06/19: Quick Notes
Posted by: James
Hey, I'm back...it's been a long time between posts as work has been exceptionally busy these past few weeks. This wasn't helped by a company outing to Citizen's Bank park last Thursday to see the Mets take on (and finish sweeping) the Phillies. I loved the break but you end up trying to fit in 5 days of work into 4. Anyway, for those of you who haven't had the chance to check out the stadium, I took a few pictures and they're hosted on my Flickr page. It's a beautiful park with just tons of standing room and surprisingly good sightlines from pretty much everywhere. Anyway, here are a couple of the things that have popped up on my radar lately.
When Obi-Wang is on, he's something to watch, isn't he? If he can develop a solid strikeout pitch, he would be Roy Halladay-lite. Seriously - they are very similar pitchers, if you look at their tendencies and how they get people out. Still, Wang is what he is and if he can keep pitching like that, I will take that every single time.
As for A-Rod's slump, well, it looks like his fielding slump has been broken. His play on Pat Burrell in the bottom of the 8th saved the Yankees from being down even more going into the top of the 9th (a moot point in the end but nevertheless, important at the time). His bat is starting to come around as well and people will be booing him for some other reason before you know it ;)
It's a little odd to hear but you know Farnsworth is enigmatic when you can hear the frustration seeping out of both Susan Waldmyn and John Sterling when they were calling his inning. This guy is the goods - he just needs to get back on track. Of course, as every Yankee fan knows, Octavio Dotel is coming soon. Here's my take on that. Dotel could be the saviour for the pen but please, wait until he proves it first. Don't annoint him in advance and get those hopes up just yet. He's been a great reliever in the past (and I'm very high on him) but remember that he's coming off some serious arm injuries and we all need to remember that and temper our expectations. That being said, hopefully he will be fine because if he's his usual self, then he takes over Tom Gordon's place and Farnsworth becomes a better option than Scott Proctor. If you're looking at Proctor, you can split his season so far into two halves. In his first 17 appearances, 1.42 ERA , 7.1 Ks, 3.9 BBs and .36 HRs per 9. In his last 17 appearances, 6.64 ERA, 7.5 Ks, 3.5 BBs and 1.77 HRs per 9. Still, I give the man his due - he hasn't been completely Strutzed (i.e. overworked to the point of injury) yet and he's pitched well this month. if it all breaks right, Torre can then start using Proctor less and Villone more and both in lower-leverage situations.
Finally, not to beat this point any further but seriously, why is Bubba Crosby on this team? I'm not trying to be mean-spirited since Bubba seems like a nice guy. I'm being completely serious. Please, if you can, honestly tell me what he brings to the dish that Kevin Thompson cannot. If you have a clear argument FOR him, I would love to hear it. Otherwise, you just switched up a younger (you can actually use any of the following here; cheaper, faster, stronger, better) player for someone who probably shouldn't be in the majors (at least not being used in leveraged situations as he is with the Yanks). I ask since the Yankees pleasantly surprised me by DFA'ing Long, Erikson and Small in the pursuit of a younger, more efficent roster and I think that Bubba really should be (but probably won't be) next.
When Obi-Wang is on, he's something to watch, isn't he? If he can develop a solid strikeout pitch, he would be Roy Halladay-lite. Seriously - they are very similar pitchers, if you look at their tendencies and how they get people out. Still, Wang is what he is and if he can keep pitching like that, I will take that every single time.
As for A-Rod's slump, well, it looks like his fielding slump has been broken. His play on Pat Burrell in the bottom of the 8th saved the Yankees from being down even more going into the top of the 9th (a moot point in the end but nevertheless, important at the time). His bat is starting to come around as well and people will be booing him for some other reason before you know it ;)
It's a little odd to hear but you know Farnsworth is enigmatic when you can hear the frustration seeping out of both Susan Waldmyn and John Sterling when they were calling his inning. This guy is the goods - he just needs to get back on track. Of course, as every Yankee fan knows, Octavio Dotel is coming soon. Here's my take on that. Dotel could be the saviour for the pen but please, wait until he proves it first. Don't annoint him in advance and get those hopes up just yet. He's been a great reliever in the past (and I'm very high on him) but remember that he's coming off some serious arm injuries and we all need to remember that and temper our expectations. That being said, hopefully he will be fine because if he's his usual self, then he takes over Tom Gordon's place and Farnsworth becomes a better option than Scott Proctor. If you're looking at Proctor, you can split his season so far into two halves. In his first 17 appearances, 1.42 ERA , 7.1 Ks, 3.9 BBs and .36 HRs per 9. In his last 17 appearances, 6.64 ERA, 7.5 Ks, 3.5 BBs and 1.77 HRs per 9. Still, I give the man his due - he hasn't been completely Strutzed (i.e. overworked to the point of injury) yet and he's pitched well this month. if it all breaks right, Torre can then start using Proctor less and Villone more and both in lower-leverage situations.
Finally, not to beat this point any further but seriously, why is Bubba Crosby on this team? I'm not trying to be mean-spirited since Bubba seems like a nice guy. I'm being completely serious. Please, if you can, honestly tell me what he brings to the dish that Kevin Thompson cannot. If you have a clear argument FOR him, I would love to hear it. Otherwise, you just switched up a younger (you can actually use any of the following here; cheaper, faster, stronger, better) player for someone who probably shouldn't be in the majors (at least not being used in leveraged situations as he is with the Yanks). I ask since the Yankees pleasantly surprised me by DFA'ing Long, Erikson and Small in the pursuit of a younger, more efficent roster and I think that Bubba really should be (but probably won't be) next.
Steve wrote: