The Yankees rotation coming out of Spring Training looked like a disaster waiting to happen. The old hands (Freddy Garcia as a starter with Bartolo Colon in relief), the under-achievers (AJ Burnett, Phil Hughes), and the unknowns (Ivan Nova). So given that April was such a success it bodes well for the rest of the season. Or as May plays out, was this just beginners’ luck? Anyway, here’s what happened:
At the moment, it’s almost a relief to look back on something I wrote about the Yankees at the end of April. May has seen them go into meltdown and at the end of the April it all seemed so optimistic. It was only two weeks ago………
The 2011 season is an unusual one for the Yankees. They normally go into Spring Training as the best stocked team in professional baseball. And the emphasis is normally on depth of starting pitching.
The story of the Yankees bullpen in August was Kerry Wood. The finest player on the team was C.C. Sabathia. It is fair to say the pitching had a good month.
The Yankees have maintained their record of being the best team in the majors. In August, one additional factor fell into place – the bullpen. The bullpen which had been previously erratic and with roles constantly changing fell into place with the arrival of Kerry Wood. But before we get to that let’s attempt an overview of the batters – those who were strong, those were weak and those who were just plain confusing……..
The New York Yankees went into July in a strong position but during the month they allowed both Tampa Bay Rays and, for a while, Boston Red Sox to close the gap. They addressed some of the problems we’re going to highlight in this review with a group of trades at the end of the month which brought in Lance Berkman, Austin Kearns and Kerry Wood whilst giving up not a lot in return. This has particularly patched the gap left by Nick Johnson’s long and predictable injury. But before all that happened, there was most of the month of July to unfold……
| New York Yankees – Batting – Month – July | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Name | G | AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO | SH | SF | SB | BA | SLG | OBP | ||||||||||||||||||
| Teixeira, Mark | 26 | 96 | 25 | 33 | 26 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 20 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .344 | .698 | .462 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Thames, Marcus | 9 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .333 | .500 | .381 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Swisher, Nick | 25 | 102 | 20 | 33 | 16 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .324 | .627 | .384 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Cano, Robinson | 25 | 98 | 17 | 27 | 18 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .276 | .582 | .351 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Pena, Ramiro | 15 | 26 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .269 | .269 | .269 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Miranda, Juan | 10 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .267 | .467 | .313 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Granderson, Curtis | 26 | 94 | 17 | 25 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 21 | 2 | 1 | 2 | .266 | .436 | .314 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Rodriguez, Alex | 26 | 105 | 9 | 26 | 31 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 18 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .248 | .467 | .305 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Posada, Jorge | 21 | 73 | 7 | 18 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .247 | .438 | .360 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jeter, Derek | 26 | 106 | 22 | 26 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .245 | .311 | .310 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Curtis, Colin | 15 | 34 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .235 | .353 | .297 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Gardner, Brett | 25 | 77 | 16 | 17 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 6 | .221 | .338 | .375 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Cervelli, Francisco | 14 | 42 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .214 | .238 | .267 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Huffman, Chad | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .250 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Russo, Kevin | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Berkman, Lance | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 894 | 150 | 239 | 148 | 53 | 4 | 38 | 105 | 174 | 8 | 7 | 13 | .267 | .463 | .347 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Good
Mark Teixeira. Teixeira finally hit his stride in July and produced form which emulated his 2009 season offensively. This year whilst he has been consistently strong in defense, he has just not shown up at the plate. Now all that has begun to change. In July, he led the team in ERA, OBA and Slugging percentage. His 8 home runs were also ahead of the rest whilst his RBI total was second only to A-Rod.
Marcus Thames. Marcus has continued to impress against left-handed pitchers whilst his figures against righties were significantly better in July too. He will continue to be very much a back-up player and in that role 6 hits in 18 at bats will do very nicely indeed.
Nick Swisher. Nick Swisher is another player that has grown beyond recognition since he arrived in New York and this streakiest of players seems to be settling into a nice routine. Going into the season he looked like one of the potential weaknesses in an outfield that was going to over-rely on Granderson. As the season has developed, Swisher has become the guy who is first pencilled in of those in an outfield role. His .324 and increased patience at the plate (we could still use a few more walks from him) were highlights of a strong July.
