Dustin Who?

Dustin Moseley pitched his best game of the year today against the Yankees. Now, that’s horrible, really. Moseley gave up only 3 hits in 5 IP and struck out 6 (with 2 ER). In Moseley’s outings (in 2008) that have lasted 5 or more innings (there have only been 5 of them, including today’s), Moseley has never had such a stellar line, overall. He’s never given up only 3 hits in 5 IP, he’s never struck out 6 before in 5 IP (I believe that number is a career high), it was a great day for the young right-hander. Moseley had actually given up 53 hits over 35 1/3 innings pitched before this game and the Yankees were only able to muster 3 measly hits off him.

I would like to say that the Yankees are going to be “spoilers” for someone. But, judging from the way they’ve played, they’ll spoil it for the Rays and give the Red Sox the AL East. This entire season has been utterly dumbfounding.

Sucker For Love

From Jon Heyman (SI.com):

But while Hank’s doing a lot of talking lately, he isn’t doing all that much working. The man who is actually running the team is his much younger brother Hal. Hank not only isn’t running the team, he doesn’t even go to the games. He has been seen at no more than a handful of games all year, five at most. Word is, Hank has instead been spending his time rekindling a relationship with an old flame.

All I can say is, WOW… How lame is that? Somehow though, it seems perfectly understandable (in a very sad way). I wonder if Hank dominates those dinner conversations…

Hank: Yea, I’ll go out with you again.
Female: Hank… we’ve only been on this first date for 5 minutes.
Hank: It doesn’t matter. Whatever it takes, I want it.
Female: Hank, let’s take it slow this time.
Hank: What do you want me to do? Change? I can change! I’ll be better next year!
Female: Hank, please. You’re embarrassing your—
Hank: The injuries! It was the injuries I tell ya!
Female: Huh?
Hank: Have you been cheating on me? Have you been watching ESPN?!
Female: Jesus Hank… Shouldn’t you get back to work?
Hank: This Gorgonzola steak is delicious. Mmm…

What Will Andy Do?

Here’s an interesting set of comments from Andy Pettitte (via the NY Post):

Andy Pettitte isn’t discounting his hectic offseason in which he was named in the Mitchell Report and testified in front of Congress about buddy Roger Clemens as a reason he hasn’t had the type of year he expected.”I feel beaten up this year, maybe. I wasn’t able to work out, you know what I went through,” said Pettitte, who was behind at the beginning of spring training. “There were times I didn’t want to leave the house never mind work out.”

Pettitte, a free agent, says he wants to decide quickly this winter whether to play again.

That could certainly explain Pettitte’s lackluster performance in the second half. He’s had his good days but he’s also had his bad days which, of course, were awful (even on his good days he looked like he was struggling). Pettitte had solid numbers in the first half and he’s usually a second half pitcher so a bout with dead arm could possibly explain the situation in relation to his offseason workout program (or lack thereof). However, the Yankee offense hasn’t backed Andy enough either, and whenever he seems to have a solid performance, the team can’t score him any runs. Hopefully that will change today.

Here’s what Pettitte had to say on returning next year (via the NY Times):

Andy Pettitte, who starts on Wednesday, said he does not know if he will pitch next season but has no interest in playing for any team but the Yankees. “Obviously anyone else would say, ‘I’ll go wherever I want to,’ because people want to try to get the most money,” Pettitte said. “But, I mean, I’m not going anywhere, you know what I’m saying? The Yankees know me enough, it’s not like I’m going to hold out. I guess if I had spent all my money or whatever, it might be different. But it’s not about that, really, anymore.” Pettitte said he would talk with his wife and oldest son in hopes of making a decision sooner than he did last winter, when he waited until December to tell the Yankees he would return.

It sounds kind of selfish and maybe I’m not being as thankful as I should be, but, I don’t think Pettitte really has any choice on the matter. Based on his performance this year, he’ll have to figure out what he wants to do and do it quickly. The team can’t afford to twist in the wind while there are perfectly good pitchers available on the free agent market for 2009. I’d like to see Andy return as our 4th or 5th starter and I think he can rebound a bit (his leadership is key), however, there will be no waiting until December for that to happen and I’m assuming that the Yankees will get him at a discount this year ($11 or 12 million?).

Pudge Suspended

Ivan Rodriguez has been suspended for 2 games and is scheduled to begin the suspension today unless he decides to appeal the MLB’s decision (the same goes for Hunter). Molina was going to catch Pettitte tonight anyway, so I assume he’ll just go through with it and not appeal.

On another note, I totally forgot to offer a congratulatory post for Derek Jeter. Last night, Jeter passed Babe Ruth on the Yankees’ all-time hit list. He finished the second game of the series with 2,520 hits, 2 more than the Babe, and will try to overtake Lou Gehrig, who is the hit list leader with 2,721 hits. Congrats to Jeter, as that is a huge accomplishment.

Quick Bits: Aceves, Pudge

A few notes on the club:

1. Alfredo Aceves pitched a great ballgame against the Angels, going 7 strong while giving up only 1 ER (he struck out 2). He’s certainly done what he needs to do in order to keep his rotation spot for the rest of the year. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to the former Mexican leaguer. Of course, we all know not to go nuts over his recent performance, since the memories of IPK and Phil Hughes are still fresh in our heads. Remember, both pitchers were brilliant (well, at times) for the Yankees last year and didn’t do anything for the team this year. However, as of now it seems safe to say that Aceves will provide depth in the minor league system, depth that we weren’t too aware of earlier in the season.

2. Pudge Rodriguez will likely be suspended for the incident with Torii Hunter. Really, with Chad Moeller on the team, this won’t be much of a blow. Pudge hasn’t done anything from an offensive standpoint for this club and without his bat around, hell, maybe the Yankees will start winning again (it feels like that trade was a jinx or something). Pudge now has a case of whiplash (a result of Hunter’s push) and I feel as though that’s enough punishment (seriously, that fight wasn’t all that serious). Either way, he’s not really an everyday player on this team, so who cares, right?

More later (I’ll be pondering a few things)…