Yankees Newsa yankees

[nyy26 0]

post your thoughts here.The yankees have to get off to a great start without A-Rod. that way there wont be too much pressure on him when he comes back. Obviously the Teixiera signing looks brilliant now. /also, Hideki Matsui must hit like Hideki Matsui, when he's hot hes an elite hitter.

Edited March 21, 2009 by nyy26 (see edit history)

[Echo_of_thunder 1]

Oh the boy's of summer are back! Yes Ny I think you are right for the most part about A Rod, but I have to say this. He is just 1 of 9 others. Even though I am a hard nosed Met's fan. I have to say this for the Yankee's. The need youth! So much of there team has got well Over the hill. I don't mean that in a bad way. yes they all have 1 or 2 season's left in them. But the Yankee's need and should look more into there Minor Leagues. Went to a couple of Trenton Thunder's games last year. They have some very good kids there. I feel sure that most will have been brought up to there tripple A level, but I hope that they will bring up some of there Minor's to the show. You can not rely on Your A Rod's and your Jetters all the time.

[nyy26 0]

I'd love for the yankees to go the youth route, they've got a lot of great young arms. They have Austin Jackson, who will eventually take over center field. He's going to be a great ball player. They also have catchers Jesus Montero and Francisco Cirvelli. They're both great hitters especially Montero, he's going to be a big time power hitter. The only concern with him is that he'll get too big to play catcher. First base seemed like a likely landing spot for him until they signed Teixiera. Now i guess he'll be a DH. As much as the yankees said they were going with the youth last year, we all saw what they did this off-season. Matt Holliday is pretty much a lock to replace Damon or Matsui in left field next year.

[kevraid 0]

Offense will not be a problem. And with CC,Brunett wang pettite the eventual world champs will be there in the end. Midddle relief will put em over the top.

[nyy26 0]

How bout the new stadium. It looks amazing. Although at one point they showed an angle out to right field and for a second i though i was looking at the old stadium. There a couple of thing im ticked off about though. I read in the paper the other day that YES network was complaining about the way the nets behind home plate were set up. They get in the way of what they call the high-home camera. They are going to have to shoot through the nets until they can solve the problem.So when i heard this i didn?t know what to expect. The first thing that came to mind was that this is the New York Yankees we're talking about it?s Yankee stadium, they spent all this money and have to live up to how great the old stadium was. Then you have a bunch of idiots that give us obstructed view seats at the stadium and and now, obstructed views at home. I was watching the exhibition game against the Cubs yesterday, Aaron Miles was on second base and Derrek Lee smacked one to center field. The high home camera was used to show Brett Gardner field the ball and throw it home. If i remember correctly, it was also used to show the play at the plate. I didn't notice the nets until i got a text message about it from someone else, so I had to rewind it and re-watch the play. I probably didn't notice it the first time because I wasn?t looking for it, but after re-watching it, I was ticked off. It?s a real bummer to find out that there is all these thing wrong with the new stadium. The obstructed views i was referring to at the stadium are when you are sitting in the bleachers against the restaurant, you cant see the other side of the outfield. The Yankees responded to those by hanging some hd tv's on the wall and slashing the prices of those tickets. There are also some in the top row of a section, i cant remember off the top of my head, but there are support bars that hang over and if you're in the last row, you cant see home plate. The play from the outfield to the plate is one of the most exciting plays in baseball, I?d hate for it to be diminished because of some knuckle-head?s terrible planning.

[nyy26 0]

Let the Yankee hating comense. I can just hear what all the haters saying ?they spent a billion dollars a pound on C.C. Sabathia and Mark Teixeira and they suck, they can't even win a game, they can't even beat Jeremy Guthrie and the Orioles. The Yankees aren?t going to make the playoffs.? That?s what you'll be hearing, but let?s take a look at the facts.The Yankees are notorious for getting off to bad starts. In fact, they almost always get off to a bad start.C.C. Sabathia got off to a terrible start last year in Cleveland, and usually has bad starts. After he settles down you just have to look back a year to see what he'll do. It was also his first start as a Yankee, so cut him some slack, give him a few games and he'll start earning his weight in gold (literally).It also was Mark Teixiera?s first game as a Yankee and if that isn?t nerve-racking enough, try having people boo you like you?re Barry Bonds, and then cheer like they just one the World Series every time you make an out, so we have to cut Tex a little slack as well.I know this sounds like a second guess, but I think Girardi left Coke in too long, a small bullpen mismanagement, but its the first game of the season.

[nyy26 0]

The Yankees finally picked up their first win of the season yesterday, they're still in last place though. They got some great pitching. Burnett did great even though he only went five and a third innings and gave up seven hits, he only allowed to runs and picked up the yank's first win of the season. He fanned six batters as well. The bullpen was great, they gave up zero hits. Coke, Veras, Bruney, and Rivera were great, six strikeouts between them in three and two-thirds innings. I was especially excited when the Yankees signed Burnett, I?ve always liked him and thought he was a great pitcher, but maybe that?s just because he always beat them. He definitely has electric stuff, but he has to stay healthy.Nick Swisher had himself a great game. Swisher has gotten off to a great start. He had a big pinch-hit double in game one as well as a career day yesterday. He bummed three hits in five at-bats. He picked up five runs batted in. Swisher?s a switch-hitter so Joe Girardi will get some flexibility in the lineup when Xavier Nady or Hedeki Matsui aren?t hitting. I don?t think he?ll take over the right field job completely, but I think we?ll see a lot more of him in a platoon with Nady. Swisher was a top prospect and has always had big potential, anyone who?s read Moneyball by Michael Lewis knows that, and we?re starting to that potential. Swisher also brings a lot of energy, fieriness, heart, and a will to win. That?s something that has been missing for a while. We started to see some of that energy with Joba Chamberlain, Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano. Some people say that doesn?t matter in baseball, it?s not like football, but I think it makes a difference, just look at guys like Pete Rose and Paul O?Neal. If he plays half as well as he?s been playing, don?t be surprised if he starts seeing 60% of the time in right field.Mark Teixeira?s finally starting to hit the ball. He?s got three hits now, one of them being a homer. It was actually hilarious to see all the Baltimore fans boo him like he was Barry Bonds, and then when he got out they would cheer like they just won the World Series. For those of you that don?t know, Tex is from Baltimore and Baltimore was in on Teixeira early on in free agency, but they fell way short after the Yankees and Red Sox got involved. It?s funny how Baltimore fans feel like Mark Teixeira betrayed them because their general manager talked to the guy once.Hopefully Robinson Cano has finally figured out that the season starts in April, Cano has gotten off to an unusually strong start. So far he has six hits in eleven at-bats. He?s got a home run and three runs batted in. I?m especially happy that he has three walks as well, Cano has a tendency to not be patient and swing at every thing, hopefully he is starting to mature into the hitter that he has the potential to be. He should be the future number two or five hitter.People are always getting on John Sterling for poor broadcasting, but sometimes I find Michael Kay is clueless, I?m not sure if he?s trying to be funny but well, I don?t know what to say. Ken Singleton?s an enabler too. The other day YES showed a shot of the stands, there was a hot dog guy was selling a lady a hot dog, Singleton says ?Ketchup or mustard?, the guy picks up the ketchup, puts it down and squirts it with mustard, Kay and Singleton erupt. Yesterday they were trying to name everybody who had a name that had anything to do with money. Kevin Cash, Brian Cashman? etc.One more interesting thing, they were talking about this during the game, Baltimore has always been a bit peeved that there are always more Yankee fans at their games than Oriole fans, so this year to make sure there were no Yankee fans at opening day, they made it so that in order to buy tickets to opening day, you had to buy tickets to eight other games, but none of them could be Yankees games, that probably kept some Yankee fans from making the trip.

[nyy26 0]

Jose Guillen was out of the lineup for Kansas City with an injury. He?s headed to the disabled list. Kauffman Stadium looks nice; they renovated the stadium, spending $250 million on the place. In the outfield, they added a party deck in right field, a concourse in center and the Royals Hall of Fame in left. There are new club seats behind the plate, a new press box and much wider concourses. It looks nice, but it always did. I wonder why they would spend that kind of money on the place during these economic times, I?m sure more people won?t go because of it and ticket prices probable went up because of it. They had a ceremony with fans holding banners in the outfield and a bunch of players of the past. They had Willie Mays Aikens, Jim Eisenreich, Ed Hearn, Dennis Leonard, John Mayberry, Fred Patek, Jamie Quirk, Joe Randa, Paul Splittorff, John Wathan, Willie Wilson, Frank White and George Brett. I don?t know why they didn?t announce Davis Cones name, he was there doing the broadcast for the YES network. I was expecting a 4:10 pm start, but the game didn?t get underway until 4:35 or so. I hate when they do that. I?m sure it had something to do with the opening day ceremony, but they should have calculated that in when they publish the first pitch time.The KC fans booed Kyle ?The Farnz? or ?Farnzie? Farnsworth when he got introduced. He?s already hated here too after blowing that lead the other day. Farnzie has great stuff, he?s just a head case, Joe Girardi knew how to use him and manage him, he started doing pretty well last year until the Yankees sold high at the deadline and swapped him for Pudge Rodriguez. Pudge obviously didn?t work out.The Yankees got to face former Yankee great, Sidney Ponson. Right away Posada drove in two runs with a single. The ball was mishandled by Mike Jacobs over at first base. Joe Girardi managed Jacobs back in Florida; he was traded to the Royals this winter. Jacobs has some potential, and a lot of power. He can hit 30 home runs if he wanted to.Pettitte absolutely dominated. He had a little hiccup when he walked Billy Butler. Then Jacobs picked up an RBI double when Nick Swisher misplayed a ball in shallow right field. Swisher and Cano both went for the ball, it looked like Swisher called off Cano but I don?t think he ever saw the ball. He made a last second dive at the ball but it was deflected off his glove and rolled a couple of feet to his right. He got up, tracked it down, and made a terrible throw that was at least 45 feet up the third base line, trying to make a play at the plate. I hope that wasn?t the bad side of Swisher we saw.Cano had another great game, picking up two hits. He?s eight for thirteen now. I really feel that this is the new and improved Robbie Cano. He?s got a new stance and is being patient at the plate. He picked up another walk today. If he can be the feared hitter that he can be, we?ll all be glad we didn?t trade him to the Dodgers for Matt Kemp. Everyone knows Robbie has a batting title in his future; let?s hope it?s this year.Nick Swisher redeemed himself later on with an RBI double, he?s absolutely on fire.Kyle Farnsworth came in to pitch in relief for the Royals and of course he struck out the side. All the players on the Yankee bench were probably thinking to themselves, ?why couldn?t he do that here? as were all the Yankee fans. Joe Girardi was probably smiling thinking, ?Atta boy Kyle, I told them so.? Pettitte had a great game, he went seven innings, giving up three hits, one walk, one run, and fanned six batters. If Nick Swisher caught that fly ball earlier in the game, Pettitte would have had a shut-out. I was impressed with Pettittes start, they attributed last year?s poor season to the fact that he didn?t have a normal spring and couldn?t prepare properly because he was back and forth to Washington for all of that HGH and Roger Clemens garbage. Pettitte is the fourth starter this year so no one expects him to put up seventeen wins, but if he holds up at the end, he could.Mark Teixeira picked up a hit in two official at-bats, he was walked twice. It?s good to see Tex is getting it going, a hot start is important for him. Imagine how good this lineup will be when Alex Rodriguez comes back, Tex, Rodriguez and Cano, will be awesome.Posada had himself another fine performance, he picked up a hit and two runs batted in. I?m surprised by how well Posada has come back from surgery. His arm looks great and he?s been hitting well. I don?t expect the Yankees to let him catch more than five out of seven games, and I?m sure they?d be more than pleased with that. I?d settle for .270 out of Posada but he could very well hit anywhere from .280 to .300. However, it all depends on how he holds up down the stretch. I didn?t like that the Yankees left thirteen runners on base and struck out eleven times, especially when you?re facing Sidney Ponson and Kyle Farnsworth, but it?s early.You have to love how lights out the bullpen has been lately; Today Bruney and Rivera combined for two innings, giving up one hot and zero runs. Rivera picked up his first save of the season today as well.

[nyy26 0]

Well C.C. Sabathia rebounded nicely from that abomination of an opening day start. The big guy went seven and two thirds innings giving up six hits and zero runs while striking out six. It was an unusually cold day, leading me to believe that Sabathia wouldn?t have that great of an appearance, but he proved me wrong. He had absolutely nasty stuff today. This is the guy that the Yankees paid a fortune for, not that imposter who lost to the Orioles game one. He was hitting 96 miles per hour consistently, and unlike his first start of the year, he walked zero batters.Nick Swisher continues to be the big story. This guy is unbelievable. He had an RBI triple early in the game and then hit a two run homer later on. He picked up two walks as well. This guys Mickey Mantle like start is one to write home about, he?ll keep starting as long has he keeps swinging a hot bat. He has nine RBI and two HRs in five games.Jorge Posada continues to impress, picking up two more hits and three more runs batted in. It appears as if he is returning to 2007 form.Robbie Cano failed to pick up a hit today, you just have to hope that this doesn?t mess with his head and he starts swinging at everything again.Xavier Nady picked up two hits as he tries to prove that he deserves some playing time despite the emergence of Nick Swisher. Hedeki Matsui picked up a hit. It makes sense that Nady or Matsui would lose time, and Matsui seems like the leading candidate due in order to keep him fresh and healthy down the stretch.The bullpen slipped up a bit as Jose Veras gave up a run. Overall it was another great game, we?ll see what Joba Chaimberlain has tomorrow, hopefully he?ll keep the winning streak going.

[nyy26 0]

