I think that the way A-Rod is playing is exceptional! Hopefully he will continue.

Chone Figgins is better.

By the way, if Cashman had made the trade and A-Rod were having this season in Anaheim, the sage NY media would be nodding at this moment and saying, “See, the guy can’t do anything in New York but once the pressure is off, he really puts up some numbers.”

As for Hughes, I think he should use the curve more on 3-1 or 2-0 counts.  Joba already goes to the slider in fastball counts and that’s one of the reasons he’s had so much success.

http://www.wesh.com/news/14052662/detail.html

I was encouraged that Hughes seemed to be getting more GB outs.

I was encouraged that Hughes seemed to be getting more GB outs.

Agreed.  If he wants to throw a fastball when he’s down in the count, I’d definitely prefer the two-seamer.

“Brisco (NoMaas, NY): Hughes looked a lot better last night, throwing consistently in the 90s and locating the curve a lot more effectively. What are the chances that Dave Eiland fixed something than Guidry couldn’t, and, if so, what does that mean?

Keith Law: I was behind the plate, and I think that’s a rather inaccurate portrayal of how he pitched last night. He was mostly 88-91 and was popping his curve way too often. It was a poor performance, even if the results in terms of runs allowed were OK. I submitted a writeup of last night’s game which should be posted any time now.”

I didn’t watch Hughes pitch last night.  I kept track of the score, and did watch the 7th (nice inning to watch, eh?).  But it jives with my general impression of Hughes since his return.  Specifically, his curveball just isn’t right (not the same depth/bite), and perhaps the same is true of his fastball.  I think he’s favoring the leg, possibly unconciously.  I think he’s healthy, but hasn’t really let it rip yet.

Law thinks the leg may still be bothering him.  He also apparently thinks all the bad umpiring last night benifitted the Yanks, which isn’t so (though the blown calls on the bases did).  Of course, we can simply say “Bloomquist” and be done with that, but I for one would like to see the calls made properly.

Re: Hughes, I think his fastball was better than 88-91 for the most part.  Maybe Law has his own speed-gun; but that doesn’t mean it is better than what Yes had.  I also remember that Leiter was generally reporting Hughes throwing 1MPH faster than what the Yes gun said (apparently, they get their number from a different gun), so whatever.  I think Hughes was generally 90-92, and had better control and movement.  I think he also had better control of his curve, and actually throw some change-ups, and I think a few sliders as well.  Did he pitch great?  No.  But I can’t say it was poor.

but I for one would like to see the calls made properly

The Yankees had one call at first go their way, but it was close.  The call at second was close as well, but one the Yanks were owed that, and two (our) Keith noted that Ichiro never touched second anyway.  Strike-zone, early on the umps were robbing the Yankees, and giving extra calls to Seattle.  Later, they were robbing Seattle.  As is normal, no one at ESPN remembers the bad calls that go against the Yankees…I definitely agree though that I just want the game called right.  One day soon, we (should) have Questec (or something similar) calling the strikes…

His claim is that the Yankees gun is ~2mph fast.

Ok, so I’ve spent the entire day just poring over video and crunching numbers (I’m being completely serious here) and the problem with Hughes is that he isn’t getting a long enough stride and losing some of the leg power needed to generate his usual velocity. It’s a natural reaction to the fact that he got hurt overstriding, but now I’m worried that he might cause arm damage due to the adjustment he’s made. There’s also the matter that this should be something the Yankee coaching staff gets fixed ASAP.

the problem with Hughes is that he isn’t getting a long enough stride

You know, I was thinking his stride looked a little short, but wasn’t sure.  I’m not too concerned about arm-injury because he still seems to be following through well; but then again what do I know?  I’m sure in the off-season they will work on it though.

Speaking of Yankees’ coaching, what do we think of Eiland over Guidry next year?  Eiland certainly seems to be better from a technical standpoint - identifying what the pitcher is doing wrong and how to correct it.  But, that obviously isn’t all there is to being a pitching coach.  As much as I love Gator though, I’m starting to think that - especially if the Yankees are going with a lot of pitchers that just came up through the minors - Eiland may make more sense for the team next year.

The other really important part of being a major league pitching coach is game-planning the opposition…i.e., matching the individual pitcher’s strengths against the opposing line-up’s weaknesses. This has to be done 162 times a season. It requires a little more than what, say, Art Fowler provided for Billy Martin’s staffs. I love Gator as much as anyone but, frankly, I see very little evidence that he’s able to do this. Or if he does, it’s not getting communicated to the catchers, Joe Torre, and, most importantly, to the pitchers.