Friday, May 1, 2009
April Review
April is the cruelest month. Well, maybe not exactly cruel in the case of the Yankees. But, the Bombers haven’t exactly hit the ground running in April the last few years. The Yankees were 14-15 in April of 2008; 9-14 in 2007; and 13-10 in 2006.
A record of 12-10, while not quite spectacular, is fairly good all things considered.
Here’s a quick glance at the Yankee’s month of April in 2009:
The Good
• Robinson Cano - Cano’s line of .366/.400/.581 is a bit of a surprise considering that one year earlier he sported a line of .151/.211/.236 and .270/.320/.337 in April of 2007. The Yankee’s second baseman has, with some exceptions, traditionally been a bit of a slow starter offensively. We heard reports of a hard-working Cano in the off-season. It appears that hard work has paid off.
• Nick Swisher - When Xavier Nady went down with an injury, Swisher got his chance to shine, as well as send Ozzie Guillen a message. Hitting .312/.430/.714, and sporting a 192 OPS+, the message is loud and clear. While you can expect Swisher to come back to earth as the season progresses, his contributions in April were certainly huge with Alex Rodriguez on the DL and Mark Teixeira struggling.
• Andy Pettitte - The off-season drama that was the “will they or won’t they resign Andy” took a back seat to the Teixeira and Sabathia headlines. However, through the first month of the season, the Pettitte signing has turned out to have had the most impact. The veteran left hander is 2-1 with a 161 ERA+ so far this season. Not bad from your #5 starter.
• Hideki Matsui - After a somewhat slow start, Matsui has settled into a nice offensive groove. With a few crappy games at the plate to begin the season, all we heard was that his balky surgically repaired knee was shot and he’d never be the same. Nineteen games worth of a .903 OPS may suggest otherwise.
The Bad
• Brian Bruney - The guy was rolling. Sporting a .111 BAA with 12 strikeouts through 9 innings, Bruney was making his case as the setup man to Mariano Rivera. But a strained flexor muscle placed him on the DL. The good news is that it looks like he will be able to return to the team soon.
• Mark Teixeira - OK, so perhaps Mark does not deserve to grace Lee Van Cleef’s title category. However, he certainly hasn’t excelled in his first month in pinstripes. He barely escaped a sub .200 AVG for the month of April with a 1-4 night on April 30th, if that means anything to anyone. Personally, I am still concerned about the wrist injury he suffered early in the month; although there hasn’t been any word from the team that he is feeling any discomfort. Bottom line: Teixeira is a great hitter. If he’s healthy going forward, his production will pick up eventually. And if that happens to coincide with A-Rod’s return, OMGWTFBBQ!
• Xavier Nady - The loss of Xavier Nady to a right elbow injury was a hit on the Yankees’ depth. However, Nady will not need surgery and could return to the team by the end of May.
The Ugly
• The New Yankee Stadium Home Opener - Yeah, it might be a bit superficial, but a Yankee win in the first game at the new Yankee Stadium would have been nice. The game was within reach until an Orioles 9-run 7th inning. There’s your ugly.
• Chien-Ming Wang - Yeah, he’s been pretty bad. A 34.50 ERA through 3 starts speaks for itself. It’s tough to get a read on exactly what his major malfunction really is. After not pitching at all last year after his injury on June 15th, it is possible he’s just not fully recovered. Or perhaps Wang simply needs to iron out his mechanics. Whatever the case may be, he continues to work on getting back to form in extended spring training games, but it is unclear as to his exact return date.
• Sat. 04/18: CLE 22, NYY 4 - A 14-run second inning for the Indians pretty much took the Yankees out of the game early. But the worst part was the lack of a Swisher relief appearance.
• Sox Sweep Yankees - It was a brutal weekend featuring a Mo blown save, 25 Boston runs, and a steal of home by Jacoby Ellsbury. Better it happen in April than in September.
There are plenty of other goods that could be listed (Hughes call up and great start, Joba’s recent performance, Burnett’s first few starts, Melancon’s call up, Melky’s revival?, Phil Coke’s pitching), as well as a number of bads (Sabathia’s slow start, Burnett’s meltdown in Boston, Marte’s 15.19 ERA, Gardner’s inability to hit).
SG will hopefully post the log5 numbers for April, which will likely show the Yankees not too far off pace. As of today, PECOTA projects the Yankees with a better than 45% chance to take the AL East (highest % of any team) and a 74.21% chance to make the playoffs.
Bring on May!
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