I'm getting a bit concerned about the rotation. I think the team will still make the playoffs, but realistically we're looking at a starting rotation that is 2-3 deep. Clemens with an elbow problem this late in the year is a bad sign. Outside of Pettitte and Wang, there is no reliable starter. I think Kennedy can emerge, but will Hughes get right before the end of the year (is it a physical thing relating to coming off injury, or is it confidence?). Can we depend on Mussina to come back at this point?
yanks are definitely making this interesting, no?
hughes hasn't been the same since the injury - no movement on his fastball and leaves alot of curves hanging mussina style.
mussina is toast. even in relief he was getting beat up. if either pettite or wang lose, the yanks will continue to lose series. i was holding on for the division title but that looks more and more like a fruitless venture.
Kennedy is the wildcard. He throws strikes and doesn't get rattled. He can give them a few more quality starts before the end of the year.
Jeff Karstens has been getting lit up like a Christmas tree this year, but in his last AAA start he struck out 10 and gave up no runs in 7 innings.
Also Rasner is rehabbing and maybe he can come back this year. He can actually eat innings somewhat effectively b/c of his sinker.
It's a shame Kennedy wouldn't be available in the playoffs
Posted by Bonn1997:
It's a shame Kennedy wouldn't be available in the playoffs
There's a loophole with players from the 25 man going on the DL that could allow him to be eligible (like what the Angles did with K-Rod a few years back).
Posted by VDesai:
Posted by Bonn1997:
It's a shame Kennedy wouldn't be available in the playoffs
There's a loophole with players from the 25 man going on the DL that could allow him to be eligible (like what the Angles did with K-Rod a few years back).
TMS said he's on a limited inning count and has only a couple of starts left at most.
They need to survive or sink with what they have. I don't want them pushing the kids with more innings than they should throw. I'd rather miss the playoffs than mess up Kennedy, Joba and Hughes.
Personally I think they'll be fine. They have the easiest schedule between the Mariners, Tigers and themselves and they've been through these races before. It'll be a dogfight to the end but they'll prevail. That will just make it all the more enjoyable for us fans. We haven't been through one of these in awhile.
But Wang better win tonight.
Posted by Bonn1997:
Posted by VDesai:
Posted by Bonn1997:
It's a shame Kennedy wouldn't be available in the playoffs
There's a loophole with players from the 25 man going on the DL that could allow him to be eligible (like what the Angles did with K-Rod a few years back).
TMS said he's on a limited inning count and has only a couple of starts left at most.
That's true, but if he's one of their better starters down the stretch they may have to bend the rules a little (with Clemens hurting).
Posted by islesfan:
They need to survive or sink with what they have. I don't want them pushing the kids with more innings than they should throw. I'd rather miss the playoffs than mess up Kennedy, Joba and Hughes.
Personally I think they'll be fine. They have the easiest schedule between the Mariners, Tigers and themselves and they've been through these races before. It'll be a dogfight to the end but they'll prevail. That will just make it all the more enjoyable for us fans. We haven't been through one of these in awhile.
But Wang better win tonight.
I agree about not pushing the kids and I hope they won't push them. I think the Tigers have far fewer games remaining against top teams than we do, though.
They mentioned yesterday that Joe Torre wants to go to a 6 man rotation to get Mussina back in the rotation. That's such a bad idea! It means Wang and Pettitte get 33% instead of 40% of the starts and inferior starters get 67% instead of 60%. That's an important difference when each game is this important, especially considering that excluding Wang and Pettitte this is barely a .500 team (48-48 vs. 28-14 for W & P).
Posted by Bonn1997:
They mentioned yesterday that Joe Torre wants to go to a 6 man rotation to get Mussina back in the rotation. That's such a bad idea! It means Wang and Pettitte get 33% instead of 40% of the starts and inferior starters get 67% instead of 60%. That's an important difference when each game is this important, especially considering that excluding Wang and Pettitte this is barely a .500 team (48-48 vs. 28-14 for W & P).
I'm getting tired of Torre. I think he needs to go.
it's torre's last year regardless.
mattingly is he heir apparent but who knows what to expect from him.
my #1 pick would be mike soscia. otherwise, i'd give joe girardi a shot.
i think we should be playing a little more aggressive offensively - use the speed we have along with the contact hitters in the lineup.
The speculation is that Girardi has passed Mattingly at some point as "heir apparent."
Posted by djsunyc:
it's torre's last year regardless.
mattingly is he heir apparent but who knows what to expect from him.
my #1 pick would be mike soscia. otherwise, i'd give joe girardi a shot.
i think we should be playing a little more aggressive offensively - use the speed we have along with the contact hitters in the lineup.
I like Torre and I think he deserves kudos and a spot in the Hall of Fame for his work here but he's just lost his way. He doesn't know how to manage a bullpen and I think he's become to close to the players and lost his edge that he can't make tough decisions. e.g. Sheffield last year and Mussina this year. He gave Moose to long of a leash and talking about a 6 man rotation to get him back is asinine.
