Knowing Your Role

Winning teams are not necessarily full of superstar free agents and five-tool freaks. In fact, some of the best teams, the ones that stick together for several years, thrive because there are players on their roster, spots number twenty-four and twenty-five, who know that they are not there for the limelight. They are there to do one or two things and to do them well.

Take the Yankees eight year run from 1996 to 2003. They won three World Series and lost two more. They built their dynasty from the inside, hitting on a few potential Hall of Famers in Posada, Jeter, Williams, Pettitte, and Rivera. They acquired through free agency several quality players, but nobody who would be considered a superstar outside of Clemens: Martinez, Brosius, O'Neill, Knoblauch, Wells, Cone. Later, they began to stockpile every top free agent, starting with Mussina, Giambi, Brown, etc. However, that lineup can only get a team to the playoffs. Once there, executing flawlessly and eliminating mistakes for five or seven game series wins the title. Specialized role players, like Ramiro Mendoza, Mike Stanton, Luis Sojo, Shane Spencer, Chad Curtis, Joe Girardi, these are the guys that make a difference winning a championship because they know what role they serve on the team.

The one thing that Riggleman has been able to do is establish his player's roles. Many fans feel bad that Willie Harris' is losing playing time since Morgan's acquisition. Willie has always been a team player and has adjusted well to his new role of defensive stopper. Just as a basketball needs a versatile sixth man to provide a spark off the bench, baseball teams need a versatile glove to one or two extra balls a week to take the pressure off the pitchers. Riggleman has even carved out adequate roles for AAAA guys like Anderson Hernandez, Austin Kearns, and Ronnie Belliard. While Dunn and Zimmerman get most of the headlines, most of them warranted, the difference between these 5-4 wins after the All-Star break and those ugly 8-5 losses back in May are the ability of pitchers out of the bullpen to get outs and players fielding their positions.

Guys like Willie Harris can still contribute greatly to winning baseball, even on a team as lost as the Nats. Truth be told, judging by his career numbers, if Willie Harris is a team's everyday outfielder, that team probably isn't playoff caliber. But if he can come in and run down a ball in foul territory to which Willingham may not have reached, or get from first to third on a little slap single, those little things will make the difference a couple days a week. Some players, Lastings Milledge, for example, either couldn't or wouldn't execute these.

The Nats have found a few good building blocks in Lannan, Z1 and Z2, and while they are still a few years away from contending, can make strides in 2010 if they are not greedy and bring in the right players this offseason. It is difficult to entice players to come to a franchise as maligned as Washington's, so the front office really needs to shore up their loose ends (manager, GM, etc) by October.

Commitment to Defense...

Is a culture adjustment the Nationals will likely make at some point during the next nine months. Take the game last night, for instance. A key momentum shift occurred late in the game when Melky Cabrera robbed Elijah Dukes of bloop single to center, then an inning later Nick Swisher cut off a sure double from Austin Kearns with a fleet-footed play in right. Neither of these were guaranteed to generate runs, but the defense takes the pressure off CC Sabathia, or who ever is on the mound.

In the bottom of the seventh, the middle of the Yankees order ripped two balls to deep center that Dukes missed by a combined six inches. Dukes has the range to play center, but doesn't seem to have the reflexes to finish the play (may also explain his penchant for getting picked off). If he catches either of those balls, the Yankees may not win in regulation.

In the off season, the Yankees made a commitment to improving their defense. The first move was to remove Johnny Damon from center field completely and install him in left, where his lack of arm strength is not as evident, but his range could still excel. Their remaining outfield options going into the season included Xavier Nady, Melky Cabrera, Brett Gardner, and Nick Swisher (and Hideki Matsui, but he has been the primary DH). Nady going down week one opened up innings for the other three, who are all better defenders. Next, they replaced Giambi at first base with a much more athletic Mark Teixeira. They are still weak up the middle with Cano and Jeter, but both are playing better than 2008. Their defensive improvement have allowed them to survive the new Yankee Stadium by allowing fewer base runners. The Nationals will have the opportunity to make similar changes this off-season.

