Author Archives: Nick Fleder

What makes a good Yankee Stadium pitcher?

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Nick Fleder

Phil Hughes doesn’t like Yankee Stadium. It’s short fences aren’t fit for his league leading 48.1% fly-ball rate, and it bites him with home run after home run. Him and Yankee Stadium were never meant to be friends. Each of them have little invested in the success of the other; Yankee Stadium doesn’t help Hughes ...

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The unknowns in criticism: over-management

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Nick Fleder

It’s a partly cloudy day in late June – hot out for a 7:05 game – and the Yankees had mounted a 3-1 lead over the Chicago White Sox. The big-bucks pack in the middle of the order, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, and Alex Rodriguez, had done their jobs, setting up the supposed top-flight bullpen ...

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Thoughts on the final game of the Subway Series

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Nick Fleder

So, about that pitching duel… C.C. Sabathia wasn’t very sharp with his pitches, and R.A. Dickey wasn’t very sharp with his command… There were 19 hits in what seemed to be billed as the duel of the year… There were five errors, two big home runs, and a combined Game Score of 82 for the ...

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Yankees by the numbers: 36 Facts, Enigmas, Trends, and Whatnot

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Nick Fleder

4.50 Ivan Nova’s home ERA in his 146 innings in Yankee Stadium. 3.50 Ivan Nova’s road ERA, on the other hand, in 139 road innings over his career. 2 Solo home runs allowed by Ivan Nova in the first inning of Game 5 of the 2011 ALDS, a home start. 2 Number of runs the Yankees lost to the ...

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5 Pitchers the Yankees can target at the trade deadline

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Nick Fleder

It’s pretty much predestination that the Yankees are buyers at each and every trade deadline, due to a mix of their high payroll, scrutinizing press, and general success in the AL East. Generally, the real question is: “What are they trying to buy?” It’s pretty crystal clear this year that a starting pitcher is their ...

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Yankees struggles with runners in scoring position

Posted on June 4, 2012 by Nick Fleder

Time for some fun graphs, folks. What might this graph tell us? Quite a lot (none of which, remember, tells the whole story). From glancing, you might come to some or all of these conclusions: The Yankees suck with runners in scoring position as a function of their low batting average. The Yankees don’t only suck with runners ...

Posted in Editorial | 5 Comments

Hiroki Kuroda pitchF/X Diagnostic Check

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Nick Fleder

You don’t need me to repeat it, but I will anyway: Hiroki Kuroda’s been an utter disappointment thus far, pitching at the replacement level, losing his control, and serving up long balls like it’s nobody’s business. And while eight innings of shutout ball against the Oakland Athletics last night may turn some heads, Kuroda’s still ...

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Ma and Pa Pinstripe not going anywhere…unfortunately

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Nick Fleder

“’At the end of the day,’ said one Yankee source told Bob Raissman of the NY Daily News, ‘people listen to the games because they want to listen to the Yankees. Media guys rip John. (The Yankee hierarchy) don’t care. You don’t love him, but they know their fans do.’” Apparently, the Yankee brass is set ...

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A PitchF/X look at Andy Pettitte’s return

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Nick Fleder

It was not a triumphant return to the majors by Andy Pettitte on Sunday. He walked three, struck out only two, threw a wild pitch and gave up two meatball home runs in six and a third innings. That said, he did a fairly good job of only allowing four runs to plate, and a ...

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A look at Freddy Garcia and Phil Hughes

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Nick Fleder

This is a far cry from what the Yankees, and from what we, the fans, expected this January. It seemed like the Yankees’ ran nine-deep in terms of starting pitching, mostly because they did. This was before Michael Pineda tore his labrum. This was before Triple-A implosions from both Dellin Betances (21 walks in 22-plus ...

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