Thursday, May 31, 2012

Yankees Draft 2012 : Ty Moore


Being Borrowed From River Avenue Blues

The 2012 amateur draft is less than one week away, so between now and then I’m going to highlight some prospects individually rather than lump them together into larger posts.

(Luis Sinco/The LA Times)
Ty Moore | OF
Background
A Southern California kid from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Moore stole the show at the National High School Invitational in North Carolina this spring. He has a strong commitment to UCLA.
Scouting Report
Listed at 6-foot-1 and 190 lbs., Moore isn’t a bat-first prospect. He’s a bat-only prospect. Despite an unorthodox setup and swing — he waggles the bat and uses an extreme toe-tap — Moore consistently squares the ball up from the left side and his best tool is his above average power. He’s relegated to left field because he’s not fleet of foot and doesn’t control the arm strength that allows him to pitch in the low-80s. Moore draws rave reviews for his makeup and all-out style of play, and he’s developed a reputation for being a big game player thanks in part to his excellent showings against top competition in showcase events.
Up Next
Even though he can hit, Moore is expected to be drafted somewhere in the 6th-8th round because he doesn’t provide any defensive value. The unorthodox hitting mechanics are another negative, at least in the sense that “it looks different and therefore must be bad.” You want late round picks to be able to do at least one thing well and he does just take with the bat. With slot money after the fifth round in the sub-$200k range, there’s a strong likelihood that Moore will end up in school next spring. If the Yankees decide to save some draft pool money by taking a few college seniors in the 9th or 10th round, someone like Moore would be an excellent place to reallocate the funds.

Yankees Draft 2012 : J.O. Berrios


Being Borrowed From River Avenue Blues

The 2012 amateur draft is less than one week away, so between now and then I’m going to highlight some prospects individually rather than lump them together into larger posts.
Jose Orlando (J.O.) Berrios | RHP
Background
It’s a strong year for Puerto Rico, with infielder Carlos Correa in the mix to go first overall. Berrios attends Papa Juan XXIII High School and is expected to be the first pitcher from the island selected next week. He’s committed to Miami Dade College, a two-year school.
Scouting Report
Standing 6-foot-1 and 180 lbs. after spending the last few months working with a trainer, Berrios sits anywhere from 90-95 with his fastball and has legitimately run it up to 98 at times this spring. A power low-80s slider is his top secondary offering and he’s made progress with a fading changeup. Berrios throws strikes because he’s athletic and has a smooth and repeatable delivery. It’s worth noting that he just turned 18 last weekend and is young for the draft class.
Miscellany
MLB.com (#45), Baseball America (#49), and Keith Law (#79) all ranked Berrios as a sandwich/second round talent recently. The present stuff is among the best in the draft class but he doesn’t offer a ton of projection given his size. Law mentioned that the Yankees were focusing on arms yesterday, specifically Berrios and some other high schoolers. They’d likely have to grab him with their first rounder (#30 overall) rather than wait for their two second rounders (#89 and #94 overall), meaning Berrios would only be the second prep pitcher taken with the top pick under scouting director Damon Oppenheimer (Gerrit Cole in 2008). I’m a fan.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Trade Deadline - Where to start?


Defensively the Yankees are doing a pretty good job this season. They currently rank 4th in the American League with a UZR/150 of 4.5 (the Rays are 1st with an 8.8, the Angels are 2nd with a 6.7, and the Red Sox are 3rd with a 5.2). Although that may be good enough I don't think anybody would be opposed to them getting even better. And in a week or so, that's just what could happen. Brett Gardner should return about then, assuming he doesn't suffer another setback, and will take over in LF for Raul Ibanez/Andruw Jones. That will help make the team defense even better.

Neither Ibanez nor Jones could make that type of catch.

If I were to tell you the Yankees made a trade for a catcher that would rank 4th in the American League in batting average, 4th in the AL in on-base percentage, and 5th in the league in slugging percentage, you'd be pleased, right? Well, what if I told you that the team doesn't have to give up a thing to get that man?

Going off of what Russell Martin did last season, and figuring in what he's already done this year, Martin is looking at a triple-slash the rest of the year of .257/.326/.436. Of course, there's no guarantee that Russell could do that, but it's not like .237/.324/.408 is a final line that's unattainable. I've already written way too much about Martin, which includes pointing out his tiny .213 BABIP so far this season, and I think he's due for a correction.

I can't believe I've said this much about Martin without mentioning his model girlfriend.

As for starters, I'm not sure the Yankees will have a need for one of those either. Let's take a look at what the starters have done lately, while ignoring CC Sabathia because... well... he's fine and not going anywhere.

In his last six starts Hiroki Kuroda only has 3 quality starts, which came against the Orioles, Athletics, and Mariners. One of those non-quality starts was a 5.1 inning performance against the Royals, in which Hiro gave up 3 earned runs on 7 hits and 3 walks. It may not have technically been a quality start, but it still should have been good enough for the Yankees to win. The bullpen uncharacteristically gave up 3 runs, while the offense couldn't put a single run on the board. Kuroda's 4.1 innings of 2-earned run ball wasn't of the "quality" variety either, but I still think the team had a good chance of pulling that one out. The bats could only score once, while the bullpen gave up a couple of runs. So really, only one of his starts in the past six was truly bad (7 earned runs in 5 innings against the Blue Jays on May 16th).

Trash-talk Hiroki again and this is what will happen to you.

In his four starts this season, Andy Pettitte hasn't thrown less than 6.1 innings. Even in Andy's start Tuesday night, in which the Angels scored 5 earned runs, Pettitte was able to give the team 7 innings. And the offense had a few opportunities to put some crooked numbers on the scoreboard but failed. Due to a few stats I expect batters to start hitting Andrew Eugene better, including a BABIP of .269, LD% of 14 vs. a career mark of 21, a slightly higher strikeout rate than his career average, and he's walking a few less hitters than he has in the past. But I don't expect Andy to pitch himself out of the postseason rotation either.

Ivan Nova has been a mess. His ERA currently sits at 5.46, with a WHIP of 1.571. Ivan has given up 5 earned runs in 3 of his last 5 starts. Nova's 7 inning start against the Rays on May 8th, in which he gave up only 2 earned runs and struck out 8 vs. walking 2, showed that he's still capable of pitching well. But I really think the Ivan Nova we look back on after the 2012 season is going to be very much different than the one we see now. Ivan's BABIP against is currently .369, which is pretty high. Looking at his ratio pitching stats, Nova is even striking out more batters than he did in his first 2 seasons, and walking less batters. And while batters are hitting him a bit harder, with a line drive percentage of 22% vs. a career percentage of 18%, that's not that big a difference.

After his first five starts of 2012 it looked like Phil Hughes was going to be a reliever again. Hughes had an ERA of 7.48 after starting his 5th game against Baltimore. Another bad indicator was that he was throwing a ton of pitches (a little under 21 pitches/inning). But since that start against the Orioles Phil's ERA has dropped to 5.64, which isn't great but shows improvement. I've already used BABIP against twice, so I may as well point out that hitters have a .319 mark against Phil, so they've been a bit lucky. But like Ivan, Phil is striking out more batters, and walking less. And what's even crazier is that batters have a line-drive percentage against Hughes of 16%, which is 4 points less than his career mark. The only thing really going wrong for Phil is that the hits he is giving up just hurt that much more.

I'm not sure what's going on either, hot chick

Even though it looks to me that the team could get by just fine with the starters it currently has, I can't argue that it wouldn't be nice to have a strong #2 behind Sabathia. The problem with that is it would cost the team quite a bit to acquire that guy in a trade, which would be fine if the player traded for would be around for a few more years. I mean, if the team is going to trade away good young talent, I don't want them to only get a half year out of the deal (one reason I'm okay with the Mariners backing out of the Jesus Montero for Cliff Lee trade). However, what about Michael Pineda? Not that he's a sure-thing to return and be the second part of that 1-2 punch with CC, but he shouldn't be disregarded either. Then the Yanks have Phil possibly getting back to being a good young pitcher, Ivan Nova being a strong middle of the rotation hurler, and then youngsters like Manny Baneulos. David Phelps, Adam Warren, Dellin Betances, and DJ Mitchell.

So it doesn't look like the team needs to make a deadline deal at all. If the right trade comes along, then great. But I'm not about to start dreaming about Brian Cashman making a big splash before August 1st.

"I'm going to spend the entire month of July learning how to bartend" - Brian Cashman

Yankees @ Angels 5/30/12

Yankees Win 6-5


Ivan Nova tries to stop the bleeding, and the mini losing streak, against the Anaheim Angels of Orange County of Disney Land of Anaheim of the greater Los Angeles Area. Ervin Santana will be on the mound for the Angels against Ivan Nova for the Yankees. The game will be televised on ESPN 2 and YES at 10:05 pm ET. 

