Yanks @ Rays: A more accurate barometer reading

[Dr. Detfink]

After a soft schedule to the start of the unofficial second half of the season, The Yanks hit the road and face an opponent who will certainly make the AL East between the Red Sox and Yanks intriguing. The Rays are no joke over a decade of sucking up revenue sharing checks, top picks, and some luxury tax coin. The Yankees are coming into town with a lot of confidence but have they solved some of their problems?

This is a good time to take a barometer reading after that painful sweep against the Angels. The Yanks, thanks partly to a soft stool schedule have made up 5 games on the Red Sox. This is more of a barometer of how to measure their true battle tested line up.

I expect the Rays to really be aggressive. I expect them to run a lot. If Posada is catching today, they are going to test him. This is a good test for the YAnks. They have the talent, the experience, the power to match and take 2 out of 3 from the Rays. The question will always be, can they deliver when it counts most?

Matchups:

AJ Burnett vs. James Shields: It still tickles me that a closet gay man like Joe Buck and Tim McCarver were talking about Shields nickname "Big Game James." Sounds like a William H. Macy character @ apoker player you want to stay away from. AJ's had a few bumpy early innings. If he can establish his command early and often, he should have a great outing against the Rays.

CC Sabbathia vs. Scott Kazmir: I used to ride "Los Mets" fans for trading away Kazmir but years, later it stands that this guy is overrated. Mets pitching coach Peterson was right. Kazmir's delivery did put him at risk for injury and it wasn't too long ago that the Rays were trying to trade him to the Angels. Wonder if the Mets would take him back now? Still looking for that dominating jaw dropping performance from CC Sabbathia. Will we see it in this game? It's time for him to come up in a spot or two.

Joba Chamberlain vs. Matt Garza: Well, back to back strong outings by Joba where he lasted at least into the 7th. Can he make it three in a row? Tell you one thing, he cannot fall behind with this line up. This is a great measuring stick for his progress as a starter.

what's your call on this series? 3/3? 2/3? 1/3?

[TKF]

so far, yankees hitting is just too much along with solid pitching from Burnett..

[Dr. Detfink]

This is one of the reasons why AJ Burnett changed my mind. I used to think AJ Burnett was Carl Pavano II but come spring training, I was impressed with the expectations he had for himself and the Yanks.

After stinking it up against the Sox and Angels, he got on himself and has really stepped it up. The 4Ks in 2 innings set the tone of the game. I love that authority. Establish the strike zone and then continue to attack. Just fantastic.

[TKF]

AJ and joba so far are having good runs. Hughes is just a stud out of the pen...

If AJ keeps picthing this well and CC picks it up even more. we can run away with this thing..

[Pharmcat]

[PR07]

Burnett's been just about as sharp as anyone in the AL as of late. A strong outing, and the offense was very good.

[Pharmcat]

tat play in the field by AJ was awesome too....love the commitment

[Dr. Detfink]

AJ and joba so far are having good runs.

Guys, let's NOT put AJ and Joba in the same sentence.

AJ Burnett has won his last 6 starts. You know the last game AJ Burnett lost? June 20th AJ Burnett lost 2-1 to the Marlins. He now leads the Yanks in ERA, strikeouts, and tied for wins. Not too shabby.

Hopefully CC Sabbathia can keep it going. I want to see triple fat goose get one 10K performance in 2 months before jumping on his train. I thought it was wise that Girardi dropped Sabbathia to second in the rotation.

And I gotta say, um what has Scott Kazmir earned? This guy was supposed to be a can't miss star of the future. For once, the Mets brass doesn't look completely off base questioning this guy.

[Pharmcat]

AJ and joba so far are having good runs.

Guys, let's NOT put AJ and Joba in the same sentence.

AJ Burnett has won his last 6 starts. You know the last game AJ Burnett lost? June 20th AJ Burnett lost 2-1 to the Marlins. He now leads the Yanks in ERA, strikeouts, and tied for wins. Not too shabby.

Hopefully CC Sabbathia can keep it going. I want to see triple fat goose get one 10K performance in 2 months before jumping on his train. I thought it was wise that Girardi dropped Sabbathia to second in the rotation.

And I gotta say, um what has Scott Kazmir earned? This guy was supposed to be a can't miss star of the future. For once, the Mets brass doesn't look completely off base questioning this guy.

and victor zambrano gave what to the mets?

