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August 15, 2007

The New York Vampires?

Did you know that Yankees pitchers, as a team, have an ERA of 4.84 in day games this season, to date, and an ERA of 4.15 in night games?

Now, most of this is due to Clippard, Karstens, Hughes and DeSalvo getting banged around pretty good in daylight appearances.

Shouldn't it be harder for batters to pick-up the baseball in day games?

Hopefully, today, maybe Phil Hughes can stop this trend of the Yankees kiddie-pitchers getting toasted in the sun. At the least, maybe he can pitch better today than the last time he threw a day game at the Stadium? Hey, it would be hard to do worse.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at August 15, 2007 08:43 AM

Comments

What happened to Karstens? He had a nice debut last year, a good spring training and now seems to be a human punching bag out there. I'm sorry that 2007's been such a waste for him.

Posted by: MJ [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 15, 2007 10:41 AM

Nothing happened to him. He's just not that good. People warned about Karstens -- that his numbers last year were an illusion. We heard his fastball was down because of fatigue, but he was still around 86-89 this year. He has a decent curve and changeup, but I don't think he has the stuff to be a starter and go through a lineup a second time. With his stuff, he would need pinpoint control, which he doesn't have. You hate to validate anything the sour Steve Goldman has to say, but Karstens truly is the Scary Flyball Guy. He shouldn't be on this team or in the majors.

Steve, your love for Phil Hughes, whose success or failure determines a lot about the future of the Yankees, shines brilliantly once again. One day I'll decipher the negativity towards him.

Posted by: baileywalk [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 15, 2007 11:18 AM

"Shouldn't it be harder for batters to pick-up the baseball in day games?"

That's actually a good question.

While I think Mr. Lombardi is right when dealing with games in which there's both sunlight and shade (i.e., the pitcher's in sunlight and the batter's in the shade), I would think humans are more adapted to sun light than articial light.

Posted by: JRVJ [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 15, 2007 12:47 PM

Steve, your love for Phil Hughes, whose success or failure determines a lot about the future of the Yankees, shines brilliantly once again. One day I'll decipher the negativity towards him.
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Bailey - don't expect hugs and kisses from Steve to Phil tomorrow. Today's performance won't get Steve on the Hughes bandwagon.

Posted by: MJ [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 15, 2007 03:03 PM

Ugh, that was a stomach punch game. Mo looked terrible.

Posted by: festus [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 15, 2007 04:48 PM

That's three appearances in a row where he's been anything but lights out. It follows his recent pattern (since 2005) where he'll be shaky in April, great from May-early August, hit a rough spot where he'll blow 2-3 in a row, then go back to being the best in the business. Hopefully today was the end of his weak stretch. It's horrible to have lost 2/3 to the O's, especially since Boston lost today.

Oh well, just gotta move on and get focused on booing Gary Sheffield until I can barely speak above a whisper.

Posted by: MJ [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 15, 2007 05:25 PM

Oh well, just gotta move on and get focused on booing Gary Sheffield until I can barely speak above a whisper.
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It's always good to have a positive attitude, MJ. Ha, ha, ha.

Posted by: baileywalk [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 15, 2007 05:31 PM