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Raul Ibanez LF
Nick Swisher RF
Eric Chavez DH
Russell Martin C



Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Yankees @ Angels 5/29/12

UPDATE:

Angels win 5-1


Andy Pettitte has looked great in his previous two starts coming off a year + layoff. He pitches again tonight for the Yankees and faces Angels hurler Dan Haren. The game will be televised on YES and MLB Network at 10:00 pm ET. Lineups to follow.

In other news the Yankees claimed Ryota Igarashi off waivers and have sent him to AAA Empire State Yankees. I know the moniker of "never too much pitching" but you can have too much pitching when you only have so many roster spots. This Scrubs R Us thing is really starting to get old... and it is worrying me that some of our AAA starters are going bye bye in July.  

Who Is Roy Oswalt?


Brad Myers moved to the 60 day DL to make room for Igarashi on the 40 man roster.

The Yankee Destroyer?


There seems to be a bit of confusion regarding my The Better Choice post, in which I point out that Russell Martin is superior to Chris Stewart. Some people have taken it to mean I believe Martin is good. I don't.

As for his defense, I think he's a fine catcher. Not "good" or "great", but "fine". I mean, the guy's not Jorge Posada back there, but he's not Jose Molina either. So far this season he's tied for 1st in MLB Fielding Percentage, at .997. His caught stealing percentage is only 14th in MLB at 25.9%, which is below average for qualified catchers, but keep in mind that his mark is still 28 points higher than the aforementioned Jose Molina. I'd like to see somebody a bit better defensively back there, but I don't think he creates a merry-go-round on the base-paths due to stolen bases.

No matter what, though, Jorge is still awesome.

When it comes to hitting Russell Martin definitely falls in the "not good" category. His wOBA is .308, which is 10th in MLB out of 14 qualified catchers. That includes the lowest batting average, and second-lowest slugging percentage. But, for starters, out of the nine catchers ahead of him in wOBA, six of them hit 6th in their team's batting lineup or higher. And, like I said in that Better Choice post, Martin bats 8th in the Yankee lineup (when the team is healthy). Unlike Joe Mauer who bats 3rd in the Twins' lineup, Carlos Santana who bats 4th in the Indians' lineup, or Matt Wieters who bats 5th in the Orioles' lineup, Russell is not leaned on to manufacture runs for the Yankees. That's not to say Martin never bats in key situations, or doesn't ever kill rallies, but the Yankees can score plenty of runs in spite of him.

By the way, I'm aware of his game-tying 2-run double in last night's game.

Yeah, I'm going to need you to do more than that.

I have no problem with the Yankees exploring other catchers in the trade market, or looking to replace Russell for 2013. But as of right now he's not the Yankee Destroyer from within that some fans make him out to be.

Napoli may be a free agent next year, but I doubt the Rangers will deal him. :(

Monday, May 28, 2012

Series Awards: @ Oakland, 5/25 - 5/27

Jake Taylor Award
Coming into this series with Oakland Mark Teixeira was batting .226/.291/.381, which was a far cry from his career marks of .281/.371/.530, or even his line of .265/.359/.510 with the Yankees. Now, I can't say he's turned the corner, but Tex did go 8-for-14 against the Athletics, with 3 home runs, 3 doubles, 3 runs scored, and 7 RBI. Let's hope he can keep that up.

Gentry Award
I can't believe it myself, but this award goes to Derek Jeter. The Captain went 3-for-14, without a base hit. Derek did have a run scored and 2 RBI in the second game, but his batting average fell from .348 to .338.

Rick Vaughn Award
Although he wasn't awful in his last start, Hiroki Kuroda did win the Kelner Award in the series against the Royals. And in typical inconsistent fashion, Hiro threw a gem Sunday night. He went 8 innings, giving up only 4 hits and a walk, while striking out 3. Need further proof that he roughed up the As? Look at his total pitches thrown... 104.

Kelner Award
NOBODY. That's right. With all the hubbub about the Yankees inability to pitch well, not a single starter or reliever had what anyone could call a "bad" outing. I know it's just Oakland, who have scored the fewest runs in the American League, but that's still pretty impressive.

--------------------

*The awards are named after one of the best baseball movies of all time... Major League.

