Well, the home run and the relief pitching have been the heart of the Yankees’ successful season so far and July wasn’t much different. We have coped with the loss of Alex Rodriguez and Mariano Rivera and maintained a lead at the head of the division. Who were the contributors in that surprising situation?
| New York Yankees – Pitching – Month – July | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Name | GP | GS | GF | CG | IP | H | RA | ER | BB | SO | W | L | Sv | ERA | OBA | |||||||||||||||||||
| Phelps, David | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 13.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.68 | .095 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Robertson, David | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11.2 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1.54 | .205 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Soriano, Rafael | 13 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 12.2 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 2.13 | .167 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Eppley, Cody | 13 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 10.2 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.53 | .310 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Hughes, Phil | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 35.0 | 29 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 26 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3.09 | .220 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Kuroda, Hiroki | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 35.0 | 32 | 15 | 14 | 4 | 27 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.60 | .244 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Rapada, Clay | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 | .278 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Garcia, Freddy | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 36.0 | 39 | 16 | 16 | 9 | 29 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4.00 | .283 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sabathia, CC | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 19.0 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.26 | .240 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Mitchell, D.J. | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | .300 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Nova, Ivan | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 34.2 | 43 | 27 | 23 | 14 | 34 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5.97 | .297 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Qualls, Chad | 8 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7.1 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6.14 | .345 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Logan, Boone | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.1 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9.95 | .320 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Wade, Cory | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40.50 | .667 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 103 | 26 | 25 | 1 | 229.0 | 224 | 110 | 101 | 72 | 210 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 3.97 | .255 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Good
David Robertson. Robertson has good years and not so good years. 2009 and 2011 we have seen him at his peak. 2010 was poor. 2012 has seen him deal with injury and some distinct wobbles en route – but this has been a year for overcoming. In July, he picked up 2 losses but led the team in ERA. Wonder how this mixed bag will work out in the remainder of the season.
Rafael Soriano. Soriano has stepped into the gap left by the huge loss of Mo Rivera and he handled the situation with aplomb. His saves are hardly ever achieved without putting at least one man on base but 9 out of 10 times, he comes through with the goods.
Phil Hughes. Hughes was probably the Yankees best starter in July just edging out Kuroda by a nose. He still doesn’t exactly dominate but with restored confidence and wins under his belt, he looks a different guy from the one who looked so lost on the mound not so long a time ago.
Hiroki Kuroda. Kuroda is much more consistent than he was earlier in the season. Two wins and three no-decisions with a complete game (you don’t get many of those playing on the Yankees) is as good a month as he has had since he moved to the east coast.
Bad
Cory Wade. I saw Wade’s debut for the Yankees and I have been pulling him for him to become more consistent and for much of this season he seemed to be achieving the target and then it all fell apart in June and July. July brought the last of what was an unremittingly awful group of appearances. As he rode the train to Scranton, he took with him an appearance when he achieved two outs but ran up a 40.50 ERA in the process. He’ll now join that other former Yankees no.53 whose surname begins with W, Kevin Whelan. Bet nobody is desperate to be the next guy to be given that shirt.
Boone Logan. Another guy who seemed to have got past inconsistency to be a mainstay of the bullpen. Whilst Logan’s month wasn’t as disastrous as Wade’s, it wasn’t what the Yankees were looking for either. Somehow he picked up two wins but they can’t conceal that month’s ERA of 9.95.
Chad Qualls. Chad wasn’t a disaster as a Yankee, he was just very ordinary and it became quickly apparent that he wasn’t going to cut it in the Bronx. He went as quickly as he came and the final month’s ERA of 6.14 and the second worst OBA on the roster just about tells the story why.
Ivan Nova. Nova isn’t having a good second half of the season and while he doesn’t seem to be disappointed with his stuff, the Yankees can’t share that opinion. His 3 losses in July and 5.97 ERA means that he is going to be under the microscope for the rest of the season and he’d better start looking concerned.
Surprises
David Phelps. Not quite a starter, but more than a long reliever. Best pitcher on the month anyway. Well done, Mr Phelps!
Cody Eppley. Eppley has been a real surprise package for the Yankees this year and has delivered far more than anybody anticipated. However, July contained a couple of occasions when he didn’t look likely to get anybody out. Watch this space.
D.J. Mitchell. Mitchell was doing okay but there wasn’t enough high notes for him to hit the upper echelon of the Yankees bullpen . Girardi saw him as one man too many in the bullpen and Mr Cashman arranged a nice trip to Scranton to get him more innings. And then the Mariners came in and traded Ichiro for him. What’s wrong with that picture?
C.C. Sabathia. Sabathia has been okay this season……. and there’s the problem. We expect more than okay from C.C. but that’s all he is – okay, not quite his dominating usual self.
Freddy Garcia. On his first go around as a starter this season, Garcia looked every inch the guy you hide in the bullpen to mop up lost games. Surprisingly, things conspired to give him a second bite ……. and now he’s doing much better. Not a world-beater but a respectable no. 5 starter who will give you 6 innings a turn and keep you in the game or better.
twilightdawning 