Seattle’s Joba

The Yankees basically have 3 weeks left of the season in order for them to make something happen (22 games). Tonight’s loss was a hard one, simply because the team was never really in the game until the 9th inning. Couple that with the Twins’ loss and it’s just a waisted opportunity to gain ground in the Wild Card race. It’s not all of the offense’s fault, however, as the Rays sent Scott Kazmir to the mound while the Yankees sent Darrell Rasner out there. Rasner was awful and the team just never got it going until it was too late. Alfredo Aceves was effective (5 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 4 K) as he got the chance to shine a bit, but right now, a loss is a loss.

Tomorrow (that’s all the team can do, is look to tomorrow), the Yankees will face the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field for a 3-game set (luckily, I’ll be at all 3 games). It’s the perfect opportunity for them since the Mariners have been as bad as Rasner was in tonight’s game. It’s really not a stretch to hope for a sweep in downtown Seattle.

What’s interesting about tomorrow’s game is that the Yanks will take on a tough competitor in Brandon Morrow. Morrow has been Seattle’s equivalent to Joba Chamberlain. He’s an electric right-hander (24-years old) with a dazzling array of pitches (his fastball is the best, topping out at 98 mph) and it will be his first start with the Mariners. Morrow, who has always been billed as a starter, was put in the bullpen to begin the season and he took over the closer role once J.J. Putz was put on the DL (he did a hell of a job in that role too). The team wanted to control his innings due to some injury concerns, so the bullpen seemed like a good fit (sound familiar?). With nothing really left to play for (the Mariners are obviously out of it this season), Morrow was sent down to AAA to build up his arm strength as well as his secondary pitches and has now returned as a starter. He’ll be limited to 90 pitches or so and he’s got great stuff, so I think the Yankees will have their work cut out for them. However, we’ve seen what happens when a young pitcher is going through a transition at the big league level, especially with pitch counts (Joba’s first few games were tough). I’m sure that the Yankees will be very patient with Morrow, who is prone to fits of wildness, and maybe they’ll be able to chase him early.

If the club can get to Morrow in the first game of the series and obliterate his Dice-K like repertoire (cutter, fastball, changeup, slider, splitter, curveball), then the next two games are very favorable for them. Morrow will be opposed by Andy Pettitte, who has been better on the road, and Game 2 will be Sidney Ponson versus Ryan Rowland-Smith (who has been somewhat effective but he’s still very hittable). The final game will be Moose versus Carlo Silva, which I’m sure the Yankees are salivating over since Silva is as hittable as they come (he’s not Livian Hernandez bad, but he’s up there).