Blog Archives

Texas Rangers

2007 Record: 75-87 (.463)
2007 Pythagorean Record: 78-84 (.483)

2008 Record: 42-41 (.506)
2008 Pythagorean Record: 40.5-42.5 (.488)

Manager: Ron Washington
General Manager: Jon Daniels

Home Ballpark (multi-year Park Factors): Rangers Ballpark in Arlington (100/100)*

Who’s Replacing Whom:

Josh Hamilton replaces Mark Teixeira and Brad Wilkerson
Milton Bradley replaces Sammy Sosa
David Murphy inherits the playing time of Kenny Lofton and Victor Diaz
Brandon Boggs replaces Nelson Cruz (minors)
German Duran replaces Jerry Hairston Jr. and Travis Metcalf (minors)
Chris Davis replaces Jason Botts (minors)
Jarrod Saltalamacchia is filling in for Gerald Laird (DL) in the lineup
Max Ramirez is filling in for Saltalamacchia on the bench
Vicente Padilla reclaims Edinson Volquez’s starts
Scott Feldman is filling in for Jason Johnson (DL) who replaced Kameron Loe (minors)
Luis Mendoza is filling in for Doug Mathis (DL) who was filling in for Brandon McCarthy (DL)
Eric Hurley replaces Robinson Tejada (minors)
C.J. Wilson has inherited Eric Gagné’s save chances
Eddie Guardado replaces Ron Mahay and Wilson’s set-up innings
Josh Rupe replaces Wes Littleton
Jamey Wright has ceded his starts to the gaggle of starters listed above and moved to the bullpen to replace Willie Eyre
Warner Madrigal the latest reliever to attempted to fill in the remaining innings pitched by Mike Wood, John Rheinecker (DL), Akinori Otsuka and others last year.

25-man Roster

1B – Frank Catalanotto (L)
2B – Ian Kinsler (R)
SS – Michael Young (R)
3B – Ramon Vazquez (L)
C – Jarrod Saltalamacchia (S)
RF – Josh Hamilton (L)
CF – Marlon Byrd (R)
LF – David Murphy (L)
DH – Milton Bradley (S)

Bench:

R – Brandon Boggs (OF)
L – Chris Davis (1B/3B)
R – German Duran (UT)
R – Max Ramirez (C)

Rotation:

R – Vicente Padilla
R – Eric Hurley
R – Scott Feldman
R – Kevin Millwood
R – Luis Mendoza

Bullpen:

L – C.J. Wilson
R – Joaquin Benoit
L – Eddie Guardado
R – Jamey Wright
R – Frank Francisco
R – Josh Rupe
R – Warner Madrigal

15-day DL: L – Hank Blalock (3B), R – Gerald Laird (C), R – Jason Jennings, L – Kason Gabbard, R – Doug Mathis, L – A.J. Murray
60-day DL: R – Brandon McCarthy, L – John Rheinecker, R – Thomas Diamond

Typical Lineup:

R – Ian Kinsler (2B)
R – Michael Young (SS)
L – Josh Hamilton (RF/CF)
S – Milton Bradley (DH)
L – David Murphy (LF/RF)
R – Marlon Byrd (CF)
L – Frank Catalanotto (1B)
S – Jarrod Saltalamacchia (C)
L – Ramon Vazquez (3B)

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Cincinnati Reds

2007 Record: 33-39 (.458)
2007 Pythagorean Record: 71-91 (.441)

2008 Record: 33-41 (.446)
2008 Pythagorean Record: 32-42 (.431)

Manager: Dusty Baker
General Manager: Walt Jocketty

Home Ballpark (multi-year Park Factors): Great American Ball Park (104/105)

Who’s Replacing Whom:

Joey Votto replaces Scott Hatteberg
Jay Bruce replaces Josh Hamilton
Paul Bako has taken playing time from Dave Ross and Javier Valentin
Corey Patterson replaces Jeff Conine
Jolbert Cabrera is the latest to fill in for Alex Gonzalez (DL)
Andy Phillips is filling in for Ryan Freel (DL)
Paul Janish is filling in for Jeff Keppinger (DL)
Edinson Volquez replaces Matt Belisle (minors)
Johnny Cueto replaces Kyle Lohse and Bobby Livingston (DL)
Francisco Cordero replaces David Weathers as closer
Weathers replaces Todd Coffey (DL)
Jeremy Affeldt replaces Mike Stanton
Bill Bray inherits Jon Coutlangus’s innings
Mike Lincoln replaces Victor Santos

25-man Roster:

1B – Joey Votto (L)
2B – Brandon Phillips (R)
SS – Jolbert Cabrera (R)
3B – Edwin Encarnacion (R)
C – Paul Bako (L)
RF – Ken Griffey Jr. (L)
CF – Jay Bruce (L)
LF – Adam Dunn (L)

Bench:

L – Corey Patterson (OF)
R – Norris Hopper (OF)
R – Dave Ross (C)
R – Paul Janish (IF)
R – Andy Phillips (IF)
S – Javier Valentin (C)

