KC Rainout Morning News And Notes

The weather didn't cooperate last night and the series finale against the Royals was rained out, leaving the Yankees in a position where they will lose another off-day later in the season.  Now they move onto Seattle for 3 games and here are the big things to come out of last night:

- The makeup date has been announced for August 25th.  That was supposed to be a travel day into Detroit and now the Yanks will stop off in KC again to wrap this one up before going to the Motor City.

- Joe has decided to keep his rotation in order, pushing Vidal Nuno back to tonight and Masahiro Tanaka to Wednesday.  By doing this, he throws off a potential big pitching matchup between former Japanese teammates Tanaka and Hisashi Iwakuma.  Oh well.

- Jacoby Ellsbury would have been held out of the lineup last night with a sore hip after hurting himself running the bases on Sunday.  He is expected to play today.

- Shawn Kelley threw a scoreless inning for SWB last night and the plan is still for him to rejoin the team on Wednesday.

- The recently DFA'd Alfredo Aceves accepted an outright assignment back to Triple-A, so I guess he's going to be around for a little while longer.  Yaaaayyyyy...

Basking In The Good Pitching Afterglow

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

Quality of opponent being what it was, yesterday's doubleheader shutout was still a splendid performance by the Yankee pitching staff.  They got very good to outstanding outings from 2 25-year-old starters and some solid bullpen work from a bunch of mostly young and unheralded pitchers all working in higher-leverage roles thanks to the closer being on the DL.  It was a continuation of what has quickly been established as the norm for this group since the opening week of the season.  These guys can pitch, all of them, and they've been the driving force behind the Yankees' early success.

The Yanks open a weekend series tonight in Tampa with the 2nd best record in the American League, a place atop the AL East, and they've done it mainly on the back of their pitching staff while the new lineup continues to work out the kinks and find its way.  It's a very refreshing change of pace from where the rotation was early in the year last season, and I'd like to take a few moments to enjoy it.

Thoughts On The Rotation Two Weeks From Opening Day

(Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

A little over 2 weeks from right now, the Yankees will be on the road in Houston to open the 2014 regular season.  They'll be facing the immortal Scott Feldman, and barring anything unforeseen they will send CC Sabathia out for his 6th straight Opening Day start to counter.  That's one of the few definites in the starting rotation right now, and with 11 spring games left to sort out the rest, the big picture is starting to come into focus.  Some random thoughts on where the rotation stands 2 weeks from Opening Day.

Pitchers And Catchers Report Date Prepper 2014: The Starters

(Slim CC, so hot right now.  Slim CC.  Courtesy of Amber Sabathia's Instagram)

It's Monday, February 10th, which means we're a mere 4 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to Yankee camp.  After a long and eventful offseason, we're finally getting back to real, actual, throwing and catching and hitting baseball and that's great news.  As part of the early ST process, I'll once again be breaking down the players reporting by roster groups and giving an idea of what to expect, or at least be on the lookout for, from each guy during spring camp.  We'll get things started by looking at the contingent of starting pitchers who'll be reporting this Friday.  The projected top 4 in the season-opening rotation is all but set, but the competition for that 5th spot is as wide open as ever.

Reconsidering The Yankee Rotation With Tanaka

(Courtesy of MLB's Twitter feed)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Before the news of the Masahiro Tanaka signing came out yesterday morning, the Yankee rotation was in big trouble.  At least that's the spin that was being put on the majority of the conversations, reports, and blog posts around the Yankosphere.  CC Sabathia was coming off a terrible year and was going to be another year older with no indication that he could ever rebound to become a good pitcher again.  Hiroki Kuroda was also going to be another year older and potentially ready to break down and regress after a poor second half in 2013.  Ivan Nova was a big, inconsistent question mark, Michael Pineda was an even bigger question mark in bold font who might never be a starter again, and the rest of the 5th starter competition contingent was nothing special.  There was no way the Yankees were going to compete for anything with that crew.

Some Cheaper Tanaka Alternatives

(Meh... Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Yesterday the news broke that the Rakuten Golden Eagles were not going to post Masahiro Tanaka this offseason.  Then some reports came out that they still hadn't decided if they were going to post him this offseason.  Then there was a report that they still would post him this offseason.  So as of right now they're not planning on posting him and they're going to offer him a record NPB contract to stay, but they might post him because they haven't decided if they want to post him even though they don't have to post him and eventually they will post him but maybe not.

As far as the Yankees are concerned, they almost have no choice but to move on assuming that Tanaka isn't going to be posted.  The process has already dragged out longer than they anticipated or wanted it to and their rotation isn't getting any better while they wait around for Rakuten to make up its mind.  The Yanks are reportedly not interested in the next tier of MLB free agent starters like Jimenez, Garza, and Santana, but I still can't see them not bringing in another pitcher and instead filling the back end of the rotation out with their internal cadre of young arms.  If they want a short-term placeholder for the rotation until next offseason, when they can hopefully try for Tanaka again, here are the most likely candidates for an offer.

