Tagged: CC Sabathia
Halladay: A Natural Fit for Pinstripes
By Glenn Giangrande
Would the Blue Jays ever consider trading Roy Halladay to the Yankees?
Probably not.
Should the Yanks inquire and see what it would take?
Absolutely.
Fans of the Yanks often get criticized by others for wanting to play “fantasy baseball” – just bring in as many stars as possible! However, if recent comments made by Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi are to be believed, the right-handed ace could be in play.
“We have to see what’s out there,” Ricciardi said. “I’m not saying we’re going to shop him. But if something makes sense, we at least have to listen. We’re (leaning) more toward listening than we’ve ever been.”
While trading Halladay would send a tough message to Blue Jays fans, it appears to be the right move. Toronto’s pitching staff is chock full of youngsters, and the Jays are playing in a division filled with teams built to win now. Halladay’s big-money contract runs through next season, and he does have a full no-trade clause. Of course, clauses can be waived, money talks…you get the idea.
Prior to last season, the Yankees chose to hold onto a number of young chips while Johan Santana was on the trade market. With Andy Pettitte close to the end of his career, Chien-Ming Wang seemingly out for a long period of time, and Joba Chamberlain regressing in the rotation, Halladay is the kind of pitcher worth emptying the tank to acquire. Every youngster except Phil Hughes should be in play – he’s too valuable to this year’s cause in the bullpen.
Austin Jackson? Sure. Lastings Milledge was once a can’t-miss outfield prospect, remember?
Manuel Banuelos, the 18-year-old strikeout artist turning heads in Charleston? No problem. The Yankees are in the business of winning now. If a player isn’t on the Major League roster and is eligible to be traded, he’s expendable.
It’s not likely that Ricciardi would move Halladay to a divisional rival, and if this situation does indeed develop, a number of teams will put together packages for the ace that may trump what the Yankees could offer.
Still, he’d look so good pitching alongside CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett down the stretch that a phone call must be placed.
Phil Huge
By Glenn Giangrande
Me thinks it’s time to proclaim Phil Hughes a reliever for the remainder of the 2009 season.
Rivals go at it again
By Jon Lane
Not since 1974 have the Red Sox won six straight
games against the Yankees in one season, when they ran off seven
consecutive victories over their rivals. At that time the rivalry was
simmering before exploding later that decade. Dating back to 2003, this
has been at another level, and another chapter will be written starting
tonight. You can catch the game on My9, and tune into YES for complete
pre and postgame coverage starting with Yankees Batting Practice Today at 6 p.m.
Here’s where the teams stand:
- The
Yankees are in the AL East penthouse, one game ahead of the Red Sox,
and are a much different team than the one that dropped five straight
to them in the early going. Alex Rodriguez has since returned to the
lineup and New York has been on a 21-8 run. A-Rod may be batting .248,
but has eight home runs in 29 at-bats. More important is that his mere
presence alone has had a major impact Mark Teixeira, who is is batting
.364 with 13 homers and 36 RBIs hitting ahead of A-Rod in the lineup.
Teixeira, incidentally, now leads AL first baseman in All-Star voting.
- Yankees
starters are 12-2 in their last 24 games while limiting opponents to
three earned runs or fewer in 18 of 25 starts. Leading the way is CC
Sabathia, who has pitched at least eight innings in six of his last
eight starts (4-1, two no-decisions). The burly lefty starts Thursday
night against Brad Penny.
- Big start tonight for A.J. Burnett,
4-2 with a 4.69 ERA and seeking his third straight win after going
winless since April 14. Burnett leads the Yankees with 65 strikeouts
and is seeking redemption both team-oriented and personal. His last
time pitching at Fenway Park, Burnett blew a 6-0 lead on April 25,
allowing eight runs on eight hits in five innings of a 16-11 loss.
“We owe them a couple,” Burnett said.
- Bigger
start for Chien-Ming Wang Wednesday night. Everyone is well aware of
Wang’s early-season troubles and terrible track record at Fenway (3-3,
5.11 ERA in seven starts). Wang returned to the rotation last week and
while he was far from great, it was something to build on
considering what he’s had to endure. However, you’d think his leash
will be short. Many are speculating (including me) that Phil Hughes
will be summoned almost immediately if Wang digs himself a hole.
