Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine
Roy Halladay is 0-2 against the Bronx Bombers this year, with a 5.84 ERA. After an unbelievably bad April, Doc has stepped up his game, not walking a man in his last two starts while striking out 13. He's also reduced his alarming tendency to give up home runs, as his curve ball has been biting better lately. His #1 nemesis Bernie Williams has been in a brutal slump, and is taking the night off, but there's still plenty of danger in the Yankee bats, and Doc will need his best stuff.

Andy Pettitte is going in the opposite direction. He's been very hittable in his last three starts, all losses. He does have a win and a no-decision in two previous starts against the Jays this season, but historically has trouble with Stewart (.438 in 48 AB) and especially Wells (1.462 OPS). Pettitte is also one of Carlos Delgado's favourite lefties -- three HR, three doubles and a .441 OBP.

A well-rested Frank Catalanotto is in right, batting second. Hinske sits, with Dave Berg filling in at 3B. I hope the Jays stay relaxed; they were their own worst enemies while going 1-6 in the two April series. Toronto is five games better than the Yankees this month (12-6 compared to 7-11) but a loss tonight might stir up those bad memories. On the other hand, a big win could set the tone for a very satisfying weekend. If you're looking in the TV Guide, it isn't listed, but TSN has picked up the open date, so for the first time this year, we'll listen to the dynamic duo of Rod Black and Pat Tabler.

Game 48: Halladay vs. Pettitte | 21 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
_Gwyn - Thursday, May 22 2003 @ 07:19 PM EDT (#101965) #
Pettitte is also one of Carlos Delgado's favourite lefties

Coach, you never spoke a truer word.
_Dr B - Thursday, May 22 2003 @ 07:41 PM EDT (#101966) #
Pow!! Yay, for Delgado! :-)
Craig B - Thursday, May 22 2003 @ 08:05 PM EDT (#101967) #
Delgado again! Oh mercy...
_Dr B - Thursday, May 22 2003 @ 08:10 PM EDT (#101968) #
Sock!! It's deep, deeeeeep, GONE!!!!!
_Dr B - Thursday, May 22 2003 @ 08:16 PM EDT (#101969) #
71 pitches through 3. Pettite won't last long. Bring on Contreras...please....
_A - Thursday, May 22 2003 @ 08:44 PM EDT (#101970) #
Isn't the defective defector still down in Tampa?
_Gwyn - Thursday, May 22 2003 @ 08:58 PM EDT (#101971) #
Contreras came back up on Tuesday. He took the loss against the Red Sox, gave up five runs in 1 1/3.
_Dr B - Thursday, May 22 2003 @ 10:26 PM EDT (#101972) #
Just checked out Aquilino Lopez' left/right splits. Vs right 51AB and OPS.592, vs. left 28 AB and OPS 1.138. That's a staggering split. He has been as awful against lefties as he has been awesome against righties. Early days yet, but you wouldn't bring him in against a lefty with the game on the line.
Craig B - Thursday, May 22 2003 @ 10:49 PM EDT (#101973) #
I NEED SOME EMERGENCY HELP! Regarding an article I'm writing under deadline.

The Jays, as some of you will know, have zero sac hits this season (a stunning number). What I wanted to know is, have they attempted any? I don't recall any attempted sac bunts at all, but I may have missed some.
robertdudek - Thursday, May 22 2003 @ 11:28 PM EDT (#101974) #
I don't recall any attempt sacs.
Craig B - Thursday, May 22 2003 @ 11:42 PM EDT (#101975) #
Thanks Robert!
_jason - Friday, May 23 2003 @ 02:27 AM EDT (#101976) #
With Williams out maybe the Yanks should move Matsui to CF and bring up Juan Rivera, unless he's hurt or something, to play LF. From what I've heard Matsui plays a good CF.
_jason - Friday, May 23 2003 @ 02:37 AM EDT (#101977) #
Oops, I guess that is what they're going to do.
_EddieZosky - Friday, May 23 2003 @ 09:06 AM EDT (#101978) #
Rod Black makes Rob Faulds sound like Vin Scully.
Pistol - Friday, May 23 2003 @ 09:16 AM EDT (#101979) #
I watched the game off and on last night, but it seems like Halladay is really back to his form of last season. In his last 6 starts he has:

41.2 Innings
39 Hits allowed
3 walks
31 K's
5 wins

In his last 3 starts he hasn't allowed a walk. And last night it seemed that the hits he was giving up were bloops or slow infield hits.
_R Billie - Friday, May 23 2003 @ 10:39 AM EDT (#101980) #
Lopez' splits are bad but he needs experience. He didn't put up those good minor league numbers against righthanders alone I'm sure.

I'd like to see him get more and more outings where he goes more than an inning at a time. Not too many years ago, relievers were allowed to pitch 2 or even 3 innings in a night. Now you're lucky if you get that out of a long man.

