A New Trend For Boone Logan ??

I am not certain we can call it a turnaround for Boone Logan yet, but his improvement against lefties is  definitely a trend worth keeping an eye on.  It began last week in Cincinatti, following his terrible performance in the first game of the series when Logan hit Joey Votto in the back with his first pitch.  Logan came back in Wednesday night’s game to redeem himself.  In the 7^th inning of the Wednesday game, Logan was called in to face Votto again, and Jay Bruce who were the #3 & #4 lefty hitters in the Reds lineup.  He forced Votto to ground out, and then struck out Jay Bruce swinging to end the inning with a man on third.  Not only was the performance impressive, it helped keep the Yankees in the game as they were trailing 4-2.  Although the Yankees weren’t able to get the win, they were able to make an attempt for some offensive production in the bottom half of that inning against Johnny Cueto.  Unfortunately, Cueto was able to retire the side after loading the bases with only one out, but Logan kept the game tight for at least another inning.  As a side note, Noesi came in for the eighth and let the game get totally out of hand, and the Yanks were never back in the game again.

Following the performance in Cincinatti, Logan pitched again Friday night and again the Yankees were trailing in the 7^th inning to the Rockies.  One runner was on third base with no outs and Logan was called in to pitch to Jason Giambi and Todd Helton.  Logan put both lefties down, and the run didn’t score keeping the game within reach for the Yankees.   It was an impressive performance again by Logan but the Yankees ultimately lost 4-2.  Either way, Logan put down two hard hitting lefties.

On Sunday, Logan came in once again for the 7^th inning with Iannetta on third, but got the win this time.  The game was tied when Logan came in and he held the Rockies for a scoreless 7^th inning.  In the process he retired the side in order- Carlos Gonzalez, Jose Herrera and Todd Helton.  (Gonzalez and Helton are lefties while Herrera is a switch hitter).  All three of those outs came from Logan throwing his slider.

Since last Monday’s game against Cincinatti, Logan had a talk with Arod about going to the mound with a game-plan.  Although this conversation should have taken place long ago with Larry Rothschild, the point remains the same – A relief pitcher can’t just go to the mound without a plan for each batter he will face.  Pitchers, especially relievers, need to have an idea of which pitches will work for each batter as well as the location.  You can’t just get out there and throw whatever you want.

Just as important as Arod’s pep talk were Logan’s mechanics that changed slightly.  Logan has dropped his arm angle while throwing breaking pitches.  This causes his slider to have more breaking action and he can use it as his “out” pitch.  Logan throws a 94 mph fastball, which is somewhat rare for a lefty relief pitcher to have in his arsenal.  More importantly, that fastball becomes devastating to a batter when the slider is working well.  If the batter is behind in the count, he doesn’t know whether he will see some heat or whether he should wait on the slider.  Either way, it favors the pitcher.  That is what worked well for Logan in the past and he needs to continue to develop the combo.

Like I said, this is only a recent trend for Logan and for all I know, he could have a terrible outing tonight against a group of lefties.  But, if this season is anything like last season, he might just be starting to heat up.  Last year opponents batted .300 against him in April, .313 against him in May and .250 against him in June.  It was not until July that he became a dominant lefty. 

Starting in July opponents had problems hitting Logan.  In July opponents averaged a .167, followed by an August of .167 averages and September of .200 averages.  His WHIPS during those final three months were .60, .87 and 1.38 respectively.  The month of August was so strong for Logan that he had a 0.00 ERA over 13 games.  Needless to say, his first half was crap compared to his second half.  If we are seeing a trend that is similar to last year, the Yankees are in good shape – Although they could really use a second lefty in the pen if they expect to beat the Lefty Heavy Red Sox lineup.

UPDATE JUNE 30:  Logan came in to face one lefty batter this afternoon - Prince Fielder.  Fielder is possibly the most dangerous batter in the National League, but struck out swinging to end the 8th inning.  Great job by Logan!