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Tag: Phil Hughes

Blogs • KTTC Classics • Yankees

Sep 25, 2013

I Believe CC Sabathia Because I Have To

CC Sabathia’s 13 losses are a big reason the Yankees won’t be playing in October, but he promises to be back in 2014.

The Yankees had to give CC Sabathia an extension. Coming off a 19-8 season with a 3.00 ERA in 2011 and 59-23 record with a 3.18 ERA in his first three seasons with the Yankees, he had been the first free-agent pitcher to truly live up to his hype and billing during the Brian Cashman era (unless you consider Mike Mussina the first to, which I don’t). Even if he was the biggest reason (aside from the runners in scoring position debacle) the Yankees lost to the Tigers in five games in the ALDS, the team had to re-sign him.

If Sabathia had opted out and signed somewhere else, the Yankees rotation entering 2012 would have been A.J. Burnett (thankfully he was eventually traded), Ivan Nova and Phil Hughes and who knows who else since Hiroki Kuroda had yet to sign and Andy Pettitte was still retired. Just a year after we were believed to be looking at a rotation of Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Pettitte, Burnett and Hughes before Lee ruined the Christmas season, if the Yankees didn’t extend Sabathia, they would have most likely had the worst rotation in the American League and I would have had to dust off the Cliff Lee Sad Songs Playlist.

The season after getting that extra year worth $25 million in 2016 and the $25 million vesting option for 2017, Sabathia started 28 games, his lowest total since 2006 (when he also started 28), posted his highest ERA since 2005 with 3.38, won his fewest amount of games since 2006 with 15 and allowed the most home runs in a season in his career despite the missed starts. He bounced back in the postseason by beating the Orioles in Games 1 and 5 of the ALDS (17.2 IP, 12 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 16 K), but then looked 2007 ALDS Chien-Ming Wang against the Tigers in Game 4 of the ALCS (3.2 IP, 11 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 2 HR). Still there wasn’t any reason to be worried about the Yankees’ ace since.

And there wasn’t any reason to be worried even when the Red Sox beat him on Opening Day since he had been beaten up by the Orioles on Opening Day in 2009, the Red Sox in 2010 and the Rays in 2012. Three starts later, Sabathia was 3-1 with a 2.57 ERA, the Yankees had a 1.5-game lead in the AL East and everything seemed to be going according to the plan the way it had the previous four seasons with Sabathia at the front of the rotation. Even when he entered his final start of the “first half” with a 9-7 record and 3.99 ERA, Sabathia was going to go on his “second half” run after the break because that’s what he does.

But then the Twins torched him in that final start (4 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 HR), in the most embarrassing loss of the season, the Red Sox lit him up in his first start after the break (5 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 2 HR), the Rays knocked him around five days later (5 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 6 K), and the Padres (the Padres!!!) roughed him up six days after that (5.2 IP, 11 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 1 HR). After losing to the Padres on Aug. 2, Sabathia was 9-10 with a 4.78 ERA and the Yankees were just 12-11 in games started by him. Five days later he later the White Sox creep back from a 4-1 deficit to make it 4-3 in the eventual double blown save game. The day after that I wrote that the Yankees’ season was over.

Sabathia won’t pitch again in 2013 and rightfully so. There’s no point in running $76 million of guaranteed money out there to face the Astros in an exhibition game when it’s likely that he’s only one of two returning current starting pitchers in 2014. And because only Sabathia and Ivan Nova are likely to return to the rotation next season, it’s important, no it’s imperative that CC Sabathia return to the 2009-2012 CC Sabathia or something pretty freaking close to it to avoid a chase for the second wild-card spot a year from now.

Sabathia finished the 2013 season at 14-13 with a 4.78 ERA and somehow won five of his final eight starts despite pitching to a 4.94 ERA over that span. He won’t pitch again in a real, meaningful game until April 2 in Houston on Opening Day 2014, when he will earn the same nearly $700,000 he earned per start in this lost season. But even though a little over six months separate Sabathia and the bottom of the first inning in Houston that doesn’t mean he isn’t already thinking about finding himself on the mound or finding a new way to be successful on the mound and he talked about it on Tuesday. Let’s analyze what Sabathia had to say about his 2013 season and what he expects in 2014.

On it being hard to make adjustments.

“Yeah, it is (difficult). It’s me being stubborn, too, and not wanting to change and thinking that I’ve got stuff figured out. It was a lot of different things. Of course, you want to have more time to work on things, especially when you’re trying to change things in your delivery. I’ll have the whole offseason to work on my throwing and my mechanics and be back right.”

I’m not sure “stubborn” is powerful enough for a starting pitcher who rejects change and midseason adjustments while losing 13 games. Sabathia was asked to carry the team (along with Robinson Cano) through injuries and earn his $23 million, but he failed to do so. At least he has an extra month to work on his mechanics! So I guess it’s a good thing the Yankees won’t be playing in October!

On if he can return to being a dominant pitcher.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to be that same guy again. I’m 33 this year, but pitching against San Francisco the other night, I felt like back to myself more so than any other start. It wasn’t velocity — I was 90 to 93 — but just pitching inside, being aggressive, throwing fastballs in hitters’ counts. Just going out there and being a bully. That’s something I feel like I was before and kind of lost that this year.”

The Giants suck. You know this, right? They haven’t seen .500 since June 24 and are 24th in runs score in MLB, 29th in home runs and 27th in slugging percentage. Being a “bully” against the Giants shouldn’t make you feel like yourself. It’s the Giants! The Giants!

“I feel like at certain times, I kind of fell in the same pattern, pitching the same way. Hitters watch video and they know what to expect out of me, so it’s only right for me to do the same thing. … I’ve always been a guy that never watched video and that’s something that I need to change.

You mean guys like Mike Napoli? Yeah, I would say watching video might be something you want to change if it’s going to result in career .258 hitters like Mike Napoli turning into Manny Ramirez vs. Andy Pettitte (36-for-92, five home runs, 23 RBIs) against you.

On changing the way he prepares for games.

“My preparation for games probably needs to get a little better in that way. That’s something me and Larry talked about, and going forward will be better.”

At what point did you and Larry talk about changing your preparation? Was it before or after (or possibly during) your winless six-game stretch from July 9 to Aug. 9 (36 IP, 49 H, 33 R, 28 ER, 12 BB, 27 K, 7 HR)? I’m going to hope it was sometime after this since losing to the Royals, Twins, Rays and Padres and picking up no-decisions against the Red Sox and White Sox over the course of 31 days isn’t a good look for the “ace” of the staff. Even Phil Hughes can shake his head at that disappointing stretch, which helped ruin the Yankees’ season.

On what went wrong this season.

“I’m just talking about going out and pitching like I did the other day (against the Giants). Grinding games out. That’s something I feel like I didn’t do a good job of this year. Getting runners on base and being able to get a double play. Giving up a run or two, and being able to shut the inning off. I feel like I gave up too many big innings and big situations. We come out and score a couple of runs off a tough pitcher, and I come back and give the lead right back. That’s stuff that I didn’t do, or I don’t do, and it happened this year. I think that’s what I say when I talk about coming back and being right.”

I would have to say I trust Sabathia the least when it comes to pitching a shutdown inning right after the Yankees get on the board. It got so frustrating this season watching him give up leads or increase deficits that actually became funny. It became funny because it got to the point that all you could do was laugh as CC built picket fences on the scoreboard for the opposition, put the Yankees in early holes and blew late leads. I’m just glad he realizes what he was doing and didn’t just go to into A.J. Burnett “Eff It” mode when things unraveled even if it looked like he went into that mode.

On what will change in 2014.

“I think I’ll be back to myself. I know a lot of people have written me off and said I’ve thrown too many innings and whatever, whatever, but I’ll still be here and still be accountable and still be the guy that signed up in 2009.”

That quote made me go back and watch CC Sabathia’s press conference from December 2008 when he was introduced with A.J. Burnett 10-plus months before they would help end the eight-year World Series drought. And in that press conference CC said, “I want the ball every day if they’ll give it to me.” There was a time when I wanted him to have the ball every day. If he holds true to his promise, I will want him to have the ball every day next season.

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Blogs • Yankees

Aug 16, 2013

A Matter of Trust with the Yankees Rotation

It’s been weird a season for the Yankees and it’s been especially weird for the rotation, which has been shuffled when it comes to who you can and can’t trust.

It’s been a weird year. Kevin Youkilis became a Yankee; CC Sabathia got skinny; Francisco Cervelli was relied on at one point and then missed and then suspended; Derek Jeter played in his first game of the season on July 11 and then went on the disabled list twice in three weeks; the Mariners cut Shawn Kelley and he became the Yankees’ third best reliever; the Yankees traded for Vernon Wells; Lyle Overbay went from unwanted to having a starting job; Ichiro was used as the cleanup hitter; A-Rod underwent a second hip surgery in four years, appealed a 211-game suspension and returned to the lineup; Eduardo Nunez learned how to play defense; and Alfonso Soriano returned to the Yankees for the first time in nearly a decade.

But what might be weirder than any of those things is that the Yankees rotation has undergone some changes when it comes to who you can and can’t trust. Every five days when Hiroki Kuroda pitches you know the Yankees have a chance to win, but every five days when Phil Hughes pitches you hope you have plans other than to watch the Yankees.

With the Yankees needing to win just about every game from now until Game 162, the rotation is going to be trusted to give the team a chance to win every single day and not take the team out of the game before YES gives you the lineups and defensive alignments.

So here’s the current pecking order of the rotation based on level of trust and performance.

1. Number 18, Hiroki Kuroda, Number 18
It was a long, long time ago that I gave Kuroda the nickname of “Coin Flip” for never knowing what you would get from him from start to start. But that was back at the beginning of the 2012 season and the name was justified.

After losing to the Royals on May 21, 2012, Kuroda was 3-6 with a 4.56 ERA and 1.481 WHIP in his first nine starts with the Yankees. But since then, Kuroda has made 48 regular season starts and he’s 24-12 and the Yankees are 30-18 in those starts. Here’s his line since losing that game to the Royals: 321 IP, 275 H, 97 R, 94 ER, 60 BB, 243 K, 27 HR, 2.64 ERA 1.044 WHIP.

This season alone, Kuroda is 11-7 with a 2.33 ERA, but has earned a no-decision in three starts where he pitched seven shutout innings along with no-decisions in three starts where he went at least 6 2/3 innings and allowed two earned runs or less. (But according to Jim Leyland he’s not an All-Star because of his wins total. Good thinking, Jim!)

Kuroda’s not an “ace” that way Sabathia is. He’s a real ace.

2. Number 47, Ivan Nova, Number 47
Pitcher A: 4 GS, 16.2 IP, 23 H, 12 R, 12 ER, 8 BB, 18 K, 1 HR, 6.61 ERA, 1.898 WHIP

Pitcher B: 8 GS, 59.0 IP, 50 H, 14 R, 14 ER, 15 BB, 57 K, 2 HR, 2.14 ERA, 1.102 WHIP

Pitcher A is Ivan Nova in April. Pitcher B is Ivan Nova in starts since returning from Triple-A on June 23.

I’m not sure what Nova did when he got sent down to Triple-A, but it worked and he’s back to the way he was in 2011 and not the way he was in 2012 or the beginning of 2013.

3. Number 46, Andy Pettitte, Number 46
His name and number still make me think that he’s the guy he was every other year of his career except for 2008, but he isn’t. For the first time, Pettitte has shown his age and is pitching like a guy who should be home with his family rather than the guy who debates whether he should be home with his family every offseason.

It would make a lot of sense if Pettitte is hurt or playing through injury because he’s looking at finishing under .500 for the first time in his career and he currently has the highest ERA (4.62) of any of his 18 seasons. He hasn’t won a game since July 11 and after two strong starts against the Rangers (6 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K) and Dodgers (7 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K), Pettitte was embarrassed by the White Sox (2.2 IP, 11 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) and needed 101 pitches to get 13 outs against the Tigers (4.1 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K).

If Pettitte were a fifth starter (which he probably should be this juncture of his career) and the Yankees had a strong hold on a playoff spot, it would be one thing, but the Yankees can’t afford to have Pettitte show his age over the last six weeks of the season because of the next guy, who has forgotten how to pitch …

4. Number 52, CC Sabathia, Number 52
Once upon a time CC was a real ace. Now he’s an “ace” the way A-Rod is a “superstar.” Sabathia won against the Angels on Tuesday for his first win since July 3 (despite doing everything he could to try and lose), evened his record up at 10-10 and even lowered his ERA from 4.72 to 4.66! $676,470.59 per start … well worth it!

At first we were made to believe that Sabathia’s diminished velocity was the reason for his struggles, but then he started throwing hard. Then we were told that his diminished weight was to blame, but that only contradicted the theories that his weight would prevent him from staying strong and pitching for a long time. Now we’re told that all of the mileage on his arm over the years, especially in recent years, is to blame for the worst season of his 13-year career. But I’m not sure any combination of velocity, weight loss and mileage is a reason for him walking six Angels from their JV team in six innings in his last start.

Sabathia is a 45-14 with a 3.31 ERA in 71 career starts in August and 31-17 with a 2.86 ERA in 64 career starts September. If he’s anything short of the guy he has been in those months for the rest of this August and this September, it won’t matter what anyone else does because the Yankees won’t make the playoffs.

5. Number 65, Phil Hughes, Number 65
Hughes has done nothing and I mean nothing to continue to deserve a rotation spot with the Yankees except have excellent luck on his side. With Michael Pineda, David Phelps and Vidal Nuno all injured, Hughes “has” to start. (I gave “has” quotations because he doesn’t “have” to start, but that’s the way Brian Ashcan and Joe Girardi rationalize things. Adam Warren could easily start in place of him.) So every five days the Yankees start Hughes no matter how awful he is or how many games he loses and he has already lost 12 games this year on an over-.500 team.

Hughes has been very bad for a very long time at this point. After Hughes’ start against the Royals on July 8, I wrote “What Is Phil Hughes? Part II” thinking that it might be one of the last starts Hughes would ever make as a Yankee with the trade deadline looming. Hughes lasted four innings against the Royals thanks to the rain as good luck and good fortune once again let Hughes stay in the rotation for another turn. But since that rain-shortened start, Hughes has started five games with this glorious line: 24 IP, 31 H, 21 R, 18 ER, 9 BB, 22 K, 7 HR, 6.75 ERA, 1.667 WHIP, including his loss on a getaway day to the Angels, a team that just wishes the season would end, on Thursday.

I’m not sure why any team would have wanted Hughes at the trade deadline like it was reported and speculated and I’m not sure why the Yankees wouldn’t have gladly given him up for anything. I mean anything. I’m talking a booklet of Frosty coupons to Wendy’s or a MetroCard with a balance of $1.80 or a scratched copy of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist or even a promise that Travis Ishikawa would have to start every game at first base for the Yankees for the rest of the season. Any other team in the league could give the Yankees who they believe to be their worst starting pitcher and I would gladly give them Hughes’ starts for the rest of the year. Just get Phil Hughes out of the rotation.

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Blogs • Email Exchanges • Yankees

Aug 16, 2013

Yankees-Red Sox Means Something in August Once Again

The Yankees are back in Boston for a three-game series with the Red Sox and that means an email exchange with Mike Hurley.

It’s been almost a month since the Yankees and Red Sox met in the first series after the All-Star break. The Yankees opened the “second half” by going 6-12, but 5-2 since. The Red Sox started the “second half” strong, going 11-7 , but they have dropped four of their last six.

Here are the AL East standings entering the series:

And here are the AL Wild Card standings entering the series:

The Yankees can’t afford to a lose a series the rest of the way unless they plan on going on a Dodgers-like run to end the season. And as we stand now, it’s probably going to take a Dodgers-like run anyway for this team to make the postseason. Hopefully we look back at the end of the season and say that run started last weekend against the Tigers, which means it would have continued this weekend in Boston.

With the Yankees and Red Sox playing meaningful games in August for the first time since 2011, it means a mandatory email exchange with Mike Hurley from CBS Boston.

Keefe: Hey Michael F. Hurley, I’m writing to you for the first time since July 19 because the Yankees are back in Boston this weekend for a three-game series. I’m not sure if you’re still at the candlelight vigil you held last night for Tom Brady in the Boston Common, or if you’re sleeping because you got back from the vigil late, but don’t worry Tom Brady is going to make it. He might even play in a meaningless preseason game on Friday because that’s a really good idea. Before we get into it, I have one question for you: That was you offering the shocked and stunning, “OH NO!” in the Brady practice video, wasn’t it?

Right now the Yankees actually look like the Yankees. The Makeshift Yankees have slowly dwindled away and now real, actual baseball players are playing for the most storied franchise in major sports. Alfonso Soriano, Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez have replaced the likes of Thomas Neal, Luis Cruz, Alberto Gonzalez, Corban Joseph and David Adams and thankfully Lyle Overbay is hitting eighth in a lineup that he used to hit cleanup in and for some reason the Yankees have won five of their last seven games. It’s really weird how you can win games when household names are playing for your team and not a handful of guys who are going to have to get 9-5 jobs in the very near future. The problem is you can’t have the future 9-5 players in the lineup for the first 113 games of the season and think you’re going to make the playoffs unless you plan on going on Dodgers-like run over the last six weeks of the season.

So with a team that very closely resembles the 95-win Yankees of a year ago and not the Makeshift Yankees of the first 113 games of the season, are you at all nervous about this series, the nine games the two teams have left against each other or the final six weeks of the season?

Hurley: If I had been within 15 feet of that video of Brady going down, it would not have been usable for the local news programs, because the words that would have come out of my mouth would have been much worse than “Oh no.” The bleep man in the edit bay would have had to work overtime to get that thing on TV.

I am personally glad that the Yankees are the Yankees again, because I’m telling you, Corban Joseph is the best pizza delivery man I’ve ever had. Always on time, pizza’s always hot. Love it.

To answer your question, no, I’m not nervous. I never get nervous. I’m not a psychopath like you, for one, and second, no season has ever been decided by a Fenway series in August. Well, except the 2006 season. But that never happened as far as I’m concerned.

As far as the Yankees go, I feel comfortable saying the division is out of reach for them, but thanks to Bud Selig’s Big Top Circus rules, the wild card is absolutely in play. Do I think the Yankees can outplay the Royals, Indians and Orioles from now until Sept. 29? Absolutely. The Yankees have some soft opponents on the schedule, and they’re destined by a higher power to always split their season series with the Red Sox, so it won’t take an otherworldly effort for them to gain 5 1/2 games in a month and a half.

Pretty bold, by the way, to brazenly joke around with Tom Brady’s career like that, while your captain is still hobbling around on one leg. You’re pretty much daring the karma gods with talk like that.

Keefe: I’m not joking around with Tom Brady. I want Tom Brady to be healthy and playing football because football is better when Tom Brady is playing, which is also why you should want Derek Jeter to be healthy because baseball is better when he is playing. If Tom Brady doesn’t play then which team am I stupidly going to put into my parlays and teasers to ruin my Sunday if I don’t pick the Patriots?

I was pretty down on the Yankees, and rightfully so, after their three-game sweep at the hands of the last-place White Sox and their 2-6 road trip that left looking at a mathematical impossibility to make the playoffs. But with this recent four-game winning streak and you sending me links to 1999 ALCS games, it has me longing for postseason baseball and I can’t be without it again the way I was in 2008.

You mentioned Bud Selig’s great invention of the second wild card, which I was strongly against and the only person more against it than me was you. But if the Yankees can sneak in the playoffs thanks to Major League Baseball’s ridiculous postseason format after this disastrous and injury-plagued season then I’m all for a second wild card! Maybe in 2014 we will see a third and fourth wild card since it looks like we are going to get a challenge system in baseball. Where do you think Joe Girardi is going to keep his challenge flags?

Hurley: I’m hoping that MLB does expand to three and four wild-card teams, but instead of a one-game playoff, they all fly to Omaha and play three-inning high stakes games at Rosenblatt Stadium. If they’re tied after three innings, the pitchers have to sumo wrestle on the mound before the second basemen have to compete in a two-pitch home run derby. If it’s still tied, the managers compete to see how much dip they can fit in their mouths. First one to puke loses. Winner moves on to face the regular wild-card winner. Does Bud read your site? If so, I expect this to be put in place in time for October.

Don’t get me wrong, I watch the one-game playoff, and it’ll be “exciting!” and all of that, but it just completely destroys the regular season. A team plays for 162 games and might have the second-best record in the American League, but because it’s not based in California, it has to put its entire season on the line in a nine-inning showdown with a team that might be nine games worse. It’s absolutely ridiculous. This year, the two NL wild cards could come out of the Central, and both could end up with better records than the eventual NL East-champion Braves. But hey, just win your division!

I won’t crush the proposed replay changes like everyone else seems to be, though. As you know, my dream job in life is to work in NHL headquarters, eating a dozen donuts and fielding calls from NHL arenas, with referees asking me, “Hey, Mikey, how’zitgoin up there, eh? Yeah well ahh, look it dere ahh, is that a goal?” Then I’d say, “Ahh, Billy that’s no goal.” And then the ref would say “Allllrighty, Mikey, thanks a lot dere have a good night.” And then I’ll say “OK dere, Billy, will do now.” Then I’d wolf down three glazed donuts and a cruller.

Well, if MLB institutes the same concept, that doubles my chances of one day landing my dream job, albeit one without the great Canadian accents and Tim Horton’s. But hey, beggars can’t be choosers. Bring on the replay system.

Keefe: My favorite thing about the new replay system is that managers get one challenge in the first six innings and then two from the seventh inning on because as you know, the first six innings of the game aren’t as important as the last three innings, just like MLB games in April don’t count the same as games in September.

But as we embark on a stretch run in which the Yankees will have to make a serious push to avoid missing the postseason for the first time since 2008 and the Red Sox will have to hold their ground to reach the postseason for the first time since 2009, our previous discussions about the 1999 ALCS made me think: Is the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry dead or just in a coma? Sure, I hate the Red Sox as much as I did 14 years ago and I’m sure you don’t like the Yankees anymore than you did when Roger Clemens became one, but it just feels so blah lately when it comes to the overall perception of the rivalry.

Obviously the difference in records of the teams over the last four years and their lack of a postseason series in nine years is also part of it, but I think the main thing is the difference in the rosters. Once Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and David Ortiz retire, what are we supposed to do? Should we just pretend that Robinson Cano and Dustin Pedroia hate each other? Johnny Gomes and Mike Napoli have no history in the rivalry other than their disgusting beards and overall lack of hygiene and being slobs, I don’t fear John Lackey or Ryan Dempster and actually enjoy when they pitch against the Yankees and Jon Lester hasn’t been good since 2011 and hasn’t been really good since 2010. Who am I supposed to get angry about?!?! I guess I can manufacture some anger toward Stephen Drew for being related to J.D. Drew the same way I have for Jered Weaver, but that’s all I got. Any suggestions?

Hurley: Yeah, no, things are bleak in the rivalry department. You make good points about the slobbery of some Red Sox, but gone too are the days of absolute jerks like Gary Sheffield or Raul Mondesi or that psycho Tanyon Sturtze or Roger Clemens in his, um, bigger and stronger days but according to the government not his steroid days. It was just so easy back then. You had old men charging professional athletes and getting tossed aside and bouncing around like a Weeble who has somehow managed to fall down. Those were good days.

Now? Everyone in Boston came around on Jeter probably after 2007, when enough Red Sox fans were satisfied with two championships to finally accept Jeter’s greatness. A-Rod is a stooge but even New York doesn’t like him anymore. Cano hits bombs, drops his bat so that it lands flat without bouncing, and then moonwalks his way to first base. If that upsets you, you’re a strange fellow. Curtis Granderson is baseball’s good guy. Brett Gardner is like a faster, less, um, big, version of Trot Nixon. CC is fading away, Phil Hughes is terrible, and if you’re rooting against Mariano this year, you should be checked into an institution.

So yeah, the rivalry is dormant, but it’s not dead. You must know this about me by now, but when I was a kid, like maybe 8 or 9 years old, I bought a Yankees hat for $5 on the street outside Fenway. I don’t know why. I didn’t like the Yankees. But it was somehow acceptable to not just sell a Yankees hat outside Fenway, but to wear it too, and nobody seemed to care. That would have been unfathomable from 1999-2009. So it’s just a down period. It will be back. I hope. It’s hard to have a real rivalry with Tampa Bay, when half of the Rays’ stadium is full of Red Sox fans.

Keefe: The last time these two teams met the Yankees lost two of three games right after the All-Star break, including the Sunday Night Baseball disaster, which they had plenty of opportunities to win. This is the last time the teams will meet until after Labor Day and on the same day of the first game of the NFL season, which I’m sure you have a countdown calendar or clock somewhere on your desk or in your house. And if I know you, you have spent a good 30-40 hours on fantasy football draft preparation.

Starting on Friday, the Yankees and Red Sox will meet nine more times this season and six of those games will be at Fenway Park. I think it’s going to take at least six wins from the Yankees in those nine games to have a chance at coming back in the division or to make a run at the wild card. And with Phil Hughes having pitched on Sunday in the Bronx, and losing his 12th game of the season in the process, he won’t be starting during the weekend series, so we’re already off to a good start.

I’m going to take the Yankees for two out of three this weekend because they have to if they want to play a 163rd game this season. The next time we do an email exchange it will be September. Let’s hope the games mean something, so the exchange means something.

Hurley: I hate it. It’s the worst. I like real football.

With regard to this series, I won’t pretend to know what’s going to happen. From a Yankees perspective, you have to like getting Doubront, Dempster and Lackey … but do you really? They might all be better than Peavy and Lester this year, so who knows. I do know the Yankees are due to pick up some wins, considering they’re 3-6 vs. Boston this year and, as previously mentioned, they are preternaturally controlled by a higher power to split the season series. So you’re probably right about that.

From a Red Sox perspective, well, it’s a good thing Adrian Gonzalez isn’t around anymore. The Sox and Yankees play on Sunday Night Baseball. Last time that happened, it was midnight at the end of nine innings and it was something like 1:15 a.m. when Napoli hit that walk-off homer (somehow the place was still full, which was incredible), so you know this one’s going late again. Then the Red Sox have to fly all the way to San Francisco to play on Monday. Adrian would be getting cold sweats just thinking about that schedule, but that’s the difference between the Red Sox of old and the Red Sox of this year.

And to your last statement, if you think these exchanges ever mean anything, then you’re crazier than I ever thought.

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Blogs • Yankees

Aug 8, 2013

The Yankees’ Nightmare Season Is Over

The Yankees still have 49 games left, but after getting swept by the White Sox, their season is over.

I kept watching the Yankees-White Sox game on Monday night until the end the same way that I watched You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, Funny People and Five-Year Engagement until the end.

I kept watching the Yankees-White Sox game on Tuesday night as the Yankees strung me along long enough to watch them lose a 1-0 lead as Hiroki Kuroda proved to be human before the offense left me with a case of Yankee blue balls following a failed comeback attempt in the ninth.

I kept watching the Yankees-White Sox game on Wednesday night as CC Sabathia let another lead dwindle because Joe Girardi gave him the chance to let it dwindle before Number 42 blew the lead and the game with the White Sox down to their final strike before Adam “Automatic Extra-Inning Loss” Warren blew the lead and the game three innings later with the White Sox down to their final strike again.

I kept watching these games because I thought the Yankees could get back on track in Chicago before returning home to play 11 of their next 14 games in Yankee Stadium. I thought this because I’m an a-hole.

When the Yankees left for their eight-game road trip last week I wanted at least a 5-3 record after their stops in Los Angeles, San Diego and Chicago. When they left Los Angeles after splitting the two-game series with the Dodgers, I wanted at least four wins in the six games against the Padres and White Sox. When they left San Diego after dropping two of three to the Padres, I wanted a sweep of the White Sox. When they lost the first game of the series to the White Sox, I wanted the next two. When they lost the second game of the series, I didn’t want the last one … I had to have the last one. When they lost the last one, I realized the season is over.

After starting the season 30-18, the Yankees are 27-38 since and have strung us along long enough to think that if the injury bug would take just a 15-minute break from destroying the season that the Yankees could put together some kind of run like the Rays, Royals and Dodgers have put together to turn their seasons around. But the injury bug hasn’t stopped since Curtis Granderson went down in his first at-bat in spring training and on top of the injuries to Granderson, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Kevin Youkilis, Francisco Cervelli, Eduardo Nunez and Jayson Nix (I only added in the last two names to show how deep it’s gone and not because they bring much value to the team), the guys who have been healthy might as well have been hurt this whole time.

CC Sabathia has won once since June 22 despite being the “ace” of the staff and making $676,470.59 per start and $23 million this season. He leads the league in hits and earned runs and could finish under .500 for the first time in his 13-year career and will most likely post the highest ERA of his career.

Andy Pettitte has been every bit as bad as a 41-year-old starter should be and might finish under .500 for the first time in his 18-year career with the highest ERA of his career. (Hopefully his family won’t let him leave Texas this winter when it comes time to deciding if he wants to be at home or in the majors.)

Phil Hughes has continued to prove that if you’re a first-round pick you will be given unlimited chances to prove that the scouting department didn’t screw up when they touted you as a No. 1/No. 2 starter. He has a 4-10 record for a team that’s above .500 (but might not be after this weekend), has won one game since June 6 and just nine of his 21 starts have been quality starts. Over the last three years he’s been every bit as bad as A.J. Burnett was during his three years with the Yankees and if he had a five-year, $82.5 million contract he would be equally as hated.

Robinson Cano has looked anything but a guy who was supposed to carry an injury-plagued team or a guy that is supposed to be the face of the franchise for the future or a guy who is in a contract year and looking to be paid a nine-figure salary. On Wednesday night, Cano hit his first home run since July 10 and he’s 14-for-67 (.209) with six RBIs in the 18 games since the All-Star break. It’s no coincidence the Yankees are 6-12 since the All-Star break.

Despite 60 percent of the rotation being atrocious, and another 20 percent of it (Ivan Nova) only pitching well since June 23, and the Yankees’ only reliable offensive threat taking weeks off at a time in Cano, I still thought if the Yankees could tread water they would be fine. I pretended like the season would last forever and Game 162 wouldn’t come until the Yankees had clinched a playoff berth even as the losses piled up and Joe Girardi sat back and lost games with Mariano Rivera still sitting in the bullpen. (He must be saving his arm for 2014.) It wasn’t until the 10th inning on Wednesday night in Chicago that Girardi showed urgency for the first time in 2013 by asking Rivera to pitch a second inning. But last Tuesday in Los Angeles, Girardi chose not to use David Robertson for a second inning after Robertson threw just nine pitches in the eighth. Instead, Girardi brought in Shawn Kelley and four batters later the game was over. I guess that game against the Dodgers eight days prior to last night’s game was just not as important and didn’t count as much in the standings.