Of course more an more teams are carrying 11 or 12 pitchers now so more "strategy" comes into play and managers can burn more arms each night. I'd rather use a guy like Lopez and have him not available for a day or two than to use three or four different guys and potentially have to use them all again the next day too.
_Chuck Van Den C - Friday, May 23 2003 @ 11:12 AM EDT (#101981) #
I'd like to see him get more and more outings where he goes more than an inning at a time.

I agree with R Billie here.

To me, it appears that Lopez's tools have Tosca thinking that he could be a viable setup man for Politte. And perhaps given the options, he's the best candidate.

But, despite his age (he's not a young man, just ask Pat Gillick), I would still be more inclined to treat Lopez this year as the team treated Corey Thurman last year. Let him pitch 2 innings at a time in low leverage situations. Let him work out his problems against LHB and develop some confidence.

I believe Lopez can become a high leverage reliever, but I'd like to see some success in low leverage situations first.
_Chuck Van Den C - Friday, May 23 2003 @ 11:17 AM EDT (#101982) #
Rod Black makes Rob Faulds sound like Vin Scully.

How many times did Rod Black mention that the Delgado shift wasn't being used because a baserunner was on first?

Am I mistaken, or is the Delgado shift (the extremely dramatic one) ever used against a LHP? I don't believe it us.

With a lefty's breaking pitches tailing away from Delgado, he's less likely to pull the ball than against a righty (please now ignore yesterday's homeruns which don't help my argument any).
Coach - Friday, May 23 2003 @ 01:39 PM EDT (#101983) #
Despite his apparent obsession with defensive shifts, Black called Dave Berg "Woodward" on a Giambi liner to the left side when the Jays employed theirs.

I like what Pat Tabler has to say about baseball most of the time, and especially enjoyed his anecdote about former teammate Gil Patterson being "a right-handed Ron Guidry", but Tabby still invents words like "coldness" when he actuallly means "colditude".

Lopez' split against lefty batters includes that ill-advised inning last month where Tosca let him walk Giambi and Williams before giving up a Matsui homer. It was a tough spot for a rookie, to say the least. A Carl Everett blast in the middle of a 16-11 debacle did the rest of the damage to Aquilino's stats. I don't think he's "awful" against lefties at all -- he's been beaten fair and square by a couple of good ones in difficult situations. What does concern me is six walks and just two strikeouts in his last five appearances; hitters (except for Soriano) have begun to lay off the slider instead of chasing it, so now it's his turn to make an adjustment. It's still his best pitch; he just needs to throw it higher, for called strikes, until they start swinging again.
_R Billie - Friday, May 23 2003 @ 05:20 PM EDT (#101984) #
Lopez needs to be able to use his fastball more as well. As good as the slider is, you can't get away with throwing it 75% of the time. Hitters will pick up on that and just wait him out. What I liked last night was that he was spotting his fastball well...it's not overpowering but enough to keep hitters honest.

I don't think Lopez is a 12 K per 9 inning major league pitcher as he had been early in the year. Those numbers will come down as hitters adjust to him. He'll have to mix it up more and become a more complete pitcher if he wants to take on a bigger role. Maybe even throw a few more changeups.

After seeing how thin he is, I think my hopes for him stretching out into a starter are unrealistic. But given time to develop his game he could still become an important pitcher here.
_Jordan - Friday, May 23 2003 @ 05:28 PM EDT (#101985) #
Some more thoughts on Aquilino Lopez: here's a faintly interesting comparison:

Aquilino Lopez
Age 28 MLB
22 G, 0 GS, 5.40 ERA, 21 IP, 1.00 H, 0.62 BB, 1.29 K
Age 27 AAA
34 G, 11 GS, 2.39 ERA, 110 IP, 0.81 H, 0.24 BB, 0.94 K
Age 26 AA
42 G, 0 GS, 3.02, 63 IP, 0.76 H, 0.40 BB, 1.25 K

Pitcher B
Age 28 MLB
83 G, 0 GS, 1.85 ERA, 97 IP, 0.59 H, 0.27 BB, 1.21 K
Age 27 MLB
50 G, 16 GS, 5.40 ERA, 125 IP, 1.01 H, 0.20 BB, 1.13 K
Age 26 AAA
13 G, 13 GS, 3.84, 70 IP, 0.74 H, 0.49 BB, 1.29 K

There are hits and misses here. Their Age-26 seasons were remarkably similar in IP, H/IP, BB/IP and K/IP, but Aquilino was in AA and Pitcher B was not only in AAA, but in the Pacific Coast League. Pitcher B's Age-27 season in the majors also resembles Aquilino's own Age-28 ML-debut thus far this season, though B's control was far better. Anyway, I don't really think they're terribly close, but I thought of checking the two of them out and figured the results were worth passing along. Pitcher B is, of course, Octavio Dotel.
Game 48: Halladay vs. Pettitte | 21 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.