Tagged: Joba
Power Propells Pinstripers: Bring Out the Brooms
Jeez’m Lord Mercy I have a lot to talk about today!
How about the Yankees these first three days?
In game one, A.J. Burnett and the Yankees defeated the Tigers by the score of 5-3, thanks to the clutch homer deep into the night off the bat of Mark Teixeira in the bottom of the 7th inning.
On the second game against the Tigers following the All Star break, the Yankees were again victorious, as 7 great innings by big lefty CC Sabathia and a longball into right field from Alex Rodriguez propelled the Bombers to a 2-1 win.
Today was the third game of the series with the Tigers, and the New York Yankees were looking for a sweep. On the mound for the Yankees was struggling young righty Joba Chamberlain. On the mound for Detroit was first time All-Star and flamethrower, Edwin Jackson.
It ended nicely from the standpoint of a Yankee fan.
Today, we had, yet again, a 2-1 victory thanks to sheer power.
Power on the mound, power at the plate. You can always depend on power from the Yankees.
I know you’re thinking, 2-1? I can see power on the mound, but power at the plate?
Well, you’re fairly right. There wasn’t power all around for the Yankee offense on today, July the 19th.
But there was enough power.
We scored both of our runs on solo homers by the 3 and 4 batters in the order, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez, both of them not cheapies by any stretch of the imagination. Tex’s came on a pitch below the zone, A-Rod’s came on a pitch down and in. And they were both hit extremely well.
So with this offensive contribution by the two main components of the Yanks’ offense, Joba Chamberlain and the Yankee bullpen took the Tigers offense to town.
Joba Chamberlain scuffled with his command at the beginning, but trust me– he bounced back. He pitched like an absolute ace today: he had ace stuff, first and foremost, with a mid-90s fastball, a sharp, devastating slide piece, a hard curve and a very strong change-up. But he had command of that ace stuff, too. Although he hit a batter and walked 3 guys, that does Joba no justice. As he went deeper into his outing, he was sharp as a needle. He threw pitches in tough locations, and when you have the velocity and break that he had on his pitches, it’s practically illegal.
Joba Chamberlain, your stuff is in violation.
If he can do this consistently when he goes out there, I will love him forever.
And ever.
Now on the mound tomorrow, we got the Yanks’ worst starter. It’s the veteran left hander Andy Pettitte.
Andy Pettitte has some nice outings, and occasionally a great outing, but he hasn’t been that good. His ERA is 4.80, which is not very pretty, and he’s coming off a bad start. Granted, Andy Pettitte has been known to come alive during the 2nd half, but it was actually kind of the opposite in 2008, as he wore down as the season went on and his final numbers were not very impressive. He’s going to be facing rookie right hander David Hernandez.
Now, you guys know what the deal is with Andy Pettitte, ’cause you’re mainly Yanks fans, so I don’t really need to tell you anything. I do have to let you know what we’ll be up against in Hernandez, the starter for Baltimore.
So here’s the deal on him.
I looked at his first MLB outing, where he went 5.2 innings and gave up 1 run, striking out 3. Here’s the deal on his stuff: it’s very good. And I mean, it’s good.
I can’t tell you if Hernandez has a tough breaking ball, I know he has a fastball that gets up there as hard as 95 or 96 miles per hour. and it has tough, late life and movement on it. I know that he has a slider and a change to compliment his fastball, I can’t say whether either of those are particularly tough pitches. Hernandez had 79 strikeouts in 57.1 innings in AAA Norfolk, so he was a tough cookie down there. Up here, he’s 2-2 with a 3.94 ERA. He’s inconsistent with his outings, sometimes he’s pretty good and sometimes he’s pretty bad, usually not either extreme. Although his SO numbers down in the farm system were really solid, his career high for K’s in a ballgame is 4 in the Major Leagues, and he tends to be… too hittable, I guess, for MLB batters. In 32 innings pitched, hitters have collected 38 hits off him. He doesn’t walk many batters from what I can tell from his minor league numbers and his MLB sample combined.
In other words, it could be a nice day or a tough day. We’ll see if the Yanks can get some runs off him, enough for Pettitte anyways.
Song of the Day is Linkin Park – Given Up.
Stay positive, Yankee fans!
-EJ the Kid From New York
Goodness Gracious.
I left as soon as they took the lead cause I wanted to watch the last three outs of Jonathan Sanchez’s no hitter. That no hitter is a thousand times more important than a tough loss like this one. We’ll recover. It was nice to be tied for first place, of course, but it’s actually quite possible to lose ballgames.
