Things pretty grim for the O's right now. Team ERA is 4.58, not good, but not a disaster either. What is a disaster is the hitting. Team BA is only .226, with 6 of the regulars sporting averages between .204 and .226, not good. The leading regular is Roberts at .266. All this is an obvious reason for the O's only scoring an average of 3.6 runs per game, thus a 6-9 record and an 8 game losing streak. The starting pitching also needs to step up. This should have been a strength, but so far has been inconsistent. Guthrie has been solid and the rookie Britton has been ok, but Tillman, Bergesen, and Arrieta have been performing below expectations. The left hander Matusz, who is expected to be the #2 starter, is still on the DL. Still, the boys have to start hitting the ball. -- Al
Baseball 2011 (6 Viewers)
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Louis Badolato
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Don't panic, Al. It's early in the season, and the hitters will hit to the back of their baseball cards before the season is done. Right now half the Yankees are hitting in the low .200's, but are on a pace to hit from 50-80 homers. Some how I imagine the batting averages will go up, and the homer totals come back down to earth in the very near future.
No panic as concerns the O's, Louis. I think they will come around and play decent ball. What has me worried, as a NYY fan, is that shot-to-pieces starting pitching rotation of theirs. Hughes is a big concern and without him there is only CC and AJ as established starters, and I wouldn't bet the farm on AJ. Now Colon and Garcia are possible step-ins, but Nova is still an unknown. A two or three man rotation is not going to get it done, with 90% of the season left to play. I bet the wheels are turning in the NYY front office. I see they signed Millwood. Maybe he can provide some innings and rebound after last years 4-16 record with the horrendous O's. The NYY HAVE to do something. -- Al
Louis Badolato
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The best bet for the Yankees is to hope the Mariners keep falling deeper into the basement. If Seattle continues to sport the worst record in baseball, they may be willing to make a blockbuster trade for King Felix. If I'm the Yankees I give them whatever they want: prospects, Phil Hughes, whatever it takes. Felix Hernandez is the best pitcher in baseball. With a rotation of King Felix, CC, Burnett, and anybody else, including you or I, the Yankees would win just about any ALCS 7 game playoff series in 5-6 games.
Could you imagine that pitching rotation, with the Yankees bullpen and lineup? I would take King Felix against Doc Haliday any day and twice on Sunday. I think CC versus Cliff Lee is about an even match, if the good Burnett shows up he can beat Roy Oswalt, the Phillies would have the edge in the 4th matchup (Hughes, Garcia, Colon or Nova vs. Cole Hamell). It might go 7 games, but the Yankees with King Felix would be the only AL team other than Boston and maybe Texas (assuming they get healthy) who would have a shot to beat the Phillies in a 7 game series.
Good grief, Charlie Brown! The NYY sure brought their thunder sticks against the O's last night. 5 home runs is a pretty good total for a game, resulting in 12 of the 15 runs scored by the NYY and finally getting CC his first win. That is one dangerous lineup the NYY have, and that is without Jeter being hot and a total power failure (to this point) by Swisher. Swisher has hit 58 Hr's for the NYY in '09 and '10 but hasn't hit a single one yet, this year. Jeter still isn't hitting, either. His numbers fell off last year and are further down so far this year. Could just be a slow start, but at 37 years old, it could be declining skills and a potential problem for the NYY. Time will tell on this. It is still relatively early in the year. -- Al
Louis Badolato
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Jeter has three hits today, and has upped his batting average 26 points. Its too early in the season to rate a player. The experts say 150 at bats minimum before you can tell what kind of a season a player is having at the plate. Right now if Jeter had 5 more hits, he would be batting over .300.
I am not worried about Swisher either. He has been hitting the ball hard, but right at people, so he has nothing to show for it. He will come around.
Look at the Red Sox. They started out 0-7, and with a win today (they are up 4-0)will get to 10-11. Before the All Star break rolls around, the Yankees and the Red Sox will be battling for the East, and all the players with slow starts will be playing closer to the backs of their baseball cards. I think Jeter will end up batting over .290 this season, and will end the year with more than 3,100 hits for his career.
I am not worried about Swisher either. He has been hitting the ball hard, but right at people, so he has nothing to show for it. He will come around.
Look at the Red Sox. They started out 0-7, and with a win today (they are up 4-0)will get to 10-11. Before the All Star break rolls around, the Yankees and the Red Sox will be battling for the East, and all the players with slow starts will be playing closer to the backs of their baseball cards. I think Jeter will end up batting over .290 this season, and will end the year with more than 3,100 hits for his career.