The other point that Rob Dibble brought up a couple times in the later innings was that walks are killing the Nats. The additional base runner will put the defense in a position to fail, such as with Pena's single in the eighth, which would have been easily caught with the infield at normal depth. I think this is more "Chicken-Egg" theory. Martis is not a big strikeout pitcher, and was clearly nibbling Barry Zito style to avoid the big hit. He managed minimal damage despite the five walks. Martis gets away with it because he locates his pitches well and doesn't get hit hard. Most Nats pitchers do not and will get hit hard. This leads to the conundrum of whether or not throw hittable pitches with a porous defense or continue to try and get swings out of the strike zone. The latter will up the strike out totals and take pressure off the defense in one aspect, but the risk of walks will force the hand on the others. The starters have been hit hard at times because they are throwing strikes.

In the end, and improved defense next season will vastly improve the pitchers' results.

Yankees Series Preview

Tuesday: Shairon Martis at CC Sabathia

Wednesday: John Lannan at C-M Wang

Thursday: Craig Stammen at Joba Chamberlain

Manny Acta will manage this series. I doubt that will have any impact on the outcomes of these games, though. The Nationals have been swamped in bad press, losing, and personnel changes all season, so this should not surprise anyone on the roster, though it may be a little discouraging to some of the barely legal starting pitchers.

The Yankees outspend everyone to amass the most prolific arsenal of sporting talent outside of Madrid. This is no secret. The Nationals made a fair offer for Mark Teixeira’s services, but were a near non-factor in the bidding. Experts knew that the Nats had little to no chance landing him. Honestly, for that amount of money, it wasn’t worth it. Teixeira’s numbers are highly inflated from playing in Texas and he would have struggled in a non-hitters’ park. It should also be noted that with the exception of 2006, his home/away splits look like something out of Denver. Most telling is that two organizations felt that prospects in return were enough to part with his services. Baseball Reference is not exactly flattering with its player comps, with only Jeff Bagwell knocking on Cooperstown’s door. And until his contract year, he only once did he crack the top 8 first basemen in Win Probability Added, and that was way back in 2004. His agent did a very good job of selling him, and the Yankees have been rewarded with 37 extra base hits by June 15th. This would be impressive if the Yankees didn’t have eight players on pace for thirty bombs each. In summary, the Yankees wildly overspent to get Teixeira, and given their new stadium, almost any first baseman can become a .300/.550/.950 guy.

By loading up on sluggers, the Yankees, similar to the Nationals, have been awful defensively. Their numbers appear improved this year, but that may be an effect of all the balls leaving the stadium. Brett Gardner has vastly improved the outfield defense, but their infield is dreadful. A-Rod looks like he may be headed to first base sooner than anticipated, and Robinson Cano appears to be asleep while the ball is being pitched. If the Nats can put the ball in play consistently, the holes are there.

On the flip side, Martis, Lannan, and Stammen must keep the ball down. Even pop flies and broken bat bloopers turn into home runs here. I really do not trust Stammen in this kind of environment, but he has the advantage of the day game, so if he goes after hitters early, hopefully he can trick them into chasing balls out of the zone. The most damning stat of all is the Yankees 0.68 BB/K ratio, second to the Mets. The Phillies and Braves are also amongst the league leaders in this stat, and the Nats have fared poorly against all those teams. The Yankees will not give away outs.

Dead Man Walking will have his hands full taking one out of three in the Bronx. The weak link is Cashman, who is insistent upon giving away every fifth game by trotting Wang out there. Offensively, the key is to just put the ball in play. Hits can’t happen without that, and home runs will happen naturally here.

Coincidence?

Three monster comebacks this week... apparently, they like beating up on mediocre relief pitching.

Also, last night the New York Yankees played their 30th scheduled game last night (2 rain outs). Alex Rodriguez has been scheduled to come back off the DL today since March. Coincidence? No way. And so the quietest suspension of the steroid era comes to an end.