Tag: Curtis Granderson

19
Aug/10

New York Yankees Fans Are Randy for Grandy

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New York Yankee fans have been waiting patiently for Curtis Granderson to figure himself out and it was well worth the wait.

Presently, the hardest stretch of the regular season is well underway for teams in contention, making the Yankees timing for heading into crisis-mode a serious concern.

The worrying began after the Bombers lost two of four games to the Kansas City Royals. Winning games against sub-.500 teams gives teams in a divisional race some cushioning down the stretch.

With the Yankees schedule only getting harder, the added insurance wins are essential, vital actually because one lose could make all the difference.

Returning to the Bronx couldn’t come faster, but what seemed like a god-send in the past, only got worse.

Hosting the Detroit Tigers for a four-game set proved the Yankee hitters could barely make contact with the ball to start the series Monday night.

In the same game, the Bombers two best hitters, Alex Rodriguez and Nick Swisher, both exited mid-game with recurring injuries.

Yankee fans went into panic mode. Sans-ARod was enough of a reason in itself for fans to worry.

How the hell are the Yankees going to win and who the hell is going to hit?

The answer came Tuesday night and his name is Curtis Granderson.

Granderson is turning into the Yankee hero in a time of crisis, something Grandy knew he owed this team.

Since being in pinstripes, Grandy was not a liability like Nick Johnson, but he was not the stud from the Tigers either.

The all-star Granderson the Yankees craved was nowhere to be found, except on the DL for about eight weeks.

Still, at the stadium fans demonstrated no hostility towards Granderson, but not loving him either. This behavior was way out of character for Yankee fans.

Call it subconscious instinct because now Granderson is hitting and the Yankees love it.

Everyone is randy for Grandy, and deservedly so considering he is the prime reason the team survives this A-Rod drought.

Over the last six games, Granderson has a .364 batting average, with eight hits, two doubles, two homers, three RBIs, and three walks.

Granderson, his teammates, and the fans somehow knew this was no mistake and now we have the proof.

 

LET’S GO YANKEES!

 

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18
Aug/10

Granderson’s New Swing Working So Far

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At the beginning of the month Curtis Granderson was in the middle of one of the worst slumps of his career. Over the span of 11 games from July 30th through August 11th, Granderson was three-for-29 (.103 BA) with just one extra base hit.

At that point, Granderson went to Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long and, figuring things couldn’t get much worse, asked for his help. So K-Long and G-Unit went to work on his swing.

Thogether, they managed to accomplish three things: (1) Eliminate excess movement. (2) Shorten his swing. (3) Move his hands to a position closer to where he makes contact with the ball.

So far it’s a small sample size, but the moves seem to have paid off because Granderson is red hot right now:

6 G, 22 AB, 8 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 3 BB, 3 SO, .364 BA, .440 OBP, .727 SLG, 1.167 OPS.

Obviously, he needs to keep this up for any of it to matter, but it’s a great start. I also have to give props to Granderson for not merely waiting for the offseason to put this kind of work into his swing. Regardless of the immediate improvements, I have to think they’ll continue to do further work in the winter.

 

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18
Aug/10

New York Yankees: Who Needs To Do What Now

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The state of the New York Yankees has caused legitimate worry.

Latest news:

·Alex Rodriguez—out.

·Andy Pettitte—return pushed back to mid-September.

·Nick Swisher, AJ Burnett—playing hurt.

Now, the Bombers are tied atop the AL East, as the Tampa Bay Rays have played catch-up.

The Boston Red Sox are lurking not far behind and just activated 2B Dustin Pedroia from the DL. Pedroia is a powerhouse.

No one count out the Toronto Blue Jays either, this team is unbeatable when hot as Tampa, New York and Boston have recently experienced.

Even squeaking out a win on Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers, the Yankees looked tired, and dare I say old.

Sans-A-rod has never fared well for the line-up. The Yankee bats tend to center themselves around A-rod’s talent, which is just human nature. The team can win games without A-rod and that is what must happen till he gets healthy.

Cano, Gardner, Graderson, Cervelli, Joba, Robertson, and Hughes were great at the start of 2010.

These young Yankees, as a group are as talented as the Rays or Braves. The difference is budding bombers have an arsenal of veteran all-stars to fall on when the going gets tough. It’s a nice luxury.

Those same veterans, like A-rod, Jeter, Posada, Rivera, Pettitte, Burnett, and Sabathia lead the youngsters, minus Granderson, to a championship in 2009 and now it’s time to pay them back.

It’s time for fans to start facing reality about the state of our elders, but also embrace the future because it is bright.

For now, the remaining regular seasons games will test the reigning champs who have no cushion wins to lean on. That is why losing to teams like the Royals is just making the quest harder.

Just getting to October is the focus because no point in thinking about it yet. Even as a member of the elite AL East guarantees nothing because the NL teams are better than ever.

The truth is it’s time for the fans to encourage the team, who are in the midst of transitioning. No more booing one mistake, just be quiet out of respect if it is all you can do.

Personally, the 2009 and current 2010 Yankee teams are different. They win as a team, lose as a team, fight as a team, support one another as a team and that is rarefied air in sports these days.

It’s about time the fans followed because there is no ‘I’ in team.

Only teams win games, which lead to post-season berths but genuine champions repeat, so LET’S GO YANKEES!

 

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17
Aug/10

Derek Jeter Pathetic Again, Second GIDP Sinks New York Yankees

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How pathetic does a guy have to be before he finally starts hearing the boos he deserves?
That’s the question we ask in regards to Derek Jeter, who killed a great chance for a Yankees’ walk-off win (or at least extra innings) with his second double play of the night, sealing the Yankees’ fate in a 3-1 loss to Detroit on Monday night at Yankee Stadium.
For the second consecutive game, the New York Yankees could get nothing going on offense while facing a pitcher they had never previously seen.
Then came the ninth inning, when it seemed as if the Yankees were destined to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, only to have their golden opportunity ruined by two pathetic at-bats.

The first AB in question came courtesy of Jorge Posada, who was more stupid than anything. Posada watched from the on-deck circle as Tigers closer Jose Valverde, working with a three-run lead, began the ninth by walking Robinson Cano on FOUR PITCHES.

What does Posada do? He hacks at the first two pitches he sees, fouling off the first, and then rolling the second slowly to first base for the first out of the frame.

Curtis Granderson followed Posada’s at-bat with his third hit of the night, then Valverde walked Francisco Cervelli and Brett Gardner on five pitches each, as Posada’s effort at the plate growing more absurd with each successive pitch.

The walk to Gardner forced home Jorge Posada for the Yankees’ lone run of the game.

More importantly, that walk forced the potential tying run to second base and put the potential winning run on first, all with still only one out in the ninth and with Valverde’s pitch count soaring.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, Gardner’s walk also brought Derek Jeter to the plate, who continued his pathetic season with another horrific at-bat.

Ahead in the count 2-1 to a pitcher who had already walked three in the inning, Jeter swung wildly at a pitch that ran eight inches to a foot outside, fouling it off for strike two.

Had it been a two-strike count, you could better understand such a swing. But on 2-1 against a guy who couldn’t find the zone? Ridiculous.

After working the count full, Jeter attempted to pull a pitch that was both high and outside, rolling it to shortstop for the game-ending, Valverde-and-Tigers-saving double play.

Jeter had one other chance to make an impact at the plate in this game, batting with runners on first and second and only one out in the bottom of the third inning. Just as he did at the most critical moment of the game, Captain Crap rolled into an inning-ending double play.

In between, Jeter did manage a meaningless single with nobody on and one out in the sixth inning. Yankees fans used to have a word for Alex Rodriguez when he got meaningless hits but failed in the worst possible way in virtually every critical situation.
So far at least, that kind of criticism has eluded Jeter. In fact, you’ve never heard a stadium get so quiet as Yankee Stadium did tonight when Jeter sank the Yankees’ best chance.
It’s safe to say there is no other current Yankee who would not have been ROUNDLY booed in the same situation.

By the time this horrific contest was over, another pathetic effort from Javier Vazquez had been nearly completely overshadowed.

After lasting only 4.1 innings in his last start, in Texas, Vazquez managed only four innings tonight, and he needed 106 pitches just to get that far. It was one more night where Vazquez has virtually nothing on the ball and was in constant trouble.

That the veteran right-hander was able to escape having only allowed two runs (that’s still an 8.25 ERA, by the way) during his time on the mound is a minor miracle. Nevertheless, he still forced the Yankees bullpen to pick up five innings.

