Royals 5 Yankees 2; One of THOSE Games + UH-OH
I'm an optimist, and I'm still very optimistic about this team and the offense. But this team just so often lacks the ability to mount comebacks, and that problem wreaks so badly in such games that it's palpable. As soon as they started stranding runners, I just knew they'd fizzle. I don't always think that, and some games they show resiliency. In other games, it's pathetically easy to sniff out, as it was today.
Hughes struggled badly, which fans should expect to happen. He's a kid with terrific stuff who's still learning how to pitch, and hopefully fans will be patient with him. They need to be. Though I feel he got squeezed by home-plate ump Mark Wegner a bit, he failed to consistently locate his fastball. His downfall was the second, when he threw 34 pitches, allowed a nine-pitch walk to the weak-hitting Pena, and was worked over. He didn't record an out in the fourth, allowing six hits, three runs earned, four walks and fanning two on 87 pitches/47 strikes. Ohlendorf came in and got a strikeout and a DP, teasing us to think with the close game that the Yankees might come back. But for the first time this year, Ohlendorf struggled, allowing two runs in the fifth to make it 5-2 Royals. Otherwise he was good. Traber and Hawkins each allowed a hit in an inning of work apiece.
Yet the offense was putrid in the clutch, leaving nine on base, four in scoring position. Betemit was pathetic, fanning three times around his two-out RBI single. In 13 at-bats this year, he's struck out seven times--wretched. Although he was productive last season by any sober estimation, he's embarrassing me and anyone else who has defended him. Let A-Rod play short for a few games, put Ensberg at third, and sit Betemit, period. I'm baffled as to how A-Rod can be baffled by such a pedestrian pitcher as Bannister. It's always the forgettable pitchers with fluff stuff who seem to bother A-Rod. He, Betemit, and Cano fanned nine times as a group. The offense continues to get chances; that's not the problem. It's the continual failure to score runners that's the problem.
Ian Kennedy (0-1, 23.14 ERA) faces Zack Greinke (1-0, 1.29 ERA) tomorrow night. The offense really needs to wake up and hit in the clutch.
[Edit: UH-OH. According to Pete Abraham, "Trouble is mounting for the Yankees. Jorge Posada will have an MRI here tomorrow and could be headed for the disabled list with a sore right shoulder. "Dead," Posada said when asked his shoulder felt.
Talks will be held tonight and don't be surprised if Chad Moeller is
on the roster tomorrow. Otherwise the Yankees will have Jose Molina
behind the plate with Morgan Ensberg backing him up." That's so often why I predicate my prognostications and assessments for the Yankees based upon health. That might explain why Jorge's throws were poor today, but it also makes me wonder how long his shoulder has been sore, and how bad it's been. The team quite frankly has a poor history of honesty about injuries. Either way, the Yankees did themselves an enormous favor last year when they traded Jeff Kennard for Jose Molina, because the team will likely need him for the near future. But with absolutely no offense to Molina whom I respect and enjoy, here at the beginning of this long road stretch, facing talented and deep lineups without one of the premier catchers in the game, this is baaaad news. Let's hope it's short term, and that the others step up now.]
really pathetic job by the team. the looked just like early last year. i would have thought girardi would make a difference, but wishful thinking obviously. lifeless. the news about posada is bad, but i feel rather apathetic after watching them today.
thank cash for molina; he's been hitting better than jorge anyway so far. nut now with no jeter or posada, can they really afford betemit in every day?
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It's hard to blame you for feeling that way, Mike. Interesting, given how well they hit this Spring but also for the heat on Torre for the laid-back approach he had with the team, that the results are similar to last year if achieved in different ways. The lack of clutch hitting is horrendous. Molina will serve them well. The rest of the team will need to fill the RBI void that a healthy Posada would make up.
There's no way the team can afford to have Betemit in there every day. If this keeps up, he'll get DFA'd. More than half his at-bats have resulted in strikeouts thus far. With the offense languishing, they need to generate offense. To me, trying Ensberg at third wouldn't hurt any to allow A-Rod to play short for a couple/few games while Jeter's out. I'm still willing to be patient with the team, for the offense surely will come around. But certain guys really need to step up--Cano, Giambi, Damon and Jeter when he's back. They can't continue to have dead spots in the lineup.
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Great post as always. you and I are pretty much in the same boat. The news about Posada to the DL isn't could but as you pointed out the Yankees did good by acquiring Molina. He's definitely a great backup. i don't know I'd call him a suitable replacement, but he'll do.
I think the kid will be alright. I'm not sure what effect the weather had him. Both he and Bannister seemed to lack a lot of control. No excuse though. Both teams are subject to it.
Betemit is useless. He'll be gone sooner than later.
And A-Rod? He's been God-awful at the dish these last 2 games. 5 straight whiffs with 4 straight looking? MVPs don't do that.
This could be a rough road trip. But they've been here before in recent years and always pull it together. it'd just be nice to start hot one of these years.
