Ken Davidoff's baseball insider

Good morning, Ken. It is indeed fascinating to see Minnesota scratch and claw its way into first place in the Central. Still, considering that the Twins have given up an average of 4.6 runs per game, it is regrettable that the team took so long to bring back Liriano and cut Hernandez. The organization's penny-wise, pound-foolish approach to the Major League service time issue may ultimately cost the team a playoff berth.

Here's a radical thought for both NY teams, Ken: if the eighth-inning reliever gets through the frame on fewer than 15 pitches, why not let him start the ninth too? Why must a "closer" be brought in when the guy on the mound is doing just fine?

Its amazing that the Twins have been able to be in the race despite trading Santana. Liriano's agent mouthing off made the Twins delay calling up Liriano. Plus at the start of the season, Liriano wasn't really to pitch in the majors right off the bat.
You cannot trust the Mets right now. They have an easy schedule coming up. But considering they were swept by the Padres in June and were swept by the Astros over the weekend, with both series on the road, you can't trust the Mets against under .500 teams.
The Yanks a brutal stretch of games beginning with a 10 game road trip to Texas, Anaheim and Minnesota. I'll sign up for 5-5 right now on this trip.

What do you make of this, Ken? http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/08/mets-eyeing-ric.html
Has Aurilia played much second base in recent years?

Ken, with the backing of NBA commissioner David Stern, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is considering bidding over $1 billion for the Cubs. Considering the fact that Sam Zell is selling the Cubs tax-free, Cuban might win the bidding. It would be very hard for Selig and company to turn down a bid over $1 billion by Cuban unless someone else bids over $1 billion. Well see how the Cubs ownership situation plays out.

I agree with JE on reliever use. Joe Smith threw one pitch in the 8th inning (on Saturday, I believe). Then when Wagner imploded in the 9th, Smith was, of course, unavailable.

Whether a pitcher is comfortable on the mound and his pitches have good "location" and movement is something of a crapshoot from day to day. So when you have a reliever who is effective, maybe even in a groove, and has barely broken a sweat, leave him in there to at least start the next inning.

Ken when I asked this question back in late May or early June you answered NO! So, now it's August 4th and I'm gonna ask it again today; Is it time to take Florida seriously? I say yes because of the three contenders in the east, they have the best rotation now that they are all healthy and pitching and the hitting is still adequate. I think the Mets and Phillies should be more afraid of them than of each other. They could sneak in.

It's hard to stay annoyed at you Kenneth Davidoff.

If Rivera is out, the Yankees are really going to feel it. Marte is no Rivera. If just anyone could replace Mariano, he wouldn't be earning $15 million this year. In the past when Rivera has missed games, the Yankees have struggled. Expect it again if he is forced to sit in the bullpen.

At some point a person has to conclude that this Mets team just isn't that good. Like the Yankees, they are capable of teasing fans with a winning streak, but then just as quickly head south.

Closers have now developed mentalities that lock in on that one inning they throw. I don't know if most of them are capable of sitting in a dugout between innings and then picking up the intensity where they left it. This is just a different era in baseball. Players are used differently.

The bad news...Billy Wagner has arm problems...the good news, he may have to go on the DL !

Farnsworth's implosion against the Rays is exactly why the Yankees unloaded him...would be ironic if yesterday's game costs the Yankees a playoff spot.

Ken:

I was posting somewhere last Friday else that with the Mets schedule being so easy, they should go 16-8 leading into the August 24th series with the Phillies. The Phillies have a tough West Coast trip and a trip to Wrigley so I am hoping they cool off again.

Given his recent success, hard throwing and concern over innings, any thought of putting Pelfrey in the late innings role ala Papelbon? I know it weakens the rotation, but the Mets bullpen directly contributed to 4 of the 5 losses this week in which the Mets had 8th inning leads in two of them.

Catching up:

Regarding the Twins and Liriano, I won't deny that $ was a factor in his delayed promotion. But I don't think it was the ONLY factor. Liriano just started pitching decently at Triple-A a few weeks ago. He is their crown jewel. They didn't want to rush him back up, then have to demote him again if he struggled.

Aurilia makes perfect sense to me, JE. Looks like he has played 2B only minimally the past few years, but who cares? The Mets need some hits right now.

I know what you're saying about relievers, JE. But this is where I disagree with B. James, and the Red Sox ultimately did, too: People function better when they have assigned roles. You just can't ignore the human factor in your bullpen usage.

Dennis, if Bud Selig lets Mark Cuban into Major League Baseball, I will let you run the blog for a day. Forget it. Bud will put together whatever consortium he must in order to keep out Cuban.

Sandy, it shouldn't surprise you that I'm going to stick to my guns on Florida. Major props to them for hanging around this long. But no, I don't think they'll be able to complete the journey.

Matt, I think Pelfrey in the bullpen would be tough at this point. The Joba saga this year has reminded us how much more valuable starting pitchers are than relievers. Removing Pelfrey from the rotation would be a major blow, the relievers' problems notwithstanding.

Ken, I agree with you that the CULTURE of relief pitching now centers around "roles". As a temporary measure, however, what is wrong with Marte pitching the eighth and ninth innings during Rivera's absence, so long as pitch counts don't go too high? (Marte's role has not yet been etched in stone, anyway.) Isn't it interesting how suddenly these pampered relief pitchers can suddenly go multiple innings when a game goes into extra frames?

Down the road, an organization needs to take a bold step and review what made Rollie and Goose so awesome: the ability to take the ball in a high-leverage situation in the seventh innings (e.g., first and third and one out) and not relinquish the ball for 35 pitches.

Regarding the Red Sox and the so-called "bullpen by committee," the team felt compelled to try different arms in the bullpen because they did not feel as though they had anyone who could step in as a dominant closer.

JE there is absolutely no way in the world in these times that you will have a closer pitch 3 innings. No matter how bad the pitching is, the closer pitches the ninth and if necessary the tenth. God, it's almost a crisis situation when mariano has to get 4 outs to get a save. The only way things will change is if some manager comes in like LaRussa did, changes the unwritten rules and wins doing it. Then the other managers will look at it and try it see if it works and if it does, the unwritten rules will change.
Closers aren't really under pitch counts but on use count--they have to be prepared to pitch every game therefore limiting their use.

As much as I would like to see what Melancon can do, I think the Yankees should use Marte in Rivera's role if Mariano is sidelined. Keep Veras in his set-up role where he has been effective.

Sandy, you and I don't necessarily disagree. Under today's norms, what I am suggesting is unrealistic. Yes, it might take somelike like a LaRussa (funny that his name came up, since he might be most responsible for today's state of affairs vis-a-vis closers) to take a retro-fresh approach.

Why not consider having a bullpen act as something akin to a truncated starting pitching staff? Have two or three trusted arms that can alternate games and go two-plus innings, a LOOGY and ROOGY, a long-relief guy, and two to three others?

I don't believe Cuban would bid $1 billion for the Cubs because the team isn't worth that much and he wouldn't make any money. He is a businessman, after all. But, if he does bid significantly higher than anyone else, Zell is going to want the money. So, Bud S. will really have to earn his money in developing an alternate group to purchase the team and keep Cuban out. For once, I will root for Bud. Cuban should never be allowed to own an MLB team. He is a big mouth and even worse than Ted Turner during his heyday (naming himself manager, etc.).

Jim

Totally disagree about Cuban. Yes he's a big mouth, but he poured bundles of money into the Mavericks and made them a first class organization. And his biggest issue in the NBA was the atrocious officiating which, with the Tim Donaghy plea, can you tell me was off base?

Matt T: You said it in his second sentence: He is a big mouth. I have listened to him and watched him. He is way over the top. He will embarrass baseball, as well as himself, although he doesn’t seem to care. I am repulsed by him and hope he is never allowed to enter the sport that I have loved since my earliest days.

I think it is a tad hypocritical to prevent a Cuban from coming into baseball when we have already have so many Castros.

If anything we need to Git Mo Cubans who are willing to lay down a sacrifice and fewer Castros intent on dominating the game.