Louis Badolato
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I spoke too soon. Jeter got a 4th hit, and raised his batting average 36 points today. He passed hall of famer Frank Robinson on the all time hit list (he's now 30th all time). Next up, Wee Willie Keeper (9 hits away). I expect him to heat up with the weather.:wink2: I figure he ends the year in 18th place all time in front of Dave Winfield (3110).
NYY just seem to have the O's number. Mariano blows his second straight save and the O's still lose. O's opened up 6-1 and have since gone 2-11 to go from first place to last place, a somewhat familiar place for them. I still believe that the O's have a good pitching staff but they have to get Matusz back and a couple others have to step up and produce. NYY may have solved their starting pitching shortage, at least for now. -- Al
Louis Badolato
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The O's will bounce back, Al. They have good young pitching.
I am not so sure that the Yankees have solved their pitching problem. Garcia has had two excellent starts, but he has not pitched a full season as a starter in what, 5 years? Talk to me about Garcia and Colon in August, after they've thrown 100+ innings, and if they are still throwing quality starts I will agree with you. Until then, Cashman better be shopping all the top prospects for an ace from a last place team (preferrably Seattle :wink2
.Agree with the shopping for a starter, Louis. I did say "for now" in regards to the starters.^&grin I love the O's and he is my favorite pitcher, but the NYY should consider Jeremy Guthrie. He does not have a great record, because of his support, but he is a very good starter who would do well in NY. He is 32, so there is a possibility the O's could be persuaded. Guthrie should have been a 15-16 game winner the last two years but lack of run support got him, just as it is doing this year. He could be a #2 starter with even average support. -- AlThe O's will bounce back, Al. They have good young pitching.
I am not so sure that the Yankees have solved their pitching problem. Garcia has had two excellent starts, but he has not pitched a full season as a starter in what, 5 years? Talk to me about Garcia and Colon in August, after they've thrown 100+ innings, and if they are still throwing quality starts I will agree with you. Until then, Cashman better be shopping all the top prospects for an ace from a last place team (preferrably Seattle :wink2
The O's inability to score for Guthrie is really getting on my nerves. I've gotten to the point where I would like to see him go to a team that is worthy of his talents, like the NYY. The O's bullpen got Guthrie last night. Guthrie outdueled Beckett to hand over a 4-0 lead to the bullpen, going into the 7th inning. Boston's first four batters in the 7th all scored to tie the game, which the O's won 5-4, anyway, but leaving Guthrie out of the decision. In Guthrie's 17 losses since the start of 2010, the O's have averaged 1.4 runs while Guthrie has been in the game pitching. Come on NYY, grab him! -- Al
Louis Badolato
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We used the free tickets for a family outing to the Stadium for yesterday's game against the Bluejays. It was my 3 year old daughter Ashley's first game, and she had a great time. The weather was picture perfect (65 degrees, not a cloud in the sky), Jeter (both my kid's favorite player) got an RBI, the Yankees won 5-4, Mo got the save, my daughter got my son's old Jeter jersey (we bought him a new one after the game) and then we went to an excellent post-game dinner at the NYY Steakhouse in the stadium. I took some nice photos of the family and my wife's friend Jeanine at the game, and I will politely ask Brad to post them for me.
Louis Badolato
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Thanks again, Brad!:smile2:
The O's did to him, again, last night. Guthrie pitched 7 decent innings, gave up 4 runs, and left trailing 4-0 as the O's couldn't score while he was in the game. Took the loss and is now 1-4 with an ERA of 3.00. This really has a detrimental effect on my morale. Come on NYY, trade for Guthrie. I want to see him win. -- Al
sammy719
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Hey Al, I thought you were on my side
...we better not trade Guthrie to anyone, esp.the Yankees!!!! as far as run support, we had scored pretty good against the Whitesox in the previous 3 games, just not his year so far for scoring support, but all in time, seeing the teams we have played so far this year I think were doing decent, Guthrie will get his wins, just not in the first few weeks...SammyHi Sammy. I know, I'm just REALLY frustrated. This lack of scoring for Guthrie isn't just a 2011 thing, it went on all of 2010 as well. I think Guthrie is a terrific pitcher and is far and away the best on the staff. I would like to see his efforts rewarded before old age forces his retirement.:rolleyes2: Overall, though, I think the O's are doing ok and should gt better once Markakis gets rolling and Matusz gets back. -- AlHey Al, I thought you were on my side
Well, 20% of the season gone and Jeter might have found his stroke. 4 hits and 2 of those Hr's, his first of the season. Must be a good night for the "Big Apple".^&grin On the other hand, the O's still can't hit and the starting pitching still has a few problems that need to be addressed. I wonder if the front office has some ideas. I'm guessing not. Bergesen and Tillman are about to pitch themselves out of a job. Next. -- Al