A's vs Yankees Preview

The Yankees are facing off against the Athletics this week who begin their 10 game road trip with 3 games in the Bronx.  The A’s are on a bit of a hot streak lately as they have won 4 of their last 6 games against the Orioles and Blue Jays and will need that hot streak to continue this week as the Yankees own them.  This season alone the Yankees are 5-1 against the A’s, and have won 26 of the past 31 games these two teams have played.  These games seem somewhat meaningless as Oakland is not in contention for the postseason, but if the Yankees can continue to beat up on the easy teams they may just win the Division to secure home field advantage during the post season. 

One thing that I do find worthwhile to watch about these games is the Oakland pitching.  There has been some talks that the Yankees have some interest in Rich Harden and may try to acquire him at some point in the offseason.  Also, Tuesday’s starter Brendan McCarthy will be a free agent at the end of this season and I have a feeling the Yankees may keep an eye on him as well.  Both Harden and McCarthy could be a good fit with the Yankees… for the right price.

A LOOK AT THE A'S

-The Yankees need to pitch around Matsui as much as possible.  Last time these teams met, Matsui went 7-13 with a home run and two doubles.  Since the All Star Break, he is hitting .372 with a .434 on base percentage.

-Josh Willingham is the A’s offensive powerhouse and leads the team in most offenseive categories.  He’s also on a hot streak as he has hit 9 home runs over his last 22 games.  Willingham is tied with Jacoby Ellsbury for the most home runs in the AL since the All Star Break with 11.

-Jemile Weeks & Coco Crisp are the speedy duo stealing bases for the A’s.  Crisp has 37 steals and Weeks has 14.  Although Weeks only has 14, he has only played in 64 games this year.  Weeks would be a good Rookie of the Year candidate as he is batting .289 with a .319 on base percentage, but he hasn’t played in enough games.

-The A’s bullpen is solidified with a mix of 3 solid pitchers shutting down the last few innings.  Andrew Bailey is their close and he has converted his last 8 saves.  Grant Balfour and Brian Fuentes are used in tandem to set up Bailey. 

STARTING PITCHERS

Brendan McCarthy (6-6, 3.74 ERA) vs. Bartolo Colon (8-7, 3.54 ERA)

-Colon is coming off his first loss since July 19 but the loss wasn’t entirely his fault as this was the blown home run call game against Kansas City.  The blown call allowed the Royals to win the game 5-4.  Although the Billy Butler home run contributed to the loss, Colon wasn’t at his sharpest and has caused many to be concerned with his stamina during the second half.  In his last 3 games, Colon is 0-1 with a 5.17 ERA and only 9 strikeouts.

-McCarthy is a big pitcher at 6’ 7’’ and will be using that size to throw fastballs at the Yankees.  He uses both a 2 and 4 seamer that sit in the low 90’s and has been using them with his Cutter to force ground balls.  McCarthy also will throw his curveball often which has been effective for him.  He does have a slider and changeup as well, but doesn’t throw them very frequently as they aren’t terribly effective pitches for him

-McCarthy is 2-1 with a 4.67 ERA and 8 strikeouts in his last 3 games and is coming off a win against Baltimore after allowing 8 hits and 4 runs over 6 innings.  Although not a dominant performance, he gave the A’s a chance to win the game.

-Watch out for Tex and Swish against McCarthy as they are hitting .600 and .429 against him respectively, and each have a home run against him.

Trevor Cahill (9-12, 4.17 ERA) vs. CC Sabathia (17-7, 2.96 ERA)

-CC just got his 17^th win of the season against the Twins this past weekend allowing only 3 earned runs in the process.  He seems to be getting through his little second half slump and with a struggling A’s offense, he could find his stride again Wednesday.

-CC is 1-2 with a 6.43 ERA and 22 strikeouts over his last 3 starts.

-Cahill is coming off a tough loss against Toronto last week after allowing 7 runs on 5 hits while striking out only 2 over 5 1/3 innings.  His numbers against the Yankees aren’t much better as he is 0-4 and has allowed 28 runs in 18 innings pitched.

-Cahill basically uses a mix of a sinker and fastball, although he throws in a changeup mixed in as well.  Used effectively they will induce a lot of ground balls. Used ineffectively, the Yankees will hit him all night long.  Cahill will also throw a slider, but not too often.

-Watch out for the middle of the order against Cahill as Tex is hitting .600 against him with 1 homer, Arod is hitting .667 off him with 2 homers and Cano is hitting .500 off him with one home run.  Posada is also a .500 hitter against Cahill.

Rich Harden (4-2, 3.91 ERA) vs. Phil Hughes (4-4, 5.75 ERA)

-Hughes looked incredible during his last start and is making a strong case to become the #2 starter for the Yankees in the postseason.  He only allowed 1 run over 7 2/3 innings against the Twins this past Friday night.  The Twins were only able to get two hits off Hughes the whole night, one of which was a early home run. Hughes settled down and retired the last 22 of 27 batters he faced to get the win.

-Hughes has been getting stronger and strong since coming back from the DL.  Over his last three games he is 2-1 with a 2.57 ERA and 8 strikeouts.

-Harden is coming off a very strong start against Toronto after striking out a career high 11 batters and allowing only 2 hits.  His last three games have actually all been strong and he is 2-1 with a 2.50 ERA and 23 strikeouts over these last three games. 

-Harden pitched well against the Yankees during their last series and allowed 2 runs over 5.2 innings, but threw too many pitches and had to be pulled early.

