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.

Arod's Rehab & Getting to Know Warren

Arod started for the Triple-A Scranton Yankees last night as part of his rehabbing.  He went 1 for 3 on the night with a hard hit single and a second hard hit fly-out, as well as a pop out.  Arod played third base the entire night but only had one defensive play which consisted of one ground ball and him stepping on 3^rd base for the out.  Not exactly an action packed night for the star.  He will play one more game with Scranton before joining the Yankees in Minnesota on Thursday for the Twins weekend series.

Arod may have been the story of the night for Scranton, but the bigger story in my opinion was the Starting Pitcher, Adam Warren.  Warren pitched 5 innings last night allowing only 3 hits and 1 earned run while striking out 8.  This is more or less what Warren has been doing the full season with the Scranton Yanks, yet he seems to have flown under the radar for most of the season.  The only time I even heard his name mentioned by the Yankees was about a month ago when they were trying to figure out who was going to pitch the doubleheader against the Orioles, while Nova was on the DL.  Warren probably hasn’t gotten much attention because the Yankees have 6 starting pitchers and he isn’t part of the ‘Killer B’s’

Warren was the Yankees 4^th round draft pick in the 2009 draft after he graduated from UNC.  He played ball at UNC, and in his first two years played with Andrew Miller and Daniel Bard, both Red Sox rising stars.  After being drafted he played for the Staten Island Yankees and dominated the league with a 1.43 ERA. The talent probably wasn’t as strong as he was used to in college, but nonetheless he managed to impress.

For the start of 2010, Warren pitched in High-A Tampa for 15 starts before being promoted up to Double-A Trenton where he finished the season.  During his time with Trenton, he set a franchise record of 15 strikeouts in one game.  He finished the season with the Thunder boasting a 3.15 ERA and 1.19 WHIP over 10 starts with a 9.8K/9IP strikeout ratio.  This was enough to get a promotion to Triple-A this season.

Warren hasn’t been nearly as dominant this season as he was with the GCL Yankees, Tampa Yankees or Trenton Thunder, but he still has been a solid starter for the season which isn’t too shabby for a 23 year old.  Since being promoted this season, his strikeout ratio has dropped from 22.3% in 2010 to 15.5% in Scranton. Warren is also hurt by his walk rate climbing from 5.8% in 2010 to 6.8% in 2011.  It seems like the league has caught up with him this year which is somewhat typical when you get promoted quickly through the system.

Although his numbers have declined from Double-A, they are still pretty good for the young righty and he earned a spot on the Triple-A, All Star Team.  Warren has started 24 games and has a record of 6-6, with a 3.33 ERA and WHIP of 1.30.  Throughout this season he has held opposing batters to a .252 batting average which could be lower if he improved against lefties.  Lefties are hitting .277 against him compared to righties at .230.  To offset the lefties success against him, Warren boasts a strong Left On Base percentage up at 75%, which is above average.  The key would be to not allowing men on base in the first place.

What I like about Warren the most is his repertoire.  Even before he started pitched for the GCL, Warren had 6 pitches in his arsenal.  He throws a 4 seam fastball and a sinking fastball, both of which sit between 91-93, but can get as high as 96 mph. Those two fastballs both have some late movement on them as the 4 seamer moves side-to-side while the sinker –sinks.  Used together with his cutter, they keep the batter off the fastball by changing the eye level. Warren also throws a slider which is somewhere around 83-85mph and a curveball mixed in as well. He also throws a changeup which seems to be an issue for him this season as it hasn’t been effective against lefties, which could be why lefties have a .277 average against him. 

If Warren can work on his changeup even just a bit, I think we will see him with the Yankees next season.  Although I haven’t given up hope on him being called up this season, there are just too many starters for the Yankees rotation for him to be considered now.  I do find it surprising that other teams haven’t tried to make a move for Warren.  He may not be an Ace, but he certainly would fit with most teams as a #3 or #4 starter.  If I was another teams GM, I would certainly be keeping an eye on him!

SIDE NOTE: On another tangent from yesterday’s Triple-A game, ‘Killer B’ Andrew Brackman pitched one inning in relief allowing 0 hits and 1 strikeout. He only needed 9 pitches for the inning and 7 were strikes.

