From… Sam Borden (LoHud):
YANKEES (102-56)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Cabrera CFPitching: RHP Joba Chamberlain (9-6, 4.72)
ROYALS (64-94)
Maier LF
Hulett 2B
Butler 1B
Pena DH
Callaspo 3B
Teahen RF
Buck C
Betancourt SS
Anderson CFPitching: RHP Robinson Tejeda (4-2, 3.41)
TIME/TV: 7:05, YES.
Tejeda, like Joba, can be filthy if everything clicks. Let’s hope that’s not the case tonight as the Yankees seek victory number 103.
Yusei Kikuchi, an 18-year old lefty who pitched for the Hanamaki Higashi High School baseball team as recently as Monday, is expected to be the number one pick in Japan’s upcoming amateur draft. However, Kikuchi is currently debating whether or not to skip Japan’s draft completely so that he may seek a contract with an MLB club (he’ll be considered a free agent). We could learn of his decision this week. Despite the very raw nature of Kikuchi’s talent, his fairly impressive two-pitch repertoire has reportedly enticed a bevy of organizations, including the Yankees, who have apparently scouted him this year.
Kikuchi throws a slow, looping curveball (mid 70′s), plus his fastball can register 95 mph on the radar gun. He often incorporates a cartoonish eephus pitch, as well, which you can see in the following video (go to the 3:00 mark).
If he were to bypass the Japanese draft and sign with a Major League organization, Kikuchi would likely fit into their respective minor-league system just as any other American high school prospect would. He seems like a solid enough talent, one that is intriguing on a number of levels, and should continue to garner significant interest from the Yankees and others. According to Pat Lackey (Fanhouse), if he chooses to sign with an American club, Kikuchi will likely receive a lesser contract than fellow countryman, Junichi Tazawa, who was considered a more polished product when the Red Sox signed him for $3.3 million over 3 years, last winter.
I know many of you have soured on Japanese players after the Kei Igawa debacle, however, it can’t hurt to continue evaluating talented players like Kikuchi, especially if they can be had at a young age and without paying a posting fee.
After the Yankees’ 11th walk off win of the season, Steve listed the walk offs and linked to the relevant boxscores. With one home game remaining and the Yankees walk-off total up to 15, I thought it would be fun to run through them all, with the links pointing towards replays of each exciting walk off hit.
4/22- Yankees beat A’s 9-7 on two run homer by Melky Cabrera in the 14th. It was Melky’s second home run of the day.
5/1- The Yankees score 6 runs in the last two innings to turn a 9-4 deficit into a 10-9 win over the Angels. Jorge Posada delivered the game winning two run single.
5/15- The Yankees began Walk off Weekend with a 5-4 victory over the Twins. Brett Gardner had an inside the park home run, and Melky Cabrera notched a two run single off Joe Nathan to win it.
5/16- Walk off weekend continues as A-Rod hits a two run homer in the 11th to win it.
5/17- Walk off Weekend concludes with another extra inning victory over the Twins, as Johnny Damon’s solo shot in the 10th provides the drama.
5/23- The Yankees come back against Brad Lidge and the Phils to win 5-4. A-Rod hit a two run homer to tie, and Melky’s RBI single won it.
6/12- A-Rod pops up to Luis Castillo. You know the rest.
7/4- Roy Halladay serves up 3 homers and allows 5 runs, but the game goes to extras. Posada’s RBI single wins it.
7/20- Matsui walks-off with a home run against the Orioles, after the Yankees make two plays at the plate to keep the O’s at 1 run.
8/7- Game of the year, as the Yankees and Red Sox remain scoreless into the 15th. Once there, A-Rod launches a 2 run homer off Tazawa, and the division race was effectively over.
8/12- In the very next series, the Yankees avoided a let down and notched another walk off against the Jays, with Robbie Cano supplying an RBI single in the 11th.
8/28- Cano comes through again, this time with a 3 run homer in the 10th to defeat the White Sox 5-2.
9/8- Nick Swisher finally broke through at home with 2 home runs, including the game winner in the 9th.
9/16- Hideki Matsui tied the game in the 8th with a solo shot, and Frankie Cervelli delived an RBI single in the 9th for the victory. The Blue Jays were once again the hard luck losers.
9/29- Old friend Kyle Farnsworth shockingly blows a lead, as rookie Juan Miranda’s infield single caps off a season full of drama.
From Joe at RAB:
While the Twins make a great baseball story, we’re still focused on what this will mean for the Yankees. Would they prefer Detroit or Minnesota? The question might sound like a no-brainer at first. The Twins are without their slugging first baseman and have generally been the inferior team during the season. But they’re the hot team, and hot teams can be hell on any team in the playoffs, even the team with the best record in baseball.
Joe goes on to make the case that the Yankees should be rooting for the Twins, who are probably slightly better in the bullpen and with the bat than the Tigers, but lack even one very good starter. The Twins are the kind of team that the Yankees should shred- mediocre pitching and just decent offense does not matchup well with the Yankees. Conversely, the Tigers are similarly flawed but have the great equalizer: a starting pitcher in Justin Verlander who can win two games on his own.
However, the most important element of all this is not that the Twins beat the Tigers, but rather that they keep things close until the final day of the season. Doing so would force the Tigers to start Verlander in that final game, meaning that he would be forced to pitch Game 2 of the ALDS rather than Game 1. To have Verlander miss the opening game of the series should give the Yankees a strong advantage in that contest, and would allow them to face Verlander with one win already in hand. Furthermore, this race may result in Verlander being overworked, as he was noticeably tired last night in throwing 129 pitches. Another outing like that may leave him gassed for the ALDS. So, no matter who you would prefer that the Yankees play, let’s root, root, root for the Twins.
-I actually felt bad for Kyle Farnsworth last night, that was about as ‘busted’ a rally as you’ll ever see. Cervelli’s ball takes a crazy hop off the mound, Hinske’s attempted stolen base throw to 2nd sails into CF and then Miranda’s ball goes off Kyle’s leg for the win. Even the Hinske hit would have been an out if the 1B isn’t holding the runner. Not blaming Hillman, that’s playing by the book there with the Royals being on the road and Cervelli representing the tying run. But the luck involved in that inning was just incredible. But hey, that’s Baseball. The Yanks and Girardi deserve some extra points for letting Cano swing on 3-0. He crushed that pitch, and if he hits it to any other part of the park it’s a game winning 3-Run HR. Girardi has done that recently with A-Rod as well, so kudos to him.
-Stat of the day comes from our very own Rebecca, and is as follows:
In the entire 2009 season there was one homestand where the NYY didnt have a walkoff win
From all the way back in June (facing the Rangers+Rays) and even that home stand included a few 8th inning rallies. Amazing.
-While all the walk offs make this season seem magical, I would advise a word of caution. They really don’t mean much come October, other than the fact that the Yanks clearly like playing at home. The 2008 LA Angels won 100 games, and had a ton of close and late victories. But then of course, they got bounced by the Red Sox in the ALDS. The Yanks will be favored in every series they play, but anything can happen.
-SI’s Tom Verducci breaks down the play-in game scenario between the Tigers and Twins, turns out Verlander won’t be in the mix:
In a most preferred scenario for New York, the Twins and Tigers wind up tied, forcing them to play a 163rd game. That tiebreaker game would be played next Tuesday at the Metrodome, which is unavailable on the usual tiebreaker Monday because Brett Favre and the Vikings have the dome booked that night. The teams would have to burn another starter in that Tuesday game—the Twins would choose either Carl Pavano or Scott Baker; the Tigers could use Eddie Bonine, Nate Robertson or, on short rest, Edwin Jackson. The winner would then have to hop on a plane after the game and fly to New York to play the Yankees the next night.
-I know Jorge Posada’s a bit banged up, and they want to rest him at this point of the season, but he’s only caught AJ Burnett twice in his last 8 outings since August 22nd, and both outings went badly. The infamous 9 run outing facing the Red Sox and a 6 run debacle against the O’s. He had some good ones w/Jorge before that, facing one weak team in the A’s and the August 7th gem facing Beckett and the Sox at the stadium. I’m not sure what to make of this, if anything. But I will say that if AJ and Molina work better together, I would have no problem giving Molina a start in the playoffs, especially in the ALDS. If that’s what it takes to get AJ to perform, then I do it. Nobody influences a baseball game more than the man on the mound, and that’s not even debatable. Especially in the playoffs.
