Monday, July 22, 2013

Well That Was Demoralizing

The Good

The Yankee offense actually scored some runs.  We scored 7 yesterday, and 5 on Saturday, which is more runs than we've typically scored in a week.  Kuroda was masterful going 7 strong on Saturday, and giving us the win.  Gardner and Nunez really caught on fire, each having 3 hits in both the Saturday and Sunday games.

The Bad

Despite scoring more runs than usual, the Yankees lost the series.  The Yankees were able to take Saturday behind Kuroda's strong start, but Sabathia was awful last night, and Pettitte pitched like he's still injured last Friday.  Losing in the 11th last night was particularly demoralizing, but once it went to extra innings the Yankees were beat.  A team that can't hit homeruns is at a severe disadvantage in extra inning games.

The Ugly

We should find out by the trade deadline if the Yankees are actually serious about competing this year, or if they're just phoning it in.  The hope is that the Yankees would acquire some power, which they will need if they are going to compete this year.  But the rumor mill keeps attaching the Yankees to players like Chase Headley, who's hitting .235 right now, and is basically another Vernon Wells replacement.  If the Yankees do not acquire two power bats by the trade deadline, or at least one power bat, and an offensive upgrade at one of our premium positions being covered by backups, you can suspect that the Yankees have given up on the season.

Would Someone Please Think of the Children?

Because the Yankees sure aren't.  0 homeruns keeps the money stagnant for the Children's Health Fund.

Travis Hafner 12hr = $24
Vernon Wells 10hr = $20
Brett Gardner 7hr = $14
Kevin Youkilis 2hr = $4
Jayson Nix 2hr = $4
Robinson Cano 21hr = $42
Ichiro Suzuki 6hr = $12
Lyle Overbay 11hr = $22
Brennan Boesch 3hr = $6
Francisco Cervelli 3hr = $6
Chris Stewart 3hr = $6
Ben Francisco 1hr = $2
David Adams 2hr = $4
Curtis Granderson 1hr = $2

Mark Teixeira 3hr = $6
Zoilo Almonte 1hr = $2

Total 87 hrs = $174

Monday, July 15, 2013

Sometimes You Have to Wonder What You're Watching

The Good

Though I haven't watched it, early reports say that Pacific Rim is actually as awesome as its story line would suggest.  Giant monsters fighting giant robots, how glorious!  But it had the potential to be awful.  Like if they had made it into a love story between a monster and a robot.  That would be lame.  But instead, they stuck with what works: monsters and robots kicking the crap out of each other like they have nothing better to do.  What does this have to do with the Yankees?  Well Pacific Rim is what we should be watching instead of these Yankee games, which make you feel like you're watching a Greek tragedy only less interesting and more tragic.

The Bad

We lost two games versus Minnesota.  This is the same team we swept just a week ago.  So what changed?  Well the Yankee offense reverted back to hitting like a group of fringe players that walk the line between Triple A and the Majors.  In other words, they're hitting like they should be.

The Ugly

After a good series, Cano is finally hitting above .300.  The reason this is ugly is that he is the only Yankee hitting above .300.  On top of that, 4 of our starters have ERA's above 4, though Ivan Nova may very well be given the opportunity to replace David Phelps when he returns from his injuries.  Thankfully, we are at the All-Star break, and the first trade deadline is coming up, so perhaps something will shake out.

At Least There Was One

Ichiro hit the only homerun of the weekend reminding us that the Yankees still do care about the children, it's just that they care in a philosophical sense, not in a practical one. 

Travis Hafner 12hr = $24
Vernon Wells 10hr = $20
Brett Gardner 7hr = $14
Kevin Youkilis 2hr = $4
Jayson Nix 2hr = $4
Robinson Cano 21hr = $42
Ichiro Suzuki 6hr = $12
Lyle Overbay 11hr = $22
Brennan Boesch 3hr = $6
Francisco Cervelli 3hr = $6
Chris Stewart 3hr = $6
Ben Francisco 1hr = $2
David Adams 2hr = $4
Curtis Granderson 1hr = $2

Mark Teixeira 3hr = $6
Zoilo Almonte 1hr = $2

Total 87 hrs = $174

Friday, July 12, 2013

Yankees Win in Jeter Debut

The Good

Jeter is back!  The Yankees scored 8 runs and it was a team effort.  7 players had RBI's, and they combined for 11 hits.  Our bullpen was on shutout mode and kept the Royals off the boards for 3.1 innings.

The Bad

Pettitte continues to grind out starts.  This one was 5.2 innings with 4 runs (3 earned).  He's not his sharpest, and you have to wonder if there's an injury lurking somewhere in there. 

The Ugly

Jeter had to be pulled late in the game with a tight quad.  He was sent for an MRI and will likely play, but its tough when you've missed half a season to injure yourself in your first game back. 

The Kids

The Yankees had more hit singles than Jay Z, but did not hit a single homerun, which is what benefits the children. 

Travis Hafner 12hr = $24
Vernon Wells 10hr = $20
Brett Gardner 7hr = $14
Kevin Youkilis 2hr = $4
Jayson Nix 2hr = $4
Robinson Cano 21hr = $42
Ichiro Suzuki 5hr = $10
Lyle Overbay 11hr = $22
Brennan Boesch 3hr = $6
Francisco Cervelli 3hr = $6
Chris Stewart 3hr = $6
Ben Francisco 1hr = $2
David Adams 2hr = $4
Curtis Granderson 1hr = $2

Mark Teixeira 3hr = $6
Zoilo Almonte 1hr = $2

Total 86 hrs = $172

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Dare I Say There Was Offense?

The Good

When did Ivan Nova learn how to pitch?  That's two consecutive dominating performances from the young man.  He pitched 8 innings and allowed just 1 run.  Cano stepped up big with 3 hits including a homerun, and 3 RBI's, and Overbay hit a grandslam in the 6th to push the game further out of reach.  In total, the Yankees scored 8 runs, to match Nova's 8 innings of work.

The Bad

Hafner hit a foul ball off his foot pulling him out of the game.  He was 0-2 at that point, and Wells took his spot and went 2-2 to finish the night.  All in all, I would say that the only bad thing is that we didn't have Wells start the game as the DH in the first place.

The Ugly

Jeter is returning for the final game of the Royals series.  All reports have indicated that there will be blood.

Finally a Glimmer of Hope

That glimmer is in the form of $4 that is going to the Children's Health Fund.  Cano and Overbay were the heroes of the evening.

Travis Hafner 12hr = $24
Vernon Wells 10hr = $20
Brett Gardner 7hr = $14
Kevin Youkilis 2hr = $4
Jayson Nix 2hr = $4
Robinson Cano 21hr = $42
Ichiro Suzuki 5hr = $10
Lyle Overbay 11hr = $22
Brennan Boesch 3hr = $6
Francisco Cervelli 3hr = $6
Chris Stewart 3hr = $6
Ben Francisco 1hr = $2
David Adams 2hr = $4
Curtis Granderson 1hr = $2

Mark Teixeira 3hr = $6
Zoilo Almonte 1hr = $2

Total 86 hrs = $172

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Losing Interest

The Good

CC Sabathia pitched a complete game, giving up 3 runs, and striking out 6.  That is alone, the highlight of the game for the Yankees.

The Bad

Six singles.  That was the Yankee offense yesterday.   Watching this offense is depressing.  I would say it's like watching the Kansas City Royals, but that's who we're losing against.  I would say it's like watching the Scranton Yankees, but at least they have Derek Jeter, and can hit past the infield.

The Ugly?

Reports have indicated that MLB will be suspending A-Rod after the All-Star break.  Not that I was relying on A-Rod to turn this team around, but it's just annoying that the Yankees cannot seem to get anything going.

Why Bother

No homeruns.  I bet the Children's Health Fund is regretting their decision to base their fund raising on Yankee homeruns.

Travis Hafner 12hr = $24
Vernon Wells 10hr = $20
Brett Gardner 7hr = $14
Kevin Youkilis 2hr = $4
Jayson Nix 2hr = $4
Robinson Cano 20hr = $40
Ichiro Suzuki 5hr = $10
Lyle Overbay 10hr = $20
Brennan Boesch 3hr = $6
Francisco Cervelli 3hr = $6
Chris Stewart 3hr = $6
Ben Francisco 1hr = $2
David Adams 2hr = $4
Curtis Granderson 1hr = $2

Mark Teixeira 3hr = $6
Zoilo Almonte 1hr = $2

Total 84 hrs = $168

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Who Is Ishikawa, and When Did He End Up On Our Team?

The Good

Our pinch hitters came in swinging!  Overbay had a pinch hit homerun, and both Ichiro and Stewart got their hits as pinch hitters.  Pinch hitting is the way of the future.

The Bad

A rain delay ended Phil Hughes chances of pitching deep into the game.  Warren pitched admirably in relief allowing 1 run over 3.2 innings, but that 1 run is far too many for this team.  Against this Royals team the Yankees mustered 1 run, on Overbay's pinch hit homer.  They lost 5-1.  It's really challenging to see the Yankees struggle so much to score runs. 

The Ugly

The Yankees picked up Travis Ishikawa, a left handed first baseman to play last night.  The move is baffling seeing as we already have a left handed first baseman on our roster in Lyle Overbay.  The Yankees strategy of building a winner by signing as many backup players as possible is interesting.  The quantity over quality approach may work well in some places, but it just isn't going to work here.

Ishikawa Should Have Hit a Homerun

Overbay did, and that's why he'll be our everyday left-handed first baseman.  That's $2 for the kiddos.

Travis Hafner 12hr = $24
Vernon Wells 10hr = $20
Brett Gardner 7hr = $14
Kevin Youkilis 2hr = $4
Jayson Nix 2hr = $4
Robinson Cano 20hr = $40
Ichiro Suzuki 5hr = $10
Lyle Overbay 10hr = $20
Brennan Boesch 3hr = $6
Francisco Cervelli 3hr = $6
Chris Stewart 3hr = $6
Ben Francisco 1hr = $2
David Adams 2hr = $4
Curtis Granderson 1hr = $2

Mark Teixeira 3hr = $6
Zoilo Almonte 1hr = $2

Total 84 hrs = $168

Monday, July 8, 2013

Yankees Take Weekend Series Against the O's

The Good

Our pitching stepped up in a major way over the weekend, with Ivan Nova pitching a complete game on Friday with 11 strikeouts and holding the O's to 2 runs.  Pettitte put up 6.2 innings with 3 earned runs, and Kuroda pitched 7 shutout innings. 

The offense wasn't overpowering, but got just enough runs to win the first two games of the series, and set itself up to win the third game.  Wells had a walk off 2-run single on Friday, and Nunez brought in the go-ahead run in the 6th inning of Saturday's game. 

The Bad

Yes we carried a 1-0 lead into the 9th last night, and with Mo on the mound you expect a win, but the offense is going to have to do a little better than that.  The Orioles starter was out after the 5th inning, we had 4 innings of relief pitchers to face, and we couldn't score a single run?  Or get an extra base hit for that matter?  No, instead, the bullpen pitched 4 no hit innings against us, allowing just 1 walk for the rest of the game.  Just saying, the offense needs to come through there.

The Ugly

There's no way to sugar coat this boys and girls, Mariano blew a save yesterday.  He gave up a 2-run homerun to Adam Jones, and surprise, the Yankee offense could not get a run across in the 9th to tie it, much less 2 runs to win the game.  Mo blowing a save is like witnessing two dinosaurs being smashed together at the speed of light, a rare yet terrifying sight with an eerie sense of beauty.

Time to Pay the Piper

At least someone is getting paid, because the kids certainly aren't.  0 homeruns means $0 for the Children's Health Fund.

Travis Hafner 12hr = $24
Vernon Wells 10hr = $20
Brett Gardner 7hr = $14
Kevin Youkilis 2hr = $4
Jayson Nix 2hr = $4
Robinson Cano 20hr = $40
Ichiro Suzuki 5hr = $10
Lyle Overbay 9hr = $18
Brennan Boesch 3hr = $6
Francisco Cervelli 3hr = $6
Chris Stewart 3hr = $6
Ben Francisco 1hr = $2
David Adams 2hr = $4
Curtis Granderson 1hr = $2

Mark Teixeira 3hr = $6
Zoilo Almonte 1hr = $2

Total 84 hrs = $168

Friday, July 5, 2013

Yankees Sweep Twins

The Good

The Yankees are doing its best zombie movie impression, by bringing its dead offense back to life.  One can only imagine that the success of World War Z is leading this new approach by the Yankees.  Yesterday, Ichiro was a homerun shy of hitting for the cycle, Wells had a couple hits and 3 runs driven in, Almonte got a couple hits as did new shortstop rental Luis Cruz.  It was pretty great to see the Yankees hitting like a big league ball club.

The Bad

Relief pitching was a little shaky yesterday.  Phelps came out of the game with 6.1 innings and 2 runs under his belt, but had left 2 runners on base.  Chamberlain came in and gave up a hit, allowing one run to score.  Then Logan came in and gave up another hit allowing the other run to score.  In the end, Phelps' pitched 6.1 innings of 4 run ball, which doesn't look good, considering that through 6 innings, he had given up 1 run.  He really pitched better than his line shows.

