Monday, July 30, 2012

John Sterling's Takeaway Points from the Weekend

1.      The Yankees – winners of three out of their last 10 – are still 19 games over .500 and lead the AL East by eight games in that all-important loss column. But it’s a long season, and nobody knows this more than Joe Girardi. He will be looking to the team back on track with the big series against Baltimore.

2.      We’ve said it many times. You just can't walk the leadoff man. Of course, it’s easy to say. Certainly, no pitcher wants to walk the leadoff man, but it happens, time and again. David Robertson has been great for the Yankees, but he walked the leadoff man, and you always get into trouble by walking the leadoff man. I don’t know what Joe Girardi can do about that. But it’s never a good thing to walk the leadoff batter, and the Yankees certainly paid the price.

3.     
The Yankees have no kick about losing these last two games. It’s no “co-ink-a-dink” that they lost games in which they consistently failed to hit with runners in scoring position. That’s the big bugaboo for this Yankee team: It scores a lot of runs, but it leaves a lot of runners on base. They need some big hits. I don’t what Joe Girardi can do about that.

4.     
It’s great to see Russell Martin back on track. He homered and drove in the tying run. His big bat means a lot to this Yankee lineup. Joe Girardi has to be feeling good about Russell Martin starting to hit.

5.      The Yankees miss Arod. It’s impossible not to miss him. It’s not that Eric Chavez and Jason Nix don’t do a fine job, but Arod’s big bat was important to this team. Joe Girardi certainly wishes he had Arod back, but injuries are a part of baseball, and Joe Girardi would be the first person to tell you that.

6.     
The Redsocks are right back in this wildcard race. It’s a long season – and the teams will play several more times. Joe Girardi has to be looking to get his team back on track to their winning ways. If anybody can do it, Joe Girardi can.

7.     
Hiroki Kuroda pitched a great game, despite giving up those two runs in the first. He kept the Yankees in the game, which is all you can ask of your starting pitcher. And nobody knows this more than Joe Girardi.

1 comment:

liveamovielife said...

Nobody knows anything more than Girardi. The man should go on Jeopardy.