Disappointed in Robinson Cano

by jscape2000 on May 15, 2008 12:16 AM EDT in Analysis Comment 14 comments

I didn't like what I saw from Robbie tonight.

Sure he had four hits, but he only saw 14 pitches- 6 of those came in his 4th inning AB. Of those 14, he was behind in the count in the 2nd, 4th, and 9th.

In the 6th, he swung (and got a hit) on the first pitch from Shields after Giambi and Matsui had gone down on 3 pitches combined. I dislike absolutes, so I'm not going to say you have to take the pitch in that situation, but I was not impressed.

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Maybe his bad luck in April is starting to even out. We may eventually have to accept that Cano is never going to be a patient hitter at the plate.

by anaconda on May 15, 2008 12:32 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Is there any hitting coaches on this team?

Any at all?

I could coach this team and do a better job.

"The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided." -Casey Stengel

by bxgrl1 on May 15, 2008 5:58 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Huh?

If anything there’s too much coaching.

On the positive side, one of the things this staff does very well is move around the position players. Jeter was in perfect position to catch the liner that could have cost them the game, and Cano was in perfect position to get back and catch that pop up late in the game. And there have been plenty of other examples.

It’s very hard to teach agressive hitters to be less agressive without losing effectiveness in the process. Larry Bowa was the greatest coach in the history of coaches and Cano’s father figure and blah blah blah, but not even he tried to mess with Cano’s approach.

Hopefully we’re about to see the positive side of Cano’s approach to hitting. I have a feeling he’s going to be slapping the Mets around this weekend.

"Well, that kind of puts a damper on even a Yankees win."
-- Phil Rizzuto after hearing about the Pope's death

by matthaggs on May 15, 2008 8:37 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think Bowa’s influence on Cano was rather exaggerated. Is Cano really any different now than he was at this time last season? I don’t think so.

Offensively, he got off to a really slow start last season, too.

May 15, 2007: .237 BA, 1 HR, 16 RBI, .599 OPS

May 15, 2008: .205 BA, 4 HR, 12 RBI, .578 OPS

Not much of a difference.

That’s not to say Bowa isn’t a great coach because he is. But he was more influential in Cano’s footwork and other aspects on the defensive side of the ball far more than at the dish.

by anaconda on May 15, 2008 9:28 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree that Cano should be more patient...

but can you really fault him last night? Consider the pitcher. Shields throws strikes…a lot.

by bfriley76 on May 15, 2008 8:51 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Alot of the pitchers who have been having great success

against the yankees have done it just by pounding the strike zone. I know thats a very general statement, and one of the cliches of pitching. Just pound the strikezone. But I think that the vaunted Yankee patience at the plate has gotten the better of us sometimes. Shields threw a lot of first pitch strikes. Why give him a strike?

Giambi used to take the first pitch every at bat. It believe that was the rule over in Oakland. He also wasn’t allowed to swing on 3-0, he always had to take that pitch. He started swinging on the first pitch because he was always getting a fastball and a strike, sometimes that was the best pitch to hit in the at bat.

Robinson Cano and Jason Giambi are very different hitters, and I would like to see Robbie a few more pitches, but mostly I would like to see him not swing at pitches outside of the strike zone.

Crowds are won and lost and won again, but our hearts beat for the diehards.

by Edwantsacracker on May 15, 2008 11:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

"But I think that the vaunted Yankee patience at the plate has gotten the better of us sometimes."

Man, am I glad I’m not the only one who sees this. I am so tired of watching our hitters take a first pitch strike time after time – only to swing at the second pitch which is usually out of the zone. I’m sorry, but if everyone in the dugout can not see that the opposing pitcher is attacking the zone after one or two innings, then we ned to get players/coaches who can see it.

If/when we start drilling those first pitch strikes for hits, the pitcher will have to adjust and throw more out of the strike zone or try to nibble at the corners. THAT my friends is how we used to wear down pitchers.

by ZigmaNY on May 16, 2008 2:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Come on

You gotta be kidding me. How can you complain about a 4 for 4 day? Not everyone has the same hitting style, if he sees a pitch he likes and can get a base hit he should swing at it. Would you prefer he lets one down the pipe go by so he can be in the hole 0-1 just so he can say “i took a pitch”? This guy his a career .300 hitter, let him do his thing.

by sglobus on May 15, 2008 9:22 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Really. I'm sure that this diary could have

been saved for a day when he went 0-fer. It seems kind of silly to complain about a 4 hit night.

Everything looks nicer when you win. The girls are prettier. The cigars taste better. The trees are greener. --Billy Martin

by garp on May 15, 2008 11:50 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's not complaining

so much as ruminating. What do I want from a hitter? Obviously, I am not going to judge his entire success or failure upon a single game (or even a single month).

Shields throws a lot of strikes, and maybe Robbie’s approach was to zone a pitch until he had to protect the plate and then protect- I don’t have a way to judge that. I’m just going to keep my eye on the kinds of counts he finds himself hitting in.

"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."

by jscape2000 on May 15, 2008 3:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

i agree

despite the early struggles, Robbie has hit .342 and .306 the last two seasons. if he’s hitting .205 after July, then i’ll start panicking.

by Clutch like Leyritz on May 15, 2008 1:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

So I guess if Robby...

took two pitches in the 6th inning, got behind 0-2 then swung at a pitch in the dirt for strike three, then James Shields’ increased workload of two extra pitches to Cano would have have tired him out earlier? Be serious.

But, with Cano getting a single, Shields had to throw four more pitches to Melky. Boy, Shields must have been really tired after that!

Rogers Horsnby – who was a pretty decent hitter – had one rule of hitting: Get a good pitch to hit. It is true in the majors and true in Little League. You can’t be a good hitter unless you swing at strikes. Sometimes you only get one good pitch an at bat to make good contact.

The Yankees weren’t going to get Shields removed from the game because of a few extra pitches. The man throws strikes and was able to go longer.

Anaconda is correct about Larry Bowa being a great coach. Until he got hurt last week, look at the difference so far this season with Rafael Furcal in Los Angeles.

by thejobarules on May 15, 2008 1:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

He's pressing ...

With Arod and Posada out, those that remain are stressing and pressing. Cano has never been that patient to begin with, so I think it’s a case of trying to hit the 5-run homer with every at-bat.

Once Posada and Arod return and the weather heats up, so will Robbie’s bat … I hope.

"Baseball is the background music of my life." -George Will

by Ronster22 on May 16, 2008 2:34 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Robbie's Robbie

He’s never going to be a Rickey Henderson-type. But he does have a solid track record, so I suspect he’ll start hitting soon and put up his typical #s.

by Mo4Prez on May 17, 2008 9:42 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs