I have to be honest, I just can’t figure the Blue Jays this year. It’s not just that I expected them to be a poor rebuilding team yet they haven’t been more than a game under .500 all season. It’s not just that they’ve had a confluence of career and comeback seasons, most of them boosted by the long ball (29-year-old Jose Bautista: 32 HR; 31-year-old Vernon Wells: 20 HR; 33-year-old Alex Gonzalez: 17 HR; 29-year-old John Buck: 14 HR). Now that the trading deadline has passed, I can’t figure out why the Jays did so little.
The Jays made a solid deal in mid-July, flipping Gonzalez to the Braves for 27-year-old Cuban shortstop Yunel Escobar, who had fallen out of favor in Atlanta, but has already rebounded nicely in Toronto, hitting .323/.344/.500 in 14 games (with three homers, of course). Escobar, a solidly above-average offensive shortstop who won’t hurt you in the field, will be arbitration eligible this winter, but won’t have much of a case given his .238/.334/.284 performance for the Braves, and will then remain under team control for the next three years.
Kudos to general manager Alex Anthopoulos for that one, but I can’t figure out why Bautista, Buck, Lyle Overbay, Jason Frasor, Shawn Camp, and especially Scott Downs are still Blue Jays. I’m going to go out on a very short limb and say that Bautista will never have a more productive season than he’s having now and will not be on the next Blue Jays playoff team. Given his performance this season, he’s due for a huge arbitration raise, and his trade value will never be higher than it was on Saturday. Buck, Overbay, Frasor, and Downs are all free agents this winter and should have been cashed in. Perhaps there was no market for the first three, but Downs was highly sought after. As his predecessor J.P. Ricciardi did with a much bigger chip at last year’s deadline, Anthopoulos set his price too high and refused to budge. In the case of Roy Halladay, the Jays still owned him for another season and after Ricciardi was fired, Anthopoulos was able to get a solid return for him (though he frittered away part of it, turning impressive prospect Michael Taylor into marginal one Anthony Gose via two subsequent moves). Downs, however, will now provide the Jays no long-term benefit.
So the Jays are left to click along as just-above-.500 team in a division in which a .600 winning percentage is typically required for a second place/Wild Card finish. I don’t get it.
The twist for the Yankees this week is that the Jays, having held onto all of their major league trade chips, remain a solid team worth taking seriously. Tonight, the Yankees and A.J. Burnett face Brandon Morrow, one of Anthopoulos’s better additions, who has begun to find some consistency after having finally been left alone in the rotation. He leads the major leagues in strikeouts per nine innings with an even ten and enters tonight’s game coming off two quality starts, although both came against the Orioles. The knock on Morrow at the moment is that he seems to thrive against bad teams and struggle against good ones, though that pattern isn’t consistent. The Yankees have already faced Morrow twice this season. He dominated them in Toronto on June 6 (7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 8 K), but struggled in a rematch in the Bronx (6 IP, 9 H, 5 R, albeit with just one walk and seven Ks).
Burnett enters this game having not allowed a run in 11 1/3 innings over two starts since cutting his hand in a clubhouse temper tantrum and having to leave his previous start in the third inning. Burnett has faced his former team twice this season, inverting Morrow’s results (or echoing them, depending on your perspective) by pitching poorly in Toronto and well in the Bronx, throwing 6 2/3 shutout innings against the Jays at home on July 2.
