The King Of New York

If you were on the Jeter bashing bandwagon earlier this season, don’t look now as he is hitting .299 with a .359 on base percentage.  He’s king of New York City again with his amazing month of August.  Although the month isn’t over yet, Jeter is hitting .422 in August with a .475 on base percentage and a.986 OPS. In his last twelve games, he is hitting .490! The last time he hit this high over a course of a month was in July of 2006 when he hit .390.

Compare Jeter’s recent numbers to earlier this year when he was hitting around .260 throughout much of the first half.  His average has jumped about 40 points since then.  June was his worst month as Jeter hit only .239 before going on the DL.  When he went on the DL, the Yankees went 14-5 without him and many actually considered the Yankees to be better off without Jeter in the lineup.  Then he made the big comeback starting around the 3000 hit game.  During the second half of the season, he is hitting .355 and driving the ball like he used to.

During Thursday's game when he went 3-6, Jeter actually got his average over .300 as he passed Rickey Henderson with 3058 hits, putting him at 21^st on the All-Time hits list.  It won’t be long before Jeter ties Craig Biggio on that list with 3060 hits, which will put him at #20 All-Time.  Jeter also broke Jimmy Fox’s record of runs scored with 1752, which now puts Jeter #20 on the All-Time runs scored list.

Although Jeter has quieted the haters temporarily, I’m sure we will have the discussion of whether Jeter is too old again.  Hopefully it won’t be this season though, as Jeter looks determined to make an impact in the postseason.   I doubt he can keep these numbers up, but if I have learned anything about Jeter –Don’t Doubt Him!

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.

That’s Just What the Captain Does

The beginning of the season seems like only yesterday watching Jeter hit weak ground balls to the infield for easy outs.  Even when he would get a hit, it wasn’t much to write home about.  Jeter wasn’t driving the ball and most hits came from squeakers that managed to get through the infield.

Things certainly have changed since Jeter got back from the DL with that calf injury right before the All Star Break.  Since coming off the DL, Jeter is hitting .319 with a .373 on base percentage.  Numbers aside, Jeter looks like a different player than he did in April when he was hitting .250 with a .300 OBP.  Now, he’s driving the ball for solid line drives and his swing looks like old Jeter.  Although Kevin Long had tweaked Jeter’s swing during spring training, it looks as though Jeter has reverted to his old ways of taking a stride before swinging.  Although the stride isn’t as dramatic as it was at the end of last season, it’s larger than it was during the month of April/May.  The biggest difference with Jeter at bat is his approach.  It seems like he is holding back longer which enables him to get his power behind the swing.  Jeter’s power is still there as his slugging percentage since coming off the DL would indicate, up at .449%.

As with any discussion of Jeter, it’s not just his numbers – it’s the intangibles and last night was a perfect example of how he contributes to the team.  In the 6^th inning, the Yankees were down by a run since AJ had a problem holding the lead.  Jeter came to the plate and hit a triple, driving in two RBI’s so the Yanks could take the lead.  This triple allowed AJ to bounce back for one more inning and get his first win in August since George W Bush was president.

Last week, Jeter came up big in another game for AJ although the end result was the same.  In the first game against the Angels, AJ ran into some trouble and allowed the Angels to take the lead.  Jeter came to bat in the 7^th inning and hit a RBI single which tied the game.  The Yankees eventually scored another run to take the lead before Mariano came in and blew the save. Ultimately the yanks lost that first game, but Jeter came up with another big RBI to bail out Burnett and keep hope alive. 

That’s what the Captain does time and time again.  Whether you love Jeter or hate him, he comes up big!

Trapping Lightning In a Bottle

Sometimes a manager needs to try and catch lightning in a bottle to drive their team to the postseason, but he must balance the need for consistency that the players require.  The lighting in a bottle that I am talking about with the Yankees is Brett Gardner’s offensive production over the last few months, and more attractively since the All-Star Break.  

Following the All-Star Break, Gardner has played in all 8 games and is hitting .517 with a .576 on base percentage.  Unfortunately for Gardner, he hasn’t been used often this season as the leadoff batter, until last night.  Some may say that Gardner is streaky but if you break down his numbers by the month, they have gotten better as the season goes on.  Streaky or not, the numbers don’t lie and Gardner should be used more often as the leadoff batter, especially against righties.

Gardner is your classic leadoff man.  He’s fast and he makes contact with the ball.  When Gardner gets on base he becomes a distraction to the pitcher, position players, and the catcher.  In turn, this distraction helps Gardner manufacture runs.  He is the type of player that can beat out infield grounders, then steal second within a blink of an eye to put himself in scoring position for the hard hitters in the middle of the lineup to drive him home from second base.  As much as I love Jeter and think he can still run the bases as smart as any player, he doesn’t manufacture runs the same way Gardner does which is a critical component of the leadoff batter’s responsibility.  Look at Ichiro as the perfect example of how leadoff batters create opportunities which manufactures runs.

Gardner’s speed has become such an asset than he now has stolen 16 bases in a row.  It’s been over a month since he was caught stealing a base, and over the last six nights Gardner has stolen 7 bases!  Since the beginning of last season, Gardner has a 78% success rate! Not only does he pose a threat to opposing teams, there seems to be very little risk involved as Gardner isn’t getting thrown out.  In fact, since May 20 he is 24 for 28 in stolen base attempts!  As long as he can get on base, he’s a valuable weapon.

Fortunately for the Yankees, Gardner isn’t having trouble reaching base.  Right now he is batting .290 with a .370 on base percentage.  His average would be even higher had he not started the season with a terrible April as he hit a mere .188 with .273 on base percentage.  It took some time for Gardner to get going but as each month of the season passes, his averages increase.

                Batting Avg         OBP

April:     .188                        .273

May:      .301                        .379

June:     .317                        .404

July:       .356                        .424

As you can see from above, Gardners numbers are just getting better and better as the summer heats up.  Gardner was named the full time left fielder starting last season, and since that time he’s hit .280 with a .376 on base percentage.  His numbers don’t show any sign of dying down anytime soon, so it’s time to trap that lightning in the bottle and make him the leadoff batter at least against right handed pitchers.  If he is able to manufacture runs, the Yankees need him to try it every day and by allowing him to bat leadoff, the Yankees have the best odds to win the game which is what this all comes down to.

Although I wouldn’t be opposed to having Gardner as the leadoff man for both lefties and righties, Jeter’s numbers against lefties are solid.  Jeter is hitting .325 against lefties with a .419 on base percentage.  Although Jeter is getting older and a bit slower, he’s still a solid baserunner if only for being a heady player.  Unfortunately for Jeter he isn’t making the decision any more difficult for Girardi as his production since the ‘DJ3K day’ (July 9) is weak – Jeter’s only hitting .200 over the last 7 games, compared to Gardners .517 average.  Jeter’s production against righties isn’t terribly better as he is only hitting .244 against them with a .290 on base percentage on the season – both these numbers are unacceptable for a leadoff batter.  In all fairness to Jeter he does have one stat that is hard to ignore – When leading off a game Jeter hits .379 with a .446 on base percentage!

That all being said, it’s not such an easy thing to bump a guy like Derek Jeter out of the #1 spot.  There needs to be some overall consistency within the lineup which players require.  That’s why managers don’t just constantly change the lineup from day to day.  If you move Jeter from the #1 hole, then where do you put him?  If you plug him in as the second batter then Granderson has to move.  I believe that when a player like Granderson is doing well – you leave him alone.  If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!  Granderson is having a career year this season, so the last thing I want to do is move him from his regular lineup slot. 

So if Gardner is #1 and Granderson is #2 then where do you put Jeter?  He’s clearly not a #3, #4 or #5 hitter as he only has 17 extra base hits on the season.  Do you bump him to #6?  If you bump him to the 6^th spot, will he protect Cano or will opposing teams pitch around Cano?  If I were an opposing pitcher, I would definitely pitch around Cano to get to Jeter.  So by placing Jeter to the #6 spot, you essentially lose Cano’s production since you take away the majority of good pitches thrown to him.

So then we are left with three spots for Jeter - #7, #8 & #9. I doubt you can you plug the captain of the New York Yankees into one of these spots everyday without causing turmoil.  My solution would be a compromise - Use Jeter as the leadoff solely against lefties. His numbers are strong enough against lefties that he shouldn’t cause too many issues as the leadoff batter.  When facing righties though, bat Jeter lower in the order.  I doubt you could get away with batting him 9^th, but I have always loved the idea of having back to back leadoff batters in the #9 & #1 spots in a lineup.  It adds speed on the bases and with Nunez batting before Jeter and Gardner and Granderson following Jeter it adds a whole new dimension of baserunning to the Yankees offense to help manufacture runs.

Girardi has been making some comments to the media lately about playing with the batting order, so it’s something to keep an eye on over the next few weeks, especially with Arod out of the lineup for another 4 weeks.

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)

Rays vs. Yankees Preview

The Rays come to the Bronx for the final four games before the All-Star Break.  Although the Rays are 4 games out of first place in the AL East, they have potential to make some headway over their next few series'.  They have these four games against the Yankees, then following the All-Star break they host the Red Sox followed by another series against the Yankees. If they can split these games, they will be right back in the fight for the AL East title.  This might be easier said than done though, as the Rays aren’t playing their best ball.  They lost two of three to the reds a week ago, then won two of three from the Cardinals before returning to the AL, where they lost two of three from the ailing Twins.  They barely escaped a sweep in Minnesota but not for a total breakdown in the Twins bullpen yesterday. Overall, they are about a .500 team.

The Yankees have been hot lately although they did drop 2 of 3 to the Indians in Cleveland this week.  Although they lost 2 of 3, they still played good ball and could have won all the games had AJ not collapsed following 6 scoreless innings, and Mitre not allowed any runs in last night’s loss.  The Yankees are 7-3 in their last ten games and are 28-18 at home.  This should be a good series as the Rays haven’t come to the Bronx this season yet, and have a good record on the road at 27-18 compared to their 21-21 record in Tampa. 

PITCHING MATCHUPS

Thursday: Jeff Niemann (3-4, 5.05) vs Bartolo Colon (6-3, 2.88)

-Colon is seeking his 5^th straight win.  He came off the DL prior to his last start against the Mets where he pitched 6 shutout innings while striking out 6. 

-Colon has the lowest ERA for a Yankees starter

-Over his past three starts, Colon is 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA and 16 strikeouts

-Niemann pitched this past Saturday against the Cardinals allowing only 1 run and struck out 5.  He will be making his 4^th start since coming off the DL, and is 2-0 with a 3.60 ERA over his last three games with 12 strikeouts

-Niemann was the pitcher to give up hit # 2721 to Derek Jeter, when Jeter tied Lou Gehrig for the most hits in pinstripes.  During that game, Jeter had 3 hits against Niemann.  Jeter is 5-9 with 2 doubles off Niemann.

Friday: Jeremy Hellickson (8-7, 3.21) vs Freddy Garcia (7-6, 3.13)

-Garcia pitched a strong 7 innings in his last outing on Sunday against the Mets allowing only one run.  Mo ultimately blew the save before the yanks lost in extra innings.

-Garcia is 2-0 over his last three starts with a 1.35 ERA, but only 6 strikeouts over those three games

-Johnny Damon has some good numbers against Garcia, as he is hitting .316 over 19 at bats.  Unfortunately for Damon, it looks like he won’t be playing after being hit by two pitches yesterday and being removed from the game.  He is day to day.

-Hellickson has never started against the Yankees, although he has appeared in relief against them last season.  If this is anything like other young pitchers facing the Yankees for the first time, it could be a long day for the Yanks!

-Hellickson last pitched against the Cardinals this past weekend allowing 3 runs on 6 hits to get the win.  This win snapped his 4 game losing streak.

-Hellickson has allowed 7 home runs over his past 5 starts.  He also has some control issues as his BB/9IP ratio is 3.39/9IP.  The yanks need to stay patient, and hopefully drill a few balls over the fence.

