BREAKING NEWS: GIRARDI FINALLY LOOKS AT STATS

From PA:

For the first time in months, Girardi did not reconfigure the lineup to face a left-hander. “Our lefties have hit lefties,” he said.

Kim Jones asked him whether this would be the lineup for the rest of the season.

“We will try,” Girardi said.

Girardi claims his newfound lineup consistency is due to “having all our guys.” But he had been sitting Giambi against lefties all season and was doing the same with Matsui when he was healthy.

I would have posted about this earlier, but I was too busy convulsing and having seizures after reading Girardi’s words (I was deeply shocked, apparently).

A-Ronic

A-Rod has called upon his fellow Yankees to perform, because it’s either now or never (or next year, I guess) and the team needs to get it going offensively. However, what’s funny about A-Rod’s words are that he is the one who should adhere to them. This month, Alex Rodriguez is hitting .242 and has his lowest OPS since April. Since facing the Rangers earlier this month, A-Rod has been in 15 games and only has 10 RBI, which is even worse when you realize that 5 of those RBI came in one game against the Royals. If you, for a moment, take those 5 away then he only has 5 RBI in 14 very meaningful games (that’s basically 1 RBI per series). Today (YEA PETTITTE), A-Rod went 0-for-4 with no RBI, and it seems like the trend will continue until he snaps out of his offensive rut.

Meanwhile, Damon is hitting .290 this month (not including today’s game), Jeter is hitting .385, Abreu is hitting .314, Cano is hitting .276, and Xavier Nady, despite a recent slide, is hitting .317. Jason Giambi has been the worst so far (with his buddy A-Rod), hitting .196 in August (so .242 and .196 from our 4 and 5 hitters). So, with this in mind, maybe Alex Rodriguez should stop talking about the team (e.g. “we”) and start talking about himself (e.g. “I”). Or, maybe it’d be better if he stopped talking altogether and just hit the damn ball. The good thing about baseball is that he’ll he get his chance tomorrow. The bad thing is it’s against the probable AL Cy Young–Roy Halladay.

Ouch…

From Phil Allard (NYYFans.com):

Cashman had a chance to deal Melky when his stock was valued higher, but at this point, he wouldn’t garner much at all. One American League scout commented: “In a few years, Melky will be playing in some independent league. Or in the Mexican League.”

Yikes, those are harsh words for our buddy Melky. No worries, at least some of us still believe that Melky can turn it all around before it’s too late. At the beginning of the season, Melky’s dingers and spectacular CF play was enough to make any Yankee fan salivate. We dreamed about our very own Alex Rios.

Now, Melky is playing for SWB. Go figure (at least he’s hitting).

(Props to RAB).

The Kyle Curse

From PA:

The Yankees are 3-7 in the games Pudge Rodriguez has started since he came over from the Tigers. He is 8 for 35 (.229) with one RBI. Andy Pettitte threw to him once then asked not to again.

The Tigers are 3-4 in the games Kyle Farnsworth has pitched in. Over 7.3 innings, he has allowed 13 hits (three HRs) and six earned runs.

Obviously it’s a trade that made perfect sense at the time. But it sure hasn’t worked out the way Brian Cashman and Dave Dombrowski thought it would.

Before the trade and since the AS Break the Yankees were 8-3. Since the I-Rod trade on July 30th, the Yankees are now 7-11. Oh baseball gods, why do you hate us so? The team needs to go on an amazing winning streak against the Jays, the Orioles, and the Sox (and then the Jays again) in order to have some sort of future beyond September.

Irabu Arrested

After drinking 20 mugs of beer and in a drunken stupor, Irabu assaulted a bartender in Japan after his credit card was rejected. I think the Yankees should give Irabu a keg and send him to see Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi. Maybe he could kick the “Giambino” in the nuts for every time he’s sucked with RISP.

Hazy Hughes

Recently, Phil Hughes had a rough rehab start, lasting only 3 2/3 innings while giving up 8 hits and 5 runs. Brian Cashman, in an attempt to explain Hughes’ poor outing, told reporters that Hughes was “feeling under the weather” during the start, which would explain his line. However, our buddy Chad Jennings spoke with Hughes and he offered up a different take on his performance.

“I threw too many pitches over the plate,” Hughes said. “That pretty much sums it up. I was decent, but I left too many fastballs over the plate and they jumped all over them… Physically I felt fine. A little bit of a dead arm, but you’re going to go through those days when you don’t have your best stuff. You just try to compete and unfortunately I wasn’t able to do that today.

The admission that his arm felt a little bit dead accounts for the lower velocity than we’ve seen his previous minor league outings. He was sitting 91-93 tonight — he had been 92-94, occasionally hitting 95 — but it was his command that caused the biggest problems.

So, according to Hughes, he wasn’t under the weather (thanks Cash!) and he’s experiencing the dreaded “dead arm” phase, which normally occurs during spring training. I guess it makes sense though, since Hughes was out for a while with his injury. Now, this is perfectly normal for a lot of pitchers and many of them simply soldier forward to build up arm strength, however, Hughes’ case is important since he has been considered for Saturday’s start. If Hughes is really going through a dead arm period, he could easily get shelled in Saturday’s game and that wouldn’t be ideal for a team that’s barely hanging in there (I still have some faith in my team).

That makes Carl Pavano an even more attractive option for Saturday’s start (Zambrano’s name is still floating around as well). Pavano, who missed a bullpen session today with neck stiffness (good God), will reportedly throw a session tomorrow and Joe Girardi hasn’t ruled him out for this weekend’s game. If his session goes well, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in a uniform pitching against Baltimore (and pitching for a new contract with another ball club).