Nick Swisher returns to the two-hole tonight, Mark Teixeira returns to first base, and Alex Rodriguez returns to the lineup. Jorge Posada is catching and batting sixth ahead of Fat Elvis. Quothe Berkman, “I don’t know if I’ve ever hit seventh. I’ve hit sixth before, I know that. But I also can’t remember the last time that I’ve been on a team with like eight Hall of Famers. That has a lot to do with it.” Future Hall of Famers Curtis Granderson and Brett Gardner fill the last two spots
Toronto Blue Jays
2010 Record: 54-51 (.514)
2010 Pythagorean Record: 56-49 (.533)
Manager: Cito Gaston
General Manager: Alex Anthopoulos
Home Ballpark: Rogers Centre
Bill James Park Indexes (2007-2009):
LH Avg-104, LH HR-115
RH Avg-107, RH HR-129
Who’s has replaced whom:
- Yuniel Escobar has replaced Alex Gonzalez
- Edwin Encarnacion (minors) has replaced Jarrett Hoffpauir (minors)
- Travis Snider (DL) has replaced Nick Green
25-man roster:
1B – Lyle Overbay (L)
2B – Aaron Hill (R)
SS – Yunel Escobar (R)
3B – Edwin Encarnacion (R)
C – John Buck (R)
RF – Jose Bautista (R)
CF – Vernon Wells (R)
LF – Fred Lewis (L)
DH – Adam Lind (L)
Bench:
L – Travis Snider (OF)
R – Jose Molina (C)
R – John McDonald (IF)
L – Dewayne Wise (OF)
Rotation:
L – Ricky Romero
R – Shaun Marcum
L – Brett Cecil
R – Jesse Litsch
R – Brandon Morrow
Bullpen:
R – Kevin Gregg
R – Jason Frasor
L – Scott Downs
R – Shawn Camp
R – Casey Janssen
L – Brian Tallet
L – David Purcey
60-day DL:
RHP – Dustin McGowan (setbacks after labrum surgery)
RHP – Dirk Hayhurst (frayed right labrum)
Typical Lineup:
L – Fred Lewis (LF)
R – Yunel Escobar (SS)
R – Jose Bautista (RF)
R – Vernon Wells (CF)
L – Adam Lind (DH)
R – Aaron Hill (2B)
L – Lyle Overbay (1B)
R – John Buck (C)
R – Edwin Encarnacion (3B)
[0] Can't hide your love away, save it up for a rainy day, can't take it with you when you go....some of my favorite Gregg Allman raspy drawl, thanks Cliff!!
[1] I was referring to the Jimmy Stewart film, but whatever works for you . . .
[2] it did occur to me after posting that the title has been used on numerous occasions. So, I went with the one from one of reboundiest of rebound albums, and a song co-written by Don Johnson. I can't really explain - just pass the Jim Beam, will ya?
It happens tonight. Lets go Yank-ees!
Yankees v. Blue jays = game on TV. woohoo!
I had no less than 8 blue jays making a tremendous racket amidst the trees in my backyard today. If only I had a dog named AJ who ate them all...Then I would have taken it as sign.
Good AJ?
I like this version of AJ, I think.
Ah, good to be back! And while I was away the heat wave broke, too.
Now we just need an A-Rod dinger and a Yankee win.
Good ground ball.
[10] It's sad to watch Derek hit ground ball singles.
Swish goes boom!
Swish swat!
Swisher seemed to square that one.
11) we missed you around here.
Holding breath.
I wonder what kind of attention it would get if ARod were getting close to some or other HR milestone?
[15] I provide needed balance, is why.
Hm, didn't we see this in game one of the last series with the Rays?
Oy.
So did Good AJ get mugged in the dugout?
Against my superstition about posting in games, I have to throw in these cents:
This is what drives me CRAZY about having Kay and Leiter in the box together.
The Yankees just dropped two of three to the team right on their tails.
Swisher hits a two run homer.
AJ immediately gives up a homer and walks the next batter and is now down 3-1.
SHUT THE FUCK UP about Vernon Wells' contract, for Godsakes.
Do you think you might, maybe, just might, possibly, I don't know mention how incredibly pathetic it is for Burnett to do this right after he's handed a lead?
And now a basehit and these assholes are talking about the weather. And now Al's family.
Is it really too much to ask that you focus on THE DAMN GAME????
I think AJ is getting squeezed.
Hey, remarkable, now they're actually talking about what's happening in the game!
I want an announcer who recognizes what is significant in what is happening and makes intelligent comments about the ebb and flow of a game.
Not bullcrap about Cape Cod and corn fritters or whatever the heck they were talking about.
Crazy. Drives me crazy.
