Thursday, April 30, 2009
Trivia Correction
Sorry guys. I made an error in my last post. There are six active players with 2000 hits and a .300 average, not just four. I'll give you until tomorrow. But I will say that Chipper, Vlad, Manny, and Jeter are correct. Todd Helton is not.
Put That Damn Joba in the Bullpen... He's too Damn Good for the Rotation!
It's hard for me to fathom how anyone could watch Joba Chamberlain throw seven innings of one run baseball and still think he belongs in the bullpen. Isn't this exactly what the Yankees have been missing for the past six years? Haven't we had to suffer through enough starts by the likes of Sidney Ponson, Darrel Rasner or Shawn Chacon to realize that his is what the Yankees have been missing and what fans have been clamoring for for the last half-decade?
Nonetheless his solid start has failed to sway the minds of many in the sports world who believe that one good start by Phil Hughes has effectively shown that the return of Chien-Ming Wang to the rotation should be the harbinger of Joba's return to eighth inning obscurity.
Chamberlain is a starter. He has always been a starter and he has always been great as a starter. When the Yankees drafted him they saw Roger Clemens circa 1990, not Mariano Rivera that is still pitching at an elite level today. Relievers, including great closers, are merely failed starters. They are pitchers with one or two pitches who cannot survive more than once through a batting order. Chamberlain has three plus pitches: fastball (don't listen to that BS regarding his velocity... if he's still throwing 90 when it's warm out then come talk to me), slider and curveball. His change up isn't great but it is serviceable and will get better if he keeps working at it.
It seems like the worst thing the Yanks ever did for Chamberlain was ease him into the bigs and limit his innings by giving him a spot in the bullpen back in '07. The funny thing is that this is a common tactic for teams to give young starters an easy transition period into the rotation.
Case-in-point: Adam Wainwright. No one thought the Cardinals fools when they took Wainwright, a career long starter, and put him back in the rotation after he absolutely dominated as a closer during their 2006 World Series run.
Now Wainwright is a big part of that rotation and one reason why the Cards are a surprise team sitting onto of the NL Central going into May.
There are other examples too. Both Johan Santana and Fransisco Liriano started their big league careers in the pen and another recent example is David Price. I haven't heard any rumblings about the Rays throwing Price back in the closer role even though his performance there was a big reason the Rays edged out the Sox for the pennant and their current closer situation is abysmal.
The point is Chamberlain has to FAIL as a starter before you even consider him as a reliever. And guess what, when your totals in your first 16 big league starts work out to something like say 88.1 IP with 91 Ks and a 2.85 ERA, I'd say you might want to give it a couple more go rounds before you make any idiotic decisions.
Nonetheless his solid start has failed to sway the minds of many in the sports world who believe that one good start by Phil Hughes has effectively shown that the return of Chien-Ming Wang to the rotation should be the harbinger of Joba's return to eighth inning obscurity.
Chamberlain is a starter. He has always been a starter and he has always been great as a starter. When the Yankees drafted him they saw Roger Clemens circa 1990, not Mariano Rivera that is still pitching at an elite level today. Relievers, including great closers, are merely failed starters. They are pitchers with one or two pitches who cannot survive more than once through a batting order. Chamberlain has three plus pitches: fastball (don't listen to that BS regarding his velocity... if he's still throwing 90 when it's warm out then come talk to me), slider and curveball. His change up isn't great but it is serviceable and will get better if he keeps working at it.
It seems like the worst thing the Yanks ever did for Chamberlain was ease him into the bigs and limit his innings by giving him a spot in the bullpen back in '07. The funny thing is that this is a common tactic for teams to give young starters an easy transition period into the rotation.
Case-in-point: Adam Wainwright. No one thought the Cardinals fools when they took Wainwright, a career long starter, and put him back in the rotation after he absolutely dominated as a closer during their 2006 World Series run.
Now Wainwright is a big part of that rotation and one reason why the Cards are a surprise team sitting onto of the NL Central going into May.
There are other examples too. Both Johan Santana and Fransisco Liriano started their big league careers in the pen and another recent example is David Price. I haven't heard any rumblings about the Rays throwing Price back in the closer role even though his performance there was a big reason the Rays edged out the Sox for the pennant and their current closer situation is abysmal.
The point is Chamberlain has to FAIL as a starter before you even consider him as a reliever. And guess what, when your totals in your first 16 big league starts work out to something like say 88.1 IP with 91 Ks and a 2.85 ERA, I'd say you might want to give it a couple more go rounds before you make any idiotic decisions.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
This just in... Brad Penny Sucks
Though he's not allowing the football like totals of Chien-Ming Wang, Brad Penny is trying. The corpulent hurler has only managed 17 2/3 innings in his four starts. His ERA matches his bloated physique at 8.66. And somehow, infuriatingly, he's managed not to record a loss. John Smoltz, where are you?!
Trivia question, as provided by Jason Stark of ESPN. Who are the four (correction six) active players with a .300 lifetime batting average and 2000 career hits? Don't cheat by looking up the stats. I'll post the answer tomorrow.
Trivia question, as provided by Jason Stark of ESPN. Who are the four (correction six) active players with a .300 lifetime batting average and 2000 career hits? Don't cheat by looking up the stats. I'll post the answer tomorrow.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Phil Hughes Part III
Well Phil Hughes was going to come up to the bigs at some point this season. I'm sure the Yanks would have preferred his season debut come in May instead of mid-April because one of their top starters was a disaster, but such is baseball that these things are never predictable.
Hughes has been good again at Scranton, which has been the case anytime he has been at triple-A during his career. Now it's time for that to translate at the big league level. This isn't his first rodeo with the Yankees. We all remember his near no-hitter almost two years ago in Texas and we all remember his impressive showing in the playoffs against the Indians that same year.
But all those accomplishments seem so distant after his lost 2008 season that saw him fail to record a victory. He finished the season strong against Toronto and A.J. Burnett but now he needs to string together more than just one good start. Hughes needs to show that he can be a consistent contributor at the big league level. He still young. 22 to be exact, but he's had enough time to experience the wrath of major league hitters and begin to understand how he needs to adjust and attack them.
I'm not suggesting that he take Sabathia's title as staff ace this season. Far from that I just want him to show that he can be competitive at this level and that the potential remains for him to be a rotation mainstay.
Tonight will be a difficult test against a team that has some pretty darn good hitters. So here is your chance Phil Hughes. If you want to make a name for youself in Yankeeland then give the people want the want and, in some corners of this desperate fandom, what they need: a win.
Hughes has been good again at Scranton, which has been the case anytime he has been at triple-A during his career. Now it's time for that to translate at the big league level. This isn't his first rodeo with the Yankees. We all remember his near no-hitter almost two years ago in Texas and we all remember his impressive showing in the playoffs against the Indians that same year.
But all those accomplishments seem so distant after his lost 2008 season that saw him fail to record a victory. He finished the season strong against Toronto and A.J. Burnett but now he needs to string together more than just one good start. Hughes needs to show that he can be a consistent contributor at the big league level. He still young. 22 to be exact, but he's had enough time to experience the wrath of major league hitters and begin to understand how he needs to adjust and attack them.
I'm not suggesting that he take Sabathia's title as staff ace this season. Far from that I just want him to show that he can be competitive at this level and that the potential remains for him to be a rotation mainstay.
Tonight will be a difficult test against a team that has some pretty darn good hitters. So here is your chance Phil Hughes. If you want to make a name for youself in Yankeeland then give the people want the want and, in some corners of this desperate fandom, what they need: a win.
Jason Bay Delivers
Last night's pitching duel between Tim Wakefield and Cliff Lee was broken open by Jason Bay in the top of the ninth as he hit a three run shot off an inefficient Kerry Wood. Jonathan Papelbon was equally inefficient, but held on as the Sox won 3-1. I just want to point out that the main question about Bay when he came to Boston was, would he be able to perform under the microscope of baseball obsessed Beantown? Sure he could hit 30 HR's and drive in 100 RBI every year in Pittsburgh where nobody gives a crap anymore. Since his first game in Boston he's been delivering in the clutch. I for one hope he stays around for a while.
As a side note, wasn't it nice to get a game in before the stroke of 10 last night? Yanks-Sox routinely becomes a four hour affair. It was refreshing to see a classic pitcher's duel that moved at a decent pace. I can't remember the last time this old man stayed up to see the conclusion of a Sox game on a weeknight.
As a side note, wasn't it nice to get a game in before the stroke of 10 last night? Yanks-Sox routinely becomes a four hour affair. It was refreshing to see a classic pitcher's duel that moved at a decent pace. I can't remember the last time this old man stayed up to see the conclusion of a Sox game on a weeknight.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Long Weekend Part II
Though the Sox swept this weekend, the nation should not be that excited less than 20 games into the season. To counter Dan's post, here are a couple things I didn't like about the weekend.
#1: Beckett and Ortiz are off to slow starts. Beckett did not pitch well on Saturday. He lacked control and the ability to put batters away. I will not overreact, but Beckett has not looked sharp this season. Hopefully, he will get going as the weather heats up. Ortiz continues to struggle, going 2-13 in the series. It might serve the Sox to drop him in the order, especially with Lowell and Bay playing well. I would like to see Francona's line-up card look like this:
Ellsbury
Pedroia
Bay
Youk
Ortiz
Lowell
Drew
V-Tek
Green
#2: What the hell is Francona doing putting Papelbon in the game up by 5 runs after throwing 30 pitches the night before. Papelbon will face the Yankees upwards of 20 times this season, so by all means, let's have him throw in a meaningless ninth inning.
All in all, the Sox had a great homestand going 9-0 and have crept back up to the top of the AL East. Hopefully, Boston will continue their winning streak on the road this week against the struggling Indians and Rays.
Long Weekend
Sox fans are overjoyed following last weekend's sweep of our hated rivals. I would temper your enthusiasm if I were you. The Sox got some breaks that helped them stymie the Yanks. Combacks like those of game one and two are never regular occurences. A sweep in The Stadium the next time the teams meet is quite likely. All these three games did is confirm what we already know, anything can happen between these teams, and it usually does.
That being said; I'm going to count down my favorite moments from the series.
#3 Jason Veritek's grand slam in game 2. You go, Old Man.
#2 Jason Bay's two run homer off Rivera in game 1. Now Bay has official been initiated into the Yanks-Sox rivalry. As I keep telling my bros, I understand the Sox desire to go left, right, left in the order. But with Papi struggling and J.D. Drew being... himself, you have to move Bay up in the order, don't you?
#1 Jacoby Ellsbury's steal of home in game 3. Say what?!
That being said; I'm going to count down my favorite moments from the series.
#3 Jason Veritek's grand slam in game 2. You go, Old Man.
#2 Jason Bay's two run homer off Rivera in game 1. Now Bay has official been initiated into the Yanks-Sox rivalry. As I keep telling my bros, I understand the Sox desire to go left, right, left in the order. But with Papi struggling and J.D. Drew being... himself, you have to move Bay up in the order, don't you?
#1 Jacoby Ellsbury's steal of home in game 3. Say what?!
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