The Daily Dozen - April 13th Edition

The Daily Dozen - April 13, 2015 Edition

Twelve Takeaways from Tonight's Game

1. There were A LOT of empty seats in Baltimore.  Was it cold or something?  Maybe the Baltimore Bullets were playing a game to get into the NBA playoffs?  Who knows...it seems like many of the televised games I have seen thus far this season have had people wearing seat-colored clothing.

2. Chris Young gets the Yankees started.  Young got his 2nd home run of the year in the 2nd and was 2 for 4 bringing his 2015 average to .357 leading all Yankees.  He also leads the Yanks with an OPS of 1.295.  Not bad for the 4th or 5th Outfielder!  According to the NY Post he also tracked down the woman who collected Brian McCann's 200th HR and negotiated a deal.

"Put that in your pipe and smoke it!"

3. Manny Machado had 51 Doubles in 2013.  He gets his first of 2015 against the Yankees in the bottom of the 2nd tying the ball game.  Schoop (pronounced SCOPE) ended up getting a double as well after an overturned out call at 2nd base making the score 2-1 Orioles.

4. You can't spell Pineda without PINE.  As in pine tar.  Every time he pitches for the rest of his career, at least on ESPN, we will be reminded of the PINE TAR game against Boston.  Thanks for being predictable guys!  They need to just LET IT GO.

5. Alex Rodriguez back at Third Base!  I bet that the ESPN crew did not make any comments about steroids or the impending fight with the Yankees over 660 or about his suspension.  Oh wait...see item #5 above.

6. Teixeira batting right-handed again tonight.  Lo and behold...a home run to tie it at 2-2 in the 4th.  Didn't I say something about he should continue batting right-handed...?  I swear I said that somewhere...maybe it was just the added bonus of playing in front of a home (hostile) crowd that got his juices flowing.

7. The New York Yankees are the "Most Shiftable Team in MLB."  It's probably not an award they would want to win.  On the other hand...check out the top teams in the American League that employed the shift in 2014 (according to ESPN's research dept): 1. Astros - 1341, 2. Rays - 824, 3. Yankees -739, 4. Orioles - 705.  The team average for MLB is 443.  For those of you that don't know what the shift is, I have included a helpful diagram for you here:

The Shift commonly used against Right-handed Pull hitters...

8. And the stats just keep on coming.  Coming into this game with Baltimore, the Yankees were 1 for 19 with 2 outs and runners in scoring position (RISP).  That's an .053 clip--worst in the majors.  That number didn't change with Teixeira's walk in the 6th and briefly went down to 1 for 20 with A-Rod's fly out.  But oh how the numbers tend to average out over time, ehh?  Ellsbury got an infield single in the 7th to load the bases putting the Yankees at 2 for 21 (.095).  Then came the big surprise of the last decade...putting that number at 3 for 22 (.136).

9. Chris Davis' Drug Suspension.  Does anyone remember Davis' suspension for the use of Amphetamines?  I mean I'm sure ESPN brought it up ad nauseum like the whole A-Rod ordeal...maybe I just missed it?  Check out this article if you don't know what I'm talking aboot.

10. Pineda, Pineda, Pinata.  So he finally gets some run support and gives up 5 earned runs.  Come on man! You can't have it both ways.  But seriously...prior to the 2-run HR given up to Jones in the bottom of the 6th with a frickin' 1-2 count that made it 4-2 his line was stellar with 2 ER, 7 Ks, and ZERO base on balls (BB).  Michael PINEda finished with 6-1/3 IP throwing 98 pitches, 5 ER on 9 hits, with 9 Ks.  His ERA ballooned to 5.11.  But more importantly he got the win balancing out the no decision he got in his last start.

11. What are the odds?  If you would have bet me a million dollars that 1) Stephen Drew would pinch hit for Brett Gardner after he got hit in the wrist earlier in the game, 2) said pinch hitter would then proceed to be patient enough to get in a hitter's count and 3) said pinch hitter would hit a Grand Slam to put the Yankees up 6-4 in the bottom of the 6th...I would be penniless.  I mean only in Baseball right?  The guy who all of us bloggers like to pick on the most is making us eat crow the last 2 nights.  All I can say is that this crow tastes mighty good right now!

12. Betances vs. Miller.  As of right now I would say that Andrew Miller has dibs on the Closer role as his performance in the 8th and 9th innings tonight was much better than that of Dellin Betances with 3 Ks vs. Betances' 1.  What is wrong with Dellin...shouldn't he have like 20 Ks by now??  His 24 pitches tonight only included 10 strikes, which was very uncharacteristic.  Only time will tell.  I still feel pretty good about the bullpen (sans Esmil Rogers).

The Daily Dozen - August 27, 2014

The Daily Dozen - August 27th, 2014 - The David Price Gets Blown Up Edition
(Twelve Takeaways from Tonight's Game vs. the Detroit Tigers)

1. The Yankees needed a win tonight to keep their playoff hopes alive.  With the Seattle Canos losing earlier in the day 12-4 to the Rangers, the Bronx Bombers had a chance to cut the lead in the race for the 2nd Wild Card down to 2.5 games and only 2 behind Detroit.  And of course they would have to do it against David Price, who only gave up 1 hit in his last start...

2. My parents were at the game tonight to see Jeter's last game in Detroit.  This is a true statement unless Detroit can catch the Royals in the AL Central.  My dad was rooting for the Yankees and my mom was rooting for the Tigers.  Something about a house divided... By the way, I realized there was a 30 second delay on the ESPN broadcast when I talked to my dad in the 8th inning on the phone.

3. The third inning.  That should be all I have to say unless you have been living under a rock for the last 3 hours.  David Price basically got owned.  The Yankees put together 9 straight hits and 8 runs against the former Cy Young winner including 2 sacrifice flies after he was out of the game.  That inning showed what the Yankees are capable of doing and in my opinion should have been doing all season.  Want to see the inning again?  Check out this picture provided by WFAN:

4. How did the Tigers respond in the bottom half of the inning?  With NADA.  Shane Greene got the shutdown inning, which proved to be very important later in the game.

5. Shane Greene for Cy Young? Rookies have now started 53 games for the Yankees this year posting an impressive 34-19 mark.  That's a .642 winning percentage by the way.  The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Orange County of California have the best overall record in the majors and their win percentage is .595.  Shane Greene is sporting a .167 batting average against which is 4th in the majors and a .474 ops by opposing batters which is 9th in the majors.  He finished the game with 7 strong innings with 8 strikeouts, only 1 walk, and 69 of his 101 pitches were strikes.  In fact, he threw a first pitch strike to 20 of the 29 batters he faced.  Most importantly...he is now 4-1 in 9 starts.

He seems a long way from this picture.  Might as well
just change the 'T' to a 'C'. (Photo Credit: MiLB.com)

6. David Price was less than stellar tonight to say the least.  He tied a record for hits allowed in a start with 12 (previously gave up 12 on 4/29/11 vs. the Angels) and had his second shortest outing in his career pitching 2+ inning (the shortest being on 7/4/09 vs. the Rangers).  He also tied a dubious personal record with 8 runs allowed in an inning and shattered the hits allowed in an inning with 9 (the previous mark being 5).

7. Mandatory Derek Jeter Update.  With Jeter's RBI double in the 3rd inning he now has 3,442 hits and 1,295 RBI in his career.  He's predicted to only get 30 more hits according to ESPN, which would leave him 43 hits shy of 5th place all-time.

8. Through 3 innings the Yankees were 8 for 14 with RISP.  This bucked a trend set all year long.  In fact, the Yankees hitters were 8 for 9 in the 3rd inning alone after stranding 2 runners in each of the first 2 innings. In 2014, the Yankees have averaged leaving 3.43 runners in scoring position per game (stats courtesy of TeamRankings.com).  Tonight that number was 2. #RE2PECT

De-rek Je-ter...De-rek Je-ter...De-rek Je-ter...

9. Miguel Cabrera knocks home the first Tiger run.  Of course he did!  He's been money against the Yankees since 2003 when he took the Marlins offensively on his back and delivered a World Series ring to a crappy organization that sold the players like used parts the next offseason.  Cabrera's career batting average against the Yankees is .355 in 51 regular season games including a .323 average against pitchers currently on the roster.  He has batted .371 in 20 games at New Yankee Stadium, which seems anemic to the .409 he hit in 6 games at Old Yankee Stadium.  But this season? He's only hitting .143 against the Yankees.  Yeah...something is probably really wrong with his legs.  I wish I could hit .307 with just my arms.

10. How often do catchers get hit in the groin region by a baseball?  One time too many if you ask Francisco Cervelli!

11. Victor Martinez hit his 26th home run tonight.  This is a career high for him, which seems like an awfully low number for such a good hitter.  But on further inspection, he has had several injuries that have hampered his power.  His previous high was 25 for Cleveland in 2007.  Since then he has hit 2 (injury-riddled season), 23 (traded to Boston in mid-season), 20, 12, 0 (missed 2012 season for Tigers), and 14.  His 162-game average is 21, so Tigers fans have to be feeling pretty good about that.

12. Mandatory Playoff Odds Update.  The Yankees sit 2.5 games out of the 2nd Wild Card position held by the Mariners.  The odds of the Yankees making the playoffs as of August 26th was 12.3%, the highest probability since August 12th.  This percentage will likely jump to 15% after tonight's win.  SO YOU'RE SAYING THERE'S A CHANCE!?!  Baltimore's chances sit at 96.6%  On August 3rd, the Royals had a 16% chance of making it...they now sit at 68%.  Detroit is at 64%. Seattle 49%.

The Daily Dozen - August 9, 2014

The Daily Dozen - August 9th, 2014 Edition
(Twelve Takeaways from Today's Game vs. the Cleveland Not-to-be-named)

1. Paul O'Neill became the 29th person to get a plaque in Monument Park before the game.  "The Warrior" won 4 World Series Championships as a Yankee between 1996 and 2000 and had a very memorable moment at Yankee Stadium during Game 5 of the 2001 WS in his last game there.  Paul is originally from Columbus, Ohio, so his enshrinement is rather special to yours truly being an Ohioan myself.

Congratulations Paulie! (Photo Credit: Anthony Grupuso/USA Today Sports)

2. Of course the guy batting .174 hits a 2-run home run!  Jose Ramirez took Brandon McCarthy deep for his first big league homer to make it 2-0 in the 2nd.  He also went 3 for 4 on the day.  Here are some interesting stats about the Yankees and Native Americans when it comes to the 1st big league home runs.  Derek Jeter's first homer came off of "El Presidente" Dennis Martinez on April 2, 1996 at Jacobs Field in Cleveland.  There have been 3 other Cleveland players that hit their first homer at Yankee Stadium including Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez (from Washington Heights, NY).  I wonder if Ramirez will end up as successful as those two?

3. Kluber induces a ton of groundball outs.   The ratio of ground ball to fly ball outs was 6 to 2.  He would have had more than 6 of them if he didn't strike out so many Yankees.

4. The Native Americans got 2-out hits in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd innings.  Quite the conundrum.  If the Yankees want to make the Playoffs this year they are going to have to close out innings when there is no one on and 2 outs.

5. During the broadcast of game as seen on Fox Sports 1 by those of us in Ohio, Paul O'Neill told a great story about Joe DiMaggio.  I will paraphrase here, but basically after being traded to the Yankees from Cincinnati, he had requested the bat boy to get Joey D to sign a bat for him during the Old Timer's Day festivities in 1993.  The bat boy returned saying that Mr. DiMaggio had refused to sign one for him.  Well, Paul O'Neill won the AL batting title in 1994 so at the 1995 Old Timer's Day, Joltin' Joe shows up at Paul's locker and asked him if he still wanted that autograph.  Pretty cool.

What a weird looking bat boy!

6. Nothing like breaking up a perfect game with a HBP!  Great job Cervelli! I bet it hurt though.

7. Corey Kluber goes 3-1/3 with a no-hitter before Ellsbury breaks it up.  What's with pitchers lately and no-hitters or perfect games into the middle portion of the game?  Justin Verlander went 3-2/3 innings the other day against the Yankees.  This time however, Kluber got the win.  A few outings ago, Kluber threw a complete game against the Mariners throwing only 85 pitches total.  Today he was at 85 pitches in 4-2/3 innings.  That would seemingly show that the Yankees were getting walks, hits, and runs, but NAY...it was not so...in fact Kluber over his last 31 innings has only given up 1 earned run. Impressive!

8. #3,431 was an infield hit for Jeter.  I unfortunately watched the game on DVR so was a little bit behind everyone else in the celebration of the Captain taking over 6th place on the all-time hits list surpassing Honus Wagner, but I managed to grab a screen capture of my TV during the event.  Jeter has been entering the hallowed zone of Major League Baseball surpassing the likes of Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, etc...  One notable about Wagner is that he was one of the original inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame along with Walter Johnson, Christy Matthewson, Ty Cobb, and Herman "Babe" Ruth.

Just before the momentous occasion. (Photo Credit: ME)

9. The ball hit by Jeter was kept in play for the next batter.  Jacoby Ellsbury promptly got a bloop single.  After that I believe the Native Americans wanted to get the ball to Jeter to get rid of the luck.

10. Brandon McCarthy still pitched well.   Any other day he probably would have gotten a win...but not on a day in which Corey Kluber was pitching.

11. Why won't the Yankees listen to me and just walk Brantley????  I'm getting a little frustrated quite frankly.  He once again goes 3 for 4 with a monstrous home run that hit the top of the fair pole.  Sigh.

12. The Yankees were 0 for 9 with Runners in Scoring Position.  That's pretty pathetic.  What's even worse is that 6 of those were the way of strikeouts.  They were struck out 10 times by Kluber and 15 total.