Orioles and Blue Jays

Is it too much to ask for a seven-game sweep this week? Obviously we're bound to lose at least one of these games, but the way the Yankees have been playing, they really should go 6-1, and honestly, I'll be pretty disappointed if they don't go 7-0, because you know the Red Sox absolutely would if they had seven straight games against these two miserable teams.

The Baltimore Orioles of Canada

Great win last night; let's hope they can close the series out this afternoon. Additionally, we need the damn White Sox to get their acts together and grab a game away from Boston tonight, especially since (a) you know if the White Sox get swept they will end up taking at least one game from the Yankees this weekend; and (b) the Red Sox have three guaranteed victories this weekend, what with them getting to play against their new favorite punching bags, the Baltimore Orioles of Canada.

And once more, for good measure, because we still can't get over Nick Swisher bunting in the bottom of the 9th with no outs and the tying run on second

As always, TSJC of RAB commenting fame hits the nail on the head:

"Forget the fact that Swish doesn't bunt with great alacrity for a second. Frank Francisco threw 23 pitches last night. 10 of them were balls.

Think about that for a second. Nick Swisher collects walks like they're going out of style. Frank Frank is rattled, because he's just turned a 10-5 lead into a 10-9 lead with two men on and none out. The first two pitches he threw that Swish squared to bunt on were both out of the zone.

What were the odds that Swish works a bases-loading walk there, like 85%?

Exceedingly likely alternate universe game scenario #1:
1) Swish walks the bases loaded.
2) An ice-cold Melky still lines into a DP at second, but the tying run scores.
3) A red hot Derek Jeter rips a game-winning single.

Exceedingly likely alternate universe game scenario #2:
1) Swish walks the bases loaded.
2) An ice-cold Melky swings for the fences and hits a flyout, scoring the tying run on an unintentional sac fly.
3) A red hot Derek Jeter rips a game-winning single.

Exceedingly likely alternate universe game scenario #3:
1) Swish walks the bases loaded.
2) Joe Girardi has Melky suicide squeeze, but he can't execute the bunt just like Swisher and pops out. They double off the runner at home.
3) A red hot Derek Jeter still rips a game-tying single.
4) A red hot Johnny Damon deposits one in the RF seats for the win.

Exceedingly likely alternate universe game scenario #4:
1) Swish walks the bases loaded.
2) Melky pops up on the first pitch. All runners remain at their bases.
3) Jeter and Damon have two chances to knock in the tying and winning runs.

Exceedingly likely alternate universe game scenario #5:
1) Swish walks the bases loaded.
2) Girardi lifts Melky for Eric Hinske. Hinske rips a game winning single down the line.

I got pages of these, I could go on."

Edited to add a link to SG's unsurprisingly excellent post on this popular topic.

The art of piss-poor managing

A four-run lead, even with 8 innings left to play, felt pretty good with Joba on the mound. It's a shame that erratic Joba showed up, in a game that was very winnable. I gave up at 10-5 -- as good as the Yankees have been at coming from behind this year, five runs seemed like a pretty tall order.

Little did I know they'd come awfully close in the bottom of the 9th. It's probably a good thing I wasn't watching at that point, because if I had seen Nick Swisher squaring up to bunt with no outs and two on in the 9th down by one I probably would've chucked my remote through my television set.

Also, apparently no one likes beating the Red Sox. Come on Chicago, time to man the hell up. Six game up or not, these leads can shrink quickly, so the Yanks better get their acts together and win this damn series.

Baseball Prospectus likes the Yankees' chances of advancing deep in the playoffs

Shit, if we have Nate Silver in our corner, we're in pretty great shape.

A Beckett beatdown is one hell of a way to start the week

I know the Yankees are a near-certainty for the playoffs, but that doesn't mean I won't still be rooting for them to win every game. I won't relax until the Magic Number hits zero -- once we reach that glorious point, I don't care if they unretire Andy Hawkins for a handful of starts, they can do whatever they want as long as everyone who needs rest for the playoff stretch run gets rest.

Last night's game was wonderful for so many reasons, although for me the best is touching Beckett up for 8 runs. The Yankees have had serious trouble with Beckett for much of his Boston tenure, and it's even more satisfying since I called it on Thursday.

This upcoming 3-game set against Texas presents a bit of a rooting challenge. While I obviously want the Yankees to win, I won't be that upset if Texas wins provided that Boston also loses. Additionally, it'd be lovely if the White Sox actually played some competitive baseball up in Fenway this week, considering Boston then gets three more games against the Blue Jays this weekend, who appear to have turned into the Orioles when facing the Red Sox.