Ramiro Pena. Pena had his best offensive month of the season and this coincided with Russo being the guy to be sent to the minors when changes were made early in the month. He still has a long, long way to go – no extra base hits and, more alarmingly, no walks on the month – but this was an advance.
Bad
Francisco Cervelli. I think Cervelli is over thinking at the plate and whatever hits he was producing last year and in the early months of the season are drying up fast. This is particularly bad timing for a slump with Posada’s on-going problems meaning that the team must depend on him and .214 on the month with one double simply does not cut it.
Colin Curtis. Curtis lost his back-up spot this month and forced the Yankees into making a move for Kearns and he has no-one to blame but himself. His 8 hits in 34 at-bats simply were too poor to be sustainable as things got tight at the top.
Derek Jeter. Jeter’s worst month at the plate in nearly two seasons in the midst of a season that is all the more noticeable poor because of his heroics in the championship winning season.
Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod’s preoccupation with himself and his tendency to concentrate on his own goals rather than the teams became so obvious with the horrible slump that occurred in the run-up to his 600th home run and ruined his July figures.
Surprises
Brett Gardner. Gardner became the player he was in 2009 in July and consequently, he produced by far his worst month’s figures of 2010. His .221 month means that when Kearns settles in, Gardner will begin to lose playing time.
Juan Miranda. Miranda finally settled into a rhythm in July — which resulted him being reassigned to Scranton. His .267 with one homer didn’t set the world alight but the choice of Berkman – who has never had to play DH – to replace him is an odd one.
Kevin Russo. Like so many other players on the Yankees roster this season a bright start when first called up soon became a gloomy outlook for Russo and whereas he was once getting more playing time than Pena, he now finds his future at Triple-A.
Jorge Posada. Things are not right with Posada. He needs more rest and the fact that he is being used mainly as a DH and that his batting figures are still so poor says everything.
The Yankees’ pitching has not been predictable this season. The performances have certainly not been like they were expected to be pre-season. Joba Chamberlain and A.J. Burnett have failed, so far, to live up to their top billing. But also, the appearances of April have not gelled into full season trends with Javier Vazquez particularly overcoming his early season problems. How did it all look during June?
| New York Yankees – Pitching – Month – June | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Name | GP | GS | GF | IP | H | RA | ER | BB | SO | W | L | Sv | ERA | OBA | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Mitre, Sergio | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | .167 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Rivera, Mariano | 11 | 0 | 11 | 13.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0.00 | .093 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Robertson, David | 9 | 0 | 2 | 9.0 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 | .250 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sabathia, C.C. | 5 | 5 | 0 | 37.0 | 25 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 35 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2.19 | .191 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Logan, Boone | 4 | 0 | 1 | 7.2 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.35 | .250 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Pettitte, Andy | 5 | 5 | 0 | 34.0 | 29 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 33 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3.18 | .232 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Vazquez, Javier | 6 | 6 | 0 | 39.0 | 26 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 35 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3.23 | .187 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Chamberlain, Joba | 12 | 0 | 0 | 10.2 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.22 | .275 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Gaudin, Chad | 7 | 0 | 6 | 12.2 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.97 | .267 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Hughes, Phil | 5 | 5 | 0 | 31.1 | 37 | 19 | 18 | 8 | 24 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5.17 | .303 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Park, Chan Ho | 9 | 0 | 5 | 11.2 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | .250 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Marte, Damaso | 8 | 0 | 0 | 5.1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | .125 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Burnett, A.J. | 5 | 5 | 0 | 23.0 | 35 | 29 | 29 | 17 | 19 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 11.35 | .357 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 87 | 26 | 26 | 236.1 | 208 | 112 | 108 | 93 | 211 | 16 | 10 | 7 | 4.11 | .239 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Good
Mariano Rivera. Rivera suffered one or two hiccups in May but his long career show that those occasional problems are nothing more than that and he finds it amazingly easy to get back in the groove. In 11 appearance in June, he only allowed six players to get on base and none of them resulted in runs given up. He continues to astound.
C.C. Sabathia. Sabathia took 5 wins in 5 starts after a largely indifferent start to the season. He is hitting his stride excellently as the season reaches its midpoint and a 20 win season looks well within his reach.
Andy Pettitte. Another solid month for Pettitte who is supposed to be aging and consequently fading. Without last year’s self-inflicted burden on his shoulders, he is looking more intimidating, more confident and simply a better pitcher. True growth isn’t found in pills or serum or injection but in overcoming adversity using those natural God-given resources.
Javier Vazquez. And now Vazquez is giving the Yankees the innings and solid pitching that he has delivered for every other team that he has represented but that he has struggled to match in the Bronx. In June, he kept his OBA below 2 and delivered six and a half innings, on average, each outing. That will do very nicely. Thank you.
Sergio Mitre. Mitre must be truly disappointed to be on the disabled list. That’s always a difficult experience but even more so when everything is coming right for you. His final appearance before the injury was as good as anything he has produced for the Pinstripes.
Bad
A.J. Burnett. Burnett got lost in June but there are already signs that his time in the wilderness might be coming to an end. But June saw him deliver a lousy 11.35 ERA and put more batters per innings on base than any other Yankees pitcher. Let’s hope those better days come thick and fast.
Joba Chamberlain. When he’s good, he’s good. But when he’s bad, he is simply awful. And the bad days are outnumbering the good. They failed to make a starter of him and he isn’t the reliever he was. Sometimes you tamper at your peril.
Chan Ho Park. There was a time when Park was a dominating starter. There was a time when Park was a dominating reliever. At the moment he is not pitching well, his mechanics seem all over the place and he is being hit all over the park.
Chad Gaudin. Having released this guy in Spring Training, I do not understand why we brought him back. Having brought him back when there was a number of injuries around, I don’t understand why he is still around now we have more options. He is ordinary when he is at his best.
Surprises
David Robertson. And in June, the 2009 David Robertson reappeared on the roster of the Bronx Bombers. Only time will tell whether the career of Mr Robertson will be more like this guy or whether the pitcher from the previous two months of this season will return. Certainly, this guy is the better one for the Yankees. He gave up one run and averaged a strikeout per innings. He still allowed too many men to get on base but this was a surprising return to form.
Boone Logan. Logan had a good month in June – which resulted in reassignment and another trip to the minors. The need to make a space on the roster for Dustin Moseley was obviously the core reason for this but Logan does bring something to the roster which will be missed. On the other side of the coin, it could be argued that there were times in June when Logan escaped lightly, having put several men on base but managing to get the final out when in difficult straits. There were also times when he was fortunate that others were able to come in and right the ship for him.
Phil Hughes. Hughes won four games in June – but you don’t have to look far to realise that this was mostly down to a very high level of run support. He may still be winning but he is not pitching as well as he was earlier in the year.
