Oh ok, wasn't sure if the Game 4 starter was named yet and was too lazy to look it up. I guess that means the Yankees would pitch CC and Pettitte on 3 days rest each if they skip Hughes. Not sure if that's a smart move or not. EDIT: MLB.com and ESPN.com has Hughes listed as the Game 4 starter, but yeah if the Yankees lose tomorrow I could see that change too.
Any guesses as to where A-Rod bats tonight? If it were up to me, the earliest I would bat him is 7, and honestly I think I would bench him altogether for Chavez.....
No you can't bench him for Chavez. That would be completely disruptive to the team and it's not like Chavez is an upgrade over Arod either. If I were making out the line up I'd go with: Jeter Ichiro Cano Texieria Granderson Arod Swisher Ibanez Martin And hope for the best. The problem is outside of Cano there are a lot of holes in that Yankee line up. The Orioles shouldn't give Cano a pitch to hit and just work around him and attack everyone else.
I disagree Chavez in absolutely an upgrade of him RIGHT NOW.....A-Rod is lost, Chavez is and has always been a professional hitter....they made this mistake last year against the Tigers waiting for this knucklehead to come around and it never happened..... go look at the season stats and REMEMBER Chavez had over 100+ AB's less then him....my point is the drop off isn't huge....both offensively and defensively... Not to mention it drags the team down...they feel when A-Rod struggles cuz the guy makes it look so godamn awful, the fans start booing the crap outta him it isnt good... Honestly Fink why would you feel that they HAVE to play him over Chavez?? Is it the name? the 30M?
I realize Chavez had a nice year and all but you still have to play Arod because he's not only the better player/option but also the intangible damage it would do to the club if Girardi made a move like that. It's headline big news and would be disruptive to the team, much like it was when Torre had him batting 8th against Detroit in 2006. Chavez is a professional hitter? What does that even mean? He's a career .267/.343/.476/.818 3B/1B and has never batted over .290 in any full MLB season (I'm not counting the 16 games he played in his rookie year). It's his first good year since what 2006? You really want to depend on someone that hasn't been good or an everyday player in almost 6 years? Its one thing if the team had a solid, respectable replacement available but I just don't see how Chavez is that guy. Do you really want to make a rash decision like that off of SSS of 331 PAs this year? Plus Chavez can't play vs. a LHP so that means in a big spot late in the game Arod is going to be the one to pinch hit for him, so the pressure will be on him in the game anyway. If you really feel Arod drags the whole team down when he struggles and the fans boo, wait until Arod is benched and Chavez goes 0-4 and the team loses. Look I realize Arod hasn't been good this year and the past month he's looked old and nearly useless but he can't be benched unless it's clear he has an injury otherwise it would be damaging to the team because even if the team wins every reporter in the world will be asking each player what's the deal with Arod. It's simply not worth it. And Arod isn't the only reason why the team lost Game 2.
I dont think the fans would care much.....it is just New York, they dont like A-Rod.... Small history A-Rod has never faced this guy and Chavez is 3-6.....Chavez since being a part time guy in NY has been very good, especially this year..career numbers are nice and all, but I go on feeling of this year....and this year yes Chavez is getting the bat on the ball more frequently than A-Rod.....dude 1-9 and 5 K's it needs to stop, his isnt even making contact nor is he coming close...you got to go with what got you there..... They actually should play Gardy in left DH Swish and play Ichiro in RF.....and just bench A-Rod all together and make him watch it......or maybe you know he could actually do something like get a hit..... This is all water under the bridge because Joe will not do any og that and play the same lineup with A-Rod in the 5 spot I predict... Trust me the fans wont miss him....
Tonight's line up: Jeter Ichiro Arod - DH Cano Swisher Teixeira Granderson Martin Chavez - 3B At least you can be happy Chavez is playing tonight! I'm shocked and surprised Arod is in the 3 hole still though.
I am not it is Joe Girardi.... why is he hitting Cano in between 2 struggling hitters and then puts Tex who has been hitting well in the 6 hole....I mean what sense does that make?? Get read for alot of Cano walks and A-Rod/Tex will be seeing alot of pitches
Don't you have to blame Brian Cashman too though? I mean he's Girardi's boss, not sure how hands on Cashman is with day to day moves etc but if Cashman feels like Arod is hurting the team batting 3rd don't you think he should say something or make Girardi change it?
Disagree there. Girardi announced that Phil Hughes will start Game 4 no matter what happens tonight. So there you go.
you think Cashman is demanding Hughes start Game 4? and lets not play coy here...he may start, the SECOND it looks like the wheels may come off CC is going in....
No I think it has more to do with the effectiveness of Sabathia and/or Pettitte on 3 days rest in Games 4 and 5. I'd be shocked if Sabathia pitches in relief of Game 4 when he's scheduled to start Game 5. If you're going to pitch Sabathia out of the pen in G4, you might as well start him to begin with.
yes I agree on AP, but CC would take it.....dude there is no Game 5 if they lose lol.....they cant leave Hughes in there to get pounded either... as far as Cahsman question I think I was confused a bit??
My point about CC is if they're going to have him in the bullpen for a possible Game 4 elimination game why not just start him? I agree you don't leave Hughes in there to get pounded but CC shouldn't be the one coming off the bench to replace him. What are you confused about with the Cashman question? I think any good GM/manager combo should talk about certain decisions i.e. who should start Game 1, should we bring back Player X on short rest? Also if the GM sees something he doesn't like he should say something to the manager and they should talk it out as to what to do. So by you blaming Girardi for leaving Arod in that spot, I think it's fair to blame Cashman too as he has the power to change it if he feels its for the best for the team.
We are so crapastic right now....I would rather see our bats stay on the shoulder and take every single pitch vs. swinging like an old rickety gate at everything the minute it leaves the pitchers hand and no where near the strike zone. horrible effort really outside of the 9th inning of game 1. We are craptastically crappy. Wasted stud pitching outings from Pettitte and Kuroda.
*** Official 2012 New York Yankees Thread*** Wow how does a pitcher pitch 8.1 innings and lose Like this Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thank goodness Girardi finally said enough was enough and pinch hit for Arod......Ibanez ties it up.....now lets see if the bats wake up with hits, and hits, and not simply HR only.
*** Official 2012 New York Yankees Thread*** Yanks blow this they are screwed. Bats need to wake up. Nice double play Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
walk off vs. O's.....oh yes, now is the perfect time....! Ibanez for POTUS!!! our bats do need to wake up.....our lineup has to be adjusted! Jeter Ichiro Ibanez Cano wash rinse repeat that's it....
*** Official 2012 New York Yankees Thread*** I only wish we had Michael Kay voice to call that moment! Great moment for Raul, he is a Yankee for life and we will see him at old timers day when he retires for years to come! If Yankees go on to win the World Series Raul should be the first to get his ring! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I have to say even as a non Yankee fan last night's game was pretty amazing. Brings me back to old memories of the 2001 World Series. Another thing though if Girardi is so willing to pinch hit for his #3 batter in a big spot in the 9th then why on earth do you put the guy in the 3rd hole to start the game? Makes zero sense.
3 LHBs in a row? Girardi wouldn't even put two back to back. But let's not go overboard with Ibanez, Cano should be the 3rd hitter. Ibanez probably won't even play tonight with Saunders going.
Should also be interesting to see how Jeter is tonight, the guy looked pretty hurt last night, maybe he DHs?
Crazy game last night Raul saved their skin once again......would be nice if the "regulars" could actually not let this happen and score a few runs here...
