That's All Folks

As you can tell, my blogging has become nearly nonexistent over the last year or so. Every once in a while, I throw up a post, but nothing consistently.

Instead of pretending that I am an active blogger, I have decided to close the blog.

I will continue my quality start tracker on the blog because it interests me, but I wouldn't expect much more than that...some more than that, but certainly not much more.

But have no fear, to my six or so readers, if you absolutely MUST read my thoughts on the Yankees, I am now a part of Bronx Baseball Daily. Here, I can post once or twice a week, or month, or year, but there are many other talented writers there to pick up the slack and at least one post goes up everyday.

Hope to see you there. =)

It's been fun,

Jeteupthemiddle

I Can't Wait

I can't wait for Arod's return tonight.

• Posada is hanging out on the DL.
• Teixeira is sucking up the joint.
• Swisher has gotten on base in like every game, but has been slumping like whoa.
• Cano is 0 for his last million.
• Even Jose Freaking Molina is hurt.

The Yankees need Arod, and they need him now.

I don't care what he may or may not have done in baseball past (I care very little about what any ball player may or may not have done in baseball past with regards to steroids or womanizing or pitch tipping or what have you, I just don't care), all I know is that the Yankees need Alex Rodriguez.

And tonight, Alex Rodriguez they shall have.

10 Game Record: 5-5

Season Record: 10-10

Opponents: 3 vs. CLE (2-1); 2 vs. OAK (2-0); 3 @ BOS (0-3); 2 @ DET (1-1)

Standings: Toronto (15-7), Boston (13-7) , New York (10-10), Baltimore (9-12), Tampa Bay (8-13),

Pitching: 6.27 ERA through games 11-20

The Good

• Phil Hughes--Hughes made his 2009 debut and pitched beautifully against the Tigers. He only made 1 start during this 10 game start, but when you throw up zeros during a time when the team ERA was a sparkling 6.27, you get to be considered one of "the good."

The Bad

• Rest of the Team--umm, yeah. Lots of evilness going on here. Did I mention the 6.27 ERA over this 10 game stretch? And that includes a shutout.

The Ouchies and The Shuttle

• Chien-Ming Wang has been placed on the DL. I haven't decided if he is on the disabled list because he is disabled or because he sucks, but either way we don't have to deal with him for a minute.
• Brian Bruney was placed on the 15-day disabled list for elbow issues. This was a major blow to the bullpen as it was only him and Rivera who were reliable in the pen (even if Rivera blew the save).
• Anthony Claggett made his MLB debut in relief of Chien-Ming Wang. He sucked and then was optioned back down.
• David Robertson was sent back down to Scranton and then recalled again.
• Mark Melancon was called up and pitched a scoreless inning in his MLB debut. Hopefully that would continue because Lord knows that bullpen could use an over haul.
• Steven Jackson was on the team for many-a-day, though you wouldn't know it unless you checked the transaction logs. He didn't make it into a single game.
  
• Though it did not effect the 25-man roster, I feel I should note that Humberto Sanchez has been released by the team. The only remaining player from the Gary Sheffield trade is the previously mentioned Claggett.
  

Batting: .862 OPS through games 11-20

The Good

• Robinson Cano--Cano is continuing his excellent start. For games 11-20, he has a .963 OPS of 1.002. In fact, Cano has had a hit in all but 1 game this season. I wonder where the Yankees would have been in 2008 if they saw this Robinson Cano.
• Melky Cabrera--Melky has played into some playing time so far this year. There was a stretch where he had 4 hits in a row (ok, so there were outs in the middle of them, but the 4 hits he got made it to the seats). He has an OPS of 1.162 for the 10 game stretch and an OPS of 1.038 for the first 20 games.
  
• Johnny Damon--Damon has had 3 homeruns in his last 10 games. He also has 6 walks and 2 stolen bases. Damon has turned it on in the past few games.

The Bad

• Nick Swisher--After his ridiculous start, Swisher hasn't been exactly effective over the last 10 games. He hasn't been an automatic out with an on base percentage of .362, but he did cool off tremendously as was expected. That said, he has also started heating up again.
• Ramiro Pena--He has been excellent with the glove, and it isn't exactly fair to include him since he is just hanging out until Arod comes back, but a .500 OPS is a .500 OPS. I think he can do better than that as the year continues.

The Annoying

• He stole home? Really?
  

The Ouchies and The Shuttle

• Arod's ETA has been moved up to May 7, and it may be even earlier than that.
• Xavier Nady apparently doesn't need elbow surgery. He has been upgraded from out for the season to out 4-6 weeks. It may have seemed like a minor injury, but I think it really affected the bench and weakened everything else in the process.
• Cody Ransom has a tear in his hamstring. He was placed on the 60-day DL.
• Angel Berroa was added to the 25-man roster the day Ransom went to the 60-day DL. The 60-day DL allowed Berroa to be added to the 40-man roster in addition to the 25-man roster without designating anyone for assignment.
• Juan Miranda was on the team for a hot second during this 10 game stretch.

Highlight: April 28, 2009--Hughes makes his 2009 debut and pitches 6 of the 9 shutout innings for the evening. The Yankees win 11-0.

Lowlight: April 25, 2009--The Yankees blow a 6-0 lead and lose 16-11 against the Boston Red Sox. I could have chosen the Friday night game, but Rivera will blow saves; it has happened occassionally, but the Saturday game just sucked all around.

Coming up: The Yankees finish up their series with the Tigers and then welcome the Angels and Red Sox into The Stadium.

Murphy's Law

Murphy's law is an adage in Western culture that broadly states: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."

He stole home? Really?

Double Plays, Blown Saves, and DL Stints

Joba did not pitch fabulously yesterday, but he was aided by his good friend the Double Play Ball. He had roughly 15 of them in his 5.1 innings of work.

Ok, so the Red Sox only hit into 4 double plays, but the Yankees also hit into 3 double plays. I can't remember seeing 7 double plays in a game...I'm sure I have, but it seemed extra notable yesterday.

Those double plays kept Joba's line from not being terrible. Still, he needs to start pitching deeper into games.

So it is the 9th inning and Mariano Rivera is on the mound with 2 outs and a 2 run lead. Win Yankees yes? Well, sadly, no. Rivera served up a 2-run homerun to Jason Bay.

At this point, our bullpen is depleted (apparently Bruney was hurt) and our bench is empty. Home team has all the advantages entering extra innings.

That is not to say the Yankees didn't have their chances. They had men on base all night long, including the bases loaded with 1 out in the top of the 10th.

But alas, Kevin Youkilis hits the walk off homerun against Marte.

To top all of the suckitude that went on, Chien-Ming Wang is going on the DL (ok, that is probably a good thing), Cody Ransom is going on the DL (he sucks, but he did get the go ahead hit last night, and he was the best minor league option in the beginning of the season, not much has changed since then), and Brian Bruney has been sent to New York to get his elbow checked out.

Last night was sucky and all pregame action must be avoided by me this afternoon so that I do not have to listen to Joe Buck go on and on and on about it. It's bad enough they will be talking about the 22-4 loss last Saturday.

I really wanted game 1 too. I like knowing it is impossible to be swept.

AJ Burnett will have to be the magician he has been for the first part of the season yet again. Unfortunately for us, he is matched up against Josh Beckett who is freshly back from his suspension.

10 Game Rewind

10 Game Record: 5-5

Season Record: 5-5

Opponents: 3 @ BAL (1-2); 3 @ KC (2-1); 3 @ TB (2-1) 1 vs. CLE (0-1)

Standings: Toronto (8-3), Baltimore (6-5), New York (5-5), Tampa Bay (4-6), Boston (3-6)

Pitching: 5.44 ERA through games 1-10

The Good:

• Andy Pettitte--Pettitte pitched in 2 games. He totaled 14.1 innings, has an ERA of 2.51, and a record of 2-0. His ERA+ is 193.
  
• A.J. Burnett--Burnett pitched in 2 games as well. He nearly pitched a no-hitter, and went 8 innings in a game the Yankees desperately needed the starter to go 8 innings. He is 2-0 and has a 2.70 ERA. His ERA+ is 180.
• Brian Bruney--Bruney has pitched in 6 of the 10 games. He has pitched exceedingly well in 5 of the 6. He has struck out 10 of the 18 batters he has faced this season, and 10 of his last 14.