Rotation Upgrades: Sign 'Em, Trade For 'Em, Or Wait For 'Em

("Gosh. This free agent pitching market is sooooo boring." Courtesy of John O'Boyle/The Star-Ledger)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

It's been a somewhat quiet first 2 days at the Winter Meetings for the Yankees, at least compared to last week.  Many of Cash's comments to the media yesterday were indicative of a team still trying to figure out its strategy for this week, trying to identify the best opportunity to upgrade the roster.  The bulk of the early buzz has been around next year's outfield: who's playing where, who's not playing where, who's on the trade block, and who's not.  There's also been a little talk about the open infield spots and the players currently on the radar as free agent targets, most notably Omar Infante and Mark Reynolds.

What there hasn't been is much activity on the rotation front.  The Yankees locked up what they hope will be half of the 400 innings they're looking for when they re-signed Hiroki Kuroda last Friday, and one of the major goals of this week was thought to be securing that other half.  Cash said yesterday that signing another pitcher would be easier than trading for one and he's right.  The Yanks have much more to offer by way of dollars than they do prospects.  But they don't seem to be all that interested in any of the top free agent starters, and even if they did have pieces to trade there are red flags attached to almost every conceivable trade target.  So where do the Yankees go for the rotation help they need?  Because right now they're sort of stuck in no man's land.

Yanks Rearrange Rotation For The Rays Series

The Yankees have their last scheduled off-day of the regular season today, and in a move that's ultimately too little too late but still the right strategic decision, Joe is going to use that off-day to rearrange his rotation.

The Phil Hughes-David Huff 2-headed 5th starter monster was scheduled to start tomorrow's series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays.  With the off-day keeping the rest of the rotation behind them on regular rest, Joe will skip over his 5th starters and go back to the top of the rotation.  He'll have 3 of his 4 best starters - Hiroki Kuroda, CC Sabathia, and Ivan Nova - start the 3 games against Tampa and push Huffes back to the final series in Houston later in the week.

In a perfect world, Joe would have Andy Pettitte in that mix, probably in place of CC.  Pettitte was brilliant yesterday and should have the adrenaline flowing again when he makes his final career start.  The Yankees' only chance to make the postseason is to sweep these 3 games from Tampa and get a lot of help, something that doesn't seem very likely given the agonizingly inconsistent nature of their lineup right now.  So with the season all but over, it's probably better to keep Andy on his regular schedule and let him make his final start in the other MLB city he called home.  Even without him, the decision to go Hirok, CC, Nova is the right one and an upgrade over letting Hughes and Huff pitch a meaningful game.

Hughes Out, Huff In

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Guess those 1.1 scoreless innings he tossed on Monday wasn't enough to save his job, huh?  Joe announced last night that Phil Hughes will be removed from the starting rotation and moved to the bullpen for the rest of the season and David Huff will be taking Hughes' place in the rotation this Saturday against Boston.  This comes on the heels of Huff's latest solid long relief appearance, also on Monday, and ends weeks of growing speculation about how much longer Joe would stick with Hughes.  Time wasn't on his side after the Yanks failed to find any good offers for him at the deadline, and after another month of mostly poor starts Joe finally decided he had seen enough.

What To Do With Hughes Now?

(Courtesy of the AP)

Thanks to his gross ineffectiveness in his 9 previous starts, the Yankees elected to push Phil Hughes back to yesterday, preventing him from pitching in a meaningful game against an AL Wild Card competitor over the weekend.  Strategically it was a smart decision, although the same argument could be made for CC Sabathia, and it almost paid off in spades when the Yankees came within 9 outs of sweeping the Orioles.

Now they face the same dilemma with Hughes heading into this weekend's big series with Baahhhhhston and yesterday's rain-shortened outing did nothing to move the confidence needle in either direction.  Yes, it was Hughes' first scoreless outing since May and we should all be very proud of him for that, but his overall body of work this summer still isn't nearly good enough to trust him with the ball in an important game.  If he wasn't good enough to pitch against the O's, why would he be good enough to pitch against a team 8 games better than the O's?

Determining Nova's Role For 2014

(Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Ivan Nova picked up his 3rd straight win yesterday Tuesday afternoon and 5th since rejoining the rotation in late June.  For the second straight start it was more of a struggle for him than it had been in most of his previous outings.  He was just a touch off with his command in and around the strike zone, and with his transformation into a fastball/curveball pitcher that lack of command made him more hittable.  Last year a game like yesterday's would have ended in disaster for Nova.  As it is he put 11 men on base and gave up 4 ER, hardly eye-popping numbers.  He also gave all those runs up in the 2nd inning and recovered to pitch scoreless from then on into the 7th inning.  Considering the 2012 alternative, you'd have to call yesterday  Tuesday a good start for Nova.

Timing Of Latest Injury Setbacks Leaves Rotation Dangerously Thin

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

It was another poor outing for Phil Hughes yesterday, the poorest and shortest he's had since his 0.2-inning meltdown against the Mariners in May.  In his last 3 starts, Hughes has completed just 12.1 innings and has given up 13 R (10 ER) on 19 H in those innings with 8 BB to just 6 K.  His leash with Joe has gotten shorter to the point that were it a literal leash it would probably be choking him to death as soon as he took the mound, and his inability to work efficiently and deeply into games is becoming a burden on the bullpen.  Hughes needed 71 pitches yesterday to retire just 8 batters.

Combined with the unadulterated putridity that has been CC Sabathia's last 4 starts, suddenly the Yankees are rolling with an even worse rotation than they had a few weeks ago.  The group that needed to turn things around in concert with the offense if the Yankees were going to make a serious playoff charge has become an alternating "all or nothing" collection of some of the best and worst pitching we've seen this season.  For every great start Hirok or Nova goes out and pitches, Sabathia and Hughes pitch one equally as bad if not worse a day or 2 later.

Yankee Rotation Out Of The Break Says Something

When the Yankees start up play tonight, they'll do it with some ASB-aided adjustments to the rotation.  They've lined up Andy Pettitte, Hiroki Kuroda, and CC Sabathia to pitch the 3 games in Boston, in that order.  Despite what Joe says, there's definitely more to that decision than just making sure guys get extra days off.

Simply, it shows that the Yankees still don't trust their young pitching.  Big series out of the break, against the team they're chasing in the AL East who also happens to be their blood rival, and Joe doesn't want Phil or Ivan anywhere near that situation.  Nova's been the best starter in the rotation the last 3 turns through and Phil is at least as likely to give the Yanks a better start than Pettitte will if not more likely.  But once again, the Yanks are making the statement that they're going to ride their veterans to the promised land.

Which is not to say it's a bad strategy.  CC and Hirok are the team's top 2 starters, and Andy has more of a big game reputation than Hughes or Nova.  And maybe there's a bit of trade strategy mixed in there too, like not wanting Hughes to get shelled in a nationally-televised game to hurt his market value.  We've seen it happen before against Boston.  Hughes would be tagged to pitch one of the next 2 games in the Texas series and he's a much better pitcher out there in Arlington than he is in Fenway.

Good strategy, bad strategy?  Guess we'll find out in 3 days.

Rotation Appreciation

(Buck up, guys.  Ya done good.  Courtesy of the AP)

You don't have to be a genius to know that the starting rotation has been really good this season.  They're currently 4th in AL in ERA (3.75), 3rd in FIP (3.75), and 3rd in total fWAR (6.7).  They've put up these numbers despite dealing with injuries to multiple rotation members before and during the season, CC Sabathia's transition away from being a power pitcher, and 2 starts on their ledger when the starter didn't even make it out of the 1st inning.  The collective performance of the rotation, even with the bad starts mixed in, is the main reason the Yankees are still 10+ games over .500 while mired in another brutal offensive slump, and it's time each guy just got some props for the job he's done.

Cash Confirms Pettitte Return Date

Cashman told me the plan is to have Pettitte return during the CLE series (as long as there are no setbacks) #yankees
— Meredith Marakovits (@M_Marakovits) May 29, 2013

Via my girl Meredith earlier today, Brian Cashman confirmed that Andy Pettitte will indeed come off the DL next week and rejoin the rotation during the team's Monday-Wednesday series against Cleveland.  Vidal Nuno is scheduled to pitch the Subway Series finale tomorrow, and is currently occupying Pettitte's spot in the rotation.  He'll more than likely be sent down Triple-A to stay stretched out as a starter when his spot comes around again next Tuesday and Andy will get that start.

Pettitte had no problems in his 75-pitch sim game yesterday and I imagine he will throw one more simulated session of some kind before returning.  It will be interesting to see how Joe manages his workload now that he's coming back from his second back problem of the year.  The important thing is that the Left-Handed Jedi has returned.  Now somebody hit the music!

Yanks Continue To Shuffle The Rotation

Today is the Yankees' first scheduled off-day in over 2 weeks.  They've played 16 games in 16 days and get a chance to catch their breath before a weekend series in Tampa that kicks off another stretch of 17 games in as many days.  With that extra day to play with and an open spot in the rotation, Joe has decided to juggle the order again for the next turn through.

David Phelps will get the start on Friday night against the Rays, with Vidal Nuno slotting into Andy Pettitte's spot on Saturday.  This pushes CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes, and Hiroki Kuroda all back and gives each an extra day of rest before their next starts.  For Sabathia and Kuroda this is a safe move and a smart move, especially for Kuroda, who sounded determined to make his next start after leaving last night's game early.  For Hughes, who's been struggling with his fastball command lately, who knows what kind of impact the extra day will have?

There's still no word on when Pettitte will be ready to return to the rotation.  Per Chad Jennings, he's scheduled to throw either today or tomorrow and is eligible to come off the DL on July 1st.  The Yankees will wait to see how he comes through the throwing session before making any plans, but in the meantime it's a wise move on their part to give their other 2 veteran starters a little extra rest when they can.

Rain Helps A Shortened Rotation

(Thanks, Mother Nature.  Seriously.  Courtesy of Anthony McCarron)

Yesterday's rainout was a bummer in that it didn't give the Yankees a chance to sweep Toronto again and extend their division lead.  In the context of their current rotation situation and the always-important big picture, however, it could have been a blessing in disguise.

Andy Pettitte's spot in the rotation was scheduled to come up in this series against Baltimore, and the recalled Vidal Nuno was the likely candidate to make that start.  Because of yesterday's postponement, Joe announced that he will push the rest of his rotation back a day and go with CC, Hughes, and Kuroda in this series.  The team has a scheduled off-day on Thursday, with David Phelps getting the start Friday in Tampa and then CC and Phil cycling around again after him.  Pettitte/Nuno's spot would not come up again until May 28th, which would put Andy in a position to only miss 1 start if his back issue turns out to be as minor as the teams says and he comes off the DL as scheduled.

Andy missing any time is a loss for the rotation, there's no way around that.  But to have that loss minimized is another small silver lining to a bad situation.  It's not the first time something lucky like this has cropped up in a larger, unluckier circumstance.  Just another strange occurrence in a season full of them.

Nova's Rotation Spot Already On Shaky Ground

(Forever alone.  Courtesy of the AP)

I have to admit, I was a little surprised to read that the Yankees are planning on skipping Ivan Nova in the rotation tonight after last night's rain-out in order to keep Phil Hughes and the rest of the rotation on schedule.  On the surface it makes sense to want to keep everybody else on their routine or as close to it as possible, but shouldn't that logic apply to Nova as well?  And if you really stop and think about it, wouldn't an extra day or two of rest be a good thing for a "still kinda recovering from elbow surgery" CC Sabathia and older pitchers like Kuroda and Pettitte?

To me, this decision to skip Nova and keep everyone else on schedule at his expense is a sign that the coaching staff is not as confident in Nova as they are the rest of the group right now.  After a strong start to his spring camp, Nova's final two starts were similar to many of his 2012 outings were he got knocked around.  His first regular season start wasn't much better, so based on a sample size of over a full season's worth of starts it would make sense for Nova to be on a short leash.

Still, the quick-trigger timing of this skip over is puzzling.  It would be one thing if this were September and the Yankees wanted to keep their best pitchers lined up to face teams they were competing against for a playoff spot.  That's hardly the case eight games into the season, which leads me to believe Nova is already in danger of losing his spot in the rotation.  He needs to come up with a much better performance in his next start, whenever that may be, to establish some control over that spot.

Pitchers & Catchers Report Date Prepper: The Starters

(The big 3.  Courtesy of Charles Wenzelberg/NY Post)

Today's the big day.  As I sit here writing this and as others of you will sit here and read it, players are making their way to the Yankees' Spring Training complex to begin their preseason work.  There's a lot that needs to be done to prepare for the 2013 season, and a lot that still needs to be worked out, but one thing will hold more true than it ever has for the Yankees this year and that's the need for their starting rotation to stay healthy and pitch effectively.  Last year's group did for stretches, especially for a period in June when Andy had joined the rotation and gotten up to full game speed, but injuries and uneven performance were the bigger storylines.  The Yankees head into camp this season with the same 6 familiar faces that finished last year vying for the 5 spots in this year's rotation, with some youth and depth behind them.

What To Expect From Andy, Again

(He's already been struck down.  Does he come back more powerful than we could possibly imagine tonight?)

We've already had to do this once this season, and that was pretty damn unexpected, so just paint me completely shocked that it's the year 2012 and I'm writing my SECOND Andy Pettitte comeback post of the year.  After telling retirement to pound sand in the spring, and showing he had plenty left in the tank in 58.2 innings over 9 starts, Andy was sidelined in late June thanks to a line drive off the bat of Casey Kotchman that fractured his ankle.  He's worked diligently to make it back to the mound before the end of the regular season, and despite my skepticism that work will be complete tonight when Andy makes his return start against Toronto.  So what should we expect this time?