Pedro Feliciano, We Hardly Knew Ye

It looks like Pedro's desire for revenge against Dan Warthen will have to come next year, because his MRI came back and it doesn't look good.  This statement from Joe yesterday paints a pretty grim picture: 

“He’s got a damaged shoulder.... The MRI did not come back good. He has a damaged shoulder. He has a shoulder injury. In fairness to the player, he needs to talk about it with our doctors and the agents and decide what the next course of action is.”

If that statement doesn't scream "SEASON ENDING SHOULDER SURGERY!!!!!!" then I don't know what does.  I can't really hold it against Feliciano, since it wasn't his call to be run into the ground over the last 3 years by the Mets, but his final stats for the season don't exactly live up to the 2-year, $8 million deal the Yankees signed him to.

0 APP, 0 IP, $3.75 mil/hold, $3.75 mil/appearance, $3.75 mil/inning, $3.75 mil/pitch thrown.

So long, Pedro.  It's a shame we didn't get to see you perform in the pinstripes.  Maybe you and your shredded shoulder will be back next year.  Then again, maybe not.

A.J. Wins Another One

(Look!  He's landing on his heel!  Courtesy of The AP)

The final line might not show it, thanks to 2 2-run homers in the 7th, but A.J. was definitely Good A.J. last night.  And more importantly, he managed to be Good A.J. despite having a rough start that usually signals the appearance of Bad A.J.  He was giving up hits and walks, throwing wild pitches, and according to his postgame interview, he was so concerned about his poor mechanics that he actually called Larry Rothschild out to the mound.


“It was actually probably the first time in my career I actually called a pitching coach out. I was landing on my heel constantly, couldn’t correct it. I called him out and just basically said, ‘I’m landing on my heel. What’s going on?’"

Rothschild's response?

"Forget about that. Next pitch, just let it go. You’re fine."

And he was.  From then on, A.J. retired 14 of the next 16 he faced and held up the big lead that the offense gave him early.  And that comment from Rothschild was all it took.  No tweaking of mechanics, no correction of how he should plant his lead foot to get off his heal, just a vote of confidence.  And you know what?  Maybe that's all A.J. needs.  We all know that when he's on, he's damn near unhittable.  Maybe he doesn't need to be poked and prodded every time he starts screwing up.  Maybe he just needs a pitching coach who's going to tell him he's fine, give him the confidence to settle down and pitch and then deal with the mechanical stuff on an off-day.

Just like with the lineup, it's still too early to make any definitive conclusions, especially considering how well he started last year, but A.J. looks good out of the gate again.  His mid-4s ERA does not speak to how well he has pitched in his first 3 outings, and his changeup is starting to become a dangerous weapon for him.  He threw it a lot last night and it's looking good.  Being able to add that in and make it a usable pitch should help A.J. immensely moving forward on days where he doesn't have his best stuff and on days when The Horse isn't mashing balls all over the yard.

** Quotes via LoHud**

Does Anybody Know What's Up With Phil Hughes?

(The look of frustration and bewilderment.)

The lack of velocity and dreadful results are bad enough, but the continued lack of clear definition of what is wrong with Hughes and subsequent lack of direction that is being taken to remedy the situation is my bigger concern.

Over the last week or so since his bad first start, we've seen stories and reports on Hughes noticing mechanical flaws with his head position and arm swing compared to last season, then noticing more mechanical flaws with his his leg drive off the mound compared to last season, without either being confirmed as the actual problem and without any improved results to show as a result of trying to correct the flaws.  All the while, the organization continues to stand firm in their belief that Hughes doesn't need an MRI and there is nothing physically wrong with him.  For his part, Hughes believes that it is an arm strength issues and Larry Rothschild believes it is a mechanical issues, but the REAL issue here is the fact that nobody knows what the issue is and Hughes is starting to become concerned.

"It’s obviously something to be worried about.  This is my job, my livelihood and I don’t have the stuff I know I’m capable of going out there with. It’s worrisome and it’s frustrating." (Hughes via ESPNNY)

Worrisome and frustrating are not words you want to hear one of your top pitchers saying, ever, especially when it relates to his stuff.  That is basically Hughes admitting that he has no clue what is wrong with him and that the organization doesn't either.  And since nobody involved in this saga can come up with a clear plan for what needs to be done to address the problem, Hughes is just going to continue to go out on the mound with that worry and frustration in the back of his mind and hope for the best.  That strategy simply is not acceptable and not one that should be taken with a young pitcher who is such a vital part to the team's success.

All the parties involved in this issue (Hughes, Rothschild, Girardi, and Cash) need to sit down and hash out a plan to address Hughes' missing velocity.  If it means going out in the 'pen during his side sessions and getting a gun on him while he tries to correct the mechanical flaws, the fine.  That's a solid starting point.  But if that doesn't help, then medical solutions need to be looked at, be they MRIs, scopes, rest, whatever.  And Hughes' thoughts need to be factored into the plan.  He knows his body better than anyone and what he's feeling in his arm, be it strength or weakness, should be the leading determining factor in how they move forward/

To continue to guess at this, guess wrong, and have Hughes go out there on the mound without confidence in himself while everybody waits for him to magically regain the velocity is just plain stupid.  It's obvious that nobody knows what's wrong with him, and that's not necessarily the worst thing in the world.  The worst thing is to continue to hope for the best without having a plan in place for the worst, that being if the velocity doesn't come back.  The bottom line is, something needs to happen to get this issue resolved, and it needs to happen soon.

Yanks Rained Out Again. Freddy Garcia Might Never Get A Start

Another extra off day thanks to Mother Nature, another discussion about pushing Freddy Garcia's first start of the season back as a result.

We know there will be no doubleheader in this series, we know A.J. is pitching tomorrow, and we know Phil is pitching Thursday.  Today's unscheduled off day means Ivan Nova could be lined up to pitch Friday and then who knows beyond that.

I can't argue with the logic of giving the pitchers you believe are better more starts over inferior ones, but I kinda feel bad for Freddy here.  He's like the girl at the prom who was in a horrific car accident that left her horribly scarred.  Everybody feels bad, but there ain't nobody stepping up to the plate and offering to dance with her.

Hang in there, Freddy.  You'll get to start a game sooner or later.  And if it ends up being later, then at least you can get some more 8th-inning mop-up work, right?

Why's Everybody Getting Antsy About The Offense?

(Mark Teixeira: The worst player with 4 HR and 10 RBI through 9 games in MLB history.  Courtesy of The Daily News)

The usually reliable Mark Feinsand fell victim to the typical NY media worryworting this morning in his article about the "struggling" Yankee offense. 

"Imagine what the Yankees' record would be right now if the lineup was actually hitting.

Yes, the Bombers are tied for the American League lead with 18 home runs, but they rank in the lower half of the league in average (.236) and on-base percentage (.311), relying far too much on the longball to score." (via The Daily News)

The rest of the article isn't as "end of the world" as you would expect with that beginning, and Feinsand does acknowledge that it is early in the season and some of the low numbers possessed by Yankee regulars right now are to be expected in such small sample sizes.  But the fact that he's looking at just batting average and OBP as evidence of the Yankees' team-wide offensive woes is flawed and the implied idea that the Yankees hitting so many home runs is a bad thing is completely ludicrous.

Joe Pawlikowski at RAB touched on the same subject this morning, saying:

"When the home runs stop flowing, the logic goes, the Yankees will face trouble scoring runs. Yet this blatantly ignores what we’ve all learned from years of watching baseball.

The team you see on the field will change in the course of the next few months. The players might remain the same, though there’s a good chance we’ll see changes there, too. But the manner in which the team plays will always be changing."

And that right there is the important thing to remember.  What's happening right now, good or bad offensively, is not indicative of what can or will happen moving forward to the next game, the next week, or the next month.  The sample size so far is too small to be making any kind of judgments, and the argument that the Yankees could be in trouble if this continues overshadows what is really important, that being that the Yankees have managed to be a productive offensive team despite their apparent early struggles.  Case in point:

- While they rank 9th and 8th in the AL in BA and OBP respectively, the Yankees as a team rank 4th in OPS thanks to their high SLG percentage (cough, cough: home runs).  They might not be getting a lot of hits, but the hits they are getting are big hits.

- Their 50 runs scored ranks 5th in the AL.  Again, they might not be hitting all the time, but they're making the most out of the hits they get.

- Even with the recent 0-18 mini-slump, Teix is still 2nd in the AL in HR and RBI.

- The Yankees are the only team in the AL with 4 players in the top 25 in OPS (A-Rod 7th, Martin 16th, Cano 19th, Teix 24th).

And that is the point that Feinsand and I'm sure plenty of other people seem to be missing.  It's not a bad thing that the Yankees aren't hitting as well as we'd like them to be, and it's certainly not a bad thing that they're bashing home runs and doubles all over the ballpark to score their runs.  On the contrary, it's good that they are showing power now when the hitting for average isn't there collectively because it's putting them in a position to win.  And as Joe Paw stated, what we see now from the lineup isn't what we're going to see later on.  Things are going to balance out. C-Grand and Gardner and Posada will pick it up. Martin will come back to Earth a bit.  And when that happens, the Yankees will still be productive as a whole, which is the most important thing in contributing to winning baseball.

Joe said it best at the end of his post:

"This type of thing happens every year. At some point people say that the Yankees don’t do this, or the Yankees don’t do that. Maybe it’s true for that moment in time. But as the season progresses the team changes. Players who slump early start to streak. Guys who hit a ton of homers might cool down, but that doesn’t mean they become unproductive.... The Yankees offense as a whole, though, will be just fine. To think otherwise is to ignore years of experience watching a 162-game season unfold."

Basically, there's nothing to worry or write about with the Yankee offense right now.  Just be happy that they are helping the team win while the issues with the rotation continue to fester.

Fraud Sawx Building Momentum Off HUGE Game 9 Victory Sunday Night

The Sawx were taking no prisoners tonight after their dramatic Game 7 World Series victory over the Yankees 24 hours ago, and they clearly have their momentum going in the right direction towards their next title after tonight's dominant victory.

Dice-Gay was dealing from the start tonight, Wakefield backed him up with a couple solid innings of relief, and Dan Wheeler locked it down with a quick 9th inning.  Yes sir, the weekend series with the Yanks was just what the Sawx needed to right the ship and they are clicking on all cylinders now.  The rest of the AL better watch out.

P.S.- Why the hell is Tim Wakefield still pitching?  That guy was done like dinner after '09.  Guess everybody forgot to tell him.

P.P.S.- Dan Wheeler has an 18.90 ERA and a 3.00 WHIP in 3.1 IP this season.  Another great signing by the Boy Wonder.

P.P.P.S.- Less than 2 weeks into the season and the Magic Number is almost 1/10th gone to eliminate Boston.  That's just fantastic.

Yanks-Sawx Thoughts And Afterthoughts

(I feel ya on that, CC.  Courtesy of The AP)

- I don't know what the deal is with Phil Hughes and his nonexistent velocity, but he and the team better figure it out and figure it out quick.  I still haven't seen one single reasonable explanation for why his arm is so dead, but when you throw a flat fastball at 88 MPH, you are going to get shelled and that's what happening right now.  I love the guy, but he flat out isn't giving his team the slightest chance to win when he's on the mound.

- I liked the version of Bartolo Colon I saw on Friday afternoon much better than the one I saw against Detroit.  His 2-seamer was dominant and he commanded it better than any Yankee pitcher has commanded any pitch this year.  There's no way to predict how long he can stay healthy and effective, but the more outings he has like that the better that signing looks.

- Hey!  You put D-Rob in the game and he does the job!  What a concept!  I know I said Soriano should have "Fireman" as his entrance music earlier in the year, but Robertson was all that and more on Saturday to preserve the Yankee win after Nova stumbled.  His 1.2 shutout innings practically earned him a guest spot in this upcoming season of "Rescue Me."

- Where have you gone, Mark Teixeira?  Last 4 games, including this Boston series- 0-15 with 7 Ks and 2 BB.  He looks like he's gone back to his classic April approach of pulling off of everything early, swinging too hard, and either completely missing or popping everything up.  How the hell did that happen so fast???

- That being said, the pitch that Teix got punched out on to end the game last night was complete bullshit.  That wouldn't have been a strike at Pedroia's knees let alone Teix's.

- Speaking of midgets, this series was a great reminder for how much I hate Dustin Pedroia.  9-13 in the series, 4 XBH, 4 R, 5 RBI?  Yeah, that's a pretty solid ownership of the Yankee staff.  And he does it all with that stupid swing that makes it look like the bat is too heavy for him.  I don't get how he does it, I don't want to know.  I just know that I hate Pedroia's guts and I hate him even more when he succeeds against the Yankees.

- I called CC's outing the worst 1-run performance in baseball history last night on The Book and I stand by that statement today.  He just didn't look like he had command of anything last night and he could never throw strikes inside like he said he wanted to.  After a few innings it looked like he abandoned that approach completely.

- THAT being said, he still held Boston to just 1 run, battled to get out of the problems he created for himself, and gave his team a chance to win.  Beckett just flat out shut down the offense.  Through 3 starts, CC has a 1.45 ERA, a 1.29 WHIP (inflated greatly by last night's 13 baserunners allowed), and an 0-1 record to show for it.  Can somebody score some goddamn runs for the guy???

- Was I the only one who had half a stack in his pants when CC hit Adrian Gonzalez last night?  I practically jumped out of my chair and ran to the TV to hear the sound of the ball smacking off his fingers in the replay.  Too bad it's not broken.

- Whatever his approach is at the plate, high stride, medium stride, no stride, whatever, the fact is Jeter's bat looks reeeeeeeeally slow at the plate right now.  He isn't getting around on any fastballs and he's mashing everything into the ground again.  Yes it's early, and yes it's too few at-bats to make any serious judgments, but he isn't passing my eye test right now and it's something worth keeping an eye on.

- Did anybody catch the BBTN portion of SportsCenter after the game?  Jesus Christ, what a bunch of loser fans!!  Out there freaking out behind the set like they just won Game 7 of the '04 ALCS.  Calm down, you morons!  Your team is still 2-7, your pitching is still wildly inconsistent and ineffective, and your offense still can't hit well with RISP.  If ever there was a perfect visual example of why I call them Fraud Sawx Nation, that was it.

Food For Thought For Tonight

Here is Josh Beckett's line over his last 6 starts against the Yankees dating back to August of 2009:

34 IP, 49 H, 13 BB, 37 ER, 14 HR, 9.79 ERA, 1.82 WHIP, 1-3 W-L

I'm not even going to bother calculating the ERA+, FIP, or WAR for those 5 starts because I already know they suck.

I will just say good luck tonight, you fat piece of shit.  You're going to need it.

** UPDATE- 6:15PM: No Horse in the lineup tonight for the Yankees.  He started to feel sick late this afternoon.  Chavez replaces him at 3rd and Cano moves up to the cleanup spot in the batting order.  At least that gives Beckett a slightly better chance.  **

** UPDATE- 10:09PM: No other way to say it, Beckett had it going tonight.  Hey, the sun shines on a dog's ass every now and then, right?  And as good as he was, the Yankees did him some favors by not putting good swings on the hittable pitches he did give them early and then just plain swinging like crap late.  So congrats to Fraud Sawx Nation for climbing out of the cellar tonight.  Call me when you get to .500.  **

Cliff Lee Who???