J-Boogie
http://boogiedownbaseball.blogspot.com
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To say the team's performance was pathetic is to kind. I was on my way out during the second inning, but stayed to see the big hit, with the bases loaded.( Great job Cano) and A-Rod, and Betemit, and so on, and so on. I knew at that point the game was a done deal. We as Yankee fans have been through this so much, we sometimes know, even by the second inning that we won't win. Very bad news about Posada, and thankfully we have Molina. I really don't want to see Betemit in the lineup tomorrow. I am disgusted by the whole thing right now.
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dianna, you hit the nail on the head. and geoff at BPS would agree; there are those times when you know they just don't have it in them-even by the second inning.
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Alright , so we are in the middle of a crisis right nown, at 4-4 .And it is not the record , it is the health issue . This times of trial will serve us well . A-Rod will have to be the ABSOLUTE leader in the team , and that is going to prove a premium in October . Also , Girardi will have to start inventing ways to win games like he did with the overachieving 2006 Marlins . If both are succesful , we are in for success . If EITHER fails , we are in for an OCTOBERLESS last dance at the Stadium (I'm betting the house A-Rod will be the one coming up short , again ). That , and the fact both Giambi and Damon don't inspire alot of faith in me , especially since this is the same Damon who drove in 6 runs in that 2004 ALCS Game 7 10-3 loss to you know who . I HATE Damon , and I don't know if I'd like the sight of him winning it all in a Yankees uni . Whatever .
Will forever say ,
first thing in the morning :
Go Yankees !!!
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yeah, "go yankees" in the morning and then the insults start flying.
i'm a bit confused by your rhetoric sentinel. your stuff about a-rod makes no sense- you are betting that a-rod comes up short again? he carried the team last year. and BTW he hit better than most of the guys last post-season. you "hate" damon because he played for a rival team? when you imply that you would perhaps prefer the yankees to fail because you "aren't sure" you want to see damon winning a WS with us makes you a dubious fan indeed.
as you say...whatever.
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I have to confess to being a bit confused as well by the comment, sentinel. On the one hand, you rightly say that A-Rod has to be the leader with these injuries. I agree with that, although there are really several people in the lineup who need to lead. At the end of the day, yes, A-Rod's the main guy in that lineup. But on the other hand, you expect him to fail. As Mike said, lots of people had bad post-seasons in 2007, including Jeter and Wang (no offense to them, but it's true). Singling out A-Rod really isn't fair to him. He's had a bad patch the last couple games, and has struck out too many times thus far this year, but he'll be fine. Without A-Rod last year, the Yankees might have won about 4 games in April, no joke. Nor would they have made the playoffs. He carried them with one of the greatest years in the history of the game, especially for a righty hitter, period.
On Damon, I like the guy as a player and what little I know of him as a person. On the field, he sets the table when he's on (and he's not right now, joining several others in that position), steals bases, and adds some lead-off power. His speed is a big plus on defense, helping to offset his weak arm. Off the field, he visits troops, the wounded soldiers in Walter Reed (who were treated shabbily and ignored to say the least), and helps raise tons of cash for charities. All that not only goes a long way with me, but also outweighs his play for the Red Sox in 2004. He played for them then. should he have tanked it? At the end of the day, the Yankees fell apart in the 2004 playoffs. Boston's comeback was historic. Kudos to them for achieving it, and the Yankees helped them do it. Focusing on Damon's great Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS won't help the 2008 Yankees right their collective ship a lick. Damon and others will start to hit soon enough, and that should be what counts--winning the World Series this year. Damon's helping them do that should be all that matters. He's a Yankee.
On that note, I can't say that I get the prognostications for October failure, especially in early April. The Yankees are eight games into the season--eight. Eight games, not 158, not 88, not even 18. EIGHT. The injuries don't help one bit, but if nothing else, at least they're early in the season, and Jeter's might sideline him for less than a week.
The Yankees have had one really good offensive game thus far, have hardly hit in the clutch, and have had some pitching struggles from young starters--to be expected--but are still 4-4. Wait until they hit. Cano won't hit under .200, nor will Damon, Giambi or others. They'll hit and then some. Let's be patient and set aside the doom-and-gloom, please.
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Thanks for the kind words, J-Boogie. By the way, I like your new digs at blogspot. No doubt, I'd love to see a hot start for a change. They need the bats to do that, and they haven't been there. In a way, that's a positive--a .500 record with a handful of clutch hits. They'll hit, it's only a matter of time. I feel the same way about Hughes. I had to call his start like it was--rough--but the kid is a kid, and we all have to accept that he'll struggle. He'll be darn good soon enough, and already shows signs of brilliance. His ability to locate the fastball is crucial, the fulcrum for his performances thus far. He, Kennedy, and Joba deserve some latitude, for sure.
Dianna, I see I wasn't the only one with that sinking feeling in the second. "Here we go again" kept running through my mind. There are times when I sense their ability to come back, but other times like today, you can just watch them fade offensively. Especially against ordinary pitchers; that really frosts me.
Come back healthy as soon as possible, Captain and Posada.
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