The Daily Yankeeland - 7/15

Probably going to have to rename this feature, "The Once in a While Yankeeland".

Filed Under: Yankees

Tags: Aroldis Chapman • chien-ming wang • damaso marte • Eastern League All-Star Game • Ian Snell • jesus montero • Old Timer's Day • Sergio Mitre • Views from the Facade • Yankees News and Notes • Zach McAllister

The Yankees have acknowledged that Damaso Marte does still exist. Watching MLB Network last night, I noticed on the crawl that Marte will begin a rehab assignment on Thursday with the Gulf Coast League Yankees.

The Trenton Thunder host tonight’s Eastern League All-Star game. Thunder team members, and Yankees prospects, Jesus Montero, Zach McAllister, Mike Dunn, Josh Schmidt, Reegie Corona, Eduardo Nunez, and Jorge Vazquez will represent the Northern squad. Trenton manager Tony Franklin will be at the helm of the North along with his coaching staff.

The Yankees begin a 10-game homestand beginning Thursday night with Detroit. After 3 games with the Tigers, the Orioles come to town for 3 before the A’s finish the homestand with a 4-game set. The Tigers series includes Old-Timer’s Day on Sunday, July 19.

When the Chien-Ming Wang’s spot in the rotation comes up, the Yankees will probably go with Sergio Mitre and move Al Aceves back to the pen.

The Yankees will also look elsewhere for a starting pitcher. According to the NY Post, Pittsburgh’s Ian Snell is among those who have piqued the Yankees interest. The Bombers are also looking into Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman.

Mo Closes Out Record All-Star Game

Another year, another American League All-Star win, this time by a 4-3 margin. It was the 13th straight AL win and the 4th straight 1-run win. Mariano Rivera pitched a 1-2-3 9th for an All-Star record 4th save.

The night began with a very lengthy ceremony, which based on Twitter responses seemed to be well received. It thought it was a little schmaltzy and over the top, but some of the sentiment seemed genuine.

Honoring some of the Cardinals greats - Bob Gibson, Stan "the Man" Musial, Lou Brock and others. Honoring normal citizens that have contributed to society was a nice touch, especially have all the ball players greet them and give them a pat on the back.

President Obama, in his White Sox jacket, throwing out the first pitch was great. Unfortunately, the morons at Fox (conspiracy?) didn't bother to show Albert Pujols catching the ball. It was finally shown on a replay much later in the game when the President stopped in to talk with Tweedledee and Tweedledum (McCarver and Buck). By the way Mr. President, I think you're great, but you throw like Johnny Damon.

As for the game itself, it moved quickly, which was fantastic, especially on the heels of the HR Derby debacle. The AL took a 2-0 lead in the first in part thanks to errors by David Wright (how does he win a Gold Glove with that tin arm?) and Albert Pujols (on a ball hit by Mark Teixeira). The most memorable moment of the 1st inning was also the most aggravating. NL starter Tim Lincecum hit Derek Jeter on the wrist. The ball may have gotten part of the bat, but it got part of the Captain too! Outrage throughout Tweetville and living room and bars across the Tri-State area.

Roy Halladay moved down the NL in the 1st, but ran into 2-out trouble in the 2nd. Wright reached on a pop fly single and Shane Victorino and Yadier Molina followed with singles of their own. Wright scored and the "Flying Hawaiian" came home when center fielder Josh Hamilton's throw hit him in the back and got away. Prince Fielder's ground-rule double plated Molina for a 3-2 NL lead. But that would be it for the NL for the night and, in fact, the next 18 NL batters would go down without reaching safely.

The AL tied it up in the 7th against Chad Billingsley when Carl Crawford led off the inning with a single, and Joe Mauer doubled home Jeter, who had forced out Crawford.

Crawford was the defensive hero in the bottom half of the inning when he reached over the wall to take back a home run by Brad Hawpe, who tagged Jonathan Papelbon's delivery. The next hitter, Miguel Tejada, drilled one to right, but the ball seemed to die and landed in the glove of Adam Jones.

The AL took the lead for good against Heath Bell in the 8th thanks to Justin Upton playing out of position. Upton, normally a right fielder, was in lef field and looked totally clueless on Curtis Granderson's drive to the wall in left-center. Instead of a double, Granderson was able to cruise into third with a one out triple.

Victor Martinez was intentionally walked to set up a double play, but Jones delivered the run with a deep fly ball to right.

Joe Nathan ran into his own troubles in the bottom of the 8th when he issued a 2-out walk to Adrian Gonzalez and Orlando Hudson singled him to third. But after Hudson stole 2nd base, Nathan struck out pinch-hitter Ryan Howard with a nasty breaking pitch to preserve the lead.

The Mets' Francisco Rodriguez retired the AL in order in the top of the 9th and then it was time for the Sandman. And Mo didn't disappoint. He retired Upton on a ground out, struck out Hawpe with a filthy cutter and got Tejada on a game ending pop up to 2nd base.

Another year, another win. Carl Crawford was named the game's MVP for his catch and the start of the game tying rally.

Next year's game will be in Anaheim.

Hey Now Your'e An All-Star

So after sitting through part or all, or none for that matter, of last night's horrendous HR Derby, tonight Fox will do it's best to ruin an easy to ruin event - the All-Star game. The game is dull no matter how you slice it, but when you add the idiots from Fox to the mix, it's barely tolerable.

Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Mariano Rivera, David Wright, and K-Rod are the locals involved, with all the on-closers starting at their respective positions. Marc Carig of the Star Ledger has a nice feature in today's paper on Jeter's longevity and making the All-Star team at 35, which Jeter considers young.

If you remember last year, big mouth Jon Papelbon caused controversy by saying that he, not Mo, should pitch the 9th inning in the game. This year, Pap has wised up and said Mo is da man.

"To me, there's no doubt in my mind that Mo should close," Papelbon said. "Do I want to close? Of course. Am I going to get to? Probably not. I'm going to go into (manager) Joe Maddon's office and say, 'When you want me, I'll be in the bullpen ready to pitch.'"

Rivera laughed after being told of Papelbon's comment.

"Jonathan is a great guy," Rivera said. "He has his own mind, but he means well."

Starting lineups for tonight:

AL - Evan Longoria was scratched due to a finger infection, so the lineup may change

RF Ichiro
SS Derek Jeter
C Joe Mauer
1B Mark Teixeira
LF Jason Bay
CF Josh Hamilton
3B Michael Young
2B Aaron Hill
P Roy Halladay


NL

SS Hanley Ramirez
2B Chase Utley
1B Albert Pujols
RF Ryan Braun
LF Raul Ibanez
3B David Wright
CF Shane Victorino
C Yadier Molina
P Tim Lincecum

Is Hughes the Next Righetti?

Both were labeled as can’t miss. Both had/have tremendous ability as a starting pitcher. Both went to the bullpen, one stayed there. Is is the bullpen destiny of the second one as well?

Dave Righetti was a hard throwing left-hander who was destined for great things as a starter for the Yankees in the 1980’s. But the Yankees needed a closer with the departure of Goose Gossage and turned to Righetti, who was having his ups and downs as a starter. He would go on to record a then American League record 46 saves in 1986. Rags finished his 16 year career with 252 saves, good enough for 27th place all time.

I remember being upset that the Yankees made the move with Righetti. He had been 14-8 in 1983 and had no-hit the Red Sox. He had also topped the 200 mark in innings for the first time (217) and recorded 169 strikeouts. He was on the verge of being a superstar.

After 1983, Righetti would make only four more starts, all in 1992, for the San Francisco Giants. (He’s been the Giants pitching coach since 2000, quite an achievement in this day and age.) Would he have had a very successful career as a starter? Probably so. But we do know he was very successful as a closer.

Like Righetti, who made his debut as a 19-yr old in 1979, Phil Hughes has heard the hoopla, praise, and expectations. So far as a starter, he has shown flashes of brilliance, but has been oft injured and ineffective.

The one thing word that would sum up Hughes’ major league career is inconsistent. That is until the Yankees needed to get Chien-Ming Wang back in the starting rotation and Hughes moved, at first thought to be temporarily, to the bullpen. He’s been nothing short of outstanding since the switch.

Joe Girardi seemed reluctant to use Hughes at first, especially in big spots (we can understand that to some degree), but Hughes has supplanted a struggling Brian Bruney as the Yankees’ go-to guy in the 8th inning.

Hughes made his pen debut on June 8th and has appeared in 13 games. He’s allowed an earned run (two to be exact) in just one of those games. His numbers are outstanding - 18.1 IP 7 H 2 ER 5 BB 19 K - and his fastball, which was usually in the 91-92 mph range as a starter, is regularly popping the catcher’s mitt at 95.

Hughes is also showing a confidence and aggressiveness that hadn’t come through when he was starting. So while we believe Hughes will still make a fine starter, we’re also beginning to think the Yankees may have the heir apparent to Mariano Rivera, and his name is not Joba.

Since Hughes hasn’t firmly established himself as a starter, I wouldn’t mind if he were groomed for Mo’s role. I’m just glad I’m not the one who has to make that decision.

Home Run Royalty

He was born with home run bloodlines, but Prince Fielder has become his own man and very much his own home run hitter. Last night he captured the 2009 All-Star Home Run Derby in one of the longest, most boring nights in the event's history.

Fielder is quietly having a magnificent season. It hasn't caught the attention of the baseball world due to Fielder's All-Star teammate Albert Pujols, whose 32 HR and 87 RBI dwarf everyone. But the Prince of Milwaukee has hit 22 home runs and driven in 78 runs of his own.

But unless an injury or a fantastic second half by the Brewers occurs, Fielder will watch as someone else, likely Pujols, hoists the NL MVP trophy.

As for the competition, I have to admit right off the bat (no pun intended) that I did not watch much of it. What I did watch was boring. I even shut it off before it was over.

It went on for an interminable amount of time and I had to have the sound off most of the time so I didn't have to hear ESPN's version of the 3 Stooges - Chris Berman, Joe Morgan, and Steve Phillips.

Since the game was in St. Louis, the fans obviously wanted Pujols to win, but he fell well short. In fact, he wouldn't have even advanced past the initial round if not for a fan's assistance (the name Jeffrey Maier is once again being mentioned everywhere).

There were some titanic blasts- Fielder hit one 503 ft., but there was no overwhelming sense of awe like there was when Josh Hamilton did his best to completely leave the yard in Yankee Stadium last year. Maybe that was part of the problem- last year's derby was so tremendous with Justin Morneau and Hamilton going toe to toe in the final season at the old Yankee Stadium, that maybe the event peaked.

As we made our comments known on Twitter last night and shared opinions and views with those we follow and those who follow us, one thing became crystal clear. The event has to be changed or people are not going to tune in.

Not acting like a Big Daddy

Tip of the hat to Jane Heller (aka She-Fan) for letting me know about the rift between Fielder and his Dad, "Big Daddy" Cecil Fielder. I had no idea there was an issue. Did a little research this morning and found that Cecil is a compulsive gambler and blew Prince's $200,000 signing bonus.

It's a real shame. I remember when Cecil was in Detroit and had Prince, who was about 10 or 12 then, there with him. Sports Illustrated had done a piece on it. Hopefully they can resolve their issues and Cecil can get some help.

1st Half Ends With a Thud

As I've said before, just one you start feeling good about this team, they get derailed and have an awful series like the one just completed in Anaheim. The Yankees dropped the finale on Sunday because of a poor outing by CC Sabathia and a lack of clutch hitting (how many times has that phrase been used?).

Yesterday's game was a prime example of what's wrong with this team right now and what has plagued them all year. CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett cannot be expected to throw gems every time out, so it's a major issue when the back end of the rotation struggles.

Joba Chamberlain is pitching very poorly right now and not accepting it either. His post-game words sound a lot like the dillusional, immature statements Ian Kennedy said last year.

Andy Pettitte has not been the same since he tweaked his back. He's allowed 4 or more earned runs in 8 of his 14 starts since May 1 (5.49 ERA sine then).

Chien-Ming Wang has been hurt and/or ineffective all season. He'll be out at least a month, which means tryouts are underway. Al Aceves was ineffective in his one start and the Yankees prefer to use him in the bullpen, especially if Chamberlain and Pettitte aren't giving the team innings.

Sergio Mitre is likely to get a shot. He's gone 3-1, 2.40 in 7 starts at Scranton and has averaged better than 6 innings a start. The 27-yr old right-hander has shown promise in the past with both the Cubs and Marlins (he played for Joe Girardi), but he does hold a 5.36 career ERA. He also served a 50 game suspension for using performance enhancing drugs.

Josh Towers would be another option, but his stuff isn't as good as Mitre's. The Yankees can't afford to move Phil Hughes out of the bullpen (unless a quality reliever is acquired), which means a deal for a starter would be another option. Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo, Doug Davis, Jeremy Guthrie, Brian Tallet, Brian Moehler are among the mediocrity that is probably available.


The Yankees lack of clutch hitting is another matter that won't be addressed with a trade. Guys just need to step up. Girardi said that the outfield will be a mix the rest of the way. Sounds like Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, and Nick Swisher may see more bench time with Eric Hinske getting more at-bats. Despite his home run total this year and pretty good offense, Damon has solidified my position that there is no way he should be in Pinstripes next year. His outfield play has been atrocious bordering on comical. And as much I love Godzilla, this has to be his last year in Pinstripes as well.

I think they Yankees would still benefit from a bat that is better all-around hitter than Hinske. The Yankees can hit solo home runs with the best of them, but trying in that runner from third with less than two outs is far from being their specialty.

So, what do you think? Take our new poll, "What's the Yankees immediate need".

