Yankees playing decent in a land that is not familiar.
Written by Joe Veno on June 24, 2009 – 10:48 AM -How well should a lineup fare against a young, unproven pitcher?
How much are they required to mash against a guy on the mound that they have never “seen” before?
I am not totally sure. But I will give it a whirl, statistics aside for just a second.
Against a young, unproven pitcher, a veteran lineup–such as the Yankees–should probably do relatively well. They should exude patience, and show the opposing arm that they must not only throw strikes, but command those “strikes” as well.
As far as mashing? Well it generally takes time to adjust to an unfamiliar pitcher. The delivery may be similiar to another pitcher that has faced the given lineup, but there are always slight differences. And the stuff varies from pitcher to pitcher, along with how well they can command that “stuff” too.
Aside from recent struggles against National League pitchers–ones that the Yankees lineup have never faced before–The Bombers have actually had a decent amount of success.
Actually, the Yankees have an 11-9 record against pitchers they had yet to face at the time of their meeting.
And with an ERA of 4.57 that’s actually higher than the MLB average of 4.32.
So 11-9, with a 4.57 ERA the Yankees lineup is against pitchers that have never squared off against them before.
That sounds pretty good to me.
But lately, the Yankees have not had success. For in eight of the last nine games played, they have faced a National League pitcher, one that of course has not been seen by their veteran lineup, collectively. And they have a 2-6 record in these games, with a 2.56 Earned Run Average.
So struggles have occurred recently. But it hasn’t happened all year, as that 4.57 ERA indicates.
Yankees fans should not panic. They have a great lineup. And even though sometimes little things like facing a pitcher a team has never seen can induce a few worries, it isn’t anything that a few numbers–like these–cannot cure.
Tags: New York YankeesPosted in New York Yankees, Team Analysis | 6 Comments »
June 24th, 2009 at 12:01 PM
bad baserunning, bad defense in the OF ( swish and damon)
a third baseman who needs to be on the DL for 2 weeks for his and the teams own good,a DH who looks to be pretty much done, a collective team slump and a manager who clearly hasn’t gotten the best performance from a team that looks great on paper.
the pitching -particularly the pen has improved greatly, but when no one is hitting … i could go on…
June 24th, 2009 at 3:34 PM
I was just addressing their success against pitchers they had never seen…
June 24th, 2009 at 4:36 PM
By the way, there HAS to be an easier way to do stuff like this. I went through the Yankees schedule and looked at each game’s opposing pitcher, found out if they had started against the Yankees before. Then if they hadn’t, added up their ER and IP, so that at the end I could find out the ERA of pitchers the Yankees hadn’t faced. I feel like if I subscribe to BR, then they will me allow to do things like this. But it does cost money…
June 24th, 2009 at 5:45 PM
that’s why i leave the heavy lifting to you mate!
June 24th, 2009 at 11:41 PM
Well they didn’t do too well against a first time starter tonight. Kawakami worked 3 perfect. Unfortunately The Hut hit him in the neck with a line drive and he had to leave after 3.
June 24th, 2009 at 11:57 PM
Yea, I watched. Not closely, but it was on. Lately, they have been terrible against starters they haven’t seen before. And tonight was not exception before Kawakami got hurt.