Just an opinion, from two time zones away, where the altitude is higher and the air is cleaner.

I-505, I am not going to touch that one with a 10-foot bat.

I wonder if Cuban makes the highest offer (which is entirely probable since he wants a team) and he gets rejected by Selig if Zell would sue baseball? As much as an a-hole he can be, he would be good for baseball because he would be an active owner who wants to win. Plus he's entirely quotable and accessible and not always in a bad way
JE I used LaRussa just for that reason he is responsible for the bullpen situation as it stands today

Oh, I think Zell would sue Although Cuban and Zell might not be a good match because Zell will want to keep broadcasting Cubs games and Cuban will want to have his own Cubs network. Active owners can also be pain in the neck owners. I don't know how many of the people here have ever watched an interview with Cuban. I have. I wouldn't want him as a member of the club.

JE, Bill James suggest to the Red Sox to go with the "bullpen by committee". James happens to be an employee of the Red Sox, and still works with the Red Sox today. Anyway the Red Sox, signed Keith Foulke in the off-season in 2003 and went on to win the World Series in 2004 with Foulke as th closer.
Ken, Sam Zell is trying to sell the Cubs without the wininng bidder paying any tax.Is that a concern for baseball and for Selig?
Jim, Sam Zell is trying to sell the Cubs by not having the winning bidder pay any tax.
Here's the link to the story about that.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/29/magazines/fortune/sloan_cubs.fortune/index.htm

George Steinbrenner spend like crazy and did a lot of crazy things as owner of the Yanks. Cuban will do the same thing.

Huh Jim?

You got sumpin against 10 Foot POLES too?

Wait til you see the guy playing for Poland in Beijing next week.
Goes by the name of Idolayup Cuzicantski.

AND.....he makes free throws at a 90% clip to boot.

Dennis, you mean Zell himself doesn't want to pay any tax on the transaction, not the winning bidder. The IRS is already looking at some of his other transactions (i.e. Newsday) and I hope he doesn't get away with it. Nonsense like that makes our taxes go up.

Steinbrenner often made a fool of himself during his years as owner of the Yankees. Does baseball want to go through that again with Cuban? I doubt it. Let's watch Bud earn his $15 million a year keeping Cuban out.

When I wrote earlier about Cuban not paying $1 billion for the team, I was technically right, but wrong in the overall sense since the deal involves the ballpark and part of Comcast.

I-505 - What do you think about Girardi as Yankee manager up to this point?

Jim, Zell is trying to sell Wrigley Field separated from the team. Not only Zell is selling the Cubs, but also the Wigley Field and the naming rights for the stadium. The state of IIIinois is trying to buy Wrigley Field form Zell.

If Zell is selling the team, I don't know why he would be selling the naming rights, instead of letting the new ownership group do that. The stadium will either be sold to the new Cubs owner or the state would buy it, but in this economy and with municipal governments facing huge deficits all across the country, I cannot believe Illinois or Chicago would ever be able to swing buying a ballpark while at the same time, cutting services, firing workers and raising taxes. Plus, if the state bought it, the land and structure would come off the tax rolls, creating a new gap in tax revenues.

Jim,

To this point I give Girardi a solid A.
And that is based solely on the way he has handled the pitching staff and especially the bullpen.
Pitching has kept the Yankees this close so far this year.
And as a game tactitian, I thinks he's been very good, there have been very few glaring "what the hell was he thinking" moments on the field.

With that said, I have some critiques and criticisms. (minor)
1/ I have issues with two of his coaches.....namely Long and Meacham. The hitting has been sadly deficient too often this year and Meacham impresses me as someone who is too aggressive at 3rd at times while also being too prudent at times. He does not seem comfortable coaching 3rd.
Managers choose coaches, correct?
2/While I never wrote or posted this over the weekend and I now run the risk of accusations of being a monday morning quarterback, I thought starting Pudge with Pettite on Thursday was a big mistake. Guys like Pettite and Moose are craftsmen and they need a catcher who knows their game. Pudge needs time to work with guys like them, and it was pretty clear to me that Pettite was not comfortable with Pudge on Thursday. BUT, to Girardi's credit he immediately switched Moose back to Molina.
The other starters and the bullpen?, well....they just need to deal with it...Pudge IS smarter than them.
3/Melky.....If I was the manager, and Melky continued to DIVE INTO 1ST BASE like he does, I would meet him in the dugout after yet another OUT call (cuz umps just won't call a guy safe on a close play if he dives into 1st) and hand him a gift certificate for a Slip and Slide at Toys R' Us and send him home.
And I am SO vehement about things like this that I would put JOBA in CF to replace him if I had to.

There are a lot of fundamental things that this team does wrong that THE MANAGER needs to address.
But I give him a pass on a lot of them at this point into his tenure.
Sometimes, in this day and age, it takes a year or so for a manager to get through the earwax in some of these guys heads.

Just my opinion.

I just read an article on Yahoo Sports that White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen has in the past order his pitchers to hit batters purpose. Considering the fact that the White Sox and Royals yesterday had a near brawl, Guillen will definitely be suspended for his remarks.
Wagner has 7 blown saves this year. Lidge has zero blown saves, just like Rivera. Keep that in mind down the stretch with the Mets and Phillies.

Addendum Jim..

"... and it was pretty clear to me that Pettite was not comfortable with Pudge on Thursday."

I know that Andy Pettite displays the image of a "stoic, cerebral, hardworking pitcher".
But let me say this... Every lefthanded pitcher I have ever known or met in my life has had a screw loose. A catcher might show up with a button missing on his pants and it could send a lefthander into a funk.
I think we saw that on Thursday.
There was one camera shot in the bottom of the 2nd and Pettite was standing at the railing talking long and hard to Pudge. Almost like he was giving Pudge a Cliff's Note version of how he wanted to pitch guys. And Pudge had a blank stare on his face like "Oh Christ, here I am 6 years from the HOF and this is the 700th or so lefthanded pitcher in my career who has his own "unique" way of getting guys out, and I have 3 minutes to absorb and learn it".
That scene did not bode well for what in fact eventually transpired for that game.

Lefties are nuts.....cuckoo... in a world of their own.

It's an unprovable fact.....

....and just my opinion.

Ken dont fall into the Mike & the Mad Dog routine. They always run down the schedules of the Mets, Yanks, Jets, Giants, and Islanders and then say they will win this or lose that game. WAs the Astros really an elite team? Did Charly Kernfield start pitching for them again? The Mets will never have an easy schedule because they're not good enough to have an easy schedule. And if they're hot, they can beat anyone. But if they're not, they can be the worst team in baseball.

Richie - agreed...Mets always play to their level of competition.

Yanks usually play well in Texas however the Rangers are not shabby this year.

Joba is the ace of the staff....may we live in interesting times !

Ken, everyone keeps saying how the Mets need to plug someone in the outfield who can swing the bat, how they need to trade to get someone because Ryan Church won't be coming back, etc. The thing is, they have such a guy in their AAA team, Valentino Pascucci! Ted Berg from SNY has been practically SCREAMING about him for months and the Mets continue to do stupid things like bring up someone like Robinson Cancel instead of Pascucci! Read more about him; someone has got to start clamoring to give this guy a chance, the Mets *need* him! Here's some useful links:

http://www.metsblog.com/2008/08/04/minors-val-pascucci-hits-3-hr/

http://www.sny.tv/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080804&content_id=1470311&oid=36018&vkey=31

Jim and Dennis--Zell is selling the Cubs, Wrigley Field and his portion of Comcast SportsNet to the highest bidder, who right now is Cuban. The city of Chicago wanted to buy the stadium but it wasn't possible. There was an interesting idea tossed out when Zell announced he wanted to sell the naming rights to Wrigley Field: that he was doing it for the sole reason to make Wrigley Gum pay to keep the name of the family on the stadium. When you think of it, it's only fair. I can only think of Joe Robbie Stadium, named after the man who owned the Dolphins and built the stadium. After he sold the team to that miserable cretin, Wayne Huizenga, ruiner of all sports in Miami except the Heat, Huizenga immediately sold the naming rights to the stadium to Pro Player, and immediately earned the wrath of all Dolfans (truly deserved).

I think Valentino's previous stint in the majors pretty much sums up why he's a career minor leaguer.

I'm always skeptical of someone like this, Doug - reminds me of Shelley Duncan. But shoot, what do the Mets have to lose at this point? And Duncan helped the Yankees last year. I'll poke around this week.

Richie, I'm not saying the Mets or Yankees WILL win or lose the upcoming games. I'm definitely saying the Mets have an advantageous schedule, and the Yankees have a particularly difficult one.

As for Brad Lidge while he hasn't blown any saves, he has an ERA of over 4.5 for the last month and if you look at his history, he has trouble in August and September. Not that this makes me feel much better about Wagner.

Waldman and Sterling said on the radio tonight that Giese will start Friday against the Angels replacing Rasner.They also said that Hughes will move to Triple AAA. This will not make Jim happy that Giese is starting Frifay instead of Kennedy.
The question I have with Zell is will he sell the Cubs, Wrigley Field and his share of Comcast SportsNet together or separated.

OK Ken...because if I have to tell you one more time to stop quoting Mike Francessa I'm going to SCREAM!!! (For the new people, I'm joking-Ken always admonishes one of our regs for quoting Francessa, for the old grizzled vets, laugh, it was funny)

Dennis: Giese starting Friday is fine by me. They must think Kennedy needs to show at least a few more quality minor league starts. What if he came up and got bomed in the first or second innings and had to be taken out, similar to what happened to Igawa? Would he immediately be shipped back down? That could really blow the guy's mind. Giese has earned a start. Let him have it and see what he can do. Ken made a good call on Giese earlier in the year.

I-505: Interesting observations. Thanks! I think Girardi needs some time to make his mark with the team, too. Especially after Mr. Torre seemed to let things get a little loose the last few years.

I thought Melky was told to knock off the head first slides into first? Can't anyone get through to him? He's eventually going to break his wrist or hand doing it.

Wrigley is going with the Cubs. Not sure about the Comcast part. Maybe this is how Bud keeps the team away from Cuban. He manipulates the deal so Comcast isn't part of it and thus the price stays down on the rest, thereby making it affordable for his man.

The Yankees schedule is most definitely tougher the last two months than it was in 2007. If they reach Ken's 90 win prediction I will say that Girardi did a pretty good job.

Chamberlain certainly didn't get it done tonight: 93 pitches in just 4.2 innings, TWO homeruns andFIVE earned runs. Terrible.

Nice to see Edwar bounce back. That quote about him in Ken's column yesterday is way, way off the charts.

Jim, Joba left the game in the bottom of the 5th pointing at his shoulder. The last thing the Yanks need is for Joba, Pettitte or Moose to get hurt right now. I'm praying that it is not a serious injury to Joba. Nady just hit a home run to tied the game at 5-5. You think the Mets wish they had Nady right now?
Rays lost 5-2 to the Indians tonight at home. Cliff Lee won his 15th. Lee might win the Cy Young Award this year.

Sandy, his career in the Majors was back in 2004 with the Expos, which consisted of 62 ABs. I hardly think you can say that he really had time to prove himself.

Dennis, I am so sick of all the injuries. This is getting ridiculous, not only with the Yankees but with all teams. How do you spell WIMP? Wang, a professional athlete, can't run around the bases without getting hurt. I am not going to list all of the injuries here, but you really have to wonder. With today's training equipment, medical assistance, etc., these guys would be laughed out of baseball if they pulled this during the era of Cobb, Wagner, Ruth and Gehrig. Chipper Jones got hurt tying his shoe.

We are seeing the Marte is far from "lights out."

Also, that's my point exactly, Ken! The Mets have been playing a platoon of Endy Chavez, Fernando Tatis, Marlon Anderson, Nick Evans, and now Dan Murphy! Why not give this guy a shot! He's a righty bat, of all things, who is CRUSHING left-handed pitching in AAA who has power in his bat! There's no reason to not to at least give him a chance!

