Saturday Morning Videos

This week we only have one video and it's the new trailer for Moneyball - the movie.  Bradd Pitt is playing Billy Beane.  I still don't know how they made a movie about this book, but I'm very interested in checking it out.

Enjoy

Who Is Brian Gordon ??

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

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

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

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

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

Who Is Kevin Whelan ??

Who Is Buddy Carlyle ??

Who Is Hector Noesi ??

Who Is Lance Pendleton ??

Who Is Kevin Whelan

It probably began with Marte getting injured last season, but the Yankees bullpen issues became noticeably problematic this year when Feliciano and Soriano went on the DL.  Now that Joba needs Tommy John surgery, the yanks bullpen has been decimated.  In response, the Yankees were forced to look internally for bullpen options.

Their choice came as no surprise to anybody who had been keeping an eye on the Triple-A Yankees, as the Yankees called up closer, Kevin Whelan.  Whelan had been putting up outstanding numbers in Scranton this year and seemed to overcome his control issues of years past.  Prior to being called up by the Yanks, Whelan had pitched 27 innings, allowing only 5 earned runs (3 of which were home runs), and only allowing 17 hits.  He already had 18 saves this season, with a 1.67 ERA.  Even more impressive was his WHIP at .852.  Whelan was the obvious choice.

Following the 2006 season, the Yankees acquired Bobby Abreu to play the outfield.  This left Gary Sheffield the odd man out and the Yankees traded him to Detroit.  In return, the Tigers sent Humberto Sanchez, Anthony Claggett and Kevin Whelan to the Yankees.  Whelan is the only man left standing.  Sanchez was released in 2009 and is now playing in Taiwan and Claggett was released by the Pirates in 2010.  Even Sheffield was released in 2009 by the Tigers who were forced to eat his 14 million dollar salary. 

Whelan throws a mix of fastballs and splitters.  His 4 seam fastball tops out at 96 mph and his splitter sits around 84-86 mph, with the bottom noticeable dropping out on the pitch.  The splitter is very effective against lefty’s.  He also throws a 2 seam fastball, which has a bit of sink to it, and has a changeup in his arsenal.  The 27 year old righty, has a funky delivery as he is a converted catcher (in college) which helps to deceive batters.  This all makes for a lot of strikeouts.  In Triple-A, Whelan already had 30 strikeouts in the 27 innings pitched!

So far he has only pitched in two games for the Yankees.  The first game was last Friday against the Indians.  This was not a good outing for Whelan as he walked 4 batters, including 3 walks in a row to drive in a run.  His second outing was better, but he still allowed another walk, but no hits or runs.  Prior to being called up by the Yankees, it seemed like Whelan had overcome his control issues of years past.  In Triple A this year, he had only allowed 6 walks, which made for a 2/9IP walks to Innings pitched ratio.  In 2010 his walk ratio was 5.7/9IP and in 2009 it was 9.2/9IP.  Just looking at the numbers you can tell that prior to 2011, Whelan had major control issues. 

Although his control issues had always been a problem, I’m not sure they will persist this year.  Even though he did issue four walks in his first appearance, I will give him the benefit of the doubt as it was his first major league start.  His nerves alone could have caused the problems and by all accounts, the Whelan we saw Friday was not the same closer we saw in Triple-A this year.  Either way, the control issue will be something to keep an eye one, as the Yankees can’t afford to have pitchers walking batters.  They already have Logan!

UPDATED JUNE 16:  Whelan's stint in the majors didn't last long, as he was optioned back down to Triple-A Scranton yesterday to make room on the roster for Cory Wade.  Wade was previously with the Ray's Triple-A team and released earlier in June.  He pitched a scoreless 8th inning in last night's game.  From last night's appearance it looks as though Wade has a large repertoire of pitches and no batter saw any pitch twice in the at bat.

Saturday Morning Videos

This is Part 3 of this series of New Era commercials.  Keep em coming!

Here is the highlight video for Dante Bichette Jr.  He was just picked up by the Yankees as their first pick in the 2011 draft on Tuesday.  Skip to the 3 minute mark to start watching him belt some homers.

King Felix To The Yankees?

