Half Way Point

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

45 wins are accounted for and the Sox are in 1st place. How many wins will it take to win the division?? I predict 95

 

So from here out can we go 50-35??

 

46 home games current (23-12) 2nd half prediction (30-16)

39 away games current (22-20) 2nd half prediction (21-18)

 

Starting pitchers will get about 16 starts from here out (forget injuries for now)

 

Clement currently (9-1) prediction (8-4)

Wells currently (6-4) prediction (7-5)

Wakefield currently (7-6) prediction (7-7)

Miller currently (2-2) prediction (5-5)

Schilling currently (1-2) prediction (9-3)

Arroyo currently (6-4) added to the bullpen

Bullpen currently (13-11) prediction (15-11)

 

Most of those predictions look average BUT they should easily be within reach since we have so many home games.

 

This is also barring a Dan Shaugnessy jinx!

[Soxfan1]

Clement currently (9-1) prediction (8-4)

 

Ok but I don't know how he is going to lose a win.

[Sizzlin22]

I think he means like from the second half of the season on. I disagree I see Clement winning 20 by the end of the year he has shown no signs of slowing up.

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

yeah he could hit 20 wins especially with enough games at home. I'm just staying realistic in the fact Clement has pitched out of his mind and I'm wondering if he might come back to earth a little bit. I'm not saying he won't be effective I still have him down for almost as many wins in the 2nd half. If he has 20 wins by the end of the season he may have a Cy Young Award.

 

I hope he gets a win tonight cause I'm sick of Ted Lilly kicking our ass

[soxie thefangirl]

I think he can definitely get that many wins from what we've seen so far.

[riverside sluggers]

ted lilly has only been effective against the sox in his park. At fenway, it does soemthing to him, the games he pitches against the sox there has a 6.5 ERA and 0 - 6 record. So far Clement is pitching at fenway with just amazing 1.5 ERA and 6 - 0 record. im hoping for stats like that bode well for our boys tonight

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

oh wow....suddenly i might not be that excited to bring Lilly into Boston for a trade. Then again I don't think I was excited about that rumor in the first place.

[riverside sluggers]

i watched a nesn pre-game report asking several emails from the mail bag to nick frede and he was aksed about the current slump bellhorn was having that got his average to .220... and he had said that indeed several times each week during batting practices some of his teammates and papa jack have been working with him on his stance and everything, id say its working out so far. beginning of sesaon its been mainly each game one K or more, now hes been toning it down in past week. Plus of course better contact with the ball. I mean he has now reached safely in 9 straight games, including walks and hits

[riverside sluggers]

exactly about Lilly, game i will be crossing my fingers about is when roy halladya comes to town for the 3rd game of the series. cy young material with that 2.40 ERA

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

I know how awesome is he. Arroyo will have his work cut out for him but this is a good sign....

 

Halladay vs. Boston 2005

5.14 ERA 14.0 IP 8 ER

 

Arroyo vs. Toronto 2005

2.37 ERA 19.0 IP 5 ER

 

Doc has been real hot though

[soxie thefangirl]

That is a good sign.

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

soxie what is that picture from?

[riverside sluggers]

more that im thinking about it, id rather have wade miller move to the bullpen. much like better to have rotation be:

 

1. Schilling

2. Clement

3. Wells

4. Wakefield

5. Arroyo

[soxie thefangirl]

He won't. It always takes him like an inning to start pitching better. If he comes out for only one inning, it sort of defeats the purpose.

 

It's from Breakfast At Tiffany's, my favorite movie ever.

[riverside sluggers]

whats really point then of sox keepin him so far, best if they trade him and try to get schmidt, or just ride out the rest fo the 1 year contract he had signed

[soxie thefangirl]

The point is that he's good after like one bad inning. Once he settles down, he's very good.