Of course, the Mets wish that Nady was in Flushing, Dennis. The asking price from the Bucs was too high, that's all. For several years, Mets brass neglected the farm system (as evidenced by the condescending relationship the club had with Norfolk, until the city finally told the organization where to stick it) and thus could not afford to give up the little talent that's left.

Well Jim....

I may have given Girardi an A so far this year, but he got an F tonight.

He hung Marte out to dry in the 9th....Shoulda pulled him after the 2nd of 3 walks in the 9th. He was not getting his fastball over.
Until the last guy....and boy did he get that one over the plate.

bad bad bad loss

505 - I thought he managed horribly against the Angels on Sat with Ramirez on the mound. Ramirez couldn't get his change up over to really spot his fastball, but he kept him in until he gave up the grand slam. Everyone knew he didn't have it. Same thing tonight with Marte.

BTW, Meacham was Girardi's 3B coach in 2006 with Marlins.

JE, after seeing Marte tonight it's obvious that guys like him can't throw more than one inning. He walked three and gave up two hits in 1.1 innings. He gets 4 outs TOTAL and throws 42 pitchers. Is Marte worth his $6 million option in 2009?

To be fair, Jim, Marte didn't look so good in the eighth inning either.

Is he worth the $6M option? We have another eight weeks (or more) to consider the question....

Je, yeh, I agree. With so many guys in the bullpen, why is someone like this allowed to stay in when it is clear he doesn't have it? It is tough to watch a game like this unfold.

Jim, I totally agree with you about injuries. These players get pay big contracts and some of them get lazy. As soon as they feel something is wrong, they go for an MRI to see how hurt they are and sit out for a while. Freak injuries do happen in baseball. Wang's injury happen on the base paths. Also players that are on steriods or take amphetamines in the past have broken down and gotten hurt.
The Yanks said that Joba has a stiff right shoulder and is going back to New York for tests.
Pitching for the Pirates, a team going no where compare to pitching for the Yanks, who contend for the playoffs every year, is a whole lot different. In the case of Marte, he play on the 2005 White Sox that won the World Series. But playing on the Yanks is a lot of pressure. Tonight, he got out of a runner on 3rd, 1 out situation in the 8th. But in the 9th, Marte walk the bases loaded and then gave up a walk-off Grand Slam to Marlon Byrd to lose 9-5. Marte so far is having issues with his control. The Yanks blew a chance to gain ground on the Rays and the Red Sox because both teams lost. Girardi should have had somone up in the pen in the 9th.
Jim, Ramirez had 2 out and no one on in the 8th on sunday. And what does he do? He walks the 9th hitter Willits, gives up a single to Figgins and then walks Aybar before the Glrand Slam to Teixeria. Ramirez should not have been in that situation if he didn't walk Willits. Now after he loaded the bases, Girardi should have bought in Marte.
The Yanks don't have a day off until Aug 14, which means that the Yanks will play the entire 10 game road trip with no days off. And because of that, Girardi didn't want to burn out the entired pen tonight and left Marte in the game to pitch longer than he should.

Of course, Jim, would you agree that the Texas Rangers lineup has a nasty habit of making many pitchers, even the better ones, look pretty bad?

Ken and everyone else, did you read Tim Marchman's column in defense of Carlos Beltran? (http://www.nysun.com/sports/mets-have-problems-but-beltran-isnt-one-of-them/83110/)

I guess that Marchman was responding to an earlier Lupica piece that unmercilessly bashed Beltran.

Beltran's way-deeper-than-necessary positioning and propensity to bunt with runners on base notwithstanding, I agree with Marchman's points. (I suspect that Dennis' view might deviate a tad from mine....)

Is anyone watching the ballgame on ESPN? This is nothing short of crazy! How can the umpires allow the game in Wrigley to consider during a lightning/thunderstorm?!? I just saw Lance Berkman remove his necklace, just in case!

Oops! I meant, "continue", not "consider".

Great, great stuff guys! Please forgive me - I enjoyed my day off today with my son and didn't put up a second post.

