The Yankees, Unobstructed — July 5

With the All-Star break just over a week away, it’s time to look at how the fans and American League/Yankees manager Joe Girardi did at choosing the AL’s best. The lineup is below, starters (chosen by the fans) are in bold, followed by reserves (chosen by Girardi).

Catchers: Joe Mauer, John Buck, Victor Martinez

The fans voted for Mauer, but Buck is the most deserving AL catcher this year. He leads all catchers in RBI and is 2nd among catchers in home runs. Speaking of home runs, the Angels’ Mike Napoli leads all catchers and might have been a better choice than Boston’s Victor Martinez, who is on the disabled list right now.

First Basemen: Justin Morneau, Miguel Cabrera

Can’t argue with either of these choices. Morneau leads baseball in average and Cabrera is 2nd in RBI. But, it would have been tough to argue against the inclusion of Paul Konerko, whose had one of the best season’s in baseball so far, with 20 home runs and 57 RBI .

Second Basemen: Robinson Cano, Dustin Pedroia, Ian Kinsler, Ty Wigginton

While the fans got it right with Robinson Cano, who has absolutely been baseball’s best second basemen, Joe Girardi’s choice to include Ian Kinsler is an odd one. The Texas 2B spent a significant portion of the first half injured, and took a while to start heating up after he returned from the disabled list.

Third Basemen: Evan Longoria, Adrian Beltre, Alex Rodriguez

It was a bit of a lame lot to choose from this year at third base, but both the fans and Girardi got it right. These three are tied for the lead among AL third basemen in home runs, and are the top three in RBI.

Shortstop: Derek Jeter, Elvis Andrus

Although the fans voted him in, this season DJ has been the American League’s third best shortstop, behind Andrus and Alex Gonzalez. Sorry Yankee fans.

Outfield: Josh Hamilton, Ichiro Suzuki, Carl Crawford, Jose Bautista, Torii Hunter, Vernon Wells

It’s hard to argue with any of these choices. But it would have been nice to see Alex Rios get selected — perhaps instead of putting Kinsler in as a fourth 2b.

DH: Vladimir Guerrero, David Ortiz

The fans got it right, and Girardi chose the second best in Ortiz.

Pitchers: Girardi chose 13 pitchers and we won’t discuss all of them, but perhaps the oddest of his All-Star choices was relief pitcher Matt Thornton as the White Sox’s lone representative. Forget the fact that Paul Konerko wasn’t chosen, and you still have a tough case for Thornton. He’s had a pretty good season — low ERA (2.86) and WHIP (1.01) — but his 10 holds and 5 saves (and two blown saves) don’t show nearly as many high-pressure outings as you’d expect to see from an All-Star relief pitcher.

NOTE: Make sure to check back every week for The Yankees, Unobstructed, BNN's Yankees opinion column.

Yankees Central: Breaking Down The Pitching and Defense

The big news out of Yankees camp is still the race between Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain for the fifth spot in the Yankees rotation. Joe Girardi is expected to have an answer for everybody by Friday.

Right now it seems as if the job is going to go to Hughes. Due to rain in Florida over the weekend the Yankees had to split up their team yesterday to make sure all of their scheduled pitchers got their innings in.

Although Hughes gave up four runs in just 4 1/3 innings, including three home runs, Girardi said he was very happy with how Hughes looked. In particular Girardi was satisfied with the way Hughes’ change-up has developed.

The Yankees, Unobstructed - Oct. 30, 2009

Forget About Having a Fourth Starter

This World Series, more than any in recent memory, looks like it could be shaped by pregame managerial decisions. Last night, the Yankees scored a key run following a rally that was started by Jerry Hairston, Jr. — who Joe Girardi inserted into the lineup in place of the slumping Nick Swisher.

Now Girardi has bigger decisions to make. While the Phillies look prepared to start a scrub in Game 5 (either Joe Blanton or J.A. Happ), Girardi has been wrestling with whether or not to pitch Chad Gaudin (who has thrown one inning since October 3rd).

But there is another option, which I think Girardi might resort to — a three man rotation.

While it has become a forgone conclusion that the Yankees will pitch C.C. Sabathia in games four and seven, the silencing of Yankees bats over the last two games makes a strong case for using the best pitchers available at all times. We don't know what to expect from Gaudin, because baseball-reference.com does not keep records for "starting on 30 days rest." It does, however, keep track of starts on three days rest....

A.J. Burnett has made four such starts, including three in 2008. In all four he has pitched very well. In fact, in his three short-rest starts in 2008, Burnett gave up only four earned runs in 19.1 innings. His 18/10 K/BB ratio in those starts is not incredible, but is on par with his usual numbers.

Andy Pettitte is 37 years old, but he also has the most postseason wins of any pitcher ever. Pettitte's numbers are less impressive on short rest than Burnett's, but also more extensive. In 86.2 innings pitched, Pettitte has surrendered 40 earned runs. Not great, but certainly good enough to keep the Yankees in the game.

In other tough choices for Girardi has to make...

Hideki Matsui: Godzilla has been one of the Yankees better hitters this postseason, but he is too slow to track down fly balls. While playing in a National League park, make him your #1 pinch hitter.

Nick Swisher: Although his replacement, Jerry Hairston, Jr., came up big last night, Swisher's defense and arm have helped limit scoring opportunities for opponents all postseason. Swisher plays.

Phil Hughes: No more set-up work. Relief pitching is all about having the hot hand, and Hughes' couldn't be colder. Instead go with...

David Robertson: Seriously, I'm not kidding. Robertson has been lights out — downright unflappable — in some of the most pressure-filled moments of the past month. The kid is catching batters off-guard. He's like a vision of rookie K-ROD.

In case you have not been following. Here's a few details you need to know in order to get by in a conversation about the World Series:

After two games in the Bronx, the series is tied 1-1. The next game is tomorrow night at 7:57pm in Philadelphia. The starters will be Andy Pettitte for the Yankees, and Cole Hamels for the Phillies.

The Yankees, Unobstructed - Oct. 23

Be afraid, be very afraid

The Yankees are returning to the Bronx this weekend, without the pennant. Although they are ahead of the Angels 3-2, there are a lot of reasons the Yankees and their fans ought to be uncomfortable….

• The Angels starter tomorrow, Joe Saunders, has given up three earned runs only once since August 6^th — that’s nine consecutive strong starts for Saunders.

• If this thing goes to game seven, the Yankees will pitch C.C. Sabathia for the third time this series. While the Big Man has been nothing short of dominating in his first two starts, the Angels are one of baseball’s elite offensive teams and there’s no telling how their hitters will handle facing the same starter three times in nine days. It could be hard for C.C. to avoid predictability.
  

• Nick Swisher’s occasional cold-streaks were tolerable all season long, because the man was a walk-machine. Swisher was second in the American League in walks during the regular season and 20^th in on-base percentage, but he has become an easy out this postseason. The Yankees need Mr. Twitch to anchor down the second half the batting order this weekend.

• We will not be able to rely on Alex Rodriguez this weekend. With a man on base or in many two out situations, the Angels will choose to take their chances against Hideki Matsui.
  

• Joe Girardi does not seem to have any concrete game-plan for the Yankee bullpen. If there is one guy who seems to be having difficulty handling the pressure of this stage, it’s Girardi. His decision-making has been erratic and reflects over-analysis. Some games he sticks with the starters too long (yesterday) and gives the bullpen too short of a leash (also Yesterday). Other times his starters have been given too short of a leash (Games two and three). Criticizing managers for their bull-pen decisions can often be unfair….but Girardi used four pitchers (three for just one out) through 7.1 innings in game three.

• The Yankees have been through worse than losing a 3-1 League Championship Series. Let's not relive that in this column — Tim McCarver mentions it every five minutes during his broadcasts. That’s enough of a reminder.

NOTE: Make sure to check back on Fridays for The Yankees, Unobstructed, BNN's weekly Yankees opinion column.

For more of Graham Kates' sports writing, check out his True/Slant blog "Coaches in the Crosshairs" (http://trueslant.com/grahamkates).