New York, NY (WFAN) -- Is anyone else tired of hearing that whenever a Yankees team doesn’t score runs it’s because the opposing pitcher was simply too good? All these pitchers can’t be throwing lights out. At what point does the blame start being placed on the Yankees offense, which has been underwhelming throughout the playoffs?
It should start now. The Yankees should be embarrassed they let an over the hill, washed up has been like Pedro Martinez pitch as well he did last night. The Yankees teams of the late nineties did better against Pedro in his prime, than this group did against him as a shell of himself. He couldn’t reach 90 on his fastball and was living on a change-up and curveball in the 70’s. A good offensive team finds a way to put up more runs against a pitcher like that.
Right now, this Yankees team is not a good offensive team. Two of their three runs came off solo home runs, a disturbing trend throughout the entire postseason. The team is simply too reliant on the home run. A high on-base percentage team during the season, the Yankees are having trouble drawing walks against the better pitchers that are in the postseason. When most home runs are of the solo-variety, it’s hard to make a living off of them.
Right now, up and down the lineup, no one not named Derek Jeter is pulling their weight. Alex Rodriguez has earned a two game pass after his first two series. Melky Cabrera and Jorge Posada have been pretty good throughout but everyone else has been inconsistent. Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Nick Swisher and especially Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira need to start reaching base.
The rare time when someone does reach, no one can get a hit do drive them in. The clutch hitting has been non-existent. I get the sense all of them are trying to do too much. Work the count. Hit a single. It doesn’t have to be a home run.
The Phillies offense is going to score runs. They are too good not to. The Yankees offense has to wake up, or the Phillies are going to win back to back World Series.
Schmeelk Snippets
- No more doubts about A.J. Burnett. Last night he showed he has the stones to perform for the Yankees in the biggest of spots.
- I wonder how Girardi will handle Swisher from here on out. With a lefty on the mound on Saturday, if Swisher doesn’t play that tells me he is glued to the bench the rest of the series. I’m thinking Hairston is too valuable a bench player to start too many games in this series. Will Gardner get a shot against a right-hander? I would give it to him. Hinske is possible as well.
- The 8th inning right now is a mess. If I’m the manager, I wouldn’t keep marching Hughes out there the way he’s pitching. Hughes’ head just seems so screwed up. He has no fastball command. Giving Joba another opportunity might be the answer. Maybe Robertson? Girardi will have no choice but to make moves based on matchups. If he can manage to navigate the bullpen the way it is going right now, he deserves a lot of credit.
- Using Mariano Rivera for two innings, or even 1+ every game won’t be plausible moving forward. It was fine for Game 2 because of the off-day, but with three straight games in consecutive days Rivera can’t be abused like that.
- I love Jeter, but that was an AWFUL baseball play trying to bunt with two strikes. If you’re Brett Gardner, maybe, but not if you’re Derek Jeter.
- Jimmy Rollins is a tough out, isn’t he? So is Chase Utley.
- The umpiring just keeps getting better, doesn’t it? I’m just waiting for them to screw up how many outs there are in an inning.
- Finally, if the Yankees win game 2, I pitch Chad Gaudin in game 4. That way, you get all three starters on full rest with Sabathia available out of the pen in game 7. Skipping Gaudin and using all three on short rest is out of the question. It’s a tough call, but I think Girardi will end up using Sabathia on three days rest twice, with Gaudin pitching Game 5 and Burnett game 6. It’s asking an awful lot out of Sabathia, but I get the thinking. Of course if the Yankees are down 2-1, using Sabathia in Game 4 becomes a necessity and the argument is moot.
Emotion is for the fans, not the people who run the teams. And while Brian Cashman has as special a place as you do for the players who just brought home #27, he’s not going to let his heart keep him from moving the 2010 Yankees forward.
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Is anyone else tired of hearing that whenever a Yankees team doesn’t score runs it’s because the opposing pitcher was simply too good? All these pitchers can’t be throwing lights out.
This one was not on the manager: A.J. Burnett was dealing and there was no reason for Joe Girardi to take him out after the Yankees took the lead in the top of the 7th.
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