Kuroda Named Game 2 Starter

Hiroki Kuroda has unofficially been named tomorrow nights Game 2 starter in Yankees Stadium for the ALCS. This will be the first time that #HIROK will be going on three days rest in his career and comes after him setting a career high in innings pitched this season. I think this is a great idea because you potentially have him pitching twice, both at home, in the seven game series instead of just once. Girardi expects to announce this decision officially at the press conference before the game.

Game 2 Starter

The Yankees face a pretty tough predicament since their division series wen't five games with the Baltimore Orioles and Bud Selig and co. botched the scheduling while rushing the second wild card. They will not have a night off in between clinching the division series and starting the championship series so the ALCS will start tonight at Yankees Stadium in the Bronx. The problem with this is that the Yankees used us their ace CC Sabathia just to get here so now they are not quite sure of who their second starter is going to be.

The Yankees could bring Hiroki Kuroda back on three days rest, something he has never done in his career, after he pitched well in 105 pitches and 8.1 IP against the Orioles in game 3. He has thrown a career high in innings this season with 219.1 IP but he also has had the best season of his career to date (in the United States anyway). He either showed some signs of it catching up with him in September or he just ran into some bad luck as he was not nearly as sharp or effective as he was in the beginning of the season. Nonetheless though he pitched well in game 3 against Baltimore if you take away two solo home runs and gave his team every chance to win the game. Also you have to consider that if you wait till his normal rest day to pitch him, which would be game 4, you only get to use your second best pitcher (arguably) once in the series which is never ideal.

David Phelps could make a spot start in Game 2 after his 27 pitch appearance out of the bullpen on Thursday. This is not the most ideal situation being that he is a rookie and all but he is a better option then Ivan Nova, Freddy Garcia, or anyone else we could imagine throwing out there. Also, to note, he would be facing off against Anibal Sanchez so on paper at least you would not think you would have to throw your best starter out there to have a shot at a win. David Phelps could keep is close enough to win in my opinion but I do not know if my heart could take it.

If I am managing this team I am starting Kuroda on three days rest and seeing where it gets me. You live and die by pitching and defense in the playoffs and into the World Series so I am going to live and die by Kuroda twice at home, if necessary, then once against Max Scherzer in Comerica. We have rode Kuroda and relied on him all season so to stop now or alter that would not be a wise decision. With Kuroda in game 2 penciled in I do not see how you cannot bring CC back on three days rest for game 3 against Verlander in Comerica. That slides Phil Hughes into the 4th game against Scherzer in Comerica, which its bigger outfield should help Hughes' home run problem. Andy Pettitte comes back for game 5, Kuroda for 6, and CC in game 7 makes me type this whole thing out again when we are lining up our rotation for the World Series.

American League Championship Series Schedule

-------------------------------------------------------
Game 1 @ Yankees Stadium

10/13/12

8:07 pm ET on TBS

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

Game 2 @ Yankees Stadium

10/14/12

4:07 pm ET on TBS

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

Game 3 @ Comerica Park

10/16/12

8:07 pm ET on TBS

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

Game 4 @ Comerica Park

10/17/12

8:07 pm ET on TBS

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

Game 5 if necessary @ Comerica Park

10/18/12

4:07 pm ET on TBS

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

Game 6 if necessary @ Yankees Stadium

10/20/12

8:05 pm ET on TBS

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

Game 7 if necessary @ Yankees Stadium

10/21/12

8:15 pm ET on TBS
-------------------------------------------------------

World Series Magic Number

8 more Yankees wins for #28

Nunez Out, Nix In

By now I'm sure you've read that the Yankees have removed Eduardo Nunez from the roster for the AL Championship Series, and placed Cody Eppley on it.

Get out!

The first thing this tells me is that the team feels good about the health of Derek Jeter, who was hit in the foot by his own foul ball in Game 3. Jeter was the DH in Game 4, before returning to his rightful spot at shortstop in Game 5. There's no way the Yankees would have gone into the ALCS with only one middle infielder on the bench, if they didn't think Jeter was 100%. Then again, it would take the entire cast of The Expendables to keep Derek down.

Speaking of injuries, it also tells me that perhaps Joba Chamberlain isn't "fine", as he said after Game 5. It could have nothing to do with bringing Eppley onto the roster, but Girardi may be playing things safe by having Cody around just in case Joba goes out and his elbow explodes after throwing a pitch. Knowing what Joba's gone through, though, I tend to believe that he'll be fine if called upon tonight to pitch.

Although it would be nice to have a second middle infielder on the bench in case the worst happens, and both Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter need to be removed from a game, that's hardly a great reason to keep Nunez around. Eddie has hit .286/.289/.429 over his last 38 plate appearances, and when you add that to his issues on defense, I don't think we're really going to miss him.

"Not to mention that I'm a bad-ass."

But was it necessary to add somebody to the bullpen? In my opinion... yes and no. I know, not a great answer, but bear with me.

With Joba Chamberlain, David Phelps, and Derek Lowe, I think the bullpen had enough righties to get by. But when you look at the extreme splits that Clay Rapada and Boone Logan have, you can't argue against having another right-hander in the bullpen against a righty-heavy Detroit lineup (Prince Fielder is the only lefty I'm concerned about, although Andy Dirks does have a .322 batting average this season). Left-handed batters hit .168/.257/.236 in Rapada's career, while righties hit .342/.459/.613. Meanwhile Logan has given up a line of .246/.317/.379 to lefties, and .302/.387/.477 to righties. So there's no way I'd trust Clay or Boone against a right-handed bat, be that Miguel Cabrera or even Omar Infante.

"You talking trash about me?"

When it comes down to it, if the Yankees needed to play either Eduardo Nunez or Cody Eppley, then chances are we aren't winning that game.

As a reminder, here is the Yankees roster for the ALCS...

PITCHERS
CC Sabathia
Andy Pettitte
Hiroki Kuroda
Phil Hughes
Rafael Soriano
Dave Robertson
Boone Logan
Joba Chamberlain
Clay Rapada
Cody Eppley
David Phelps
Derek Lowe

CATCHERS
Russell Martin
Chris Stewart

INFIELDERS
Mark Teixeira
Robinson Cano
Derek Jeter
Alex Rodriguez
Eric Chavez
Jayson Nix

OUTFIELDERS
Curtis Granderson
Nick Swisher
Ichiro Suzuki
Raul Ibanez
Brett Gardner

My Thoughts After The ALDS

First of all, how awesome was CC Sabathia?

Yes, he was this awesome.

On top of only giving up only 1 run off of 4 hits, while striking out 9, CC actually faced the minimum number of batters in 7 out of 9 of his innings. Just an incredible performance by the Yankee ace. In Sabathia's two starts in the ALDS he had an ERA of 1.53, while hitters batted just .190. I believe CC threw a few pitches in the 8th inning that reached 95mph, which tells me the big guy wasn't even tired this evening. 

Although the Yankee hitters weren't nearly as awesome as CC was, 3 runs on 5 hits is an explosive performance for this team in the ALDS. Curtis Granderson, or as my partner refers to him... Kranderson, was the only player with more than one hit, one of them being a solo home run. And although Jeter failed to get a hit in a game for the first time this postseason, he still reached base on a walk in the 6th inning, and came around to score when Ichiro doubled right after him. The fact Derek was able to go from 1st to home tells me his foot is feeling just fine.

The news of the day was that Alex Rodriguez not only didn't start in the game, but he didn't make an appearance at all. But he has nowhere to complain, seeing as how he only had 2 singles in 16 at bats in the series. ARod's bat just looks incredibly slow right now, which really makes me worry about the next 5 years. Because not only could he be a black hole in the lineup, but it's not like he'd make a good bench piece either, seeing as how he's not a good pinch-runner, nor is he a good defensive replacement. I mean, imagine 5 more years with Andruw Jones, and you can see where I'm going with this.

Honestly, I loved knocking the Orioles out of the postseason. The Yankees handed Baltimore it's first extra inning loss of the year, and scored 9 runs in the 7th inning or later (yeah... 5 were in the 9th inning of Game 1) on a bullpen that had the 3rd lowest ERA in the AL. All year I've been saying how lucky they had been, and that extended into the ALDS too. Nothing really impressed me about the team this year outside of their bullpen. Heck, if it wasn't for the Yankee hitters being so poor, then Baltimore would have been on a plane home on Wednesday night. Their batting was average, their pitching was average, and their defense was average. I guess Buck Showalter is as magical as some make him out to be. 

Anyway, I'm dreaming that the Yankee bats will wake up, and the pitching will be just as strong, against the Tigers. But if they swing like they just did against the Orioles, then you can be damn sure that the Tiger pitchers are going to tear through the lineup. 

Personally, I'd like a day off to relax, but the AL Championship Series will start tomorrow night. And unfortunately we're going to have to put up with the pathetic announcers from TBS yet again, too. 

Congratulations To The New York Yankees

The Yankees clinched their AL Division series win tonight behind a complete game from CC Sabathia beating the Baltimore Orioles 3-2. The Orioles played us tough and they had an awesome season this year and they deserve all the respect they got and probably half of the respect that they didn't get. Up next for the Yankees is the Detroit Verlander's in the ALCS starting tomorrow. Go Yankees!!

What It Must Be Like To Be Alex Rodriguez Today

How far the mighty have fallen, huh? Alex Rodriguez has had his fair share of ups and downs with the Yankees but has seemed to kind of (finally) fall into the flow and mix in with everybody else lately, something that has always brought praises to Derek Jeter. After not doing much to help his own cause including the steroids issue, the World Series opt out, the crawling back to the Yankees after that plan backfired, Madonna, etc etc etc Alex seemed like he was back on the right track. He led the team to a World Series title in 2009 while erasing a ton of the monkeys that were on his back. Alex is known for always saying the right thing at the right time and while I understand politically correctness I more so appreciate honesty and anyone who read Joe Torre's book has to question his sincerity, integrity, and honesty. I bring that up because who would not want to be a fly on the wall of Alex Rodriguez's locker or a fingerprint on his phone right now.

The guy, for his standards, had a pretty miserable season overall while leading the team in stolen bases and tying his back up, Eric Chavez, in home runs. Add on top of that a broken hand from a Felix Hernandez pitch that kept him out for nearly 40 games and you have to wonder what is going on inside his head. Then there was the lengthy extra base hit and home run drought that he faced to end the regular season campaign. Alex did not come into the post season on a high and he definitely, especially if it ends tonight, will not be leaving on one. Alex was pinch hit for in the bottom of the 9th in an eventual Game 3 Yankees win by the eventual hero (2 times) Raul Ibanez. While he did and said all the right things you know that had to get inside his head a little bit. The very next night, last night's Game 4, Alex was pinch hit for again in the bottom of the 9th but this time by Eric Chavez. To throw salt in the wound he was now benched tonight in a decisive Game 5 in the ALDS.

The worst part about it all may be the fact that guys like Ichiro Suzuki, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, Russell Martin, Curtis Granderson, hell basically anyone not named Derek Jeter or Mark Teixeira have had equally bad, if not worse, series to date. Not much is being said about many of these guys even though they are players that we rely heavily on to move the line and keep the offense going but it is instead, once again, always coming back to Alex. The big spot, the controversy, the lime light, it always seems to find Alex doesn't it? Just think Yankees fans we have 5 more years and $114 million left of this too and it is only going to get worse from here.

ALDS Game 5 : Orioles @ Yankees

Update:

Yankees win 3-1 to win the ALDS

And it all comes down to this.... One game to decide who will be the second team fighting for a shot at the American League pennant and a chance at the Detroit Verlander's in the ALCS. Will it be the Yankees oft absent offense that takes center stage tonight or will it be the #toomanyhomeruns hit squad that has finished off a many a team. The Yankees will send CC Sabathia to do just what they got CC Sabathia to do and that is pitch the big game and the deciding game in the post season. The Orioles will counter with Jason Hammel in a rematch of the first game, which is not a great reason to be optimistic. Hammel shut us down when he shouldn't have but that was in Camden Yards so who knows. The game will be televised at 5:07 pm ET (hallelujah and hooray sleep) on TBS.

Lineups

Go Yankees!!

#27andCounting

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

Go Yankees!!

#27andCounting

My Thoughts After... *yawn*

Sorry, but I'm just too damn tired, so I'll make this short and sweet.

Pitchers... thank you.

Hitters... you suck.

Hopefully CC throws a shut-out tonight.