Beating Erik Bedard is a positive, no matter the fact that Seattle butchered the ball defensively. The lineup didn't suddenly look formidable, but scratching out a win against not only a lefty, but one that's smothered the Yankees in years past is something the lineup has mostly seemed incapable of doing.
Another test arrives today with King Felix taking the hill for the Mariners. He's got a much smaller sample size for pitching against the Yankees, but he also has just as electric of an arm as Bedard. Plus, he's been consistently better this season then his left handed counterpart, so it will be tough for the Yankees to rely on him being erratic, or especially his team playing as poorly behind him as the M's did last night.
I don't really understand the logic in playing Jason Giambi against Bedard but sitting Cano. If anything, Cano has shown more signs of breaking out of his slump lately (a home run, a single on Thursday night) than the continually invisible Giambino. Plus, Cano actually takes the right approach against lefty pitching, as he seems content to go the other way and shoot balls to left field. Whereas, Mr. Big G refuses to buckle from trying to get around on every pitch, extremely willing and clearly able to hit little rollers and humpback line drives into the overshift. The blind confidence that Girardi has put in Giambi early in the year is confounding, considering how the season began with so many prospective first base time-stealers.
Then again, Shelley Duncan is up and not hitting, Ensberg is forced into action at third, and Betemit is just getting over a crazy case of pink eye/cornial ulcers. So, the field has thinned somewhat. However, there hasn't even really been an open threat of sitting Giambi down. In fact, I've heard more talk about Kevin Long saying that he's right on balls and just missing, than I've heard people questioning if he's done or not.
One veteran who has staked a claim for not being done is Mr. Mike Mussina, who has performed admirably so far this year. It seemed unlikely that he'd be a consistent quality starter when the year began, but he seems capable of providing 5-6 decent innings and keeping his team in the game, something that doesn't sound wonderful but considering the poor performances turned in by the rotation so far this year, is a blessing. With the Moose though, it's been hard for him to maintain consistent performance, so he may very well be in for a clunker this afternoon.
Looking outside, it seems as though another cool, overcast day is in the forecast, so hopefully Mike's hand doesn't cramp up like Mr. Wang's did last night. Wang, though, got through that and continues to make his case for early-season AL Cy Young favorite. The competition is pretty limited in the AL as well, maybe Halladay or Dice-K right now would be in the conversation with Wang. No doubt, he's been one of the only reasons why the Yankees are even sniffing .500 right now, and his presence every 5th day has done more this year in terms of providing stability than it ever has in year's past.
He seems to have fully turned the corner and figured out how to deal with a sub-par sinker, completely willing to mix in his 4-seam fastball and newly-discovered off-speed repertoire (slider, splitter, change-up, etc). He seemed more stubborn in years past, trying to get his sinker to straighten out in the midst of a game instead of easing off it and giving lineups a different look. Now that it appears his pitching IQ has increased, he has risen to the level of unequivocal Ace/Stopper. The questions of last year's ALDS nightmare also have subsided, at least until October, if there is an October.
Even Hank Steinbrenner yesterday posed that question, but he also provided his usual dose of bluster and angst mixed with supposed confidence in the plan. It's amazing that someone who still openly pines for Johan Santana would even bother saying he still believes in Cashman's "plan" and has high hopes for Kennedy/Hughes/Chamberlain.
Regardless, at least one small bright spot for the Yankees on a Friday night. Let's see how they can turn their iota of momentum, either into more momentum, or into another head-scratching performance.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Friday, May 2, 2008
Very gray in New York today, fittingly synonymous with the aura that surrounds the team in the Bronx these days. Showers are possible all throughout the evening, so the nasty conditions that persisted throughout last night’s game might be repeated tonight. Rain might be a blessing, considering notorious Yankee-dominator Erik Bedard takes the hill for Seattle, his first start in the Bronx for his new West Coast club.
Looking at Bedard’s numbers against the Yankees for the past 2 seasons, and considering how badly the lineup has done against lefties and against everyone this year, there is little hope to hold on to for ending the current 3-game losing skid. Here’s his compiled performances against the Yankees for the ’06 and ’07 seasons:
5 GS 3-0 W/L 33 IP 20 H 9 BB 35 K 1.77 ERA 0.96 WHIP .179 Opp. AVG
Bedard has been dominant across the board, and the only solace one might take is that he’s battled injuries and his control thus far this year. He missed a few weeks with an inflamed hip, but upon his return he threw up a strong performance of 6.2 IP 2 H 0 ER 4 BB/4K against Oakland. The walks might be the one thing the Yankees floundering lineup can exploit.
On the other side, Chien-Ming Wang comes in completely cemented as the ace of the Yankees’ rotation. His 5-0 start has been impressive, and he’s only had 1 truly bad outing (against Boston in the Bronx). Otherwise, he’s been the model of consistency and, even occasionally, greatness. Runs most likely will be at a premium, especially since the recent history of Wang vs. Seattle is almost as impressive as Bedard vs. New York:
4 GS 4-0 W/L 29.1 IP 21 H 5 BB 11 K 1.87 ERA 0.89 WHIP .202 Opp. AVG
The recent history says runs will be at a premium for both sides. Most likely, anyone could have guessed that by just looking at the names of tonight’s starters. Regardless, I like to turn to the numbers at least once in a while, so as to not form my opinions on nominal value alone.
Turning back to last night, the Ian Kennedy situation looks as though he’ll be skipped his next turn in the rotation. If they’re going to do that, then he should go down to Scranton to at least stay on schedule and try and work through his problems (be they mechanical, or approach, or whatever). The interesting thing is if you send Kennedy down to start at Scranton and go with a 4-man rotation, he can be re-inserted should Darrell Rasner prove horribly ineffective this Sunday. Likewise, if Rasner is successful, then you can just bring Ian (or whoever pitches the best from Scranton’s rotation in the next week or so) back up when a 5th starter is needed again.
It keeps all parties covered: Kennedy continues to get his work in, Rasner gets his audition for the rotation, Kei Igawa can tell himself that he’s got a shot of getting called up even though every Yankee fan shudders at the mention of his name, and so on. My hope is that Kennedy doesn’t get outright demoted and told that he’s out of the rotation, considering that the team still needs him to be successful if they are going to cover for the loss of Hughes. You need one of the two rotation components of the youth movement to fight through their horrible struggles this year, and if Hughes isn’t going to resume the fight until the middle of the summer, then it would help if Kennedy kept throwing punches through the spring months.
But, then again, Joe Girardi seems convinced to not follow any consistent train of thought. He’d rather not lay out any plan, or make any clear statements regarding his team, his players, his rotation, his lineup, his diet, his anything…something that’s quickly annoying the members of the New York press corps. I think both major tabloids referred to him as “Belichik-like” in terms of secretiveness and sneakiness. Not exactly the kind of guy you want the media comparing you to, unless it means you’ve done nothing but win championships, something Girardi seems extremely far away from doing as it stands this year.
It’s amazing that he’s used 27 different lineups through the team’s first 30 games. Injuries have something to do with it, but so does a manager’s uncertainty in both himself and his players. I’d imagine tonight will be #28, and I highly doubt that this time around the results will suddenly be better.
