Yankees & Reds Preview

Following a weekend spent in Chicago, the Yankees are on their way to Cincinnati for a three game series against the 2010 NL Central champs.  The Yankees are only 1.5 game out of first place in the AL East behind Boston and looking to continue their strong performances after getting swept by the Red Sox in Yankee stadium.  Since the Boston series, the Yankees are 8-2 and have looked much better than they played against he Red Sox.  They even managed to sweep the Rangers last week and took 3 of 4 from the 1^st place Indians.  The Yanks are looking for a strong series against the Reds to finish off the road trip on a high note before coming home to take on the Rockies this weekend.

The last time the Reds hosted the Yankees it was 2003 and Clemens was on his quest for 300 wins.  The Reds took 2 of 3 from the Reds during that series.  This year the Reds are in third place in the NL Central, but only 2 games behind the Brewers & Cardinals.  They are playing about .500 ball, 21-17 at home and are 6-4 over the last ten games.

Monday:  Ivan Nova (6-4, 4,46 ERA) vs.  Johnny Cueto (4-2, 1.68 ERA)

-Nova got his second straight win last week against the Rangers giving up four runs over his 5 2/3 innings.  He’s never faced the Reds before.  Over his last three starts he is 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA and 10 strikeouts.

-Wood is coming off a strong start against the Dodgers last week, after giving up only 1 run over 6 innings, allowing only five hits in the process.  This past start was a “redemption” start against the Dodgers as he had previously gotten destroyed by them two starts prior.  Wood is 1-1 with a 5.30 ERA over his past three starts.

Tuesday:  Brian Gordon (0-0, 3.38 ERA) vs. Johnny Cueto (4-2, 1.68 ERA)

 

-Gordon was picked up by the Yankees when Colon went on the DL, and had his first MLB start last week allowing only 2 runs over 5 1/3 innings.  He wasn’t dominant by any means, but did a good job in his first start.  You can read more about Gordon HERE.

Wednesday: Freddy Garcia (5-6, 3.63 ERA) vs. Mike Leake (6-3, 4.04 ERA)

-Garcia’s last start was wasted by the Yankees this past Friday in Chicago. The Yanks offense gave him no run support against young lefty Doug Davis and Garcia allowed only 3 runs over 7 innings, ultimately taking the loss.  Prior to Friday’s start, Garcia had pitched 7 strong innings allowing only 1 run and walked off the mound to a standing ovation at Yankee stadium against Cleveland.  Before that start against the Indians, Garcia had a terrible start against the Red Sox and was pulled during the 2^nd  He seems like he bouncing back from a horrible start, which is about all you can ask from your #4/#5 starter.

 

-Leake is coming off his first loss since early May after he allowed three runs against the Blue Jays this past weekend.  Overall he pitched well but had a bad 7^th inning.  In his last three starts he is 2-1, with a 1.96 ERA.  Russell Martin is the only Yankee to have faced Leake and has a .429 average against him.

Who Is Brian Gordon ??

It seems as the Yankees are making new roster moves every day and today is no different.  Cashman got a little creative while looking for a starting pitcher to replace Bartolo Colon while he is on the DL, and found right hander Brian Gordon.  Gordon was not in the Yankees farm system, but was actually pitching for the Phillies Triple-A Lehigh Valley team and having a great season.  Prior to this announcement yesterday, it seemed like the Yanks were going to look internally for a starting pitcher and David Phelps was a leading candidate, but Gordon’s numbers were significantly better.  You Can Read More About Phelps Here

So far this season Gordon has pitched a total of 12 games, 9 of which were starts.  In those 9 starts he went 5-0 with a 1.14 ERA.  Gordon has pitched a total of 55 1/3 innings in the minors this season, striking out 56 batters and most importantly, only allowing 7 walks.  Over his last two seasons in the minors, Gordon is 25-13 with a 3.09 ERA.  He is somewhat of a journeyman minor leaguer and has been in the minors since 1997.  He made a major league debut with the Rangers back in 2008 pitching in 3 games as a reliever, for a total of 4 innings.  I think it would be fair to say that he is a career minor leaguer, but this year’s numbers were difficult for the Yankees to ignore in the wake of a string of injuries for the pitching staff.

Girardi commented yesterday that Gordon throws strikes.  This is important as he doesn’t have a high velocity on his fastball which sits around 90 – 91 mph and needs to execute his pitches well.  Gordon’s real weapon is his repertoire of pitches.  He throws a total of 6 pitches – 2 seam fastball, 4 seam fastball, cutter, changeup, slider and curveball.  This arsenal of pitches keeps batters guessing as to which pitch will be thrown next, as they are unlikely to see the same pitch twice in an at bat.  The mix of pitches also bodes well for the amount of ground balls he induces, as he is considered a ground ball pitcher.  Gordon’s reputation also includes his ability to hold runners on base.  I couldn’t be happier about that as Cervelli has become quite a liability behind the plate lately.

Sometimes the GM’s have to think outside the box when making roster moves.  In this case, Cashman and the scouts had kept an eye on Gordon throughout the start of this season and knew he had an opt out clause with the Phillies for early June.  Once Colon went on the DL, the Yankees were forced to make some moves and fortunately they acquired Gordon, a leader in Triple-A.  Say what you want about Cashman, but this is the type of creativity I want in my GM as the internal options weren’t nearly as appealing.

You can read the rest of the "Who Is ...? " series here:

Who Is Kevin Whelan ??

Who Is Buddy Carlyle ??

Who Is Hector Noesi ??

Who Is Lance Pendleton ??