Jake Taylor Award - Awarded to the most valuable position player. Named after the hard-nose veteran catcher that, despite making the league minimum, was the heart and soul of the 1989 American League East winning Cleveland Indians.

Gentry Award - Awarded to the least valuable position player. Named after the very first man cut from the 1989 Cleveland Indians, #47 Gentry. A man so insignificant he wasn't even given a first name.

Rick Vaughn - Awarded to the best pitcher in the series. This one is, of course, named after the "Wild Thing". The man that made Clu Haywood look silly in the division deciding game.

Kelner Award - Awarded to the worst pitcher in the series. Named after the Opening Day starter for the '89 Indians. Not a good game for Mr. Kelner, as Indians' announcer Harry Doyle famously quipped "thank God" after Kelner left the game. And yet another bad player without a first name.

Yankees @ Angel's 5/28/12

Angels walk off in a wild game and win 9-8


Phil Hughes tries to keep his streak of good starts going, this time against a good team, tonight when he faces off against the Anaheim Angels of Orange County of California of Disney Land of the greater Los Angeles area. He will be facing off against Mr No Hitter 2012 Jered Weaver at 9:00 pm ET on MLB Network. Lineups:

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Raul Ibanez LF
Nick Swisher RF
Eric Chavez DH
Russell Martin C

In honor of getting greedy....



Exclusive Interview W/ Tyler Austin


If some of you guys missed it a few weeks back we interviewed Tyler Austin's mother, Kim Austin, and apparently hit it off well because we used her as a contact to get an interview with her son Tyler. As you all know, or should know, Tyler is the latest Yankees super prospect that is just simply tearing up the minor leagues with the Charleston Riverdogs. We asked him everything from questions about his childhood, a battle with cancer, his minor league baseball life, and when he plans on hitting some of those bombs in Yankees Stadium. Enjoy the read!

TheGreedyPinstripes: Was your dream as a child always to be a baseball player? If not then what did you want to be when you grew up? 
Tyler Austin : Yes sir I've always wanted to be a pro ball player.  

TGP: What team did you root for growing up as a kid?
TA: Yankees  
TGP: Favorite player(s) growing up?
TA: Derek Jeter and Andrew Jones 

TGP: Your biggest inspiration when it came to baseball? 
TA: Was  inspired from people telling me I couldn't do it my whole life. And I don't take no for answer so when people would say that it drove me even more to make my dreams come true.  

TGP: Did you have a preference to what team you wanted to sign with?  
TA: No sir I didn't really care where I went. But it made it even sweeter cause it was with the Yankees who have always been my favorite team.  

TGP: What a lot of people did not know, including myself , was that you were a center fielder as a young player. Did you always want to be an outfielder for the Yankees? 
TA: I didn't really care where they put me. No matter where it is I'm gonna go out each and every day and give it everything I have.  

TGP: Whose idea/call was it to make you a corner infielder rather then an outfielder? 
TA: I'm not sure whose idea it was. 

TGP: How hard is it being away from your significant other while on the road and such? 
TA: It's really hard being away from my family and girlfriend. But I talk to them every night and just thankful I have them in my life and supporting me through my good times and bad.  

TGP: Favorite moment as a Yankees prospect? 
TA: Winning the new York penn league championship last season   

TGP: Who was the best prospect in the Yankees system that you ever played with? 
TA: Mason Williams  

TGP: Do you keep in touch with any other current or former Yankees prospects or coaches? 
TA: Yeas sir I do  

TGP: Hardest part of being a prospect? 
TA: nothing is really hard about it. I still have to go out there and play each and every game the right way no matter if I am a prospect or I'm not. 

 TGP: A lot of people dont know you battled cancer, so first off congrats on beating that, how was that whole experience?
TA: Thank you!! It was tuff going through that I was only 18 years old and didn't really know how to handle something like that at such a young age. But I just kept faith in the lord and new everything would be ok if I kept the faith in him.  

TGP: Most famous person in your cell phone? 
TA: Justin Maxwell  

TGP: Most embarrassing song/artist in your ipod?
TA: Baby by just Bebier haha 

I want to thank Mr. Austin for taking the time out for a lowly blogger and huge fan. I was like a kid in a candy store typing up the questions to send him and typing this interview out. I was like an anxious kid who could not wait to go to the toy store this weekend while waiting for him to fill it out. It was well worth the wait! Thank you again Mr. Austin and thank you to Tyler's Mom, Mrs. Kim Austin, for being such a kind and giving person (well and for having Tyler lol).

