Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
April 26, 2006
Strange Result

The Yankees drew more walks tonight than the Tampa Bay Devil Rays put men on base, yet lost 4-2 in 10 innings. New York batters received a base on balls 14 times; Tampa knocked out seven hits while drawing five walks. The Yankees were 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position.

Not only was the offense only productive in the on-base category, but Mariano Rivera allowed six base runners (2 on walks) and two runs in two inninngs. His ERA is now 4.91 with a .333 BA allowed. A topsy-turvy night at Yankee Stadium.


Posted by David Pinto at 11:22 PM | Games | TrackBack (0)
Comments

I think Mariano will get his 45 saves as usual. However, the Yanks must get more clutch hitting, especially with runners in scoring position. It just seems to me that they go through the motions during the regular season and win just enough to get into the playoffs. Then when the playoffs roll around, they don't have that intensity level they'd have if they played hard all year long. If they played hard all year long, they'd also win their divison convincingly.

Point? They need a hardnosed manager. It's time for a change.

Posted by: Mark Catanzareti at April 27, 2006 12:46 AM

Please, Rivera is finished. I fully expect Papelbon to save more games and put up better numbers over the course of the season....is what I'd say if I were delusional.

Anyway I'm not sure about the managerial situation...I mean I just don't buy that the Yankees aren't trying to win, especially when they haven't taken their customary 1st place spot in the AL East. And it sure seemed like they tried pretty damn hard last year, when they made up a, what, 7 game deficit in a month and a half? It was easy to blame Boston for that too, but NY did go on an absolutely ridiculous tear in the August-September months. Don't worry about their intensity...I don't expect anything less then a tight battle right down to the last weeks in the East this year.

Posted by: the other josh at April 27, 2006 02:05 AM

Torre handles the media and the clubhouse brillantly. His in game strategy has never been strong, and seems to have fallen off a cliff with the departure of Zim. Replacing Torre with Pinella was a no brainer, but the Boss has gotten soft is his old age. And the front office, and fans, sentimental. Hence bringing back Bernie. It limits lineup moves. Giambi needs to DH regularly, can't. Still, not a bad team.

Posted by: abe at April 27, 2006 08:40 AM

Wait...I thought this was the team that was supposed to score 1000 runs?? and they go out there and leave 35 men on base against Seth McClung (9.27 ERA) and the Tampa bullpen??? Wow, you can feel the tremors already rumbling down from the boss after a night like this. No, they are not a bad team on paper, but the Yankees lack of clutch hitting is nothing new in the past 5 years. This recent group of Yankees have failed to come together as a team and really develop that winning passion that the 1996-2001 Yankees lived off of.

Posted by: Adrian at April 27, 2006 09:35 AM

Ugh, again with this clutch hitting nonsense. (BTW, dude, they ARE on a pace to score 1000 runs.) Yanks have the best pythagorean record in the league, against stronger competition than the Red Sox have faced, and they've been unlucky. Games like last night happen to everybody (maybe not exactly like that), and are indicative of nothing. Look at the longer trends, people. Yanks are in good shape. That is...if the rotation holds it together. (gulp.) And, I'm not a huge fan of Torre...but Pinella? What are you smoking?

Posted by: Gurk at April 27, 2006 10:10 AM

BTW, my view is the better way to understand the Yankees 1996-2000 has nothing to do with whether they were "clutch," or had "passion." They were better built teams, pure and simple, and seized skillfully upon great moments of luck, just like every great team does (2004 Red Sox, 2005 White Sox). Last year the Yanks' 1st round exit had nothing to do with passion, they in fact only made the playoffs through sheer will and passion, and a whole lot of dumb luck (Chacon, Wang, & Small?) after a horrible offseason and fielding an age-heavy and oft-injured team. They remedied some of that this year, but it'll still be a fight, although I'm pleasantly surprised so far at how well they played.

Posted by: Gurk at April 27, 2006 10:27 AM

The Yankees are hitting well with runners in scoring position this year. They are drawing a lot of walks in the situation, which may mean the opposition clubs are trying to exploit weaknesses in the lineup. They've been very bad with the bases loaded, batting just .192.

Posted by: David Pinto at April 27, 2006 10:37 AM

Yeah the clutch hitting argument has already been largely debunked by sabermetrics. It really is just a matter of pure luck. Case in point: A certian batter in Boston with a .300 average, indeed one of the few who isn't underperforming at the plate right now, is batting below 200 with 17 PA's with RISP. Since I don't think anyone will ever make the argument that David Ortiz crumbles in the face of pressure, this leaves luck as the only explanation. Well, that and the fact that his OBP is .380 thanks to all the walks. New York will keep driving in runs at a ridiculous pace, and they'll keep losing games like this every now and then. It's just baseball; last season's unluckiest ML team were (I think) the Mets, and so far this year it's been their crosstown rivals.

Posted by: the other josh at April 27, 2006 11:50 AM

Saying Mariano Rivera is finished is patently ridiculous. You go on to cite luck in David Ortiz's case but you seem to indict Mariano Rivera on the basis of how he's pitched in 7.1 innings this season. Get back to me in July.

Posted by: Benjamin Kabak at April 27, 2006 12:26 PM

pssst...he was joking...pass it along.

Posted by: Gurk at April 27, 2006 12:51 PM

Oops. Thanks, Gurk. That'll teach to me to keep reading senteneces.

Posted by: Benjamin Kabak at April 27, 2006 01:26 PM

I havent been able to vatch Mariano pitch yet this season...have you guys seen any changes in his delivery or velocity that might explain his lack of dominance? Usually when Mariano is getting hit, it means that the velocity on his cutter is down...

Posted by: adrian at April 27, 2006 01:54 PM

I missed last night's game (luckily), but from what I've seen there's nothing to worry about. Good K rate, the Blown Save against the Twins was ridiculous, included an infield single to the pitcher, a broken bat hit, etc. He almost struck out the side. The main problem so far is that he's pitching only every 5th day or so, like he's a starter. Torre hasn't him worked him in well, though in part to blame is the Yankees blowing people out when they win so far. Though, who knows, of course.

Posted by: Gurk at April 27, 2006 02:06 PM

Yeah Rivera's fine...I was joking. He went through this last season too, though this time it's even less his fault. In last night's 10th inning he gave up one legit single, Gathright's shot up the middle, one walk, and then totally jammed Crawford, who somehow managed to squirt the ball over A-Rod's head and down the leftfield line for a double. Just bad luck. He did walk 2 guys, but one of em was intentional and the other was a nice at bat. He looks like he'll be fine, his velocity's still good.

Posted by: the other josh at April 27, 2006 02:26 PM

1- 1995-2001 - the point is not how good the yankees were - but- HOW HORRIBLE THEIR DIVISION WAS AND HOW AWFUL THE AMERICAN LEAGUE WAS.

2- mariano is not a -GOD- he is quite possibly over the hill.

3- Cut their overblown, undeserving salaries in half and watch them try to get that money back.

4- Let's see how soon the griping starts and Georgie blows his stack. THIS IS JUST ANOTHER LOST SEASON.

Posted by: LIL MARV at April 28, 2006 04:30 PM

1- 1995-2001 - the point is not how good the yankees were - but- HOW HORRIBLE THEIR DIVISION WAS AND HOW AWFUL THE AMERICAN LEAGUE WAS.

2- mariano is not a -GOD- he is quite possibly over the hill.

3- Cut their overblown, undeserving salaries in half and watch them try to get that money back.

4- Let's see how soon the griping starts and Georgie blows his stack. THIS IS JUST ANOTHER LOST SEASON.

Posted by: LIL MARV at April 28, 2006 04:30 PM
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