-Hellickson is 1-2 with a 3.72 ERA over his last three starts, with 14 strikeouts.

Saturday: David Price (8-7, 3.56) vs AJ Burnett (8-7, 4.12)

-AJ totally fell apart in his last start during the 7^th inning following 6 shutout innings.  In the 7^th, AJ allowed 4 runs and took the loss to the Indians

-Burnett is 1-2 with a 4.43 ERA and 15 strikeouts over his last 3 starts.

-Longoria is hitting .375 off Burnett over 32 at bats

-David Price took his first loss on the road since May 21 this past week against the Twins.  In that start Price allowed 4 runs on 5 hits.

-Price is 1-1 with a 3.32 ERA and a whopping 28 strikeouts in his last 3 games!

-On the bright side of things, Nick Swisher is hitting .357 off Price over 14 at bats.

Sunday: James Shields (8-6, 2.47) vs. CC Sabathia (12-4, 2.90)

-This should be a great matchup and is a great way to end regular season play before the All-Star Break! 

-CC has been absolutely dominant lately and just got his 12^th win of the season, being the first pitcher to get 12 wins in MLB this season.  In his last start he struck out 11 batters over 7 innings of shutout baseball.

-CC is 3-0 with a .40 ERA and an amazing 33 strikeouts over his past three games.

-Longoria bats .316 off CC over 19 at bats with 2 Home Runs

-BJ Upton is batting .300 against CC over 30 at bats with 2 Home Runs

-Johnny Damon is hitting .333 over 9 at bats against Sabathia

-Ben Zobrist is batting .320 off CC in 25 at bats

-Shields is coming off a subpar start where he lasted only 6 innings and giving up 3 runs on 6 hits.

-Shields is 1-2 with a 2.86 ERA and 24 strikeouts over his past three games

-Cano is hitting .390 off Shields in 41 at bats with 3 Homers

-Jeter is hitting .340 off Shields in 50 at bats.

-Jorge Posada is hitting .296 off Shields in 27 at bats.

SIDE NOTES:  In case you have been living under a rock… Jeter is 3 hits shy of 3000 and has 4 games at home to try and hit the milestone.

Arod is batting .397 over his past 15 games with 10 RBI’s

Wade Davis was placed on the DL today and the Rays called up Gomes as a reliever in his place in order to bolster their bullpen against the Yankees.

Longoria is questionable to play during this series due to a nerve issue in his foot

Matt Joyce has slowed down considerably since his early tear.  Since June 1 he is batting .160 with a .219 on base percentage.

You Can Read All About CC Sabathia RIGHT HERE

Cleveland Rocks

Hughes was back on the mound last night for the Yankees, taking a loss against Cleveland.  It was his first time pitching in the majors since April 14^th and although he labored through the start, he kept the Yankees within reach.  All in all, it wasn’t a bad night for Phil Hughes but he can certainly do better.

Hughes pitched 5 full innings last night and used 87 pitches in the process.  I am sure he could have gone out and started the 6^th, but the yanks were being cautious with the young pitcher as it was only his first night back.  Hughes had a tough time in the first inning giving up 2 runs and throwing over 30 pitches.  From the 2^nd inning through the 5^th he settled in and kept his pitch count down but had some issues putting batters away.  It seems that from the 2^nd through 5^th inning, Hughes had favorable counts like 0-2, but was unable to throw an “out” pitch.  This could have been due to his control which seemed to be a problem the whole night for Hughes, especially with his fastball which was up in the zone.  There were points during the game where Hughes looked like AJ Burnett.  He was having problems with location but battling through it, yet never able to dominate a batter after getting ahead in the count.  Either way, I think the Yankees know that Hughes will just build off this start.

