Well, we dropped three to the dreaded Red Sox (and I am now down $15.00 as a result) but there are still things to be encouraged about despite falling 4 games behind in the AL east.
Here is my list of things for Yankee fans (or haters) to consider:
Injuries: The Yankees are not at full strength right now, but they still managed to keep each of the games close. Keep in mind that Cashman has hired an entirely new staff of personal trainers who have totally changed the players workouts. This could explain many of the injury problems, but that is also something that can be worked through and rectified over time. Regardless I would much rather have these injury hiccups happen now as opposed to later in the season.
Dice-K: I am standing by my belief that he will not live up to the hype. He has been pitching well so far, but with the exception of Matzui, the Yankees have never seen a pitch from this guy before (nor has most of MLB). Once the heavy hitters on the Yankees and in the rest of the league start to figure him out I am positive his effectiveness will decrease.
Rivera: It seems like every time Rivera has a bad outing sports writers are anxious to claim he isn't the closer he used to be. While it is true that he is getting older, every pitcher goes through a cold streak, even the Sandman. Cut him some slack, he'll be on top of his game this season just like he is every year. But if he does need to take a break for a while you can be sure that Joe Torre will give him all the rest and rehab he needs.
Run Support: So far this season the Yankees have already scored 108 runs, and there is no sign that the bats will go quiet anytime soon. Once injuries play themselves out it is going to be tough for any team to put up the kind of runs that the Yankees are capable of.
A-Rod: In short....WOW! He clearly has got his mojo back and I'm hoping that this isn't an April fluke. He already has more RBI's than a few MLB clubs, and 12 home runs! The question is can he keep his confidence and not let a cold streak get to his head. I get the feeling though that the possibility of free agency next year has let him relax a little bit and as a result he has finally figured out how to play in New York.
It's way too early in the season for anyone to be able to predict with any accuracy what lies ahead, but the Yankees seem hungry this year, hungrier and also more team oriented than they have been in years. Keeping all these points in mind I am confident that come October my boys in pin stripes won't be packing it up early.
Here is my list of things for Yankee fans (or haters) to consider:
Injuries: The Yankees are not at full strength right now, but they still managed to keep each of the games close. Keep in mind that Cashman has hired an entirely new staff of personal trainers who have totally changed the players workouts. This could explain many of the injury problems, but that is also something that can be worked through and rectified over time. Regardless I would much rather have these injury hiccups happen now as opposed to later in the season.
Dice-K: I am standing by my belief that he will not live up to the hype. He has been pitching well so far, but with the exception of Matzui, the Yankees have never seen a pitch from this guy before (nor has most of MLB). Once the heavy hitters on the Yankees and in the rest of the league start to figure him out I am positive his effectiveness will decrease.
Rivera: It seems like every time Rivera has a bad outing sports writers are anxious to claim he isn't the closer he used to be. While it is true that he is getting older, every pitcher goes through a cold streak, even the Sandman. Cut him some slack, he'll be on top of his game this season just like he is every year. But if he does need to take a break for a while you can be sure that Joe Torre will give him all the rest and rehab he needs.
Run Support: So far this season the Yankees have already scored 108 runs, and there is no sign that the bats will go quiet anytime soon. Once injuries play themselves out it is going to be tough for any team to put up the kind of runs that the Yankees are capable of.
A-Rod: In short....WOW! He clearly has got his mojo back and I'm hoping that this isn't an April fluke. He already has more RBI's than a few MLB clubs, and 12 home runs! The question is can he keep his confidence and not let a cold streak get to his head. I get the feeling though that the possibility of free agency next year has let him relax a little bit and as a result he has finally figured out how to play in New York.
It's way too early in the season for anyone to be able to predict with any accuracy what lies ahead, but the Yankees seem hungry this year, hungrier and also more team oriented than they have been in years. Keeping all these points in mind I am confident that come October my boys in pin stripes won't be packing it up early.
12 comments:
Injuries: I agree with you here. Same thing happened in last year's "Boston Massacre", the 5-game series in early August: the Sox did not have a starting rotation. I think next weekend's series will be a better measuring stick for these two teams.
Dice-K: I stand by my belief that he will live up to the hype, and $20 additional dollars will be mine! It was nice to see him finally get some run support yesterday. Also, I don't agree with your assessment; he has 8 pitches! It will be tough to figure him out as a hitter, no matter who you are.
Rivera: Agreed. He's sick, and I really don't see him with anything over a 2.80 ERA for the year, which, while maybe not elite, per se, still puts him as one of the top 5 or 6 closers in baseball.
Run Support: With the OBPs of Damon, Jeter, and Abreu, combined with the extra base hits of ARod, Giambi, and Matsui, this lineup is one of the more potent ones in history. I still prefer those 90s lineups that the Indians trotted out there, though xD
A-Rod: He's on roids. Well, maybe. Doesn't he look a lot bigger this year? Maybe it's just me... But yeah, monster year, final predictions (if he manages to stay off of the D/L and out of the piss test lab): .330, 64, 168, MVP.
give up the dice k crap talk. schilling has 2 pitches, and is working on his third this season. he's still on top of his game, you don't think that in the 18 years he's been pitching batters haven't figured out his 2 pitches? that whole argument that "once batters figure him out hes done with" is the weakest argument i've heard yet. look at Clemens, look at Johnson, look at Santana, they've all been around for a long time. you know what there secret is? control!!! unless there hitting 100 mph on the gun, its all about control.
The thing about Dice-K is that this is his first year in the majors. That leaves a lot of room for question marks since he is not used to adjusting to MLB batters. And by the way, Schilling is quickly running out of gas.
bruce, your last comment had nothing to do with what you said in your original posting. in fact you didn't even respond to the facts i laid out. as for schilling running out of gas, i never said he wasn't! he's 40!! but he still has a lot of CONTROL!! if you can't respond to what i have said, than don't respond at all.
"anonymous" if you can't leave you real name don't respond at all.
But to answer you question, you name some of the best pitchers in the game, but they are not the norm, they are the exceptions. Batters CAN figure out and predict which pitch to expect based on plate appearences. While some pitchers have great stuff, others get figured out fairly quickly and are whisked off to the land of middle relief. This happening to Dice-K is a theory I have based on the fact that the game here is much different than the game in Japan, but it is not a dead argument.
listen, i'm not even a red sox fan, but you going off on batters being able to read what pitches are going to be thrown at them. WHAT DOES THAT MATTER? if a pitcher has CONTROL and can place the ball on the corner of the plate, or even jam a batter cause he can make the bottem fall out, than it dosen't matter if the batter knows hes getting a fast ball. what matters is where he puts it and at what velocity. and what do you know about japanese baseball??? please, take your time to respond to this so that you can look up the difference. i've actually looked it up, we can argue about that later. also, what are you basing your theory on? cause there are pitchers like Gil Meche who have been around for awhile, but have had terrible control. But this season he seems to have a lot more control. He has found his control due to a team change and new pitching staff. Now based on your theory, batters should know what he is gonna throw cause he's been around for so long. his era is 2.55 and has 24k's with a 1.19 WHIP. did i mention that he plays for the worst team in baseball(believe it or not, there is a team worse off than the spankees). so please, you must be basing your theory on someone, who? where have you gotten your information that has lead you to theorize this? i'm curious. your not providing any facts. one last thing, you say that i named pitchers that are not the "norm". sure, they get the big contracts cause there better than the rest. but what makes them better? i belive i explained why in a previous response. i can also provide you with more examples of pitchers that have been a round for long time and have era's below 2.00 and are considered commen players. Look up Tim Wakefields numbers for this year. i could be wrong, but i believe he's been around since the early 90's and is one of the hottest pitchers in baseball right now! let me start your argument for you! "Tim Wakefield is the exception, he throws a knuckleball". sure, but his career era is above 4.00 and he is barley above .500 on wins. seems to me that his knuckleball is droping when its supposed to this year. in other words he has CONTROL of his ball!
Nate from Olympia
Nate,
You make some good points, and I am certainly not arguing that control of the ball is not the crux of pitching. What I am saying is that if a batter has an idea of a pitchers control and what pitches he tends to throw in certain situations then it gives him an advantage to be able to anticipate where the ball is going. The best pitchers are great not only because they have superior control, but also because they do a great job of tricking the batters.
As for the differences between MLB and the Japanese leagues, aside from the obvious (less teams) the talent pool is not as high in the Japanese leagues as it is in the MLB. Japanese teams can't even have more than four foreign players on a team at any given time. While they tend to be somewhat smaller, Japanese stadiums are also domed which takes away the weather factor which can greatly change a pitchers control. Dice-K has played for a big market Japanese team, but that is nothing compared to the ferocity of a big market fan base like what Boston has, that could also play into his MLB development one way or the other.
I guess my argument is that we should not automatically expect greatness from Dice-K considering the differences of the two leagues, supplemented by the fact that we do not yet know how he will be able to work around bigger and stronger MLB hitters. Finally, this guy is being treated like he will be the next Nolan Ryan but I just don't see that type of ability here. If I am wrong I pledge to openly admit it on this page.
AGAIN! what FACTS have lead you to believe that batters are able to read what pitch will be thrown at them by a commen pitcher? Now i'm assuming that your not a sports writer, or analyst, so what makes you more knowledgeable than say Peter Gammons who has been around since jesus christ walked the earth? Do you know something Peter Gammons dosn't? cause he gets paid to know! i'd be more than happy to forward the latest scouting report to you about any player, especially Matsuzaka's, EXPERTS are not singing the same tune as you. They all seem to be talking about the same thing i keep mentioning...CONTROL.
You really don't think that batters can predict pitches based on plate appearances and experience? Come on.
are you affraid to answer my questions? i usually enjoy reading your blog, but that was when i thought you had been providing facts and your opinions on facts. but since you can not answer a few simple questions about a posting you made, than why should i continue to believe what you write? i have asked you the same question several times and you can't or wont reply to it. why? this is your blog, and you are entitled to your opinions on whatever you wish. i quess i'll just have to find a another blog that is willing to debate sides, cause clearly you can't or wont. one last final note before i move on to a more worthy blog, next time you watch or listen to a baseball game, count how many times the broadcasters say, "wow, A-Rod really predicted that pitch based on previous plate apperances". and then count how many times you here them say, "wow, Wang can't seem to locate his pitches and the batters are all over him. And out comes Torre, and we have our first pitching change in the 2nd". i'll bet you'll hear the latter of the 2, probably with different names though. Happy writing wanna be baseball expert.
Nathan Bunch, Olympia WA.
Nathan, listen, I answered your questions about the differences between MLB and Japan factually, and I also think that it is well documented that the best hitters (ted williams for example) could get a jump on the ball because they could predict where it was going. That was partially to do with the fact that he had tremendous eyesight, but I digress. Point is, I am a baseball fan, and presumably you are too. Half the game is getting into debates just like this and telling the other person he is an idiot if you don't believe him. So call me what you want, but this is what baseball is and should be all about. Anyway, thanks for reading my blog. I hope you still do and I hope you still call me an idiot when you think I am wrong.
• Dice-K. In his third consecutive rocky outing Matsuzaka allowed seven runs, five hits and five walks in five innings.
• Dice-K walked the first three batters of the game, leading to a 35-pitch inning.
ahem
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