The Analytical Yankee Fan

Okay, I’m going to get back to this blogging thing again:

Two nights ago, I had a relatively amusing dream which involves our beloved, lethargic, uninspired Yankee team. I was listening to the ever-theatrical John Sterling’s radio broadcast of a Yankee game, when, as usual, they looked like a bunch of slumbering brats. As the game neared it’s finish, Sterling was becoming more and more agitated.

He then topped off my lethargic Yankee nightmare game by screaming “BALLGAME OVER! LOOGIES LOSE! THEEE-EEEE-EEEEEEEEEE! LOOGIES! LOSE!”. He screamed it with the same passion he ends a Yankee World Series win with.

I’d laugh my ear off if this really happened. The press would be all over an outburst of this magnitude. Who knows, maybe it would light some kind of fire under the ass of this floundering, early-season bust of a bloated, log-jammed Yankee team.

Seriously though, John Sterling in my dream came up with the best name possible for this lethargic team right now: The Loogies. NOTHING matches this current Yankee team better than that.

Wang pitched an absolute gem this afternoon, blanking the Tampa Bay Rays over 6 innings. He gave up three hits, while striking out six and walking two.

He seems to have developed into exactly what I thought he could develop into, a complete pitcher

Wang Last Season- He would throw his sinking fastball inside to right-handed hitters, and away from left-handed hitters. He would spot his new-and-improved slider to both sides of the plate. Once in a blue moon, he would throw a below average change-up.

What Wang Has Done This Season- He’s throwing four-seam fastballs inside to lefties, and also starting his sinker at their hip, and letting it run back over the plate.

He’s throwing his sinker off the plate to right-handed hitters, letting it leak back over the plate–while still throwing it in at their knees.

He’s elevating a four-seam fastball in the zone for strikeouts and pop-ups

He continues to throw his slider to both sides of the plate

Best of all, he has added a nasty split-fingered fastball which looks EXACTLY like the sinker out of his hand, and has improved his change-up to the point where, so far, it looks like a plus pitch. I saw him use the change-up for both a first pitch strike today, and a strikeout. I also saw him use his splitter for the strikeout.

In my opinion, the days of Wang being a fake ace, or a pseudo-ace are over. Say hello to the new Super Wang.

Ian got a little roughed up tonight, we all saw that. Let’s not go into a panic over this, okay? It’s his first start of the season.

It was cold. The cold effects your grip on breaking pitches. One of Kennedy’s biggest weapons is his curve ball. He wasn’t throwing that for strikes, and he usually does. Let me repeat, the cold affects your grip on breaking pitches, it was cold tonight. Understand?

There was a STRICT umpire, who didn’t call those strikes on the edges of the plate. Kennedy hit the edge at least 10 times during this game. Called strikes would’ve swung everything in a much different direction.

Last but not least, compares Kennedy’s minor league numbers to Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Clay Buchholz and Homer Bailey. Ian Kennedy’s are the best.

Thank you for reading. Now stop freaking out over one start on a cold night.

First of all, great series against the Blue Jays, they have a great pitching staff. It was nice to see us scrape this series away from them using pitching, defense, small ball and timely hitting. Halladay, Burnett and McGowan could be legitimate aces on any staff.

Phil Hughes fastball is a rarity,

Hughes did not have his great velocity (he was sitting right around 91. On a warm night, mid-season, he’ll sit 92-95), but he had that rare late life. McGowan was throwing harder than Hughes, yet Hughes fastball still LOOKED harder. David Cone said that Hughes “really drags that four-seamer down through the strike zone”–he couldn’t possibly be more right. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a four-seam fastball in baseball with late life like that. It tilts and tails through the strike zone, as if it’s picking up velocity one foot in front of the hitter. Not many guys are going to get the fat part of the bat on that fastball.

Hughes curve was outstanding. I’ve noticed that he can throw that fastball three different ways.

