I agree w/ Thames and Joba. The cutter is hard to pull for lefties. If they pull it, they don't hit it square (usually) and it results in the bloop or ground out. If they make good contact they go to left field hard... Obviously they don't have enough data on the guy who was hitting and they gave Mo the benefit of the doubt.
I don't think they were comfortable losing it. I think they just made bad decisions, and not just during the game, that led to defeat. They clearly want to give Posada a few days, and definitely didn't want him playing in the rain. I can understand that, though the tying run is on third with 2 out in the ninth. He can hit I would think. He doesn't have to run. His run will never count. Swisher not coming up was a terrible decision. I understand they're worried about that bicep, and no one wants it to tear, but we agree that Swisher batting righty against Papelbon is better than Winn hitting lefty against him. This is when playing to percentages pisses me off. Forget the lefty-righty garbage. You wouldn't PH for Jeter against Papelbon, even as a righty, would you? Sometimes your writing hand just isn't an advantage. When you want to win a game, put your best available player in to do it. I don't have a problem with Joba being left out there though. He's got to get it together. Girardi got beat up in the press the other day for pulling him rather than making him work. The problem with Joba is that he's simply not pitching well. He's got to fix that. Joba gets blame for himself today. The decision I'm most angry about though is having Cervelli bunt. That was the worst of them all. Again, with a fast runner on second, no one out, and your team's best hitter with RISP at the plate, you risk letting him swing the bat. Everyone knows I'm a big fan of the bunt, but that was just the wrong time to use it. Oh, also, that POS cu*t Beckett can suck a bag of dicks. WTF was that, coming out due to "back stiffness." The league will never uphold the protest, but it was complete bullshit. That little bitch is just one big sloppy squirting pussy.
I'm not so sure about that. And it's not just about playing L/R percentages. There is a very important difference between Swisher and Jeter in this situation: Swisher - in his entire career - has had six plate appearances against righties while batting right-handed. So you'd be asking him to do something that he's basically never done before, and to do it in a very high-leverage situation. From the LoHud Blog:
If it were any team, including the Rays, except Boston, I'd agree with you. The problem is, it was against Boston, and every single series with the Sox over the past few years has been like this. Even Boone and Nomar admitted it the other day on ESPN. No matter how hard the players try to treat Yankees/Sox as "just another game" it never works. There's always "something" that makes it different from any other series against any other teams. The one real positive note we can all take from those blown leads/saves the past couple nights? Joe West is curled up in the fetal position this morning in a corner somewhere with his thumb in his mouth. EDIT: Actually, you mentioned last "3" games, so that includes the last one with the Twins. Sure, you can stress over that one. But not the Sox, so it's more like 1 game giving up late leads. Let's see what happens over the next week though.
I don't see anything close to "the worst call ever" there. Yes, it was a strike but it wasn't down the middle.
Do they use outfielders in the minors? Yanks gotta call someone up. You just cannot have Thames taking the field. He is beyond atrocious. Okay, he's got a strong bat, but goddam, its not Reggie Jackson strong. This can't go on.
But they also have to replace Winn. While Winn may be a (slightly) more capable outfielder than Thames, his bat is as atrocious as Thames glove. Golson should never have been sent down. We still need a guy on top of that though. Thames should DH. That's it. I don't know who else is in the system that can be called. Plus, we'd be using yet another kid's option. Is there even a timetable for Granderson's return yet?
Yeah. I just heard Girardi talkin about Grando. He's running the bases, hitting and throwing. He will be taking rehab starts within a week.
