Games » New York Yankees
May23Not a good start
Lee Judge
The Kansas City Star
When I asked Mike Moustakas the difference between Triple A and the big leagues, he said, “Every at-bat is tough.” There are no easy nights, everyone coming out of the pen is bringing it. When I watched Tim Collins pitch for the first time, Paul Splittorff was sitting to my left. Paul said that major league hitters were spitting on pitches that got Collins a swing and a miss in the minors.
The major leagues are tough; good hitters don’t miss mistakes and good pitchers don’t make many. Regular readers know I’m reluctant to second guess managers and GMs — they know more than I do — but if there were any other option, I’m not sure I’d have a rookie make his debut in Yankee Stadium. And if there weren’t any other option, I’d make sure his family had seats somewhere other than behind home plate.
Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher and Andruw Jones provide enough distractions — why add to that?
By contrast
Will Smith struggled through his first inning. Meanwhile, Yankees starter, Andy Pettitte threw a first-pitch called strike to all three batters in his first inning. That’s how it’s done: get ahead, finish them off.
The Royals walked seven, hit two and four of the free runners scored. The Yankees walked one. Not hard to see why the score ended up the way it did.
Hosmer’s hits
Another reason you have to look beyond the box score: Hosmer’s been smoking the ball and taking O-fers, in this game he had three hits, but none were hit well.
John Smoltz and his elbow
I recently met John Smoltz out at Kauffman Stadium. He started telling stories and said he pitched for quite a while with elbow damage. That’s why he dropped down and threw knucklers toward the end of his career. The Royals took some criticism over their handling of Danny Duffy (although I didn’t hear anyone say he should be getting an MRI before he came up hurt).
Smoltz’ experience emphasizes what you often hear: most of these guys have some kind of damage in their shoulder or elbow. It’s often been there for years. It either didn’t bother them or they pitched through it. Or — like John Smoltz — they figured out a way around it.
It doesn’t help, but I feel better
The other day Mitch Maier walked past and I asked him how his BP had gone, “You couldn’t hear it?” After I got done laughing, I asked if batting practice had any relation to what was going to happen in the game.
“None.” According to Mitch good BP helps your confidence, but won’t help when you face pitchers in the game. He also said it was easier to keep his defense consistent after being on the bench for a while than his offense. Nothing replaces live at-bats.
(I wonder if Mitch had good BP today before hitting that bomb in the 5th.)
Advice on the national anthem
It may be your big moment, but ballplayers have to listen to 162 versions of the Star-Spangled Banner — more if you count spring training. I asked around and here’s what those of us who have to listen to every rendition would like to hear:
1.) No more than a 90-second version.
2.) Sing it a “ballpark” pace. (We all have things to do.)
3.) This is not an American Idol audition. The song’s notes are just fine — you don’t need to add any of your own.
Stuff to watch
Good outfielders will circle the ball in order to catch it going toward their target whenever possible. Alex Gordon does this really well. Everybody catches the ball going away from the target once in a while, but lesser outfielders do that even when they had time to circle the ball.
With pitchers speeding up their delivery times to home plate, the Royals are looking to run when the pitcher throws an off-speed pitch. They’ve been keeping track and have a pretty good idea of the percentage pitch in any given situation. Fans can look for breaking ball when the pitcher is ahead in the count.
Unless the pitcher is really good — then he’s able to throw any pitch in any count.
Defenses have been playing Jarrod Dyson in at third until he has two strikes — then the third baseman backs up to his normal position.
With the double play in order, you’ll see the pitcher signal a middle infielder — thumb to the pitcher’s chest, pinkie to the infielder. This sign lets the infielder know the pitcher will throw to that infielder to start a double play if the ball is hit back to the mound.
People will say a swing is “long” if it looks that way, but it might not be. Hitters want to be “short to” (meaning the distance from where their hands start their swing to contact with the ball) and “long through” (meaning the follow-through that takes place after contact). The long follow-through helps the ball carry, but doesn’t hurt contact as long as the hitter is “short to” the ball.