Curve number one: Like AJ Burnett or Josh Beckett, he throws it as a power curve, with that real late bend. Great strikeout pitch

Curve number two: Like Barry Zito, he can slow it down and make it bigger. This is a great pitch to throw for a first strike, as it freezes hitters. Makes their knees buckle.

Curve number three: Now I don’t know if he does this in purpose. But this curve is sort of Kazmir-esque, a slurve-like curve ball. He seems to get on the side of the ball, like Paul O’neill was saying last night. This can also be used as a great strikeout pitch against right-handed batters.

Did you see the three or four change-ups Phil threw? Looked like a plus pitch to me. Who needs Johan Santana? Every time he threw it, it lead to a silly-looking swing from those Blue Jay hitters

I love Phil’s slider. What a pitch. Tight little slider, with excellent rotation. Looks like Luis Vizcaino’s, as I’ve said many times before. Gives hitters a much different look. He can throw that as a first strike pitch, or surprise a batter and get a strikeout from time-to-time.

What great control. Only walked one batter, and two of those called balls were borderline strikes anyway.

Scariest thought of all: He’s only 21. He’s going to continue to improve. As he goes into his prime, there’s no telling what this kid is going to be capable of. His 3rd and 4th pitches, which are already great pitches, will continue to improve. He will fill out, and his velocity will increase. Biggest pitching prospect since Andy Pettitte, he was. I love Andy, but sorry, Pettitte NEVER had stuff like this.

I expect Cy Young awards.

Personally, I don’t necessarily like the whole mound celebration thing, but it doesn’t really bother me.  When Joba does it, he turns away from the hitters, which shows respect. Therefore I don’t have a problem with his, at all. Some people wear it on their sleeve, and Joba’s one of those people. At least he’s not screaming TOWARDS the plate after he makes a big out, like K-Rod or Papelbon(and even that’s not a big deal).

Today, Francesa and Russo were whining about Joba doing this after he gets a 3rd out, calling it childish, Busch League, what have you. Is it me, or does Mike Francesa think that he’s the rule-writer for the Yankees and all of baseball for that matter? The guy never stops. Dog, he just doesn’t like the Yankees and looks for any little thing to whine about, when it comes to the pinstripes.

Anyway, I’m watching the Yankees  pre-game right now, and Kim Jones quoted Frank Thomas as saying he didn’t mind Joba’s fist pump, because it’s been happening for years. Thomas said “if I had gotten a hit, he would not have done that”, which is definitely something Frank Thomas would say. The guy’s a class act and has a good sense of humor.

More baseball fans, and players, should have Thomas’ outlook on life–it’s just not a big deal. AT ALL

So, I checked my blog statistics moments ago, and one of the search engine terms which brought a visitor to my page was: “Yankee fans are fat”. The person actually went to Google and typed in “Yankee fans are fat”. I’m sorry, that’s hilarity to the millionth power.

Had to share that with everyone; ha ha I thought it was unspeakably funny. I’ve had a bunch of weird search engine terms which have brought people here, but that one takes the cake!

(New York City was rated the skinniest city in America, by the way)

According to these men, the Yankees are going to miss the playoffs. They say it year-in and year-out, not pausing once to think about the crow they will undoubtedly be eating come October.

I need someone to explain Phillips’ and Rosenthal’s logic to me.  How are the Yankees going to miss the 08 playoffs? This is a team which won 94 games last season to make it to October on the strength of the Wild Card. The Yankees swept the Cleveland Indians twice during the regular season, and took the season series from the Red Sox. From the all-star game on, they were easily the best team in baseball.
There were injuries to Chien-Ming Wang, Phil Hughes, Jason Giambi, Mike Mussina and Carl Pavano. Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui played with nagging injuries the entire season. Bobby Abreu started the season with an oblique strain, while Robinson Cano got off to a slow start. Derek Jeter was battling leg problems the last 2 months of the season. We had to turn to guys like Chase Wright, Tyler Clippard and Matt DeSalvo to make spot starts. Still, this team won 94 games last season, while scoring 968 runs.