(The starting AL All Star catcher after 8 games.  Courtesy of The AP)

Eric Chavez and Russell Martin combined today: 5-9, 2 2B, 2 HR, 3 R, 5 RBI, approximately 2 kajillion SLG.

And Luis Ayala preserved the win with 2 shutout innings in the 8th and 9th.

Who says the Yankees didn't spend good money this offseason?

Well At Least Phil Hughes Isn't Delusional

Via LoHud:

"It’s a difficult feeling. I don’t feel like I’m bringing anything to the team right now, and that’s a tough thing to deal with....  It’s kind of a helpless feeling.” (Hughes after today's outing)

I'll give Hughes credit.  At least he isn't coming out giving the textbook BS pitcher responses when asked about how bad he's been to start the season.  But the fact is he has no velocity, he and the team have no clue why that is, and he hasn't given his team a chance to win in either of his starts.  Not what the Yankees were looking for at all from their 3rd starter in a year that he was expected to be one of the certainties.

Perhaps the only pitcher worse than Hughes has been Boone Logan.  Check these numbers:

1.1 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 ER, 13.50 ERA, 5.25 WHIP, and lefties were hitting 1.000 against him until he got Ellsbury out to end the 7th today.

Holy piss, that's bad!  Steve Garrison could be up in the show any day now with those kind of results.

P.S.- Bartolo Colon was a BOSS today.  Worked Boston to death with that 2-seamer.

Thoughts On The First Week

Before I get into my thoughts, let me preface this by saying yes, I realize it's only been a few games and yes, I know there's a lot of baseball to be played.  It's just my take on what I've seen so far, not what I expect moving forward.

- I didn't have high hopes for him at all, but I'm very impressed with what I've seen from Russell Martin so far.  He's been solid behind the plate, has done a good job of handling the pitching staff, hasn't shown any signs of wear and tear from catching every day, and has shown the ability at the plate that had him looking like Joe Mauer Jr. a few years ago.

- CC has had 2 outings, one that was good not great and the other that was damn great.  He didn't appear very happy with his performance in either.  That's a good sign.

- Jeter hasn't looked really good or really bad at the plate with his new swing mechanics, but I certainly hope the rumors about him abandoning his new step  aren't true.  Jeter needs to be smart enough to realize that he needs to stick with the new approach to be successful.  If he starts getting back to the big stride, pitchers are going to eat him up with the fastball like last year.

- He has slowed down a bit over the last couple games, but Teix is still having a huge April by his standards.  He could never get a hit for the rest of the month and his numbers would still look better than they did the last couple years.

- The Horse hasn't put up the numbers that Teix has, but he has continued to look locked in and well balanced at the plate.  The off-day and rainout have also helped Joe to be able to keep him rested without taking him out of the lineup.  Score!

- Poor Freddy Garcia.  Everybody said he shouldn't have gotten the 5th starter spot over Colon and now the Yankees seem intent on having him pitch as little as possible.  That isn't going to do him and his nothing stuff any favors, but for his sake he better look halfway decent when he finally does take the mound or he won't be around very long.

- Stop taking so many strikes, Brett!  Swing the damn bat!!

- Even though I didn't see it, I liked what I saw from Nova in his first start.  If he continues to hone that slider/cutter hybrid and use it consistently, he could be better than people expected this year.  I still don't think he gets enough respect from scouts because he isn't as flashy as the Killer Bs.

- With the way Ayala and Boone Logan have pitched, at what point do we start praying that Feliciano isn't going to be shut down for the year?  And if he is, at what point is it OK to start sending FedEx packages full of dog shit to Citi Field?

- Mo's line so far:  4.1 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 R, 4-4 SV.  What else is new?  The guy simply isn't human.

- Overall, there was a lot to like about the opening week of the year.  Even though everybody isn't quite locked in, the offense has looked patient and done a good job of scoring runs both with the long ball and with small ball.  Once Grandy and Cano really get going they are going to be tough to squeak by through the heart of this order.  And if Phil can find some velocity, the rotation could be better than people expect.  I'd rather they be 5-1 right now, but I'll take 4-2.

It's Rivalry Time Again

Yeah the Yankees beat the Twins yesterday, A.J. Burnett pitched relatively well again, Soriano was back to being Soriano, blah, blah, blah, whatever.  It's time to stop living in the past and time to look towards the future, that future beginning tonight, at Fenway Pahhhhhk, when the Yanks and Sawx hook it up again in their first series of the season.

The Yankees come in playing well, being one Soriano meltdown/Joe brainfart away from being 5-1 on the year, while the Sawx come in at the fraudiest of their most fraudulent; 0-6, worst start since the 1940s, can't hit, can't pitch, and can't run the bases.  This series won't be a major determining factor for how the rest of each team's season will go, but it can certainly go a long way in keeping Sawx fans and writers crying in their Bahhston Lagahhs and pulling their pink hats over their eyes, and THAT'S why this series is important this weekend.  Any time you have an opportunity to kick somebody while they're down, you damn well do it!

A couple of early betting lines for tonight's game:

- Over/Under for Runs Allowed by Lackey: 9.5

- Over/Under for Top Fastball MPH by Hughes: 90

I'm a positive guy (sort of) so I'm taking the over on both.  Lay some money down while you can.

Baserunning 101

(Video used courtesy of Barstool Boston)

Darnell McDonald putting the "DUH" in fundamentals there.  Talk about a horrible way to lose a game.  Screw "never make the first or last out of the inning at 3rd base," how about "never make the final out of a one-run game as the tying baserunner by rounding 2nd base too far on a chopper to 3rd."

What an assclown.

P.S.- Will I regret this bit of mini-knife turning when the Yankees hit a rough patch in the near future?  Maybe.  But it's too fun to not jump on the Sawx and kick them when they're down after all the time the MSM spent fellating them this offseason.

The Sawx Look Good

- Last in the AL in team ERA
- Last in the AL in team WHIP
- Last in the AL in OBP Against
- 3rd to last in the AL in Runs Scored
- 2nd to last in the AL in Hits
- 2nd to last in the AL in team BA
- 3rd to last in the AL in team OPS

Oh yeah, and they're 0-5 and can't even remember what constitutes a force play and what doesn't.  Even on rain outs the Yankee magic number is shrinking faster than people's interest in Charlie Sheen thanks to the Fraud Sawx.

Guess it's time to kick the "hahht and scrappiness" factor into overdrive, huh?  BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

** UPDATE- 1:55PM- The Sawx continued their losing ways today, falling 1-0 to the Indians and losing the game on an 8th-inning combination of walk, stolen base, sacrifice, squeeze bunt.  On behalf of Yankee fans everywhere, I just want to say thanks to the Sawx for that.  That jokes just writes itself.  **

Plug Pluggy Plug Plug

Please know that I have no joy in saying this, but if you frequent the site then do me a favor and CHECK OUT THE DAMN FACEBOOK PAGE!!  There's a link to it here, and another one here, and a third one right here.   And I've even got the whole Facebook box thing on the homepage to take you right to it.  That took my almost an hour to set up.  Pathetic, I know, but that's not the point.  The point is, check this stuff out and when you're done checking it out, click the "Like" button and get my numbers up.

I mean, 18 fans?  18???  That's just turribull (copyright: Charles Barkley).  Those 18 fans includeme, and about half of the rest of the people aren't even Yankee fans.  Some of them aren't even baseball fans!  They're just friends of mine or family members who were nice enough to like it through their association with me.  And don't get me wrong, that's all well and good to get the train pulling out of the station, but now I need to start stocking the Facebook fan shelves with some legit Yankee fans.  I've got d-bag fans of other garbage teams using up valuable comment space to swear at me for speaking the truth and nobody coming to my (or the Yankees') defense.  And that just cannot be allowed to happen.

If you're a Yankee fan and you haven't already, "Like" AB4AR on Facebook.  And if you have family members and friends who are Yankee fans, get them to do the same.  I'll even extend the invite to some Met fans, since they clearly have nothing better to do than like the site.  There's plenty of room on the Yankee bandwagon, people.  It's time to start building up the AB4AR army.  Make it happen.

 (Dr. Long recommends AB4AR to all his patients.)

The Formula Giveth And The Formula Taketh Away

(Yes, Rafi.  You're allowed to be sad after last night.)

So far this year, the few times Joe has been able to use his desired formula with his pitching staff he has gotten positive results.  It worked on Opening Day and it worked on Monday night in Nova's start.  Last night, however, was a different story and Joe went back to the well in a situation that didn't call for it and it ended up costing the Yankees a victory that should have been in the bag.  Here's how:

- CC being lifted after 7 shutout innings.  Why was CC even taken out after 7?  He had been solid all night, had the bottom of the order due up, and would have had the desired lefty-lefty match-up if Gardenhire decided to pinch hit Morneau and Thome the way he did with Soriano in the game?  When your ace has already given you 7 shutout innings and doesn't have a superhigh pitch count, he at least deserves the chance to go out there and get another out or 2 in the 8th.

- Soriano being brought in to start the 8th in a 4-run game.  This is where Joe made a bad decision (lifting CC) worse by going to Soriano and trying to stick to the formula in a situation that didn't call for it.  Soriano had just pitched yesterday, there are reports of diminished velocity on his part going around, the bottom of the order was coming up, and it wasn't that close of a game.  That's D-Rob time all the way.

- Joe waiting too long to take out Soriano.  It was clear almost from the word "go" that Soriano didn't have it last night.  Not his fault, sometimes it happens.  Especially when it's early in the year, your arm strength isn't all the way up, and you just pitched the day before.  As soon as Soriano walked Thome, Joe should have taken him out and gone to Boone Logan or the already warm and aforementioned D-Rob.

- D-Rob never getting into the game until the fire was out of control.  I can understand Joba getting the 7th-inning role over D-Rob.  He's earned it.  But what the hell is D-Rob's role on this time?  Designated Bullpen Warm-up Guy?  Joe has had him up in almost every game they've played and yet he's only pitched in 1 game so far.  Newsflash!  The guy averages 10+ K/9!!  And you're not going to bring him in to face Danny Valencia to start the 8th inning of a 4-run game???

- Nick Swisher in right field on the bloop double.  Dude, what the hell were you doing out there?  And what was with that goofy slide??  Stay on your goddamn feet and keep the ball in front of you!  That's basic baseball!  Fundamentals!!  TOM EMANSKI!!!!

- Joe's overall approach to the game.  As friend of the blog Brien Jackson of IIATMS pointed out, Joe managed to get Mo a save instead of managing to win the game.  And that ties in to my point about Joe sticking to the formula and the numbers instead of making like Charlie Sheen and sticking to winning.  Soriano never should have been in the game, D-Rob never should have been called in to clean up the mess.  In a high-leverage 8th-inning situation, it's Mo time.  Shut the team down, keep the lead intact, and if you have to use somebody else to finish the 9th to preserve Mo, then so be it.

Lunch Time Linkapalooza

To quote Aaron Lewis, it's been awhile since we've done one of these.  So let's get out there and take a gander around the Yankosphere.

- Rob at BBD weighs in on the latest in the Joba Saga and decides the Yankees are making the best of the crummy situation they created with him.  As someone who always supported the "Joba as a reliever" idea, I think it's good to see him coming out of the gates strong this year and better to see him being used a lot.  Might as well maximize what little value he has left, right?

- Chad at LoHud has the latest details on the Yankee Minor League rosters, and they are shaping up nicely.  Those Double- and Triple-A rotations are scary good.

- And because I love this stuff, here's Chad's post from last Friday on the layout of the Yankee locker room.

- Mike Axisa at RAB breaks down Super Nova's performance last night and shows that he's starting to get better at changing things up as he goes through a lineup multiple times.  He isn't all the way there yet, but he's getting there.

- Brien from IIATMS has a piece about the epidemic of former player analysts and how the epidemic needs to be stopped.  Consider me at the front of this picket line against broadcast tyranny.

- Lenny Neslin has a new sidekick at LenNY's Yankees and the first round of "Nate's Takes" was chock full of solid points about the early-season games.  I think you and I are going to get along just fine, Nate.

- Matt Imbrogno of TYA (and fellow UConn Husky) has a good post about learning to live with Soriano and his contract this season.  He's like your crazy family dog.  You hate that he ate your prized Vlad Guerrero rookie card (the contract), but you still love when he comes bounding up to you all googly-eyed with a tennis ball in his mouth (the shutdown 8th-inning performances).

Was that Bill Simmons-ish enough for everybody?

- el duque of It Is High... becomes the first to congratulate Kei Igawa on his promotion to Double-A Trenton.  If only he had more time to make it down to Single-A and complete baseball's first ever complete reverse promotion through an organization.

- Steve Goldman of Pinstriped Bible has a dose of reality for anybody overreacting (good or bad) to the first 4 games of the year.  I'd like to think that most readers of this blog wouldn't have to have this linked to them, but you never know.

- I know this one is a little late, but do yourself a favor and check Dan Hanzus' Opening Day live blog recap.  It is, as much as it pains me to say so, better than mine.

/sheds tear

- Brian Costello of The Post has some news that Phil Hughes found some mechanical flaws that may or may not be contributing to his diminished velocity.  That's good news, I guess.

- Costello also has a bit about the ongoing Feliciano-Mets saga, with the latest news being that Feliciano plans on challenging Dan Warthen to a cage match at Wrestlemania 28.  While I appreciate Pedro's enthusiasm, he should probably worry about getting healthy and out on the mound before he starts cutting backstage promos with Mean Gene.

- And to cap it all off, here's a quick video of Alex Oriakhi absolutely dominating the Harlem Shake before UConn's game against Kentucky over the weekend.



I did the exact same thing last night after the Huskies beat Butler.  Enjoy the rest of your workdays, people, and get ready for another woodshed beating at The Stadium tonight.  Hopefully Carsten got the issue with his parachute pants resolved.

The Formula Wins Again

A couple of early 2-run homers, some solid starting pitching, and a lockdown 7th-9th inning performance by the 2011 Nasty Boys gets the Yanks another win against the Twins last night.

Particularly impressive was the season debut of Ivan Nova.  In 6 innings, he allowed 3 earned runs on 6 hits and 1 walk, and struck out 3.  He was efficient, throwing 83 pitches through his 6 innings of work, and showed the confidence and maturity on the mound his second and third time through a lineup, something that escaped him last season, after running into trouble in the 4th and 5th innings.  With the Twins closing in, he got Joe Mauer to ground out on a curveball in the 5th and then struck out Jim Thome in the 6th to keep the lead intact.  He wasn't dominating, but he didn't have to be and didn't try to be.  Nova's 5 swing strikes weren't as important as the 20 strikes that were put in play by the Twins.  He trusted his defense, kept the ball down in the zone, and pitched to contact, particularly ground ball contact (11 ground ball outs to 4 fly ball outs).  I'll take that 25 hours a day, 8 days a week.

6 quality innings from Ivan Nova, giving the team what they needed after a loss and picking up the lackluster performance from Phil Hughes the previous day.  Yes sir, just how the Yankees drew it up.  Wait, what?

(Nova The Terrible returns.  Even though he was pretty good last night.)

The Horse In Human Form!

 (Photo used courtesy of EJ Camp)

I don't know how I missed this over the weekend, but check it the F out!

It's The Horse!  In his human form!!  Off the baseball field!!!  Such a sight is truly something to behold.  It's like seeing the Hale-Bopp comet while picking up a 4-leaf clover and then having the winning PowerBall numbers in your pocket!  And not only that, but he's holding kale, the MVP of the green vegetables.  I took it in the first round of my vegetable fantasy draft last week.

And now it makes perfect sense why he's off to such a great start this year.  He's upped his veggie intake.  Anybody who knows horses knows they have very finicky digestive systems (I can't prove this).  Now that he's getting his daily value of greens like kale and broccoli and what have you, his system is more regular and he can have a more balanced swing without worrying about any gastrointestinal distress he may cause himself by swinging.  Ahh, the beauties of science.  And the benefits of a well-balanced diet.  All taught to us by the greatest centaur athlete in American sports history.

Is there anything this guy/horse can't do?

Should We Be Concerned About Phil Hughes?

(It's never a good sign when Cabrera is jogging around the bases behind you.  Courtesy of The AP)

I know the title of this post seems ridiculous after just one outing, but when the major concern with Hughes right now is his decreased velocity, something I somehow managed to miss over the entirety of Spring Training, then I think it warrants discussion.

It would be one thing if we were talking about an older pitcher like Garcia or Colon, but this is Phil Hughes.  Phil Hughes is not an old guy, he is not coming off any arm injuries, and by all accounts he came into this season healthy and ready to go.  And yet he has been sitting high 80s-90 on the gun with this fastball all spring, with no immediate signs of improvement.  And yesterday the problem that plagued Hughes last season, his inability to put guys away with 2 strikes, reared its ugly head again, possibly due to his lack of heat on the heater.

And therein lies the key to this whole issue.  Phil Hughes is a pitcher who lives off his fastball.  Sure, you can say that about a lot of pitchers, but as a young guy who is still refining his secondary stuff, Hughes needs his fastball to be on for him to be effective.  When his fastball is popping and hitting corners, Hughes' offspeed stuff becomes more dangerous because he can use the heater to set that stuff up.  Having a good fastball allows him a little more margin for error with his offspeed stuff.  When his fastball is garbage, like it was yesterday, hitters don't have to respect his secondary offerings and can sit on the heater, which they did.

Again, I recognize that this was just one start and it's no cause for the Red Alert flag to go up in Yankeeland.  But it is something that the Yankees and Hughes have to monitor and work to fix.  Hughes is being counted on to be one of the sure things in the rotation this year, a guy they could count on to give them 6-7 quality innings every time out so the bullpen can be saved for Nova and Garcia's outings.  Yesterday, that didn't happen and now the burden falls on Nova to give a good outing today since Colon will not be available in long relief.

I expect Hughes to figure it out, get his velocity back, and be just fine.  But it would be nice if the velocity were already there.

A Quick Word On Stealing Signs

There has been a bit of controversy behind the scenes over the last few days after Keith Olbermann posted a Twitter picture of Yankee officials holding up fingers to their batters during their Opening Day win against the Tigers, presumably telling them what pitches were coming.  Cash acknowledged that MLB called the Yankees about the incident, but called the issue "silly," saying the officials were merely telling hitters in the on-deck circle what pitch had just been thrown because the scoreboard radar gun was malfunctioning.

Whatever the real situation may be, here's the only statement that should have been uttered by everybody: "Who cares?"  Who cares if the Yankee officials were relaying info about what pitch was just thrown or what pitch was just coming?  If they really were trying to steal signs, then good for them.  Stealing signs is an unspoken part of the game that can be traced back to the early history of baseball.  As long as you aren't being incredibly blatant about it or you're receiving sign information from somebody on the opposing team, who really gives a crap?  Every player tries to do it, every team tries to do it, and every player and every team know that the other team is trying to do it.  It's generally accepted as part of the game and there's no reason that this should have even been an issue.

This is just another case of something becoming a story because it involved the big bad Yankees.  It's a way for the MSM to throw the Yankee name out there again in connection with something negative and allow all the Yankee haters out there to cry foul.  "WAHHHHHH!!!!  They already spend the most money to get all the best players.  Now they have to CHEAT too?!?!  WAHHHHHHH!!!"  If it were any other team involved in the game against Detroit on Thursday, no one would have made a peep.  Just more anti-Yankee rhetoric thrown out there for every dumb baseball fan to eat up.

Do I think the Yanks were trying to steal signs on Thursday?  Yeah, I do.  But guess what?  I also think that every baserunner the Yankees had on Thursday was trying to steal Detroit's signs, and I think every baserunner the Tigers had on Thursday was trying to steal the Yankees' signs.  I think Joe and his coaching staff were trying to steal Detroit's signs, and I think Jim Leyland and his staff were trying to steal the Yankees' signs.  And I guaran-damn-tee that some other Detroit Tiger personnel were stationed somewhere in the Stadium trying to pick up on anything they could to steal from the Yankees, just like the Yankee officials were.  It's part of the game, everybody does it, and it's not a big deal.  It only became one because the team with the interlocking "NY" on their hats was involved and because Keith Olbermann thought he was uncovering some major baseball conspiracy.

So to anyone who actually thinks this is a big deal, anyone who wants to call the Yankees cheaters, and especially to Keith Olbermann for being stupid enough to Tweet the picture like it's an unseen angle of the Kennedy assassination, I've got one sign here that you're more than welcome to steal any time you want.

And no, that doesn't mean I'm putting the hit-and-run on.