Good AJ returns!
I think he was on Cape Cod.
25) he was getting mugged. Or squeezed.
[25] Ha!
I apologize for that brief outburst and will return to my superstitious non-posting. Just wanted to provide a brief example of why I hate this pairing, as many were surprised by the venom I have for Leiter-Kay.
Hat tip to mlb.tv, btw, for splitting my eardrums once again with the out of control volume of that douchey Gillette ad. I swear, if I ever see the guy from that commercial on the street, I will punch him right in his stupid face (and for those of you who have seen that ad, I'll scream "whooo!!! what's up?!!!!!!!!").
I believe in the good at bats, but so far, all I've seen from Lance is vomit-inducing at bats.
That's a strike 1 out of 25 times.
27) i hate any paring that starts or ends with Kay, and also any that contain the words Sterling or Waldman.
Fortunately I get to listen to the Blue Jays team of Buck Martinez and Ranxe Mulliniks. OK, maybe I'm not THAT fortunate.
29) one of the Jays was called out on a high strike too. If the zone is high...that is to say, textbook...I think that favors AJ.
2 out of 25 I meant. Oy!
And... the Gillette ad in back to back half-innings. It's legitimately jump out of your seat loud.
Mlb.tv - they know how to treat a customer right.
[30] I'm too much of a homer to listen to the opposing team call.
Many of you seem to have the maturity to listen to the away announcers - my inner flow is so pro-Yankees that it would be too jarring listening to anything but the home team.
[34] You'd be surprised. Some broadcast teams don't ruin it for opposing fans. (Plenty do, of course.)
Man, I could really use a corn fritter right about now.
That is just freaking beautiful. Posada is so good.
[34] I think I'm too scarred by listening to the "opposing" broadcast teams of Buck/Timmy and Miller, Morgan, and Sutcliffe.
Gotta chime in about Jorge's play. What an incomprehensibly phenomenal catch and throw that was. Jorge - never a dull moment, always the unexpected. Nice to see it in the good direction.
In other news, three half-innings in a row of the Gillette "oh my God, where is the volume switch" commercial.
Nice Yanks, you were killing this guy on pitch count - brilliant first two at bats here.
Rats.
Arod seems to be pressing the last few games. I wonder what the deal is.
I don't know about anyone else, and I don't mean to suggest that hitting a home run isn't a feat of amazing and refined skill, but please, for the love of God, just hit the damn thing already.
We have a pennant race going on here, and this sideshow needs to go away like three games ago.
I can only imagine what this is like for him, because it's wearing me the heck out.
[40] [41] If he doesn't snap out of it, this could be the end of the Yankees' playoff hopes.
Good AJ. Bad AJ. Bad AJ. Good AJ.
42) do you have your own blog?
Oh, [42], you joker, you.
Do you feel at all drained by it? Something about the pennant race and A Rod's thing going on at the same time has me feeling exhausted. It may just be the DC heat.
43) = Chiasmatic AJ ?
7 games going on right now. Total of 13 runs at the moment.
45) im drained by hearing announcers drone on about it, hence my own sarcastic posts. Otherwise, I don't much care about the semi historic quest for the semi milestone 600. So no, it does not exhaust me. But that's just me.
Meanwhile, Posada >>> Cervelli.
[43] No. But I am curious to know why you ask?
[49] That was for MP in [44] obviously. I hate when I do that.
I'm not actually drained by it. For a while I had convinced myself that A-Rod was actually swinging very well, and I was pleased. Now he does look like he's "clutching" or whatever. But it hasn't gotten to me yet.
Hm, Lance Berkman sucks. I thought he was good.
49) A B B A is classic Chiasmus.
[43] AJ should be charged an antacid tax with any contract he signs.
Curtis, goodness.
They keep talking about how great the Blue Jays pitching has been since the ASB. I was only keeping a vague eye on their results, but haven't they been playing shitty teams?
51) chalk up another mistake for Cashman.
Pretty good, huh?
