Jeremy Bleich Update

Now that we've hit the All Star Break. Its a good time for a check up on Jeremy Bleich's season stats. We all know about his domination of A ball. His performance for Trenton has been questioned though. His ERA is up to 6.00 and he's 0-3. Look at this DIPS stats though. They're not bad at all. 1.78 K/BB isn't great but he's a GB pitcher and his HR/9 is .50. He's been victimized by a .365 BABIP and his FIP of 3.98 is a better indicator of his performance. It'll be interesting to see how he's ranked at the season's end.

I'm Moving

I got an offer to start writing over at the Sliding Into Home Yankees blog and I decided to take it. I've got no hard feelings about my time here and Charlie, Nate, and Domenic have all been great and its been fun writing here. I do not plan on leaving this blog. I will continue the Jeremy Bleich Watch and I'll also continue to make the occasional post here. I'm just going to focus my attention on Sliding Into Home.

I'm Back

I'm home again guys.

7/8-Yankees at Twins

YANKEES (49-34)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Gardner CF

Pitching: RHP A.J. Burnett (7-4, 3.83).

TWINS (43-41)
Span LF
Harris SS
Mauer C
Morneau 1B
Cuddyer RF
Kubel DH
Crede 3B
Gomez CF
Punto 2B

Pitching: RHP Anthony Swarzak (2-2, 3.90).

TIME/TV: 8:10, YES.

I Was Wrong

Before this season I didn't think a plattoon of Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner would be able to handle centerfield effectively. I anticipated a hole in the lineup and wanted a trade for Mike Cameron as a one year fix to hold down the fort for Austin Jackson. However, Gardner and Melky have been pleasant surprises while Cameron has struggled for the Brewers. Obviously, theirs plenty of time left in the season but Gardner and Melky have really held down the fort while Austin Jackson learns how to not to strikeout.

Trading Wang?

Yesterday Jon Heyman mentioned on Twitter that The Phillies and Rangers have some interest in Wang. Its definitely an intriguing idea. I'm torn on this. For now, I'd hang on to him. With another month or two of good performances he could recoup a lot of his old value. Their also has to be an eye focused on next year. If they trade Wang they need to make some tough decisions about whether or not to sign onto yet another big free agent contract or give the spot to Alfredo Aceves or Ian Kennedy. Both would be untrustworthy and if Aceves, they would lose one of their best bullpen arms.

If they offered up a nice package (which Texas can definitely do) I'd take a good hard look at it but my expectations for that are very low at the moment. Tomorrow is another big start for Wang (they're all big from here on out to be honest) and we may have a better idea of where we stand with Wang then.

Is Jesus Montero the second coming?

Great article on fangraphs.com about Jesus Montero. The comments on his defense are dissapointing but nothing we didn't know already. The hype has been building big time over the past couple days for the Yankees man-child.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/jesus-montero-saves

Checking Out With a Win

I'll be making my getaway to New Hampshire to spend some time with the family tomorrow. So, this was the last game I'll be seeing for the rest of the week. It was a good one though.

A.J. came out of the gate throwing heat. He was thrwoing 95-97 mph consistently and it served him well early on. When that started to fail him, he turned to a vicious breaking ball. Although the score was close, the way Burnett pitched made it feel like the lead was much larger.

He's been fantastic since that start against Boston and I pray he stays healthy because right now A.J. is a guy worth watching every start. He K'd seven in as many innings and gave up only two runs. Much of that was due to the fact that he limited his walk total to three which is a major improvement for Burnett. He was challenging hitters, rather than nibbling and the results were fantastic. The bullpen was just as good as well. The two Phil's worked together for an easy eighth inning and Mariano had a 1-2-3 ninth inning while K'ing two.

The offense didn't score to many runs but were solid and four runs sould be enough to win a game. Cano opened up the scoring by leading off the second with a homer. Its been a long time since Robi's flashed his power. It wasn't that long ago that some people were talking about 30 home run potential with him and its nice to see him show some of that again. The fifth inning was what sealed the deal. Brain Tallet started the inning by walking Brett Gardner, big mistake. The Toronto lefty was clearly distracted by Gardner throughout the rest of the inning. He ended up walking Mark Texeira with the bases loaded and throwing a wild pitch to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead. Vernon Wells got the Jays a run closer in the following inning with a solo homer but that was all they would get and A-Rod would tack on another run with a ninth inning homer off of Jeremy Accardo anyway.

Great bounceback win after a clunker by Sabathia and the Yankees are rolling right now.

Vacation

I'm going away with the family for the week and I'll be out of contact with all civilization so no posts from me for the next week or so.

We're leaving tonight so I might have another post or two for today but that's it.

Wrapping Up June

The Yankees have finished June and now let's check totals from that month.

Time for some statistical fun!

Hitting
The Yankees came in with the 17th best team average (.253) behind both the Red Sox (.260) and Rays (.284) who lead the MLB. As for long-balls the Yankees finished 8th best in the league in home runs totaling up to 33 much less than last month (42) due to the many away games. Scoring 140, 4th in the league, and driving in 140, 4th in the league. Yankees team OBP is 2nd in the Majors coming in
at .354 which is similar to last month. Their slugging % is 5th best in the game, .433. A slightly lower BABIP (.269).

Since the Yankees started the month poorly but ended with a 7 game winning streak. So they earned some pretty average numbers. Hopefully in the next month they will keep the streak going.

Season Totals: Avg: 272 (4th), HRs: 116 (2nd), RBIs: 404 (2nd), OBP: 355 (2nd)

Pitching
The Yankees clocked 15 wins this month (8th) and 11 losses (7th). Coming in at 10th the Yankees ERA 3.55. The K were sweet this month the Yanks came in 2nd (215). Giving up an insane 26 HR (13th)
Starting Pitching had a 4.07 ERA (16th)

Relief Pitching had a 2.63 ERA (6th).

Season Totals: W-L: 16-11, ERA: 4.24 (21), K's: 227 (4th)

Fielding
The Yankees team UZR is -6.7

Here are the current standings: