It has been a long time since Bartolo Colon was mentioned among the top echelon of starters in baseball. It has been almost equally as long since Colon pitched eight complete innings.
Colon was masterful tonight, using his two-seamer to freeze hitters while pounding away with his four-seamer that hummed through the strike zone at an average of 93 mph and even touched 96. It doesn't seem likely that Colon will hold up for a full season at age 38, but right now he is giving the Yankees quality and length and doing far more than eating innings out there.
Using a steady stream of fastballs Colon doesn't mess around. He pounded the zone and rarely threw anything off-speed, throwing just nine off-speed pitches out of 99. He never really needed the change up or slider he recorded 17 outs on the ground or via strike out, and all but one of those came from a fastball.
Right now the Yankees need all the pitching they can get. With Rafael Soriano struggling and the bats falling silent the length the starters give the Yankees will become that much more important. Right now they are doing they doing that. The past four games New York starters have thrown quality starts and at least pitched into the seventh (or in Freddy Garcia's case they should have). It is a reassuring trend, but Brian Cashman is sure to continue to keep his ear to the ground in search of another top end starter. There will always be doubt as to whether Colon's or Garcia's shoulder breaks down again or even both.
With the recent disheartening news that Phil Hughes might have thoracic outlet syndrome, every quality start until the tradeline will be that much more vaulable.
CC Sabathia should continue the trend tomorrow night since the White Sox still haven't come close to pulling out of their own hitting funk.
Showing posts with label Bartolo Colon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bartolo Colon. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Rotation is Set - Yankee Style
Which to me means with little intelligence applied. The Yankees announced how the rotation will begin the season. Well really they have announced how the way the last two spots will shake out since they named CC as the Opening Day starter (obviously) and Burnett the number two starter with Phil Hughes the number three.
Girardi has made the obvious choice of inserting Ivan Nova into the four spot in the rotation. Its hard to argue with that since Nova has pitched exceptionally well this spring and is the one candidate of the group who can still become a decent starter in the near future. Not only that, but unlike the last few Yankee starting prospects, he is actually stretched out to pitch an entire big league season.
The last spot was a little tougher to decide. The Yankees were running out two retreads in Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia. Colon hasn't pitched in the majors since 2009 and hadn't pitched a full season since 2005, but he was exceptionally strong this spring. The rotund right-hander had good velocity and movement all spring and it seemed like he would come out of left field and surprise everyone to grab that fifth spot.
His competition was Fraddy Garcia and while it had been a long time since Garcia was an above-average pitcher, it wasn't absurd to think of him lasting most of the year in the rotation and providing serviceable production. Hell, he had just thrown 160 innings last season with the White Sox with decent numbers.
The Yankee logic seems to be that Colon would be more versatile than Garcia. It's something that doesn't seem to mesh with either players history or physical profile. Based on their recent injury history it would seem wiser to have Colon in the rotation. Being overweight with a history of shoulder issues doesn't scream flexibility.
Either way the addition of Kevin Millwood will make Garcia or Colon expendable if they fail within their first three or four starts.
Girardi has made the obvious choice of inserting Ivan Nova into the four spot in the rotation. Its hard to argue with that since Nova has pitched exceptionally well this spring and is the one candidate of the group who can still become a decent starter in the near future. Not only that, but unlike the last few Yankee starting prospects, he is actually stretched out to pitch an entire big league season.
The last spot was a little tougher to decide. The Yankees were running out two retreads in Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia. Colon hasn't pitched in the majors since 2009 and hadn't pitched a full season since 2005, but he was exceptionally strong this spring. The rotund right-hander had good velocity and movement all spring and it seemed like he would come out of left field and surprise everyone to grab that fifth spot.
His competition was Fraddy Garcia and while it had been a long time since Garcia was an above-average pitcher, it wasn't absurd to think of him lasting most of the year in the rotation and providing serviceable production. Hell, he had just thrown 160 innings last season with the White Sox with decent numbers.
The Yankee logic seems to be that Colon would be more versatile than Garcia. It's something that doesn't seem to mesh with either players history or physical profile. Based on their recent injury history it would seem wiser to have Colon in the rotation. Being overweight with a history of shoulder issues doesn't scream flexibility.
Either way the addition of Kevin Millwood will make Garcia or Colon expendable if they fail within their first three or four starts.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Yanks Fall to Sox; Banuelos Impresses
Yesterday the Yankees took on the Red Sox for the first time this year. Well they didn't actually take on the Red Sox since the only real Boston player to make the trip was starter Clay Buchholz, still they fell 5-3 on the strength of a Boone Logan seventh inning implosion.
Despite that, the Yankees did see some stellar pitching. Bartolo Colon threw three scoreless innings while striking out five Red Sox scrubs. More on him in a minute.
To me the real stellar pitching came from 19-year-old Manny Banuelos. Banuelos was impressive. Not just because he threw his second scoreless appearance this spring but becaus eof how he did it. Unlike Colon, ManBan hit his spots with a crisp 93-96 MPH fastball, and had exception movement on his breaking pitches, which he also threw for quality strikes. Russell Martin even raved about how polished the youngster is, comparing him to another hard throwing young lefty.
The young lefty's mechanics were also something to marvel at. He possesses a very easy delivery and it surprises you how hard his fastball comes out of his small frame. Banuelos didn't pitch the last time Trenton was in New Britain, but you better believe I am eyeing their return in mid-June. Though, I wont count on ManBan still being there come June. The way he pitches, he may force a promotion before then.
Colon is a bit of a different story. While the numbers looked good, Colon was all over the place, especially in his third inning of work. He was bailed out by some bad swings from the Red Sox. Colon may be pitching better than the Yankees expected, but Girardi and Cashman will take note of his lack of command within the strike zone. The big guy always seemed to be trailing in the race for the fifth starter spot and he hasn't done enough to change that perception yet.
Some the pitching has been decent, but the bats have continued to struggle. The only hitter who has looked ready for the start of the season is Alex Rodriguez. He hit the ball hard again on Friday night. A bullet single through the right side and then a double off the wall in left-center. A-Rod looks like he may still have some elite level production left in his bones. I'm always an optomist at this point in the season, but I really think he's going to put himself back in the discussion as one of the best hitters in baseball.
Today's action features CC Sabathia on the mound and Jesus Montero behind the plate. Unfortunately the game isn't on YES today, so we'll have to wait till next week to see the Yanks in action again.
Despite that, the Yankees did see some stellar pitching. Bartolo Colon threw three scoreless innings while striking out five Red Sox scrubs. More on him in a minute.
To me the real stellar pitching came from 19-year-old Manny Banuelos. Banuelos was impressive. Not just because he threw his second scoreless appearance this spring but becaus eof how he did it. Unlike Colon, ManBan hit his spots with a crisp 93-96 MPH fastball, and had exception movement on his breaking pitches, which he also threw for quality strikes. Russell Martin even raved about how polished the youngster is, comparing him to another hard throwing young lefty.
The young lefty's mechanics were also something to marvel at. He possesses a very easy delivery and it surprises you how hard his fastball comes out of his small frame. Banuelos didn't pitch the last time Trenton was in New Britain, but you better believe I am eyeing their return in mid-June. Though, I wont count on ManBan still being there come June. The way he pitches, he may force a promotion before then.
Colon is a bit of a different story. While the numbers looked good, Colon was all over the place, especially in his third inning of work. He was bailed out by some bad swings from the Red Sox. Colon may be pitching better than the Yankees expected, but Girardi and Cashman will take note of his lack of command within the strike zone. The big guy always seemed to be trailing in the race for the fifth starter spot and he hasn't done enough to change that perception yet.
Some the pitching has been decent, but the bats have continued to struggle. The only hitter who has looked ready for the start of the season is Alex Rodriguez. He hit the ball hard again on Friday night. A bullet single through the right side and then a double off the wall in left-center. A-Rod looks like he may still have some elite level production left in his bones. I'm always an optomist at this point in the season, but I really think he's going to put himself back in the discussion as one of the best hitters in baseball.
Today's action features CC Sabathia on the mound and Jesus Montero behind the plate. Unfortunately the game isn't on YES today, so we'll have to wait till next week to see the Yanks in action again.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Baseball is Back!
Yesterday we got our first taste of baseball since last November, and boy was it awesome. Some people ignore Spring Training and will only tune in once the real season starts, but to for me those games in February and March are what keep me going through the clean up from another wet and nasty winter thaw.
The Yankees fell to the Phillies 5-4 yesterday in a game that didn't see a ton of runs until the later innings. Early on the Yankee pitchers seemed solid. Joba Chamberlain threw a crisp clean inning where he displayed slightly new mechanics. Joba now starts his hands closer to his waist which gets his hands over the rubber sooner. The adjustment seemed to really change his approach and hopefully it leads to more consistent appearances throughout the season.
The young righty was plagued by massive late-inning blow ups during the first half of regular season last year, leading to a bloated ERA. If Joba can be what he was as a reliever in early 2008 or even the second half last season when he posted an ERA of 2.88 and a BB/K ratio of 4.63 then the Yankee bullpen has the potential to be a force of nature.
The other pitcher I was impressed with was Bartolo Colon. Crazy right? I should say I wasn't impressed so much as I was surprised his shins didn't give out under his ample frame. Also that he was able to touch the mid-90s with his fast ball in his second inning of work. That's really all Colon ever had, a power fastball, an average slider and an average change up. But if the Yankees can get 10 starts out of him, with him pitching to roughly his career numbers, then Brian Cashman's gamble will have reaped a decent reward.
The position players all did ok, A-Rod hit the ball with authority, everyone got excited because Mark Teixeira got a hit before May. Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson looked like they need a couple dozen more at bats before they will find their strokes, and honestly, Derek Jeter's 2011 swing didn't look a whole lot better than last year's version. Time will tell on that and I'm going to hold out hope that he can at least have a mild rebound from last year.
Today's game will give us a taste of the prospects. Ivan Nova will start for New York, and he will be throwing to the #3 prospect in all of baseball according to Baseball America: Jesus Montero. I was robbed of the chance to see him pitch when he was at Trenton back in 2009 and broke his wrist a week before the Thunder rolled through my backyard to play the New Britain Rock Cats.
Everyone will be critiquing his receiving skills, and I will be paying attention to that as well, but I can't wait to see him swing the stick. It should be fun to watch. BA's #43 prospect Dellin Betances will also be taking the mound today. He is one massive individual with a big fastball and a hammer curve. It should be fun.
The Yankees fell to the Phillies 5-4 yesterday in a game that didn't see a ton of runs until the later innings. Early on the Yankee pitchers seemed solid. Joba Chamberlain threw a crisp clean inning where he displayed slightly new mechanics. Joba now starts his hands closer to his waist which gets his hands over the rubber sooner. The adjustment seemed to really change his approach and hopefully it leads to more consistent appearances throughout the season.
The young righty was plagued by massive late-inning blow ups during the first half of regular season last year, leading to a bloated ERA. If Joba can be what he was as a reliever in early 2008 or even the second half last season when he posted an ERA of 2.88 and a BB/K ratio of 4.63 then the Yankee bullpen has the potential to be a force of nature.
The other pitcher I was impressed with was Bartolo Colon. Crazy right? I should say I wasn't impressed so much as I was surprised his shins didn't give out under his ample frame. Also that he was able to touch the mid-90s with his fast ball in his second inning of work. That's really all Colon ever had, a power fastball, an average slider and an average change up. But if the Yankees can get 10 starts out of him, with him pitching to roughly his career numbers, then Brian Cashman's gamble will have reaped a decent reward.
The position players all did ok, A-Rod hit the ball with authority, everyone got excited because Mark Teixeira got a hit before May. Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson looked like they need a couple dozen more at bats before they will find their strokes, and honestly, Derek Jeter's 2011 swing didn't look a whole lot better than last year's version. Time will tell on that and I'm going to hold out hope that he can at least have a mild rebound from last year.
Today's game will give us a taste of the prospects. Ivan Nova will start for New York, and he will be throwing to the #3 prospect in all of baseball according to Baseball America: Jesus Montero. I was robbed of the chance to see him pitch when he was at Trenton back in 2009 and broke his wrist a week before the Thunder rolled through my backyard to play the New Britain Rock Cats.Everyone will be critiquing his receiving skills, and I will be paying attention to that as well, but I can't wait to see him swing the stick. It should be fun to watch. BA's #43 prospect Dellin Betances will also be taking the mound today. He is one massive individual with a big fastball and a hammer curve. It should be fun.
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