These performances simply cannot continue, and we would not be the least bit surprised to see either Sergio Mitre or, perhaps, Dustin Moseley (once Andy Pettitte returns) take Vazquez’s spot in the rotation if something doesn’t change in hurry.

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14
Aug/10

New York Yankees Fall to Kansas City Royals in Water-Logged Game

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The deciding factor in a game between the mighty New York Yankees and the lowly Kansas City Royals was a solo home run that came in the fifth inning.

The game featured two rain delays: one 31-minute delay and one two-hour-and-10 minute stoppage.  There was lightning in the sky, but none coming off the Yankee bats as they fell victim to the Kansas City Royals 4-3.

Yankees starting pitcher Dustin Moseley struggled in his fourth start, especially with his control, particularly in the second inning of the game when the Royals got to him for three runs.  Moseley only lasted 4.1 innings, allowing eight hits and four runs.

Kyle Davies held the Yankees scoreless until the third inning, giving up three runs with RBI from Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, and Lance Berkman.

But, the final blow came in the fifth inning, when Billy Butler hit a solo home run off of the right field foul pole, which was followed by the second rain delay.

Making it an official game, the Yankees were eager to get back on the field to get the win, but the bats did not help their case.

After four shutout innings from Chad Gaudin, Kerry Wood, Boone Logan, and Joba Chamberlain, the Yankees went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position after the longer rain delay.  They were 3-15 with runners in scoring position throughout the entire night.

The Yankees had a threat in the ninth, with men on base the whole inning, including first and third with Robinson Cano at the plate.

Cano ended up grounding to second to end the five-hour-and-36-minute marathon that was Game No. 115 of 162.

Luckily, they did not lose any ground to the Tampa Bay Rays, who fell to the Orioles 5-0.  By the way, Baltimore is 9-2 under former Yankee manager Buck Showalter.

The Red Sox also did not gain any ground on the Yankees, as they suffered their second consecutive walk-off loss.  This time it was to the Texas Rangers, courtesy of Nelson Cruz.

The Yankees hope to get back to their winning ways later today, as Phil Hughes (13-5, 3.92 ERA) and Sean O’Sullivan (0-3, 6.75 ERA) face off at 7:10 in game three of four in Kansas City.

 

Follow Steve Henn on Twitter @steve_henn

You can also check out The Experience, Steve Henn’s Yankee Blog

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13
Aug/10

Detroit Tigers Fans: It’s OK To Admit Curtis Granderson Trade Was Smart

by under MLB

 

It’s been about eight months and 114 games now.

Raise your hand if you’re over Curtis Granderson.

To those with arms unraised: what on earth are you waiting for?

Curtis Granderson, the smiling cherub now with the evil New York Yankees, isn’t coming back. So stop the pining.

But here’s the good news for Grandy’s jilted lovers: you wouldn’t want him back anyway—not the way he’s playing, and the Tigers have a better, more promising center fielder. So there.

Granderson is scuffling with the Yankees. Has been most of the season. His batting average struggles to reach the .240 level. His OBA is a paltry .312. He has but 28 extra base hits—for the season. He continues to strike out incessantly—about once every four at-bats. He still can’t hit lefties.

Thank goodness for Granderson’s replacement, the rookie Austin Jackson, because if it wasn’t for the pleasantly surprising year A-Jax was authoring, we’d still be hearing about the trade that sent Granderson to the Yankees.

As it is, Jackson’s .300 BA and stellar defense has been able to help erase memories around town.

Forget that the Tigers also netted Phil Coke from the Yanks in the trade—not to mention Max Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth in the three-team deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks that also shipped pitcher Edwin Jackson out of Detroit.

Don’t accuse me of being a 20/20 hindsighter, because I was on board with dealing Granderson before it was even on the Tigers’ radar.

The trade is already a great one for the Tigers.

Austin Jackson is six years younger than Granderson and is every bit as good defensively. He doesn’t have Grandy’s power—not yet—but is OBA is a robust .352. Jackson also fans a lot, so that’s a wash.

As I’ve written before, I have a sneaking suspicion that we’ve already seen the best of what Curtis Granderson can do. He’s topped out, in my mind, as a big league ballplayer. Doesn’t mean he’s not a good one—just that I don’t see him getting much better, if at all.

Austin Jackson, on the other hand, has a ceiling that far exceeds Granderson’s.

If Granderson weren’t the nice, smiling guy that he is, this trade would already be lauded as being one of the best the Tigers have made in recent years. It’s as if there’s a grieving period that some people are still in—and that by praising the trade they’re somehow defiling Granderson’s legacy.

It’s not dancing on Granderson’s Tigers grave to acknowledge that GM Dave Dombrowski got one right in this instance.

DD turned Granderson and Edwin Jackson—who is no slouch, I will concede—into four big league players (Schlereth will be one permanently before long). Even the mathematically challenged can see that giving up two and getting back four is a good thing. Plus, the Tigers came out of things on the right side of the financial ledger—at least for now.

 

The time will come when the Tigers will have to pay A-Jax and Scherzer much more of Mike Ilitch’s pizza dough than they’re coughing up currently. But that’s down the line.

A baseball axiom says that you can’t really judge a trade until several years after it’s made.

But there are exceptions to every rule.

The Tigers made a good trade in swapping the lovable Curtis Granderson out of Detroit. I’ll never besmirch Granderson’s good guy status or the great things he does for the community at large. I’ve talked with him on several occasions; he’s impossible not to like personally.

But baseball is a business, and the goal is to put the best 25 men on your big league roster as you can muster.

Austin Jackson is better than Curtis Granderson—right now and probably forever. The former will only get better; the latter has plateaued.

It’s OK to be happy about the trade. You’ll always have your memories.

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13
Aug/10

New York Yankees Notes: Recap, Jesus Montero and Melky Mesa

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The Yankees were facing the Royals with CC Sabathia on the mound, so you knew it was going to be a good night, and it was, as the Yankees got a good start and just enough offense to win 4-3.

Here are some notes:

  • Curtis Granderson went 2-for-3 on his first day back since restructuring his swing.
  • Austin Kearns hit his first homer as a Yankee and his ninth of the season.
  • This is the first time Sabathia picked up 15 wins by his 25th start in his career. He’s going for 20.
  • Nick Swisher went 3-for-4, but had to be lifted late in the game because of the extreme heat.
  • Jesus Montero was named Triple-A International League Player of the Month for July. His numbers: 23 G, .342 BA, .441 OBP, 1.072 OPS, and five HR.
  • So far, Montero’s August has been even better: nine G, .441 BA, .513 OBP, 1.307 OPS, and three HR.
  • Melky Mesa, High-A OF, won Player of the Week honors.

With a good start to the series last night, I’d really like to see the Yankees sweep what should be an easy series. They have Dustin Moseley (2-1, 3.86) going against Kyle Davies (5-7, 5.21). Moseley has been good, but hopefully the offense shows up to help him out tonight.

 

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12
Aug/10

New York Yankees Notes: Lineup, a Memorial and Tickets

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The Yankees have a four-game weekend series against the Royals in Kansas City this weekend with CC Sabathia starting tonight against Bruce Chen. So not only will the Yankees get to face a weak team in the Royals, but since Zack Greinke pitched yesterday, they won’t have to face him this weekend.

Here are some notes:

Here is tonight’s lineup:

Jeter SS
Swisher RF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Thames DH
Kearns LF
Granderson CF
Cervelli C

 

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11
Aug/10

New York Yankees: Top Seven Things Fans Don’t Understand Right Now

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The New York Yankees lost a heart-breaker to the Texas Rangers in the 10th inning, final score 4-3.

It’s no big secret that the Yankees are losing, winning only 4 of last 11 games and falling fast.

The Bombers first place lead is dwindling down, now just a half-a-game over the Tampa Bay Rays. The Boston Red Sox are playing catch-up sitting at five games back and also making the AL East a three-team event again.

Yankees starting pitcher AJ Burnett looked really good… again. For how long is a total crap-shoot. The Yankees need Burnett to perform more than ever because he could make or break whether October baseball happens.

The below list could be either interpreted as a fan’s cry for help, or a Yankees what NOT to do rant. Hey, my Yankees are slumping and at times a fan need to vent.

Let’s call it one fan’s observations:

1. If the Yankees MVP is sick with the flu and running a fever… why is he even at the ballpark? Especially when it is 120 degrees? Definitely a bad idea to pinch-hit Robinson Cano in the 6th inning.