[52] I learn something new every day here. I cover quatrains in fourth grade but not that one. : )
50) wait, my comment was for RIYank at 42), unless my comment count is off. Is someone awaiting moderation?
[54] Not bad, not bad at all.
By the way, I always did love ABBA, but I was not aware of their rhetorical skills!
Bad AJ returns
I am exhausted, however, from games where the Yankees score two runs on the first two batters then do doodly squat after.
58) next verse, same as the first.
AJ being AJ ...
Anyway, I think the two stories of the season are Swisher and Granderson. For opposite reasons, of course. I would have put Hughes in there too but I can't tell how he's going to end up.
Nice pitch, AJ. Aaaargh.
Btw, indeed the Blue Jays have played awful teams since the ASB. The only non-terrible team they played was a couple games against Detroit, a team that is presently in free fall.
Thanks for the full picture, Mike and Al.
And now he walks Molina after being 0-2. AJ drives me nuts.
Jesus, Mitre looked like an oversized deranged doll in that shot.
Fortunately Molina was the lead runner with two outs.
Right now I am really curious as to whether AJ is gonna just flush this game down the toilet in the next couple minutes.
64) wow, this game is killing my brain. I though the HAD to be two outs in the inning. But in fact there were no outs. Yikes.
AJ really deserves the boos here.
[66] Ohh. At first, your speech, I figured, was some kind of figure of speech.
[65] I think you have your answer.
That pitch was waste high, cuts the plate in half.
Ugh, take AJ out to the woodshed, please
Agony.
I'm going to watch the Red Sox for a while.
FUCK. What the hell, AJ, what the hell. What a horrible pitch.
Well, this is getting out of hand fast.
Losing interest...
Yeah, curiosity satisfied, [65]. AJ, you over-talented piece of shit.
I tell ya, if AJ would pitch better with A Rod behind the plate, I'd be all for it. Anything to mitigate the chances of this slop being served up.
No big deal here, AJ. Just first place on the line. Please, by all means, continue to shit the bed.
68) well, it might have been ironía or even meiosis. But in reality, it was just error.
[79] Meiosis! I was never good at biology.
John Lackey seems to be pulling an AJ. Much more fun for me to watch than the Genuine Article.
Christ he just can't throw a strike.
Just take his fucking ass out now. Enough.
[80] He can't throw a strike, but Donald swings anyway and strikes out with the bases loaded. Well, still only one out...
Booooooooooo
What a gutless, horseshit effort.
The BOOOOO is echoed in Fenway as Lackey walks in a run.
So... has anyone out there been watching Berkman this year in the NL?
Any comments on my concern that someone with that much body movement in his swing could be a real candidate for a precipitous decline?
What's the record for doubles in one inning?
Oh, Good Lord.
Watching this game was a terrible idea.
AJ Burnett is exhibit A about why mental makeup can be as important as "stuff". I am not sure why so many people get frustrated about Burnett. He has been the same pitcher his entire career. He is either great or bad. You'd think Girardi would stop getting caught with his pants down, but for some reason he feels compelled to let AJ implode before lifting him.
Tampa up 4-1. Thanks for coming up big, AJ.
Mitre looked pretty unlucky there.
[89] Cosign
Astride a dyspeptic horse, here comes William. I'll bow out and hope for a miracle.
Finally Cleveland cashes in. 6-1 Tribe.
At least Jeter showed up tonight.
Nice hit Derek.
My last comment - [89]? Because it's the first game of a series, and the alternative is Mitre.
I agree we could all see this coming, but praying for AJ to sneak out of an inning and pull it back together is less crazy when you consider the above.
[96] Sure, if you like ground balls.
[98] We need base runners.
Anyway, good night all.
[94] Red Sox really need to start winning games. Next weekend could be there season.
98) the Yankees really have some soul searching to do this offseason.
[95] He's closing in on the Babe now.
[86] Berkman has been pretty bad this year. There's a reason the Yanks got him as cheaply as they did.
He missed a lot of time with an injury at the beginning of the season. Maybe that had something to do with it.
