Game 45. Tonight’s lineup

A 10 p.m. Eastern start since the Yanks are in Oakland. I hate those West coast times (they mean staying up really late) but what can you do?

The Yanks signed John Maine to a minor league deal today. Maine didn’t pitch in the majors in 2011, nor has he this year. In 2010 the 31-yr. old RHP went 1-3, 6.13 in nine starts for the Mets. He is 41-36, 4.35 in his MLB career, ERA+ 98. His best year was 2007 for the Mets when he went 15-10, 3.91.

From Lohud’s blog:

Former Yankees outfielder Chad Curtis has been charged with five counts of criminal sexual conduct after accusations he inappropriately touched two students at a Michigan high school.

Now that’s odd. Curtis was a person who sort of ticked off some teammates because he was, as they put it, too pushy as far as his religion and beliefs. You may remember him for his two HR (one a walkoff) in Game 3 of the 1999 WS, and for catching the last out of that WS. Now to let the system find him guilty or not.

Yanks 23-21, 4th in A.L. East, 4 1/2 out. OPS+ 110, ERA+ 103. Even with their pythagorean record.

BA/HR/RBI  SB/attempts  OPS+

Jeter SS .348-5-16  3/4  134 Granderson CF .256-14-25  1/3  140 Rodriguez 3B .281-7-18  5/5  119 Cano 2B .297-5-18  1/1  122 Teixeira 1B  .226-5-21  1/2  79 Ibanez LF .263-9-27  2/2  130 Swisher RF  .236-7-27  0/0  102   really slumping lately Chavez DH .293-3-6  0/0  113 Martin C .173-4-10  1/1  74   needs to get off the “Interstate”

RHP  Nova   4-2, 5.69  ERA+ 74     Needs to do better

Jeter has 3152 career hits, tied with Paul “Big Poison” Waner and two behind George Brett on the all-time list.

A-Rod is 180 hits from 3000, and 89 RBI from 2000. The HR count is at 636, and he is 152 runs scored away from 2000.

Yankees promote Cotham

Ok, it’s from Low A to High A, but the Yankees have promoted 24 year old righty pitcher Caleb Cotham from Charleston to Tampa. He’ll pitch for Tampa tonight. Cotham was 3-1, 2.31 for Charleston. In 39 IP, his K/BB ratio was 32/7.

Nice numbers, but 24 seems old for A ball. We’ll see how he progresses. Still, A ball is still a ways away.

Game 42. Teix dropped to 7th as Yanks try to stay above .500

The weather forecast isn’t good and the weather itself hasn’t been good today. We’ll see if they get it in. If they do, Teixeira has been dropped to 7th.

Yanks 21-20, and fighting to stay above .500. They are 4th in the A.L. East, 5 1/2 out, and just one game in front of cellar-dwelling Boston.

OPS+ 109, ERA+ 103. Even with the Pythagorean record. (They are what some elements say they should be).

Jeter 6 .347-5-15  3/4  135 leads MLB in H. 3147 career hits, 5 behind Waner.  
Granderson .258-13-23  1/3  137   I’d like to see him RUN! Steal, Curtis, GO!  
Cano  .309-4-16  1/1  124
ARod-DH  .270-5-15  4/4  106    1 HR since 4/27. With Gardner, Nunez not
there, the Yanks leading basestealer!
Ibanez .273-9-27  2/2  140  team leader in OPS+, tie for RBI
Swisher .252-7-27  0/0  111
Teixeira  .226-5-20  1/2  76  dropped to 7th, hot Ibanez is at 5 
Chavez  .291-3-6  0/0  109
Martin .168-4-10  1/1  71   needs to get off the Interstate

Kuroda RHP   3-5, 4.50  ERA+ 94.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Which one shows tonight?

 

Game 38. A-Rod off.

Last night Jeter had the night off. Tonight it is A-Rod.

Yanks 20-17, 3rd, 3 1/2 out. One game better than Pythagorean,
OPS+ 113, ERA+ 103.

BA/HR/RBI/SB/Att/OPS+

 

Jeter 6  .366-5-15  2/3 150    Hit count: 3144
Granderson 8 .248-13-23  1/3  136    Remember when he used to STEAL?
Cano 4 .302-3-14  1/1  114
Teixeira 3  .234-5-20  1/2   83
Ibanez 7  .263-7-22  2/2  128
Swisher DH  .258-7-26  0/0  123
Chavez 5  .295-3-6  0/0  120
Jones 9  .226-4-8  0/0  107
Martin 2 .172-3-9  1/1  72

Hughes 1  3-4, 5.50   ERA+ 78

Hmmm. See my previous post regarding aggressive baserunning. With Alex (4 for 4) out, Gardner DL’d and Nuneeeeez down, you don’t see any baserunners in the lineup. 12 attempts (8 successful) by the WHOLE lineup. Jeter isn’t running much. One guy who can and doesn’t is Granderson. He had 25 steals last year and doesn’t run anymore.

