(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
In his longest outing of the season, Freddy Garcia once again gave the Yankees a great start, throwing 7 2/3 innings of three-run ball to help beat the Mariners 10-3 and prolong Seattle’s losing streak, now stretching to 16 in a row.
Echoing RAB’s Mike Axisa’s post from last week, at this point it’s probably time to stop worrying about how Garcia continues to get the job done and just enjoy it. His pitcher triple-slash line now stands at an impressive 3.23 ERA/3.65 FIP/4.11 xFIP on the season, and he’s tied with Bartolo Colon at 2.0 fWAR for the Yankees’ second-most valuable pitcher. He’s also given the Yankees 13 quality starts in 18 outings. To say Garcia has exceeded expectations would perhaps be the understatement of the year.
In taking a peek back at my Garcia analysis from last February shortly after the Yankees signed him, I noted a couple of things:
“His slider was solid in 2009, but though its H-break and V-break barely changed in 2010, he lost about a mile-and-a-half of velocity on it, which was enough to turn the pitch from an asset to a detriment. If Freddy can’t get the slider back up to 81 he’s going to have to limit its usage (he threw it more than a quarter of the time last season, down from 2009′s 29% but way up from 2008′s admittedly abbreviated 13%.”
Well, lo and behold, his average slider velocity on the season is 80.8mph, and he’s throwing it 22.9% of the time, down from 26.5% last season. On a per-100-pitch basis, it’s been his second-most effective pitch, at 0.72 wSL/C.
“His 2010 curve was OK, but nothing to get terribly excited over. He throws it significantly slower than the league average curveball — given the near 20-mph difference between his curve and fastball, if he locates it well it’s probably a pretty nice pitch to have in his back pocket.
He’ll have to continue the effective deployment of his changeup to be of any use, while perhaps mixing in his curveball a bit more often (only 5% of the time last season) to keep hitters off balance so they’re not sitting on a fat 88mph fastball.”
Turns out that curveball certainly has been a nice pitch to have in his back pocket, as it’s been his most valuable offering on a per-100-pitch basis, at 0.77 wCB/. He’s also thrown it twice as frequently as he did in 2010, 10.6% of the time this season compared to 4.9% last year. Glad to see that Freddy reads TYA.
Curiously, the change, which had been his best pitch the last two seasons, hasn’t been quite as effective, though that hasn’t really mattered as much since he’s killing people with his splitter. I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t even take the splitter into account in that aforelinked analysis as so few pitchers throw one and it didn’t occur to me that it would be a significant weapon, but here we are on July 26 and Freddy’s had the third-most effective splitter in all of baseball. Sure it’s a small sample size (only nine pitchers), but there’s no denying it’s been a huge asset for him.
Anyway, I didn’t realize this game recap would end up turning into a mini-analysis, so to wrap it up, the Yanks went to town on Jason Vargas, roughing him up for 8 runs (only four earned) over 4 innings, including a Mark Teixeira two-run jack and a Derek Jeter — yes, you read that correctly — solo shot. The Captain also added a triple for good measure against reliever David Pauley, giving him 12 extra-base hits against righties on the year. Believe it or not, he actually only has 9 XBHs against lefties, though obviously that total has come in far fewer chances.
Yankee lefty reliever Steve Garrison came on in the top of the ninth to make his Major League debut and retired the only two men he faced. All in all, a highly satisfying Yankee win, and the team needs to continue to play to the level its capable of as it soldiers onward through this comforting soft patch in their schedule.
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6 Responses to Garcia strong once again as Yanks extend Mariners’ misery in 10-3 victory
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TIQ IQ
I wonder whether, if the Yankees acquire another starter by the trade deadline, they have the guts to drop either Hughes or Burnett from the rotation to make space for the newcomer. Strictly on merit, both Colon and Garcia have outpitched those two this season, and it isn’t even close. (This assumes Hughes isn’t part of a deal, of course.)
Burnett will stay in the rotation, he makes too much money to do anything with. The likely outcome would be Hughes to the pen in some capacity, since he is out of options it’s the only choice.
The team won’t drop Burnett. He’s been better than Hughes this season, to say the least. Also, while it doesn’t make much sense, teams are hesitant to send down expensive veterans, even if they should.
I was discussing this with a friend on Sunday. We agreed that Hughes gets one more start.
On a happy note, not only did the Yankees win, but the Red Sox lost!
Paul O’Neil commented last night on how the splitter is deployed as the “out” pitch: the batter should have done something with that pitch (called for a strike), because it’s now 2 – 2, and he’s going to have to face the splitter. (or something like that)
Re Scout’s statement, if Phil continues to be inconsistent, he should receive the lighter duty. AJ still bears potential to pitch productively. He has typically pitched well for several innings, then runs into trouble, or the trouble comes first, then he settles down. Seems just a confidence thing that could be addressed.
I’m only vaguely familiar with the subject, but isn’t there an impediment to assigning Hughes to the minors, like waivers, or something?
In case I wasn’t clear, I spoke of dropping either from the rotation, not the team.
Oh, good. If Phil keeps having problems, I’d be in favor of adding him to the pen. He could work on things, and try them out in games. Probably just time will bring that dead arm back to life.