Bleacher Creature Feature

#40: Beating a Dead Horse

19 April 2003

I mentioned that I was going to talk about Mr. Useless in my next column to one of my readers, and he said, "C'mon, Keith, aren't you beating a dead horse?" And yes, perhaps I am, but dammit, the horse is really starting to stink up the joint....

Hitchcock apparently whined to Joe Torre about his lack of pitching time this season on Tuesday. So on Wednesday, with the game tied at 5-5, he was brought it to hold the Blue Jays down and give the Yankee offense a chance to take the lead. Instead, he coughed up the lead on his third batter. That cost the Yankees the game; but for Hitchcock's disastrous 1.1 innings, the Yankees would've tied it in the ninth and might've taken it in extra innings.

Okay, that's not guaranteed. After all, the Yankee bullpen has been pretty porous. (Following Hitchcock's implosion, Juan Acevedo gave up a home run to Vance Wilson for what turned out to be a needed insurance run.) Still and all, Hitchcock did nothing on Wednesday to show that he belongs on a big-league roster, let alone on a team that's trying to win a division. His four outs were either hard-hit fly balls or a sloppy strikeout (the latter necessitated a throw to first by Jorge Posada, as it was in the dirt). He wasn't throwing first-pitch strikes, and was only ahead of two hitters. He's thrown 53 pitches in only 2.1 innings and given up six hits. Plus he just looked lost out there.

The Yankees need to identify Hitchcock as a sunk cost and release him. All their attempts to showcase him for trade purposes have just made it clear that he's done. Right now there isn't a better candidate to replace him on the roster, but when Steve Karsay and Mariano Rivera come off the DL, there's a big decision to make. It's looking increasingly likely that Jose Contreras will be sent down to give him more work when Mo returns next week, but that still leaves someone to drop when Karsay comes back. It's not going to be Antonio Osuna or Chris Hammond -- they're the only relievers with ERAs under three right now -- and Acevedo is starting to settle down (and I'm not sure he has options in any case). That means either stifle the development of Jason Anderson -- who is obviously being eased into a possible fifth-starter role for next year when Roger Clemens and David Wells (at least) are gone -- by sending him down or dumping Hitchcock. I know what my choice would be....

(After writing the above paragraph and sending it to the mailing list, but before I had the chance to put it up on the web, Contreras was sent down, with Randy Choate -- about whom I had temporarily forgotten -- being recalled. Choate's left-handedness makes Hitchcock even more redundant, of course, and underscores the need to dump his mediocre ass as soon as Mo's off the DL.)

You know what's really scary about the Yankee offense? They have a player who's hitting .260/.383/.420, has 10 walks in 14 games (second on the team), which gives him a very respectable .803 OPS. This is good, definitely somebody who would help any team, especially in the #2 slot in the order.

As it happens, that's the line for the current #2 hitter, Nick Johnson. That's not the scary part. The scary part is that his .803 OPS is, get this, seventh of the nine regulars. The only ones worse are Erick Almonte (to be expected) and Jason Giambi (who's slumping). Alfonso Soriano is tops with 1.109 (the highlight there being his .420 OBP, which is an impressive 55 points over his BA), and Raul Mondesi, Bernie Williams, and Robin Ventura are all over 1.000, with Posada right behind at .996.

No wonder the team's 13-3.

Speaking of scary, even with his mediocre performance on Wednesday, Wells has struck out 17 batters in 22 innings of work. That's not the scary part. The scary part is that he hasn't walked anybody. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Ziparoonio.

The rest of the staff is pretty impressive in that regard, though not as impressive. Aside from Clemens and Osuna -- neither of whom are control pitchers in any case -- and Contreras, the Yankees have given up all of 18 walks in 102 innings. Even throwing those three back into the mix, that's 41 walks in 143.1 IP. That's 2.6 walks per nine innings.

No wonder the team's 13-3.

The Yankees hitters are first in the league in OPS by 83 points over the next best (Boston). They're first in OBP by 27 points over Boston and Kansas City. They're first in SLG by 49 points over Boston. They're first in runs scored by two runs over Boston (and 16 over third-place Anaheim). They're first in hits by four over Tampa Bay (Tampa Bay is second in the league in hits??????). They're first in walks by three over Seattle. They're second in home runs by one to Texas, and seven ahead of third-place Boston. They're all the way down at tenth in strikeouts. They're first in total bases by 23 bases over Boston. And, finally, they're first in BA, the only team in the league with a team average over .300, 13 points ahead of Anaheim.

The Yankees pitchers are third in team ERA, first in strikeouts, first in fewest walks allowed, second in runs allowed, and first in shutouts.

No wonder the team's 13-3.

NEXT: June Musings

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