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The Scout's View: Yankees
Posted: Tuesday October 12, 1999 11:29 AM
Sports Illustrated asked major league scouts who have closely followed the playoff teams
to help prepare these reports on the four participants in the League
Championship Series. The scouts were promised anonymity in exchange for their
candor. Here's what they revealed.
Lineup
Chuck Knoblauch 2B
Can hit the ball
out of the
park, but sometimes falls in
love with home run
stroke.Will
chase the ball up in the zone.
At his best when deep
in
the count. A liability defensively,
especially his arm (14
throwing errors).
Derek Jeter SS
The Yankees' glue. Has
great
plate coverage. Must throw his
balance off by working him up
and down, inside and
out.
Paul O'Neill RF
Slowed down defensively. Send
the runner on anything hit to
his left or right. One of the best
in baseball at fouling off
pitches. Tough in the
clutch.
Bernie Williams CF
Can play poorly or great.
Streaky switch-hitter who's
much better from left side.
Has
trouble with slider under
his
hands and fastballs that
tail
back over the inside
corner.
Never seen him throw a guy
out.
Tino Martinez 1B
In a short series he's either
red-hot or ice-cold. Throw him
hard breaking balls in. Will
chase the ball up.
Chili Davis/Darryl Strawberry DH
Davis is a notorious
low-ball
hitter from the left
side.
Anything above the waist,
he's
an out. His bat has slowed.
Strawberry will almost always
chase balls
away.
Ricky Ledee LF
Occasional power. Pretty
good
idea of the strike zone. Decent
outfielder with O.K.
arm.
Joe Girardi/Jorge Posada C
Girardi, the better
defender,
is likely to play more because
of the emphasis on pitching
and defense. He's good at
bunting and the hit-and-run.
Posada seems to lack
confidence after losing playing
time to Girardi. He'll chase
bad pitches.
Scott Brosius 3B
Tremendous defensively.
Pitchers tend to forget about
him offensively -- a big
mistake. Likes fastballs,
especially up. Susceptible to
hard breaking
balls.
Bench
OF Chad Curtis is a good defensive player,
though
he can inexplicably screw up a routine play. Chases high pitches. 1B-DH-C Jim
Leyritz has come up big in the past, but now he's playing mostly on reputation.
Will also chase the ball up. The more he plays, the less you like him.
3B Clay Bellinger is used only as a pinch runner, SS Luis Sojo not at
all.
Rotation
Orlando Hernandez, RHP
Very susceptible
to lefthanded batters. Eats up righthanders with variety of breaking balls and
four-seam fastballs up and away. Fields very well and will display a good
pickoff
move.
Andy Pettitte, LHP
A big-game pitcher who makes the most of an 88-mph
fastball -- for instance, will sink it and cut it. Small slider is deceptive
to a lefthanded hitter. Has a good changeup. Can beat you in many
ways.
Roger Clemens, RHP
Make him throw as many pitches as possible. One thing he's
shown this year is inability to throw strikes with all of his pitches. Velocity
(can get as high as 96 mph with the heater) is still the same. Rocket has a
tendency to get rattled in big games, letting the moment get the best of
him.
David Cone, RHP
Another big-game pitcher with mental toughness. Adds and
subtracts speeds on his fastball as well as anyone. Great slider. Good
splitter. Tends to throw a lot of pitches. Will give all he has, even if it's
only for five
innings.
Bullpen
RH closer Mariano Rivera has well-above-average
fastball; can run it up in zone. Cut fastball takes lefties out. A
strike-throwing machine. Unbelievable confidence. RH Jeff Nelson has periods of
wildness. Take pitches and make him throw strikes. Has sinking fastball and
sweeping slider. LH Mike Stanton is overrated. Doesn't throw a lot of strikes and
is vulnerable to righthanded batters. Good breaking ball. Fastball is out of the
zone more than it's in. RH Ramiro Mendoza is the perfect guy to settle things
down, whether early or late. Throws strikes with sinker. Would be No. 3
starter on many teams. LH Ed Yarnall has a good breaking ball, deceptive
delivery. Rookie not likely to be used in key spot. RH Hideki Irabu, spotty
starter during the season, is long relief
man.
How To Beat Them
The Yankees work the count and know how to hit with two strikes. They can
play long ball; they can play little ball. Opponents' starters have to set the
tone, find some way to shut New York down. How? Change speeds. Mess up the
Yankees' timing.
Issue date: October 18, 1999
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