Who Knows....
"What is it," I asked the missus. "Spiedino," she said, as if I had simply misheard her. "Right. What is it...," I was forced to repeat. We were at Chianti on Third Avenue last Friday night. My sister, once again, had taken the opportunity to put in some quality time with her nephew back at the house. I was about to enjoy some layers of bread and fresh mozzarella; fried and served with a lemon, caper, anchovy, and fresh tomato sauce. Also known as Spiedino Romano. My phone beeps with a text. Uh oh. If this was the Big Boy it means that the Yankees were in trouble against Bedard and the Mariners about 21 miles north of Brooklyn, up at the Stadium in the Bronx. The Big Boy didn't text with good news. Only bad. We were only sitting down for about five minutes, and I had studiously avoided the score, figuring that losing a fourth game in a row was sure to ruin my appetite. But it was early enough that even if it was bad news I could try and block it out of my mind by convincing myself that anything could happen. So I glanced at my phone. "Get ready for the pain," it says. Now, I've known Acc a long time. "the pain" didn't refer to the Yankees getting ready to put a stomp on the Mariners. It referred to the pain that was about to befall him (and me), at the hands of the Mariners. Believe it or not, I knew this was god news. I know it sounds crazy, but again, I've known Acc for a long time. This was his anxiety talking. If the Yankees were already getting skull-marked, the pain would already have come. So my guess was that the Yankees were either tied or holding on to some precarious lead. I wrote him a note back - "Out at Chianti. What's the situation?" He writes back, "3-1 T6th, but you know it is going to get weird." So after we had exchanged another round of texts because he had neglected to clarify that the good guys were winning, I sent him my final thought. "Joba + Mo = we'll win this one." It's a nice feeling.
So I guess it makes sense to put things in perspective. The Yankees are not as bad as they were against the Tigers. The Tigers pitched well enough, and Pettitte ran out of gas in the second game. Other than that, you had two kids getting bombasticlated, one of whom was pitching with a cracked rib, apparently. On the flip side, the Yankees also aren't currently on some sort of a tear, or hot streak, or any such madness. They played a sputtering, not-particularly-good team in the Mariners. So I draw two things from the sweep of the Mariners. First, they did what they had to do. You need to feed on the weak in the American League, because there aren't too many weak to go around. The second thing, even more encouraging, is that they beat three pretty good pitchers. Bedard has given them fits the last few years, and at times has just outright dominated them. "King Felix" Hernandez pitched a few top-notch games against them last year as well, and came into Saturday's game with killer numbers. And Carlos Silva came into the game undefeated with an ERA in the two's. And the Yankees got to all three of them. That was pretty encouraging. Also pretty encouraging to see Jeter hitting, Abreu hitting, and the Ferocious Lion hitting. And apparently the Melk Man is not only leading the team in home runs, he's leading New York in home runs, along with David Wright. But that said, the Yankees, in my opinion, have learned nothing about themselves over the past week.
While we're tempering things, let's be fair. Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy were being trotted out on the field against Boston, Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland, in forty-degree weather, with most of the team swinging splinters behind them. If I'm Ian Kennedy, I'm thinking, 'Hey - let me go out there against a team like the Mariners with eight runs of support. I can do what Darrel Rasner did.' And he would have a point. But what then? The Yanks are back in front of Cleveland and Detroit this week. It's not going to get easier. Darrel Rasner threw strikes. You can't walk people around. You just can't. You need to give your team a chance to win. Let them put the ball in play. Rasner did that, and was able to accomplish in one start what Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy couldn't accomplish in eight. Kennedy, in particular, just doesn't look ready for the major leagues.
As I was watching the end of the Mets game with Big Joe (father-in-law) last night, I told him that it truly is too early to see how things are going to shake out with the AL East this year. As I opined last week, once the Rays went on the road, the bloom was off of their rose rather quickly. The Orioles aren't strong enough either. Unless they make a few clever additions. And the more I look at the Red Sox, the more clear it is to me that they are not nearly as good as they think they are. First of all, they just finished that stretch of 19 of 26 at home, so whatever lead they have must be looked at accordingly. They do belong in first right now, however, because their bats are the most consistent. Interestingly, the Yankees are still the only AL East team that does not have a losing record on the road this year thus far.