I think it’s time to put those questions about trading Felix Hernandez to the Yankees to bed, at least for now.  If you look at the standings right now, the Mariners are 31-30, and although they are only one game above .500, they are only 2.5 games out of first place in the AL West.  They just snapped a 6 game winning streak with their two past losses, but still remain within a couple games of the Wild Card spot.  At this point in the season, Seattle is a contender.  Any team in contention wouldn’t want to trade their best starter, at least at this point in the season.  Could you imagine being a fan of the Mariners and them trading your best pitcher while you are still contending?

Hernandez is easily within the top 5 best starters in the American League.  Some may even say he is the best.  I don’t know whether he is the best or not (I prefer Verlander), but I will say between Michael Pineda and King Felix the Mariners have the best 1-2 starting pitching combo in the American League.  Although their wins/losses may be skewed because the Mariners provide no run support, their numbers are impressive.  Hernandez has a 6-5 record with an ERA of 3.29 with 97 strikeouts on the season already!  While Pineda has a 6-3 record with a 2.33 ERA.  Over his last five games he is 2-1 with a 1.64 ERA.  It doesn’t look like Pineda is fizzling out like some rookies.  With an amazing 1-2 combo like this, Seattle doesn’t want to trade either of these guys. 

Even the remaining starters for the Mariners are doing pretty well.  Jason Vargas is their #3 and he is 4-3 with a 3.96 ERA. Their #4 is Doug Fister with a 3-6 record and 3.29 ERA and Erik Bedard is their 5^th starter with a 3-4 record and 3.46 ERA.  As I previously said, you can’t really look at their wins/losses because the team doesn’t help them, but every one of their starters has an ERA under 4.00.  They have the 2^nd highest shutouts & complete games pitched this season.  In fact, the Mariners have the 2^nd lowest ERA in the entire American League, averaging 3.35. (A’s are #1 with 3.23). 

The Mariners probably have the best pitching staff in the AL, as they top the charts in most categories.  They have the 2^nd highest strikeouts (thanks to Pineda & Hernandez) with 435 and have the second lowest amount of walks with 170. Not only do they strike out batters, but they don’t allow men on base as they have the 2^nd lowest amount of hits allowed (492), and home runs (40).  This ultimately gives them the least amount of runs allowed in the major leagues with 223.  As the numbers illustrate, the pitching staff gives this team a way to win every night of the week.  The rest is on the offense.

This team shouldn’t be trading away their best pitcher – they should be trading for a bat or two or three!  Eric Wedge seems to be losing his mind with the way the offense is struggling.  In particular their projected leadoff and #2 batters, Ichiro & Figgins are struggling.  Ichiro is batting a career low .260 (.331 career batter), and he’s not on pace to hit his customary 200 hits.  Figgins is doing so bad that he is now batting 8^th in their order.  He only has 3 hits in his last 40 at bats and is hitting a mere .185, with the worst OPS in the league.  (It’s almost funny how the media doesn’t bother Ichiro about his age.  He is older than Jeter and a lower batting average!)

Meanwhile, the mariners have rookie Justin Smoak (traded for Cliff Lee last year) as their 3^rd batter in the lineup being backed up by cleanup man Jack Cust.  Smoak is doing a heck of a job, but probably shouldn’t be carrying the weight of a #3 batter as a rookie.  Smoak is only hitting .245, but does have a .349 on base percentage and an impressive slugging percentage of .535%.  The Mariners should be in the market for a #3 hitter, or a batter with an impressive OPS and some experience.  Smoak is doing a great job, but could really use a lift with a more experienced hitter in this role. 

The emphasis for a big bat is even more necessary as Jack Cust is the cleanup hitter playing DH, but only hitting .225 with a mere .335 slugging percentage.  This is not the type of guy you think of when cleanup hitter is mentioned.  In an effort to gain some more offense, the Mariners just called up their minor league phenom Eric Carp, who has been lighting it up in the Pacific League as their big bat.  So far in the minors, Carp is hitting .433 with 11 Home Runs.  He would most likely replace Cust as the DH or even play the outfield in place of rookie Carlos Paguero.  Carp may have great numbers down in the minors, but the Mariners need more than just another rookie in their lineup as a big bat.  Rookies make mistakes and strike out too much.  They need to get serious and sign a big name or even just a couple veteran type sluggers with high OPS’.

