A very early assessment of the Yankees
by Ed Valentine on Apr 8, 2010 7:50 AM EDT
in New York Yankees News
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PrintIt is silly to make assessments about the New York Yankees after just three games. That, however, is the kind of immediate gratification world we live in -- and the way Yankee fans are. After an opening night loss I know some of you had already judged certain players failures, so this morning I have to ask the question.
How do you feel about the Yankees today?
Two excellent victories over Boston followed Sunday night's season-opening disappointment. So, can we actually make any judgments?
Let me start here. I am guessing that many of you were ready to bury Chan Ho Park after he got knocked around Sunday night feel differently this morning. Three gutty shutout innings Wednesday night showed why the Yankees signed the veteran right-hander as a free agent. I think Park pitches a lot of important innings for the Yankees before it's all said and done.
How about the rest of the bullpen? A bit of a melt-down Sunday, but eight shutout innings in the two victories. Loads of quality arms in a group that will win lots of games for the Yankees this season. If Joba Chamberlain can be the Joba we saw Tuesday night then the Yankees are going to play a whole of five and six-inning games this season.
Worried about how Curtis Granderson will perform under the bright lights of the Yankee-Red Sox rivalry? A game-winning laser beam into the right-field seats off Jonathan Papelbon in the 10th inning Wednesday night provided an early answer. It says here that Granderson will end up more than justifying the Yankees decision to bring him over from Detroit and let Johnny Damon go.
Andy Pettitte barely pitched in Spring Training. Oh, and he has been babbling about retiring again. So, what does he still have in the tank? A whole lot if last night is any indication, both in terms of stuff and desire.
Can the fragile Nick Johnson help this team? I think his four walks, including a huge one during a tough at-bat Tuesday night, answered that question.
Robinson Cano in the five hole? A huge home run Wednesday night, five hits in 12 at-bats in the series and a seemingly new-found willingness to look for better pitches to hit show that Cano might have matured into a plaer ready to accept his increased responsibility.
It is too early to know how this season will turn out. The opening series in Boston, though, provided plenty of hints.
Your thoughts?
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so far so good...
They new guys are playing very well. We basically won 2 out of 3 from Boston without A-Rod or Teixeira doing anything.
Johnson reached base 6 times
that’s “something”.
by FloridaownsFSU on Apr 8, 2010 4:11 PM EDT up reply actions
CHoP looked good.
I’m feeling real good about this year. We have 4 possible MVP canadiates in Jeter, Tex, A-Rod and Cano on our team which is just unbelieveable on its own right. Our bullpen looks spoiled as hell with 4 long relief pitchers in Sergio, Aceves, CHoP, and Joba.
There’s more I feel good about but its 8am and I am still out of it.
Yankees all day.
"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." ~Rogers Hornsby
"If you're not doing it right, you're doing it wrong. And there's no in between." ~Mark "Lunch" McKenzie
Gotta like it
may be just 3 early April games, but that doesn’t change the fact that it was against a team with the “best starting staff 1-5 with a much improved D”. The Red Sox are our main competition and we battled them pitch for pitch and could have swept had the bullpen held serve in Game 1.
I am more excited that we are already winning games exactly like we did last year. Keep it close till our bullpen can lock down and let the bats take care of the rest. Serge, Chan, and Ace will all be very valuable.
Selectively Aggressive...
If Cano can do that, maybe 115 ribbies?….Grandy will replace Johnny Be Good’s numbers and then some, still taking wait and see approach on Nick & Nite.
Hey Ed
We all like immediate gratification, some more than others…yowser.
THE SKY IS FALLING!
Wait…NO ITS NOT!
OH GOD!!….amazing how the tune changes after taking 2/3 right? Friggin DOOMSDAYERS!!
Grandy EATS Papelbon..Grandy eats all RH pitching actually, I love this acquisition. Imagine what he does playing ~81 games in Yankee stadium with the short porch? Someone’s gotta tell him to just make contact against LH pitchers. He seems to try the same stuff he does against RH, pull the ball, but it doesn’t work. Just make contact Grandy..and use your speed.
Chan Ho Park is the new Bruney for us. That’s his role. And you know what? He’s a lot better then Bruney. A+ move on getting CHOP Cashman.
Our other acquisition, Sensei from NJ Nick Johnson, is a problem in that #2 hole. Him and Swisher are gonna piss off a lot of pitchers with their long AB’s. He’s effective without even getting a hit…I love it.
All those who predicted Cano would do well in the #5 hole..I think we’re all gonna be right on that one.
^^obviously its all early to give conclusions on this, but really..all a that is nothing different from what these guys have proven in their careers, so its not unheard of to expect this out of them.
Now comes the final eye test with Javy Vazquez. Lets do this.
Thanks Bradshaw I do my best
I just couldn’t pass up a HO PARK for the bullpen.
I like it when people say jock strap and to the batmobile.Want to see my bubble gum? For those who do not know my ball sack is my bubble gum. I took a penis enhancement pill and now I have to walk on stilts.
by cashman bashman on Apr 8, 2010 2:48 PM EDT up reply actions
Johnson vs. Matsui???
No problem with most of the Yanks moves in the off-season, but this one still makes no sense. A fragile, slow experienced power hitter with tremendous playoff performances replaced by a fragile, slow, walk and hits man with no real team successes to speak of. And we lose the interest of Japanese fans, too. Salary seems to be the only good reason. Or could it be the Yanks just love endless at bats with marginal production?
it would be that..if it was Johnson vs. Matsui.
The Yankees didn’t sign Johnson over Matsui…WHY do people insist on that?
1st, Matsui signed with the Angels.
2nd..Given ^that, the Yankees went to a backup plan for their DH spot. That’s Nick Johnson.
Matsui
Sure, but given what Matsiu’s deal was with the Angels, don’t you think the Yanks could have signed him? What did he get with the Angels that he couldn’t have gotten from us? You make it sound like he had no interest in returning.
And was Nick the best available DH in baseball? He looks like a slugger, but he’s just a slow singles hitter who gets hurt alot. Were there no aging sluggers available?
Matsui was rumored to be offered a chance to play the field
something the Yanks smartly didn’t do.
Nick Johnson is not a slugger..and who cares. The Yanks have plenty of sluggers.
What is nice about Johnson is he doesn’t make an out 40% of the time. Meaning he’s on base 40% of the time so Tex and A-Rod can fatten up on RBI’s.
Matsui in the field
Well, I hope of course that you are right. And I hope that Matsui wasn’t deceived by the Angels. He’s a good, proud man. We’ll see how many times he gets to play the field. My guess is Nick will be at first more than Matsui in left — and Nick will get very few opportunities.
FreeBradshaw is spot-on
Having two batters (Jeter and Johnson) who are likely to post .400 OBP this season hitting in front of Tex and A-Rod is a recipe for scoring a lot of runs. That’s what’s important – scoring runs.
I’ll take Johnson over Matsui any day. Godzilla was a great player, but at this stage of his career, playing the field is nearly a physical impossibility, which is not the case for Johnson.
Matsui vs. Johnson
I checked and Matsui is supposed to start in left for the Angels today, so I’ll bow to both of you and your greater wisdom.
As a fan, however, I’d watch a Matsui at bat over a Johnson one any day of the week. I suppose it’s good baseball but watching Nick work the count is like watching paint dry. I guess I can always leave the room and get something to eat.
by yossarian109 on Apr 8, 2010 11:09 AM EDT up reply actions
Johnson standing on 1st base
instead of someone running fast all the way back to the dugout is an asset. Period. It adds a lot of options.
This sticker is dangerous and inconvenient, but I do love Fig Newtons.
Can't hit and run
Can’t steal a base to get into scoring position. He’s walked, that’s it. How many times has he scored? Name one player in the two hole on any other team who compares to this slug.
I will gladly have the slowest number 2 in baseball if it means that he's on base alot for Tex and A-Rod
and I don’t care if I’ve got Usain Bolt standing on first, stealing bases with Tex and A-Rod at the plate is retarded. They’re power hitting RBI machines, don’t take the chance of running yourself out of an inning. When A-Rod goes yard, NJ can jog as slowly as he likes.
And you can absolutely hit and run with a slow runner, straight stealing is another thing, but managers will often hit and run with slow players to open up the right side and give them a chance to go 1st to 3rd.
In conclusion, runs scored is a terrible stat, but he will have a career high in it this year with A-Rod and Tex hitting behind him.
You are clinging to this archaic idea of how baseball used to be played. The lineup should be the fast slap hitters, then the fat power guys, then everybody else. This has been disproved.
This sticker is dangerous and inconvenient, but I do love Fig Newtons.
Runs scored is a terrible stat
That may be the most hilarious comment of the year. Yeah, you can win a lot of games not scoring any runs. LOL
runs scored is as hilarious as your RBI stat
both entirely dependent on other people.
Johnson scores more runs then Damon cuz he’s on base more then Damon.
Period.
Runs and RBI
are not entirely dependent on other people. It is up to the player to get on base and another player to get the hit to drive him in. Do you not see the inanity of your logic? So I guess the outs a pitcher records are “dumb” stats because it is dependent on the batter making the out? Your logic is nonsensical.
My reply
had nothing to do with Johnson vs. Damon. I’m just reacting to the idea that RBI is a useless stat because you say it is dependent on other people. Of course getting on base is a good thing, but getting on base is useless if there are no guys getting the hits needed to drive them in (RBI!). But since you made the statement, when has Johnson scored more than Damon?
A different analogy
It’s hard to compare pitcher ERAs from different teams because they pitch in front of different defenses and in different parks.
It’s not fair to compare pitching for the M’s, with a spacious park and incredible defense to pitching for the Orioles in a bandbox with only average d.
In the same way, you have to consider the context of the lineup. RBI and R aren’t completely useless; they are simply far more effective judges of the strength of the team than the individuals.
"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."
The point of individual player stats
is to isolate individual factors. What is ONE thing that this player does, and what can we extrapolate from that ONE thing.
Runs scored counts the number of times that a runner touches home plate, which as you have said, is somewhat in their control, and somewhat in the control of other players.
OBP, for example, is a stat that is only controlled by the performance of the player at the plate. There are still variations due to luck regarding strike calls and balls in play, but the error is much less.
This is essentially why looking at team statistics such as wins, runs, RBI, etc. and trying to apply them to a single player is inferior to stats that are based on one player doing one activity.
This sticker is dangerous and inconvenient, but I do love Fig Newtons.
and Wade Boggs was a tortoise
as was Tony Gwynn in his porkier days.
Get on base.
Speed is irrelevant if you’re not.
When evaluating a single player
yes, runs scored is an incredibly bad stat.
When evaluating a team, or an offense as a whole, obviously it’s the most important stat.
I feel like this has already been said.
This sticker is dangerous and inconvenient, but I do love Fig Newtons.
He's gonna do us a lot of good
when Tex is up with two out and lines a double down the line and Johnson is still standing on third. Archaic thinking? Get real.
Maximizing the ability to score runs for the team is the ultimate goal
but counting the runs scored by players playing for different teams and in different stadiums is pretty meaningless.
The question is, are you more likely to score more runs over the long term with a slower guy who gets on base more, or a faster guy who gets on base less.
My argument has been centered around trying to display my statistically based opinion that recording less outs is much more important in a top of the order hitter than being able to run fast.
This sticker is dangerous and inconvenient, but I do love Fig Newtons.
Granderson
Granderson is going to hit a lot of home runs this year from what I can see, and as an added bonus he seems like a class act. However, he still really needs to work on hitting left-handers, as I see it in the late innings teams are going to bring in lefties to face him until he proves otherwise. I hope he figures it out soon because if he does he’ll be a monster.
The lefties
I think it will take time for Granderson to work through his issues against lefties. He just got here and you can’t fix a problem that he has had for years overnight.
Grandy has huge upside
but failed twice to score a runner from 3rd/1 out. He has a lot to learn at the plate, but while he does I’ll take his .280/30/95 and his glove, arm, and speed. Who’s this Johnny fellow?
Speaking of young and learning, I know it’s only 3 games but Robbie Cano was a .305 hitter form age 21 to 26. What is he gonna be now as he matures into his prime? Dude’s even money to be the best 2nd baseman to ever put on the pinstripes.
Things look good for the future and the present while we squeeze several more good years outta Jete, Arod and Andy.
It's only 3 games.
But if we keep playing like this, that pennant has our names all over it. A moment like that can let Granderson ease into a Yankee uniform much more easily than if he was slumping mid-June.
But then again, it’s only 3 games. I’ll wait until the Ray’s series until I start making judgments.
I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.
Vince Lombardi
Amen to Valentine. Agree with just about everything.
Although I’m sure Melky Cabrera will do just fine in Atlanta, Curtis Granderson appears to be just as advertised- power vs. righthanders, and plenty of speed. Melky fans will move on swiftly, I suspect. When Nick Johnson, ARod, and Teixeira hit, this lineup will score in bunches.
I thought the Red Sox performance was more eye- opening. Other than Youkilis and Martinez, no one on that team really scares me with the bat. Their bullpen does not look as impressive as it did a few years ago either. Papelbon was not dominating last year, and he wasn’t dominating last night. Schoenweiss is a Brewer castoff, Atchison is up from AAAA (Japan), and no one other than Bard (who let himself get beat with something other than his best pitch-idiot) looks impressive.
I hope I’m right. The Red Sox defense is going to have to prevent a whole lot of runs to make up for their diminished hitting and leaky- looking pen.
by designatedquitter on Apr 8, 2010 9:44 AM EDT reply actions
This upcoming series...
will definitely be a good gauge how the rest of the AL East will play out. NY/BOS are always hard fought games but we had a relatively easier time against Tampa last year than the year before.
If we can handle the Rays then we are definitely the perennial AL favorites.
Gardner
Didn’t look overmatched last night against an elite pitcher in a big game situation. That walk was huge, and then the havoc he created on the basepaths. I could really get used to seeing that.
"I'm just tryin' to be the great, tryin' to get a piece of cake
Take it offa your plate, eat it right in your face" --Lil Wayne
What I got was that we have a better team than the Sox
Their defense did look good especially Cameron in center. He robbed NJ of his first hit ( and an even more bloated OBP ) last night.
But, and it is a big but, the runs saved by their defense is not enough to make up for an average lineup
The Yanks showed that our starters can perform at about the same level as the Sux. Our bullpen is slightly better but unless Papel-smear’s game winning homer was a sign of things to come, it’s a close edge.
But that Sux lineup, just not good enough. Will they even have someone hit 30 jacks this year? i don’t think so.
Now if they give up the farm for Adrian Gonzalez…
"Here, if you have a milkshake, and I have a milkshake, and I have a straw. There it is, that's a straw, you see? You watching?. And my straw reaches acroooooooss the room, and starts to drink your milkshake... I... drink... your... milkshake!"-Daniel Plainview
by yankee come lately on Apr 8, 2010 11:13 AM EDT reply actions
I would like to
Point out a great performance by Andy, he hasn’t pitched much in the spring, and to be honest I wasn’t sure what to expect. After seeing Sox hit CC and AJ pretty well I thought Andy had no chance. This is why he is a veteran though, to come in and pitch 6 very strong innings and pick up his teammates that struggled with the bats till the 7th was impressive. He had 4 K’s and 8 groundouts (1 was an importand DP) only to 4 flyouts indicates that he was keeping the ball down well in the zone. I thought Joe should of went with Vazquez in game 3 but Andy has proven me wrong. Way to show you still have something left, Andy.
When Cervelli throws a ball in the outfield during a stolen base, the error is charged to a runner.
I'm not playing this game.
159 to go. This is like deciding if you’ll apply to a certain college based on how easy or hard it was to find a spot in the visitor’s parking lot.
I’m happy we won a road series against the Sox, and optimistic and expect CC and Burnett to pitch better, and Tex and Johnson and ARod to hit. That is all.
Was it really that tough?
Nick Johnson never lifted his bat off his shoulders during his bases loaded walk AB. =P
by Scooby Snacks on Apr 8, 2010 9:35 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
funny comment
about boston pitching = desfenve enqual =loseing
okay i have cerebral palsy arthris and chronic fatigue as well i have a great life and loveing folks some days are better than other days i got a make-a-wish in 2001 and saw my favorite team the broncos it was the trip of a lifetime i wish everyone couild have gotten to enjoy that with me i know some of u hate the broncos and that okay but i bleed organ and bule for my mnr fans but i bleed orange and blue denver will rise again resident broncos fan for every blog resident broncos for stampede bule thanks shvd98z24
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