twilightdawning

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

Yankees….Round Third Base and Heading for Home

Posted on November 20, 2008 by twilightdawning

In 2008, the Yankees used 6 men to man third base but it was always going to be Alex Rodriguez who dominated the position which he did, aside from some down time caused by injury. Here’s how he performed along with the others who were called upon in the position:

Alex Rodriguez (138 games). Rodriguez played 131 games at third base, the remaining seven he was used at designated hitter.

It was only partially because of his time on the disabled list that he fell short of his offensive figures of 2007. Despite his fairly even performance, he was slightly down on his own high standards:

		G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG
2007	NYY	158	583	143	183	31	0	54	156	376	95	120	24	4	.422	.645	.314
2008	NYY	138	510	104	154	33	0	35	103	292	65	117	18	3	.392	.573	.302

Frequency of strike outs was up and he showed less patience at the plate. Defensively he was as strong as ever with few errors.

The Yankee fans have him tabbed as someone who can’t performance in the post-season and this year there was no opportunity for him to prove them wrong or right – so that debate will have to wait.

Expect Rodriguez to man third base throughout the 2009 season and to be amongst the Yankees strongest performances. An everyday player.

Morgan Ensberg (28 games). He played at third base in 21 of his 28 appearances. Ensberg was a surprise in the opening day roster and few who fall in that category see the season out. His .233 average in April suggested that Ensberg wouldn’t buck that trend. His major opportunity came in May with Rodriguez injured and Gonzalez suffering at the plate. He failed to turn this to his advantage with his average on the month falling to .161 on the month. As a consequence, he lost playing time to Alberto Gonzalez who is the stronger player defensively. He was gone before June began and didn’t find another ML team willing to give him plate time.

Wilson Betemit (87 games). He played at third base in 20 of these games. See my first base analysis for some comments on his season. I hope he does well for the White Sox next year.

Alberto Gonzalez (28 games) He played at third base in parts of 20 games. I’ll say more about his season when I get to the shortstops.

Cody Ransom (33 games). He only manned third base on 4 occasions. See my first base analysis for some comments on his season.

Chad Moeller (41 games). This versatile player saw some time at third base in 3 games. I’ll say more about his season when I get to the catchers.

So A-Rod will be back at third base in 2009, but there will to be someone found to act as a back-up. Perhaps they’ll pick up someone as a minor addition to a trade.

Yankees at second base …. but far from home

Posted on November 17, 2008 by twilightdawning

The Yankees used only 4 players at Second Base during the 2008 series. Here they are:

Robinson Cano (159 games). All Cano’s 159 games involved some time at Second Base although for three of them he entered the game as a pinch hitter before moving to that position. His previous years’ performances were the reason for the confidence they placed in him. The nadir of that confidence came when Girardi benched him for not running down infield hits.

Year	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG
2005	132	522	78	155	34	4	14	62	239	16	68	1	3	.320	.458	.297
2006	122	482	62	165	41	1	15	78	253	18	54	5	2	.365	.525	.342
2007	160	617	93	189	41	7	19	97	301	39	85	4	5	.353	.488	.306

With Cano you’re essentially looking at someone who hits singles well but this year he fell away in some major offensive categories

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG
2008	159	597	70	162	35	3	14	72	245	26	65	2	4	.305	.410	.271

Effectively, he produced less hits in 597 at-bats this year, than he had in 115 less turns at the plate in 2006

Question marks against Cano are such that if any team requested him as part of a trade then the Yankees wouldn’t need much persuading. In reality, this is unlikely to happen. Other teams are as likely to be as wary of his falling away as the Yankees are right now. Expect him to be in the line-up on opening day.

Alberto Gonzalez (28 games). Only 4 of Gonzalez’s 28 appearances in a New York shirt came at Second Base. I’ll say more about him when we get to the shortstops.

Wilson Betemit (87 games). Only 3 of Betemit’s appearances came at Second Base. See my first base analysis for some comments on his season. Update: Betemit’s time as a Yankee came to an end last week as he was a key piece in the trade that brought the White Sox’s Nick Swisher to the Bronx. This leaves the Yankees with the task of finding a suitable backup for the middle infield positions. Last season’s principal choices Betemit and Gonzalez are no longer around.

Cody Ransom (33 games). Only 2 of Ransom’s games involved time at Second Base. See my first base analysis for some comments on his season.

So Cano seems very likely to be the first choice second baseman, at least at the beginning of the season. Expect the Yankees to try and pick up a solid bench player during the off-season to help out at 2b, 3b and ss.

When September Ends (#2 – the Pitchers)

Posted on October 7, 2008 by twilightdawning

The bullpen came up with the goods in the last month – but let’s face it they had to. The starters were prone to only delivering 4 or 5 innings and with exception of Mussina and Aceves, the rotation was a mess.

New York Yankees – Pitching – Month – September

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

Bruney, Brian 10 10.0 3 0 0 2 12 2 0 0 0.00 .091

Robertson, David 4 4.2 2 0 0 3 7 1 0 0 0.00 .125

Coke, Phil 12 14.2 8 1 1 2 14 1 0 0 0.61 .160

Rivera, Mariano 9 9.0 4 1 1 0 7 1 0 7 1.00 .125

Marte, Damaso 9 6.2 4 1 1 3 7 1 0 0 1.35 .167

Hughes, Phil 2 12.0 9 3 3 2 10 0 0 0 2.25 .209

Chamberlain, Joba 10 11.1 11 3 3 3 14 0 0 0 2.38 .250

Aceves, Alfredo 5 28.0 25 8 8 10 13 1 0 0 2.57 .240

Mussina, Mike 6 34.0 37 12 12 8 35 4 2 0 3.18 .282

Veras, Jose 10 9.0 10 4 4 7 11 1 1 0 4.00 .286

Sanchez, Humberto 2 2.0 1 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 4.50 .167

Pettitte, Andy 4 22.2 29 14 12 6 21 1 3 0 4.76 .302

Ponson, Sidney 5 19.1 24 15 14 6 9 1 0 0 6.52 .296

Pavano, Carl 5 23.1 31 19 18 8 9 2 2 0 6.94 .326

Britton, Chris 6 7.1 11 6 6 6 3 0 0 0 7.36 .367

Ramirez, Edwar 6 5.1 8 5 5 5 6 1 0 0 8.44 .364

Giese, Dan 5 5.0 11 8 6 1 4 0 0 0 10.80 .423

Rasner, Darrell 4 5.1 7 7 7 6 3 0 1 0 11.81 .304

Pluses

Brian Bruney. Bruney was a treasure this season whenever he was fit. A little lost weight and a little more consistency has led a good member of the bullpen to being a great member of the bullpen. His .091 OBA in September says it all.

Phil Coke. Coke had to eventually give up a run but it was only 1. There are signs that opposition were getting a little more used to him but here’s hoping he can roll into 2009 at the same level.

Mariano Rivera. Rivera got the last out at the old Yankee Stadium on a night which will live in the memory for a long, long time. He has had an excellent season and September was more of the same.

Minuses

Carl Pavano. Pavano was very lucky in his starts to pull off 4 wins. I don’t think there was one, he really deserved but he got lots of run support. There have been some disastrous signings of starting pitchers over the last 20 years – Andy Hawkins and Tim Leary come to mind – and Pavano is right up there with the worst.

Darrell Rasner. September finally saw him bounced out of the starting rotation as he achieved a season high 11.81 ERA on the month. Part of me thinks that a lot of this is down to a coaching staff who left him to wilt until it was too late. Most of me knows he won’t be in pinstripes in April.

Chris Britton. Britton was finally reduced to ninth innings in games we were winning by a considerable margin and he still struggled then. .367 OBA. He allowed too many hits and walked too many.

Surprises

Dan Giese. Giese did well in relief. Giese did well as a starter. Giese came back from injury well. And then in September it all fell apart. 10.80 ERA and leading the team in OBA on the month.