Jim, what quote on Edwar Ramirez are you talking about being "off the charts"?

One thing to contemplate re: injuries. Teams are far, far more cautious than they were back in the day, because they have so much more invested in these guys than they used to. So you could argue that the teams, as well as the players, are more cautious.

Jim
"505 - I thought he managed horribly against the Angels on Sat"

I agree with the way he handled Ramirez on Saturday....
F there as well. (I am still giving him an A, season to date).

JE
"To be fair, Jim, Marte didn't look so good in the eighth inning either."

Not sure what 8th inning you were watching JE, but with all due respect, Marte threw ONE bad pitch that inning. A pipe fastball that was misplayed by Christian into a triple (to be fair to him, the ball took a funny hop off of the weird wall out there).
I thought Marte was absolutely solid in the 8th, recovered nicely from the triple (Farns has been known to BLOW UP when things like that happen) and manhandled the next two batters.
The 4 pitch walk after going 0-2 to lead off the 9th (he completely lost the strike zone with his fastballs) should have been a tipoff to Girardi. But leaving him in there just so he could pitch to Home Run Hamilton was just silly (and he WALKED HIM as well anyway).

Damaso was day old laundry left on a clothes line for Byrd.
Stiff and crackly.

Bad bad bad loss.

Hehehe, I-505. Your critique reminds me of the line: "Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?" Marte gave up the triple on "a pipe fastball" and, later, Saltalamacchia hit the ball on the nose too, only this time right at Christian for the third out.

Comment re Joba tonight....

I tuned in the game in the 4th inning after Joba had pitched 3 shutout innings. My 1st comment on the live chat was, "this is a good thing, low pitch count through 3 shutout innings, Joba in the past has gotten stronger in the middle innings".
After watching him struggle through the 4th (hit hard and gave up a 2 run dinger), I made the comment that Joba appeared "stiff" tonight, his mechanics were off as he was not bending his back and he was letting his left shoulder fly out on occasion.

One other thing that I found odd was that Joba did not appear to be sweating the way you would expect a pitcher to sweat in 100 degree temperatures. Granted the humidity was low (mid 30's) but I have to wonder if Joba was properly hydrating tonight. Oftentimes, when playing in dry heat, you almost have to force the body to perspire by drinking a lot of water (or gatorade).
Improper hydrating puts unnecessary stress on the muscles.
Not perspiring causes them to tighten up.
(I live -and played a lot of ball- in a high desert where high temperatures and low humidity are the norm-drink more water regardless if you are thirty or perspiring much--MAKE yourself perspire).

I hoping he's just got a minor muscle strain. Or simply stiffness.
Bottle of ibuprophens (200 Mg variety) and 3-4 days rest says this doc if it's just a strain....maybe miss a turn.
DRINK MORE WATER JOBA.

But I am no doctor.....just an old guy with a permanently sore shoulder....so maybe I don't know jack squat..

It's just some thoughts...from only one time zone away from the Yanks right now.

JE.

"Saltalamacchia hit the ball on the nose too, only this time right at Christian for the third out."

Looked like a fly ball to me....and he was ahead in the count to Salty from the get go.
And this was after he struck the previous guy out.

It was a good inning by Marte.
NO RUNS, one hit and one man left on.

I'll take that every time.

Get some ZZZs, I-505. Tomorrow's a new day, or so I hear.

G'night JE.....
We'll get 'em next time?

Ken

The quote that's over the top is from your Seventh Inning Stretch:

Quote of the Week: "I was upset they threw him out of the game, because he's really good hitting. He's a cute little fella, he didn't throw that hard and he doesn't have very good stuff. So it's probably a good idea they threw him out, because it probably would've been in Monument Park." Kevin Millar, after Edwar Ramirez threw a pitch high and tight.

Nice quote...Millar is a punk for a bad team so there's some justice.

Didn't see the game last night but Joba's shoulder issue is scary.

Keep us posted on the MRI results...

Ohhh! Sorry, I completely forgot about that. I thought that I, myself, had made some quote about Ramirez. Hence my confusion. :)