[101] Not just about Jeter, but Granderson, Burnett, Posada and Joba too.
99) exactly, then Swish tries to hit a HR and Teix goes and kills the rally. Incredible.
Hey, this is sort of fun.
[101] Tell us more about those figures.
It's like someone batting in front of A Rod keeps taking the home run mojo. Then he gets up and is like "Where my mojo at?" Well, Teixeira took it, Alex. And Swisher before him.
[103] His swing just looks awful - like a hunchbacked old lady trying to swat an unruly child.
[104] I suspect they're stuck with Burnett. Granderson I suspect they'll give another year. I feel like trading him would be a tough sell, though I'm all for it.
That hitting machine Molina strikes again!
Didn't realize Hellickson got the start for TB today. Not a bad late season addition for the Rays.
You know, to elaborate the point I made earlier, if this team had a vintage Ramiro Mendoza, you don't think AJ's ass would have been out of there at 4-2, at the latest?
[108] He had knee surgery during spring training. Maybe it's taking him time to recover. Or maybe he's just getting old.
Elaborate on. I can't even type tonight.
[109] I am sure the Yankees would love to get rid of both contracts and replace them with Lee (who they'll go after anyway) and Crawford, but I agree, both will be hard to deal. I actually think it might be easier to get a NL team to take 1/2 of Burnett's contract than it would be to get someone to take all of Granderson's.
[113] My whole point is that his getting old, or his having knee surgery might be even worse than your average player, because I think he's always had a lot of body movement in that swing. Certainly from the left side, which is where we expect to see him most of the time. That is about as far from the classic lefty swing as you can get.
The Red Sox have brought in a 44 year old pitcher as a long reliever.
And Shelley Duncan is 4 for 4.
I just don't like AJ Burnett
AJ should have to write a letter of apology to every small kid who attended this game. He made the grown-ups sick, too, kid.
Morrow must have a deceptive motion because it seems like the Yankees have taken more than a few fastballs down the middle.
That explains Berkman's slump...his bats still say "Astors".
[122] They should have traded him to the Natinals
[122] [123] Or to the Vanderbilts.
Nice job Lance!
If Downs comes in, you have to PH for Granderson, no?
Well, Lance caught that unruly child with a good swat that time, it seems.
[125] I would think so.
[123] Was it T-Shirts they made that said that? I'm vaguely remembering some sort of epic mistake.
And it's Thames.
Come on Marcus!
I'll be damned, but the man can hit LHP.
The genius of Joe Girardi.
Squeeze!
I would love to see a safety squeeze here.
Sub optimal.
William wants a suicide squuuuueeeeeze - with Berkman!
Oh, god. Very nasty plate collision in Fenway.
Oh, man. Santana looks like he's seriously injured -- his knee buckled backward on impact with the runner. Ouch.
(Runner was out, great play.)
[128] Dunn and Zimmerman's uniforms for a day
Oh well...no need to put a play on I guess.
Well that was pretty much worst case scenario
[137] Another reason why MLB has to outlaw the collision at home plate (and blocking the plate without the ball).
Poor baserunning there.
140) not really. A DP would have been worst case scenario.
Santana is still lying on the ground. A cart and stretcher are coming out.
142) the Jays announcers defended Berkman, saying that because the ball was hit to the pitcher and there was a good chance for a DP, he had to break for home. I'm not saying I agree...im just saying what they said.
[145] There's also a chance he was told to go on contact, which would make it not his fault, at all.
[144] Awful news...a potential future star could have his career put in jeopardy because baseball has decided it wants to be the NFL on one particular play.
[145] If you want to blame Berkman, it would be for hesitating. He would have still be out anyway.
[145] I was speaking of Thames.
144) you and I have always agreed on this issue.
So how bad was it watching AJ? Should I risk skimming the whole game thread?
[149] I am not sure. Thames isn't fast and it wasn't clear Berkman would be able to stay in the run down.
149) ah, for not taking third, right?
15) well, it wasn't too bad for four of the innings, then really, really, really, really, really, really bad for one of the innings.
