The Yankee offense has been solid. In the past seven games, they faced the likes of Justin Verlander, Jeremy Bonderman, Kelvim Escobar, and John Lackey, and still managed to average nearly seven runs per game, which is outstanding. The hitters are stepping up and showing that they can handle tough pitching, easing some of my concerns that I voiced when I brought up the nominal nature of the Yankees' team OPS a couple weeks ago.
No, hitting certainly hasn't been the concern as of late. Rather, it's been consistent starting pitching. Here's a look at each Yankee starter's numbers so far this month and my take on them:
Andy Pettitte: 5 G, 35.0 IP, 2.06 ERA
Lately, Pettitte has been establishing himself as the team ace and, given his reputation as a big-game pitcher, he'll probably be the team's number one starter in the division series should they make the postseason.
Chien-Ming Wang: 4 G, 21.2 IP, 7.06 ERA
Wang has hit his first rough patch of the season. I'm fairly confident that he's just slumping a bit, but there is a budding concern that his eternal finger blister/cracked fingernail injury is finally catching up with him.
Roger Clemens: 3 G, 13.2 IP, 3.95 ERA
Clemens has been pitching decently as of late, but I'm worried about his durability. He's usually yanked before he gets to 100 pitches, and when he isn't relieved before the 100 mark, it seems to negatively impact his next start. He went over 100 during the first two starts of the season, which he followed up with a 4.1 inning loss in Colorado. He didn't reach 100 pitches in a game again until July 28th, when he threw 113 against the Orioles. His next outing was a disaster, as he lasted only 1.2 innings and gave up eight runs against the White Sox. Shortly thereafter, he decided not to appeal the five-game suspension handed to him for throwing at the Blue Jays' Alex Rios. Appealing the suspension would have allowed him to make his next scheduled start and push back his following start by only one game, but instead he was effectively skipped in the rotation and given ten days of rest. The fact that Clemens elected to do this makes me worry about his ability to go deep into games on a consistent basis. The man is 45, after all.
Phil Hughes: 4 G, 22.0 IP, 5.73 ERA
A lot of fans are worried about Phil Franchise because he hasn't been striking out every batter he faces like that wonderboy Joba Chamberlain, but I'm really not too concerned about him. Hughes hasn't been great since coming off the DL, but he's still learning. In all probability, he'll get better as the season nears its end. I'm much more worried about Wang and Clemens than I am about Hughes at this point, because they have attrition possiblities whereas Hughes has yet to reach his ceiling.
Mike Mussina: 4 G, 20.1 IP, 7.52 ERA
Man, just when Moose was starting to look better, he tanks in August. While I'm not going to join the angry mob of fans that believe he would be more valuable to the Yankees if Gene Monahan harvested his organs and sold them on the black market, he's clearly been a disappointment this season. It's funny when people say that Mussina should be left off the post-season rotation if he continues to pitch this poorly. Obviously, they're correct in stating that he would be the Yankees' worst starter if he continues to perform like this, but in all likelihood the Yankees won't make the playoffs unless he pitches well. With the Yankees five games behind the Red Sox in the AL East and three games back in the loss column from the red-hot Mariners in the Wildcard standings, they're going to need Moose to pitch well. I'm inclined to believe that he's capable of doing so. Granted, his drop in velocity this year is concerning, but he's never been a power pitcher. He relies on his control and good breaking ball to get hitters out.
Peter Abraham: 21 G, 483 bags of potato chips eaten, countless little children scared
1 comment:
He does look kind of scary! However, he gets lots more hits than you.
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