Yes, my optimism frustrates me too.
I could easily go on here and rant and rant about the awful pitching performance by Chamberlain that makes me wonder if he really should be in the rotation or not or the lack of use of Eric Hinske despite the fact that he wanted to be traded because of lack of use or how we wasted a nice day offensively with sloppy pitching and defense. But I don’t feel that anger. I am truly not an angry person, or not a person who gets angry at a baseball game. It’s funny, because I’ll curse and scream at a video game, but baseball games just do not anger me. They upset me, but after a game, I’m always able to take a deep breath and just forget about it.
Whatever I’m feeling, I bring it straight to you. That’s why they call me the Straight Talk Express! 😀
They don’t really call me that…
The Song of the Day is Common – Universal Mind Control. Warning, it is a whippersnapper hip hop song. I got your back, Julia. xP
Stay positive, Yankee fans.
-EJ the Kid From New York
So Much To Talk About!
We’ll start with the Yankees-Mariners ballgame.
Last night, the Yankees won again, continuing their 6-game winning streak. Joba Chamberlain turned in a decent start and, needless to say, got a no decision. After Alex Rodriguez hit a towering homer to left to give the Yanks a lead, Brian Bruney once again looked off and had an awful outing. However, Brunester got himself the W when the Yankees came back to score 3 runs off the Mariners’ Sean Green, headed by an RBI double by Mr. Clutch, Melky Cabrera, who had 3 RBI that day.
And how about Melky Cabrera this year? He’s on pace to hit 13 or 14 homers, be in the 60s or 70s in RBI, and steal 10 or 11 bases. That’s nowhere near what we’ve expected Lil’ Leche to be after that severely disappointing year he had in 2008.
Now, while that win is all fine and dandy, something else happened in the AL East that is about 7 thousand times more awesome.
The Red Sox got pwn’d.
After facing a commanding Red Sox lead of 10-1, those beautiful beautiful Orioles down in Baltimore rallied for 10 runs over the next few innings, the last couple off of dominant closer Jonathan Papelbon. How freaking unbelievable is that?! It’s hard enough facing the Red Sox losing 2-1, but 10-1? What happened now, Boston?! I thought you could pitch?
So beautiful…
And guess what? As I speak, the Red Sox are losing to the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 1-0! These guys are incredible!
Nick Markakis is dreamy, too…
And once again, even though the Subway Series has been over for well over 48 hours now, I still find myself talking about the patheticness of the New York Mets.
Johan Santana was angry after a 4 run inning full of sloppiness(what else is new, it’s the Mets!), he was shouting, he was just pissed. And you know what? It’s good that he was pissed. Somebody’s gotta be pissed!
I don’t think Johan Santana should have been shouting and screaming like a madman, let’s be clear on that. However, I also don’t agree with Johan getting in the dugout, breathing for a couple seconds and telling F-Mart(you see his mistake above) “I’m sorry, I should’ve picked you up.” Instead, I would have rather seen The Johan use his anger in a more calculated manner. When you shout and yell, you only scare the heck out of everybody. You only intimidate and that doesn’t do anything but hurt your cause.
Instead, Johan Santana should have gotten into the dugout, dropped his glove and said “What’s the point of me working my **** off every day and giving my all every five days when I know I’m going to lose anyway?”
And that gets to you. It sends the team a message. “Dude, you’re letting me down. I’m frustrated here.”
But no, the Mets have no true leaders in their clubhouse. They don’t seem to have a single player who knows how to get to his teammates and control his dugout. And when you don’t have a leader like that who can motivate his team, all you have are a bunch of frustrated ballplayers. And guess what? That only compounds the problem.
It’s sad what has happened to this Mets ballclub.
Stay positive, Yankee fans.
-EJ the Kid From New York
Still In First Place: Barely, but Still
Yesterday was a tough loss, we had a lot of stuff going for us offensively and pitching wise, not to mention the 17 game errorless streak being continued, and to see it slip away like that was not exactly thrilling. However, it wasn’t a discouraging game to say the least, being that we’re still in first place and we did come back on the shoulders of Marky Mark.
Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira have been red hot this road trip, and they’ve collected long hitting streaks over 10, I’m not sure what the exact numbers are but they are fairly big. Hopefully, Joba can pitch well today and we can take advantage of this great Yankee offense and blow out the Indians, who have soft tossing southpaw Jeremy Sowers on the mound for them.
Some background on Sowers as the first inning has ended, still 0-0 in Chase Field Yanks-Indians: Jeremy Bryan Sowers, 6’1″, 180 lbs, is 1-2 with an ERA very well over 7. Ever since his 127 ERA+ in ’06 for Cleveland, he’s been the epitome of suckiness: a 6.42 ERA in 07, a 5.58 ERA in ’08, and you see his numbers up there. Sowers has below average stuff and doesn’t strike out many batters, so his key is to throw quality strikes(something Flash Flaherty talked about last year with Chien-Ming Wang) and pitch to contact.
Okay, so apparently we have some controversy right now going on with Bob from Eat, Sleep, Baseball and I. For those of you who don’t know, Bob is an 11-year old Red Sox fan who has a blog that you can check out right here.
Bob doesn’t seem very pleased with a comment I made on him saying that Jason Varitek is much more deserving over Martinez for 2nd place on catcher votes(by a billion votes). Here’s my comment on that:
“That’s a very ignorant statement, clearly. If you compare the statistics, you can very easily see how Victor Martinez is blowing Jason Varitek out of the water this year. Martinez is hitting over 100 points higher than Varitek with a way better OPS+. And if you want to say JV’s been much better than he was last year, sure don’t seem like it from the numbers.”
Now you can call that harsh, but IMO he had it coming. Here are the statistics comparing V-Mart and Tek:
OPS+
Martinez: 149
Varitek: 111
Batting Average:
Martinez: .350
Varitek: .239
Extra-Base Hits:
Martinez: 23
Varitek: 19
Well, Bobby did not take kindly to this. I’ll answer his long response on my last blog on the first place Yanks right ‘ere:
“Okay first off yes my comment about Varitek was not ignorant it was biassed. If Posada was third you would probably say the same thing.”
Well, I appreciate that you admit your bias: however, bias is ignorance, therefore, to say it was not ignorant, it was biased would be a funny thing to say. As for the second statement, I try not to be biased and when one guy clearly has a huge statistical advtange over my guy, I’m not going to say my guy is more deserving. I admit that Kevin Youkilis has been miles better than Mark Teixeira this season. I’m well aware that Aaron Hill and Ian Kinsler are significantly better second basemen than Robinson Cano, and I’m willing to have that discussion about Pedroia.
“And you said Victor Martinez was blowing Varitek out of the water. In some stats like OBP and batting average yes. But Varitek has more homers then Martinez and only has ten more strikeouts them Martinez. He has ten homers while Martinez has 7. Varitek’s average is .239 while Martinez’s is .350. Tek has 19 runs, 33 hits, 22 RBI’s, 17 walks, 31 strikeouts, and on OBP of .327. Martinez’s stats include 33 runs, 69 hits, 36 RBI’s, 28 walks, 21 strikeouts, and an OBP of .350.”
Bobby, that’s nice and all, but you look really silly when you present the statistics, and Martinez has done much better in every stat you put up, but because Tek has more homers Martinez is not better? That doesn’t make sense. Also, you have to realize that statistics like OBP, slugging, average, OPS, OPS+ are way more notable than homers and RBI.
“You also said that Varitek had a better season last year when he was in a massive slump. Well last year Tek batted .220 with 13 home runs, 43 RBIs, and an OBP of .313. This year he is batting .239 with 3 less home runs then he had all of last year and about half the RBIs he had last year. His OBP is also higher.”
I didn’t say Varitek had a better season last year, I said his season last year wasn’t way better than 09.
“Yes I was wrong about Martinez but seriously. You really did not have to say that. You could have just said, “Martinez is having a better year because his stats are better then Varitek, blah, blah, blah.”
In no way was what I said intended to be offensive nor was it offensive in my opinion. The most insulting sentence in that comment I guess was “that’s a very ignorant statement, clearly” which, notice how I said the statement was ignorant, not you. If I said you’re ignorant, then I could definitely see why you’d be angry. But you’re at a ten, when you need to be at a two, as Cenk Uygur would say.
“I actually voted for Jesus Flores five times even though he has only has 4 homers and 13 RBIs. Because I wanted to help you with your ‘campaign’.”
Well, thanks for voting for Flores 5 times. I appreciate it, although with the needless mentioning of his 4 homers and 13 RBI, I’d assume you really didn’t get why Flores deserved to be in. Bob, you gotta understand, again, that OBP and SLG and OPS+, and OPS and batting average are much more important than homers and RBI. I see this mistake very often among baseball fans.
I’d like to comment on some very controversial and downright unintelligent statements that Bob made in his latest blog, “The ‘Future'” because I’m bored and I like pointing out people’s mistakes. Call me whatever, I’m just for some reason like that.