[riverside sluggers]

i know very true, but its that first inning that hurts him each time and so far thru the season hes averaging 5 1/2 innings a game, putting pressure on the bullpen

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

It is still a little early on Wade Miller. The guy has too much talent to be stuck pitching like this. Pitching for two months is not a great amount of time since being injured for almost a year. Sometimes he looks awesome he just needs to locate better. Too many times I see him throw balls that don't have a chance. He deffinitly seems like a guy that when he gets settled in he really focuses and can get hot.....so once he can get through the first couple inning and not throw a ton of pitches i think he would start hitting 7 innings.

[riverside sluggers]

lets see how his next start goes on the night of 4th of july, opening the series in texas against the rangers

[soxie thefangirl]

True. I'm still unsure about him at times.

[Sox fan in Tex]

Sweet, it looks like I'm going to get to see Wakefield start on Tuesday then in Texas.

[riverside sluggers]

hmm, very interesting

 

Pavano out Sunday with sore shoulder

 

The Yankees' starting rotation took another hit on Saturday, when Joe Torre announced that Carl Pavano will miss his start on Sunday due to shoulder soreness. Pavano could make his next scheduled start right before the All-Star break, but that remains up in the air. As of Saturday, the Yankees weren't considering placing the right-hander on the disabled list. Taking Pavano's place on Sunday will be Chien-Ming Wang, who was scheduled to go on Monday with an extra day of rest. Tanyon Sturtze will take the mound on Monday at home against the Orioles, and the Yanks will bring Randy Johnson back on short rest for Tuesday's game. Pavano has been an enigma this season, going 4-6 with a 4.77 ERA in 17 starts. He has allowed 17 home runs in 100 innings, one more than he gave up in 222 1/3 innings last season.

[YanksHater213]

Hhahahahaha, Tanyon Sturtze vs. the Orioles doesnt sound very good for the Yankees.

[soxie thefangirl]

Hahaha. Johnson on short rest. That's good. 'Cause he doesn't suck already.

 

I'm gonna be at their game tomorrow. I decided to wear Red Sox gear of course.

[riverside sluggers]

ah no way soxie, thats awesome stick it to them

[sarasoxfan]

tomorrow is george stienbrenners birthday..I hope the yankees stink up the place to make his birthday miserable..

 

In terms of the halfway point..in spite of the absolutely putrid performance of our bullpen, in spite of our ace being injured, we are in first. and that is the most important thing to consider.

 

I think foulke and embree suck..and I am not a big fan of winning in spie of certain guys, because that catches up with you.

In a utopian world, foulke, embree, bellhorn and millar would be sipping coffee in a an open market in baghdad with a-f***.

 

we;re in first, manny is hot and hey the yankees might really be this bad, the tigers shelled the big-unitless one..life is good..happy 4th.

[sarasoxfan]

here's a great article..from tthe daily news, I like the new nickname..the bumbling bombers..

about the Yanks failing chemistry

 

Bumbling Bombers are an unfriendly bunch

 

BY ANTHONY MCCARRON

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

 

 

Recent report says Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez wanted to wring each other's necks in clubhouse, and while Yanks deny story, it's not as if Bombers are best of friends these days.

 

DETROIT — Winning, according to Yankee GM Brian Cashman, is a "petri dish for team chemistry. Add a lot of winning, it develops."

So with the Yankees listing along in a state of mediocrity this season, where does the Yankee clubhouse stand? "We're not winning," Cashman said, "so we've probably got a lot of grumpy guys down there."

 

Grumpy enough to fight? An Internet report surfaced during the week saying that team captain Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees' two marquee players, had fought in the clubhouse after a June loss. While everyone around the Yankees denies it — Jeter laughed it off, saying, "There are so many things out there that are untrue" — it's exactly the kind of unrest people begin to expect from a struggling club. When a $200 million team proves to be ordinary, all kinds of stories start to surface.

 

In several interviews over the weekend, a few Yankees pointed out that it is impossible for them to have the mostly serene clubhouse atmosphere they've enjoyed in the past because of all the losing. There have been the usual Yankeeland distractions this season, from George Steinbrenner's blustering to more team meetings, but the team's record is what has the most impact on the players and their workplace.

 

At 40-39 after last night's 8-4 win against the Tigers, the Yankees are in — for them — mostly uncharted waters.

 

"Until you get your record where you need to have it, being at ease and as confident in what you're doing, you don't have that," Joe Torre said. "It doesn't keep you from getting along, it keeps you from maybe offering as much help as you can."

 

"It's tough to have 25 men all liking each other, but we still pull for each other," added Jorge Posada. "I think we've got a great group of guys who really respect each other and love each other and pull for each other. Is that going to help us win? I don't know. If we had 25 guys who didn't like each other and we won, we'll take that.

 

"When we win, chemistry gets better. Obviously, there are going to be some changes around and we've got to worry about the guys who are going to be on the field."

 

While the Yankees believe that team togetherness is mostly a byproduct of victory, other teams preach its mystical quality. The Red Sox, for instance, have credited their World Series win last year to team unity, joyously calling themselves a bunch of "idiots."

 

Posada says the Sox are proud of their team chemistry because "they won last year. Everything worked out, everything was a part of their success."

 

But, he notes, sometimes those feelings can be forgotten after a successful season, too.

 

"You get it when you win, because that's when everything is fun, everything is good and you look back and say, ‘We had a great team,'" Posada said.

 

Of course, pooh-poohing team chemistry can be perceived as the chorus of an average team, and the Yankees — whose championship teams endured their share of tumult, too — may have tried to recapture some of the feeling from their teams from 1996-2001 by bringing back Tino Martinez, beloved by teammates as much as he was by fans. Cashman, however, says Martinez's possible clubhouse contributions were not a factor into the decision to bring him back, even though he and Jeter, the team captain, are good friends, as are Martinez and Posada. "We're not in the business of just reuniting friends," Cashman said.

 

But Torre says he was happy to have Martinez back, partly because of what he can bring to the clubhouse. And according to an article in Sports Illustrated, A-Rod has nicknamed Martinez "The Bridge" because he's helped Rodriguez mesh with the Yankees who are still around from the title teams — Posada, Jeter, Bernie Williams and Mariano Rivera.

 

"He knows our mantra and what we need to have happen and how we do things," Torre said of Martinez. "People who have been here before try to minimize the damage and maybe minimize the emotional effect of George yelling at guys, whereas guys just coming in and are exposed to that for the first time, emotionally it could take a toll.

 

"I think Tino is sort of there to answer the questions. When new guys come in, they watch other guys who've been here, how they carry themselves, more so than what they say."

 

Change is a fact of life in pinstripes. But, Posada says, "you look back from '96 to 2000, pretty much the whole team was together the whole time, and it's tough to do that these days."

 

Jeter, however, argues that "in '98, it's not like everybody hung out together after the games. Half the guys, you never saw after games, but you wanted to win. All that stuff is overrated."

 

The Yankees last won it all in 2000, and certainly there have been clubhouse pitfalls along the way. Some were easy to shrug off, such as when the fiery Posada and Orlando Hernandez fought in the clubhouse in 2002. But other moments still resonate — with Kevin Brown's injuries and ineffectiveness, it's debatable whether his teammates have forgiven him for breaking his hand by punching a clubhouse wall last season.

 

Remarks by Jeter and Posada questioning effort after the 2002 playoff loss to the Angels may still reverberate, too. Jeter, in comments he's repeated several times since, noted that there were some players on the Yankees who had won championships and some who hadn't.

 

"It's the truth," Jeter said. "It wasn't meant to sound any way, it's just a different team."

 

Jason Giambi's controversial year has pushed players into a situation where they must support him publicly, even if they disapprove of what he may or may not have done with steroids. And there is no telling what kind of hangover the Yankees' stunning loss to the Red Sox in the playoffs has created, even though Torre denies it.

 

Still, something is wrong with the Yankees this year. Jeter generally doesn't show anger, but he accused the team of "playing like we don't care" during a miserable road trip to the Midwest in June.

