the Yankees swing at bad pitches.

[52] Yes he does, not sure why they struggle so much with this guy. He basically stinks against everyone else.

47) remember when jeter got all bunt crazy a few years back...maybe 2006? I bet he'd be willing to play the game the right way and lay down a bunt early in the count. At this point I'd like to see some bunt and run plays with Gardner on base.

Not to mention Jeter in his hayday used to drop down sac. bunt attempts a lot. And everyone would howl, "You're batting over 300 what the hell are you bunting for?" Now he's struggling and he's not doing it as much. WTF!

[50] IIRC, Gardner has the green light, that he doesn't steal more is on him.

[54] I wonder why he hasn't taken it upon himself to bunt more, just as he has done in the past (ironically, when it didn't make any sense). It's almost like he is trying to hit himself out of the slump. Over the last week, Flaherty has repeatedly talked about how Jeter is not a mechanical hitter who really prefers to just "go up there and hit, but that's not a good thing if his skills are eroding. Aging players need to make mechanical adjustments to compensate for their declining ability, and from what everyone says, Jeter is not used to doing that.

[54] Jeter usually bunts on his own, don't know why he hasn't done it more.

[56] Exactly...can't blame Girardi for that. However, realizing that he is tentative, Girardi should try something like a hit and run more often.

[56] Then you physically throw up a steal sign. Don't give him the choice.

50) that's Girardi's line. But i'm not talking about the green light, which is not a play so much as leaving it up to the runner's discretion. i'm talking about a straight steal: head down, going on fist move no matter what.

[56] And it was more than just Gardner. I really noticed it last year with Damon and Jeter. They almost never budged until there were two strikes.

57) i heard when Flash said that...actually one of the more interesting and insightful things I had heard on a Yankee broadcast in a long time.

Oh boy

Ugh, just painful.

This Blue Jays team really is a sort of three true outcomes carnival act...except they don't really walk much. So, I guess they are a two true outcomes carnival act.

You could live with Hughes getting beat, but he is making the same mistakes over and over again. It's time to just shut him down and send him to Tampa or somewhere they can get him to start throwing more than one pitch again. The Yankees really need to evaluate how they develop young pitchers over the off season.

Two HR on 2 strike counts, it's like he is so afraid of getting into the foul ball shenanigans, he grooves one.

67) it would be silly to shut him down with only a month left in the season, especially whehe would be replaced by Javy or Moseley. Now, leaving him off the PS roster once he hits his innings limit, that I could see.

So should I just go about my errands and not worry about today's game?

[69] If Pettitte is really on track to return in about 10 days, you could use the off day to skip Hughes once and then slot Andy in his spot. Besides, it's not like Hughes is pitching well. If he is going to continue being mediocre, I'd rather shut him down, save some wear on his arm and use the last month to figure out why his curveball has become a non-factor.

[69] We want Javy or Moseley pitching in the playoffs?

Golson Pipps Swisher?

I kid, of course.

Logger Song!

A bunt?

Send Pena, I say.

[72] Yikes...good point...forgot about that. Maybe then, shut Hughes down for two weeks so they can reteach him the curve ball and then get him ramped for the playoffs?

I would have loved another bunt there.

3 innings, 60 pitches, 2 HR's, two grievous mistakes on 0-2 counts -

same shit, different game.

I guess the trick is just don't watch when Phil pitches.

I have no doubt it's worse for the kid, but it is utter torture watching him.

As in [67], there doesn't seem to be the opportunity to skip him twice in a row or the like, but the predictability of his futility is maddening.

Aw hell. Here comes the DP

71) i would argue that Hughes is pitching better than Javy or Moseley, one of whom has to go in the rotation if Hughes is shut down.

72) neither would need to start if they go with a three man rotation. Also, there is the Ivan Nova wildcard.

[77] Any particular reason they can't or couldn't re-teach him the curveball between starts?

Hit and run would be nice here.

[82] I don't know, but if that was possible, wouldn't they have done it by now? Maybe he can't throw has much or often between starts to make the tutorial effective.

[81] Who would be the third starter?

Jeter's swings are so bad...it's really dramatic.

At least he got it in the air this time...

I don't think "nubbed' is even a word.
Tie it up, Alex.

[84] I'm sure they have been working on it.

85) you and I both know that CC, Andy and AJ are the top three starters in the playoffs, whether we want to see AJ or not. The team will then have to pick the best of Hughes, Javy, Moseley and Nova for the fourth starter.

Cue the Yankees can't hit with Arod stories.

I wonder though if it would have more sense to bat Arod a little lower at first, considering this is almost like a rehab game?

Maybe I should just put a sign up on my door for the neighbors:

HUGHES IS PITCHING
(there will be screaming)

of course, I'd need another for Javy, at least, and one for AJ...

2-0 O's

[89] Working on it, yes, but fixing it, no. I would think the task would require a lot of repetition that you realyl can't do between starts.

That inning went down the crapper fast.

[94] Then they have to do it during game conditions, like they're doing now. It really isn't that difficult to work on the curve in between starts. As with anything else, he's going to have days with a good curve, and days with a bad one.

[96] You can't work on the curve when you only throw 10-15 per game. Also, he has had a bad curve all season, so working on it in a game means a bad outing. I am not sure if it is difficult or not to work on a curve between starts, but I don't see how you could do any extensive level of "work" between starts when you have to adhere to a routine.

I'd really prefer that Posada not block the plate, but he doesn't even seem to feign an effort.

Apparently, Posada is afraid to block the plate even against JOHN FREAKING MCDONALD.

The guy weighs a buck sixty.

Good Lord, Jorge.

[97] Hughes may have had a bad curveball all season, but he was doing well the first half of the season. As for routine, I don't think throwing bullpens count towards the innings limit.