Props to Melky, Mussina, Rasner, and yes...Farnsworth

by John Amato on May 5, 2008 5:07 AM EDT

Quick Notes:

OK, the Yanks sweep a series against Seattle and look like a baseball team for a change. It's tiring trying to watch a wasted April every season. That said I wanted to give a shout out to...

The Melk Man. He leads the team in HR's with six and has been very consistent at the plate so far this season. I expected him to become more of a doubles guy as he matured, but Melky's lifting the ball better so they are carrying out of the park instead of being fly ball outs. 15-22 HR's is not out of the question of all of a sudden.

Last April he batted:

.200, 75 AB's, 15 Hits. 1 Double, and 7 RBI's.

This April he batted:

.299, 87 AB's, 26 Hits, 2 Doubles, 5 HR's and 12 RBI's.

He started May in great shape with a HR and 3 RBI's.

Who would have thought that on May 4th, the big three would be Wang, Pettitte and Mussina? That's not a good thing. Mike's off speed pitches seem to have a little extra movement this year that has really made him much more effective so far. Will it continue? Who knows, but his change up visibly seems to knuckle around before it gets to the catcher, fooling hitters so far.

Last April

2 GS, 0-1, 6 IP's, 11 Hits, 6 ER's, 9.00 ERA

This April:

6 GS, 3-3, 32.1 IP's, 36 Hits. 17ER's 4.76 ERA

He started off May in fine fashion with a win against Seattle. 6IP's 7H's 1R, 5K's and the big stat: 0 BB's. Getting the ball over the plate has its advantages even with below 90 MPH stuff. Did you see that IPK?

Darrell Rasner proved that point today also. 0 BB's kept him out of trouble, focused and in the game after an expected nervous beginning and guess what? He earned himself a W. I thought he was pretty decent last year when he came up until he broke his finger. He doesn't throw hard, but showed no fear and really commanded his pitches. More shall be revealed.

Yes, it's a PA first, Kyle Farnsworth gets some props. Defending him against the idiotic rants of Steve Phillips doesn't count. In his last five appearances he hasn't given up a run:

5 IP's, 3 H's, 8K's, 2BB's, 0 R's

Kyle's control has been very good lately, he's added a new pitch, his fastball is popping for a change and Joe Torre isn't here. In Kyle's mind, Torre didn't use him properly, or something. Sure thing Kyle, just keep it up. The 64K question as usual with Farnsworth is--- will he be able to do it on a consistent level all year. Can he finally be counted on? I won't bother throwing up a poll question on that one yet because I already know the answer.

There are others to talk about, but I chose this group today for my Quick Notes segment.

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A pitcher who can be counted on?

There is a tendency on the blog to ask Farnsy, Bruney etc to become a pitcher who can be counted on.

I think this is bad thinking. Name pitchers who can be counted on. Mo! Joba? OK who else. It is the nature of pitching that pitchers have good days and bad. They are consistently inconsistent.

The Yankees have recently had some periods where they had setup men you could count on, at least for a while, Mo for John Wetteland and later Flash Gordon for Mo. In each case you had a closer setting up for a closer. And remember that Gordon burned out under the work load. Scot Proctor was pretty good.

The things which seperate good pitchers from bad pitchers is that good ones have more good days and bad ones have fewer.

Farnsy will blow up again. Count on it. The important thing here is that he is contributing positively to Yankee wins. Right now I hope Farnsy has crossed from bad pitcher to good pitcher.

A great pitcher is one who can limit the damage and be effective even on a bad day. I am not hoping Farnsy will become great. Let’s hope for continued solid pitching much or most of the time. Let’s hope he can shed the boos. He is a little too sensitive to be a reliever. I know those boos make it harder for him to relax and perform.

When you ask, “Will he become a pitcher who we can count on?” remember that there are very few of those.

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. Herm Albright (1876 - 1944)

by Cbeck3 on May 5, 2008 8:34 AM EDT 0 recs

Absolutely

This is where we’ll find out just how good a manager Joe G is. We learned from Torre, perhaps the most important thing a manager does is protect his players from criticism and deal with the press. Joe G has been mediocre (or worse) at this so far.

The second thing is handling a bullpen, keeping track of who’s hot and cold, and whom to use when. Zim did a lot of this and having a staff of horses made the rest of the decisions easier until 2004. Then Torre looked really bad. I’m withholding verdict on Joe G until I see more.

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

by jscape2000 on May 5, 2008 9:59 AM EDT up 0 recs

Um, John

Who would have thought that on May 4th, the big three would be Wang, Pettitte and Mussina??

I would have. Certainly Wang and Pettitte. Not necessarily Moose, but I had a feeling he’d be better this season than last and be more stable than Hughes and Kennedy.

"If you lived in my grandfather's house...and you wanted to eat, you had to be a Yankees fan." --Joe Biden

by SenorSwanky on May 5, 2008 1:40 PM EDT 0 recs

Bullpen

Our pen this weekend was stellar in general, not just Farnsy. Edwar, Veras, and Ohlendorf contributed some good innings, along with the usual lights-out stuff from Joba and Mo. If our starters and offense keep clicking like they did this weekend, our strong bullpen will be even stronger, and we won’t have to depend on guys other than Mo and Joba to hold the score every time they come in. Then we won’t get frustrated when they give up a run or two now and then and we still win.

"If you lived in my grandfather's house...and you wanted to eat, you had to be a Yankees fan." --Joe Biden

by SenorSwanky on May 5, 2008 1:45 PM EDT 0 recs

CBeck

What I’m saying is that there are relievers that a team can count on during the season to pitch effectively. Not to be perfect. They paid him tons of money to be that guy, not an almost 5ERA pitcher who walks as many as he strikes out.Getting a season out of him like Cleveland did last year from 3 guys would be nice for a change.

by John Amato on May 5, 2008 2:17 PM EDT 0 recs

OK

One game at a time.

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. Herm Albright (1876 - 1944)

by Cbeck3 on May 5, 2008 7:41 PM EDT up 0 recs

Farnsy ...

I almost wish we didn’t jettison Roth to the pits of Cyber hell. I believe Farnsworth has crossed the chasm to a good pitcher. Frankly, he doesn’t have the stones or the IQ to be a great pitcher. But he is showing he can contribute, and I think with these little victories his confidence will soar and we might actually see him become a viable bridge to Mo.

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

by Ronster22 on May 6, 2008 5:06 PM EDT up 0 recs