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

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.

Newbies Behind the Plate for the Yankees & Red Sox

This past offseason, the Yankees made a decision that Jorge Posada could no longer be the starting catcher.  This was partly due to his aging skills, along with a severe concussion he suffered last season.  Posada was reluctant at first, but once he realized the severity of last season's concussion and the potential long-term problems, he reluctantly accepted his role as the designated hitter.   You can read more about Jorge’s dilemma HERE

The Yankees decided to gamble and picked up Russell Martin, who a few years ago was the Dodgers rookie phenom catcher.  Since 2007 though, Martin has suffered his share of injuries and has not lived up to his expectations especially offensively.  Defensively though, he's a stud.  Last year Martin only hit .248, but he threw out 30.6% of base stealers, which was the 7th best in the majors!  The Yankees had a 88.8% stolen base success rate against Yankee catchers in 2010, which was the highest in the majors and 5^th highest in the Wild Card Era.  The numbers don’t lie, and Martin is getting the job done.  Martin has turned out to be an exceptional off-season pickup, even if only for his defensive capabilities.

Offensively, Martin started out the season strong.  Throughout the month of April he was hitting .293 with a .376 on base percentage and a .587 slugging percentage.  Martin played every game in the first month of the season as Cervelli was on the DL.  The month of May wasn’t quite as good for Martin and his numbers significantly declined.  In May he hit only .200 with a .333 on base percentage.  Martin seems to have hit a bit of a slump starting in May and continuing through this last Angels series.  Over the last 14 days, he is hitting only .042 and has gone 1 for his past 24.  Prior to the Angels series, Martin was 0-16.  So far on the season he is hitting .236 with a .342 on base percentage, .441 slugging percentage, combined with 9 home runs and 6 stolen bases.    I wouldn’t be surprised to see him end this slump during the homestand  though and begin to pick those numbers back up.  He was given an extra day off on Sunday against the Angels in order to give him two full days off in a row before coming back home, and if he works with Kevin Long a bit on his plate approach he should be fine.  Time will tell.

Although these offensive numbers are definitely lower than the Yankees expected, Martin has been doing well defensively. If there is one intangible about Martin, it would be his ability to work with AJ Burnett.  I don’t think any Yankee fan has forgotten AJ’s terrible 2010 season, but hopefully by the end of the season AJ will have proven his worth again.  I attribute it to pitching coach Larry Rothschild, but just as much to his catcher, Russell Martin.  Martin has provided AJ with enough confidence to using his curve ball and changeup in tight spots such as 3-2 counts.  More importantly, Martin is diving on those curve balls that fall a foot before reaching the plate (60 footers).  Posada was never able to manage AJ well, and never dove on those 60 footers the way Martin does.  Now that AJ has a catcher willing to put his body on the line to smother the curve, he is more willing to use it in pressure situations.  I have no doubt there was an issue between Posada and AJ, specifically with the use of his curve ball.  There is nothing worse than a pitcher who can’t use his best weapons, and AJ’s curve can be amazing but even when it’s not spot on, he needs that encouragement to continue throwing it.  That’s what Martin brings to the table, and that is a significant aspect of AJ’s improved 2011 season.  Keep an eye on how often AJ uses his offspeed and breaking balls compared to last year.

An unusual statistic for Martin is the lack of runners caught stealing.  He has 0 runners caught stealing this season, but the flip-side to that stat is only 6 runners have stolen bases off Martin.  Fine, he’s 0-6, but we are more than a third of the way through the season and only 6 runners have stolen a base!  I will take that any day of the week.

This year the Red Sox have a newbie behind the plate as well. after letting Victor Martinez slip away in free agency. They named Jarrod Saltalamacchia as the starting catching for the Red Sox.  Salty, as they call him, started off the season very poorly and was unable to handle the pitchers during the first month and a half.  It came to the point that Varitek is being used just as regularly as Salty is now.  It seems that all the young catcher needed though was a little bit of work with Varitek and hitting coach Dave Magadan.  Since sharing time behind the plate with Varitek, Salty’s numbers have improved.

It seems that mid May was the turning point for Saltalamacchia.  Prior to May 13, he was only hitting .203 with no home runs.  At this point, the Boston pitchers were struggling and their ERA’s were skyrocketing.  Following this may 13 turning point, Salty has turned it on.  He has gone 15-50 and is batting .300 with 5 home runs and 10 RBI’s.  Since that May 13 date, the Red Sox are 10-3 in games Salty started.  Although he isn’t playing the everyday role any longer, he is making his at bats count more.  Last weekend he went 5 for 11 against the A’s in the Red Sox weekend sweep.  Fortunately for the Yankees this week, Saltalamacchia is only hitting .179 on the road (versus .290 at Home). 

Defensively he is making strides and working with Varitek but not as quickly as anybody would like, yet in all fairness he has never been known for his defensive skills.  In 2010 he only had a 17% caught stealing percentage. Over the past few seasons, he has been on the leader board for errors as well.  In 2009 he committed 7 errors and tied for 5th highest in the AL and in 2008 tied for 2nd most in AL with 9.  In 2008 he also played first base, and had the most errors of any first basemen in the AL with 9.  Right now, he tops the AL leader board with 4 passed balls (3^rd in AL) and has allowed a whopping 38 Stolen Bases (2^nd highest in AL).  In fact, last week he almost blew a game against the Angels with a passed ball by Bobby Jenks, allowing Abreu to score which brought the score to 4-3 in the 8^th inning.  The Sox hung on to win the game, but his defensive skills are lacking and other teams are noticing. 

I supposed both Martin and Saltalamacchia are going through their ups and downs, but both players have a significant effect on their respective teams.  Both players could be a pivotal player in their teams playoff hopes.  This will definitely be something we will keep an eye on throughout the season!

Part I of this series is located HERE

The Update to Part I is located HERE

The Posada Situation

To say that Jorge Posada is struggling would be an understatement.  Posada is absolutely terrible this year and has not adjusted to the DH role.  We are past the 1/3 mark of the season and at some point, the Yankees need to deal with this problem head on… And I don’t mean Brian Cashman should hold a press conference in the second inning of the Yankees/Red Sox games to discuss Posada.  I hate to say it, but Posada needs to be benched permanently.

Not that it really needs to be said, but Posada is one of the core four & will go down as a Yankees legend.  He has given his heart, soul and his body to this club and now sits in quite a precarious situation.  He has one year remaining on his contract but is only hitting .178 on the season. (This actually may be the highest he has hit all season)  Posada has become a dead spot in the lineup and is an ‘easy-out’ for opposing pitchers.  The Yankees DH spot for 2011 actually has the lowest OBP in the AL at .621.  It doesn’t help, that Posada doesn’t even have one hit against a lefty for the whole year.  So how long will Girardi wait before pulling Posada from the lineup?

I will just say it – Posada is done and should not be in the lineup any longer this season.  Whether the Yankees have to sit him on the bench all season or designate him for assignment, he’s run out of time.  The Yankees have significant issues in their lineup with runners in scoring position, as well as getting hits at the right time and Jorge is one of the biggest culprits.  Posada is hitting .176 with 2 outs with runners in scoring position.  When the game is tied, he’s only hitting .160, and only .182 in the 7^th inning or later with the game tied, or with the Yankees ahead by one run.  (Thank You BaseballReference.com!) No matter what way you look at the stats, he’s not getting the job done, especially in crucial at bats.  

Posada isn’t the only aging Yankee though, as both Arod & Jeter are getting up there in age too; albeit both move much quicker than Posada.  Either way, both Jeter & Arod are getting older and need to play less time throughout the season or it could catch up with them.  The Yankees can’t afford to lose either of their bats in the lineup too often, but must avoid overusing them and burning them out by the end of their careers.  The best way to rest them while still utilizing them would be giving them more DH days throughout the week and random days off during the summer.  The Yankees are in a bind in order to replace both of them as no outside player would want to play backup to Jeter or Arod.  Their only option is to use somebody in the minors or on their roster already.   It's time to add some youth.

Ramiro Pena had his chance to prove himself the last two years and ultimately wasn’t able to put up offensive numbers (although he has a great glove), so this year Eduardo Nunez made the roster as the utility infielder.  The Yankees were fortunate enough to sign Eric Chavez to a deal which was working out great before he went on the DL.  Neither of these two guys are “glamorous” players but Chavez is a 6-time gold glove third basemen on the south side of his career and Nunez has some potential.  Either way, the Yanks don’t need a superstar as backup to another superstar.

Now I know most fans think of Nunez only as the young player who has looked terrible in the field this year, but what we are seeing is some growing pains.  It was only last year that Nunez was ranked #1 best defensive shortstop in the International League by Baseball America.  He was also crowned with the Best Infield Arm in the International League.  Obviously we have seen some issues in the field this year, but neither has been attributed to his arm.  Rather, the problem is the way he approaches the ball.  Nunez doesn’t attack ground balls but has been letting them come to him.  By falling back into the hole and fielding, he places himself an extra 15 yards from first base which causes him to lose time.  In an effort to make up that time, he throws the ball as quickly as he can rather than making a balanced throw.  Ultimately, the ball is thrown erratically either pulling Tex off first base or overthrowing the ball nearly into the stands.  The best part about Nunez’s problem is that it can be fixed with practice.  He only needs to work on his footwork since his arm is strong.  If he is able to approach grounders properly, he won’t put himself in a situation where he forces a quick-throw.  This may take a little time, but the Yankees are lucky enough to have two superstars on the left side of their infield to offset the growing pains of Nunez.  Moreover, they have Chavez if Nunez can’t handle third base, as Nunez is more known as a shortstop.

The fact of the matter is Nunez doesn’t have the flashy numbers that young Yankee prospects are known for, but he shows consistency in his numbers and has some serious speed.  Right now Nunez is batting a mere .224, but it’s still nearly 50 points higher than Posada.  In all fairness, Nunez hasn’t been used terribly much this season yet and isn’t getting the opportunity to swing the bat more than a couple times a week.  If the Yankees want to see progress, they need to give him more at bats.

Last season with the Yankees, Nunez was called up towards the last month of the season and was able to play in 30 games.  During that short period, he hit .280.  This average was similar to his minor league numbers which have stayed somewhat consistent from Single-A to Triple-A.  In 2010 in Triple-A, he hit .289 with a .340 on base percentage.  In 2009 while in Double-A, Nunez hit .322 with a .349 on base percentage and in the prior two years while in High-A Tampa, he hit .271 & .285.  He may not be a .300 hitter, but he is a consistent .270 - .280 batter, which is about 20-30 points higher than the league average.  

On top of that, Nunez is a solid baserunner with significant speed.  Girardi has liked using him late in games as a pinch runner which comes as no surprise since Nunez can steal bases.  Last year, in Triple-A he had 23 stolen bases.  Gardner used to be the base stealer, but he isn’t getting it done this year, so Nunez can take that role over since nobody else is picking up the slack.  Even just one speedy base runner can interrupt even the best pitcher! The Yankees lack this skillset, but Nunez can provide that versatility.  Nunez would become another tool for Girardi to manage with.

The Yankees need to face facts and develop some time of plan for replacing Jeter & Arod over the next few years, and Nunez could be that replacement.  Along with Chavez, both of them can give Arod & Jeter much needed days off in the field while still utilizing their bats in the lineup as DH.  The Yankees don’t need a player who only plays DH, when the majority of their team is getting old.  What they need is their aging players to get days off, and what they can’t afford is Jorge Posada in the lineup.  Its time for Jeter & Arod to get one to two days off a week.  Either one of them can be used as the DH during these off days since Posada would be pulled from the lineup.  Ultimately they won’t lose Jeter & Arods offensive production, but allow them to rest, which in turn could actually help improve their offensive numbers.  Moreover, Nunez will get consistent at bats which should drive his average up accordingly.  Posada has been given every chance possible, but at some point the Yankees need to face facts and cut their losses.

Who's Hot & Who's Not

WHO'S HOT

Arod is leading the Yankees again with his batting average at .292, and has been on fire during this road trip hitting .391 over the past 6 games.  Even with his slump throughout the last week of April & most of May, he still has 31 RBI's & 9 home runs.

Jeter is nearing that 3,000 mark, and needs only 16 more hits which can happer sooner than expected if he continues his 7 game hitting streak.  He is loving the leadoff spot, and leads the league with a .512 on base percentage when leading off a game.  Read More On Jeter,  RIGHT HERE

Texeira is another guy liking the road trip and has a 9 game hitting streak going.  Tex is now trailing Granderson with 16 home runs & seems to be hitting home runs nearly ever day.  This is usually the time of year when Texeira really heats up!

Granderson is leading the team with 17 home runs.  Since August 12, 2010 (that magical day Kevin Long waived his magic wand and transformed Granderson's swing) Grandy is hitting .305 against left handed pitching, with a .314 on base percentage and a .669 slugging percentage.  The Yankees sure got lucky with the Granderson trade.  You can read about that trade right HERE

WHO'S NOT

Posada still doesn't have a hit against a lefty this whole season, and is only hitting .169 on the year.  He sat the bench both Tuesday & Wednesday, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him riding the pine this weekend.  As much as everyone loves Posada, he is running out of time to prove his worth this year.

Martin is struggling following his strong April.  He is hitless in his last 16 at bats and although 16 at bats is a very small sample size, his numbers are not much better for the month of May.  During May he hit only .200 with a .333 on base percentage... At least the Yankees have a strong defensive catcher who can handle the pitchers, especially AJ!

"Players Go Through Difficult Times"

 “Players go through difficult times in this game,”  “We all do. Sometimes we need days to clear our head and just to take a deep breath. I’ve been there. I’ve been through struggles. And this season has been a struggle for Jorge. It has been. He has tried to fight through it and today he just felt like he needed a day.” - Joe Girardi

The whole story begins with Jorge Posada batting .165 on the season.  This is the lowest batting average in all 172 players in Major League Baseball.  In case you haven’t been watching the season, Posada is struggling.  He looks terrible at the plate and is striking out like crazy.  In the 32 games he has played, Posada has 30 strikeouts.

Posada has been batting 6^th or 7^th in the lineup, but yesterday Girardi bumped Posada down to 9^th in the order.   I couldn’t agree more with bumping Posada to the 9^th hole.  The Yankees offense is struggling to drive in runs and Posada has been given a fair chance to swing the bat.  Normally I would say Girardi should wait until 150 at bats before making changes in the lineup, but Posada has 125 at bats, and with the way the Yanks are leaving men on base, it was the right decision.  Something needed to be done!

When Posada gets bumped to the 9^th spot in a Yankees-Red Sox game, it obviously created a media buzz.  Posada then met with the media and claims he is OK with the lineup change.  He even says that he deserves it because of the way he has been hitting.

Posada then has a change of heart and meets with Girardi before the game.  He tells him that he needs a day off.  According to Girardi, it was a short conversation where Posada just indicated that he needed a day off to “clear his head.”  There was no mention of any injury or a back issue.

Cashman was then called in to intervene and spoke with Posada about reconsidering.  Unfortunately, Cashman couldn’t persuade Posada to stay in the lineup. This is where the drama is created.  Neither Cashman nor Posada has said what happened during this meeting, but Cashman was clearly not happy.  Girardi then pulls Posada from the batting order and Andruw Jones replaces Posada as the DH. 

During the second inning of the game, Brian Cashman met with reporters in the press box and gave a statement.

“At 6 o’clock Posada came into Joe’s office and asked him to remove him from the DH slot in the ninth hole. There is no injury and it’s my understanding, I think he plans on talking to you guys after the game.  Obviously I’ve talked to Jorge. I’m not going to comment on my conversation with Jorge on it. That’s really all I’ve got to tell you.”

Shortly after Cashmans comment, Posada’s wife tweeted that Jorge pulled himself from the lineup due to a back issue.  It seemed like this was a shot back at Cashman.  I don’t know whether this tweet was prompted by Jorge or if it was just done by a loving wife trying to protect her husband, but it was a dumb move.  MLB is not OK with tweets during the game by anybody, as was shown by  a two game suspension of Ozzie Guillen after tweeting from the clubhouse a few weeks ago. 

I am not sure why Cashman discussed anything with the media during the game, but it only helped create more problems for everyone.  Girardi had to answer questions about this mess after the game and Posada had to address the media as well.  The post game interviews had nothing to do with the Yankees loss and only dealt with the clubhouse drama.  (There was literally only 1 question to Girardi about the game during the post game interview.)

So after the game ends, Posada meets with the media.  Posada was obviously angered with Cashman  He repeatedly stated that Cashman shouldn’t be discussing these things during a game, and said “that’s just how Cashman works now.”  Posada also said he felt a bit disrespected by being dropped in the lineup by Girardi.  He then went on to discuss his back injury, and how the injury is the reason he pulled himself from the lineup.

