While the Yankees are 3-2 since the All-Star break, they don't have their starting pitchers to thank for it. Over the past week the Yankees' starting-five rank last in the AL and 29th in the majors (behind only Philadelphia) with a combined ERA of 6.80; last in the AL and 29th in the league (behind only Houston) with a horrific combined BAA of .335 (compounded by the 11 hits CC gave up today in 6.1 innings); last in the AL and 29th in the league (behind only Philadelphia) with a combind opposing OPS of .952; and dead-last in the league with a combined WHIP of 1.82.
The pen has had a couple good outings and the bats are pretty lively, but there's only so long the Yanks will be able to play past such terrible starting pitching. Maybe Sergio Mitre can show them how it's done…
I believe dc is in the stands today, having caught A-Rod's 599th in the 7th and one of the strangest (as in worst) performances by Jorge Posada I've ever seen. If you haven't been watching, tune in – it's a crazy hitfest that is unlikely to end without more sloppy drama (maybe #600??).
9 replies on “Struggling Starters”
You have to figure this pitching slump isn’t going to last. These guys are just too good. Maybe the silver lining in the Pettitte injury is that we can figure out who will take Phil Hughes’ place in the rotation once he reaches his innings limit. And I’m willing to overlook CC’s rough (though it doesn’t show so bad in the earned runs department) outing today. Burnett has got to be the biggest worry. He’s on pace to strike out the fewest number of batters over a qualifying season since ’01, but is still walking a ton of batters and giving up more hits. If he doesn’t have the capability to overpower hitters, what does he have?
By the way, does anyone else start to hemorrhage when they see what Carl Pavano is doing for the Twins this year?
So… Lackey doing well through 6 innings. At 92 pitches though.
Clearly we have IH to thank for reverse-jinxing the pitching staffs, even if it was directed at the Yankees.
Saw two-thirds of this game live. Bill Hall could not field a ball to save his life. The home runs were nice. The ninth inning was not.
Glad they won in the end. Even gladder (sic) I didn’t see it unfold.
I didn’t see the Sox game but looking at the boxscore it seems that both the Yanks and the Sox had a very bizarre night of baseball.
The Yanks game involved two starters who got pounded, seemingly every inning (though Sabathia limited the damage to 4 ER in 6.1); an inside-the-park HR for Jeter; A-Rod’s 599th HR; two bad plays by Jorge Posada that the Yanks were simply fortunate did not cost them and one horrendous play by him that did cost them (both a run and two bases); and some truly curious managerial decisions by KC.
As for the Sox game it seems Hall’s misadventures and MDC’s unclutch pitching resulted in a 5-run 9th that could have keyed a rather devastating loss and squandering of a superb outing by Lackey, only to rebound nicely, prevent Seattle’s game-winning score in the bottom of the 12th despite them loading the bases with one out, and finally winning it themselves in the 13th.
Sloppy baseball on the one hand but certainly entertaining…
UPDATE: Incorporating CC’s stats from yesterday’s game, the Yanks’ starting 5 now ranks last in the majors since the All-Star break in every pitching category noted in the post above with the exception of combined ERA, where they still rank 29th of 30 (their bats yesterday saved them from being last there too – moving opponent Kansas City just ahead of them for worst starters’ ERA).
The pitching has really cooled off lately…luckily the bats seem to be coming alive finally? Put the two together and we would be unbeatable…
I’m ready for #600.
sorry this is late…yeah i was at this [thurs] game…had a blast…my daughter’s first trip to either yankee stadium…a friend of my daughter, and my son who is a veteran game-goer, went with us…weather was great and we had a blast…took the tour earlier in the day, and for real yankee fans, i recommend it…coolest part was getting to go in the dugout and step out onto the field…awesome…the game was fun…we got to see something pretty darn special…599 and jeter’s 2nd career inside the parker…wanted to see mo come in [he was warming up], but i’ll never complain about 4 insurance runs in the 8th inning…yeah, cc was a little off, but the bullpen and offense picked him up nicely, especially robertson…i got about half a dozen pictures of arod’s final at bat trying for 600…he finally got a double, but it was nice to see the crowd get behind him…not surprised that swisher is such a fan favorite…we sat in 109 so we had a first hand look at how he interacts with the right field fans…they love him…kyle farnsworth got into it with a young fan before the game started…i think he had a legit beef with the kid [heresay], but i still couldn’t help thinking what a tool that guy is…