[rappa]

AJ and joba so far are having good runs.

Guys, let's NOT put AJ and Joba in the same sentence.

AJ Burnett has won his last 6 starts. You know the last game AJ Burnett lost? June 20th AJ Burnett lost 2-1 to the Marlins. He now leads the Yanks in ERA, strikeouts, and tied for wins. Not too shabby.

Hopefully CC Sabbathia can keep it going. I want to see triple fat goose get one 10K performance in 2 months before jumping on his train. I thought it was wise that Girardi dropped Sabbathia to second in the rotation.

And I gotta say, um what has Scott Kazmir earned? This guy was supposed to be a can't miss star of the future. For once, the Mets brass doesn't look completely off base questioning this guy.

First off, why in the world does CC need to K 10 batters? He has been pitching good and winning games, thats what he's paid to do. He isn't paid to go in and try to strike out 10+ batters a night and drive up his pitch counts, but more relatively pitch deep into the games and keep the leads we give him. Aside from a few rocky starts, he has been giving us quality starts and keeping us in games without his best stuff. Do you know how many 10k+ games he had last year? 8.....6 of them came against NL opponents, aka the sister league. The other 2? Kansas City and Oakland, 2 terrible lineups last season. He is now pitching in the best division in baseball, and the mere fact that you are upset that he hasn't k'ed 10+ is just astonishing to show why some people hate us yankee fans.

As for your rant on Scott Kazmir, ummm they traded him for Victor Zambrano. That's right, the Victor Zambrano who is terrible. Other then this year, Scott Kazmir could have gotten you a great package of prospects if you wanted to deal him, and add in the fact that he has been 1000000000000000x better then Victor Zambrano, the mets were completely dominated in the deal. They don't look completely off base questioning him, they look like a bunch of idiots. This deal single handedly hurt the mets chances of winning a world series within the past 4 years simply because they could never find a competent #2-3 starter.

[nykgeneralmanager]

Since when did C.C. get the reputation of being a strikeout pitcher? He's not. Pitchers are allowed to be great without K/9 rates of 12. He has never even had a K/9 rate of 9, although he was essentially there last season but that was because of what he did to the NL down the stretch. You can be great by limiting hits, BB, and HR, all of which Sabathia does an excellent job. If you want to judge a pitcher by strikeouts, then you are only going to think a handful of pitchers are any good.

Since his rocky outing on May 2nd, he has been unbelievable. In 14 starts he has gone 102 innings (7.1 innings per start) while allowing 82 hits, 25 BB, 78 K, for a 3.26 ERA and 1.04 WHIP. So he is getting into the 8th inning on average of every start with a top notch ERA and WHIP. Geez, what a bum because he hasn't had a 12 strikeout game.

His K/9 rate over that stretch is 6.9
His K/9 rate over the course of the entire season is 6.5
His K/9 rate over his entire career is 7.4

His H/9 over that stretch is 7.2
His H/9 this season is 7.8
His H/9 over his entire career is 8.3

His BB/9 over that stretch is 2.2
His BB/9 this season is 2.6
His BB/9 over his entire career is 2.8

His WHIP over that stretch is 1.04
His WHIP this season is 1.59
His WHIP over his entire career is 1.24

His ERA over that stretch is 3.26
His ERA this season is 3.67
His ERA over his entire career is 3.66

So just because you have this imaginary picture of what C.C. should be in your head doesn't mean that is what he has to do to win you over, so far this season he is the exact same pitcher he has been his entire career, if not better...and that is a very good thing for us, even if it isn't good enough for you.

[Dr. Detfink]

Wait, WHAT...CC Sabbathia has NEVER been known to be strike out pitcher? Did I read that right?

Ok, let's take a Quick look over CC Sabbathia's numbers:

2001: 171Ks
2005: 161
2006: 172
2007: 209
2008: 251

He's currently on pace for another at least 160K season.

Ok, so now that the monkey that flew out of your ass have proven that CC Sabbathia is a power pitcher. I mean, the Yankees didn't pay him 180 million to be Eddy Curry with "finesse" pitching skills.

Let's get BACK...STAY with me boys, to what I am trying to say.

Um, all this babying...for example, when Girardi ran out in the 2nd inning to pull CC Sabbathia cause his bicep was achy. Let's see if the big man can come up Big in a big game.

Today, this is a big game. I think CC Sabbathia deserves to give the Yankees and his fans a big time performance before he opts out in 3 years and says thanks NYC for all the memories (cause he will).

[rappa]

2001: 214
2002: 182
2003: 195
2006: 172
2008: 150

Yup, those are the k numbers for Mike Mussina. Was he a big K guy? Your going by total K's in a season. A lot of guys with good stuff will get K's as they rack up 200+ innings. It still doesn't change the fact that he's not a STRIKEOUT pitcher, ALA JOSH BECKETT, AJ BURNETT, PEDRO MARTINEZ, ROGER CLEMENS, TIM LINCECUM.

[nykgeneralmanager]

Wait, WHAT...CC Sabbathia has NEVER been known to be strike out pitcher? Did I read that right?

Ok, let's take a Quick look over CC Sabbathia's numbers:

2001: 171Ks
2005: 161
2006: 172
2007: 209
2008: 251

He's currently on pace for another at least 160K season.

Ok, so now that the monkey that flew out of your ass have proven that CC Sabbathia is a power pitcher. I mean, the Yankees didn't pay him 180 million to be Eddy Curry with "finesse" pitching skills.

Let's get BACK...STAY with me boys, to what I am trying to say.

Um, all this babying...for example, when Girardi ran out in the 2nd inning to pull CC Sabbathia cause his bicep was achy. Let's see if the big man can come up Big in a big game.

Today, this is a big game. I think CC Sabbathia deserves to give the Yankees and his fans a big time performance before he opts out in 3 years and says thanks NYC for all the memories (cause he will).

Did you completely misread my post or just choose to ignore the fact that you were wrong? He strikes people out, yes, but not with a K/9 rate of other strikeout pitchers. He isn't going to strikeout more batters than innings pitched, he isn't going to strikeout 10+ batters in a game. Yes he is a "strikeout pitcher" by definition (although what is the definition? It's just semantics), but I was saying he isn't the strikeout pitcher you are obviously wishing he would be. It isn't difficult to rack up strikeouts when pitching 200-250 innings per season, which is why you have to look at everything on a per 9 innings basis. I made that clear in the numbers I posted which made you look way off base.

How can there be babying? CC even said the reason his bicep was tight was because he was never used to throwing this many pitchers per game so early in the season. Girardi has done the opposite of babying CC, if anything he abused him for the first month or two until that bicep flared up. The guy gets into the 8th inning on AVERAGE, and you think there is babying? He is 2nd in the league in pitches per start with 109.3, the leader being Verlander at 109.4. Do you take the time out to look into anything before you make comments?

[jeff1624]

Why is it every game has become a "Big Game" for our pitcher. I've been seeing this for the past 3 weeks now.

[Pharmcat]

i dont care if CC gets 10K or 1K....he will be measured in the postseason where his numbers are iffy so far

[Dr. Detfink]

You know what? I take that back about calling CC Sabbathia a power pitcher because today, he showed me no heart. Gabe Kapler took out the belt and whipped CC like a little boy.

But let's be fair, triple fat goose wasn't the only problem. There must have been one helluva party because neither Jeter nor A-Rod could throw to first to save their lives.

The second inning is what really dug CC's grave. After Jeter's ridiculous overthrow, CC couldn't get ahead of any hitter. He walked Kapler to load the bases and then proceeded to dig his grave even deeper with horrible pitch selection.

Then the Yanks shot themselves in the foot when Matsui tried to sneak to second base after scoring Teixiera. It's really sad because Hideki plays with a knee brace under his uniform but he had no business especially since Posada could have easily moved him over. Instead, the Yanks get just one run.

Meanwhile Kazmir must have heard what I said because he came out firing.

Now, the series in the hands of Joba Chamberlain unless the Yanks can make up 4 runs.

[Dr. Detfink]

Another misplayed ball by Nick "Swish'n'miss" Swisher. I can't believe the son of a ball player is this stupid. Put him at DH. Can't wait for Austin Jackson to get a call up.

[nykgeneralmanager]

Geez, where did the defense go tonight?

[Slamm Goodbody]

CC obviously didn't have it today but he battled. I'm not so quick to call him a bust or anything, especially with the way the D has been behind him. Just an awfully played game so far by us. Errant throws from usually-steady A-Rod and Jeter, some tough plays that Tex can usually make that he just didn't, Swisher the butcher in midseason form, baserunning mistake by Matsui - must be a full moon or something.