-While were on the topic of AJ Burnett, once again he didn’t get a Win after pitching well. In his last 11 decisions, he has given up 3 Runs or more only three times, and has given up 2 Runs or less 5 times, yet he has a 2-4 record to show for his efforts. Now you know why he didn’t want to come out of the game last night.
-Farewell to Peter Abraham, who blogged his final Yankee game last night. Love the choice of Chad Jennings as his replacement and look forward to reading him and Pete from his new perch in Boston.
In the year of the Walk-Off, why not add Juan Miranda to the mix?
In an utterly insignificant game, Yankee fans could still enjoy a good outing from Burnett and the fifteenth walk-off win of the year–against the immortal Kyle Farnsworth.
To put the Yankees’ walk off wins in perspective, in the entirety of the 2009 season, the Yankees had exactly one homestand–just one in an eighty-two home game season–in which they did not walk off. That’s pretty incredible.
The game ultimately played out like a spring-training game, with the latter innings including such things as Robinson Canó playing first base, but with everything clinched that it is possible to clinch before October, the Yankees had that luxury.
The one concern would be Phil Coke’s poor fielding. He didn’t even pitch all that poorly–but was instead inefficient at fielding his position, making an errant throw to 2nd on one play and then throwing to first despite there being an out at home, instead.
At any rate, the Yankees go for the sweep of Kansas City–and the homestand–tomorrow.
Here are the lineups, via PA:
YANKEES (101-56)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Swisher RF
Gardner CF
Molina C
Pena 2BPitching: RHP A.J. Burnett (12-9, 4.19).
ROYALS (64-93)
Maier LF
Betancourt SS
Butler 1B
Jacobs DH
Callaspo 2B
Teahen RF
Buck C
Gordon 3B
Anderson CFPitching: RHP Anthony Lerew (0-1, 3.86).
TIME/TV: 7:05, YES.
And here are a couple of quick pre-game notes:
From Stewart Mandel (SI):
NEW YORK — New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and the commissioners of the Big East and Big 12 will announce at a news conference Wednesday the formation of the Yankee Bowl, to be held at the new Yankee Stadium beginning with the 2010-11 postseason, according to sources with knowledge of the event.
The game, which will seek NCAA certification next spring, would reportedly pit the Big East’s fourth-place team against the Big 12′s No. 7 selection. Organizers plan to hold the first edition between Dec. 29, 2010 and Jan. 2, 2011.
With Hal Steinbrenner as the leading figure in the Yankees’ organization, it has become exceedingly clear that the new Yankee Stadium will be host to an assortment of non-baseball events, especially football games. It seems as though the Yankees intend on showcasing Yankee Stadium as a sports venue, rather than just a baseball park. I don’t really have any problems with that, as the old Stadium was also host to a number of non-baseball events. I just hope they don’t go overboard.
From ESPN:
HOUSTON — Former major leaguer Chuck Knoblauch was charged with assaulting his common-law wife.
A judge set Knoblauch’s bond at $10,000 after he appeared in court Tuesday. According to a criminal complaint, Knoblauch’s wife told police he hit her in the face and choked her at their Houston home Friday.
Knoblauch’s attorney did not immediately return a telephone call Tuesday.
Prosecutors contend Knoblauch had been drinking heavily Friday evening and taking Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Knoblauch’s wife was attempting to get a hold of Knoblauch’s car keys, prosecutors, said, when he allegedly attacked her, the Chronicle reported.
What an awful story. According to FOX 9 News, if convicted, Knoblauch faces 2-10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
Peter Abraham, who is leaving the Journal News and the popular Lohud Yankees blog to jump to the Boston Globe, has finally anounced his replacement. Say what you will about Pete-Abe’s hatred of Alex Rodriguez and Patriot fandom, but the access and coverage he provided is unmatched. Pete-Abe, whose departure will leave a large (perhaps even Pete-Abe sized) hole in the Yankee blogosphere, will be replaced by Chad Jennings of the Times-Tribune of Scranton.
Jennings, who has blogged about AAA Scranton for the past few seasons, is finally getting a much-deserved call to the bigs. Chad will likely start writing during the playoffs, and judging by the quality of his Scranton blogging, I don’t expect any dropoff in coverage or reporting quality. Congrats to Chad on the promotion, and keep up the great work. He’s a terrific writer and reporter, and I imagine he will work as hard as Pete did to keep his readers informed. Hopefully, the Scranton blogging beat will find a new writer to pick up where Chad left off.
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