Apologies (or, you’re welcome) for no post yesterday. I was traveling to Tampa, and there was a delay.
At last night’s Yankees-Rays game, I wrote about CC Sabathia and his continuing battles with velocity.
Sabathia essentially had one bad inning last night. Of course, the fact that the one bad inning was the first made it particularly difficult for a Yankees lineup that was 1) missing Kevin Youkilis in addition to all of the disabled-list guys and 2) facing Tampa Bay’s rising starting pitcher Matt Moore, who now has a 1.04 ERA (but a considerably higher 3.40 FIP and 3.69 xFIP). In any case, Sabathia’s ability to hang in there and pitch through the seventh spared the Yankees’ bullpen – Adam Warren pitched the eighth, and everyone else rested – in preparation for tonight’s Phil Hughes start.
He has a 3.34 ERA in his first five starts, and as I wrote in the column, the Yankees gladly would take that all year. Interestingly, his 3.69 xFIP is identical to Moore’s; his 3.62 FIP is a tick or two higher.
So there are no conclusions to draw at this juncture, but just as we discussed last week, this will be an ongoing issue really through the entire season, unless Sabathia’s fastball can get considerably faster during the season.
–I also wrote, with George King, this story on Robinson Cano and Biogenesis. The sense I got yesterday, from speaking with people, was that there really isn’t much of a connection between Cano and the shuttered South Florida clinic, and that Cano barely resides on Major League Baseball’s radar.
The Miami New Times published its Biogenesis findings on January 28, so we’re nearly three months into this thing as a public issue – and MLB was involved considerably before that juncture — and MLB still hasn’t summoned the players to meet with their investigative team. That means the commissioner’s office feels that its ducks still aren’t as aligned as much as they’d like. They might never be. If we’ve learned anything from the Roger Clemens trial, in particular, it’s that you’d best not sing it unless you can bring it. The foundation of the U.S. government’s case against Clemens was so shaky that it probably never should’ve gone to trial in the first place.
Biogenesis will linger; it’s not like baseball is going to give up. It’s the new reality. The alternative is none of this being investigated, like back in the late ‘90s, and people didn’t seem to like that way, either.
By the way, the prospect of discipline for Francisco Cervelli (who is named in the Biogenesis documents) seems a lot more daunting to the Yankees now than it did two and a half months ago, doesn’t it?
–The two best teams in the American League are Boston and Texas, both 13-6. The two best teams in the National League (and the majors) are Atlanta and Colorado, both 13-5. In ranking them from least surprising to most surprising, you’d go: 1. Texas; 2. Atlanta; 3. Boston; 4. Colorado.
Jonathan Bernhardt of Sports on Earth has a good write-up here on the Red Sox and Rockies. The conclusion isn’t shocking — the Red Sox have a far better chance of winding up in first place than do the Rockies — but it’s worth reading because it’s well presented, with good statistical explanations.
The terrific performances by Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz so far remind us just how awful the Red Sox’s starting pitching was last year. How that, rather than all of the unrest, was the primary factor behind Boston’s last-place finish.
Of course, you could argue that the unrest contributed to Lester’s and Buchholz’s undoing, and that the return to the organization of John Farrell — formerly the pitching coach, now the manager — led to the duo’s revivial. I’d say the latter argument is stronger than the former.
–And now for this week’s Pop Quiz answer. The question came from David Abrahams of Fairport, NY: Name the former Yankee who has appeared as a guest guitar soloist with the Allman Brothers Band.
The answer is Bernie Williams.
If you have a tidbit that correlates baseball and popular culture, please send it to me at kdavidoff@nypost.com.
–Have a great day.
