On the Yankees beat

BOBBY AND CANO--NEITHER HUSTLE AND BOTH APPEAR AS DUMB AS A BAG OF ROCKS. RASNER JUST CAN'T PITCH.

Couple of comments about today's game. It was great to get the win but Bobby where is your head. I guess we all know. Also, Girardi should have something in order for Mr. Christian. This young guy plays all out and has a head on what to do in the game. His steal of second and third were electric to this team. He did get a hit in his next at bat. He deserves some of Melky's playing especially against LH pitchers. Once again, I stand by my point made in ST, Karstens and Rasner should not pitch for the Yankees. Karstens is gone. I wish him well. Now, Mr. Rasner needs to be replaced by Kennedy or any other deserving pitcher from AA or AAA. Rasner is just doesn't have the talent to battle in the AL East or any against any other top club in baseball.

Good Points mister Larry.

I said all along that Justin was something special and should be given a look in the OF if that means sitting Melky then be it I want to see this kid in a week full of at bats. Right now he is our "Dave roberts" . People tell me he is an energy boost in the Dugout as well.

Much PROPS to Xavier as well he fits right into this club.
Team needs to disregard this lefty righty mess and move some hitters up. I think pudge would do better if sandwiched beI love his game calling with the younger pitchers. tween better hitters.

eventhough Edwar messed up.

Bronx Bomber: Could you believe how many of the LAA rallies were with 2 outs. These guys can cut your heart out. They are a very good club. We did well to take 2 games but could of had 3.

Edwar has to become aggressive. He had two guys out and started to pick at the plate then loaded the bases. He has a decent fastball and should learn the cutter from Mariano.

Does anyone know what gives with Mariano.

This kid Christian has the tools needs to play a bit more. A week of AB's might be tough to find but some guys will need a rest soon.

I've never been so happy with a split at home! Great comebacks in this win and it was much needed.

Naaaaaaaaady, when you are with me I am smiling............

We should all recognize what kind of player Justin Christian is and understand his limitations.

He's a great option coming off the bench to pinch run when the team really needs speed or a stolen base.

He's not an everyday player. We're talking about a guy who made his major league debut at the age of 28, so I’m not sure I’d put the “special player” label on him.

That's not intended to bash Christian - but he is what he is. Every team needs a guy like that on the bench.

My only worry about Christian is that he’s been pretty ballsy stealing third a few times with no outs. It’s great when he makes it, but it’s a real rally killer if he gets gunned down.

I just hope he doesn’t get thrown out in a critical situation and kills a rally late in the game, but it’s going to happen sooner or later if he keeps rolling the dice.

Bingo Viper...
While the outcome was outstanding today, I nevertheless held my breath when Gardner took off, with a wtf gasp.
He was kinda lucky that Figgens was breaking in for the bunt initially, and stumbled on his way back.
Although, a hitter squaring in that situation and faking a bunt is a pretty good tactic when you have a guy with his speed.

But it's good to see aggressive baseball like that. Yanks beat Scioscia at his own game today with that play.

Another play I have seen GOOD teams do is a "bunt and run".
A speedy guy like Gardner breaks from 1st. Batter squares and bunts toward the 3rd baseman, drawing him in and away from 3rd. Shortstop is covering 2nd leaving 3rd base wide open (most pitchers are too dumb to cover 3rd), and the speedy runner never breaks stride rounding second and goes all way to 3rd on the play.
It's a gutsy play, but with the right (smart) runner and a good bunter, it works more often than not.

Just a thought.

How could people place a label on this kid while that bum is roaming CF talk about over rated!

So what he is being called up @ age 28 some players catch the magic late. with all the politics this team has had in it's previous years perhaps he was road blocked.

give him his chance before you judge, and boy was we ever wrong on our judgement on players this year ask Moose.

There are plenty of times when a player is a late bloomer ask Paulie, ask Nady.

What the players like Justin do is put players like Melky on notice while Nady is putting players like Bobby on notice. Meaning that these players had no fear factore prior and now know they can be replaced if need be.

Bomber

Good point!

Larry
I have to once again agree with you .time to call up Kennedy or Aceves or Hughes .Rasner has been exposed for what he is .he did an admirable job especially in the early going but now it's time to move along....

Mo has a back problem.

