Posts tagged ‘Kansas City Royals’

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May 23, 2012

The Yankees Won a Game!

by Jamie Insalaco

The Yankees won a game!  Hit the music!

But really, it was more of the same, just a different result.  Check out these numbers from offense’s 3 run triumph against the guy with a 6+ ERA.

Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Swisher; Ibanez 2.
GIDP: Teixeira, Jeter.
Team RISP: 2-for-7.
Team LOB: 5.

A quick shout out to Phil Hughes, who continues to make liars out of all of us who said he didn’t have what it takes to be a starting pitcher.  6 IP and 2 ER?  I’ll sign up for that every time out.  Great work by the bullpen, too – holds all around, except for Soriano, who escpaed thanks to a great throw by A-Rod and an equally great stretch by Mark Teixeira to keep the game from being knotted at 3.

Tune in again tomorrow night for more offensive shenanigans – same Yankee time, same Yankee channel!

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May 6, 2012

In Praise of… Phil Hughes?

by Jamie Insalaco

I often give Phil Hughes a hard time… because he’s usually screwing up.  However, he tossed a quality start today, so I have to give him props.

(Although I must point out that the term ‘quality start’ is faulty; the definition being 6 IP and 3 ER works out to a 4.50 ERA, and that sort of number doesn’t exactly make me think of the word ‘quality.’  Also, Hughes faced the Kansas City Royals today.  The 9 – 18 Kansas City Royals.)

Here are Hughes’ numbers for today:

IP 6.2

H 6

R 3 /  ER 3

BB 1

SO 7

HR 1

ERA on the season 6.67

THE GOOD
I’m impressed that Hughes was able to get through not only 5 IP  today, but worked into the 7th inning.  He hasn’t done that much at all this season.  With the injury to Michael Pineda, Hughes needs to step up, and maybe today was the first step.

More than a K per inning?  Yes, please!  Again, he was facing the Roayls, but me likey.

Limiting the walks was also a nice touch.  Again, against the Royals.  Still haven’t won 1o games this year.  It’s May.

THE BAD
Another home run?  Can’t Hughes get through one start without giving up a home run?

THE UGLY
Almost a hit per inning.  Against the Royals.

I’m looking forward to Hughes’ next start, which is a strange feeling.  It should be against the punch-less Mariners, so maybe we’ll get more of the same.

Maybe.

 

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June 1, 2011

Yankees May 2011 Wrap Up

by Jamie Insalaco

 

May was a bit of a roller coaster ride for the Yankees.

The month of May, 2011 began promisingly enough as the Yankees finished off a series win against the Toronto Blue Jays, which finished up the home-stand on a positive note. Then the Yankees went to Detroit and the wheels came off – or maybe I should say the arms came off as they dropped 3 of 4 while we watched Eduardo Nunez through the ball all over the place. But, when the Yankees got to Texas, the bats came out, and we got Derek Jeter‘s mythical 2 home run game, which seems to have quieted the “Derek Jeter is finished,” media machine – at least for now… for some reason, hitting .264 in May is much better than hitting .256 in April – although I must admit, hit at-bats do look a lot better of late.

Then the Yankees came back home and experienced The Home Stand of Tears, dropping 2 of 3 to the Kansas City Royals (current record 24-30) and getting swept by the Boston Red Sox. Wow. Swept by the Boston Red Sox at home. That was a tough one. Yet, despite the rough patch, the Yankees are in first today by one game over the Monsters from Fenway.

Then the Yankees split two games at Tampa Bay (and they really should have won that first game), swept two games from the Baltimore Orioles (two game series are a waste of my time!) and then took two of three from the lowly Mets at home (current record 25-29). The Blue Jays came to Yankees Stadium and this featured another Yankees series win, including a come from behind extra innings win (pie style) that I feel this team desperately needed.

The Yankees flew out to Seattle to face the Mariners and gave up leads to lose the first two games and salvaged the final one before flying to Oakland to take on Hideki Matsui and the A’s, taking the first two games, including a gem by Bartolo Colon, and here we are, at June 1st, waiting for Game 3 to start later today.

So what did we learn this month?

The Yankees can’t bunt. Seriously, enough with the bunting. Nobody on this team is any good at it. The Yankees need to either start working on this in BP or just stop doing it. Last night’s failed suicide squeeze that resulted in Nick Swisher being tagged out in a run down was embarrassing – almost as sad as the fact that Brett Gardner and Derek Jeter can’t bunt; considering they have no power, they both need to add this trait to their game ASAP, or at least stop doing it, but this in between crap needs to stop.

