Ah, Opening Day!

Its that time of the year again baseball fans! Opening day! A time where baseball fans are baseball fans, and everyone puts aside petty team preferences for a day and celebrates the return of our favorite sport for another season. I am looking forward to wearing my Robbie Cano jersey while I watch all the games with a nice cold beer and a few good friends.

So for today, I am going to live blog the game, or at least most of it. I'll try to do an update after each inning. To kill the remaining two hours until the first pitch of the 2008 season, try these two articles I came across this morning. Interesting read to gear up for the new season:

http://mvn.com/mlb-yankees/2008/03/30/the-bronx-block-2008-season-predictions/
http://mvn.com/milb-yankees/2008/03/30/prediction-time/

Oh, and a happy birthday to Chien-Ming Wang! He turns 28 today. Come on Yanks, lets give him a "W" for his birthday present!

UPDATE 1:33 PM - The game is still in rain delay, so I'm stuck watching the Tigers and the Royals battle it out until the rain lets up in New York. I don't know how much longer I can wait!

UPDATE 2:31 PM - Just got word the game is postponed. Guess we'll try this again tomorrow.

From the House that Ruth Built to the House that George Built

Hey Yankee fans, what’s goin’ on? First off I’d like to thank my buddy Justin for inviting me to contribute to his blog. Much like you all, I can’t wait until we bring home #27, and show the world where the Yankees belong.

I’ve been a Yankee fan for as long as I can remember, being that it’s a family tradition. For my first post, I’m going to talk about the New Yankee Stadium. The new “state of the art” stadium has been a point of debate among the Yankees community for years. Some people love the prospect of a brand new facility, where others are traditionalists who see the end of the current stadium as sacrilege. I find myself in agreement with the later. "This new stadium will present new comforts, new features and be state-of-the-art in every way," Yankees president Randy Levine said. "It will be the most spectacular fan-friendly stadium ever built." As a hardcore Yankee fan, I find it hilarious that members of the Yankees’ front office like Levine claim that the new stadium is “fan-friendly.” In my opinion, there are two crucial points that contradict Levine’s statement. For one, the new stadium will hold 51,000. This is a problem for me, because the new stadium will hold 6,000 less people than the current stadium. Second, the new stadium will house 42 more luxury boxes. Now, does that sound like the front office is building the stadium for fans? If they were doing it for the fans, they would build more seats! It’s hard enough as it is to get single game tickets, and it’ll be much worse next year. If you ask me, the fact that there will be 42 more luxury boxes is reason enough that the new stadium is being built primarily for financial reasons. There are some other amenities in addition to the luxury boxes, including a museum, a sports bar, a steakhouse, and a martini bar. It’s definitely necessary to have a museum considering the rich history of the organization. Overall I can’t say I’m sold on the idea of a new stadium. I’ve heard the argument that the current stadium needs a renovation, and personally I don’t buy it. In my opinion, the new stadium is a pure money making scheme. Steinbrenner’s been trying to get a new stadium built since the 80’s, and he finally succeeded. Big Stein’s going to make even more money off the Yankee fan base because of the decrease in supply, and obvious increase in demand of seats. Yankee Stadium was opened in 1923, and saw a ridiculous amount of baseball history. It’s housed a team that has won 26 World Series Championships, and even more pennants. There have been countless Hall of Fame players that have played on the hallowed grounds of Yankee Stadium, and it will be a very sad day when the Yankees play their last game in this historic ballpark. The Yankees organization is moving from the House that Ruth Built, to the House that George Built, and not for good reasons. Thoughts?

-Here are some pics of the new stadium















-Taken by my brother on his school trip.















-A closer shot













-The "great hall" (www.ballparksofbaseball.com)

A New Member, Spring Training Winding Up

Good Evening Yankee fans,

My apologies for infrequent updating...college has been keeping me rather busy. First things first: We (and be "we", I mean "I") here at Pinstripe Perspectives are adding a new blogger! I decided to offer my friend Steve to join me in blogging about the Yankees. Steve, like me, is a Yankee fan here at UVM. Look for his first post to come soon, something about the new Yankee Stadium I believe.

Anyway, Spring Training is winding up, and the season is right around the corner. From the looks of things, the Yankee brass has not exactly followed my wishes for the 25-man roster, but it is pretty similar. Patterson is still in camp, and I still believe he should make the team. Yes, I know he hasn't played above AA yet, but he pitched ANOTHER scoreless inning and a third this afternoon, maintaining his 0.00 spring ERA. I also don't think Karstens, Rasner, or Igawa should make the squad. Why does one of them need to be a "long man"? Ohlendorf used to be a starter, let him pitch 2-3 innings at a time. We don't need him in the back end of the bullpen anyway with Chamberlain now officially starting in the bullpen.

The Yanks have dropped the last couple of spring games, but I'm not worried. Robbie Cano (who is one of my favorite players by the way) is really in a groove right now, and I hope he can carry that into the season. Giambi has also continued to help well. If he can stay healthy, we are in for a good run this season, at least offensively. I believe that Giambi's health is a key component to our offense. If he's healthy, he can play the field and allow us to have Giambi, Damon, and Matsui in the lineup at the same time. Don't get me wrong, I like Duncan, but the former group is far more deadly.

Although the Yanks have yet to start, Boston has gotten their season under way, squaring off against the A's over in Japan. They split the 2-game series, one game apiece.

That's about it for me...expect my posts to get a bit more frequent when the season gets rolling, as I'll have more to write about. Here's to hoping for Becket's injury to be worthy of the DL and a speedy recovery for Pettite!

25 Men

Ahh, spring is in mid-swing! I'm sure all you Yankee fans out there are well aware of the questions that the Yankee brass need to answer by opening day. As March 31 approaches, some of those questions are beginning to see the outline of an answer.

First base...this is perhaps the toughest question. Giambi, Duncan, and Ensberg are all having great springs. So who gets cut? So far this spring, Giambi is hitting .353 (6-17) with 1 HR and 5 RBIs. Duncan is hitting an even .400 (8-20) with 2 HR and 9 RBIs. Ensberg is hitting .333 (6-18) with no homers and 2 RBIs.

Betemit looks like he may be in danger of not only not getting the starting first base job, but getting cut from the roster entirely. He's hitting a measley .174 (4-23) with 2 HR and 4 RBIs. The only thing going in Betemit's favor, is that he has continued to show that he has some pop in his bat to offer from the bench. Being a switch hitter that can play any infield position helps his cause as well. Unfortunately for Betemit, he's not the only guy with versatility in camp. Chris Woodward looks like he may steal the utility job from Betemit. Woodward has been very impressive in camp this far, hitting .474 (9-19), with no homers and 2 RBIs. Even Jason Lane is hitting well (.304), and he gets bonus points for being able to play first and a corner outfield position.

So what do I think should happen? I would put Betemit in AAA, and give the utility job to Woodward. Betemit's pop is nice, but with power hitters like Matsui, A-Rod, Giambi, Duncan, and the slightly less power guys like Abreu, Cano, and Posada, this lineup has all the home run pop it needs. What we do need, is a guy that can get on base with some speed so the guys with power can drive them in. Woodward has had 9 hits in 9 games, and has some speed. He can play every infield position (except first base, I'm not entirely sure there). Baseball is a game of streaks. You gotta go with who's hot, and right now, I'll take the red-hot Woodward over the slumping Betemit.

So what about first base? As much as I want Ensberg to succeed, he's gotta start the season in AAA, while the Yanks platoon Giambi and Duncan at first. Ensberg is better than both of them with the glove, but Giambi and Duncan are tearing it up, and the compliment each other nicely since they each hit from different sides of the plate. Giambi starts against righties, Duncan starts against lefties. Unfortunately, I don't see where Ensberg fits into that picture. Its nice to know we have an established veteran ready for call up in the case of an injury though.

I also think Jason Lane gets cut. His versitality is nice, but if we want another outfielder on the roster, I'd give the job to Brett Gardner. He's hitting a healthy .313 (5-16) this spring, with a .389 OBP. Gardner's style of play is just what Girardi is looking for, and just what we need on this team. He could be a 5th outfielder, and the best option for center field is Melky gets injured or needs a day off. Gardner is blindingly fast, and would be perfect for a pinch runner, a pinch hitter for a bunt situation, and a back up center fielder (or left fielder for that matter).

Assuming the Yanks carry 12 picthers, the 13 remaing position players should look like this:
Catcher: Posada, Molina
First Base/DH: Giambi, Duncan
Second Base: Cano
Short Stop: Jeter
Third Base: Rodriguez
Utility: Woodward
Right Field: Abreu/Duncan
Center Field: Cabrera, Gardner
Left Field/DH: Damon, Matsui

So what of the 12 picthers? Well most of them are already a lock. It looks like the rotation will be Wang, Pettite, Hughes, Mussina, Kennedy.

That gives us Farnsworth, Hawkins, Chamberlain, and Rivera in the bullpen, leaving us with 3 open spots. From the looks of what is going on so far this spring, it looks like Karstens will get one spot, as the long man/spot starter. Billy Traber has been lights out, stiking out 5 in 3.2 innings without giving up a run (and he's a lefty), so I give him the second spot. The final third spot in the pen is the toughest to give out.

Scott Patterson has made a strong case, pitching 4.1 innings, striking out 4, giving out 1 hit, no walks, and no runs. Britton and Ohlendorf also look strong, but the numbers don't quite match up to what Patterson has put up. If it were my decision, I would give it to Patterson. However, at the first sign of trouble, it is nice to know that we have a ton of option to turn to.

The Yankees have a better team then they did last year. The bullpen has been (and still is) a major area of concern, but a bullpen of Karstens, Patterson, Traber, Farnsworth, Hawkins, Chamberlain, and Rivera isn't too shabby. If Karstens and Patterson can continue to put up the kind of numers they've been puttin up recently, we shouldn't have too much trouble. From what I've seen of Karstens, it looks as if he's made some adjustments since last year, but I'm still not sold on him. Patterson was very solid last year in the minors, and solid in the winter leagues as well. I also feel pretty confident with Traber. He hasn't been stellar in most of his career, but he has alsways shown his ability to get lefties out, and that is what we need him for.

And we went from having a weak bench, to a pretty strong one. A bench of Woodward, Duncan/Giambi, Gardner, Damon/Matsui, and Molina looks pretty good to me. All cylanders are clicking with our lineup so far, and if our pitching can hold up, the American league should be worried. We finished 2 games behind the Red Sox last year, and it took our lineup months to get going. All the reports out of Florida indicate the Bombers are going to come out of the gate hot; call me biased, but I am pegging the Yankees as the favorite in the AL East.

UPDATE 3:12 PM 3/13/08: I feel like I need to point out a couple of things as I'm watching the Yanks take on the Pirates, Karstens is having a very rocky outing, hurting his chances of making the roster given the small sample size. Brett Gardner is making my argument for him getting the last position player spot stronger by ripping a double in the 7th inning. Perhaps I would give the Karstens spot to Ohlendorf, and then call up either Karstens or Rasner later in the season for a spot start to keep the innings low on the Big Three.

Young Gun Profiles: Ian Kennedy

Welcome to the final installment of the Young Gun profiles, as we take a deeper look into Ian Kennedy. Kennedy seems to be the the topic of some disagreement among baseball writers and Yankee fans. Some see his ceiling as high as Mike Mussina, while others seem him as more of a #3/#4 picther, a sort of Joe Blanton kind of guy. I'm in the Mussina camp, and perhaps this profile will be able to convince some of you out there of Kennedy's potential.