Wild weekend in the BX, very happy with a split. We have to play those monsters 6 more times, sign me up for a 3-3. Looks like the clock has struck midnight for Rasnerella, time to promote IPK who has pitched very well at AAA. The most shocking game over the weekend was the pitching of Ponson on Friday night, I couldnt believe my eyes. It was almost a "how dare he pitch this well against the Angels" moment, I dont know where it came from, but Ill take it! Im all for giving Justin some more PT in CF, I know he's "old" but that's the peak age for hitters 27-28, this is the best Justin is going to be in his career, lets take advantage and see what happens. I love Melk to death, but there's nothing wrong with some healthy competition.

Now some notes from the farm.....

Saturday

Mark Melancon gave up a run on a hit and a walk in 2 innings of work, and struck out 3.

Phil Coke, recently promoted to AAA, gave up 3 runs on 3 hits and a walk in 1 1/3 innings of work.

Juan Miranda was 1 for 3 with a walk and his 9th homer of the season. He is hitting .400 in his last 10 ames.

Austin Jackson was 2 for 3 with a double.

Alan Horne made a rehab start, and continued to struggle. In 2 1/3 innings, Horne gave up 6 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks, and struck out 3. It is apparent that there might be something seriously wrong with him, and I think it might be best to just shut him down for the rest of the season, and let him get over his dead arm with rest.

Carl Pavano started, giving up a run on 5 hits in 3 innings of work, striking out 2 in the process.

Phil Hughes, also rehabbing, outpitched Pavano, giving up just a hit and a walk in 3 2/3 dominant innings, and striking out 5. He looks ready to move up to high-A or AA, though they Yankees will take it slow with him. Hughes was apparently throwing very hard, hitting 101 on what must have been a very juiced gun. More likely, he was hitting 95 or so, which is not too shabby for his 2nd rehab outing of the season.

101????? I would hate for the cops in my area to have that radar gun..lol Still he had to be in the upper 90's, now if he could only master that pesky changeup...

Brandon Laird was 2 for 4 with 2 homers, giving him 14 on the season. Despite his less than impressive .262 average, Laird has shown some impressive home run power this season.

Sunday

Ian Kennedy was solid again, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits and a walk in 7 innings of work, and striking out 6. ( This was against Pawtucket, for what its worth )

Matt Carson was 2 for 5 with a double to raise his average to .301. He also stole a base

Juan Miranda was 2 for 4 with a walk, and is up to .303.

Jesus Montero, catching today was 4 for 5 with 2 doubles and his 13th home run. With this outburst, Jesus raised his average to .316 on the season. His OPS is up to a lofty .840. He is hitting .333 in his last 10 games, ( MONTERO THE MONSTER!!!! )

Brandon Laird continued to rake, going 2 for 4 with his 15th home run and a double.

I really love Laird, he's a 3rd basemen that carries a big bat! Look for him to move though the organization. For anyone complaining about our lack of position players, I think Laird is going to be something special. Add in Montero, Romine, Miranda, Jackson....there are some impact bats lurking in the system.

Well, today begins a huge 3 week road trip, we only have one series against KC at home until 8/26 against Boston and then Toronto. This month will really determine what kind of shot we have at getting into the playoffs.

Like Annie Savoy said in Bull Durham...go get em boys, hit em where they aint!

GO YANKS!

Ruse..

After viewing his minor league stats this man Justin has the ablility on being our leadoff hitter his SB ratio is pretty good and his average is decent as well.

he also has 1 K in 27 at bats.

I see my dude Ajax is still doing his job

Wow after seeing that Hughes is throwing into the upper 90's. I feel like if it were last yr again. Both he and Kennedy are pitching as we anticipated they would, although they are in the minors...still, I'm sure I'm not the only one here thats excited to see them doing well. Does anyone see these two up within the next 3 weeks to have our rotation close to what it was supposed to be???

Viper and Islander,

This is the problem with the Yankee brass in the past. A player such as Christian, Juan Rivera, Richie Ledee were labeled as minimal impact prospects. They were shipped away or bench performers without given a chance at regular play. Have we not allowed ourselves to move away from the big FA signing positional player and give these kids a real shot at regular play. A prime example of a player slowly improving at the plate but not so much in the field is Wilson B. hitting about .262 with more plate appearances.

Christian's steal of third with a RH batter up was not lucky IMHO but smart. The Third baseman is moving in 20' to cover for the bunt the shortstop is moving toward the hole up the middle or staying put to watch the play develope. No one can cover third as was shown, result run scored and Angels making errors to allow runs. speed kills in more ways than one. And Melky still can't bunt. He still watches the ball as he runs. The kid is raw. Give Christian some more playing time and results such as occurring with Wilson B and the bullpen will occurr with Christian.

Bobby B.'s running plunder was atrocious. Bronx Bomber you are correct. The younger guys need to be played a litttle more just in case an older player breaks down. They'll be ready.

Larry,
Juan Rivera and Ricky Ledee WERE players of little impact. Both were given or are being given regular playing time and well, they had little impact.

So how bad is Mo's back? Is this anything to worry about?

I'm telling everyone, as always, Hughes will be fine and will come back strong!

As for Christian:

I hear a lot of you talk about him potentially being road-blocked, being old, or a late bloomer. Why not look at his actually history first? Here are the facts:

1. He's 28 years old
2. Started college at Auburn, but transferred after the 2001 season (he was 21)
3. Played for SE Missouri State and was an All-American in 2003 (he was 23)
4. Signed by the Yankees as a non-drafted FA in 2004 (he was 24)
5. Split time in 2004 between the New York Penn League and Gulf Coast League (mostly NYP) - .284 avg
6. Split time in 2005 between low and high A (mostly high A) .303 avg
7. Spent the entire 2006 season in Trenton at AA and rain wild with 68 SBs but only a .276 avg
8. Started 2007 in Trenton, but was promoted to SWB despite a paltry .235 avg...fortunately, he found his stroke at SWB and batted .325 to bring his avg up to .271 for the year
9. Started 2008 in SWB and was promoted to the Yanks

For a leadoff hitter though, he hasn't really shown enough:

OBP
2004: .353
2005: .376
2006: .341
2007: 317
2008: .365

He's fast. That's for sure, but he's not an everyday player. He'd be eaten alive in that role.

Just a couple of points:
Going back to Friday's game and I'm sure that some of you guys mentioned this already. I really can't stand when Girardi brings in Mo when the Yanks don't have a lead. He just doesn't bear down for some reason and when Texiera got the lead off walk (man, those walks kill you!) I had a feeling that trouble was brewing. That was a game that the Yanks could have had and when you get a well pitched game from Ponson and/or Rasner, you have to win them.
Ramirez had 2 outs yesterday and walks 2 guys before Texiera hits one out. Didn't he have an 0-2 count on Ayebar and then lose him?
Side note: I'm really lovin' how Manny beat up Arizona pitching this past weekend. People here are kinda quiet. :-) :-) :-)
I'm getting sick and tired of them giving me crap about how the D'Backs beat the Yanks in the series ya-de-da.

Larry M.

"Christian's steal of third with a RH batter up was not lucky IMHO but smart. The Third baseman is moving in 20' to cover for the bunt the shortstop is moving toward the hole up the middle or staying put to watch the play develope."

Well, yeah Larry....BUT...
I contend that it was lucky in the sense that one defensive tactic that is often used in that situation (1st and 2nd, no one out-bunt situation), is that the 3rd baseman stays home and the pitcher is responsible for any bunts on the left side.
That wasn't the case yesterday.
Figgins was charging.
Did Christian/the Yankees KNOW that was gonna be the case?
Is Shields that poor a defensive pitcher, that they KNEW Figgins would HAVE to charge on a bunt?
I don't know about that.

All I know is that there was a major breakdown in the vaunted Angel defense during that entire inning yesterday.

The Yankees were really lucky on a couple of plays that inning.
(And I acknowledge that good teams create their luck....with good aggressive baseball. Yet it must be acknowledged that good aggressive baseball can also backfire badly. A hero one day, a goat the next).

But it's good to be Justin Christian today.

HYD - good points.