Curtis Granderson is a golden god. Obviously. I was soooooo happy when they traded for him, and although last year was a tough start, my girlfriend very kindly ran out and bought me a Grandy-Man t-shirt in May of 2010, which makes us both look like geniuses now. Unlike Russell Martin, I don’t expect Granderson to slow down.

In praise of Bartolo Colon. Where would we be without this guy and his fastballs? His low pitch counts keep him in games late, giving a bullpen that is teetering on over use a bit of a breather. The Yankees need to protect this guy and give him an extra day’s rest any time they get a chance.

Losing streaks are inevitable. If you saw a lot of the New York papers (cough Post, cough Daily News) insisting that the Yankees blew their chance to bury the Red Sox, I tend to disagree. The Red Sox (not to mention the Rays) struggled early, and the Yankees hadn’t struggled yet. It was bound to happen. It could happen again. It’s a long season and there are many ups and downs.

Derek Jeter isn’t Derek Jeter anymore, but he’s hardly terrible. I don’t have any plans to build a statue to the guy on my front lawn, but I refuse to kill him in print the way so many have done. But then, this is another good example of what happens when you let Randy Levine meddle in negotiations.

Phil Hughes… ugh. Can this guy get through two consecutive seasons without spending major time on the DL? I know he’s still young, but he’s not that young anymore. Is it time to stash Hughes in the bullpen for good? I’m not sure, but given the Yankees appeared shortage of starting pitching, it’s a tough call. If you don’t believe in Freddy Garcia, I can’t blame you, but is Hughes really a better option? I guess we’ll have to wait and see what he has when he comes off the DL.

GOING FORWARD:
Take a look at the Yankees June schedule; it’s a tough one. Red Sox, Angels, Rangers, Rockies, Indians… if they’re still in first on July 1st, it’ll be a miracle.

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May 16, 2011

When it rains, it pours

by Jamie Insalaco

The Yankees dodged the weekend raindrops and got all the games in. Too bad. Is there anything worse than a game on FOX, a game on ESPN, and losing both games to the Red Sox? May has been pretty ugly thus far. Let’s take a quick look:

4 game series with the Tigers
W 5-3
L 2-4
L 0-4
L 3-6

3 game series with the Rangers
W 4-1
L 5-7
W 12-5

3 game series with the Royals
W 3-1
L 3-4
L 5-11

3 game series with the Red Sox
L 4-5
L 0-6
L 5-7

One series win out of four. Lost a series to the Royals at home – I know they’re off to a good start, but come on – Melky Carerera and Wilson “can’t find a better backup infielder” are starting for them at the left corners. Swept by the Red Sox at home. I know it’s only mid May and the Yankees are still over .500, but these last two weeks have been brutal. The inability to hit with runners in scoring position is the most damning trend we’ve seen over this time, but the poor fielding is probably not a trend we’ll see all year. On the other hand, it’s pretty sad that no one on this team can bunt well and that Brett Gardner is not good at base running or stealing, which, given his age, seems unlikely to change. I do think the offense and the fielding will come around – this is just a slump, one that was bound to happen. I don’t buy into the argument that this team relies on the home run too much – rather, this team just hits a lot of home runs. It’s not like the 2003 Yankees that just waits for the home run, but I can see how it looks that way. Speaking of home runs, I’m starting to feel like Joba Chamberlain is giving up too many of those round trippers…

The Jorge Posada Deal
It is what it is – obviously, it would be a blow to the pride of any player who used to hit in the middle of the lineup to be suddenly delegated to the last spot. So he took himself out of the lineup because A) his back hurt; B) he was pissed he was hitting ninth; C) both. I don’t care what the deal is – the simple fact is if you can’t get your batting average to be higher than your weight after six weeks, you should count your lucky millions that you’re not riding the bench, never mind batting ninth. If you heard or read somewhere that the Yankees weren’t interested in having Jorge back on the team next year… well, obviously. They don’t trust him to play catcher anymore and having a permanent DH that has a $30 million dollar, surgically repaired A-Rod on it probably doesn’t need an every day DH – not to mention finding rest/DH days for Mark Teixeira, Derek Jeter and so on.

Can we DL Rafael Soriano now?
Soriano is out again, riding the pine and the pain for a few more days. I know he makes a lot of money and his tests came back negative, but he’s just eating up a 25 man roster spot at this point, and after sitting for so long, he’s going to be cold anyway. Let’s just put him on the 15 day DL and let him make some rehab appearances at Scranton and come back ready to go.