Joe Girardi is too much of a contemporary to be the next manager. Maybe on another team where he didn't play with the top players. He needs a coaching role with the team before becoming their manager. I'd be happy with Mattingly as the Manager with Girardi being the bench coach.
They've been playing aggressively but they need the timely hits that they didn't get yesterday along with good starting pitching.
I never thought I'd say it but losing Andy Phillips was huge. He's been great defensively and has come up with some very timely hits.
Posted by islesfan:
Posted by djsunyc:
it's torre's last year regardless.
mattingly is he heir apparent but who knows what to expect from him.
my #1 pick would be mike soscia. otherwise, i'd give joe girardi a shot.
i think we should be playing a little more aggressive offensively - use the speed we have along with the contact hitters in the lineup.
I like Torre and I think he deserves kudos and a spot in the Hall of Fame for his work here but he's just lost his way. He doesn't know how to manage a bullpen and I think he's become to close to the players and lost his edge that he can't make tough decisions. e.g. Sheffield last year and Mussina this year. He gave Moose to long of a leash and talking about a 6 man rotation to get him back is asinine.
It's hard to say. I thought he had way too long a leash with Damon and Abreu when they looked finished but staying with them proved right.
wang is 7-2 after a yankee loss. he better get the job done today...
Torre is a patient bastard. He trusts the vets to do what they do. I respect that but sometimes you can't always do that. Torre always does it. When its time to manage wins you can't simply rely on a vet to figure it out. Its money time. giradi is a bull that way cuz he will make the calls in game that can get teams playin baseball. Can't win off Yankee magic all the time. That's all next season stuff. This year the cards are in the yanks favor. Regardless of the problems the yanks are having, they are still a very good ball club.
mussina may get that next start:
Rocket to get cortisone shot, says he'll pitch again
By Buster Olney
ESPN The Magazine
An aching elbow will prevent Roger Clemens from making his next scheduled start for the Yankees, at the very least, at a time when Clemens may be in the last days of arguably the greatest pitching career in baseball history.
Roger Clemens' forgettable outing against the Mariners turned worse when he was pulled from the game with an aching elbow.
Clemens will have a cortisone shot Wednesday following his Monday start against Seattle that was cut short in the fifth inning. Clemens said he thought the elbow problem stemmed from a blister on his foot that caused him to alter his mechanics. He had a MRI exam after the game; the injury is not believed to be serious.
Clemens is confident he will be able to pitch for the Yankees again this season. Beyond then, who knows? He did not know exactly how long it would take for him to return to the mound and couldn't say whether the injury would require surgery at the end of the season.
Clemens won't decide until after the season about whether he will come back for a 25th year, and time and again, he has leaned toward retirement and then changed his mind. But many friends and associates who know Clemens believe privately that this will be his last season, because at age 45, the physical grind required to pitch every fifth day has worn on him.
Clemens started on Monday against a pitcher, Felix Hernandez, who wasn't even born when Clemens won his first game in the big leagues in 1984. He posted a 2.48 ERA in the first year of Joba Chamberlain's life, and a 2.30 ERA in the year that Chamberlain was drafted. He became the first pitcher in history to strike out 20 batters in a game in 1986, and became the second to do so, in 1995.
If he never pitches again, Clemens would finish his career with 354 victories, the most of any pitcher since Hall of Fame left-hander Warren Spahn, and almost as many as Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale combined. He has 4,668 strikeouts, more than anybody not named Nolan Ryan, and more than 1,000 more than Tom Seaver and about 1,500 more than Bob Gibson. Clemens is one of just three 300-game winners, along with Lefty Grove and Christy Mathewson, who has a career winning percentage of greater than .650.
Clemens has won a record seven Cy Young Awards in three different decades -- the first in 1986, and then in 1987 and 1991, and then four more after Boston general manager Dan Duquette suggested that Clemens was entering the twilight of his career -- in 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2004. He got MVP votes in 10 different seasons and won the award in 1986. He threw his first pitch in the big leagues when George Bush was vice president, and may throw his last pitch with George W. Bush as president.
Buster Olney is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. Information from The Associated Press also was used.
Posted by EnySpree:
Torre is a patient bastard. He trusts the vets to do what they do. I respect that but sometimes you can't always do that. Torre always does it. When its time to manage wins you can't simply rely on a vet to figure it out. Its money time. giradi is a bull that way cuz he will make the calls in game that can get teams playin baseball. Can't win off Yankee magic all the time. That's all next season stuff. This year the cards are in the yanks favor. Regardless of the problems the yanks are having, they are still a very good ball club.
it's so easy to 2nd guess baseball decisions. torre starts the same lineup friday as he did vs. boston yet they lose 2 of 3 to tampa after they sweep boston. baseball is such an f'n mystery it really makes it the best sport out there.
Magic.
Can you say that about any other sport? Baseball is definately a good game. The whole game can change with one swing of the bat. One ball bouncing one way or the other can determine the outcome of the game.
Its beautiful actually.
Go yanks!
