A Doubleheader Of Divergent Career Paths

If you're looking for a quick visual representation of the Yankees' organizational struggles when it comes to developing starting pitching, look no further than the 2 guys starting today's doubleheader.

Ivan Nova was an undervalued international signing.  He's been a low-ceiling starter prospect, better than advertised Major Leaguer, Game 1 postseason starter, back end rotation fodder, human batting cage pitching machine, Minor League reclamation project, extra pitching staff depth, and injury question mark all in the span of 2 years.  Currently he's the second best starter in the 2013 rotation and has gotten his career back on track with the transition to an exclusive fastball/curveball approach.

Phil Hughes was a can't miss, #1, mega-hyped American prospect, expected to be the future ace of the staff once the Core Four era was over.  He's pitched brilliantly at times, he's pitched inconceivably bad at times, and his career has been defined by his inability to consistently do the most basic things on a pitching mound that a pitcher needs to do to be successful.  He's been the worst starter in the rotation by far this season and as he heads towards the possible final weeks of his Yankee career he's watching his free agent value deteriorate with every bad pitch.

These are the best the Yankee system has generated in the last 5-7 years, and that's not saying much.  Things look brighter for Nova now than Hughes, but based on his track record there's no way to know how long this stretch of effectiveness will last and if it will carry over into next year.  We'll get another look at both of them today and another look at what could have been and what may still be.

Last Time On "As The Quad Strains"

Joseph accused Randy of sabotaging Alex's career:

"They rolled him out there like an invalid and made him look like he was finished as a ballplayer."

Randy called Alex out for hiding behind his lawyer, and challenged him to expose the truth:

"Alex should put up or shut up."

Alex tried to catch up on his reading:

"I've got to read the article first."

And Brian just didn't feel comfortable talking to Alex anymore:

"I don't feel comfortable talking to him. ... Hello, goodbye, and that’s it. Because anything else, I don’t want to be distorted, to be quite honest.”

What will happen next time?  Will Alex reveal his medical records?  Will Joseph expose Randy for his hurtful lies?  Will Alex get some time to check out that article??  And will Brian and Alex ever be able to repair their broken relationship???  Tune in next time to "As The Quad Strains."

Careful Not To Over-Rest Mo

(Courtesy of the AP)

Mariano Rivera made his return to the mound last night after a week off from action.  He hadn't pitched since blowing his third consecutive save last Sunday against the Tigers, and no, nothing was physically wrong with him.  After experiencing his first rough patch of the season, Joe elected to give Mo some extra time off after a somewhat heavy workload the week prior.  Overworking a 43-year-old baseball icon and risking injury to him would not be a fun way to finish Mo's final season, but to go a full week between appearances seemed like a bit of overkill.  After all, the only way a pitcher gets over command problems is by continuing to pitch and working through them.  Mo's recent struggles being command-based, it would have been helpful to get him some work prior to last night.

Yanks Still Owe Boston One With Two Series To Go

(Courtesy of the AP)

The buzz immediately after the Ryan Dempster-Alex Rodriguez incident last night was about retaliation.  Whether you liked that A-Rod got plunked or not, there was no denying that Dempster was way out of line in how he went about dishing his version of justice.  Joe Girardi justifiably lost his mind on Brian O'Nora when the warnings were issued without an ejection of Dempster and everybody knew somebody on Boston was getting plunked.  The ESPN cameras actually caught Joe saying it to whoever the third base ump was as he left the field.  It was just a matter of who, when, and what the end result of that was going to be.

Preach, Joe...

Fucking preach.  My opinion's biased as hell, but this guy is still AL Manager of the Year in my book.  Dynamite performance both on the field and in his office last night.

P.S.- Fucking pussy indeed.  Gif courtesy of @CorkGaines.

Game 123 Wrap-Up: NYY 9 BOS 6

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

The stagnation of the Yankees' recent winning streak has put a major dent in their forward momentum.  They've gained little to no ground in any of the playoff races despite a 6-2 stretch and their failure to win a sloppy game on Saturday afternoon with their ace on the mound put them in a tough spot for the series finale in Boston.  Their once and former ace CC Sabathia got the final start and the Yankees needed him to continue to move forward in his battle to overcome his command issues and not have another forgettable Fenway Park outing.  Sabathia stumbled again, but the A-Rod-related fireworks stole the headlines.  At least they were on the field this time as the Yanks secured the series win.

Game Notes:

- CC was in trouble right out of the gate.  He loaded the bases in the first 4 batters of the 1st on a pair of walks and single.  Tough to avoid damage in those situations when you aren't at your best and CC ended up with 2 runs against him before he got out of the inning.

- His lineup picked him up with 3 runs in the next 2 innings to give him a lead, the big hit a Curtis Granderson double in the 2nd to set up the RISP situation and the big moment the Alex Rodriguez HBP that preceded it.

- It wasn't unexpected that somebody finally came inside and hit A-Rod.  What was surprising was that it took 4 pitches for Ryan Dempster to plunk him to start the 2nd, and what was even more surprising was home plate ump Brian O'Nora's decision to immediately warn both benches without ejecting Dempster.  Joe went understandably nuts and was ejected.  Terrible job by O'Nora there.  If he's going to pull the automatic double warning, he HAS to throw Dempster out.

- CC couldn't make the lead stand up.  He gave up leadoff doubles in the bottom of the 3rd and 4th and gave up 3 more runs in those innings.  Another in the 5th and he was out early in the 6th after another disappointing outing.

- Despite being down 6-3, The Yankee offense didn't say die and it was A-Rod who led the charge back.  His solo HR off Dempster to lead off the top of the 6th sparked a 4-run inning to regain the lead.  Brett Gardner's bases-clearing triple was the big hit.

- A couple insurance runs in the 7th and 9th provided plenty of cushion for Mo, who put the finishing touch on a terrific performance by the bullpen (3.2 IP, 0 R, 5 K) in his first work in a week.

BREAKING: Nunez Leaves With Leg Injury (Updated)

Plenty of more to come on this game tomorrow, but the big story at the moment is another injury to a Yankee shortstop.  Eduardo Nunez left tonight's game after appearing to injure his leg running the bases in the top of the 6th.  He was advancing to second on a single by Lyle Overbay, and after Chris Stewart walked to move him to third he was taken out of the game and replaced by Jayson Nix.  With no timetable for Jeter's return, the Yankees can ill afford to lose Nunez for extended time right now.

No word yet on any official diagnosis.  More on this story as it becomes available.

** UPDATE 10:17 PM- Via the beat writer corps, Nunez was taken out of the game with a tight right hamstring.  I assume an MRI will follow. **

A-Rod's Lawyer Kicks It Up A Dozen Notches With New Accusations

The Alex-Rodriguez-New York Yankees-Major League Baseball threeway legal dance surrounding the Biogenesis case and A-Rod's resulting suspension has already been playing out like great TV drama.  As someone who's admittedly tired of all the steroid talk in baseball and really doesn't care about it, I'll admit that I find each new rumor and leaked story to be both fascinating and entertaining.  When the baseball season ends and the appeal happens, it's going to be absolutely wild.

How much wilder will it be after the latest story and newest twists laid out by A-Rod's legal team?  Probably somewhere between "much" and "way."  In a story published by the New York Times yesterday, A-Rod's newest lawyer, Joseph Tacopina went on the offensive in his efforts to build A-Rod's defense case.  He accused the New York Yankees of intentionally hiding MRI results revealing A-Rod's labrum tear and continuing to play him while he was hurt, working in collusion with MLB to void A-Rod's contract and ban him from baseball, and singled out team president Randy Levine for allegedly telling the doctor performing A-Rod's hip surgery "I don't even want to see him on the field again."  That's not just "looking to get on base" type of going on the offensive, it's swinging for the fences as hard as you can with a juiced bat.

Game 122 Wrap-Up: BOS 6 NYY 1

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

The Yankees came into Boston last night and beat up on the Sawx in a big way.  They outhit them, outpitched them, and even outdefended them by a slight margin.  They looked like the type of team that should be the leading the AL East, not one struggling to pull back into the AL playoff race.  They had another chance to get a step closer in that race this afternoon against John Lackey, one of the more outspoken players when it comes to Alex Rodriguez and the Biogenesis case and, in case anybody has forgotten, a certified jackass of the highest order.  There would have been nothing sweeter than to knock him around the park on route to another victory but today it just wasn't meant to be, not even with Hiroki Kuroda on the mound.

