Small Ball Paying Off

One thing Joe Girardi is doing that I like is trying to get this team to manufacture runs. Paying small ball, getting guys on base, advancing the runners then driving in runs is something that you don’t often see in the power-hitting American league.

When Joe Torre took over as Yankees manager a years ago, there was a fundamental shift in the team’s playstyle, which they slowly got away from over the years. When Girardi took over, the term “small ball” started popping up again, but at times it still seemed sporadic. Watching the series against the Twins really brought this to my attention again, and it’s a good thing.

Ideally, with no outs, you get someone on base with either a hit or a walk and then they steal second. A sacrifice bunt can advance the runner over to third, now with one out. At this point a decent drive into the outfield will score a run even if it’s caught for an out. Get runners on base, move them into scoring position, drive them home.

It sounds easy enough to do but can be tough.  Bunting takes practice and discipline, and a big ego needs to take a back seat to a smart play. Always swinging for the fences doesn’t jive well with trying to get on base or advance the runner. Having speed on the bases is often overlooked in today’s game and besides Brett Gardner, is rather lacking on the Yankees roster.

If you can do it though, putting up a run is always a good thing. Think of all the games where the Yanks have gone scoreless until the 7th, 8th or 9th inning, or ended up going to extra innings. How much of a difference would one extra run make in those instances. It can definitely boost a team’s confidence early on. A run is a run, but a manufactured run can be more encouraging for a team than a solo home run because it’s a group effort – a bunch of guys chipping in and doing their part, rather than just one guy crushing one out of the park.

Lastly, to me it just feels like baseball. Hitting, running, stealing, bunting, driving the ball deep all make me stand up and say “Now that’s how you play the game!”

Just Fire Girardi Already

I’ve had enough of the Joe Girardi era in New York. Last night’s loss was downright embarrassing and I can’t imagine any Steinbrenner being able to let that one go lightly.

Who’s to blame here? Wang, the once staff ace who can’t throw a pitch to save his life? The dicey bullpen? Nope. It’s the coach.

My personal soapbox for a long time has been the long reliever. The Yankees desperately needed one last year when Hughes and Kennedy were unable to give quality starts. This year we’re having the same problem with Wang. A long reliever would ideally be able to come in and pitch 3 or 4 innings in the middle of a game, hopefully keeping things from getting too out of hand.

Girardi likes to micro-manage his bullpen. He over maneuvered 2 nights ago by bringing in the late innings and cost his team the game. When a reliever comes in and pitches well, leave him in for a full inning. If a guy is struggling, then you can pull in someone else who has a more favorable matchup. When you’re in a high leverage situation, the youngest guy in the pen is not your go-to guy. Phil Coke is not ready for the big time and is certainly not ready for the high pressure situations.

Albaladejo and the rest of the bullpen were almost as bad as Wang last night and before long, Joe had used up all the arms he had. The end result – Nick Swisher comes in to pitch. Throwing innings as a pitcher can wreak havoc with a fielder’s arm and is something you should hope never to see. Swish handled it well, kept a smile on his face and sadly, was the most effective pitcher the Yankees had all night.

Meanwhile Dan Giese is long gone, claimed off waivers by Oakland, Brett Tomko is throwing shutout innings as a closer in the minor leagues and I’m scratching my head as to why we chose to have Albaladejo in the pen over one of these long men.

Another aspect of the Yankees’ play that really bothers me lately is the poor defense. The large number of errors and bonehead plays seem to be a big part of the last few games. These guys just aren’t playing like a focused, disciplined team. Again, Girardi is my whipping boy here. It’s the manager’s job to get these players in line and ready to play good baseball. Joe Maddon had his guys giving 100% long after the game was officially a blowout, meanwhile Girardi had players bumping into each other and dropping easy pop ups.

The season is still young, and the Yankees have plenty of time to turn things around. I think Girardi is definitely on the hot seat and don’t see him lasting very much longer this year. He’s been an absolute disaster during his (hopefully short) managerial stint. Last year he had a complete inability to motivate the team and players, an embarrassing relationship with the media giving him no credibility in the eyes of the fans and the press, and his handling of the pitching staff has been rampantly unsuccessful.

At this point, the only thing that is going to keep Girardi in New York for the rest of the season is the availability of other suitable managerial candidates.

Girardi Starting To Come Apart. Again.

