Well if you are
a supporter of Joba being in the rotation your prayers have been
answered!!! I have been saying all along that I want Joba in the
rotation, his stuff is too good to keep to one inning. I understand
that the 8th inning is a huge gap right now, however if Joba has the
ability to be dominant like that every time he pitches, where would you
rather him be? I can’t imagine many people saying that he should be in
the bullpen if he performed like that every start.
EARLY SIDETRACK: Wow that was quick….Let’s hear it for the Yankee
defense!!! 18 straight with no errors, a major league record, and they
had a bunch of role players in, probably thinking “Oh man, I hope I
don’t screw up”…way to make us proud boys.
Last night’s game was a big one and I am confident we will see more
of this in June, we are 1 game up on the saux…even though I do believe
it is too early to care about that…but it does build confidence and fan
support so let’s keep that gap growing. I’m thinking more and more that
the AL East and wildcard is turning into a 2 team race…yes I believe
both will come out of the East (Yanks and Boston)…but again to early to
tell if certain teams woes will continue throughout the season. The
Yankees didn’t dominate Sowers like I thought they would, but the kid
is a smart pitcher who has had his moments of clarity and brilliance
(might be a slight over statement). He was fooling hitters, getting
them to hit ground balls, and getting out of tight situations with 2
double plays, one of which scored a run for the Yanks. I wanted the
Yankee bats to be aggressive, but maybe that was my mistake…I know, I’m
acting like they take advice from me, I’m not George Costanza
JEEZ!…taking pitches and working the count might have been the better
approach, but it’s too late for that now. But when it really comes down
to it…WHO CARES THEY WON!!! I just don’t want to see them fall in the
holes of years past when they got dominated by sub par pitchers because
they are conflicted on how to handle them.
Side Track: To get back to Joba for a second…is it possible that he
is trying too hard? That he isn’t trusting his pitching ability? One
thing that I haven’t heard anyone mention is the way a pitch
count/innings restriction might affect a young pitcher. Putting this on
them might make them overexert themselves, trying too hard to work
through innings and get people out so they can keep their pitch count
down. You can’t say they don’t think about because they have to, that’s
all anyone talks about…ESPECIALLY WITH JOBA!!! The bottom line and my
point about this is that being hard on Joba for not pitching late into
games might be the product of him trying too hard to work later in to
games. Knowing that you have a pitch count to worry about HAS to work
its way into a young pitcher psyche and in turn force them into trying
too hard. Please take pitch restrictions away, or don’t make them
public, don’t let us know what your plan is, once the media takes hold
of it they ALWAYS blow it out of proportion…well, this is just a
thought. As for my reason about last night, Joba is a great pitcher and
maybe Joe told him to calm down and trust his stuff…or maybe he said
you have no pitch limit, to keep his mind off of it.
Alright, back to last night…Give it up for Jeter!!!! Over the last 9
games, he has raised his average 34 points!!! 34 points!!!..sorry, but
that is incredible…Jeter is the catalyst for this team winning and
there is definately a corrolation here. I know they were winning when
he was struggling, but over his 15 game hitting streak the Yankees have
gone 11 and 4 and scored an average of 6.2 runs per game…not too
shabby! Anyway as I said before the Yankee bats where confused by
Sowers and didn’t produce many runs off him…actually it was only 1 and
that was on a double play by Nick Swisher…play was close at first but
Garko might have stayed on the bag. OH by the way…V-Mart…you know,
probably the 2nd best hitting catcher in the game…behind Jose Molina of
course…hit a moonshot last night, I finally saw the replay and it was a
BOMB (ending Joba’s perfect game bid 
)…unfortunately I had to listen to John Sterling who makes every pop
fly by the Yankees sound dramatic but can’t say anything when a guy on
the opposite team hits an epic shot. Sowers finally left the game, with
the lead, in the 5th inning, but not before he loaded the bases, with
walks…patients…WOW!!, he was replaced by Greg Aquino who put the threat
away, NOT GOOD!!…btw that means the Yankees DIDN’T SCORE WITH THE BASES
LOADED AND NO OUTS!!!…pathetic. Joba is still cruising at this point
only giving up that BOMB to V-Mart.
No one can deny that Swisher has been struggling as of late, but
last night he came through HUGE for the Yankees…with the bases loaded
in the top of the 6th Swisher hits a deep shot off the left field
wall…probably 2 feet away from a granny…which scores two and breaks a 2
inning stalemate…Arod follows with a 2 run single to give the Yanks a
5-1 lead. Joba was still stifling batters and only gave up 2 earned,
the latter of which came on a ground out to Jeter in which Choo scored.
Joba handed the game over to Mo in the 9th and, to sound like a typical
Yankee fan, with a 5-2 lead, for get about it! The Indians had no
shot…But let’s cheer for Joba a great pitching performance…exactly what
he needed, exactly what the Yankees and their bullpen needed…a great
series win…and getting the momentum back for the 7 game home stand. Be
careful AL East the Yankees are back and looking to destroy anyone in
their way to the pennant.
Tonite! The Yanks welcome the Texas Rangers…who are first in the AL
West (Really?)…into their home for a quick 3 game series. The last time
they faced eachother the Yankee bats came alive and they took the 3
game series 2 to 1. Tonite Burnett faces Padilla…a decent matchup in
favor of the Yankees…if Burnett can build off his last performance we
will be in good shape, Padilla is making his first start coming off the
DL and the Yankees must attack the rust that he inevidably developed.
The same old story with Burnett if he can keep the ball down and keep
the Rangers batters baffled (obvioulsy) he will pitch fine. The
powerful Rangers are scary though, they have huge bats, even though it
is unlikely we will see Hamilton play, and with the way this ballpark
is playing we could see a ton of balls fly into the seats. Burnett will
set up his fastball…he must keep it away from the right hand batters
and set up his curveball when he is in counts in his favor…I can see
Burnett getting in and out of trouble in this game but if he is calm
and confident we should see a similar performance to the one he had in
Arlington on 5/27. I see the Yankees winning this game as long as they
attack Padilla, most pitchers have to transition a little bit after
coming off the DL and the Yankees must exploit that…the bats are
hot…the gloves are hot…the pitching has been what we expected…LET’S GO
YANKEES!!!
Other Notes:
Ichiro: 25-game hitting streak…and no one is talking about it!
Red Wings: They can go up 3-0 tonite in a very tough series, but
expect both Malkin and Crosby to show up tonite at home, they can’t
lose a third straight…and can’t go back to Detroit if the Wings can
clinch.
Ummmm…I think that is it…ohhhhhhhhh Tom Brady is looking good and
healthy and has been regularly participating in practice..he’s back and
looking sharp…hopefully he shakes off the rust in the pre-season.
Yeap that’s it…who knows might be back later….lates
River Ave Rant 