Patterson Gets His Shot

The Yankees have cut Morgan Ensberg and have called up Scott Patterson. As you may remember, Patterson was the hard luck loser during ST as he was one of the final players cut and sent down to the minors despite being stellar during that period. He’ll finally get his shot even if it is only for a few days. In addition, it seems as though Jeff Karstens would have gotten the call, however, he injured himself in his last minor league appearance. Thanks to Chad Jennings for the note. Jennings also states that Dan Giese could be headed to NY for the long relief role so we’ll probably see him pitch during Tuesday’s game (Patterson is more of a one-inning guy).

What’s Wrong With Wang?

From good ol’ PA:

Chien-Ming Wang is 0-2, 5.67 in his last five starts. He’s worried but claimed he is fine physically. His problem, he said, is inconsistency with his arm slot. The problem leaves his sinker high.

Wang has had some rough months before, but these past few games have been disheartening (the Wang is not an ace crowd is in full force). However, whenever (another ever was necessary) Wang is this inconsistent (remember the playoffs?) you can usually chalk it up to a mechanical error, rather than to his skill level. I expect Eiland to work with him and figure this out before his next start. I’m sure he’ll be glad to get away from the artificial turf.

Long Relief

From the NY Times:

Because Joba Chamberlain will be on a limited pitch count Tuesday (60 to 70 pitches), Joe Girardi said the Yankees would probably recall another pitcher from Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to fill a long relief spot. Girardi said it could be a starter or a reliever. “We’ll bring up someone who can give us some length,” Girardi said.

The Yanks are apparently going to call up Jeff Karstens, a pitcher whose appearance strikes fear in the hearts of even the bravest men.

Not Natural

I was checking out the Yankees Website after a great win against the Twins and, somehow, I ended up reading the following passage from the MLB regarding the ever so swift, Jacoby Ellsbury. The text refers to write-ins for the MLB’s AS Game ballot (a player that is not featured on the ballot can be voted for, however, you must write their name in at the bottom, manually). Apparently, Coco Crisp has the Boston CF spot locked up while Jacoby is forced into the write-in category.

Or Jacoby Ellsbury? Deemed baseball’s next “Natural,” the multitalented outfielder naturally is preempted on the ballot by Coco Crisp — a case of the traditional ballot choice of experience before potential.

Now, my comment has nothing to do with a Jacoby AS Game appearance as I could really care less, however, I must ask about this “Natural” nickname. This nickname is thrown around seemingly everyday. Whether it’s Rick Ankiel or Jacoby Ellsbury, writers love to call upon the memorable image of Roy Hobbs in order to create some sort of deeper story. Recently, I also read a text that dubbed Josh Hamilton the next Natural, who is actually a better fit for the title.

The point of this post is that Jacoby Ellsbury is not the “Natural” (I’ve never even heard of anyone calling him this until I saw this particular passage). He’s just Jacoby Ellsbury and sometimes, that’s all there is to the story. Lots of writers enjoy packaging meaningful stories into pointless and hollow titles that they can immediately link to any given player on any given day (I’m waiting for Carlos Quentin to get the title). Baseball fans are tired of this stuff, seriously.