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Finestrg
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4/28/2014  11:59 AM    LAST EDITED: 4/28/2014  12:04 PM
Tex's moonshot last night and the HR he hit right-handed a couple of days ago are very good signs. The one he hit last night was against a VERY GOOD young pitcher with electric stuff. Very encouraging...Desperately need this dude to come around and be the Tex of old this year. He might be the key to the whole thing for us: solidifies everything -- 1B defensively he's so important and the middle-of-the-order pop we need him to supply is essential...God willing he stays healthy and goes on a tear.

Tanaka's VERY GOOD. I hesitate to say GREAT for two reasons -- (1) he doesn't throw as hard as you'd like to see consistently for an ace (the one thing that separates him from a guy like Yu Darvish imo. Darvish is more 95-96 consistently; our guy's not). Looks like he can get it up to 93-94 when he needs it but it's not consistent (88-90 that's relatively straight in the middle of the plate is gonna get hammered more times than not -- just a lot less margin for error for guys that don't throw as hard) and (2) he seems a little susceptible to the long ball so far. Still a very good pickup. Something we had to do, even if we overpaid somewhat. I love that he's still very young -- at 25 years old, hopefully he still has a lot more innings left in that arm. We're gonna need it. Hard to argue with his success so far. Keep it coming!!
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jrodmc
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4/28/2014  12:13 PM
I wonder if the warmer weather and resultant sweat means less need for pine tar? We need all our pitching cuz we can barely hit a lick at times...

Good point about the bounce back wins. And we don't even have Petitte to do it for us!
H1AND1
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4/28/2014  6:40 PM
jrodmc wrote:I wonder if the warmer weather and resultant sweat means less need for pine tar? We need all our pitching cuz we can barely hit a lick at times...

Good point about the bounce back wins. And we don't even have Petitte to do it for us!

I could be wrong but I always thought pine tar was for grip so when it's cold and you can't feel your fingers the ball doesn't go wild. I'm sure sometimes it's used in warmer weather too, but who knows the full extent of it.
Bonn1997
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5/2/2014  7:31 AM
It's hard to believe how much money the team spent and how mediocre they still are. I hope the Steinbrenners go all in with a bunch of mid-season trades.
Bonn1997
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5/2/2014  7:33 AM
H1AND1 wrote:
jrodmc wrote:I wonder if the warmer weather and resultant sweat means less need for pine tar? We need all our pitching cuz we can barely hit a lick at times...

Good point about the bounce back wins. And we don't even have Petitte to do it for us!

I could be wrong but I always thought pine tar was for grip so when it's cold and you can't feel your fingers the ball doesn't go wild. I'm sure sometimes it's used in warmer weather too, but who knows the full extent of it.


The skeptic in me is wondering if Pineda is really this good or if he's been cheating all season. I really hope it's the former. We need him! Even though the team is mediocre, it would be a great foundation to have two excellent 25 year old starting pitchers.
Bonn1997
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5/2/2014  7:37 AM
Finestrg wrote:Tex's moonshot last night and the HR he hit right-handed a couple of days ago are very good signs. The one he hit last night was against a VERY GOOD young pitcher with electric stuff. Very encouraging...Desperately need this dude to come around and be the Tex of old this year. He might be the key to the whole thing for us: solidifies everything -- 1B defensively he's so important and the middle-of-the-order pop we need him to supply is essential...God willing he stays healthy and goes on a tear.

Tanaka's VERY GOOD. I hesitate to say GREAT for two reasons -- (1) he doesn't throw as hard as you'd like to see consistently for an ace (the one thing that separates him from a guy like Yu Darvish imo. Darvish is more 95-96 consistently; our guy's not). Looks like he can get it up to 93-94 when he needs it but it's not consistent (88-90 that's relatively straight in the middle of the plate is gonna get hammered more times than not -- just a lot less margin for error for guys that don't throw as hard) and (2) he seems a little susceptible to the long ball so far. Still a very good pickup. Something we had to do, even if we overpaid somewhat. I love that he's still very young -- at 25 years old, hopefully he still has a lot more innings left in that arm. We're gonna need it. Hard to argue with his success so far. Keep it coming!!


