Brett Gardner – Page 2 – Keefe To The City

Jul 27, 2015

It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Pre-2013

When things are going well for the Yankees, I tend to look at the standings a lot. During 2013 and 2014, I tried my best to avoid the standings, especially in August and September after each season-crushing loss.

When things are going well for the Yankees, I tend to look at the standings a lot. From when I was eight years old during the 1995 season through when I was 25 years old during the 2012 season, I looked at the standings A LOT (with the exception of 2008). During 2013 and 2014, I tried my best to avoid the standings each day, especially in August and September after each season-crushing loss.

But ever since the Yankees went to Fenway Park for the last three games of the first half, I have spent an exorbitant amount of time looking at studying the standings as if it were pre-2013 once again. And after the Yankees’ sixth straight series win on Sunday to improve to 14-5 in July, here is how the AL East standings look:

A 6 1/2-game lead in the division with the Orioles being the closest in the loss column at seven back has the Yankees sitting incredibly well for the final 67 of the season. Let’s say the Yankees went 34-33 in the final 67 games, playing .507 baseball for the rest of the season. They would finish 89-73. Here is what the rest of the AL East would have to do just to tie them.

Toronto, 39-23 (.629)
Baltimore, 41-24 (.631)
Tampa Bay, 40-22 (.645)
Boston, 45-18 (.714)

But the Yankees aren’t going to play just .507 baseball the rest of the way and those four teams, none of which are above .500, aren’t going to play as well as those numbers say they need to, which would have only tied them with the Yankees choking away the season. The Yankees are on their way to where they haven’t been in three years and it’s all because everything that went wrong in 2013 and 2014 is going right in 2015.

After two years of everything and I mean everything going wrong for the Yankees, everything is going right for them in 2015. Well, maybe not everything since Stephen Drew is still playing second base and Brendan Ryan is still on the team, but even those two examples prove how fortunate the Yankees have been this season. If it were 2013 or 2014, not only would Drew be starting, but so would Ryan, in the same infield every day and likely hitting in the middle of the order the way that Ichiro, Lyle Overbay and Vernon Wells were asked to nearly every day in 2013. Instead, the Yankees have managed to have the second-best record in the AL as of today with their everyday second baseman hitting .188.

The team was able to overcome an embarrassing 3-6 start to the season and a frustrating 1-10 stretch in May, which is when the 2013 and 2014 Yankees fell apart and never recovered. They have won games started by Jacob deGrom, David Price, Max Scherzer, Chris Archer, Scott Kazmir and two games started by Felix Hernandez. They have kept on winning even with Joe Girardi constantly giving unnecessary days off to his best players like how he sat Brett Gardner against a lefty on Saturday or how he sat A-Rod on Sunday after he hit three home runs on Saturday (fortunately the Yankees won both games). And they have overcome having two reliable starting pitchers (both of which are frequently given extra rest between starts), having two starters (CC Sabathia and Nathan Eovaldi) who are coin flips every five days and having their most consistent first-half starter put in the bullpen because of money (Sabathia) and “stuff” (Eovaldi) instead of results. The Yankees have overcome injuries, underachieving, questionable signings and irresponsible roster and lineup decisions to get to where they are.

To think that the Yankees could be where they are right now with arguably their best three players in the rotation, field and bullpen in Masahiro Tanaka, Jacoby Ellsbury and Andrew Miller not having all been healthy at the same time from April 24 to July 7 isn’t remarkable or impressive, it’s flat-out ridiculous. And they are where they are even with those three extended absences because Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira have turned back the clock to 2009-2011 when it was Teixeira who would hit third and A-Rod who would hit fourth as the most feared 3-4 combination in the majors; and because Brett Gardner went on the hottest of his patented hot streaks imaginable; and because Dellin Betances, Chasen Shreve and Justin Wilson got everyone out. The performances of A-Rod and Teixeira and Gardner and the bullpen overshadowed Chase Headley’s abyssmal first full season with the Yankees, Didi Gregorius’ New York growing pains, Carlos Beltran’s inability to produce and stay healthy and the constant struggle for Sabathia and Eovaldi to pitch six innings.