According to Pete Abraham over at LoHud , Girardi is thinking of not having a long reliever on the squad, allowing him to keep someone like Albaladejo instead of Aceves, Giese or Tomko.

This may sound like a small deal but it has got me up in arms. This was a bad move Girardi made last year in his disastrous coaching debut with the Yankees and it’s starting to look like he’s just going to go back to his losing ways once again. At the beginning of the season, I had high hopes for Joe. He seemed to realize that he made a lot of mistakes last year, handling the media, handling the players and handling his roster. Most of the reports out of spring seem to show that Joe knew the spotlight was on him and he was ready to make needed changes.

Now this. Yes, it’s just a minor issue, but one that I thought doomed that Yankees for a large chunk of last season. The lack of a long reliever coupled with the complete failures of Kennedy and Hughes along with Mussina’s slow start, strained the bullpen and cost the Yankees quite a few runs and games early in the season. All signs this spring pointed to the team actually carrying a long reliever on the roster, which gave me a lot of hope for avoiding some of last year’s hiccups, and renewed some of my confidence in Girardi.

Taken by itself, this issue is just one bad decision. What really worries me, is that all the other things I was hoping to see a change in will fall by the wayside as well.

As an aside, if you’re wondering who my pick is to fill the reliever spot, I’d give Tomko a chance.

Yanks Throw BP for Angels

There was a brawl, pitching coach Dave Eiland passed out, and every Yankee pitcher to take the mound did their best to help LA score some runs. Carl Pavano got his ERA up over 5 and the bullpen was atrocious. The Yankees offense was largely inept, scoring only one run all night. Just when you think the team couldn't possibly look any worse, they do.

In other news, Yankee owership confirmed that manager Joe Girardi will be back next year, a move we all expected. Maybe over the offseason Joe will have a chance to stop by Barnes and Noble and pick up a book on coaching baseball. I know, probably not, but one can hope.

Meanwhile the Boston Red Sox beat the Rays, leaving themselves only a half game outside of first while the Yankees fell to ten back.

Yanks Slip To Fourth in AL East

That's right, despite Tampa losing and the door opening for the Yanks to inch a little closer, they looked amateurish in a loss to one of the worse teams in baseball. There was a lot of sloppy play and some truly bizarre calls by Joe Girardi. At this point, I'm completely fed up with the new coach. I had high expectations at the beginning of the season but now would classify Girardi as an utter failure. He simply can't coach. He can't handle the media or be the least bit truthful with reporters. He can't motivate his team, which is possibly one of the most underachieving teams in the history of baseball. Lastly, he can't manage a game. If there was a way to accurately quantify it, I bet we'd all be amazed at the number of runs Joe's horrible managerial skills have cost the team this year.

Of course he'll be back next year but I hope that ownership will have him on an extremely tight leash. I've made peace with the fact that this team is going to miss the playoffs for the first time in years, but I can't get over the ineptitude of the new manager.

The Toronto Blue Jays moved up into third place in the AL East and Boston moved a game closer to the division lead, now only 1.5 games out.

Girardi Gives Up On Season

I can't come up for a better reason to explain Joey's lineups. Down 8.5 games to Tampa and he puts Sexson and Christian in a lineup rather than Damon and Giambi. Why bother playing Pudge when you've got Molina?

Needless to say, the hapless Yankees lost again, getting shut out 4-0. Sidney Ponson was tolerable, giving up 4 runs in 7.2 innings, but the Yankees once again had no offense. I wonder how many times the Yankees have been shut out this year, and how many times they have been shut out in previous years? They seem to get blanked a lot recently.

Yesterday Ian Kennedy was sent down to the minors. A few players in the clubhouse including Andy Pettitte set him straight about his comments. I don't think we'll see any more of Ian in New York this year. Girardi made a quip that he wants Kennedy ready to play in September, but I don't see him coming back. The Bombers will definitely need some starting pitching next year, and I think Ian is officially available as trade bait in the offseason.

This season has certainly been a trying one. Is this what it feels like to be a Pirates fan?

Will the Real NY Yankees Please Stand Up

Joe Girardi had a closed door meeting after yesterday's game and dressed the team down and called people out. Joe refused to give details, but the consensus was it was ugly.