-Harden relies on his fastball mains throwing it more than 50% of the time and mixes it with his changeup.  He has also been using a splitter lately with success, and although he throws a slider, its not used often

-Watch out for the #2 - #4 batters as Granderson is hitting .333 against harden with 1 home run, Texeira is hitting .444 off him with a home run and Arod is hitting .556 off Harden.

Yankees & Twins Preview

The Yankees are in Minnesota for a 4 game weekend series which begins Thursday night with a battle of the lefties, CC Sabathia vs. Brain Duensing.  With the Twins having a bad season, the Yankees should be able to get some wins this weekend and maybe even take a bigger lead over Boston for 1^st place in the AL East.  Right now the Yankees are only a half game up on the Red Sox, but Big Papi hasn’t been playing the last few games and the Red Sox haven’t been scoring during these games, so the Yankees have an opportunity to claim the lead.  The Yankees just took two of three from the Royals during this road trip and following this series against the Twins will return back home to face the A’s, before hitting the road again against Baltimore and Boston.  It’s time to beat up on the weaker teams!

The Twins are not having a good season and currently have the 3^rd worst record in the American League.  They did just take 2 of three from Detroit which was their first series win since early July, but prior to that series they lost 11 of 13 games.  They are currently 10.5 games and in 4^th place in the AL central.  The last time the Twins met the Yankees was in the Bronx during the first two weeks of the season and the Yankees took 2 of 3.  The one win was due to Soriano who blew the lead in the 8^th inning.

YANKEES NOTES

Arod will return to the Yankees Thursday night in Minnesota but it doesn’t seem as though he will be activated for the game.  From the interviews he has given, it seems like he is still a little weak with his knee while fielding and running and needs a bit more time.  This will allow the Yankees to hold off on any decisions to drop a pitcher back to the minors.  I have a feeling by the end of the weekend Arod will be activated, and playing DH while Hector Noesi gets sent to Scranton as the odd man out in the bullpen.  This would allow the Yankees to continue holding Cory Wade since he has been excellent at working out of jams, and Luis Ayala who has earned his spot in the bullpen the whole season.

There is still no word yet from Girardi as to how long the 6 man rotation will be used.  This is partly due to Freddy Garcia’s injured finger.  Although it was a minor cut to his finger, he has trouble gripping the ball when throwing a splitter which is his signature pitch.  Garcia was skipped last time through the rotation, which helped push the rotation decision off, but a decision will be made shortly.  Garcia will throw a bullpen session Thursday night and if he can throw the splitter, he will start this weekend.

I think Jeter will have a big series against the Twins as they are starting two lefties this series and Jeter has been destroying lefties the whole season.  Not only has he been hitting the ball hard against lefties, but since coming back from the DL he is hitting .336 with a .861 OPS. He’s hitting for average and power now.  I think the Twins could be in trouble especially with his strong numbers against their two righties, Slowey and Blackburn.

TWINS NOTES

Michael Cuddyer may be placed on the DL Thursday as he’s been out of the lineup with a neck problem for the last week.  This may be a big problem for the Twins as he leads the team in basically every offensive category from Batting average at .295 to Home runs with 18 and 61 RBI’s.  He’s the big bat in their lineup. (along with Mr. 600, Jim Thome)

There is a chance that Cuddyer’s neck may not be that injured and he could play during this series.  If he isn’t put on the DL, the Twins will likely place Denard Span on the DL as he has been suffering from lingering concussion symptoms.  With Span and Cuddyer injured, the Twins will be calling up infielder Luke Hughes to provide an extra bat for their sluggish offense.

There is also a chance that Jason Kubel may not play in Thursday night’s game as he is only recently healed from an ankle injury that kept him on the DL.  This would be another big loss for the Twins as Kubel is hitting .294.

Congratulations are in order for Jim Thome who just hit his 600^th home run this past week.  As always, Thome is a threat at the plate as he has a .513 slugging percentage and .878 OPS.  And just for the record, I think he is a first ballot hall of famer.

STARTING PITCHING

Thursday: CC Sabathia (16-7, 2.93 ERA) vs. Brian Duensing (8-11, 4.53 ERA)

-CC has struggled with his fastball commands in his last two starts against the Rays and Red Sox allowing12 runs over 14 innings.  Opponents in these last two games are hitting .333 against Sabathia with 19 hits and 6 home runs.  This game against the Twins may be just what CC needs to get himself back in the groove.

-Prior to these two bad outings, CC pitched on July 26 and had a perfect game interrupted by the rain.  Over his last 3 starts, Sabathia is 1-2 with a 5.73 ERA and 19 strikeouts.

-Joe Mauer is the only player on the Twins with more than 3 plate appearances who has anything close to respectable numbers against CC as he is hitting .267.

-Brian Duensing is coming off a strong start against the Indians last weekend, but took the loss after allowing 3 runs over 6 2/3 innings.  He struck out a career high 9 batters during the game though.  Duensing has the second highest strikeouts on the Twins with 101 behind Scott Baker with 120.

-Over his last three starts, Duensing is 0-3 with a 5.68 ERA and 16 strikeouts.

-Duensing is basically a fastball pitcher who only hits the low 90’s.  He has been relying on his 2 seam fastball all season and uses it more than any other pitch, although he does use his 4 seamer frequently as well.  He also throws a changeup, slider and curve.

