NakamuraQ&A: World Series Part 2 featuring Hank
This is a simple "Question and Answer" session I had with my friend Hank on the 2009 World Series. To see Part One with "Dangerous" Dan, go to this Really Long Link Otherwise, here it is, Q&A, part 2!
Question 1: What did you think of Cliff Lee's performance in Game 5?
Nakamura: He got the job done. He won the Game and sent the series back to New York. With that being said, he was not the dominant Cliff Lee that we saw in Game 1. Then, he was unstoppable. No matter what happened, the Yankees could not make solid contact. Lazy fly balls, weak ground balls and explosive strikeouts. The 27 outs went by quick for the Yankees. But in Game 5, he gave up 5 earned runs on 7 hits with 3 strikeouts and 3 walks. The weather forcast predicts rain on Thursday, or Game 7. If the Phillies get lucky and get the game postponed, they will have the option to pitch Lee on 3 days rest. The Phillies need to be
certain that the dominant Cliff Lee can show up if this happens.
Hank: The key to Cliff Lee's success is his pinpoint control. Usually, he'll throw two fastballs perfectly located to get ahead then he will either blow you away with a high fastball or make you look like your playing cricket with his nasty "spiked curveball." If you take away his pinpoint control, then everything else falls apart. To some extent, this is what happened Monday night. He wasn't getting ahead of hitters right out of the gate and that made it hard for him to throw the pitches he wanted to. That said, he still got the win and pitched like a true veteran, similar to how Andy Pettite got through his start in game 3. The problem for the Phillies is he won't be able to start game 6 and game 7 for them. The thing that has impressed me the most is the fact that throughout the playoffs, Cliff Lee has shown his ability to make the big moment seem just like any other start. Considering that this is the first time he has ever pitched in the playoffs, this is quite remarkable. Whether or not the Phillies win the series, they got a steal in Cliff Lee, and will be very excited to have him for a whole season next year.
Question 2: What are your thoughts on 2nd baseman Chase Utley?
Nakamura: The National League has been known to play a different offense than the American League. They are supposed to play small ball to win. There are supposed to be bunts and stolen bases. But the Phillies have relied on the long ball for their offense. Chase Utley has tied Reggie Jackson's record for most home runs in a World Series. He has become unstoppable. He was pretty much the only source of offense for Game 1. You would think that with the amount of power he has shown, the Yankees would be more careful and pitch around a bit more. But even a struggling Ryan Howard is intimidating, not to mention a red hot Jayson Werth.
Hank: Chase Utley has been the key to the Phillies' offense throughout this series. He has tied Reggie Jackson's record for most home runs in a World Series with 5. To put it simply, Utley has just been fantastic. He hit two home runs in Game 1 to essentially win the game for them (along with Lee's dominant performance). He hit another off Sabathia in Game 4 and then 2 more with Cliff Lee pitching to give the Phillies another win. Utley's amazing
performance has also helped Philly fans overlook Ryan Howard's awful World Series. Without Utley, the series would be over and the Yankees would be hoisting the trophy. But besides that, he has made CC look hittable. In the ALDS and ALCS, CC was just unstoppable. Yankee fans believed no one would beat him, even Cliff Lee. Utley has changed that. The significance of this is, now, if the series goes to a Game 7, the Phillies and their fans won't be scared about matching up against the 6'7 290 pound lefty.
Question 3: What do you think about Girardi's decision to pitch AJ Burnett on 3 days rest in Game 5?
Nakamura: Poorly made decision. This was something that could have been planned so much earlier. Girardi knew who would pitch Game 1, 2 and 3. CC's place in Game 4 was obvious. But its clear to everyone who has watched any baseball in the last 4 years that AJ has had no success on the level of CC on short rest. But that's not all. He also knew Lee was pitching Game 5. After Sabathia received a loss despite his great efforts, did he honestly think Burnett would have been more lucky? The Game 5 starter should have been Joba Chamberlain. The Phillies had never faced him before the World Series and Joba has the ability to dominate... from time to time. He pitched in Game 3 and 4 for a combined 2 innings, but neither of the games required him. They could have easily gone with Hughes, Robertson or Coke. And worst case comes to be, Joba loses. You still have a day off the next day to have your bullpen recover. And on top of that, you have a terrible dilemma in front of you... AJ on full rest or Pettite on short rest?
