NYY | (9-6)
1. Ellsbury, CF
2. Jeter, SS
3. Beltran, RF
4. Soriano, DH
5. McCann, CA
6. Solarte, 3B
7. Sizemore, 1B
8. Roberts, 2B
9. Suzuki, LF
SP CC Sabathia (1-2) 6.63 ERA
vs.
SP David Price (2-0) 2.91 ERA
1. Zobrist, 2B
2. Jennings, DH
3. Forsythe, LF
4. Longoria, 3B
5. Myers, RF
6. Rodriguez, 1B
7. Guyer, CF
8. Escobar, SS
9. Molina, CA
TBY | (7-8)
well, I hope you're right. His stuff is fantastic.
Hahaha
The infield is getting by but we need a defensive first baseman with some pop in his bat. Tex doesn't have to be the 09 version but man we could really use a steadying presence at first. I hope he gets healthy but man the guy keeps on breaking down.
The outfield is nasty good. And Ichiro should be commended for accepting a super sub role here. He's been tremendous. I had him on the first plane out of here after last season...
Watching mook and jerseyjoe argue is fascinating. JJ is the biggest Pollyanna on Bbi while mook is extremely critical. It's a paradox. Mook makes good points even if some of those points are hard to stomach.
So far mostly good things on the farm, health still an issue (Campos, Heathcott and Bird still rehabbing) but of the guys who are playing at full strength the early indications are pretty encouraging.
Not arguing with anyone except for JerseyJoe. All good Del
Tanaka looks to be a bonafide ace thus far. Pineda could be a heck of a pitcher too. CC is a smart pitcher who should be able.to reinvent himslf like Muss did. Pen looks strong and deep.
This team is going to be real exciting when the bats get in a groove.
CC was interviewed and basically said that after the Tanaka-Pineda dual shutout he didn't want to be the starting pitcher who let down. Where does that leave Kuroda - just speculation, but I'd think the Japanese press is having a field day with this ... who is the #1 Japanese pitcher on the Yanks? I bet Kuroda comes out with some fire in his eye tomorrow night.
Great win tonight. Finally smacked Price in the mouth and broke one off in their stadium.
Solarte just mashes at the dish. He's a keeper. He made some nice adjustments on off-speed pitches after his first two ABs tonight.
So far mostly good things on the farm, health still an issue (Campos, Heathcott and Bird still rehabbing) but of the guys who are playing at full strength the early indications are pretty encouraging.
Obviously still early, but he's also got 14 BBs in 14 games and an OBP north of .500 and is starting to show some power (6 doubles already after 16 all last season).
You need clutch hitting. Some of our best teams werent loaded with big boppers but guys who routinely delivered when it mattered most. Just ask the Cleveland Indians or ask theabsolutely loaded offesnive Yankee team that lost to Boston in 7.
People who say clutch is a myth usually haven't played many sports.
There are most certainly guys who raise their level of play when it counts most.
Quote:
Is a myth.
People who say clutch is a myth usually haven't played many sports.
There are most certainly guys who raise their level of play when it counts most.
People who make assumptions about individuals they know nothing about are most often morons. That is a well-supported position with respect to your history, JJ.
Almost always the label is applied to very good players who perform consistent with their career norms (which is to say very well, like Thurman or Reggie) or misapplied on the basis of selective memory. It is rarely applied correctly and rationally, and likely never by JerseyJoe.
Clutch isn't a myth. But the Yanks still had stacked lineups.
IF you are a B+ hitter in the regular season and you go on to be a B+ hitter in the postseason, you're a postseason stud. Period. The reason why the Yanks won 4 rings in 5 years was because many of their hitters brought their regular season success into the postseason and didn't forget how to hit. The reason why the won one title over the next 14 years was because those new sluggers did not hit in the postseason like they did in the regular season. IT's not easy to do. Hits don't come easy in the playoffs.
When you play well during the regular season you're an all star. When you play well in championship moments you're a legend. This applies to every sport. It aint rocket science. IT's harder to produce when the opponent is tougher. No?
