Monday, May 17, 2010

This Is What Happens When Mo Pitches Twice A Month

The Good

No new injuries were sustained by Nick Johnson . . . we think. Mitre pitched a solid five innings, and there is now talk of him opening the series against the Mets instead of Javy.

The Bad

The strike zone was awful. Mo's second pitch of the game, on the inside corner of the plate, was ruled a ball by the home plate umpire. A pitch thrown in the same spot by Rauch was strike three to end the game in the bottom of the ninth.

The Ugly

Mo is the greatest closer of all time (unless your name is Goose Gossage in which case it's not fair to call Mo that because in Goose's day closers pitched for multiple innings in the snow). But even Mo is subject to rust. That's what we saw yesterday. Getting squeezed by the home plate umpire didn't help, but Rivera just hasn't seen much activity lately. Granted, some of that time off was due to a muscle he tweaked while sneezing, so I can't really blame Girardi or anyone else for his under use. That said, I blame Girardi anyway, because I'm a Yankees fan and that's what we do.

Searching for Homer

No home runs were hit yesterday, as the Yankees didn't feel like it.

Posada 6hr = $12
Granderson 2hr = $4
Cano 9hr = $18
Swisher 7hr = $14
Jeter 4hr = $8
Johnson 2hr = $4
Rodriguez 4hr = $8
Teixeira 7hr = $14
Thames 1hr = $2
Gardner 2hr = $4
Winn 1hr = $2
Total = $90

9 comments:

Steve said...

you all laughed and poo pooed my saying it but...Posada behind the plate and the Yankees lose

Fernando Alejandro said...

But Mitre pitched well! Anyone who can get Mitre through 5 innings and only allow 1 run deserves to be sainted by the Roman Catholic Church.

lady gaganonymous said...

Really? Because I'm pretty sure they did quite well with Posada behind the plate before he had those leg injuries/cramps. But don't let silly facts get in the way of your confirmation bias.

Eh, these things happen. Mo didn't get calls that Rauch, of all people, did. And I can't get that mad at Girardi for not running Mo out a ton recently, because there are so few off days in May and you don't know when you're going to need Mariano, who's not a young guy and already had an issue with his side.

And yeah, Goose Gossage needs to STFU. A lot.

Roberto E. Alejandro said...

Yeah, I do think there's a causality issue with the suggestion that Posada's being our catcher led to the loss. It comes down to the fact that Joba and Mo didn't execute, and while Joba has had issues with Jorge in the past, he seemed to simply be a bit unsettled by the strike zone. No question Mo has no problems pitching to Posada, so that wasn't the issue there either. Just one of those things.

Dylan said...

The man blew a save. He's human. Let's just all get over it and move on.

Roberto E. Alejandro said...

I refuse to get over it. In fact, I haven't stopped crying since.

lady gaganonymous said...

Dylan, I actually haven't seen TOO MANY people overreacting or claiming we need to go out and get Huston Street or whatever like I would have in the past. It makes me personally upset, but it's the kind of loss that doesn't get you too worried about the team, because this isn't going to happen often.

The part about him being human is a total lie, however :P

Rob B said...

That home run yesterday was a lot like the home run Ichiro hit off him last year. You're left asking yourself, "Did that just happen?"

Kubel hit a good pitch. Hat off to him. But it would have never come to that if the bloody jerk behind the plate could call a decent (read: consistent) strike zone. If he had, Thome would have struck out, not walked.

Jon Roberts said...

I was at the game where Ichiro took him out. I was being a total asshole to all the mariners fans as soon as Hughes started warming. They all started leaving when he came in. Then Ichiro hit that. It never even occurred to me that it was a possibility.

Can I just say AROD!!!!!!!!!!!!