Repeat after me: “Teams are not as good as they look when they are hot, and they are not as bad as they look when they are playing badly.”  SU is a firm believer in that saying and it especially applies to baseball when you play pretty much every day.  Of course, I was very disappointed in the Yankees’ performance over the weekend as I expected this to be a statement series.  My expectations for this team have been modest all year long so having them slip back record-wise is not a huge surprise.  But, SU does have some concerns:

• Tanaka pitched well for 6 innings.  2 runs, only 80 pitches.  But Girardi pulled him anyway citing him not having pitched much on only 4 days rest this year.  SU asks the question: if he doesn’t have surgery, is this the way he will be the rest of his career?  Do you need to have a 6-man rotation for him?  And can you really consider him to be an ace?
• The Yankees have gone something like 10 games in a row with their starter pitching 6 innings or less.  It’s a huge burden on the bullpen and SU continues to say that Girardi is masterful in how he handles his relievers.  Joe Torre was the worst – he would pitch guys 4 days in a row (see Tanyon Sturtze and Scott Proctor).  But if you play a lot of close games down the stretch, at some point it will start to show in the performance of the key guys.  Something to watch.
• The tradition of fans throwing opposition homeruns back onto the field is just stupid.  Brett Gardner was hit in the back of the head yesterday.  SU says it’s like doing the wave at Yankee Stadium: we don’t do that.
• Gardner does not even have a stealing attempt going back to early June or something like that.  The team has stopped running and is just waiting for the 3-run homerun.  Sometimes, you need to try and manufacture runs.
• Jacoby Ellsbury is one streaky hitter.  In his 2 years here, he is either red hot or ice cold.  The Yankees will start winning again once he figures it out.
• Stephen Drew came up Friday night late in the game with a runner on 1st, one out and the only infielder on the left side hugging 2nd base.  How he does not bunt or just slap the ball the other way is beyond me.  If you are Mark Texeiria, it’s one thing.  You hope he will go deep.  When you are hitting .190, how does the manager not call for him to do that?  SU says it’s selfish.  As he cools again (and I use the word “cools” loosely given his batting average), and Brendan Ryan reverts to his career numbers, SU once again would like to see Refsnyder brought back up.

SU will not panic but the Yankees really need to win the division.  They don’t have a true ace to start a wild card game and win it.  The Blue Jays have a great 1-4 in the line-up, but really the rest of the hitters are not that wonderful.  And they are all righties.  Time to pitch inside and make guys uncomfortable.  SU was very surprised not to see that this weekend but it’s something to watch out for next weekend up in Toronto.

Meanwhile, the Mets are playing inspired ball with a lot of enthusiasm.  They lost a couple of close games in Tampa but they now come home against Colorado with a chance to build on the lead as the Nationals are out West.  SU is watching.

SU has had its doubts about the Yankees all year.  Many on this blog have been waiting for SU to get on the Yankee band wagon.  The last 4 games are reinforcing my questioning of just how good this team is offensively.  Sure, 90 runs in 9 games is awesome but not sustainable.  Today is another lifeless effort.

Long way to go in the season but Cashman opted to stand pat offensively.  This team needs a jolt.  Finally, full disclosure: last night, SU switched to the Met game in the 9th inning.  A lot more energy and excitement.  The transition is on as the Mets take over the town.  It’s happening.

SU is pumped for the Yankees – Blue Jays series this weekend.  This is the time of year that baseball has the sports world (mostly) to itself.  These are big games – feels like the first time we can say that in about 3 years in Yankeeland.  Here is what to expect:

• Yankees face a knuckleballer for the 2nd time in 3 games.  Does this help?  SU says absolutely – they will score 9 runs tonight off of RA Dickey.  Time to make the early statement.
• Ellsbury is finally showing signs of revival just as Tex is going down a bit.  But that’s baseball: you never have everyone hitting on all cylinders.
• Yankees need to knock down Jose Bautista tonight to send a message.  SU is confident that if Evoldi doesn’t do it, Nova will tomorrow.  After all, Nova threw one over his head when he was a rookie and got the staredown from Joey Batts.
• I liked the fire from CC last night after he struck out Big Papi in the 6th inning with the bases loaded.  He was throwing 94 mph last night – good sign for him.  And good for Yankee fans as Girardi talks like he is in the mix for the playoff rotation which is of course very scary.
• They face David Price tomorrow for about the 30th time.  That is actually good for the home team.

We will learn about the Yankees by Sunday evening.  Is this team for real?  SU has been skeptical all year.  Time to be proven wrong starting tonight.  What do you think?

Lots of excitement in Yankeeland as they appear to have their first bonafide star starting pitcher who was developed from their farm system since Andy Pettitte.  Now, Pettitte was a rookie for the Yankees in 1995.  If you are the GM, and if you are developing stud pitchers every 20 years, you may want to polish up your resume.  But not the case for Brian Cashman who is as secure in his job as anyone around.

SU likes the way Severino just stands on the rubber ready to go to the next pitch.  No nonsense.  But…. I read a report from a scout who says that his motion is pretty violent and for someone throwing high 90s heat, he is not that big.  This scout wonders if his arm can hold up under the stress of that throwing motion.  Tommy John waiting to happen?

Big game tonight for CC Sabathia.  The Yankees play 6 of their next 9 games against Toronto and they really need CC not to be terrible.  SU believes if they can go 3-3 with the Blue Jays, they will be in good shape the rest of the way.  The key is not to give them hope.  Tanaka was serviceable on Tuesday but he is not pitching like last season.  The offense continues to cook without any contribution from Jacoby Ellsbury who has fallen from around .325 when he returned from the DL to about .275 in just a few weeks.  He is very hot and cold.  For $22 million a year, you can do better than that.

The Mets almost let one get away last night in the 9th inning.  SU likes the way that they took care of business in Miami after an emotional sweep of the Nats over the weekend.  They are just 1 week removed from the Carlos Gomez debacle.  Pretty amazing.  Definitely the Minolta Turning Point of the Season for them.

Stumbled across this ESPN Sports Center ad with Yasiel Puig.  Gave me a chuckle.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=13356536

SU asks this question: if you are mostly sitting on the bench, how do you get hurt?  The Yankees just announced that their latest utility infielder acquisition, Dustin Ackley from Seattle, has been placed on the DL with a right lumbar strain.  How is that possible?  Out 20-30 days and surgery is a possibility.  It’s not like he was this great pick up but still…

SU will give Brian Cashman a pass as he was smart enough to not trade any of their prospects for some over-priced contract.  As a long-time Yankee fan, I would much rather watch guys like Judge, Refsnyder and Severino for years to come than see a rental pitcher for a few months who will be gone come October – even if it means missing the playoffs this year.

The Yankees need a back-up first baseman.  And if Texeiria goes down with an injury, they are really exposed.  That is the one position where they are extremely vulnerable.

SU tuned in to the Met game last night to see 3 homeruns in about 5 minutes from a team that just a few days ago could not hit.  The fans were on their feet and Citifield was truly rocking.  SU expects the gloom and doom fans who call in to WFAN to be few and far between now as ownership made the moves that needed to be made.  The acquisition of Cespedes as a rental player is just the kind of move that the big boys do year-after-year.  If he can get hot, that adds a lot to the line up.  SU is on record that if the Mets get in the playoff hunt, they will steal the backpage of the tabloids from the Yankees.  I maintain my position and let’s see now what happens.  Of course, they need to play on the road like they play at home (check the splits – really different).  But when you can throw out a stud pitcher every night, the fans get excited.

Meanwhile, the Yankees surprisingly keep chugging along and have no more games outside of the Eastern time zone for the rest of the season.  The offense from the bottom of the order has come alive and even Stephen Drew is showing signs of having a pulse.  SU is excited to see how Severino does this week in his Major League debut.  Long-time subscriber A. Grossman, who seems shy about posting on the blog, sent these comments SU’s way this morning:

“The Yankees don’t get to high or too low in their mind set as they approach each game. No egos…. just business at hand. With our underachieving 2nd baseman batting a crisp 370 BA in the month of July might be the last piece in our lineup which we can almost say is not formidable from top to bottom… almost.  We are not a flashy team and does not rely on one or two players anymore. These past 2 weeks the bottom 3 in our lineup has definitely participated in our wins. To keep this steady karma going should help us not getting into a slump… I hope.  I don’t think we are going to run away with the division. As long as we win more series than losses we may be able to climb to about 17- 19 over 500… which would put us at a surprising 90-72…. 7 games ahead of Las Vegas prediction.  PS   We can’t trade Nova as he is fresh and just getting back in the swing of things. Who else will step up now from our Starters?”

SU is cautiously optimistic now (a big change for me from earlier in the year) but 12 games left with Toronto will likely tell the story.

Met fans: are you legitimately excited?  Or have your hearts been broken one too many times?  Time to stop the moaning and groaning?