After Posada’s meeting at his locker, Girardi has to go to the press room for the post game interview.  Since Girardi was ejected late in the game, he was able to watch the game on TV from the clubhouse.  While watching the game, he was informed that Posada has a back injury.  This was the first time Girardi heard anything about an injury.  

Girardi did a pretty good job of dealing with a tough situation.  The interview was very tense, but Girardi kept it simple.  He told the media that he met with Jorge briefly before the game and there was no indication of an injury.  Girardi was under the impression it was a mental issue, and Jorge was frustrated with his offense.  He said the meeting was very short and Posada never mentioned “being insulted.”  It seemed like Girardi was bothered with Posada coming to him so close to game time and requesting to be pulled from the game.  Girardi was forced to make some last minute changes, which seemed to bother him.  

Now the Yankees are facing off against John Lester today.  Lester is a lefty and Posada has yet to get a hit against a lefty.  He is 0-24 against lefties this season.  I don’t know how Girardi could actually putsolely based on the numbers.  Unfortuinatly it doesn’t end there.  According to all the reports, the Yankees are discussing the entire situation with Major League Baseball.  It seemswant to punish Posada for his conduct and want to ensure they are not going to get into a dog fight with the players union for suspending or fining Posada.  Its very possible, the Yankees will suspend Posada for either “insubordination” or for refusing to play by pulling himself from the lineup with a reported injury.  Posada is a bit of a hot-head and this won’t go over well.  

We will find out how this plays out throughout the day as the media will be buzzing about this story.  It doesn’t help that tonight’s game is the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball game of the week. story.  It’s upGirardi to put out all the fires and keep the clubhouse in order. 

I must say that Girardi did the right thing yesterday.  He had to bump Posada down to 9^th in the order as Posada is the worst batter on the team right now.  Once he was told by Posada that he wanted out of the game, he dealt with the situation correctly.  He made the changes to the order, but also called Cashman to deal with the situation.  Finally, after the game, Girardi kept it simple and didn’t throw Posada under the bus (which he could have!).  

Everyone besides Girardi handled this situation poorly.  Cashman shouldn't have said anything to reporters during the game, and Jorge shouldn't have pulled himself from the game.  Problems like this have the potential to snowball into bigger issues for the team.  If the Yankees don't fix this problem now, we can be discussing this in September as the reason the Yankees didn't make the postseason.  

PUT YOUR EGO'S BEHIND YOU AND DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR THE TEAM!!!! 

Sunday Morning Notes

Posada is the DH in today's lineup and I can't help but wonder why Girardi isn't sitting him more.  Eric Chavez is having a great start to the season batting .389 in the 20 plate appearances he has made.  Posada is having trouble getting going, and it just seems logical to use Chavez while he is hot. 

Right now, Posada only has 3 hits in the past 22 at bats and went 1 for 5 yesterday.  Posada really can't do much other than hit some home runs, so it would be worth a try to keep him on the bench and use him later in games if necessary.  It's not like he is playing catcher anymore.  I'm not saying that he shouldn't DH, he really needs to find his rhythm as the DH, and while he is searching they should plug Chavez into the lineup. 

TODAYS LINEUP
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Jorge Posada DH
Russell Martin C
Brett Gardner LF

Russell Martin is also in the lineup today after catching last night which is somewhat surprising.  Something tells me that Martin is still fired up after getting hit by a pitch last night.  Although I would normally want to see a catcher get a game off, especially when they have another 15 games in a row to play, I like Martin in the lineup.  Martin has had a great start to the season and may have been the best offseason pickup.

HUGHES UPDATE

Not too much to report but Phil Hughes is still on the DL and working on getting some arm strength back.  He has been rehabbing by throwing long tosses and yesterday he did a lengthy bullpen session which was the toughest workout he has done so far.  He is going to have one more bullpen session Monday and then the plan is to throw in a minor league game by Thursday. No word on whether his velocity has increased yet.  We probably won't hear anything until he pitches in a few games.

Homer Happy!!

The Yankees just split the last two games with the Blue Jays after a solid outing by Bartolo Colon to uplift the team after Mariano’s blown save.  (I guess Mo is a mere mortal after all).  They have now won 6 of the past 8 games they played and are holding onto first place in the AL East.  In fact, they are still the only team with a winning record in the AL East.  Tampa is in second with a .500 record.

The biggest stat to jump out during this first three weeks of the season, is the amount of home runs the Yankees are hitting.  They now lead all of MLB with 30 Home Runs on the season in only 16 games!  The Yanks have now hit a homer in 14 of the 16 games played so far.

Oh Curtis you are something sort of Grandish

Curtis Granderson & Mark Texeira are the team leaders, each hitting 6 homeruns.  Granderson has actually hit a homer in each of the past three games.  Hopefully he will bring that slugging streak with him into Camden yards this weekend.  Howie Kendrick is the only other player in the AL has 6 homeruns.

Jorge Juiced One

Jorge Posada has the third most homeruns with 5.  This is somewhat unusual as Posada only has 8 hits on the season, and 5 of those hits are homeruns.  Posada is tied with Miguel Cabrera on Detroit & Nelson Cruz on Texas.  I would say that is pretty good company for Posada to be in.

An A-Bomb for A-Rod

Robinson Cano, Russell Martin & Alex Rodriguez each have 4 homeruns.  Arod is on fire this year and after giving everyone a big scare with a possible injury, he was back in the lineup yesterday and crushed another home run. 

Cano is on a hot streak as well.  He has an 11 game hitting streak this season.

The only everyday players without a home run are Nick Swisher, Derek Jeter & Brett Gardner.  Nick Swisher is really beginning to heat up though, so I am sure the bombs will start dropping soon.  It may be a little longer for Jeter & Gardner.

On an interesting side note, the Yankees are the only team in MLB to NOT have scored 4 or more runs in an inning this season.  I have a feeling that could change soon.

Hip Hip.... Jorge!

As John Sterling would say, Jorge Juiced one!  Last night Posada hit his 4th home run of the season.  Normally I would be excited with a stat like this, but it seems to be a cause for concern instead.  Jorge isn't hitting the ball well.  In fact he only has 6 hits on the season.  4 of those hits are from home runs though.


It's a super small sample size, but Posada is hitting .182 over 9 games.  He doesn't look particularly sharp at the plate either.  Maybe it's a slow start or maybe he is struggling in his adjustment as the DH.  I think this could be cause for concern as the season plays out.  Eric Chavez may be a decent replacement as the DH if Jorge doesn't start swinging the bat better.  Having Posada on the bench could be a nice spot for him especially if he continues hitting home runs.  Nothing is better than a bench player who hits big home runs.  


I doubt Girardi is planning on making any changes, but it would be worthwhile to allow Chavez to get more at bats.  Chavez had a great spring and is batting .444 through 9 at bats.

Newbies behind the plate for the Yankees & Red Sox

YANKEES

This past offseason, the Yankees made a decision that Jorge Posada could no longer be the starting catcher.  This was partly due to his aging skills, along with a severe concussion he suffered last season.  Posada was reluctant at first, but once he realized the severity of last season's concussion and the potential long-term problems, he accepted his role as the designated hitter.  

The Yankees decided to gamble and picked up Russell Martin, who a few years ago was the Dodgers rookie phenom catcher.  Since 2007 though, Martin has suffered his share of injuries and has not lived up to his expectations especially offensively.  Defensively though, he's a stud.  Last year Martin only hit .248, but he threw out 30.6% of base stealers, which was the 7th best in the majors!  His defensive skills will drastically improve this team. The Yankees actually had a 88.8% stolen base success rate against Yankee catchers in 2010.  This was the highest in the majors AND 5th highest in the wild card era.  Martin was necessary for this team, even if just for the defense.

Surprisingly enough though, Martin is having a great offensive start to the 2011 season, as we saw yesterday with his two home runs against Boston!  He is hitting .321 on the season with 3 home runs & 8 RBI's.

UPDATE:  The NY Times reported today that Russell Martin actually trained this offseason by incorporting mixed martial arts (MMA).  Pretty interesting article can be found here.


RED SOX

This year the Red Sox let Victor Martinez slip away in free agency and named Jarrod Saltalamacchia as the starting catching for the Red Sox. This should be cause for concern to any Boston fan as Saltamacchia can lead to the downfall of their team.  As we have seen in the past two games against the Yankees, he struggles offensively.  Although he caught Jeter stealing yesterday, he hasn't been terribly effective behind the plate either.  In fact, he could be the reason why the pitcher's are struggling so much.

In 2010 he only had a 17%  caught stealing percentage. Over the past few seasons, he has been on the leader board for errors as well.  In 2009 he committed 7 errors and tied for 5th highest in the AL and in 2008 tied for 2nd most in AL with 9.  In 2008 he also played first base, and had the most errors of any first basemen in the AL with 9.

Defense isn't his biggest struggle though as this season Saltalamacchia has struck out in every game he has started!  He has already struck out three times in the Yankees series already, and there is still a game to play today.  Salty (as they call him in Boston) has struck out 9 times for the season and is hitting a mere .182.  He went 0-10 in the opening series in Texas last weekend.  The scouting report on him says he will swing at everything!  On the bright side for Boston, he did hit well against the Yankees on Friday, driving in an RBI to break a 6-6 tie. 

Boston's starting pitchers on paper should be the best rotation next to the Phillies but they are not getting the job done.   I can't help but wonder if putting a young kid behind the plate has anything to do with this.  Varitek was one of those catcher's that could call a game better than nearly any catcher, and Victor Martinez was a seasoned catcher as well.  Varitek is such a heady catcher that he has been the catcher in 4 no-hitters!  Now the pitchers, especially the younger ones, must rely upon themselves more.  Lester & Buchholz have struggled this season so far and Lackey hasn't done much better.   The starting rotation for Boston so far in 2011 is 1-5 with a 7.46 ERA.  Take John Lester out of the mix and the ERA jumps to 9.10.  Hopefully the Yankees will capitalize on this tonight when they face off against Josh Beckett.  Beckett allowed 29 earned runs against the Yankees last season in 26 total innings!!!

Overall, I think the Yankees were more successful in the offseason, behind the plate.  Martin was a bit of a gamble with his numbers declining, but he's a great defensive catcher putting up strong numbers this season.  On the other hand, it should be interesting to see how the Red Sox can make this adjustment to a young catcher behind the plate this season.  Definitely something to keep an eye on!

And Who's Not!

Jesus Montero, the highly touted prospect known for his bat is struggling this spring.  He is batting .222 with only 2 doubles this spring.  Montero is known for his power numbers but has not hit a home run this spring.  The Yankees believe his low offensive numbers are due to him putting too much pressure on himself and it seems likely he may get optioned down to Triple- A.  Optioning him down actually will help him develop his offensive numbers since he will have an opportunity to start everyday rather than once or twice a week as the backup catcher to Martin.  It took Montero until June of last year to get his offensive numbers going, but once he did they skyrocketed and he hit .351 during the second half of the season. 

Posada seems to be having a difficult time adapting to the DH role.  The days of Jorge Posada playing catcher seem to be over, and he must find a way to be an effective DH.  Rumors around Spring Training show that Posada has spoken with Johnny Damon and David Ortiz about how to make this switch.  Hopefully they give him their keys to success because Posada is only batting .231 this spring.

The Yankees know what they are getting with Ramiro Pena.  He has a great glove, but very troubling offensive numbers that seem to be getting worse.  In 2010 he hit only .227, and many of his outs seemed to come during important bats in the game.  His Mexican League Winter Ball numbers weren’t better, as he only batted .233 and this spring got even worse, with his .171 batting average.  He is now looking at being replaced by Eduardo Nunez for that utility infielder spot.  I think it’s fair to say, we may have seen the last of Pena.

Andruw Jones was signed this season to replace Marcus Thames as the 4^th outfielder.  There is no chance of Jones being cut, but he is doing awful this spring.  He has more strikeouts (8) than hits (7) this spring his average is down to .219.  At the very least, he is still a terrific outfielder and the Yankees won’t have to try and use Nunez as a backup outfielder.

Swisher has surprised me with a slow start this spring.  All I heard during the offseason and beginning of spring training was that Swish was focused and working on his batting with Kevin Long as well as plate discipline.  That has yet to be seen as Swisher is batting only .255 with a dismal .280 on base percentage with 9 Strikeouts…. So much for plate disclipline.  At least with Swish, you can feel confident he will work hard to get it together and have another good season.