The Scoop On Arod

 

I don’t think it’s out of the question to see Arod come back for next weekend’s series against the Twins.  Arod has been rehabbing down in Tampa for a few weeks now, but it wasn’t until this weekend that he got some game time with the Class-A Tampa Yankees.

Friday night Arod was the DH and went 2 for 3, with a long home run and a double.  These two extra base hits will temporarily dispel any concerns over his power numbers following his knee injury.   Arod was DH again Saturday in another game for the Tampa Yanks & went 0-3 with a walk.  He is scheduled to play in a simulated game Sunday afternoon in the Yankees complex.  Although he hasn’t played third base in the two rehab games, he has been doing defensive drills and will likely have a couple starts at third before rejoining the Yankees.

Assuming he continues to rehab successfully, there is a chance he will join the team again as soon as next weekend in Minnesota.  I have a feeling he will start a few games at DH instead of Posada, while Chavez or Nunez play third.  Since Posada is a bench player and Chavez is a gold glove third basemen, Girardi has some freedom for how much he uses Arod especially against the ailing Twins. 

UPDATE:  Arod had a succesful simulated game today and did some defensive work as well.  It's likely that he will join the Scranton Yankees for a couple games starting Tuesday. The Yankees want Arod to play two full games with Scranton before rejoining the Yanks, so there is a strong chance he will be in Minnesota next weekend.

Colon's Tough Night & Some Other Stuff Too

Last night the Yankees dropped their opening game to the Rays with Bartolo Colon taking the loss.  Although the Yanks have lost 4 of their last 5, I don’t think it’s time to get in a panic but rather just finish this last series before the All-Star break strong. 

You could tell right from the top of the first inning last night that Colon was missing something and it could be a tough night for the Yankees.  Colon got himself in trouble early because of problems finding the location on his pitches.  The problem with his control was so bad that he actually walked a season high 4 batters.  Even when he wasn’t walking batters, he was having problems with his fastballs which didn’t have any movement.  This in turn, caused Colon to give up 10 hits and 5 runs over 5 2/3 innings.  If you have watched Colon pitched this year, you would have noticed his 2 seamer has been incredible and fooling batters with rapid movement.  Even his 4 seamer had some movement to it in the past.  Last night though, all his pitches were flat and sitting right in the zone ideal for batters to hit.

Hopefully Colon got a bad start out of his system and can get back to pitching as usual.  I doubt the bad start had anything to do with his hamstring injury which sent him to the DL a few weeks back and it didn’t seem like Colon was having stamina issues, so I think we can just chalk it up to a bad day. 

It wasn’t all Colon’s fault either last night as the Yankees offense didn’t produce against Niemann who cruised through 7 1/3 innings.  Although Cano had a home run to continue his hitting streak to 11 games, the power hitters in their lineup had an awful night.  Between Granderson, Texeira and Arod, they went 0-10!

Galea is the weasley looking fellow on the left

Speaking of Arod… the steroids issues never seem to go away.  Yesterday Arods doctor Anthony Galea took a plea deal with the Federal Government for smuggling HGH.  Rumors around MLB are swirling that part of the deal for Galea is to meet with MLB investigators and name names.  It would be similar to what happened with Kirk Radomski a few years back.  Galea was rumored to have worked with Arod, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Tiger Woods just to name a few.  Hopefully any investigation with MLB can take place after the season and Arod can focus on the game.

On the other side of the diamond, it was like the Rays were a totally different team from last season.  Well, that’s exactly what they are.  The Rays have lost considerable talent from last season but have done a pretty good job of staying in the pennant race.  They lost Soriano, Pena, Crawford, Bartlett, Balfour, Garza, Wheeler and Benoit.  Although some of these guys didn’t have great numbers last season, each one of their names are fairly recognizable as they all were contributors to the Rays.  I got to hand it to Joe Maddon as he really knows what he’s doing.  It’s too bad the Rays are in the AL East otherwise I would have to root for them.

Yankees... By The Numbers

So the Yankees have played 84 games this season which is just slightly more than the halfway through the season.  Lets look at some of the team leaders and see where they stand compared to years past

HOME RUN LEADERS

Granderson – 25 Home Runs.  The Grandy Man only had 24 home runs for the entire season in 2010 and he already hit that mark last night with his 2 home runs.  His career high is 30 back in 2009, and I think it’s fair to say that he is on pace to break his own record, but could he possibly he 50 Homers this year?