I also thought Jeter and A-Rod and Granderson would come back and provide a boost and that Sabathia, Pettitte and Hughes couldn’t suck forever. (Well, at least Sabathia and Pettitte.) And that’s right, I thought 38-year-old A-Rod, who’s coming off a second major hip surgery in four calendar years and who hasn’t hit a home run in the majors since Sept. 14, 2012, including the playoffs, and who has just one extra-base hit (a double against the Red Sox on Oct. 3) since then, including the playoffs, could be part of the solution to saving the Yankees. (Now would be a good time for Stevie Janowski to ask me who the eff I am for thinking that A-Rod could turn around the Yankees season at a time of desperation.) Part of this was because I remembered the last time A-Rod returned from a hip surgery and PED attention in 2009 when he turned the Yankees season around and carried them to their World Series win. (The 2009 Yankees were 21-17 (.552) without A-Rod and 82-42 (.661) with him in the lineup.) And the other part of it was that even if A-Rod came back and was as bad as he was in the 2012 postseason, he would still be better than David Adams, Luis Cruz, Alberto Gonzalez, Brent Lillibridge, Jayson Nix and Eduardo Nunez. But like the girl who looks attractive among her group of friends only because her friends aren’t attractive, A-Rod was never going to save the Yankees like he did four years ago. And that’s without me factoring in the negative attention focused on him for his 211-game suspension and now his appeal and the fact that he’s A-Rod and just about everyone in Major League Baseball wants a piece of him at this point the way everybody wanted a piece of Frank Lucas in in American Gangster when Richie Roberts told him, “I got a line of people wanting to testify that stretches out the door and around the block … and the only thing they hate more than you is what you represent.”

The Yankees have 49 games left. At 11 games behind the Red Sox and 9 1/2 behind the Rays, the division is out of the question and has been for a while. If the Red Sox (70-46) play .500 baseball and go 23-23 to finish the season, the Yankees (57-56) will need to go 36-13 just to tie them. But the Red Sox aren’t going to play .500 baseball and the Yankees, who haven’t won back-to-back games since July 11 and 12, sure as eff aren’t going to play .667 baseball.

And if you think the second wild card is an option (with the first wild card going to the Red Sox or Rays), think again with the Rangers holding a seven-game lead over the Yankees and with the Orioles, Indians and Royals all ahead of the Yankees.

I thought the 2008 Yankees gave me the worst summer of baseball imaginable when they became the first Yankees team to not make the playoffs since 1993 and closed out the Stadium with a meaningless September game against the Orioles. But despite the disabled list ruining most of that season and Darrell Rasner and Sidney Ponson ruining the rest of it, at least that team won 89 games, which was enough to win the AL Central that season and would have been enough for a wild-card berth in today’s postseason format. The 2013 Yankees have been worse and will need to go 32-17 to match the 2008 Yankees’ record and even then they will still end up closing out Mariano Rivera’s career the way they closed the old Stadium.

Yogi Berra once said, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.” But Yogi didn’t have to catch Sabathia, Pettitte or Hughes and he didn’t have to play with Lyle Overbay, Vernon Wells, Eduardo Nunez or Jayson Nix.

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Blogs • Yankees

Jul 9, 2013

What Is Phil Hughes? Part II

Phil Hughes pitched for his job on Monday night against the Royals and it’s all documented in a Retro Recap.

Phil Hughes is in trouble. A lot of trouble. But Phil Hughes has been in this kind of trouble before and has escaped it every time. This kind of trouble is the kind where you are pitching for your spot in the rotation.

The 27-year-old former No. 1 pick has backed himself into a corner. His win on July 2 in Minnesota was his first since June 6 and his second since May 10 and aside from beating the Twins, his other three wins have come against the A’s, Royals and Mariners. Only eight of his 17 starts have been quality starts, two starts have been disasters (4/13 vs. BAL and 6/1 vs. BOS) and one has been an atrocity (5/15 vs. SEA: 0.2 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 0 K). Normally this kind of mediocrity would be accepted and Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman would just continue to run him out there every fifth day and hope for the best (but usually receive the worst), but this time they can’t.

With CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda and Andy Pettitte not going anywhere, three spots are guaranteed in the rotation. That leaves two spots for the recently disabled-listed David Phelps, the resurgent Ivan Nova, the nearly-done-rehabbing Michael Pineda and Hughes. But with Hughes, it’s even deeper than that.

Hughes is a free agent after this season and a strong trade deadline candidate especially with the Yankees’ abundance of pitching. It’s no secret that Hughes would be more successful in the National League or in a different home stadium since once again he’s struggled in the Bronx, going 1-6 with a 5.74 ERA at home and 3-2 with a 3.38 ERA on the road. If Hughes is to survive the July 31 deadline then only a very strong second half or some magical postseason performance would be enough for him to come back in 2014. It looks like time is running out on “The Phranchise” in pinstripes and Cashman might finally be ready to give up on his once-proud draft pick that he labeled as a future staff ace.

But for now, Hughes is still a Yankee and as of Monday he was still part of the rotation. On May 7, 2012 Phil Hughes was also pitching for his job and I followed his start with a Retro Recap, so I figured why not do it again on Monday night against the Royals with his job once again in jeopardy?

First Inning
It’s a Michael Kay and John Flaherty night on YES, so with or without Phil Hughes pitching, it should make for some good comedy despite neither of them trying to be comedic.

The first pitch of the game is a strike to Alex Gordon, which means Hughes will get ahead of at least one hitter tonight.

Hughes gets Gordon to ground out to second on the fifth pitch of the at-bat, which featured no “Phil Hughes” (a two-strike foul).

Alcides Escobar makes things easy by flying out to right on the first pitch.

YES is panning around the Stadium and the upper deck on a night when the place looks like it did in 1984.

