Chad Jennings has some interesting stuff from C.C. Sabathia:
“I don’t think I’m ever going to be that same guy again,” he said. “I’m 33 this year, but pitching against San Francisco the other night, I felt like back to myself more so than any other start. It wasn’t velocity — I was 90 to 93 — but just pitching inside, being aggressive, throwing fastballs in hitters’ counts. Just going out there and being a bully. That’s something I feel like I was before and kind of lost that this year.”
…“I’m just talking about going out and pitching like I did the other day (against the Giants),” Sabathia said. “Grinding games out. That’s something I feel like I didn’t do a good job of this year. Getting runners on base and being able to get a double play. Giving up a run or two, and being able to shut the inning off. I feel like I gave up too many big innings and big situations. We come out and score a couple of runs off a tough pitcher, and I come back and give the lead right back. That’s stuff that I didn’t do, or I don’t do, and it happened this year. I think that’s what I say when I talk about coming back and being right.
“I think I’ll be back to myself. I know a lot of people have written me off and said I’ve thrown too many innings and whatever, whatever, but I’ll still be here and still be accountable and still be the guy that signed up in 2009.”
He’s a likable guy, easy to root for. We’ll be pulling for him.
Meanwhile, here’s tonight’s lineup. Phil Hughes gets the start. Will it be his final outing in pinstripes?
Eduardo Nunez 3B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Alfonso Soriano LF
Vernon Wells RF
Mark Reynolds 1B
Curtis Granderson CF
Brendan Ryan SS
Chris Stewart C
Never mind the chill in the air:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Photo Credit: Michael Wolf]
"Will it be his final outing in pinstripes?"
Seems like we can ask that about way too many people this year.
As for Hughes, I envision him going home to Cali next season, pitching for either San Diego or (shudder) the Angels Angels of Anahiem, and doing awfully well with expectations removed, no threat of bullpen banishment, and a home park that is very forgiving of a flyball pitcher. Sigh.
What could have been.
[1] I think the Yanks make him a one-year qualifying offer, but some team will offer three or four years, which he will definitely take instead.
[2] I hope it works out that way, because the draft pick would be useful. I also wouldn't mind if Hughes took the qualifying offer, but I expect I am in the very small minority on that.
[3] You and me both!
Yeah, me too.
And I do think they'll make the qualifying offer. I have no view about whether other teams will up the ante.
[5] And thanks for the challenge.
Yankees attempt to make amends:
TICKET OFFER AFTER BOBBLE BLUNDER: The Yankees announced that fans holding tickets for Mariano Rivera Bobblehead Night on September 24 may redeem their tickets for complimentary tickets to any regular-season game at Yankee Stadium during the 2014 season excluding Opening Day and Old-Timers’ Day (subject to availability).
BOBBLEHEADS STILL AVAILABLE: Fans who did not redeem their bobblehead vouchers before leaving Yankee Stadium on Tuesday may redeem them at either of the Yankees’ two remaining home games tonight and Thursday, provided they have valid tickets for these games. Voucher redemption will take place inside Gate 2 through the end of each game. Fans who are not attending either of the Yankees’ two remaining home games should mail their vouchers and their mailing address to: Fan Services, Yankee Stadium, One E. 161st Street, Bronx, NY 10451. Yankees Fan Services will mail them one bobblehead per original voucher received. Lost or misplaced vouchers as well as copies of original vouchers will not be honored.
[3] I can't stomach another year of Phil Hughes.
I am not going to miss that.
[5] A couple of months ago, I thought the odds favored a QO.
Now, with the way Phil has pitched down the stretch, I think it's a stretch.
Christ-on-a-cracker, Hughes, can you not suck for an inning???
With every pitch, Hughes makes that QO, less and less likely ...
Well, it does have the feel of a Hughes start.
[11] Thank Christ
Two half-Hugheses that inning. I guess plating just one run is the equivalent of a solo homer. So, nice work, Phil!
Never go Full Hughes ...
Nunez2b!
[16] Or Nunez not2b?
