Despite his offensive struggles, Tex has been OUTSTANDING in the field. And I do believe that as long as he's healthy, he'll be fine on offense. I still like the Tex signing very much.
Big base-running mistake by Gardner.
DAMON ftw! 3 straight walk off victories.
3 straight walk off wins. That's amazing. Great job by the Yankees.
that tex play was as big as hitting a 2 run homerun...
btw, our pen has been great the past 3 games:
friday: 4 ip, 1 run
saturday: 5 ip, 2 runs
sunday: 3.1 ip, 0 runs
Posted by djsunyc:
btw, our pen has been great the past 3 games:
friday: 4 ip, 1 run
saturday: 5 ip, 2 runs
sunday: 3.1 ip, 0 runs
those stats are a bit misleading... the pen was great today... not so hot yesterday, they gave up a 3-2 lead that Joba left the game with late in the game & if not for A-Rod's heroics we're talking about how the bullpen failed to do its job again... the day before if not for a late 3 inning comeback in the bottom of the 9th we're talking about how Hughes was inconsistent & the bullpen didn't help matters by giving up another late game run... u can't look at bullpen stats in a vacuum, u have to consider the situation... if they come in with a 5 run lead & they give up 2 over 5, that's a good job... if they come in w/a 1-2 run lead or tie game & they give up 2 over 5, that's called failing to do your job... for holding the tie games in extra innings the bullpen deserves credit, but overall u can still see some big inconsistencies w/their performance & huge issues that still need to be ironed out.
[Edited by - TMS on 05-17-2009 3:08 PM]
The pen sucks, end of story. Please get rid of Veras btw. Dude is atrocious.
Coke is unreliable, Albaladejo is completely inconsistent, and Edwar Ramirez is erratic at best. The only guy I like in there is Aceves and maybe Tomko. Hopefully Bruney comes back soon so we don't have to see Veras ever again.
our starters have been barely able to finish 6 innings until recently. our bullpen has been overused.
We desperately need Bruney, and relying on Bruney isn't the best thing. He can't stay healthy. He never has.
This team fights though and is showing grit. That's a good thing.
Joe Mauer is f'in awesome.
Posted by Allanfan20:
We desperately need Bruney, and relying on Bruney isn't the best thing. He can't stay healthy. He never has.
This team fights though and is showing grit. That's a good thing.
Joe Mauer is f'in awesome.
Another tremendous win today. Very happy for the boys. 3 straight against a red hot team coming in. I was out at the Star Trek movie this afternoon (good movie - go see it) so I didn't see the end of the game live. Just got done watching the highlights. First off, love the Gardner play. That's why he's in there man - I want him trying to make things happen with his wheels. Probably not the right play but strangely I didn't have a problem with that play, but again I wasn't watching it live. Who was on deck there? Burnett looked pretty solid - if only we can get him some more runs.
Just read that Wang pitched 7 scoreless innings today for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and threw 12 groundouts. Hit 92 on the gun. Brian Cashman, looking on, said "he didn't have the slider like he did last time but performance-wise, he did terrific. This is a much better hitting club, but his stuff was better last time although he performed great today." Bruney gave up a run on 2 hits but hit 94 on the gun. Cashman: "He appears healthy. Unlike Wang, he's coming off an elbow injury. You want to see health, and I saw health." Also read in the paper yesterday that Xavier Nady feels "85, 90%" and should resume hitting soon. It'd really be something to get all three guys back 100% ready to go. We gotta see how these guys feel tomorrow but some good signs here...
Our pen is getting a bit better b/c as DJ says, our starters are finally getting deeper in games. I think Alby is best used getting out of jams rather than starting innings. He seems to bear down much better in those situations. Alby, Veras and Ramirez walk practically everything that moves. By the end of the year Aceves should be a strong part of it, Bruney was looking lights out at times and will be a big part, and before the year is up Melancon and Robertson will be a big part of it.
Cone was talking about it during the game, but when Wang comes back, why not give Hughes a shot in the pen for a bit? He was very good in the playoffs a few years ago and it will allow him to have an opportunity to build some more confidence on the major league level. What more does he have to game in AAA, and what do we have to lose with giving him a shot here?
First off, love the Gardner play. That's why he's in there man - I want him trying to make things happen with his wheels. Probably not the right play but strangely I didn't have a problem with that play, but again I wasn't watching it live. Who was on deck there? Burnett looked pretty solid - if only we can get him some more runs.
i liked the play too... i want this team to be aggressive & Gardner brings that element to the table... always put pressure on the other team to make plays & Mauer did that... just gotta tip ur hat to him... w/1 out & man on 1st & 3rd a DP ends the inning... yeah, u can argue that a sac fly wins the game too, but that was a damn close play & heads up running by Gardner, he almost got in there... i'm fine w/Gardner running in that situation... btw, Cano was on deck.
they should wait for Wang's velocity to reach 94 at least before he gets called back... 92 isn't gonna cut it w/his stuff... 2 mph makes a difference... Bruney's rehab seems to be going well... i don't think this team needs Nady other than to have as a pinch hitting bat off the bench at this point... Melky's playing great baseball, Swisher's our 2nd leading productive hitter on the team & Damon's our best hitter right now... who does he replace? unless u wanna DH Damon but then what do u do w/Matsui? Nady, take ur time.
Posted by VDesai:
Our pen is getting a bit better b/c as DJ says, our starters are finally getting deeper in games. I think Alby is best used getting out of jams rather than starting innings. He seems to bear down much better in those situations. Alby, Veras and Ramirez walk practically everything that moves. By the end of the year Aceves should be a strong part of it, Bruney was looking lights out at times and will be a big part, and before the year is up Melancon and Robertson will be a big part of it.
Cone was talking about it during the game, but when Wang comes back, why not give Hughes a shot in the pen for a bit? He was very good in the playoffs a few years ago and it will allow him to have an opportunity to build some more confidence on the major league level. What more does he have to game in AAA, and what do we have to lose with giving him a shot here?
I heard Coney say that too. Not opposed to it but I'm not sure I see him in that role, despite what he did against Cleveland in the playoffs 2 years ago (remember he was pretty solid at home in that series that one game but in Cleveland, he didn't pitch too well. I remember him giving up a big dinger coming out of the pen in that series on the road). I either see him as a starter for us or as trade bait somewhere down the road. Unfortunately his stock is nowhere near where it once was I fear. Once upon a time we were talking about getting Johan Santana for Hughes and two other secondary pieces. Now, there's no way we even sniff that type of return in a Hughes trade.
Posted by VDesai:
Cone was talking about it during the game, but when Wang comes back, why not give Hughes a shot in the pen for a bit? He was very good in the playoffs a few years ago and it will allow him to have an opportunity to build some more confidence on the major league level. What more does he have to game in AAA, and what do we have to lose with giving him a shot here?
it's not Hughes' confidence that needs work, it's his location & control... he walks way too many batters & doesn't locate where he wants to locate... that's not a good mix for a relief pitcher to have... either u keep him in the #5 starter's role & let him iron out his issues, or u put him back in AAA & let him fine tune his control.
How do you know his location and control are unrelated to confidence? We could use a long reliever like Remiro Mendoza. I wouldn't object to seeing how Hughes does in that role.
They've gotten to 3 over .500 before. I'm really hoping they can keep building this time. The starting pitching 1 through 4 seems to have settled in a lot better, which gives me more optimism. AJ's been a little disappointing but I think he's pitched better than his ERA suggests. He's gone relatively deep into a lot of games which has helped our bullpen.
[Edited by - bonn1997 on 05-18-2009 07:54 AM]
Wow--in the last 7 days the team's ERA is 2.89! I know that's a really small sample but I do think the slow starts for many of our pitchers were just an aberration. I'm not sure what to think about Wang though.
The starting pitching 1 through 4
I still haven't lost faith in Hughes. There were a lot of things I didn't like, but I thought he played some gritty ball on Friday night and the fact that he didn't have his control yet was still able to keep his team in the game by only allowing 3 runs says something.
Hopefully he gets one more chance.
Posted by Bonn1997:
How do you know his location and control are unrelated to confidence? We could use a long reliever like Remiro Mendoza. I wouldn't object to seeing how Hughes does in that role.
i agree with bonn here. i think he's too afraid to give up the homerun so he's always nibbling. the biggest thing is his curveball. if that's not breaking, all he does is throw fastballs between 88-93 mph. he completely abandoned his changeup too. the guy needs alot more work.
with aj, cc and swish in the clubhouse, the entire demeanor of the team has changed. they are much less uptight and i think it shows in all the late inning comebacks.