Eric Hosmer lines out to short on the second pitch and it’s an eight-pitch, 1-2-3 innings for Phil Hughes. Michael Kay says, “Phil Hughes works a 1-2-3 inning!” with the voice he used to scream “That’s one of the greatest games you will ever see!” following John Flaherty’s 13th-inning walk-off hit against the Red Sox on July 1, 2004. But I’m with you Michael, a 1-2-3 first inning from Hughes should be celebrated.

Second Inning
Here’s Billy Butler, who is a .589 career hitter against the Yankees, to lead off the second. (He’s really a .281 hitter against the Yankees, but it feels like he’s been way better than that.)

And that’s why I thought Butler was a .589 hitter against the Yankees as he hits an 0-1 pitch into the right field seats for a 1-0 lead.

Salvador Perez strikes out swinging for the first out of the inning and Kay mentions how the Royals have two All-Stars (Perez and Gordon) for the first time in 10 years since they had to have one for the last nine years to meet the requirement that every team must be represented. Congratulations to somewhat ending a decade of mediocrity, Kansas City!

Hughes throws an 0-1 changeup to Mike Moustakas for a ball and Flaherty talks about how Hughes has implemented a changeup, which makes me think about when he tried to implement a cutter as a starter and got rocked like Chien-Ming Wang in the 2007 ALDS. Moustakas punishes me for taking a sarcastic shot at Kansas City with a double to left field.

Johnny Giavotella, who sounds and looks like he should be flipping pizzas or making some chicken parm, grounds out on a slider, which has been Hughes’ best pitch.

David Lough apparently took exception to the Kansas City comment too and goes the other way with a double to left field on an 0-2 fastball down the middle. That’s right, an 0-2 fastball down the middle. Never change, Phil Hughes. Never change.

Hughes gets ahead of Jarrod Dyson the same way he got ahead of Lough, but struggles to put him away and Kay mentions that Hughes has had trouble “this year” putting hitters away when he gets two strikes on them. Umm, only “this year,” Michael Kay? Where were you last year? And the year before that?

Hughes needs seven more pitches to retire Dyson on a ground out to second thanks to three “Phil Hughes” (two-strike fouls) in the at-bat.

After the eight-pitch first, Hughes throws 24 pitches and is at 32 after two.

Third Inning
The Yankees failed to score in the bottom of the second and have one run in their last 13 innings. Is that good?

Back to the top of the Royals order with Gordon, who Kay gives a history lesson on, calling him “a bomb” early in his career.  Gordon flies out to right on a changeup.

Random thought: What’s your idea of a Phil Hughes start? My idea is 5.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 105 pitches.

Escobar grounds out to third on a slider and we are one out away from Hughes’ second 1-2-3 in three innings.

Hosmer comes up and YES shows the replay of his first career home run, which came at Yankee Stadium with his parents in attendance against one A.J. Burnett.

Hughes falls behind Hosmer 3-1 and then on the third straight fastball (following a “Phil Hughes”), Hosmer singles to right ending the 1-2-3 inning bid.

Hughes keeps Butler in the park this time with a ground out to short on a slider.

A 20-pitch inning and Hughes is at 52 pitches after three.

Fourth Inning
It’s raining at the Stadium and there is no one left behind home plate, so it looks like every other Yankee home game thanks to Randy Levine and team executives.

Perez apparently likes the rain as much as my girlfriend’s dog and swings at a first-pitch fastball and lines out to center for the first out of the inning.

Moustakas gets in one “Phil Hughes” with a 2-2 count before flying out to center.

Giavotella strikes out on three pitches, making my case for him flipping pizzas and making chicken parm looks stronger.

Wait a second, that’s three up and three down for Phil Hughes. We have a second 1-2-3 inning!

A 10-pitch inning and Hughes is at 62 after four.

Following Zoilo Almonte’s at-bat in the bottom of the fourth, the tarp is called for.

Rain delay…

The rain delay is coming to a close and we get our second look at Dave Eiland of the night on YES, who I miss about as much as I miss Nick Swisher. (Speaking of YES appearances, how come we haven’t seen much of Kevin Long this season?)

Kay talks about how when Eiland was with the Yankees and watched Guthrie pitch with the Orioles that he made a mental note about wanting to work with him since he could fix his delivery. I’m glad Eiland was more worried about helping other team’s pitchers rather than helping the Yankees pitchers when he was the team’s pitching coach.

Fifth Inning
The night is over for Phil Hughes. Jeremy Guthrie was able to come back out for the fifth inning after throwing, but apparently the 59-minute rain delay was too much for Joe Girardi to let Hughes (62 pitches) go on.

Hughes’ final line: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K.

Phil Hughes has gotten so many chances to succeed with the Yankees since 2007 that it’s unfathomable he could still be part of the rotation. After going 18-8 with a 4.19 ERA in 2010, he’s 25-26 with a 4.64 ERA in 66 games and 63 starts since the start of the 2011 season. 25-26?!?! I destroyed A.J. Burnett every waking moment for two years for pitching to very similar numbers (21-16, 5.20 ERA in 2011 and 2012 combined) though Burnett was making $16.5 million per season and Hughes is making $7.15 million this season.

Over the last two-plus seasons when Hughes has been juuuuuust about to be removed from the rotation, he finds a way to buy more time and get another chance and now apparently Mother Nature is rooting for him to stay in the rotation as well with a rain delay cutting his start short and letting him keep his job for at least five more days.

So I guess Part II of “What Is Phil Hughes?” isn’t the last part of this saga that’s now in its seventh year. Let’s just hope the long overdue series finale comes in the seventh season.

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