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Yankees @ A's 5/27/12

UPDATE: 

Andruw Jones solo home run 1-0 Yanks

Mark Teixeira hits an RBI double for insurance to knock out Tommy Malone. 2-0 Yanks

Kuroda pitches 8 shut out innings and Soriano comes in to get his 5th save of the season in a 2-0 Yankees win and a Yankees sweep. 

Its amazing how well Kuroda pitches against a National League style and type lineup huh?


The Yankees go for the sweep this afternoon in Oakland when Hiroki Kuroda takes on Tommy Milone in the rubber match of this three game series. The game will be televised on YES and will come on at 4:05 pm ET. 

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Andruw Jones DH
Jayson Nix LF
Chris Stewart C



Saturday, May 26, 2012

UFC 146


Yes I know that this is a Yankees blog but the Yankees game is over, it is Saturday night, and if you are anything like me you have nothing better to do tonight. Im pretty excited about this one because it is all heavyweights on the card. The main event is Junior Dos Santos and Frank Mir fighting in the Octagon for the Heavyweight Championship. 

Who do I think is going to win you ask? I'm glad you asked... because I take any opportunity to bash Frank Mir because I hate the guy.  The WINNER....AND STIIIIILLLL Heavyweight Champion... Junior Dos Santos!!!



Yankees @ A's 5/26/12

UPDATE:

Yanks go quietly in the Top of the 1st. Johnny Gomes added an RBI single in the first to put the A's up 1-0 over the Yanks. 

Cano hits his 7th home run to tie the game at 1 run a piece. 

Jeter puts the Yankees ahead with an RBI single scoring Eric Chavez

Josh Reddick strikes again with another home run. 2-2 tie

You're On The Mark... Teixeira... 3-2 Yankees lead

Alex Rodriguez sac fly adds a run , making it 4-2 Yanks. Mark Teixeira looks like he is heating up and adds a two run single to put the Yanks up 6-2 after 5 IP. 

Derek Jeter hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to give the Yankees their 7th run. Teix adds a two run home run in the 9th to make it 9-2 Yanks

Yanks win 9-2


The Yankees have a quick turn around with their night game last night and having an afternoon game today. Nonetheless the Yankees will send workhorse CC Sabathia to mound to once again be the Yankees ace and keep the win streak alive. Facing the Yankees ace is former Yankee SP Bartolo "Fat Joe" Colon . The game will be on at 4:05 pm ET and will be televised on YES


Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Raul Ibanez LF
Nick Swisher RF
Eric Chavez 3B
Chris Stewart C

So much for this "Chris Stewart is not CC Sabathia's personal catcher" mess huh?

The Better Choice

Player A
This guy is 30 years old, played 6 seasons in MLB with a total of 271 plate appearances in 104 games. His triple-slash in MLB is .206/.272/.288, while averaging just 5 HR per 162 games. In 34 PAs over 11 games this season he's hitting .242/.265/.273, with 1 extra-base hit (a double).

Player B
This guy is 29 years old, and has played 7 years in MLB with a total of 3,323 plate appearances over the course of 830 games. His MLB career triple-slash is .263/.357/.395, while averaging 15 HR per 162 games. In 134 plate appearances in 38 games this season he's hitting .173/.321/.318, with 8 extra-base hits (4 doubles and 4 homers).

Going by their career numbers it's clear who you'd want to be in the lineup more often. The low SLG by Player B is not attractive, but he's certainly the better choice over Player A and his triple-slash of .206/.265/.288.

Who is it?

If you were to take the hot hitter though, who would you want? A guy with a triple-slash of .242/.265/.273 is hardly a great choice, but when you see that Player B has a batting average so far this season of .173 the choice doesn't seem that hard. But how can you ignore an OBP that's 66 points higher? And what about the fact that Player B also has a SLG 45 points higher (although it's nothing spectacular)? The hotter hitter is probably Player B too.

So why is it that some Yankee fans are clamoring for Player A to get more playing time? The short answer... I haven't a clue. I really don't get it. I mean, I'm all for trying to improve wherever possible, but the fact is the Yankees can either use Player A or Player B... there is no Player C. Those that could be considered "Player C" are not only in the minors, but they aren't exactly tearing things up there either.

"I don't get it. I mean... are they cute?"

