How bad are Joba Chamberlain and Javy Vazquez?

I know Joba and Javy have been pinatas for me all year… but let’s face it, they’ve earned every single whack the way they’ve pitched.

Don’t believe me? Just look at last night… a game where their supposed 8th inning stud and supposed new rotation workhorse were used in their playoff roles: Mop up men.

Actually Joba was given the role to get out of a 6th inning bases loaded jam and keep the game close at 4-3.

How did he do? Well not only did he let all three inherited runners to score but let up another run charged to himself. A close playoff feel game turned into a blow out where by the end I think Joe Girardi was asking Guiliani’s son if he wanted an at bat.

But the actuality of Joba’s futility could only be overshadowed by the disrespect the umpires gave to Javier Vazquez.

Keep in mind the scenario… the Yankees and Rays are neck and neck… they might meet up in the post season with the AL Pennant on the line… this is their LAST regular season meeting… the games, save for last night, were rife with emotion and posturing…

And with the Rays blowing the Yankees out of their own building and former supposed Cy Young candidate turned “use only in blow outs” mop up man Javier Vazquez hit Desmond Jennings.

No warning issued.

Then he hit Willy Aybar… no warning issued.

Then he hit Kelly Shoppach… THREE STRAIGHT HIT BATSMEN…
Nope. Nothing.

Even the umpires knew “He’s not trying to hit them… it’s Javy Vazquez. He sucks.”

I like to think Javy WAS trying to hit them, just to show his teammates his toughness and to show them how much a team guy he really is.

Plunk.
PLUNK!
PLUNK!!!!

And the ump saying “Sorry Javy… I’m not buying that you are doing that intentionally!”

For those of you who think I am too tough on Javy Vazquez, take it up with home plate umpire Andy Fletcher.

He agrees with me.

It’s to the point where the Yankees almost have to say “We can NOT put either Joba nor Javy on the post season roster.”

YES… you can be a .500 winner and deserve the Cy Young Award

I heard the panel on MLB last night talk about the American League Cy Young Award today and they unanimously picked C. C. Sabathia, mainly based on his 20 wins.

John Hart said that Felix Hernandez had the great numbers but his win total wasn’t enough.

I don’t claim to know more about baseball than John Hart nor the panel.
That being said, that is “smearing feces on the wall crazy.”

And yesterday’s game is a case in point.
Hernandez let up one run in the first inning… the 50th home run of the season by Jose Bautista.
That was the only blemish. He pitched a complete game, retiring 13 in a row at one point. He let up only one other hit besides the Bautista homer, walked 4 and faced 28 batters in 8 innings for the complete game.

He got the loss. So in John Hart’s mind, 8 innings, 1 run and 2 hits is a performance that shows he is NOT worthy of a Cy Young.

Let me put it into clearer terms.

Here are the categories where Hernandez finishes ahead of Sabathia
(and he leads the league in the bold categories:)

ERA
INNINGS PITCHED
STRIKE OUTS
BATTERS FACED
ADJUSTED PITCHING RUNS
BASE OUT RUNS
SAVED SITUATION WINS SAVED
COMPLETE GAMES
COMPLETE GAME SHUTOUTS
WALKS AND HITS PER INNINGS PITCHED
BATTING AVERAGE AGAINST
STRIKEOUT PER 9 INNINGS
STRIKEOUT TO WALK RATIO
FEWEST HOME RUNS PER 9 INNINGS
ADJUSTED ERA +

Here are the categories where Sabathia finishes ahead of Hernandez
(and he leads the league in the bold categories:)

WINS
WIN LOSS PERCENTAGE

And that’s it.

I don’t even know what half of those stats mean for Hernandez… all I know he has pitched better all season. Was he supposed to throw more innings? Let up fewer runs? Strike out more batters? Nobody did ANY of those better than Hernandez!

I am not disrespecting Sabathia who is having a wonderful season. And I understand he has a role of the horse of the Yankee staff and has to shoulder the innings burden of a shaky rotation.

But keep in mind that 10 of his 20 wins have been against Baltimore, Seattle and Kansas City.

Nor am I putting down David Price who should finish in the top 3 in the Cy Young vote with Sabathia and Hernandez.

But both of them have All Stars in their line up and bullpen. I covered in an earlier post that with a team this bad, 12 wins IS an accomplishment!

And guess what? He is 3-0 against the Yankees.

In Hernandez’s 12 losses, his team has scored a GRAND TOTAL of 14 runs.

Nice support.