Without spending some money or making a decent trade for themselves they will continue to struggle offensively.  Right now the Mariners have the lowest batting average with .229, lowest on base percentage with .300, lowest slugging percentage at .337% and the lowest OBP at .637.  Each of these categories can be improved by replacing the #3 or #4 batters with a big bat.  They have the pitching which is the tough part, now all they need to do is get some decent hitters in their lineup and they could easily take the AL West or the wild card if Texas stays hot.

The worst move the Mariners could make at this point would be to trade King Felix.  They have the potential in their starting rotation to advance to the post-season, and all they need is one or two moves to fill out their lineup.  If they land a #3 or #4 hitter, they can surround Smoak with dangerous hitters and Smoak will see better pitchers.  Nobody is threatened by Cust batting .224.  At some point, Figgins & Ichiro will put up better numbers and before you know it, the Mariners could have a decent lineup.  At the very least, the Mariners could be a competitive team again.  If they trade Hernandez though…. It’s over!

As much as I would love to see King Felix come to New York, it’s not practical thinking….. YET!

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!

Yankees & Angels Preview

The 1st place Yankees are rolling now following their 3 game sweep of the Oakland Athletics this past week. This was their first 3 game sweep of the season!  They have now won their last 4 games in a row (season high win streak), against strong starting pitchers including Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez & Brett Anderson.  Prior to their 4 game streak they dropped 2 games to Seattle which were both 1 run losses.  The bright side to the losses was how the Yanks lineup worked Seattle's beasts - Pineda & King Felix. Overall, the Yankees are looking much better than they were two weeks ago during their 6 game losing streak.  Since then, they have won 11 of 15 games and are hoping this momentum carries them through the final stretch of their west coast road trip.



I still want to kill this monkey!

 The Angels are returning from the road to begin a 9 game homestand.  Until yesterday the Angels had not had a day off for 20 days, so they could be a bit ragged.  The Angels are playing .500 ball which keeps them 2.5 games out of first place in the AL West.  During their last ten games, they are 5-5, and went 3-3 on their 6 game road trip.  They just lost 2 of 3 to the Royals and are looking to come back home and continue their domination of the Yankees.  The Angels have won 20 of the past 28 games against the Yankees!

PITCHING MATCHUPS

Friday:  Ivan Nova (4-3, 4.67 ERA) vs. Jered Weaver (6-4, 2.10 ERA)
-Nova had a rough outing last week.  During Saturday's game he had a 3-1 lead facing off against King Felix, but then allowed 4 earned runs on 5 hits in only 3 2/3 innings pitched, for the loss.  Nova had no command of his fastball during this game.
-Nova has never faced the Angels
-Over his last 3 games, Nova is 1-0 with a 4.60 ERA and only 7 K's
-Nova has not gone a full 4 innings in 2 of his last 4 starts
-Nova has a high walk ratio: 4BB/9IP and a low strikeout ratio: 4.5K/9IP
-The silver lining for Nova is the bullpen has a 1.38 ERA in relief of his games

-Weaver is coming off a strong outing against the Twins, holding them scoreless over 9 innings allowing only 2 hits.  The lack of run support led to the Angels loss that day and Weaver took another no-decision.
-Weaver started the season dominant going 6-0, but has not won a start since!  In the month of May he went 0-4!
-The silver lining for Weaver is his June numbers over his career are strong:  15-5 with a 2.84 ERA.

Good Stats For The Yanks Against Weaver
-Cano is hitting .400 against Weaver over 15 at bats
-Granderson is hitting .429 in 14 at bats with 4 home runs
-Martin is hitting .368 in 19 at bats
-Arod is hitting .333 in 15 at bats with 4 home runs

Saturday:  CC Sabathia (6-3, 2.98 ERA) vs. Dan Haren (5-3, 2.29 ERA)
-CC is going for his 4th straight win and has been heating up throughout May.  He has gone at least 8 innings in his last 3 starts with a 1.80 ERA, 17 strikeouts in that period, going 3-0!
-Nobody on the Angels with more than 10 at bats against CC is hitting over .230 against him!