With our hiTters you have to let them work through their slumps. Having said that its better to work through your slump in the 6th or 7th spot than the 3rd.btw our pitching is excellent so far. Right now we have pitching and the long ball working for us. We can win with that but it will be dicey. Really need to start hitting some singles and doubles again
And CC!!! hahaha Well tonight is the best of both worlds right here....you dont need to use CC, whether they would have who knows.....I like that Hughes is in this spot, time for the man to show his stuff in a big situation.....Key for him is to get out of the first inning without a run given up and to get into a groove.... I see the Hughes/Phelps/Nova trifecta going tonight if Hughes bombs out... As for the line-up.....ugh...you got to play A-Rod as much as it pains me to say that...as well for as bad as A-Rod is Granderson might actually be worse.... opposing pitcher is Sainders, someone whom everybody is familiar with.... Interesting note Fink (and I knew I recognized the name) but that Gonzalez is the same Gonzalez that was drafted by the Sox....
I think he DH'd him with that very scenario in mind.....obviously RI cant play 3rd, so swapping DH's there was perfect.... He probably went in with the midset that play A-Rod if he struggles at least you have RI on the bench for a late game pinch...
It was more of a joke of just those 4 guys being it, and rotate them over and over and not letting anyone else waste time hitting, not worried about # of L or R in a row...LOL. CC's wasnt wasted....just took the 9th to prove it.....Kuroda didnt get the Win but the Team did....but 3 starts and 3 gems is solid with limited bullpen work is good sign.
LOL (4Life??).....long way to go....will see about old timer's day. But who knows....was A. Boone invited this past year?
He wasn't drafted by the Sox, he was selected as a Rule 5 pick from the Angels in 2008 then blew out his elbow in ST, needed TJ surgery then was released in December of 2011 by the Sox as they needed to clear a spot on their 40 man roster, the Orioles signed him in March I believe. It's easy to look back and say it was a mistake by the Sox to get rid of him, but hindsight is 20/20, he simply wasn't very good in the minors in 2010 or 2011. Obviously if the Sox knew how well he pitched this year they wouldn't have dumped him but I can't really get on them for that. Especially when he had only 5 innings of experience above Double A and was a 27 year old before this year. I don't know, still doesn't make sense. Why not just start Ibanez as the DH at the beginning of the game instead? I'd agree that usually the L/R thing is overrated however the Yankee LHHs this year have a massive plattoon split. I mean Ichiro and Cano through their career have hit LHPs pretty well but Ibanez hasn't this year or his career, (ditto for Granderson outside of last year) which is probably why Saunders is starting tonight. Interesting to look up Ibanez's year as he's been pretty worthless playing outside of Yankee Stadium and facing LHPing. Even though the Yankees won last night, you can make the case that Girardi should have pinched hit for Ibanez in the 12th.
Yeah that's a little overboard but when Kay or the Yankee radio announcers have a live mike everything is overboard, Sterling's calls were classic last night. Aaron Boone, true Yankee 4 Life: .254/.302/.418/.720 in 54 regular season games with the Yankees, .170/.196/.302/.498 in 17 post season games with 3 extra base hits (1 2B, 2 HR) and 4 RBI. Perhaps Boone's biggest "hit" was getting hurt playing basketball thus giving the Yankees Arod.
The dinger off of lefty Matusz was particularly surprising, as Ibanez hit .197 with zero home runs in 65 plate appearances against southpaws during the regular season. The O's are starting lefty Joe Saunders in Game 4, but Ibanez is batting .348 with two homers against the southpaw, so Girardi could stick him in the lineup. When you are hot, you are hot!
Extremely small sample size though with only 28 at bats and Ibanez hasn't faced Saunders in nearly 2 years, last time he faced him was in 2010, the time before that was 2008. So a lot of time and development on both players have changed. Due to Ibanez's season long and career long struggles vs. LHPers I'd be surprised if he was in the line up today and frankly, he shouldn't be. Use him as another late inning option off the bench. I still think Jeter will DH tonight with Nunie as the starting SS and Nix being the late innings defensive replacement.
What so you are saying that if Ibanez plays tonight and gets 12 at bats he may strike out 7 times with only 1 hit??? roll the dice on the hot hand while its hot. P.S. honestly dont care, it is what it is, or will be....but he is RED HOT!
