Friday, June 09, 2006

Mmmmm.....Unit

June 9th, 2006

Randy Johnson
742 Evergreen Terrace
Springfield, USA

Dear Randy,

Maybe it's the beer talking Randy, but you've got a slider that won't quit. They've got these big chewy pretzels here that are [drunken rambling] Five dollars? Get outta here.

Homer


Here's the Unit's line against Oakland:

4 IP, 6 H, 5BB, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 Ks, 3 HOMERS

DOH!!!

Two other notes on this game. Aaron Small pitched very well in "relief" of the Big Obit. He came in and threw 3 straight pitches out of the strike zone...not even close....and walked the first man he faced. Then he seemed to find his groove and produced his best outing of the year. Too bad it was wasted.

The other note is about Torre's decision to leave in Miguel Cairo to face A's reliver Chad Gaudin in the bottom of the 6th. With the bases loaded and 2 outs, the Yankees had their best chance to get back into the game. Down 5 runs you need to work the count, get your pitch, and drive it somewhere. Cairo has had his fair share of big moments for the Yankees, but he's really just a singles hitter with a career OBP of .318 and twice as many Ks as BBs. Andy Phillips is sitting on the bench sporting a .370 OBP and a .769 SLG in June. He has 3 home runs and 5 RBIs in his last 5 games. I'm not saying he wouldn't have struck out swinging like Cairo, but there is no hotter Yankee at the moment and what do you have to lose? He's showed in his AAA and AA days that he's capable of doing good things with a combined OPS in those days of about .900. If you're worried about defense after the pinch hit, I hear A-Rod plays a decent SS and Phillips filled in at 3B against the Orioles on the 4th. Go for it. Why waste the chance on a career journeyman with a light bat?

After a lengthy rain delay, Jason Giambi and Robinson Cano did their best to make it a game, but it was too little, too late. Cairo got another at bat and struck out. In a one run game, when a home run ties it, how does he get another at bat? Yanks lose 6-5.

That's it. Let's get 'em tomorrow. Go Yanks.

2 comments:

RollingWave said...

Good point on using Phillips to pinch hit for Cairo :/ ...

God I hope Jeter's back in SS soon so we can keep Cairo where he belongs, on the bench.

It's sad when ur HOF ace got out pitched by your journyman with about 2 years of relative success in 10+ years in pro ball.

Mike Plugh said...

To me, Cairo is an emergency player or a guy who gives Jeter, A-Rod, or Cano a day off when they've played a long road trip without a break.

If you're going to ask him to get the big 2-out hit late in a ballgame, you're really rolling the dice.

To be fair, if he had hit the ball and brought in the runners I'd be patting him on the back. The thing is, it was no second guess on my part. I was completely shocked that Torre left him in, down 5 runs. The best he was going to do was single in 2. Phillips has the potential to go deep or at least drive the ball to the gap. He's the better power hitter, better on base man, and better hitter period.

Cairo is a career .211 hitter with the bases loaded.