NFT: Yankees vs Rays Saturday April 19th

i'm guessing we are going to see an uncanny number of bunts tonight.

2/3 of an inning 5 hits 4 earned runs 1 k

you need to win in baseball if you want to be a contender. Rough loss last night? Tough shit, go out there and start a winning streak.

Nova is 2-1 but he has looked pretty awful to start the year. We really need a good start out of him asap.

Ellsbury hits leadoff and Gardner hits 2nd.

Essentially Girardi admitting that Gardner isn't a great baserunner right now.

will give him more pitches to run.

had some great starts up to today though. He looked pretty good in Spring and I could see him getting a Summer callup if we need a shot in the arm.

now 7 for 8.

Love Archer's socks.

.

just braindead half the time at the plate and on the bases.

Wow. Ellsbury caught twice already this season. That is half his total from last year.

Anyone notice the Giants drink holder in the dugout when the showed Gardner walking by.

Always Giants/Yankees or Jets/Mets

continues...

are out on the field.

fucked by the umpire.

didn't let his defense behind him and the umpire mess up his concentration.

doesn't haunt us.

Outside of the hanging curve Nova has looked good. Strange his velocity is about 3mph less than usual.

...

get your shit sorted out Nova.

2-0

two home runs off hanging curve balls.

to get it together.

brutal showing by Nova tonight. Hot and cold. More classic inconsistency from him.

.

so we can throw him into a trade. This is ridiculous.

as "that guy". We really need him to get it going or else our pitching staff is going to look a lot less impressive.

So far...

1. CC (looks like an innings eating 3/4)
2. Kuroda (looks like a 2/3, but I'm worried about him falling apart)
3. Nova (looks like a 5th starter, really ugly so far)
4. Tanaka (looks like a straight up Ace)
5. Pineda (looks like a 2/3 but a big ? next to his name)

CC/Kuroda look like a weak 1-2 punch right now, but Tanaka/Pineda might be the best 4-5 in baseball right now.

Nova as our #3 could be the make-or-break pitcher on the team. We really need him to perform well.

This rotation has a lot of potential but it's been a mixed bag so far.

and can't get him the fuck out is beyond comprehension.

Get off my fucking lawn with another HR. 6-0

Let's get Nuno out there.

enough with this shit.

We need to trade for Archer or facilitate his trade to the NL. We can't hit him.

has to pitch tomorrow.

well I guess we are going to force feed him his own craptastic start.

I just want to hit Archer. This is getting ridiculous.

Johnson with the deep double.

6-1

nothing at all.

and clearly says to Nova "why didn't you tell me?"

and then pulls him.

We'll see what the hell Nova was keeping quiet about.

Longoria sacfly
INTBB Londy
3 run bomb by Myers

Daley isn't good enough to pitch for this team. Why was this necessary to prove that?

10-1

but leave him out there until his arm falls off and then send him back to AAAA.

Think we are down enough to get Betances in the game?

Daley might as well be throwing underhand.

is definitely safe for Betances now. He'll make sure to throw him a couple innings so he can't pitch tomorrow if the game is close

bounce off the fence in RF. The dude cannot play that position. Not a fucking lick.

12-1

Betances just about pulled the bat out of Myers' hands on that K.

and then tucks it into the Teix-only dirt. A good 1st baseman gets that.

13-1

once again shows Betances getting squeezed. But also hitting 96 with his cutter.

and Betances walks in a run.

14-1

...we can do it.

You jinxed them by not putting the number 2 in the thread title

I'll make sure to go to confession so my sins are forgiven

Anna is in. Two quick hits and he gets Rodriguez to pop up.

does that make him a better pitcher than Nova right now?

Hanigan with 6 RBIs tonight.

1.2 innings 2 walks 3 K's. 0 hits 0 runs, wouldn't have even given up any inherited runners if he had good D behind him.

He also got completely squeezed on his first walk.

He's not perfect, he's going to have some growing pains, but there's no reason he shouldn't be given a shot over a guy like David Phelps. He has great stuff he just needs a chance to see what he can do in bigger spots, all he pitches in are blowouts it seems

I doubt those are going away anytime soon. Couple that with what appears to be a very delicate mental state on the mound - judging by what we've read over the last three years - and I get why Girardi is being careful.

We shouldn't be counting on him anyways. Many felt he was worth giving up on late last year. The bigger issue is the failure to add better arms or call them up from within.

Win tomorrow.

why he is being careful and not pitching him over guys like Phelps who aren't any good?

He's going to walk people. But he also doesnt get hit, he's given up 1 hit in 8 innings so far this year.

I'm not saying make him closer or put him in the 8th inning, but he should not be behind David fucking Phelps on the bullpen pecking order. Phelps sucks

on him last year. They gave up on him as a starter, the bullpen is something many people have been wanting them to do with him for quite a while

is more aware than I am of what he has and what it takes to build him up. If everyone else continues to suck, i'm sure he'll get his chance.

When is the last time we gave up that many runs in a two run stretch? That was just brutal.

So after jumping out to the 4-0 lead in the 2nd inning last night, the Yankees have been outscored 27-2 since. I don't know what it is about the Rays; whatever banjo-hitting 165lb scrub they send up to the plate crushes the Yankees these past few years. Ryan Hanigan? What makes it doubly frustrating for me here in the Tampa area is being subjected to these giddy little bitch Rays announcers who act as if the Rays are winning the World Series each time one of their guys beats out an infield grounder.

This isn't about him getting it right. This is about whther or not he has serious arm trouble. From the beginning of the game, he didn't look right. His velocity was down.

who is a AA starter with great stuff. They also called up Preston Claiborne.

He has been around a while, but he's still only 22.

Quote:

I’m pretty sure I’m going to continue listing Mitchell as a possible breakout prospect every year until he either breaks out or flames out. It feels like the 22-year-old has had the same statistical season every year since being drafted in 16th round of the 2009 draft, but he did cut his walk rate from 13.6% in 2012 to 9.0% in 2013. It’s a sign of progress and I’ll take it. Mitchell’s breakout potential stems from his fastball-curveball combination, which might be the best two-pitch mix in the organization. His heater sits in the mid-90s and will touch 97 while the curveball is a low-80s hammer, rivaled only by David Robertson‘s in the entire organization. Can he ever put it all together by throwing strikes with his fastball and getting the curveball down and out of the zone for consistent swings and misses? I hope so. As I said earlier, Mitchell is a breakout candidate until either breaks out of flames out. The stuff is simply too good.

Link - ( New Window )

RHP Danny Burawa has been placed on the DL for an unknown reason, according to Donnie Collins. He had a wild (four walks in 1.2 innings) and extended (51 pitches) outing on Thursday. Burawa missed the entire 2012 season with a torn oblique.

but since Nova is almost certainly going to be DL'ed and Shane Greene isn't stretched out I don't know if that's a safe assumption.