Waddyknow?
Robbie! A half Hughes! Tying the Iron Horse.
Robbie.
Ooooh. A Reynolds for Sori, after a nice-looking start to the AB.
[11] In all seriousness, it makes no sense for the Yankees not to make a qualifying offer, even if Sir Phil is nothing more than back end depth. They're losing Pettitte and possibly Kuroda, and who knows what the deal is with CC (who was almost as bad as Hughes this year) or with Pineda (my prediction that he would contribute nothing this year was spot on, and I still stand by my prediction that he will never throw a meaningful inning for the NY Yankees...ever). Best case scenario is Hughes bounces back to mediocre, and ends up the #3 starter next year. Or the team can turn the QO into a draft pick.
[22] But the Pineda prediction is based on astrology, right? Or numerology?
I would not miss Hughes.
[24] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuRxXRuAz-I
[23] Who cares what it is based on, so long as it is correct? But if you *must* know my methodology, I call it the Brit Burns Predictive Model.
[26] However, Bruce Markusen disagrees with my model!
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/cooperstown-confidential-michael-pineda-is-not-britt-burns/
[27] Of course, Bruce is no Dr. James Andrews.
[25] Good tune. But Hughes' starts this year have been as disturbing as a 70 year old dancing Mick Jagger.
Phil with another half-Hughes, Vern with the clownshoes ...
Uh oh, lead-off half-Hughes.
Hughes uck!
Oh joy, back-to-back base runners courtesy of Vern Wells ...
If Jeter plays 100 games at SS next year, the entire Yankees' front office should be summarily fired.
Not even close, blue.
Good lord.
I think when a Full Hughes arrives, there are bound to be some runners on base.
Nice. Blown call by Blue.
When do the robots arrive again?
Buh-bye Phil.
Fifty points to Hufflepuff!
it appears the plan is to pitch Hughes for the remainder of the season.
I'm going to go on record and state I think that's the last pitch Phil Hughes ever throws for the Yankees.
I wish him well, wherever he goes (hopefully, for his sake, to the NL).
Nune5!
EduaHRdo!
[39] I have a feeling he'll be back somewhere down the line.
Should at least be tied except for e-blue.
[43] I'm sure he'll be back for an Old-Timers Day or two ...
[45] I think the same front office that got obsessed with people like Carl Pavano and Javier Vazquez and Fudgie the Whale will, at the very least, make him another offer to come back in some point.
You know who I'd also like to never see again in Pinstripes?
Chris Fucking Stewart.
Puffed.
[47] I miss Jorge.
[47] I hear he's a hit with the ladies.
Diversion! In the grand traditon of Gammons/Neyer/Simmons ESPN Yankee hating, here's Jim Caple! http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9718373/mariano-rivera-overrated-well-beloved-respected
Nice blast Cornflake, put this damn season out of its misery!
Great job, Stewie!
Interesting play.
I wish we'd got a good shot of Maddon smiling.
[50] Caple has been known to do that. Desperate attempt by a hack to get noticed.
[47] I'd be very happy if both catchers on the 2013 opening day roster failed to make the 2014 one.
As our cousins across the pond would say, Vern's having "a torrid time of it" tonight.
ANOTHER Great Job, Stewie!
Damn, what's gotten into Nune5 recently?
Atta boy, Ryan.
Fin.
Say goodnight Irene.
Oh Huff, don't you know, you *never* go Full Hughes ...
3-2. Change channel. Change back 7-2. Good night, Irene.
Man, when even Rick Sutcliffe knows your future is bleak ... you're fucked.
Caple has always been a fucking Yankees hating tool. He's a fucking idiot of giant proportions.
See ya, Phil.
Suppose the Rays meet the Cardinals in the WS. They both have a Molina. Who wins? Molinas are dangerous in the postseason.