Game Notes:

- It was a true all-or-nothing first few innings for the Yankee offense.  They went down 1-2-3 in the 1st and 3rd innings on 6 GB outs, and failed to score on a bases loaded situation in the 2nd and 2 hits in the 4th.

- They certainly weren't playing it safe against Lackey, attempting 3 steals in the first 2 innings.  Alfonso Soriano and Curtis Granderson were each successful in their first attempts.  Soriano got gunned down for the first out of the 4th after leading off with a single.

- Kuroda worked around 4 hits to keep Boston off the board through 3.  He couldn't repeat the feat in the bottom of the 4th and got burned for 2 runs on a Lyle Overbay error and questionable call at third base.  A few 2-out hits after the error made it a 3-0 lead.

- In their best chance of the day, the Yanks had second and third and nobody out in the top of the 5th and the top of the order coming up.  Another trio of groundouts led to just 1 run and got Lackey off the hook again.

- The Red Sox put the game out of reach in the bottom of the 6th, knocking Kuroda out in the process.  The final blow was a 2-out RBI double by Jacoby Ellsbury that made it a 5-1 lead.  Tough day for Kuroda all around.

- The Yanks just couldn't get the breaks when they needed them.  12 baserunners in 9 innings should generate more than 1 run.

Lack Of Logic In The Claiborne Demotion

The Yankees had to make yet another roster move yesterday to clear a 25-man spot for the newly signed Mark Reynolds.  In a move that came as a surprise, it was Preston Claiborne who got sent down.  With rosters expanding in 2 weeks, it's not the end of the world for him.  Claiborne will be called back up and he should re-assume the role he had carved out as top middle inning guy.  Still, the decision to send Claiborne down when there were other more worthy candidates doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Game 121 Wrap-Up: NYY 10 BOS 3

(Welcome aboard, Mr. Reynolds.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

No hangover from the tough series finale loss to Anaheim on Thursday.  This was a straight up mollywhopping from the top of the 1st right through the bottom of the 9th.

F*ck Yeahs:

- Alfonso Soriano: 3-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, 1 K, 1 LOB.  How locked in is this guy right now?  Tied an MLB record with 18 RBI in a 4-game span.

- Mark Reynolds: 2-5, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 K, 2 LOB.  Not a bad debut at all.

- Andy Pettitte: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 5 K.  The best Andy's looked in over a month and it came against a tough lineup.  That's a good sign.

Oh Nos:

- Eduardo Nunez: 2-4, 1 3B, 2 R, 3 LOB.  His day at the plate wasn't the problem.  It was the 2 errors, 1 fielding and 1 throwing, that led to all Andy's runs allowed that hurt.  This guy just flat out can't play shortstop.

Next Up:

Hiroki Kuroda takes the ball this afternoon in the second game of the series, looking to continue his streak of dominance.  John Lackey is the opposing pitcher and I'm PRAYING for A-Rod to hit a home run off him.

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 8/16/13

Have people noticed the ad ESPN has been using to plug Sunday night's Yanks-Sawx game?  The one with A-Rod where the voiceover makes direct reference to his steroid suspension and then calls him a lightning rod?  I've long given up on the idea of ESPN pulling its head out of its ass and getting back to being a reputable sports network, but it almost astounds me how they continue to find new ways to drop the bar even lower.  A-Rod is a "lightning rod" because you guys cover him like he's the worst person who ever existed.  You over-dramatize everything he does when you cover the guy, you trash him nonstop, then you use him to plug yourself and your product while acknowledging that you over-dramatize him and trash him.  Incredible.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, Domenic Lanza of IIATMS/TYA put together an all-encompassing breakdown of the all-homegrown MLB rosters.  If you missed this earlier in the week when it was blowing up the baseball blogopshere, here's your chance to redeem yourself.

- On Tuesday, Andrew Mearns of Pinstriped Bible looked back at Alex Rodriguez's strange walk-off celebration batting helmet fetish.  I had never noticed this before and it's absolutely hilarious.

- Bryan Van Dusen of The Greedy Pinstripes crunched some numbers from this season to show how CC Sabathia could start to become a huge burden on the payroll if he doesn't start pitching better next season.

- Martin Riggs of NoMaas made a case for Hiroki Kuroda's Cy Young candidacy, and compared him to leading contender Felix Hernandez.