Ugly and ineffective. Joe hasn't had an easy first year as manager. He's had to deal with a slew of injuries, a host of young pitchers who weren't quite ready. Would Joe Torre have done any better? Who knows. I've been critical of a lot of Joe Girardi's moves and play calls, but until now I haven't really questioned his ability to handle players. At this point, I'm starting to wonder.

This is the second time Girardi has had a meeting and called out the team, and once again, there hasn't been any sign that the message got through or did anything.

A few bloggers have said that the team looked a little sharper today, that they played with some purpose but I say hogwash. Today the Yankees lost to the Red Sox. They fell further out of first place and further away from a wild card. Almost beating the other team doesn't count in baseball.

Johnny Damon is injured and will miss a few days at least. Alex Rodriguez is spending time with Madonna while his wife has left him for a rock star. Joe Torre is famous for being able to handle distraction and getting a team to perform. So far, Joe G hasn't filled those shoes particularly well.

Another Ugly Loss

The Yankees couldn't get anything going at the plate. Melky Cabrera has turned into another Robinson Cano with a bat. He never could bunt, and it hurt the Yankees in the ninth inning when he grounded into a double play.

Internet minor league phenom Brett Gardner remains hitless in the big leagues this year, but was able to lay down a sacrifice bunt.

Derek Jeter sat out the game, and wasn't even called in to pinch hit in the ninth, when the Pinstripers had a man on first.

To confuse things even more, Girardi pulled Joba Chamberlain after 4.0 innings. Joba was pitching reasonably well, but had a 91 pitch count. In his last outing, the pitch count was well over 100 and it seems as if Girardi wanted to keep it lower today.

Long reliever Dan Giese was brought in again to pitch one inning. That's right, one inning. Girardi clearly doesn't believe in the concept of a long reliever. Except perhaps Ross Ohlendorf, who had a proven track record of failure with long outings.

Does this make sense to anyone? The purpose of a long reliever is especially for those instances when your starter comes out early and you now have a guy who can go three or four innings.

Instead Dave Robertson came in, pitched two solid innings followed by Veras, who threw a scoreless eighth.

Unforunately, Mariano Rivera had a bad night, giving up 3 hits and 1 run and giving Texas the go-ahead run.

Girardi baffles me sometimes with his roster moves (no Derek Jeter) his in game calls (leaving the slumping Melky in in the ninth) and his handling of pitchers. Despite all of that, I expect better from the offense. These guys need to score more runs plain and simple. They're just not getting the job done these days.

Girardi Stung by Intentional Walk

Mike Mussina was not so thrilled with the call.

Intentionally walk the lead off man to get at the guy hitting who's actually hitting better? Yeah, right Joe. How'd that one work out for you?

Mussina pitched a reasonable game, giving up 4 runs over 8 innings, but the story of the night was Edinson Volquez, who was practically unhittable.

Billy Traber was back in action and looked good in a garbage inning at the end of the game.

Hideki Matsui was back in action and went 2 for 4 and Robbie Cano went 2 for 3, but had a fielding error to make up for it.

I'm not going to place all of the blame for this one on Girardi's shoulder, his call certainly took away most of the Bombers' chances. Mussina could have pitched better, Damon and Cano could have fielded better and the most of the team could have hit better.

With the Cardinals beating Boston, the Yankees don't lose ground in the division race. The loss stinks, but boy that winning streak was fun while it lasted.

In Thursday's game, Joba Chamberlain lasted 5.2 innings and used 100 pitches against the Padres. 4 hits and 1 run is pretty decent, but eventually you'd like to see Joba becoming a bit more efficient with his pitches and getting that pitch count down. Striking out 9 batters is nothing to shake a stick at and overall, Yankee fans have to love what they see in Joba.

Veras and Farnsworth were sharp and Rivera shut down the final 3 batters.

Wang, Rivera Back on Track

Chien Ming Wang once again looked like a reliable starter and Mariano Rivera returned to form. The good part about having an up and down season like the Yankees are going through is that almost every bad loss is quickly followed by a quality win.

Joe Girardi continues to dumbfound me, DHing Giambi and sitting Matsui so that he can play Wilson Betemit, who went 0 for 4 and had a fielding error. Joe's constant lineup shuffles are getting a bit tiresome at this point, especially when he sits a star for a defensive liability who can't hit.