[151] Actually wasn't bad at all because instead of walks, wild pitches and other assorted frustrating events, he just got hammered. By the fifth double, you knew what to expect.
154) --> 151)
155) and all those extra base hits actually kept the game moving!
Twins don't seem to be having much fun with the Ryas pitching either.
[158] Well, they're a first place team.
The bullpen seems like it might be coming around, but now the rotation is out of whack.
I haven't done fantasy baseball in more than two decades, but can you imagine having AJ Burnett on your fantasy team?
Matt Joyce seems to be on fire.
I can't even enjoy watching Carl Pavano get hit.
[151] It was agony. I used bad words.
You know neither Michael nor Al have any idea that the Jays record was completely fattened by playing Cleveland and Baltimore twice and the tanking Tigers in the last five series.
The chase for 600 has become like an SNL skit
Arod's inability to hit 600 isn't as "funny" now that the team is losing.
I'd love to have that Gardner AB back and see what would have happened if they could have tried something creative. Seemed like the perfect opportunity to really take the Jays by surprise.
[168] We don't do plays
I wonder if Joe Maddon would like to have his sac bunt back. The Rays score none, leave two in scoring position.
After the last few years, this is what clued in Al that Favre only cares about Favre?
[170] Whom did he have bunt?
The Red Sox send Jed Lowrie in to pinch hit. Man, I thought we had bench problems.
[171] My hatred of Brett Favre is irrational and excessive...but I really really really hate the guy and the media's fawning over him..(or has that stopped?)
Can we come back and win this game, please?
[174] No
[172] Sean Rodriguez.
[176] Makes sense then...better question would be why does he play him so much.
This is boring
Rays win....Yankees hold on first is slipping away.
This game feels like it's gone on forever.
Tito puts on an excellent play: 3-run homer by Beltre. 6-5...
I like to make fun of Logan, but he hasn't been too bad of late.
6-5 Cleveland...let me guess, another walk off for Boston.
180) over three hours and still only the eighth.
[168], [169] You're not discouraged at all from "doing something creative" by the fact that Berkman was on third? Really?
I mean that guy looks seriously fleet of foot. Not dead meat on "something creative" at all.
Victor Martinez rubs Beltre's head in the dugout after the homer. Beltre seriously does not like that.
Baseball players are weird.
[183] Rafael Perez is utter garbage.
[186] The butt-slapping alongside the excessive homophobia always confused me..
Just looked at Cano's season stats..wow!! He's really been Yanks best player by far..
That was a big out.
[187] It was Hermann who gave up the home run, actually.
Interesting. V-Mart started the game behind the plate, then moved to first, now he's back catching. (Jed Lowrie is playing first.) Martinez seems to me to be a much better first baseman than he is a catcher -- though I've only seen him make a couple of plays in the field.
This is why Granderson makes things difficult. He is so bad against lefties, that you have to hit for him earlier in the game, but then it leaves you with a less favorable matchup later on.
Then again, Thames against a righty may be the better matchup!
[192] Matchup, schmatchup.
Hmm...do you use Kearns here? I do, but not because I don't trust Gardner. Although I think Gardner might have a better chance of getting on base, I don't have much confidence in Jeter after him, which makes me want to roll the dice with Kearns getting a really big hit.
[190] Who put the runners on?
195) you could bat Gardner then Ph for Jeter. It would never happen, of course.
PH for Gardner here is, well, crazy.
[196] Perez.
[195] I hate making a move in order to increase the chance of a huge hit. It feels so desperate. I dunno. I guess I'd stick with Brett.
Apparently, Kearns doesn't hit many HRs against lefties, so maybe it's not such a good move in any event.
Michael Kay is the devil
Crikey that was closer than I thought
199) gardner has been one of the best hitters on the team, and he's now playing CF. You bet I stick with him. And for what it's worth, Jeter has two hits.
Bad sell job there by Kearns. Methinks he knew he was out ...
Are you kidding me? The trade deadline deals are not exactly producing early returns.
Girardi's an idiot.
