Tonight, It’s All About Sabathia
Posted by Steve L. on October 6th, 2010 · Comments (17)
Jorgie, do these pants make my butt look big?
O.K., kidding aside, the “big question” in Yankeeland this evening should be “Just how good will CC be in Game One?”
Me? I’m setting the bar at six innings and three runs. Anything less than six innings and anything more than three runs is not what we’re looking for tonight. Sabathia needs to be “The Man” for the Yankees in this game. And, I suspect that he will be…let’s just hope that’s the correct call. Losing Game One in this series could be the beginning of the end, this post-season, for the Yankees.
I don’t know. I see the Yankees bullpen as an incredible strength which can help them out where they fall short with the rotation. The Yankees don’t have bad pitching, they just don’t have the best #2 and #3 (and #4) starters. If they can leverage their bullpen more, they will do better. This means they’d need more length out of Sabathia. Translation for me is that I’d like to see him go 7+ IP.
I think we’ll get enough out of CC. Bring the bats and score some runs.
jay wrote:
Really? Even with Mo’s recent yips, Joba the Unpredictable, Logan’s BB-rate, and Wood’s past post-season melt-downs?
Gonna say CC goes 7+ and gives up 2 runs. Yanks win 6-3.
@ Steve Lombardi:
Come on, man. I’ve read your posts for 5 years and I know that you are capable of better analysis than that. Typical playoff primers in the national news follow some formula like this: if I can list something bad about a guy, he’s bad. If I can list something good about a guy, he’s good. Watch me decimate the Rays rotation in a hypothetical Yankees/Rays ALCS:
Price – No postseason starting experience
Garza – Awful 2010 record against the Yankees
Shields – Coming off the worst season of his career
Niemann – 7.69 2nd half ERA
Davis – Rookie with no experience
Just because I can come up with a loaded phrase to knock these guys down, doesn’t mean I’ve analyzed how they’ll perform. I can do the same thing and flip it around, making them look like they walk on water.
The Yankees have a strong bullpen with high strikeout pitchers with good control – the numbers show it. It’s a strength and they’ll wisely leverage it.
Let’s hope Posada’s not saying this again, “They ran on the pitching. There was not an opportunity to get any of those guys,” like he did regarding all the Sox’s steals against the Yankees this weekend.
lisaswan wrote:
I couldn’t believe he said that. For a guy that’s supposed to be a leader, what’s that all about? Man up and admit you’re the worst defensive catcher on this and any other planet.
November 2011 can’t come soon enough. Jorge, be gone with you.
@ MJ Recanati:
FOR REAL. As if it isn’t frustrating enough to watch his defense, now this crap comes out of his mouth?!?
@ G.I. Joey:
The sad thing is, I used to really like Posada a lot. But the past three seasons have really frustrated me. You can’t be considered an on-field and clubhouse leader if you can’t play your position competently and constantly make absent-minded mistakes, run your mouth to the point that you get ejected AND THEN throw teammates under the bus.
The truth of the matter is that all those stolen bases probably were the fault of the pitchers. But you can’t say that in public.
Anyway, in the grand scheme of things, it’s not a big deal but I also know that I’m ready for the Posada era to end next year. He’s been a good Yankee but it’s time to take this horse out to pasture.
@ G.I. Joey: @ MJ Recanati:
I thought Posada was way out of line there. Some “leadership.” My Subway Squawker partner derisively refers to Jorge as the Ringo of the Yankees’ Fab Four, but at least Ringo didn’t take himself seriously.
Posada’a right but was wrong to say so. Surprisingly wrong. He usually knows better. He’s kept his mouth shut for many yr’s – Randy Johnson, AJ this year.
Just chalk it up to a bad day and hope he knows he screwed up.
lisaswan wrote:
He was right. Rivera didn’t even bother looking at or checking the runners.
@ Raf: It wasn’t just Rivera. When another team double steals on you twice, as what happened in Sunday’s finale, I think the catcher might have something to do with it. The Sox were 16-for-16 in stealing bases off him in the last two weekends of the season. Is none of it his fault?
lisaswan wrote:
Exactly. At some point the catcher takes a little of that blame, no?
lisaswan wrote:
Is it all his fault? Rivera, Wood, Robertson, etc aren’t exactly known for keeping the runners close.
…and so, CC doesn’t “deliver what was required”. 4 runs, 6 innings, walked the tying run in.
And the bullpen picked him up with 3 scoreless innings.
And Tex hit the big 2 run HR in the park where hitting HRs is unpossible, especially for lefties.
And the Yanks won, 6-4.
And CC got the W anyway.
And so, the idea that “It’s all about Sabathia” is faulty logic.
No one player EVER carries a baseball team. It’s a fallacy. One game, maybe. But not for a series, and certainly not for any length of time for a season.