First off, his numbers.
2007 with A+ Tampa: 63 IP, 72 K's, 1.29 ERA
2007 with AA Trenton: 48.2 IP, 57 K's, 2.59 ERA
2007 with AAA Scranton/WB: 34.2 IP, 34 K's, 2.08 ERA
2007 with MLB Yankees: 19 IP, 15 K's, 1.89 ERA
Kennedy was a combined 12-3 with a 1.91 ERA, a 163:50 K/BB ratio and held hitters to a .182 batting average across the three minor league levels.
All of this culminated in Kennedy being named the Minor League Pitcher of the Year but MiLB.com for 2007.

Lets take a look at his stuff. What makes him so successful, when he lacks the ability to overpower a hitter? The answer is simple: control, command, and smarts.

Fastball: Kennedy has a 4-seamer and a 2-seamer. The 4-seamer sits around 89-92 mph, while the 2-seamer clocks in around 87-90, but with great movement. I'm going to have to say this a lot during this profile, but Kennedy has stellar command with his fastballs. He throws them less often than most pitchers do, but only because he uses the fastballs to set hitters up for his secondary stuff. His fastball are fairly average, but his secondary stuff is so good, it really doesn't matter.

Changeup: Kennedy has a plus changeup. Its one of his primary strikeout weapons, and he is able to use it to constantly keep hitters off-balance. The change sits around 80 mph, and has a good amount of sink on it as it tails off when it gets to the plate.

Slider: Kennedy has an above-average slider, and is one of the rare pitchers out there that can get a called strike with the slider, as opposed to hoping the hitter chases it out of the zone. His control is great, and the few times he does miss with the slider, he misses in the dirt out of the zone. He never leaves it hanging up in the zone. Kennedy's slider sits in the mid-80's, and mainly uses it to throw to righties, since the break of a slider is tougher for a righty to hit compared to other breaking pitches. This is another primary strikeout weapon.

Curveball: Kennedy also sports an above-average curveball, with pinpoint accuracy. He uses the curve against lefties, for the same reason that he uses his slider for righties. Yet another one of his primary strikeout weapons.

Ian Kenndy is more than a pitcher; he's an artist. He plans out his pitch sequence like a chess game, and sets hitters up to get consistent outs. He has a reputation of handling pressure very well, always a plus for New York, and he has been one of the most dominant pitchers in organized baseball for 3 of his last 4 years of pitching.

As usual, here's EJ Fagan on Kennedy (and this time the report is brand new, not a year old like the others. Kennedy is still considered a prospect by many sports writers): "I’m Kennedy’s biggest fan on the internet. I’m still disgusting by the persistent statements dooming him to “#3 starter” status at peak. Besides that fact that I don’t think that anyone who makes that accusation can define in precise terms what they mean by #3 starter, I think people are ridiculously underrating his ceiling."

Fagan on a comparison: "Worst case scenario, he’s a solid above-average innings eater. Best case scenario: he’s the heir to Mike Mussina."

My personal prediction is that Ian Kennedy will blossom into a #2 caliber pitcher. The great thing about that is with Hughes and Chamberlain projected to be ace caliber pitchers. What does that mean for our rotation 2-3 years down the line? That means we're looking at Hughes, Chamberlain, Wang, Kennedy, and the #5 spot is open. You could probably switch Kennedy and Wang, since that might be hard to predict. If the big three continue along their current path, we will have the most dominant rotation in recent memory. It feels blasphemous to peg Wang in the #3/#4 hole given that he has won more games than any other major league pitcher over the last two years, but that just shows the type of talent we have on the cusp of a major breakout. If I was the other 29 teams in baseball, I would be very concerned.

Young Gun Profiles: Joba Chamberlain

Good afternoon Yankee fans! Baseball is finally upon us, as I'm writing this while watching the Yankees battle the Phillies in their second spring training game. Anyway, back on subject. My next installment of the Young Gun Profiles is Joba Chamberlain, who quickly became a fan favorite after his exciting debut in the bullpen in 2007. According to Joe Girardi's interview during the game today with Michael Kay, whether or not Joba starts or relieves has yet to be determined. Regardless of when he pitches, he will be a huge asset to this team this year.