Watch a pitcher’s follow-through and you can see if he “falls off” to one side of the mound or the other. A pitcher who “falls off” is a target for a well-placed bunt on the other side of the mound.
Runners at first and second, they both steal. The trail runner is often the better target for the catcher. The trail runner has to make sure the lead runner actually took off and often gets a bad jump. Humberto Quintero pulled this trick off last week, nailing the trail runner in a double steal by the Diamondbacks.
Escobar
Butler
Hosmer
Jim Fetterolf
12 months agoThe silver lining to Will Smith’s first start is that it is an unparalleled learning experience. He’ll go back to Omaha knowing what he has to do in order to come back up and stick. He learned things tonight that years at Omaha could never teach him.
Hearing anything on Greg Holland? That three walk performance looked a lot like what he did before going on the DL. Wondering if the ribs are bothering him again.
Thayne Griffin
12 months agoThat was brutal. What a time for a kid to get his first major league start. Hopefully it doesn’t shatter his confidence. I was surprised Smith got the call, but I obviously don’t scout all of our pitchers and whatnot. Just way too many walks tonight to be competitive.
Lee Judge
12 months agoJim: Fans will scour minor league numbers and get excited about a prospect, which is fine, but, obviously, those numbers don’t automatically translate into major league success.
Pitches you get away with in Omaha get hammered in New York.
I think Smith is getting another start up here (last I heard) so let’s hope he’s a quick learner.
I haven’t heard anything on Holland, but if there were news I’m not sure they’d tell me. As always, information isn’t as plentiful when they’re on the road.
Lee Judge
12 months agoThayne: As we’ve seen recently, when the Royals get a good start they look like a different team. When they get down early, they become a more station-to-station team and it’s hard to get the runs back in bunches.
Walks just make everything worse. They add damage to whatever the other team does.
Unfortunately, the Royals have had so many injuries they’ve been patching things together since spring training.
Joel Kallem
12 months agoLee, the impact of injuries this year should not be overlooked in the Royals start this year. Depth was already an issue in the pitching corp, and it has gotten worse as the year progresses. I still have hope that we can get back to .500 before the year is over, but we cannot continue to face injuries among our pitchers and get there.
Jim Fetterolf
12 months ago“Hopefully it doesn’t shatter his confidence”
Always a possibility, but pitchers I knew many years ago tended to be plenty confidant, often downright cocky, and tended to short term memory loss, kind of like cornerbacks in that regard. He wouldn’t have made it this far if he had fragile self-confidence.
From what I saw Will Smith had decent velocity but his fastback lacked movement and location and his secondary pitches weren’t biting hard. I’m sure Coach Eiland will go through the details with him and Will will learn.
Jared Dull
12 months agoI’m curious why Smith got the call up over Montgomery. They have almost identical numbers in Triple A. They both have a WHIP of 1.5ish. The only difference being Montgomery has given up a few more walks and Smith a few more hits… That being said, I’m not sure a 1.50 WHIP in Triple A warrants a call up for anyone. Trying to justify it by saying they “needed” a lefty to start seems like a pretty big reach to me.
Larry Tindle
12 months agoIt was nice that the rest of our pitchers look bad also last night. That way Wil won’t feel so bad about his start. (of course this is sarcazm)
I was actually impressed with Wil. He did not stop battling even after 3 homers. A lot more experienced pitchers than him have given up homers to those guys.
Lee Judge
12 months agoJoel: You’re right, the list of injuries (or at least people who have spent time on the DL) is phenomenal: the closer, the set-up man, three starters, the catcher, the centerfielder, the second baseman and I’m probably forgetting someone.
All teams have to deal with injuries, but all teams don’t have to deal with this many.
Lee Judge
12 months agoJared: As I understand it, Montgomery had pitched too recently to be brought up for last night’s spot start.
Lee Judge
12 months agoLarry and Jim: I’ve never pitched and more specifically I’ve never pitched in the big leagues and even more specifically I’ve never pitched against the New York Yankees in New York.
But…
I’m guessing a rookie pitcher needs to get over the idea that the hitter is Derek Jeter and just see a hitter—a hitter that’s trying to send him back to Omaha.
I wonder if Will Smith came inside enough to make the mistakes out over the plate a little less tempting. (I don’t know for sure, but Dave Eiland has emphasized the need to do this.)
I had a chance to ask Jason Kendall what he would do with a rookie in the same situation. Jason said he’d tell the kid to quit thinking and trust whatever sign Jason put down. Forget the surroundings, just execute.
But the catcher has to have the reputation to gain the trust. Quindero’s new to the league and I don’t know whether he has that standing as of yet. I don’t know that he doesn’t either, but it’s a factor worth considering.
Jim Fetterolf
12 months ago“Trying to justify it by saying they “needed” a lefty to start seems like a pretty big reach to me.”
Needed a lefty is as good a reason as any and I think it’s a temporary call up. As I recall they can’t bring Vin Maz up for another week and he would be at the top of the list.
“I’m guessing a rookie pitcher needs to get over the idea that the hitter is Derek Jeter and just see a hitter—a hitter that’s trying to send him back to Omaha.”
Absolutely, maybe even move beyond seeing the hitter at all, just concentrate on the sign, the glove, and what the ball is doing on the way to the plate.
MattandJulie Herbster
12 months agoMy 12 year old son Nathan and I were at Yankee Stadium for the games on Tuesday and Wednesday night. We got there when the gates opened both nights and we also took a tour of the stadium. Here are a few thoughts: 1) Mike Moustakas may be the nicest guy on the team. Billy Butler was a close second. They both graciously posed for pictures with my son and they even acted like they didn’t mind. 2)Yankee stadium is only a few years old. Kauffman Stadium is better! Not even close. 3)Love the way the bleacher fans greet each yankee player in the top of the 1st. 4)I thought having my 12 year old son with me would spare me the jeers from Yankee fans … I thought wrong. 5)riding 4 line of the subway right to the stadium is cool! 6)Being a Royals fan is still great even though we have a payroll that is almost $140 million less than the Yankees.
MattandJulie Herbster
12 months agocorrection: we were there Monday and Tuesday nights
Jared Dull
12 months agoJim, I’m questioning whether they actually needed a lefty to start or not. I know I’m not qualified and don’t get paid millions to make these decisions, but i wanted to see Mendoza get the start. For the most part he has impressed me, but he hasn’t been given much of a chance to settle into a starter role. He’s constantly being moved to and from the bull pen. This was a guy that they seemed to have high hopes for going into the season. Obviously, the injuries to Sanchez and Duffy caused an imbalance, but I wanna see the the best pitcher start whether he’s a righty or lefty. I mean is that unheard of? Are there any teams in MLB that have 4 righties in their rotation?
Jim Fetterolf
12 months ago“Jim, I’m questioning whether they actually needed a lefty to start or not.”
And an excellent question. I think Ned Yost thought a lefty would give him a better shot with Yankee Stadium’s short right-field porch and also the rotation is down to one lefty from three with the injuries to Sanchez, Duffy, and Teaford.
“i wanted to see Mendoza get the start.”
I won’t argue that. If you go to Luis’ brooksbaseball.net page you will see that I sponsored him. Unfortunately, Luis didn’t look so good last night, either. Eiland may be seeing something that they’re working on to keep him in the ‘pen for awhile.
“I mean is that unheard of?”
No, but it’s a judgement call as to who is best at the moment, whether here or in Omaha. Smith probably was helped by the rotations lining up, called up for his normal day while Monty would have pitched on two days rest. Luis has been having some issues. The injury to Teaford is what really screwed things up, he would have pitched last night if healthy.
