Apologies/The Yankees
Well hello again everyone. Apologies for the last couple of days -- since watching the Cubs/Marlins game on ESPN wednesday, I've been drinking and trying to scrub myself clean after the shellacking. And now, it's safe to say, the lingering after-effects of both have worn off, and the boring rest day is behind us, so it's back to business.
The Yankees versus the Cubs. The first time the Cubs have visited Evil Stadium since 1938, and it's been a long time coming. Unlike previous seasons, the roles are a little reversed as the Yankees play the role of the wobbly, awkward teen while the leather jacket-clad Cubs are getting all the girls to neck with in the back seat of their Corvettes.
For the Bronx brood, their pitching has seen a huge upswing after the horrendous Jaret Wright/Kevin Brown hurling oblivion of the first month. In the last week, both Mussina and Randy Johnson have thrown impressive games, giving up 1 run in 16 innings. The only reasons I know this are that my friend is a Pirates fan (and I took great relish in watching both SHOs come against his hapless team) and that the team I'm currently playing in fantasy baseball has both those a**holes (not so much relish in watching that unfold).
The Cubs, on the other hand, have enjoyed periodic blasts of offense and seen several players come to life with the bat. Slug-fests with the Marlins didn't help matters, as their pitching staff has given up 32 runs in the last 4 games (1-3), scoring only 16 in return.
Cubs: (last 7 days)
Todd Walker -- .526 (10-19), 7 R
Aramis Ramirez -- .500 (12-24), 2 HR, 8 RBI
Jeromy Burnitz -- .478 (11-23), 3 HR, 6 RBI, 8 R
Derrek Lee -- .455 (10-22), 6 2B, 4 RBI, 6 R
Todd Hollandsworth -- .421 (8-19), HR, 7 RBI
The Yankees are not without hot hitters either:
(last 7 days)
Jorge Posada -- .438, 2 HR, 5 RBI
Robinson Cano -- .409, 2 RBI
Hideki Matsui -- .391, 2 HR, 6 RBI
Jason Giambi -- .385, HR, 5 RBI
Derek Jeter -- .385
It makes for 3 intriguing matchups with a some shaken-up pitchers taking on the Yankees in their own house, while the Cubs lineup will be taking on a staff that has gained some confidence on the back of dominating pitching against some admittedly weaker opponents.
Weekend starters:
Friday
Zambrano (CHC -- 4-3, 3.19 ERA) vs. Pavano (NYY -- 4-5, 4.17 ERA)
Saturday
Rusch (CHC -- 5-2, 2.57 ERA) vs. Wang (NYY -- 3-2, 4.44 ERA)
Sunday
Mitre (CHC -- 2-1, 3.55 ERA) vs. Mussina (NYY -- 7-4, 3.89 ERA)
Key Players
Cubs
Corey Patterson, OF
Having noticed some rather interesting predictions about Steinbrenner and Patterson from members and commenters on this very site, I thought it only appropriate to make him a key player. Against Carl "South Beach" Pavano, Corey-P is batting .571 (8-14) with an OBP of .571. Considering that the one thing deserting him at the moment is some steady time on the bases, a weekend series against the Yankees would be a prime opportunity for him to get hot again and show us why he's the great hope for Wrigley's center field.
Glendon Rusch, SP
With Prior and Wood still a short while away from returning, Go-Go-Gadget Glendon needs to regain the form that eluded him against the Red Sox on Sunday. Facing perhaps the weakest (although still capable) starter over the weekend series, Rusch needs to reassert himself as a solid #4 man in the rotation and put that one bad start behind him. Despite last sunday's outing, he is 5-2 with a superb 2.57 ERA and a BAA of .259. The Yankees (hopefully) won't know what hit them.
Yankees
Carl Pavano, SP
"Credit Card" Carl Pavano has been perhaps one of the biggest enigmas in the Yankees rotation this season. Coming off a Marlins all-star season, big things were expected from Carl P, and while the man has won 4 games in 14 starts, he has also lost 5 games with a less-than-All-Star 4.17 ERA. Big starts have been contrasted with disastrous ones, and while June has been fair to ol' Carl (8 ER in 17 1/3 IP, not bad compared to 20 ER in 35 IP in May), he is always prone to an awful outing.
The best example of Pavano's pitching schizophrenia is shown in the 2 starts made against the Seattle Mariners in mid-May. Only 6 days apart from one another, he managed these two baffling lines:
May 11: 4 IP, 10 H, 9 ER, 4 HR, BB, 6 K (88 pitches)
May 17: 9 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K (133 pitches)
Against the Cubs this evening, we are all hoping for a May 11 instead of a May 17.
Alex Rodriguez, 3B
Alex "Moneyballs" Rodriguez, despite being one of the best hitters/sluggers in the American League, has not been especially brilliant of late, saving up his HRs and RBIs for one or two games every 10 days or so. I would know given that he's the unfortunate anchor of my fantasy team and this week, he's not been all there, batting a respectable .292 but giving me only 3 RBIs, 2 extra-base hits and 4 strikeouts. Granted, he has been far from terrible this season (a team-leading .321 BA, 19 HRs and 56 RBI), but a big weekend from him might push the Yanks over the top despite a strong Cubs opponent in town.
Predictions
I, like Yahoo! Sports' baseball correspondent and legend Ryne Sandberg (of course, he may be a little biased) think that the Cubs will take 2 of the 3 this weekend, most likely roughing up Credit Card and Wang.
UPN friday night for me (although there is a killer free Brooklyn concert right across the street -- Bad Plus and Charlie Hunter!), FOX saturday afternoon and YES sunday. Stay tuned, and a series round-up will most likely follow on monday (aka when the whisky wears off). Enjoy the weekend everyone, and let's go Cubbies!
posted by Jim Hendry @ 12:35 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
I have to wonder, will we see some offensive dramatics between Lee and Rodriguez? They are both leading leagues in multiple offensive catagories, and I personally hope that Lee silences some of those writers and broadcasters who are just in love with Rodriguez. However, it's also interesting to think about what situation either team would be in without their leading offenders.
The pitching really stank up the place tonight. That was bad. Really bad.
Yeah, tonight went from bad to Wuertz. Yo Ho Ho, I am king of the puns!
Back to the bar to drink this one away - we had them until Matsui decided to have his best single-game performance since the first week of the goddamn season....
at least I was right about some of my "Key Players for the Series". Man am I clever... goodnight one and all.
Hah. Well, apparently JT is not a funny drunk, but an arrogant drunk. Sober up, you're in America!
Yeah, the Cubs offense gave them enough runs to win it tonight, but the pitching had other plans. In previous years I'd say, "It's just that tough Yankees offense," but this year I have to say the pitching just gave it up.
As far as Zambrano goes, I think he got fooled by the umpire. It looked to me like a lot of his pitches were not missing by much. In the first inning or two the Ump was giving generous outside and inside corners, and then we lost about and inch or two on the plate. Zambrano continued to throw the way he had in the first inning for the whole game, and Ump called those pitches balls. After having a few seasons in the big leagues he should know that prices and strike zones are always subject to change.
Anybody read the article at Cubs.com about Buehrle spit ball accusations? He must be talking about Maddux, but I don't know where he gets it from. I don't really see anybody on the pitching staff touch their mouth, hat, or golve any more than most players. Maybe he's just trying to get his voice heard, and since the Angel's pine tar incident, he thinks this is how to do it. I like Maddux's comment: "Who's Mark Buehrle?"
I remember seeing a Mariners/Yankees game a while back where one of the Seattle relievers (I think Hasegawa) was called for "licking his fingertips" or blowing on his hands while being on the mound, an action that the non-partisan YES announcers took to be inexcusable... the batter at the plate was awarded first base (I think), according to the rules.
And yeah Greg, who is Mark Buehrle?
I am more than a little perturbed with our pitching over the last week - it's an excusable blip over the course of a whole season, but they're 1-4 including sunday, and they've been outscored 41-22 in 45 innings.... like I said, I'm sure that will change and even out considering how lights out they were before that, but still, it's coming at an inopportune time given the recent schedule (Boston, Florida, Yankees, Brewers, White Sox, all of whom could contend for something )
And Lazlo, I'm not that arrogant when I'm drunk. Sure, I can be a little ebullient or rambunctious -- for the most part I'm just loud and perhaps awkward (as both Hawk and Hypo can attest to, and probably AdicaRoy too given some on-set "warm-ups" back in college)
Speaking of Hypo, where are you Sir? Back from the Virgin Islands now, right?
Can't wait to catch up!
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