The put Joba in the pen cries are almost certain to take place. They?ll all be saying, if we had Joba Chamberlain in the pen yesterday, Yankees would have won. I am a Joba in the pen supporter, but this wasn?t exactly an example of why Chamberlain should be in the pen, because he pitched six great innings. However, we all know nothing will change this season. The Yankees said earlier this spring that the plan is for Joba to be the closer when Rivera retires, so why isn?t he setting up now? They have Hughes and Aceves in the minors, both who could fill the number five slot in the rotation with as strong as a front four as the Yankees have. Hughes could be great, and then you?d have a lights-out bullpen.The bullpen was poorly managed by Joe Girardi in yesterday?s game. It was our first example of the babying of Joba Chamberlain and how he will be managed the rest of the season when he was pulled after throwing just 88 pitches. I guess that?s a reason to say put him in the pen, but then again it was his first start of the season. Girardi probably didn?t want him to start another inning and get his count up around one hundred, and then have to bring in a relievr in the middle of an inning.The question is why Girardi went to Brian Bruney early. Brian Bruney should have been setting-up for Rivera instead of pitching the seventh. If Rivera was unavailable due to recent usage, Brian Bruney should have been closing. At any rate, he got a one-two-three inning, and Joe Girardi phoned the bullpen and brought in Dimaso Marte to pitch to Kansas City?s three left-handed hitters in a row. That was a good move, as the first two, DeJesus and Teahen were retired. Then Kansas City pinch-hit with Billy Butler. Billy Butler has some pop and kills lefty pitchers, so Joe Girardi called the bullpen again and brought in Jose Veras.There should be no questions asked about that move, any complaints would just be second-guesses because Jose Veras just didn?t get the job done, he walked Billy Butler on five pitches. The switch-hitting Brayan Pena came up to bat. You might not know who Brayan Pena is because, well he?s Brayan Pena, and he doesn?t have a hit this year, but Joe Girardi decided to go with Phil Coke to finish off the eight. Pena?s stats are extremely similar from both sides of the plate, but Joe Girardi felt the need to turn Pena around to the right side of the plate. That was a bad move. Phil Coke has not gotten off to a great start, and being a young pitcher, he just didn?t have enough to get it done. The Royals rallied for three runs in the eight and it was over.Joe Girardi should have left Jose Veras in the game to finish the job because Veras is more experienced.The only reason I?m upset over the loss because they had the chance to win, they had it and they let it slip away. However, the Yankees were batting their ?B-Lineup? which included Melky Cabrera, Cody Ransom, Jose Molina, and Brett Gardner, all four in a row, batting 7-8-9-1. Gardner showed a nice display of what he can do, in the first inning he singled, stole second, went to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch. He definitely adds a spark to the lineup, but needs to hit consistently. Melky Cabrera did nothing, I didn?t expect much more. Cody Ransom and Jose Molina did nothing as well. Ransom is really hurting the lineup as he?s now 1 for 20 Alex Rodriguez can?t come back soon enough.Hedeki Matsui picked up another hit and scored a run, hopefully he is starting to heat up. Matsui was a great hitter last year until he got hurt, he has the tendency to pick a month and absolutely light it up. He has the ability to hit ten homers in one month, so watch out for Matsui, at the beginning of last year he was at the top in hitting around May, and then got hurt. He had a hot summer.Nick Swisher continued his hit streak, extending it to five games. Swisher just needs to keep-on-keepin?-on.It?s good to see Robbie Cano picked up another hit and a RBI. Let?s keep it going.The Yankees will be taking on the Tampa Bay Rays next. The Rays stunned everyone by making the playoffs and stunned them even more by making the World Series. The Yankees never fare to well against the Rays, hopefully the revamped team will make a good first impression on the former American League Champs. Let?s take a look at the pitching matchups:Today will be Chien-Ming Wang against Scott Kazmir. Wang needs to rebound from a terrible start against the Orioles. Kazmir always has game, but the Yankees tend to hit him. The key is whether or not Wang has his sinker going. Last time out his sinker just wasn?t breaking, and there was little difference between that and his fastball. Wang also needs to establish his slider as a strikeout pitch and get that going as well. Tuesday will be A.J. Burnett against Matt Garza. Burnett stopped the Yankees slide at the beginning of the season and helped them earn their first win. He had absolutely nasty stuff against the Orioles. Hopefully he?ll throw up another great performance so the Yankees have a chance to win two out of three. Matt Garza is a good pitcher, and will certainly strike out a handful of batters. This might not be Robbie Cano?s best game.Wedsday will be Andy Pettitte against Andy Sonnanstine Pettitte had a great first start, going seven innings, giving up three hits and one run. That run was due to a poor play by Nick Swisher on a ball hit to right field that Swisher should have caught, otherwise Pettitte would have shut down the Royals. Andy Sonnanstine didn?t fare to well in his first start of the season. The Yankee should be able to win this one.Alex Rodriguez will be in Tampa, joining the Yankees for the first time this season while rehabbing after his hip surgery. Rodriguez can?t get back soon enough.

[nyy26 0]