In my opinion, it’s simple logic which shows that the Yankees are going to make it to the playoffs–and make it there by winning the division. Hell, the Yankees were the better team last season, when it came to head-to-head match-ups against the Red Sox This is a much-improved team, a concept which Phillips and Rosenthal can’t seem to grasp.

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I’ll break it down simply for the simpletons:

2007 Opening Day Rotation- Wang, Pettitte, Mussina, Pavano, Igawa

2008 Opening Day Rotation- Wang, Pettitte, Mussina, Kennedy, Hughes

Which is the better rotation?  Pretty friggin simple, isn’t it? Would you rather rely on these young phenoms, or Kei Igawa and Carl “Glass Jaw” Pavano?

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Another round o’ rocket science: 

2007 Opening Day Bullpen- Rivera, Farnsworth, Vizcaino, Proctor, Bruney, Henn, Myers

2008 Opening Day Bullpen- Rivera, Chamberlain, Hawkins, Ohlendorf, Farsworth, Bruney, Traber

Six words: Joba Chamberlain for a full season.

Ross Ohlendorf throws a 97 mph sinking fastball with pinpoint control and a biting mid-80’s slider. Traber is heads-above any of the lefties from the 07 campaign. Brian Bruney showed up in-shape, 25lbs lighter, with improved mechanics and command. Hawkins numbers in relief are BETTER than Luis Vizcaino’s.

Mariano Rivera is Mariano Rivera. Is he still the same automatic closer? Not necessarily. But to anybody hoping he was finished, better wait another season. He’s still pinpointing a 95mph cut-fastball.

Case and point–the 2008 Yankees bullpen is drastically better than the 2007 Yanks’.

This is hard stuff to figure out, isn’t it?
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Rosie and Phillips, don’t make me go all Newton on you, now: 

2007 Yankees Bench for much of the season- Wil Nieves, Josh Phelps, Miguel Cairo, Melky Cabrera, Bronson Sardinha, Kevin Thompson

2008 Yankees Opening Day Bench- Jose Molina, Shelly Duncan, Morgan Ensburg, Wilson Betemit. Plus possible call-ups of young studs like Brett Gardner or Austin Jackson.

Need I even explain myself here? If anyone would even bother arguing with me that that 07 squad had a better bench, I’d have no choice but to chuck them into a padded room, forever throwing away the key.

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Offense-

The offense remains basically the same. I agree with Phillips and Rosie when they say that there has to be a regression from Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada; that’s a given, they both had career seasons.

With that said, you have to expect continued improvement from Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera.

You have to expect an improved campaign out of Johnny Damon, who arrived at Camp this season, in much better condition.

Hideki Matsui is now a full-time DH, which is where he has excelled offensively.

Bobby Abreu will not have the slow first half he had last season, because this year he showed up 10lbs lighter, in much better physical condition. Add to that the fact that there’s no oblique strain forcing him out of Spring Training for two weeks.

Hell, even Giambi showed up in great shape.

The Yankees WILL score 1,000 runs. Mark my words. This is the best offense in baseball. The entire lineup is capable of batting for average. You have speed guys: Jeter, Damon, Abreu, Rodriguez and Cabrera, who are all capable of swiping 20 bags, any given season. You have five men who can drive in 100+ RBI in Rodriguez, Abreu, Matsui, Giambi and Cano. A great back-up catcher in Jose Molina. There is right-handed pop off the bench in Duncan and Ensburg. Collectively, this team is also capable of posting the best OBP in baseball. Power, speed, OBP, slugging, I have a hard time thinking that any offense compares. Even the Tigers.

Earth to Rosie, earth to Phillips–this is a much-improved Yankees. Being much-improved after winning 94 games kind of means that you’re probably the class of the American League, considering the teams who finished ahead of you with 96 wins(Red Sox and Cleveland) have virtually stayed the same.  Is it really that complicated?