U-C-O-N-N

Readers who have followed AB4AR from the beginning may remember when I used to litter the blog with NFL-related posts and UConn basketball posts.  Those days are long gone, but as a UConn grad I'd be remissed if I didn't mention the fact that the Huskies are going back to the National Championship Game on Monday night and congratulate them on the accomplishment.  Don't worry, there won't be any analysis of the game on Monday or anything like that, but my Yankee boners for A-Rod and Mariano will take a quick backseat to my UConn boners for Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb.

A Winning Formula

He wasn't Good A.J. or Bad A.J. today, more just Mediocre A.J.  And Joe didn't risk sending him back out for the 6th inning after he showed signs of crumbling in the 5th.  But when the heart of order plays like they did today, Mediocre A.J. should be good enough to win.

The Horse and his Thoroughbreds combined to go 5-12 at the plate today, with 4 XBH (2 2B and 2 HR), 5 runs scored, 6 RBI, and 2 BB.  Teix cranked his 2nd 3-run job of the season, and he and Cano each saw 20+ pitches again.  When these 3 are all on their game, that's a near impossible trap to navigate for an opposing pitching staff.  And they all appear to be on their game to start the season, something we haven't seen since the 3 became teammates.  And I love it.

As Good As It Could Get On An Off Day

No Yankee baseball last night, but that didn't change that fact that it was still a good night to be a Yankee fan.

Daniel Bahhhhhhhhhd completely shat the bed in the 8th inning for the Fraud Sawx, who lost to the Rangers.  And Terry Collins' Mets and the lineup that he said he "stack up against anybody's" got no-hit by Josh Johnson into the 7th inning before putting a few garbage runs on the board and losing 6-2.

Good times.  That's all I can say, good times.

Hopefully A.J. has been taking his Theraflu and Nyquil to get ready for today.

Opening Day Thoughts & Afterthoughts

(Ain't that pretty?  Courtesy of Getty Images)

More stuff on yesterday's game that I didn't get to touch on in the live blog:

- It was tough to make a judgement on Jeter's new swing after yesterday's game.  Obviously you can't make any kind of solid judgement after just one game, but he didn't look all that spectacular.  A couple decent swings but not a lot of solid contact.

- Yesterday's game was a textbook example of the classic Yankee patience that everybody talks about.  They forced Detroit pitching to throw 149 pitches in 8 innings, they drew 5 walks, and nobody in the lineup saw fewer than 13 pitches.  Considering the man with 13 was Brett Gardner and there were 2 times that he was up there to lay down sac bunts, that's pretty damn good.  Teix, A-Rod, and Cano combined to see 62 pitches in their 12 plate appearances and drew 4 of the team's 5 walks.

- Both CC and Verlander seemed to suffer the same afflictions yesterday.  Neither could consistently locate the fastball where they needed to, despite having good velocity, and neither could ever completely find the command on their offspeed stuff, most likely a byproduct of the bad weather and the fact that it was their first outing of the regular season.  The difference was CC's ability to throw strikes.  70 of his 106 pitches were strikes compared to just 65 of Verlander's 115.  Verlander's first and last innings of work were his undoing as far as pitch count.

- Hell of a day for C-Grand, who should no signs of lingering oblique issues.  He looked good at the plate even before the homer (which was awesome), and was all over the place in the OF.  His shot in the 7th marked the 3rd straight year he has hit an Opening Day home run, which is pretty cool.

- I didn't know what to expect when they signed him, having been crossing my fingers that he was going to be healthy since he started catching, and still don't know what the future holds, but I was thoroughly impressed with Russell Martin yesterday.  He looked fluid, smooth, and quick behind the plate, he looked comfortable and confident at the plate, and showed some wheels on the steal of 3rd in the 3rd inning.

- Before his insurance RBI single in the 8th, it was a rough day for Swish at the plate.  The Tigers were working him away hard, especially Verlander, and he couldn't do anything to adjust.

- The last 3 innings were exactly what Yankee fans and management envisioned when they signed Soriano.  Just a complete lockdown performance by all 3 guys.  When everyone's arms really warm up and they find their stuff completely, this bullpen is going to be SCARY good.

- Interesting to see Joba get the call in the 7th over D-Rob.  I just assumed with his injury and the way last season finished that Joba had been kicked down the ladder, but he's clearly shown Joe enough in ST for Joe to have confidence in him and he rewarded that confidence with a solid 7th inning.  But is this really a sign that Joba is moving back up the ladder within the bullpen pecking order or are the Yankees trying to drive up his trade value?

- The Horse already has people scared that he's going to kick them in the teeth.  Nobody on the Tiger staff wanted anything to do with him at the plate yesterday.  Clearly people were taking notice of how he was mashing the ball in ST, so maybe it does mean something after all.

- I still haven't figured out what Robbie was doing/thinking when he dropped that toss from Teix on the bunt attempt.  Catches don't get much easier than that.  Guess he'll have to start a new error-less games streak on Saturday.

- Does it make me a bad person if I always root for Daniel Schlereth to get bombed or take a comebacker off the knee every time I see him in a game just because he's related to Mark Schlereth, arguably the worst analyst in ESPN history?  If it does, then so be it.  I hate Mark Schlereth.

-Yesterday's win was so textbook for the Yankees that it's hard to really pick nits.  The only thing that sucked about it was that they aren't following it up today and I have to wait until Saturday.