AL East Round Up- “As Pitching Goes” Edition

Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports

Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays have ridden a familiar horse this week- starting pitching. If they are going to compete this year, that horse will get a lot of work. The Rays are sitting in first spot in the AL East. Yet, they are 3-3 coming into play on Sunday having lost the final game of their series against the Texas Rangers, then dropping 2 of 3 in Kansas City against the Royals. They have won the first two games in Cincinnati against the Reds. Chris Archer pitched 7 innings of shutout ball against KC. David Price struck out 10 Reds on Friday. Alex Cobb added 7 scoreless innings on Saturday against the Reds. Perhaps the only blemish on the Rays staff this week was Jake Odorizzi‘s implosion on Wednesday where he gave up 7 ER in 5 innings.

NOTES:

-The Rays are trying to avoid Matt Moore going under the knife for Tommy John surgery. According to this piece by Bill Chastain at MLB.com, Moore has been to see the increasingly busy Dr Andrews and an MRI discovered a tear of his UCL. The Rays are waiting on their own physician to take a second look at the MRI results. They do not feel confident in the opinion of Dr Andrews, and who can blame them? Moore won 17 games for the Rays last year. Not to mention that his replacement could end up being Erik Bedard.

-Rays owner, Stu Sternberg, is on MLB On-Field Diversity Task Force. Bill Chastain tells us that this group will be responsible for trying to engage urban youth, families and communities in baseball. Celebratory butt pat for Sternberg!

Mandatory Credit: William Perlman/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports

New York Yankees

The Yankees played .500 ball this week. Hiroki Kuroda chipped in a quality start against the Orioles on Monday. Ivan Nova was rocked for 7 ER in just 3 2/3 innings on Tuesday. Masahiro Tanaka struck out 10 Orioles on Wednesday. He went 7 innings and gave up 3 ER. Thus far, Tanaka seems “get-able” but he’ll rack up the strikeouts. So, teams will get their chance to score, but don’t expect many of those chances. Michael Pineda also gave the Yankees a solid start on Thursday. Pineda really “stuck it” to the Red Sox. Pine tar aside, he’s starting to look like he’ll make the Mariners wonder why they let him go. Is it too early to say that C.C. Sabathia is just not the pitcher he used to be? He may be able to win…some, but he is just not dominating. Good thing the Yankees locked him up for a long time and for a lot of money.

One week is too small a sample size to indicate success. But, they Yankees starters are performing well enough to keep them competing (with the odd blip). The bullpen is another story. They’ve been lights out. Aside from Vidal Nuno being absolutely rocked (7 ER in 3 1/3 innings) by the Orioles and Shawn Kelly blowing Tanaka’s start, the bullpen has not given up a run. Two bad outings in a week where players from the bullpen were used 22 times is not bad at all. Granted, those two outings cost the Yankees wins, but there is lots for Yankee fans to be excited about considering how many questions surrounded their bullpen coming in to this season.

NOTES:

-In one of my favorite quotes from the early 2014 season, Joe Girardi addresses his decision to sit Derek Jeter on Saturday. Bryan Hoch of MLB.com gives us Girardi’s response to fans’ disappointment. He says, “I have to manage him with the focus of winning games and keeping him healthy, not it being a farewell tour,” Girardi said. “I wasn’t hired to put on a farewell tour”. What? A Yankee isn’t interested in a spectacle?

-Speaking of “The Captain”…Jeter passed Paul Molitor to take over 8th spot on the all-time hits list. Celebratory butt pat for Jeter! We’ll ignore that it came against the Blue Jays.

Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

Toronto Blue Jays

Drew Hutchison was roughed up by the Yankees on Sunday for 6 earned runs. He would turn in a much better outing against the Orioles on Saturday going 6 solid innings. Mark Buehrle was shaky in 5 1/3 innings, but managed to avoid any real damage. Brandon Morrow gave a quality start against Houston while striking out 9. R.A. Dickey gave up 5 earned runs in 7 innings against the Astros and once again the long ball bites him. Dustin McGowan was lights out in 6 1/3 innings shutting out the Orioles on Friday. And, even better, there appears to be no ill effects to his arm thus far. A trip through the rotation has resulted in the Blue Jays being kept in the game. Considering the doubt surrounding this rotation, can we ask for anything more? There are those who would have laughed at the idea that the Blue Jays starters would keep them in every game. It isn’t such a funny idea now. Just wait until this anemic offense wakes up! It is only going to get better. With a degree of consistency from the starters and the offense firing as it is supposed to, this team won’t be the last place finishers everyone expects them to be.

NOTES:

-Jeff Seidel of MLB.com tells us that Jose Reyes and Casey Janssen are ready to start their rehab assignments. They’ll head to Florida to rehab in Dunedin, which is a much better idea than New Hampshire where it will still be cold. But, if the Jays can get these two back, especially Reyes, th eteam will get a much needed boost.

Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Baltimore Orioles

The fact that the Orioles are not in last place is sort of odd. If anything, it points to bigger problems with the Sox, but more on that later. Their starting pitching has been, um…well. Not really good. Ubaldo Jimenez has yet to win (enter Jays fan giggle here), Wei-Yin Chen pitched well enough to lose on Tuesday, but the bats bailed him out. Miguel Gonzalez chipped in a reasonable (3 ER) 6 inning start only to have the bats win in the ninth. Chris Tillman may be the only bright spot in the rotation. He went 8 1/3 innings against the tigers on Sunday and only gave up 1 earned run. On Friday he went 8 innings giving up 2 runs (0 earned) ans striking out 6. Maybe Tillman is rubbing off because Bud Norris put in a solid effort and baffled the Blue Jays on Saturday. Since offense is supposed to be the calling card of this O’s team and the pitching (outside of Tillman) has not been great, it may be a long year for Orioles fans.

NOTES:

-Kevin Dunleavy tells us at MLB.com that Manny Machado has been cleared to fun full out. That would be a huge boost to this Orioles lineup if he can get back soon.

-In the same piece, Dunleavy tells us that Johan Santana threw 33 pitches in two innings of  a simulated game. So far, this attempt at a comeback is going well for Santana. Celebratory butt pat for not giving up!

Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Boston Red Sox

Felix Doubront was shaken for 5 earned runs in just 2 2/3 innings against the Rangers. Jake Peavy was solid against the Rangers. He struck out 8 and only allowed 1 earned run. Clay Buchholz was good in his start against the Yankees going 6 innings, giving up 4 runs (2 earned). Turns out that Michael Pineda was that much better on that night.  Jon Lester gave a nice, quality start on Friday. His previous start against Milwaukee was also a good start, but he ended up losing as the Sox were swept by the Brewers. John Lackey was shelled for 6 earned runs over 5 1/3 innings on Saturday, but his start against the Rangers before that was great (7 innings, 0 earned runs) What does all of this mean? Like every team, the Red Sox need their starting pitching to carry them. They have a great offense, and so far that offense is what has kept them from losing more games than they have. When the Sox pitchers are on, so are the other teams’. When theirs are off, the offense is there to bail them out. While this recipe has not led to success in the early goings, this team is too good to be sitting in last place for long…as much as Jays fans are enjoying it right now.

NOTES:

-In a bit of irony, the Red Sox took issue with Yankee pitcher Michael Pineda having pine tar on his hand. In a piece by Ian Browne at MLB.com, the Red Sox tried to brush it off by saying things like ‘It makes sense he’d want to improve his grip on a cold night, but he should try and hide it better.’ One wonders if they are being so nonchalant about it because they remember Clay Buchholz’ incident last year. Why would you be OK with another team appearing to cheat unless you do too? Just saying.

–Grady Sizemore is back! It looks like he his healthy and contributing again. This is great for baseball, but also for him. Celebratory butt pat for Sizemore!