Yankees Glad to Hear Pettitte is Ready [David Stefanini]
New York Yankees' starting pitcher Andy Pettitte is expected to start against the Anaheim Angels this Monday. Why is this important you may be asking. Let me explain...
Andy Pettitte does not have amazing stand-out numbers this year. He has 13 wins on the best team in baseball, his ERA is 4.14 and his WHIP is 1.36. But Andy Pettitte is not about statistics this season, even though his second half numbers look impressive. He is a big game pitcher that most Yankee fans will want to pitch Game 5, if necessary, against the Detroit Tigers (or whoever their first round opponent is). At the beginning of the year many people, including myself, thought Pettitte was washed up and no longer a solid starter. The Yankees signed him to a $5.5 million contract, loaded with incentives, to essentially be their 4th or 5th starter. But as the year has progressed we have all learned something, Pettitte knows how to win and is still a legit starter.
Come playoff time the Yankees will look to him as their 2nd starter, but most likely give him the ball in the most important games. Which is why his health is so important. If Pettitte is not healthy the Yankees will have to rely on unproven postseason starters to carry them. With Pettitte in the rotation the Yankees can put him in the 2nd spot to make key starts in Games 2 and 5 of a series. If Sabathia loses the first game Pettitte will be there to pick up the Yankees like he has done many times. He will also be there for the most important game of most series, Game 5.
The Mets begin the second half of the season tonight against the Atlanta Braves. Since the Phillies won the NL East last season with 92 wins I figured the Mets would need to get to 93 to make the playoffs this year. This means they need to find 51 wins out of their final 75 games. I looked at their schedule and game up with a list of the teams they will play and how many games against them. Here is that list:
ATL – 13
WSH – 9
HOU – 6
COL – 7
ARI – 7
STL – 2
SD – 4
SF – 4
PHI – 8
FLA – 9
CHC – 6
With seeing this list do the Mets have a real shot at making the playoffs or should they look to become sellers in this market?
They play 13 games against the Atlanta Braves who always give the Mets trouble. 7 games are on the road and 6 games are at home. They Mets are a better team than the Braves and should be able to take 8 out of 13 against them. This leaves them 43 wins short.
Then we go to the Nationals who are the worst team in the league. The Mets should easily take 7 out of the 9. If they don't take advantagae of the Nationals they will not have a chance at making the playoffs. They are now 36 wins short.
Houston is a .500 team at 44 and 44, so by their own record we'll give the Mets half of those games, 3. 33 more wins to go.
Colorado is a very good team sitting 6 games above .500. Right now they are better than the Mets so we have to assume only 3 wins for the Mets. 30 wins left.
Arizona is a horrible team and the Mets should only lose to Dan Haren. Let's assume Haren pitches one game and 'Zona steals another win, this still gives the Mets 5 wins leaving them only 25 short.
The Cardinals are next on the list and only have a 2 game series at Citi. Let's assume it's a split, 24 wins left.
San Diego is a bad team but I don't see the Mets being comnpleting any 4 game sweeps, therefore only 3 wins in this series. 21 left.
San Francisco is a very strong team with a lot of potential. Maybe they fall off later this season, maybe they continue this strong run. Right now they are better than the Mets and the only win here is when Santana pitches, 1 win for the Mets, 20 left.
Obviously the 8 most important games left for the Mets are against the Phillies. They are a strong team who the Mets always play well. These teams play great games which the Mets always have a lead late and the Phillies find a way to pull it out. Since these teams always play each other so closely it would be unfair to either team to assume a victory out of the eight games, so the Mets get 4 more wins leaving them 16 short.
The Marlins have been a thorn in the side of the Mets but this season the Mets should be able to beat them. The Marlins are streaky and it depends when you catch them. Mets are given 6 wins here, leaving them 10 games short.
There are only 6 games left against the Cubs and at this point we can only assume a split against the Cubs, leaving the Mets 7 games short of 93 wins.
Is my analyze accurate, probably not, but I don't think it is to far off give or take a few games in certain series. I tried to be as fair as possible in doing this. So where do the Mets pick up these 7 wins? Maybe win all 9 against the Nats, win some more against the Giants and do more than just split against the Phils. Are the Mets really capable of doing this? I don't think so. I hope I am wrong but how I look at it is exactly like this. Met's falling roughly 7 games short of winning the division.
The fantasy staff at ESPN.com has put out a list of the top players for your fantasy baseball team in the second half of the season. Here is a peek at the top 10.
1. Albert Pujols 2. Hanley Ramirez 3. Ryan Braun 4. David Wright 5. Chase Utley 6. Ian Kinsler 7. Carl Crawford 8. Tim Lincecum 9. Mark Teixeira 10. Miguel Cabrera
When I looked at this list I initially thought why is Teixeira there and not A-Rod? Who was the genius that made that error? Look at Teixeira's numbers: .275/21/63/56/1 (Avg, HR, RBI, R, SB). Now look at A-Rod's: .256/17/50/35/3. Tex has played 26 more games than A-Rod, and A-Rod is just beginning to shake off the rust. A-Rod on average is hitting more HR's, driving in more runs, and he already has more stolen bases. His average is so low because when he first came back he couldn't hit anything. In the second half, Tex is going to do what he always does, and more than likely so will A-Rod. With that said who would you rather have, a healthy A-Rod, or a healthy Tex?
Next how is David Wright so high on this list? He is stealing a lot of bases and he has a very nice batting average, but wouldn't you want Crawford instead? Crawford's batting average won't hurt your team at all, he steals more than twice the amount of bases and this season he even has more home runs than Wright. Their RBIs and runs scored numbers are very close.
So there are my thoughts on this. It's a very good list and I would suggest looking at the remainder of the top 250 players on it. However, if you can pick up A-Rod and only have to pay like he is a player outside the top 10, do it. He will have a monstrous second half like he always does. Also, if you can get top dollar for Tex I would trade him. There are several players you can get at 1B to fill in for his power.
According to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, the Philadelphia Phillies have signed Pedro Martinez to a 1 year contract worth $1 million, and could reach an up to $1.5 million with incentives. We all knew this would happen once Pedro passed his physical.
I think this is a great signing for the Phillies and it gets my very angry, once again at the Mets. Why not pay him the money? He only got a maximum of $2.5 million, the Mets couldn't find $2.5 million to spend on a starter? Of course not, but they'll spend $2.5 million on a bench player.
Back to the story of the Phillies, I think this move doesn't make them the favorites nor do I think it tremendously improves their rotation. It makes them a slightly better team with a slightly improved rotation. Pedro is not the Pedro we're used to seeing, and I doubt he will be very good this season, but I do think he'll pitch very effectively especially when playing the Mets.
I wonder if Pedro does well, will he be looking to come back next season and pitch again? I would think so and he deserves it. He is one of the best pitchers in history and a first ballot Hall of Famer. The Phillies just made a very smart move, I have a feeling Pedro will be much better than people think.
World Series Game 7, Who is Your Starter? [David Stefanini]
This was a question just posed to me by a good friend of mine. He randomly called me and made me pick a starting pitcher to start and win game 7 of the World Series.
This pitcher would need to have several characteristics in order for me to chose him. So I decided to quickly run down the list of pitchers that I have seen, in other words pitchers from the 90's and up. This is the short list I produced: Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Johan Santana, Greg Maddux and Roger Clemens.
After looking at this list I realized as great as Johan is he has not pitched in a World Series game and does not possess the career numbers in which the others do; so he was eliminated from the thought process. Next was Greg Maddux, for as great as he was posted a losing record in the World Series, though he has a 2.09 ERA in 5 games. He was a brilliant pitcher who possessed the intelligence to be considered, but I wanted someone who had 'disgusting' stuff. Someone who scared you. I then looked at Roger Clemens who is 12-8 with a 3.75 ERA. He was amazing, but did it using steroids. In today's game he may be suspended so I couldn't take that risk.
That left me with Johnson and Martinez, two guys who have such amazing arms, and both have great baseball intelligence. Johnson's postseason statistics are not tremendously impressive but his World Series record and ERA are incredible. However, when you put these two legendary pitchers statistics together you get a feel for how amazing Pedro Martinez was.
Pedro in his prime was simply untouchable. Just go to baseballreference.com and punch in his name to look at these stats. In 1999 he had probably the most amazing season I have ever seen, like I said earlier I started watching baseball in the early 90's. His numbers: 23-4, 2.07 ERA, .923 WHIP, 313 K's, and how does he follow this season, with arguably a better one: 18-6, 1.74 ERA, .737 WHIP, 284 K's. He only pitched one World Series game and pitched 7 shut out innings of stellar baseball. Want more evidence supporting my claim? How about a 6-2 Postseason record doing it while going against the great Yankee teams and other AL power houses of recent memory. His seasons form 1997-2003 go down as the best stretch of any pitcher not named Koufax.
Give me Pedro in his prime any day over anyone else I have ever seen, and probably Pedro over anyone in history. Feel free to argue this in the comment section as it's only my opinion and J. Mark English will more than likely argue against Pedro.
Last night at the home run derby there was a lot of anticipation. Albert Pujols was going to blow us all away and Ryan Howard was going to return home and give Pujols all he could handle. It was supposed to be very entertaining and one of the best Home Run Derby's we have seen in quite sometime.
The first two batters, Nelson Cruz and Prince Fielder, start off by each hitting 11 home runs and getting the crowd on their feet. However, for the next 2 hours I found it very difficult to stay awake. We had a 3 player bat off which combined for 3 home runs, Pujols looked exhausted after playing a double header the night before and though Howard did perform well it wasn't what we all expected.
Emerging from last night as the biggest winner had to be Nelson Cruz who most of the country probably never heard of. He put on an amazing show by hitting numerous home runs into the third and fourth level of the stadium. But the championship went to the Prince. With numerous shots that went 450 feet plus, including one of 503, Prince showed he is the home run champion this year. Congrats.
I'll start with the New York Yankees because they seemingly are always ahead of the Mets in every category.
Let's begin with the off season signings. C.C. Sabathia has not pitched up to expectations in his first season in pin stripes. After playing like a machine last season to carry the Brewers to the playoffs Sabathia got a huge contract and like most players has failed to live up to the dollars he is paid. He is 8-6 with a 3.86 ERA and 95 strikeouts. I never though A.J. Burnett would out perform Sabathia but he has with a 8-4 record with a 3.77 ERA and 101 strikeouts. On to Mark Texiera who has been stellar for the Yankees. He has lived up to his contract and is carrying a large burden of the offense.
The rest of the starting rotation has been performing way below expectations. Chien-Ming Wang has been an absolute disaster, Joba is not the starter everyone thought he would be, and Andy Pettitte below his normal.
Even with all these problems the Yankees find themselves only 3 games behind Boston in the AL East and in control of the AL Wild Card. But are they good enough to compete with the top teams? They have yet to win a single game against Boston and just got swept by the Angels over the weekend. The Yankees should not have a problem making the playoffs but how far can they go? C.C. is a better second half pitcher and hopefully the other starters can get their games on track.
I feel the Yankees will only be as successful as their starting pitching is. If the pitching can get things going and begin to live up to expectations the Yankees will be the team to beat, but right now I think they're the third best team in the AL behind Boston and the Angels.
Alex Rodriguez hit two home runs last night to move into sole possession of 10th place on the all-time home run list, moving past Rafael Palmeiro.
Most of you guys reading this are going to be thinking, he is a cheater he does not belong on this list. Give me a break. Hank Aaron did not take performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), but he didn't have to hit against pitchers who used them either. Everyone forgets this little fact when speaking of the hitters. How come its wrong for a power hitter to take steroids but everyone forgets the pitchers that get suspended.
How many extra home runs would A-Rod of hit if the pitchers he went up against were all clean? I understand his numbers may be somewhat inflated but there is no way of judging how many home runs were added to his total because of PEDs or stolen from him.
Everyone in this era, including Albert Pujols, is going to have their image tarnished. In others words stop complaining and live with it. Bonds is the home run champion, A-Rod will likely break his record and there is nothing you or I can do about it. We happened to live in an era where technology exploded and allowed for breakthroughs in training, diets, and yes steroids and human growth hormones (HGH). Batters and pitchers used them, I'm not saying there is a perfect balance; there is no question the amount of home runs has unnaturally been enhanced. Just be happy that we get to watch great talent like A-Rod and Pujols and live with the rest of it.
Name one positive thing for the New York Mets this season. Everyone just answered: Johan Santana.
How far can one starter carry a team? I'm not sure what the answer to that question is, but I have a feeling we will find out this season. He really should have 15 wins on this season when you consider the games he lost this year. How about throwing 7 innings, striking out 13 batters while giving up 0 ER, AND LOSING!
By his standards he had a sub par June and the Mets tanked with him. However on this night Johan would not be denied as he pitched 7 scoreless innings to lead the Mets to a much needed victory.