Hughes was not having any of the issues which sent him to the DL in April.  His velocity was around 92 mph all night.  Sometimes he hit 93 and sometimes was around 91, but even in the fifth inning he still had significant velocity and never looked like he ran out of gas.  Ultimately, he pitched 5 innings and allowed only 2 runs (both in the tough 1^st inning) and gave up six singles.  When men were on base after the 1^st inning, Hughes was able to make some good pitches and got himself out of jams.  It was like he was walking a tightrope all night.  He threw mostly fastballs & cutters but he even through a few changeups during the night which were very impressive.  When he left the game, the Yanks were trailing 2-0 against a tough pitcher, Justin Masterson.  Hughes kept them in the game and never let it get out of hand, but ultimately the bullpen faltered which kept the yanks from making a 9^th inning comeback.

Logan who has been doing pretty well lately, especially against lefty batters, gave up a home run to a rookie lefty.  Although he gave up the homer, he did get a few big outs.  My real issue came with Sergio Mitre in the bottom of the 8^th.  At that point, the Yankees were trailing 3-0 and all he had to do was pitch one strong inning so the Yanks could try to make a 9^th inning comeback as Masterson was being pulled from the game.  Masterson dominated the Yankees all night and only allowed three hits, but he wasn’t going to pitch the ninth and the Yankees could have capitalized on the Indians pulling their Ace.  Unfortunately, Mitre gave up two runs after loading up the bases by allowing 2 walks and a hit.  Then he walks in a run, and following that he allows a sac fly.  Before the Yankees come to bat for the final time, the score is 5-0 and any chance for a comeback was virtually lost.  It’s much easier to make a 3 run comeback than a 5 run comeback and the Yankees actually managed to put up 3 runs in the top of the ninth but it was not enough and they took the loss.  Mitre’s two runs changed this game and caused the loss. 

I am not sure why Mitre is on the team as I originally was under the impression that he was going to be a long man out of the bullpen who might make a few spot starts should the Yankees have an issue with their rotation.  But last night, Mitre was used for 1.1 innings rather than as a long man.  If Noesi is the Yankees long man and has done pretty well, then what do they need a second long man for?  Especially Mitre, who has repeatedly shown that he is inconsistent.  Last night didn’t help Mitre’s case much either as he can’t be trusted in close games.  The Yankees have a pretty good bullpen that seems to be going through some injuries right now, but Mitre isn’t the solution.  As a fan I would rather see the Yankees try using younger guys within the system for this role rather than trying out the recycled Mitre who has been released by the A’s and the Brewers and traded by the Yankees as they considered him expendable. 

Side Note:  Jeter got another big double last night.  Similar to his double on Tuesday, Jeter had a solid hit deep in the outfield off Masterson.  Masterson only gave up three hits on the entire night and Jeter had one of them.  He is now only 3 hits away from 3000!

And He Was Left Off the All-Star Roster?

7 of CC's 11 Strikeouts were from his Slider

Last night CC Sabathia faced off against the Cleveland Indians and got his 12^th win of the season.  CC is now the first pitcher in MLB this season to get 12 wins.  But his 12^th win wasn’t the real story of the night as CC’s performance was outstanding.  He was throwing some serious heat up in the high 90’s throughout all 7 of his scoreless innings pitched, and using a slider that was absolutely devastating to batters.  Not only would he throw his slider down and away to batters with 2 strikes, but he was also throwing the slider up and in to lefty hitters as the ‘out’ pitch.  It was truly an awesome spectacle to watch Sabathia last night.  His command was perfect and he struck out 11 batters.  Even more impressive was than even when CC put runners on base in scoring position – Nobody ever scored.  In fact, all seven batters who came to the plate with runners in scoring position for the Indians, were struck out by Sabathia. Following the game, Curtis Granderson said “It’s not even fair” referring to a batter facing CC last night.

Granderson is right as CC has gotten hotter and hotter as the season has gotten going.  Over Sabathia’s last three starts, he has pitched a total of 22.2 innings.  Over those past three games, CC has only given up 1 run = .40 ERA & his season ERA has dropped to a 2.90.  He now has won 5 in a row and 9 of his last 10 games.  About a month ago, Girardi said that “CC Likes It Hot” and he wasn’t kidding as CC’s numbers just get better as the summer continues.

Right now, it would seem that CC would be in the lead for winning the Cy Young award at the end of the season.  Verlander had been my pick this year, but CC has been absolutely dominant and he continues to get better.  Not that it matters because CC wouldn’t be eligible to pitch, but how can a guy like this be left off the All-Star roster?

SIDE NOTES:  Derek Jeter got hit first two hits last night since coming off the DL.  The first hit wasn’t especially impressive as it was an infield grounder up the third base line for a single, but his second hit was impressive.  Jeter was facing off against Carrasco in the 2^nd inning with two men on base and two outs.  Carrasco threw a fastball which Jeter drilled to left center for a 2 run double.  Jeter only needs 4 hits to hit 3000!.

The last hit that Derek Jeter had before going on the DL was against Carrasco on June 13, before he was pulled with the injury.  During that game, the Yankees made Carrasco look like a Cy Young candidate.  Carrasco pitched 7 innings and only allowed 5 hits and no runs while striking out 7.  Last night he pitched only 4 innings and allowed 10 hits and 6 earned runs.  I think it’s fair to say that last night’s Yankee performance was a bit better than last time against Carrasco.  Always good to see the Yankees making improvements – that is what separates the good teams from the great teams!

Yankees & Rockies Series Preview

THE STATE OF THE YANKEES

The Yankees just finished their Midwest road trip going 4-2 in Interleague play.  They took 2 out of 3 from both the Cubs and the Reds, and are now coming home for their final stretch of interleague play against the Rockies and Brewers before they head cross town for the final three games of the Subway Series.  Overall the Yankees are on a roll since being swept by the Red Sox in the first week of June.  Since that series the Yankees are 10-3 and have won every series since, including a sweep over the Rangers.  Things should only be getting better for the Yankees beginning this week as their injured players will be coming back to the team slowly. 

Jeter is due back this coming Wednesday and Phil Hughes isn’t terribly far behind.  Hughes could be back with the team by early July if his progress continues – He hit 95mph on the radar gun last weekend and was averaging 93mph in that game.  Eric Chavez is slowly recovering as well and we could likely see him back with the team in Mid July, which can help bolster the bench.  Even Bartolo Colon shouldn’t be out terribly long and could rejoin the team in Mid July as well.  Colon was put on the 15 day DL, but it seems he may need a bit longer.  Let Colon take his rest now rather than pushing him back into the rotation which could cause an injury to worsen for an older player, plus Colon was going to need rest throughout the season for stamina purposes since he hasn’t pitched much since 2005.  Even just getting back these four players (forget about Marte, Feliciano & Soriano) will take the pressure of the rest of the team.

Even the guys who had previously started the season poorly have been heating up.  Jorge Posada, who was previously hitting only .183, has brought his average up to .225 and had a game winning home run against the Reds on Wednesday.  Although .225 isn’t a great average, his numbers for June are impressive : .391/.431/.543 with one home run.  I’m not sure what he is doing different, but it could be just as simple as getting acquainted to the DH role.

Brett Gardner had a terrible month of April, but has become the player he was in 2010 again.  In the month of April he hit a mere .188 and didn’t look sharp.  In fact, Girardi started platooning him due to his poor performance.  Gardner then worked with Kevin Long on his swing and received immediate results.  In the month of May his average climbed to .301 with a .379 on base percentage, and so far in June his average is up to .377 on the month with a .441 on base percentage and an extremely impressive .999 OPS.

Nick Swisher has been gaining some momentum as well but it took a little longer for him.  Swish had two bad months in April and May batting .226 and .200 respectively.  June has treated Swisher better and his average is up to .292 on the month with a .435 on base percentage.  His OPS is even higher than Gardner’s for the month of June with a 1.035!  In the last two weeks alone his average is .310 and between Gardner and Swish sharing the leadoff spot, they share a combined .316 average.  Although both Swisher and Gardner are thriving as the #1 batter, once Jeter gets healthy again he will continue to bat leadoff.

Nova had become a pitcher that only a few weeks ago that many critics were claiming he was fighting for a job to stay in the starting rotation, but since his start in Seattle he has been impressive.  He pitched on Monday against the Reds and had a dominant outing, proving to everyone that he needs to stay in the rotation.  Nova also picked up his seventh win on the season which is the second most only to CC with 9.  You can read all about Nova’s performance RIGHT HERE. 