Rotation:

R – Aaron Harang
R – Edinson Volquez
R – Johnny Cueto
R – Bronson Arroyo

Bullpen:

R – Francisco Cordero
R – Jared Burton
L – Jeremy Affeldt
R – David Weathers
L – Bill Bray
R – Mike Lincoln
R – Gary Majewski

15-day DL: R – Ryan Freel (UT), R – Jeff Keppinger (IF), R – Jerry Hairston Jr. (UT), R – Josh Fogg, R – Todd Coffey
60-day DL: R – Alex Gonzalez (SS), L – Kent Mercker, L – Bobby Livingston

Typical Lineup

L – Jay Bruce (CF)
R – Jolbert Cabrera (SS)
L – Ken Griffey Jr. (RF)
R – Brandon Phillips (2B)
L – Adam Dunn (LF)
R – Edwin Encarnacion (3B)
L – Joey Votto (1B)
L – Paul Bako (C)

The Yankees extended their winning streak to seven games by completing a three-game sweep of the San Diego Padres yesterday afternoon. Joba Chamberlain got the start and turned in his first truly dominant major league start as he struck out nine Padres in 5 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on four hits and three walks.

The run came in the fourth when Brian Giles led off with a single, was pushed to second by a walk to Adrian Gonzalez, and scored when Tony Clark, hitting from the left side, hit a flare to the line in shallow left that hopped into the stands for a ground-rule double. Prior to that, Chamberlain worked himself into a bases-loaded jam in the second, but struck out Scott Hairston, got an out at home from a wild pitch, and struck out Khalil Greene to end the inning. The play on Gonzalez came when Chamberlain skipped a pitch past Jose Molina, then raced home to cover the plate. Molina gathered the ball and fired to Chamberlain, who actually set up to block the plate and got the tag down on Gonzalez before the Padres first baseman was able to get his foot around him to the dish. Chamberlain didn’t allow a hit in any of his other innings and ended his outing with a pair of strikeouts. Had he been more efficient, he could have gone deeper, as he had retired seven of his last eight batters when he hit 100 pitches.

Fortunately the Yankee bullpen did its job. The Yanks had tied the score in the bottom of the fifth when Melky Cabrera walked, stole second and third, and scored on a Molina sac fly. Jose Veras got the final out of the sixth in relief of Chamberlain, then in the bottom of that inning, Derek Jeter singled, stole second, moved to third on a Bobby Abreu groundout to the right side, and scored on an Alex Rodriguez single. Veras pitched around a pair of walks in the seventh. Kyle Farnsworth pitched around an Adrian Gonzalez single in the eighth, and, once again, Mariano Rivera struck out the side in the ninth. Rivera has struck out 25 men in his last 16 innings.

It was a clean, crisp game, and a rewarding 2-1 victory for the Yankees, though it would have been nice if Chamberlain had picked up the win for his efforts. With the win, the Yankees became the eighth team in baseball to reach 40 wins. Next up: Dusty Baker’s Reds.

The Yankees have scored a minimum of eight runs in their last four games and are on a six-game winning streak. Today they send Joba Chamberlain to the mound and will face a far less heralded rookie in Josh Banks.

The Yankees have actually seen Banks before, as his first two major league appearances came in relief for the Blue Jays last year against the Yankees. In his debut in Toronto, Banks retired Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, and Johnny Damon in order. A week and a half later in the Bronx, he gave up a run on a walk to Hideki Matsui, a Robinson Cano single, and a Jose Molina double (he also saw Cabrera and Damon a second time, striking out Melky and walking Johnny).

Banks posted a 6.80 ERA in triple-A this year, was claimed off waivers by the Padres in late April, and snuck into the major league roster after both Chris Young and Jake Peavy went down with injuries. The 25-year-old righty started out in the bullpen, but after pitching six shutout innings in the Padres 18-inning win over the Reds on May 25, he was granted a rotation spot, which he nailed down with a complete game victory over the Giants in his first start and a 2-1 win over the Mets in his second.

A command and control pitcher with marginal stuff, Banks hasn’t walked a man in 20 innings since entering the rotation, and has been extremely efficient with his pitches, needing just 101 for that complete game and not topping 77 in either of two six-inning outings. That makes him an interesting contrast to Chamberlain, who has filthy stuff, but has struggled with walks since moving into the rotation, and can thus use up a lot of pitches rather quickly. Joba’s peripherals went backwards against the Astros in his last start, but despite his four walks, he was cruising along at 89 pitches through six when his turn in the batting order came due, thus ending his outing there. This afternoon, the limits will finally be off . . . mostly. I’m sure the Yankees won’t want him to throw more than 100 pitches, but that’s a respectable limit for any rookie, and Joe Girardi won’t have to pinch-hit for him. For all the hype that has come before, this afternoon should mark Chamberlain’s true debut as a full-fledged American League starting pitcher.

The Yanks looked they were going to waltz to another easy win in the early innings of last night’s game. Darrell Rasner cruised through the first two frames, striking out four (three of them looking) and the Bombers plated three runs against Jake Peavy. However, Rasner struggled in the third, walking three, giving up two runs, and getting the final out on a drive to deep center with the bases loaded. That made a game out of it at 3-2 Yanks.

Alex Rodriguez killed a Jake Peavy pitch dead to make it 4-2 in the bottom of the inning, and the Yanks made Peavy work enough that, coming off an elbow injury, he was pulled after four innings and 93 pitches. The Yanks then added another run in the fifth against former Red Sock Bryan Corey when Rodriguez singled, stole second, and came around on a Jorge Posada single. Rasner walked five men in five innings after walking just three in his previous 42, and Edwar Ramirez came on to pitch the sixth and seventh. Ramirez set down the side in order in the sixth, striking out two, but with two outs in the seventh he gave back both insurance runs on back-to-back homers by Adrian Gonzalez and Brian Giles.

Homers were Edwar’s big bugaboo in his major league debut last year, but he had only allowed one in his previous 29 innings this year in the majors and minors combined, so, despite the flashbacks, I’m willing to credit Gonzalez and Giles here. After all, they were the two guys I warned you about in my series preview. After the game, Joe Girardi brushed off those homers, both of which came on fastballs down and over the plate to the lefty batters. Of course, he also brushed off the leadoff homer Kyle Farnsworth gave up in the eighth despite the fact that Farnsworth is allowing 2.5 homers per nine innings on the season. To Farnsworth’s credit, he had been homer free in his previous seven outings/innings, and on the year, just six of the batters he has faced who haven’t homered have scored. The Farnsworth homer was the first in the major leagues by Padres prospect Chase Headley, who was called up before Tuesday night’s game and got to play his natural position last night in place of the defensively inferior Kevin Kouzmanoff.

The other good news on that homer is that it was preceded by two more Yankee runs, the latter of which was driven in by Rodriguez, who led the Yankee charge with a 3-for-4 night. After Farnsworth’s frame, the Yanks got Headley’s run back on a Wilson Betemit double (Betemit was also 3 for 4, but made an error at first base in the first and was caught stealing in the sixth) and a Johnny Damon single (Johnny was 3 for 5 with a successful steal).

Mariano Rivera came on in the ninth and gave up a leadoff double to Edgar Gonzalez (the elder Gonzalez’s second two-bagger of the night), but struck out Brian Giles and got the younger Gonzalez to hit a looper to Derek Jeter that doubled his big brother off second to seal the Yankees’ 8-5 win.

In other news, Hideki Matsui had his left knee drained and hopes to avoid the disabled list, but almost certainly won’t be in the lineup this afternoon as the Yankees go for their second straight sweep and seventh straight win.

In his last turn, Jake Peavy pitched six scoreless innings in his first start after an elbow-related DL stint. In his last turn, Darrell Rasner was beat severely about the head and neck by the typically mild-mannered Oakland A’s offense. Peavy needed just 72 pitches to get through those six innings against the Dodgers. He’ll likely be pulled before he hits 100 pitches today. Rasner, despite that beating, has still only allowed three homers and walked just six men in 42 major league innings this season, and hasn’t allowed a homer in any of his last three starts. Peavy was the best pitcher in baseball last year, but couldn’t deliver the Wild Card to San Diego in their one-game playoff against the Rockies. Rasner is 0-3 with a 6.35 ERA in his last three starts.

So there’s that.

Hideki Matsui’s left knee is hurting, so he sits tonight and will see a doctor tomorrow. I’m hoping his knee is just reacting to the wacky changes in atmospheric pressure. Here in New Jersey we’ve had different weather every two hours today. Cool and crisp like an early spring day. Downpour. Overcast and humid, but dry. Downpour. Sunny and hot like a perfect summer day. Downpour. It’s not raining now, but the sky is darkening and I can hear thunder in the distance (make that directly overhead . . . yikes!).

With Matsui out, Wilson Betemit will play first base while Jason Giambi moves to DH. In contrast to his persistent career-long split, Giambi has been a better hitter when not playing the field this year (.297/.458/.622 vs. 252/.383/.563). For those of you filling out All-Star ballots, the Big G leads AL first baseman in VORP this year and Alex Rodriguez, Johnny Damon, Giambi, and Matsui are all among the top dozen ALers in the stat.

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Rumor has it the Padres were actually on the field at Yankee Stadium last night, but there was little evidence of their presence. Andy Pettitte turned in his second straight dominant outing, tying his season high in strikeouts with nine, and the Bombers stomped on Randy Wolf, cruising to an uncontested 8-0 victory.

Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi got things going with solo homers in the second inning. Giambi then added a two-run shot in the fourth, setting the tone for a five-run inning that was aided by a wild pitch by Wolf and some sloppy play by Craig Stansberry at second base. The Yanks tacked one on in the eight against reliever Carlos Guevara. Meanwhile Jose Veras, Billy Traber (getting an inning ending groundout from Adrian Gonzalez with men on first and second in his return to the team), and Mariano Rivera, who hadn’t pitched since last Thursday and struck out the side in the ninth, nailed down the win.

With the win, the Yankees extended their season-best winning streak to five games. They have scored 29 runs in their last three games and haven’t allowed a run since the seventh inning of Saturday’s game in Houston. Tonight Darrell Rasner faces Jake Peavy, who is making just his second start since returning from an elbow injury. With the way this team is playing, I can’t wait for the first pitch.

San Diego Padres

2007 Record: 89-74 (.549)
2007 Pythagorean Record: 90-75 (.553)

2008 Record: 31-40 (.437)
2008 Pythagorean Record: 29-42 (.408)

Manager: Bud Black
General Manager: Kevin Towers

Home Ballpark (multi-year Park Factors): Petco Park (91/91)

Who’s Replacing Whom:

Tad Iguchi replaces Marcus Giles
Jody Gerut replaces Jim Edmonds, who replaced Mike Cameron
Edgar Gonzalez replaces Geoff Blum
Paul McAnulty inherits Jose Cruz Jr.’s playing time
Tony Clark replaces Russell Branyan
Justin Huber replaces Terrmel Sledge
Scott Hairston inherits Milton Bradley’s playing time
Michael Barrett is replacing Josh Bard (DL) in the lineup
Luke Carlin is filling in for Barrett on the bench
Edgar Gonzalez is replacing Tad Iguchi (DL) in the lineup
Craig Stansberry is filling in for Gonzalez on the bench
Randy Wolf replaces David Wells and Clay Hensley
Josh Banks replaces Justin Germano, Brett Tomko, and Jack Cassel
Cha Seung Baek is filling in for Chris Young (DL)
Bryan Corey replaces Doug Brocail
Mike Adams replaces Scott Linebrink and Joe Thatcher
Carlos Guevara is filling in for Kevin Cameron (DL)

25-man Roster

1B – Adrian Gonzalez (L)
2B – Edgar Gonzalez (R)
SS – Khalil Greene (R)
3B – Kevin Kouzmanoff (R)
C – Michael Barrett (R)
RF – Brian Giles (L)
CF – Jody Gerut (L)
LF – Paul McAnulty (L)

Bench:

S – Tony Clark (1B)
R – Justin Huber (OF)
R – Scott Hairston (OF)
R – Craig Stansberry (IF)
S – Luke Carlin (C)

Rotation:

R – Jake Peavy
R – Josh Banks
R – Cha Seung Baek
R – Greg Maddux
L – Randy Wolf

Bullpen:

R – Trevor Hoffman
R – Heath Bell
R – Cla Meredith
L – Justin Hampson
R – Bryan Corey
R – Mike Adams
R – Carlos Guevara

15-day DL: R – Tadahito Iguchi (2B), S – Josh Bard (C), R – Chris Young, L – Shawn Estes, R- Kevin Cameron
60-day DL: R – Mark Prior, R – Tim Stauffer

Typical Lineup:

L – Jody Gerut (L)
R – Edgar Gonzalez (2B)
L – Brian Giles (RF)
L – Adrian Gonzalez (1B)
R – Kevin Kouzmanoff (3B)
L – Paul McAnulty (LF)
R – Khalil Greene (SS)
R – Michael Barrett (C)

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The Yankees crushalated the Astros yesterday, finishing a three game sweep in Houston with a powerful 13-0 lashing. Unfortunately, they also suffered what could be a major injury.

The Yankees got three runs early when Hideki Matsui cracked a two-out double to the gap in left center and Roy Oswalt, who was struggling once again, responded by walking Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, and Jorge Posada to make it 1-0. Robinson Cano then made it 3-0 with a lucky broken-bat single that dropped in behind third base and plated two more runs.

The real action happened in the sixth. With Oswalt still on the mound, Posada and Robinson Cano led off with singles. After a Melky Cabrera fly out, Chien-Ming Wang laid down a hard bunt back to Oswalt that got Posada thrown out at third, but with Cano on second and Wang on first, Johnny Damon chopped an infield single to load the bases. Derek Jeter then singled Cano and Wang home, but as Wang was headed home from third base he pulled up lame and wound up skipping half of the way home. Once he touched the plate, Wang bent over at the waist as Cano anxiously waved out the trainer.

Wang was helped off the field and later left the clubhouse with the help of crutches and a golf cart with what was described generically as a foot injury. More won’t be known until Wang has an MRI today, but he’ll almost surely land on the DL, and if anything is broken, he could miss most or all of the remainder of the season (Brian Bruney’s lisfranc injury come’s frighteningly to mind). Let’s not get ahead of ourselves with regard to how long Wang will be out, but if it’s more than the minimum, it will be a brutal loss for the Yanks, as Wang appeared to have broken his slump with a strong outing in Oakland his previous time out and five shutout innings yesterday. Over those last two starts Wang compiled this line: 12 1/3 IP, 13 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K. With the team starting to click, Wang could have run off an impressive streak the way he was pitching.

