06/09: Shaken up lineup and A-Rod salvage series finale vs. Brewers
Posted by: David
When things are going bad the manager has to do something crazy and unconventional to jump start the team. Joe Torre did just that as he canceled batting practice and sat Matsui, Giambi and Posada. The result is that it worked. A-Rod hit his first of two homers in the first inning after Sheffield reached on an error by the third basemen. Mike Mussina gave the runs right back but then Tino Martinez hit a clutch two run double to put the Yankees ahead to stay.
A-Rod's first inning home run was the 399th of his career but he wasn't finished. He added his 400th career home run late in the game and became the youngest player in history to reach that plateau at 29 years and 316 days old.
The question now is can the Yankees take this offense and continue it against the first place St. Louis Cardinals? The pitching matchups are Wang vs. Marquis on Friday, Johnson vs. Mulder on Saturday and Pavano vs. Morris on Sunday. Each Cardinal pitcher has seven wins already this season. The Saturday matchup is really intriguing with new Cardinals ace Mark Mulder going against the struggling Randy Johnson. Johnson will have to face a potent lineup on the road in a nationally televised game of the week on FOX. He really hasn't pitched that bad and if the Yankees were the real Yankees, he would have won his last two starts. Pavano also looked great in his last start, giving up only two runs on a homerun but in a losing effort due to the Yankees lackluster offense.
The question for now is are there more shakeups on the way? Paul Quantrill has been getting rocked and it is becoming very clear that Joe Torre has lost confidence in him. He is not used in the seventh anymore unless Sturtze or Gordon have been overworked. Even the outs he got the other night were on balls that were crushed. We still need a lefty reliever. Buddy Groom and Mike Stanton are too inconsistent and can't be counted on in clutch situations. Will Roger Clemens end up in the Bronx or could the Texas Rangers lure him into their pennant chase? It is clear to me that the Yankees need to improve in many areas. They need another starting pitcher to beat contending teams and make the playoffs. The Yankees outfield defense is atrocious. None of the Yankees outfielders can go back on balls that are close to the wall. Sheffield looks awful, Bernie is simply too old and Matsui just misjudges too many balls when playing either left, center or right. In addition, Sheffield is the only one that has any kind of arm.
Who do we use as trade bait? Would the Yankees let go of Matsui to get Clemens? Is Junior Griffey a possibility? You can't get rid of Cano, the kid looks like he has the goods. He is smooth at second, his bat is getting better everyday and he is starting to hit with power. Womack has been a huge bust, if they can move him for a lefty reliever I say do so now.
A-Rod's first inning home run was the 399th of his career but he wasn't finished. He added his 400th career home run late in the game and became the youngest player in history to reach that plateau at 29 years and 316 days old.
The question now is can the Yankees take this offense and continue it against the first place St. Louis Cardinals? The pitching matchups are Wang vs. Marquis on Friday, Johnson vs. Mulder on Saturday and Pavano vs. Morris on Sunday. Each Cardinal pitcher has seven wins already this season. The Saturday matchup is really intriguing with new Cardinals ace Mark Mulder going against the struggling Randy Johnson. Johnson will have to face a potent lineup on the road in a nationally televised game of the week on FOX. He really hasn't pitched that bad and if the Yankees were the real Yankees, he would have won his last two starts. Pavano also looked great in his last start, giving up only two runs on a homerun but in a losing effort due to the Yankees lackluster offense.
The question for now is are there more shakeups on the way? Paul Quantrill has been getting rocked and it is becoming very clear that Joe Torre has lost confidence in him. He is not used in the seventh anymore unless Sturtze or Gordon have been overworked. Even the outs he got the other night were on balls that were crushed. We still need a lefty reliever. Buddy Groom and Mike Stanton are too inconsistent and can't be counted on in clutch situations. Will Roger Clemens end up in the Bronx or could the Texas Rangers lure him into their pennant chase? It is clear to me that the Yankees need to improve in many areas. They need another starting pitcher to beat contending teams and make the playoffs. The Yankees outfield defense is atrocious. None of the Yankees outfielders can go back on balls that are close to the wall. Sheffield looks awful, Bernie is simply too old and Matsui just misjudges too many balls when playing either left, center or right. In addition, Sheffield is the only one that has any kind of arm.
Who do we use as trade bait? Would the Yankees let go of Matsui to get Clemens? Is Junior Griffey a possibility? You can't get rid of Cano, the kid looks like he has the goods. He is smooth at second, his bat is getting better everyday and he is starting to hit with power. Womack has been a huge bust, if they can move him for a lefty reliever I say do so now.
Patrick wrote: