Around the Yankees Galaxy 7/12/2010

I think Joba needs to get right mentally and not continue to say “I’ll learn from this.” You reach a point where you need to go out and do it consistently to be the guy they need. Admittedly they’ve moved him around alot in his short career but at the same time Girardi in my mind has been extremely patient, more patient than I would be. The game that was wasted on Saturday is the perfect example and at some point the guys playing behind him are going to lose all confidence in him as well.

and the only real stat that matters is that the Rays are only 2 games behind, we can’t have our set-up man lose games for us.

I think Jobas trying to use more pitches than he can actually throw. Hes trying to throw his curveball for strikes, hes not locating his fastball (which has increased in velocity) Ive seen him try to use a couple of changeups and his slider has been terrible this season. I think the relying on, of the curveball and changeup and steady diet of fastballs has his slider suffering. When Joba came up he threw 2 pitches. Fastball, Slider. Locate the fastball then get them chasing with the slider. Sprinkle in the curveball, catch them by suprise with it. I am gunna use the Jose Lopez bat as an example because I saw that blast coming. The whole inning hes all over the strike zone. Cant throw his curveball for strikes. So Lopez comes up, Joba out of desperation goes to slider. The 1st one is wild. The 2nd one is just awful and then here comes the fastball and while it was located pretty well, everyone in the world knew a fastball was coming and Lopez crushed it.

Its worth noting also, last year after the break Joba was better then he was the whole 1st half, so I am tryin to look it at it glass half full. Robertsons shown some signs of life, Martes been better, Logans been pretty good. I still think Parks gotta go. I don’t trust him AT ALL in any kind of big spot. Hopefully Joba will turn the corner and have a better 2nd half. We need bullpen help though. Any thoughts on Matt Lindstrom?

Both Jaba and DR can throw, both need something to fix their heads just a little. Could be a lucky break, bad call, a week off, a good week, maybe a line-drive off the knee to get them thinking about something different. whatever.

I remember about 10+ years back a young Pettitte was struggling and the NY papers traded him about 4 times. July 31 passed w/o trade, AP was lights out from then on. One little thing like “Pitch well or be traded!”

Jaba or DR should be able to figure it out this summer…or it’s gonna be Hughes to the pen.

It’s very clear as you can see it when he is on the mound (If you can’ then look at his numbers). He lacks the confidence in himself, and that can be seriously costly to anyone let alone setup for the closer – or better yet playing for the Yanks with Mo in that spot.

I really thought they were going to do the IBB and then bring in Mo. Of course not…I just had to go make a rum and coke, because either way it went I was going to need the Capt. Seriously though, Joba needs some help and fast. He should go back to two pitches for a bit until he can stand up and have the AP eyes looking down at anyone in that batters box. He needs some winning situations where he can let down a little – say like up by 3 or 4 and not have that exta pressure on him.

However you look at the current situation…They do have the best record right now, and IMO the whole team isn’t all firing at the same time yet. Not a bad place to be, but some breathing room would be nice. The six games coming up against TB the next few weeks will set the stage and put some things into perspective.

I definetley misconstrued it to sound like that but I really meant to say when he doesn’t have his slider, hes in trouble. I think theres times he still goes out there and pitches like a starter. He throws too many balls, he trys to be to fine. He nibbles and drives up his pitch count. His velocity is thru the roof right now. Hes hit 98 in his last 3 apperances. He has to just go after guys. You get the feeling like hes afraid of contact. You cant be afraid of contact. When he has that 8th inning guy/closer mentality he comes in, he attacks the strike zone and goes right after guys. His 1st half has been very bad. Theres still another half to go though. Lets just hope the break does some good for him. Jeter A-Rod and Tex are startin to hit the ball now, if Joba gets his shit together and becomes a consistent 8th inning guy for Mo. This team will be more of a force to be reckoned with than they already are.

I’m well aware the the AAA is different from the majors. As is everybody else who has suggested that the Yankees give Alby another shot (both amateurs and pundits alike).

Kei Igawa’s AAA ERA has always been more than 3, sometimes significantly higher. Also, he has never been successful in the MLB. He has the most wins and Ks for SWB (a useless metric anyway) because he’s been down there so long. Also, notice that his stats all have a downward spiral in AAA (he’s getting worse, not better).

Albaladejo by contrast has an ERA hovering around 1 in AAA, and has been reasonably successful in the MLB. Last year was pretty rough, but he put up somewhat respectable numbers his previous two years (brief though they were). Also, notice that his stats all have an upward spiral in AAA (he’s getting better, not worse).

NEWSFLASH…..We have MLB’s best record, why do we have to go and change everything?

Now your argument just went off the rails (and I’m not just talking about your poor attempt at sarcasm). First of all, I never suggested the Yankees change “everything”. I suggested they change one thing. If the Yanks can make an improvement by going to their farm system, then they should do that. In fact, they have already done that on several previous occasions this season. Winn wasn’t working out, now we have Curtis. Well, a lot of people say CHoP isn’t working out – so let’s bring up Alby.

One way or another, Albaladejo is coming up this season. Either it will be soon to replace one of NYY’s lackluster journeyman, or it will on their 40 man in August, or it will be with another team after they’ve traded him.

Also, the Yanks are 2 games up in the division and 5 games up in the wildcard (against a team that’s about to get really healthy really fast). Don’t be overconfident just because “We have MLB’s best record”.

After 2008 I was screamin it was all Girardis fault and it was a mistake to let Torre go, but I have taken a liking to Girardis managing style. Don’t get me wrong. I think anyone can have a winning record with this team, but the way he handles the bullpen. The way he pays attention to matchups, I’ve really taken to his style of managing but he definetley does tend to overmanage sometimes. With that said, I still like the manager Girardi has become.