Once again, here is Jeff's take on the Yankees. Enjoy!
Welcome to the second edition of “State of the Yankees.” Last week’s issue focused on the dislike of Hideki Matsui. This edition will try to be more along the grain, and talk about the previous week or so of Yankees baseball. When looking back at the previous week, I think it can best be phrased as: the good, the bad and the ugly.
The Good: The silver lining of what has been an atrocious week of baseball for our heroes in pinstripes, the Yankees managed to once again defeat Yankees killer Roy Halladay in Tuesday’s 5-3 victory over Toronto. What makes this victory so special is that it comes against the Doc, who entering Tuesdays game had led Toronto to a 12-3 record against he Yankees in his previous 15 starts against them (this is including Halladay’s previous loss to the Yankees earlier in the season). Whenever the Yanks go against Halladay, most fans are quick to pencil it in as a Toronto victory; this fan included. However, for the second straight time, the Yankees have managed to go against the odds and pick up the victory against arguably the toughest pitcher in the American League. This victory, coupled with a come from behind and extra innings victory for Tampa over the Red Sox gives the Yankees a little more cushion in their lead over Boston in the American League East standings. Halladay, however, will get his chance to avenge his previous two starts against the Yanks this coming Monday.
The Bad: Starting Thursday, the Yankees open up a four game series in the Bronx against those hated Red Sox. A renewal of the greatest rivalry in sports, this rivalry has been anything but so far this season as the Red Sox have come away with W’s every time against the Yankees this season. The Yankees look to focus their sights on October during this four game series by attempting to finally beat Boston this series. The matchups for this series are as follows:
Thursday: Smoltz vs. Chamberlain
Friday: Beckett vs. Burnett
Saturday: Buchholz vs. Sabathia
Sunday: Lester vs. Pettitte
Good matchups all around. Burnett, Sabathia and Pettitte pitch some of their best baseball in the month of August, and the Yanks look to keep that statistic rolling with this coming series. Here is how I think Yankees fans should feel for the following ways this series could play out:
Win 0: Continue to sulk, and Cashman and Girardi start to feel the seats they are sitting in heat up fast.
Win 1: Yankees fans can finally be relieved that they were able to beat Boston once this year, but losing 3-4 at this point in the season should still be viewed in a very negative light.
Win 2: A split of the series is the worst case scenario the Yankees want following this 4 game set. Considering the Yankees haven’t beaten Boston this year, a split would send a message that the Yankees will continue to be competitive and make their case for October baseball.
Win 3: Taking 3 out of 4 helps the Yanks gain 2 games in the standings on Boston, and helps build confidence in the team for the final two months.
Win 4: Sweeping the Red Sox will allow Yankees fans to start doing all of the trash talking, and could be the start of another slump for the Red Sox.
I see a split of the series, but anything can happen when these two teams play.
The Ugly: Last week, the Yankees went to Chicago for a four game series. After sweeping the division leading tigers right after the all star break, the Yankees managed to look like the atrocious baseball team that they have managed to be at certain points this season in the south side of Chicago. They barely managed to escape Chicago without getting swept, but still lost 3 out of 4 games to the White Sox. During these games, the Yanks made mental errors, throwing errors, and seemed to forget how to hit a baseball whenever anybody was on base and in scoring position. The White Sox, on the other hand, seemed to come up with big hit after big hit. Even looking at Sabathia’s stats from Sunday (7IP, 5 ER), and knowing he went against recently perfect Mark Buehrle, it is amazing that he Yanks didn’t get swept.
But what has become continuously discouraging for myself and hopefully other Yankees fans alike is how this team seems to always struggle and save their half-ass play for the teams that really count. This season, the Yankees have not been able to beat the Angels and Red Sox, and now can add Chicago to that list. The problem here is that the odds of these 3 teams playing baseball in October is very good. Would any Yankees fan feel confident in October going against the White Sox or Angels in the division series? Not at this point.
The Ugly, unfortunately, is going to be a two part segment. I will be more brief on this segment, however, since there isn’t much to really say. Sergio Mitre… sucks. In his three starts for the Yankees this season, he is sporting a 7.9 era, and has dished out more hits then Michael Jackson. He is a poor man’s Chien Ming Wang, but unfortunately will continue to pitch in the rotation due to Cashman’s lack of an acquisition of another starter via trade or waiver wire (yet, hopefully). On a happier note, the Yankees moved Mitre’s start to Wednesday and gave Joba one more day of rest so that Mitre would not fall prey to the Red Sox on Thursday.
Yankees Player of the Week: This week’s honor is bestowed upon Melky Cabrera, who in Sunday’s victory against the White Sox managed to hit for the cycle and drove in 4 runs. Without his good day at the plate, the Yankees are probably swept by Chicago.
Non-Yankees Fun Fact of the Week: A new installment to the “State of the Yankees,” this week’s fun fact focuses on slugger Albert Pujols. In Tuesday’s extra inning victory over the Mets, recently “struggling” Albert Pujols hit his 5th grand slam of the season . 5th of the season!? Did you know that this season, Pujols is 7 for 9 with the bases loaded with 5 grand slams? NL Managers, while it isn’t always the most popular idea, perhaps it wouldn’t be the worst option to intentionally walk Pujols and hope to get the next batter out. I know the bases are loaded, but obviously all that has happened with the inevitable “damn, now I have to pitch to him” is a .777 batting average and 5 home runs. Simply stated, Pujols is the man.
Well, that wraps up this edition of “State of the Yankees.” Tune in next week, where hopefully this author will have good news to report from the upcoming series against Boston. Until then, Let’s Go Yankees!
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