Now there are 10 weeks left in the season and the Yankees are as healthy as they can be without any regular position player, starter or reliever on the DL (knock on all of the wood around you) and they are another stretch like they have had the last two weeks from running away and hiding with the AL East.

Some Yankees fans just wanted a return to the postseason in any form in 2015 and that meant accepting a spot in the wild-card game. Me? I wanted the Yankees to win the AL East when the season began the same way I do every season. I wanted to know that the Yankees would be playing past Game 162 and Opening Day wouldn’t be the only day with bunting draped over the second and upper decks at the Stadium. I wanted everything to be the way it used to be and now it looks like it will be.

It feels good to have the Yankees back where they’re supposed to be. It feels good to have the baseball world right again.

Podcasts • Yankees

Jul 21, 2015

Podcast: Bald Vinny

After winning three straight series to finish the first half with a 6-3 record in the “Necessary Nine“, the Yankees picked up right where they left off to start the second half with another series

After winning three straight series to finish the first half with a 6-3 record in the “Necessary Nine“, the Yankees picked up right where they left off to start the second half with another series win. The Yankees have increased their first-place lead in the AL East and now host their strongest competition for the division title with the Orioles coming to Bronx.

Bald Vinny of the Right Field Bleacher Creatures and Bald Vinny’s House of Tees joined me to talk about talk about the confidence of Yankees fans with the team in first place, the situation at second base, the good and bad of the first half and the state of Bald Vinny’s House of Tees.

Blogs • Yankees

Jul 13, 2015

Yankees-Red Sox Weekend Diary

The Yankees went to Boston for the weekend with a chance to end the Red Sox’ season and they called up their second baseman of the future along the way.

In August 2006, the Yankees ended the Red Sox’ season with five-game sweep at Fenway. This past weekend, the Yankees had a chance to end the Red Sox’ season in Boston once again.

The Yankees needed to win one game this weekend in Boston. Just one. Anything more would be a bonus and anything left a disaster, but one win would mean three more games off the schedule with the Red Sox only picking up one game in the standings and a missed opportunity to truly get back into the AL East race.

I decided to go to the diary format that I have used for so many Yankees-Red Sox series before. Just pretend like you’re reading this in one of those black-and-white Mead composition notebooks.

FRIDAY
A few weeks ago, a rumor surfaced that the Yankees were interested in Clay Buchholz, who I wanted no part of, even if he might be a better rotation option than CC Sabathia. (The Yankees already have two better options than CC Sabathia: one (Adam Warren) they put in the bullpen and the other (Luis Severino) is wasting bullets in the minors). I didn’t care that the Red Sox’ version of Phil Hughes had pitched to a 1.99 ERA over his last 10 starts entering Friday because I know the real Clay Buchholz and I have seen his inconsistencies since 2007 and I have seen his fragile makeup. And that fragile makeup forced him to leave the game in the fourth inning and now he’s on the DL with a strained flexor muscle, which pretty much ends any trade rumors surrounding him. During the game, I thought Buchholz decided to pull himself after giving up a double to the left-center gap to Didi Gregorius and then nearly a three-run home run to Stephen Drew, but maybe this strained flexor muscle is real.

A-Rod has always owned Buchholz, but then again, the Yankees have always owned Buchholz. Before Friday, Buchholz had a 3.85 career ERA with 50 losses. He had a 6.38 career ERA against the Yankees and they were responsible for 16 percent (eight) of those 50 losses. So it made sense when A-Rod hit a solo bomb over the Green Monster on a 2-1 pitch in the first inning to set the tone for the game and the weekend.

When Buchholz left the game, Robbie Ross Jr. nearly got out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth before All-Star Brock Holt bobbled a routine grounder that was followed by an infield single and a walk with three more runs in. (With the last-place Red Sox trailing 4-0 in the fourth inning of a must-win game and must-sweep series, a “Yankees suck” chant broke out at Fenway.) And with Michael Pineda on the mound and Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller waiting in the bullpen, that was the game.