Roy Oswalt left the game at the same instant that Wang did, but due to poor performance rather than injury. The Yankees then teed off on lefty reliever Wesley Wright, a Rule 5 pick from the Dodgers this winter. Wright’s first pitch was turned around for a two-run single by Matsui. His second was creamolished to left field by Alex Rodriguez for a three-run homer. Wright then got ahead of Jason Giambi 0-2, only to come back with three straight balls, the last of which hit Giambi. Two pitches later, Jorge Posada cracked another homer, driving Wright from the game and pushing the score to 11-0.

The last two Yankee runs came in the eight against ex-Brave Oscar Villarreal. In place of Wang, Ross Ohlendorf, Edwar Ramirez, LaTroy Hawkins, and Dan Giese each threw a scoreless inning in which each allowed one baserunner and struck out one batter.

The Yanks are coming back home with a four-game winning streak to face a poor San Diego Padres team, but all thoughts will be about Chien-Ming Wang until, and perhaps even after, the Yankees release a diagnosis on Wang’s swollen right foot.

Don’t look now, but the Yankees are making their move. Having finally smashed through the glass ceiling that being two games over .500 had represented for them since April 23, the Yanks move to three games over with yesterday’s win. They’re now 5-1-2 over their last eight series (including the current one against Houston), are 16-9 (.640) over that stretch, and have been in third place in the AL East for the last week.

Today, they send Chien-Ming Wang to the mound looking for their first three-game sweep of a team that’s not the Seattle Mariners and just their second four-game winning streak of the season. Wang snapped a four-start slump with a dominant outing against the A’s his last time out. The Astros will throw their own struggling ace in Roy Oswalt, who similarly dominated in his last start (7 IP, 1 R, 10 K against Milwaukee). Maybe we’ll get a good old fashioned pitcher’s duel to wrap this one up.

Bobby Abreu is the odd man out of the DH-free lineup this afternoon, with Hideki Matui, Johnny Damon, and Melky Cabrera roaming the pastures from left to right. Matsui is hitting third in Abreu’s place.

Houston Astros

2007 Record: 73-89 (.451)
2007 Pythagorean Record: 71.5-90.5 (.442)

2008 Record: 33-34 (.493)
2008 Pythagorean Record: 32-35 (.475)

Manager: Cecil Cooper
General Manager: Ed Wade

Home Ballpark (multi-year Park Factors): Minute Maid Park (99/99)

Who’s Replacing Whom:

25-man Roster:

1B – Lance Berkman (S)
2B – Kazuo Matsui (S)
SS – Miguel Tejada (R)
3B – Ty Wigginton (R)
C – Brad Ausmus (R)
RF – Hunter Pence (R)
CF – Michael Bourn (L)
LF – Carlos Lee (R)

Bench:

R – Mark Loretta (IF)
S – Geoff Blum (IF)
L – Darin Erstad (OF)
R – Reggie Abercrombie (OF)
R – Humberto Quintero (C)

Rotation:

R – Roy Oswalt
R – Brandon Backe
R – Brian Moehler
R – Shawn Chacon
L – Wandy Rodriguez

Bullpen:

R – Jose Valverde
R – Oscar Villarreal
R – Doug Brocail
L – Wesley Wright
L – Tim Byrdak
R – Geoff Geary
R – Chris Sampson

15-day DL: R – Felipe Paulino

Typical Lineup:

R – Hunter Pence (RF)
S – Kazuo Matsui (2B)
R – Miguel Tejada (SS)
S – Lance Berkman (1B)
R – Carlos Lee (LF)
R – Ty Wigginton (3B)
L – Michael Bourne (CF)
R – Brad Ausmus (C)

(more…)

My friend and colleague Steven Goldman had me on the second installment of his new Pinstriped Bible Podcast (if Pinstriped Bible, and Pinstriped Blog, why not just Pinstriped Podcast?) over at the YES site. The interview was taped Wednesday night and was posted yesterday. Steve and I discuss writing about baseball and the Yankees in equal measure, so check it out (alternate link).

Oakland Athletics

2007 Record: 76-86 (.469)
2007 Pythagorean Record: 79-83 (.489)

2008 Record: 34-29 (.540)
2008 Pythagorean Record: 37-26 (.588)

Manager: Bob Geren
General Manager: Billy Beane

Home Ballpark (multi-year Park Factors): Oakland Coliseum (93/93)

Who’s Replacing Whom:

Daric Barton inherits Dan Johnson’s playing time
Kurt Suzuki inherits Jason Kendall’s playing time
Emil Brown replaces Shannon Stewart
Travis Buck inherits Mark Kotsay’s playing time
Carlos Gonzalez and Ryan Sweeney (DL) replace Nick Swisher
Mike Sweeney and Frank Thomas replace Mike Piazza
Rajai Davis is filling in for Mike Sweeney (DL) and Frank Thomas (DL)
Donnie Murphy and Jack Hannahan inherit Marco Scutaro’s playing time
Gregorio Petit is filling in for Donnie Murphy (DL)
Dana Eveland replaces Dan Haren
Greg Smith replaces Joe Kennedy and Dallas Braden (minors)
Rich Harden replaces Lenny DiNardo (minors) in the rotation
Justin Duchscherer replaces Chad Gaudin in the rotation
Chad Gaudin replaces Colby Lewis and Ruddy Lugo in the bullpen
Huston Street reclaims half of his save opportunities from Alan Embree
Embree replaces those save opportunities with innings reclaimed from Ron Flores
Keith Foulke replaces Jay Marshall
Brad Zielger is filling in for Santiago Casilla (DL)

25-man Roster:

1B – Daric Barton (L)
2B – Mark Ellis (R)
SS – Bobby Crosby (R)
3B – Eric Chavez (L)
C – Kurt Suzuki (R)
RF – Travis Buck (L)
CF – Carlos Gonzalez (L)
LF – Emil Brown (R)
DH – Jack Cust (L)

Bench:

L – Jack Hannahan (3B/IF)
R – Rajai Davis (OF)
R – Gregorio Petit (IF)
S – Rob Bowen (C)

Rotation:

R – Rich Harden
L – Dana Eveland
R – Justin Duchscherer
R – Joe Blanton
L – Greg Smith

Bullpen:

R – Huston Street
R – Kiko Calero
L – Alan Embree
R – Keith Foulke
R – Andrew Brown
R – Chad Gaudin
R – Brad Ziegler

15-day DL: R – Frank Thomas (DH), R – Mike Sweeney (1B), L – Ryan Sweeney (OF), R – Donnie Murphy (IF), R – Santiago Casilla, R – Joey Devine

Typical Lineup:

R – Mark Ellis (2B)
R – Bobby Crosby (SS)
L – Jack Cust (DH)
L – Eric Chavez (3B)
R – Emil Brown (LF)
L – Travis Buck (RF)
L – Daric Barton (1B)
L – Carlos Gonzalez (CF)
R – Kurt Suzuki (C)

(more…)

In his first major league start last Tuesday, Joba Chamberlain was both inefficient and undermined by his pitch count. The Blue Jays entered the game with a game plan of taking pitches to get Chamberlain out of the game, and it worked like a charm. Chamberlain is a swing-and-miss pitcher who has thus far in his major league career succeeded by fooling hitters with nose-diving sliders and blowing them away with fastballs that are often above the strike zone. By letting those pitches go by, the Jays were able to draw four walks and drive Chamberlain from the game after just 2 1/3 innings despite picking up just one hit, a weak single through the infield.

Today, with a higher pitch limit and facing a less accomplished team, Chamberlain faced 18 batters before walking one, and pitched into the fifth inning despite throwing just 16 more pitches than in his previous start. In his first start, Chamberlain threw just one more than half of his pitches for strikes, but facing the Royals today, he threw 68 percent of his 78 pitches for strikes. In his first start he threw just two curveballs and otherwise stuck to his fastball and slider. Today, he threw eight curveballs and three changeups.

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On the morning of May 19, the Royals were a game under .500 and just two games out of first place in the American League Central division. That night they were no-hit by Jon Lester at Fenway Park, a humiliating loss that kicked off a 12-game losing streak. That streak was snapped last Saturday when tonight’s starter, Kyle Davies, in his first major league start of the year, beat C.C. Sabathia in Kansas City. The Royals took two of three from the Indians in that series, but were then swept by the White Sox. Now 10.5 games back and in last place in the Central, the Royals arrive in the Bronx 14 games under .500 with the second worst record in the American League and the third-worst record in baseball.

On the season, the Royals have scored the fewest runs per game in the major leagues. Their pitching has been solid in their home park, but on the road, where the Royals still have an active 11-game losing streak dating back to Lester’s no-hitter, they’ve allowed 5.22 runs per game.

The Royals best hitter to this point in the season has been catcher Miguel Olivo (.286/.314/.541), who started the season as John Buck’s backup and has just five walks in 140 plate appearances. Zack Greinke, who will start on Sunday against Joba Chamberlain, is the only established Royals starter with an ERA at or above league average. The back end of the bullpen–closer Joakim Soria, lefty Ron Mahay, former Yankee farmhand Ramon Ramirez, and injured set-up man Leo Nuñez–has been strong, but they’ve been of little value with the Royals winning just two of their last 17 games.

Tonight, Kyle Davies makes his second start of the year coming off his five-inning win against Sabathia (who, incidentally, pitched an eight-inning complete game, but lost 4-2). Davies was dreadful last year after coming over from the Braves for Octavio Dotel, and is best remembered by Yankee fans for having surrendered Alex Rodriguez’s 500th home run (a clip I’m sure YES will show about that many times tonight). He’s only 24 and has a career 2.86 ERA in the minor leagues, but most of that success came below triple-A and prior to 2005. This year, Davies put up a 2.06 ERA in ten triple-A starts, but had a limp 1.85 K/BB ratio and only struck out two men against three walks in his last start.