The Yanks picked up Matt Antonelli off of waivers. The second baseman is 27, a righty hitter, and has 57 major league at bats (2008 Padres), hitting .193-1-3. He’ll go to AAA.

Game 36. Robertson to DL

Cody Eppley has been recalled. David Robertson (of the incredibly shrinking bullpen) has been D’L'd. He won’t pick up a ball for 7-10 days. Strained left oblique for D-Rob.

Yanks 20-15, 3rd place. 1 1/2 out. OPS+117, ERA+ 106.
They are one game BETTER than their pythagorean record.

BA/HR/RBI/SB/attempts, OPS+

Jeter 6 .367-5-15  2/3  151   9 hits behind Paul Waner, 11 behind Brett.
Swisher 9  .277-7-26  0/0  138
Cano 4 .303-3-14  1/1  113
Rodriguez 5  .292-5-14  3/3  122  See Below
Teixeira 3 .231-5-19  1/2  83   Need to get him going.
Granderson 8 .257-12-21  1/3  142   12 HR, 21 RBI mean solo HRs
Jones DH .240-4-8  0/0  115
Nix 7    1 for 10; hit a HR, 2 RBI
Stewart 2  .240-0-5  0/0  49     6 for 25

Sabathia 1   5-0, 3.51   ERA+ 123

Alex has 38 hits, 30 singles. The average is ok, but you wonder about the power. 3 doubles, 5 HR.

Game 34. Andy ok, bats not in loss to M’s

Andy Pettitte was okay in his return to the majors, but the Yanks bats were shut down by the other old guy on the mound, Kevin Millwood, and the Yanks lost to Seattle 6-2 today.

Pettitte went 6 1/3, 4 R, 7 H, 3 walks and 2 K. 2 HR, 1 WP. He gave up no hits until the fourth, when the first hit he gave up was a two-run HR. Even after five, he had given up just two runs on two hits.

In the sixth, he gave up a 2-run HR off the foul screen, and got out of a bases-loaded jam.

For his first time out after being away since October, 2010, he wasn’t that bad.

The Yanks’ bats against the aging and fading Millwood? That was bad.

The Yanks got 1st and 2nd in the third. One out. Jeter GIDP.

In the fifth, the Yanks got a bases-loaded walk to Martin to cut it to 2-1, but with the bases loaded and one out, Jeter GIDP again.

Jeter did get hit #3142 in the 8th, tying Robin Yount on the all-time list.

Ripken 3184, Brett 3154, Waner 3152, JETER 3142, Yount 3142, Gwynn 3141.

Down 4-1 in the 8th, a bases-loaded two out walk to Cano cut the lead to 4-2. Teixeira then struck out. The Yanks were 0 for 5 with RISP.

Wade replaced Pettitte, 1 2/3, 1 R, 2 H, 0 walks, 3 K. ERA 1.62

Rapada came in and got a couple of outs, but why did Girardi stick with him? Rapada is a LOOGY. You don’t let the guy face righties.

After getting two outs (both lefties) with a man on second, Rapada walks a righty batter, then a lefty batter. Bases loaded. He stays in to face a righty batter. A hit and an error by Rapada bring in two runs. 6-2.  Rapada has great splits vs. lefty batters. Terrible ones against righties. Leaving him in against the righties cost the Yanks a chance at a comeback. Righties hit .349 off Rapada. Lefties .164. You cannot let Rapada face righties if you can help it. After Rapada got the two lefties, Girardi should have brought someone else in to face the righty (Garcia?) for the last out. By not doing so, he gave up two runs. In the end, it didn’t matter, but…

Rapada 1 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 h, 2 walks, 1 K. 3.72.

In the bottom of the ninth, big mistake by Swish. He doubles to lead off the inning, but is thrown out going for three. Down by four runs? That is inexcusable.

The Yanks only got six hits, two by Chavez, two by Swisher.

Eppley was sent down when Pettitte was activated.

Game 33. Lose on Yogi’s b/day? Jayson says NIX to that!

Jayson Nix’ first Yankee hit was a 2-Run HR, and Phil Hughes turned in a solid performance as the Yanks beat the Mariners 6-2 for their third straight victory.

The win came on Yogi Berra’s 87th birthday. The Yanks honored the icon before the game. Yogi was driven into the Stadium by “Driving Mr. Yogi” pal, Ron “the Gator” Guidry.

Raul Ibanez continued his strong recent hitting. He followed a Teix double by doubling in the first run of the Yanks’ four run second inning. Martin doubled in Ibanez to make it 2-0 and Nix’ 2-Run Hr made it 4-0. After that, Hughes cruised against the weak-hitting Mariners.