Coming Up Next: Two games in Tampa, two games in Baltimore, then home for the Mets. Who knows what these games will bring? One thing is for sure, the Yankees need a win, desperately.

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May 12, 2011

Can I Get An RBI?

by Jamie Insalaco

A Quick Rant On LOB:
The Yankees left 15 runners on base last night – which doesn’t include the runners lost by the GIDPs from Alex Rodriguez and Curtis Granderson. Granderson got some redemption in the 10th with his RBI single to keep the game alive, but jeez – not a good offensive performance by any stretch of the imagination.

A Quick Rant On Bunting and Coaching:
The Yankees have a problem that sounds like the setup for a work of fiction: a manager who loves to bunt has a roster full of players who can’t bunt worth a shiz! As far as I know, the Yankees don’t have anyone (well, maybe Martin can bunt) who is proficient in bunting, yet Joe Girardi loves to call for it. And why have Brett Gardner or Derek Jeter bunt? They’re both hot right now! And neither of them are what I would call good bunters… not to mention they were both facing a pitcher who was wild. I just don’t understand why Girardi calls for players to bunt who can’t do it (is he trying to embarrass them into practicing it more?) in situations where bunting doesn’t make a ton of sense. Sure, maybe that was a ‘by the book’ scenario where a bunt was called for, but use your eyes: the pitcher can’t Joakim Soria couldn’t find the plate and his velocity was way down – that means either take your walk or wait for the inevitable fastball down the middle!

New York Connection:
So the Kansas City Royals have Melky Cabrera in left field, Wilson Betemit at 3rd – both former Yankees – and Vin Mazzaro is from Rutherford, NJ. Who else they got over there that either played for the Yankees at some point or is from the greater New York City area?

Tonight:
Ivan Nova in the rubber match! It’d be a shame to lose a series at home to the Royals, regardless of how good their start has been this year. Also, Rafael Soriano’s arm is OK, so good news there! It sounds like we’ll see him this weekend against the Red Sox, if not tonight.

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October 1, 2010

Battle for 1st in the AL East – Place your bets!

by Jamie Insalaco

With 3 games to go on consecutive days, our own New York Yankees are battling it out with the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the AL East. Too bad they aren’t playing each other.

Both teams have identical records of 94-65. After lackluster Septembers, before which everyone thought both teams could win 100 games, the Yankees and Rays have faltered a bit. The Rays have an ace in the hole; they won the season series with the Yankees, meaning that if they’re still tied after the conclusion of play on Sunday, the Rays will be awarded first place.

I’m not a gambling man, but if I were, my money would be on the Rays.

Yeah, I’m making myself ill, fake betting against the Yankees. However, the facts are simple: the Rays are playing the Kansas City Royals this weekend, while the Yankees get to deal with the Boston Red Sox – not exactly equivalent opponents. However, I do seem to remember the Royals playing the Detroit Tigers in a winner take all series (for the Tigers, not the Royals), and the Tigers blew it. Whether or not this was due to the Royals aptitude for playing spoiler or the Tigers incompetence, I’m not sure, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Both teams will be lining up their rotations for the playoffs, so it’s not like either team will be bringing it’s ace for a start to win the division, and ailing players or guys who need a rest will probably get one given that both teams have clinched a playoff berth already. How it will all turn out in the end is anybody’s guess, but I’d say the smart money is on Tampa Bay winning the AL East.

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September 27, 2010

Yankees magic number down to 1

by Jamie Insalaco

I took a few days off from blogging and I’ve returned to find things pretty much where I left them. The Yankees are a half game behind the Rays and still haven’t clinched a playoff spot. Still, the Yankees have reduced their magic number down to 1 – that is, 1 Yankees win or 1 Red Sox loss, whichever comes first. While the Yankees will get into the playoffs easily, winning the east is going to be tough: they’re facing the Yankee killing Toronto Blue Jays and then going into the hostile Fenway Park environment for another series with the Red Sox. Combine that with Rays schedule, and I just don’t see the Yankees winning the east. Sure, I don’t expect the Baltimore Orioles to lay down for the Rays, but Tampa has four games left with the Kansas City Royals. Nuff said.

