Steve Phillips is on every single broadcasting entity of ESPN proclaiming that the Yankees are not going to make the playoffs and that in fact the Seattle Mariners are going to win the wildcard. His reasoning is that the Yankees are winning with hitting and that their team ERA during this 24-8 streak is still ranked only 7th in the AL and that their hitting is going to get cold again. Lets do a quick comparison of the ERA of the Yankees starters vs. the ERA of the Mariners starters.
Chien Ming Wang 4.09 vs. Felix Hernandez 3.86: Wang has struggled mightily in the past few starts so I'll give the edge to Hernandez, but lets not give a massive edge.
Andy Pettitte 3.93 vs. Jarrod Washburn 4.30: Is anyone for a second going to take Washburn over Pettitte? No.
Roger Clemens 4.00 vs. Miguel Batista 4.13: Again its Roger Clemens vs. Miguel Batista, it's a no brainer.
Mike Mussina 4.50 vs. Jeff Weaver 5.64: Weaver has been much better of late after a horrendous start and Muss has been a bit better lately so I'll give this a push.
Philip Hughes 4.64 vs. Horacio Ramirez 7.12: One of the top prospects in all of baseball vs. a 7.12 ERA, big advantage Yankees.So if the Yanks have a large advantage in the rotation in 3 of the 5 spots, another spot is a push, and the other spot is a marginal edge for the Mariners, that's not very impressive. So while the Mariners bullpen may be better how does that eclipse the massive advantage the Yankees have on the offensive end as well as the advantage they have in the rotation? Well of course Phillips never mentioned any of these things during any of his interviews. Instead he just made statements about how the Yanks won't sustain their pace due to their hitting being bound to fall off. Yet he doesn't mention how the Mariners don't have good starting pitching either, and that their offense is much worse. All he states about the Mariners is how good their bullpen is meanwhile not stating any specific reason as to why they are better than the Yanks.
Meanwhile in the NL he is proclaiming that everyone's pitching is bad and that offense is going to lead the way for teams in the last two months. Thus he says that the Atlanta Braves are going to out pace the Mets for the NL East and that the Colorado Rockies are going to win the wildcard. The Rockies? They do not have a single starter in their rotation who has an ERA under 4. So let me get this straight, you think that the Yankees with their superstud offense won't be able to get them to the playoffs yet the Rockies who have a good offensive is going to drag a bad rotation which includes Josh Fogg and an unknown Ubaldo Jimenez?
Steve attempt to show a little consistency or some decent reasoning other than saying the Yankees bats are going to stop scoring 8 runs a game because even when they do the Yankees still have better starting pitcher than the Mariners. Steve how about you stop being a Yankee Hater for a second and start thinking a little rationally for once?
Previous Steve Phillips Hate
More Proof Phillips Isn't Bright
One More Dumb Idea Provided by Phillips
Steve Phillips is a Dumb Ass
Comments
New York 0
Yes the Yankees are a better team than the Mariners and yes they probably will win the wildcard, but calling Phillips a fool for this is crazy. And if you didnt know--adjusting for Coors, Colorado has one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, and in fact over the last MONTH have had a staff ERA of 3.62, 3rd best in the bigs. They probably won't win the wildcard, but just looking at their starters ERAs and saying none are under four doesn't really say anything.
Now that it's August and it's apparent to everyone with half a brain that the Yankees most definitely will be a part of the playoff picture, he's still sticking to his guns. Whatever pseudo-rational factors he lists are mere cover for pride and stubbornness.
Be a man, Steve. Say you were wrong and you can stop making silly statements like Seattle and Colorado will make the playoffs.
He said Clemens didn't pitch well against the red sox last week. I was at the game...Clemens had a no-hitter into the 6th...
Steve, do some research before making proclamations on national tv!