Weekend Thoughts

By Matt Imbrogno On July 4, 2011 · 3 Comments · In General Musings

Hope everyone’s enjoying the Fourth of July safely! Anyway, onto the events of the weekend.

1. Way to go, ! I didn’t get to watch any of this because I was with friends for the day, but everything about the start just sounds fantastic. 6 IP, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K? Yes, please! It looks like Bartolo picked up EXACTLY where he left off and that’s just fantastic. Of his 80 pitches, 69 were fastballs (four seamers or two seamers, per Brooks) and he managed those six strikeouts despite just two total swings and misses. If you told me at the beginning of the year that Colon would be racking up all these strikeouts despite throwing almost all fastballs, I would’ve told you that you were nuts. I’m so glad that I’ve been proven wrong.

2. In a similar vein, continues to somehow get it done. He may not have had many strikeouts yesterday, just one, but he didn’t walk anyone and that’ll get the job done every time. I’m not sure how much more he can keep it up, but I still think the Yankees made the right decision in sticking with him and sending down to Scranton to keep it up if Garcia breaks down or someone else gets hurt.

3. I understand why people may be upset at Nova being sent down, but I get it. He had options and sending him down keeps the Yankees deeper. It’s obvious that he’ll be needed again at some point in the season and putting him in AAA instead of the bullpen can keep him stretched out and on rotation.

4. I’m going to defer to friend of the blog on this one:

hmm. i don’t know how i feel about this world where is a mess with a glove and Eduardo Nunez is an offensive powerhouse.

5. I know some people are annoyed at the fact that neither nor made American League All-Star Team. Frankly, I’m finding it hard to care and I hope that every other Yankee selected to the team a) pitches on the Sunday before the ASG b) has a “family issue” (made up) that must be attended to or c) can fake an injury before the game. I don’t want anyone on my favorite team risking injury in what amounts to an exhibition game (do NOT get me started on that home field advantage thing). Not worth it.

6. I’m glad the 2011 Subway Series is over. I’ve already made my feelings about this known but I’ll reiterate them: The Subway Series is a giant “meh” to me at this point. It’s awesome the Yankees won the series two games to one (and should’ve swept it), but that the victories came against the Mets doesn’t add anything to them. But I will say one thing: I am beyond glad that the Yankees are done with NL parks until (hopefully!) the World Series. It’ll be great to go back to watching pitchers face nine REAL hitters every night.

Tagged with: • • • •
 
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
Delicious Digg

3 Responses to Weekend Thoughts

  1. Phil C says:
    July 4, 2011 at 11:59 am

    I don’t like inter-league play. But how about this as an off the wall idea: Realignment where all the same or near-same city teams are in the same division (NY, Chicago, LA, SF/Oak, Balt/Wash, etc.) Might make for some great rivalries. DH for both leagues.

    Also, it’s a shame something couldn’t be done about a situation that is developing right now. TB has the 3rd best record in the AL and would not make the playoffs. And they are in the toughest division. I’m not advocating a one game playoff vs Boston because they just isn’t right. I don’t know hoe to remedy that, but it would be a shame for the 3rd best team not to be in the playoffs.

    [Reply]

    smurfy Reply:
    July 4th, 2011 at 12:57 pm

    I will definitely buy into that, Phil C. I would love a division that includes good ol’ Boston, Philly, Mets, Nats, and Birds. A contest to behold!

    Let the rest of the country work to keep up!

    You are right about Tampa Bay, be a shame. (Rue the day it happens to the Yanks. Such woe.)

    [Reply]

  2. Duh, Innings! says:
    July 4, 2011 at 1:51 pm

    First let me say that I have accepted Hughes as part of the team again since he is slated to start vs. Cleveland Wednesday. I don’t like it, I’m against it as I think it’s the Yankees fixing what isn’t broken, and it’s not me saying Nova is better than him long-term just 2011 (I never argued long-term just 2011 despite what some of you think/thought), but I will root for Hughes to do as well as or better than Nova, have to cuz I’m a Yankee fan. I despise Cashman and think he’s the most overrated GM in the history of baseball because he has yet to develop an ace, #2, or #3 who has lasted more than two full seasons as a Yankee, but again, I’m a Yankee fan so I have to hope his moves pan out.

    Here are other reasons why sending down Nova was/is dumb besides that he has posted a 8-4 record with a 4.12 ERA, #3 starter in the AL quality numbers to me:

    1. Nova could’ve been kept to be the mopup man in case Hughes gets knocked out early Wednesday. Now the Yankees have Lance Pendleton, a downgrade from Nova.

    2. Hughes is starting the last game of the series at Cleveland 7/6 and it will be the only start he’ll make until my guess 7/18 the first game of a four-game series at Tampa Bay assuming the Yankees go with a rotation of Burnett/Sabathia/Colon/Garcia in Toronto 7/14-17 (CC 7/15 cuz he’s starting tomorrow 7/5 and 7/10 or just have him and Burnett switch places if CC is going today.) Why not just start Nova Wednesday? So what Hughes makes one more minor-league start? He wouldn’t start for another dozen days anyway, minor-league or major-league start 7/6. Nova did post 5 IP and 1 ER vs. the Mets who were hot coming into the series. If Nova sucked 7/6, enter Hughes. More pressure? Hey, you all want him to start a postseason game right? Many of you tout him as The Second Coming Of Roy Halladay, Felix Hernandez, Justin Verlander, or whatever other ace you worship at the altar of. He has to face pressure at some point and someone has to mopup to get through 7/6 moreover hold down Cleveland for the offense to mount a comeback. What does it matter when Hughes pitches or comes in 7/6? If it’s 5-0 Cleveland through three and Hughes comes in to start the fourth, that’s his first inning and the beginning of his game. You can’t get on him if he posts 4 IP and 3 ER cuz it was already 5-0 through three and another mopup man could’ve done the same. At least the guy gave you 4 IP and someone else pitches the eighth if it’s a loss. The negative is the Yankees lose the game, but the positive is they didn’t use most of their bullpen including Rivera and Robertson. The classic “lose the battle to win the war” game. And maybe Boston or TB loses or both lose that night so no big deal.

    3. If the Yankees take the first two games from Cleveland then lose cuz Hughes sucks, one dark cloud over their heads when he comes to the mound. If Hughes then sucks against TB 7/18, another dark cloud over the Yankees heads when he comes to the mound. Don’t tell me the everyday guys wouldn’t be privately annoyed at Hughes and even Cashman. I’m sure at least two or three of them would say “They replaced Nova with this guy?” Remember they play all year and none of them give a fuck about 2010 like you all and the higherups do, they’ll tell you it’s 2011 and they want to win every day / as much as possible and that means best man for the job to do that. I bet you most of the everyday players are against Nova’s removal from the rotation and if you think an almost new kid on the block in 2011 who can’t get outs won’t affect them adversely, think again. He could. You hope he doesn’t and that the guys behind him don’t crumble like him. Should he affect them isn’t the question, he will no matter what he does. Pitchers always affect the guys behind them. If a dude takes forever to pitch, it will affect the defense. Yeah, they win the series at Cleveland and might still split or take 3 of 4 in TB but what if Nova pitched? Why wonder? Also, if the Yankees drop the first game in TB with Hughes, they’ll have to take 2 of 3 just to split.

    Hughes could disrupt momentum is what I’m saying. He could suck after the Yankees take the first two of three from Cleveland but it’s still another series win which is nice but you know Jeter will be the first to tell you he wanted 3-0. I can see these guys thinking “What if Nova was in there?” if Hughes sucks 7/6. He could suck 7/18 and the Yankees could go 1-3 or get swept in TB which would be disastrous. Then I blame Cashman for fucking with the team chemistry and momentum. And don’t tell me Hughes won’t be scrutinized the most, he will be. He comes back, 1-2 vs. Cleveland and 1-3 vs. TB, it’s him. He’s a dark cloud, no one else.

    I hope he doesn’t suck but what annoys me is now I have to hope that whereas with Nova you knew he could be at least decent from what he’s done this year. Cut the shit, none of us had to hope Nova pitches well the last month or so, the kid has been pitching well most of the year to a 8-4, 4.12 record. Who had expectations he’d do what he’s done so far? No one. We including myself did expect at least what Nova did from Hughes.

    If the Yankees MUST start Hughes, they should do this:

    1. Call Nova back up to start 7/18.

    2. Start CC on normal rest 7/19.

    3. Start Hughes 7/20 so the Yankees have Nova and CC against TB before Hughes. This way if the Yankees take the first two games of the series, there is less pressure on Hughes to win since if the Yankees lose, hey, they can still go for 3 out of 4. Also, Hughes would draw Seattle at home next. I think he third game out of 4 at TB and a home game vs. Seattle is a far better environment for Hughes to thrive than a start in Cleveland then a start in TB a dozen days later.

    Starting Hughes 7/6 when he won’t pitch again until probably 7/18 is just stupid. Bring back Nova to start 7/18 (since he can’t be called back up for 7/6) and start Hughes 7/20 so Hughes pitches the third game of a series at TB after Nova and CC.

    [Reply]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.

Blog WebMastered by All in One Webmaster.