King of All Scrubs - Shelley Duncan? and other thoughts

I was hitting up the Google Baseball talk on the Yankees, and I saw the thread with the title:

King of All Scrubs - Shelley Duncan?

I couldn't resist, and this is what I ended up writing:

Original Poster:
WHERE IS HE?...WHY NO CALL UP?

My Response:
There are a couple of reasons why:

1. The logjam at 1st base: Giambi, Betemit, Sexson, occasionally
Damon, and now Posada when he gets off the DL
2. The other two rookies, Christian and Gardner are much better on
the basepaths, and are needed for the outfield since Matsui is out,
and you need that extra outfielder to give people a rest, day off, or
defensive purposes.
3. Duncan is really starting to look like Kevin Maas the Sequel. All
pop the first hundred at bats, and nothing else. Maybe with more
seasoning he'll be able to start hitting the breaking pitch better,
but for a while he was just an automatic out at the plate. He also
needs to work on his fielding around the bag. He did make a few bad
errors there while he was up.

He'll almost certainly get a September call-up, but unless more people
go on the DL, he won't be up till then, and will not be making the
playoff roster if the Yanks get in.

I do have to mention (I can't remember if I blogged about it last year and am too lazy to look back) that when Shelley came up last September, the Stadium was in pandemonium every at bat. It might have looked cool on TV, but it was deafening in the Stadium. And he really did seem to hit a homer every at bat. When he would make an out, the crowd would just deflate like a popped balloon. It was a great story at the time. Duncan can definitely mash when he gets good wood on the ball. Maybe it's a kinda sophomore jinx, or that he felt a lot of pressure to perform after receiving such a warm welcome in the Bronx. And even from sitting in the nosebleeds, as well as watching his at-bats on TV, you can tell that his swing is not the same. Duncan's pitch selection has either gone down, or simply the opposing team's scouts have picked out the holes in hitting, and he hasn't adjusted.

I'd like to see him play again this year, as well as next, but he has to not be a liablility at the plate or on the field. I don't know if he's had a fair enough shot up here yet this year, but you know playing for the Yankees that performance comes above all else. He might be allowed to develop in a smaller-market team, but everyone knows that that isn't really possible under the spotlight here in New York. Melky is a great example of that. He was atrocious on the field when he was first called up, but a little more seasoning down in Columbus and he ended up having a pretty good year when he got called up again.

On a side note, I hope Melky starts swinging well again, because otherwise he won't be starting for much longer, and I think he is a good baseball player. Somebody, I believe it was Michael Kay, noticed this year that Melky was still doing his workouts everyday with A-Rod, who for all his faults, is a professional in that area, and very hard-working. And in the beginning of the year, it was Melky who was swinging the hot bat, and helpin gto keep the team afloat. While on the other hand, Cano stopped working out with A-Rod and Melky pretty much the minute he got handed the 4 year contract. And we all know how much his first half sucked. People have been talking about how Cano is such a hot 2nd half player, but I can't help but feel that he was resting on his laurels somewhat after getting the big payday. Bad at bats, as well as some bonehead plays made me wonder sometimes about Cano.

While Melky has been having a tough time at the plate, at least he hasn't carried it onto the field, since his defense is still good. Someone wrote somewhere that it's not that Melky is a good defensive outfielder, but it's that he gets such bad jumps on the ball that what would be a routine catch for someone else ends up being a spectacular play for Melky. Whoever that was, you're an idiot. Bad jumps or not, he gets the job done. And the outfield assists he gets on a consistent basis would show he has a good baseball acumen, as well as a rifle for an arm. Lastly, not to disparage Abreu or Damon, or whoever else is playing the corners, but Melky tends to have cover more ground to make up for the less than Gold-Glove defense being played in right and left. While I know Damon is never afraid of the wall, as is evidenced by his first trip to the DL, and he plays all out in the outfield, El Come Dulce for all his batting skills shys away from contact with the wall like it was a diseased hooker. I would think that the rationale for bad jumps is better attributed to Bobby than to Melky. Again, not to disparage Bobby, since I love him as a clutch hitter, and he seems to be a good clubhouse guy and stuff, but how many outs in the corner have I seen turn into doubles, and how many doubles have I seen this year going into the corner turn into triples?

Wow, I was just going to post about the Shelley Duncan and look what happens. Oh well. I'd love to hear what people think of my analysis of the outfield if you get a chance. People who may be reading me may notice I have added the following to the blog page:

1. subscribe links for the blog,
2. links to Mike S's great blog on the bottom of my page
3. a link to the Facebook page for our section
4. an ad generator. Maybe if you guys click enough, I'll be able to buy a beer from the revenue at the end of the year =p
And as always, the link to hiphipny.net is still there, which was the genesis for all this nonsense in the first place, and John's brainchild. I bet if anyone wants a Google account with the hiphipny.net address, you just have to ask John =p Or at least, make it your home page for when you go on the Web for any sports, Yankees talk, or just the weather and regular news.

See everyone next game, or probably, next blog. =)