Awaiting Brett Gardner's Return

(Probably beat that out for a hit.  Courtesy of The AP)

I'm a big Brett Gardner fan, so I was all excited to write this post about how his return later this week should help spark the the team and get them back on the winning path they were on before he went down in mid-April.  But then his rehab outing got delayed by weather last night, likely pushing his whole return schedule back a day.  This gave me some time to check some numbers on what the Yankees have done with and without Gardner and I was a bit surprised at what I found.

Gardner went down on April 17th making a sliding catch in a win against the Twins.  In that game he went 2-2 with 2 doubles, 2 walks, 3 runs scored, an RBI, and the sliding catch that led to the injury to boost his season line to .321/.424/.393.  That's not too shabby and about as Gardnerish as a batting line gets, but the Yankees were only 6-5 in those 11 games that Gardner played before hitting the DL, averaging 5.18 runs/game.

Since he went on the shelf, the Yankees have used a rotating cast of characters in left field and that cast has not been nearly as productive as Gardner.  In the past 17 games, the Yankee left fielders have combined to go 11-60 at the plate (.183 BA) with 16 strikeouts to just 6 walks, 2 runs scored, and 4 RBI.  The lone bright spot in that stat line is the fact that 5 of the combined 11 hits have gone for extra bases, but the production hasn't been there.  I thought for sure this would lead to a big drop in runs scored as a team, but the average of 4.94 R/G over the past 17 games really isn't that far off from what the Yankee offense was doing with Gardner, and the 9-8 record over that span doesn't look any better or worse than the 6-5 with Garder.  So is Brett Gardner really that meaningless?

How "Ready" Is Andy Pettitte?

(Courtesy of The AP)

Far be it for me to question Andy Pettitte about his preparedness to join the Yankee rotation.  After all, he's done this for over 15 years and probably knows his body and his conditioning better than anybody, and my 3-year Little League career included no more than 5 legitimate hits at the plate and more HBPs than strikeouts on the mound.  But I have to admit that Pettitte's no-nonsense declaration that he was ready to join the rotation and implication that he expected to be called up this week raised at least one of my eyebrows, especially with the lines he's put up in his last 2 starts.

On Sunday, Andy pitched 5 innings for Triple-A Empire State, the first time he faced this high a level of competition on his comeback tour.  In those 5 innings, he allowed 5 runs (3 earned) on 8 hits and 2 walks, striking out 5 batters and throwing 92 pitches in the process.  Some defensive shenanigans inflated his line a bit, as infielders Steve Pearce and Brandon Laird both botched plays in the first 2 innings, but it was hardly a smooth outing for Pettitte.  This start comes on the heels of his previous start, a 5.2-inning Ext. ST outing that saw him give up 5 ER on 10 hits.  The general feeling right now is that Pettitte's velocity on his pitches is right where he wants it to be, but his command of his offspeed stuff isn't all the way there.  If that's the case, then I have to ask, why not give him another rehab start?

On Mo's Injury/Comeback

(Not an image I ever wanted (or expected) to see.  Courtesy of The AP)

The roughly 24-hour period of time from last Thursday night to last Friday night was right up there with the most emotional moments I've had as a Yankee fan.  The initial breaking story of Mariano Rivera being carted off the field prior to Thursday's game and follow-up video of Mo crumbling to the ground in pain were so shocking that I actually had trouble falling asleep on Thursday night, and by the time I woke up on Friday morning, they still didn't quite seem real.

I spent the majority of my day at the office on Friday in a confused haze and was finally coming to terms with the fact that Mo's career was really over when I got home from work, fired up the computer, and starting reading tweets and reports that he was coming back.  Once I saw quotes from Mo himself and a video clip of him speaking to Pedro Gomez, you could have burned my apartment to the ground in front of me and it still wouldn't have wiped the smile off my face.  With all due respect to Suzyn Waldman and Rawjuh Clemens, Mo's announcement was far more dramatic and far more meaningful to me as a fan.  And after 3 days I finally feel like I can attempt to talk competently about it.

Game 28 Wrap-Up: NYY 10 KC 4

(Courtesy of The AP)

Phil Hughes' last start was an improvement, but with his overall body of work for the season, the void that Mo's injury created in the bullpen, and Andy Pettitte continuing to close in on his return, Phil needed another good start to keep himself in the running for a rotation spot.  He did pitch well yesterday, and got plenty of help from the offense to get the Bombers back in the win column.

Game Notes:

- Hughes allowed a 1st-inning run after giving up a 1-out walk and a double, and I'm sure plenty of Yankee fan eyes rolled, but he settled down after that and pitched a very solid game, allowing just 1 more run through 6 innings and not walking another batter.

- The Yankee offense gave Hughes plenty of early support, getting the run back in the 2nd on a RBI single by Raul Ibanez, and then dropping the hammer on Royals' starter Luke Hochevar in the 3rd.

- A leadoff single by Dewayne Wise, another single from Derek Jeter, and a third from Curtis Granderson and the Yankees had the lead.  A-Rod was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Robinson Cano, still stagnant at the plate, unloaded them with a monster grand slam to right-center field to make it 6-1 Yanks.

- To add insult to injury, Nick Swisher crushed a solo shot to make it 7-1 and end Hochevar's day.  Swish was DHing yesterday in his first game back , and his bat didn't appear to have missed a beat.

- If this was Hughes' last start in the rotation, Joe certainly let him empty the tank.  Hughes threw 115 pitches before finally tiring out in the 7th, 75 for strikes.  His fastball, as usual, was his go-to pitch and Hughes was feeling it yesterday, throwing it for strikes at about 93-95 all day.  He also got swinging Ks on his curveball and changeup, and even though his day ended on a sour note, it was a good line for Hughes.

- The Yankee offense gave Hughes a lot of support early, and also provided some late on a 3-run bomb from The Horse in the 8th.  It was a vintage A-Rod swing and maybe a sign that he's starting to wake up.

- This was the type of offensive performance this team needed after a relatively quiet week.  They banged out 12 hits (5 players each had 2) and 6 walks, and got encouraging signs of life from A-Rod and Cano.

Game 27 Wrap-Up (Sort Of): KC 5 NYY 1

I went out and got absolutely HAAAAAAAAMMERED drunk last night to celebrate my nonexistent Mexican heritage, so you're just getting a few bullet points.

Game Notes:

- Hiroki Kuroda sucked in his 4.1 innings of work.  The fact that he only pitched 4.1 innings and needed 90+ pitches to do so speaks to that.

- Felipe Paulino was money in his 6 innings, shutting the Yankee offense out and striking out 6.

- The only Yankee who really showed up on offense was Russell Martin (go figure).  He had 3 hits, 2 for extra bases, and was responsible for the sole run thanks to his 3rd homer of the year.

- The bottom of the bullpen barrel (Rapada, Eppley, Garcia) did most of the heavy lifting after Kuroda left to keep the big arms available for today.  Eppley allowed 2 runs.

F*ck Yeahs:

- Martin: 3-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K.  Almost forgot he was on the team.

Oh Nos:

- RISP Fail: 0-9.  The Yankees put 10 runners on base, almost all over them got into scoring position, and they only scored 1 run.  This shit has to stop.

Next Up:

Series finale is in a few hours, with Phil Hughes on the mound trying to earn himself another start in the rotation and his team a series split.

Dave Robertson Is Dirty

There's no other way to describe it.  He was the best setup man in baseball last season, one of the best relief pitchers in baseball period, and he's been even better this year.  After last night, D-Rob has thrown 12 innings this season.  In those 12 innings he has allowed just 10 total baserunners, no runs, and has struck out 21.

If you trace things back to when D-Rob first really started to become a lockdown reliever, the summer of 2010, the numbers are just astounding.  From June 2010 to today, here's D-Rob's stat line:

- 124 IP, 1.52 ERA, 2.22 FIP, 6.02 H/9, 12.56 K/9

That's just downright unfair.  It's sickening.  Sure, he has walked 62 batters in that period of time, but only 3 of them so far this year, and he's only given up 3 HR in those 124 innings.  His command has improved and his walk rate is trending in the right direction without any kind of decrease in strikeouts, and batters just can't make good contact off of him.  D-Rob isn't just nasty, he's filthy, grimy, dirty.  And the scary thing is, he's getting dirtier.

#newcloser

Now somebody hit the music!

Game 26 Wrap-Up: NYY 6 KC 2

(The offense.  Courtesy of The AP)

The devastation of the Mo injury before the previous game was wiped away when he announced he was planning on coming back a few hours before last night's game.  The Yankees hit the field with clear heads and their ace on the mound, and got a win they really needed after a recent rough stretch of games.

Game Notes:

- Each pitcher started off with a rough 1st inning, Bruce Chen allowing 2 runs on a single to Jeter and a HR by Teix and CC allowing 2 on a single-double-double combination, and it was 2-2 after 1.

- After the 1st, though, suddenly the game turned into Shutdown City and CC and Chen matched 0s through 6 innings.  CC was very clearly the sharper of the 2, as he allowed only 2 more hits and did not walk a batter through the 6th.  Chen worked harder to get through his first 6 and hit the wall in the 7th.

- And when he hit it, he hit it HARD.  After a Robinson Cano single to lead off the 7th, Chen got the next 2 batters out and appeared to be in good shape.  A triple from Eduardo Nunez and a single by Chris Stewart and it was 4-2 Yankees with 2 outs, and a home run from Derek Jeter later in the inning made it 6-2.  A single 2-out run-scoring hit had been hard to come by lately.  3 in a row was practically unheard of.

- Fun Fact- Derek Jeter now has 5 HR on the season.  He had 6 all of last season.

- While Chen ran out of gas, CC kept chugging along and finished up with 2 more scoreless innings.  He exhibited great command again, keeping the ball down in the zone and generating a lot of groundballs, and this game marked the 4th straight that he's pitched into the 8th inning.

- If Joe is planning on having some sort of audition for the closer role with Mo out, I think it's safe to say D-Rob has the advantage.  Rafael Soriano was warming in the 'pen in the 8th as backup for CC in case he got into trouble.  After CC went 8 strong, it was Robertson who came in and sat down the Royals' 4-5-6 hitters in order, all via strikeout. 

BREAKING NEWS: Mo Says He's Coming Back

Via Mark Feinsand:

"I am coming back.  Write it down in big letters.  I'm not going out like this."

"I love to play the game.  To me, going out like this isn't the right way."

My reaction?



About damn time we had some good news on a Friday.

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 5/4

I still can't shake myself out of the funk that the Mo injury has put me in.  I've got nothing even remotely witty to say.  Onto the links.

- On Monday, Robbie Clark of Yanks Go Yard collected the best bits from the dynamic duo of John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman in the month of April for our comedic pleasure.  I know I don't have to say it, but you just can't predict baseball, Suzyn!

- William Juliano of The Captain's Blog disproved the theory that the Yankee offense has been poor to start the season with the greatest enemy to dumb theories, statistics.

- On Tuesday, Sensei John Kreese of NoMaas took a look inside Joe's mysterious dugout binder.  Couple of interesting tidbits in there.

- Brandon C. of Pinstripe Alley made a plea to the Yankees to call up Dewayne Wise, a move that I would fully support.  I bet Brandon was re-thinking his "I have no problem with Nunez playing the field" line after watching Eduardo's botch on Tuesday night.

- On Wednesday, Tamar Chalker of IIATMS offered his take on Andy Pettitte's rough day of testimony in the Clemens case.  Definitely worth checking out to get a perspective from somebody in the legal world.

- Matt B of Yankees Fans Unite got an interview with Wallace Matthews of ESPN.  I myself am not a huge fan of Matthews, but if you are then you should definitely check this out.

- Alex Geshwind of TYA examined the numbers after Hiroki Kuroda's first handful of Yankee starts and found signs of regression.

- Greg Corcoran of Bronx Baseball Daily breaks down the surprisingly deep High-A Tampa rotation.  This gives me another opportunity to remind everybody that I picked Nik Turley as the big sleeper prospect for this season.

/nobody cares

- On Thursday, Jamie Insalaco of Bomber Banter voiced his displeasure with Joe's decision to let Nova start the 7th inning on Wednesday night.  Glad Jamie ranted on this so that I didn't have to.

- Mike Axisa of RAB, obviously inspired by my Robbie Cano post on Tuesday, looks into Cano's startling GB rates to start this season.  Already covered it, Mike.  Try to keep up.

- It's heart-breaking to watch, but here's the video of Mo talking to the media after the ACL tear was diagnosed last night.  I'm still a little bit in shock about this whole thing, which makes this even tougher to watch.  Shit was getting a little misty around here, no joke.

On Friday, it was obviously all about Mo.  Mike Axisa had a heartfelt piece that certainly spoke to how I was feeling last night and am still feeling today, and I imagine it spoke to similar feelings for many Yankee fans.

- Hank Waddles of Bronx Banter shared his thoughts at the end of his recap of last night's events.

- Alex Belth followed that up with his own personal reaction.

- Chad Jennings of LoHud had a collection of player and manager reactions.  I know they're all professionals and have to put the tough face on, but even reading the words you can sense how down everybody is as a result of what happened.