The Bad:

• Chien-Ming Wang--Oh man has Wang been very, very bad this season. He has made two starts--two disastrous starts. Right now his ERA is resting a 28.93 with an ERA+ of 17.
• Damaso Marte--He has pitched in 3 games so far this season. In 2 of them he wasn't bad, but in one of them he was awful. He allowed 6 runs in his 1 inning of work yesterday.

The Interesting:

• Nick Swisher pitched an inning of relief against the Tampa Bay Rays. He was the Yankees most effective pitcher that game, and he even recorded a strikeout.

Batting: .790 OPS through games 1-10

The Good

• Nick Swisher--Swisher has done everything he could possibly be asked to do (see Interesting, The). He is currently batting .406 with 10 extra base hits. His OPS+ for the 10 games is 273.
  
• Robinson Cano--After having a disastrous 2008 season, his is starting his 2009 season in amazing shape. I could mention his 189 OPS+, but what I find to be the most interesting is his 5 walks on the season. Did Cano really develop some sort of patience over the winter? I think we'll have to wait another month or so to be sure.
• Jorge Posada--Perhaps I was most worried about his return, but so far he is proving to be up to the task. He is getting a lot of time off, and he did DH twice, but I won't complain as long as he continues to produce.

The Bad

• Mark Teixeira--Teixeira is having an awful beginning to the 2009 season. His batting average is only a buck seventy, and his OPS+ is a paltry 68. He has 3 extra base hits, and he had to miss 3 games due to a wrist injury. Hopefully all of this will turn around quickly.
• Hideki Matsui--Anyone remember when Matsui was good? I vaguely recall. He was on base 4 times yesterday, but all that running around apparently left him injured for today. His contract expires after the season, to which I say good.
• Cody Ransom--I find it hard to complain about Ransom despite his .100 batting average because he is just filling in until Arod comes back, in what will hopefully be a couple of weeks or less. Still, here at the 10 Game Rewind, I can't ignore his terrible statistics just because he is filling in.

The Ouchies

• As I've previously mentioned, Mark Teixeira had to miss 3 games due to some sort of wrist injury and he has received a cortizone shot today.
• Xavior Nady needs to have elbow surgery. He will probably be out for the season. This badly effects the team's bench which was at one point considered a stregnth. It looks like Swisher officially has a spot in the everyday lineup (he did anyway, but now it is easier to do it), but it also means the bench is now weakened. Dave Robertson was initially called up to replace him. Apparently because he was the only effective pitcher in yesterday's game, he was optioned back down today and replaced with 1B Juan Miranda.

Highlight: April 14, 2009--AJ Burnett nearly pitches a no-hitter against the Rays.

Lowlight: April 12, 2009--The pen blows the lead against the Royals. I could have picked 1 of the 2 blowouts, but this game was more of a gut punch.

Today's Game: Yankees take on the Indians for game 2 at The New Yankee Stadium. What's with the afternoon start time for a Friday game?

Opening Day --Take 4

Today, April 16, 2009, is the Yankees official Home Opener of the 2009 baseball season.

I'm sure I don't have to mention it, but I will anyway, the significance of this particular Home Opener is the Inaugural Season of the New Yankee Stadium (yes, capitals).

Festivities for the event begin in about 10 minutes.

I, unfortunately, am playing receptionist for some extra cash and am missing it, but I am still excited about it.

Later today, or tomorrow morning I suppose, I will post a 10 Game Rewind that will summarize the good and the bad of the 9 game road trip and first home game of the season.

Today's lineup is:

YANKEES (5-4)
Derek Jeter SS
Johnny Damon LF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Nick Swisher RF
Jorge Posada C
Robinson Cano 2B
Hideki Matsui DH
Cody Ransom 3B
Brett Gardner CF

Posada is back at catcher and Ransom is back at third. Now would be a good time for Teixeira and Matsui to stop sucking at actually play well.

On the mound for the Yankees is CC Sabathia looking to build on his excellent start in Kansas City.

Let's Go Yank-ees!