Upon K-Rod

So ESPN cites Francisco Rodriguez, the closer for the LA Angels of Anaheim, as a playoff monster.

“K-Rod has been a playoff monster (five wins, three saves, 2.76 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings).”

Now these are certainly strong numbers, and he has pitched on a World Series winner. However, before we throw a term like “playoff monster” around, let’s keep something in mind.

Mariano Rivera: 8-1, 34 saves, 0.77 ERA, and 93 K in 117 innings.

Perhaps K-Rod should log a few more innings in tight spots before we start with the playoff accolades.

 

 

Upon a Make-or-Break Series

Tonight, the Yankees face the Red Sox in a series which could very well decide if the boys from the Bronx will make the playoffs.

I believe that a three game sweep is almost essential, and that nothing less than 2-1 Yankees will suffice. Currently, Boston leads the Wild Card standings at 75-55, with the Minnesota Twins 1.5 games back, and the Yankees following at 5 games back. A sweep by the Yankees would put them 2 games behing Boston, which is an easily surmountable lead. A 2-1 series win would leave them 4 games back, with 3 games remaining vs the Sox at Boston to end the year.

The Yankees simply can not afford to lose ground in this series. A series win or sweep would not only allow them to gain ground in the standings, it would also serve as a potential morale boost/confidence builder for a team which seems like it could go either way. Another tough series follows in Toronto, and the Yankees will need some momentum to keep things on-track.

Pitching Matcups-

Tonight- Pettite vs Wakefield

Tomorrow- Ponson vs Byrd

Thurs- Mussina vs Lester

The Yankees have their two best pitchers going in this series, and will not see either Daisuke or Beckett. They have to feel confident with the matchups here.

Lineups-

Manny Ramirez is no longer with the team and while Jason Bay is a nice player, he is no Manny. Ortiz is not his normal self, and JD Drew has been hurt.

The Yankees finally have a lineup resembling their porjected season-opening lineup, with Damon, Jeter, Abreu, A Rod, Giambi, Nady, Matsui Cano and Pudge.  Melky is in the minors, and Damon’s batting will have to mitigate his arm in center.

Andy Pettite and others have described this series as “must win”  and I fully agree.

Upon an Interesting Case

Mike Mussina for Hall of Fame?

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3550167

Upon a Return

I was in Ireland since last Friday, hence the lack of posting. Some Quick Thoughts:

• I Missed two Mike Mussina Starts:

8/17 vs KC Royals- 6 IP, 6 hits, 3 runs, 3 earned, 0 BB, 5 K 

Result W, 16-7

8/22 vs Baltimore Orioles- 6 IP, 9 hits, 4 Runs, 4 earned, 0 BB, 3K

Result ND (Yankees Win)

* And yes, I do realize that Johan Santana’s starts over the same span were better*

• Carl Pavano started and won a game for the Yankees. Considering who else has been getting starts for the Yankees, I guess this is an upgrade, but……really, Carl Pavano? I will wait another 2 starts before rendering my full opinion.

• The US Men’s Basketball team won the gold medal and returned our country to the top of the basektball map. International players are an undeniable part of the game now, but I have long held that the best US players, provided they play together for enough time, will beat any other nation. I remeber when my blog first started, one of the very first posts was about my amazement that the US team had lost to Puerto Rico. I dodn’t know at the time that this would be a sign of things to come, and would lead to an overhaul of the National Basketball system. It is no longer sufficient to assemble an All-Star team and trot them out to recieve their medals. USA Basketball put a lot of work into assembling this team, and it showed in the handy 30 point beat-downs that our team gave to everyone.

• The Giants took a big blow when Osi went down for the year with a knee injury. However, word is trickling in that Michael Strahan may be willing to come back if the price is right. Osi was a big part of the Giants success, and he will be missed. Strahan would go a long way toward filling the void.

Upon the Moose Watch- With New Santana Tracker

So in light of the recent debate, we are adding an additional feature to the Moose Watch, The Johan Santana tracker. We will continue to follow Mussina’s starts, and will now include a comparison to the Santana start of that week.

Mussina Start-

8/12/08

Opponent- Minnesota

7 IP, 8 hits, 3 runs, 3 earned, 1 BB, 5 K

Mussina (ND, 15-7) 3.30 ERA

Mussina pitched well enough to win, but Mariano Rivera blew his first save of the year. Another person who knows the pain of having his pen blow one of his wins is Johan Santana. His numbers yesterday vs the Nationals:

7 IP, 8 hits, 3 runs, 3 earned, 2 BB, 6 K, 1 HR-

Win (10-7) 2.89 ERA

Mussina walked one batter less and Santana struck out one more batter. So who had the better performance?

• Santana was staked to a 2-0 lead and gave it back in the bottom of the first, allowing 2 runs and 4 hits.
• Mussina was given a 1-0 lead, and gave up 2 runs on back-to-back sac flies to center.
• Mussina was given a 3-2 lead in the top of the 4th, but gave it back in the bottom half with 1 run on 2 hits.
• Santana was given a 3-2 lead in the top of the 3rd, and gave it back in the bottom of the 7th on a lead off HR to a pinch hitting Ryan Langerhans.

Seems like a push to me, since both teams won. Blame Mo and Marte for Mussina not winning this game, but if this continues to happen, something might need to change for Mike too.

Upon the Moose Watch

8/7/08

Opponent- Texas Rangers

7 IP, 0 runs, 8 hits, 1 BB, 6K

Mussina- W (15-7), 3.27 ERA

Mike Mussina again leads the AL in wins, tied with Cleveland’s Cliff Lee. He shut out  the highest scoring in all of baseball for 7 innings. His outings this season have hardly resembled those of a pitcher who is finished.

Upon “What is more important?”

I believe that winning is the bottom line in baseball. “Wow, really Charlie? What insightful commentary”. Let me expand on this. If you have a batter with fantastic stats, but his team finishes in the cellar, I don’t know about that player being an MVP candidate. A-Rod got an MVP in Texas on a crappy team, and while he certainly was the most valuable player on his team, he still didn’t make that team a contender.  But what about a pitcher?

Say you have two pitchers. One pitcher wins 20+ games for a pennant team, but has a 4-something ERA. The other is .500 with a high 2 ERA and tons of strikeouts.  Is the pitcher with the superior stats better for the team than the pitcher who wins more? If you need to win to make the playoffs, isn’t a pitcher who wins more better than a pitcher who doesn’t?

I think that a high 2 ERA pitcher puts a team in a position to win by not giving up runs. But if his team can’t produce those runs, what good does it do? Generally, a high 2 ERA pitcher is going to get a good chunk of change for his work. But if the team only wins in half of his games, is that money well spent?

What if the roles were reversed? The 2 ERA pitcher is not likely to win more than 20 or so games, because even the best pitchers in the game rarely do. So if he plays on the team of the 4 ERA pitcher, how many additional wins can he presumably be responsible for? If the  4 ERA guy is on the @ ERA pitchers team, his team is not scoring for him anyway. Losing a 5-1 game is not all that different from losing a 2-1 game, is it? Sure a 2-1 game can be tied up with a HR, but if the team doesn’t deliver then what?

So what is more important: a guy with great numbers who is a 50-50 shot, or a guy with average numbers who wins? If you leave games having given up fewer runs than your team has scored, isn’t that the idea?