Yankees Update 21/06/09

Another Sucky Week

The Yankees went through another mediocre week, where they beat the Mets, lost a series to the Nationals and took a game from the Marlins. By rights, they should have swept the Nationals who trailed the worst record in baseball into Yankee stadium. Instead the Yankee bats were silenced by a pair of pitchers they hadn't seen before.

It's getting to be a really irritating pattern where the Yankee bats suddenly go quiet against some new kid up from the minors. The contrast is particularly stark after they thumped the Santana-led Mets 15-0 in the last game in that series. If they can get 9 runs off the great Johan Santana, why can't they pile drive these rookie hurlers into the ground?

Clearly they need some familiarity, but all too often the Yankees go very quiet in the face of a new face. It means they're actually not playing each pitch, each ball on their merits but are hedging heavily on past behaviour/record. I wish they wouldn't approach it this way, because it means they're vulnerable to these ambushes, as they were in the post-seasons of 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005.

And of course everybody coming into the Bronx to play the Yankees are jumping out of their skins to do their best, so the Yankees really ought tobe careful about playing some of these crappy teams, looking to ambush them. I don't know what the solution is, but those losses, together with being swept by Boston are going to kill their post-season chances.

Brian Bruney

Reliever Brian Bruney called out K-Rod during the week which turned into a media circus. For a guys aspiring for mo-like greatness, K-Rod behaves more like a show pony.

I kind of like the blunt appraisal Bruney made as he pitched an inning of rehab in Trenton. Bruney's proving to be one of the wiser pick ups by the scouting department. It reminds us of the small miracle that was Aaron Small's magic year. Like Small, Bruney was picked up from the discard pile, and has quietly been refashioned into a very useful part of the bullpen.

Still, the media fracas was a little silly.

Jose Veras Released

Somebody from the pitching staff had to go, with the return of the above-mentioned Mr.Bruney. That somebody turned out to be Jose Veras. Right now, the bullpen workingback from the end is Mo, Bruney, Coke, Aceves, Robertson, Hughes and Tomko. Tomko probably got kep for the mop up innings he can pitch.

More interestingly, there's the competition for the fifth spot of the roster between Wang and Hughes. Damaso Marte is on the come back trail with his Left shoulder tendinitis, but he may be out for a while yet. Thus, barring injury and losing somebody (touch on wood) the bullpen might be as solid as it can get this season.

A-Rod's Slump

I don't know why but all players go through a slump I do know that BABIP fluctuates and sometims hard-hit balls just keep going straight to fielders, but A-Rod's slump this time is a little frustrating.

The New Stadium

The new stadium is proving to be a homerun park. It's not exactly clear by how much, but the stadium is on pace to far out-homer the previous park. A lot has been made of this pace, particularly with respect to how it is affecting the pitching staff. Pettitte's ERA away is about 3 runs better than at home.

The problem with an organisation with a hitter's park is that it tends to cloud judgment about a team's own hitters. While on a day to day basis it affects the pitchers, in the longer run it tends to affect the Front Offices more. While the Yankees are stat-savvy, an extrme hitters' park is going to add a layer of difficulty in future analysis and appraisal of performances.