YANKEES OFFSEASON THREAD: Lock This

And it begins. 
mean.gif
 
Last edited:
The Man The Myth The Legend A-Rod has announced that he is retiring once his contract expires in 2017
 
Nova better win/earn that 5th spot in the rotation over CC.

CC Sabathia's success against lefties should make Ivan Nova the Yankees' fifth starter

The fifth starter debate for the Yankees will come to an end at some point between now and April 4 with much of that debate focusing on whether Ivan Nova or CC Sabathia is better poised to perform as a starter this season. One recent PSA take argued that Nova should emerge from this competition victorious, despite Sabathia's $25 million salary and his stature as a team leader, Cy Young Award winner, and World Series champion. The argument is well-reasoned and represents a particular approach to answering the fifth starter question, namely, who is the better positioned to be successful as a starter at the season's outset.

An alternative approach to answering the fifth starter question begins with the assumption, which is almost certain to occur, that both Nova and Sabathia will be included on the Yankees' Opening Day roster. Given that this is the case, and that one will be a starter and the other a reliever, another approach would be to consider how to optimize the innings between the two. Nova may indeed be the better choice for a starter, but if he is also the better candidate to relieve, the Yankees will need to try to project the benefit the get from Nova as a reliever against the loss they incur from having Sabathia come out of the bullpen rather than Nova.

Because both Nova and Sabathia have pitched primarily as starters to this point in their careers, projecting their performance out of the bullpen is far from an exact science. Three areas that the Yankees coaching staff and front office might choose to look at in making this projection are how their respective pitch repertoires project to the bullpen, their recent track record against same-handed batters (righties against Nova and lefties against Sabathia), and their recent track record with runners on base.

Pitch Repertoires

Nova's repertoire already resembles that of a reliever in that he is mostly a two-pitch pitcher, fastball and curveball, while mixing in the occasional changeup (5% of pitches in 2015). He does throw two varieties of fastball, four seam and sinker, with about 45% of his pitches overall being sinkers in 2015, and a further 20% being fourseam fastballs according to Brooks Baseball.

Both of Nova's fastballs sit at 93-94 mph, while his curve (30% of pitches thrown in 2015) features sharp 12-6 downward movement that generates an above average rate of swings and misses. When Nova attacks the zone, his toolkit as a pitcher allows him to both generate whiffs and groundballs, which is a highly desirable combination for a reliever coming out of the bullpen with runners on base.

Sabathia also features two fastballs, a four seam (28% of pitches overall in 2015) and a sinker (30%), as well as a changeup (19%), and a slider (22%). In terms of his off-speed offerings, Sabathia utilizes both his changeup and slider when facing righties, but turns almost exclusively to his slider when opposing left-handed batters.

Against lefties, Sabathia throws a fastball (four seam or sinker) 53% of the time, and a slider 43%, while rarely mixing in a changeup (3% of his pitches against left-handed batters). So while at first glance it might appear that Sabathia's pitch repertoire is ill-suited to a bullpen role, particularly given his diminished stuff, his fastball-slider combination is amenable to a bullpen role where he is primarily used to match up against lefties.

Facing Same-Handed Batters

Both Nova and Sabathia performed far better last year against same-handed batters than against hitters facing them from the opposite side of the plate. Against righties, Nova yielded a .682 OPS, five home runs, and 15 walks against 204 total batters faced according to FanGraphs in 2015. In stark contrast, against 209 left-handed batters, he yielded an .899 OPS, eight home runs, and 18 walks.

Sabathia's splits are similarly dramatic. Against 589 right-handed batters he gave up 25 home runs, 45 walks, and allowed an opponents' OPS of .862. Against 137 lefties, Sabathia yielded three home runs, five walks, and an OPS of just .518. Particularly striking is the number of left-handed batters that Sabathia faced in 2015, 137 in 167 innings of work. Opposing managers stacked their lineups with right-handed batters against Sabathia last season, and with good reason, as he dominated lefties and struggled mightily against right-handed batters.