Texeira – 25 Home Runs.  Tex has been keeping up with Granderson despite a slower start to the season and already has the same amount of homers as last season already.  Tex’s career high home runs was 39 back in 2009, and looks like he could break his own record.  Hopefully he can crush 50 for the year if he keeps this up.

RBI LEADERS

Texeira – Tex leads the Yanks with 65 RBI’s.  Last season Texeira only had 108, but 2010 was not a great year for him.  He should be able to hit more than 108 this year, but I doubt he can break his own record of 144 back in 2005.

Granderson – He is on fire this year, and I don’t think anybody would have predicted that Granderson would have more RBI’s that Arod with 62.  The Grandy Man is on pace to easily beat his career high RBI’s with 74 back in 2007.  He only needs 12 more to do it and we are only halfway!

Rodriguez- Arod isn’t far behind Granderson with 52 RBI’s.  He is on pace to have less than his 125 RBI’s in 2010, and I think it’s fair to say his best RBI years are behind him.  Arod had 156 RBI’s back in 2007 which I find highly unlikely that he will reach again.  On the bright side, Arod has 19 doubles already this season and only hit 29 all of last year.  Seems like he lost some power (surprise, surprise) but is still getting the base hits.

TRIPLES

Granderson – Once again Granderson is topping the charts with 7 triples on the season, which is already as many as he hit for the entire 2010 season.  His career high was 23 back in 2007 and I doubt he will that that many this season, but Granderson has been a pleasant surprise this year.

Gardner- Gardner is having another speedy season and has hit 5 triples so far this year.  He is on pace to break his record of 7 that he set in 2010.

JOSE REYES- I have to mention him here as he already has 15 Triples on the season.  Extremely impressive! 

STOLEN BASES

Gardner- The speedy Gardner leads the team with 22 stolen bases, and that is following a rough start to the season where he was being criticized for not stealing enough and getting caught stealing too often.  Gardner has found his groove, but is slightly off pace from his 47 stolen bases in 2010.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see Gardner get 50 this year though as his baserunner has drastically improved throughout the season and he is getting more at bats than he was in April/May.

Granderson- Granderson is among the leaders in every offensive category and stolen bases is no different.  He has 15 for the season already and is on pace to break his own record of 26 back in 2007.

Nunez- Although Nunez is not an everyday player, he still has 10 stolen bases.  If this kid continues to work on his defense, he has the potential to be a great player on the Yankees and a decent offensive infielder who poses a threat on the bases.

STRIKEOUTS

Granderson-  With the good comes the bad.  Although Granderson leads the Yanks in most categories, he strikes out quite often.  This season he leads the Yanks with 86 strikeouts.  He is on pace to break his own record of 116 from last season.

Rodriguez- Arod comes in 2^nd place with 65 K’s.  I doubt he will break his record of 139 for 2005 & 2006, but he will come close.

FOR THE PITCHERS

WINS

Sabathia- CC just won his 12^th game of the season last night and leads all pitchers in MLB for Wins.  Last season he won 21 games for the first time with the Yankees and he is on pace to have another 20+ win season, especially if he continues pitching like last night!

SAVES

Rivera- Mo has 21 saves on the season already.  His career high is 53 back in 2004.  It’s difficult to gauge whether he can achieve 53 again since the score of the game factors into how many appearances that he will make, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him hit 53 again.  Maybe not this season, but he is still the best closer of all time.

STRIKEOUTS

Sabathia- CC’s 11 strikeouts last night and 33 over the past 3 games have brought him to a total of 117 on the season.  He is on pace to beat the 197 K’s in 2010.

Burnett- AJ already has 91 strikeouts on the season and is having a considerably better season than in 2010.  He should be able to get more than 145 K’s that he had in 2010 but I doubt he will reach his career high of 231 back in 2008 with the Jay’s.

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!

