Friday, August 17, 2012

How Many Runs Should Have Been Earned?

"I don't care what the rules say, no earned runs is stupid."

How did the Red Sox earn 4 runs off of Phil Hughes?

That question comes to mind after hearing numerous people say that it's laughable that Phil Hughes did not technically give up an earned run this evening. Going on to say that the rules are stupid. While I understand that Phil gave up a home run, which is indeed an earned run (no matter what the rules say), that earned run does come with an assumption. That assumption is that Dustin Pedroia would have hit a home run in his next at bat, regardless of when that at bat came. We all know that hitters change their approach depending on the situation (number of outs, men on base, score, etc), but let's assume the batters following that error did the same with their at bat, and find out what the 3rd and 4th innings would have looked like had Hughes not made that error.

3rd Inning
1. Mike Aviles singles on a line drive to center fielder Curtis Granderson.
2. Scott Podsednik reaches on a force attempt, throwing error by pitcher Phil Hughes. Mike Aviles to 3rd. Scott Podsednick hits a ground ball to Phil Hughes. Mike Aviles out at 2B, Scott Podsednik out at 1B. 2 outs.
3. Pedro Ciriaco grounds into a force out, shortstop Jayson Nix to second baseman Robinson Cano first baseman Nick Swisher. 3 outs.

I'm assuming no error by Jayson Nix on his throw to Swisher at 1B, instead of to Cano at 2B. So in that case no runs score.

4th Inning
1. Jacoby Ellsbury walks.
2. Carl Crawford pops out to third baseman Casey McGehee in foul territory. 1 out.
3. Dustin Pedroia homers (10) on a fly ball to left field. Pedro Ciriaco scores. Jacoby Ellsbury scores.
4. Adrian Gonzalez lines out to first baseman Nick Swisher. 2 outs.
5. Cody Ross strikes out swinging. 3 outs.

So after doing a lot of assuming, the most runs I believe you can hang on Phil Hughes in that game are 2. Not 4. And a pitching line of 7IP, 4H, 2ER, 1BB, and 4K is pretty darn good to me. Especially for a guy that came into this season as the 5th starter.

Oh, and that's assuming Phil wouldn't have gone any deeper into the game, seeing as how he would have thrown a lot less pitches through those 7 innings.

In summary, get off Phil's back!

"Thanks, bro."

Red Sox @ Yankees 8/17/12

Update:

Mark Teixeira sits because his wrist that made him sit out a few games is still bothering him. With such a comfortable lead it is a luxury to be able to sit him so if it gets him healthy for playoff time let him sit all weekend and until the off day for all I care. 

Swisher bombs one to put the Yankees up 1-0

The Grandy Man Can!!! 2-0 Yanks

Russell Martin can too!!! 3-0 Yanks

Jeter bomb ties it up at 4!!!

Jayson CLUTCH Nix with a go ahead RBI single. 5-4 Yanks!

Swisher homers from the other side of the plate! 6-4 Yanks!

Yankees win 6-4


The Yankees will host a three game weekend series against the Boston Red Sox starting tonight at Yankees Stadium. The Yankees are fresh off of taking three out of four games against the AL West leading and two time defending American League champion Texas Rangers while the Red Sox barely held off a sweep by the hands of the pesky Baltimore Orioles. On the mound tonight for the Yankees will be Phil Hughes who will need to keep the ball down and in the ball park to stand a chance. Opposing Hughes will be left handed starter Franklin Morales for the Red Sox. The game will be televised at 7:05 pm ET on the YES Network and on MLB Network's Friday Night Baseball.

Lineups

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


Go Yankees!!

MLB To Test Expanded Instant Replay In Yankees Stadium


MLB announced that they have two different sets of instant replay that will be tested out this season. The Yankees will have the luxury of being one of the two lucky teams to have this experimented on in their stadium. The system will only be tested and not actually used in games but it is a step in the right direction regardless.

The current system only covers fair and foul balls and home run calls but with this new system everything would be available to replay to a degree. I am sure you would still not have the strikes and balls being under reviewed but those details will come if this experiment goes well. If it does we could see this implemented as soon as next season league wide which would be fun.

Sewing Up The AL East
















Let us pretend that the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays both will not have historic come backs and go from  cellar dwelling below .500 teams and win the division. Let us pretend that the only real threats to the Yankees and their division championship hopes and dreams are the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles, in that order. Do either team really have a shot at making up a 6 game differential between today and the beginning of October? Let us look...

Team Batting Average

Yankees .267 (5th in AL)
Orioles .244 (11th)
Rays .234 (12th)

Team On Base Percentage

Yankees .337 (3rd in AL)
Rays .313 (11th)
Orioles .307 (12th)

Team Slugging

Yankees .460 (1st in AL)
Orioles .408 (8th)
Rays .374 (13th)

Team OPS

Yankees .798 (1st in AL)
Orioles .715 (11th)
Rays .687 (13th)

Team Home Runs

Yankees 181  (1st in AL)
Orioles 147 (4th )
Rays 110 (10th)

Ok so no shockers here. No one is going to out hit the Yankees this season whether it be April, June, or October. Pitching wins championships though so let us look at some pitching statistics.

Team ERA

Rays 3.29 (1st in AL)
Yankees 3.81 (4th)
Orioles 4.06 (8th)

Team Saves

Orioles 39 (T-1st in AL)
Rays 39 (T-1st in AL)
Yankees 37 (3rd)

Batting Average Against

Rays .232 (1st in AL)
Yankees .257 (9th)
Orioles .259 (10th)

Team WHIP

Rays 1.20(1st in AL)
Yankees 1.29 (6th)
Orioles 1.33 (10th)

Let the arguments begin. The Rays can make the case that their offensive numbers would look better had they had Evan Longoria int he lineup all season. We could make the argument that our pitching numbers would look better without Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, Michael Pineda, and CC Sabathia missing significant time. The fact of the matter is though that the Rays have Longoria back, regardless of being 100%, and we are not getting Mariano or Pineda back. The Rays scare me and they should scare you. 

Our lead is not as comfortable as you may think....

Team Run Differential

Orioles have scored 496 runs and allowed 540 runs
TRD = -44

Rays have scored 484 runs and allowed 435 runs
TRD= +49

Yankees have scored 586 runs and allowed 483 runs
TRD= +103

Or maybe it is....





Joba Chamberlain Appreciation Post


Joba Chamberlain has come back way ahead of schedule from his Tommy John surgery that he had to repair his ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow. On top of that he also had a dislocated ankle caused by a trampoline incident. Some gave him hell about the trampoline accident but as a father myself I do not blame him at all. If my son thought it would be a good idea to jump off the roof into the pool and it would get a smile out of him I would at least consider it...

With that said this post was made to show our appreciation for Joba. This post was not make just for his on the field actions but his off the field actions as well. No one makes it back from two major surgeries unless they just go all out on rehab and conditioning and have the will to do it. Not only did Joba come back and make our "specialist" bullpen a hell of a lot more versatile and nasty he also showed he has that fire and that determination that any Yankees fan should admire.

Let us look at Joba's very small sample size of a 2012 season as of 8/16:




0-0 Win/Loss Record
4.2 IP 
3.86 K/9 
1.93 HR/9
72.9 LOB %
45.0 GB %
7.71 ERA
6.31 FIP
-0.1 WAR 
1 HOLD
2 K's
2.36 WHIP
.409 BAA



Joba is healthy and throwing the ball in the upper 90's again which is a great sign. He is getting major league batters out with strike outs and ground balls which is an even better sign. These stats look horrible right now but no one expects them to stay anywhere near these levels, not that they are important. What is important is he actually WANTS to be here and play professional baseball and that is the only sign I need. Thank you Joba now let's go get that ring!