Yeah, it's amazing to look at the differences in batting average against fastballs at different mph. I saw the #s a while ago but it's about a .100 point difference for every 5 mph. People look at rare exceptions of pitchers who excelled without a powerful fastball, and then talk about every aging hard-thrower (like CC) as a guy who's fine but just needs to learn more tricks.
Finestrg
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5/2/2014  10:21 AM    LAST EDITED: 5/2/2014  12:06 PM
Man, is this starting rotation decimated or what? Nova going down for the year hurts bad and it looks like we'll be w/o Pineda longer than anticipated due to a back issue (MRI confirmed grade 1 strain of the lat muscle). They're saying 3-4 weeks...This is on top of the 10-game suspension. No idea how it'll work -- will he serve the entire 10 days then go on the DL? Sucks however you slice it.. Dude's gonna miss another month now on top of the suspension. The rotation was supposed to be a strength. Poof! That just went up in smoke!! Just saw Manny Banuelos was promoted to AA Trenton. They started over with him this year in A ball. I think the plan was to ease him along but maybe they try to fast track him now if he continues to pitch well. Outside of Banuelos, just looking over the Scranton and Trenton starting pitchers and no one really sticks out to me: I don't know if I see anything better than Phelps and Nuno at the moment. They could reinsert Warren back into the rotation but then who takes his spot in the pen? Danny Burawa could've been an option but he's out with an oblique problem. Shane Greene maybe? Cash just brought Al Aceves back on a minor league deal recently. Does that guy even have anything left?? What a mess. Too bad because we're in 1st place right now. If we were able to reinforce somehow, either from within or via trade, I think we could stay there. None of these other teams in the weak-looking AL East look any better than the Yanks. With a couple of moves to solidify some things, I think we're very much a playoff team, holes and all. Here's hoping Cash, Hal and co. look at it like that..
Bonn1997
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5/2/2014  6:35 PM    LAST EDITED: 5/2/2014  6:38 PM
Pineda has pitched 4 games in the previous 2+ seasons. He might just be fools' gold.
The team has A LOT of holes. Right now, we're just an average offensive team. That means we're 2 to 3 big bats away from being a top defensive team. Our TEAM OPS in 2009 was .839. Right now, we have only one player above that level, and that's based on a 79 at bat career sample. And I haven't even mentioned pitching.

The team is 15-12 but the -13 run differential is alarming. That's 8th worst in the majors. And that's despite the fact that our opponents' winning percentage is .470. We're getting outscored by bad teams. I think we're about 5 excellent trades/big signings away from being WS contenders.
Bonn1997
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5/2/2014  7:24 PM
Ugh. Why is Soriano in the outfield?!
Bonn1997
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5/3/2014  4:28 PM
I hope Girardi has the guts to move Jeter way down in the lineup.
Maybe Ichiro should play more and Soriano less against righties.
Bonn1997
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5/4/2014  1:56 PM
Jeter still second? He's had a great career but this isn't a charity. Gardner should be 2nd.
Bonn1997
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5/4/2014  2:18 PM
CC looks more like a 6th or 7th starter!
Finestrg
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5/5/2014  2:00 PM    LAST EDITED: 5/5/2014  2:10 PM
Agreed. The 0-7 Jete took the other night in that extra inning game was excruciating.

And CC -- man, not sure what to say. The dude's a shell of what he used to be. It's hard to stomach because he's a good dude and has been a great Yankee...Regardless, I think Andy Pettitte at the end of the line may have had better stuff than what CC's been showing lately. Even on a good day, you get the feeling that he'll throw a few good innings to start off then at any moment he could blow up midway through a game and either piss away a lead or put us further behind. And worse case--well, we saw that yesterday. Just didn't have anything right from the get-go...Again, they won't entertain doing it, but if it were up to me, I'd seriously consider converting him into a situational lefty reliever. I think his stuff would translate much better outta the bullpen at this stage. Let him come in and really air it out going after tough lefties here and there. Good chance his velocity would kick up a MPH or two and I think he'd have success. Bottom line -- we need to get something outta this guy and salvage what we can at this point. What's better -- having a guy like Adam Warren reinserted into the SR with better stuff and a better chance at a quality start with CC contributing outta the bullpen getting out tough lefties splitting that duty with Matt Thornton --OR-- CC not getting it done at all as a starter, having only 1 lefty in the pen and not getting nearly the best we can out of an much improved yet underutilized Adam Warren? I know Warren's been good out of the pen and has been used in important spots but you know what I mean...

Three reasons why they probably won't do it: (1) he's making way too much money for that type of role, (2) they don't seem to have a suitable enough replacement ready to call up and (3) CC probably wouldn't go for it. Tell ya what -- I'd do it. Did it work for Darren Oliver? Sure did -- not that he was ever as good a starter as CC was in his prime but he was more than serviceable and then once he made the transition to the pen, he remained effective and added years to his career. I don't see how they'll have a choice if he continues to pitch poorly...Gotta do what's best for the team man; that's always the bottom line. Gotta pray Manny Banuelos continues to excel in the minors, hopefully gets called up at some point later this summer and is everything the Yanks think and hope he'll be (which could be something in between a young Francisco Liriano and maybe that lefty starter we faced the other night on the Mariners, Roenis Elias (was this kid good the other night or what? I'd take a pitcher just like that in a heartbeat right now). It's a shame -- we have a lot of holes but if they chose to address at least some of these issues rather than ignoring them and hoping for the best, I think this team stays atop the AL East and gets in the playoffs. I know they already spent a ton of money and are probably at or over their limit but what do we do right now? Not do anything and let the whole season just go right down the tubes -- OR -- convince ourselves that this division is there for the taking and make a few calculated moves to ensure we win the division and go to the playoffs? I know it's still very early but we're pretty much at the crossroads right now I feel -- why make moves when we're 5-10 games out of first place at the deadline? See where this is headed and make some moves right now.
Bonn1997
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5/5/2014  3:19 PM    LAST EDITED: 5/5/2014  3:22 PM
I agree with all of that. I'd been thinking about converting CC to the bullpen too. If he starts 35 games and has a 6.00 ERA, it's going to be very hard for us to make the playoffs. And I don't see much room for improvement. You can't do that much with an 88 mph fastball and mediocre control. If CC is still this bad by midseason, I hope they have the guts to move him to the pen. And it's going to be hard to make the playoffs if Jeter's batting second with a .590 OPS too. They're going to have to spend at least another $50 mil on this season's roster (taking on salary in trades) in order to get to WS-contention IMO.
Bonn1997
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5/7/2014  9:05 AM
Very interesting video on Tanaka
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=10891789&ex_cid=espnapi_public
Finestrg
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5/7/2014  1:04 PM    LAST EDITED: 5/7/2014  1:09 PM
Bonn1997 wrote:Very interesting video on Tanaka
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=10891789&ex_cid=espnapi_public

Very cool. Thanks for sharing. I think D-Rob's got the same thing going on -- a longer stride than normal that allows the fastball to get to the plate a tad quicker. Just wish Maz threw a little harder naturally. Tanaka throwing 95 consistently with the long stride and those off-speed pitches of his would be LIGHTS OUT. As is, he's still very good though. The best starter we have right now by far. I'll take it...

Totally support Joe going nuts the other night on Laz Diaz -- come on, that pitch to Gardy was beyond low (wasn't even close) and yeah, the finger waving and shooing Kelley away once he tossed him was definitely bush league and uncalled for. F that - glad Joe let him have it. Let's hope Joe getting fired up like that lights a fire under these guys' asses now!!

Kuroda was excellent last night. Best he's been this year by far. Too bad we couldn't get him the win (how many no decisions does this guy have since joining the Yanks? I bet more than any pitcher in baseball). HUGE mistake by Girardi late in this game -- how the hell do you let Kelley face Pujols like that with 2 out, a base open and Howie Kendrick on deck?!? WOW. I couldn't believe that. Nuts. Pujols should've been walked intentionally right away, and then esp. after Kelley fell behind 3-0. No question...Couldn't believe Joe wasn't waving 4 fingers to put him on...Damn lucky he only lined an RBI single off that flat 3-2 slider to tie it and didn't smoke that baby 600 feet. The pitch or 2 before the single, he lined a bullet foul that was hit so hard, I was like, "Goddamn Joe, WTF are you doing? Put him on!!" He should know better in that situation. You take your chances with Kendrick there every time, I don't care how badly Kendrick's hurt us in the past. Shit was crazy...Hey we won. Big HR by Brian Roberts. Hope there's some carryover and we go on a little bit of a run now. This division isn't great at all, man. It's right there for the taking.
Bonn1997
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5/8/2014  8:40 AM
I actually didn't think Jeter could hit an MLB pitch over the fences anymore! Even the Angels' fans cheered. That was an awesome moment!
Bonn1997
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5/12/2014  4:33 AM
CC to the DL. With some luck, maybe he'll be healthier and a better pitcher when he returns.
Whoever is replacing him can't be much worse than CC's been anyway.
This still looks like a .500 team though. :(
Bonn1997
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5/14/2014  4:29 PM
2-9 in the last 11 games Tanaka didn't pitch in.
Finestrg
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5/18/2014  12:43 PM
Went to the game yesterday. Got 'Yankees Inside Experience' tix for my wife as part of her 40th birthday present. She and I went. What a great time, man. Tour of Yankee Stadium, the museum, Monument Park, visited the Yanks' dugout, then took pictures with the 2009 championship trophy (and 2000 & 2009 championship rings!) and finally had a nice lunch before meeting Joe Girardi (the mystery guest) for Q&A, pictures, etc.. Then a trivia session with the museum curator (man was this guy knowledgeable -- nice guy too) before attending batting practice and then the game (field-level seats--3rd base side, 24 rows up). They kicked in free parking at the 164th St. and River Ave. garage too which was a nice touch. Very enjoyable day. Highly recommended. A couple of other guys took their young sons. My little guy's only 5 -- when he gets a little older and if he's into it like me and the mrs., all 3 of us will be doing this again.
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