Damaso Marte. We finally found the right role for Mr. Marte who had struggled to find consistency since arriving from the Pirates. A good month for him and part of a package with Bruney, Chamberlain and Rivera which worked very well indeed on a number of occasions.

Humberto Sanchez. Sanchez’s arrival in the Bronx has been talked about for two or three years. Injuries got in the way on a number of occasions. He finally made it in the final week of the season and was …….ordinary.

When September Ends (#1 – the Hitters)

Posted on October 5, 2008 by twilightdawning

So the regular baseball season is over and my most recent trip to the Bronx seems quite a while ago. The playoffs continue without the Yankees for the first time since 1993 (we would have won it all in ’94 if it wasn’t for that damn strike). My hopes are pinned on the LA Dodgers principally because of the Joe Torre link.

Anyway time to survey the second half of September.

New York Yankees – Batting – Month – September

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

Cabrera, Melky 13 3 6 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 .462 .462

Miranda, Juan 10 2 4 1 1 0 0 2 4 0 1 0 .400 .500

Jeter, Derek 76 15 26 9 1 0 3 12 11 2 0 2 .342 .474

Betemit, Wilson 30 4 9 5 5 0 1 0 9 0 0 0 .300 .567

Cano, Robinson 94 13 27 12 8 0 1 2 12 0 2 1 .287 .404

Gardner, Brett 53 9 15 7 3 1 0 2 11 1 0 6 .283 .377

Rodriguez, Alex 79 16 22 23 2 0 6 13 20 0 1 2 .278 .532

Abreu, Bobby 87 19 24 17 4 1 5 14 16 0 1 7 .276 .517

Ransom, Cody 38 6 10 3 2 0 2 6 11 1 0 0 .263 .474

Moeller, Chad 16 3 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 .250 .313

Damon, Johnny 88 16 22 14 1 1 6 9 10 0 0 4 .250 .489

Rodriguez, Ivan 37 5 9 1 3 0 0 1 5 0 0 3 .243 .324

Matsui, Hideki 43 2 10 5 2 0 0 2 11 0 0 0 .233 .279

Giambi, Jason 84 11 19 12 6 0 4 12 25 0 2 0 .226 .440

Nady, Xavier 103 11 23 17 4 0 4 7 16 0 1 1 .223 .379

Molina, Jose 28 3 4 3 0 0 1 1 11 1 1 0 .143 .250

Cervelli, Francisco 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 .000 .000

Pluses

Derek Jeter. Jeter saw the season out with his strongest month at the end of a season where he seemed a little jaded. No such problems in September when .342 BA on the month edged him over .300 for the season

Brett Gardner. Gardner also saved his best to last. He was a big threat on the base paths and with .283 on the month was able to use that threat more often. Little in the walks column though.

Robinson Cano. Cano was so inconsistent this year. The benching that Girardi dealt him was too late in the season but at least it upped his personal endeavours.

Minuses

Hideki Matsui. We gained nothing from delaying Matsui’s surgery. His power dissipated and he looked distracted at the plate. Hope his surgery doesn’t hinder his role in April or we will have really lost.

Jason Giambi. Still produced something in the power columns and had patience at the plate but .226 BA was way lower than acceptable for what is hopefully his last month in pinstripes.

Xavier Nady. Spent too many nights at DH in September and had by far his worst months in pinstripes.

Surprises

Melky Cabrera. All the signs are that he may well be done in the Bronx but with a strong final month with Scranton and then his .462 when recalled by the Yankees, it is hard to see why they don’t intend to persevere. Defensively he is strong and even after a poor year, he still outhit Gardner.

Juan Miranda. I saw his debut in Pinstripes and seemed to be the only guy in the Stadium who knew who he was. Given that, I didn’t expect him to be in the lineup that night or this season or to hit as well as he did. Likely to end up in a trade in the close season but he has, at least, increased his value.

