Orlando Hernandez, Jon Lieber and Shawn Chacon.
You now know the only three starters acquired during general manager Brian Cashman’s tenure who have enjoyed Yankee success without having spent considerable time in the American League beforehand.
It is not much of a list and El Duque is the only member who sustained a positive run with the Yankees. Hiroki Kuroda, the Yankees’ starter in today’s home opener, is trying to expand that small group.
Before joining the Yankees, Kuroda played for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in Japan’s DH-free Central League and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West. He, of course, had seen AL teams and the DH before joining the Yankees. In fact, he shut out today’s opponent, the Angels, over seven innings in Anaheim last July 1; albeit facing a lineup that did not have Albert Pujols and Kendrys Morales, as today’s Los Angeles order almost certainly will.
Kuroda has traded in huge Dodger Stadium for the short right-field porch in the Bronx. He also is coming to a league, in general, and a division, in specific, in which offenses are more discriminating and relentless.
Rays manager Joe Maddon explained it is hard to win consistently in the AL East without pitches that beat hitters in the strike zone. Translation: The AL East is filled with patient, powerful lineups. A pitcher who does not win in the strike zone will issue walks and/or face too many hitters’ counts.
Ideally, Kuroda would like to nibble at the edges to get ahead and then put hitters away with a splitter out of the strike zone. But in his Yankee debut against Tampa Bay, Kuroda managed to throw just 10 of 21 four-seam fastballs for strikes. He got into counts of 0-2 or 1-2 just four times compared to being forced into six full counts, four of which led to walks. He struck out just two.
That was in St. Petersburg. If he does that today in The Bronx, he will deal with the other harsh issue in transitioning to the Yankees: A demanding crowd expecting excellence — or else.
“Our scouts really liked Kuroda and feel he will be a contributing member to an AL rotation,” Cashman said yesterday. “We recognize his ERA [3.07 last year, 3.45 in four years with the Dodgers] will go up due to the deeper lineups he will face coming here. But we can’t have a rule that just because someone is an NL pitcher we will not touch them. Believe me, there are plenty of guys pitching in the NL who we would love to have.”
AL experience has not guaranteed Yankee success as Jeff Weaver and A.J. Burnett proved. But most of the positive rotation imports since Cashman became GM have spent all or most of their careers in the AL; think Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina, CC Sabathia and David Wells — and even Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia.
The guys who were either significant foreign imports or almost exclusively NL pitchers before coming to the Yankees were pretty much disasters: Jose Contreras, Kei Igawa, Carl Pavano, Javier Vazquez (first stint) and Denny Neagle.
Can Kuroda buck this history?
“So far I like everything about him,” Cashman said. “I like him in the clubhouse, I like his competitiveness and I like how his stuff should translate. He had a very good spring training. So far there is no reason for me to doubt he will help us.”
Who bashes Birds the most will be key to AL East race
The Yankees played pretty well defensively against the Rays except Eduardo Nunez committed a first-inning error with Hiroki Kurod
a on the mound and Raul Ibanez misplayed a ball in right with Phil Hughes on the mound, and both contributed to losses. Good teams capitalize on mistakes and Tampa Bay swept the series.
Against the Orioles, Freddy Garcia threw five wild pitches in one game while the 3-4-5 of Robinson Cano, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez managed one RBI in 47 plate appearances. Yet the Yankees swept because it is possible that you just can’t help Baltimore enough.
This is going to be one key to what is expected to be a four-team AL East race: Who beats up the woeful Orioles most. Consider the Yankees went 13-5 last year vs. Baltimore and won the division over Tampa (9-9) and Boston (10-8). The Red Sox lost five of seven to Baltimore in the final 10 days of the season to complete their historic collapse. Boston also was just 9-9 against Baltimore in 2010 when it again finished third and out of the playoffs behind the Rays (11-7 vs. the Orioles) and Yankees (13-5).
The Yankees have not lost a season series to the Orioles since 1997 and are 53-22 in the last five years, including 26-10 the past two years. But the Blue Jays are expected to emerge as contenders this year and it should be noted that in 2010-11, Toronto clobbered Baltimore, going 27-9.
Struggles rain down on ace CC
Brian Cashman dismissed any concern about CC Sabathia through two starts as familiar early-season blahs. Indeed, Sabathia’s career ERA for March/April (4.18) is his worst for any month. However, he has pitched very well the past two Aprils for the Yankees.
The reality is that Sabathia has not performed like an ace for a period of more than two starts now and in months beyond April. He struggled late last season and his increasing weight was generally blamed. But Sabathia dropped weight again this offseason and yet the best you could say about his first two starts is that he has battled to stay competent without precise/domineering stuff.
But let’s dismiss weight and instead look at last July 26. That day against the Mariners, a dominant Sabathia kept pitching after two rain delays, including — inexplicably — one after he had already lost his perfect game in the seventh inning. Since then his results have not been the same.
Not counting the playoffs, Sabathia made 91 Yankee starts through last July 26, going 55-20 with a 3.08 ERA and a .635 OPS against. In 12 starts since, he is 4-3 with a 4.46 ERA and a .855 OPS against. He has been particularly bedeviled by homers (.62 per nine innings before/1.45 since) and righty hitters (.653 OPS before/.928 since); both of which suggest he has not been as meticulous or overpowering in this period.
Maybe it is a small sample size or just April now. Or maybe it has something to do with two rain delays last July.