Knock, Knock. Who’s there? The offense.
It was funny through the first two months of the season, as the Yankees offense on most nights resembled a frozen block of ice, the idea that the team needed to acquire an additional bat to help the lineup.
What? Are you crazy?
Scoring runs was not going to be a problem on this season's team. It never has been. The last four years has seen its share of slow starts, but fast forward the calendar to around June and that is when things begin to pick up.
Why has that been happening? No one really has an answer for that. However, at the end of the season, the team ends producing at least 900 runs. Sure there is some inconsistency mixed in with those results, but that will happen with any offensive team. When you score as many runs as this team does, the percentages are that they are having more good days than bad.
The problem is that we as consumers of this stuff treat baseball games as if it were football. Excessive scrutinies of individual games do not relate to big picture and marathon that is the 162 game schedule. One player's 0 for 4 on a Monday night when he is hitting .250 becomes a referendum on overall ability.
As the last 30 games have shown, patience is a virtue. In addition, having Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada back in the lineup again makes a tremendous difference.
It was amusing to hear the idea thrown out there that the team was still supposed to produce runs at their normal clip even without those two in the order.
Again...are you insane?
You cannot take the Most Valuable Player in baseball, along with the best hitting catcher in the league and expect the same production. It is impossible. Replacing those hitters with the likes of Jose Molina and Morgan Ensberg is essentially giving up five to six outs per night in a game. This only magnifies when the other hitters in the lineup are not producing. It makes for a massive offensive shutdown.
The Yankees are 20-9 since the MVP's return to the lineup. In the month of June, he is hitting .440. Let me repeat that...440! Posada is hitting .330. They each have OPS averages of over 1.100.
Their return has allowed other hitters to flourish. Johnny Damon has reassumed his role of sparkplug. His patience at the plate and his legs on the bases has reemerged. Jason Giambi has seen as revival of his past hitting ways. After struggling and hitting .170, he has turned it on. His average is up near .270 and his OPS average is .02 shy of 1.000 as of Friday.
Currently, the team possesses four hitters in the lineup that are batting over .320. All of this is being done while Derek Jeter has yet to find his stroke at the plate as battles through some early season injuries.
With interleague play and a heavy dose of home games in the month of July, the hot bats should continue. As the pitching staff battles through some injuries and transitions, the team’s constant, which has always been its offense over the last five years, will appear to rise once again.
The Evolution of Ras
Injuries and underperformance by youngsters Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy had the Yankees scrambling for a replacement starter that could maybe provide some stability. Perhaps while he was at it, get a couple of wins and stay in the rotation for as long as possible.
Enter Darrell Rasner.
Rasner came along in the first week of May for what looked to be a simple spot start against the Seattle Mariners. Over the last two years, Rasner has been used in a dual role of long reliever and occasional spot starter. His season was cut short last May in a game at Shea Stadium against the New York Mets where he was spot starting. A line drive hit him on the leg and sidelined him indefinitely.
He was back again this time, determined to make the most of his opportunity. In AAA before being called up, he was 4-0 with and 0.87 ERA. In his first start, he could continue his good pitching. Six innings and two earned runs later and Rasner’s performance would good enough to earn him another start.
What became one good start became two in Detroit. That was followed by another great outing against Baltimore.
Suddenly, this was looking like no fluke. Considering his minor league success and giving the Yankees a much-needed boost. As of Friday, he is 3-3 with a more than respectable 3.64 ERA. The consistency he has shown throwing strikes and not walking hitters has allowed him to pitch in very few high-drama situations.
How can long can he last? We may have seen a forecaster of a market-correction take shape. On Wednesday night in his start against the San Diego Padres. Facing arguably the worst hitting team in the league, Rasner walked five batters and worked into and out of trouble the entire night in his five innings of work. He was able to get the win, but it may just be only a matter of time before his limited stuff is hit hard due to overexposure.
However long it last, the Yankees have gotten more out of Darrell Rasner than they ever could have hoped.
Mariano = Damn Near Automatic
It is amazingly that I have watched the career of Mariano Rivera.
I saw his first ever game in 1995 in a game against the Chicago White Sox as a starting pitcher. No way would I have ever thought that 13 years later I would continue to watch undoubtedly the greatest relief pitcher in the history of baseball.
Even at the age of 38, Rivera might be having his season of his career. His cutter has been so accurately pinpoint it defies explanation. Pounding inside to right-handed hitters and breaking the bats of left-handed hitters with ease, his ERA this season stands at 0.70. Even more amazing than that is his WHIP (walks and hits divided by innings pitched) is 0.52. At the rate he is going, Rivera might possibly have the greatest season in the history of relief pitching.
In a world where other teams have to rely on the likes of Billy Wagner, Trevor Hoffman and Todd Jones to close games. The nightly roller coaster that you see on a night to night basis with relief pitchers having the inability to get those final three outs pales in comparison to watching The Great Mariano when he comes into the ballgame.
The opposing team 99 times out of 100 knows that when Rivera comes into the game with a lead, it is over. The Yankees players are reassured when he comes into the game. Despite having other relief pitchers that may be effective, it rises to a much different level when he comes into the game for the final three outs.
Some day very soon, we will no longer have Mariano to watch pitch and will be forced to go back to the days where getting the final outs will be heart pumping. For now, I will continue to enjoy watching number 42 in pinstripes with the interlocking “NY” on the jersey continue to pitch his way into the Hall of Fame.