So let’s see, what did I miss? Thursday night, CC Sabathia got a butt kicking from the Rays. Friday night, Andy Pettitte got a butt kicking from the Red Sox. Ivan Nova on the FOX Saturday Baseball Game of Death? Butt kicking by the Red Sox. Detecting a theme here? The starting pitching has been dreadful of late. Hence, Joe Girardi went with Phil Hughes last night rather than Dustin Mosely. Hughes pitched well: 6 IP, 1 ER, 3 hits, 4 ks, 4 BB. Girardi sent him out there for the 7th inning, which I thought was a strange move: I can’t remember the last time Hughes pitched 7 innings (that’s because he hasn’t done it since July) and every time he goes out there in the 7th, he always seems to leave a runner out there.

Enter the bullpen: David Robertson, the man the kids call D-Rob, came out and picked up the pieces in spectacular fashion and finished out the 7th. Kerry Wood got two outs in the 8th, and then Girardi wen to Mariano Rivera to get the last out. Strange; he had Wood walk David Ortiz instead of bringing in Boone Logan. Mo got it done against Adrian Beltre, and I’m sure Mo was feeling strong since he hasn’t pitched since Monday, but it seemed like a risky gambit, especially given the lefty v lefty opportunity that Girardi passed by, which I guess was his way of saying that he doesn’t trust Logan in that situation…

So Mo blows it in the top of the 9th. It’s another ugly one as Mo’s September of Horrors continues. The Yankees tied it in the bottom of the 9th against Jonathan Papelbon but don’t win it, despite having the bases loaded.

The Yankees sent out Joba Chamberlain to keep the tie in tact and wouldn’t you know it, Girardi wen tot Logan to get Ortiz after all, which he did. So it’s fair to say that Girardi puzzled me in this game – but not as much as Terry Francona did in the bottom of the 10th. Francona brings in Hideki Okajima to face the lefties Curtis Granderson and Brett Gardner, despite the fact that Granderson already homered off Okajima in the series, but Fancona is managing by the book – fine. Then Okajima fails to retire either batter, and he sticks with him, much to my delight. He’s still got Daniel Bard down there – he said so during his stupid mid game ESPN interview. There is no tomorrow – losing this game pretty much ends the season for the Red Sox because the loss put them in the situation I described at the opening of this piece… what the hell was Francona thinking? I’m sure he had to answer this quesiton after the game, but I didn’t hear what he said – I went to bed. Note to ESPN: starting a game at 8 PM EST is TOO LATE. In the most anti-climatic win ever, Okajima walked in Juan Miranda for the Yankee win. Yep – Okajima saw three more batters after that.

Sorry I didn’t talk about Matsuzaka – he was awesome last night.

So that’s pretty much that. The Yankees can still win the east, but the Red Sox are done – unless the Yankees lose all six of their remaining games and the Red Sox win all six.

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August 16, 2010

A-Bombs and Broomsticks

by Jamie Insalaco

Its disappointing for the Yankees to only split a four game series with the lowly Kansas City Royals and lose a game in the standings to the second place Tampa Bay Rays, but whatcha gonna do?

They Yankees took Thursday night’s game fairly easily (until the 9th inning) and I can’t remember much about Friday night’s game, accept that the Yankees lost. Saturday night featured a Yankees Home Run Derby, starring Alex Rodriguez, his royal A-Rod-ness. Sure, the homer hit by Posada went a long way, and the Granderson blast was also a no doubter, but A-Rod went deep three times, and the last one was the longest – all the way into the fountains! When A-Rod hit the ball on Saturday night, it staid hit.

Sunday was one of those games where the Yankees faced a starter they weren’t familiar with and got their asses handed to them. I think whats-his-name got through the first two innings by throwing maybe ten pitches. It was incredible. Meanwhile, it looked like AJ Burnett was gonna blow it, but after a shaky start, and one run given up, he held the Royals down for the rest of the afternoon, not that it mattered.

So the Yankees wander into the motor city looking for some revenge after last time. I don’t know what to expect, really… the play I saw in the two loses in Kansas kinda boggles the mind.

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August 13, 2010

Yankees beat Royals and 2010 season outlook

by Jamie Insalaco

The Kansas City Royals stink. They’re 47-68. There just isn’t much more to say than that, but here’s some other junk.

The Royals have some good players, but are lacking a lot. They don’t have much speed. Their starting rotation is awful. They don’t feed well. Their bullpen isn’t as bad as I thought it would be, and they got Kyle Farnsworth out of there, who is having a good year for the Braves against NL competition. Even when they have a player like Billy Butler, who’s hitting over .300, still doesn’t have much power for a 1st basemen – but then, if you were an opposing pitcher, would you give Butler anything to hit? He doesn’t have any protection. CC Sabathia ran into some trouble on his way to a complete game and let some runners on base. David Robertson came in and gave up a double that scored 2 of the inherited runners before he got the last out, turning a 4-1 game into a 4-3 game. I guess Mariano Rivera wasn’t available after pitching two nights in a row against the Texas Rangers. Sabathia pitched well until then, but again, he was pitching against the Royals. The Yankees scored 4 runs on 10 hits and left 10 on base, so they weren’t exactly destroying the world, but got their fair share of hits. The game was kind of boring, but I had good company in one of my oldest friends, so it was all good.

What comes to mind now is how the rest of the 2010 season will shake out, so I did some simple math to figure it out. After last night’s win, the Yankees have a record of 71-43. They’ve played 114 games, so they have 48 games to play. If they go .500 the rest of the way, they’ll win 24 games, for a total of 95 wins, and you know they’re going to win more than half of those games… the Yankees are going to the playoffs – put it in the bank! I’ll say they’ll win an even 100.

Are the Yankees as good as last year? That’s a tough one. I would say the talent level is about the same, but some guys are under-performing (A-Rod, Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, AJ Burnett jump to mind immediately), but everyone is more than capable. The bullpen may not be as strong as 2009, but then, if Joba gets it together and David Robertson pitches better than he did last night, I think the Yankees have enough. Boone Logan has really stepped up in this latest stint with the Yankees, so there’s another weapon. Sergio Mitre has pitched well in some high leverage situations, and Kerry Wood is capable. I think the Yankees have enough to win championship 28, especially given what I’ve seen from the rest of the league.

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August 12, 2010

Chuck Norris furious after Texas Rangers blow lead to Yankees

by Jamie Insalaco

After five innings of play, hope was dwindling that the Yankees were going to escape Texas with a split in the two game set. It was 6-1, and Javier Vazquez had already been knocked out of the game. A-Rod’s double to score Marcus Thames was the lone Yankee run, and it was starting to look like it was going to stay that way. Box Score.

But the tide began to turn in the 6th when Derek Jeter tripled and then scored on a wild pitch in the 6th. Then Lance Berkman doubled in Robinson Cano followed by Brett Gardner’s line hugging bloop single the other way to plate Austin Kearns, and suddenly, it was 6-4 Rangers, and the Yankees were in striking distance. Marcus Thames, in the middle of things all night, crushed a home run to deep left, a no doubter as soon as he touched it in the 8th, and then in the 9th, he plated the winning run after Derek Jeter singled in the tying run. Game Day.

On the pitching side, things were all over the place. Cliff Lee had 11 Ks in 6.1 IP, which is outstanding, but gave up 8 hits and 4 ER. Javier Vazquez was a 4.1 IP nightmare for 6 ER, but he’s pitched so good since April that his ERA is still under 5. The victory really belongs to Sergio Mitre and Kerry Wood, who combined for 3.2 IP of shut out ball.

On to Mo: Mariano Rivera converted his 24th save, and it was a very interesting one at that. After almost hitting Elvis Andrus in the head, Andrus responded with a triple. Got that? You already know the Yankees won the game – Mo pitched around a lead off triple. This is why I worship no Gods before Mariano. He never ceases to amaze me. The man is not infallible, but he is totally amazing. Being short handed with Mark Teixeira still being out for maternity leave (or should that be faternity leave, because he’s the dad and not visiting with frat brothers?), Joe Girardi pitch ran my boy Curtis Granderson (I know, he’s not having a good year, but I can’t help it, he’s awesome anyway) for Fat Elvis himself, Lance Berkman. This might Nick Swisher came in from RF to play 1B, Austin Kearns shifted over to play RF and Granderson took CF while Brett Gardener moved to LF. So after Andrus’ triple, Michael Young hit a ball off the heel of Kearns’ glove, which stuck in the webbing and kept Andrus at 3rd, which he might as well of sat down on, because he wasn’t going anywhere. Mo fell behind Josh Hamilton 2-0 before getting him to ground softly out to himself. Vladimir Guerrero also enjoyed some chin music before grounding out to Jeter. I can’t emphasis that enough – Mo’s control last night was not good. And he pitched around a lead off triple. How amazing is that?

So after a tough two games in Texas, the Yankees head to Kansas City to take on the Royals in a four game set that I insist they take a minimum of four games from.

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