I can go through Hernandez’s line up that he had today… the fact that the number 3 hitter is a .236 batter and the clean up hitter is below the Mendoza line… but keep this in mind.

In a one run game they pinch hit for the #5 hitter.

Would the Yankees say “It’s late in a close game. Send in someone to bat for Robinson Cano”?

Nope.

He’s the Cy Young winner.
The numbers don’t lie.

If not, then just automatically award the Cy Young to the guy with the most wins.

10 Reasons to watch this weekend’s Red Sox/Yankees Series

When the 2010 schedule was published showing the season beginning and ending with Red Sox and Yankee series, it sure felt exciting, didn’t it?

Perhaps there would be a great showdown for the AL East… maybe playoff positioning?

When the Red Sox were hovering around contention the 6 head to head meetings over the final 10 games sure looked inviting.

Now…
Flop.

The Red Sox are all but done… the tragic number is 4. They are playing out the string and getting ready to play golf this October.

The Yankees are cruising to another October appearance and trying to right their pitching staff while jockeying for position with the Rays and Twins.

So why should Red Sox fans even watch this series?
There are some reasons…

1. WIN THE SERIES AND THE RED SOX HOLD OFF ELIMINATION

Yeah elimination will be inevitable… but if it can be held off until Monday, then as a point of pride we can say “We weren’t eliminated until the last week of the season.”

With all the injuries on the team, that’s a nice (if misleading) thing to say.

2. DELAY THE YANKEE CELEBRATION

It’s clear by the way Joe Girardi is managing that he is simply trying to make the post season without worrying about the Division… sure he would LIKE to win the Division but he’d RATHER have a healthy pitching staff. So the Yankees clinching a playoff spot seems to be the goal.

They’ll get there, but it doesn’t have to be on OUR watch.

3. JON LESTER, COMPROMISE CY YOUNG CANDIDATE?

Can Jon Lester get to 20 wins? If he does will he be a Cy Young Candidate? (Sabathia’s 20 wins seem to be his only qualification over Felix Hernandez but he is talked about as the front runner.)

If Lester gets 20, his name will be in the mix. He goes for win #19 on Saturday.

4. 90 WINS IS A GOOD GOAL FOR THIS TEAM

Seriously, with all the injuries and strife on this team to finish with 90 wins would be a real accomplishment.

They need to win 6 games out of their last 10 to pull that off. That would give Francona six 90 win seasons out of seven years in Boston. Not bad.

5. MAYBE SOMEONE ELSE WILL GET HURT

The Red Sox have had 19 guys on their disabled list.
Why not 20? Seriously… a nice round number is easier to remember. And that would be the legacy of the 2010 Red Sox… 20 dudes on the DL.

That would make 90 wins even MORE impressive.

6. IT WILL TAKE YOUR MIND OFF OF THE PATRIOTS/JETS LOSS

Perhaps seeing a New England team beat a New York team will take the sting out of it.

Yeah that is petty… but so are we!

7. YOU’LL GET TO SEE THE RED SOX SEE THE SUBTLE STEINBRENNER MEMORIAL

Then again they can probably see it from Fenway Park.

8. MAYBE THEY’LL SHOW SOME CLIPS OF THE 2004 ALCS

Those are always fun to see.

Granted they will also show clips of Bucky Dent, Aaron Boone etc… but those don’t hurt as much since ’04 and ’07.

Plus it is always interesting to see how they can spin the rivalry since the whole Bambino thing is over.

9. NO MATTER WHAT THE STANDINGS ARE, IT IS ALWAYS FUN TO SEE THE YANKEES LOSE

It isn’t nice to admit that, but it is true.

Admit it Sox fans… when you saw that the Yankees were getting killed last night, you checked in… hoping to see Joba and Vazquez get slapped around. Seeing the seed of doubt creep into Yankee land, especially on the dawn of the playoffs, is a beautiful thing. Why not see the Sox contribute to that?

10. YOU WILL SEE THE BEGINNING OF THE GREATEST END OF THE SEASON COLLAPSE IN YANKEE HISTORY AND THE RED SOX STORM INTO THE PLAYOFFS

Hey… how is that any less likely than the Red Sox coming back from a 3-0 series hole, trailing in the 9th facing Mariano Rivera?

I bet you thought we were dead then too!

The come back starts NOW!

So have fun, and remember Sox fans who make the trip, you will be in THEIR home. Play nicely.

Besides, Red Sox fans and Yankee fans should be friends.

So play ball! Go Sox and make us proud in what is left of this season.
(And let’s hope Joba gets an appearance or two.)