And keep in mind that this is in regards to a guy that regularly hits 8th or 9th in the lineup. So it's not like the offense is leaning on the guy in this position to carry the offensive load.

If you haven't guessed who Player A and Player B are by this point, then shame on you. Then again we're only talking about Chris Stewart and Russell Martin, so I can't blame you for not caring. Because you really shouldn't care. No matter who starts behind the dish for the team, it doesn't matter a whole hell of a lot. The offense doesn't need them to pick up a slumping offense, or at least they shouldn't need that. The offense needs Mark Teixeira to hit better than .226, they need Alex Rodriguez to have a SLG higher than .444, and they need Nick Swisher to get on base more than 30% of the time.

"My bad"

Russell Martin will get better. Will he hit well enough to garner MVP votes? God no! But when Brian Cashman re-signed him for Joe Girardi and the 2012 Yankees, he didn't do so thinking Russ was a guy that made a good offense great. Martin is there because he's a fine defensive catcher, and the pitchers seem to like him (CC may be the exception). And it didn't cost an arm and a leg, in terms of dollars and years, in order to bring him back to the team either. 

It's no surprise that some Yankee fans are going to get upset over every little thing. But let's use a little more perspective, what do you say?

Friday, May 25, 2012

Yankees @ A's 5/25/12

UPDATE: 

Holy Home Run Fest!!!

Robinson Cano plated Curtis Granderson on an error with 2 outs by Coco Crisp to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead and keep the inning alive. The next batter, Mark Teixeira, hit a two run home run to put the Yankees up 3-0.

Josh Reddick hit his 12th home run of the season, off Ivan Nova, to bring the A's back to 3-1. 

Robinson Cano got into the homer fest with his own solo shot to make it 4-0 Yanks.

Swisher, the former A, went the other way and out for a two run home run to put the Yankees up for good at 6-1

The Yankees win 6-3 with Rafael Soriano's 4th save of the season.



Welcome to West Coast baseball and late starts and REALLY late endings to games. Tonight the Yankees face the Oakland A's for the first game in a three game series. Ivan Nova will be on the mound for the Yankees and facing Tyson Ross for the A's. The game will be televised on YES at 10:05 pm ET.

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Raul Ibanez LF
Nick Swisher RF
Eric Chavez DH
Russell Martin C

Yankees Sign John Maine


Yankees have signed former Mets starting pitcher John Maine to a minor league deal. Undoubtedly he will be going to AAA Empire State Yankees. I never have a problem with a minor league deal on a guy who has recently had a lot of success so I am in total agreement with this signing. That does not mean I think he will even make the team before September but it never hurts to try to catch lightning in a bottle. 

Series Awards: vs. Royals, 5/21 - 5/23


Jake Taylor Award
Alex Rodriguez - ARod went 2-for-4 in Game 1, which included a double. It was good to see Alex hit something other than a single, but it's the long-ball that fans are clamoring for. He couldn't come up with anything more than a single in Game 2, either. But in Game 3 Rodriguez finally broke out and hit a couple of bombs to lead the Yankees to victory.

Gentry Award
Nick Swisher - Nick went the entire three-game series without a hit. In fact, he was only able to draw one walk in Game 3, while striking out 3 times in Game 1, and K-ing once more in Game 2. A low batting average is not that big a surprise for Swish, but an OBP of .304 is just not him.

Rick Vaughn Award
Andy Pettitte - It wasn't as good as his last outing against the Reds, but this time Andy was able to give the team 7 innings of 2-run ball. And he did so while striking out 8 hitters, and walked only one.

Kelner Award
Hiroki Kuroda - He really didn't pitch that badly. In 5.1 innings Hiro gave up 3 runs on 7 hits, while striking out 4 and walking 3. Okay... not a good start. But it wasn't awful either. At least not "get red-tagged by the Cleveland Indians during Spring Training" bad.

--------------------

*The awards are named after one of the best baseball movies of all time... Major League.

Jake Taylor Award - Awarded to the most valuable position player. Named after the hard-nose veteran catcher that, despite making the league minimum, was the heart and soul of the 1989 American League East winning Cleveland Indians.

Gentry Award - Awarded to the least valuable position player. Named after the very first man cut from the 1989 Cleveland Indians, #47 Gentry. A man so insignificant he wasn't even given a first name.

Rick Vaughn - Awarded to the best pitcher in the series. This one is, of course, named after the "Wild Thing". The man that made Clu Haywood look silly in the division deciding game.