Jose Veras finished out the 8th inning but had 2 walks on his way to getting 2 outs, which isn't particularly reassuring. Mariano Rivera gave up a hit but no runs and thankfully doesn't look like the last game bothered him too much.

Morgan Ensberg has been designated. I'm not sure if someone else will pick him up, he's a decent replacement player but not a guy you want starting every day.

The play of the day from last night's game had to be Jason Giambi's baserunning clinic. On a ball hit deep to right, Giambi tagged up at first and made it to second easily. If you haven't watched Giambi run full out, it's a spectacle to behold. If you watched the game you know exactly what I'm talking about, but if you didn't it's hard to explain other than to say it was hilarious. After the play the YES camera crew panned over to the stands where some of Jason's family was watching the game and even they were getting in on the fun, mimicking his running style.

On a serious note, that simple play showed that Jason had his head in the game and was willing to hustle a bit when needed, which is always a good thing.

Exasperation

That pretty much describes my sentiments on watching the Yankees this season. Every up seems to be quickly met with a down. The Pinstripers seem to be permanently locked right around the .500 position, with little hope to move either up or down by a significant degree.

Mike Mussina pitched an excellent game yesterday afternoon and ended up losing. Statheads might have noticed that he had the highest game score of any starting pitcher yesterday (as noted over at baseballreference.com) - but still was on the losing team.

Does anyone remember Chien Ming Wangs brilliant outing where the Yankees lost 1-0?

On the other side of the pitching coin you have all those starters who left the game before the 5th inning. Then the crazy bullpen antics of Farnsworth and Hawkins who, for a while there, seemed to be having a competition to see who could give up the most runs.

Mariano Rivera has been one of the most dominating closers in the league yet in 2 of the last 3 games, he's failed to hold onto a tie.

The offense goes from scoring 10 runs to scoring 0. Giambi goes from cold to hot while others just flirt with mediocrity. A-Rod has had some big hits, but isn't quite living up to his paycheck.

I don't have any great suggestions or answers for what I would do to turn this team around. They lack any consistency. Perhaps Joe Girardi could pick a lineup and stick with it rather than changing every day. Players come and go on a regular basis due to the injury bug and a little roster stability would probably help.

All in all, it's been a frustrating season. Every time you think the Bombers are turning things around, they sink right back to average.

So far I haven't seen too many young prospects looking ready to take the reigns for next year. I'll put Chamberlain, Geise and Gonzalez in as new (not necessarily young) guys who are ready to take over. Other than that, I don't see much fresh blood. I'm officially calling Kennedy and Hughes a bust. Duncan isn't going to get any better, and no one else looks ready to move up from the minors. A lot of people are calling for Gardner to come up to NY, but I'm not sure he's going to be anything more than a mediocre bench player. The list of old guys who are past their prime, ready to retire or be let go at the end of the season is too long to type here.

At this point in the season, I'm pretty down on the team. I don't see much reason to hope that things will straighten out and the team will make a run for the wild card. I don't see a whole lot of improvement coming for next year's roster. Eventually, I think the Yanks are going to have to cut some dead weight, give a few younger guys some major league playing time, and make quite a few offseason moves.

Some of the blame has to fall on Joe Girardi. I'll give him a pass for his first year and will  put him on the hot seat day one of next season. He's done too much roster shuffling, made some questionable calls about who to play when and hasn't done much to impress anyone or show that he's capable of filling Torre's shoes.

Rivera Gives Up Another

Mariano Rivera, who had been nothing short of dominating in the first part of the season, gave up another big run this afternoon, failing to maintain a tie game and eventually contributing to a loss. With every win coming with some difficulty, seeing the best reliever in the game let one get out of the park is disheartening. Once again Mo looked like he took it hard, but should bounce back.

Mike Mussina had one of his best outings, going eight innings and only giving up two runs with no walks. Moose was extremely economical and only threw eighty nine pitches on the day. I personally thought it was a tough call to not let him pitch the ninth, but with Rivera available, I think Girardi made the right call, despite the results.

The offense was cold for the most part, and it's frustrating watching this team have it's ups and downs. The Yankees were cheated out of a run by the first base umpire, who completely blew a call when Melky Cabrera bunted and clearly beat the throw to first. The first base umpire probably had a bad angle, but the replay showed Melky safe by a large margin. Derek Jeter later walked and Bobby Abreu grounded out to first for the final out, a hit which likely would have gotten a run in.

