Thursday, October 1, 2009

Joba Settles Debate: The Bullpen It Is...for the Playoffs Anyways

The Good

It was good to see strong relief pitching albiet against an offensively challenged team. Aceves gave us 2 scoreless innings striking out 3, with Albaladejo, Mitre, Hughes, and Mariano combining for 3 innings of scoreless baseball. The captain hit a leadoff homerun, and Swisher hit one of his own to tie the game in the 5th.

The Bad

Marte, who makes $3.75 million this season as part of a 3 year deal, came into the game, recorded an out and gave up the go ahead run. Now I know the Yankees didn't play the prettiest of baseball yesterday, and the game really did not matter, but c'mon. Can you get us out of an inning Marte?

The Ugly

Last week we had a post about who could potentially be our 4th starter in the playoffs. The options were not very compelling. Then Joba came up against the Red Sox and pitched a strong game, going 6 innings and allowing 3 runs against a contender. Now, he comes up against the Kansas City Royals, and can't get out of the 4th inning. Joba is far too inconsistant to have in the post season rotation at this point. I don't think Gaudin is a better pitcher than Joba, but he knows how to use what he has better than Joba, and he's thrown a few qaulity for the Yankees. Its Girardi's choice, but I'd be very concerned seeing Joba come up in a game 4 of the ALCS.

Respect Jeter's Gangster is for the Children

The "Respect Jeter's Gangster" blog joined Johnny Damon's home run club, which raises money for the Children's Health Fund. We are pledged to donate $1.00 for every homerun the Yankees hit this season. Jeter and Swisher gave the children all the hope they needed with homeruns in yesterday's game. Though these games mean nothing in the standings, they mean the world to charity. Keep swinging for the fences boys.

Jorge Posada 22hr = $22.00
Hideki Matsui 28hr = $28.00
Derek Jeter 18hr = $18.00
Mark Teixeira 39hr = $39.00
Nick Swisher 29hr = $29.00
Robinson Cano 25hr = $25.00
Johnny Damon 24hr = $24.00
Melky Cabrera 13hr = $13.00
Jose Molina 1hr = $1.00
Alex Rodriguez 28hr = $28.00
Brett Gardner 3hr = $3.00
Francisco Cervelli 1hr = $1.00
Eric Hinske 7hr = $7.00
Jerry Hairston Jr. 2hr = $2.00
Ramiro Pena 1hr = $1.00
Total = $241.00

If you are interested in Johnny Damon's Homerun Club or the Children's Health Fund you can find links to both at the top right hand corner of our page.

4 comments:

hunter said...

i would be concerned to see joba on the mound in game 4 of the alcs too.
i really think gaudin deserves it. every time he has gone to the mound for us, he has given at least 4 quality innings, and he could probably go longer, but his pitch count was too high.
plus he pitched very very well against the angels.
if he is used out of the bullpen, do you think we will see the same joba that we did in 07 and 08?

Fernando Alejandro said...

Hard to say. I wonder how much of his drive came from his own self-confidence, which has to have taken a hit. But then again, Hughes has thrived out of the bullpen despite a rough stint in the rotation. I think for one or two innings at a time, Joba will be fine.

I think Gaudin deserves it too. His last 4 starts have been pretty good. Much better than Joba's anyway.

Anonymous said...

Joba was such a beast out of the pen because of that 100mph fastball. Does he even have that anymore? He's been trying to be Mike Mussina all year.
If he can just get out there, quit thinking and throw, I think he'll be OK. I hope it mentally snaps in for him.
This is The Year. This team has it all. They can beat you every way one baseball team can beat another. Small ball, long ball, defense, pitching. If they can keep it together, they will be talked about like the '27 Yankees or the 96-99 Yankees. I'd hate to see it messed up because of some kid's teenage angst. (Though there's just as much danger of it being messed up because of some 35 year old's teenage angst.)
But, that's why they play the games, right? The prize is going to go to the guys that want it most, just like every year.
We could get to see Jason Giambi get some WS at bats in yankee Stadium. And an upper deck shot off Joba.
Worst case, we get to see him hit some shots off Beckett.
Or we may get to see a Joe vs Joe series.
Worst case, again, another Torre/Francona sleep off with Manny hitting like he ued to in Fenway.
I'm stocked up on Rolaids, myself.

Joe

Anonymous said...

Scary thought for ought-10:

Prince Fielder in Boston.

Nice thought to go along with that:
Papplebum and Elderberry in Milwakee

Joe