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New York Yankees: Wounded but winning

Posted by on 15 May 2012, 12:39 am
Mark Teixeira swings at a pitch during a game ...

Mark Teixeira swings at a pitch during a game between the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles on August 28, 2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As if there weren’t enough already, the New York Yankees suffered even more injuries during their big, 8-5 win against the Baltimore Orioles last night.

The wounded Bombers are literally dropping like flies, and it is going to make it tough for skipper Joe Girardi to give Mark Teixeira, who was hacking up a lung after his big two-run homer, a much-needed day off.

So, here is a quick list of the Yankees latest casualties with the most updated DL list from MLB.com.

-       Starting pitcher Ivan Nova had to leave the mound in Camden Yard and was diagnosed with a bruise and a sprain of his right ankle but MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch did report the x-rays came back negative. I presume that means Nova didn’t really damage anything but he is obviously still hurt.

-       Lefty reliever Clay Rapada faced two batters, and finished his outing but had to be helped to the locker-room, as he has a viral infection.

-       DH/LF Raul Ibanez got hit with a pitch in the right elbow but still managed to get on first due to a defensive error but was immediately replaced with a pinch runner. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Wounded but winning’ »

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New York Yankees: Reintroducing Girardi’s binder

Posted by on 12 May 2012, 4:03 am

Joe Girardi, the current Yankees' manager

Joe Girardi, the current Yankees' manager (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With the devastating loss of Mariano Rivera now sinking in, which not only physically handicaps the Yankees but also mentally, skipper Joe Girardi’s job just got much harder.

The good ‘old comfort of the ninth inning now feels more like a Sergio Mitre start, and no one knows this better than pitcher David Robertson.

In time, everyone figured Robertson to be Mo’s successor, but not now and not like this.

When you consider all the Yankees recent history of screwing up young pitchers by pushing them too hard into uncomfortable roles, it makes you stop and think again.

Why the hell would the Yankees put all the weight on Robertson to fill Mo’s shoes when the timing isn’t right?

Robertson was invaluable to the Yankees last, and he got an All-Star nod to prove it. Also his 1.08 ERA, one homer, and eight earned runs in over 66 innings pitched made Robertson the best reliever in the Bigs.

Just think about it…. Robertson earned the nickname Houdini because he is an escape artist. He thrives when runners are already on bases, as that is where he always got the big strikeouts.

So, could this be the reason that Robertson blew his second save vs. the Rays? Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Reintroducing Girardi’s binder’ »

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Yankees vs. Rays: Series deux preview

Posted by on 8 May 2012, 12:44 am

The Yankees are back in New York after a 5-5-road trip to host the Tampa Bay Rays for a three-game set at the stadium starting tonight.

James Shields at Yankee Stadium.

Last time these two teams met was the start of the 2012 season, and the Rays swept the Yankees right out of Tropicana Field.

The Rays stand atop the AL East, tied with the Orioles with a 19-10 record but are coming to the Bronx on a two game losing streak.

Still, the 15-13 Yankees are the ones looking up at the Rays and have a perfect opportunity to make a move in the division and get some of their pride back.

The Rays are without third baseman Evan Longoria, and possibly Desmond Jennings too; but the Yankees will be without Mariano Rivera for the first time at home since 2003 along with a slew of others, including Brett Gardner, on their lengthy DL list.

The pitching match-ups are as follows, along with my predictions:

Tuesday: James Shields (5-0) vs. Ivan Nova (3-1)

Shields is clearly the better pitcher, but the recent awaken of Robbie Cano’s bat could give him some problems as Cano has hit four homers, five doubles, two triples and posts a .400 batting average against Shields. Cano was not a factor for Shields in their earlier meeting this season.

Nova is coming off his first loss after a 15-game winning streak but I do like the way he has pitched lately. He is reminding me of a 2010 Hughes, as he is getting a ton of run support. He has held the Rays to a .170 batting average, allowing two homers, three RBIs, three walks, while striking out 10 of the 47 total at-bats he has logged against them. Continue reading ‘Yankees vs. Rays: Series deux preview’ »

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New York Yankees: TGIF

Posted by on 5 May 2012, 8:04 am

Waking up yesterday morning, I had that pit in my stomach and you can bet I wasn’t the only New Yorker with that feeling.

On Opening Day 2010 at Yankee Stadium, Derek J...

I had realized that last Friday night might have been the last time I ever would hear ENTER SANDMAN blasting over the speakers at Yankee Stadium.

Like most baseball fans, I was distraught and now would have the weekend to think about things.

That is until Mo confirmed in the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium, “I’m coming back. Write it down in big letters. I’m not going out like this,” and all of a sudden I smiled again.

Yes, losing Mo for a season stinks, but it doesn’t compare to the feeling it left when it was possibly for forever.

Friday continued to get better as the Yankees snapped a three-game losing streak beating the Royals 6-2.

Ace CC Sabathia took charge throwing for eight solid innings, and Captain Derek Jeter went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer and drove in two runs.

All that came to my mind was TGIF…thank God it’s Friday.

And that is when I started digging around the web for some other Yankees-positives, a tad silly yes but figured I might as well would share a few: Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: TGIF’ »

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New York Yankees: Hearts are broken for Mo

Posted by on 4 May 2012, 1:03 am

The greatest closer in baseball history is New York Yankees Mariano Rivera, and now the team will have to go on without him for the 2012 season.

Mariano Rivera celebrates a victory against th...

Mo tore his ACL catching batting practice prior to the game against the Royals in Kansas City. Mo was supposedly on his way back to New York to see the Yankees doctors but he wants to stay with his teammates right now.

As a Yankees fan, Mo is like family and it is beyond crushing.

Since I am at a complete loss for words here, I will turn to twitter and leave you with the sentiments of others:

 

 

Very interesting tweet from @YankeesWFAN about how clubhouse is morgue-like. Not surprised. Rivera is as revered/respected as any Yankee On 4:10 AM May 4th 2012 from web
Derek Jeter: "He's going to be missed. There's no other way to put it. You can't replace him." On 4:10 AM May 4th 2012 from Twitter for iPhone
If Mariano Rivera is done, I might need to take a personal day. This is like finding out Santa Claus died. On 4:22 AM May 4th 2012 from Mobile Web
This phrase is often floated around much too liberally, but there will never be another Mariano Rivera. On 4:20 AM May 4th 2012 from TweetDeck
Mariano Rivera, head bowed and teary-eyed, says he does not know if he will pitch again. On 4:17 AM May 4th 2012 from Twitter for iPhone
This cannot be the end of Mariano Rivera's career. It just can't. On 4:20 AM May 4th 2012 from Twitter for iPhone

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD Mariano Rivera is down on the warning track after hurting his knee shagging fly balls. This is BAD. #Yankees On 11:14 PM May 3rd 2012 from web
Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Hearts are broken for Mo’ »

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New York Yankees: Things are about to get harder.

Posted by on 17 April 2012, 3:26 am

Pavano on the hill at Yankee Stadium - 04.16.2012

After a lovely weekend of taking two of three from the Angels, the Yankees looked good minus Phil Hughes.

Last night the Yankees opened a four game set in the Bronx against the Minnesota Twins with a 3-7 loss.

It didn’t help that Carl Pavano (aka. American Idle) was on the mound for the Twins, as considering his history in New York losing to him didn’t sit well with Yankees fans; of course not much does these days.

Minnesota is in town for three more games, and the Yankees have manhandled the Twins over the last decade, winning 33 of their last 44 meetings in the Bronx; so winning the next three games should be mandatory.

Reality is the Yankees cannot really afford to lose any of them, as things are about to get a lot harder starting this Friday when they head to Fenway Park.

Their schedule is about to get kicked into high gear and the Yankees could very well wind up in a hole come mid-May if they don’t take advantage when possible. Figuring out which way this team will go is the million, I meant billion-dollar question.

Attempting to come up with a logical formula of where any team will be a month from is fundamentally impossible and might even send Bill James brain into a tailspin.

Still, like every team, the Yankees have issues that need to be ironed-out sooner than later but time is not on their side…look for yourself. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Things are about to get harder.’ »

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New York Yankees: Being too un-risky proving costly

Posted by on 8 April 2012, 7:44 pm
Joe Girardi

Joe Girardi (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon notoriously gets called out for making ‘risky moves’ all the time but after this weekend’s sweep of the New York Yankees that label seems unfair and inaccurate.

A risk is supposed to be hazardous, as you are acting in spite of what could go wrong.

And the only jeopardizing things I saw during the first series of the 2012 season came from the Yankees bench. Here are the three ‘safe’ moves that potentially lost the Yankees games:

1)    Intentionally walking Rays Sean Rodriguez in the first inning, of the first game of the season against CC Sabathia was senseless. Sabathia always takes a few starts in the beginning of the season to get rolling and he was clearly struggling with his control. To purposefully bring up power hitter Carlos Pena instead of letting CC strike out Rodriguez with breaking balls, which he did later in the game was over managing the Yankees ace. It ended with Pena hitting a grand slam.

2)    Again in the first game, but in the ninth inning, Girardi walked two Rays to get to Pena again who hit a rocket to deep centerfield, which won the game for the Rays. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Being too un-risky proving costly’ »

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