He’ll face Darrell Rasner, who had his first poor outing of the year (in the majors or minors) last time out in Minnesota. Even still, Rasner struck out five men against two walks in 5 1/3 innings and kept his team in the game, falling two outs and one run shy of a fifth-straight quality start.

Rasner will throw to Jose Molina tonight, which is odd, not because the Yankees are hesitant to start Jorge Posada on back-to-back days just yet, but because Rasner’s been pitching to Chad Moeller nearly all season (again both in the majors and minors). The rest of the Yankee regulars surround Molina in the order, including yesterday’s hero, Jason Giambi, who’s back at first base, and Posada is expected to start the next two days.

In bullpen news, LaTroy Hawkins’ three-game suspension was upheld. He’ll serve it tonight, tomorrow, and Sunday. Also, Chris Britton pulled an oblique warming up yesterday and has been placed on the DL. Dan Giese, who was just sent down to make room for Posada, thus returns shy of the ten-day minimum and will likely shadow Joba’s start on Sunday after all. I leave it to you to decide exactly how fishy that makes Britton’s injury appear.

Finally, per reader Travis08 in the previous thread about Yankee killers, the Yanks should beware Kansas City first baseman Ross Gload, a career .288/.327/.419 hitter who has hit .446/.475/.696 in 61 career plate appearances against the Yankees. It will be interesting to see if that small-sample success will be enough for Trey Hillman to play Gload against the left-handed Pettitte tomorrow, as Hillman’s had Gload and John Buck in a complex platoon of late with Buck catching, Olivo DHing, DH Jose Guillen returning to right field, and right fielder Mark Teahen shifting to first against lefties (Gload is 0 for 3 career against Pettitte).

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In addition to this afternoon’s thrilling comeback victory, the Yankees have been doing more good work in the draft, particularly with their first pick. There’s a ton of coverage and analysis being posted all over the net, so I’ll make some attempt to gather things in this post as I find them. Check back for updates. Also, follow this link for three-minute MLB scouting videos on the players below.

First Round (28th pick):

RHP Gerrit Cole, Orange Lutheran High School, California

Kevin Goldstein, Baseball Prospectus: This is a great pick on a talent/slot level. Most talented high school pitcher in the draft, and the Yankees can pay him. As bad as the Brackman pick was last year . . . that’s how good this one is. I’m not a big fan of low arm slot guys, but at 28, this is a fantastic pick for the Bombers.

Keith Law, ESPN: This is a great pick; he fell to the Yankees for financial reasons. Cole has the best arm among the prep pitchers in the draft. He has a loose, quick arm. He has the best fastball of the high school pitchers; it tops out 97 mph. He needs more consistency on the breaking ball. And he needs to just throw his changeup instead of guiding it. He’s a high-ceiling arm that could be a No. 1 starter. If that doesn’t work, he could be a dominant reliever.

Baseball America: Cole is the best righthander out of Southern California since Phil Hughes starred at Santa Ana’s Foothills High in 2004.

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Hell of a game in the Bronx today. The Yanks jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Dustin McGowan in the first, but Chien-Ming Wang gave those runs back in the fourth on a two-run pop-fly home run off the top of the right field wall by Matt Stairs.

Once again, Wang wasn’t sharp. Of his 90 pitches, just 12 were sliders and only one was a changeup. Wang got strike three of his four Ks with those secondary pitches, but every other pitch he threw was a sinker, and too many of them were either up or out of the zone. Wang started the fifth inning by walking Joe Inglett, the fourth free pass he issued on the afternoon. After a groundout, pesky David Eckstein reached on an infield single. Alex Rios then hit a soft fly ball to center field, but Inglett, apparently thinking there were two outs, took off like a rocket from second base. It was a terribly play by Inglett, but it appeared to distract Melky Cabrera as the ball ticked off the pinky of his glove and fell for a run-scoring error. With that, Wang folded. He hit Scott Rolen with a pitch, gave up a booming double in the left-center-field gap to Stairs, and another down the right field line to Lyle Overbay. Joe Girardi pulled his starter at that point, but the damage was done. The Yankees were down 7-2.

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After posting a 2.90 ERA through his first nine starts, Chien-Ming Wang has a 7.91 ERA over his last three. What’s gone wrong and can he pull out of it? Here are some of Wang’s rates from his first nine starts vs. his last three:

Wang’s been bad across the board over his last three starts with one surprising exception, his ground ball rate has actually been higher of late. Now compare those two sets of rates to Wang’s career rates entering the year:

Save for the walk and caught stealing rates, his peripherals from his last three games wouldn’t have seemed out of place coming from the Chien-Ming Wang of the last three years. That was the sinkerballer with the alarmingly low strikeout rates who seemed to be defying the odds. Over his first nine starts of this year, Wang was a different pitcher, mixing his pitches more and thus spiking his strikeout rate at the cost of a few groundballs, some of which would have gone for hits. The result was real dominance, but it seems Wang has gotten away from that and reverted not only back to the one-trick pitcher he was, but beyond it to a pitcher suffering from his inability to miss bats.