Wilson Betemit. He would have been on my list of players that I wanted to see shipped out of the Bronx at the beginning of the year but he has had an excellent second half of the season and should be allowed to come back in a bench role next year.

September Rain…… Here Comes the Rain (part 2 – the pitchers)

Posted on September 15, 2008 by twilightdawning

New York is beautiful at this time of the year……. the pitching in the Bronx not as good.

Pluses

Phil Coke. Young Mr Coke missed out on Scranton’s post-season success in order to bolster the Yankees major league struggles. He has certainly helped. Five games in September, so far, without a run conceded and a team best OBA for the month.

Brian Bruney. Bruney continues to dominate in his relief appearances. He and Damaso Marte are becoming a crucial part of the relief corps especially with Vera faltering slightly.

Alfredo Aceves. Aceves has impressed. First in relief and then as a starter, he has done well in his so-far brief tenure.

Minuses

Darrell Rasner. Despite a decent innings in relief against Tampa a couple of nights ago, there is no hiding the depths that Rasner’s season has fallen to. He achieved an ERA of over 19 in his first two September appearances and one of out of every two batters he faced made it to the first base bag safely during that period.

Edwar Ramirez. Ramirez seems to have lost his way in the final third of the season. Five runs given up in his last 3 1/3 innings. Not good.

Sidney Ponson. Sidney has faded badly but still we persist with him as a starter. He has avoided losses so far this month but he is making hard work for the bullpen.

Surprises

Dan Giese. Giese has struggled since his return from injury. Hoping this is not the lingering problems of his strain.

Mike Mussina. Mussina has run out of luck in the last few weeks. The run support for him as not been as strong as earlier in the year. What were once wins are turning into losses and no decisions. Twenty games no longer looks possible.

Andy Pettitte. Pettitte usually has a strong second half but this year poor outings have seen his win-loss record drift out to 13-13. Could be his last year in the Bronx.

September Rain…… Here Comes the Rain

Posted on September 14, 2008 by twilightdawning

So as I prepare for my latest trip to Manhattan and the Bronx, time for another update on the successes and failures of the month so far in New York…….

Pluses

Derek Jeter. Jeter continues to have a huge run with the bat. His production has gone through the roof over the last few weeks albeit that it is too late for the Yankees.

Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod is pulling out of his late August slump as his grand slam against the Rays this afternoon proves. That was his fifth home run of the month.

Bobby Abreu. Abreu continues to be our most productive and consistent offensive player. He should be the player that we build our outfield around in 2009.

Minuses

Jose Molina. Molina has been very consistent behind the plate and very poor at the plate. With Posada unlikely to be fit to catch on opening day and with Pudge unlikely to back, there is a real question whether Molina should be back in 2009.

Robinson Cano. So the Yankees website tells us that Cano will rebuild his mechanics during the offseason. Serious consideration should be given to how it is that after a reasonable mid-season recovery, he has drifted out to a .143 BA on the month so far. Too many players have lost sight of their strengths this year. The coaching staff needs to undergo some changes at the season end.

Hideki Matsui. Recovered enough from injury to be on the team but still needing surgery at the season end, Matsui is just not himself. Whether this is because he hasn’t adapted to being designated hitter or whether he has insufficient physical strength to actually be playing at all is debatable but .225 on the month so far with no home runs is not what the team rushed him back for.

Surprises

Johnny Damon. Only surprising that Damon has cooled at the point that the Yankees needed him to heat up. He has had a good year on the whole but as become too quiet when we needed him most.

Chad Moeller. Surprisingly, back in the Bronx again and doing well in his occasional start. All this from a guy we nearly lost through waivers earlier in the season.

Phil Hughes. Just when all was lost, he came up with the goods in the game that brought the championship to Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees. Consequently, he is being called up and a start in the Bronx is pencilled in. So many twists and turns…….

End of the Innocence – The End of August – Part 2

Posted on September 7, 2008 by twilightdawning

And so to the pitchers:

New York Yankees – Pitching – Month – August

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

Aceves, Alfredo        2.0  0  0  0  0  3 0 0 0   0.00 .000

Rivera, Mariano       14.1  9  3  3  2 13 1 2 6   1.88 .173

Giese, Dan             9.0  5  2  2  5  8 0 0 0   2.00 .156

Mussina, Mike         40.0 38 14 13  6 30 3 0 0   2.93 .262

Pavano, Carl          11.0 10  4  4  2  6 2 0 0   3.27 .256

Bruney, Brian         13.0  8  5  5  8  9 0 0 0   3.46 .178

Ponson, Sidney        34.0 37 20 20 14 12 1 3 0   5.29 .291

Britton, Chris         5.0  7  3  3  1  6 0 0 0   5.40 .304

Rasner, Darrell       29.1 33 22 18  8 15 0 1 0   5.52 .273

Veras, Jose           13.0 13  8  8  8 16 2 1 0   5.54 .260

Pettitte, Andy        37.0 47 24 24 13 26 1 3 0   5.84 .320

Ramirez, Edwar        11.2 15 10  9  4 13 2 1 1   6.94 .300

Marte, Damaso          9.1  6  8  8  6 13 0 3 0   7.71 .182

Robertson, David      11.0 15 10 10  5 12 1 0 0   8.18 .349

Chamberlain, Joba      4.2  8  5  5  2  5 0 0 0   9.64 .381

Traber, Billy          4.2 10  5  5  1  3 0 0 0   9.64 .417

Kennedy, Ian           2.0  9  5  5  1  1 0 1 0  22.50 .600

Pluses

Alfredo Aceves. Late August call-up who now looks like a September addition to the starting rotation. Fine August debut

Mariano Rivera. A slight improvement in his season ERA (and why not?) will give him the best ERA of his career. August hasn’t been his best month but it has been better than most everybody else in the Bronx!

Mike Mussina. Three more wins in August and a twenty win season is still a possibility. His performances have had bags of grit and determination and just the right level of remaining skill.

Minuses

Joba Chamberlain. Let’s recap the story. Chamberlain was an outstanding reliever until ownership decided to interfere and told the management that he must be a starter almost overnight. Fast tracked he first became a so-so starter and then an arm-damaged member of the disabled list. Now back to "fitness", he is sub-par as a reliever which is where he will apparently stay in 2009.

David Robertson. Promoted from AA to the majors, he has liked so many young pitchers this season failed to maintain his own standards and then been returned to a lower level. His 8.18 ERA in August demanded his demotion to Scranton.

Billy Traber. We are now discovering with the promotion of Phil Coke that we have had some decent left-handed pitchers all along. Traber was not one of them.

Surprises

Carl Pavano. Two wins for him after a disastrous stint in pinstripes. The winning run has been a bit lucky and won’t be maintained but at least he finally came up with something.

Dan Giese. Back in the majors. Back in the bullpen. Back to fitness. And still he does well. He has done whatever we have asked of him and he deserves a long future in New York as his reward.

Phil Hughes. No, he’s not on the above table and perhaps, there lies the surprise. He is now pitching with a horrible inflated ERA at Scranton. Hughes and Ian Kennedy were meant to be the future of the rotation. Now there’s a legitimate question about what there future holds. One to observe from a distance in Spring training.

Yankees and pitching and August…… so far

Posted on August 22, 2008 by twilightdawning

Well, after last night’s debacle it is not a good time to be commenting on the pitching but it’s got to be done…..

Pluses

Brian Bruney. Bruney has come back from injury with few problems and he has resumed the role he had before his foot gave way. This has been especially timely following Farnsworth’s departure. He has a 2.33 ERA but more significantly a team leading OBA of 1.76.

Jose Veras. 4th on the bullpen with 43 appearances and one of those ahead of him has headed off to Detroit. Veras has a 2.84 ERA for the season. With the occasional wobble, he remains mostly solid and dependable.

Mike Mussina. 16 wins, 7 losses, 3 no decisions. I would have bet heavily against that performance from Mussina coming into the season (if I was a gambling man!)

Minuses

Damaso Marte. If we leave out his figures from the time before he came back to New York (yes, he was here before, you could look it up!), he has accumulated a 11.05 ERA. He was going to be the sole left-handed reliever. He has already disappointed enough to make Traber’s recall necessary – which hasn’t been pretty.

David Robertson. Arriving from Double-A with a minimum of fanfare, Robertson settled into his role with a minimum of difficulty. Like with so many players this year, the difficulties began in the Bronx and Girardi’s coaching staff have been unable to iron them out. This has led to some lacklustre performances and a 5.96 ERA which the 3-0 record cannot hide.

Chris Britton. For the onlooking fan it was difficult to see earlier in the year why they weren’t giving Britton a more extended stay at the major league level. Now he has achieved that, it has become obvious. His ERA has drifted out to 4.61 and he has only 6 strikeouts in 13.2 innings of play.

Surprises

Billy Traber. He’s still on the major league roster in the second half of August. This is enough of a surprise for me. Earlier in the year when they would send him in for a 1/3 of an innings to get out the left-handed hitter, he didn’t look so bad. Now he and his 7.02 ERA need to go back to Scranton.

Sidney Ponson. He’s still on NYY’s major league roster in the second half of August. He’s managed to control and behave himself in the clubhouse by all accounts and his pitching has been way better than it was last time around. It’s almost been a positive surprise. But then came last night………

Ian Kennedy. Still don’t figure this one. He returned to the roster earlier in the month. Pitched two innings as a starter. Gave up 5 runs on 9 hits. In interview after the game it didn’t seem to matter to him. He was demoted. This weekend there’s a gaping hole in the rotation a mile wide and we’d rather go with Pavano. That’s how bad it’s got for Kennedy. What happened to the pitcher we saw last season?

Yankees and hitting and August…. so far

Posted on August 21, 2008 by twilightdawning

Well, I’ve been going through an unusually quiet time. Nothing much to say about anything else but a few words on what’s happening with the Yankees through the first half of August:

Pluses

Alex Rodriguez – A-Rod has been a positive influence in the first half of the month and through the season as a whole. 2nd in RBIs (77) and 1st in Homers (28). He’s spoken up over the last few days demanding the team press and put together a winning streak before it’s too late.

Bobby Abreu – Abreu leads the squad in RBIs (81) but also in strikeouts (89). It’s been a mixed year but the positives have outweighed the negatives for Abreu.

Xavier Nady – Nady has hit .309 since joining the Yankees. He has plugged holes in the outfield where most of the players who have been used have performed when they have been fit – but Damon and Matsui have had difficult years in terms of fitness. Nady has proved to be all that a quickly obtained outfielder could have been.

Minuses

Ivan Rodriguez – Where Nady has continued the solid season he was having before joining the Yankees, the same cannot be said for Pudge Rodriguez. There weren’t many home runs before he left Detroit but now the batting average has dried up as well. .229 since moving to New York which when combined with Molina’s .227 doesn’t amount to much.

Melky Cabrera – .242 in 117 games and demoted to Scranton (AAA). Cabrera couldn’t have envisioned this season and neither could the fans or the management. Gardner and Christian don’t have much more to offer in batting average and the fact that they chose to re-assign Melky shows how deep the malaise has become.

Richie Sexson – The signing and eventual release of power-hitting Richie was one big mistake. During 22 games and 28 at-bats he came up with one home run.

Surprises

Hideki Matsui – The very fact that Matsui is in the line-up again in 2008 is enough of a surprise to qualify as a major surprise. Not sure it will produce much but its time to play our last cards and Matsui is just that.

Wilson Betemit – Betemit has had enough discouragements this year. Slumps, injuries, eyesight problems and being overlooked when major roles were available. That he has raised his average to .261 and has a higher slugging percentage than Jeter under those circumstances is quite an achievement.

Cody Ransom – Didn’t expect Ransom to make the majors this year. 1 at-bat, 1 home run. It’s a nice story.

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