Girardi made an odd move of Pinch hitting Posada for Molina in the eighth inning. Jorge got a hit, and then quickly was replaced by Moeller as a pinch runner. I can understand the pinch hitting, but putting in the pinch runner was a mistake. The extra utility Moeller provides as a runner doesn't outweigh the fact that you'd have Posada's bat if you needed it later. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees last chance fell to...Chad Moeller. If Posada had  been left in he would have had a chance at winning the game for the Yankees.

Blown Leads Prove Costly

Andy Pettite and the Yankees offense had an up and down night. The hitters would put a lead up and Andy would take it down. Pettitte worked through 7 complete innings and allowed 5 runs (4 earned). He had a lead several times but would end up getting hit and blowing it.

Kyle Farnsworth didn't fare much better. He came into the game in a tie game and proceded to give up 3 quick hits and 1 run. It's painful to watch Kyle pitch at times. He puts the ball right over the plate and it get hits deep. Repeatedly. Day in and day out. I really don't know what Girardi sees in this guy. Sure, he throws hard and can get that fastball cooking, but Farnsworth has the most hittable 97 mph fastball in all of baseball. The faster he throws it, the further into the stands it goes.

The good news is that Joba is going to get the start tonight in New York, and that should give fans something to watch.

The Yankees had some decent offense last night, although they left 10 runners on base. Giambi continues to hit solidly and is definitely out of the slump. Robbie Cano shows us that he can't hit and he can't field any more. Chad Moeller continues to hit just above .250 and will most likely stick with the team for a while even after Posada gets back, as he has proved to be a valuable backup.

In the press conference after the game, Girardi sounded ticked off and upset. Maybe it's about time for another behind closed doors meetings with the players. As a whole, this team is not playing up to it's potential. The biggest personnel decision has to be for the setup man. Farnsworth was never 8th inning material. He didn't all of a sudden change when Girardi took over the team. Joe and Cash need to realize what they've got, and find a better solution. Maybe they need to bring in someone from outside or maybe they need to re-evaluate their own talent (Edwar Ramirez anyone?) and make a change.

Back Above .500

It took extra innings, but the Yankees toughed out an exciting win last night. The winning pitcher? Ross Ohlendorf. Joe Girardi brought Ross to pitch the 10th and 11th innings and the struggling reliever walked 2, gave up 2 hits, and struck out 4 all the while allowing no runs. Granted Joe didn't have a lot of other options, but it looks like he's still got faith in the young pitcher.

Notably absent in both Friday and Saturday's games was LaTroy Hawkins, who looks to be in the doghouse and won't be called on in close spots. Kyle Farnsworth, on the other hand, has been brought in two nights in a row. The YES announcers commented on how Torre never used to use Kyle two days in a row and were hesitant as to how he'd perform. On Friday he gave up a quick run to close a 2-run lead to a 1-run lead. Last night he quickly got all three batters out.

Veras and Ramirez both continue to look good and are the heart of the Yankees middle relief right now. I'd take either of them over Farnsworth in the set-up role, but Girardi has been a longtime Farnsworth fan and that doesn't look like it's going to change any time soon.

Neither of the starters looked particularly sharp, but both Wang and Mussina managed to get through the bulk of the innings with the score close, and sometimes, that's all you can ask.

Bobby Abreu has been the offensive star the last two games, going 2 for 5 and then 3 for 4.

There has been a bit of sloppy play lately, and errors and bad plays that could be scored as errors are starting to creep into the mix more and more. Alex Rodriguez got picked off of second base after stealing it, and a similar thing happened to Derek Jeter a few days back. Last night's game had an errant throw by Jeter that cost the team a run and the night before Shelley Duncan had an error.

Shelley Duncan is a fun guy to watch. He brings a great deal of enthusiasm to the game and is good for bench morale. Unfortunately, he really hasn't improved his game much over the last year. He's hitting .161 and is playing average defense at best. He really hasn't turned out to be much of an improvement defensively over the lumbering Giambi and hasn't come close to the offensive production, despite the fact that Giambi was in a huge slump.

I like Shelly and would like to see him stick around, but he's got work to do. He might last a bit longer than Ensberg, but he's going to have to start bringing something more to the table if he wants to be successful in the big leagues.

