twilightdawning

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

Yankees – Did the Yankees get it right in rightfield in 2008?

Posted on December 27, 2008 by twilightdawning

The Yankees were pretty much set in rightfield during 2008. . Whilst they used five other players in walk-on roles, the rightfield pretty much belonged to Bobby Abreu. Since the season finished the Yankees seem to have show little interest in the out-of-contract Mr Abreu. So what the story?

Bobby Abreu (156 games). Of those a massive 150 games saw Abreu spend time in rightfield. And it has to be said that Bobby was a very consistent presence in an uncertain year for the Bronx Bombers. He finished the season with a .296 batting average. He endured a slower start in April, going .269 on the month but he soon picked up the pace. He batted .330 with a .570 slugging average and 4 home runs the following month. June was a slower month but in July he hung around a .300 average all month before closing it out at .299. He also managed 20 RBIs in July, second only to A-Rod. In August, he had a quieter month for power but leapt to a season-high .342 batting average, only topped by the resurgent Derek Jeter. He finished the season with a quiet .276 which meant that he dropped below the .300 line for the season. His 100 RBIs and 100 runs and 20 homers made him a stand-out player for the Yankees in most every category, so why the lack of interest?
Well, the headline is that Abreu wants a multi-year deal and the Yankees would only be interested in having him back for 1 year initially. This would make sense on the cautious-build-from-within-2008 Yankees but makes no sense for the 2009 Yankees who having just rid themselves of 1 under-performing long-contract first-baseman have just signed Mark Teixeira to a mere eight years. For some reason, Abreu’s face doesn’t fit but whatever that is about it seems to have little to do with his on-field play. Go figure. It’s not likely that 1 year contract is even on the table for him to refuse. I’m more likely to be playing in the outfield than Abreu is – and that makes absolutely no sense.

Xavier Nady (59 games). Nady played only 7 games in rightfield. See my leftfield analysis for some thoughts on his season.

Melky Cabrera (129 games). 5 of those included time in rightfield. See my analysis of the centrefielders for a look at his troubled season.

Justin Christian (24 games). 5 in rightfield. Most in leftfield. And you’ll find my thoughts on him on the leftfield page.

Shelley Duncan (23 games). He played in rightfield in 4 games. See my first base analysis for my thoughts on his year.

Hideki Matsui (93 games). Only 3 of those came in rightfield. I’ll get to him when I get to the designated hitters.

And for 2009? Well, there’s Nady, Damon, Swisher (well, they have to find somewhere to put him now they’ve got Teixeira) and my money’s on Nady. The fact that he only played 7 games there in 2008 should worry the Yankees. Should worry them a lot……..

Yankees – Back to the centre (field) of everything

Posted on December 20, 2008 by twilightdawning

Centrefield seems to have been clearly identified as a major problem for the Yankees last season (second only to starting pitching). Consequently, come spring training it will be an area that is closely watched – that is unless the Yankees make a trade before then which settles the matter. It is somewhat surprising then to realise that they only used four men in that role in the whole of 2008 and that they didn’t spend the whole year casting around for a suitable occupant. Here’s the runners and riders:

Melky Cabrera (129 games). Of those 129, a 115 were spent in the centre of the outfield. He batted .249 during 2008 which was a 24 point drop off on his performance in the preceding year. Whilst this is a worrying development, it is significantly ahead of Brett Gardner (see below) who would be Cabrera’s nearest rival if there was no trade made before the season started (this seems far more likely than chasing a free agent). This wasn’t a season where Cabrera’s fortune rose and fell frequently as the months passed. Whilst he hit .299 in April, there was little to smile about after that. His average fell to .234 in May and then to a lowpoint .206 in June. He rose again to .272 in July but by August was out of favour and headed for the minors. Interestingly, he performed well at Scranton-Wilkes Barre and when he returned to the Bronx in September, he batted .462 over the 12 games in which he appeared. It does seem though that he has lost the confidence of the management of the New York team and that is a notoriously difficult thing to regain. Expect him to be gone before opening day.