- As
you also know, David Ortiz is in the throes of an awful season. Big
Papi, who’s made his living killing the Yankees and rivaling Tom Brady
and Adam Vinatieri as Boston’s greatest clutch performer, is batting
.197 with two homers and 22 RBIs in 51 games. He visited an eye doctor
on Monday and his vision checked out well, which has left the Back Bay
mystified as to what has happened to him. Leave to Red Sox Nation to
panic. A few callers phoned into WEEI-AM saying he “stinks” and needs
to be relegated to part-time duty. Good line from Dale & Holley
though in response to Joe Girardi’s complaint about the Yankees playing
nine straight games in National League cities: The Red Sox played 50
games without a DH, the Yankees can play nine.” Ouch.
BREAKING NEWS: Wang starts tomorrow
By Jon Lane
The Yankees just announced that Chien-Ming Wang will return to the starting rotation and start tomorrow afternoon against the Rangers. CC Sabathia, initially the scheduled starter, will now go Friday against the Rays. This also means Phil Hughes will pitch out of the bullpen.
Wang tossed three scoreless innings in relief of Hughes on Sunday, walking one and striking out three while looking sharp. As well as Hughes has pitched, Wang is a two-time 19-game winner. You can’t keep him idle and waiting. He’s the present and Hughes is the future, and the latter will be around a long, long time.
Stay logged on to YESNetwork.com for reaction from manager Joe Girardi.
CC a headliner
By Jon Lane
CC Sabathia is on track to become New York’s top attraction this summer.
Last night he struck out seven over seven innings and allowed one run on three hits to win his third straight start. The big guy has allowed just two earned runs over in his last 24 innings while lowering his ERA from 4.85 to 3.43. To put it in perspective, the last time Sabathia lost was May 2, when he allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits in 6 2/3 innings.
Sabathia has pitched into the seventh inning five straight starts. The Yankees haven’t had that trusted horse to either stop a losing streak or extend a winning streak while preserving the bullpen since 2003. As my colleague Jerome Preisler put it, Sabathia is an Ace with a capital ‘A.’ He covered last night’s game for us and best summed up what lies ahead this summer in these words:
Over his last several outings, CC has risen to the level of his advance billing and become the ace of the Yankee pitching staff. I am thinking now that the nights he takes the mound in the Bronx are going to become events in New York City, nights you want to be at the ballpark if at all possible.
If not the ballpark, you’ll want to line the tri-state area’s plethora of sports bars, jam the Hard Rock Cafe at Yankee Stadium, or settle into your easy chair when Sabathia’s on tap, or for that matter anytime the Yankees play, period. The Yankees are going to lose eventually, and inevitably hit the skids, but someone like Sabathia stops losing streaks from spinning out of control. When the ball is in his hand, you get excited. You want to see him work and dominate the opposition. He got Milwaukee jacked over something other than Green Bay Packers football last October. This is why the Yankees had to have him and they got him.
_______________________
Jerome shared a funny moment that didn’t make his piece due to space constraints. It went down during his trip to Fenway Park a few weeks back.
I saw this guy behind a soda bar in the press area and thought he worked there.
“How you doin’?” I asked.
“Fine,” he said.
“Can I have Coke?” I said.
He looked at me and started chuckling. “Sure . . . diet or regular.”
“Regular,” I said.
He scooped some ice in my cup and filled it under the spout and was still laughing at some private joke as he handed it to me.
That was when I got a recognized him as Tom Werner, Chairman and co-owner of the Boston Red Sox.
“Enjoy!” he said.
I stood gaping and didn’t even tell the story till now, that’s how embarrassed I was.
You can be sure I won’t clap tonight.
TGIF: Random Yankee thoughts
By Jon Lane
“Friday is the day when everyone gets their motivation and energy back.”
– ‘Vice’ the coffee, bagel and danish vendor, 15th & 9th, Manhattan.
Nothing like a nice late-spring Friday morning to get you going and fill you with optimism. Our Steven Goldman, who can be a tough critic, gives props to the Yankees for taking two of three games from the first-place Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees haven’t gained traction yet, but there are reasons for hope. They have won 4 of 6 and are home for 10 games. CC Sabathia and Mariano Rivera are looking like, well, CC Sabathia and Mariano Rivera, and the team has received surprising contributions from Brett Gardner and Francisco Cervelli.
Just like that, people are feeling good about the Yankees again. It’s truly amazing how in baseball the story changes every day, even every hour. Wasn’t two weeks ago when the Mets were declared finished because they lacked an “edge?” Last I looked they’re 10-3 this month.
“It’s a nice little shift for us,” said Joe Girardi. “This is something that you can build on.”
Back at .500 and trailing the Blue Jays by 4 ½ games, the Yankees face the Twins, Orioles and Phillies these next 10 days. Lots of baseball left to be played, but the time is now to take three of four here, two of three there – if not compile a winning streak. Girardi’s bunch wants to be both winning and fully healthy by the time they tackle the Rays and Red Sox from June 5-11.
Onto a few random thoughts hours before Alex Rodriguez test drives the new Yankee Stadium tonight against the Twins (YES HD, 7 p.m.).
- Big start for Phil Hughes, 0-2 with a 17.49 ERA after silencing the Tigers for six innings on April 28. Good or bad, I see Hughes headed to Triple-A if Chien-Ming Wang pitches well in his second rehab start for Scranton on Sunday and cleared medically, but a strong effort would be one of those “nice problems to have” and build Hughes’ confidence back up. There are people who are still expecting Hughes to throw zeros every time he pitches. Yeah, he gave up eight runs, eight hits and two walks in 1 2/3 innings – the shortest start in his three-year career – last Saturday in Baltimore. Many are tempted to declare him a bust who will never live up to his promise as a first-round, can’t-miss prospect. He also turns 23 next month. What’s the rush? Not every youngster makes an immediate impact. Let him get more work at Scranton and allow him to mature as a pitcher. Then we can evaluate.
- Big day for Xavier Nady, out since April 15 with a partially torn elbow ligament and rehabbing in hopes of avoiding a second Tommy John surgery. Nady will swing a bat this afternoon and provided he feels no pain is hoping to begin a Minor League rehab assignment before the end of the month. The plan is for Nady to be a DH and ease him back into the outfield. Where that leaves Hideki Matsui is another story for another day. For Nady’s sake, let’s hope we have a chance to debate it.
- A-Rod is excited to play in his first game at the Bronx Mahal (© Chris Shearn). He’s 3-for-14 since returning last Friday, but hasn’t missed an inning. Look for him to be the designated hitter and for the home crowd to provide a nice response. Hometown fans have high thresholds for players who admittedly or allegedly dabble in PEDs (just ask Barry Bonds’ loyal following). Only if A-Rod continues to not hit or fails in a big spot will boos grow long and loud.
- Sabathia’s last two starts: 2-0, 17 innings, two runs, nine hits, five walks, 13 strikeouts. The left-hander got the Yankees going on the road with a complete-game, four-hit shutout in Baltimore, overshadowed when A-Rod hit the first pitch he saw over the left field fence, but also healing balm for an appalling 2-5 homestand.
- Cervelli (.316) has been impressive at and behind the plate, writes Tyler Kepner. At this rate it’ll be another one of those “nice problems” once Jose Molina is eligible to come off the disabled list.
- How great has Johnny Damon been? The reigning American League Player of the Week has at least one extra-base hit in 10 consecutive games, matching a single-season franchise record held by Don Mattingly (1987) and Paul O’Neill (2001). He’s 18 for his last 42 (.429), with at least one run scored in those 10 games. River Ave Blues analyzed Damon’s run and desire to stay in the Bronx once his contract expires at the end of the season.
Stuff to think about
By Jon Lane
There’s nothing anyone could have done about Tuesday’s loss in Toronto. Roy Halladay is one of the top five pitchers in the game and was so dominant neither the 1927 nor the 1961 Yankees were hitting him. Doc also continued his ownership of the Yankees. He’s 13-2 over his last 19 starts and 16-5 with a 2.79 ERA lifetime.
Meanwhile, A.J. Burnett is 0-1, 6.47 and has allowed five home runs in his last five starts. It’s May 13 and already it’s desperate times for the Yankees. Almost half the team is on the shelf or flirting with the disabled list, CC Sabathia is hoping to finally gain traction off Friday’s nine-inning whitewash of the Orioles and Chien-Ming Wang will need one more Minor League start before he returns. Burnett has had his chances to show he can carry a team in need and hasn’t done it.
Wang, meanwhile, threw six shutout innings for Triple-A Scranton Tuesday night, giving up three hits walking three and striking out six. It’s still impossible to believe a two-time 19-game winner is 0-3 with a 34.50 ERA. The Yankees are praying that was due to the weakness in his hip abductor muscle and not anything mechanically or emotionally.
It’s gotten ridiculous with these injuries. Derek Jeter sat out Tuesday with a strained rib-cage muscle and hopes to play tonight. Hideki Matsui, already playing on creaky knees, now has a tight right hamstring. Matsui says it’s only a cramp, but I’d be surprised to see Matsui for the rest of this series given the Rogers Centre turf.
Normally, when in times of crisis, Andy Pettitte is the one you’d want on the mound. However, the veteran left-hander is 0-1 with a 6.62 ERA in his last three starts. This is a team that was pegged not only for greatness, but to do something special. Keep the faith that things can turn around quickly in this game, but at this rate the Yankees are looking like the 1992 Mets (minus the dysfunction). That team signed free agents Bobby Bonilla, Eddie Murray and Bret Saberhagen and had visions of a World Championship. They finished 72-90.
A bit over the top? Maybe so. But the Yankees Version 2009 are laden with big names who are also aging veterans. There’s no need to worry about Sabathia, but Burnett is not doing what he did last year and any defense of Mark Teixeira and his history of slow starts no longer carry merit. Teixeira went hitless in four at-bats on Tuesday and has been stuck below the Mendoza line the past week.
This team needs to get healthy and get it going – quickly. The days of the AL East being a two-team race are long over, which means the Yankees are vulnerable to getting buried sooner than you think.
4:57 p.m. Jeter and Matsui are both out of tonight’s lineup. Reports out of Toronto say the captain is hoping to return tomorrow.
Why the Yankees are under .500
By Jon Lane
George King of the New York Post dissected the numbers:
- Overall, the Yankees’ 5.79 ERA ranks 29th out of 30 teams. Only the Indians (5.83) are worse.
- The rotation is 28th in the Majors with a 9-10 record and a 5.64 ERA, leading only the Red Sox (14-10; 5.81) and the Phillies (7-10; 6.28), and Yankees starters’ .289 batting average against is the fifth-highest in baseball. Why are the Red Sox 20-12 and the Yankees where they are? Simple, the Yankees’ putrid bullpen is 28th with an ERA of 6.04.
- The Yankees deserve credit for a few big hits in big spots, especially from Johnny Damon, named the AL Player of the Week. Overall, however, the Yankees are 14th with runners in scoring position at .244 (70-for-287). Mark Teixeira, a career .324 hitter in the clutch, is batting .192 (5-for-26).
- Too many times have runners been stranded early in games and has haunted the Yankees in the later innings. It’s a problem that hasn’t gone away and needs to be stopped, immediately. CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett have been singled out for uneven beginnings, and now it’s time for Teixeira to show his true colors. Otherwise, even Alex Rodriguez will fly under the radar while everyone wonders what’s wrong with the $180-million man.
Big bucks, small production
By Jon Lane
At what point do you worry about two of the Yankees’ big-ticket acquisitions? It’s still too early in my view, and people around the team will insist that Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia will turn it around, and soon. But since a baseball season is dissected in reaction to daily events, Teixeira and Sabathia have been anything but impact players, and fans are getting restless.
Teixeira went 0-for-3 in today’s 8-4 loss to the Angels, is 2-for-27 (.074) over his last eight games and is batting .182. In the sixth inning with Derek Jeter on third and one out in a 1-1 game, Teixeira flied out to shallow center, not deep enough to put the Yankees ahead.
“I’m very upset,” Teixeira said. “I’m not getting hits. I’m very upset that I’m not coming through for my team. I’m embarrassed that I’m hitting one something. Whatever one is, it’s embarrassing.
“In the last couple of days, I’ve really worked hard. Kevin Long and I have been looking at videotape of my swings and my swing feels good. I just got to swing at maybe a few better pitches.”
Metro New York reporter and stats guru Larry Fleisher compiled a list of his batting averages through May 2 in his career.
2008 – .265
2007 – .223
2006 – .292
2005 – .259
2004 – .222
2003 – .188
To be fair, Teixeira hasn’t had Alex Rodriguez hitting behind him and once the sleeping giant awakens the Yankees will begin reaping the benefits of the $180 million they’re paying him over eight years. Combine the fact that A-Rod will fortify a lineup playing in a hitter’s park and Teixeira will turn those boos into cheers.
(A-Rod, by the way, went 0-for-6 in an extended spring game and is 2-for-18 in three games.)
Ditto Sabathia, who was brilliant for six innings before falling apart in the seventh. He’s 1-3 and winless since April 11 and the Yankees are 2-4 in games he’s started. Blame the big guy all you want, and he’s with fault, but his team has supported him with one run over his last two starts, and today was 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position while stranding seven.
“Sure, I had given up the lead, Sabathia said. “It was just frustrating. It was a tie game up until that point When we’re not scoring runs, it’s up to the pitcher to go out and keep it close when we get in that eighth and ninth inning. That’s frustrating. Every time you go out there, you want the team to win. I’m just going to keep working hard and try to turn it around.”
Fleisher the stat guru notes that Sabathia has thrown 656 pitches in 39 innings through six starts (119 today). At this point last season he threw 604 covering 32.
Proving ground for Phil Hughes
By Jon Lane
This is a photograph taken the night of May 1, 2007 in Arlington, Texas. The man below the scoreboard is Phil Hughes and the numbers above him do not tell the whole story. Here was Hughes, 24 days shy of the legal drinking age, on a Major League mound for the second time in his life and he was working the Rangers for a no-hitter along with 10 strikeouts entering the seventh inning. He was eight outs away when he threw an 0-2 curveball to – get this – Mark Teixeira. His 80th pitch would be his last. Hughes grabbed his left hamstring, and was forced from the game and immediately to the disabled list.
The performance was a tease. The injury was a distant early warning. Since 5/1/07, Hughes has won five games – none since September 27, 2007 – thanks to repeated ailments that has his career in stop-and-go traffic. Tonight, a 22-year-old right-hander, “The Sure Thing,” is being asked to halt a four-game losing streak and the latest round of panic attacks amongst the Yankees fan base.
One night after I wrote an open letter to CC Sabathia telling him it was time to play stopper, Hughes is starting the latest “Biggest Game of the Season.” There will be a lot more “big games” and “must wins” if the Yankees continue to stare down the barrel of a losing streak, along with calls for the heads of Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman. Yes, it’s April 28, 2009 and the Yankees have been through worse. This time, they are without Alex Rodriguez, Chien-Ming Wang, Xavier Nady and Brian Bruney, while Johnny Damon is fighting an aching left shoulder and Hideki Matsui brittle knees.
But a team that spent $423.5 million on people is a game under .500 and have watched the Red Sox run off 11 straight wins employing a brand of baseball they’re incapable of doing at the moment: killing with speed, locking down the seventh and eighth innings of tight games, and delivering in the clutch. The Yankees’ problems with runners in scoring position are like stubborn acne. Monday night they were 1-for-9. They have one hit in their last 25 at-bats in the pinch and are batting .223 in such situations.
Memo to Hughes: You’re 5-7, 5.15 in your career. You’re better than that. Tonight begins your chance to show that you can be an answer to Jon Lester. To Justin Masterson. To Manny Delcarmen. Homegrown prospects thriving in the big leagues. The Yankees have shown patience with you, refusing to make you the centerpiece in a deal for Johan Santana. Your legacy will not be written until years later, yet tonight is a big step. For your team. For your confidence.
One good start from Hughes will get the wheels turning towards better days, beginning with a rotation that will meet expectations once CC Sabathia (Monday’s hard-luck loser) and A.J. Burnett find their footing, and Chien-Ming Wang finds his way back. Hughes’ presence, combined with Joba Chamberlain’s underwhelming performances as a starter, has refueled the Joba-to-the-bullpen debate. I don’t remember exactly, but it was either Mike Francesa or one of his callers who theorized that the Yankees “neutered” Chamberlain by making him a starter, taking away the balls-to-the-wall mentality of letting it all go at 97 MPH that made him unhittable.
I will not go there. This topic is burnt to a crisp from where I sit and I’m amazed that it has such shelf life. Whether the Yankees actually cave in and put Chamberlain back in an eighth-inning role depends on a lot of variables, namely Bruney’s health and Mark Melancon’s effectiveness. The first and most important step commences with how No. 65 does tonight in Detroit.
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