Around the Yankee Universe: Reactions to Wang's effort
by Ed Valentine on Jun 18, 2009 8:05 AM EDT
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We have to start today's tour of the Yankee Universe with reactions to Wednesday's night's effort by Chien-Ming Wang in a 3-2 loss to Washington.
From Jorge Posada and Joe Girardi.
"For me," Jorge Posada said, "that felt like the old Wang."
Said manager Joe Girardi, "We wanted to see something good out of him and I think we did tonight."
From Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.
Chien-Ming Wang did his job tonight.
I know that won’t be a popular thing to say to Yankees fans right now as they deal with the humiliation of losing a game to the Nationals, but it’s true. Wang gave up three runs in five innings, and if not for a terrible call by the first-base ump in the fifth, it probably would have been two runs in five, possibly allowing him to come back out for the sixth.
Was it vintage Wang? No. Was it much closer to vintage Wang than anything we’ve seen this year? Absolutely. For that reason alone, he deserves to remain in the rotation. As long as he doesn’t take a huge step backwards and get lit up in his next start, this is likely going to be his spot for the foreseeable future.
From Bob Klapisch of The Record.
Like a wave crashing onto the beach, full of sound and fury before retreating in silence, the Chien-Ming Wang crisis (mostly) has played itself out. His velocity is again in the mid-90s, he’s back to throwing ground balls and earned at least another start, if not a long-term berth in the rotation.
This isn’t to say Wang worked a classic against the Nationals on Wednesday night; he clearly was outpitched by John Lannan in a teaser of a 3-2 loss to the major leagues’ worst team. But that was an indictment of the offense, not Wang, whose five innings (three runs, six hits, two walks) represented progress from his ash-heap days of early April.
- Give Washington starter John Lannan some props for his outstanding 8.1-inning effort. Lannan's 15th career victory was likely the most special of the Long Island native's young career. As a kid, he was a Yankee fan.
"I used to sit down the left field line, pretty close (to the field)," Lannan said. "The first time I was on 'SportsCenter' I was trying to reach over and grab a ball....
"From the get go, just driving in and seeing the old Stadium and the new one, it was definitely weird because I hadn't seen the new one," said Lannan "I tried to control my emotions as much as possible. Just being here and being in this stadium was something special. I'm just glad I soaked it all in. This place is beautiful and it had a great feel to it."
- Phil Hughes pitched two more quality innings out of the bullpen Wednesday. Hughes now has a 2.95 ERA in four relief outings.
"I just happen to be throwing the ball well and giving us innings when we need them, regardless of what my role is. It really doesn't make a difference as long as I can get in there and get some quality innings," said Hughes, who seems settled into his role as what he calls a utility pitcher.
"It's been fine. For the most part it's pretty comfortable. . . . I'm just taking it a day at a time. Right now I'm in the bullpen, and that's where I'm going to stay until I hear something different. I'm not waiting around and assuming something's going to happen."
- Ex-Yankee Mel Hall was sentenced Wednesday to 45 years in prison.
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First off
LOL at Posada, “felt like the old Wang”.
Wang has been really snakebit this season. Yea he’s gotten shelled, but also there’s been some bullcrap defensive play and/or some real new Yankee Stadium hijinx going on (Shin Sho Choo HR? 400ft opposite field to death valley HR?).
Adam Dunn hit HR off anyone, so that’s nothing to be concerned with (it was on a 3-0 count too, when the hell does he not take his walk?).
Yes it can happen, you can lose to the Natinals. This is usually how its done too. Bullcrap plays/calls all around, cost you the game.
Still have to hit. This team is not clicking right now. Either the hitting’s good, pitching sucks, or vice versa.
by FreeBradshaw on Jun 18, 2009 8:20 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
The team isn't clicking?
They’ve won 9 of their last 11 series, 10 of 12 if they beat the Nats tonight. They’re on pace to win 92 games. If the season ended today, they’d make the playoffs. What more do you want?
by DocBrown82 on Jun 18, 2009 10:41 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
correction
it’s a day game, and likely to get rained out.
by DocBrown82 on Jun 18, 2009 10:48 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Attaboy, Doc!
Geez, you can’t win every night. Throw out the Boston series and the Yanks have played very well in recent weeks. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the other guy, and Lannan was outstanding last night. On the corners all night, changing speeds. Pitched the game of his life, and deserved to win it.
by Ed Valentine on Jun 18, 2009 10:52 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
well right now
as in the past few games AND the Mets series is all I was talking about (5 games= this week?). The only game they really ‘clicked’ was the 15-0 game.
You can call the Mets series a win, but for obvious reasons it really shouldn’t be (but I’ll take it).
No, this team isn’t clicking RIGHT NOW. You have 2 nice pitching performances overall, but you can’t hit for crap in both of them. I know John Lannon is a damn good starter so I give him credit for shutting the Yanks down, especially with Jetes inactive.
But that still is no excuse for CC’s game.
I’ll be the first one to say that the team is playing well and the other team just went out and played better. But this team is really not clicking this week. They’ve either pitched well and haven’t hit, or vice versa.
Not saying they should be going out and winning 15-0 every time out. They ARE getting runners in scoring position, so there’s that RISP average thing biting them in the ass again.
by FreeBradshaw on Jun 18, 2009 1:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I really hate..
….the whole, “you have to give the other pitcher credit” thing. They say that all the damn time, and it’s ridiculous.
Even though Lannan isn’t a bad pitcher, there is no excuse for not scoring more than 2 runs against him. None.
Of course, Lannan’s stuff is a perfect matchup against the Yankees, who try to hit everything 9 miles and end up hitting weak grounders and popups all night against soft tossers like him.
God forbid they stay back and hit everything the other way, that wouldn’t be manly enough.
by New York Sports Jerk on Jun 18, 2009 9:31 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Why?
Are you saying it’s not possible for an opposing pitcher to pitch a good game? Geez, you lose games sometimes. Can’t go 162-0. Look at Cano’s AB last night that ended the game. He had a great at-bat. Fouled off a lot of tough pitches, took pitches off the plate and ended up hitting a smash. Unfortunately, it went right at the shortstop. That’s the way it goes some nights.
by Ed Valentine on Jun 18, 2009 10:50 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Cano hit a smash?
Funny, that’s not the way Sterling made it sound last night. Oh, does he drive me nuts. The night before last, he regaled us with “It is high! It is far! It … is … caught. No, it’s off the wall!!”
by DocBrown82 on Jun 18, 2009 11:11 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Sterling
Ugh!! Let’s just say Cano hit the ball hard.
by Ed Valentine on Jun 18, 2009 11:47 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
WHY????
How about because every time they get shut down it’s always about giving the pitcher credit. How about once saying, “we looked like idiots because we absolutely refuse to shorten our swings against a guy who is constantly on the outer half of the plate.”
Lannan is not a bad pitcher, but this is yet another one for the file of pitchers who baffled the Yankees the first time they faced them. It’s predictable. Yanks face a guy for the first time, and they look stupid at the plate, then credit him for his good stuff.
Fact is, Lannan brought a 3.51 NL ERA into Yankee Stadium, and the Yankees got 4 hits off of him. If the RF fence wasn’t a joke, they might not have scored a run at all.
Sorry, but if you want to put on the rose-colored glasses, be my guest, but that’s unacceptable for a team with alleged World Series aspirations.
by New York Sports Jerk on Jun 18, 2009 11:53 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
It happens to almost everyone
The Yanks are not the only team (in fact I think they’d be the only team if they weren’t) who has trouble with pitchers they’ve never seen before. Pitchers always have the advantage in first time matchups.
by potroast on Jun 18, 2009 12:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Other teams are not my concern
And by the way, the Red Sox had never faced Andrew Miller until last night, and they knocked him around for 4 runs in 5.1 innings.
But I know it’s sacriledge to dare criticize the Yankees around here. Great job, Yankees, at least the game was quick and you hit a few balls hard. Let’s go out for postgame ice cream sundaes from Carvel.
Screw that. It’s not Little League. They are paid a lot of money to hit the ball.
by New York Sports Jerk on Jun 18, 2009 12:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
And Andrew Miller
sports a healthy NL 4.56 ERA to Lannan’s 3.38. I know other teams are not your concern (yet you bring them up for your defense!), but if it happens to just about everyone in the league, then maybe it’s actually a hard thing to do? Even the best teams get beaten by good pitching. You think the Sox have hit every pitcher hard that they have faced the first time? I would dare to say they haven’t. Maybe we shouldn’t think the sky is falling because they have a hard time with a good, young pitcher in the middle of winning 9 of 11 series?
I know your shtick is glass is half empty “jerk”. I apologize if some of us like to be the opposite.
by potroast on Jun 18, 2009 1:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
yeah… the yanks love making pitchers they see the first time look like allstars…this really bothers me…Pitchers do not have such a degree of an advantage against a team the first time they face him that would explain their struggles…Lannan is not that good, but he’s better than the ham and eggers that usually end up throwing 6inn of 1 run ball…Is this a problem with scouting?
by Ozone on Jun 18, 2009 12:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
It's not sacrilege
All I’m saying is sometimes you have to give the other guy credit. I know last night was frustrating, but some nights it just doesn’t go your way.
by Ed Valentine on Jun 18, 2009 1:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Ed and potroast...
If the Yankees hit Lannan to his ERA last night, at worst they are in a tie game.
Sometimes you do have to give the other guy credit. When that guy is Josh Beckett or Roy Halladay, you give him credit. When a guy is John Lannan who is a decent pitcher with hittable stuff, I choose to blame the guys who are trying to kill every single pitch and look like idiots doing it.
I know you watched the game. How many times did a guy hit a weak groundball trying to pull and outside pitch? That is not acceptable to me. I’ll give Lannan credit, he realizes that Yankees have a team full of selfish hitters who refuse to hit the ball where it’s pitched, and used it to his advantage.
That doesn’t mean the Yankees don’t deserve criticism for losing like that. I don’t have a “schtick” I tell it like I see it. The Yankees offense sucked last night, and no rational person would disagree with that. Credit or blame whoever you want, THAT’S the truth.
by New York Sports Jerk on Jun 18, 2009 2:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
And another thing...
Four hits is unacceptable. Lannan pitches to contact, and they got 4 hits. Defend it all you want, that’s pathetic.
by New York Sports Jerk on Jun 18, 2009 2:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
not all contact
means hit you know.
You know what a .300 average means right? 7/10 times you make an out right?
Its really bullcrap to think that in baseball of all sports that just cuz a team is ‘better’ that they should be kickind the crap out of the other team.
Lannon pitched a good game, that is all.
That it follow a pitcher who DID NOT pitch well in Mairis on Tuesday, that’s a bit unacceptable. They won of course, but that guy pitched like crap and they damn near handed that game over.
by FreeBradshaw on Jun 18, 2009 6:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
So what you seem to be saying
Is that you’re fine with the approach the Yankees took to the plate, which was to PULL EVERYTHING regardless of where it was pitched.
They didn’t so much as make a loud out. It was a night full of dribblers and easy flyballs.
Whatever, the Yankees can do no wrong I guess.
by New York Sports Jerk on Jun 18, 2009 6:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
no
I really didn’t watch the game so I don’t know their approach they had.
Im saying if a pitcher shuts them down, ish happens in baseball regardless of who that pitcher is.
If they try that approach, which they’ve tried a lot, then yea they are idiots.
Still, you can’t fault a pitcher to pitch against that approach. You still have to execute.
by FreeBradshaw on Jun 18, 2009 6:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'm not faulting Lannan
He used the Yankees stubbornness against them. Good for him, doesn’t mean I can’t be mad at the Yanks for taking that approach.
As far as “ish happens,” yeah, I get that too. When a bird takes a dump on your head, do you get upset about it or do you just say, “whatever” and move on?
The Yankees were the bird, their at bats were the bird feces, and we’re all covered in it today.
by New York Sports Jerk on Jun 18, 2009 6:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
i think wang bought himself another start
but he’s still on pretty thin ice. lannan did pitch a great game. i saw the game on tv and he looked great. he’s a very good pitcher, don’t let the record fool you. its not his fault the nats can’t give him any runs
by theintz on Jun 18, 2009 11:23 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
To the sports... haha... Jerk
Look it is pathetic when any major leauge team is held to 4 hits by any other major leauge team… you don’t win games like that. If you watched the game last night Lannan was throwing strikes, getting the borderline pitch called everytime. When that’s happening any good hitting team is gonna have to work for runs. The bottom line is Lannan is the only decent pitcher on that team. Mainly cause he throws strikes and makes ya swing. The Yankees are a patient team, and how many walks did they draw? 1? 2? (I don’t have the box score in front of me) When the Yankees don’t walk, they struggle. Lannan used that to his advantage and pitched a fantastic game. Wang did not pitch great… he was mediocre, good enough to give him another start. He needs to get that sinker down, cause he got lucky quite a few times with sinkers that turned into a bad 2 seamer down the middle. At least he had great control of a nasty slider to keep hitters off balance.
by bdman318 on Jun 18, 2009 3:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, I watched the game
I saw 13 routine grounders to either the middle infielders or pitcher.
You know how many hits they had to the opposite field? Zero. Not one.
Someone will have to explain to me how an allegedly good offensive team can be so baffled for 8.1 innings.
Newsflash idiots: he’s pitching you away. HIT IT AWAY!
This is a team that hits mistakes and nothing else.
by New York Sports Jerk on Jun 18, 2009 3:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
ED AND DOC
I wanted to comment on your “attaboy Doc” comment earlier today but I waited for this issue to fester and it did…If you don’t see a problem with this team now then you aren’t paying attention. In reality they were swept by Boston and should have lost 2 to the Muts and should have been swept by the lowly Nationals. Who cares how they played before Boston..it’s about what have you done lately and they have been bad. No more excuses like it’s early or anything. They embarrassed themselves and MAN I wish the BOSS was around b/c they need someone to light a fire up their a$$e$!!
by Mondoas on Jun 18, 2009 10:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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