Johnny Damon (143 games). Only 34 of Damon’s games saw him occupy centrefield at some stage in the ballgame. See my analysis of the leftfielders for some comments on his campaign as a whole.

Brett Gardner (42 games) Gardner spent time in centrefield in 22 of his appearances. The Yankees showed more and more enthusiasm for Gardner as the season progressed in 2008. It seems likely though that this enthusiasm was created by their lack of confidence in Cabrera (see above) than by anything in Gardner’s ability to fill this role in the long term. A reality check is required when we realise that Cabrera topped him not only in batting average but in slugging and on-base percentage too. Gardner has better speed on the base paths, not least shown in his 13 stolen bases to Cabrera’s 9, which were delivered in far fewer appearances. He also is the better fielder and his throwing arm has a greater range. The fact remains, however, that it is more likely that Cabrera might regain lost ground offensively than Gardner deliver something that just doesn’t seem to have ever been there. Expect Gardner to be the back-up outfield on opening day. For my money he is the third most likely player to occupy centrefield on a regular basis for the Yankees in 2009.

Justin Christian (24 games). Christian played in centrefield for only 3 games in 2008. For some thoughts on his season, please see my leftfield analysis. Since that was written, the Yankees have decided not to tender Christian a contract for 2009 which makes him a free agent. This is no surprise and falls into line with my prediction.

So where to for centrefield? Well, the big money remains on Mike Cameron arriving from the Brewers and becoming the resident in that role. If that doesn’t happen look for Cabrera and Gardner to run-off for that spot during Spring training with Cabrera an unlikely winner.

Yankees – one out of leftfield

Posted on December 9, 2008 by twilightdawning

In 2008, the Yankees used 6 players at left-field. Here’s a summary of how it all went:

Johnny Damon (143 games) . Of those 143 games, 86 included time in leftfield. On the whole, injuries aside, this was a good year for Damon and a distinct improvement over 2007.

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG
2007	141	533	93	144	27	2	12	63	211	66	79	27	3	.351	.396	.270
2008	143	555	95	168	27	5	17	71	256	62	82	29	8	.375	.461	.303

This can be seen in the way that almost every column on the comparison, above, shows an increase for 2008. However, he had some months when he was well off the pace. He opened the season with an April average of only .276 and it seemed like he was going to struggle to improve on his 2007 standard. But May was a step up (.306) and June proved a high month of the season for him, batting .363 albeit mainly hitting singles. He missed a dozen games in July and the enforced mid-season rest set him back a little. July and August were months when he set his benchmark for the season showing .304 and .306 averages respectively. September proved to be his worst month offensively and his season rather tailed off just as the rest of the team were putting together a winning sequence.
So a successful but uneven season for Damon offensively. In the field, he made few errors and continues to show amongst the best ranges of the everyday leftfielders.
It seems 95% certain that Damon will be one of the starting Yankees on opening day. Despite being an ex-Red Sox, he has been accepted by the fans and that would not be many ways to replace him and improve. A good 2009 for him will definitely help the team.

Xavier Nady (59 games). He played in leftfield in 46 of his games after arriving in mid-season. 2008 was pretty much a career year for the X-Man albeit that his better figures were put up before he left Pittsburgh. Nady previously had had a short tenure with the Mets but moved on after only 75 for the other New York team. At the moment, the Yankees seem to like him a lot and it seems likely that he will last much longer in this part of town. He batted .305 and slugged .510 across the season. It was .268 and .474 whilst wearing the Bronx pinstripes. At the moment the inclination seems to let Abreu depart and make Nady a fixture. Nady played only 7 games in rightfield and Damon played none. It will be interesting to see how one of them works out playing the whole season in that corner which seems likely as things stand. Look for Nady to be in the line-up on opening day but not necessarily in leftfield.