“While the Orioles are having a good season for their standers they are 22-26. On the bright side they are tied for last with the Rays. So there are two young teams who many thought would be good. Both suck.”
Standards, first of all.
Second of all, nobody expected the Baltimore Orioles to be good this year. The Rays, yeah, people expected them to be good because they were amazing last year, they went to the World Series. I’m sure you know this, since they beat your Red Sox in 7 games in the ALCS and took us out of the playoffs.
“Why do both teams suck? Well, the Orioles have six veterans along with no pitching at all. I mean what other team (besides the Nationals) would have Jeremy Guthrie as their ace? The Dodgers who have the best record in baseball have nine veterans without Manny Ramirez. Along with great pitching. And ohh ya they are super young with guys like Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, Russell Martin, James Loney, etc.”
Uhh, what’s the point of this paragraph here? Like, I thought for a second that he’d be making the experience argument, which I can understand, but then he says how the Dodgers are super young (which they’re not by the way, they just have a few young players).
And the Orioles have six veterans? I consider a veteran a person who’s played at least 4 full seasons. Let’s see here, Baltimore 25-man roster.
Danys Baez
Mark Hendrickson
George Sherrill
Jamie Walker
Gregg Zaun
Aubrey Huff
Cesar Izturis
Melvin Mora
Brian Roberts
Ty Wigginton
Luke Scott
That’s more than 6. Even if you think a veteran has to be an ooold guy: Baez, Hendrickson, Walker, Zaun, Huff, Izturis, Mora, Wigginton. Eight.
I mean, how do you make statements like this and not check yourself?
“James Shields is three and four with an ERA of 3.63. To high for an ace.”
Yeah, and the Red Sox, their ace, Josh Beckett, has a 4.60 ERA! Man, those Red Sox suck, huh?
“When will the Rays and the Orioles get better? Never. The Rays have a one percent chance for winning the A.L. East and Baltimore what a joke they are. They have a 0.0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% chance of winning the wild card for the rest of the teams future.”
This here is the one statement that set me off. Pardon me, I don’t mean to offend, but who the heck are you, Bob, to tell me who the good teams of the future and the bad teams of the future are? Are you some sort of psychic who can see into the future? What basis, what argument did you have to make that ridiculous comment? And by the way… need I remind you that for almost 100 seasons, your precious Boston Red Sox never won a single championship, and they struggled and their fans still stuck with the Sox and still loved their team. The Red Sox were awful, year after year, over and over again, always in the shadow of the powerhouse New York Yankees. I’m sure people thought they’d never win again at times. However, they finally won again in 2004, and again in ’07, and now they’re maybe the best team in the MLB. Now that you guys are the boss, you guys are winning championships, you can suddenly tell us who are and who are not going to succeed in the future? You guys, of all people should know that that’s a dumb statement.
“If the Rays and Orioles want to get better they need to fire their manager, trade for Albert Pujols or Ryan Howard. The only problem? Well, the Rays love Joe Madden and I don’t even now who the Orioles manager is.”
The Rays love Joe Maddon because he made it to the World Series last year, and because the players love him. He’s a solid manager, and easily won Manager of the Year. But of course they have to fire him! Also, if you’re going to criticize a ballclub over and over again to try to humiliate them, you could at least know a thing or two about them. It helps that they’re in the same division as you and they face you quite often during the regular season, so you would think you’d be aqcuainted with their manager. I mean, you expect us to look at your point of view in baseball seriously, yet you obviously don’t pay attention to baseball games all that much if you don’t know who the Orioles manager is.
His name is Dave Trembley. Learn it. Live it. Love it.
Now Bobby, I understand you were angry for some reason and you were taking it out on the Rays and O’s, but I blog angry sometimes, and I’m still able to make intelligent, well thought out blogs. Think things through before you rant endlessly. I don’t mean to rag on you, just saying.
Stay positive, Yankee fans.
-EJ The Kid “durr, what’s their manager’s name again?” From New York
Okay, Listen Up
Marlon Byrd slides safe into home plate.
The last 2 days, being a Yankee fan went from being respectable to being in an awful situation. Why? Because the Rangers, carried by the bats of Marlon Byrd and Josh Hamilton and Ramon Vasquez and all sorts of guys. The Rangers have played pretty good defense, and their pitching has been iffy, but they’ve gotten through it. The Rangers offense has overwhelmed the Yankees pitching, and while the Yankees have hit at times, it hasn’t been enough. It’s been embarressing, how bad the Yankees have looked in the past 2 days. It’s only two days, but they’re two unencouraging days. It’s not just because of the winning, however, that’s got Yankee fans down in the dumps.
The Rays have won when the Yankees have lost. The Rays have won when the Yankees have won. The only time the Tampa Bay Rays have lost is when the Yankees have lost. It’s the same with the Red Sox. When they lose, so do the Yankees. It’s gotten to a point where it’s extremely frustrating for Yankee fans to stick around. The Yankees are slowly, but surely, losing ground in the tough AL East and AL Wild Card standings. Slowly, but surely, the hopes of another postseason run, and subsequently, another World Series, is quieting down. The Yankees are now at a point where the thought of them winning the World Series in the last season of it’s legendary ballpark is dieing down, and that’s FAR from good.
Joba Chamberlain leaves the game with an injury.
But to top it all off, as though the first two reasons aren’t reason enough to be under the weather, the Yankee fans have been hit by a short, yet extremely excruciating loss to their ballclub. 7 games out of first place in the AL East, the Yankees lost their ace of the future, Joba Chamberlain, to injury. He’s been placed on the disabled list with an injury to the right shoulder. Chamberlain was the most dominating pitcher, stuff wise, in the Bombers rotation. The young righty may be out for the rest of the season, the Yankees have yet to report what the problem Joba has in his pitching shoulder. Initial reports say it’s a stiff shoulder, it could be worse. After Chien-Ming Wang was confirmed to be out for the rest of the season until October. An acquirement of Jarrod Washburn or Paul Byrd is not nearly big enough to cover that huge scar that the losses of Chamberlain and Wang have left.
With that being said, all we have is hope. Hope. We need to hope; hope the offense can come back and become what it’s supposed to be. Hope the pitching can keep us in ballgames and hold the opposing team down so the offense can rise up. We need to hope our bullpen becomes what it was before, a dominating force. Marte, Ramirez, Veras, Bruney, all these guys have the stuff to dominate and have dominated in this season. Let’s face it, our chances are getting smaller. Every time the Red Sox or the Rays win, our chances of making the playoffs get smaller and smaller. But that’s the beauty of the game. Last year, the Rockies kept winning and winning and never stopped winning and beat the Padres in a one-game playoff to make the postseason, and eventually make the World Series. The Phillies came back from a huge deficit made by the Mets to make the postseason. We just have to cheer our Yankees on until the end.
Though it gets tough sometimes,
Stay positive, Yankees fans.
-EJ/Kid From New York
Yankees Crush O’s 13-3; FARNSWORTH TRADED!
Yankees Crush O’s 13-3; FARNSWORTH TRADED!
Well, the Yankees whooped the Baltimore Orioles’ butt. Seriously, we spanked around those O’s. We got back at them for the first two games of pain and punishment. We smacked them around. 2 homers by Bobby, a homer by A-Rod, a great performance by Joba, 2 RBI Doubles by Nady, even an RBI single by Christian. It was a great game. I loved it. I’m sure all the Yankee fans in the world loved it. But apparently, the game was not the biggest part of the day, suprisingly.
Kyle Farnsworth, our set-up reliever, the one with great stuff who Girardi exercised so much patience and confidence in, is no longer with the Yankees. We have traded him to the Detroit Tigers, and who did we get back? Well, none other than 14-time-All-Star and 13-Time Gold Glover catcher Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez. I, of course, think we won this trade. Not only that, I think that we blew out this trade. We owned this trade. Sure, Pudge isn’t what he used to be, but he’s a pretty solid offensive producer. He’s hitting close to 300, and he runs pretty well too, with 6 steals. Plus, he’s always had an absolute cannon behind the plate, and he is rock solid defensively. We give up a guy who has great stuff and was having a pretty good season, but he’s inconsistent. He gives up too many homers when he’s off, he’s off. You don’t know what you can get from him. So, we once again bolster our team, adding a great defensive and a pretty good offensive catcher. Plus, he adds a great veteran influence who has plenty of experience and won a World Series. I wish Farnsworth well, I hope he pitches well for Detroit, in fact, I think he could be closer for the Tigers for a period of time.
Alright, time for the next segment;
7 Years From Now…
Alright! Welcome to a brand new segment that I’ve been thinking about for a long while! Here, we talk about very young, lower-level prospects who could become big, impact players about 7 years from now. These guys have great talent and a big future ahead of them. Here are today’s first three!
#1: Dellin Betances
Dellin Betances is a BIG prospect. He’s one of those lesser-known prospects, but he is a TREMENDOUS part of the future of the New York Yankees. The 20-year-old Betances is 6-foot-8 and 240 pounds. His stuff is overpowering; a mid-90s fastball with heavy movement that continues to improve. He has a developing PLUS knuckle-curveball and a good changeup that also continues to improve. He has good command, though he sometimes has difficulty repeating his delivery as usual tall pitchers do. This guy will be an ace one day, and I’m really high on him. He’s dominating Charleston, with a mid-3s ERA and well over a strikeout per inning. 7 years from now, he’ll have All-Star appearances under his belt and All-star appearances in the future.
#2: Jairo Heredia
Jairo Heredia is 19-years old, but he pitches like he’s 29-years old. The Dominican starter has very good control that only gets better. He has a low-90s fastball that he throws for quality strikes. He has a big overhand-curveball that, when located well(which is pretty often) can dominate. He has a 3rd pitch, a changeup, but it really isn’t as good as his first two pitches and will improve over time. At times he throws too many strikes and he needs to build up his stamina, but he can be a solid starter. In 7 years I see him pitching well at the major league level and improving even more as time goes on.
#3: Brandon Laird
Brandon Laird is a big power hitter. He has 12 homers in the GCL this year. He’s got power to all fields, and he’s got plenty of it. He hits righties and lefties out of the park. He’s a big guy who, when he gets a hold of one, can send it out. The 20-year-old (turns 21 on 9/11) corner-infielder also has a plus arm, however he doesn’t have much accuracy with it. Laird also has good plate discipline that’ll get better as time goes on and he matures. The younger brother of Gerald has a future with the Yankees, considering he’s probably their best 1st base prospect and Jason Giambi is at the end of his career. 7 years from now I can see him tearing up the majors, though not yet fully reaching his stride.
Information from River Ave. Blues and Pending Pinstripes.
Final Thoughts
Well, it’s time for the blog to come to a close, but before I do that, it’s time to keep up the new tradition of the Bold Statement of the Day! If you’re new to the blog here and you don’t know what this is, well, you better aks somebody(not a typo). Here’s today’s Bold Statement of the Day!
The Yankees, led by Xavier Nady and Pudge Rodriguez, will beat the Angels and Mark Texeira in the upcoming 4-game-set.
My Bold Predictions and Bold Statements are always positive towards the Yankees… anyway, you heard it here first, Nady and Pudge are going to lead the Yankees to a series win against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Thanks for reading, see you after tomorrow’s game, I’ll have a brand new, fun post.
Stay positive, Yankee fans! Have a good day.
-EJ/Kid From New York
A Real Disappointer; 3 Game Losing Streak
A Real Disappointer; 3 Game Losing Streak
The pressure. The momentum. The Yankees were losing 6-1 in the bottom of the seventh, and they started to rally. 2 in the bottom of the 8th, and 3 in the ninth… but after a leadoff homer in the top of the 9th off the bat of Aubrey Huff off of Mo Rivera, the Yankees ended up just short. Wilson Betemit haplessly swung with both hands, reaching a high 92-MPH fastball thrown by lefty closer George Sherill. Betemit had found himself in another clutch situation, but was unable to come through after coming through in his last try. So the Yankees lost another one. You could say it was a painful and tough loss; that would be true. You could also say, however, that it was an encouraging and motivating loss. The Yankees now, instead of losing 6-1 or 7-3 and not putting up a fight, they put up a fight and fought hard, so you’ve gotta think that they’re feeling good and have some momentum from this late rally.
Mark Texeira; Brand New Resident of Southern California
Mark Texeira has been a confusing case this trade deadline. First he’s on the market, then he’s not. Then he might be, but no, he’s not again. But after Chipper Jones and Tim Hudson were put on the disabled list in Atlanta, it became apparent that the Braves were in selling mode. That night, the Bravos (not a typo) GM informed all the interested teams that Texeira was on the trade market once again, and this time, most likely here to stay. The next day, Tex is gone. Mark Texeira has been on 3 teams in 2 years; the Rangers, the Braves, and now the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
The Angels know what they’re getting with Mark Texeira. Texeira is a big, switch-hitting slugger who hits almost .300 and hits homers. The big guy provides solid run production for his ballclub, and he’ll be protection for Vlad Guerrero, along with having protection in Vlad Guerrero, depending on the lineup. The Angels lineup was slumping, but the pitching was amazing so they were winning games. Now, with Texeira, they’ll have that run production to give their pitchers a comfy lead. But not only that, Texeira is a 2-time Gold Glove Award winner at first base. He’ll be able to pick balls out of the dirt and make diving grabs and catches. He’s a solid player. I think the Angels won this deal; Casey Kotchman is a good 1st baseman with a similar glove but not much power and a similar-yet-slightly-lower average. The Braves also got a reliever in AA at 25-years old, named Stephen Marek. He was pitching pretty well, but he wasn’t exactly dominating as far as I know(he might just have been slumping at one point and IS dominating), but he really isn’t a top prospect at all. I think the Braves rushed to give up Texeira knowing there was no reason to keep him, and at the end of the day, they’re probably disappointed with what they got.
Yankee Trade Rumors
After the Yankees dealt Ross Ohlendorf, Jose Tabata, Jeff Karstens and Daniel McCutchen to the Pirates for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte, there was a thought among the head of many Yankee fans. That thought was, “What’s next?”. There’s been speculation that the Yankees were looking for a catcher, such as Miguel Olivo, Rod Barajas or Gerald Laird. Those talks seem to have died down, though they could make a move for a new backstop. Lately, the trade talks have been surrounding the Tigers and Brewers, mostly. But there’s speculation that lefty Jarrod Washburn, starter from the Seattle Mariners could come over to the Bronx. The Yankees are offering to pay the entire big money contract, but not give away any prospects. The Mariners want a guy like Brett Gardner or Melky Cabrera from the Yanks along with them paying the entire salary. The talks of Jarrod Washburn have died down in the past few days.
There’s also a rumor that the Yankees are interested in young right-handed starter for the Royals, Brian Bannister. Bannister had a very good start to the year but he’s really struggled mightily of late, and he doesn’t have the stuff to dominate hitters, so it really depends on his command. I don’t know if that’d be a great idea, to get Bannister. Finally, the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins are interested in LaTroy Hawkins, who is on waivers. I thought that Hawkins would have a very good second half for us, and we ended up getting Marte so Hawkins was DFA. I think Hawkins gets traded somewhere. Where he goes I do not know. But I think he could be a nice pickup. He’s got no future in the Yankees organization with Marte and all the other guys. It’s hard to tell what Hawkins can do for a team’s ‘pen; will he be an inconsistent and somewhat lacking relief pitcher, or will he dominate? One thing’s for sure, he’s still got a live arm. The last time he pitched, he was throwing mid-90s with movement and had a pretty sharp slide-piece. That’s it for the Rumor Mill!
Final Thoughts
It’s time for this post to come to a close, but before we do that, it’s time for the Bold Statement of the Day! Most of you probably skipped to the end here (I’m looking at you, Jeff) because of how popular this segment is. If you’re new to the blog, in this section I say something that’s arguable, something that takes serious guts and hutzpah(as Jeff would say) to say. I’ve got that guts and hutzpah. Here’s today’s Bold Statement of the Week;
Joba Chamberlain and Andy Pettitte will go back-to-back great starts pitching at least 7 innings aided by great defense.
Wow. I’ve done some Bold Statements but I don’t think I’ve ever done one so intricate and detailed. I said that Joba Chamberlain and Andy Pettitte would go back-to-back dominating starts, but not only that, I specified that they’ll go 7 innings. I didn’t leave it at that, however; I had to say the defense would be great. So, I can either be REALLY right, kinda right, a little right, or totally and utterly wrong. This will be fun. I know Yankee fans who are readers will be watching the game really closely, or non-Yankee fans who are readers will take advantage of MLB.tv or Gameday, I’m looking at you again, Jeff.
So it was a pretty tough night, but the Bombers have revealed they’ve got some fight in them. Let’s see if this carries over into the next game. Right now, we can only cross our fingers and hope.
Stay positive, Yankee fans;
-EJ/Kid From New York
P.S.: Guys, I want some suggestions on a new section for my blog. I’ve been thinking about the success of the Bold Statement of the Day, so if you have an idea for a new section, feel free to share it.
Joba vs. Beckett: The Boskees Rivalry Continues
Joba vs. Beckett: The Boskees Rivalry Continues
Yes, the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is alive and well! The two top teams in the AL East(no offense, Tampa Bay) will face off again this season, as the two hated rivals go at it. This is a big, nay, HUGE series considering the condition the AL East is in right now. And what a way to start off the series as well; the young flamethrowers from both teams go at it today. Joba Chamberlain from our proud Yankees goes for us(I predicted he’d dominate today), and Josh Beckett, who I think is overrated, pitches for Boston. Both pitchers have absolute filthy stuff. Joba with his great fastball, solid slider and big curve, and Josh Beckett with his flaming 4-seamer, his great curveball, and his hard sinker. Oh yes, this is potentially one of those games you just want to record and watch over and over again.
I don’t know if I’ll be able to record it with all the things we record on this HUGE flat-screen HD Sharp Aquos TV(which I really do have), but if I can, I will. It’s going to be a fun game. Big hits, great pitches, fantastic defensive plays. Nailbiting at-bats, homers, doubles, strikeouts, homerun catches, and all sorts of out-of-the-ordinary plays. One thing we’ll be looking for, of course, are the brawls. People will get plunked. Brushback pitches are encouraged. Hard slides and dirty plays are encouraged. Fighting is all part of the fun of a big Red Sox-Yankees game. This is going to be exciting.
The AL East is tight. The Wild Card? Tight. Be sure to push and shove and claw and pull your way to a win. What’s this about the integrity of baseball? Screw the integrity of baseball. What about the integrity of an awesome rivalry? It’s all in good fun, anyway.
What about Kevin “Mommy, he poked me!” Youkilis? What about Jason “Set up inside… very inside” Varitek? Let’s hit those guys! Why don’t we show Pedroia who’s boss with a good hard slide? Why don’t we line one up the middle and test Papelbon’s reflexes? That’s what we’re here for! That’s why we watch this game. That’s why this series is so hyped. The hostility, the passion, the excitement, and, who are we kidding– the BRAWLS!
Alright, so in today’s edition of The Squad, we’ll do the 2nd edition of who’s next, I’ll give my Bold Statement of the Day, and that’ll be it. It’s a quick blog post today. So, let’s start with the second edition of everybody’s favorite Minor League section, whoooo’s NEXT!
Who’s Next?
So it’s time for everybody’s favorite Minor League Section, Who’s Next? In this section, we look at three Yankees prospects who are having big success in the minors that could possibly be up at the end of the season. So here we go! Number 1!
JB Cox
Otherwise known as James Brent Cox or J. Brent Cox, Cox has been a big prospect for the Yanks for a couple of years. A closer in college, Cox is a solid relief pitcher who is up there with the replacement for Mo Rivera when he finally decides to call it a career. Cox replaced Huston Street as the closer for the University of Texas, and Cox is similar to Street. He throws from that same 3/4 angle as Street, and he sports a very good low-90s moving fastball, with sinking action. His best pitch, however, is his hard slider. He doesn’t strike out many, but he’s pitched well enough to be called up. His 3.23 ERA in 39 innings in Tampa, Trenton, but mostly Scranton/Wilkes-Barre(Wassup Tara?), is solid. The 24-year-old has a place in the Yankees bullpen.
Matt Carson
With Hideki Matsui possibly out for the season, the Yankees could trade for Jason Bay or Xavier Nady. Or, they can do what they’ve always done and keep going from within. Matt Carson is probably the next guy up after Gardner. He’s hitting .305 with 5 homers and 7 steals in AAA ball right now. He doesn’t really do anything specifically well; he’s a guy who is an-all-around decent player. He’s got pretty good speed, average power, and pretty good average. He could have a role in the majors if Gardner’s struggles continue any longer.
Phil Coke
Phil Coke is one of those odd names that nobody really knows, but is having a great year. Coke throws in the low-90s and has great command, but his secondary pitches are so-so at best. He is, however, dominating AA ball. He has a 2.60 ERA in 114.1 innings, with only 38 walks. He isn’t a dominating-type pitcher at all, but his control and his sinker have gotten the starter here, and if he improves his secondary pitches, he’ll be a successful major league lefty. Since the Yankees are apparently looking for a lefty, Coke may be called up in September or around there to serve as a LOOGY, or maybe a spot starter.
Final Thoughts
Alright, kiddies! It’s time for everybody’s favorite section, the Bold Statement of the Day! If you’re new to the blog, in this section I say something that’s arguable and stands out. So now it’s time for the Bold Statement of the Day!
Here it is:
Derek Jeter will have a very big impact on this series; offensively and defensively.
That would definitely be something. Jeter hasn’t done much this season, but Red Sox fans hate him, and he does come up clutch often, so, let’s hope we see that.
BREAKING NEWS: Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte of the Pirates have been traded. There’s speculation that they have been traded to the Yankees for Ross Ohlendorf(alright…), Phil Coke(okay, okay), George Kontos(alright, fine…) and Jose Tabata(oh snap). If this is true, well, none of those guys really stand out other than Tabata, and Tabata has struggled in his first season, so… okay, I can deal with it. It’s still only a report, it’s not official yet.
Stay positive, Yankees fans!
-EJ/Kid From New York
The Squad 