The Ugly

The Yankees swept Minnesota so we can't get too excited.  We did just get swept by the Orioles right before this, and that's the team we're facing next.  We'll see if we were witnessing a turn around against Minnesota, or just a flash in a pan.

So Much Offense!

But not a single homerun.  13 hits never felt so bitter for the kids at the Children's Health Fund.

Travis Hafner 12hr = $24
Vernon Wells 10hr = $20
Brett Gardner 7hr = $14
Kevin Youkilis 2hr = $4
Jayson Nix 2hr = $4
Robinson Cano 20hr = $40
Ichiro Suzuki 5hr = $10
Lyle Overbay 9hr = $18
Brennan Boesch 3hr = $6
Francisco Cervelli 3hr = $6
Chris Stewart 3hr = $6
Ben Francisco 1hr = $2
David Adams 2hr = $4
Curtis Granderson 1hr = $2

Mark Teixeira 3hr = $6
Zoilo Almonte 1hr = $2

Total 84 hrs = $168

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Yankees Take Another Win

The Good

The Yankee offense made contact for a second consecutive game.  Cano's 3-run homerun, and Alberto Gonzalez's 3 RBI night powered the Yankees to a win.  Ichiro also drove in a run, but it was unnecessary.  Bud Selig is investigating whether Ichiro's run was show boating.

Hughes' good side showed up last night, giving the Yankees 7 innings of one run ball.

The Bad

Claiborne and Warren had a hard time closing out the game prompting Mariano to come into the game and close it out on two pitches.  One of them left-handed.  I hope Claiborne and Warren learned a lesson about how to get that last out.

The Ugly

Kuroda will not make his next start on Friday due to hip flexor issues.  It looks like he'll just miss this one start, but here's hoping that this doesn't become a nagging issue like Pettitte's back.

Where Was This a Month Ago?

Cano has hit his third homerun in 2 games.  That's $2 extra for the kids at the Children's Health Fund.

Travis Hafner 12hr = $24
Vernon Wells 10hr = $20
Brett Gardner 7hr = $14
Kevin Youkilis 2hr = $4
Jayson Nix 2hr = $4
Robinson Cano 20hr = $40
Ichiro Suzuki 5hr = $10
Lyle Overbay 9hr = $18
Brennan Boesch 3hr = $6
Francisco Cervelli 3hr = $6
Chris Stewart 3hr = $6
Ben Francisco 1hr = $2
David Adams 2hr = $4
Curtis Granderson 1hr = $2

Mark Teixeira 3hr = $6
Zoilo Almonte 1hr = $2

Total 84 hrs = $168

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Is That a Win I See?

The Good

The offense came alive last night, and the Yankees managed to hit their way to a win for the first time in recent memory.  Cano hit 2 homeruns, and Almonte drove in a pair of runs with a 3 hit game.  Even Vernon Wells, whose game play over the last couple months led me to believe that he had retired, got a couple hits. 

Also in the good category is 4 innings of scoreless relief from our bullpen, including a 3 strikeout inning out of Robertson.

Lastly, Pettitte surpassed Whitey Ford for most strikeouts in a Yankee uniform. 

The Bad

Unfortunately, Whitey Ford was not available to pitch last night, which could have spared us from Pettitte's 5 inning, 4 run effort. 

The Ugly

David Adams was an intriguing player early on in the season.  The rookie had some pop, and was getting some regular hits.  Lately however, the rookie has been exposed.  Major league baseball has figured out how to pitch to him, and the result was an 0-5 night that brought his average down to .178 for the season.  What's even worse is we don't really have better options to replace him with.  Here's hoping Almonte can keep hitting, and give us an American League version of Yasiel Puig.

Homeruns Since Last Updated

Last night there were 2 homeruns from Cano, and since the last homerun update, we've seen additional homeruns from Overbay, Suzuki, Nix, Gardner, and Hafner, all of which are heroes.  Not real heroes mind you, but heroes like people who recycle are heroes. 

Travis Hafner 12hr = $24
Vernon Wells 10hr = $20
Brett Gardner 7hr = $14
Kevin Youkilis 2hr = $4
Jayson Nix 2hr = $4
Robinson Cano 19hr = $38
Ichiro Suzuki 5hr = $10
Lyle Overbay 9hr = $18
Brennan Boesch 3hr = $6
Francisco Cervelli 3hr = $6
Chris Stewart 3hr = $6
Ben Francisco 1hr = $2
David Adams 2hr = $4
Curtis Granderson 1hr = $2

Mark Teixeira 3hr = $6
Zoilo Almonte 1hr = $2

Total 83 hrs = $166