With Runners On Base

Neither Nova nor Sabathia pitched particularly well with runners on base in 2015. Nova surrendered an .850 OPS with runners on, while Sabathia was only slightly better with an OPS of .833. Their struggles were similar pitching from the stretch, as both allowed an inordinately high number of walks (16 in 44.2 innings for Nova and 25 in 73 innings for Sabathia) and home runs (nine for Nova and 11 for Sabathia) when they got into trouble. Both Nova and Sabathia pitched worse from the stretch than they did from the windup in 2015, making each of them dubious candidates for the bullpen in 2016.

With results along these three dimensions in mind, two points jump out regarding the decision that the Yankees face in choosing whether to send Nova or Sabathia to the bullpen. First, neither is a natural fit for the bullpen given their struggles pitching out of the stretch, and in particular their propensity to give up walks and home runs with runners on base.

Second, the most translatable skill that either possesses for a move to the bullpen is Sabathia's ability to get left-handed batters out. Sabathia was mediocre at best overall in 2015, but he pitched great against lefties and clearly still has the necessary tools to make left-handed at-bats against him quite difficult. The problem for Sabathia at this stage in his career is that the vast majority of hitters that he faces are righties, making it tough for him to be successful.

Pitching Sabathia out of the bullpen would offer Joe Girardi the best opportunity to exploit his talent for getting left-handed batters out, and also limit his exposure against righties. Nova matches up better against righties than lefties, but his splits are less stark than those of Sabathia.

It is very likely that at some point during the season injuries will make this debate moot, and force both Nova and Sabathia into the starting rotation. For the time being the Yankees have a choice to make, and if optimizing the overall performance of their pitching staff is their goal, Sabathia will move to the bullpen where Girardi will be positioned to utilize his ongoing ability to dominate left-handed hitting.
Click to expand...
 
Wow..I hav xfinity and they dropped YES..OMFG..what options do I have other than MLB Network or when the games are played on Channel 11????

This is horrible
 
Clock ticks for Yankees trio as Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and Carlos Beltran nearing end

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Father Time remains undefeated, taking down one aging athlete after another. When it comes to the heart of their lineup, the Yankees are hoping to keep the old man at bay for one more season.

Alex Rodriguez will be 41 years old in July, while Carlos Beltran and Mark Teixeira will celebrate birthdays in April, turning 39 and 36, respectively. After posting productive seasons in 2015, can the trio do it again, or will this be the year one or more of them succumb to the inevitable ending every player eventually faces.

“You know it’s reality,” manager Joe Girardi said of their eventual decline. “It’s going to happen abelt some point. I believe it’s not this year, but you know it’s going to happen.”

The three veterans will make up the 3-4-5 spots in the Yankees’ lineup this season, their 52 combined years of big-league experience easily representing the most of any such trio in the majors.

A year ago, all three players entered the spring with giant question marks hovering over them like black clouds.

Could A-Rod still perform following his one-year drug suspension? Would Teixeira be able to stay healthy for the first time in four years? Was Beltran nearing the end after his worst season in years?

All three answered those questions in the positive, helping the Yankees to the second-highest run total in the league. A-Rod hit 33 home runs with an .842 OPS in 151 games, while Beltran overcame an awful April to hit 19 home runs with an .808 OPS in 133 games.

Teixeira was on his way to another stellar year with 31 homers and a .906 OPS in 111 games, but a freak foul ball fractured his leg in August, costing him the final six weeks of the season.

“They did the job,” Girardi said. “I think what becomes important is managing their days on the field probably as much as anything. Young kids, you manage their minds a little bit more. Older players, you manage their bodies.”

The consensus inside the confines of the clubhouse is that health will be the only thing to stand in their way this season. Teixeira says he feels as strong as he has in years, while A-Rod appears as worry-free as he’s been throughout his career. Beltran has hit the ball hard all spring.

“When we’re healthy, we can score a lot of runs,” Teixeira said. “It helps having veteran guys in the middle of the lineup that have driven in runs their entire career. We hope to continue to do that.”

As promising as the possibilities may be for the triumvirate of sluggers, the stark reality is that players at their respective ages have a higher risk of injuries than those in their twenties or early-30s.

