Collection of Thoughts on Last Night’s Game
I was able to watch the whole Spring Training game last night and I thought I’d drop a few thoughts about the game, mostly just about two players.
looked good. Damn good. If we’re going to go with this whole start-by-start, then as of right now, he’s clearly got a spot in the rotation locked up. Hell, if we look at the whole picture of Spring Training, then Colon definitely deserves a spot in the rotation. He’s had control of his pitches, has been striking guys out, and has been keeping the runs off of the board. He appears to be healthy. He appears ready to start the season. I know we can’t do too much based on one good stretch in Spring Training, but at this point, it’s hard to deny that Colon deserves a spot in the rotation, at least to start the season. seemed to have a hold on a rotation spot, but he’s regressed in his last few outings and may have fallen out of favor, especially considering how well has performed of late. I still think they should go with Garcia and Colon with in long relief while Nova starts in Scranton, but I’m cooling on that idea a little bit.
Of course, that plan also assumes that either Colon or Garcia would leave the organization if not on the Opening Day roster. If the loser of this competition comes to some agreement with the Yankees to stay with the organization, I’d be fine with putting Nova in the rotation to start the year since a move like that wouldn’t hurt the pitching depth. I doubt that happens, though.
got another look in the leadoff spot and he walked and stole a base. I mentioned this on Twitter last night: for whatever reason, I love watching work walks. Maybe it’s because I see it as his best offensive skill. Maybe it’s because I think that’s what leadoff guys should do. For whatever reason, it makes me happy to see Gardner in that spot. And if Gardner is going to bat leadoff, I want to address one thing: Bunting. I know everyone says Gardner should work on his bunting since it may help him pick up a few extra infield hits over the course of the season. No. If he’s leading off, he should not be wasting pitches and outs on drag bunts. As a leadoff guy, his job is to work the count to get on base. Gardner’s not a great bunter and I don’t think it’s time to force it, especially if he’s going to be hitting in the number one spot. He has the on-base skills to work walks and the act of “forcing” him to drop down drag bunts takes away from his best skill (which also happens to be the best skill a player can have). Let’s make the refrain “Walk, Brett, walk!” not “Bunt, Brett, bunt!”
Other things I wanted to mention:
–Holy fast, Batman. Melky Mesa can flat out book it in the outfield.
–Brandon Laird had easily the worst swing of Spring Training last night.
–Manny Banuelos scuffled a bit last night. Whatevs.
Tagged with: Bartolo Colon • Brandon Laird • Brett Gardner • Freddy Garcia • Manny Banuelos • Melky Mesa • Sergio Mitre
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
4 Responses to Collection of Thoughts on Last Night’s Game
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
-
LIKE TYA ON FACEBOOK
-
Recent Activity
Recent Posts
- OTM/TYA Live Chat | 11/3/11
- Too Many Catchers, So Little Space
- The Brackman release, not so briefly
- Cashman’s Steady Hand a Better Alternative to Rocking the Boat
- TYA Live Chat Reminder | 11/3/11 (3:30 PM EST)
- Realistic offseason expectations
- CC and Peace of Mind
- The 2012 Bullpen
- Darvish vs. Wilson: How do the costs compare?
- Who is Trade Bait?
Recent Comments
- bg90027 on The Brackman release, not so briefly
- Brad Vietrogoski on Too Many Catchers, So Little Space
- UYF1950 on Too Many Catchers, So Little Space
- Brad Vietrogoski on Too Many Catchers, So Little Space
- UYF1950 on Too Many Catchers, So Little Space
- Eric Schultz on The Brackman release, not so briefly
- Tony Rubberknuckles on Realistic offseason expectations
- Brad Vietrogoski on The Brackman release, not so briefly
- Joe G on The Brackman release, not so briefly
- William J. on Cashman’s Steady Hand a Better Alternative to Rocking the Boat
-
Authors
Twitter
* TYA Twitter -
* EJ Fagan -
* Matt Imbrogno -
* William J. -
* Larry Koestler-
* Moshe Mandel -
* Sean P. -
* Eric Schultz -
* Matt Warden -
-
Other Links
-
Blogroll
Blogs
- An A-Blog for A-Rod
- Beat of the Bronx
- Bronx Banter
- Bronx Baseball Daily
- Bronx Brains
- Don't Bring in the Lefty
- Fack Youk
- It's About The Money
- iYankees
- Lady Loves Pinstripes
- Lenny's Yankees
- New Stadium Insider
- No Maas
- Pinstripe Alley
- Pinstripe Mystique
- Pinstriped Bible
- River Ave. Blues
- RLYW
- The Captain's Blog
- The Girl Who Loved Andy Pettitte
- This Purist Bleeds Pinstripes
- Value Over Replacement Grit
- WasWatching
- Yankee Source
- Yankeeist
- Yankees Blog | ESPN New York
- Yankees Fans Unite
- YFSF
- You Can't Predict Baseball
- Zell's Pinstripe Blog
Writers
- Bats (NYT)
- Blogging the Bombers (Feinsand)
- Bombers Beat
- Buster Olney
- E-Boland
- Jack Curry
- Joe Posnanski
- Joel Sherman
- Jon Heyman
- Keith Law
- Ken Davidoff
- Ken Rosenthal
- LoHud Yankees Blog
- Marc Carig
- Tim Marchman
- Tom Verducci
Resources
- Baseball Analysts
- Baseball Musings
- Baseball Prospectus
- Baseball Think Factory
- Baseball-Intellect
- Baseball-Reference
- BBTF Baseball Primer
- Beyond the Box Score
- Brooks Baseball
- Cot's Baseball Contracts
- ESPN's MLB Stats & Info Blog
- ESPN's SweetSpot Blog
- FanGraphs
- Joe Lefkowitz's PitchFX Tool
- Minor League Ball
- MLB Trade Rumors
- NYMag.com's Sports Section
- TexasLeaguers.com
- THE BOOK
- The Hardball Times
- The Official Site of The New York Yankees
- The Wall Street Journal's Daily Fix Sports Blog
- YESNetwork.com
-
Site Organization
Categories
Tags
A.J. Burnett ALCS Alex Rodriguez Andy Pettitte Baltimore Orioles Bartolo Colon Boston Red Sox Brett Gardner Brian Cashman Bullpen CC Sabathia Chien-Ming Wang Cliff Lee Curtis Granderson David Robertson Derek Jeter Francisco Cervelli Freddy Garcia Game Recap Ivan Nova Javier Vazquez Jesus Montero Joba Chamberlain Joe Girardi Johnny Damon Jorge Posada Mariano Rivera Mark Teixeira Melky Cabrera Minnesota Twins New York New York Yankees Nick Johnson Nick Swisher Phil Hughes Prospects Red Sox Robinson Cano Russell Martin Sergio Mitre Series Preview Tampa Bay Rays Toronto Blue Jays World Series Yankees -
Site Stats
Colon deserves his shot at breaking camp with the Yankees and heading north. And to be fair Garcia doesn’t. Colon has done everything he could have possibly done to earn his shot. If and I do mean if the Yankees had no intention of giving him a shot if he performed well and earned it then they never should have signed him. Also, keep in mind the way Colon has performed this spring if the Yankees don’t give him a shot and he “opts out” he will be signed by another ML team very quickly.
Matt, I don’t necessarily wholehearted agree with saying Gardner shouldn’t be trying to bunt to get on base. (I thought I read that he was a good bunter when he was in the low minors.)
What I do think he needs to do is bunt at least often enough to affect the positioning of the corner infielders. It’s like bluffing in poker – you don’t do it all the time to try to win hands, but you need to do it often enough that people will call you when you do have a good hand. Brett hits enough grounders and soft liners that aren’t sure-thing base hits, that bringing in the defense will increase his BABIP and AVG. This is the same reason why I think power lefties like Tex should occasionally bunt/slap swing against the shift, especially the extreme shift, but I guess that’s a whole other debate.
I agree. I assume he’d be bunting at pitches that are strikes anyhow, so he wouldn’t exactly be wasting pitches. Bunting can open up the defense, which is a big plus for a slap hitter with a game based on speed.
[...] away with the 5th starter’s role. He looked terrific his last start, so much so that our own Matt Imbrogno was singing his praises and the general consensus after both player’s recent performances was [...]