Deja Lose

Friday and Saturday blended together as the Yankees blew another game to the Angels.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	2	1	0	1	0	0	2	2	0		8	9	1
LA Angels	0	0	0	1	7	1	1	4	X		14	16	1

WP - Weaver (10-3) LP - Pettitte (8-5)

Take a decent sized early lead, have your starting pitcher give it away, and then have your bullpen put the game out of reach. Such has been the recipe for disaster that the Yankees have put together the last 2 days.

Less than 24 hours after an ineffective Joba Chamberlain and his reinforcements turned a 5-1 lead into a 10-6 loss to the Los Angeles Angels, Andy Pettitte and company saw a 4-0 lead become a 14-8 defeat. The latter happened despite five home runs by the Yankees, including a pair by Alex Rodriguez, who passed Rafael Palmeiero for sole possession of 10th place on the all-time home run list.

Read the rest of my recap at Baseball Digest Online.

Yankees Make a Mess Out West

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	3	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0		6	14	2
LA Angels	0	1	0	0	4	2	3	0	X		10	13	0

WP - Bulger (4-1) SV - Fuentes (25) LP - Melancon (0-1)

The Yankees are going to have make a decision soon on the immediate future of Joba Chamberlain. The Yankees young star imploded once again last night, lasting just 4 1/3 innings in a 10-6 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. To make matters worse, the Yankees had staked him to a 5-1 lead. Chamberlain wasn’t completely at fault though- the Yankees are still snake bitten in Anaheim. Errors by Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter and another poor relief outing from Brian Bruney all contributed to the “Mess out West“.

Read the rest of my recap at Baseball Digest Online.

Jorgie's Barehanded Catch

Heck of a play by Jorge Posada in last night's game.

Yankees Sweep Twins Under the Carpet

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	0	3	0	2	1	0	0	0	0		6	8	2
Minnesota	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0		4	6	1

WP - Albaladejo (4-1) SV - Rivera (23) LP - Liriano (4-9)

The Yankees didn’t get what they had hoped for out of spot starter Al Aceves, but the bullpen stepped up and the Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins 6-4 to complete a 3-game sweep in their final regular season trip to the Metrodome. The Yankees also completed the season sweep, having beaten the Twins in all seven meetings.

While Aceves struggled in his first start of the year, his Twins’ counterpart, Francisco Liriano, had harder a time of it. The Yankees jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 2nd inning with just one base hit.

Read the rest of my recap at Baseball Digest Online.

Melancon Headed to Cali

Chad Jennings is reporting that Mark Melancon has been summoned by the Yankees and is headed to Anaheim for the weekend series with the Angels. Melancon struggled in June, but told Jennings that his arm feels great. Hopefully he can catch some of the same magic Francisco Cervelli did in his recall.

No word on the Yankees roster move, but I would hazard to guess that David Robertson, on the heels of today's dismal performance, is hitting the road.

I like Robertson's stuff, but you can't pitch in the majors with that many walks.

Montero Gets to Star in Front of Home Crowd

Jesus Montero got off to a slow start after his promotion to the 'AA' Trenton Thunder, but Montero is now hitting a solid .299 with an .906 OPS. He was rewarded yesterday when he was named to the Eastern League Norther All-Star squad to replace injured catcher Josh Thole.

Montero joins teammates Zach McAllister, Josh Schmidt, Reegie Corona, Eduardo Nunez, and Jorge Vazquez. Thunder manager Tony Franklin and his coaching staff will run the Northern team.

Thunder official press release:

The 2009 Eastern League All-Star Game will be played at Mercer County Waterfront Park on Wednesday, July 15th at 7:05 PM. The gates at Waterfront Park will open for all fans at 2:05 PM - a full five hours before the first pitch. Fans will be able to watch both teams take batting practice then there will be an autograph session and a Home Run Derby.

Limited seats remain for the All-Star Game. Tickets are available now by calling 609-394-3300 or online at www.trentonthunder.com.

Alfredo on the Spot

It's official- Alfredo Aceves will take Chien-Ming Wang's spot in the rotation, at least for one day any way, on Thursday
.
With Wang on the DL, it was originally thought the Yankees would turn to one of their Triple-A pitchers, perhaps Sergio Mitre or Josh Towers, both of whom have major league experience. But Aceves' 4-inning performance on Sunday helped Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman go in another direction.

Aceves is 5-1, 2.02 in 21 relief appearances this season. In 40 innings, he has struck out 34 and walked just 7.

Wanted: Rotund Pitcher

Bartolo Colon is scheduled to make a rehab start tomorrow night for the White Sox Triple-A club, the Charlotte Knights. One problem, no one knows where the big guy is. GM Kenny Williams can't even get a hold of Colon's agent.

Hopefully all is well, but let's face it, someone of Colon's "stature" is hard to lose. Perhaps he was catching Jacko's funeral and isn't back yet. If you see him, approach cautiously with cheeseburger and notify the White Sox front office.