A Steep Hill to Climb, and Don't Overlook Guzman (Nats Notes)

The Yankees are now six games out of first after a disappointing set of losses to the Mets this weekend. I'm not panicking, but at this point with the rest of the division playing as well as it is the battle back into the wild card spot is going to be long and tough. Unfortunately the Sox are not going anywhere, but I do expect the Orioles and Toronto to fall from site sometime in the not too distant future. In the East that leaves the Rays who the Yankees have had trouble with this year, but lets also not disregard the fact that Cleveland is strong and that the Tigers are sure to turn it on big time sooner or later. In short I am keeping the faith, but the reality is that the chances of the Yankees missing the playoffs altogether this year are alarmingly higher than they have been in over a decade.

Nats Notes

The Nationals don't have any high profile superstars this year. In fact aside from Soriano's brief stay since the team has really never had a superstar since they relocated. Until now Zimmerman has been taking the role of DC hero, especially after his walkoff homer in the 9th to win the first game at the new stadium. Even though Zimmerman has huge potential, fans need to stop over looking the contributions of Christian Guzman. The Nats shortstop is really the only consistently productive player on the team right now. Actually Aaron Boone is doing pretty well too but since he isn't quite an every day player I'm leaving him out of this discussion. Take a look at Guzman's numbers:

Guzman

G -43 AB-188 AVG .298 OBP .321 SLG .447 OPS.768

Now compare those with Zimmerman
G-44 AB-184 AVG .245 OBP .276 SLG.424 OPS.699

Guzman is having a decent season and deserves to be acknowledged. No disrespect to Zimmerman who I am sure will improve as the season progresses, but until he does, look to short to be the one thing Nationals fan can rely on this year.

I'm Stocking Up My Bomb Shelter

There are some things that you only expect to see a few times, if ever, in your lifetime. Events that are so rare you always remember where you were when you saw them. I'm talking about things like a solar Eclipse, a meteor crashing to earth in front of your eyes, and of course....this...

Now I know that the picture quality didn't come out as well as I had hoped but your eyes are not deceiving you. The Rays are in first place and The Yankees in last. I'm happy for Tampa don't get me wrong, but in the past few days I have been talking a lot about signs of impending Armageddon and the Apocalypse and this is pretty much the third horse man right here.

The only normal thing happening so far this season is that Ian Kennedy sucked again last night. No big change there. It started out bad with a lead off home run but then it calmed down. Heck he didn't give up anything in the second, I was actually thinking he had figured some stuff out. But inevitably the floodgates were pried open and a flurry of runs came in as usual. I think Ian's only hope at this point is to hope that the end comes before he embarrasses himself again in his next start.

Now I'm off to my bomb shelter, I just hope my internet connection works down there.

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree

A Steinbrenner going of the deep end has become an as much of a part of spring as Daffodils, Easter Egg Hunts, or April showers. Love him or hate him, George Steinbrenner made these annual rants one of his signature pieces of work (now whether or not it actually motivates the players is arguable) but usually its no big deal, its just Georgie being Georgie. But when sonny boy Hank Steinbrenner went off I just cringed. I suppose I had foolishly hoped that these rants would retire with big Stien, but I guess the apple truly does not fall far from the tree. But let's get off the topic of the Steinbrenners because frankly they are getting paid a lot of money to not be managing the team well.

Ian Kennedy is slated to start tonight as the Yankees play the final game of their four game series against the AL Leading Rays.* It's an understatement to say that tonight is a big night for I-Ken. Hopefully the pressure wont get to him too much. At the very least the momentum from last nights win (MOOOOOSE) should help calm the jitters a little. So Ian, get out there and make us all look stupid.

Now normally I wouldn't blog about anything Red Sox unless it involves some sort of odd virus that magically made their fans go temporally mute from April through October. But, last night I have to say that Manny's Willie Mays-Hayes-esq play was pretty impressive. In case you didn't see it, Ramierez made a running catch, jumped up into the stands and high fived a fan, and then still made the play at second. I can only imagine that Terry Francona in his best Lou Brown impression said "Nice catch, (Manny). Don't ever fuckin' do it again." In the end the giant Talons of the Orioles proved to be too much for the Red Sox who blew a three nothing lead. Ok, I guess this little walk on the dark side does have a happy ending.

Nats Notes

Nats 5 Mets 3

Ryan Zimmerman upped his average to .240 last night in part thanks to a long home run that may have hit the capital dome. Jesus Flores hit a tie breaking single in the 7th. I continue to argue that Flores is on the verge of being an incredible catcher and should very soon be an every day starter for the Nationals. I just hope they don't do something stupid like trade him.

The Nats are still far behind the pack and will be for some time, but if the Rays can do it, so can the Nats. Maybe not this year, but their time will come soon enough.




*Many thanks to the Washington Express who quoted yesterdays post in the blog log today. This is the second time that it has happened and each time I get so excited I want to tap the person sitting next to me on the metro and say, hey look, this is me. You have to actually download today's print edition to see the quote, but if you do it is on page 36.

It's May 14th and.....

The Rays are in first place in the AL East. In short, I am speechless.

Devil Be Gone

In what is surely another sign of global warming, the slowing economy, and Armageddon, The Rays are now six games over .500 after laying down the hammer on the Yankees 7-1 last night. It begs the question, what else could we improve by simply removing the word "Devil" from its name? Would Devil's Food Cake suddenly become a healthier alternative to soy milk? Would deviled eggs and Deviled ham suddenly taste good? Who knows, but the way that the Ray's have been able to improve this year is astounding, especially when you consider the schedule that they are playing.

Speaking of schedules and the Rays, Ian Kennedy has been recalled from Scranton after only 1 outing (and one inning this past Monday) in Scranton. Kennedy will start in the place of Igawa in the series finale versus the Ray's this Thursday. Conventional wisdom would suggest that this is a terrible idea and that the kid needs much more time to get his ducks in a row. But the truth is, what other option do the Yankees have? I suppose they could go to a four man rotation but it is too early in the season for that and you risk overworking the guys who are actually being productive. So, I guess I support the move albeit with reservations.

Nationals Notes

Nats 10 - Mets 4

This can't be right can it? The Nats really beat up on the Mets that badly? Well somehow, finally, the Nats were able to get hits with runners in scoring position. Although it seems like some bad blood may be a-brewing between these two clubs:

After getting the third out of the third inning, Figueroa turned toward the
Nationals dugout and made a mock clapping gesture into his glove in response to
what he perceived was the Washington bench's rhythmic clapping for his walk and
error during the inning.
Figueroa was not happy afterward.
"They were
cheering in the dugout like a bunch of softball girls," he said. "I am a
professional, I take great offense to that. ... They won tonight, but in the
long run, look who they are, a last-place team."
Milledge defended his
teammates: "We didn't try to rattle him. We're trying to get our guys going."

You know what, maybe a good bench clearing brawl wouldn't be a bad thing to get the Nats motivated. Just keep the elderly clear of Pedro Martinez when you do it.

Days of Agony

DAVID WELLS?!?!?!? Are You kidding me????? Sorry, maybe I should back up a little bit. In case you haven't heard yet, rumor has it that David "Jack and Coke" Wells is interested in playing another season for New York. Hank Steinbrenner apparently hasn't ruled it out. I'm shaking my head as I write this. Perhaps he has forgotten that Wells is notorious for not staying in playing condition. He may have handled it ok when he was in his 20's and 30's, but the guy is 45 years old now. Not to mention....DOESN'T STEINBRENNER REMEMBER GAME 5 OF THE 2003 WORLD SERIES WHEN WELLS LEFT AFTER HARDLY AN INNING OF WORK!!?? Sorry, but that memory is simply unforgivable. I suppose Well's is basing his comeback on the idea that a six pack a day keeps the back pain away.

Let me put it this way, signing Clemens last year was a bad mistake in a desperate time. The Yankees are not quite as desperate this year but even if they were, signing Wells would be of a scale similar to that of the Hindenburg disaster. So David, please, we all know that you have been a Yankees fan, or at least a Babe Ruth fan your entire life. Heck, I even thought it was cool that you would sometimes wear Babe's hat when you pitched....but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't even try this. If you need the money just let us know and we will start a "Keep Wells Where He Is" charity.

Speaking of mistakes let's talk briefly about Kei Igawa. Spending 40 million on a guy who has no business in the majors is a good investment right? Geez, we couldn't even give this guy to San Diego last year. You know it's bad when your team is praying for rain so that they can skip your start. Igawa just isn't ready for prime time, and in my opinion never will be.

Injury update

A-Rod appears to be doing well in his recovery. Not a moment too soon considering Wilson Betemit left Saturday's game in the fourth inning with a strained right hamstring. Betemit will join what seems like the rest of the Yankees 40 man roster on the 15 day DL. Nothing much on Posada yet, but he did take some swings the other day. I suppose that is encouraging, although it isn't his hitting that was the problem, it was his throwing.

Not Much I can Say Today and Nationals Notes

As a sports blogger it can get pretty difficult trying to think up ways to spin things when your teams keep losing. I'm pretty confident that the Yankees will still be able to pull a 30 game winning streak out of the bag at some point this season (ok, let's just shoot for a 10 game streak) but until that starts to happen here I sit suffering through my morning ritual of box scores, recaps, and lately.....injury reports. (sigh) Let's just move onto Nationals Notes, at least I can spin that one a little bit better.

Nationals Notes

Ryan Zimmerman blasted two home runs against Houston last night, but that still wasn't enough as the Astros won thier 5th straight 4-3 over the Nats. It's frustrating to see the Nat's losing games by just a run, but at least Zimmerman is starting to get hits again (see how I spinned that there) Now if only they could cut out all the Bush League errors.

In other news Matt Chico has been demoted to the bullpen. I suppose it was only a matter of time considering his 0-5 record. Then again with the Nationals record what it is right now there are very few pitchers in the Nationals rotation who fare much better.