**This is the first installment of the Yankees monthly review. I'll summarize the previous month and give my grade averages for each category and starting pitcher for the month as well as the cumulative averages. Grades are numerically calculated using a GPA type system where an A+ is a 4.33, A is a 4.0, A- is a 3.67, B+ is a 3.33 and so on. The numbers are then averaged for each category.**
So this about a half a month overdue but better late than never. Let's take a look at the month of the April for New York.
Record: 13-9 (16-9 in 2011)
Offensive Stats:
Batting Average: .273 (3rd in AL)
Slugging Percentage: .472 (3rd in AL)
Home Runs: 37 (1st in AL)
RBI: 116 (3rd in AL)
Runs: 120 (3rd in AL)
Hits: 208 (3rd in AL)
My Grade Average: 3.09 (~B)
Thoughts: A successful start to the season with an unusual red-hot start from Nick Swisher. Someone is looking for a ton of money in the off season. The middle of the order had a slow start and you begin to wonder if A-Rod is in decline given his age. Teixiera on the other hand always seems to start slow and has been battling a cold. Thankfully, Derek Jeter has just turned 25 years old and is amazing everybody with his ridiculous start. Hitting .440+ versus left handers and .330ish since his 3,000th hit last summer. Biggest issue with the offense is the lack of manufacturing runs without the long ball. It always seems to be a problem and doesn't get any easier with Brett Gardner out.
Pitching Stats:
ERA: 4.33 (11th in AL)
Hits Allowed: 204 (4th most in AL)
Earned Runs Allowed: 95 (3rd most in AL)
Home Runs: 27 (4th most in AL)
Walks: 64 (9th most in AL)
Strikeouts: 192 (1st in AL)
My Starting Pitching Grade Average: 2.61 (~B-)
My Bullpen Grade Average: 3.57 (almost an A-)
Thoughts: You can never have too much starting pitching. After the ineffectiveness of Garcia we saw Pettitte and Phelps in May who both pitched much more effectively. However the starting rotation continues to struggle. Hughes was pretty terrible in April (although he has turned it around in May). Nova had a good record but poor ERA--inconsistent. CC got on track after a few poor outings to start. Kuroda still seems to struggle with the American League--will be interesting to see how he fares. Bullpen continues to be a strength though. But we all know how that would fall apart after April with Mo's ACL and Roberston's ribs. It will be very interesting to see May's bullpen effectiveness.
Pitcher Breakdown (# of starts); Starter Grade/Offensive Support Grade/Bullpen Support Grade
Sabathia (5): 3.47/3.93/3.73 (Yankees were 4-1 in his starts)
Kuroda (5): 3.07/2.47/3.86 (Yankees were 2-3 in his starts)
Hughes (4): 1.59/2.17/3.25 (Yankees were 1-3 in his starts)
Nova (4): 3.50/3.75/3.83 (Yankees were 4-0 in his starts)
Garcia (4): 1.08/3.09/3.08 (Yankees were 2-2 in his starts)
Thoughts: Clearly Nova and Sabathia stood out as the 2 good starters. Kuroda had a decent start but struggled at times. Garcia and Hughes were terrible quite frankly. Especially Garcia who received 2 consecutive grades of "F". That's pretty impressively terrible. The good news is that the Yanks were able to win 3 of the 8 starts by Hughes/Garcia. All starters benefited from good bullpen support while CC got a ton of offense in his starts.
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