In defense of Will Smith, he showed character and a 93mph fb, so didn’t hurt his future. And, considering what the Yankees also did against Mendoza and Holland, it may have just been their night. I read that Smith will get another chance, so good thoughts to the young man.
Good posts, Jared. Thanks.
Lee Judge
12 months agoMatt: Sounds like your son had an experience he’ll never forget. Cool that he got the pictures with Moose and Billy. (He’d probably like Moose even moore if he could see him leave the stadium wearing a backpack, his hat backwards, with shades and shorts. All he needs is a skateboard to finish off the look.)
Most of those guys are very nice and cooperative if you catch them at the right time. Sounds like you did.
Jared Dull
12 months agoJim, thanks for the insight. It looks like they were looking for Mr. Right Now instead of Mr. Right!… And that made Mendoza Mr. Left Out! Lol. I was really hoping for the rotation to stabilize this year, but I knew it would be a challenge considering there were like 8 or 9 potential starters with a few more young studs looming! Now with the injuries to two somewhat reliable starters it seems like even more of a cluster fudge. Hopefully one or two of these guys grabs the bull by the horns and locks down their spot in the rotation. Until then, two out of every five Royals games are gonna be like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get!
Jim Fetterolf
12 months ago“You never know what you’re gonna get!”
Maybe even three out of five, unless Luke can show some consistency. Been a tough year for injuries, three starters on the DL, lefty swing-man, Everett Teaford on the DL, the closer on the DL, Greg Holland DLed and maybe hurt again, Blake Wood going under the knife, even Luke banged up for a few games.
“Hopefully one or two of these guys grabs the bull by the horns and locks down their spot in the rotation.”
At the moment I’ld bet on Nate Adcock. I’ll hope for Luis, a 94mph sinker can get work, but he needs to lock in his concentration and get a little more endurance.
Jeffry L Jack
12 months agoRe: Outfielders circling the ball. I’ve been noticing Dyson and Frenchy doing this, too, as well as Alex. It’s nice to be able to recognize players doing the little things “the Royal’s Way”. To me it shows they are buying in, and that good fundamentals are spreading throughout the organization. I think that is how to build a winner for the long haul.
Lee Judge
12 months agoJeffry: It’s little stuff like that goes unnoticed, but can mean the difference between a win and a loss.
And now you’ll also notice when someone doesn’t do it the right way.
George Smith
12 months agoLee I notice you have been saying a lot lately how much our pitchers are killing themselves by walking too many batters. These free base runners are bad for the pitchers and defense in general. So we can agree that walks are bad, no?
Yet the Royals are second to last in all of baseball in taking walks. Why no furor over this fact? Of course signing guys like Francouer and Betancourt and Quintero (all notorious free swingers), leads to small walk totals. Therefore, less runs scored. Which is kinda the point, right? Seems to me to be no mystery that walks- on both sides of the ball- are killing this team.
Jim Fetterolf
12 months agoBoth Frenchy and Yuni have higher BB% than Billy, just for information, and Yuni actually has a plus net BB/K%.
“are killing this team.”
What is killing the team is that three of the Big Ball guys aren’t doing very well this year. Less need to walk someone who won’t hurt you with the bat.
Lee Judge
12 months agoGeorge: Sure, I’d agree that if walks are bad to give up on defense, they’re good to get on offense.
But there are two areas where we’d probably part company: first, major league pitchers are—or at least should be—in almost total control of whether or not they walk the hitter. In my opinion, and in the opinion of many others, pitchers often nibble too much when they should be aggressive.
Hitters on the other hand, are not in total control of whether or not they walk. Some hitters are more selective, some more aggressive. The trick is knowing when to be what.
Secondly, there are other important stats besides OBP. As I’ve already written several times, OBP was undervalued, now it’s not and small-market teams are looking at other attributes as well as OBP.