First, I'd like to thank all Spot Starter readers who came to my wedding, it was a delightful time to be sure. I was able to talk to Rob for a moment about how hot the Yankees were...speaking of which:
The Yankees are hot right now, I wish that didn't have to be news. Why is it that I care about that or know that? I don't keep that close of tabs on other teams. I know Seattle is kind of hot, the Angels are playing well, but that's about it. What is it about those jerk-Yankees? Yeesh.
As I write this they are 35-32, hardly stellar for a team with a the highest payroll in baseball, but they have won 9 out of their last 10. They still trail (as of 11:42pm) the Red Sox by 8.5 games and the Tigers by 4 or 5 games. Of course, most of this is moot since it is currently June 19th.
My point is this, if I have one, it's early, the Yankees could still win 100 games this year, the whole thing could fall apart and they'll got 79-83, and that is what makes baseball outstanding. That's why I don't like the salary cap in other sports, I like that I care about the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, and Cubs. I love it. So I'll be watching closely the rest of the year to see how Clemens and Pettitte and the rest of the Bronx seniors citizens do. It's good entertainment and it's part of what makes baseball so interesting to me.
We are also nearing the mid point of the baseball season, most teams have played around 70 games and some shifting and moving should start occurring. The first casualty of the first half was Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo. Perlozzo was let go after failing to make the lousy Orioles and less lousy. The Orioles have plenty of money but just haven't really put it together. The don't have it easy being in the same division as the Yankees and Red Sox, but they have made poor personnel decisions and have paid for it dearly the past decade. There should be at least 2 or 3 managers fired by mid August and probably a dozen or so trades by July 31st. One of those moves is going to pay off big time for someone, pay attention to see who it is.
4 comments:
Hey, also, a quick,negative look at the Yankees starters:
Mussina is 38 years old and has ERA over 5.
Clemens is 44 and has made two starts all season.
Phil Hughes is 20 and has made two starts and his on the 60 day DL.
Jeff Karstens has made 2 starts and has an ERA over 14.
Andy Pettitte is the best of the bunch but is 35 years old.
Darrell Rasner is 26 and scares no one. The Washington Nationals decided they didn't want him.
Wang is 27 and has already suffered some injuries this season, but when he's on, he can be very tough.
When you see it listed like that they just are not a very scary team.
Blake, good to see you back. Also, I am requiring your wife to post at this point to introduce herself.
Also, I am cultivating some good stats to post in response, but for now, let's compare my beloved Yanks to your Tigers "dominate" pitching staff...
AL Rankings:
ERA
Det-9th (4.57)
NYY-6th (4.39)
BAA
Det-10th (.274)
NYY-6th (.261)
OPS
Det-11th (.781)
NYY-6th (.747)
WHIP
Det-10th (1.46)
NYY-8th (1.40)
Also, other fun facts...The tigers only have 5 more quality starts than NYY (35 to 30). Keep in mind, the Yankees set a record for different number of starting pitchers. In the wins category, Detroit's Verlander has 8 to NYY's Wang who has 7. Not exactly dominate.
You will refute this by saying that Detroit's hitting is soooo good but if there is one thing that we have learned about the playoffs, its pitching that matters.
So if the Yankees are obvisouly on par, if not better than the Tigers, what does that say about how "scary" the Tigers pitching is?
I won't argue that the Tigers hitting is better than the Yankees hitting, if those guys get hot at the same time there is no beating them, I won't argue that.
My point about starting pitching is that I would take Verlander, Bonderman, and Kenny Rogers over any three the Yankees can run out there. That is my point. Starting pitching is key in the playoffs and that is why the Yankees will fall again this season.
Did I just hear that the Yankees have better pitching than the Tigers? The very same Yankees that had "one of the best lineups of all time" that got shut down by the Tigers' starting pitching in the ALDS last year? You can take whatever stats you want, but I'm not buying it.
First of all, Bonderman, Verlander, Bonderman, Verlander, Bonderman, Verlander. The Yankees have nothing that can compare to that.
The Tigers' opening day starter and playoff superstar from 2006, Kenny Rogers, hadn't pitched until tonight (6 shutout innings).
Zumaya has been injured - he's the best setup man in baseball.
Nate Robertson (3.84 ERA last year) has struggled early this year. He may not return to 2006 form, but he will do better than he has done thus far.
We just got rid of Maroth, and since Dombrowski is our GM, I guarantee we got something worthwhile out of that (you'll see in two years).
Lastly, it's completely unfair to compare stats when we have Todd Jones as our closer. He's such an outlier that it skews everything.
I'm not afraid of Mussina, I'm not afraid of Clemens (since he can only pitch 5 or 6 innings). Wang is good. I'll give you that. And I Pettitte is ok. I wholeheartedly support Blake's points.
On account of their terrible pitching, I PROMISE YOU ALL, THE YANKEES WILL NOT MAKE THE PLAYOFFS THIS YEAR.
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