Major League Baseball in NY and Boston finished up a big week this past week. With The Yankees , Mets, and Red Sox playing against divisional and inter league rivals we witnessed some of the season's most anticipated games to date. Drama, both on and off the field, some great defensive plays, some horrendous defense that may cause a fan to vomit in his mouth, great pitching, terrible pitching, and of a lot of offense.
Here is what we learned:
1.The Red Sox have, hands down, the deepest, most effective bullpen in the AL and, probably, all of baseball. Led by Jonathan Papelbon, the Sox bullpen leads the majors in ERA. With the likes of Manny Delcarmen, Hideki Okajima, Takashi Saito, Jusitn Masterson, and Daniel Bard and his 100 mph fastball with movement, the Sox bullpen shortens the game and puts pressure on the opposition to score early and hold a lead going into the latter innings of the game. With a starting rotation that boasts Josh Beckett and Jon Lester at the top, the Sox depth at pitching cannot be matched. This week will more than likely mark the arrival of John Smoltz to the Sox. And, let's not forget Clay Buchholz lying in the weeds at Pawtucket.
2. The Yankees starting pitching and bullpen have alot to do to catch up with the Sox. AJ Burnett has been a huge disappointment especially against the Red Sox. He blew a 6 run lead in April and couldn't get out of the third inning last week. CC Sabathia pitched well, but tired during an epic 10 pitch at bat versus Dustin Pedroia. Joba Chamberlain can't get on the same page as his catcher and took 100 pitches to get through 4 innings. Chin Ming Wang looks lost and Andy Pettitte continues to show his age.
3. Joe Girardi's moves as manager become more and more curious and questionable. Going into Boston, he set up the rotation to start Wang, coming off a foot injury from last year. He did not go to Mo in the 8th inning vs. Boston while the Yanks had a lead, yet brought in the future HOF pitcher in the 8th inning during a tie game during the Subway Series. He brought in Brett Gardner to pinch run yet chooses to bunt him the speedster to second as opposed to calling for a steal. Playing for a tie on the road is a questionable move at best. Terry Francona continues to show MLB he is one of the elite managers in the game today. Girardi, the Manager of the Year while in Florida, continues to come up small on the big stage as the Yanks continue to look for their first win vs. Boston in 2009, after dropping the first eight games of the season .
4. The Mets have an uncanny ability to steal defeat from the jaws of victory yet show remarkable resilience and continue to hang around in the standings. After the gut wrenching loss on Friday night on Luis Castillo's mind numbing error , the Mets found a way to win with a minor league call up on Saturday. With injuries to Delgado, Reyes, Putz, Maine, and Perez, the Mets have almost $50 million in payroll sitting on sidelines. With all their injuries, the Metropolitans are only one game out of the Wild Card and 4 behind the Phillies. Had Castillo caught AROD's pop up on Friday night the Mets would have gone 3-3 last week; a huge accomplishment given the competition faced and the state of their health. This much is for sure: it is hard to see the Mets contending for a playoff spot if they cannot get a big bat and/or starting pitcher to fill the voids left behind. With Johan Santana's velocity falling faster than the stock market, the Mets look like a boxer who has been staggered with a left hook and praying for the bell.
5. The Subway Series continues to provide NY fans with drama and fodder for sports talk shows. On or off the field, the teams continue to perpetuate the rivalry. Even the players are getting into it. Brian Bruney, the oft injured middle reliever, called out Met closer Franky Rodriguez for his post game antics. It all came to a head on Sunday when the two had to be separated by teammates. One wonders if Bruney also took Joba Chamberlain to task for his antics every time he strikes out an opposing batter.
All in all, the Sox came out of the week with the most impressive performance. They went 5-1 vs. NY and Philly. With an improving pitching staff and prospects to deal, if necessary, they are primed to make another run at the WS. Meanwhile the Yankees continue with a $200 million payroll yet still seem to be several pieces away from solving the puzzle. And speaking of puzzles, Omar Minaya still continues to look for solutions to an ever increasing myriad of problems that be-fall the snake bitten Mets.
-- Steve
1.The Red Sox have, hands down, the deepest, most effective bullpen in the AL and, probably, all of baseball. Led by Jonathan Papelbon, the Sox bullpen leads the majors in ERA. With the likes of Manny Delcarmen, Hideki Okajima, Takashi Saito, Jusitn Masterson, and Daniel Bard and his 100 mph fastball with movement, the Sox bullpen shortens the game and puts pressure on the opposition to score early and hold a lead going into the latter innings of the game. With a starting rotation that boasts Josh Beckett and Jon Lester at the top, the Sox depth at pitching cannot be matched. This week will more than likely mark the arrival of John Smoltz to the Sox. And, let's not forget Clay Buchholz lying in the weeds at Pawtucket.
2. The Yankees starting pitching and bullpen have alot to do to catch up with the Sox. AJ Burnett has been a huge disappointment especially against the Red Sox. He blew a 6 run lead in April and couldn't get out of the third inning last week. CC Sabathia pitched well, but tired during an epic 10 pitch at bat versus Dustin Pedroia. Joba Chamberlain can't get on the same page as his catcher and took 100 pitches to get through 4 innings. Chin Ming Wang looks lost and Andy Pettitte continues to show his age.
3. Joe Girardi's moves as manager become more and more curious and questionable. Going into Boston, he set up the rotation to start Wang, coming off a foot injury from last year. He did not go to Mo in the 8th inning vs. Boston while the Yanks had a lead, yet brought in the future HOF pitcher in the 8th inning during a tie game during the Subway Series. He brought in Brett Gardner to pinch run yet chooses to bunt him the speedster to second as opposed to calling for a steal. Playing for a tie on the road is a questionable move at best. Terry Francona continues to show MLB he is one of the elite managers in the game today. Girardi, the Manager of the Year while in Florida, continues to come up small on the big stage as the Yanks continue to look for their first win vs. Boston in 2009, after dropping the first eight games of the season .
4. The Mets have an uncanny ability to steal defeat from the jaws of victory yet show remarkable resilience and continue to hang around in the standings. After the gut wrenching loss on Friday night on Luis Castillo's mind numbing error , the Mets found a way to win with a minor league call up on Saturday. With injuries to Delgado, Reyes, Putz, Maine, and Perez, the Mets have almost $50 million in payroll sitting on sidelines. With all their injuries, the Metropolitans are only one game out of the Wild Card and 4 behind the Phillies. Had Castillo caught AROD's pop up on Friday night the Mets would have gone 3-3 last week; a huge accomplishment given the competition faced and the state of their health. This much is for sure: it is hard to see the Mets contending for a playoff spot if they cannot get a big bat and/or starting pitcher to fill the voids left behind. With Johan Santana's velocity falling faster than the stock market, the Mets look like a boxer who has been staggered with a left hook and praying for the bell.
5. The Subway Series continues to provide NY fans with drama and fodder for sports talk shows. On or off the field, the teams continue to perpetuate the rivalry. Even the players are getting into it. Brian Bruney, the oft injured middle reliever, called out Met closer Franky Rodriguez for his post game antics. It all came to a head on Sunday when the two had to be separated by teammates. One wonders if Bruney also took Joba Chamberlain to task for his antics every time he strikes out an opposing batter.
All in all, the Sox came out of the week with the most impressive performance. They went 5-1 vs. NY and Philly. With an improving pitching staff and prospects to deal, if necessary, they are primed to make another run at the WS. Meanwhile the Yankees continue with a $200 million payroll yet still seem to be several pieces away from solving the puzzle. And speaking of puzzles, Omar Minaya still continues to look for solutions to an ever increasing myriad of problems that be-fall the snake bitten Mets.
-- Steve