8 more outs
[66] Speaking of Molinas, here's a good blog post from Joe Poz:
I have long said that the slowest measurement known to man is a “Molina” and that all players can be measured against it. It’s sort of the opposite of the speed of light -- the theory goes that nothing can go faster than the speed of light and so it can be a constant in formulas like the classic E=MC2. Well, I have long believed that nothing on earth moves slower than a Molina -- Bengie, specifically, but none of the Molinas are exactly Usain Bolt -- and so every player can be measured by Molinas. Jacoby Ellsbury, for instance, is 584,372 Molinas. Meanwhile, someone slow like Paul Konerko is closer to 1.21 Molinas.
One theory about the speed of light is that if anything COULD move faster, it would actually go backward in time. My scientific theory is that anything that moves slower than a Molina would actually stop time or, at least, hit into many double plays.
http://joeposnanski.blogspot.com/2013/09/slowest-player-in-baseball.html
[66] It seems that Cardinal Molina is more potent(ate)...
[68] Saw that, hillarious. And of course there's the Diane or Emma Molina postseason warning. Don't have it bookmarked on my TouchPad.
Confusing postseason, root for the nearby Tigers, or for Donnie to get a ring, even if it's the Dodgers?
[69] +1!
[70] Easy. DON-Nie BASE-Ball!
I've gotta root for the Bravos (and anyone who is playing the goddamn scumsucking shit sox ).
My brother is gonna cheer for the Buccos, in honor of Pops' We Are Family teams of the past...
5 more outs.
[72] He may need your help, the inside scuttlebut here in SoCal is that he's likely gone if the Dodgers don't make a run in the playoffs, as crazy as that sounds ...
so...tomorrow is the last game at The Stadium for Andy and Mo.
hopefully, for Phil and Jobber.
maybe for our man Hiro.
could it be for Robbie??? I sure hope not...
aw, man.
wish sori got a hit there, then stole a base...
well, at least we know vernon and ichiro will be back... ugh.
[75] Rumour is, there's another opening in another big city. Though it's going to be in a midst of a transition from a core group of players. . .
Oh goody, Overbay is the option.
yeah, if GI Joe goes home to Chi-town, we'll have space for Donnie Baseball. it's possible Dough Boy then goes across town from Anaheim to LA. Washington will have an opening, as well. it's possible there's an opening in the Emerald City, also.
Peralta's got some guns, for a pitcher ...
i'll take it.
big fly ties the game.
won't happen, but fuck it...
eliminated.
Cleveland rocks!
yankee destroyer.
So then, what's the most vomit inducing narritive of the playoffs?
Pittsburgh's small-market miracle? Puig needs to learn fundamentals? The Beards?
Good night all. End of the current dynasty. When is the rise of the next?
[87] Just saw the post. Beards. Definitely.
[87] Of those?
I'd go, in order of vomit induciveness:
The Beards, Puig and Pittsburgh, way, waaaaaay behind that.
I'm pulling hard for Pittsburgh.
weak.
ballgame over. season over.
the yankees lose...
:_(
Well, if you'd told me at the start of the season, that we'd still have a chance at a playoff game in the last 2 weeks of the season, I'd have thought you crazy.
Unsatisfying season, but not the utter disasterbacle I thought it was going to be.
*Next* year, however ...
[87] beards. definitely. i really hope they get swept in the first round and look terrible doing it.
[90] i hear ya. my brother is going buccos, too. i'm rooting for the braves. i do love my adopted city! i'm here over 17 years now...
I'll say it, I'm not interested if the Yanks aren't there. I'd rather watch a pick-up game at a local park than watch the playoffs. And that's not hate, I really would stop to watch a baseball game among "mortals"; I'm just indifferent to the playoff success of other major league teams. And considering my growing aversion to the sociopaths in the upper echelons of the Yanks hierarchy with increasingly questionable baseball acumen, I'm wondering why I even bother at this point. Perhaps winter will give me reason; or lacking that, time, to believe again next spring.
[93] Braves are a bunch of whiny d-bags..'play the game the right way' gritsters. Go Go Dodgers! :)
I'll root for the Athletics, but I'll barely pay attention. Just so long as the RedSox lose, I'll be happy enough.