Even when he's good, he's bad

July 7th, 2010 - Yankees 6, Athletics 2

Box Score

A.J. Burnett's pitching line last night would suggest another successful July outing for the power righty: 2 runs on 5 hits over 7 innings with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts.  But if you actually watched him work last night and dismissed the apologist banter of Ken Singleton and John Flaherty, you'd know that the Oakland Athletics deserve more of the credit for Burnett's quality start than does the pitcher himself.  Contrary to Mr. Flaherty's analysis, Burnett wasn't spotting the fastball all that well in the early going.  Additionally, he lacked a consistent feel for the slider, and often opted for the curveball as his go-to breaking pitch.  It too was mediocre.  The only pitch that he really had going for him last night was the change-up of all things.  It had good late movement and he was spotting it decently-well, enough so that it kept the A's off balance and allowed many a poorly-located heater to sneak through the zone untouched.  It was the first time all year that I've seen him get results out of his offspeed ball, although admittedly I've missed a lot of his starts.

Anyway, back to the real reason this tattooed meathead was able to go seven strong.  Oakland presented Burnett with a 3-4-5 of Ryan Sweeney, Kurt Suzuki, and Jack Cust.  First off, your catcher is your #4 hitter.  That's a red flag right there.  Unless the guy donning the pads is an absolute beast with the stick, he has no business hitting fourth.  That's not a knock against Suzuki.  He's a hard-nosed player who will give you a quality at-bat and a modicum of power, but last time I checked, he ain't no Joe Mauer.  Ryan Sweeney's your #3?  A guy who's mustered just one round-trippers in 293 at-bats this year?  His circa .290 average makes him a worthy sixth or seventh-place hitter, sure.  But a #3?  Nice try.  And don't even get me started on Jack Cust.  All you need to know is this:  he has hit 1 home run for every 20.5 strikeouts this season.  To be fair, he's on pace for an all-time low in K's, but he's also on pace to hit about 6 home runs.  When you're as one-dimensional as Cust (pure slugger), it sort of helps to make good on your the one thing you can offer your club.

Hey, don't get me wrong.  A.J. wears pinstripes and therefore I want him to do well.  It's great that he got the win last night, but his mechanics looked sloppy and flat-out little-leaguish at times, particularly in the sixth inning last night, where he very nearly lost them all together.  He'll have to do better in upcoming starts against Tampa Bay and Kansas City (who still lead the A.L. in hits and batting average) if he wants to finish out the month of July as well as he has in recent history.  For the record, Burnett is now 7-0 in his last nine starts made in July.  Hey, one month out of six ain't bad.  It's actually awful.

As for the Yankees offense, it was certainly encouraging to see Mark Teixeira go deep for the second time in three games.  Slow down there, big guy.  You might just raise that average over .250 if you keep this up.  Despite a woeful average, the man has still 57 RBIs, good for a tie for 14th best in the majors.  That's almost unreal as the fact that A-Rod sits at 3rd with 67 driven-in on just 81 hits and 14 dongs.  Slowly but surely, the big salary bats are starting to come through for the Bombers.  They really are the key for this team in the second half.  The Yanks are going to have a much more difficult road ahead of them for the duration of the season, and I'd be quite surprised if the starting rotation manages to continues to pitch at the same clip as the first half.  Assuming they do not, this squad is going to need the kind of crushing blows like A-Rod's grand slam two nights ago and Tex's 3-run blast last night to keep them in the win column.  Plus Cano looks like he's on the verge of (or has already stumbled into) one of his ferocious slumps, the kind that he usually hamper him in the early months.

Nick Swisher furthered his case for an All-Star bid adding 3 hits and a home run to his totals.  Does he deserve the vote over Youkilis?  More on that in a minute.  Brett Gardener was the only lefty that Girardi was brave enough to leave in the lineup against southpaw Gio Gonzalez, and he rewarded his manager's faith with a line drive to left field, a stolen base, and a run-scored on Ramiro Pena's bloop single.  Let's not forget the stellar grab he had in the first innings on Coco Crisp's drive to the gap.  Brett has been in my mind the most underrated contributor this year, no question.  A game-changer on the basepaths, an average well over .300, and stellar glovework in left and center fields.  It's time to swallow my words and start giving Brett the props he deserves.  One love, baldy.

Last but not least is the Yanks bullpen.  Marte and Joba combined for 2 innings of 1-hit baseball.  That's what needs to happen for this club on a night-in-night-out basis if they want to compete for that pennant.  So I guess there are really two key factors to look for in the second half: the bullpen and the A-Rod/Tex combo.  If the pinstripes get those two cogs turning, I don't see much standing in the way of a repeat.

Subway Series anyone?  No?  Fine, I'll call it then. Mets-Yanks 2010.  Ten year anniversary of the classic matchup, only this time I'll spot the Queens Queens a run.  Yanks in 5.  Get at me.