For those of you keeping score at home, there has been a flurry of activity this afternoon.  First, David Price goes off the board as the Toronto Blue Jays are all in now.  They moved their top Major League pitching prospect, Norris, to get Price.  Then the Yankees announce that Pineda has a forearm strain and is going on the DL.  Combine that with Nova having a dead arm in his last start and Tanaka being very pedestrian last night and you wonder if Cashman is looking for a do-over with the Tigers.  But not to fear Yankee fans!  In Cashman’s never, ending pursuit of fielding a team of only utility infielders, they have acquired Dustin Ackley from the Seattle Mariners for a couple of minor leaguers.  Ackley hasn’t played 2nd base in 2 years (see Robinson Cano in Seattle) but can play shortstop and the outfield.  He was once a highly touted prospect but is now hitting .211.

Some say he could be packaged in another move or else provide insurance to move Refsnyder so the Yankees can avoid lowering the average age of the team.  Surely Stephen Drew will be part of the next move.  Right?  But SU has its doubts now.  He’s a keeper!  SU says let’s begin the Luis Severino Era now and get him up here and put him in the rotation.  Adam Warren should be slotted in as well.  CC going tonight – the Rangers are putting up special outfield netting so no-one gets hurt by the long homeruns this evening.

Meanwhile, everyone is having a lot of fun at the Mets’ expense today after their screw-up with the Carlos Gomez trade last night.  Terry Collins was very funny in his post-game comments as he apparently had no clue that there was a trade in the works during the game.  The Mets still have one more day to find that hitter.  SU says more to come by both hometown teams in the next 24 hours.

SU liked the Mets’ pick-up of Tyler Clippard.  He is a good bridge type guy to get to their closer and has a lot of experience.  He will blow a couple of games along the way but he’s solid and it doesn’t look like the Mets gave up too much to get him.  They still need that big bat but time is running out and it’s not obvious who that might be.  But hey, management has made some moves so the fan base needs to get on board.

Meanwhile, Tulowitzki is on his way to the Blue Jays who really need pitching, not more offense.  But what do I know?  Reyes moves to Colorado and Twitter is active with calls for the Mets to get Reyes back in NY.  Ben Zobrist was just traded from the A’s to the Royals who have now made two big moves (they got Johnny Cueto from the Reds).  There are still stories out there about the Yankees looking at other utility infielders like Martin Prado.  SU says just bring up Refsnyder and let’s start the youth movement now.  Why is every other team able to incorporate rookies into their line up but not the Yankees?

The NFL just upheld Tom Brady’s 4-game suspension and apparently is upset that he destroyed his cell phone.  This story will not die.  I know many of you hate the Pats and believe in the sanctity of the game and all that.  SU says this gotten so blown out of proportion and will now hang over training camp right up til the start of the season.  I guess it’s good for the NFL as it just keeps it front and center all the time.  4 games still sounds overly harsh to me.

Optimism abounds in New York today as the NY baseball teams both had successful weekends.  The Mets rebounded from the depths of non-offensive baseball Friday night by winning 2 huge games against the Dodgers over the weekend.  They also got early dividends from their rookie call-up and the acquisition of two veterans from the Atlanta Braves.  Relatively new SU subscriber and frequent commenter, Mark N., wrote this morning:

“Met’s trade for some offense, promote another hitter and are making a run. I’m looking forward to a subway series.”  Sure, why not get excited?

Meanwhile, SU believes that the Yankees had their “Minolta Turning Point of the Season” moment on Saturday night when they rallied from a 5-0 deficit behind Alex (“Don’t call me A-Rod”) Rodriguez’s 3 homeruns and John Ryan Murphy’s unexpected 3-run dinger in the 9th inning.  They followed that up with a strong pitching performance yesterday by Evoldi and another Stephen Drew homerun which guarantees him another 3 weeks on the roster (unfortunately).  SU is starting to believe now as they are getting more offensive contributions up and down the line-up.  Even Chase Headley did something over the weekend which is huge as he is in there every day and just cannot be that mediocre all the time.

A-Rod was interviewed last week and had this revelation.  SU is paraphrasing but it’s basically this: “I went from being Alex in Seattle to A-Rod in Texas.  Now this year I’m back to being Alex again and just having fun playing baseball.”  SU says hey, whatever floats your boat and keeps you playing well.  Many suspect he is still using PEDs but SU does not.  While the chemists are usually ahead of the testers, he has too much to lose both financially and in the court of public opinion if he is caught again.  SU enjoys watching him hit and he is starting to look like the 2009 version now.

Is Mark N. right?  Subway series?  SU says the National are definitely not world beaters and that is the Mets’ path to the playoffs.  Supposedly they are heavily scouting Bruce on the Reds.  Makes a lot of sense – big bat.  Time to believe?