I?m a little behind, so let?s recap what?s happened over this past series with the Rays.Game 1:I was hoping Chien-Ming Wang would rebound, and the Yankees would get off to a good start against the Rays, but immediately with one out in the bottom of the first inning, things began to go sour. Needless to say, Wang got burned; he couldn?t find the plate and was serving up meatballs the whole inning. He was pulled in the second with the bases loaded, no one out, the score being 5-0 Rays.Joe Girardi phoned the bullpen and brought in Jonathon Albaladejo to try and limit the damage, but served up a grand-slam to Carlos Pena on a 1-1 count. Albaladejo continued to give up a home run to Jason Bartlett in the third.Well, Wang finished his second appearance going one inning, giving up eight runs, on 61 pitches. So far this season, he has an earned run average of 28.93. The guys in the booth were saying that Wang had a good side session on his throw day between starts with pitching coach Dave Eiland, like C.C. Sabathia, the only difference being that Sabathia was able to solve his problems while everything fell apart on Wang. The main concern to me is whether or not Wang?s terrible performances thus far are because last years foot injury. The thought of whether or not Wang will ever be the same ran through my head. Wang keeps denying that the injury has any effect on him, and he is 100% healthy. Wang also thought live batting practice yesterday, and said he felt really good about it.Melky Cabrera picked up his first hit of the season, and a second one in the fifth to drive in Robbie Cano. Cano picked up a hit and scored a run. Nick Swisher continued his hot streak, hitting a fourth inning home-run. Joe Girardi put Swisher in to pitch an inning as well. He gave up one hit, no runs and struck out a batter. Jorge Posada got two hits and two runs batted in. Cody Ransom got a hit and a run batted in but Ransom cannot hit major league pitchingHopefully Joe Girardi realized that this team needs a long reliever. You need a long man in order to save the bullpen on days like these, especially when you don?t have an off day for a while. Dan Giese, who had a great year last year until he got hurt, is now on Oakland because the Yankees were unable to get him through waivers.Game 2The Yankees wasted a big opportunity in the first inning with bases loaded and no one out. They only scored one run, a sacrifice fly be Jorge Posada, driving in Brett Gardner. Nick Swisher had another great game, but what else is new, he responded to Matt Garza?s brush-back pitch with a solo homerun. He had another hit in the sixth inning as well.The big story of the game was that AJ Burnett had a no-hitter through six innings. That only lasted six innings because things fell apart in the seventh inning. Burnet gave up three hits in a row, a sac fly and the game was tied at two. However, those two runs were the only ones the Rays would score as Burnett finished the game pitching eight innings, giving up three hits, and striking out nine batters. The Yankees did a nice job on offense as well. In the eighth inning, Brett Gardner led off the inning with a solid double and Derek Jeter punched one into shallow right field. Mark Teixeira hit a deep sacrifice fly to drive in Gardner, not that it needed to be that deep to score Gardner.At that point, Mariano Rivera started to warm up to close it out, but that would not be necessary. The same fellows that got it done in the eight got it done in the ninth, especially the captain. Brett Gardner hit a bomb out to center field that landed as a ground rule double, driving in Melky Cabrera, who had another hit today. The Rays caught a break because that ball bounced over, there were more bases to be had. Then the captain delivered the knock-out blow with a three run homerun.Derek Jeter and Brett Gardner both had very impressive games, picking up three hits a piece. Gardner also scored a few runs. Robinson Cano picked up another hit as well.Brian Bruney struck out three batters in a row to seal the win in the ninth.AJ Burnett has gotten off to an amazing start. So far he?s silenced all of the critics who criticized the Yankees for signing him. In his first two starts he has two wins, zero losses, a 2.70 earned run average, and stopped a Yankee losing streak both times out.Game 3By winning this game, The Yankees were able to head home to the new Yankee Stadium with a two game winning streak after it looked like they would certainly drop at least two out of three to the Rays after the first game, which Chien-Ming Wang was absolutely shelled i.Andy Pettitte got into in the third inning. He gave up two runs after retiring the first two hitters of the inningScored in the fourth inning when Nick Swisher picked up a hit and was driven in by a Robinson Cano homerun. Cano?s hot hitting continues, if Nick Swisher was not having a fairytale April, Cano would be the guy were talking about.In the top of the eighth inning, Jeter led off with a long double, and Johnny Damon drove him in by ripping one down the first baseline. Derek Jeter came through again in the top of the ninth, driving in Cody Ransom from second, breaking the tie. Jeter has five hits in his last nine at-bats.Andy Pettitte earned a no decision but pitched a fantastic game, he went 7.1 innings and surrendered three runs on six hits. He struck out four batters.The bullpen was solid once again; neither Brian Bruney nor Mariano Rivera allowed a hit. Bruney earned the win, striking out the only two batters he faced. Bruney has struck-out five batters in a row dating back to yesterday. Rivera picked up his third save of the year and still has not allowed a run.Michael Kay actually spent the time to look up every game Andy Pettitte?s ever pitched, just to see whether or not he?s ever faced another pitcher named Andy before. Apparently not in the regular season, but he has in the post season.Overlook:The Yankees took two out of three games from the Rays, something they did not do often last year. My concerns are with Chien-Ming Wang, he needs to have another great season in order for the Yankees to succeed. Another big story that came out of this Xavier Nady injured his wrist on a through, the same one he had injured previously. He will most likely miss the rest of the season. The loss of Nady is huge, he provided depth in the lineup and on the bench, as well as being a great fielder and a winner. Now Nick Swisher needs to keep swinging a hot bat.

[nyy26 0]

Today?s game got real ugly later on in the game, but it wasn?t exactly pretty in the early going. The Yanks put eight men on base in the first four innings without scoring a run, and left a total of 15 men on base during their too-long affair. It wasn?t the home opener that most Yanks fans had envisioned. Good thing they?ll play 152 more of these things, and two of their major weaknesses in the game were the bullpen and the ability to drive in men on base, despite being fairly good for most of the season. Sabathia wasn?t exactly as economical as AJ Burnett and Andy Pettitte were the previous two games, he used 122 pitches to get 17 outs. The top of the 5th was bad, he used 30 pitches to retire three Indians, though he didn?t allow a run. It all added up, though, the five hits, the five walks, the four strikeouts, and CC had to exit early. It wasn?t terrible in terms of results, but as we?d learn later the Yanks could have used another inning and a third from their ace.A quick note on CC?s walks. That number might seem high right now. CC walked 59 batters last year and has 10 already this year. That, however, is misleading. CC racked up nine walks over his first three starts last year, in which he pitched just 14 innings. His 10 walks come after 17.2 innings this year. Furthermore, CC allowed 14 walks through his first four starts last year, spanning 18 innings. From that point on, he tossed 235 innings with a 1.74 ERA, walking just 45. CC?s going to be just fine.Damaso Marte and Jose Veras generated plenty of complaints, and with good reason. But to make sweeping statements about them based on one appearance is a bit much. We know what Veras is at this point: a guy with an electric fastball and a devastating curveball. There are going to be days when he can?t hit the strike zone with the fastball, rendering the curveball moot. Does that mean he sucks? No. He has his flaws, just as pretty much every reliever in the bigs has flaws. That?s why they?re relievers and not starters. Marte had a tough outing, too, reminiscent of his stinker in Texas last August. Yet to make proclamations about how he stinks is to ignore years of quality work, not to mention the quality work he?s done for the Yanks outside of a few appearances which stand out in fans? minds. What do you get when you cross an inefficient starting pitcher with a lack of hitting with runners on base, and then cross that with a bullpen having a bad day? A loss for sure, though one would hope not as bad as today?s. Those are the breaks in baseball, though. Some days you just can?t knock the guy in from second. Some days you call on the wrong reliever. We?ve seen this, the latter at least, a few too many times in a young season, which is the leading cause of fan overreaction. Games in April count just as much as games in September; each game is 1/162 of the season. The difference, of course, is that the team has time to address their issues and correct them in April. I have all the confidence in the world that the Yankees will do just that.Another day game tomorrow, again at 1:00. Joba Chamberlain goes up against Cardinals-castoff Anthony Reyes. Today was first time the Yanks have lost a home opener since 1997 when Oakland prevailed 3-1 in 12 innings. The bullpen blew that game too, except it was Mariano Rivera who gave up the tying run on a Mark McGwire homer.

[nyy26 0]

I decided to go a little more in depth on what i mentioned earlier about Wang feeling great after throwing live batting practice. Starting pitchers throw at least once between starts, sometimes twice. But those session are in the bullpen early in the day with only a catcher and the pitching coach there. However, on Wednesday Chien-Ming Wang took the mound at Tropicana Field to throw 21 pitches to Cody Ransom and Melky Cabrera. Pitching Coach Dave Eiland stood behind him. Joe Girardi was behind the cage, getting a close look at Wang?s pitches with bullpen coach Mike Harkey. David Cone, who knows quite a lot about pitching, was there as well. Catcher Kyle Higashioka came over from Tampa to catch the session. He was a seventh-round draft pick last June. It was Eiland?s idea to do this. After two terrible outings, Wang needed to take his adjustments out of the bullpen and onto the field. Granted, this wasn?t a game but it was a good simulation. We?ll find out Saturday whether it helped. But Wang thinks it will. Wang said he felt better after this. Wang?s left leg appears to be the issue as it?s getting ahead of the rest of his body and leaving his arm trailing behind. It?s a fairly easy thing to fix but Wang has not taken those adjustments out into the game. It looks like this could have helped get Wang's confidence up, he looked terrible on the bench after being pulled from his last start.

[nyy26 0]

May 16th: Yankees vs. TwinsJoba Chamberlain decided to change the way he was going to warm up for today’s game. He would warm up, sit down, and then throw to three simulated hitters in order to mentally prepare him, as if he was coming in as a reliever. Joba struck out the first batter quickly; the second batter worked the count, and then struck out, and the third batter grounded out to second. Chamberlain only threw 14 pitches and got a one two three inning. That was a vast improvement over his last two starts in which he gave up four and three runs in the first inning respectively. Chamberlain has struggled with keeping his pitch count down in previous starts.Derek Jeter worked a walk in his first at-bat in the first inning. Damon made out and then Jeter tried to steal second base. He got a nice jump but slid too early and was slowed down and thrown out. Jeter was seven for seven going into that attempt. The caught stealing proved costly because Mark Teixeira ended u ripping one that one-hopped of the right center field wall. Jeter might have been able to score on that hit had he not been thrown out stealing. He would have at least gotten to third base to give Alex Rodriguez a chance to drive him in on a sac fly. Instead, Alex grounded back to the pitcher and ended the inning.Joba Chamberlain walked the first batter of the second inning. The next batter worked the count and fouled off a few pitches and then lined a two out hit to right field. The next batter grounded to third base, Rodriguez made a nice play to his back hand side but the Yankees failed to turn the double play, leaving runners on first and second with one out. The next batter was up and flew out to center while the runner was trying to steal second. They had the double play set up but Brett Gardner threw it home instead of to first to get the force. However, Jeter with a heads up play called for the ball because the runner did not retouch second base after rounding. The Yankees got the out and ended the inning but the run counted. There was some controversy to the play as it appeared the runner had his foot on second base before he left to go back to first.Nick Swisher struck out to begin t bottom of the second. Swisher has been striking out way too much lately, after his hot start to the season. Robbie Cano flew out to shallow center for the second out. Melky Cabrera laced one to left field but Kubel made a good lay and the Yankees went down one two three.Chamberlain struck out the first batter of the third looking. Then Nick Punto looped one into shallow center. The next batter grounded one straight back, after Joba Chamberlain didn’t get it, it looked ke it would be a hit but Derek Jeter made it all the way to behind second base and got the runner at second. The next batter flew out to right field and ended the inning.Brett Garner led off the bottom of the third by hitting a slow roller that was fielded by Blackburn who threw Gardner out at first. Cervelli got called out on a check swing, he started walking down to first to sell the walk but the umpire didn’t bite. Jeter walked for the second time of the game on four pitches. Johnny Damon worked a walk, moving Jeter into scoring position and raising Blackburn’s pitch count to 50. Teixeira was up next and he hit a bomb to right center into the Yankee bullpen. Alex Rodriguez struck out looking on a full count to end the third inning. Joba Chamberlain gave up a leadoff homer to Joe Mauer, it was a bomb to monument park, the second one he hit there in the last two games. Joba walked the next batter. Kubel popped one up to foul territory in left but Johnny Damon over shot it and hit the wall hard. No damage was done because Chamberlain picked up the strikeout. He struck out the second batter as well and the third out was made in center field. So after it looked like things were going to fall apart for Chamberlain, after he gave up the homer and walk, he retired the next three in order.Swisher flew out to left on the first pitch of the bottom of the fourth. Robbie Cano followed up with a ground out to the short stop, and Melky grounded one back to Blackburn to end the inning.The first batter of the fifth flew out to Johnny Damon and the second flew out to Gardner in center. Span elevated Joba’s pitch count and eventually worked a walk. Joba struck out the next batter for the final out but left the inning with his pitch count up to 87.Gardner grounded out to begin the bottom of the fifth. Cervelli hit one deep to the wall but it was caught as the left and center fielders collided. Jeter grounded out to end the inning.Joba Chamberlin walked the first batter of the sixth inning and fell behind 3-0 with the next batter. Joba battled back to 3-2 and got a fly out to center field. The next batter hit a weak ground ball to second base, Robbie Cano was only able to get one so he decided to take the runner out of scoring position by going to second. Chamberlain got a quick 0-2 count on the next hitter. After a few foul balls he go a fly out to right. Chamberlain left the inning having thrown his season high 108th pitch.Johnny Damon led off the bottom of the sixth by beating out an infield single. Mark Teixeira followed up with his third hit of the game. There were runners on first and second for Alex Rodriguez, but Alex struck out. Nick Swisher worked a 3-0 count but rounded into a 3-6-1 double play to end the inning and the threat. I can barely watch Nick Swisher fail with runners in scoring position anymore. It was a nice story, his hot start and all, but I can’t wait for Xavier Nady to come back, if he does this season. Let’s hope so. Jose Veras came in to pitch the seventh inning. He walked the first batter. That’s been Veras’s problem the last two years, when he s off, he is off and cannot throw strikes. The next batter punched one to right field to make it first and second with no one out. At that point, Joe Girardi got the bullpen up. Nick Punto laid down a sacrifice bunt and was barely thrown out at first. Joe Girardi went to the bullpen to bring in Phil Coke. Coke got Span to pop up to Robbie Cano, not deep enough to score a run. Coke got the next batter to fly out to center, he got the job done by cleaning up Jose Veras’s mess.Robbie Cano grounded out to start the bottom of the seventh. Melky Cabrera followed up with a ground out of his own. Then Brett Gardner flew out in front of the track to end the inning. Phil Coke stayed in to pitch the eight inning. He got Mauer to ground back to him but then gave up the game tying home run to Justin Morneau, his second of the series. Coke got the next batter on strikes. Coke walked the next batter but the next batter lined one into right, scoring the run from first. Melky would have had him by a few steps but he overthrew the cut-off man, and the Twins took the lead. After that Girardi pulled Coke and went to Edwar Ramirez. Ramirez waked the first batter that he faced to make it runners on first and second. Ramirez got the third and final out by inducing a pop up to Robbie Cano. The inning was over but not before the damage was done. Hideki Matsui pinch hit for Francisco Cervelli to lead off the bottom of the eighth. Matsui came up with another clutch hit by hit a shot that just missed leaving the park and instead ended up a ground rule double. Girardi pinch ran Matsui with Ramiro Pena. Derek Jeter laid down a sacrifice bunt and was barely thrown out at first but he got Pena over to third. That brought up the hot Johnny Damon who had his hit streak broken last night. Damon did not get the job done as he grounded right back to Blackburn. That brought up the three-for-three Mark Teixeira who was responsible for the Yankees ‘ only three runs. He came through with a line drive to right, driving in the fourth run of the game and tying the game. Alex Rodriguez came up next. Teixeira got over to second on a wild pitch and Rodriguez worked a walk. Nick Swisher was up next and worked the count full but to no one’s surprise, flew out to right field to end the inning and the threat. Why was he batting fifth? I know Matsui wasn’t playing but Robbie Cano might have been the better play in the number five hole. Kevin Cash had to come in to play catcher because Cervelli was pinch hit for. Rivera came in to pitch the ninth. He struck out the first batter and got the second to ground out to second. Rivera got Joe Mauer to strike out looking. It was an impressive ninth inning for Rivera.Robbie Cano led off the bottom f the ninth with a ground out. Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner followed up with ground outs of their own to send it into extras.Rivera only threw eleven pitches in the ninth so he stayed in to pitch the tenth. Morneau grounded one up the middle, Rivera took a stab at it but didn’t come up with it, he slowed it down too much and Jeter couldn’t get it. It was a bad play by Rivera. Then Kubel dunked one in-between Jeter and Gardner to make it first and second, nobody out. Rivera got the next batter to pop up. The next batter looped one into shallow right center but Gardner’s great speed allowed him to make a great play and save a run. Rivera got the next one to hit a slow-roller, Mo fielded and threw to first to end the inning.Kevin Cash led off the bottom of the tenth by striking out. Derek Jeter came up next and flew out to left. It was Johnny Damon’s turn but he popped up to end the tenth.Alfredo Acevas came in to pitch the eleventh. He got the first batter to fly out and got the second batter to ground out. Jeter made a nice play making a 360 and throwing out the runner.Mark Teixeira came up to lead off the bottom of the eleventh. He worked the count to 3-0 and walked. Alex Rodriguez came up next and hit a game winning home run.Alex Rodriguez had been struggling and Michael Kay was event questioning whether Alex Rodriguez should bunt. Cone and O’Neal both said that this could be chance for Alex to turn things around like Mark Teixeira did last night. Well he certainly did that. What has stood out to me about Alex is that he has taken a lot of pitches. I guess he is still getting his timing down; this is like spring training for him.There was a funny moment in the booth when Michael Kay sort of took a shot at John Sterling. Here’s how it went : (paraphrasing)O’NEAL: “He’s got a nickname now.”KAY: “Huh?”O’NEAL: “Well you just called him ‘The Gardner’”KAY: “No I said then Gardner”O’NEAL: “Oh” KAY: “No, we’ll listen over on the radio side for the nicknames.”

Edited May 17, 2009 by nyy26 (see edit history)

[nyy26 0]

Johnny Damon is in a contract year and is off to one of the best starts of his career. However, he does not expect to be back with the Yankees. If he keeps this up he will be due a big payday. Earlier this week, Damon said he wouldn’t be surprised if the Yankees don’t bring him back, but he would like to say with the Yankees because it would be the best place for him and he believes he can be a winner, but at the same time, he says he understands how the free agent game works. With Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui coming off the books, it would make sense for the Yankees to bring back one f not both of them. The most logical one seems to be Damon because Matsui most likely has less time left due to his knees. Depending on how much money each want, I say bring back both of them. Matsui is a great hitter and might be looking for an above average deal, but I believe he would take a reduced deal because he really wants to be a Yankee and doesn’t really want to play anywhere else. He might be looking for something similar to what the Angels gave Bobby Abreu last winter. However, the Yankees could only bring back one because we know how much they love Matt Holliday and how much Holliday wants to be in New York. However Holliday is off to a slow start in Oakland, after leaving the hitter friendly confines of Coors Field in Colorado. There was a lot of speculation about whether or not Matt Holliday was the real deal or not, and it is starting to look like he’s not. Holliday's swing is perfect for the new Yankee Stadium. People have started to jokingly call it Coors Field East because of all the homeruns it has given up I believe it was 55 by the time yesterday’s game was over. Matt Holliday could thrive in the New Yankee Stadium. The fate of Damon and Matsui also rely on whether or not Xavier Nady makes a full recovery and can play well enough. I’m not sure, but I believe that Nady is a free agent as well. Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner could affect the decision. Both players are playing great right now; a platoon situation with those two in center isn’t bad at all. The minor league stud prospect Austin Jackson will also have some say. It is projected that Jackson could be a starting outfielder by next year, if the Yankees fee completely comfortable with him playing every day, they will have more wiggle room in making there decision.The Yankees are looking for some long relief help, along with the Dodger, Twin, and Indians. Some names include Jose Valverde, Huston Street, Danys Baez, Russ Springer, and John Grabow. Valverde is an interesting name, he was a prime time closer a few years ago and is still a pretty good pitcher who could provide some relief and even close games when needed. Huston Street I another name like that. Street was on top of the world of relief not too long ago with the Athletics, and is still pretty young. He would be an interesting acquisition for the Yankees. He also could close games. He got off to a very poor start but has since had some great outings. His earned run average is starting to neutralize. Danys Baez is a journey man and I don’t believe he would be worth trading for. The same goes for Russ Springer and John Grawbow. Each one is an okay pitcher but not much better than what the Yankees have with Phil Coke and Jonathan Albaladejo. The Yankees bullpen should recover once Brian Bruney and Dimaso Marte come back. The bullpen is undoubtedly the weakest part of the Yankees right now. Some f the guys just can’t get it done.

Edited May 17, 2009 by nyy26 (see edit history)