Friday: Phil Hughes (3-4, 6.55 ERA) vs. Kevin Slowey (0-0, 4.91 ERA)

-Hughes is coming off a big win in his last game allowing only 2 runs over 6 innings pitched.  Hughes has his velocity back and looks like the pitcher we saw last year, although maybe not quite as dynamic as the first half of 2010.

-Since returning from the DL, Hughes is 3-3 with a 4.28 ERA over 7 starts, and is 2-1 with a 2.19 ERA  and 10 striekouts over his last three games.

-Hughes better watch out for Justin Morneau, who is 2 for 3 against Hughes with both hits being home runs.

-Slowey has been back and forth between the bullpen and the minor leagues this season and only recently came back to make his first start with the Twins. Unfortunately, his first start was cut short by the rain this past weekend and he was only able to pitch two innings before the game was called.

-Slowey’s problems stem from his lack of control with his fastball, which cause too many walks and too many fly balls.  He relies on his 2 seam fastball similar to Duensing, but also throws a slider and curveball. If his fastball isn’t working, it will likely turn into an ugly game for Duensing quickly.

-Slowey needs to be very careful with Granderson and Jeter as they are hitting .357 and .333 against him respectively.

Saturday: AJ Burnett (9-9, 4.61 ERA) vs. Francisco Liriano (8-9, 5.12 ERA)

-The Yankees rotation isn’t set in stone just yet for this weekend, but if Freddy Garcia’s bullpen goes well tonight, I think we can expect to see AJ Saturday and Garcia Sunday.

-I don’t even know what to say about Burnett anymore.  He’s a complete enigma to me.  Just when I think he is done and the Yankees should skip a start or two with him, he goes out and pitches a decent game reclaiming a place in the rotation for me.  In AJ’s last start he went 5.2 innings and allowed only3 runs but he still did allow 10 hits.  Somehow this performance was actually the best of all the Yankees starters who faced the Royals this past week… go figure!

-Liriano who had a very good 2010 season, has been hit or miss this year.  He is coming off a win against the Tigers this past week after allowing 5 runs on 9 hits over 6 innings.  Not great by any stretch of the imagination, but it was enough for the win and he leads all Twins pitchers with 8 wins.

-Liriano will throw a 4 seamer and 2 seamer mixed with his big slider.  He also uses a changeup but mostly to neutralize righty batters.

-The Yankees have some good numbers against Liriano as Jeter is hitting .385 off him with 1 home run; Swisher is hitting .357 and Gardner is hitting .333 off him.

Sunday: Freddy Garcia (10-7, 3.16 ERA) vs. Nick Blackburn (7-10, 4.53 ERA)

-Like I previously said this weekend’s rotation is still ‘TBA’ for the Yankees as it depends on Garcia’s injury to his pitching finger.  Assuming all goes well in the bullpen session Thursday night, I think he will pitch Sunday’s game.

-Garcia hasn’t pitched since early August up in Fenway when he held the Red Sox to 1 run on 5 hits over 5 innings.  He took the loss that day, but pitched well against a hard hitting lineup.  Prior to the Red Sox game, Garcia won his previous 3 games allowing only 5 runs over 20 innings.

-Blackburn had a tough outing in his last game this past Tuesday against the Tigers allowing 5 runs on 11 hits over 4 2/3 innings.  It was the 7^th time this season that Blackburn allowed 10 hits or more which is the highest in MLB.

-Blackburn is 0-2, with a 4.86 ERA and 6 strikeouts over his last 3 starts.

-I think it’s fair to assume that we will see a lot of groundballs against Blackburn due to him relying on his signature sinker.  His sinkerball doesn’t even hit low 90’s but used together with his cutter and changeup, he induces lots of swings that get on top of the ball for lots of infield ground outs.

-Jeter is hitting .400 off Blackburn and Texeira is hitting .769 with 1 home run and 6 RBI’s against him.

Rotation Decision Still On Hold

It looks like Freddy Garcia made the rotation decision a bit easier for the Yankees, at least temporarily.  Garcia was scratched from Sunday’s start due to an injury to his finger.  Apparently he cut himself with a kitchen knife earlier this week.  This happened about a week ago but Girardi never discussed it, instead allowing Garcia to try and work through it.  This past week, Garcia had a bullpen session and was able to throw without much of an issue, but he never attempted to throw a splitter.  It wasn’t until yesterday that Garcia tried to throw his splitter and was unable to execute it due to the cut on his finger.  That’s when Girardi knew he couldn’t start him Sunday and bumped AJ up a day.

Since it looks like Sunday’s game is going to be rained out. (It’s been raining here in Jersey since Saturday evening with no indication that its going to stop soon), the rotation is a state of TBA.  Initially it looked as though Nova, Colon & CC would pitch Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday respectively against Kansas City, but this could change again with the weather issues.

I think it’s fair to assume the Yankees will hold off on cutting the starting rotation from 6 to 5 until at the very least – Thursday.  Hughes pitched a solid game Saturday for the Yankees allowing only 2 runs over 6 innings, but my gut tells me that he will be assigned to the bullpen solely due to his successful experience in the 2009 bullpen. 

Rays vs Yankees Series Preview

The Rays come to the Bronx tonight for a three game weekend set against the Yankees.  Although the Rays are most likely out of contention for the post-season since they are 8 ½ games back for the wild card spot, this series can still be exciting to watch.  The Rays will have their top three pitchers on the mound this weekend and will look to extend their 4 game winning streak, following a four game sweep against the Royals this past week.  The Rays are 7-2 in their last 9 but only 12-13 since the All-Star Break.

The Yankees just finished taking 2 of 3 from the Angels this past week, and if Mo hadn’t blown the save on Tuesday they would have the sweep.  Speaking of Mo, he also blew the save on Sunday against the Red Sox in the rubber game of that set, and nearly blew another save Thursday against the Angels but managed to give up a few runs but not the save.  You can read more about Mariano & The Bullpen HERE.

PITCHING MATCHUPS

FRIDAY: David Price (9-10, 3.89 ERA) vs. CC Sabathia (16-6, 2.81 ERA)

-CC is coming off a tough loss against Boston allowing 7 runs over 6 innings.  4 of CC’s 6 losses have come against Boston.  Although he didn’t look good the other day against Boston, I don’t think it had much to do with the Red Sox as much as it had to do with CC just not having his good stuff.  Since tonight is a home game, I have a feeling that Sabathia will pitch a gem since his last 5 home starts are all wins with a 1.40 ERA.

-Sabathia  is 1-1 with a 1.06 ERA against the Rays this season in the 2 starts he pitched.  He only has allowed 2 runs over 17 innings.

-CC needs to watch out for Longoria who is 8 for 24 against the big man with 3 home runs.

-I am not sure what has happened to David Price in his last four starts but he went 0-3 with a 4.74 ERA.  Price’s last start was against the A’s and he got beat up pretty good allowing 4 runs on 7 hits on only 4 2/3 innings pitched.

-Price is 0-1 with a 5.71 ERA in his 3 starts against the Yankees this season.  His last start against the Yankees was on July 9 when he allowed Derek Jeter’s 3000^th hit.  It seems like he hasn’t been the same since.

-Price will likely be using a mix of 4 seam & 2 seam fastballs, with a slider and changeup.  He has also been using a curveball more as the season progresses. 

SATURDAY: Phil Hughes (2-4, 7.11 ERA) vs Jeremy Hellickson (10-7, 3.05 ERA)

-I don’t really know what more to say about Phil Hughes other than he continues to be an enigma, similar to AJ, but I continue to have faith that Hughes will bounce back, unlike AJ.  Hughes had a great start against the White Sox last week and pitched 6 scoreless innings before the rain shortened the game.  He looked good in the start and his velocity is back up where it needs to be.  Now its about executing pitches consistently throughout the game.

-Hughes is 2-3 with a  4.55 ERA since coming off the DL, and will be making his first start of the season against the Rays tonight.

-Hughes is 1-2 with a 2.19 ERA and 7 strikeouts over his last 3 games

-Hellickson is a possible Rookie of the Year candidate for the American League and you can read more about that HERE. He has allowed 7 earned runs over his last 26 innings pitched and is 1-0 with a 2.33 ERA and 11 strikeouts over his last 3 games.

-Hellickson is 2-0 with a 2.39 ERA since the All Star Break. 

-Hellickson has only pitched one game against the Yankees this season and held them to 2 runs over 7 innings.  He will use a mix of 2 and 4 seam fastballs that sit in the low 90’s, to set up the batter before using a changeup for his ‘out’ pitch as it sits in the mid to low 80’s.  Hellickson also has a curveball that he throws as well to keep batters off the fastballs.

SUNDAY: James Shields (11-9, 2.80 ERA) vs. Freddy Garcia (10-7, 3.16 ERA)

-Garcia is coming off a strong start against the Red Sox.  Although he only pitched 5 innings, he kept the tough Boston lineup guessing all day and only allowed 1 run.  It was a fairly impressive start for Garcia.

-Garcia pitched against the Rays last month and had 6 2/3 shutout innings.

-Garcia is 3-0 with a 2.13 ERA in his last 4 starts

-Shields is an absolute beast who has the Yankees number.  He has pitched a total of 22.2 innings against the Yankees this season and allowed only 4 runs, equaling a 1.59 ERA against them.  The only pitcher with a lower ERA against the Yankees is Beckett with a 1.0 ERA.

-Shields has pitched 8 complete games this season and two of them have come within the last 6 games he’s pitched including a complete game against Kansas City this past week to help the Rays sweep the Royals.

-Shields will throw a low 90’s fastball along with a cutter, to set up batters for his devastating changeup. He throws a curveball as well, but his big weapon is the changeup.

YANKEES NOTES

-The Yankees have won 5 of the 9 games they played against the Rays this season

-Brett Gardner is hitting .370 against the Rays this season

-Cano is 10-23 against the Rays with 2 home runs and 6 RBI’s this year

-The 9th inning has been a little tricky for Mo lately, but I dont think anybody is really that concerned with the late innings as they have been locked down by Mariano, Robertson & Soriano.  READ MORE HERE

RAYS NOTES

-The Rays called up Desmond Jennings from Triple-A about three weeks ago and he has been their new leadoff batter.  Although he has only played in 19 games, he is hitting .333 with a .422 on base % and .597 slugging % with 8 stolen bases. 

-Looking at the Rays lineup they have a decent offense:

Ben Zobrist is hitting .279 with a .371 OBP

Casey Kotchman is hitting .337 with a .398 OBP

Matt Joyce is hitting .283 with a .345 OBP

Johnny Damon is hitting .262 with a .317 OBP

Yankees vs White Sox Preview

The Yankees are off to Chicago today for the start of a 4 game set against the White Sox.  This begins the start of a 7 game road trip for the Yankees who will actually play 21 of 30 games on the road during the month of August.  This season the Yankees are only 27-20 on the road compared to 37-22 at home.  The Yankees just took 3 of 4 games from the Orioles this past weekend in the Bronx, and are looking to try and gain some momentum before they travel to Boston for this weekend’s series in Fenway. 

