Joba Chamberlain Activated From The DL

I was starting to wonder if Joba Chamberlain was getting the same stall treatment I thought Ivan Nova was last week.  Thankfully this time the Yankees were nice enough to announce his activation from the DL before I wrote the post and made myself look like a double jackass.

The Yanks activated Joba this afternoon after a few MiL rehab assignments and I believe 2 comebackers that hit him during said assignments.  With the number of players still going down these days, it only makes sense to bring Joba back and have him get hit with a pitch in a Major League game.  David Huff was DFA'd to clear a spot on the active roster and in the suddenly chock full bullpen that has Mo, D-Rob, Logan, Claiborne, Kelley, Warren, Nova, and now Joba.  That's a lot of innings to go around.

As an added bonus, the Yankees have now opened up 2 spots on their 40-man roster.  They'll need them as the rest of the injured core continues to heal.  Now let's see where Joba fits back into the bullpen pecking order.  They certainly haven't been hurting without him.

So What's The Deal With CC Sabathia?

(Courtesy of the AP)

CC Sabathia made his 11th start of the 2013 season on Sunday night, and if you saw any of it you know that it wasn't pretty.  The big fella got smacked around for 7 ER in 7 innings, the most he's given up in one start this season, and currently finds himself with a 4-4 record, a 3.96/4.10/3.76 slash line, and in search of answers.  With 2 months of starts under his belt, there is now a big enough sample size to truly start evaluating CC and not much has changed for the better in this second month after many of us wanted to wait and see how CC would look with more work under his belt.  His fastball velocity is still underwhelming, his command in the strike zone is still spotty, and he's still way too hittable for anybody to feel as comfortable as they used to when CC takes the mound.

We knew making the adjustment to compensate for his lack of velocity was going to take some time, but CC has looked worse in his more recent starts than he had earlier in the season.  What's going on with his transitional period that's making it such a struggle for him?

Recent Offensive Struggles Shine A Light On The Need For Injured Bats

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

It was bound to happen with the way the Yankees have played and the positive contributions the new guys have made this season, but it doesn't make the notion any less silly.  With Curtis Granderson having already returned (and get hurt again) and Mark Teixeira and Kevin Youkilis possibly set to do the same soon, the idea among fans that the team would be "better off without those high-priced guys" has grown.  It's sure to grow even more when A-Rod gets ready to come back, as it always seems to do when he's coming off the DL.  This is obviously incredibly flawed logic, something the MSM likes to throw out there to stir up fake controversy and sell papers.  Almost as if in anticipation of that issue, the team's production recently has shown exactly why the Yankees are still very much in need of their injured stars' services.

Game 50 Wrap-Up: NYM 2 NYY 1

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

After a sour ending to their series in Tampa, the Mets were just the type of team the Yankees needed to see to get back on the right rack and that's exactly who they got to see last night.  The 4-game Subway Series kicked off at Citi Field with Jon Niese and Phil Hughes taking the mound.  The Met lineup was a perfect one for Hughes to continue his turnaround as well, and continue it he did.  Too bad his lineup forgot to show up last night and GIDP'd themselves and Hughes out of a W.

Game Notes:

- Hughes was aggressive with his fastball from the start last night, which doesn't come as a surprise.  What does is him throwing it for strikes consistently and generating a lot of groundball contact with it, yet that's just what Hughes was doing early.

- Another rarity for Hughes is being efficient with his pitch count, and yet that's also what he was doing last night.  Through 6 innings, Hughes gave up just 3 hits and threw just 78 pitches while holding the Mets scoreless.

- While the Mets' opportunities were few, the Yankees had a great one against Niese in the top of the 2nd.  They loaded the bases with 1 out on a pair of singles and a walk before Chris Stewart rapped into an inning-ending double play.

- They Yanks managed just 1 baserunner after the 2nd before finally breaking through in the 6th.  Brett Gardner led off with a triple and scored on Jayson Nix's RBI single.  A Robinson Cano GIDP quickly ended the rally, and turned out to be a big play later in the game.

- It always seems like it's just a matter of time with Hughes and time finally ran out on him in the bottom of the 7th.  He couldn't put away David Wright with 2-strike fastballs and the final of 4 straight that he threw in the AB was hit for a game-tying HR.

- As dominant as he looked a week ago, D-Rob was the exact opposite in the 8th last night.  He had no command of his cutter or curveball and gave up the go-ahead run on 2 hits, a walk, and a HBP.

- The lineup left 2 on in the 7th and went down quietly in the 8th and 9th, wasting a great opportunity to earn Hughes a win on a night when he did more than enough to earn it.