-First place was nice while it lasted, huh? Yanks fell to 2 games back as Smoltz pitched his best game of the year
A American Crimen the movie against the Royals and the Yankee pitchers gave a stomach turning, disgusting performance against the Angels, on the heels of another deplorable effort the night before.
-I have to admit, Girardi made a mistake pitching Aceves on Thursday. At the time, I agreed with the move and felt it was their best option. But seeing the impact it has had on the bullpen the past few days, its obvious to me we traded one win for 2 losses. Even the win was one to which Aceves contributed little, lasting only 3 1/3 innings in his start against the Twins on Thursday. Aceves could have been a big factor in each of the past two games, with Joba going and Andy each going 4 1/3 innings. Yesterday, A-N-Y-O-N-E who could get an out would have been huge.
-I just don’t see it when it comes to Dave Robertson. He has a nice 90-ish fastball, good curveball and spotty (at best) control. The tag of having ‘never given up a HR in pro ball’ has been shattered in the bigs, giving up 5 HRs in limited action over the past two seasons. His Inherited Runners numbers are horrendous, he’s come in with 14 men on base this season, allowing 7 of them to score (50%). Girardi has tried to use him in low leverage situations (as he should) but he’s still not getting the job done. I know his ERA and SO numbers are good, but he’s walking way too many hitters and allowing too many base runners. He’s a last man out of the pen at best.
-A-Rod is on fire, and its a joy to watch. Since getting the much-needed two days off in Florida, he has raised his line from .207/.362/.443 (.805 OPS) to .263./.419/.562 (.981 OPS). In the past 2 1/2 weeks, he’s hit 8 HRs with 19 RBIs.
-A-Rod simply owns the Angels. In what amounts to roughly a full season (167 games) of playing against them in his career, he has put up a .330/.407/.687 line (1.094 OPS) with 65 HRs and 147 RBIs. I’m sure we all remember the Bartolo Colon game at the stadium on April 26 2005, when Rodriguez hit 3 HR off Angels’ pitcher Bartolo Colon and drove in 10 runs
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-Eric Hinske is sure making Brian Cashman look smart in a hurry, he’s hit 3 HRs in just 9ABs as a Yank.
Barb Wire video -Make sure to check out the Futures Game Good Dick today on ESPN2 @ 2:00. Jesus Montero and Manny Banuelos are there representing the Yankees.
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In regard to Aceves, he likely would have only pitched in one of these games, so it was one for one. Also, there is a decent shot that if Mitre had come up, Aceves would have pitched 2-3 innings in that game regardless.
In regard to Robertson, that is pretty quick to give up on a young guy with a great minor league track record, and one who strikes guys out at a significant rate in the majors. I don’t see him as an 8th inning guy, but certainly as a 7th inning type. Moshe Mandel(Quote)
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Steve S. Reply:
July 12th, 2009 at 9:49 am
Watching someone pitch for two years isn’t giving up quickly. He doesn’t throw enough strikes, and if you’re familiar with his minor league stats, he never has.
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/R/David-Robertson.shtml Steve S.(Quote)
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Moshe Mandel Reply:
July 12th, 2009 at 9:56 am
He has pitched pretty well in the majors, and two years is making it seem like he has thrown a ton of innings over that span. Yes, his BB/9 is too high. I just think that a guy with his good stuff and good results should not be given up on this early. Moshe Mandel(Quote)
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