 

There are other signs of wear, too. In his anti-trade tirade last week, Gary Sheffield noted that his advancing age had been an issue in his contract negotiations with Steinbrenner. But, Sheffield said, age was not an issue with other players "who are a lot older than I am." The newest Yankee star, Randy Johnson, is 41 and got a two-year contract extension before this season.

 

There was potential for more unrest with a report on Radar Online this week of a fight between Jeter and A-Rod after a June 20 loss in which Jeter committed a costly error, but both Jeter and Cashman denied the story. "It's just not true," Cashman said.

 

"You can't help someone making up a story," Jeter added. "That happens when you're winning or losing. It's just more attention to all the smaller things if you're losing. Some things get overlooked if you're winning."

 

Most Yankees, Posada says, get along socially, although neither Posada nor Torre thinks that is vital. "We've been together so long, we understand each other," Posada said of his friendship with Jeter and Martinez. He added there are "no problems here in the clubhouse" and pointed to a golf outing by several players on Thursday's off-day as some proof.

 

But he also offered this sobering evaluation: "It's fun to see, but we still have to play nine innings, still have to do what we have to win. We've got to figure it out real quick and do what it takes to win, whatever it takes."

[RedSoxRooter]

At the half way point, I'm pretty happy with this team. Especially considering Schilling (if healthy) will be the single best addition to any team this year at the mid point......

 

Remember when we got Wells and Clement and lost Pedro and Lowe? Some were worried about the trade-off, some were curious. If last year was the recipe for success with the starting rotation, then it seems the Sox made some smart moves with the people they brought in to replace the lost pieces.

 

Also, remember Wells was supposted to replace Pedro's spot and Clement was to replace Lowe's spot in the rotation.

 

This year, the duo of Lowe and Pedro are a combined 14-11 with their new teams. Each has a great ERA (Lowe: 3.90 and Pedro: 2.74)

 

Clement and Wells this year are a combined 15-6 with ERAs of 3.8 and 5.04.

 

Last year with Pedro and Lowe, they wound up 30-21 with ERAs of (Lowe) 5.42 and (Pedro) 3.90. Actually, last year at the All Star break, Lowe was 7-8 with a 5.57 ERA and Pedro was 9-3 with a 3.67 ERA (combined total: 16-11).

 

I guess the point to be drilled home is that Wells and Clement make up for Pedro and Lowe in the rotation quite well. Better then most thought if you base it on results...

Once Schilling comes back and leads the staff the way he should, we are going to be just fine in the second half.

 

I guess the next question is whether Wake and Miller can hold the line in the 4-5 spots once Arroyo goes to the pen.

 

This year Wake is 7-6 with a 3.94 ERA compared to last year's 5-5, 4.17. Miller (compared with Arroyo's stats in the #5 slot last year) is 2-2 with a 5.14 ERA. Arroyo at the break last year was 3-7 with a 4.09 ERA.

 

So essentially you could make the case that the main difference between this and last year's starting rotation comes down to comparing Arroyo to Schilling's stats at the break. Last year Schill was 11-4 at the break with a 3.16 era. Arroyo is 6-5 with a 4.15 ERA.

 

By the way, I'm OK with Arroyo to the pen after Schilling comes back. He's probably the only one of the starters who is good in the first 1-2 innings of a game. The other guys need and inning or two to get loose. Arroyo should be good out of the pen (the next Brandon Lyon?) .

 

Now I know all you stat-geeks will get all over this post with yer ERA+ numbers and WHIP bs, but results speak volumes.

 

 

 

Wow, what a pointless ramble. Happy 4th!

[schillingouttheks]

You, sir, just made me feel better. I'm having a s***** day, even if it is the 4th .

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

Great stuff RedSoxRooter.....

 

Anyone feeling a little better about Miller?? I mean he did it again with the slow start but he can dominate once he gets in motion. Not to mention that game against the Rangers just proved to everyone AGAIN that Miller is not a bullpen pitcher.

 

Foulke on the other hand needs a kick in the ass.