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.
Go back to 1997, the year after the Yankees won their first World Series under Joe Torre, and two of the most talked about players were a couple of kids who were less than two years removed from their big league debuts in Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.
Welcome to February. It may not feel like it outside, but spring is right around the corner. Pitchers and catchers are just two weeks away, and if that’s enough to warm you up right about now then try another pair of socks and some hot tea.
I can’t imagine I’ll ever have the privilege of covering a player like Hideki Matsui again. The word “unique” is thrown around too much, but this was indeed a unique experience, right from Day One.
The Perks of This Job!!!!! The day started at 5AM. I had 3 alarm clocks and a coffee pot set, so I wouldn't oversleep. The call was for 7:30 at the Stadium to start getting on the 20 buses...
On December 26th, 1919, Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees to finance the musical No, No, Nanette. Since that day, every time the Yankees win the World Series, it's because they have more money than anyone else...
The Yankees traveling party left the Stadium this morning on 3 buses to go to Penn. Station, for the Amtrak Trek to Philadelphia. As the buses turned down 31st Street, we saw the crowds...
Back in 1986, a friend of mine, a 20 year season ticket holder at Yankee Stadium, said to me: "Who do I root for in this thing...it's THEM against THEM!" I guess Mets fans think the same thing right now?
I’ve heard a bunch of different reactions to Mark McGwire’s “revelation” (seriously, if you were surprised by what he admitted, you need to stop taking your stupid pills). Some people were angry, others were disappointed, some were sick of steroids becoming a story again and other people actually felt sorry for the man since he kept crying.
Someone is going to have to explain this one to me. Why wouldn’t the same reasons the Yankees had for not signing Hideki Matsui also apply to Nick Johnson?
The Yankees should just close up shop, and pack it in until 2010. The only thing left to do is leave a contract offer on the table to Johnny Damon to think about over Christmas. Santa Steinbrenner should be fairly generous with a two year contract in the neighborhood of 20 million dollars. If another team finds him worthy of a three year deal, the Yankees should be content to watch him walk and
I hate to be the Grinch that stole Christmas for all you Yankees fans out there, but this is going to be a quiet offseason. There isn't going to be a CC Sabathia. There isn't going to be a Mark Teixeira. There isn't even going to be an A.J. Burnett.
E-Mail Story
Print Story
