yankees228

Teixeira has been flirting with that part of the field all day. Finally squared it up.

I love Nick's patience, but someone who gets to so many three ball counts should be making more solid contact than he does. Hopefully that turns around.

I'm thinking that run won't really matter here, but what a soft run to give up.

Ugh, nice job to keep it on the infield.

Can't afford anymore tack on runs.

Nice play from Robbie.

This is true, but both of his ABs have finished with good pitches to hit that Tex seems to have timed. He's just not squaring up the ball.

Tex continues to get pitches to hit, and continues to miss them.

Yeah, good inning for CC. His control problems to the first three hitters just seemed like a fluke, and he paid for trying to get ahead early against Suzuki.

Admittedly, Braden doesn't look great, but the Yankees offense hasn't looked great in this series (benefitted from wildness on Tuesday), and the combination of that and the junk baller doesn't bode well. With that being said, you really see the impact that his changeup has when he's able to blow 88 MPH fastballs by people.

First game so far this season that I would be surprised if they ended up winning. When you combine the fact that CC isn't sharp, with what I already said about Braden, and the Yankees sitting two starters, I'd be impressed if they came out on top.

CC is all over the place. Not even close to hitting his spots.

I'm a bit concerned about the Yankees offense going against a soft tosser like Braden, especially considering his changeup.

Definitely. That's a fair take as well.

I agree with most of this. However, I do think Jacko's point might have been that even though the Red Sox have won a couple games, because of how the games went, it isn't exactly a sign of the team turning it around. I'm not saying I agree with this, but it's a reasonable stance to take.

Additionally, after seeing today's lineup, I have a hard time believing that outfield defense is his primary concern when he has both Thames and Swisher starting.

Well, Joe said that Cervelli wasn't going to be CC's personal catcher. However, he's doing nothing to quell those rumors.

I understand he wanted outfield defense, but unless he wanted to have Winn start two of the games this series (which I'm sure he didn't), his start should have come today. First off, it would have been a day game after a night game, where Swisher might need the rest more. Second, and most importantly, if he has a choice between subtracting offense when his ace is on the mound, or subtracting offense when his number five starter is on the mound, the choice seems pretty obvious to me. As for the bullpen, I completely understand, he uses April to figure out roles. I have absolutely no issue with that. But my complaint about his bullpen usage goes beyond the argument that he is trying to establish roles. In late game situations, where the outcome is not in doubt, he should take the time to try to get guys work who need it. The alternative would be not to give the guy work when the game isn't in doubt, and then, in a big spot, pitch him when he has barely been used. He did the latter, and, as expected, it cost the Yankees.

Yup, I agree with the general point. Fair enough.

Again, I never claimed that, in general, Mo doesn't benefit from a wide strike zone. He does, without a doubt. My point was only about tonight. As for tonight, I think it comes to the fact that we're approaching this discussion differently. It's all about how you look at it. You've crafted your argument by stating that two of the three called strikes tonight were balls. I've crafted my argument by stating that there were three borderline pitches, and two of them were called strikes. I think you'd agree that if you look at it your way, your point holds water, but if you look at it my way, my point holds water. So then it comes down to which is the best way to look at it. Obviously I think my way is the best, but, on the other hand, I'm sure you think your way is the best.

Which one? The graph shows three called strikes, all well within the black outline. EDIT: And I never said you said that he success was because of the umps. My only point is that he wasn't favored by the HP umpire tonight.