There’s more to it than that, certainly, but just when Wang looked to be making the leap from the Yankee ace to one of the best pitchers in baseball, he’s taken a mighty stumble. Remarkably, the Yankees have won two of his last three starts (by scored of 6-5 and 7-6) and are still 9-3 in Wang’s starts on the year.

Today, Wang and the Yanks take on Dustin McGowan, who has the fastest average fastball among all major league starters according to FanGraphs, looking to take the series from Toronto and get the Yanks back to .500.

Wilson Betemit remains at first base as Jason Giambi is still nursing his bruised foot, but Jorge Posada is behind the plate for the first time since April 26.

In addition to Posada’s return, the amateur draft kicks off at 2pm today. Two years ago the Yankees’ first two picks were Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain with the 21st and 41st overall picks, both of which were received as compensation when Tom Gordon signed with the Phillies. The Yankee farm system is packed with exciting prospects (most of them pitchers) from the last three drafts. Today, the Yankees and scouting director Damon Oppenheimer (the man who has been making the picks since 2005) will add to that crop starting with the 28th overall pick and the 44th overall pick, the latter of which they received as compensation when Luis Vizcaino signed with the Rockies.

Mike Mussina cruised into the sixth inning last night, holding the Blue Jays scoreless while striking out a season-high six men. With two out and Alex Rios on first via Mussina’s only walk of the game in the sixth, he appeared to strike out Alex Rios Scott Rolen, but home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor didn’t deliver the punch out. Rios walked and scored on a Scott Rolen doubled Rios home, but that was all the Blue Jays would get all night as Ross Ohlendorf, Kyle Farnsworth, and Mariano Rivera each turned in a scoreless inning to nail down a 5-1 Yankee win and deliver Mussina’s ninth win of the year.

The Yankee scoring started in the third inning when Jose Molina and Johnny Damon singled off Toronto starter Jesse Litsch and Derek Jeter plated Molina with a single that pushed the captain past Mickey Mantle on the all-time hit list. The Yanks got two more in the fourth on a Wilson Betemit homer, a Robinson Cano double, and a Melky Cabrera homer single, all of which came with two outs. After Litch left the game, the Yanks added a run in the sixth (which was charged to Litsch) and one more in the seventh to set the final score.

It was a nice easy win that saw the four Yankee pitchers combine to strike out nine Jays and allow just one run on six hits and a walk. It was particularly encouraging to see Ohlendorf pitch well in short relief and pick up a hold, as that’s the role he was intended to fill back in spring training and a role in which he’s now very much needed.

As for the offense, consider the fact that Roy Halladay and Jesse Litsch had allowed a total of two runs in their last two starts combined totaling 33 innings, but the Yankees scored six runs off them in 11 1/3 combined innings over the last two nights and get Jorge Posada back today. The Yankees also pulled a half game ahead of the Orioles and can get back to .500 and win this series with a victory this afternoon.

In his final year in pinstripes, Jeff Nelson compiled a 6-0 record out of the bullpen by May 9, putting him on pace for 31 relief wins. He won two more games all year, finishing with an 8-4 record. In his seventh start of this season, Chien-Ming Wang ran his record to 6-0, putting him on a 30-win pace. Since then he’s gone 0-2 in five starts. Mike Mussina enters tonight’s game with eight wins, putting him in a five-way tie for third place in the majors behind Brandon Webb (10-2) and the surprising Joe Saunders (9-2). I’d still be surprised if he wins more than 15 on the year.

Moose has eight wins because he’s had 5.28 runs of support per game thus far and has earned the decision in every one of his 12 starts. Despite his eight wins, Mussina has just five quality starts (four if you use the stringent < 3 R rule rather than the looser < 3 ER standard). In his last three outings he's allowed 15 runs in 11 2/3 innings, but eight of those runs were unearned (all scoring after Mussina failed to pick up his defense following a first-inning error) and he's gone 2-1 in those games. Mussina has exceeded expectations beyond his 8-4 record, but that is largely due to how low the expectations were for him entering the season.

Twenty-three-year-old Jesse Litsch is 7-1 on the season and didn’t allow a run in either of his last two starts, totaling 16 innings. Over his last six starts he’s posted a 1.67 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, averaged over seven innings per start, and walked just two men in 43 innings.

The Yankees need to snap their sudden three-game losing streak, but unless Mussina’s luck keeps up (I though it had ended three starts ago when he failed to get out of the first inning, but I was clearly wrong), tonight might not be their night.

Jorge Posada has been activated with Dan Giese getting farmed out to make room (so much for repeating the Joba-Giese tandem on Sunday), but he’s not in the lineup. Moose will pitch to Jose Molina with Wilson Betemit at first base subbing for Jason Giambi who’s getting a day of rest after fouling a pitch off his foot late in last night’s game. Both Giambi and Posada are expected to start tomorrow afternoon’s series finale.