The outing followed good outings by CC on Thursday and Kuroda yesterday. Maybe after a rough April the rotation is finally straightening out. Tomorrow is Andy Pettitte’s return to the majors and we’ll see how he does.

Ibanez hit a HR (7, #259 career) in the fourth to make it 5-0.

Jeter got two hits. He’s now at 3141 and tied Tony Gwynn (3141) on the all-time list. The next hit ties Robin Yount (3142). In the 8th, Jeter’s 2nd hit, a SB and an RBI single by Cano made it 6-1 (Seattle got a solo HR by Carp in the 7th).

Hughes went 7 2/3, 1 R, 6 H, 1 walk and 4 K. 3-4, ERA to 5.50.

Logan got a K to finish the 8th and pitched the 9th.

1 1/3 IP, 1R, 2H, 0 walks and 4 K.  ERA 2.45.

In other news, the Yanks picked up Justin Thomas (LHP) off waivers from Boston. Probably minor league depth. The 28 year old has a record of 0-2, 6.65 in 27 major league games.

Game 32. Chavez back in the lineup. Nunez demoted

Tonight, pardon the pun, the Yanks face a King (Felix Hernandez) and Jesus (Montero) as Seattle comes to the Bronx.

The Yanks get Eric Chavez back off the DL. Nunez and his errors got demoted back to AAA. He’ll play SS regularly there. Funny, his speed could ”replace” Gardner’s speed in LF until Gardner returns. But, then, Gardner’s D couldn’t be replaced.

Yanks 17-14, 4th in AL East, 2 1/2 out. Even with the Pythagorean record (they are what the Pythagorean predicts what their record should be based on runs scored vs. runs allowed). OPS+ 115, ERA+ 105.

BA/HR/RBI/SB/Total attempts/OPS+/  Comments
OPS+ ERA+ 100 is average, more is good, less is bad.

Jeter SS .376-5-15  1/2  161   3138 hits; Gwynn 3141, Yount 3142  
Granderson CF .273-11-20  0/2  154
A-Rod 3B .287-5-14  3/3  124    634 HR; 22 slams one behind record
Cano 2B .286-3-11  1/1  105   Heating up?
Teixeira 1B .212-4-17  1/2  69   hope that bronchitis goes away
Swisher RF .276-7-24   0/0   141
Ibanez LF  .269-5-16  2/2  121    Without Gardner, Raul in LF 
Chavez DH .290-3-5  0/0  131   Bringing him back slowly, at DH
Martin C .188-3-7  1/1  74

Kuroda P   2-4,  3.75   ERA+ 116

 

Game 29. Rain. Will it be played? Pettitte returns Sunday (Mother’s Day)

Tonight’s lineup.

Yanks 15-13, 4th in AL East. 3 1/2 out.
OPS+ 115, ERA+ 101

It has been raining all day in Eastern PA (about 100 miles from NYC). Tonight’s game could be ppd. There is also rain in tomorrow’s forecast, and possibly Thursday. The only surprise, if any, is that Nunez, a righty batter, is in LF instead of Wise, a lefty hitter against the righty Shields.

Jeter leads the AL in B.A., and the majors in hits.

Jeter SS .397-5-15  1sb/2att  OPS+ 175, 3136 hits, 5 behind Gwynn.
Granderson CF .284-9-18  0/2  157
Rodriguez 3B .269-5-14  2/2    118    634* HR; 2803 hits
Cano 2B  .261-2-8  1/1   84  hopefully Sunday’s slam woke him up. 
Teixeira 1B  .222-4-16  1/2  73   He and Cano need to pick it up. 
Swisher RF  .279-7-24  0/0  155
Ibanez DH  .254-3-13  2/2  98
Martin C  .192-3-7  1/1  82  see Cano and Teix.
Nunez LF .261-0-5  4/5   80

Nova P   3-1, 5.58    ERA+ 78    Some ugly OPS and ERA+ numbers here.

No word on Pettitte yet, or what those “complications” are regarding Mo’s knee.

UPDATE ON PETTITTE: He will be called up Sunday.

Gardner was supposed to start a couple of rehab games yesterday. Rainout last night, and there is supposed to be a DH today. It’s unknown whether he’d play in one game or both. Heck, with the rain, the whole DH could be washed out.

Gardner going for rehab

The Yanks will be getting more “whole” soon. Swish came back yesterday, and it appears as if Gardner will be back soon. As for Pineda and Mo, we know how that is. Done for 2012. Probably Joba, too.

But our friends at the Bronx Baseball Daily blog report that Gardner will be playing for AAA tonight. He’ll play for them for a few games and then return to the Yanks later this week.

As for Pettitte, no decision yet on bringing him up or giving him another minor league start.