If not for that one hanging slider

We're all praising Joba for a stellar outing instead of an average one. Regardless, it was definitely an improvement from Tuesday - he threw more strikes (lasting into the 5th inning), struck out more and walked fewer. And perhaps best of all, he maintained his velocity throughout, touching 96 into the 5th inning. He walked his last batter on a 3-2 curveball (his first out of the zone), finishing at 78 pitches (80 was his limit). In his next start (Friday), his limit will be raised to 90-95, so hopefully he'll get through the 6th.

His only big mistake was a full count hanging slider to Jose Guillen who crushed it to give KC the lead. Joba and Posada should have been a bit more cautious, considering the swings Guillen had taken on the slider earlier in that at-bat. Joba really didn't want to walk him so instead of going for the corner, he left a lazy slider up and out over the plate.

Anyway, Dan Giese had another solid outing (2.2 ip, 0 r). He's really showing himself to be a dependable long-reliever that might stick with the team when Moeller is (unfortunately) DFA'd.

Afternoon contest tomorrow: Moose vs. (2006 #1 overall pick) Luke Hochevar.

Another prospect

to keep an eye on, although he's not a member of the Yankees (or any other team) yet. It sounds like we may have a good chance to acquire him considering his idol is Arod and the Yanks have the most money.

Cuban baseball's brightest star, Dayán Viciedo, has escaped from Cuba and is now in Miami, following the footsteps of talented island colleagues who have found their way into the major leagues.

Viciedo, a 19-year-old third baseman, is considered as big a star in Cuba as Omár Linares, the most well-rounded player to emerge from the Cuban leagues since 1959 and a player highly coveted by major league scouts during the 1980s.

''At first I didn't like to be compared to Linares because he is almost a legend,'' Viciedo said. ``Later, I felt proud. As a third baseman I have two idols: Linares from the Cuban National Series and Alex Rodriguez from the major leagues.''

(BBTF with the link)

Mo was jinxed

by my previous post wherein I expounded on his excellence this season. Yesterday he gave up his first HR of the year - a cutter that was misplaced over the heart of the plate rather than where Posada was setting up inside.

Based on the two innings I saw Mark Melancon pitch last night for Trenton, the following is a (brief) scouting report:
Fastball - plus velocity, plus command. Started off nearly every hitter 0-1 with a well-spotted fastball at the knees. I've read his velocity is 91-94 and that jives with what I witnessed; not one fastball was well hit.
Curve - plus movement, average command. Struck out one batter on a curveball looking. Don't recall anyone swinging and missing on his curve. The three groundouts he induced looked to all be a product of the curve. Bounced a few before reaching homeplate.
His delivery is unsual in that he brings the ball down nearly to his back knee before exploding toward homeplate - similar to those old time windups.
Would have been two perfect innings if not for a botched throw by the shortstop. Of the six outs he recorded, three came via groundout, three via strikeout - it doesn't get much better than that; not a single ball reached the outfield.
He's listed at just 6'2", but looks much bigger on the mound. Perhaps it's because no member of Trenton's infield is taller than 6 feet. Not sure but he looked huge.

Hey, I remember him

Pat Venditte, the switch-pitcher from Creighton University, was selected in the draft by the Yankees for the second straight year. Now that he's a senior, he basically has to sign (unlike last year when he returned to school).

Pete Abe has the audio of an interview with first round pick Gerrit Cole. He sounds like he's 12 years old; he's just 17 so maybe that's not unusual. Did I sound that way when I was 17?


- Some win today for the Yanks. Where was that offense yesterday? I didn't get to see it because of stupid FOX and MLB's Saturday blackout rules. I'll catch it later when it hits MLB.tv.

What's "momentum"?

Certainly not this. Homeplate umpire Ed Montague completely screwed us with his check-swing strike-three call on Giambi in the 8th. A blatant, blatant checked-swing. How the hell could Montague think that was a swing? Only God knows.

What a win, what's up with Wang, and Holy Mo-ly!

<-- That was the best win of the season (in terms of emotions). It looked totally lost at 7-2, only for the Yanks to crawl back to within one, then have Farnsworth re-blow the game, only to be followed by Arod, Matsui and Giambi coming up huge. In fact, Giambi increased the Yanks chances of winning 89.5% (almost unheard of).

And speaking of hitting, how about Wilson Betemit? His second HR in two days, this one coming from the right side. He gets killed a lot around the Yankee blogosphere, but it's rather unfair to him. He's a backup, and hence doesn't get consistent playing time. If he did, I'm sure he would put about a .250/.350/.480 line. One of the positives about Giambi missing some time is that it might give Betemit more playing time, allowing him to get into a groove. Right now, you have to keep playing him - it comes down to four of Betemit, Giambi (if healthy), Damon, Matsui and Melky. Currently, Melky's got to sit; the other hitters are just too hot to put on the bench. Damon is an inferior centerfielder, but the way he's hitting he'll easily make up for it.


- Now, on to Chien-Ming Wang: what's wrong with him? Is there anything wrong with him? 82.2 innings is not even half a season so we shouldn't jump to any definitive conclusions, but I'll try to head in that direction. His ERA is the highest it's ever been: 4.57. Through his first nine games, Wang was having a stellar year: 59 ip, 2.90 ERA, 38 K, 19 BB, 1 HR, .584 OPS against.

But he's (frankly) sucked in his last four starts: 23.2 ip, 8.75 ERA, 11 K, 14 BB, 3 HR, .794 OPS against. The stat that most jumps out to me is the walk rate. It went from 2.89 BB/9 through his first nine starts to 5.3 BB/9. That's almost double. It definitely jives with what my eyes tell me: Wang has been consistently missing his spots in his last several games.

To back me up, his BAA, BABIP and FIP are in line with his career averages. What I have to wonder is whether he's trying strikeout more hitters - and if that's causing him to avoid contact, hence throwing more pitches out of the zone. Along with a rising K/9 rate, his walk rate has also increased each of the last three years (along with his pitches/PA). And perhaps most disturbingly, his groundball rate has also decreased each of the last three years. My theory is thus: his critics who assailed him for not striking out enough hitters has caused him and his pitching coaches to try to improve his K rates, hence he's throwing more pitches out of the zone (to induce swinging strikes) - this causes him to fall behind in counts more often which leads to more hits and walks. My hope is that it's just a slump (it is just four games after all), but my fear is that the league has caught up to him or he's hiding an injury.


- If you hadn't noticed, Mariano Rivera is having a good year. How good is it?! It's so good that among relievers with at least 25 ip (going all the way to 1901):
a. he has the best ERA+ (1185)
b. 4th best K/BB rate (13/1)
c. best WHIP (.500)
d. best OPS+ against (negative 24 = ludicrous!)
e. 2nd best hit rate (3.81/9 ip)


- The MLB amateur draft can be found here. The Yanks selected high-school pitcher Gerrit Cole with the 28th pick of the first round. I don't know much about Cole, but here are several sources who do.
Baseball America
BrewerFan.net
MiLB.com
Perfect Game
River Ave. Blues
Keith Law (via Pinstripe Alley)

Underwhelming debut

With a pitch restriction of 70, Joba lasted just 2.1 innings (62 pitches). The problem was his control, which was all over: he walked four, and threw barely half his pitches for strikes. The two runs scored off him were of the cheap variety: the first scored on a walk, balk, passed ball and groundout. The other run scored on a walk, steal with a throwing error by Molina and another groundout. The one hit he allowed was a weak seeing-eye single. In his next start on Sunday, he's got to find his groove quicker. 37 pitches in the first inning is way too many.

Dan Giese came in and showed he can be a solid long-reliever. He went 3.2 innings allowing just one run. The game was still close at that point (3-2 Jays), but the pen imploded. First Veras, then Edwar, then Hawkins. Watching Edwar was just painful - the ump did have a small strike zone, but he threw just three of 17 pitches for strikes. Rick 'Wild Thing' Vaughan poppped into my head watching him.