Yankees 6 vs. Red Sox 4 – 4/6/10

To be quite honest, I only watched the last three innings, so I apologize with the subjectivity of this post. But then again, if you were worried about my subjectivity, you would’ve already tuned out.

Here’s what I thought:

Things that I liked:
1. Marco Scutaro’s at bat against Mariano Rivera. I know this isn’t a big thing to get worked up about, but he turned an 0-2 count into a 2-2 count, and then hit a double to left center field. Look, he did have an error, but I do appreciate his attempt to get us back into the game.

2. Daniel Bard. Holy crap. Did anyone see that slider to A-Rod? That was ridiculous. He did have a walk to Nick Johnson, but that’s what Nick Johnson does, walk. Look, he will have some control issues during the year, but he’s going to strike out a lot more, keeping his command numbers still pretty good. Meet the next great home-grown reliever.

3. Scott Atchinson. I know he did give up a home run to Robinson Cano, but that was the one mistake he made. He bailed out Hideki Okajima (I’ll get to him later), and pitched so Ramirez, Schowenweis, and Papelbon didn’t have to. He’ll probably get mop up duty for now, but he was dirt cheap, so it’s great we have him as a guy we can just throw out there to keep it close

Things that I didn’t:
1. Jacoby Ellsbury’s plate approach. Look, it’s great that he had a single and a double and stole a base and had two runs. However, he took three pitches for balls the entire game. There’s nothing wrong with not walking….if you make a lot of contact. However, Jacoby Ellsbury does not make enough contact to warrant taking three pitches for balls in five at bats. He needs to take more walks, especailly as the lead off hitter, or else he’s going to keep giving us headaches like we had at the beginning of last year.

2. Adrian Beltre’s swings. Also, great that he went 2 for 4, but the at bats that I saw did not look like Beltre’s two hits were very convincing. The at bat that I saw was against Joba Chamberlain, and he swung at a pitch that made me puke. He’s got a big swing, but he needs to control it.

3. Hideki Okajima. I talked about this two days ago, and I will say it again, I am not confident in Hideki Okajima in the 8th inning anymore. Yes, Marco Scutaro did have an error, but what were those guys doing on base in the first place? He’s got to change speeds and use his deceptive motion to keep people off base, or else this will be a long year for him.

Take Away from Game:
I think just another tune up game at this point, so we can’t draw too many conclusions yet. I’m glad Jon Lester is still striking people out, and we can’t really get on his case for giving up 4 runs or even issuing 3 walks, at least not yet. And finally, shout out to Victor Martinez for being Victor Martinez. I think, quite honestly, he’s going to benefit us offensively in the long run, especially if we extend his contract.

Leave a comment