Offensive Explosion

The Yankees put another game in the win column last night by scoring runs. A lot of runs. The final score was 13-2 and almost everyone in the Yankee lineup got in on the fun. Other than Hideki Matsui, who went 3 for 5, no one particular Yankee really stood out above the rest, the whole team seemed to get the hits when they were needed. Even guys like Shelley Duncan, who got 1 hit in 4 AB, had the hit come at the right time and was able to drive in a run.

Jason Giambi went 2 for 3 and Robbie Cano went 2 for 4 and both seem to be hitting better lately.

Andy Pettitte needed 105 pitches to get through 6 innings, but only allowed 2 runs on 8 hits.  Hawkins and Ramirez were scoreless in their 2 and 1 innings of relief, respectively.

Joe Girardi had the night off after being suspended for his tirade on Thursday.

There's not much commentary that I think needs to accompany last night's game. The Yankees, as a team, started hitting the way they were capable of. They strung together hits and scored runs. The starting pitching wasn't perfect, but delivered a quality start and the relievers shut down opposing batters.

Let's just hope we see a lot more of this from the Bomber's in the days and weeks to come.

Some Bright Spots for Yankee Fans

The Yankees got a much needed win last night and the bad news is the offense still stinks. There were three positives that jumped out at me while watching the game.

Ian Kennedy pitched his best big league game of 2008. When you look a little more closely at the numbers, and those 4 walks to go along with the 4 strikeouts and 4 hits, and if you saw him get into some tight spots with bases loaded and only 1 out, he wasn't exactly in total control. Last night Kennedy pitched about as well as you would expect a number 5 guy to pitch. It was an improvement from every other outing he's given us, but he still needs a little work. In the first two innings he seemed to be more aggressive on the mound, but as the game wore on he seemed to be slipping more and more into his old self. In the end, it was a solid performance and something to build on. Kennedy is going to have to keep elevating his game quickly as soon Phil Hughes will be back and after that Joba will be moving in. Rasner has all but locked down his spot in the rotation and it's looking like Kennedy will be the odd man out.

Next up is Mariano Rivera. Flashback to the beginning of last year and I'll admit that Mo's struggles had me worried. I was fairly certain that the end game spiral of age had finally caught up with Rivera and his career was winding down. Mariano turned his season around and had a very respectable year. This year, he's playing the best baseball I've ever seen him play in his career. His ERA is down to .47 and his WHIP is .53. He's only allowed 1 run all year, has struck out 15 and hasn't walked a single batter. It's safe to say Rivera is the greatest closer in the history of the game and we're fortunate to be able to watch him continue to pitch at a masterful level. Last night it really struck home with me as I sat back and just said "Wow."

The biggest positive I saw last night and the thing that gave me the most hope for this team was Joe Girardi. Joe has been way too complacent lately and largely devoid of emotion. It was very encouraging to see him finally blow his stack and argue a call with an umpire, getting thrown out of the game. It was a long overdue move. Joe needs to occasionally show emotion, show his players that he's behind them, that he's got their backs. He also needs to show a little emotion toward his players too, but that's another story. Joe's antics (and I jumped out of my chair and hooted when he started kicking dirt) provided an emotional spark that the team needed and provided an immediate catalyst for the game winning hits later. I'm not saying Joe should do this all the time, but every once in a while it's a necessary evil. This was a very important move from Joe.

So Much for Ohlendorf as a Closer

Ross Ohlendorf gave up the winning run in a 4-3 loss to Cleveland. Billy Traber has been sent down and I see Ross' stock slipping in Girardi's eyes. Ian Kennedy looked awful early on and got hit hard for 3 runs in the second inning. After that he settled down and played well, but had thrown 105 pitches by the end of the fifth. Kyle Farnsworth and LaTroy Hawkins pitched fairly well, combining for 3 scoreless innings, but Hawkins needed some help from his defense to get it done.

The Yankees weren't hitting today as a team. Damon and Jeter were cranking out the hits but the Yanks couldn't string together enough offense to put more than 3 runs on the board.

This was a tough game to watch, given everything else that has happened lately. Girardi continues to make lots of ineffectual moves with both his hitters and bullpen pitchers.

Kennedy's lines weren't bad but watching him pitch that second inning was painful. Once again, a Yankee starter couldn't make it past the fifth inning. The Bombers need their starters to go at least 6, preferably 7 or 8 innings.

Giambi continues to cost his team runs by playing first, and struggled at the plate. Robinson Cano and his .152 batting average were brought in to hit for Morgan Ensberg, who has been hitting much better than Cano.

Farnsworth has been decent in his last few outings. That's about the only bright spot I'm seeing right now, which is a sad reflection on the state of this team.

Tensions are going to start running even higher before long if this continues.

Tough Road Ahead For Girardi

I don't envy Joe Girardi. He's in a tough spot - one of the most closely scrutinized manager positions in all of baseball. He's been given a team with a huge payroll and huge expectations to win. Unfortunately, he's also been given the task of helping the rebuilding process, bringing young talent along while simultaneously competing for a division title and hopefully a World Series win.

The problems inherited by Girardi are numerous. First of all, he needs to develop Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes. Many thought Hughes was ready to be a star out of the gate this year, matching his 2007 performances. Ian Kennedy was predicted to fill the back end of the rotation nicely, and become a league average innings muncher who would give up some runs, but get you to the 7th inning stretch. Bringing one young pitcher along is do-able. Bringing two along is tough. Bringing two along with a guy like Mussina who is lucky to reach the 6th inning becomes almost impossible.

Girardi's veteran pitchers may be a bit too "veteran". Andy Pettitte has proven to be a workhorse who can get batters out and get through a lot of innings even when he doesn't have his best stuff. He still has a great pick off move and many other intangibles that make him a great pitcher. He needs run support, however, and can't win games all by himself. More importantly is that Pettitte is getting a little older and will occasionally miss starts with back problems and other minor ailments. With Andy, it's good to have a backup plan - a long reliever who can make spot starts if Pettitte needs to sit one out. Girardi doesn't share this point of view with me, refusing to bring up a long reliever like Rasner (or Karstens or *shudder* Igawa).

The other veteran, Mussina, is acting like his starting days are done. He gives up a lot of runs without giving you many innings. He continues to be stubborn rather than smart when it comes to pitch selection and location, and it's becoming increasingly costly for the team. Maybe Mussina could move into the long reliever spot but his days as a starter are numbered.

The handling of the bullpen has been suspect in my opinion. Joe never brought a long reliever along after spring training. The possible rain game in  Kansas city seemed to shake up Bruney and Kennedy a bit when in retrospect it might have been better to let them stay in their usual patterns. He's brought in some relievers to soon and brought out some guys who were pitching well. Joe still shows some old-fashioned tendencies to use certain guys in certain innings, when he should focus more on using the best guys in the best situations. If you're at a critical junction in the 6th inning and your starter needs to come up, bring in Joba when it counts rather than letting Farnsworth give up the crucial runs and letting Joba close out a meaningless game or simply sit out.

For Girardi, this trifecta of Mussina, Hughes, and Kennedy is proving to be the toughest challenge, and one that is going to require the help of the front office to sort out. Joe's recent interviews with the press are becoming more and more strained as he begins losing his patience with the pitching staff.

The problems given to Joe to solve aren't purely pitching related. Girardi has a plethora of guys who would be better suited in the DH spot than playing a position. Abreu, Matsui, Giambi and Posada (with his sore shoulder) don't quite provide the defense you'd like. Then you have guys like Damon, Duncan and Ensberg who add to the conundrum of what to do with all of these players.

Joe is saddled with guys like Wilson Betemit, whose utility as a utility infielder is pretty minimal and whose bat isn't much better. There's talent in the wings with players like Alberto Gonzalez, but the Yankees don't like to waste mediocre veterans (look at Farnsworth for another classic example).

The Yankees front office has delivered Joe quite a mishmash to sort out. If the Yankees are going to be successful, Girardi will need help getting rid of the dead weight and excess and filling a need or two. It's early in the season, but before long someone will have to realize the current plan isn't working and someone will need to step in and lend a hand.

In the end though, the success of Joe Girardi's first year as Yankee skipper will come down to how he manages his starting pitching and how they perform. Currently it's the team's biggest liability and proving to be the toughest challenge early on. It will be interesting to see how things pan out. Back in his Florida days, Joe earned a reputation for using and abusing his young arms, many of whom were never the same after he left. He'll need a different attitude here, where the guys he is dealing with are expected to be the pillars of the team for years to come.

Should Joe Have Pitched to Manny?

The Yankees lost to the Red Sox last night in a close game. The pivotal inning was the bottom of the 6th. With two outs and runners on 2nd and 3rd, Manny Ramirez is up to face Mike Mussina. Joe Girardi comes to the mound to have a discussion with his starter and decides to leave him in to face Manny and hopefully get the last out of the inning. Manny ends up hitting a double and scoring both runners.

The New York Post ran one of their typical pieces with the headline "Joe Blew It", announcing his breaking one of the ten commandments of baseball by pitching to Ramirez. A few other sources have been critical of Joe's decision in that situation and so I decided to take a little closer look.

One argument is that Joe should have brought in a reliever rather than let Mussina, who was starting to struggle, continue to pitch. That's a tough call. You like your starters to come in and pitch at least six innings, and Moose had gotten out of some jams before. Brian Bruney had been pitching well in relief all year and guys like Ohlendorf, Traber, Hawkins, Farnsworth were all available for early inning stints with Chamberlain and Rivera on tap for the late innings. When Bruney did come in he gave up another big hit for a run, which ended up credited to Mussina. The decision whether or not to pull Moose in favor of Bruney was a tough one, and at the time I was surprised to see Mussina stay in, giving the well rested bullpen that was available.

The real issue I'd like to take a look at is whether or not Mussina should have walked Manny to face the next batter instead. On deck was Kevin Youkilis, who has been hitting the ball well again this year and is no slouch at the plate. Mussina surmised that he had just as good of a chance to get Ramirez out as Youkilis and Girardi let him pitch.

To get to the bottom of this, let's look at some numbers. These stats are averages for AVG/OBP/SLG taken over the most recent complete seasons, 2005-2007.

Manny Ramirez .302/.404/.569

Kevin Youkilis .283/.386/.438

Manny definitely has an edge, especially in slugging. If we subtract each player's numbers we can see exactly how much worse Youkilis is:

Difference: -.019/-.018/-.131

James Click has a nice chapter in the book Baseball Between the Numbers and in it he details the math behind intentional walks. In situations when there are two on with two outs, Click concludes that the second batter has to be 60 points worse in average, 95 points worse in on-base percentage and 175 points worse in slugging. (I'm not going to go into detail on how Click reached these conclusions, check out the book or his work at Baseball Prospectus.) Despite Manny's impressive numbers, Youkilis is too good of a hitter to meet these criteria, and it looks like Girardi made the right call.

We can compare some splits, to see if the situation could have affected matters any. With runners in scoring position, each player's stats looked like this (again from 2005-2007):

Manny Ramirez .320/.443/.614

Kevin Youkilis .322/.420/.515

Difference: +.002/-.023/-.099

With runners in scoring position, the gap narrows in 2 out of 3 categories, with Youkilis even having a better AVG than Manny.

OK, how about specifically with runners on second and third, over the last 3 seasons.

Manny Ramirez .227/.486/.318

Kevin Youkilis .235/.367/.471

Kevin has the overall advantage here. This last set of numbers isn't as useful because it only includes 22 at bats for manny and 17 for Kevin. The more specific we get in regards to the situation, the less valuable are data becomes.

Lastly, let's take a look at the numbers vs. RHP

Manny Ramirez .304/.392/.563

Kevin Youkilis .284/.380/.450

Difference: -.020/-.012/-.113

Slightly less than the 3-year totals but not by much.

While Manny Ramirez is the superior hitter overall and with runners in scoring position and against right handed pitchers, the difference still isn't enough to justify an intentional walk with Youkilis backing him up. Joe Girardi made the right call in pitching to Manny.

Bruney Gets Bad Weather Start

Ian Kennedy was scheduled to start tonight's game, but come time to throw out the opening pitch, Brian Bruney is announced as the starter.

Apparently there was rain in the forecast and Joe Girardi did not want to start Ian Kennedy only to have the game get rained out early. Instead, he is starting Bruney who will pitch the opening innings. If the rain passes, Ian will be available to pitch. If the game is postponed, Ian will be ready for the next start. Using Bruney for a few innings doesn't have a big effect on the rotation at all.

Currently in the bottom of the 2nd inning it is raining fairly heavily. There has been no indication that the game will be called or delayed. Many of the fans have left their seats to seek shelter inside.

This is a very unique strategy that we're seeing out of Girardi. There's a certain logic to it. We'll see what the end result is.