Another thing worth noting is the return of Angel Pagan, who looks like a legit replacement for Jose Reyes as the lead off batter for this team. He as great speed and understands what is asked of him in this game. He gets things going and is very aggressive on the base pads, while providing above average defense in center field. I'm in favor of benching Francouer of Shef IF/when Beltran ever returns. And no, I'm not saying this after one good game from Pagan. He has done this going back to last season, his problem is staying on the field. If he can play I think he'll be fine.
After another sub par performance from Joba last night, ladies and gentlemen I present to you a question that most of us got tired of throughout the past year and a half... should Joba Chamberlain be a starter of a reliever?
Now most of us thought this question was answered when Joba tossed a gem last season at Fenway Park beating Josh Beckett 1-0. Then we again thought the question was over earlier in this season when Joba looked to be finding his stride as a starter. But now the question is presented once again and this time I think it's seriously time to consider it.
I was always for Joba being in the starting rotation. The kid came up throwing smoke and making batters look terrible at the plate. I assumed, like the New York Yankees did, he should be a starter giving the team as many innings as he can. When your in the bullpen your limited to the amount of batters you face, and Joba was clearly someone the Yankees wanted to maximize. But now I'm starting to realize how beneficial it would be for Joba to be in the bullpen. When he stepped out in the 8th inning and the Yankees were leading everyone, including the opponents, knew the game was over. He was getting his fastball up to 100 MPH and throwing his devastating slider. Now he is trying to stretch his innings by cutting back on his fastball and is not nearly as effective.
The Yankees have enough money that they can go out and buy a starting pitcher at any point. With the emergence of Phil Hughes as a solid starter the Yankees seem to be fine in the starting rotation for the next few years. What they are missing is a solid reliever not named Mariano.
Furthermore, Mariano is just a human. At some point he is not going to be around and their will be a huge hole in the back of their bullpen. If Joba is a reliever there is no worry for the Yankees when this inevitability happens. They simply move Joba to the closer position and you now have a lights out closer for the future.
The bottom line is this. Joba is not as effective of a starter as he is a reliever. Opponents had zero chance of hitting him when he is throwing at his maximum potential. As a starter hitters are getting to him early and often. His pitch count is usually very high which puts a strain on the bullpen.
Joba should be sent down to the minors for a little while to get himself back into the mindset of a set up man. That way the Yankees can play the game for 7 innings and not have to be on the edge of their seat for the final two.
Jonathan Sanchez threw a no hitter last night against the San Diego Padres. He almost threw a perfect game but with one out in the 8th inning Giants third baseman Juan Uribe committed an error which surrendered the first and only base runner of the evening for the Padres.
Lets not kill the Giants defense for giving up the perfect game, because exactly one inning later with one out in the ninth pinch hitter Edgar Gonzalez hit a bullet to center field. Aaron Rowand drifted back and made an amazing leaping catch to preserve the no hitter.
This comes as a complete shock. Sanchez had a terrible season coming into the night with a record of 2-8 and was making the start only because Randy Johnson was placed on the DL. Sanchez had spent the previous three weeks in the bullpen trying to regain his confidence, I'm going to guess last night helped him immensely.
Another Stellar Move by the Mets [David Stefanini]
I'm hear to report yet another stellar move pulled by the New York Mets. They have traded outfielder Ryan Church to the Braves for outfielder Jeff Francouer.
In other words the Mets got rid of a decent hitting OF for a guy who strikes out a lot, and who posses little power. Francouer is batting a whopping .250 with 5 HRs this season. The one thing I can say about Francouer is he has a cannon for an arm. But like that matters with the amount of hits given up by the Met's pitchers.
Lets take a different stance on this trade, maybe the Mets looked to improve on team speed. Francouer has an incredible 5 SB this season whereas Church has 6.
Maybe it was to cut payroll, Francouer is making roughly 3.4 million whereas Church is making 2.8 million.
Okay I'll be serious now, the Mets clearly made this trade to get men on base more often. Francouer has an astronomical .282 OBP whereas Church has .332!
The only thing I can see positive in this trade is that Francouer is just 25 years old with a ton of upside. He seems to have a chance to develop great power and is a very good defensive RF. However, Church was a really good defender as well and he was only 30 years old with plenty of baseball left...
I took the time to run Church's numbers since he came off the DL and here they are: .291/.335/.401. Now lets compare those to Francouer's numbers for the season .250/.282/.352.
To keep going as why this trade is so great for the Mets lets see their corner outfielders. They now have 3 right handed batters with Sheffield, Tatis, and Francouer.
Great job Minaya! This is exactly why I'm a Mets fan....
If anyone has any idea why this trade was made, in terms of the Mets benefiting, in any other way than I have mentioned please feel free to leave a comment. I really want to hear how this is a good thing. This is what Minaya has to say about it, “This had nothing to do with not liking Ryan Church, but, one thing we like about Francoeur is the amount of games he plays."
Make it 7 wins in a row for the New York Mets. This was a game two weeks ago that the Mets would have lost. After already winning the series by taking the first two games and fifth starter Livan Hernandez getting off to a slow start, the Mets would have struggled through the afternoon and lost the game. This time however, they battled back, took the lead and later turned the game into a 4 run victory.
Omir Santos drove in two big runs in the 4th inning and continues to look impressive. The thing I like about him is how he runs. He got caught stealing after he drove in those two runs, but he is a deceptively fast runner. This team has a lot of speed with the likes of Reyes,Beltran and those guys, but having a catcher with some speed just contributes to the Mets base running ability. Brian Schneider is set to start rehabbing soon, but is there any Mets fan who wants him to return?
There is yet more good news about this team. Tomorrow the best pitcher in the world, Johan Santana is scheduled to make his 7th start of the season. The game is against the Atlanta Braves and their ace Derek Lowe.
Alex Rodriguez hit a 3-run HR on the very first pitch he saw this season. The happiest person that AROD is back, Mark Teixeria. Now all the attention can be taken off his lack of production and put on AROD. Furthermore, finally C.C gives the Yankees something worth talking about. Complete game 4 hit shutout.
The Mets won their fifth game in a row. As a Met fan I'm so happy they are finally playing like they are capable. As a Met fan I'm waiting for them to lose 3 out of 4 and play .500 ball for the next month. Jonathan Niese looked very good against the Pirates. Leave Oliver Perez wherever he is and let this kid Niese develop. He has great stuff.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have lost their second straight game without Manny. Just make HGH and steroids legal and all this will go away. I enjoy watching superior athletes playing at the highest level possible. Hitters and pitchers are doing performance enhancing drugs, so it cancels itself out. They are harmful, but so is alcohol and cigarettes, if someone wants to risk their health for better performance I say it should be allowed.
The Arizona Diamondbacks introduced their new manager A.J. Hinch. He is 34 years old with no managerial experience. Good luck Arizona you're going to need it.
A-Rod Wins Baseball's Most Clutch Award [David Stefanini]
How ironic is this? Last year the big argument against A-Rod was how he never comes through in a big situation. Sure he put up over 30 HR's and over 100 RBI's but they didn't come in big spots when they were needed. Now this season, claims the inaugrial award of being Baseball's most clutch hitter.
For his efforts in what will be remembered as a remarkable individual season worthy of praise, Rodriguez has been selected as the inaugural recipient of the 2007 Major League Baseball Clutch Performer of the Year, presented by Pepsi.
The officially sanctioned Major League Baseball award recognizes the player who performed his best when the game was on the line.
Well here is the good news for the Colorado Rockies. They are on a historic hot streak, and have yet to lose a single game in the playoffs. They have proved they can pitch and play good defense. Now here is the bad news:
The Boston Red Sox are going to send pitcher Josh Beckett to the mound. Beckett is a career 5-2 pitcher in the postseason. In his two losses he has combined to pitch 14+ innings, giving up 4 hits and 3 runs. In other words, he is a virtual lock to win this game tonight against the Rockies.
Something else strikes me off at the beginning of this series. Boston is threatening to become the new Evil Empire. With the Yanks being off their game, and some big questions hovering over them, Boston is in perfect position to establish themselves as the team of this decade. They have already won, one championship, and at the end of this series they can have 2. They have great pitching and great hitters. Their bullpen is solidified with young talent, and their farm system is very deep.
I think Boston will win this series in 6, or less.
Notice: All material on this site should be considered my personal opinion and may not represent that of my employers, American Legends ®. This includes my comments on other sites as well as anything I say in person.
New York Yankees' starting pitcher Andy Pettitte is expected to start against the Anaheim Angels this Monday. Why is this important you may be asking. Let me explain...
