Tagged: Scott Kazmir
Sabathia: Stay under control
By Jon Lane
CC Sabathia, officially named the Yankees’ Game 4 starter on Sunday, met the media before Game 3 in Anaheim. The big lefty is going on three days’ rest, which he made a habit of last season. This year though, with the Yankees affording the luxury of providing him extra rest down the stretch, there’s a lot more in the tank.
The plan has worked to perfection. Sabathia is 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA in his two postseason starts. While he admitted that when working on shorter rest you may not have your best fastball, it’s about how you approach the game mentally, and Sabathia has said more than once that the extra rest last month left him energized and recharged.
“You know that going on certain rest that you’re not going to have like your best fastball,” Sabathia said. “So you’ve just got to stay under control and make sure your my delivery is good, and make sure I go out there and throw strikes.”
Someone asked on whether Sabathia feels any different the day after pitching in cold weather. He doesn’t citing all those years pitching in Cleveland.
Other comments from the press briefings:
Joe Girardi on Chad Gaudin’s role going forward:
“He’s more of a long guy for us,” Girardi said. “We had him up in Saturday’s game. [David] Robertson was done, and Gaudin was warmed up, so by having Chad down there it allows us to mix and match more in our bullpen, being able to use maybe a couple guys in an inning and not worry if you go extra innings or a long game.”
You can watch Girardi’s full conference here.
Angels Game 4 starter Scott Kazmir was asked about opposing Sabathia, he summed it up by saying he knows he has to be very good, and facing Alex Rodiguez the way he’s been hitting.
“Anyone that’s seeing the ball as good as he is, it’s tough,” Kazmir said. “You know, you can just tell when hitters are comfortable out there. When they start hitting the ball hard to the opposite field, they’re really seeing the ball good and really feeling comfortable out there. So like I said, you’ve got to attack the strike zone and just get them in defense mode. If you get behind hitters like that, especially how good he’s seeing the ball, he’s going to hurt you.”
Fan Experience, TV drought, Eating Habits…
By Glenn Giangrande
With the Yankees playing on My9 versus Baltimore Tuesday night, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a game as a fan sitting in Section 223. Since I had been there as a YES employee for Opening Day, it was my first chance to get a taste of the new Stadium. Here are a couple of minor observations…
*I’m not sure how many extra entrance gates were added, but there wasn’t a single long line for people to wait on upon entering the Stadium. There were a lot of shorter ones, and that’s better overall.
*The garlic fries and natural lemonade are terrific. I actually didn’t make a cross-stadium trek to get the fries, but a polite fan named Larry sitting in front of me offered up a taste of his. Larry, if you’re reading, thank you.
*You know that big concrete wall beyond the retired numbers in left field, the one everyone wants to see painted? Here’s my suggestion: recreate the mural painted across the street that depicts Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, George Steinbrenner, Roger Maris, and Thurman Munson. It’d be on a smaller canvas, so it’d have to be redone in a smaller fashion in order to accommodate any potential additions.
*Anyone who says that the Stadium is quiet is mistaken. From the second A-Rod went deep in the first inning to the Yankees’ seventh inning explosion, there was buzz aplenty in the Bronx. My only disappointment was that the Yanks blew the game open to the point where I couldn’t hear “Enter Sandman” since the services of Mariano Rivera weren’t necessary.
Some other random notes from around baseball and life…
*My big money fantasy baseball team has a pitching staff in ruins. We know about what’s been ailing Chien-Ming Wang, so when will Tampa Bay offer up some reasoning for Scott Kazmir’s problems? They alone have anchored me down in ERA and WHIP, likely for the year.
*I missed the premiere episode of “Glee,” but everyone I know who watched it seems to have enjoyed it. With the disappointing finale of “24” behind us, unless you’ve yet to view it on DVR, I don’t have any scripted shows to watch until “Dexter” returns to Showtime in September. “Big Brother” doesn’t count since it’s reality programming.
*For the first time recently, I tried a mix of ginger ale and vanilla ice cream. It had been recommended to me, but I wasn’t a fan.
*My eating habits are getting weird. I tend to sleep through breakfast on normal days, so that would cut me down from three regular meals to two. But if I eat lunch too late in the afternoon, then I find myself either a) stuffing food on top when I’m not hungry or b) eating too late, neither of which is good.
YES Blog 