2. Skipper Joe Girardi decides to NOT start Jorge Posada, when Mark Teixeira is in NYC as his wife had a baby boy and Cano is “out” with the flu… great idea. Girardi then claims that Posada’s shoulder hurt in the post-game, but he looked like he was fibbing and it was obvious.

3. Nick Swisher cannot be the only player that hits, with flashes of A-Rod on occasion. Hope Tex jumped on a plane to Texas because the team needs him NOW, more than ever.

4. Lance Berkman and Austin Kearns have been Yankees for two weeks. GM Brian Cashman gave the impression that the two were to give the Yankees bench-depth down the stretch, so why is Girardi playing them so much? Since the day these two showed-up have things started to collapse. Kind-of ironic timing, don’t you think? Playing Granderson and Gardner everyday worked better and the proof is the team was winning.

5. In 2009, the Yankees were the kings of the walk-off wins. The Yankees had more fight in their eyes, which the Rangers and Red Sox seem to have stolen.

6. Girardi has acquired a smirk on his face and I don’t know what to think of it. It started in Tampa in the third game of the series, which was on the line as both teams had taken a game. Girardi look liked he was testing things out. Why the hell else would Lance Berkman be playing first base in a spilt series with the Rays? I presumed the Yankees would put their best players out there to get a win and that was not the case. It was thoroughly disappointing, shocking and cocky of Girardi.

7. This is short and sweet. Don’t leave runners stranded on-base. It is unacceptable going 0-9 and ditching 11 teammates on the pads against the Red Sox; in a game the Bombers should have won.

Am I turning into a hater-fan?

Not at all, just a frustrated one.

One team in the AL East will not make the post-season. Whoever it may be, their fans will be heartbroken.

 

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9
Aug/10

Dustin Moseley Blows Away Boston

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It was supposed to be a matchup built for national television.  AJ Burnett vs. Josh Beckett, two hard-throwing, old-school pitchers facing off in Yankee Stadium.

All Yankee fans were salivating just thinking of it: Burnett pumping mid-90s fastballs by Red Sox hitters, lighting up the radar gun, fueling the Yankee Stadium crowd and shutting down the Red Sox.

When AJ is on, he is virtually unhittable.

But, AJ Burnett was scratched before last night’s game due to back spasms, and Dustin Moseley was called upon to step up, originally slated to pitch today at Yankee Stadium (Phil Hughes goes today against John Lester).

Moseley spent most of this season in Scranton/Wilkes Barre, going 4-4 with a 4.21 ERA before he was called up on July 2, 2010.

This young man is the exact opposite of AJ.  His fastball tops out at 90 mph, and he doesn’t possess shut-down stuff.  He relies on control to get outs, much like Greg Maddux.

Were Yankee fans optimistic about the game? Probably not, but the bottom line was that the Red Sox were preparing to face Burnett, not Moseley.  They had to make an adjustment as well.

Questions arose about Moseley.  Could he handle the atmosphere that is Yankees-Red Sox?  Was his stuff good enough?  And, could he keep the Yankees in this game against Beckett?

Facing an enormous challenge, Dustin Moseley stepped up and threw the game of his life.

As an emergency starter, Moseley out-dueled Josh Beckett last night at Yankee Stadium, pitching six and a third innings, allowing two hits, two runs and striking out five while leading the Yankees to a 7-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

And, like Maddux, he was striking out Marco Scutaro on a Maddux-like two-seam fastball that starts outside the zone and cuts back in the zone.

This was a big game for the Yankees.  They had a chance to gain a game on the Tampa Bay Rays after they lost 1-0 to the Toronto Blue Jays, and they were counting on Moseley to deliver.

And deliver he did.  Dustin Moseley deserves a lot of credit for his performance.

Perhaps the best thing for him was not knowing he was pitching last night.  He did not have time to think about his upcoming start the night before.  He had no time to think, he had to dwell on the Red Sox, ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, and the big stage.  He had to focus all of his energies on getting ready to pitch.

He didn’t just give the Yankees a chance to win.  He shut down the Red Sox and offered them no help.  He got it done in a big way.

He wasn’t even supposed to pitch today.  Good thing he did.

 

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