Monday, June 9, 2008

Rivera does it again

Well that's twice now for Mo. It seems to be how Rivera works. His bad outings tend to come in pairs close together. Every once in a while he gives up a couple but he should settle down and be his old self again. Though, his emotional response was very unusual, but hey everyone let's it get to them sometimes.

While watching today's game I couldn't help but become preoccupied by the fact that Mike Mussina was going for win number 10 on the season. A number that would give him the American league lead in wins and leave him one behind Brandon Webb for the Major League lead. Like every baseball fan in the country I was shocked when I realized what kind of a season Mussina is putting together.

9-4 with a 3.82 ERA is something the Yankees would have killed for from Moose during spring training. Whether he lasts into the second half remains to be seen, but he is a big reason the Yankees are at least .500.

They really should have taken three of four from the Royals this weekend. The Yankees desperately need to get firmly beyond the .500 mark. They keep slipping under and then scratching their way back over. If only Chien-Ming Wang and Andy Pettitte pitched the way they were supposed to they would be making their move by now, especially with Arod stepping up.

One final note about Yankee world. I haven't had much time to judge all the Yankees draft picks from last week but I am happy that an arm as big as Gerrit Cole's fell to them. Cole is 6-foot-3 and has a projectable arm that already touches the mid-nineties. His mound demeanor might need some work according to some scouting reports, but the Yankees took the biggest talent available and that's what matters.

Thankfully they also drafted a decent left handed arm in Jeremy Bleich out of Stanford. The only complaint about the pitching in the Yankee farm system is the noticeable lack of left handed pitching and hopefully Bleich can help the situation. They also took a couple of promising catchers which will aid another position in need after landing the catching duo of Jesus Montero and Austin Romine in Charleston.

My favorite pick this year was Pat Venditte out of Creighton. The Yankees drafted him last year in the 45th round but couldn't sign him. He has fringe stuff as a pitcher but he is a novelty in that he is ambidextrous. I would love to see him get on the mound, throw right handed to Manny and then run to the dugout grab his other glove and take on Big Papi left handed. It would definitely be a sight to see.

2 comments:

Joe said...

Actually, this guy Venditte would have to throw righty to Papi first, then lefty to Manny. Come on Pete, I thought you paid attention to the Dynamic Duo. Ortiz-3 Manny in the 4 slot. Gheez.

Peter said...

My bad. I forget everything after 2003.