It has been an honor and a privilege. We will never see another pitcher like this in our lives.
What? Are you crazy?
Scoring runs was not going to be a problem on this season's team. It never has been. The last four years has seen its share of slow starts, but fast forward the calendar to around June and that is when things begin to pick up.
Why has that been happening? No one really has an answer for that. However, at the end of the season, the team ends producing at least 900 runs. Sure there is some inconsistency mixed in with those results, but that will happen with any offensive team. When you score as many runs as this team does, the percentages are that they are having more good days than bad.
The problem is that we as consumers of this stuff treat baseball games as if it were football. Excessive scrutinies of individual games do not relate to big picture and marathon that is the 162 game schedule. One player's 0 for 4 on a Monday night when he is hitting .250 becomes a referendum on overall ability.
As the last 30 games have shown, patience is a virtue. In addition, having Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada back in the lineup again makes a tremendous difference.
It was amusing to hear the idea thrown out there that the team was still supposed to produce runs at their normal clip even without those two in the order.
Again...are you insane?
You cannot take the Most Valuable Player in baseball, along with the best hitting catcher in the league and expect the same production. It is impossible. Replacing those hitters with the likes of Jose Molina and Morgan Ensberg is essentially giving up five to six outs per night in a game. This only magnifies when the other hitters in the lineup are not producing. It makes for a massive offensive shutdown.
The Yankees are 20-9 since the MVP's return to the lineup. In the month of June, he is hitting .440. Let me repeat that...440! Posada is hitting .330. They each have OPS averages of over 1.100.
Their return has allowed other hitters to flourish. Johnny Damon has reassumed his role of sparkplug. His patience at the plate and his legs on the bases has reemerged. Jason Giambi has seen as revival of his past hitting ways. After struggling and hitting .170, he has turned it on. His average is up near .270 and his OPS average is .02 shy of 1.000 as of Friday.
Currently, the team possesses four hitters in the lineup that are batting over .320. All of this is being done while Derek Jeter has yet to find his stroke at the plate as battles through some early season injuries.
With interleague play and a heavy dose of home games in the month of July, the hot bats should continue. As the pitching staff battles through some injuries and transitions, the team’s constant, which has always been its offense over the last five years, will appear to rise once again.
The Evolution of Ras
Injuries and underperformance by youngsters Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy had the Yankees scrambling for a replacement starter that could maybe provide some stability. Perhaps while he was at it, get a couple of wins and stay in the rotation for as long as possible.
Enter Darrell Rasner.
Rasner came along in the first week of May for what looked to be a simple spot start against the Seattle Mariners. Over the last two years, Rasner has been used in a dual role of long reliever and occasional spot starter. His season was cut short last May in a game at Shea Stadium against the New York Mets where he was spot starting. A line drive hit him on the leg and sidelined him indefinitely.
He was back again this time, determined to make the most of his opportunity. In AAA before being called up, he was 4-0 with and 0.87 ERA. In his first start, he could continue his good pitching. Six innings and two earned runs later and Rasner’s performance would good enough to earn him another start.
What became one good start became two in Detroit. That was followed by another great outing against Baltimore.
Suddenly, this was looking like no fluke. Considering his minor league success and giving the Yankees a much-needed boost. As of Friday, he is 3-3 with a more than respectable 3.64 ERA. The consistency he has shown throwing strikes and not walking hitters has allowed him to pitch in very few high-drama situations.
How can long can he last? We may have seen a forecaster of a market-correction take shape. On Wednesday night in his start against the San Diego Padres. Facing arguably the worst hitting team in the league, Rasner walked five batters and worked into and out of trouble the entire night in his five innings of work. He was able to get the win, but it may just be only a matter of time before his limited stuff is hit hard due to overexposure.
However long it last, the Yankees have gotten more out of Darrell Rasner than they ever could have hoped.
Mariano = Damn Near Automatic
It is amazingly that I have watched the career of Mariano Rivera.
I saw his first ever game in 1995 in a game against the Chicago White Sox as a starting pitcher. No way would I have ever thought that 13 years later I would continue to watch undoubtedly the greatest relief pitcher in the history of baseball.
Even at the age of 38, Rivera might be having his season of his career. His cutter has been so accurately pinpoint it defies explanation. Pounding inside to right-handed hitters and breaking the bats of left-handed hitters with ease, his ERA this season stands at 0.70. Even more amazing than that is his WHIP (walks and hits divided by innings pitched) is 0.52. At the rate he is going, Rivera might possibly have the greatest season in the history of relief pitching.
In a world where other teams have to rely on the likes of Billy Wagner, Trevor Hoffman and Todd Jones to close games. The nightly roller coaster that you see on a night to night basis with relief pitchers having the inability to get those final three outs pales in comparison to watching The Great Mariano when he comes into the ballgame.
The opposing team 99 times out of 100 knows that when Rivera comes into the game with a lead, it is over. The Yankees players are reassured when he comes into the game. Despite having other relief pitchers that may be effective, it rises to a much different level when he comes into the game for the final three outs.
Some day very soon, we will no longer have Mariano to watch pitch and will be forced to go back to the days where getting the final outs will be heart pumping. For now, I will continue to enjoy watching number 42 in pinstripes with the interlocking “NY” on the jersey continue to pitch his way into the Hall of Fame.
It has been an honor and a privilege. We will never see another pitcher like this in our lives.
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