Another Saturday afternoon game in Boston, another Yankee loss

Was it really a surprise to anyone that the Yankees lost yesterday afternoon's contest at Fenway? Despite Friday evening's incredibly pleasing shellacking, Saturday's outcome seemed predetermined, especially when you consider that the Yankees now have a sterling 6-10 record in Saturday afternoon games in Boston dating back to the beginning of the 2003 season. Obviously 16 games is a fairly small sample, but they really seem to play some pretty terrible baseball during the day in Fenway Park.

Anyway, time for CC to right the ship tonight. Another series win along with a 7.5-game lead would be a fantastic way to start the week off.

Frustrating as the mainstream media can be sometimes, it's hard not to get pumped up by Ed Murawinski's back cover art before a huge series

Things are not looking pretty for Texas

Despite being a mere one game back in the Wild Card race, PECOTA only gives the Rangers an 8% chance of winning the wild card and a 13% chance overall of making the playoffs.

Time to blow the doors off this race

Going into tomorrow's series up 6.5 (or hopefully 7.5 if the Blue Jays would stop sucking for one second) is outstanding. You have to like their chances of taking 2 of 3 given the pitching matchups, and I feel like we're due to finally solve Beckett. As annoying as Fenway Park is, they have a great opportunity to blow the race wide open and really ensure everyone gets the rest they need in September to gear up for a big October playoff run.

If I'm the Yanks, I'm playing balls-to-the-wall, take-no-prisoners, no BS baseball this weekend. Send out the A lineup every game, pitch their faces off, and get the ball to Mariano. When was the last time Mo even pitched? And Hughes is plenty rested as well. If our starters can give us 6 to 7 solid innings with a lead, we should be able to take all three games.

Doing their part

I love reading stuff like this about the Yankees. From PeteAbe:

"CC gave out 425 backpacks to kids at his old elementary school today. They were stuffed with school supplies. Every kids also got an autographed photo. CC spoke to two assemblies when at the school, too. Good man, that CC."

The All-Homers Club

The Yankees could potentially have eight of their starting 9 hit 20 or more home runs this season.

Four Yankees have already reached or surpassed 20: Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Johnny Damon and Nick Swisher.

Matsui has 19, Cano 18, and Jeter and Posada each have 15. Matsui and Cano are almost certain to reach 20, and I'd say Posada probably gets there, too. Does Jeter have five more bombs in him?

Although periodically you can predict that CC Sabathia is going to throw a great game

I was going to talk about how Jeter has nine hits over the last three games, or that the Yankees have left what feels like 800 runners on base while they've been on this west coast jaunt, but Cliff Corcoran sums up how I'm feeling nice and succinctly:

"Sabathia's last three starts: 23 2/3 IP, 10 H, 3 R (all solo HRs), 5 BB, 26 K, 3-0, 0.63 WHIP, 1.14 ERA."

I think it's safe to say he's pretty good at pitching.

RAB takes the words right out of my mouth, part 876

Once again, RAB writes a post that says exactly what I am thinking.

"Carrying" a limp bat

I'm not looking for an all-star at every position, but I believe that, as a fan of the team with more resources than anyone else in baseball, it is fair to critique the areas that could use improvement. I know Melky's our #9 hitter, etc., but that's a dangerous line of thinking -- just because he's our number nine hitter we can afford to carry his bat? Maybe in the National League, but given how competitive and cutthroat the AL is, teams should always be looking to get as much offense out of every slot in the lineup as possible.

Look at what happened last night. The guys that are "supposed" to get the job done -- the top of the lineup -- didn't plate any runs, and therefore couldn't carry the weaker part of the lineup. Having a strong 1 through 9 helps ensure against nights like last night where the offense inexplicably gets shut down by the likes of Brett Tomko.

I know we have a healthy lead in the division and all that jazz, but it's still only mid-August, and nothing is for certain. I'm not saying we should bench Melky or anything like that, because frankly there isn't an alternative until Gardner comes back (can't say I ever thought I'd be hoping for Brett Gardner to return from the DL to provide a jolt to the offense), but as Yankee fans, I don't think we should be content with mediocrity.

Where have you gone, Melky Cabrera?

Speaking of Melky, Mr. Consistency has really fallen off a cliff since hitting for the cycle, eh? It's pretty funny; right after the cycle a slew of blog posts and articles popped up hoping that Melky may have finally gotten past getting stuck in these prolonged slumps, and could be a productive player for all six months of the season.

Unfortunately, I'm still not quite sold on our pal Leche. He's definitely improved significantly over his wretched 2008 campaign, but his OPS+ is back below 100, and I'm not sure he'll ever be anything but a below-average player.

Always trust your instincts

After the Yankees went feebly down in order in the top of the 6th, the outcome of the game seemed predetermined, and nothing aggravates me more than staying up until 1am only to see the team lose on the west coast, so I decided to cut my losses and hit the sack. After waking a few hours later to go the bathroom, a quick check of the final score on my Blackberry proved that I made the right decision.

I know the team has a 7-game lead in the division and all, but really, they can't score any runs off Brett "Wilson Betemit" Tomko? Now obviously they can't win every game, and if they're going to have a lousy stretch of baseball, better to get it over with in August than during the first week of October, but I'd love to see them deliver a knockout punch to the Sox after this weekend, so the team can start thinking about resting the regulars for the playoffs.

No more losing to mediocre west coast teams, boys. Time to take care of business.

Wow, this is just downright insulting now

Brett Tomko tossing 5 shutout innings? What the fuck?

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Sent from my mobile device

Pitiful

I'm enraged that Brett Tomko made it out of the 1st inning unscathed.

I love me some Tex too, but you can't ignore the numbers

Both Steve Goldman and No Maas weighed in today on why Joe Mauer should far and away win the AL MVP.

If Boston misses the playoffs:

1) That whole "we only need to take flyers on high risk free agents" strategy would look pretty stupid.

2) Hahahahaha

3) The AL East being far and away the best division would seem much less true.

Posted by Skip

October dreaming

As of today CoolStandings.com has the Yankees' chances of winning the AL East at 87.7%, and overall chances of making the playoffs at 96.7%, the best respective percentages of any division.

Thoughts of a 10.5-game lead are causing pain in my salivary glands

I have to say I'm pretty disappointed the Yanks weren't able to sweep this past weekend. I know we've been playing spectacularly well, and we were due for a letdown at some point, but the greedy Yankee fan in me wants them to win every single game, especially when playing a team as pathetic as the Mariners. Seattle looked dead to me all weekend; it's pretty embarrassing that we gave 10 runs up to such a putrid offense.

The Yanks need to take care of business against the sorry-ass A's and fly into Boston on a tidy 3-game winning streak. It's unreal that they face Brett Tomko tonight -- if he's still pitching after the 2nd inning, something has gone horribly wrong. If we play our cards right, we could have a 10.5-game lead at the end of the weekend!

Just imagine if we had Adam Dunn

I know the Yankees' team offense is off-the-charts awesome, what with leading all of MLB in runs, home runs, OBP, SLG and OPS, but it's hard not to see Adam Dunn's 6th-best-in-MLB .976 OPS and wonder "what if?"

I know most people will scoff and say "But Adam Dunn only strikes out and therefore isn't a team player bladdy-blah-blah-blah," and "he doesn't have a position" and "who on the Yankees would he have displaced?" Now I'm certainly not saying I'm disappointed with the team's offensive output. And these are all valid questions to which I don't have a good answer to. But the greedy home runs and walks-loving bastard in me can't help but ponder the awesomeness that could have been Adam Dunn plopped in the middle of this fantastic 2009 Yankee lineup.

Whither 1.000 OPS?

Can't believe only three players in all of MLB are sporting an OPS higher than 1.000, and two of them are somehow in the NL.

What the "Joba Rules" and Wilson Betemit have in common

RAB touched on the Yanks' plan for Joba yesterday, and it sounds like the Yankees know what they're doing. I don't think they are necessarily going to throw the Joba rules out the window -- it sounds like they're spacing the remainder of his regular season starts out enough to provide leeway for Joba to pitch as much as they need him to in the postseason.

Also, if Joba's something like 10-20 innings over his mystical innings limit and the Yankees are on the verge of winning the World Series, do you really think they're gonna say "Well, it's been a great year, and we could really use Joba's contributions to get us that elusive 27th ring, but we just can't have him pitch us to a championship."? I want the guy to stay healthy for as long as possible as much as every other Yankee fan, but I do think that, if they're fortunate enough to make it to the World Series, the "Joba Rules" will be tossed in the garbage next to Wilson Betemit.

Mariners suck

Wow, just popped the game on in the top of the 3rd and the Yankees are RIPPING Snell up.

Yankee Thoughts | Thursday, August 13, 2009

So it was obviously incredible to watch the Yankees sweep the Red Sox while in Cape Cod. We go up to the Cape every August, but it's been years since the Yanks played Boston during our trip, and it was just a fantastic feeling walking around the beaches and stores and everywhere in between decked out in our Yankee garb. You could literally feel the disdain on peoples' faces.

Also nice to see them take another 2 of 3 from the Jays, backed by yet another walk-off win? Ridiculous. I know we've been saying it a lot during the last month, given how well they've played, but this is clearly the best Yankee team in quite some time, possibly the best of this decade, and you really have to like their chances to do some serious damage this year.

No deficit feels too big anymore. If they're down by 2 or 3 runs even late in the game, I've come to expect them to pull out a win now. This team feels SO much different than the 2008 squad. I know the playoffs are a crapshoot, but if they keep playing baseball like this, I think we're going to be a pretty damn happy fanbase in October.