Saturday, June 27, 2009
Saturday Afternoon Snapshot
(Odds & Sods Edition)
I wish I had mentioned the Yankees' BABIP sooner . . . As if a light clicked on after the 5th inning on Wednesday, the offense has snapped back to life after a lethargic two weeks of play. In three games they're hitting .289/.387/.474 and have scored 28 runs.
Their RISP numbers have still been paltry over the last few days: .208/.400/.302, but it's made little difference. From a base standpoint, the most damage they've done is with a man on first base: .571/.625/.905. And from an outs situation, it's been one out: .352/.478/.611.
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Did anyone else catch the Yankees-Mets game on television last night? In the early stages of the game, for about 20 minutes or so, the camera crews would continually break away and take panoramic shots of the sky over Citi Field. It was downright majestic, with all kinds of atypical colors. A wicked line of thunderstorms had rumbled its way over the Tri-State area (the lightning strikes in southern Connecticut were like those perfect vertical jagged likes that you see in science textbooks) after 5:00 and actually caused the game to start late. By the time the sun was setting, the storms had passed and there was a blend of sun and clouds and moisture in the air to cause an amazing natural display over the steel beams, electrical light, green field and brown infield. It was like something out of a Kevin Costner movie. But was 1,000x better than that.
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Brett Gardner after his ridiculous 5-6 game last night stands at .303/.374/.376. He has 17 steals in 19 attempts and for his career is 30-33. I don't know how high the ceiling is for this guy offensively, but at these rates he is will be the Yankees' everyday centerfielder no ifs ands or buts. With all the attention that Boston gets for developing talent in its everyday line-up (and rightly so), the Yanks may have their answer to Ellsbury (.306/.354/.399 to this point in '09).
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The first final of the day is in the books. Phillies 10, Toronto 0. Werth hit two home runs. The Cards are up on the Twins 5-3 in the 8th and everything else starts later.
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I'm out of the business of predicting what teams are going to do in a short-term timeframe. My 10.5 over/under on the Yanks' schedule from the Nats to the M's went bust and looks ridiculous now. And so I didn't step out on any limb in my Tigers' piece yesterday, even though I saw they had Houston & Oakland coming up on the schedule.
Of course, Detroit's winning streak went poof last night against the Astros, as they gave up two runs in the 8th and lost 5-4. Alfredo Figaro makes his second career start tonight for the Tigers. In his only other appearance he threw a 5/8/2/2/2/7 line against the Brewers.
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Scott Kazmir is back on the mound tonight for the Rays. He hasn't pitched since May 20 and will attempt to resuscitate a 4-4, 7.69 ERA campaign.
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Want to know the state of the Royals? Here's all you need to know. Bruce Chen is starting tonight for K.C. tonight at Pittsburgh. Chen hasn't been in a major league game since 2007, and hasn't been a full-time starter since 2005. He was one of my personal favorites in the early part of this decade. Not blessed with much baseball talent at all, I remember him studying to be a nuclear physicist or some such thing. I don't know where he took that secondary career, but it always struck me how atypical that was for a major league baseball player.
----
After being under a perpetual bank of clouds for virtually the entire month of June, we have a perfect summer day at our disposal. My back deck & a beer combo was Son Volt/Pearl Jam/Springsteen's Seeger Sessions this afternoon.
Enjoy the games tonight.
(Odds & Sods Edition)
I wish I had mentioned the Yankees' BABIP sooner . . . As if a light clicked on after the 5th inning on Wednesday, the offense has snapped back to life after a lethargic two weeks of play. In three games they're hitting .289/.387/.474 and have scored 28 runs.
Their RISP numbers have still been paltry over the last few days: .208/.400/.302, but it's made little difference. From a base standpoint, the most damage they've done is with a man on first base: .571/.625/.905. And from an outs situation, it's been one out: .352/.478/.611.
----
Did anyone else catch the Yankees-Mets game on television last night? In the early stages of the game, for about 20 minutes or so, the camera crews would continually break away and take panoramic shots of the sky over Citi Field. It was downright majestic, with all kinds of atypical colors. A wicked line of thunderstorms had rumbled its way over the Tri-State area (the lightning strikes in southern Connecticut were like those perfect vertical jagged likes that you see in science textbooks) after 5:00 and actually caused the game to start late. By the time the sun was setting, the storms had passed and there was a blend of sun and clouds and moisture in the air to cause an amazing natural display over the steel beams, electrical light, green field and brown infield. It was like something out of a Kevin Costner movie. But was 1,000x better than that.
----
Brett Gardner after his ridiculous 5-6 game last night stands at .303/.374/.376. He has 17 steals in 19 attempts and for his career is 30-33. I don't know how high the ceiling is for this guy offensively, but at these rates he is will be the Yankees' everyday centerfielder no ifs ands or buts. With all the attention that Boston gets for developing talent in its everyday line-up (and rightly so), the Yanks may have their answer to Ellsbury (.306/.354/.399 to this point in '09).
----
The first final of the day is in the books. Phillies 10, Toronto 0. Werth hit two home runs. The Cards are up on the Twins 5-3 in the 8th and everything else starts later.
----
I'm out of the business of predicting what teams are going to do in a short-term timeframe. My 10.5 over/under on the Yanks' schedule from the Nats to the M's went bust and looks ridiculous now. And so I didn't step out on any limb in my Tigers' piece yesterday, even though I saw they had Houston & Oakland coming up on the schedule.
Of course, Detroit's winning streak went poof last night against the Astros, as they gave up two runs in the 8th and lost 5-4. Alfredo Figaro makes his second career start tonight for the Tigers. In his only other appearance he threw a 5/8/2/2/2/7 line against the Brewers.
----
Scott Kazmir is back on the mound tonight for the Rays. He hasn't pitched since May 20 and will attempt to resuscitate a 4-4, 7.69 ERA campaign.
----
Want to know the state of the Royals? Here's all you need to know. Bruce Chen is starting tonight for K.C. tonight at Pittsburgh. Chen hasn't been in a major league game since 2007, and hasn't been a full-time starter since 2005. He was one of my personal favorites in the early part of this decade. Not blessed with much baseball talent at all, I remember him studying to be a nuclear physicist or some such thing. I don't know where he took that secondary career, but it always struck me how atypical that was for a major league baseball player.
----
After being under a perpetual bank of clouds for virtually the entire month of June, we have a perfect summer day at our disposal. My back deck & a beer combo was Son Volt/Pearl Jam/Springsteen's Seeger Sessions this afternoon.
Enjoy the games tonight.