-Haren is questionable to start the game Saturday as he tweaked his back in Kansas City while working on a bullpen session.  This might be a blessing for the Yankees as haren has a 2.29 ERA which is 5th best in the AL, and he has pitched more innings than any pitcher in the AL.
-Haren is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA over his last 3 starts with 13 strikeouts.

Good Stats For The Yanks Against Haren
-Arod is hitting .400 against him in 15 at bats

Sunday:  Bartolo Colon (3-3, 3.26 ERA) vs. Ervin Santana (3-4, 4.34 ERA)
-Colon is coming off his first complete shutout of the season, allowing only 4 hits in the start!  He has been totally dominant lately striking out 21 batters in the last 3 games. 

-Santana gave up 6 runs in his last start, but only in the first two innings.  Following his rough start, he pitched 4 scoreless innings.  He is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA in his last 3 starts, with an impressive 18 strikeouts. 

Good Stats For The Yanks Against Santana
-Cano is hitting .333 in 21 at bats
-Jeter is hitting .385 in 26 at bats
-Martin is hitting .357 in 14 at bats
-Arod is hitting .318 in 22 at bats

YANKEES BY THE NUMBERS
The Yankees were 4-4 against the Angels last year, and went 1-2 in Anaheim
The Yankees are 14-3 in day games this season
The Yankees have hit a home run in 42 of 53 games this season (I'm still undecided whether this is a good or bad thing)
The Yankees rank 1st in the American League for

• Home Runs - 83
• RBI's - 275
• Slugging Percentage - .445%

The Yankees team ERA is 3.52, ranking 4th best in the American League
Their batting average needs some work as they have a meager .253!

O Captain, My Captain

Two months of the season have gone past and it’s nice to see Derek Jeter warming up.  After all the talk about his age, declining performance, and St. Jetersburg, the focus has once again become positive for Jeter. I am sure that will all change when Ian O’Connors book comes out later this summer, but for now Jeter is again playing the role of the Captain and looks much sharper at the plate that in April.

In case you were living under a rock, you know that Jeter had a terrible first month-plus of the season.  Over the last few weeks he has made some drastic improvements.  Following last night’s game where he went 2-4 with 3 runs, Jeter has pulled his batting average up to .264 on the season.  Although .264 is not where we want our team captain to be hitting; Jeter has made some big improvements since the season began.  It was only last month when his average was .221.  It may be far from his career .313 average, but there are positive signs on the horizon.

Over the last two weeks Jeter is batting .294 and during the last 7 games he is hitting .350.  Moreover, the last seven games he played have been against strong starting pitching, like King Felix, Pineda, Anderson, & Cahill.  There is a dramatic improvement between his April & May numbers as well.  His batting average jumped from .250 to .274 respectively. 

The biggest problem for Jeter during the first month or so was those weak infield hits.  He looked like he was struggling at the plate and was barely hitting the ball to the pitcher, and almost never hitting line drives.  This changed in the month of May and his slugging percentage jumped nearly 100 points from April to May. Jeter looked different at the plate following that two home run game in Texas.  In April his slugging % was a mere .272, but in May it jumped up to .371.  If you look to the month of May, he nearly doubled the amount of doubles, triples, home runs & RBI’s compared to April.

Another encouraging sign would be his numbers when leading off the game.  Jeter has a .500% on base percentage during the first at bat of the game when he is batting leadoff.  He has a .432 batting average with a .514 slugging % in the leadoff spot as well.  This gives the Yankees a huge opportunity to score runs early in the game.  If the game is about runs - Jeter is who you want in the leadoff spot!

Jeter has always been a guy to score runs and it’s no coincidence, as he basically has a 50/50 shot of getting on base to start the game.  With the Yankees lineup behind him, Jeter will continue scoring 100+ runs a year, like he has done 13 seasons over his career!  He already has 33 runs for the season and we are only a quarter of the way through. 

These leadoff numbers are even more effective when Curtis Granderson is batting behind him in the #2 spot.  Granderson has a .370 on base percentage in the 2 hole with a .648 slugging percentage.  Jeter just needs to get on base, and the Grandy man can take care of the rest!