Pineda had a start skipped at the beginning of June and he returned to get rocked by Baltimore (4.1 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 HR). With four days rest, he beat Miami in his start (6.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, 1 HR), but then got rocked by Philadelphia on four days rest in his next start (3.1 IP, 11 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR). Since then he has had five days rest for his three starts against Houston, Tampa Bay and Boston and this is his line: 21.2 IP, 19 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 24 K, 1 HR, 1.25 ERA, 0.938 WHIP.

Pineda will pitch on Saturday against Seattle, giving him seven days rest, and with the Yankees having an off day on the Monday after the All-Star break, his next start after that will likely be that Friday in Minnesota on five days rest. There’s definitely reason to believe he’s going to be shaky against Seattle and dominate Minnesota since he appears to need to stick to his routine and extended time off works against him. Let’s just hope Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi have come to the conclusion that they know absolutely nothing about starting pitching and innings limited and preventing injuries and let Pineda pitch as much as possible in the second half.

The most important thing on Friday was getting the one win needed over the weekend and then there was the news that Rob Refsndyer would be called up for Saturday.

SATURDAY
I have been calling for Rob Refsnyder to be in the majors since last season when he was dominating Triple-A and the Yankees were scoring one or two runs a night. But Brian Cashman kept telling everyone that his defense wasn’t ready, even as Gregorius, Drew and Chase Headley kept booting balls and throwing them away, while failing to his too. But after more than half of the season, I guess the Yankees realized that the Yankees of all teams shouldn’t be starting the hitter with the worst batting average in the majors and decided to finally join the rest of the baseball world, which has been implementing youth on their rosters throughout the season.

After the Yankees won on Friday and accomplished their mission of winning once in this series to keep the Red Sox at bay, I was pretty calm about Saturday’s game. I figured the Yankees would get shut down by Eduardo Rodriguez with him being a young left-hander they have never faced and that happened for the most part with the Yankees scoring just two runs against him in 6 1/3 innings.

I knew it was going to be hard to sweep the Red Sox again at Fenway and with the Yankees’ winning streak against them sitting at five straight after Friday’s win, I wasn’t surprised or upset with the 5-3 loss. All it did was put the standings back to where they were the day before with another game off the schedule and the Red Sox running in place.

It’s hard to know what to expect from Ivan Nova since he had made only four starts now since returning from Tommy John surgery and despite pitching to a 3.42 ERA in those four starts, the Yankees are just 1-3 in them. I do like that Nova holds himself and not his repaired arm accountable for the losses saying that you can’t blame losses on Tommy John surgery and not relate wins to it either. His strikeouts are down and right now with 4.6 K/9, he’s pitching to his lowest strikeout totals of his career, but if anything can be attributed to his recent return from surgery, I think it should be that and him getting the feel back for his pitches and being on a Major League mound. I still trust Nova more than 2015 CC Sabathia or any version of Nathan Eovaldi, and if we’re talking postseason rotations on July 13, then Nova gets the ball in Game 3.

SUNDAY
The Yankees led 2-0 early then trailed 3-2 thanks to an “Eovaldi” (which is the inevitable inning for every Nathan Eovaldi start in which he allows a crooked number), but they battled back to tie the game at 3 in the fifth and then took the lead for good with three runs in the sixth to officially end the Red Sox’ season.

Rob Refsnyder got his first hit in his sixth at-bat in the majors and followed up that seventh-inning single with a two-run home run in the ninth inning, which proved to be the difference after some sloppy defense in the bottom of the ninth and guaranteed his place in the lineup after the break. I’m not sure if Stephen Drew has realized yet that his starting job is long gone or if he’s still going to go on and on about being unlucky for two years now, but I’m sure Gregorio Petit realized his roster spot is gone for good after the hit and home run and a copy of the Amtrak and Bolt Bus schedule being left in his locker after the game.

The win gave the Yankees their third straight series win and gave them the 6-3 record they needed in the “Necessary Nine” to end the first half. Here are the AL East standings after the first half.

Let’s say the Yankees play .500 baseball over their final 74 games and go 37-37. They would finish the season at 85-77. Here is what the rest of the division would have to do if that happened:

Tampa Bay: 39-32 (.549, +.044)
Baltimore: 41-33 (.554, +.054)
Toronto: 40-31 (.563, +.068)
Boston: 43-30 (.589, +.117)

So not only would the Yankees have to play awful .500 baseball and 45 points below their season winning percentage, but every other team would have to play well above their first-half performances as well.

It’s absolutely incredible that the Yankees are in first place and have a four-game lead in the loss column after 88 games despite having the worst hitter (Stephen Drew) in the league playing every day, letting a young shortstop (Didi Gregorius) get his feet wet and waiting for him to turn it around in the Bronx both offensively and defensively, letting two horrible starts (CC Sabathia and Nathan Eovaldi) make up 40 percent of the rotation, putting their most consistent starter (Adam Warren) in the bullpen with no set role, watching yet another bad contract (Chase Headley) develop, dealing with a $45 million outfielder (Carlos Beltran) who aged 15 years in one offseason between 2013 and 2014 and missing arguably their three best players (Masahiro Tanaka, Jacoby Ellsbury and Andrew Miller) at the same time for most of the first half. If A-Rod and Mark Teixeira didn’t turn back the clock and if Brian McCann didn’t start to earn his contract and if Brett Gardner didn’t suddenly find consistency for the first time in his career, this Yankees team would be on the same path as the last two.

About as much as can you ask to go your way in a Major League Baseball season has gone the Yankees’ way. It just needs to continue for 74 more games.

Podcasts • Yankees

Jun 9, 2015

Podcast: Bald Vinny

This Yankees season has been built on streaks. After a 3-6 start, the Yankees won 18 of their next 24 games. Then they fell apart in May, losing 10 of 11 for the first time

This Yankees season has been built on streaks. After a 3-6 start, the Yankees won 18 of their next 24 games. Then they fell apart in May, losing 10 of 11 for the first time since 1995, but they have rebounded to win 10 of 13 over the last two weeks, including six straight wins heading into a two-game series with the Nationals.

Bald Vinny of the Right Field Bleacher Creatures and Bald Vinny’s House of Tees joined me to talk about the Yankees’ streakiness this season, meeting A-Rod and how the perception of him has changed, Mark Teixeira’s impressive start to the year, Bernie Williams Day at the Stadium, what to do with Didi Gregorius and Stephen Drew and missing Robinson Cano.

Blogs • Yankees

Jun 2, 2015

I Still Miss Robinson Cano

Despite his early-season struggles and the eight-plus years and money left on his deal, I still miss want Robinson Cano and wish he were a Yankee.

I never wanted Robinson Cano to leave. I said as much on Dec. 7, 2013 when his signing a 10-year deal with the Mariners became real. Coming off an 85-win postseason-less year, the Yankees let the best player on the team, in his prime, leave for money. Just money. The one thing that is supposed to separate the Yankees from every other team.

Cano left the Yankees after a .314/.383/.516 season in which he hit 27 home runs and 107 RBIs when his protection varied between Travis Hafner, Vernon Wells, Ichiro Suzuki and Lyle Overbay. He left for a 10-year, $240 million offer the Yankees were never going to give him, left the New York City life for the Seattle life and left behind Yankee Stadium for Safeco Field. But what he really left was a big gaping hole at second base and in the middle of the Yankees’ lineup.