Hideki Matsui (93 games). Injury meant that Matsui played only 21 games in a position where earlier in his career, he had been a fixture. I’ll say more about his season when we get to the designated hitters which is where we are likely to see him in 2009.

Brett Gardner (42 games). This young outfielder played 17 games in leftfield. I’ll say more about him in the discussion of centrefielders.

Justin Christian (24 games). He played 9 of those games in leftfield which was his most appearances at any one position. There were times in the season when the Yankees hierarchy seemed to regard Gardner and Christian evenly in terms of their becoming a fixture on the Bronx Bombers. At one point Christian seemed to have edged ahead. By the end of the season, it seemed like Gardner was a firm choice and Christian was all but forgotten. Defensively, he did well. Like Gardner, he has speed and can steal bases. His .250 average included very little power hitting but Gardner is weak in that area too. I’m guessing that the difference between the two players is in those legendary indefinables that baseball experts sometimes talk about because otherwise I can see little to choose. Gardner looks likely to be on the opening day roster and has a shot of the centrefield job, Christian must be wondering where his future lies. I don’t get the feeling it will be in the Bronx.

Melky Cabrera (129 games) Played only eight of those in leftfield. I’ll say more about his "difficult season" when we get to the centrefielders.

So my feeling is that Damon is likely to the starting leftfielder come April but there is time for that to change. We’ll see how things shape up in Spring training but I expect that’s how it will be.

Yankees…. A short stop at Shortstop

Posted on November 28, 2008 by twilightdawning

The Yankees only used 4 players at shortstop during 2008. This was pretty much as expected. Derek Jeter OWNS this position and its pretty much guaranteed that he will continue to do so for the rest of his career. Here’s a survey of the performances at that position.

Derek Jeter (150 games). Jeter played 148 games at ss and 2 at DH. By his own standards this was a quieter year offensively.

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG
2006	NYY	154	623	118	214	39	3	14	97	301	69	102	34	5	.417	.483	.343
2007	NYY	156	639	102	206	39	4	12	73	289	56	100	15	8	.388	.452	.322
2008	NYY	150	596	88	179	25	3	11	69	243	52	85	11	5	.363	.408	.300
Career		8025	8025	1467	2535	411	57	206	1002	3678	813	1376	275	75	.387	.458	.316

In fact, it was more an inconsistent year than anything else. By September, he was batting .378 with a .425 OBP. The fact that his stats improved throughout the year bodes well for 2009. He is a certainty to be in the starting lineup on opening day.

Wilson Betemit (87 games). Betemit played 14 games at shortstop. The White Sox will have a good player in 2009. See my first base analysis for some comments on his season.

Alberto Gonzalez (28 games). Gonzalez played 14 of his games at shortstop. In both 2007 and 2008, he was a solid defensive player for the Bronx Bombers but he was a lightweight with the bat. By July 2008, his average had dropped to .173 and there were several other good defensive players available to back-up Jeter so the Yankees allowed him to depart for the Washington Nationals. Whether it was something to do with the drop in pressure in being away from New York or something else, his batting performance picked up in the limited time he saw at the plate for the Nationals. He collected his first major league home run and batted .347 in 49 at bats. He looks likely to continue with the Washington team in 2009.

Cody Ransom (33 games). Ransom played just 9 games at shortstop. See my first base analysis for some comments on his season.

Jeter is, injuries aside, certain to be the mainstay at shortstop during 2009. Predicting his back-up is more problematic. Betemit and Gonzalez are gone and Ransom looked more confident in other fielding positions. Hopefully all will become obvious in spring training.

To Ell and Back

Posted on November 16, 2008 by twilightdawning

I’ve spent the last two weekends in Leeds so now seems as good a time as any to update on the fortunes of my football (soccer, I don’t understand American Football) club, Leeds United. On Saturday, we played Huddersfield Town in Football League One (old third division) in a game which because of the geographical nearness of the two opposing teams drew over 32,000 fans, making it the 5th best attended game in England on the day and 6th best attended in the whole of the UK. Only 4 premiership games , none in the Championship and only Glasgow Rangers’ home game in Scotland, had a larger crowd. Football, then, is very much alive and kicking in Leeds but the team is not what they once were. But the hard times seem to be lifting. Prior to the game, we were third in the division, compared to Huddersfield’s standing in 16th. Despite this apparent advantage and the promise that a win, in this early kick-off, would take Leeds to the top of the division (at least until later in the day), we managed to lose 2-1 as Huddersfield scored in the last minute. Leeds had taken the lead through Snodgrass in the 4th minute but couldn’t hold on to the lead despite having the lion’s share of the quality individual performances.

What did this game reveal about the team?

Goalkeeper

1. Casper Ankergren. Ankergren has been sharing ownership of the goalkeeper’s jersey with David Lucas despite being the hot favourite to be the regular between the posts at the start of the season. His momentous error which led to the first Huddersfield goal undid an otherwise reasonably solid performance and did nothing to guarantee he will be in the side in a week’s time.

Defence

2. Frazer Richardson. Long serving captain, Richardson, looked more confident pressing forward than in his defensive duties. He provided a good overlapping presence on the right side with winger, Robert Snodgrass and the two gave the Huddersfield full-back a torrid time in the first half.

19. Ben Parker. Left back is a problem position for Leeds and Parker is the current incumbent. Again, better going forward than anything else and the Huddersfield attackers could have made more of the Leeds’ lack of enthusiasm to work on the left, particularly in the first half.

6. Lubo Michalik. The Slovakian central defender is good in the air and clears his lines well but doesn’t contribute much more than that. He will do at this level but it is hard to see him continuing in the team if they were promoted to the Championship.

26. Paul Telfer. The 37 year old central defender looked out-paced and wobbly on Saturday. There are more capable defenders in the squad and it is hard to see why McAllister is favouring him.

Midfield.

4. Jonathan Douglas. Douglas looked a class apart from most of the others on the field for most of the game. The manager replaced him and Delph just at the point when we seemed to have Huddersfield pinned in their own half. His maturity and vision were outstanding but he is let down by a suspect temperament. Our hopes of winning disappeared when he was removed.

15. Fabian Delph. Delph has silky skills and is fast developing into a great young player. I’m not sure who was meant to be playing on the leftside of midfield on Saturday but nobody seemed to fancy that role. Delph, particularly, had a tendency to cut inside when he received the ball rather than being tempted to explore the left side of the pitch. Good game otherwise, if a little too easily knocked off the ball and another regrettable substitution in the late stages.

8. Neil Kilkenny. I spent most of half time trying to remember who was the 11th player on the Leeds side (there is no scoreboard at Elland Road at the moment!). Kilkenny was that invisible presence and, thankfully, he was removed early in the second half, having contributed nothing I could remember.

Forwards

18. Andy Robinson. Robinson played wide on the left side of the forward line. He suffered from lack of support and got himself needlessly cautioned. He has a tendency to appear a little lazy when disposessed and didn’t chase back well on Saturday. Having said that going forward, he appeared to be one of the more solid Leeds players and can shoot from distance.

23. Robert Snograss. Wide on the right, Snodgrass was Leeds’ best player on the day. He scored Leeds’ only goal. Skilful, with a good touch and willing to run at opponents with vigour, he was our brightest hope – particularly in the first half.

10. Luciano Becchio. A lone central forward for most of the game, Becchio was persistent and solid. When Beckford was brought on, Becchio had more freedom, showed more flair and might have scored.

Substitutes

9. Jermaine Beckford. Top scorer, Beckford, entered the game very positively, early in the second half. In truth, he might have scored within minutes of his arrival. However, his contribution lessened after a couple of heavy challenges knocked him to the ground and the midfield line behind him was rearranged. The sooner he is fully match-fit and can start every game, the better.

7. David Prutton. Suffered by comparison with the players that he and Howson were required to replace, but in truth did well and looked sparky and bright. A poor free kick from him was our last scoring chance.

14. Jonathan Howson. Like Prutton, he was solid but not spectacular. Tried in difficult circumstances.

Unused substitutes: 12. David Lucas. 21 Enoch Showunmi

So a disappointing result before a large crowd. Danny Cadamarteri had something to prove when he came on as Huddersfield’s last substitute and he was responsible for single-handedly creating the chance which led to the second goal but the changes in midfield ended Leeds’ dominance and it wasn’t only the players on the field who had reason to blush.

This looks like another season when we will make the playoffs – and then anything can happen.

Maybe this lad could do a job for us – Lucas the Kop Kat turns away having slammed in a penalty during the warm-up

Darren & the late Billy Bremner

End of the Innocence – The End of August – Part 1

Posted on September 7, 2008 by twilightdawning

So the likelihood of the New York Yankees reaching the post-season gets slimmer and slimmer. August wasn’t the month of finally finding their way that Mr. Girardi had hoped for but it was a month with some bright spots and some hope for the future

New York Yankees – Batting – Month – August



Name                   AB  R  H  RBI 2B  3B HR BB SO SH SF SB  BA   SLG

Ransom, Cody            5  3  3   5   1  0  2  1  1  0  0  0  .600 2.000

Jeter, Derek          113 12 39  11   1  0  2  7 21  2  2  3  .345 .407

Abreu, Bobby          114 16 39  10   6  0  1 12 19  0  0  2  .342 .421

Gardner, Brett         15  1  5   2   1  1  0  1  2  0  0  2  .333 .533

Nady, Xavier          107  9 33  19   5  0  6  5 28  0  0  0  .308 .523

Damon, Johnny         115 22 35  11   2  1  4 14 22  0  0  9  .304 .443

Betemit, Wilson        34  4 10   5   1  0  1  1  9  0  0  0  .294 .412

Cano, Robinson        100 14 29  10   3  2  4  7 18  0  0  0  .290 .480

Rodriguez, Alex       103 23 25  16   8  0  6 13 30  0  1  1  .243 .495

Giambi, Jason          82  9 19  22   0  0  8 10 25  0  3  0  .232 .524

Molina, Jose           45  8 10   4   2  0  2  1  7  1  0  0  .222 .400

Christian, Justin      15  2  3   1   1  0  0  0  3  0  0  2  .200 .267

Rodriguez, Ivan        56  6  11  2   1  0  2  3  9  0  0  1  .196 .321

Matsui, Hideki         43  4  8   6   2  0  2  5  6  0  0  0  .186 .372

Sexson, Richie         13  1  2   4   1  0  1  2  5  0  0  0  .154 .462

Cabrera, Melky         26  1  3   1   0  0  0  0  3  0  0  1  .115 .115

Pluses

Bobby Abreu. Abreu has been our most consistent hitter and outfielder and that continued in August. Hitting .342 on the month, he is not hitting for power but he is a singles-and-doubles hitter par excellence and is lively on the bases.

Derek Jeter. Jeter had to have a good month at some point and August seems to have been it. He has never been awful but has never lived up to his performance of previous years. Again, the power wasn’t there but .345 on the month is more like it.

Xavier Nady. Nady hasn’t slowed since he came to the Bronx and this month he hit .308 and was second in homers. He looks a key part of the outfield for 2009.

Minuses

Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod has been consistently good if not great so far this year but the second half of August was a real let-down. Again and again, he would be in a clutch hitting spot with runners on base and again and again, particularly in late innings, he would come up with nothing. This meant hearty booing from the bleachers which livened up some dreary defeats but, like A-Rod, really achieved nothing.

Melky Cabrera. And the cupboard was bare….. Melky is back in the Bronx in September but doesn’t look likely to feature much. It has been an awful year for this guy.

Ivan Rodriguez. Sharing the catching equally with Jose Molina (and hitting less than him) and batting .196 on the month with no power to speak of, it has been a bad trade which saw Farnsworth go to Detroit for this guy whose glory days are behind him.

Surprises

Brett Gardner. Gardner has finally begun to hit for average as well as being a base-running threat. Best month of a limited season.

Cody Ransom. We all smiled when Ransom had two-at-bats and two home runs. It had to end but he has acquitted himself very well in his very limited role.

Wilson Betemit. Betemit has continued to impress me with his commitment and hitting / fielding off the bench. He has become a very serviceable player in the second half of the season.

Sometimes…..

Posted on August 5, 2008 by twilightdawning

Earlier I said:

“Personally, I’d rest Rasner and give him a moment to catch his breath and allow Giese to take his next start.”

Then the Yankees said:

“The Yankees announced Monday that Dan Giese will take over as the team’s fifth starter, while Rasner will settle into a long relief role. Giese’s first start will come Friday in Anaheim after a string of successful relief performances earned him a promotion.”

Got that one right

July review – New York Yankee pitchers

Posted on August 4, 2008 by twilightdawning

On the whole, July has been a good month for pitching for the Yankees with few exceptions. Even those who didn’t do so well managed the odd good outing:

New York Yankees – Pitching – Month – July

Name GP IP H RA ER BB SO W L Sv ERA OBA

Ramirez, Edwar 10 11.1 0 0 0 3 16 1 0 0 0.00 .000

Giese, Dan 6 10.1 8 2 2 2 5 0 0 0 1.74 .211

Farnsworth, Kyle 10 8.1 4 2 2 4 9 0 0 0 2.16 .133

Chamberlain, Joba 6 35.2 30 11 10 10 43 2 1 0 2.52 .227

Mussina, Mike 5 31.0 36 9 9 2 27 3 1 0 2.61 .300

Veras, Jose 11 10.1 8 3 3 5 13 0 1 0 2.61 .211

Rivera, Mariano 9 11.0 11 4 4 1 15 2 1 4 3.27 .262

Hawkins, LaTroy 6 6.2 6 3 3 1 5 0 0 0 4.05 .240

Pettitte, Andy 6 38.0 41 23 20 10 33 3 3 0 4.74 .281

Robertson, David 12 12.2 8 7 7 7 16 2 0 0 4.97 .174

Rasner, Darrell 4 21.2 29 16 15 11 11 1 2 0 6.23 .333

Britton, Chris 1 3.2 7 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 7.36 .438

Traber, Billy 2 2.1 2 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 7.71 .222

Marte, Damaso 3 2.1 4 2 2 1 4 0 0 0 7.71 .364

Ponson, Sidney 4 20.2 33 18 18 8 8 1 1 0 7.84 .379

Pluses

Edwar Ramirez. In 10 appearances in July, Ramirez didn’t give up a run and achieved 11 1/3 innings on the mound. He’s already experienced a wobble in August but in July he was as good as it gets

Joba Chamberlain. Joba is finally settling into this starting business. In July, he achieved two wins and was solid in every other statistical category.

Mike Mussina. Moose continues to enjoy his indian summer. With solid support from the offence and some canny pitching, he continues to succeed despite allowing two many runners.

Minuses

Sidney Ponson. Despite the occasional good start this has not been a good month for Sidney. 7.84 ERA and only 5 innings (on average) per start.

Darrell Rasner. Rasner and Ponson give us two games in every five where we’re lucky to be level when the starter leaves. Personally, I’d rest Rasner and give him a moment to catch his breath and allow Giese to take his next start.

David Robertson. After beginning well, he appears to be fading fast. His ERA was a whisker under 5 for the month.

Surprises

Kyle Farnsworth. Farnsworth was finally in his stride. An OBA of .133 on the month was positively miserly resulting in a 2.16 ERA for that period. It must have hurt Girardi to see him go.

Dan Giese. Giese continues to be successful. Soon I’m going to stop being surprised by this. Proportionally, he gave up a lot of hits but very few of those passed home plate.

Mariano Rivera. Rivera is struggling when he comes into a game level or behind and generally it is the first batter he faces who hurts him. Maybe this is psychological at the moment but it is a mar on an otherwise great season.

July review – New York Yankee hitters

Posted on August 3, 2008 by twilightdawning

Mmmmm…….. Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez for Kyle Farnsworth. Girardi described it as robbing Peter to pay Paul. Too true. The last two months are the first time that I’ve been glad to see Farnsworth on the Yankees roster sheet and now he is gone. Pudge is not the player he once was but he seems to have matured as a person. So I guess this one hangs in the balance and may do until late September. July was a very mixed month for the Bronx Bombers. Here is how it played out on the offensive side of the account (I’ve included the stats for actual Yankees appearances for the incoming players):

New York Yankees – Batting – Month – July

Name AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SO SH SF SB BA SLG

Mussina, Mike 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500

Christian, Justin 10 2 4 3 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 .400 .500

Rodriguez, Alex 95 20 32 21 6 0 7 9 20 0 1 4 .337 .621

Rodriguez, Ivan 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .333 .333

Sexson, Richie 15 1 5 2 0 0 0 4 5 0 1 0 .333 .333

Cano, Robinson 101 11 33 17 6 1 3 3 9 1 0 0 .327 .495

Damon, Johnny 54 11 17 11 4 0 1 7 6 0 0 2 .315 .444

Abreu, Bobby 97 21 29 20 11 0 4 14 15 0 0 2 .299 .536

Jeter, Derek 100 14 28 14 8 0 2 10 16 0 0 1 .280 .420

Nady, Xavier 18 6 5 4 2 0 2 2 4 0 0 0 .278 .722

Cabrera, Melky 92 11 25 3 3 1 1 2 13 1 0 2 .272 .359

Giambi, Jason 64 7 15 16 1 0 3 14 18 0 1 0 .234 .391

Molina, Jose 50 8 11 1 2 0 0 5 9 1 0 0 .220 .260

Betemit, Wilson 46 4 10 3 1 0 0 3 15 1 0 0 .217 .239

Posada, Jorge 42 5 9 2 2 0 0 8 14 0 0 0 .214 .262

Gardner, Brett 56 8 9 7 1 0 0 5 16 2 1 4 .161 .179

Moeller, Chad 12 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 .083 .083

Gonzalez, Alberto 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000

Pluses

Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod continues to be consistent and impress. Of the players who have been on the roster all month he leads in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging average, home runs, and is tied for lead in stolen bases.

Robinson Cano. Having begun to turn things around before the All-Star break, he was red-hot immediately after the restart. A swollen hand saw him dip again at the end of the month and then drop out of the lineup in early August.

Bobby Abreu. .299 in July with 11 doubles and 4 home runs. It’s the nearest he’s come to his previous from during this season.

Minuses

Alberto Gonzalez. Gonzalez looked a good prospect at the beginning of the season. He was only given 1 at bat in July, leaving him at .173 batting average and .212 slugging for the season. Not surprisingly, he was traded at the deadline for anything we could get.

Jason Giambi. 3 home runs and .234 batting average. Giambi is busy turning a comeback year into nothing special.

Chad Moeller. 1 hit in 12 at bats for Moeller and third string catcher gave us enough reasons to be sure that a Molina-Moeller tandem was never going to cover Posada’s absence. So Moeller is gone and Pudge is in but we have had to give up Farnsworth to achieve this.

Surprises

Wilson Betemit. Betemit was poor for the part of the season, massively improved for the second and hit the skids again shortly after. Defensively he’s been okay but poor offense has let him down – somehow we think Sexson is going to be an improvement.

Justin Christian. Christian was called up ahead of Brett Gardner. Gardner seemed to settle more quickly and the edge in speed on the bases. But Christian has persevered and whilst Gardner’s confidence seemed to fail as July progressed (resulting in him being sent back to Scranton), Justin produced 4 hits in 10 at bats. He’s going to see more bench time than playing time but he’s earned his spot

Richie Sexson. Five hits in his first fifteen at bats. No home runs. No extra base hits. Not sure what to make of this but it certainly wasn’t what was expected.

All-Star Break # 3 – Making my pitch……

Posted on July 18, 2008 by twilightdawning

So yesterday we look at the performance of the Yankee hitters in comparison with predictions compared by myself and the Bill James Handbook 2008. Today, we do the same for the pitchers…….

Mariano Rivera

Predictions: Games – 41, Saves – 21, ERA – 2.72
Actual: Games – 38, Saves – 23, ERA – 1.06

Mariano Rivera is a model of consistency. That he is still able to do this at this level at 38 years of age is nothing short of amazing. His ERA is one and a half runs ahead of where I thought it would be.

Kyle Farnsworth

Predictions: Games – 34, Wins – 2, ERA – 3.86
Actual: Games – 41, Wins – 1, ERA – 3.51

Farnsworth has had a much better year than I could have anticipated. His ERA is better now than at any time since he became a Yankee and since Chamberlain moved to the rotation, he has a clearly defined role in bridging the gap between the starter and Rivera

Mike Mussina

Predictions: Games – 16, Wins – 6, ERA – 3.74
Actual: Games – 19, Wins – 11, ERA – 3.61

Everybody expected Moose to bounce back a little but nobody tipped this to happen. He has had high run support but this can’t account for all his wins. He has been a substantially better pitcher than he ever looked like he would be again.

Andy Pettitte

Predictions: Games – 19, Wins – 8, ERA – 3.78
Actual: Games – 20, Wins – 10, ERA – 4.03

Pettitte had a horrible post-season that he brought upon himself. The official Yankees website has been talking about him having a poor first half. In reality, he has been as good as we could have hoped for. The veteran starters have kept us in the race.

Chien-Ming Wang

Predictions: Games – 18, Wins – 8, ERA – 3.75
Actual: Games – 15, Wins – 8, ERA – 4.07

Wang began to lose his form before his injury. Given the time that he has spent on the DL and that slow down, his performance has been pretty good.

LaTroy Hawkins

Predictions: Games – 35, Wins – 2, ERA – 3.60
Actual: Games – 30, Wins – 1, ERA – 5.79

Girardi has no confidence in Hawkins. His appearances have come in non-crucial innings and it is difficult to imagine he would still be around, if they could’ve got a deal for him and if it wasn’t for the injuries. His ERA has bloated but whether this is entirely due to a loss of form or whether this is partially due to a confidence-crisis is difficult to discern.

The less predictables

In addition to these mainstays, it was impossible to make predictions for Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes, Kei Igawa and Joba Chamberlain because they didn’t really have whole seasons at the Major League level to bases guesses upon. However, there can be no disguising the fact that no-one would have hazarded that Hughes and Kennedy would fall apart quite so badly as they did. No-one would have guessed that Igawa (and his huge contract) would really have no role to play whatsoever. The Steinbrenner (junior) influenced transfer of Chamberlain from successful reliever to average starter was a hasty decision always destined to get off to a slow start and so it has.

Pluses: Mariano Rivera, Kyle Farnsworth, Mike Mussina
Minuses: LaTroy Hawkins, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Kei Igawa
Surprises: Dan Giese, Jose Veras

Jose Veras has been another key piece of the puzzle. I wouldn’t have expected him to be a regular part of the bullpen at all at this stage but he has stepped in Chamberlain’s role very effectively.

Dan Giese wasn’t even on the compass. He has filled some gaps very nicely.

So what happens next……? We’ll see