We all know his numbers, but here they are just for fun:
2007 with A+ Tampa: 40 IP, 51 K's, 2.03 ERA
2007 with AA Trenton: 40.1 IP, 66 K's, 3.35 ERA
2007 with AAA Scranton/WB: 8 IP, 18 K's, 0.00 ERA
2007 with the MLB Yankees: 24 IP, 34 K's, 0.38 ERA
Over the course of the 2007 season, Joba had a combined K/BB ratio of 169:33. Wow.

On to Chamberlain's arsenal:

Fastball: Chamberlain is a big guy with a big fastball. He sits around 96-100 MPH, and locates the pitch like a veteran. His fastball is one of his major strengths due to the movement on the pitch. The life on the ball combined with the speed and Chamberlain's ability to locate make for a deadly fastball that he gets a lot of outs with.

Slider: This is Chamberlain's main strikeout pitch. He's got a plus slider that he throws so fast, most hitters are fooled into thinking its a fastball, only to watch the ball dive into the dirt, well underneath their swinging bats. The slider is easily his best secondary pitch. He's got great command with it, rarely leaving it hanging up in the zone. Not much else to say here, you've all seen how he uses the slider. It is indeed a nasty, nasty pitch.

Changeup: This is the pitch that we've seen the least of. Coming out of the pen last year, Joba relied on mainly his fastball/slider combo, so we haven't seen much of his changeup. Its probably his worst pitch, although its not a bad pitch comparatively. His change is considered average, but he's been working on it a lot in the minors. The main problem I have with Joba coming out of the pen again is that the development of the change will be further stunted. According to the Yanks, its coming along fairly well. When Joba does use it, he uses it early in the count to try to get ahead of the hitter.

Curveball: This is another pitch we haven't seen too often. The first time Joba threw his curve, was against Boston, right after he gave up his first earned run. He struck out the next hitter with the curve, and the batter looked fairly caught off guard to see a true off-speed pitch. Joba's got an above average curveball. He's got good control with it, and can get a decent amount of strikeouts with it.

Chamberlain overall has plus control, but not plus command. He can't pinpoint the ball like someone like Kennedy or Mussina can, but he is able to keep is walk totals down regardless. He can get away with his lack of plus command due do the velocity on his pitches. On a good note, Joba has made improvements in this area over the last year.

The true challenge for Chamberlain will be to seamlessly transition between relieving and starting, if indeed he does spend some time in the bullpen in 2008. However, I believe that Joba has a good enough head on his shoulders to handle the move. Another challenge will be to keep his weight down. However, I don't view this as too much of a problem. Is it just me, or does it look like Joba has shed a few pounds in the off season? He looks like he's in better shape to me, and if I'm right, then his weight won't be a concern.

Like I did with Hughes' profile, I'll quote EJ Fagan on some interesting lines to help everyone get a better feel for Chamberlain.

Fagan on Joba's ceiling: "Chamberlain is a bona fide potential #1 starter. He has the control, power, and secondary stuff to do it all. He has been reported to be an unceasing competitor who wears his emotions on his sleeves. He certainly has the ability to strike out 200 while posting an ERA over 3.50, which makes him an ace in my book. He'll probably pitch his fair share of innings and even have a shot at a Cy Young down the line."

Fagan on comparing Joba to another player: "C.C. Sabathia. Sabathia is a little bit taller and wider, but they have the same basic pitching style. They both have a strong fastball which sits at 94-95, and both throw a slider/curve/changeup setup. Sabathia's achilles heel prior to his successful 2006 season involved a lot of maturity issues, which Chamberlain (who is already a father) does not seem to have. The college polish is certainly there."

Joba will be a special player if he stays on his current track. He's a truly exciting player to watch, and the energy boost he provides the team on and off the mound is invaluable. He will play a big role in 2008, and I look forward to watching his progress closely.