Giambi said he was looking for a slider from Miller and barely had time to react to the fastball, which nicked his shoulder and then knocked off his helmet. He has not seen a replay and has no plans to.
"I don't think I will," Giambi said. "I've got to get back on that horse and ride it."
Horse riding? Maybe Giambi figures he has a better chance of riding a winner if he becomes a jockey for Bellamy Road.
All jokes aside, the baseball tonight guys used this as yet another time to bring up their new favorite topic, the inside pitch.
ReplyDeleteGiambi flat out didn't see the pitch and I don't think the pitcher was aiming for his head, but I do think he was aiming for high and inside. One of the things that Reynolds and Fatso (Kruk) have been hammering lately is the willingness of pitchers to pitch inside.
They feel that this is the reason why the O's pitching staff has been successful to date and they used it also to talk about Arroyo's success. As a counter point, they used the Yankees staff as an example of what happens when you don't pitch inside, no fear. If batters are stepping in with no fear you can kiss the inside part of the plate good bye!
The had some pretty cool video to back up their point. Arroyo's curve ball is way more effective if the batter thinks it might hit him. They should a slow, hanging curve that would have been crushed if Jeter didn't flinch. And that seriously is all it takes, a flinch. They showed Kevin Brown pitching to Sosa when Sosa took him deep. It was a nice inside pitch, but because Sosa was comfortable in the box, there was no hesitation and he ripped it.
Holy crap!!!!
ReplyDeleteOur boy Jeremy is all growns up now.
Very astute analysis. Can we draw a correlation between that and HRs being down? Maybe not enough arm extension? Or that extra hesistaion you mention?
Matt wrote below: "If you were Cashman where would you start?"
ReplyDeleteI think I'd start looking for another job.
The Yanks are scoring runs, just not consistently. I don't put much merit in the Cano/Womack/BErnie shake up. The lineup will rise and fall on the performances of Posada and Matsui - with Jeter, Arod and Sheff being solid as usual.
I would leave Wang in the rotation permanently.
I would then try to convince Brown to go to the pen - maybe if he could concentrate on one or two pitches he could be more effective. Although getting loose at his age could be hard. Not likely he would accept a minor league rehab stint.
In the meantime, maybe Henn sticks around a bit or give some other minor leaguer a shot - they have Pete Munro who a few years ago was serviceable.
And I would do whatever I can to get another arm for the pen - Urbina? Mesa?
With a rotation of a healthy Johnson, Mussina, Pavano, Wang and ???? and a lineup that hits, they should be okay. Not great, but okay. Maybe they could get hot and scratch something out.
Ok. I guess with all the juice gone he's just a normal guy...
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