The Yankees had a mixed month in June. Overall, they were very good but they had a couple of dry spells when the bats fell silent and they lost games that, on paper, they should have won. The month finished with 16 wins and 10 losses and with the usual mix of strong performances and under-achievers. Here’s our monthly survey, beginning with the batters:
| New York Yankees – Batting – Month – June | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Name | G | AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO | SH | SF | SB | BA | SLG | OBP | ||||||||||||||||||
| Gardner, Brett | 21 | 60 | 13 | 23 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 6 | .383 | .533 | .472 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Curtis, Colin | 7 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .556 | .400 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Cano, Robinson | 26 | 102 | 19 | 34 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .510 | .398 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Teixeira, Mark | 26 | 100 | 19 | 25 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | .460 | .353 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Pettitte, Andy | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .250 | .250 | .250 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Rodriguez, Alex | 22 | 82 | 12 | 20 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .244 | .463 | .308 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jeter, Derek | 25 | 103 | 18 | 25 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .243 | .379 | .339 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Swisher, Nick | 26 | 104 | 13 | 25 | 19 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 22 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .240 | .423 | .319 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Granderson, Curtis | 26 | 92 | 13 | 22 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 25 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .239 | .457 | .297 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Posada, Jorge | 24 | 74 | 10 | 15 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .203 | .351 | .337 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Moeller, Chad | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 | .400 | .333 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Huffman, Chad | 8 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 | .200 | .294 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Cervelli, Francisco | 21 | 61 | 4 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .180 | .246 | .275 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Pena, Ramiro | 14 | 22 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .136 | .136 | .240 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Russo, Kevin | 13 | 23 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .130 | .130 | .231 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Thames, Marcus | 7 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .071 | .071 | .133 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Miranda, Juan | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Rivera, Mariano | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Vazquez, Javier | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 1.000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Burnett, A.J. | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sabathia, C.C. | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 877 | 124 | 215 | 117 | 40 | 5 | 29 | 106 | 174 | 6 | 7 | 12 | .245 | .401 | .333 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Good
Brett Gardner. Some where in the close season, someone kidnapped Brett Gardner and replaced him with the guy we’re seeing this season. Still a pest and a nuisance on the basepaths, this guy is now hitting in a much more accomplished way and has raised his average phenomenally. He should be the first guy written into the outfield line up on current form and achieved a .383 BA and a .533 slugging percentage during June.
Robinson Cano. Cano is the American League’s starting second baseman in the All-Star game and frankly it could be no other way. June was probably his weakest month of the season so far. He ONLY batted .333 with 4 home runs.
Mark Teixeira. Teixeira led the Yankees in extra base hits in June. He is still far short of his MVP-like performance in 2009 but his 6 doubles and 5 homers were a significant step in the right direction.
Colin Curtis. Brought in to cover the gap on the bench left by Marcus Thames’ injury, it didn’t take long for Curtis to jump ahead of Chad Huffman in the management’s thoughts on who is the longterm replacement there for the released Randy Winn. Curtis will see limited action but has been effective when called upon.
Bad
Marcus Thames. Thames started the season in very convincing fashion. Injuries meant that he couldn’t be limited to being used against left-handed pitchers and then he was injured himself. An .071 month in 14 at-bats followed by 2 weeks on the disabled list made for a shocking month for Thames.
Kevin Russo. Both Russo and Pena proved that there use as a defensive substitution and late innings replacement is messing with their batting mechanics. Solid defensively, it is hard to see who was the worst at the plate.
Ramiro Pena. See Kevin Russo.
Francisco Cervelli. Like the aforementioned Russo and Pena, Cervelli had a difficult month as a batter. The difference for Cervelli was that, during June, he was the team’s most called upon catcher. Those pundits who said he couldn’t bat are going to be mumbling again unless he break out of this nosedive.
Surprises
Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez is seeing an end to his power outage (perhaps) but he is still not getting on base nearly often enough. 10 extra base hits but only .244 on the month.
Derek Jeter. Jeter proved himself all over again in 2009 but his 2010 figures are shown a marked slide offensively which detracts from his continued defensive rebirth. Maybe his appearance in the All-Star game will be his springboard to a big second half.
Jorge Posada. Posada recovered from injury more quickly than I expected but his batting performance did not come back with the physical presence. The continued absence of Johnson means that even when not called upon to catch, Posada is uppermost in Girardi’s mind for DH time. On current performances, he could do without that work.
Chad Huffman. Huffman was a disappointment from the get-go. He has no power, isn’t hitting for much of an average. This is what happens when we pick up the castoff scraps from under other franchises’ tables.
The Yankees had less injuries amongst their pitching staff in May but it wasn’t a strong month for everyone. Most missed was Alfredo Aceves who headed for the disabled list to be replaced by new signing Chad Gaudin who had been released by the same organisation in March:
May was a month when the Yankees had to deal with a lot of injuries and in which the comfortable lead they had achieved in April gradually disappeared resulting in the Tampa Bay Rays passing them at the head of the division. Given the extent of their injuries, they had a reasonable month. Here are the players who were at the heart of it:
twilightdawning 