Bring On the Lefties

Girardi has put together two different lineups when the Yankees are facing a righty pitcher versus a lefty pitcher.  When facing off against a lefty Andruw Jones starts over either Gardner who has been struggling or Posada who can’t hit a lefty (Lefty Lineup) and when they face off against a righty, Posada starts as DH (Righty Lineup).  Much of the lineup remains the same although Girardi has been giving some of the guys random days off for rest.  

The Rule

Looking at these two lineups, the Yankees have been very successful against lefties.  They have only faced 9 lefty starters throughout the first month of the season, but they have faced quite a few lefty relief pitchers.  The results are impressive as the team’s “Lefty Lineup” batting average against lefty’s is .270 while the “Righty Lineup” has a .239 batting average.  A 40 point jump can be dramatic when the team has been struggling offensively as of late.  Even more impressive is a few guys’ batting average increases.

The Most dramatic jump is for Nick Swisher who is hitting a mere .141 against righties, but when he faces off against a lefty, he hits .400!  Swish’s on base percentage jumps to .444 when facing against a lefty.  That means when he goes to the plate against a lefty, there is nearly a 50% chance he will reach base!  Girardi may want to consider bumping Swisher to the top of the lineup against lefties if he can keep up these numbers.

Jeter is another player whose numbers jump when facing a lefty pitcher.    Surprising enough, even with Jeter’s sub par first month, he is actually batting .313 against lefties, with a .405 on base percentage.  He only bats .235 against righties. That is over a 75 point jump in his numbers when facing lefties.  I suppose that is why Girardi has been batting him leadoff against lefties.

Brett Gardner has been off to a slow start in the first month and is hitting a meager .197 against righties, but when he faces lefties, his average jumps to .286.  That is nearly 100 points added to his average!  Texeira has about a 100 point jump when facing a lefty as well.  Tex’s average against lefties is .333 compared to only .219 against righties.  Of course Andruw Jones has better numbers against lefties, and that is why he starts games against lefties.  Jones’ average against lefties is .231 compared to .200 against righties.

Exception to the Rule

Of course there are a few exceptions to the rule and of course, Arod is on that list.  Arod bats .286 against righties while only .200 against lefties.  This stays consistent to his career average against lefties coming in higher at .289 compared to .307 against righties.  This does seem unusual though as Arod bats righty, and should theoretically have a higher average against lefty.   Cano joins Arod as the exception to the rule as he is batting .313 against righties and .270 against lefties.  No different than Arod, Cano’s career splits are better when facing off against lefties.  He hits .296 against lefties compared to .314 against righties.  

Granderson had started off very hot against lefties after working with Kevin Long last August but in the last week, his average against lefties dropped from .318 to .258.  Granderson went 0-2 against Holland on Friday, which attributed to the drop in average.  He is batting .269 against righty’s.  Granderson has always been known to have problems when facing lefties, but he has made significant strides since coming to the Yankees.

AND THE CATCHERS

One of the bigger surprises was Russell Martin who seems to struggle against lefties and is only hitting .136 against them, compared to .304 against righties.  In fact, Martin has hit 6 of his 7 homers off righties.  This issue (if it is actually an issue) can be tinkered with by substituting Martin with Cervelli when they are facing lefties.  Although Cervelli has only played one game so far so we don’t have a sample for 2011, his career splits against lefties is higher than righties.  Cervelli hits .328 against lefties compared to .247 against righties.  His 2010 numbers were similar as well since he hit only .246 against righties and .322 against lefties.  It’s obviously much easier said than done, to replace Martin when facing a lefty, as there are more variables involved with a catcher such as the Yankees starting pitcher, but it could lead to better offensive production.

Although he has not caught a game, Posada is still considered a catcher by me.  Posada is batting .192 against righties and is batting 0 against lefties.  In his 29 plate appearances against lefties, he has yet to get one hit.  His numbers are the biggest cause for concern on the team in my opinion.

I wonder if we could see some changes to the lineup throughout the season if these lefty trends continue.  If Swish continues his .444 on base percentage it would be crazy to not keep him in the top of the order so Tex, Arod or Cano could drive him home.

The Red Hot Alex Rodriguez



That Arod is so hot right now!



