Joe Girardi made some questionable bullpen moves yesterday, as the Yankees fell to the Royals, 6-4. The Yanks, however, still took two out of three from KC, winning Friday night and Saturday night, with strong pitching performances from Andy Pettitte and CC Sabathia.
SERIES POSITIVES: The starting pitching was the most inspiring thing in this Yankees/Royals series. Friday night featured a vintage version of Andy Pettitte, Saturday brought us the CC Sabathia we've all come to know and love, and Sunday was Joba Chamberlain's first start of the year and if it weren't for said questionable bullpen moves, Joba would've had his first win of the year.
SERIES NEGATIVES: Cody Ransom. We knew he wouldn't be A-Rod, or anything close to it for that matter, but Cody is definitely playing well below where we thought he would. His play in the field isn't looking all the great either. Maybe General Joe will throw Ramiro Pena a start in the coming days, just to shake things up. He can't be worse than Ransom, right?
LOOKING AHEAD: The Yankees open a three game series in Tampa tonight. Both teams come in 3-3, trying to establish an early rhythm in the rough AL East. The pitching matchups are: Wang v. Kazmir, Burnett v. Garza, and Pettitte v. Sonnanstine.
TEAM STATS TO THIS POINT:
OFFENSE: .262/.336/.452/.789, 108 OPS+, 7 HR, 35 R
PITCHING: 4.41 ERA, 105 ERA+, 3.4 BB/9, 7.1 BB/9, 2.11 K/BB
A sad note today as the baseball world lost its second member in a week. Legendary Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas died today before the defending champs' match-up with the Nats in Washington tonight. Kalas was truly one of the greats and Phillies games won't be the same without him. RIP Harry Kalas and Nick Adenhart.
Showing posts with label Cody Ransom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cody Ransom. Show all posts
Monday, April 13, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
The Lineup, Sans A-Rod
Hey everybody. It was a stressful week last week, what with a full load for school and the A-Rod mess, so I'm glad to be on Spring Break!
Anyway, A-Rod had his surgery today and is already rehabbing. Regardless of that, he'll still miss 6-9 weeks of action. I've already detailed how I'd design the lineup with A-Rod, now I'll give my take for the lineup without A-Rod.
The likely replacement for Alex Rodriguez is Cody Ransom, so I'll plug him into this lineup. I'm also assuming that Nick Swisher will win the starting right field job, because, well, I'm the President of the Nick Swisher fan club and that Brett "Slugger" Gardner will be the starting centerfielder.
vs. RHP
1. Damon, LF
2. Jeter, SS
3. Swisher, RF
4. Teixeira, 1B
5. Matsui, DH
6. Posada, C
7. Cano, 2B
8. Ransom, 3B
9. Gardner, CF
The top two are obvious. Damon and Jeter are going to bat 1/2 no matter who's pitching, no matter who else is injured, whatever. I wish Girardi would swap the two of them, but Damon/Jeter is fine with me. Swisher batting third is iffy considering his down year last year, but I think he could be a good 3 hitter for the Yanks. He's incredibly patient and has some good pop. It's the former that would be good for the three whole--he could provide a hell of a lot of RBI chances for Tex batting in the cleanup spot. Some people have been suggesting Cano at the top of the order but until he learns some patience, I don't want him up that high, regardless of the pop in his bat. Ransom really ain't a great hitter, so sticking him in the eighth spot makes sense. I just hope he can hit at replacement level for the month that Rodriguez is on the DL. Gardner's potential on base and stealing skills profile him at the top of the order, but until his skills show up, he's better suited at the bottom of the order as a "second leadoff" type of guy.
vs. LHP
1. Damon, DH
2. Jeter, SS
3. Swisher, RF
4. Teixeira, 1B
5. Nady, LF
6. Posada, C
7. Cano, 2B
8. Ransom, 3B
9. Gardner, CF
Nady should be the DH vs. lefties. He hits them better than Hideki Matsui and playing him against lefties gives Matsui time off to rest his knees. I'd like to hit Posada over Nady because of his superior skills all around, but Nady hits lefties just as well as Jorge. The rest of the lineup is the same so no explanation needed there.
Anyway, that's it for now. I'll be back later this week for the second installment of my Division Preview Series with the NL Central. Have a good one and get better soon, Alex!
Anyway, A-Rod had his surgery today and is already rehabbing. Regardless of that, he'll still miss 6-9 weeks of action. I've already detailed how I'd design the lineup with A-Rod, now I'll give my take for the lineup without A-Rod.
The likely replacement for Alex Rodriguez is Cody Ransom, so I'll plug him into this lineup. I'm also assuming that Nick Swisher will win the starting right field job, because, well, I'm the President of the Nick Swisher fan club and that Brett "Slugger" Gardner will be the starting centerfielder.
vs. RHP
1. Damon, LF
2. Jeter, SS
3. Swisher, RF
4. Teixeira, 1B
5. Matsui, DH
6. Posada, C
7. Cano, 2B
8. Ransom, 3B
9. Gardner, CF
The top two are obvious. Damon and Jeter are going to bat 1/2 no matter who's pitching, no matter who else is injured, whatever. I wish Girardi would swap the two of them, but Damon/Jeter is fine with me. Swisher batting third is iffy considering his down year last year, but I think he could be a good 3 hitter for the Yanks. He's incredibly patient and has some good pop. It's the former that would be good for the three whole--he could provide a hell of a lot of RBI chances for Tex batting in the cleanup spot. Some people have been suggesting Cano at the top of the order but until he learns some patience, I don't want him up that high, regardless of the pop in his bat. Ransom really ain't a great hitter, so sticking him in the eighth spot makes sense. I just hope he can hit at replacement level for the month that Rodriguez is on the DL. Gardner's potential on base and stealing skills profile him at the top of the order, but until his skills show up, he's better suited at the bottom of the order as a "second leadoff" type of guy.
vs. LHP
1. Damon, DH
2. Jeter, SS
3. Swisher, RF
4. Teixeira, 1B
5. Nady, LF
6. Posada, C
7. Cano, 2B
8. Ransom, 3B
9. Gardner, CF
Nady should be the DH vs. lefties. He hits them better than Hideki Matsui and playing him against lefties gives Matsui time off to rest his knees. I'd like to hit Posada over Nady because of his superior skills all around, but Nady hits lefties just as well as Jorge. The rest of the lineup is the same so no explanation needed there.
Anyway, that's it for now. I'll be back later this week for the second installment of my Division Preview Series with the NL Central. Have a good one and get better soon, Alex!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