It’s an age-old argument — pun intended — but the three players aren’t worrying about it.

“Every year there’s going to be some of that,” Beltran said. “You cannot come here thinking about that, about negativity. You’ve got to basically focus on what you’re capable of doing, trying to stay healthy. We’ve been in the league for quite a while, so we know what it takes to get ready to play a full season.”

It may sound counterproductive, but Girardi plans to rest all three players more this season than he has in the past in an effort to keep them on the field as often as possible. A day off for A-Rod will likely mean a DH day for Beltran or Teixeira, though they figure to get a handful of full days off, as well.

“There are a number of things that you can do,” Girardi said. “Let’s face it, you’re in a 162-game schedule, you’re not feeling like you did when you came into spring training on Day 1. It’s just impossible to feel that way, so you manage it the best way you can.”

The Yankees would probably be happy with similar production from the three this year, but that’s not enough for A-Rod. Having missed an entire year thanks to his suspension, the fifth-oldest player in baseball knows that time is running out for him and his teammates to raise another World Series trophy.

Forget last year. It’s over. It’s time to focus on this season.

“Every year is new,” Rodriguez said. “I know that these guys are great competitors, great teammates and I think we all feel like we have to improve every year. So we’re not taking anything for granted.”
Click to expand...
 
Ellsbury was red hot in April-May last season before he got hurt :smh: :smh:

in other news, Jesus Montero was waived by Seattle today :lol:
 
nickmaz96 said:
Ellsbury was red hot in April-May last season before he got hurt :smh: :smh:

in other news, Jesus Montero was waived by Seattle today :lol:
Click to expand...

April - May 16.

37G

.324/.412/.372

14SB / 5CS

Didn't have the power and RBIs you want, but he was getting on base, as was Gardner, and gave us a hot start.



After injury

74 G

.224/.269/.332

7SB / 4 CS
 
Damn, remember when Montero was supposed to be the goods?
 
Last edited:
Andrew Miller struck on the right wrist with a line drive. Walked off the mound and threw his hat to the ground.

CT scan reveals chip fracture in Andrew Miller's right wrist. Will see hand specialist.
Click to expand...

awful news :smh: :smh:

at least it's his non-throwing hand so he should be able to return a little sooner
 
nickmaz96 said:
Andrew Miller struck on the right wrist with a line drive. Walked off the mound and threw his hat to the ground.

CT scan reveals chip fracture in Andrew Miller's right wrist. Will see hand specialist.
Click to expand...

awful news :smh: :smh:

at least it's his non-throwing hand so he should be able to return a little sooner
Click to expand...

Report: Andrew Miller cleared to pitch with broken bone in wrist

MIAMI -- New York Yankees left-hander Andrew Miller was cleared to pitch with a broken bone in his nonthrowing right wrist by a specialist Friday morning, according to a report by the YES Network.

As Miller indicated Thursday, his pain threshold will dictate how far he can go.

Dr. Patrick Owens, who examined Jason Pierre-Paul last summer after the New York Giants star injured his hand in a fireworks accident, told Miller that his injury would heal on its own and should not affect his ability to pitch, according to the YES Network.

Miller, who suffered a fractured pisiform bone in the heel of his right hand after being struck by a line drive during an exhibition game, jokingly said Thursday that he would "find another doctor" if he was not cleared to pitch.

Miller also said he did not expect the injury to hamper his ability to field his position. Miller fielded just five balls in his 60 relief appearances as the Yankees' closer last season.

Miller, whose role changed to setup man when the Yankees acquired Aroldis Chapman in January, has been tapped to serve as their closer until Chapman returns from a 30-game suspension.

Miller converted 36 of 38 save opportunities and had a 2.04 ERA for the Yankees last season in his first year as a full-time closer.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

The ultimate sneaker enthusiast community.

NikeTalk was created as a way of giving back to both the sneaker enthusiast community and to the greater global community of which we are all a part.

NikeTalk is NOT affiliated with Nike Inc. in any way, shape, or form. All opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Nike, Inc.

© 1999-2024 NikeTalk.com

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom