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Well that wasn't pretty. The Yankees just didn't have it tonight. Hat tip to David Price for that. Price looked really good until he ran out of gas in the 8th. Not sure what Joe Maddon was thinking leaving him out there once the trouble started. I thought Dusty Baker was managing the Rays there for a second. The Rays have to be really happy with Price's outing. Wait, why I am writing about Price? This is a Yankees blog last time I checked. But seriously, Price pitched really well.
On the flipside, Javier Vazquez didn't pitch well at all. Scratch that. Javy started out pretty well. He looked solid for the first 3 innings. I was really excited when the Yankees went up 2-0 in the 4th. I thought it would be enough based on how he was throwing. But then the wheels fell off and things got bad real quick. I'm sure there are a lot of Yankee fans out there already dumping on Vazquez. Message to them: stop! There is absolutely no reason to think that Vazquez is going to suck this year. It's one start and it's the first start. He'll be fine.
Things might have been a little different for Javy and the Yanks had Girardi started Brett Gardner. There was a liner into LF that Marcus Thames dived for and missed. I'm not saying Gardner would have caught it but he's a lot faster than Thames so it was possible. Had the ball been caught, the inning would have ended and the Yanks would have been down 3-2. It could have been an entirely different story.
Not real much to discuss about the offense. They didn't do much against Price. Mark Teixeria is still oh-fer-April. For the life of me I don't understand how a hitter like Tex, who has a career .289 average, struggles so badly at the start of every season. It's mind-boggling. It really is. He's now 0-16 thru the 1st 4 games. He's due. Now if anybody out there is worried about Tex, don't be. It happens every year. He'll finish the year with a .290+ average. He'll have at least 30 hrs and 100 RBI. He won the MVP last year after his terrible start. History can easily repeat itself with Tex.
Nick Swisher is not doing anything to get me to stop calling him "The Rally Killer." Nick is picking up right where he left off last year. For those new to the blog, I started calling Nick "The Rally Killer" last season. He was absolutely horrible with runners in scoring position. Last year he hit .227 with RISP, .163 with RISP and 2 outs, and .158 with the bases loaded. He lived up to the moniker again tonight when he whiffed with the bases juiced in the 8th. I was definitely hoping for a different outcome. I'm still dying to drop my first 10 spot to his charity. There are a few of us who are down to donate (see upper left). An HR in the 8th would have been huge tonight. Heck, a hit would have been nice. I don't have much faith in Nick in a big spot. I love him at the start of a rally but not at the end of one.
The loss drops the Yankees to 2-2. I know some people out there are already hitting the panic button. It's the 4th game of the season guys. There is no cause for alarm. The big man gets the ball tomorrow. Game is at 3:10pm and is on FOX. That means Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. Ugh.
Peace, love and Pinstripes,
J-Boogie
Friday, April 9, 2010
Yankees Get Stymied By David Price, Lose 9-3
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5 comments:
Should Brett Gardner have been in the game is the question.
My girlfriend and I were chatting when that play happened and Thames missed it, ultimately possibly altering the entire game.
We both said.. "Gardner would have gotten it."
It made me think, everyone always says how Thames CRUSHES LHP, so that's why he's in against them. Here's an interesting bit of info for you to ponder the next time Girardi starts Thames over Gardner against a LHP.
Gardner career BA vs LHP - .247 Thames - .256
Big difference? Not really.
Thames does have a lot more power... but do the Yankees really need that when you have guys that can bat from the right with raw power? Tex, Posada, Swisher, Arod.
Is the extra bit power Thames has to offer really that important when it's not needed in the lineup?
Gardner is a more dynamic player in almost every sense except for the power Thames offers.
If Thames made that catch, would I even be typing this up? Probably not, but shit happens.
Yeah, I have agreed in theory since the Yanks contracted Thames. But I was actually impressed that he could run and dive last night. Up to then, I had partially seen him butcher a ball bouncing around the corner at GF Steinbrenner field, and then just not appear at the site of a popup in Boston.
There was an earlier liner in the vicinity last night that Brett may have had a dive for, as well. I wonder at the Yanks' motivation, but doubtless Joe G.understands the value of defensive skill.
I'd guess the override was that Joe values Brett, sees him struggling to succeed, and didn't want to present an 0fer opportunity.
Great point about Swish, Mr. Boogieman. Those frustrations were in me, but I hadn't heard such points or stats. It's odd, and I hope you lose money. I love rallies, so we have to fix the Rallykiller.
That's not fair to Swish. Earlier in the inning, Tex swung at the first pitch he got and Arod swung at the second, I believe. Price was getting up in pitches, so if those two would have had some patience and worked the pitcher, it might have been a different outcome. Work the pitchers guys! Swish and Nick work pitchers like no one else. They see way more pitches than anyone else on the Yankees.
According to Joel Sherman's NY Post article on 4/9/10, Boston pitchers threw 506 pitches in the series vs the Yanks. The Nicks saw a bit more than a quarter of those pitches (130) between the two of them.
Michael- I had actually written a little more about Thams and Gardner in the first draft of my post, but took it out as I thought it could be it's own post. I think Gardner should be getting the starts against both righties and lefties. I don't think Thames offers that much extra that makes it worth starting him. I'll take the speed in defense over the power.
Smurfy- I'd love to lose some $$ to Swish's charity. I was really hoping this year would be different than last in terms of Swish's #s with RISP. So far, not so good.
Anonymous- I'm all for those guys taking pitches as it definitely adds value to the rest of the lineup and also drives up the pitch count. My point about Swisher is that he hasn't really coming through w/RISP. As I wrote he only hit .163 w/RISP and 2 outs (49 AB), and only .158 with the bases loaded (19 AB). That's a lot of killed rallies. I like Swish, i really do. I definitely prefer him at the start of a rally than at the end of one.
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