Well, the Yankees were shutout last night at Yankee stadium and nearly no-hit by Philip Humber. 
Both Cano & Martin who were both on hitting streaks, couldn’t squeak a hit off Humber.  It was not until the 7^th inning when Alex Rodriguez finally broke up the no-no with a line drive single.  Arod has now reached base safely in all 16 games he has played this year.  Last night’s hit by Arod shouldn’t come as a surprise to anybody who has been watching Arod lately.  He continues to be that Superstar the Yankees signed him to be. 

This winter was the first year since 2007 that Arod has been fully healthy throughout the offseason.  Over the past few years, he has been dealing with a hip issue that took time and effort to heal.  In the winter these past couple years, Arod has been going through physical therapy/rehab for this hip problem.  The rehab disrupted his offseason routine, but this year he was physically healthy and able to concentrate solely on baseball training.  Specifically, Arod has been working in the batting cages on his swing.

The results of his participation in offseason training have not gone unnoticed as Rodriguez is on fire.   It began in Spring Training when he hit .388 in the Grapefruit league with 6 home runs.  In this first month of the regular season, he is batting .346 (7^th highest AL) with a .478 on base percentage and a .750 slugging percentage.  It’s amazing that he reaches base nearly half the times he gets an at bat!  His slugging percentage is second hightest in the American League, only surpassed by Jose Bautista with .788%! His slugging percentage this April is higher than any other years average, which includes his steroid years of 2005 (.610 %) and 2007 (.645 %).

Although we are looking at a rather small sample size, Arod is “Locked In” and hitting the ball better than I can remember seeing him in the past.  In fact, his career batting average is only .303, with a .388 on base percentage and .572 slugging percentage.  Arod is not necessarily known for his batting average, and has only hit .300 in half of his 18 seasons in the MLB.  His highest batting average for any season was .358 in ‘96 with Seattle and he is right there again this year except now it’s 15 years later!  This is due to his quickness that developed this past offseason and has improved his timing of fastballs which creates more contact and more hits.

Over the past 52 at bats, Arod has 18 hits & 14 walks, with 5 home runs.  His last homerun was a Grand Slam Saturday night in Baltimore off Josh Rupe.  He now has 22 career grand slams which leaves him in second place to Lou Gehrig with 23.  During Saturday’s game at the Orioles, Arod had 6 RBI’s as well.  Those RBI’s pushed him to 10^th place on the all-time RBI list with 1,847.  He is now 3^rd in the AL with 17 RBI’s.

Last April, Alex’s numbers were quite different as it took him longer to heat up.  This would most likely be attributed to less time practicing in the cages.  In April of 2010, Arod had a .250 batting average, with a .337 on base percentage and .440 slugging percentage, with only 2 homers.  These numbers are not terrible but you can see this year is something special.

One item that I did notice was unusual was his splits this year.  He clearly is seeing the ball better against righties for whatever reason.  Normally a righty batter would have better numbers against lefties but not Arod.

·         Against Lefties:  .231 BA, 0 Home Runs, 1 RBI

·         Against Righties:  .385 BA, 5 Home Runs, 16 RBI’s



It's just such a funny pic that I couldn't help myself

AROD BY THE NUMBERS

BATTING AVERAGE

·         Career Batting Average:  .303

·         2011 Batting Average:  .346 – 7^th in AL

·         2010 April: .303

·         Career High Batting Average:  .350, 1996 Seattle Mariners

SLUGGING

·         Career Slugging:  .572 %

·         2011 Slugging:  .750% - 2^nd in AL

·         2010 April Slugging:  .440%

·         Career High Slugging:  .645 %, 2007 NY Yankees

RBI’s

·         2011 RBI’s:  17 – 3^rd in AL

·         2010 April RBI’s:  14

·         Career RBI’s: 1,848 - 10^th All Time Leader

·         Season High RBI’s:  156 – 2007 NY Yankees

·         Season Low RBI’s:  84 – 1997 Seattle Mariners

SIDE NOTES:

The Yankees have not been shut out at home since August 20 of 2010 against the Seattle Mariners.

The Yankees are 18-4 over the last three years in games immediately following shutout losses.

Ivan Nova and Gavin Floyd pitched head to head last season on August 29^th.  Nova got his first win that night when the Yankees won 2-1.

The Yankees are the ONLY MLB Team who have not lost 2 games in a row this year.

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.