Monday, May 16, 2011

Swept at Home

The Good

Curtis Granderson continues to defy the teams rule of ineffectiveness, with a two-run homerun. Martin drew 3 walks which is cool I guess.

The Bad

Freddy Garcia's start lasted 5.1 innings in which he allowed 5 runs (4 earned). Its hard to get out of that sort of rut when the Yankees bats appear to be made out of lead.

The Ugly

The errors have to take this. Brett Gardner had some nice plays in the field, but his pop up bunt attempt, and his getting picked off trying to steal seems to stand out just as much. A-Rod let a double play ball slip under his legs, and Russell Martin couldn't handle splitter from Garcia, all of which hurt the Yankees in the end.

Homeruns for Hope

Because they're not for winning ballgames. Curtis Granderson and Russell Martin hit homeruns to help the Children's Health Fund care for the children. $4 more for the babies.

Mark Teixeira 9hr = $18
Curtis Granderson 13hr = $26
Russell Martin 8hr = $16
Alex Rodriguez 6hr = $12
Jorge Posada 6hr = $12
Robinson Cano 9hr = $18
Andruw Jones 1hr = $2
Brett Gardner 3hr = $6
Nick Swisher 2hr = $4
Derek Jeter 2hr = $4
Francisco Cervelli 1hr = $2
Total = $120
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4 comments:

Rich Mahogany said...

Gardner's incompetence on the basepaths and as a bunter is the most frustrating example of the team's poor fundamentals. My advanced scouting resources tell me that Gardner is Goldeneye speed run fast. He should be able to bunt for hits and steal bases, not make outs attempting to do those things. He's not an overpaid veteran either, but a guy making near the league minimum who's fighting to reach his first big payday. It makes me wonder if he just lacks the baseball IQ to ever do these things well (a bit like Posada, who still has no concept of baserunning strategy despite all his experience).

With all the bad play of late, I have to wonder if there's a core reason for it (such as bad coaching) or if it's all bad luck.

It was a relief to see Posada in good spirits during the game after apologizing to the team. I agree he should get a generous opportunity to turn it around and he might just do it. But he should also accept how Girardi decides to use him on any given day, whether as no. 7 hitter, no. 9 hitter or pinch hitter.

May 16, 2011 at 8:11 AM
Roberto E. Alejandro said...

I suspect that because of his speed Gardner just never had to learn decent base running. Now that he's playing at a level where it's not just enough to be fast anymore, that is costing him. Whether he'll develop it is anybody's guess. It does seem one of those things that players either have or don't.

May 16, 2011 at 11:01 AM
Fernando Alejandro said...

Yeah I agree about Posada. It might suck, but you have to be okay being batted 9th when you're carrying a .165 average. This isn't the second week of baseball anymore, its been a month and a half. Hit your way out of 9th!

As for Gardner, I think he's digressed in two major areas of his game. Last year, if I'm not mistaken he tied with Crawford for the league lead in steals. Whatever he was doing last season on the basepaths, the league appears to have gotten wise to. The other thing is that last year he grinded out at bats. He took a lot pitches and worked a ton of walks. He had a .383 OBP with a .277 batting average. He drew 79 walks! Now he's trying to hit his way on base, and its just not working as well.

May 16, 2011 at 12:28 PM
Rich Mahogany said...

Gardner tied Crawford last season with 47 SB. (Gardner had 9 CS, Crawford 10.) I remember being frustrated that he didn't run more, and he would sometimes make a stupid baserunning mistake (like forgetting to freeze on a line drive and then getting doubled off third). But he was still relatively inexperienced at the ML level. Why is he so much worse now? He hasn't slowed down appreciably, so the answer must have something to do with either his coaching or his receptiveness to coaching.

You look at the mistakes other players are making that suggest a lack of attention and have to wonder whether there's some flaw in the way the team is coached.

May 16, 2011 at 12:48 PM

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