Joe Girardi – Page 8 – Keefe To The City

Jul 18, 2014

Yankees Need to Go on a Reds’ Run

The Reds’ season was spiraling out of control just three weeks, but now they are back in playoff contention. The Yankees need a similar run to save their own season.

Three weeks ago the Reds’ season was falling apart fast. They were 35-37 and 8.5 games back in the NL Central. But today as post-All-Star break baseball begins, the Reds are 1.5 games back in their division and 1 game back in the wild card. What am I getting at? Well, the Yankees are in a similar position to the one the Reds were in on June 20 and they will need a run of their own this summer if they don’t want to miss out on the postseason for the second straight year.

With the Reds in the Bronx to begin the “second half” and a 10-game homestand for the Yankees, Brandon Kraeling of Red Reporter joined me to talk about Todd Frazer’s emergence as an All-Star, what it’s like to watch and root for Aroldis Chapman and how Alfredo Simon has gone from AL East mop-up man to NL Central starting pitcher and somehow an All-Star.

Keefe: I remember the summer after sixth grade watching Toms River, N.J. run the table in the Little League World Series and pulling for them in the United States tournament because they were somewhat local as a Tri-state area team. Todd Frazier was the leader on that team and it’s still weird to see him now playing third base for the Reds.

As a former first-round pick, I wasn’t sure if Frazier would ever become a star in the league after hitting .249/.318/.446 in his first two-plus seasons and 318 games with the Reds. But this year, at age 28, Frazier put it together and has turned into a star and an All-Star and an underdog Home Run Derby runner-up. In 94 games this season, Frazier has already matched his career high in home runs (19), which he reached in both 2012 and 2013 and is hitting .290/.353/.500, well above his career average in all three categories

The picture of a 12-year-old Frazier standing with a 24-year-old Derek Jeter in 1998 became a storyline of this year’s All-Star Game with Frazier making the All-Star Game for the first time and Jeter playing in the Midsummer Classic for the last time and like Frazier playing for that Toms River team and now playing against the Yankees and Jeter, that picture is something I will never get used to.

Did you ever think Frazier would become the player he has turned into this season?

Kraeling: That old picture of Frazier and Jeter paired with the All-Star game this year is one of those things that makes baseball great.

I think the player we’ve seen Frazier become was always what we talked about as a best-case scenario for him. As we followed his ascent through the Reds minor league system, we’ve always kind of hoped he could become more of a super utility guy; a guy who can play a number of positions, hold his own in the middle of the lineup, and provide a little pop.

I can’t say we ever expected him to be among the top home run hitters in the NL midway through this season, especially after the “sophomore slump” he went through last year. That’s a huge credit to him, with the amount of injuries that the Reds have had, that Frazier has been able to step up and shoulder some of the offensive responsibility there. He’s carrying this lineup right now.

Keefe: Last Thursday before the All-Star break, the Reds got into it with the Cubs and the benches cleared as Aroldis Chapman and Anthony Rizzo were the focal points of the incident. I didn’t watch the game because I was busy watching Joe Girardi manage the Yankees’ bullpen to a loss with a three-run lead and nine outs to get. (They lost 9-3.) What exactly happened with the Reds and Cubs? Who was at fault?

Kraeling: I think that incident ended up being a little overblown. It isn’t uncommon for opposing players to take exception to Chapman’s wildness and claim that it’s intentional, and the Rizzo situation was one we’ve seen a couple of times already since Chapman’s been up. Chapman barely knows where the ball is going half the time, and it happened in a tie game so there’s no doubt in my mind he wasn’t trying to hit anybody.

Then again, I’m sure it depends on what side you’re on. The Cubs announcers were claiming that Chapman was looking for blood, and I never got one bit of that listening to the Reds broadcast.

That being said, Rizzo was out of line with how he reacted. He was going back and forth with the Reds all inning after his at bat, and angrily walked toward the Reds’ dugout after the inning was over, almost making it all the way to the rail before other players intervened. I’m surprised he didn’t get thrown out, and it’ll certainly provide another storyline the next time these teams play.

Keefe: Speaking of Chapman, here in New York we have Dellin Betances embarrassing nearly every hitter that steps in the box with 84 strikeouts in 55 1/3 innings (206 batters faced) and a ridiculous 13.7 K/9. But what’s even more ridiculous is Chapman is striking out hitters more often than not with 60 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings with 111 batters faced. The only time I really watch Chapman is when the Reds are playing a national TV game, I’m bored and watching random games on MLB TV or I have thrown the Reds into a parlay and watch them because I have money on the line, but when I see numbers like that, I feel like I need to start watching Reds games when there’s a save opportunity on the line.

How fun is it to watch Chapman and to have him on your team?

Kraeling: It’s an absolute blast. We’ve had plenty of ups and downs with Chapman, but he’s one of those players where you drop whatever you’re doing whenever he comes into a ballgame (it reminds me of Mo Rivera on that front). One of the things I enjoy most as a Reds fan is getting to watch the reactions of opposing fans (and players, honestly) when he’s hitting 102 on the gun without much effort. Being at the stadium, he brings so much energy when he comes in, if only because we can see his superhuman arm in the flesh.

On the other hand, when he’s not on his game, he’s just as bad as he is dominant. Sometimes it seems like he can lose focus mentally in an instant, and it can really be a roller coaster ride when we see him in a game. Walking the bases loaded and then striking out the side isn’t out of the question for Chapman. It makes things exciting, that’s for sure.

Keefe: The Yankees need to not only start winning series, but they need to start sweeping series and winning games in bunches starting right away in the “second half.” The problem with that (along with the fact that 80 percent of their Opening Day rotation is on the disabled list) is that they will be facing a red-hot Reds team this weekend at the Stadium and Johnny Cueto is starting on Sunday. Cueto is 10-6 with a 2.13 and leads the league in complete games (3), innings pitched (143.2) and hits/9 (5.8). Not exactly what I want a Yankees team that has trouble scoring against No. 4 and 5 starters to be seeing three games into the stretch run while chasing five games in the East.

But also pitching this weekend against the Yankees is Alfredo Simon, who I miss dearly from his time in Baltimore because whenever he came into the game it meant a Yankees rally or comeback. It blew my mind that Simon was an All-Star this year, going 12-3 with a 2.70 ERA so far after being a reliever for nearly his entire career.

Are you surprised that Simon has not only become a reliable starter, but that he’s doing it at age 33?

Kraeling: Absolutely. I think the job that Simon is doing is one of the most surprising performances in all of MLB this year. You have a guy who Baltimore gave up on and the Reds got off of waivers, who was a productive member of the Reds’ bullpen the past few years but was never really spectacular. He prepared this spring as a starter with Mat Latos hurt, but wasn’t necessarily in the Reds’ plans for the rotation to start the year.

Oddly enough, if former Yankee Brett Marshall hadn’t hurt himself in his last start of spring training, he would have been the 5th starter for the Reds over Alfredo Simon. Funny to think about.

We’re fully aware that midnight is coming and that Simon could turn into a pumpkin any minute now, but we’re enjoying the ride right now.

Keefe: On June 20, the Reds were 35-37 and 8.5 games back in the NL Central and playing themselves out of playoff contention with the real halfway point of the season approaching. Since then they have gone 16-7 and are not only 1 game out of a wild-card spot, but they are now just 1.5 games out in the division. Over the last three weeks the Reds have essentially saved their season and it’s something the Yankees will need to do in the “second half” if they are to get back to the postseason.

In the last four years, the Reds have reached the playoffs three times, losing in the one-game playoff last year and in the NLDS in 2012 and 2010 and going 2-7 in their nine playoff games. I’m guessing you had postseason aspirations for this Reds team before the season started and still do now that they have repositioned themselves nicely for the last two-plus months of baseball.

What exactly were your expectations for the Reds entering the season and have they changed? Were you losing hope before they recently turned it around?

Kraeling: It’s been a really weird season for the Reds. I think we had similar expectations before the season as we have in the past few seasons, in that the Reds should compete for the division title. However, I think there was a little bit more pessimism with the Pirates, Cardinals, and Brewers making moves to improve in the offseason and Walt Jocketty standing pat with his Reds roster. The biggest offseason acquisitions for the Reds were Brayan Peña and Skip Schumaker. Seriously.

Blogs • Yankees

Jun 25, 2014

The Biggest Win of the Season Became the Worst Loss

I thought the Yankees were going to have their biggest win of the season on Tuesday night in Toronto, but instead it turned out to be their worst loss.

This is going to be the biggest win of the season. That’s what I thought when Derek Jeter and Jacoby Ellsbury scored in the seventh inning to tie Tuesday night’s game in Toronto at 6. That thought didn’t last long.

In the fifth inning on Tuesday night against the Blue Jays, Derek Jeter made an uncharacteristic brain fart (his first of two in the inning) that kept the inning alive and loaded the bases for the Blue Jays, who already led 3-0. And David Phelps bailed out his shortstop by giving up a first-pitch drive off the right-field wall to Colby Rasmus. Two runs initially scored and with Rasmus trying to advance to second, Jeter caught him in a rundown as Edwin Encarnacion danced off third, trying to decide if he should break for home, as Jeter tried to get Rasmus out while also keeping an eye on Encarnacion. Jeter held on to the ball and ran Rasmus safely back to first and Encarnacion raced home. 6-0 Blue Jays.

Jeter came away from the play with a confused look on his face like someone who got off an elevator on the wrong floor, but tried to play it cool as though he meant to get off that floor. And I came away from the play with the look of frustration like someone who was watching their baseball team aimlessly navigate through another wasted game. In the dugout, Joe Girardi had a different look. It was a look that suggested he might go through the clubhouse after the game and individually fight every player on his team. And he would want to individually fight each Yankee because as Mark Teixeira reminded us all after the Yankees’ two-inning loss to the Blue Jays on Monday, baseball is an individual game.

Friday night looked like it was going to be the biggest win of the year. The 2014 Yankees, a team with less fight in them than Brian Boyle, had come back against the Orioles and erased a two-run, ninth-inning deficit, winning on a three-run, walkoff home run from Carlos Beltran. After suggesting that Yankee Stadium no longer has a home-field advantage over the first two-plus months of the season, the walkoff win was the Yankees’ fourth in a row and fifth consecutive home win. But momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher and unfortunately for the Yankees, that was Vidal Nuno, who hates momentum more than Brett Gardner hates trying to steal a base early in a count. The Yankees’ four-game winning streak that had brought them back to a tie in the loss column with the first-place Blue Jays became a two-game losing streak over the weekend and extended to three games on Monday after Chase Whitley tried to one-up Nuno by giving up seven runs on 10 hits in the first two innings in Toronto. And after that Monday loss is when we heard from self-appointed de facto captain Mark Teixeira.

“Baseball is an individual game in a team atmosphere. Individually, we’ve just got to figure out a way to get the jobs done. Everyone has to step up a little bit and hopefully, collectively, if everyone does a little bit better we’ll score more runs.”

I really, really, really hope Teixeira was including himself both times he said “everyone” and wasn’t talking about everyone other than him. But I have a feeling that because he’s hitting .241/.335/.467 and leading the Yankees in home runs (13) and RBIs (36) he thinks he has done his job this season, even if leading the Yankees in those two categories in 2014 holds as much clout as having the most buddies on AIM. If playing in 56 of your team’s 76 games (74 percent) and hitting 36 points below your career average, 13 points below your career on-base percentage and 56 points below your career slugging percentage is doing a job you’re paid $23.5 million per season to do then I’m sorry for suggesting otherwise. And maybe I should be sorry because there seem to be a lot of people that think Teixeira has done his job this season hasn’t been part of the problem for a team that ranks 20^th in runs scored in the league (one place above the Mets).

In Teixeira’s first game since speaking out about the team scoring four runs during their three-game losing streak, he must have forgotten his own words.

“Baseball is an individual game in a team atmosphere.”

In the first inning with runners on first and second and one out, Teixeira hit a 1-2 changeup into a 4-6-3 double play.

“Individually, we’ve just got to figure out a way to get the jobs done.”

In the fourth inning, Teixeira led off the inning by grounding out to short on a 3-2 fastball.

“Everyone has to step up a little bit.”

In the sixth inning, with one out following Jeter’s solo home run to make it 6-1, Teixeira grounded out to short again, this time on a 2-2 fastball.

“Hopefully, collectively, if everyone does a little bit better …”

In the seventh inning, with two outs, runners on second and third and three runs already in to make it 6-4, Teixeira hit a 1-1 fastball to Jose Reyes at short, who made his second throwing error of the game that allowed Jeter and Jacoby Ellsbury to score to tie the game.

“… we’ll score more runs.”

In the ninth inning, with two outs and Gardner at third as the go-ahead run, Teixeira struck out on three pitches.

The three-pitch strikeout was Teixeira’s last at-bat because if you haven’t seen the disastrous bottom of the ninth, Joe Girardi brought in Adam Warren, who I wouldn’t trust to tell me what day of the week it is, with Shawn Kelley and David Robertson hanging out in the bullpen (Ladies and gentlemen, set bullpen roles!). In three Warren pitches, the Blue Jays won after a leadoff double and Yangervis Solarte throwing error. Ballgame over. Yankees lose. Again.

A day after awkwardly trying to step up and be a leader for a team he has been in and out of the lineup for by calling out the offense, Teixeira responded by going 0-for-5 with a strikeout and left three men on, including the potential go-ahead run in the ninth.

Given the score through five innings, the three miserable losses on Saturday, Sunday and Monday and the most importantly the standings and opponent, Tuesday was going to the biggest win of the season. It was going to be a six-run comeback on the road against a first-place team that would have ended a three-game losing streak. Instead, it was the worst loss of the season.

The Yankees have now lost 34 games and Tuesday’s was the worst. Sure, there was Opening Day in Houston and the following night in Houston. And there was May 10 in Milwaukee and also May 11 in Milwaukee. There was the first game of the Subway Series and the second game of the Subway Series. There was Adam Dunn’s walk-off home run off against David Robertson on May 23 and Robertson’s meltdown against the Twins on June 1. There was the blown 4-0 lead against the A’s on June 4 and pretty much any Nuno or CC Sabathia start. But Tuesday night against the Blue Jays was the worst. I can only hope it remains the worst for the rest of the season.

Blogs • Yankees

May 14, 2014

Subway Series 2014 Diary: Yankee Stadium

The Yankees lost the first two games of the 2014 Subway Series and have now lost six straight to the Mets, so let’s look at what went wrong in the Bronx.

The Rangers overcame a 3-1 series deficit to beat the Penguins and advance to the Eastern Conference finals and the Yankees lost two games in a row at home to the Mets and have now lost six in a row to the Mets going back to last year. Is it 2014? Is this real life?

Two years ago I did a Subway Series Diary for the Yankee Stadium portion of the rivalry to recap what I watched over the three-game series and I said:

I feel weird calling this a diary since I have never had a diary before. I remember in elementary school when we were forced to have a “journal” in one of those black-and-white Mead notebooks.

Well, here we go again.

MONDAY
With the Mets losing eight of their last nine and looking ripe for their annual free fall, I didn’t think there was a chance the 2014 Subway Series could go the way the 2013 Subway Series went. But when Monday started off with Mark Teixeira not being in the lineup due to “fatigue” and “tired legs” and the $23.5 million-per-year and $138,888-per game first baseman said, “I was on the bases a lot this week. Just a little tired. I’ll be fine,” doubt started to creep in. When the Mets took a 1-0 first inning lead and held that lead into the second and the Yankees loaded the bases with no one out only for Kelly Johnson and Brian Roberts to fail to drive a run in, the doubt grew larger. Then Brett Gardner saved Johnson and Roberts by hitting a grand slam to give the Yankees a 4-1 lead and I was relieved that order had been restored in the Subway Series. I thought “The Mets are the Mets” and started to think about winning three of four in the series, if not sweeping the series. And then the seventh inning started.

Alfredo Aceves’ second tour with the Yankees is going about as well as Javier Vazquez’s second tour with the Yankees went. Sure, Alfredo Aceves 2.0 is averaging 9.3 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9, but he’s ruined the last two games he pitched in (he blew Saturday’s game in Milwaukee and Monday’s game) and he’s only pitched in four games (he did pitch 5 1/3 scoreless innings against Tampa Bay on May 4 and maybe that’s the sign the Yankees need to put him in the rotation). But Aceves wasn’t the only wrong button that Joe Girardi pushed with a 7-5 lead and nine outs to go in the game. Here are the lines for the bullpen:

Alfredo Aceves: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Matt Thornton: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Preston Claiborne: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3K

Everyone loves to praise Girardi for how he uses his relievers and how he manages their workloads (he did a great job giving Mariano Rivera extended rest in his final season last year, so he could throw pitches to WFAN’s Craig Carton this week at Yankee Stadium), but Girardi’s biggest bullpen problem this season hasn’t necessarily been managing workloads as much as it has been determining who should pitch when. It’s not completely his fault since the entire league has dictated the idea of set bullpen roles, so that someone like David Robertson can no longer be the escape artist he once was when it comes to escaping jams for others. Because Robertson is the closer, he can now only escape his own jams. And that’s why Robertson was standing in the bullpen on Monday night ready to enter the game, but because it wasn’t the ninth inning and because the Yankees weren’t winning or the game wasn’t tied, he stayed in the bullpen watching the 2014 version of The Goof Troop light the game on fire like my great grandmother burning her trash in the backyard as if it were no big deal. If there are going to be set bullpen roles (and there are), then David Robertson pitches the ninth, Dellin Betances pitches the eighth and Girardi can mix and match the other innings and outs with his binder. That is the only acceptable pecking order after six weeks.

Even after watching the bullpen punch out early and after giving up nine runs, the Yankees had a chance to tie the game in the ninth with Derek Jeter on first with one out for pinch hitter … Mark Teixeira!

“All year long, they looked to him to light the fire, and all year long, he answered the demands, until he was physically unable to start tonight — with two bad legs.”

That’s how Vin Scully started his famous call of Kirk Gibson’s 1988 World Series home run and I thought Michael Kay might start to rattle something similar off, not because Kay likes to overdo it with drama more than any other baseball play-by-play man (which he does), but because it was nearly a miracle that hours after taking a seat on the bench due to tired legs, Mark Teixeira was hitting in the ninth.

And Teixeira got the job done with a single to right to put the tying run on base and the winning run at the plate in Brian McCann. But then McCann hit into the predictable game-ending double play and the Subway Series picked up right where it left off last May.

TUESDAY
For someone fighting for their job, Vidal Nuno basically did the equivalent of showing up to work an hour late wearing shorts and a T-shirt, streaming Netflix in your cube, taking a two-hour lunch, scrolling through Facebook pictures for the remainder of the post-lunch day and then accidentally forwarding an email containing a pornographic link to a company-wide list at 4:02 p.m. before leaving for the day. Nuno was given a golden opportunity to make a case that he could be a reliable starter in the rotation and replace Ivan Nova this year and also to throw his name in the mix for a spot in the rotation next year when Hiroki Kuroda leaves or if Nova still isn’t health. But Nuno has followed up every promising start with an A.J. Burnett-like egg and if it weren’t for CC Sabathia also landing on the disabled list, Nuno would probably be getting his seat back in the bullpen. Here is how Nuno has done over the last three weeks since joining the rotation:

April 20 at TB: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

April 26 vs. LAA: 4.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

May 2 vs. TB: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K

May 7 at LAA: 6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

May 13 vs. NYM: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 1 K

Sean Henn would have been proud of Nuno’s performance on Tuesday night, letting the Mets hang a 4-spot before the Yankees could even bat for the first time and then continuing to let the Mets add on to their lead with the offense trying to erase the deficit. The problem isn’t just Nuno, it’s that the Yankees needed two starters to replace Nova and Michael Pineda and Nuno and David Phelps have proven to be coin flips in their short stints in the rotation. And now the problem is even bigger with Yankees asking Chase Whitley to take CC Sabathia’s spot in the rotation on Thursday. The last time someone named Chase started a game for the Yankees, I was sitting at Fenway Park wondering if I wanted to watch baseball ever again.

After watching Aceves blow Saturday’s game and then Monday’s game, there he was again on Tuesday being called upon to stop the bleeding and give the offense a chance to get back in the game and there he was again ruining a game. Aceves gave up four earned runs in 1 2/3 innings before handing off the ball to Matt Daley, who actually did his job this time after taking part in the April 19 disaster in Tampa Bay.

Standing between a four-game losing streak and a seven-game Subway Series losing streak is Masahiro Tanaka and I’m happy he’s standing there. Right now, Tanaka’s not only the one Yankees’ starter who can be trusted, he’s the only Yankees’ starter who can win.

Blogs • Email Exchanges • Yankees

Apr 25, 2014

The Angels No Longer Own the Yankees

The Angels are in the Bronx for the first time this season and not so long ago that would have been worrisome, but the Angels’ days of owning the Yankees are over.

The last three seasons the Yankees have had a winning record each year against the Angels. That might not seem like a big deal, but before 2011, the Yankees’ last winning season against the Angels was in 2003. The Angels not only beat up on the Yankees in the regular season for the entire Joe Torre era, but they knocked them out in the ALDS in 2002 and 2005. But since the 2009 ALCS, everything has changed between the two teams.