Although it looks like the White Sox have given up for the post-season as they recently traded starter Edwin Jackson, they are not an easy opponent and at the very least will give the Yankees a challenge.  They are only 4 games behind Detroit for the AL Central but they are 2 games under .500 although they have won 4 of the last 6 series they have played.  This past weekend Boston took 2 of 3 from Chicago in Fenway as the White Sox offense came up short in Sunday’s matchup ultimately leaving 12 men on base for the loss. 

The White Sox are 4-10 against the Yankees in their last 14 games but the last time these two teams met was back in late April when they split a 4 game series in the Bronx.  The Yankees came into that series as an explosive offense but their offense was shut down for the first three games.  The Yanks lost the first two games to the Sox then came back to win the next two.  Phil Humber pitched game two for the Sox in this series and nearly no-hit the Yankees.You Can Read All About Philip Humber HERE for a scouting report.  Although the White Sox were outscored in that series 17 to 9, they out-hit the Yanks 31 to 26.

PITCHING MATCHUPS

Monday:  CC Sabathia (15-5, 2.56 ERA) vs Jake Peavy (4-4, 5.27 ERA)

-CC is coming off a really impressive start that I still believe would have been a no-hitter or even possibly a perfect game had there not been two rain delays.  He allowed 3 unearned runs over 7 innings and finished the game with a season high 14 strikeouts for his 15th win.  In general, CC has been amazing this season and defines what makes a true ace.  You can read more about CC’s success lately RIGHT HERE

-Sabathia is 2-1 with a 1.57 ERA and 30 strikeouts in his last three starts

-CC is 17-4 with a 3.68 ERA against the White Sox in his career over 30 starts

-Sabathia has only allowed 5 earned runs over his last 58 2/3 innings he’s pitched

-Over his last 7 games, CC is 6-1 with a .82 ERA

-Alexei Ramirez is batting .400 against CC in his career

-Peavy had a tough month of July going 0-3 with a 6.67 ERA over his last five starts. 

-In Peavy’s last start he took a no decision against Detroit after allowing 4 runs on 10 hits over 6 innings.

-Peavy is 0-2 with a 3.60 ERA against the Yankees in his career

-Scouting Report on Peavy is that he uses a mix of 6 pitches.  His 2 and 4 seamers are used in tandem very effectively while he also uses his cutter & slider fairly often as his secondary pitches.  He also uses a curve and changeup to keep the batters guessing.

-Peavy has not faced the Yankees since coming to the White Sox and the last time he faced the Yankees was while he was with the Padres in 2008 allowing 4 runs over 4 innings.

Tuesday: Phil Hughes (1-3, 8.24 ERA) vs. John Danks (4-8, 3.79 ERA)

-Hughes is coming off a no decision against the Mariners last week but it was a less than stellar performance which seemed to indicate that his arm is still not back to 100% as his velocity dies down after the 1^st/2^nd innings and he has trouble putting batters away after getting ahead in the count.  You can read all about Phil Hughes’ last start HERE in greater depth.  Although the Yankees have been tight lipped about Hughes, this could be very well be his last start this season as Nova has proven himself more worthy.

-Hughes is 1-1 with a 6.06 ERA over his last 3 starts with 11 strikeouts

-Danks is 4-0 with a .98 ERA since June 1st

-Danks is going to come into this game throwing lots of changeups to righties as he typically does. 

-Danks has not allowed more than 2 runs in his past 5 starts

-The last time that Danks started against the Yanikees was August 28 of last season when he allowed 8 runs over 4 innings.

-Cano is batting .500 against Danks and Swisher is hitting .400 against him.

Wednesday: AJ Burnett (8-9, 4.23 ERA ) vs. Gavin Floyd (9-9, 3.96 ERA)

-AJ is coming off one of the more unusual games I have seen him pitch this past Friday night.  He struck out 10 batters over 8 innings but gave up 4 runs on 4 hits to take the loss.  Overall he pitched great and I think that he improved as the game continued but just made a few mistakes which he paid for.

-AJ has pitched at least 5 innings in all his starts this season and has only allowed more than 4 runs twice.

-Floyd is coming off his 3^rd straight win against the Red Sox this past Friday night allowing only 1 run on 3 hits over 7 innings. In his last 3 starts he is 3-0 with a .81 ERA and 16 strikeouts.

-Although he has been getting more strikeouts lately, Floyd's strikeout rate is fairly low at 6.4/9IP which is down nearly 1 strikeout per nine than last year.

-The last time Floyd pitched against the Yankees was in April when he took the win after throwing 8 innings of 2 run ball.  He used his cutter fairly often that day to shut down the Yanks.

Thursday:  Ivan Nova (9-4, 4.01 ERA ) vs. Philip Humber (8-7, 3.44 ERA)

-As of today the Yankees are still listing Bartolo Colon as Thursday’s starter but from what I have seen during the postgame and interviews in the last two days, it seems like the yanks will be using a 6 man rotation over the next week in order to allow Colon to pitch against the Red Sox this weekend.  I think it’s the smart move at this point since Colon is likely shaping up to be a #2 starter in the postseason if he continues his dominance and a start against Boston will really put him to the test.  In turn, Nova will pitch Thursday as it is his regularly scheduled start and Colon will get bumped and work around CC’s 5 day schedule

-Nova had a strong start on Saturday night against the O’s pitching 7 full innings and allowing only 2 runs on 6 hits and striking out 6.

