Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
April 24, 2005
Big Unit, Big Offense

Randy Johnson didn't need the support today, but I'm sure he was happy to have 11 runs behind him. Johnson pitched a masterful game, striking out seven over eight innings, allowing only three hits and one walk.

More interesting, however, is one Andy Phillips, called up to fill the roster spot of Ruben Sierra the other day. Andy was two for four with a double and a homer this afternoon. In his short major league career, he has four hits, 1 double and 2 home runs. He has a career minor league slugging percentage of .509; he's at the peak age for power. Neither Tino nor Giambi is producing many big hits. Why not give the 28 year old a chance to play?


Posted by David Pinto at 03:41 PM | Games | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Let's hope they do; as one of the announcers said, he's enjoying it in a way veteran players don't.

Posted by: RobertJ at April 24, 2005 04:23 PM

I'd like to see Andy and Jason trade off playing first and DHing and Tino permanently relegated to the bench. I'm not necessarily expecting big things from Phillips, but Tino's offense is almost non-existent and he'd be better used as a late inning defensive replacement.

Posted by: Todd at April 24, 2005 04:39 PM

Well, Todd, isn't that what the Yankees originally said they were going to do? That is, if Giambi actually could play full-time, which still looks highly unlikely. And things just feel so much more secure with Tino at first. Of course, back then they were also talking about DH-ing Bernie, when they still had hopes of getting Beltran. Anyway, right now Phillips seems to have earned more playing time. Let's hope the Yankees give him a fair shot.

Posted by: Jan at April 24, 2005 05:58 PM

Stick Phillips at 2B. He has experience there, and he can't be a worse fielder or worse hitter than Tony Womack. And probably a better base-stealer, too.

Posted by: sabernar at April 24, 2005 06:06 PM

dontcha think he's kinda young to be on a yankee team?????

Posted by: lisa gray at April 24, 2005 07:34 PM

I don't think the Yankees will give him much of a chance to play - they're paying big bucks for Giambi and Tino to play and The Boss wouldn't like it if they get benched for a 28 year old who makes the major league minimum who just happens to produce more offense than his high-paid stars.

Posted by: Jared B. at April 25, 2005 04:41 PM


Jan, Torre seems to have determined that Jason will never play the field again, especially since the Pavano-conked-on-the-head incident. I'd like to see him play quite a bit at first because his numbers while playing the field are Mantle-esque and so that he doesn't get too rusty with the glove. I'm not arguing that he's a great or even good fielder, just that he's not so bad that his improved offense won't make up for his defensive deficiencies. Besides, the Yankees probably have the worst team defense in the majors anyway. Why not let Giambi in on the fun? :)

Posted by: Todd at April 26, 2005 10:16 PM
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