Even Boone Logan had a good outing in Cincinatti.  Logan can’t get a lefty out if they were swinging with one hand, but he was called in against the Reds on Wednesday night following Gordon’s mediocre performance and struck out NL MVP Joey Votto and cleanup hitter Jay Bruce.  It doesn’t’ change the fact that lefties are still hitting .286 against the left handed specialist, but it could be a step in the right direction for Logan.  Last year he had a tough May and June, but came back an ended the season strong.  In July and August he pitched a total of 13 innings and only allowed 1 run, 8 hits and struck out 13. 

The Yankees will welcome Jason Giambi back to the stadium this weekend as the Rockies come to town.  (I still will never forget his Grand Slam against the Twins in extra innings)  The yanks will luck out and not face the Rockies ace this season, Chacin who is 8-4 on the year.  In his last three games alone, he has pitched 22 innings allowing only 10 hits and 2 runs.  The Rockies will have Ubaldo Jimenez pitching the first game which doesn’t fair well for the Yankees, but Jimenez has not been the pitcher he was in the first part of 2010 when his ERA was a miniscule .88 on June 1 with a .95 WHIP.

The Rockies had a great start to the season going 11-3 to kick off April, but have since dropped into third place in the NL West with a .500 record.  May was not a good month for the Rockies as they lost 20 of the 28 games they played.  They have been doing better in June going 12-8 so far and interleague play has worked out well for them lately as they took 2 out of 3 from both the Tigers and the Indians.  The Rockies aren’t a great team but they do boast some big bats in their lineup like their #3 ,4 & 5 hitters, Carlos Gonzalez, Troy Tulowitzki and Todd Helton.  Their team ranks in the top 6 in average, on base percentage and slugging percentage for all teams in the NL but are in the bottom 6 for ERA and WHIP.  As long as the Yankee pitchers can keep their bats in check, they should be able to score some runs and win the series.

PITCHING MATCHUPS

Ubaldo Jimenez (2-7, 4.68 ERA) vs. AJ Burnett (7-5, 4.05 ERA)

-Jimenez is coming off a win against the Tigers last week, but was pulled freom the game in the 6^th inning due to a calf injury he suffered while running the bases.  He is certainly not the same pitcher he was in early 2010.  He is 1-2 over his last three starts with a 3.63 ERA, so he has been improving this season, but who knows whether he has gotten through his control issue yet.

-For more information on Ubaldo, read about him RIGHT HERE

-In 25 at bats against Jimenez, Russell Martin is hitting .320

-AJ is having a much better June than he did last season when he went 0-5 with a 11.35 ERA.  This June he is 2-2 with a 4.21 ERA.  He got the win last weekend against the Cubs but only pitched 5 1/3 innings and used 104 pitches before getting pulled.  He hasn’t been the model of consistency, but seems to be persevering through tough outings with the help of Russell Martin.  In his last three starts he has 19 strikeouts.

Aaron Cook (0-2, 4.67 ERA) vs. CC Sabathia (9-4, 3.39 ERA)

-Cook only recently came off the 60 day DL on June 8, and has not done much.  He has lost both his starts since coming back.  In his last start against the Tigers he pitched 6 innings and gave up four runs to take the loss.

-CC is going for his 10^th win of the season, and attempting to be the first pitcher to get 10 wins this season.  He didn’t have a great start last weekend against the Cubs as he ran into some control issues, but was able to get the win, as the Yankees gave him some run support.  This season he has averaged 8.68 runs per game to support his winning record.

Juan Nicasio (2-1, 4.71 ERA) vs Ivan Nova (7-4, 4.13 ERA)

-Nicasio is a rookie right hander for the Rockies this season. He is coming off a tough no decision to the Indians this week when he gave up 6 runs.  He is 1-0 with a 6.89 ERA over his past three starts, but has struck out 19 in the process.

-Nova is coming off his best start of the season where he pitched 8 strong innings against the Reds.  You can read all about Nova’s improved season right HERE.