|
| |
|
|
 Yankees outlook Sports Illustrated baseball writer Mark Bechtel breaks down the American League champs
Posted: Saturday October 17, 1998 02:30 PM
The skinny: New York enters its 35th World Series looking for its 24th championship. The Yankees won an AL-record 114 games in the regular season and swept Texas in the first round, but looked mortal against the Indians in the ALCS. Hitting: What made New York so dangerous offensively in the regular season was balance, as 10 different Yankees homered at least 10 times. In the playoffs, though, there have been too many easy outs in the lineup. The top of the order -- second baseman Chuck Knoblauch (.167) and shortstop Derek Jeter (.176) -- has done a less-than-adequate job setting the table. Tino Martinez (.167, 1 RBI) is also cold, as is anybody who tries to play left field. It's hard to believe that a lineup full of disciplined, patient hitters could hit .229 against the suspect rotations of the Rangers and Indians, but that's what the Bombers have done so far in the playoffs. Pitching: No one has touched David Wells in October, and the big man has taken on an ace's attitude, asking for the ball on three days' rest before Game 4 of the ALCS and briefly refusing to come out of Game 5. Orlando Hernandez shut out the Indians into the eighth inning in his only playoff appearance. The other two starters have to have Joe Torre a bit concerned, though. Andy Pettitte looked horrible against the Tribe, giving up three homers in less than five innings, and David Cone, who is normally money in the bank in a big game, nearly blew a six-run lead in Game 6. They're both capable of pitching great games, but they also have shown that they're capable of doing just the opposite. Bullpen: In 21 postseason innings, the bullpen has given up just three runs -- all of which were yielded by Jeff Nelson. Mariano Rivera is solid as the closer. Hideki Irabu and Ramiro Mendoza give Torre a pair of outstanding long men. Lefthander Graeme Lloyd is murder on lefties and fellow southpaw Mike Stanton had a bad season but pitched well in the ALCS. If Torre gets into a spot where he needs to get a tough righty out, you've got to wonder how long he'll keep going to Nelson. Defense: Spectacular plays from Derek Jeter are becoming a regularity. The rest of the team, with the exception of centerfielder Bernie Williams, isn't very flashy, but the Yankees are solid at just about every position. Knoblauch has been shaky at times, especially with his throws. The true villain on the Travis Fryman bunt play was Martinez, who was out of position, got a horrible break on the ball and made an awful throw. Bench: As deep as the Yanks were in the regular season, this bench won't strike fear into many hearts. Assuming Tim Raines plays left and Chili Davis is the DH, that leaves Shane Spencer (whose 15 minutes appear to be up), Chad Curtis (who hit .216 after the All-Star break), Luis Sojo (a .231 average and no homers), untested Ricky Ledee and pinch-runner extraordinaire Homer Bush. Losing Darryl Strawberry will really hurt. Strategy: Torre's biggest dilemma is your basic What do I do with my rotation? conundrum. He'll certainly be tempted to use Wells three times. Then there's the matter of leftfield. In Game 6 of the ALCS, Torre gave Ledee a shot, basically throwing his hands up in the air and saying, "No one else can do it, so why not let the kid try." He needs to find whoever has the hot hand and ride him, which is one of Torre's great strengths. As far as making moves during the game, Torre showed in the 1996 World Series that he has a knack for pushing the right button, and though he made a few interesting moves in the first two rounds (e.g., bringing Nelson into Game 5), nothing has blown up in his face. Weaknesses: On paper, the Yanks don't have one, but in a short series, anyone and everyone is susceptible to a slump. The bad news is that the Yankees haven't hit well at all in the playoffs and they got a couple of underwhelming starts last week. The good news is they won in spite of that. My key matchup: Kevin Brown vs. David Wells. They could face each other once, twice or three times. What happens in those matchups will determine who wins. My pick: Padres in seven
| |||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 1999 CNN/SI. A Time Warner Company. Terms under which this service is provided to you.
| |||||||||||||||||
