A Small Victory For Logic- C-Grand Might Not Play Center When He Returns

(Courtesy of US Presswire)

There was a time, long ago after the 2012 season had ended, when the idea first came up of swapping Curtis Granderson and Brett Gardner in the outfield this season.  Curtis' defense had drifted in liability territory over the past few seasons while Gardner consistently churned out some of the best defensive metrics in baseball, and it only made sense to make the move to a better defensive outfield alignment playing in YS3.  The plan, as far as we knew it, was beginning to take place early in spring camp until C-Grand stepped in for his first AB and promptly got his arm broken by an errant J.A. Happ fastball.

Once the extent of the injury was known, Cash came out and all but declared that plan dead.  This past weekend, however, there were implications that the plan could once again be changing, more than just implications actually.  According to Joe's pregame presser yesterday, the idea of keeping Gardner in center field and playing Granderson somewhere else (probably left) is still on the table and something the Yankees and C-Grand are working towards right now as part of his rehab in Tampa.  The natural reaction to this news?  Celebration.

Continued Injury Problems Stretching The Yanks Thin

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

After a 13-game stretch against sub-.500 opponents, the Yanks got a step up in competition this past weekend when the Oakland A's came to town and took 2 out of 3.  It was a close, competitive series in which the Yanks showed flashes of all the things that have made them successful thus far: good starting pitching, timely hitting, power, and solid defense.  But unlike games against Houston or Toronto, those flashes weren't enough to get the job done in two close games and weren't enough to overcome the continued erosion of the 25-man roster due to injuries.  In the same way this past weekend's series showed us that the Yankees still have steps to take this season, it also showed us how difficult those steps can be when your team is this beat up.

Cutter Problems Killing Andy Lately

(Courtesy of the AP)

After allowing just 7 ER in his first 4 starts of the season, and going at least 6 innings in each of those starts, Andy Pettitte has struggled mightily in his last 2 outings, the second of which came yesterday against Oakland.  In 9.1 IP over both starts, Pettitte has allowed 10 ER on 14 H and 5 BB, with just 5 K to show for his effort.  According to Andy, his cutter has been the source of his struggles in the last week.  He just hasn't had any kind of control over the pitch let alone command, and a quick look at the pitch location plot is proof of that: