How hard will life without Hideki Matsui be?
Lost in the narrative of CC brushing off a liner to the clavicle and Tex opting for 2 homers over a cycle was Hideki Matsui's 26th homer of the year.
He's 3rd on the team in homers, 4th in SLG, tied for 5th in OBP, and 4th in pitches per PA. Respectively, that's 19th, 17th, 23rd, and 39th in the AL.
All of those numbers put him solidly among the top hitters in the league. He will not be easy to replace.
Matsui will remind the Yankee brass of that by inflating Ian Snell's 5.17 ERA and 1.6 WHIP.
And by not playing defense, Hideki puts the best Yankee defense behind starter Joba Chamberlain. I really like the range of the Damon-Gardner-Cabrera lineup, and I suspect we'll be seeing a lot more of that next season.
How many innings will Joba go today? By my count, he has this start plus 2 more to be ready for the postseason, which means it's about time for the kid gloves to come off.