Hank: From the beginning of the series I wanted Chad Gaudin to pitch in Game 5. I'm no manager, but I know how baseball works. Pitchers on three days rest are about 12-54 going against pitchers on full rest. But Chad Gaudin? The guy that's has been on 4 teams in the last two years? Yes, but there's a good reason to choose him. Cliff Lee.There's two possible scenarios of Gaudin starts: Scenario one: The Yankees steal a game and you end up with an unlikely World Series hero. Scenario two: The Yankees lose, but not because of Gaudin. A loss simply because Cliff Lee out dueled them. But if you assume that they lose, it means that they go to their home park with a fully rested A.J. Burnett in Game 6 and CC Sabathia in game 7. And just as a bonus, Andy Pettite becomes your set up man for Mariano Rivera and we all know how shaky the Yankees bullpen has been this playoffs. I can't imagine the Yankees giving up more than three or four runs in either game with AJ, Andy, and Mo.
But Girardi went with scenario three: Go with AJ on short rest where he could easily get the loss facing Cliff Lee. Not only that, this forces you to throw Andy on short rest when he is a pitcher who loves an extra day off. On top of that, for Game 6 and 7, you still have to use that shaky bullpen instead of having Andy there to back up CC. It seems pretty clear to me that Joe Girardi's decision we can tell he trusts his starters too much.
Question 4: What do you think of Molina starting over Jorge?
Nakamura: Molina is one of the best defensive catchers in the game. He is also a right handed hitter and knows Burnett better than Jorge. But something went wrong because AJ's outing was well below par. Would the game have gone more smoothly if Jorge caught? No one will know. But Posada finished the game so it is not as if it was a day off for him. My answer is it doesn't matter. I think this decision is irrelevant to the outcome of the game. AJ didn't have his stuff that day, and that's that.
Hank: I think its the right call. Pitching is more important than hitting and if starting Molina will help Burnett then it is 100% the right call. The problem is that Burnett has only had 1 dominant start and got blown up in his last start. But if Burnett feels more comfortable with Molina, then it is the right call. Your not going to lose much offensively. Posada will get in the game as soon as Burnett is done and will get 2 or 3 at bats in the late innings when it counts most. Pitching over hitting 100% of the time.
That's it for Part 2 of the World Series Q&A. Special Thanks to Hank for participating in this interview. If you have any questions that you would like to see us answer, please leave a comment. You can also suggest the next player for "Over and Under".
PART THREE (featuring Hank) WILL BE RELEASED ON WEDNESDAY 11/4/09 AT 7 AM
-Written by: Nakamura. This article is copyrighted © by Nakamura and may not be reproduced, recopied, or used in any form without permission from Nakamura.
Question 1: What did you think of Cliff Lee's performance in Game 5?
Nakamura: He got the job done. He won the Game and sent the series back to New York. With that being said, he was not the dominant Cliff Lee that we saw in Game 1. Then, he was unstoppable. No matter what happened, the Yankees could not make solid contact. Lazy fly balls, weak ground balls and explosive strikeouts. The 27 outs went by quick for the Yankees. But in Game 5, he gave up 5 earned runs on 7 hits with 3 strikeouts and 3 walks. The weather forcast predicts rain on Thursday, or Game 7. If the Phillies get lucky and get the game postponed, they will have the option to pitch Lee on 3 days rest. The Phillies need to be
Game 5 was no gem, but he got the job done
Hank: The key to Cliff Lee's success is his pinpoint control. Usually, he'll throw two fastballs perfectly located to get ahead then he will either blow you away with a high fastball or make you look like your playing cricket with his nasty "spiked curveball." If you take away his pinpoint control, then everything else falls apart. To some extent, this is what happened Monday night. He wasn't getting ahead of hitters right out of the gate and that made it hard for him to throw the pitches he wanted to. That said, he still got the win and pitched like a true veteran, similar to how Andy Pettite got through his start in game 3. The problem for the Phillies is he won't be able to start game 6 and game 7 for them. The thing that has impressed me the most is the fact that throughout the playoffs, Cliff Lee has shown his ability to make the big moment seem just like any other start. Considering that this is the first time he has ever pitched in the playoffs, this is quite remarkable. Whether or not the Phillies win the series, they got a steal in Cliff Lee, and will be very excited to have him for a whole season next year.
Question 2: What are your thoughts on 2nd baseman Chase Utley?
Nakamura: The National League has been known to play a different offense than the American League. They are supposed to play small ball to win. There are supposed to be bunts and stolen bases. But the Phillies have relied on the long ball for their offense. Chase Utley has tied Reggie Jackson's record for most home runs in a World Series. He has become unstoppable. He was pretty much the only source of offense for Game 1. You would think that with the amount of power he has shown, the Yankees would be more careful and pitch around a bit more. But even a struggling Ryan Howard is intimidating, not to mention a red hot Jayson Werth.
Hank: Chase Utley has been the key to the Phillies' offense throughout this series. He has tied Reggie Jackson's record for most home runs in a World Series with 5. To put it simply, Utley has just been fantastic. He hit two home runs in Game 1 to essentially win the game for them (along with Lee's dominant performance). He hit another off Sabathia in Game 4 and then 2 more with Cliff Lee pitching to give the Phillies another win. Utley's amazing
He's already carrying the Phillies offense, what more can he do?
Question 3: What do you think about Girardi's decision to pitch AJ Burnett on 3 days rest in Game 5?
Nakamura: Poorly made decision. This was something that could have been planned so much earlier. Girardi knew who would pitch Game 1, 2 and 3. CC's place in Game 4 was obvious. But its clear to everyone who has watched any baseball in the last 4 years that AJ has had no success on the level of CC on short rest. But that's not all. He also knew Lee was pitching Game 5. After Sabathia received a loss despite his great efforts, did he honestly think Burnett would have been more lucky? The Game 5 starter should have been Joba Chamberlain. The Phillies had never faced him before the World Series and Joba has the ability to dominate... from time to time. He pitched in Game 3 and 4 for a combined 2 innings, but neither of the games required him. They could have easily gone with Hughes, Robertson or Coke. And worst case comes to be, Joba loses. You still have a day off the next day to have your bullpen recover. And on top of that, you have a terrible dilemma in front of you... AJ on full rest or Pettite on short rest?
AJ Burnett and Jose Molina
Hank: From the beginning of the series I wanted Chad Gaudin to pitch in Game 5. I'm no manager, but I know how baseball works. Pitchers on three days rest are about 12-54 going against pitchers on full rest. But Chad Gaudin? The guy that's has been on 4 teams in the last two years? Yes, but there's a good reason to choose him. Cliff Lee.There's two possible scenarios of Gaudin starts: Scenario one: The Yankees steal a game and you end up with an unlikely World Series hero. Scenario two: The Yankees lose, but not because of Gaudin. A loss simply because Cliff Lee out dueled them. But if you assume that they lose, it means that they go to their home park with a fully rested A.J. Burnett in Game 6 and CC Sabathia in game 7. And just as a bonus, Andy Pettite becomes your set up man for Mariano Rivera and we all know how shaky the Yankees bullpen has been this playoffs. I can't imagine the Yankees giving up more than three or four runs in either game with AJ, Andy, and Mo.
But Girardi went with scenario three: Go with AJ on short rest where he could easily get the loss facing Cliff Lee. Not only that, this forces you to throw Andy on short rest when he is a pitcher who loves an extra day off. On top of that, for Game 6 and 7, you still have to use that shaky bullpen instead of having Andy there to back up CC. It seems pretty clear to me that Joe Girardi's decision we can tell he trusts his starters too much.
Question 4: What do you think of Molina starting over Jorge?
Nakamura: Molina is one of the best defensive catchers in the game. He is also a right handed hitter and knows Burnett better than Jorge. But something went wrong because AJ's outing was well below par. Would the game have gone more smoothly if Jorge caught? No one will know. But Posada finished the game so it is not as if it was a day off for him. My answer is it doesn't matter. I think this decision is irrelevant to the outcome of the game. AJ didn't have his stuff that day, and that's that.
Hank: I think its the right call. Pitching is more important than hitting and if starting Molina will help Burnett then it is 100% the right call. The problem is that Burnett has only had 1 dominant start and got blown up in his last start. But if Burnett feels more comfortable with Molina, then it is the right call. Your not going to lose much offensively. Posada will get in the game as soon as Burnett is done and will get 2 or 3 at bats in the late innings when it counts most. Pitching over hitting 100% of the time.
That's it for Part 2 of the World Series Q&A. Special Thanks to Hank for participating in this interview. If you have any questions that you would like to see us answer, please leave a comment. You can also suggest the next player for "Over and Under".
PART THREE (featuring Hank) WILL BE RELEASED ON WEDNESDAY 11/4/09 AT 7 AM
-Written by: Nakamura. This article is copyrighted © by Nakamura and may not be reproduced, recopied, or used in any form without permission from Nakamura.