I understand that many Yankee fans don’t like these two guys, but I’m tired of the paranoia and homerism leading people to believe these men have it out for the Yankees. It’s not true, not at all.

I agree that McCarver can be plainly obvious, saying things like “If the pitcher wants to get a strikeout, he should throw the pitch away’s where he wants it!”, and numerous other quotes along those lines–he’s the Maddon of baseball–but the man does not hate the Yankees, and he does not have anything against them. He’s just a goofy guy calling baseball, not harming a soul. Baseball has bigger problems than Tim McCarver.

As far as Joe Buck goes, he’s a great play-by-play man. He knows each and every pitch, and names them all correctly. He doesn’t goof plays up, and he doesn’t butcher peoples names. The game of baseball is a game this man knows inside and out.When it comes to knowledge of this sport, Buck knows what he’s talking about. Honestly, I’d put Buck’s baseball smarts up there against anybody–even students of the game, like Jim Kaat.

He doesn’t do the over-dramatic calls like a Jon Miller or John Sterling…he lets you hear the reaction of the crowd. During dramatic moments, like when Scott Brosius hit the game-tying home run game 5 of the 2001 World Series, he said “It borders on the surreal, here in the Bronx”  then left the dramatics up to the 60,000 fans losing their minds in baseball’s best and most-storied cathedral. Buck has called so many great Yankee games, and he’s done so without homerism, showing nothing but class.

Speaking of the 2001 World Series, do you remember the Paul O’neill send-off? It was amazing, gave me the chills and brought tears to my eyes. A lot of grown men were tearing up and/or crying for that.

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Joe Buck and tim McCarver- 

Joe Buck: They’re chanting Paul O’neill’s name. You can tell Paul O’eill is touched…

Tim McCarver: (in disbelief)Oh boy….

Joe Buck: ….by that. These terrific fans here in New York.

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His voice is forever etched into Yankee history, and people should accept that–they should not let their unjust paranoia lead to foolish decisions. There is absolutely no grounds to stand on, when it comes to attacking these two–especially Joe Buck. Buck is a class act. Other play-by-play men could learn a thing or two from him.

Joe Morgan on the other hand…..let’s not even waste our time on him.

I get questions from people now and then, asking me what I think a player is capable of. Lately, with all this talk about Cano coming into his own, people are getting more and more curious about what his ceiling actually is. I’m just going to write a quick blog on what I think Robbie’s capable of if he put it all together for one season

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Batting Average: .355

Home Runs: 35

Doubles: 50

Runs Batted In: 140

Runs: 125

Hits: 225

Base on Balls: 80

Strike Outs: 45

On Base Percentage: .410

Stolen Bases: 15

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Robbie has one of the sweetest swings I’ve ever seen. He keeps his hands back, has a quick, level swing, and sprays the balls all over the field. HARD. That’s the kind of swing most players can only dream about having.

Defensively, he’s improving season by season. He’s got very good range, smooth hands, and and extremely strong throwing arm. A very slick-fielding second baseman. I would not at all be surprised if Cano won a gold glove somewhere down the line.

Robinson Cano, starting this season, will begin to be recognized as one of the game’s elite talents. MVP’s, gold gloves and batting titles don’t seem out of the question, at all. He might even wind up in Cooperstown one day.

The guys over at the river ave blog posted something I found amusing about Papelbon and Steinbrenner going back and forth. Steinbrenner referred to Pap as a mouse, which definitely got a chuckle out of me. I hope for Hanks sake and for all of us Yankee fans sakes, the Bombers take the division back and do something memorable in October.

I like Hank, he’s entertaining, but he’s also putting a lot of pressure on the team to go out there and whoop Boston. We better eat the Sox lunch this season, otherwise they’re going to have us all eating our crow by the shovelful.

Let the pounding of Papelbon begin!(wishful thinking)