Here's My Question
Ok, close your eyes. Actually, don't do that because you won't be able to read what I am writing, but just pretend for a minute. Imagine it is March and I tell you the following things about the Yankees season 1/3 of the way through.
1- Mike Mussina leads the pitching staff in wins
2- Jason Giambi leads the offense in home runs
3- Jorge Posada has played in 18 games
4- Robinson Cano is hitting .219
5- HUghes and Kennedy (who are both injured) have combined for 14 starts and 0 wins with an ERA over 8.
Be honest, if I told you all of that in March, what would you think the team's record would be right now? I probably would have guessed they were ten-games under .500 in that scenario and therefore, I take 27-27 as a good sign. Sure, they have played flat, made mistakes, had horrible stretches of hitting and pitching, but they are .500 and right in the thick of things. As an added bonus, teams like Cleveland and Detroit have struggled badly meaning the path to the wild card (not that I am thinking about that right now) is more open than in year's past.
The question of course is where do they go from here? Rasner has stepped in to fill one of the rotation holes and now we will see if Joba can do the same. Posada could be back on Tuesday and the offense looks a lot better since A-Rod returned. The bullpen is going to be a problem if Girardi keeps trying to force Farnsworth into the 8th innning, but Ramirez has looked great and there are options in the minors that could be called up soon.
Call me an optimist, but 27-27 considering everything is ok by me- 108 games to go.
Comments
OK, you're an optimist. But, you make a persuasive argument. All things considered, the Yankees are quite fortunate to be within striking distance, given all that they've endured. Seems like most of the league is either underperforming (DET, CLE), or due to come back to earth (OAK, CHI). Nobody is really dominating. I'm beginning to worry quite a bit about the Rays. Overall, it feels like one of those NFL seasons where parity reigns supreme, and everyone finishes 9-7 or 8-8 or 7-9. I hope Jeter is not hurt. If he is, he should sit until he's better. Tie him to the bench if necessary. Since he got hit on the hand, he's not hit well, so I can't help but wonder if there is a correlation there. Cano's not going to finish at .219 -- he's too good for that. As you say, the bullpen is going to be an issue. We might as well see what they've got down on the farm. We already know what they have in Hawkins and Farnsworth.
Question: Do you think Joba has gotten in enough innings to start? To me, simulated innings in the bullpen don't really count. It' just not the same. I'd like to see him throw at least 60 pitches in a game before we start him. I know it's really tough to plan a relief appearance for that -- we hope never to need a pitcher throw that many innings in relief. It just seems to me that the jump from 2 innings/30 pitches to 5 innings/75 pitches is too big. It's not just about the number of pitches, it's about the different approach to pitching. As a reliever, he can fire bullets and will hopefully not cycle through the batting order. As a starter, he needs to face hitters more than once, and pace himself for the duration. He hasn't done that at the major league level. I think they're asking a lot from him. What do you think?
Posted by: Greg | May 31, 2008 07:30 PM |
Greg-
It's a great question and I think the Yankees would have kept him in relief without Kennedy's injury. They are calling up a long guy (see post above this one) because as you point out, it will be a big jump. Personally, I don't expect him to last more than four innings with a pitch count around 65
Posted by: Peter![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 31, 2008 07:49 PM
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I think I would have read your post and told you that it was borderline impossible for that many things to go wrong at once and still be playing 500 ball. Baseball being the game that it is, the impossible happens on a regular basis though.
Posted by: Mitchell![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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June 1, 2008 10:57 AM
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