Kelner Award - Awarded to the worst pitcher in the series. Named after the Opening Day starter for the '89 Indians. Not a good game for Mr. Kelner, as Indians' announcer Harry Doyle famously quipped "thank God" after Kelner left the game. And yet another bad player without a first name.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

What's Next For Andy?


Soon.

Things are looking great so far for Andy Pettitte and the Yankees. After three starts Andy has thrown 21.1 innings to a 2.53 ERA and 1.078 WHIP. Looking at the total stats for Yankee starters, and ignoring the fact that Pettitte has only started 3 games versus 8 to 9 for the other guys, he's leading the team in ERA, WHIP, Hits/9, Walks/9, and Strikeout/Walk. In fact, Mike from River Avenue Blues went as far as to say "if the Yankees were going to start a best-of-five playoff series today, Andy would be my number two starter".

But I can't look past the fact that Andy has thrown against the Mariners, Reds, and Royals. Seattle and Kansas City are 10th and 11th in the American League, and Cincinnatti is 12th in the National League, in runs scored. Not that I believe anybody expects Andy to keep a 2.53 ERA all season long, but perhaps we're all feeling a false sense of security. What do some of Pettitte's "other" stats look like?

Sooner.

For starters, hitters are getting a bit unlucky against Andrew Eugene. The MLB average Batting Average on Balls in Play this season is .298, and Andy's career BABIP is .312. Which has led batters to have a triple-slash against Pettitte of only .234/.280/.390, which are 37, 45, and 8 points below his averages. So far it looks like we're in for a bit of a correction, and in a bad way.

In his career Andy has struck out batters 17.1% of the time, and walked batters 7.4% of the time. In his three starts this season he's striking out 22.9% of hitters, and walking only 6% of hitter. Not a huge difference, but this too leads me to believe his 2.53 ERA is a bit of a mirage.

Batters are also hitting a lot more ground balls against Andy. In 16 MLB seasons Andy gave up ground balls in 48.6% of at bats, while in 2012 hitters are putting the ball on the ground 56.1% of the time. Which has led to him getting more double plays than normal too (25% vs. 13%). But there have been only 12 double play opportunities with Pettitte on the mound this season, against 2,561 opportunities in his career. So chances are we're going to see a few more fly balls hit off of Andy, and fly balls tend to lead to more hits against a pitcher.

Here it comes.

Which leads me to the one stat that makes me believe that Andy isn't due for a big-time correction... the wrong way. That would be his Home Runs/Fly Ball rate. So far this season opponent's have hit home runs on 22.2% of fly balls hit off of Andy. That is way above the MLB average this season of 7.9%, and even higher than Pettitte's career mark of 6.3%. But this isn't something that only Pettitte is suffering from, as I wrote on Monday.

To sum things up, don't be surprised if Andy starts giving up more hits, and therefore more runs. But there's no reason to expect him to drop that far either. So Andy may not be the team's #2 starter come playoff time, but he probably won't be pitching out of the bullpen either.

Gotcha!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Royals @ Yankees 5/23/12

UPDATE: 

Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez both belted home runs to put the Yankees up 3-0. Has the offense finally awoken? 

A ground ball scores Jeter with a fielders choice. Alex Rodriguez follows it up with a long solo home run, his second of the game,  to make it 5-0 Yanks.

Yankees win 8-3


The Yankees host the Royals for the rubber game of the series at the Stadium tonight at 7:05 pm ET. The game will be televised on YES and will showcase Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte pitching for the first time since he jumped out of his time machine and completely shut down the Reds for 8 shutout innings. Here is tonight's lineup.

1. Jeter SS
2. Granderson CF
3. Teixeira 1B
4. Rodriguez 3B
5. Cano 2B
6. Swisher RF
7. Jones DH
8. Martin C
9. Nix LF

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Royals @ Yankees 5/22/12

UPDATE:

The Yankees are on the board!!! Robinson Cano solo home run, his 5th, making it 2-1 Royals

Derek Jeter ties the game with an RBI single. 2-2 Tie

Granderson on an RBI ground out gives the Yankees the lead 3-2. It may be YET ANOTHER RISP fail.. but it was a productive RISP FAIL... Baby steps Yankees fans. 

Hughes probably done after 6 IP and 103 pitches. 2 runs allowed and lowered his ERA under 5. Encouraging signs coming from Hughes even if 2 of his good starts were against the Royals and the bottom dwellers of the American League

Yankees win 3-2



Tonight the Yankees will be facing the Royals in the middle game of their three game series at 7:05 pm ET on MY9 and MLB Network. I have not heard yet if the Yankees offense will be active for the game but I do know that Phil Hughes will be starting for the Yankees against the Royals worst pitcher, Luke Hochevar.

1. Jeter SS
2. Granderson CF
3. Cano 2B
4. Rodriguez 3B
5. Ibanez DH
6. Swisher RF
7. Teixeira 1B
8. Martin C
9. Wise LF



Monday, May 21, 2012

Royals @ Yankees 5/21/12

UPDATE:

Manny Banuelos' news is in, he is on the DL with left elbow soreness. You never want to hear that... and I will not even say why. I do not want to jinx it... 


Kuroda, approaching 100 pitches in the 5th inning, has allowed three runs on a two run home run and an RBI double to put the Yankees down 3-0. Where has the offense gone?


Yankees lose 6-0


How Do You Say "Consistency" In Japanese?

The Yankees will begin to host a three game series with the Kansas City Royals at the Stadium that George Steinbrenner built (and paid for). Hiroki Kuroda will look for some sort of consistency tonight while facing Felipe Paulino at 7:05 pm ET on YES.

Here is the lineup.

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Raul Ibanez LF
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Eric Chavez 3B
Russell Martin C



Down on the farm the Yankees have placed Manny Banuelos and Eduardo Nunez on the DL. We do not know what is wrong with Manny B yet but Nunez has a hand issue.


Also in injury news David Robertson and Brett Gardner are expected to go to Tampa this week to work on their way back to the majors. 

What Is Going On?


George is turning over in his grave.

It's not a secret that the Yankee starters have not exactly been awe-inspiring so far in 2012. They are currently ranked 10th in the AL in ERA (4.16), 11th in the AL in WHIP (1.37), 11th in the AL in batting average against (.261), and 10th in FIP (4.06).

The bats seem to be pretty quiet so far this season, however I see that the team has a batting average of .266, which is 3rd in AL. On top of that the Yankees have a .337 OBP that is 3rd in the younger league, and a .452 SLG that is also 3rd in the AL. Furthermore, the offense has a wOBA of .345, which is actually good for 2nd in the league behind the Rangers. And if you look at total runs scored the Yankees are 5th in the league with 189. What it seems to come down to is a low .231 batting average with RISP, which is 12th in the American League.

"I just don't get it!'

What I'm saying is that scoring is not the problem, and not really a problem in general, even though it seems that way. I think the biggest issue for the team can be summed up by simply looking at the team rankings as far as xFIP.

Burch explained FIP, or Fielding Independent Pitching, here. Dave Studeman of  The Hardball Times developed xFIP, Expected Fielding Independent Pitching, in order to calculate a pitcher's or teams' FIP using an estimate of how many home runs a team should have allowed. And what really stood out to me was that the Yankee starters are ranked 2nd in the league, with a 3.60.

The Yankee staters have given up a total of 52 home runs, which is 2nd in the AL behind the Minnesota Twins... not the type of company a team wants to have. Taking a look at some more team pitching statistics, the Yankees are 2nd in K% in the AL at 8.6, and have a BB% of 7.9 which is better than the average AL team too.

So it's simple... limit the long balls. The question is... can the staters do that?

"I have no freakin' clue."

Well Phil Hughes currently has the highest HR/9 rate on the team at 2.18. For his career, Phil's HR/9 sits at 1.17, so he should probably see a good correction in that area. Ivan Nova is 2nd on the team in HR/9 at 1.84. Nova's career mark there is 0.95, so there should be fewer bombs off his opponents bats too. Hiroki Kuroda is currently 3rd on the team with a HR/9 of 1.69, which is much higher than his career mark of 0.88. Hiro is a fly ball pitcher though, so more HRs than his career average are expected, but probably not as many as we've seen so far. And CC Sabathia's HR/9 is at 1.12, while his career number in that category is only 0.79 (which is higher than he's ever had in 3 seasons with the Yankees).

So I'm expecting the Yankee starters to give up fewer homers than they have so far, thus helping the team win more ballgames. So at that point the only question mark the team will have will revolve around hitting with runners in scoring position.

"Maybe if I try hitting while holding the bat this way."