I would think that the number of hits and runs scored is lower in the postseason compared to the regular season. But maybe I am wrong.
I think most fans define clutch as some level of performance above "normal" based on pressure. I think that is far more rare than the word is used,
facing much better pitching, so if its close to equivelent thats pretty damn good. Also see Duned81 definition on clutch . It's pretty spot on.
Link - ( New Window )
There are so many different definitions of what a "clutch" moment is. Is it the entire postseason? What about players who have performed well in the postseason, but have struggled in high leverage situations in the regular season?
Are they clutch or not? You can find plenty examples of guys who were great in the World Series, but terrible in League Championship Series, which are the games played to determine who goes to the World Series. There are plenty of examples of guys whose performance in "late and close" games in the regular season don't match their performances in postseason games.
Are there some guys who are better under pressure, or who are better at shortening their swings to put it in play and battle? Sure. But, for the most part, "clutch hitters" are more the product of selective memory or the results of small sample sizes.
Or pharmaceuticals...
Mainly focuses on the fact that while Tanaka throws a lot of strikes and gets ahead in counts, he really doesn't throw in the strike zone all that often because hitters tend to chase his pitches outside of the zone anyway.
"Batters have swung at 65% of Tanaka’s splitters, even though just 32% of them have been in the zone."
He gets the K on a splitter in the dirt. The hitter had no chance to do anything on that swing.
So the obvious counter to a guy who throws so many pitches outside of the strike zone is to wait him out right? But that's what makes Tanaka special. He might not throw in the strike zone that often but he can if he wants to. So if you're going to counter by waiting him out, Tanaka will just counter by throwing in the strike zone more. He can still get swing and misses with his splitter in the strike zone.
Really liking his set of skills so far. I think he'll give up his fair share of Homers because he misses up in the zone at times. Being a righty in Yankee stadium won't help those HR numbers either. But that's really the only negative I see with him. I love the fact that his splitter has lived up to the hype. I was worried that it wouldn't be as good of a pitch in the MLB with the different ball and better hitters, but it looks as nasty as advertised. Great start to his career.
Mainly focuses on the fact that while Tanaka throws a lot of strikes and gets ahead in counts, he really doesn't throw in the strike zone all that often because hitters tend to chase his pitches outside of the zone anyway.
"Batters have swung at 65% of Tanaka’s splitters, even though just 32% of them have been in the zone."
He gets the K on a splitter in the dirt. The hitter had no chance to do anything on that swing.
So the obvious counter to a guy who throws so many pitches outside of the strike zone is to wait him out right? But that's what makes Tanaka special. He might not throw in the strike zone that often but he can if he wants to. So if you're going to counter by waiting him out, Tanaka will just counter by throwing in the strike zone more. He can still get swing and misses with his splitter in the strike zone.
Really liking his set of skills so far. I think he'll give up his fair share of Homers because he misses up in the zone at times. Being a righty in Yankee stadium won't help those HR numbers either. But that's really the only negative I see with him. I love the fact that his splitter has lived up to the hype. I was worried that it wouldn't be as good of a pitch in the MLB with the different ball and better hitters, but it looks as nasty as advertised. Great start to his career.
Great ,great analysis of Tanaka. He's looking every bit worth this big contract thus far.
It's so early in process that it's hard to say for sure. But I think one big difference between Tanaka and Matsuzaka is Tanaka's control. Dice-K always struggled to throw strikes and walked a lot of guys. I mean the year he went 18-3 with a 2.90 ERA, Dice-K still walked 94 batters in 167 innings. An absurdly high rate for such successful season. Dice-K also walked a lot more guys in Japan.
Dice-K had a 3.2 BB/9 rate over 1400 innings in Japan
Tanaka had a 1.9 BB/9 rate over 1300 innings in Japan
I don't think Tanaka will fall victim to the same issues as Dice-K because he's a different pitcher. One that has always had better control.
I actually think when Tanaka struggles, it will be less about walks and more about hard hit balls when he leaves the ball up in the zone too much.