Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 5/3/13

So my buddy turned 30 yesterday and he's having a big rager of a house party tomorrow to truly celebrate the milestone.  I'm still in my prime, got a few more years before I cross that threshold into oldness, but goddamn do I not want to turn 30.  I really should have planned things out better and worked a regular trip or two into Neverland every year to stay in that 24-26 range because 30 just seems like it's going to be a drag.  And no offense to any of you dear readers who may already be 30 and older.  I'm sure you're all wonderful people who live wonderful lives.  I, on the other hand, am not.  I fell asleep right at the start of the Warriors-Nuggets game last night, around 9:30 PM, and woke up right as the game ended.  That's terrible.  Who does that?  By the time I'm 30 I might be in bed before the "Seinfeld" re-runs come on.  That'll be a tragic day.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, Chris Mitchell of Pinstripe Pundits analyzed Vernon Wells' hot start to see how real it was and how likely it was to continue.

- On Tuesday, Mike Axisa of RAB searched for signs of an offensive breakout from Eduardo Nunez, who's been almost invisible with the bat thus far.

- William Juliano of The Captain's Blog pointed out the Yankees' weakness in hitting to the opposite field.  Not surprising considering the guys they signed and the lack of Jeter in the lineup, but something worth keeping an eye on.

- On Wednesday, Jack Moore of FanGraphs investigated the impact that hitting in the new Yankee Stadium is having on Travis Hafner's early-season resurgence.

- Daniel Burch of The Greedy Pinstripes mused on the idea of trading for Brian McCann, who's scheduled to  return from the DL soon.  He'd be an offensive upgrade at catcher, but I wouldn't want to give up much for him.

- Martin Riggs of NoMaas broke down the numbers from Phil Hughes' recent stretch of good starts to see what the causes were and if he can continue this trend of success.

- Greg Corcoran of Bronx Baseball Daily interviewed top prospect Slade Heathcott, and talked to him about a wide variety of topics.  Definite must-read if you're a Heathcott fan.

- On Thursday, Mason Stark of Pinstriped Bible examined the Yankees' April to see just how much luck and skill went into that 16-10 record.

- Hunter Farman of Yanks Go Yard offered up 3 predictions for the month of May.  I have to say, all 3 of them are pretty ballsy predictions.

- William Tasker of IIATMS/TYA looked back at some of Bobby Murcer's best WPA games in history, a fitting topic for Murcer since he's the all-time Yankee leader in 1-game WPA scores over .800.

- El duque of It Is High... confessed his baseball crush on Lyle Overbay, knowing that eventually he will have to say goodbye.  I feel ya, Duke, I feel ya.

- Chad Jennings of LoHud compiled some of Cash's thoughts on various players, both injured and healthy, from yesterday's conference call.

- SG of RLYW showed the team's offensive production by position, and where they rank in the AL, to give an idea of where they're hurting the most.

We're going acoustic for the Friday Jam today, and we're going with another cover.  Nirvana's version of "Plateau" from their "MTV Unplugged" performance is my personal favorite cover of theirs, and it's a good tune to relax to tonight in preparation for tomorrow's rager.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.  Don't be surprised if all you get is a game recap here tomorrow morning.