Speaking of the Sox, I caught a little of the game on ESPN tonight, and you have to laugh at Dice K. What a disaster this guy is. Yup, he's 5-0. Like last year, with his ERA over 5 and his wild pitch count, he has managed to get some wins courtesy of one of the best offenses in the game. I hope one of these days he bends over and kisses Terry Francona's butt. Again, with Dice K at 105 pitches (with 8 walks!) and on the brink in the fifth inning, he let Dice K try and squirm out of it just to get him a win. I only know what I know, and I know I've seen Francona do that for him at least three times. Not sure if he's ever been burned by it, but he got lucky tonight when Matt Joyce unleashed a bullet that happened to be directly at JD Drew to end the fifth inning with two on. One of these days Francona's going to get burned cleaning up after that guy.
We've got a monster crew in section 24 tomorrow night (Tuesday). Me, Vino, Seannie, Tony Sherry and the Big Boy are looking to take our record up over .500. Look for us hanging over the wall down the left field line. I'll be wearing my white sweatshirt.
Now THIS is starting to again feel like Yankees baseball and the BPS--though I'm admittedly newer than most here, having arrived on the BPS scene to start 2007. Geoff is talking food to get me risking the structural integrity of my laptop because of the waterfall of drool pouring down, Geoff realistic but confident especially about Joba + Mariano (more about that in a minute), and more of the sense oozing in that Yankees fans ought to sit tight because despite some real hardships thus far, the Yanks are again hanging in there while other teams and players (Matsuzaka especially) work the smoke-and-mirrors routine. One of many reasons why the BPS is must-read commentary, no question.
I've been mulling for some time how to feel about this long-standing issue--Joba to the rotation or Joba in the pen, and I have to say that I've been a Joba in the pen now guy, but Joba later to the rotation, even as soon as this year. All this is contingent on how early it might happen, and a lot can happen to alter this, but I have to say if the Yankees can get good starts from 3/5 the rotation and decent starts on the whole from the other 2/5 this season, the Yankees MUST keep Joba in the bullpen. To me, the key question is whether or not the number of innings that Joba might later pitch in the rotation will outweigh the FREQUENCY of games in which he might pitch out of the pen--weighing the possibility against the certainty. In sheer numbers of innings, one is inclined to say start him and soon. Yet I say differently, for a few reasons--and I saw this not toward you, Geoff, but to address the ongoing larger debate so many Yankees fans are having about this especially as Hughes and Kennedy struggled. First, stretching him out to start will involve taking him out of both the pen and the rotation for a good month, and right now the team can afford neither. Second, what's it like sending a text around dinner considering that the Yankees have Mariano and Wetteland to settle debts in the last 2+ innings? Exactly, and the juxtaposition was intentional. That's what it is with Joba and Mariano, hands down the best back-end duo in the majors.
This is more than feeling good at mealtime (though very important itself) but leads me to the related and last point--the Yankees have the makings of "the formula," especially when the offense comes around. That is, the Yankees have the ability to shorten games to 6-7 innings, as they did in 1996. Should they have the lead at that point right now, forget it, FORGET IT. I say don't mess with the formula. I'll do some numbers work soon, but Joba is definitely capable of approaching Mariano's scintillating 1996 numbers (8-3, 107 2/3 IP, 130 K's, 2.09 ERA, .994 WHIP) while the organization keeps him under the innings cap that preoccupies them, but also while maximizing the frequency with which he pitches. Should Joba get moved to the rotation later, who replaces him? Someone might do the job decently, but very likely not as effectively. When people look back at the 1996 season, the shutdown feature of Mariano and Wetteland to shorten games is as important as anything they developed. The team can't mess with that, especially since the offense has yet to emerge--and it will.
The key is getting to that point, and two things are vital--a resurgent offense (which should come, as far as statistical means eventually coming forth) and the last two starters having the ability to go six decent innings. These are related, for going six innings but being down 4-0 or 5-1 hardly implements the formula. But this team is due for a bounce offensively, and got a good jolt against Seattle. Now let's see how they do with three good pitching match-ups against Cleveland, an offense that outscored Seattle 19-4 in three games, and a fresh and rested bullpen. We might see the formula tested and implemented here. It's a very good sign should the Yanks get more quality starts and early-innings runs.
Give your boy a hug from The Heartland.
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What are you talking about? Dice-K's ERA is 2.43.
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dice-bb is a train wreck just waiting to happen his "win" last night was utterly pathetic. if francona had any balls he'd take that cocky little pitcher out every game at 4 2/3 innings ...tell him if he wants to get a win he'd better throw strikes. maybe then he'd throw something over the plate
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Well, the formula didn't hold tonight as Joba's two walks and the up-and-in fastball to Dellucci cost him and the Yankees. Tough loss, and one that shouldn't have happened. But he's a kid and has made very few mistakes. Tonight sure was one.
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