Good job by Andy, and some questions about Torre's decision making
Though he started a little gingerly, Andy Pettitte ended up pitching a solid 7 innings yesterday (1 run allowed, 4Ks, 2 BBs, 7 hits, 108 pitches, 68 strikes - http://tinyurl.com/ytfau7 ).
As mentioned by Pete Abraham ( http://tinyurl.com/ysp2kg ), who beat me to the punch since I was sleeping at the time ( :-) ), the Yanks have had sold pitching in 7 of the last 8 games (the bad game being Igawa's bad start against Seattle on May 4th, though you could argue that Mussina's start against Texas on May 3rd, though rock solid, even if it hadn't been a rehab start - Moose did not allot a run in his 5 innings of work - was short).
SG, of RLYW fame published a chart on May 5th, 2007 ( http://tinyurl.com/yu2rvy )
which showed the number of IP per game by Yankee starters (4.82 IP per game, dead last in the AL) and pen (4.12 IP per game, highest in the AL).
That chart was somewhat skewed by the April 28th game against Boston ( http://tinyurl.com/3cml6c ) where Karstens had to leave after the second batter due to having his fibula broken due to a line drive hit right up the middle by Julio Lugo in the first pitch of the game. Igawa, which was almost certainly on call for long relief that day (should Karstens bomb), had all the time he needed to warm up, in what was almost a start for him.
Nevertheless, SG did have a point: the Yankee starters were not going deep, and this was killing the Yankee pen, especially in the absence of a long reliever (a role which, incidentally, Mike Myers ended up playing in the May 4th game against Seattle).
SG hasn't done a new chart, but I suspect that the last few outings by the Yanks have improved the situation significantly (it isn't the most complicated of maths, and I may get around to it later today if I have a chance).
Here's hoping that Moose (one of my favorite Yankees) can pitch 6 innings (or more) of rock solid baseball, AND the Yankees pound on Texas again.
----
The Roger Clemens signing has once again proven that Joe Torre is a great people manager, especially for NY. This is clearly his greatest strength.
His biggest weakness is probably his tactical decision making.
Yesterday, Torre replaced Andy Pettite with Scott Proctor in the 8th. That seems reasonable enough, what with Scott not pitching since Sunday, May 6th, when he only threw 8 pitches before being tossed from the game (http://tinyurl.com/2hfaa6 ). Moreso, Scott has being given a 4 day suspension, which the Yanks have appealed. It is possible that the Yanks may drop their appeal today (after Scott threw 26 pitches) and have him take his 4 days of rest when he will probably not be available for one or even two games.
But what is strange is why Torre did not use Luis Vizcaino in the 9th inning (he used Sean Henn). Vizcaino hasn't pitched since the May 4th game (the Igawa/Bean/Vizcaino got pounded game). That's 5 games, and in the 9th, the Yankees were up by 8 runs, which surely was as good a time to get Vizcaino some work as one could find.
In any case, my other pet gripe is the fact that Torre is not taking out Jorge Posada in the 9th (or 8th) inning of games the Yankees are winning handily.
Yesterday was the 3rd game I've identified in which Posada should have been pulled.
The other two are:
a) April 18th (the Yankees won 9-2 against Cleveland, and they already were winning 9-2 by the bottom of the 7th. As you can see in the play-by-play, by the top of the 8th, Kevin Thompson had been put in to play LF, Miguel Cairo had been put in to play 2B, Minky was playing 1B and Melky was in CF - http://tinyurl.com/27mheu ); and,
b) May 5th (the Yankees won 8-1 against Seattle, and they were already winning 7-0 in the top of the 8th. I can understand keeping Posada in for the 8th, since that was a possible perfect game for Chien-Min Wang, but by the bottom of the 8th, the Yanks were up 8-1 and Wang was out. By the top of the 9th, Miguel Cairo was in for defensive purposes at 3rd - http://tinyurl.com/yw5mo8 ).
Yesterday (play by play here - http://tinyurl.com/2do759 ), Melky was already in CF at the top of the 8th, by which time the Yanks were winning 8-1. Jorge was up to bat in the bottom of the 8th, so I could understand keeping him to bat, but why keep him in for the top of the 9th?
That's 3 innings (arguably it could be 4 or 5, but I'll err on the side of caution) where Jorge Posada should not have been in.
Unless Torre changes this trend, this could easily end up amounting to 20-30 innings over the season.
Will 20-30 innings really wear Jorge down? I don't know, but seeing as how the Yankees don't have anything close to a good replacement for Jorge handy, why take the risk?
As mentioned by Pete Abraham ( http://tinyurl.com/ysp2kg ), who beat me to the punch since I was sleeping at the time ( :-) ), the Yanks have had sold pitching in 7 of the last 8 games (the bad game being Igawa's bad start against Seattle on May 4th, though you could argue that Mussina's start against Texas on May 3rd, though rock solid, even if it hadn't been a rehab start - Moose did not allot a run in his 5 innings of work - was short).
SG, of RLYW fame published a chart on May 5th, 2007 ( http://tinyurl.com/yu2rvy )
which showed the number of IP per game by Yankee starters (4.82 IP per game, dead last in the AL) and pen (4.12 IP per game, highest in the AL).
That chart was somewhat skewed by the April 28th game against Boston ( http://tinyurl.com/3cml6c ) where Karstens had to leave after the second batter due to having his fibula broken due to a line drive hit right up the middle by Julio Lugo in the first pitch of the game. Igawa, which was almost certainly on call for long relief that day (should Karstens bomb), had all the time he needed to warm up, in what was almost a start for him.
Nevertheless, SG did have a point: the Yankee starters were not going deep, and this was killing the Yankee pen, especially in the absence of a long reliever (a role which, incidentally, Mike Myers ended up playing in the May 4th game against Seattle).
SG hasn't done a new chart, but I suspect that the last few outings by the Yanks have improved the situation significantly (it isn't the most complicated of maths, and I may get around to it later today if I have a chance).
Here's hoping that Moose (one of my favorite Yankees) can pitch 6 innings (or more) of rock solid baseball, AND the Yankees pound on Texas again.
----
The Roger Clemens signing has once again proven that Joe Torre is a great people manager, especially for NY. This is clearly his greatest strength.
His biggest weakness is probably his tactical decision making.
Yesterday, Torre replaced Andy Pettite with Scott Proctor in the 8th. That seems reasonable enough, what with Scott not pitching since Sunday, May 6th, when he only threw 8 pitches before being tossed from the game (http://tinyurl.com/2hfaa6 ). Moreso, Scott has being given a 4 day suspension, which the Yanks have appealed. It is possible that the Yanks may drop their appeal today (after Scott threw 26 pitches) and have him take his 4 days of rest when he will probably not be available for one or even two games.
But what is strange is why Torre did not use Luis Vizcaino in the 9th inning (he used Sean Henn). Vizcaino hasn't pitched since the May 4th game (the Igawa/Bean/Vizcaino got pounded game). That's 5 games, and in the 9th, the Yankees were up by 8 runs, which surely was as good a time to get Vizcaino some work as one could find.
In any case, my other pet gripe is the fact that Torre is not taking out Jorge Posada in the 9th (or 8th) inning of games the Yankees are winning handily.
Yesterday was the 3rd game I've identified in which Posada should have been pulled.
The other two are:
a) April 18th (the Yankees won 9-2 against Cleveland, and they already were winning 9-2 by the bottom of the 7th. As you can see in the play-by-play, by the top of the 8th, Kevin Thompson had been put in to play LF, Miguel Cairo had been put in to play 2B, Minky was playing 1B and Melky was in CF - http://tinyurl.com/27mheu ); and,
b) May 5th (the Yankees won 8-1 against Seattle, and they were already winning 7-0 in the top of the 8th. I can understand keeping Posada in for the 8th, since that was a possible perfect game for Chien-Min Wang, but by the bottom of the 8th, the Yanks were up 8-1 and Wang was out. By the top of the 9th, Miguel Cairo was in for defensive purposes at 3rd - http://tinyurl.com/yw5mo8 ).
Yesterday (play by play here - http://tinyurl.com/2do759 ), Melky was already in CF at the top of the 8th, by which time the Yanks were winning 8-1. Jorge was up to bat in the bottom of the 8th, so I could understand keeping him to bat, but why keep him in for the top of the 9th?
That's 3 innings (arguably it could be 4 or 5, but I'll err on the side of caution) where Jorge Posada should not have been in.
Unless Torre changes this trend, this could easily end up amounting to 20-30 innings over the season.
Will 20-30 innings really wear Jorge down? I don't know, but seeing as how the Yankees don't have anything close to a good replacement for Jorge handy, why take the risk?
posted by jrvj at 4:25 AM
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