Despite missing 14 games total over the previous seven seasons, being a career .309 hitter with four consecutive Silver Sluggers, two Gold Gloves and finishing in the Top 6 in MVP voting in the last four years, the Yankees decided to lowball their homegrown star with a $175 million offer while gladly overpaying Jacoby Ellsbury with $153 million. So instead of Cano continuing to hit third for the Yankees for the next decade, the Yankees turned a Top 5 hitter in the game, the best all-around second baseman in baseball and a Hall of Fame candidate into Ellsbury, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran.

Since Cano’s departure, second base has been played by Brian Roberts, Brendan Ryan, Yangervis Solarte, Dean Anna, Kelly Johnson, Stephen Drew and Gregorio Petit, a revolving door of reclamation projects and career bench players that have all failed and failed miserably. Roberts was designated for assignment after half a season; Ryan has been hurt and an offensive disaster; Solarte was traded for Brandon McCarthy; Anna may or may not be in baseball anymore (just kidding, he’s playing Triple-A for the Cardinals); Johnson was traded to the Red Sox in a garbage for garbage deal for Drew; Drew hit .150 for the Yankees last year and hasn’t seen .200 this year and hasn’t seen .190 since April 27; Petit was about as good as a 30-year-old with 62 career games entering this season could be. The Yankees remain too scared to permanently put Drew on the bench or move Drew to short and put Didi Gregorius on the bench and let either Jose Pirela or Rob Refsnyder become the full-time second baseman. This is due to stubbornness and also being worried that Drew might find his .253 career average stroke one of these days even if there’s a better chance of finding a section of seats between the bases at the Stadium completely filled.

The Yankees needed and still need Robinson Cano and Robinson Cano needed and still needs the Yankees. Unfortunately, both were too stupid to recognize this with the Yankees worried about pinching their pennies for their superstar and Cano worried about getting every last penny he could in free agency. Financially, both are better off in their current state, with the Yankees continuning to up the price of everything at the Stadium even without Cano at second and Cano making $24 million per year last year, this year and for the next eight years. But from an on-the-field product perspective and from a wins perspective, which is what every decision should be based upon, the Yankees are without their homegrown talent who was born to hit in the Bronx and their homegrown star is struggling for a second year to find his power stroke for a once-again underachieving team which is closer to last place than first place in the AL West.

In a perfect world, the Yankees would all go back to the beginning of the 2013 season and never let Cano hit free agency. They would never offer him a disrespectful $175 million, while gladly opening up the bank and handing a blank check to Jacoby Ellsbury based off one of his six-plus seasons in the league. Cano would be a Yankee right now, would have been one last year, and would continue to be one for the remainder of his career. Brett Gardner and either Martin Prado or Chase Headley could hit in front of him, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira behind him and either Stephen Drew or Didi Gregorius wouldn’t be on the team. (Just writing it out brought a smile to my face.)

Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world. We live in one where the Steinbrenners and Brian Cashman have made a series of bad decisions based off finances and incorrect talent and scouting evaluations. As a result, we’re left with a Yankees team that is currently first place in a division that will likely be won by a team with a mid-80s win total. It’s not a great Yankees team and compared to other teams in recent years, it’s not even that good, but it’s good enough to win the AL East in a down year, something that AL East hasn’t experienced in forever.

Maybe one day Cano will be back in the Bronx the way Alfonso Soriano made his way back when the Cubs no longer wanted to pay him and the Yankees need a power presence. There will come a day when the Mariners no longer want to pay Cano and with him hitting .246/.290/.337 with two home runs and 16 RBIs, they probably don’t want to pay him now. Maybe that day will come soon when the Mariners need salary relief and the Yankees can do what they should have done all along and pay Cano for the rest of his career.

This week, Cano said, “I would never regret my decision,” but he must and the Yankees must regret theirs. They needed each other and still do. Cano must miss hitting at the Stadium for half the season and the Yankees must miss having the best second baseman in baseball in the middle of their infield and the middle of their lineup. I know I still miss him.

Tag: Brett Gardner

It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Pre-2013

Podcast: Bald Vinny

Yankees-Red Sox Weekend Diary

Podcast: Bald Vinny

I Still Miss Robinson Cano