Hughes ...Good Points however... (3rd time trying to post)

276 with 68 steals is better than half the leadoff guys around.

here is another player while not a leadoff guy was a late bloomer

1985 22 CIN NL 5 12 1 4 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 .333 .333 .417 106 5 0 0 0 0 0
1986 23 CIN NL 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 .333 .000 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0
1987 24 CIN NL 84 160 24 41 14 1 7 28 2 1 18 29 .256 .331 .488 111 78 0 0 1 0 3
1988 25 CIN NL 145 485 58 122 25 3 16 73 8 6 38 65 .252 .306 .414 102 201 3 5 5 2 7
1989 26 CIN NL 117 428 49 118 24 2 15 74 20 5 46 64 .276 .346 .446 122 191 0 4 8 2 7
1990 27 CIN NL 145 503 59 136 28 0 16 78 13 11 53 103 .270 .339 .421 105 212 1 5 13 2 12 MVP-19
1991 28 CIN NL 152 532 71 136 36 0 28 91 12 7 73 107 .256 .346 .481 127 256 0 1 14 1 8 AS

Those stats were avg to below avg until the player was 28-29 years of age.

with this lineup and that speed I bet you money that Justin would do better than Melky @ Leadoff if given the chance,

0ne stike out in 27 at bats means he is a contact hitter

what is Melky's ratio?

Jim A..

They was,nt given that much regular time yes they floundered eventually else where but the positions on the Yankees were pretty much set and that contributed to Eric Duncan becoming trash. When your drafted and you know that position is locked up for many years you tend to lose desire, the excitement now in the minors is that everyone knows the OF is in shambles outside of now Nady evey other slot is up for grabs that is the tude in the minors so that builds hope. Juam Mirand a knows if he keeps up and the team cannot sign Tex that he may be auditioned for the 1b job when in the past you was stuck there.

Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
1985 22 CIN NL 5 12 1 4 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 .333 .333 .417 106 5 0 0 0 0 0
1986 23 CIN NL 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 .333 .000 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0
1987 24 CIN NL 84 160 24 41 14 1 7 28 2 1 18 29 .256 .331 .488 111 78 0 0 1 0 3
1988 25 CIN NL 145 485 58 122 25 3 16 73 8 6 38 65 .252 .306 .414 102 201 3 5 5 2 7
1989 26 CIN NL 117 428 49 118 24 2 15 74 20 5 46 64 .276 .346 .446 122 191 0 4 8 2 7
1990 27 CIN NL 145 503 59 136 28 0 16 78 13 11 53 103 .270 .339 .421 105 212 1 5 13 2 12 MVP-19
1991 28 CIN NL 152 532 71 136 36 0 28 91 12 7 73 107 .256 .346 .481 127 256 0 1 14 1 8 AS
1992 29 CIN NL 148 496 59 122 19 1 14 66 6 3 77 85 .246 .346 .373 102 185 3 6 15 2 10

Paul O'Neills stats before coming to the Yankees he was 29 years old when we got him

Islander.

Christian stated that he saw FiggIslander.

Christian stated that he saw Figgins charging for the bunt and ACTED UPON that movement meaning his baseball IQ was on high alert if Figgins was in normal position he would not have tried to do so but knowing that Figgins was positioned for the bunt he took advantage of that. This was said, what this does when having such players is change a teams whole concept of approach while this gives Girardi much needed weapons. DO you know how dangerous this team owuld be if a 60 - 70 sb person was in the lineup?ins charging for the bunt and ACTED UPON that movement meaning his baseball IQ was on high alert if Figgins was in normal position he would not have tried to do so but knowing that Figgins was positioned for the bunt he took advantage of that. This was said, what this does when having such players is change a teams whole concept of approach while this gives Girardi much needed weapons. DO you know how dangerous this team owuld be if a 60 - 70 sb person was in the lineup?

JimA: If this is given a chance to make it with the yankees than I should watch softball Juan Riveria who was a little on the portly side when with the Yanks was given 256 AB's over two seasons. He played in about 66 games over 2 seasons. The kid was rusty before he started.

Ledee played in about 180 games over 3 seasons. I remember Ledee's play. The kid had very good potential but wasn't given opts. but such was the case back than where Yankee rookies were honed for trade. My point is Christian if given the same shot in the OF as Melky would bring an up side to his play. Plus his ability to learn seems much stronger than Melky.

Forget it I won't watch softball.

Islander 505: My point was, he observed and made a decision to steal. Its not rocket science to see figgins playing in position to charge. Hey, I believe the kid needs more opts. It wouldn't hurt if Melky got a kick in the a$$.