Sox have the tying run aboard, but now two out.
You know Gardner can't be happy about be hit for there.
Jed Lowrie is up. He's faced Perez (Indians have two) once and hit a grand slam...
I am prone to overreacting during the game even as I chastise others (William! ;) ) for the same thing. That said, Girardi has made some goofy decisions the last couple of days with his new players. I'm not sure he can be trusted with a deeper bench.
Scutaro on first is thinking about stealing. Lowrie takes ball two.
Swisher in CF? Good lord.
Lowrie fouls off a pitch and then watches one over the corner, 2-2.
Scutaro takes off, Lowrie fouls it off.
Big Papi on deck.
[210] That was my intial fear. Let's face it. Girardi is a poor game manager. The Yankees are not going to win if they are depending on him to make sound decisions. This team needs to overwhelm with its talent, and it hasn't been doing that lately.
Outside, full count to Lowrie, and now Scutaro will be running...
212) no choice at this point.
[203] Saying it now (my post) is hindsight, but I think I agree with sticking with Gardner.
This is a hideous outfield.
[205] Kearns is another one I have questions about. What year did he go from super young talent to journeyman? Everyone thought he and Dunn would be a monster combination. Kearns' seemed to fall off a cliff.
Lowrie reaches out for an outside pitch, launches it to left, but short of the warning track, ballgame over.
Whew. Three straight walk-off wins would have sucked.
[210] It seems to me like Girardi is trying out the new acquisitions as if he suddenly had a mid-season spring training to see what they can do. Joe, it's August 2nd and the Rays are about to tie us for first - let's just try to win games, ok?
Oh well, at least no ground was lost in the battle to face Cliff Lee in game one of the ALDS.
Joba is so weird. Is he awesome or terrible? I'd be more optimistic if AJ Burnett wasn't here reminding me every fifth game that you can make a career out of the Jekyll and Hyde routine.
Girardi's use of the noobs yesterday really was wack. Not the time, Joe.
218) there are no questions about Kearns. After a brilliant rookie sequin he was bad, then injured and bad. However, he can play decent OF defense and he hits LHP pretty well, and he's better than Colin Curtis. So if he is used like Curtis was, that is occasionally, he's an upgrade. If he is used to replace one of the top OBP players in the league, not so good.
God I hate Michael Kay.
[222] Joba is AJ Burnett. They both have live arms, but not much working upstairs it seems. When I watch C.C. Sabathia and Andy Pettitte, for example, I have confidence because you know they know what they are doing. Burnett and Joba just throw the ball.
There is the filth I've been looking for
[224] It was a brilliant sequin, though. A landmark event in this chorus line we like to call Major League Baseball.
[226]
Joba is a MDAWATCH
Million Dollar arm with a Ten-Cent Head
222) Is he awesome or terrible?
Neither, probably, but somewhere in between.
Joba knows the Yankee defense is questionable right now, so he's going with True Outcomes. (Let's have only Two True Outcomes, though, Joba.)
[224] Nice summary. Like I mentioned, I just don't watch the NL.
[228] That is right up there with his greatest hits, no?
228) gotta dance!!
[226] Yeah, though I slightly disagree. I think at least in Joba's case it's better if he does just throw the ball. I have suffered through some of the most excruciating baseball viewing because of his "thinking".
Burnett too a little. He cannot handle any kind of bump in the road, of any kind, it seems. Gets the wheels turning and next thing you know we're off to the races.
[228] Bravo!
Arod grand slam to win it? Anyone?
[224] Kearns should be used to hit for Granderson (because he can play defense), and Thames should be used to hit for Berkman when a lefty is on the mound. Girardi kind of had things backwards tonight, and then compounded the issue by using him for Gardner (unless he was also thinking about Jeter being on deck).
I am glad the bullpen did a nice job, but that only shines the light brighter on the decision to let AJ help set an American League record for most doubles in an inning.
[233] Ya Gotta Have Heart!
[236] No thanks!
holy crap, the shit sox did NOT comeback and win in the bottom of the 9th at the fens. i'm shocked... (and fucking thrilled!)
we're gonna be tied for 1st. what a bunch o' bollocks...
RI - i'm sure maine was more enjoyable than this game! yup, the Thelarmises left on Thursday. went to go visit my brother and his kids for a long weekend...
The thing I'm bothered by is that I suspect we have a harder road ahead than Tampa. It seems like they've been playing tougher teams than we have recently. Going to try to run some numbers on Thursday.
If A Rod comes to the plate, I bet he spontaneously combusts before a pitch is thrown
One more point on Gardner...if you are going to pinch hit for him against a lefty in the 8th, why let him swing away aginst one in the 6th?
Batting Jeter first has become an obligation that is hurting the team.
[218] I think it was injury that ruined Kearns. He was a first round draft pick, and top prospect, and seemed on his way to being a star. Then he got into a couple of nasty collisions with players much bigger than he was, and was never the same afterwards.
237) maybe. I'm not sure that i agree. i would have PH with Thames because he gave the best chance for a positive outcome, rather than saving him. So i had no problem with using Thames when he did.
Wow. And there goes A Rod's mojo again
[240] Hey, there you are. You missed (most of) a beauty tonight.
Yuck.
Everyone going yard, except Alex
4-game wraparound with the shit sox coming up. gonna be a loooong weekend...
I really, really don't like Nick posing and staring at the ball that makes it 8-6
Get on base Tex!
[246] Do you think Thames is that much better than Kearns against righties? Could be...I need to check the numbers.
244) true, though he had a couple of hits tonight.
[251] It's just Nick being Nick
Nick Swisher's ears are tiny. Or at least his right ear is
[254] But they were both ground balls, not the line drives that come when he is going well.
Tex got a little anxious there
Great...a loss and another miss on 600 all rolled into one.
Well, you know A-Rod is going to get good pitches to hit here...
3 for his last 30? Yeah, I'd say he's pressing a bit
fooey.
Thelarmis, your arrival, inexplicably, did not spark a stunning comeback.
I think everyone is now sick to death of 600. Just hit the damn home run for the love of god.
Also, I wrote "matchup schmatchup" earlier and was disappointed that you didn't read it.
Thanks AJ. Real representative performance tonight
Hmmm .... better cleanup of late ... BP, or Alex?
252) career .799 OPS v. .844 OPS. This season Kearns has a reverse split, only .720 OPS v. LHP, while Thames isear his career average with .832.
[264]
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.
[268] Wonder why Kearns has struggled against lefties? If he isn't going to hit them, he really has no role. I guess hitting for Gardner really had no basis whatsoever.
257) one was a line drive. In any case, he did not hurt the team particulalry this evening, which is why I responded to your post.
[245] Thanks for the info.
My computer celebrated A Rod's fizzle with a browser crash. Delightful.
As much as I loved the way A Rod was swinging the bat at the beginning of this wait for 600, that period is a distant memory. This needs to happen. It's bad for him and it's bad for the team. "Specially marked balls" is, indeed, a great name for a band, but I am sick to death of seeing them at this point.
270) i suspect it's just a fluke this season. Plus, his role is to be better than Colin Curtis, which he is.
Meanwhile, i have disabled the auto-correct on this keyboard thingy. Perhaps that will result in fewer goofy posts by me. But fear not, i'm sure I'll still give everyone a regular chuckle.
Gardner, Tex and Arod combined to go 1-13, so it's nice to see they benefitted from their days off yesterday.
On Friday, the Cubs lost 17-2. Tonight they are losing 16-1 in the 7th.
Poor Lou.
[271] His hits were a ground ball in the 1st base hole in the first and one through the SS hole in the 5th, no?
[275] Hang in there Lou...have to keep that Cubs job filled until the off season!
[275] Thank God he's given up already. Five years ago, we might have lost Lou to a heart attack after two games like that.
276) i thought the second hit was a line drive through the left side. Maybe i'm misremembering.
This will refresh your memory.
Also, game wrap post is up now.