Interesting discussion, thanks for the link. I don’t think the point is trending better though, more that his peripherals are strong but he’s got a ridiculous BABIP rate. What I see is a guy who makes horrible pitches at the worst possible times, which is totally opposite to what he’s done in his career.

Do you think he’s going to turn the corner and make Theo look like a genius in September and October?

I’ll be happy if it happens but I can’t even be certain he gets the chance, because I don’t think they’ll have much margin for error in making the big dance, and these games he’s throwing away aren’t helping.

Smoltz has been trending better according to Fangraph’s analysis

What I found interesting about this night was realizing that the respective starters are lined up to go head to head to start the series next Thursday:

Mitre vs Smoltz

Is it too late for the Yankees to stretch Hughes out in time to make the start? Is it even possible for Smoltz to ever pitch decently again? He coughed up two leads, and on his last pitch, Ellsbury brought a Huff drive back into the park, then Youkilis hit a two run homer that they managed to make stand the rest of the way, making Smoltz the “winner”.

So, call that one a toss-up. But after that – the Yankees miss Lester, the Sox miss Pettitte. That’s not right.
Smoltz – Beckett – Buchholz – Penny
vs
Mitre – Burnett – Sabathia & Joba.

If the Yankees win a slugfest on Thursday, there is no reason they shouldn’t come out of it with a 3-1 series win and since Burnett has been the best starter, I look at the second game and give the edge to the Yankees, slightly.

Its only logical that Boston passes us before we play them. I mean look who we are playing and look who they have been playing.

You make it seem like we should have kept extending the lead on them when in reality, that was never going to happen. They had their bad run and now we will have a tough run also. Thats baseball, its not ugly, its just 162 game baseball.

Reception was spotty along the Rt 17 & I-81 corridors, what was wrong with Robertson?

Hinske was kinda like Toronto’s version of Maas and a few other never wases, funny how he has shined on teams like Boston, Tampa and now the Yanks. Gym Teacher Joe’s mug was too much. I know that he was dissapointed BUT he looked like he lost everything he owns!

As nutty/crazy as Ozzie is, that double steal of home and second was a brilliant move. The Yanks looked like amateurs on that play.Yes, the Yanks looked uncrisp in this game and that has to change for sure. Because as Steve astutely has noticed, the Red Sox are coming……

@ Ken , I love how you trivialize, John Sterling AKA Harry Moskowitz(i’m not shitting y’all that’s his real name). His grandeur and greatness is so admired by many in the media far and abroad. What happened to that nut( w Mike from Mahopac) who used to call Mike Francesa and imitate BOTH Waldman and Sterling at the same time? That was unreal………..

Rich wrote:

It was obvious that Aceves had nothing, except maybe to Girardi.

spot on. doesn’t matter mitre gave them no length (especially given that it is cashman/girardi who necessitated needing a starter like mitre because they converted every “depth” starter we had into a reliever – so this is literally their problem), it was a 6-5 game. you don’t stick with aceves in that spot just because you need to make up for length, which is the only reason i can think of for girardi staying with someone who clearly didn’t have it for that long. felt bad for ace honestly, he’s been sitting with a tired arm and they were tatooing him from the very first pitch. have to get him out in that spot, even if it’s for someone that is typically less reliable than ace, because at least there is a chance they are on, which aceves clearly was not. awful managing. worse playing.

It was obvious that Aceves had nothing, except maybe to Girardi.

ken wrote:

Suzyn, baseball is a funny game.

LOL.

Suzyn, baseball is a funny game.