Bomber- Larry,
My contention is that guys should play so well in the minor leagues that they force their teams to bring them up and make room for them.
Ledee and J. Rivera never did that and you can tell by the rest of their careers that it wasn't for lack of desire, it was just lack of talent pure and simple and the Yanks recognized that early on.
Rivera would be exactly what the Yanks figured him to be, a decent bat off the bench who could fill in when someone got hurt or he could pinch hit. He's been with the Angels for a while now and yet they keep signing OF's and they still have an aging and slow Vlad in RF....because Rivera is just not good enough for them to make a change.
Bomber- if a guy loses desire because he thinks that the position he plays is blocked, then I wouldn't want him in the organization at all because if that was the case, the guy should be playing his butt off and hoping another organization tries to trade for him. There is always a job for a talented player in baseball, I refuse to believe that Rivera or Ledee would have been anything but what they are/were even if the Yanks had played them more. Hell, Ledee played in the WS for the Yanks, you can't get much more of a vote of confidence than that.

I don't know enough about Christian to make a call, but one thing I suspected is a young guy like that is not very likely to run on his own in games so I'd think that Girardi would have told him to do it. Right now, I like the kid better than Melky who has been terrible so I agree with you guys there for sure.

Girardi is not telling a player to steal 3rd in a game like that, had he been caught he would have pulled to the side. The player stated he responded to what he observed.

his minor league numbers indicate steady stats, add that with a strong Yankee lineup and you may have upgrade. Melky has 9 steals all year , Justin has 5 steals since mid july in 27 at bats. plus several pinch runs

I can't believe that no one has mentioned that A-Rod is up to his usual tricks. This guy can not hit with men in scoring postion. If Figgins didn't boot that ball yesterday, A-Rod would have hit into his patented double plays again. It is time to start booing A-Rod again. .233 with RISP doe not cut it. Get him out of here!

.276 with 68 steals is VERY good, but that was at AA and he hasn't performed near that well since as far as SBs go. It was an anamoly of a year. You need to get on base to steal bases and his OBP wasn't all that good in the minors. Figure that it'd be worse in the majors and that he's not going to get any better than he is right now and you have a bench player. Nothing more.

Anon 13:06

Don't worry. he'll come around again. He's got to stop trying to be the hero and think small ball when he comes up. You know, get a base hit to get things going or keep them going.

I am a little concerned about him chasing that breaking stuff out of the zone. He was laying off of that stuff last season and now he's chasing it again.

Hughes so then I guess Melky is in the same boat

243 8 35 9 sb's

is patethic numbers for a starting CF.

all I'm saying is at the rate melky is playing it;s worth the lighting in a bottle chance that Justin is inserted in the OF. In certain cases you can throw numbers out the window.

Just like Hughes who was lights out in the minors came up here and whatever. same with kennedy.

He looks to be an avg 280 hitter with high SB potential I would take that over a 243 junk hitter. Not saying melky is complete toast but rather saying he is expendable and dime in a dozen

Justin Christian is (or should be) to this team what Homer Bush was to the Yankees in his day. A guy who Joe can bring in to pinch run and get into scoring position. He'll get a start here and there against a left handed pitcher, come in for defense late, but that's it. And what's more, he's comfortable with his role.

I take any wins the Yankees get against the Angels as gravy. That team owns us and to split at home - however it was done - is perfect.

It also seems as if Rasner's days are numbered. Kennedy is pitching well and behind him, Hughes and - brace yourself - Pavano - are upping their pitch counts and could be back in a couple of weeks.

All well and good guys about "Figgins being in position to charge".

But Figgins would not have been the 1st third baseman in baseball history to position himself up on the grass for a possible bunt and then drop back to cover 3rd as the pitcher delivered.

I'd like to see the replay again, but from my perspective and memory, Christian broke on 1st movement by the pitcher and NOT when Figgins broke for home. He was going all the way.

And even if Christian was "reading Figgins", and Figgins was SUPPOSED to charge on the bunt, where was the shortstop covering 3rd in that situation?
Nowhere to be found.
Figgins looked like a guy lost in Times Square trying to get back to cover.

It was a BOTCHED play all around by Figgins and the Angel defense. They made all kinds of mistakes on the play.

I applaud Christian for his audacity and aggressiveness.
He was still lucky that the Angel's blew all kinds of coverage.

We could just as easily be damning Christian today.

I'll take the luck caused by aggressiveness anytime.

Here's my prediction.....NEXT time Christian tries to steal 3rd?
Against any team?
Picked off, or out by 5 feet.

Just my opinion, I could be wrong.