With the Yankees and Angels meeting for the first time this season, I did an email exchange with Mat Gleason of Halos Heaven to talk about the contracts for Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton, if Mike Scioscia’s time with the Angels is running out and what’s happened to the Angels since Yankees beat them in six games in the 2009 ALCS.

Keefe: The stories about the Yankees supposedly expecting to draft Mike Trout in 2009 draft, but losing the pick to the Angels, who drafted him, because of the Mark Teixeira signing will forever make me sick. Mark Teixeira has turned into Jason Giambi 2.0 because of the short porch at the Stadium, making him a pull-only hitter who won’t under any circumstances go the other way as a left-handed hitter. Good thing he’s only making $22.5 million this year as an average first baseman … and next year … and the year after.

Meanwhile, Trout has gone on to become Mickey Mantle 2.0. His numbers are ridiculous and he won’t turn 23 until this August. 23! That’s 23! I was hoping the Angels would somehow screw up any chance to sign him to a long-term deal and he would want to return back to the Tri-state area and play for the team he grew up rooting for: the Yankees. But Trout got his six-year, $144.5 million deal, so I guess I’m going to have to wait until 2021 for him to become a Yankee.

What has it been like watching the best young player in baseball develop as an Angel? What were your thoughts on his contract?

Gleason: The contract was a huge relief. Angels fans have been losing faith in this franchise after many many boneheaded moves so it was just a huge relief. Watching Trout every night has been the most entertaining thing in decades for me as an Angels fan. No matter where you are in the game you count the lineup to see how many at-bats away he is before you decide to make dinner or go to the bathroom, one of those “must-see” moments.

Keefe: After playing in just 99 games last year, Albert Pujols looks to be back to his usual ways, leading the league in home runs early with eight at age 34. And after hitting .250/.307/.432 in his first season with the Angels last year, Josh Hamilton looked to be back on track through eight games this year before tearing a ligament in his thumb, which could keep him out for two months.

I pair these two together because the Angels gave Pujols a 10-year, $240 million deal before the 2012 season and then gave Hamilton a five-year, $125 million deal before the 2013 season. At the time, it looked like the Angels stole the franchise player from the Cardinals and then stole the franchise player from the Rangers, but after 2013, it just looked like they spent $365 million on two aging, broken-down players.

What were your thoughts on the contracts when they were signed compared to now? What are the expectations now for these two?

Gleason: I had faith that Pujols would be great once he got healthy. I have no faith in Josh Hamilton. Sometimes it is not a good thing to be right all the time, you know what I mean?

Hamilton actually might come around this year. The contracts don’t bother me at all, in fact Seattle offered Hamilton more money and I believe Albert will be worth the dough. If inflation takes off in hte larger economy he might be a bargain in six years!

Keefe: Mike Scioscia has been called “the best manager in baseball” in the past and this seemed like a generally agreed upon rhetoric through the 2009 season. But after the last few years, Scioscia’s abilities and whether his time has run its course with the Angels has been called into question.

Scioscia is signed through the 2018 season, but does have an opt-out clause after the 2015 season as part of his 10-year deal. Is Scioscia on the hot seat this season with the Angels? Are you a Scioscia fan, or would a postseason-less season mean it’s time to move on?

Gleason: There are managers who are managing at a higher level than Mike. When he came into the league he was the chessmaster but he is now playing checkers compared to younger managers who have read and understood basic Bill James.

His biggest weaknesses are the rigid roles he assigns relievers, his willingness to stick to veterans in the lineup over rookies who might benefit from playing time, his assertion that the major league level is not a teaching level, which deprives young pitchers of developing new pitches, among other things. He has been bunting less than ever, runs players less than ever and seems overmatched by simple concepts of high leverage and on-base percentage. Fifteen years is a long time and he really is a testament to how the game has changed radically in that time. He just hasn’t kept up. But I have no faith in the front office to keep up. A new hire is no guarantee that things would be any different so in that regard a manager is a manager is a manager, why not have the guy who will generate the least controversy?

Keefe: The Angels haven’t been in the playoffs since 2009 when they lost to the Yankees in the ALCS. Since then, they have 80-82, 86-76, 89-73 and 78-84. Five years it felt like the Angels would just keep on making the playoffs and winning the AL West forever before the Rangers and then A’s became relevant again. Despite their free-agent signings and spending, the Angels haven’t been able to rekindle the winning ways of the 2000s when they were the one team to have a winning record against the Yankees and knocked them out of the playoffs in 2002 and 2005. But then it seems like there was a shift in power between the Yankees and Angels after the 2009 ALCS.

What has made the Angels so hard for the Yankees to beat? After years of beating up on both the Joe Torre and Joe Girardi Yankees, and two postseason series wins, are Angels fans still confident when they play the Yankees?

Gleason: 2009 was a big punch to our gut. Our nemesis has really been the Red Sox and we finally beat them in the playoffs after losing to them in 1986, 2004, 2007 and 2008 and then the Yankees knocked us down in the 2009 ALCS, so the decade where we dominated the Yankees is over, psychologically, for us. Maybe it left with Joe Torre. Don’t get me wrong, we always get up the hate for the Bronx Bombers and there is a lingering confidence that we can win in New York that other tams and their fans might not have (you don’t intimidate us), but we carried much more swagger last decade than this one.

Keefe: When you look at the Angels lineup and the front-end of their rotation, you can’t help but think that this should be a playoff team. But after these recent postseason-less seasons for the Angels, what have your expectations become for the Angels?

Gleason: The mob is ready with pre-lit torches. Attendance and season ticket sales have taken a huge hit. I expect the team to make the playoffs this year and I am way more confident in them than I have been in recent years, but as Pee Wee Herman said, “There is always a big but …” there is no depth and there is no chance of a big trade/acquisition due to the luxury tax concerns. So a few bumps and bruises and I can put my hope for October on the shelf for 2014. This organization will have to earn back the buzz that fans had for them. There is no buzz these days. Its like O’Douls in Anaheim: no buzz.

Blogs • The Joe Girardi Show • Yankees

Apr 21, 2014

The Joe Girardi Show: Season 5, Episode 1

The Yankees avoided leaving Tampa Bay on a three-game losing streak, but Joe Girardi couldn’t avoid me starting up a fifth season of The Joe Girardi Show to question his decisions.

I wanted the Yankees to go 4-2 in their six games against the Cubs and Rays this past week. After winning the four-game series against the Red Sox at the Stadium the weekend before, I thought 4-2 was very doable between a two-game series and four-game series and I didn’t care how the Yankees won their four games, I just wanted them to win them.

The Yankees did end up going 4-2 in the six games, so I shouldn’t have anything to question. But I do. And I do because Joe Girardi made some very questionable decisions over the weekend in Tampa Bay that nearly cost the Yankees my 4-2 goal and could have sent them to Boston this week reeling from a three-game losing streak. The Yankees prevented the losing streak to happen and Girardi’s decision making worked out, but that doesn’t mean over the course of the season his choices won’t cost the Yankees.

I was hoping to make it through April without having to do this, but after this weekend, I thought it was necessary to fill in for Michael Kay on my version of The Joe Girardi Show. After only 19 games, it’s time for the fifth season premiere.

Why don’t you trust Dellin Betances?
Right now the bullpen pecking order (with David Robertson), according to Joe Girardi is:

1. David Robertson
2. Shawn Kelley
3. Adam Warren
4. David Phelps/Matt Thornton
5. Dellin Betances

The problem here is that after Robertson, Betances is the best reliever the Yankees have and actually has the best stuff and velocity of the entire bullpen. In eight innings, he has has allowed ONE hit, that’s ONE hit, while walking six and striking out 14.

The bullpen pecking order should be:

1. David Robertson
2. Dellin Betances
3. Shawn Kelley
4. Matt Thornton
5. David Phelps
6. Adam Warren

Over the weekend, Betances entered a game the Yankees were winning 8-2 in the eight inning and pitched the last two innings of the eventual 10-2 win. Then two days later, Betances entered a game the Yankees were losing 12-1 and was asked to get five outs. Is it possible the best non-closer reliever on the Yankees is viewed by his manager as an innings eater?

According to the way he was used this weekend, it is, but in reality, Betances has been used inconsistently because Joe Girardi likely doesn’t “trust” him yet. And the only reason he doesn’t “trust” him yet is because Betances has pitched enough under Girardi for him to. He hasn’t blow enough games the way Kelley and Warren and Phelps have last season and this season to gain the trust of Girardi and earn a spot in high leverage situations.

So for now, Betances will be asked to throw 41 pitches in a game the Yankees lose by 15 runs and will be unavailable to pitch in a 12-inning game, leaving Girardi to ask just-called-up Preston Claiborne for two scoreless innings, the same Preston Claiborne, who wasn’t good enough in spring training to make the Yankees three weeks ago, because his only other option to close out the game was just-called-up Bryan Mitchell from Double-A, who has a 5.14 ERA and 1.571 WHIP for the Trenton Thunder this year.

Who is going to take Ivan Nova’s rotation spot?
The answer should be Vidal Nuno. Here is what Nuno has done in four career starts:

5/13/13 at CLE: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K

5/25/13 at TB: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

5/30/13 vs. NYM: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

4/20/14 @ TB: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

It’s devastating that Ivan Nova isn’t going to get a full season to either build on what he had become last year or at least show the Yankees what they would be getting for the future, whether it’s a potential front-end starter or the new poster boy for inconsistency now that Phil Hughes is with the Twins.

Now that Nova won’t be back until next year, Nuno should be the one to fill the rotation spot. He has earned the right to and has proven he can win as a starting pitcher in the league. I trust Nuno more than I trust David Phelps and more than I trust Alfredo Aceves or Shane Greene if the Yankees decide to dip into the minors to make a move.

The job should be Nuno’s until he proves he can’t and so far he hasn’t.

Do you know what year it is when it comes to Mark Teixeira?
Mark Teixeira hit fifth on Sunday because his name is Mark Teixeira and because Joe Girardi apparently thinks it’s 2009 still. Because five years ago, the name “Mark Teixeira” held enough stock to get someone in the heart of the order on name alone, but in 2014 it should take a little more than that. But it’s not surprising when you realize that Girardi used to hit Teixeira third and Alex Rodriguez fourth and Robinson Cano fifth long after Cano had proved himself as the best hitter on the team. I’m not shocked that Teixeira hit fifth on Sunday because part of me thought Girardi would hit him fourth as if it were April 20, 2009.

All along the if Teixeira can hit his home runs and drive in his runs and be Jason Giambi 2.0 and play his Gold Glove defense that I wouldn’t matter if he hits .240 or still can’t hit a changeup or pops up to short with runners on third and less than two outs and is the last person you would want up on a big spot despite making $23 million per yaer. But not only is Teixeira not even Giambi 2.0 at the plate, he apparently can’t even play defense anymore as shown by his three errors in not even five full games this year.I ranked Teixeira fourth in The 2014 Yankees’ Order of Importance before the season and said the Yankees couldn’t handle losing him for a significant amount of time, but the Yankees went 8-6 in 14 games without him using Kelly Johnson, Francisco Cervelli, Carlos Beltran and Scott Sizemore at first base, none of which have any real experience at the position. Teixeira is never going to be the player the Yankees signed five years ago again and he has made that clear, but please Teixeira, at least be average.

Can you please stop being overly cautious with the lineup since it hasn’t gotten you anywhere in the past?
Joe Girardi has been out of control since becoming Yankees manager with the way he handles lineup decisions and the amount of rest he gives players. It might be unrealistic to think Derek Jeter can play all 162 games at shortstop in the season in which he will turn 40 after missing essentially a year and a half. But Jeter is still the Yankees’ everyday shortstop and not a catcher who needs day games after night games off or a day off every four games for necessary rest. And he should already be well rested after missing that year and a half I mentioned. There is a countdown clock on Jeter’s baseball life and for a guy who has spent a lot of time avoiding days off since 1996 despite injury, I’m sure he doesn’t want to watch games he won’t get back after 2014 pass him by because Girardi doesn’t believe in a Farewell Tour. But does Girardi know that sacrificing games in April could be the difference between the Farewell Tour ending in September or October or the difference in playing in a one-game playoff or getting into the ALDS without having to play in Bud Selig’s gimmick? Injuries can happen at any time and they are going to happen or not happen whether or not Girardi believes he can control.

And Jeter hasn’t been the only guy with unnecessary rest early in the season, he has just been the one with the most. Girardi gave Jacoby Ellsbury a day of in the third game of the season in Houston and gave Carlos Beltran a day off in Tampa after falling over the outfield wall (though that might say more about Beltran’s toughness after he sat out a World Series game last year after spending his whole career trying to reach the World Series). I don’t expect this kind of managing to end from Girardi, I only wish it would.

Tag: Joe Girardi

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