twilightdawning

A writer's thoughts – mainly about music, sport and theatre. Shakespeare, Bob Dylan, live shows, New York Yankees

The New York Yankees – The Pitchers in September and October (2015)

Posted on November 2, 2015 by twilightdawning

One of the interesting factors for the New York Yankees over the last several seasons is how they handle the roster expansion in September. This year, as in the past, Joe Girardi seemed to feel under an obligation to try to use everybody, almost as though the season was already over and it was just a case of giving people game time. But this wasn’t Spring Training, it was a crucial chase to catch the Blue Jays and watching players like Chasen Shreve, and Bryan Mitchell coming apart at the seams wasn’t helpful to them or to the cause. Let’s see what happened:

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The New York Yankees – The Batters in September and October (2015)

Posted on October 31, 2015 by twilightdawning

Well, that is in the little bit of October the Yankees were actually involved in this year. They made it to the playoffs but only by wildcard qualification. And then in the one-game wildcard playoff, they failed to produce a single run in their game against the Houston Astros. Let’s look at what went wrong… and one or two things that went right and look bright for the future.

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Changes in the City That Never Sleeps

Posted on September 19, 2015 by twilightdawning

What: New York Yankees versus Tampa Bay Rays

Where: Yankee Stadium, New York, New York, USA

When: September 4 to 6, 2015

New York City is one of my favourite places in the world. London, Whitby (UK not Canada), Stratford-upon-Avon and New York are the places I love and not necessarily in that order. Being back there is always a good thing.

They call it the City That Never Sleeps and you can see why. But I guess in a city that never sleeps then sometimes changes seem to happen at double the speed. Some of my favourite things about this city are gone forever.

There was Mickey Mantle’s restaurant on 59th Street and its mashed potatoes and chicken. It’s not there are any more. There was the food and idiosyncratic shopping at the South Street Seaport. It’s been demolished. Of course, there was the old Yankee Stadium which you will look for in vain. It’s a long time gone. It’s not only Joe DiMaggio who we must ask where he is gone, some other favourites are gone too.

I first caught the baseball bug in the mid 80s but it was the mid 90s before I journeyed to New York to sit in that old Stadium that Ruth built. Then there was a players’ strike but like them I was to be back the following year. 1995.

1995. The year that a still developing centre-fielder called Bernie Williams was joined in the majors by four more developing stars. Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. Somebody told me a few days ago that the New York Yankees buy their success. That’s fine rhetoric and oft repeated but the evidence won’t bear it. The Yankees are at their strongest when their farm system is at its strongest – whether it be the “Core Four” of 1995 or the debuts of Mantle, DiMaggio, Gehrig or Munson. Growing internal greats has always worked out best.

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A Staten Island State of Mind

Posted on September 10, 2015 by twilightdawning

Where: The Ballpark at St George, Staten Island, New York

When: 3rd September 2015

What: Tri-City Valleycats vs Staten Island Yankees

The current season’s issue of “Playball!”, the Staten Island Yankees’ matchday programme shows photos of several former SI Yanks who have made it to the minors. There have been more than the 8 listed there (I recall one, Jason Anderson – there may have been others) but the truth is not many. Contrary to its probable intention, it got me reflecting during the game on how hard it is for these young men to make it to the top in their chosen sporting career. Or truth be told, anywhere near the top.

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The New York Yankees – The Pitchers in August (2015)

Posted on September 7, 2015 by twilightdawning

So whilst the bats were labouring the New York Yankees really needed the pitchers to pick up the slack. As it worked out their ERA was only marginally worse – 3.70 to 3.83 but the lack of batting left them with only a 14-14 record on the month which left the field wide open for the Toronto Blue Jays to steal the lead in the American League East which they were quite happy to do. Lurking behind the stats were impressive months for Masahiro Tanaka and Adam Warren particularly but let’s see what the rest of the picture reveals:

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The New York Yankees – The Batters in August (2015)

Posted on September 2, 2015 by twilightdawning

Let’s consider some figures:

.275

.274

.249

.240

What do they represent? Well, unsurprisingly for this column, they represent the monthly team batting averages for the New York Yankees for every month prior to August. The top one on the list is July, the bottom is April. June and May come inbetween and reveal the way that the Yankees’ batting had improved every month this season – that is until August, the month when their batting performance fell apart. Let’s see where the disaster had its roots:

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The New York Yankees – The Batters in July (2015)

Posted on August 1, 2015 by twilightdawning

In June, the New York Yankees’ bats caught fire, rising from a .249 team monthly batting average to .273. In July, against all expectations, they managed to maintain that and take it a little further with small gains in batting, slugging and on-base average.

Across the team, the bats are giving the pitchers that little extra breathing space and run support, resulting in a 17-7 month and a six-game lead in the American League East.

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The New York Yankees – The Pitchers in June (2015)

Posted on July 10, 2015 by twilightdawning

The Yankees pitching has been in a steady decline all season. In April, the average ERA of the team’s pitchers was 3.23 with a WHIP of 1.16. In May, that ERA was up to 4.38 and the WHIP was 1.33. In June, the WHIP was exactly the same but the ERA was up again to 4.48.

The bullpen kept the team rolling in April but was overused. In May it had begun to creak. By June some key players were injured but thankfully the batting had improved enough to keep the team alive – but they have used more relief pitchers prior to roster expansion than in any season in the team’s history. For a team at the head, or near to the head of the division, times are proving hard.

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The New York Yankees – The Pitchers in May (2015)

Posted on June 4, 2015 by twilightdawning

May in the pitching ranks of the New York Yankees went pretty much the way of April. Most of the starters struggled – Michael Pineda was the obvious exception. The bullpen began to look tired: the inevitable result of overuse, caused by sub-standard starting.

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The New York Yankees – The Batters in May (2015)

Posted on June 2, 2015 by twilightdawning

April 2015 was a bizarre month for the New York Yankees. They started with a 3-6 record and were bottom of the table. From there, they sprinted to 10 wins out of their next thirteen games, ending April one game ahead of the American League East and setting a pace which meant they should then relentlessly open up a gap ahead of all-comers.

And indeed, by the 11 of May with 8 wins out of their next 11 games, they opened up a 4 game lead. Journalists, experts and pundits were staggered as the Yankees’ bullpen and offense led them to performances that were far beyond anything that was predicted or anticipated — or even imagined by the most rabid fan.

And then the team returned quietly to the form of the early weeks of April as they crumbled against opposition from outside the division. The four game lead disappeared as they won 5 of their next 18 games. Will the real New York Yankees please stand up?

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