- Delia E. of Yankees Fans Unite mused on Brett Gardner's leadership qualities and how he's stepped up to assume a bigger leadership role with Derek Jeter out for so much of the season.

- On Wednesday, Chad Jennings of LoHud compared the differing paths that Chris Stewart and Austin Romine are on behind the plate.

- SG of RLYW played with projections and win-loss pace to see how much the Yankees will benefit from the upgrades to the lineup.  They're much better, no doubt, but that's still a tall mountain to climb to make the postseason.

- On Thursday, el duque of It Is High... looked ahead to this make-or-break weekend series against the Sawx.  I guess a Yankee sweep would at least make things interesting.

- Mike Axisa of RAB discussed Michael Pineda's service time situation and how it could affect the Yankees' plans for him moving forward after another lost season.

- On Friday, Michael Eder of IIATMS/TYA showed how the move to Yankee Stadium could do good things for newly-acquired Mark Reynolds' production.

This week's jam is "The Symbol" by Action Bronson.  Even if rap isn't your cup of tea, you should be on the Action Bronson bandwagon.  Big fat white guy with a vicious beard who can rap, is shoot hilarious, readily admits that he's high all the time, and also happens to be a gourmet chef.  Sounds like a pretty fun dude to hang out with if you ask me.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.

Mark Reynolds Finally Give Overbay The Platoon Partner He Needs

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

It took much longer than it should have, and it's a little puzzling that the Yankees decided to let weeks go by after the trade deadline before finally addressing it.  Still, the addition of Mark Reynolds to the bench gives them the right-handed platoon bat they very much needed to pair with Lyle Overbay.  As first reported by Jon Heyman, the Yanks and Reynolds agreed to a deal last night, and he should be with the team and available for the start of tonight's series against the Sawx.  After suffering through the first few months of the season with next to no right-handed power, the Yanks now have another big righty bat to use.

Game 120 Wrap-Up: LAA 8 NYY 4

(Courtesy of the AP)

Can you believe we've reached the quarter pole of the 2013 season?  It doesn't seem that long ago that we were worrying about CC's velocity, Derek's ankle, and A-Rod's hip.  Now we've moved on to CC's command/weight, A-Rod's suspension, and Derek's... well, ankle still.  The Yankees have fallen out of the lead spot in the AL playoff race, but they're toying with the idea of legitimately pulling back into contention with this little run of 5 wins in 6 games.  The middle of their order has beefed up, and they could have made a statement to the rest of the AL with a win yesterday afternoon and a series sweep of the Angels.  Instead, they got beat by one of their former sub-replacement level middle infielders.  Can't make this stuff up.

Game Notes:

- Phil Hughes was up to his old tricks early yesterday, giving up a 2-out hit on a poorly-located pitch to allow Anaheim to get on the board first after striking out 2 batters in the top of the 1st.  Worse, he gave up the hit to Josh Hamilton's corpse.

- The Yanks evened things up in the bottom of the 3rd on an Alfonso Soriano RBI single.  The inning could have been bigger than just 1 run had Vernon Wells not rapped into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded.

- Hughes didn't keep the game tied for very long.  In fact it only took him 4 batters into the next half-inning to turn the tie into a 3-1 deficit.  I don't know much, but I know it's not good to give up a home run to Chris Nelson after a 10-pitch at-bat where you couldn't put him away with 2 strikes.  His solo shot was his first homer of the year.

- There was no shortage of hits against Angels starter C.J. Wilson.  The Yankees got at least 1 runner on base in all of the first 6 innings.  They also stranded almost all of them and had just the 1 run to show for their 10-hit effort.

- With the game still 3-1 in the top of the 8th, Joe went to Boone Logan in a LOOGY situation and even got the bonus of another out against righty Erick Aybar.  With 2 outs and a runner on second, Joe called for the intentional walk of Mark Trumbo to pitch to Hank Conger.  Logan walked him too, unintentionally, to load the bases and up came Nelson again.  Logan left an 0-1 slider up to him and Nelson snuck it over the fence for the game-clinching grand slam.  I get pitching around Trumbo to get to 2 weak hitters.  I don't get leaving Logan in to face those righties in the first place.

- If you want to, you can talk about the Yankees' token 3-run rally in the bottom of the 9th to make the game respectable.  I'm not.  I'll just say at least they're still hitting.

Late Thursday Morning Small Sample Size Turnaround

Last Friday, the Yankees were in the midst of another offensive slump, a slump that had them sitting at 1-5 in their last 6 games with only 16 runs scored.  This latest slump was extra frustrating due to it coming after Alfonso Soriano, Curtis Granderson, and Alex Rodriguez has been added to the lineup and provided next to no offensive spark.  Since then, things have turned around in a big way:

- Soriano last 6 games: .280/.308/.920 w/ 7 R, 15 RBI in 26 PA

- C-Grand last 6 games: .429/.520/.667 w/ 6 R, 2 RBI in 25 PA

- A-Rod last 6 games: .250/.286/.500 w/ 3 R, 4 RBI in 21 PA

These 3 have combined for 7 HR in New York's last 6 games, and not coincidentally the Yankees have gone 5-1 in those 6 games with 39 runs scored.  For the first time since late April-early May, the lineup looks competent, competitive, and downright dangerous.  Amazing what happens when the middle of the batting order starts producing, ain't it?

Mark Montgomery Back To The DL

(Courtesy of the AP)

At the end of last season, Mark Montgomery was the hands down top relief prospect in the Yankee system, a borderline top 10 organizational prospect overall, and on his way to breaking into the Major League bullpen sometime around now if not earlier.  After leaving his last appearance on Saturday with more shoulder problems, he's likely done for the year and has become a much bigger question mark for next season rather than a possible bullpen answer.

Game 119 Wrap-Up: NYY 11 LAA 3

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

I had honestly forgotten what these games feel like.  The games where you stop paying attention and go to bed early because you know the team is going to win.  The Yankees have now rattled off 2 of those in a row and 4 wins in a row overall after last night's drubbing of Jered Weaver and the Angels.  Weaver had been pitching really well lately, something that normally doesn't bode well for the Yankees.  They slapped him around silly last night, and for all intents and purposes this game was over after the 1st inning.  If you don't already know, spoiler alert, it was another Alfonso Soriano show.

Game Notes:

- With 2 outs in the bottom of the 1st, the Yanks loaded the bases on a Robinson Cano single, Alex Rodriguez double, and Curtis Granderson walk.  Soriano strode to the plate and smacked an 0-1 fastball out to center for a grand slam and an immediate 4-0 cushion for Ivan Nova.

- Nova needed that cushion last night.  His fastball command wasn't what it's been and he kept leaving it in good spots in the hitting zone.  After a 1-2-3 1st, Nova gave up 2 runs on 3 singles and a HBP in the 3rd and another on 3 more singles in the 5th.

- The offense gave Nova all the insurance he would need in the bottom of the 2nd.  They got things started with 2 outs again and eventually plated 4 runs, the big hit a 2-run Soriano double.

- Soriano homered to lead off the bottom of the 5th to make it 9-3 and capped off an impressive 2-day run.  4 HR, 6 R, 13 RBI in just 2 games, and he set his new career high RBI mark in each game.  Incredible.

- Just to add insult to injury, the Yankees tacked on 2 more runs in the 7th on a Chris Stewart 2-run single.  When TCS is dropping 2-out ribbie hits on you, you know it just ain't your day.

- Nova was sharper in his final 2 innings of work, holding the Angels at 3 and working into the 8th.  Preston Claiborne relieved him and took the game home to give the bullpen aces another day of rest.

Joe Still Pushing The Right Buttons

(Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

I know I wasn't all that enthused to see that both Brett Gardner and Ichiro Suzuki were out of the starting lineup last night, even with a lefty opposing pitcher on the mound.  I was even less enthused to see Eduardo Nunez batting leadoff in their place and was fully prepared to write this morning's post on Joe still leaning too hard on the matchup binder instead of just playing his best guys.  Naturally the team went off for 14 runs on 19 hits, Nunez went 2-6 with 2 R and 4 RBI at the top of the lineup, all 14 runs were driven in by right-handed batters, the Yankees won their 3rd in a row and 4th out of 5, and I was once again reminded why Joe is the manager of the New York Yankees and I'm a cubicle monkey Yankee blogger.

Preston Claiborne Also Onboard The Train To Regression Town

(Courtesy of the AP)

Bullpen issues seem to be a hot topic in Yankeeland these days, much hotter than they were earlier in the season.  From Boone Logan not getting lefties out as often as a lefty specialist should to Mariano Rivera blowing 3 straight saves to Joba Chamberlain ceasing to exist as a viable medium-leverage-and-up relief option, the Yankee 'pen hasn't been the strong, deep unit it was months back.  This is partly because the rotation hasn't been very good either and the bullpen has had to take on more innings, but it's also because some guys, mostly the young guys, have regressed from their pre-summer levels of performance.  Last week we took a look at Adam Warren's rough trip down the ladder, this week it's former walk-less wonder Preston Claiborne who's under the microscope.

Heathcott Back To The DL, Could Miss The Rest Of The Season

He had already set new career highs for games played (103) and plate appearances (444) this season, so I guess it's not a huge surprise that the injury bug finally caught up to Slade Heathcott.  As first reported by Nick Peruffo yesterday, Heathcott has been put on the DL with "right knee tendonopathy."  Coming on the heels of Tyler Austin's disappointing and injury-shortened season and a relatively "meh" season from Ramon Flores, this adds to the overall tough campaign for the top crop of Yankee OF prospects.

As someone with a very checkered injury history, this latest one comes as more cause for concern about Heathcott's future.  Per Peruffo, manager Tony Franklin said Heathcott's knee has been bothering him all season, not a good thing for somebody with hi.  Franklin also said that he thought it would only take rest for this injury to heal, but acknowledged Heathcott could miss the remainder of the season.  It's a shame too, since Heathcott had started hitting better recently and had his season batting line up to .261/.327/.411.  Hopefully there are no lingering effects of this injury and the season-long knee problems heading into 2014.

Mike Francesa Boomsauces Bill Madden

Normally I'm not a Francesa guy.  Most times I find him smug, rude to too many callers who don't deserve it, and not nearly as knowledgeable about baseball or sports in general as he thinks he is.  But one thing Mike does better than anybody is on-air interviews, especially when he's trying to use that interview to steer the conversation somewhere else, and he killed it yesterday with Bill Madden on the A-Rod steroid story.

If you haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, you can check out the whole thing here.  It's pretty lengthy and the first 15 minutes or so are just recapping what's already happened.  It starts getting good in the middle and it was pretty obvious that Mike had an axe to grind with Madden and the NY MSM in general for how they've singled out A-Rod and outlandishly run him through the mud.  The continued questioning about Madden's comparison of A-Rod to Whitey Bulger without any real justification for that from Madden and the heated nature of their exchange about the other names on that unreleased list of 100 players were great.

There hasn't been nearly enough of this in the New York media, so kudos to Francesa for taking Madden and really the rest of the MSM A-Rod haters with him to task yesterday.  Sorry, Bill.  You got roasted, bro.

Game 118 Wrap-Up: NYY 14 LAA 7

(Courtesy of the AP)

A winning streak.  A real actual winning streak.  It seems like so long ago since the Yankees had one of those.  They stood on the precipice of one last night, and once again Joe decided to throw out a questionable lineup to get it done.  I get playing the L/R matchups, but Gardner and Ichiro both out of the lineup and Eduardo Nunez in the leadoff spot?  I feel like this isn't the first or even second time this has happened this season.  I get ready to bash Joe for it every time, but damnit if it doesn't always work out in his favor.  Last night's win was fun, a nice stress-free blowout to send everybody to sleep happy.  For one game at least, we got a look at what the improved offense can actually do.

Game Notes:

- Not a fun start to CC Sabathia's night.  He struck out the first 2 batters he faced, walked Mike Trout with 2 strikes after Vernon Wells failed to get to a foul ball, and gave up a 2-run HR to Mark Trumbo to put the lineup in an immediate hole.

- Wells made up for it in the bottom of the 2nd by leading off the inning with his 11th home run of the season, and (FINALLY!!!!!) his first since May 15th.  Obviously in direct response to my post on his weak H/R splits.  I see you, Vernon.

- Wells helped push another run across in the 4th with a 1-out single, and the Yanks grabbed the lead in the 5th on a 2-run homer by Alfonso Soriano.  They weren't fooled at all by a returning Jason Vargas.  Not at all.

- Some bad defense and a few walks cost CC another run in the 3rd, and those walks almost came around to bite him again when he walked the bases loaded in the top of the 6th.  Wells (in on everything) bailed him out by starting an inning-ending double play.  Sure it was aided by a bad call, but the Yankees have been on the other end of that stick enough times to have one go their way.

- The Yanks got to the bullpen early, and in the bottom of the 6th they struck against the soft underbelly of the middle relief.  The key at-bat was probably the Lyle Overbay walk to put 2 on and nobody out.  The loudest at-bat was Alex Rodriguez's 2-run double to finish off what ended up being a 4-run inning.

- It went from comfortable to lead to full-fledged blowout after a 3-run Soriano HR in the 7th and an Eduardo Nunez 2-run single in the 8th.  Little rain delay, little Dellin Betances meltdown, and that was that.

On Derek Jeter's 2014 And The Future At Shortstop

(Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Derek Jeter's battle to return to the playing field for more than a few days raged on yesterday.  The Captain resumed baseball activities - a little "tee and toss" hitting according to Joe - after playing catch over the weekend.  The activities are obviously a little light.  With no real hitting or running involved, it's not like Jeter is close to returning.  The plan is to send him to Tampa to continue his rehab work when the team hits the road on Friday, and as of right now there are no plans to activate Jeter when the team returns, even though he's eligible to come off the DL this Sunday.

At this point, Jeter has spent more time this year doing baseball activities than he has playing actual baseball.  The rushed rehabs and resulting leg issues have reduced Jeter to just 5 games in 2013.  5 games, 21 measly plate appearances, a season's worth of frustration for both Jeter and the Yankee fans, and a whole lot of questions about what next season could be like.  This season is already a wash, whether Jeter makes it back and stays healthy to the end or not.  For Jeter and the Yanks, it's next season that's now the concern.

No Home Cooking For Vern

Since troublesome H/R splits are a topic of conversation this week, let's take a look at one that could actually have an impact on the 2014 season.  I don't know how I missed it, but I didn't realize until Sunday's TBS broadcast that Vernon Wells was hitting so horribly at home this season.  Entering tonight's game, Wells has a .190/.238/.291 batting line at Yankee Stadium, good for a .233 wOBA and a 37 wRC+.  By comparison, his OPS is .748 on the road (.328 wOBA, 106 wRC+) in a little north of 30 more plate appearances.  What the hell is that?

Wells underperforming offensively is hardly front page news anymore.  The guy has been worth negative offensive value in his 0.0-WAR season to date, and thinking about how he STILL hasn't hit a home run since May 15th makes my brain hurt.  But to post numbers like that at The Stadium?  Sure it doesn't cater to right-handed power nearly as much as it does left-handed power, that we know.  It's still a very hitter-friendly stadium no matter what side of the plate you're on.  If there's somewhere where Wells' noodle bat should produce a little more power it's YS3.

Notice that I used the word "could" have an impact on the 2014 season and not "would."  The Yankees have Wells under contract next season, as part of the growing collection of old guys who will combine to patch up the outfield corners around Brett Gardner.  Through some fancy accounting work at the time of the trade, however, the Yankees will not be on the hook for any of Wells' salary next season, making it much easier to cut bait on him if his production continues to wallow below the line of respectability.  There's nothing Wells has done since mid-May that warrants a guaranteed roster spot next year.  If a low-.500s OPS is all he can muster in 81 home games again, he shouldn't even make it to mid-May next year.

Don't Sweat D-Rob As The Closer

(Courtesy of the AP)

Almost as if it was scripted, an opportunity presented itself for David Robertson to prove his mettle as the next Yankee closer last night.  With Mo experiencing his yearly bout of command problems and unavailable due to workload and some bad BABIP luck bringing the tying run to the plate in the form of Mike Trout, Joe summoned D-Rob to work out of the jam and save the team's 3rd win in 4 games.

At face value, D-Rob's work last night was in agreement with the growing cry from the MSM (looking at you, Michael Kay) that D-Rob "doesn't have what it takes" to be Mo's successor.  He walked Trout to bring the winning run to the plate, gave up an RBI double that put the tying run on third with 1 out, and loaded the bases before wriggling off the hook.  As the crowd chanted "we want Mo!" Robertson made them sweat a bit before managing to escape trouble and avoid a 4th straight blown save.