-Nova pitched against the White Sox in late April taking the loss to Gavin Floyd after pitching 6.1 innings and only allowing 1 run.

-Humber had a tough time against Boston this past weekend and was unable to make it out of the 5^th inning after allowing 4 runs.

-Over his past 3 starts, Humber is 0-3 with a 9.00 ERA

-Humber nearly pitched a no hitter against the Yankees in April allowing no runs on 1 hit over 7 innings.

-Humber has the best ERA on the White Sox this season.

-Humber’s strikeout ratio is very low at 5.9/9IP.  Looks like he is having trouble putting batters away.

-Read a full breakdown on Philip Humber HERE

YANKEES NOTES

-Derek Jeter is Day to Day due to a bruised middle finger.  The X Rays were negative but Jeter is having problems holding the bat tight so its likely the Yanks could give him a few days off.  There has also been some rumblings that Jesus Montero may join the Yankees very soon and with Jeter out of the lineup, this could be a big opportunity for Montero even if he just DH’s.

-Texeira is on a hot streak lately and went 13-39 with 4 homeruns during this past homestand in the Bronx.

-Swisher is still hot as well going 15-36 in the homestand with 3 homeruns.

-Gardner had some trouble during the past homestand going a mere 7-28, but I think it’s fair to give him a pass as he delivered the decisive bases clearing triple on Sunday against the Orioles.

WHITE SOX NOTES

-Paul Konerko is day to day after getting hit with a pitch Sunday by the Red Sox.  Konerko pulled himself out of the game after being hit in the calf.  If Konerko does not play during this series it would be a big loss for the White Sox as he leads the team with a .305 average, 25 home runs and 76 RBI’s.  Konerko has some big numbers against the Yankees as well so his injury couldn’t have come at a better time for the Yanks. (.315, 20 HR’s in his career vs Yankees)

-Juan Pierre is on a heater over the last month hitting .345 in his last 28 games

-Brent Morel has gotten hot lately with 5 hits in his last 10 at bats

-Alex Rios hit a little slump recently and has only 3 hits in his last 23 at bats

-Carlos Quentin is only 4 for his last 22 at bats.

-I’m not sure what happened to Adam Dunn since coming to the White Sox but he is only hitting .195 this season.

Figuring Out Phil Hughes

Following yesterday’s game, I went back to dissect what are Hughes’ problems.  Let’s start with the positive.  Hughes pitched better than he did this past Friday against Oakland when he allowed 7 runs over 4 1/3 Innings.  Instead, yesterday he only surrendered two runs over 6 innings.  Hughes looked absolutely awful against the A’s and his velocity was down to 90-91 the entire game.  Yesterday against the Mariners, Hughes’ velocity was back (at least in the beginning) to 93 mph, and his curveball looked better.

That all being said, it was a very poor outing for Phil Hughes yesterday.  His pitching line might not look too bad, but it was an uninspiring performance to say the least.  Ultimately Hughes pitched 6 full innings, allowing only 2 runs but allowed 9 hits to the struggling Mariners offense.  He finished the day with 101 pitches, 65 of which were strikes and struck out 3 batters all swinging.  The numbers don’t look bad at all, but if you watch the game – Hughes got pretty lucky.

The first inning started off strong for Hughes.  He had a 1-2-3 inning and was pitching 92 – 93 mph.  He relied heavily on the fastball in the first inning and it looked like a promising start for Hughes.  That began to change in the second inning though.  Franklin Guitteriez was behind in the count 1-2 in the second inning and eventually worked himself a walk after a ten pitch at bat.  During this at bat, Hughes constantly shook off Russell Martin and was unable to execute a swing & a miss pitch. This was the first sign of trouble.

Once he was in the third inning, Hughes’ velocity began to drop.  He still was throwing some 92 mph fastballs, but the 93 mph balls weren’t there any longer.  He got himself into trouble during the third inning when he allowed Ichiro to reach base on a single.  That is where I first really noticed some issues for Hughes.  He was behind in the count 0-1 to Ichiro and then went with a 2 seamer that was thrown inside to Ichiro, a lefty, but then tailed back over the middle of the plate. Any lefty batter would be happy with that pitch & Ichiro was easily able to get around on the fastball and drive it to left field for a single.  This was commonplace yesterday for Hughes as he constantly relied on a fastball that didn’t have good location after the first inning.  Throughout the entire outing, Hughes’ fastball was over the plate and at times it seemed like he was throwing balls right down the middle of the plate without any movement.  It was like he was throwing batting practice or a bullpen warmup session rather than a game which could determine his future for the rest of the season.

The fourth inning was better for Hughes as he allowed one hit but then worked a double play to end the inning.  There was minimal damage in this inning but Hughes velocity continued to decline down to 91 mph.  The fifth inning is where Hughes really ran into trouble.  The inning began with Cust, Bard & Ichiro all with singles to load the bases.  Hughes continued to rely on his fastball with diminished velocity & kept throwing the fastball over the plate making it easy for the batters to get hits.  He attempted to induce some swings/misses by using his fastball up around the batters chest but he didn’t have the action to induce a swing.  With the bases loaded, Hughes escaped some trouble due to Brett Gardner’s throw from left field to get the third out and only allowed 1 run.  Looking back on that inning, Hughes got lucky and any other offense besides the M’s could have really broken the game open at this point.  Hughes came back out for the 6^th and following a leadoff double, was able to go 1-2-3 with a strikeout to end the day.

Overall it was a lackluster performance by Hughes.  He relied too heavily on a fastball that lacked velocity after the 1^st inning and his curveball was hit or miss.  This was the curveball that we saw him throw against Toronto two weeks ago.  The curve has more velocity than his other curveball and has more of a bite to it for that late breaking action.  Either it was thrown for a strike early in the count or he threw it for a ball while trying to make an ‘out’ pitch with 2 strikes.  His location was iffy the entire day and although he was able to make good pitches early in the count, Hughes was unable to execute later in the count for outs with 2 strikes.  I was left with the impression that if Hughes had not been pitching to the Mariners who are hitting only .218 as a team, that he would be in serious trouble.  Hughes’ last two games were against offenses that are the two worst in the AL, and he gave up 9 hits to each team.  What will happen when he faces a good offense?

Girardi may have given a hint as to what may happen in the future.  Girardi said “there could be a competition for the 5^th spot in the rotation, but I’m not going to say there will be.”  I really don’t know exactly what Girardi meant by this as the entire statement seems to contradict itself, but with Nova likely pitching this Saturday you can bet the Yanks are watching him to determine whether Nova can steal Hughes’ spot back.  Nova may not be an ace but he is certainly more effective this season than Hughes.  I would trust Nova against a good offense over Hughes since Nova had some great starts and although he doesn’t dominate a lineup, he forces ground balls all day.  Hughes on the other hand throws too many pitches with poor location and has a much lower ground ball rate.  This all could be meaningless soon enough as the Yanks seem to be going after Kuroda right now, who would steal the spot from both Nova and Hughes.  With Sunday being the trade deadline, this will be something to keep an eye on.

Mariners vs Yankees Preview

The Yankees returned to Yankee stadium for a 10 game homestand this past weekend and took 2 out of 3 from the Oakland A’s.  Friday’s game was the biggest offensive blowout we have seen from the Yankees since coming to the new stadium.  The next two games were a bit tougher but the Yanks managed to grab another win on Sunday, following Saturday’s loss.  Since the All-Star break the Yankees are 6-5 and looking to grab some more wins during this homestand against the Mariners and Baltimore this weekend.

The struggling Mariners come to the stadium looking to snap a 15 game losing streak, following a sweep up in Fenway park this past weekend.  The last time these teams met was in May out in Seattle when the Mariners took 2 of 3 from the Yanks.  Although the Mariners started Hernandez and Pineda in that series, the Yankees were able to take the lead against both these pitchers early but ultimately blew both games because of the Yankee bullpen and AJ Burnett.  The Yankees are now looking to pay the Mariners back for those two very frustrating losses.

PITCHING MATCHUPS

Monday:  Jason Vargas (6-8, 3.94 ERA) vs Freddy Garcia (8-7, 3.21 ERA)

-Garcia is coming off a good start against the Rays last week pitching nearly 7 innings of shutout ball.  He seemed to get himself into trouble a few times during the game but managed to pitch his way out of trouble every time.  Garcia had 7 strikeouts and no walks in his 8^th win of the season.  This win against the Rays was of a different fashion than usual for Garcia as he typically allows balls to be put in play by the batter, ultimately allowing the defense to take care of business.  This game was different as Garcia was more dominant with 66 of 92 pitches thrown for strikes, 7 strikeouts, and 13 swings and misses which typically isn’t Freddy’s style.  I would expect another strong performance against the Mariners by Garcia as their offense is the worst in the AL.

-Garcia is 1-1 over his last 3 starts with a 2.89 ERA and 13 strikeouts.

-Garcia has allowed 2 runs or less in four of his last 5 starts

-Since June 12, Garcia is 4-2, with a 2.38 ERA over 7 starts

-Vargas is coming off a poor start against the Jays and was pulled after only 3 innings.  In those 3 innings, he allowed 5 runs, 6 hits and 5 walks.  It was his shortest outing since May.

-Vargas has lost his last two starts against the Yanks, allowing 13 runs over 9 innings

-Vargas is 0-3 with a 6.35 ERA over his last three starts with 9 strikeouts, and has allowed 10 runs over his last two starts.

-Cano is hitting .700 against Vargas

-Swisher is hitting .375 against Vargas

Tuesday:  Doug Fister (3-11, 3.30 ERA) vs CC Sabathia (14-5, 2.62 ERA)

-Sabathia is coming off a tough loss against Tampa last week which snapped his 7 game winning streak.  Even though CC took the loss, he still had a commanding performance allowing only 2 runs over 8 innings.

-Sabathia is 11-2 since May 19 with a 2.12 ERA & over his last three starts he is 2-1 with 1.08 ERA and 25 strikeouts.

-Fister has not gotten a win since May despite some quality starts & took the loss in his last start facing the Blue Jays, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits. He had a smooth start to the game, retiring his first 10 batters but couldn’t hold the lead.

-Fister is 0-2 over his last 3 starts with a 5.03 ERA and 7 strikeouts.

Wednesday: Felix Hernandez (8-9, 3.47 ERA) vs Phil Hughes (1-2, 9.47 ERA)

-Hughes had a poor start this past Friday who couldn’t help maintain the lead the Yankees had given him in the 3^rd.  Hughes didn’t make it out again for the 4^th inning and had to be replaced by Noesi who had a strong performance in long relief.  Hughes’ velocity was down again (91mph) compared to his previous start (93 mph –ish) and didn’t have control over his fastball.  He wasn’t throwing his new curveball with the command that he had in his previous start and overall looked bad.  In all fairness, it was 103 degrees at game time and just unbearable inside that stadium but Hector Noesi had no problems throwing 4 solid innings!

