Ubaldo a "longshot" for Yankees

Jon Heyman tweeted that the Yankees aren't willing to trade a big prospect for a reliever, but are still looking for starting pitching. He called a Yankees/Rockies deal for Ubaldo Jimenez a "longshot."

Would they turn to Wandy? Since the beginning of the 2009 season, Wandy has made 82 starts, posting a 3.38 ERA/1.29 WHIP, and a 2.78 K:BB ratio, with a 117 OPS+. Ubaldo Jimenez, in the same timeframe, has made 84 starts, with a 3.35 ERA/1.22 WHIP, a 2.32 K:BB ratio, and a 139 OPS+.

Jimenez' contract is much friendlier ($20.75m through 2014, with buyouts in 2013/14) than Wandy's contract ($7m in 2011, $10m in 2012, $13m in 2013, and his $13m option for 2014 becomes a player option if he's traded), but what's $43m to the Yankees?

Reactions to G50 - Rockies at Astros

It's a walk-off! It's a walk-off.

Tejada
"What I've got in my head is just try to be on base as much as I can. Right now, I'm really close to leading off. I'm really selective in the pitches to hit, I can wait for the pitch I want. I am really careful with what I do at the plate. "I've never been leading the league [in hitting], not even for one day," Tejada said. "Now, I'm really happy to be leading for a couple of days. But it's not something I'm looking for. Right now, I just want to see how much I can help the team win some ballgames.""

Berkman:
"He's off to a great start. That's the kind of player he's been his whole career. It's not really surprising. He's a great player."

Ubaldo (ha!) Jimenez:
"I know my fastball was there, but I was battling with control issues. I got runners on every single inning. My breaking ball was good, but they did a pretty good job against me."

Jim Tracy:
"This was a very tough game to lose. The way things are going for us offensively, tonight's game just illustrates it. We have no room for error. We had some chances to open this game up, but our pitchers had to be perfect."

Paulino:
"I think the team will take on Miguel’s spirit and energy. The emotion and spirit that he brings is great and strong.”

Ortiz, on Tejada:
“Coming here, I knew he was a good hitter. Man, he’s just seeing the ball great right now to hit .360-something. And he just keeps rising and rising. Obviously, that’s good for us. Hopefully something like today with him getting that big hit is something that can propel us forward.”

Back to Tejada:
“It’s really fun. When you have that, it makes you come to the park early to work and have a good game. I think right now we’re really feeling real good, especially when we win the games that we’ve won in a row.”

Recap for G50 - Rockies at Astros

Holy Hannah. Miguel Tejada continues his torrid pace - and his hit streak to 16 games - with an 11th inning walk-off as the Astros defeated the Rockies 3-2.

Paulino pitched a pretty great game. A quality start, though he didn't figure in the decision. Kept his pitch count down. Good start from Paulino, and Brandon Backe goes back to the voodoo doll.

Paulino: 6IP, 5H/2ER, 7K:1BB
Fulchino: 1IP, 2H, 1K
Byrdak: 1IP, 1BB
Arias: 1IP, 2K:2BB
LaHawk: 1IP, 1K:1BB
Oritz: 1IP, 1H, 1K (1 win)

Paulino got the first eight batters he faced, striking out the side in the first, and only allowing an infield single to pitcher Ubaldo (I just like saying it) Jimenez. He ran into some troble in the 4th with two consecutive doubles to Helton and Hawpe, and then an RBI single to Seth Smith. And then that was pretty much it, no homers, no other extra-base hits. And, once again, 30 non-contact strikes.

Pitcher	Pit/Str	Strike%	BF/Outs	Efficiency%	GB/FB/K
Paulino	87/55	63.2%	24/18	66.7%	5/6/7
Fulchino	27/17	63%	5/3	60%	0/2/1
Byrdak	14/7	50%	4/3	75%	2/1/0
Arias	27/15	55.6%	5/3	60%	1/0/2
LaHawk	20/10	50%	4/3	75%	0/2/1
Ortiz	15/9	60%	4/3	75%	2/0/1
Total	190/113	59.5%	46/33	71.7%	10/11/12

Arias had the roughest outing - 27 pitches (two walks will do that to you) in one inning, but he did escape unscathed, and his ERA is under 4.00.

Berkman remained in the 5-hole and responded with two hits, while the Astros got multi-hit games from Bourn, Tejada, Berkman, and The Revelation - Edwin Maysonet. Anyone get the feeling that it's going to be a good long time before Maysonet comes out of the lineup? I certainly hope so. However, it was Miguel Tejada who did his thing. Four hits. All three RBI. Dude is now hitting .362 after a 4x6 game.

The Astros did leave some baserunners. One in the first, two in the 2nd, technically one in the 3rd (on Lee's inning-ending GIDP), two in the 5th, two in the 6th, two in the 8th, three in the 9th. That's 13. 2x13 with RISP. But thanks be to Miguel Tejada, who is increasing his trade value (come on, his contract runs out at the end of the season, let's get something for him) daily. Josh Fogg only lasted six pitches before giving up the walk-off to Miggs, the Astros first walk-off homer of the year, and Miggs' sixth walk-off homer of his career.

Man of the Match:
Seriously? Miguel Tejada, come on down.

Goat of the Game:
We're going back to Carlos Lee. 0x4 with 5LOB. He ended three innings and struck out looking.

Matchup for G50 - Rockies at Astros

The last time the Astros won three in a row? May 8-10 vs San Diego. So the Astros go at a three game win streak this evening with Paulino facing Ubaldo Jimenez. Strangely enough (or not), this is the exact same matchup that occurred on May 12 at Coors Field. What happened?

I'd rather not think about it. But we must. Here's your line:

Paulino: 4IP, 7H/7ER, 2K:4BB
Jimenez: 7IP, 7H/1ER, 4K:0BB

Paulino turned in a game score of 16 for the evening.

Paulino

At least Paulino went six innings last time out. It was the first time since April 24 that he made it through the sixth inning.

Last three starts:

Date-Opp	IP	H/ER	K:BB	GB/FB	Pit/Str
5/12 @COL	4	7/7	4:2	8/9	96/55
5/22 vTEX	5.1	7/4	3:2	6/13	102/66
5/27 @CIN	6	7/4	4:0	9/12	84/59

So this part, at least, is encouraging: over the last two games, Paulino did record 29 swinging strikes, and 59 non-contact strikes total. So his stuff is there, at least partially.

Let's do the splits:
vs Righties: 30x93, .323/.394/.462, 13K:9BB
vs Lefties: 20x56, .357/.438/.661, 13K:7BB

The lefty average is a concern, and the Rockies have three lefties and a switch-hitter in their lineup. Could be another long night.

When swinging at the first pitch (20): .500/.526/1.222, 6XBH
After First-Pitch Strikes (75): .348/.392/.449, 13K:4BB
After First-Pitch Balls (77): .274/.400/.435, 13K:12BB

RISP: 20x44, .455/.529/.545, 10K:6BB
Runners on: 26x71, .366/.451/.507, 16K:9BB
2OwRISP: 12x21, .571/.625/.619, 4K:3BB

Ubaldo Jimenez

Jimenez has been streaky this season. Two starts in April of less than 5IP with 6+ER. Three starts in May 6+ and 1ER. Last two starts of 3ER and 4ER.

Last three starts:

Date-Opp	IP	H/ER	K:BB	GB/FB	Pit/Str
5/17 @PIT	6	5/1	7:3	11/5	115/66
5/22 @DET	7	6/3	7:1	11/9	104/66
5/27 vLA	6.2	9/4	5:2	13/8	109/64

You know what you're going to get with Jimenez: He's going to eat innings, and he's going to get groundball outs. Will that translate to the June version of the Astros (who are way more fun to watch than the May Astros)? We shall see.

Let's do the splits:
vs Righties: 24x105, .229/.311/.276, 24K:9BB
vs Lefties: 36x120, .300/.388/.425, 29K:17BB

When swinging at the first pitch (23): .476/.455/.667, 2XBH
After First-Pitch Strikes (112): .242/.309/.303, 29K:7BB
After First-Pitch Balls (128): .248/.373/.343, 24K:19BB

RISP: 13x64, .203/.293/.234, 18K:8BB
Runners on: 29x103, .282/.372/.350, 25K:14BB
2OwRISP: 9x34, .265/.390/.294, 8K:6BB

Encouraging stat of the splits:
1st inning: 14x43, .326/.396/.465

Reactions to G33 - Astros at Rockies

Coop:
“They had four or five home runs tonight, didn’t they? I can’t remember how many balls went out of the ballpark. Not a good night of pitching for us and a pretty good offensive night for them.”

Paulino:
“No, I don’t feel anything different. It was just a bad day for me today. I battled with all my pitches. It was a tight zone, and the umpire didn’t get me a few calls, but that’s not an excuse. It got difficult, and sometimes my pitches stayed up there.”

Berkman, on Jimenez:
“He’s one of the harder throwers in the league. He threw me a changeup, and I was like, ‘Man, that looks slow.’ I look up, and it’s 90 miles per hour. So I was like, ‘Man, that’s most guys’ fastball.’ On top of that, his ball really moves. I don’t think people realize the movement that he has.”

Berkman, on his wrist:
“It felt good. Really, the only time I had trouble with it at all today was when I took some righthanded batting practice. So lefthanded, it felt really good. I didn’t really notice it. I’m very, very happy — obviously, not with the game, but I’m excited because I don’t feel like this is going to linger. I feel like this is behind me.”

Cooper, on Paulino:
I thought Paulino threw the ball OK, but he wasn’t as crisp and sharp as he had been in the past. I thought he got squeezed as well, but we just didn’t make enough quality pitches.”

Ian Stewart, on the Grand Slam:
“With the bases loaded two out, he threw me a slider first pitch. I figured he’s probably going to come back with the heater, probably away. He doesn’t want to make a mistake in, leave it out over the plate. I also thought - probably not another slider because he doesn’t want to bounce it. The game’s still relatively close there. It was only 5-0. I was looking for a fastball there, and it was up, and I was just able to put a good swing on it.”

Recap for G33 - Astros @ Rockies

If we chalk it up to nerves, would that make everyone feel better? Because Felipe Paulino did not do so well tonight in his magical return to the rotation. It was downright brutal, and it made Ubaldo Jimenez look like a star, which is so April of the Astros.

Paulino: 4IP, 7H, 7ER, 2K:2BB
Byrdak: 1IP, 1H, 1ER, 1K
Ortiz: 3IP, 4H, 1ER, 4K

Dude. This was bad. The Astros gave up four homers, one to Todd Helton, two to 8-hole hitter Ian Stewart, and one to Brad Hawpe - who went 4x4 with 5 RBI (Stewart also had 5 RBI). The game was maybe in reach until the 5th inning when the following happened:

Tulowitzki: 2-2 (8 pitch) single to left
Helton: 5 pitch walk
Hawpe: 2-1 single to center, scores Tulowitzki
Atkins: 6 pitch walk

Then Byrdak came in and...
Smith: FC, Helton out at home
Ianetta: 6 pitch strikeout
Stewart: 1-0, (3 pitch) grand slam to center

That made it 9-0, and not too many teams are going to come back from that. Especially this one.

Paulino's:
First-pitch strikes: 12
First-pitch balls: 11

Pitcher	Pit/Str	Strike%	BF/Outs	Efficiency%	GB/FB/K
Paulino	96/55	57.3%	23/12	52.2%	5/5/2
Byrdak	20/14	70%	4/3	75%	2/0/1
Ortiz	57/34	59.6%	14/9	64.3%	4/1/0
Total	173/103	59.5%td>	41/24	58.5%	11/6/7

The Astros were 8x34 tonight, which ain't great, and also didn't walk, either. Multi-hit games came from Bourn (now hitting .295), Pence (now hitting .316), and Blum (now hitting .264). No-hit games came from Matsui (.245), Lee (.322), Tejada (.308), and Smith (pinch-hitting for Tejada and now 0x23). No extra-base hits. They just got worked by Jimenez.

Longest AB of the night: 6 pitches by Lee and Matsui.

Man of the Match:
Hunter Pence went 2x4, scored the only run for the Astros, and is now hitting .316, six points behind team leader Carlos Lee.

Goat of the Game:
Paulino. Maybe Byrdak. Paulino gave up 7ER, but three of those ER came from Byrdak giving up a grand slam. Eh, Paulino. Needed to show that Ortiz deserves to be in the bullpen, and only went 4 innings, leaving Ortiz to pick up three innings himself.

Matchup for G33 - Astros at Rockies

Felipe Paulino is making his return to the rotation tonight after nutting it so bad he pushed Russ Ortiz to the bullpen. It's almost as though Coop and Wade said, "Fine! You're going to suck that much? Well, just go back to the rotation then!" in high, squeaky voices. The starter/reliever splits are pretty dramatic. Let's look, again, shall we?

As starter: 17.2IP, 19H/5ER, 13K:4BB, 2.55 ERA / 1.30 WHIP.
As reliever: 3IP, 10H/7ER, 4K:6BB, 21.00 ERA / 5.33 WHIP.

In that vein, we're going to skip the splits for Paulino for today. We're all going to feel silly if Reliever Paulino is more telling than Starter Paulino. Stay tuned, and follow the live blog this evening.

Ubaldo Jimenez

Jimenez has done a few things in the last couple of years, like led the National League in starts in 2008 (with 34). Like finished 2nd in HR/9inn in 2008 - 0.498. Like he hasn't given up a home run this season. Jimenez has started six games this season, and had a rough GS2-4, but strung together good starts his last two times out. And we'll see how that HR blanking holds up after this series - Jimenez has only pitched in two games at Coors Field - 11IP, 13H/7ER, 9K:5BB.

Last three starts:

Date-Opp	IP	H/ER	K:BB	GB/FB	Pit/Str
4/25 vLA	4	8/6	3:4	7/10	91/51
5/1 @SF	7	5/3	5:2	9/12	109/66
5/6 vSF	7	5/1	6:1	9/10	103/66

So Jimenez is a fly-ball pitcher in Coors Field, against a team that is figuring out how to hit the ball hard. This could be pleasant for the Astros, and Deputy Jason could have plenty of things of which to speak...

Let's do the splits:
vs Righties: 12x57, .211/.333/.246, 15K:7BB
vs Lefties: 21x67, .313/.427/.478, 15K:13BB

After First-Pitch Strikes (67): .268/.364/.321, 15K:6BB
After First-Pitch Balls (74): .228/.397/.386, 15K:14BB

RISP: 9x40, .225/.353/.275, 12K:8BB
Runners on: 16x60, .267/.403/.383, 15K:13BB
2OwRISP: 6x22, .273/.448/.318, 5K:6BB

This could go either way. He throws a lot of pitches, walks a lot of guys, hits a lot of guys (5 this season so far). Five of his six starts have come against NL West teams, in which he's 2-3.