I was ready to turn the page, I really, really was. I had written the beginning of my blog post entitled "Time for a little Yankee optomism" and planned on finishing it up last night after Phil Hughes pitched a solid game and the Yankee bats smacked the incredibly mediocre Adam Eaton around all night long.
That..............did not happen.
So now I am writing a very different post because the problems that have plagued this team aren't going away. Let's forget about Phil Hughes for a second. I think we have enough evidence in all ready to suggest that Franchise is NEVER going to be the pitcher he was promised to be a few years ago. This isn't even so much about results as it is about stuff. When you watch special pitchers, they jump out at you. Their "stuff" is electric and impossible to ignore. They might hang a breaking ball or give up runs, but you see the promise in their ability. Hughes has none of that.
His fastball shows itself to be mediocre time after time. The velocity is no where near what it was advertised to be (remember when the Yankees told everyone he pitched consistently in the mid to uppser 90's?) and it is as straight as an arrow. Hitters tee off on heater on a regular basis. His slider is, again, mediocre at best, his changeup isn't a quality pitch, and his cutter is okay but certainly not earth shattering. When the only pitch you have that is top quality is you curve, that just isn't going to be enough.
Maybe Hughes shows himself to be better than what he has looked like through the majority of his career to this point, but he is never gonna be a top of the rotation guy, in my opinion, and we have enough evidence to make that pretty obvious at this point.
No, the problem with this team is beyond the overhyped and extremely mediocre Hughes. When Wang is healthy, he will be relegated to the minors where he can dominate triple A players yet again. The problems this team faces are far more serious.
Their defense has been terrible, and there is no excuse. Nick Swisher is a decent corner outfielder and, despite the "statistics" in regards to Jeter, there really isn't a woeful defender in the bunch, yet collectively this team makes a lot of bone head defense plays, whether it be throws off line, missing the cutoff man, always coming up short on the nice play, never making the great play, and seemingly out of position on a lot of routine plays. Last night, Mark Teixeira broke towards first base on a ball that seemed well within his grasp. One can only assume that a terrific defensive player like Tex didn't go after the ball because he thought Robbie Cano was nearest to the play. Then, in that faithful second inning, Nick Swisher inexplicably airmails a throw, after the runner at third had already stopped, over the cutoff man, catcher, and all the way to the back stop. Making the play even worse, Phil Hughes, who was running to back up the play, didn't even notice the ball flying over his head. He looked as if he was simply running to a position rather than, you know, backing up the play. Hughes didn't turn his head until it was already past him. Those two plays show a lack of fundamentals that has existed with this team for the last two years.
Then, you have the story of Mark Teixeira. The man is hitting below .190 right now. Think about that for a second. The man is hitting below .190. That isn't a slow start. That is a scuffle. That is a detriment to the team. I still believe that Tex will end up with a nice year, but at this point leaving him in the three hole when it's obvious he just can't get the job done is killing the offense. He needs to temporarily be dropped in the lineup, case closed. The Yankees are already 5.5 games out, staring up at Toronto, Sox, and Tampa. It is obviously way too early to worry about standings, but Boston and Tampa are obviously going to be in the race all season and Toronto may be good enough to hang in contention for much of the season. Being behind three quality teams by multiple games is never a good thing.
The bullpen continues to be an issue and the fact that certain guys still have a place on this team is unacceptable. How the HELL is Edwar Ramirez up right now? WHat does he bring to the team? How can he possibly help? What about Jose Veras? He was good for one month last year. He has been putrid this year. Why is he on the team?
The lack of hitting with runners in scoring position is a two year problem now and it is hard to believe it is going to turn around any time soon. This team just doesn't do the little things very well. They don't move runners, get runners in from third with less than two outs, or get two-out hits. There is never, ever a rally. What can possibly account for that, considering the talented offensive players they have?
Finally, I am convinced now more than ever that Joe Girardi is just not a good manager. PERIOD! First, we have the tangible evidence in that his teams have now spent the last year plus well behind the better teams in his league. His training staff has misdiagnosed how many players now?- failures that have resulted in players spending more time on the DL than originally imagined. His handling of the pen this year, a strength last year, has been horrific. Look at last night. The Yankees call up Brett Tomko to be a long man/middle reliever. Phil Hughes is knocked out in the second. Time for Tomko, brought up specifically for these types of situations, right? Nope. Instead, we get Edwar Ramirez, who lets an 7-0 lead explode into an 11-1 lead. Ramirez, who had been used for an inning or two at the most all year, was extended to 3.1 innings. Then, in a game completely out of reach, he brings in Jonathan Albaladejo, one of the few relievers who has shown an ability to pitch in tight games and get outs. So now, Johnny Abba is wasted in a game already outta reach. Why? What could the reason possibly be? Then, to complicate matters even more, he brings in Tomko at the end of the game. Why not use him in the long relief role if you were planning on using him in the game? Why waste him in the ninth in a blow out?
But the real problem to me isn't the strategy but the tenor of the team. All the errors and miscues wreack of a team not well coached or prepared. The young pitchers have either stagnated or declined under the guidance of the supposed young-player gurus Girardi and Dave Eiland. And the soccer-mom mentality of this team is mind-boggling. Last night, Phil Hughes put together another bad outing for this team. If you look at his starts in the majors, it is incredible how many of those starts gave the team no chance to actually win, getting knocked out between the second or fourth inning. Yet Hughes got the little leaguer treatment yet again on the mound, with a pep talk and a pat on the back. It's the same treatment almost everyone on the team gets no matter how putrid their performance.
Last season we watched as Robinson Cano slept walked through the year and made bonehead play after bonehead play, yet it wasn't until September, when the season was pretty much over, that he was sat down for poor play.
Mark Teixeira isn't even hitting .200 yet he won't be moved out of the three hole or sat a day to collect his thoughts. Phil Hughes pitches poorly against the Red Sox and it is the umpires fault, then can't get out of the second inning and he gets a pat on the back.
These are professionals and each and every one of them (yes, Phil Hughes included) is a man. Maybe it's time to kick someone in the ass, not coddle them and make excuses. In three injury-plagued seasons, Phil Hughes has had three good performances. The rest have been either been generously labeled mediocre or outright horrid. Maybe the time to pat him on the back is over. Maybe he could use someone saying "hey, kid, when can we take the training wheels off? Any time soon or no?"
I don't know what has to happen, and Girardi seems like an exceptionally nice man, but there is something missing with this team, pure and simple. Something just isn't right with this team and the always-positive Girardi doesn't seem to be pushing the right buttons. His stock "we believe he'll come out of it" and "he'll work hard and make the adjustment" or "we know how good he can be" answers scream of a guy who refuses to take the rose colored glasses off for any reason.
This team has played poorly and has been coached poorly. I don't know what the answer is, but the equation has to be changed. If there was a Steinbrenner who actually cared about baseball still in charge, something would have been done already.
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