-Hernandez was owned this past Friday up in Fenway allowing 6 runs on 11 hits with 4 walks over 6 2/3 innings.  He was constantly in trouble with men on bases and relied upon double plays to get himself out of it, but overall was just beat up by the Red Sox offense.

-King Felix has given up at least four runs in 3 of his last 5 starts.

-Hernandez is 0-2 with a 5.14 ERA and 14 strikeouts over his last three starts

A's And Yankees Preview

The Yankees return home today for a ten game homestand starting with the Oakland A’s.  After the last 8 games on the road playing on astroturf, I’m sure the Yankees are looking forward to a long homestand to get back on track.  The road trip following the All Star Break hasn’t been great for the Yankees as they have split two 4 game series with Toronto & Tampa.  There have been some highlights during these games, but there has also been a number of games where sloppy defense has cost them games. 

Looking ahead, the Yanks play the A’s and the Mariners over the next week which should bring them some wins.  The A’s who are 17-33 on the road, come to the Bronx tonight in hopes of getting a win in Yankee stadium for the first time since July 25, 2009.  They have lost the last 12 of 13 games against the Yankees in Yankee stadium, and the last time these two teams met the Yankees swept three games in Oakland.  Since then, the A's have fired their manager due to poor performance. 

Right now, the Yankees have a 10 game winning streak against Oakland.  The A’s had an off day Thursday following a series against Detroit where they split two games & prior to the Detroit series, the A’s swept the Angels outscoring them 20 to 11 over the 4 game set, showing a little offensive life.

STARTING PITCHERS

Friday: Trevor Cahill (8-8, 3.16 ERA) vs. Phil Hughes (1-2, 8.44 ERA)

-Hughes comes into the game following a big win against the Blue Jays earlier this week.  He pitched 6 innings allowing only 2 runs and striking out 5 for the win, and used a new type of curve ball in the process.  Overall he looked sharp compared to his previous start.  Although his first start back from the DL had similar numbers (5IP, 2 runs), this week’s performance showed more control and consistency along with velocity that is considered ‘healthy’ for Hughes.

-Hughes is 2-0 against the A’s with a 1.62 ERA all-time.

-Trevor Cahill is looking to get his first career win against the Yankees as he is 0-3 against them in 3 starts.  In those three starts he has allowed 18 earned runs over 16 2/3 innings pitched. Last season, Cahill pitched against the Yanks in Yankee stadium in the first game of a 4 game sweep by the Yankees, allowing 8 runs over 4 innings

-Texeira is 4 – 8 against Cahill with 2 Home Runs

-Cano is 4 – 9 against Cahill with 1 Home Run

Saturday: Rich Harden (1-1, 5.00 ERA) vs. AJ Burnett (8-7, 4.19 ERA)

-AJ had a rough start in his last outing allowing 3 runs over the first 2 innings but settled in after that a bit to keep the Yankees in the game.  Burnett allowed a season high 6 walks in the start.

-Burnett is 0-1 over his last 3 starts with a 5.00 ERA and 19 strikeouts

-Harden is coming off his first start for Oakland in three years following his reinstatement from the 60 day DL.  He pitched six strong innings, allowing two runs and four hits while striking out six batters.  Overall it was a good return from Harden who used a strong fastball to retired the first 16 of 18 batters he faced.

-Harden has not pitched a complete season since 2004 due to injuries and has been on the DL 10 times over his career.

Sunday: Gio Gonzalez (9-6, 2.33 ERA) vs. Bartolo Colon (6-6, 3,34 ERA)

-Colon quieted the critics in his last start showing that he is not injured and looking ahead to the second half.  In his start against Tampa he threw 6 shutout innings with a season high 9 Strikeouts.  Read more about that Start HERE

-Colon is 0-3 over his last three starts with a 6.39 ERA, but it looks as though Colon is back on track following the DL stint.

-David Dejesus is batting .545 against Colon with 2 Home Runs.

-Gio Gonzalez is coming off a strong start against the Angels of 7 innings of shutout ball.  Gonzalez allowed only 4 hits and struck out 8.

-Gonzalez is one of the few bright spots for this Oakland team as he boasts the 5^th best ERA in the AL and was named to the All Star Team.  He uses a combination of fastballs, curveballs and changeups relying most heavily on the fastball.

-Gonzalez has lost his last three starts against the Yankees, allowing 14 earned runs with 14 walks over 14 2/3 innings pitched

YANKEES NOTES

-Jeter has been slumping lately and over the last seven games Jeter is hitting .200.  Girardi has considered bumping him from lead off when facing righties as he did last night.  Against lefties though, Jeter is hitting .325 with a .419 on base percentage so I would guess that Jeter would remain as leadoff batter against lefties.

-Soriano pitched against Thursday in a rehab game for Class-A Tampa allowing one run on 2 hits over a single inning.  Soriano had also pitched Wednesday, as the Yankees want him to be durable enough to pitch back to back days.  It’s likely he could be activated by the middle of next week

-Chavez played third-base for the first time in Class-A Tampa Thursday, and went 1-3 on the day with an RBI Double. 

A’S NOTES

-The Yankees welcome back Hideki Matsui tonight into Yankee stadium. Matsui just hit his 500^th career home run!  (including home runs in Japanese league)