- Steve Goldman of Pinstriped Bible attempted to inject some optimism in the situation by pointing out Rivera's decreased usage rate over the past few seasons and how there is only a small fraction of innings that need to be picked up by the rest of the guys in the 'pen.

- Jane Heller of Confessions of A She-Fan couldn't even bring herself to discuss last night's game or the events that caused the injury.  Right there with ya, Jane.  I felt sick writing up my game recap.

- Even the new Barstool NY Yankee writer, Strasser, wrote a touching piece on Mo and how much he means to the game of baseball and the world outside of baseball with the kind of person he is.

"Enter Sandman."  Because I don't want to give up hope that I'll never hear it play in The Stadium again.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.

Mo Diagnosed With Torn Right ACL

(Courtesy of The Daily News)

By now, everybody probably knows this, but the diagnosis on Mo's injury from last night is in and it's the worst-case scenario many of us feared when we first saw the video.  Mo has a torn ACL in his right knee, as well as damage to his meniscus, and all signs point to him being out for the rest of the 2012 season.

To be quite honest, I'm still a bit in shock over this and don't really know what to say.  I've watched the video of Mo speaking to the media after last night's game and it still doesn't seem real to me.  As I said to my fellow TYA writers in our email discussion this morning, Mo is one of the few genuinely good people left in sports today, one of the best people.  If there's anybody you could point to and say that he didn't deserve this, it's Mo.

Game 25 Wrap-Up: KC 4 NYY 3

(Good morning, Mr. Phelps.  Courtesy of The AP)

Freddy Garcia's spot in the rotation is dead.  Long live Freddy's rotation spot.  Taking that spot was David Phelps, and last night was Phelps' first career Major League start.  As if making your Major League debut wasn't stressful enough, Phelps had his family in the house and was facing a lineup with plenty of good young hitters in Kansas City.  About the only thing that made it less stressful was the game taking place in KC and not The Stadium.

Game Notes:

- It goes without saying that everything that happened in the game last night took a backseat to the shocking injury that befell Mariano Rivera during BP.  Just an incredible amount of terrible luck to suffer an injury doing something that he's probably done tens, if not hundreds, of times during his career.

- Baseball was still played, and Phelps was game in his first start.  He threw a lot of strikes, attacked hitters, and exhibited solid control of his stuff as he generated 5 strikeouts to 0 walks through 4 innings.  His problem was that he missed his spots in the zone a little too often and it cost him a few runs.

- Phelps was done after 4 because of the 85 pitches he threw, and he left down 2-1, but all things considered I would say it was a pretty good first start.  He kept the Yankees in the game and they had a chance to win when he left.

- The Yankee offense showed more life than it had in the previous 2 games, putting 7 baserunners on in the first 5 innings.  But struggles with RISP (1-6 through 5) kept them a run behind in the game.  The lone early run came on a pair of doubles by Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira.

- Clay Rapada and D.J. Mitchell had a rough go in the 5th trying to pick up Phelps, and allowed 2 more runs, but the bullpen was generally good again on a night where they were asked to carry more of the load than usual.

- The Yankee offense continued to chip away, led by Jeter's 4 hits.  They scratched a run across in the 6th on a pair of singles and a sac fly from Eduardo Nunez, and then another in the 7th on the same method, with the sac fly coming from Teix.

- It looked like things were set up for a comeback in the 9th after a leadoff single from Jeter and a walk to C-Grand, but Teix grounded a 1-1 fastball into a double play to end the major threat, and A-Rod grounded out with Jeter on third to end it.

BREAKING NEWS: Mo Carted Off Field During BP

The details of this story are still coming in, and there are differing accounts, but multiple sources are reporting that Mariano Rivera was carted off the field during batting practice tonight with what appeared to be a very severe injury to his right knee.

According to Dan Barbarisi, Mo put no weight on his right leg upon entering the team clubhouse.  It's too early to speculate on the exact injury, but early indications are not positive.

More on this to come...

** UPDATE- 6:41PM- Apparently there is video of the injury that people have seen.  Multiple Yankee beat writers tweeting that his right knee buckled while reaching for a flyball. **

** UPDATE- 6:50PM- The YES team all reporting that Mo leaped to make a catch near the warning track, buckled the knee on landing, and went down immediately.  Sounds eerily similar to the Derrick Rose injury. **

** UPDATE- 6:57PM- Injury is officially being called a "twisted right knee" right now.  MRI scheduled for tonight. **

** UPDATE- 8:21PM- Bryan Hoch has the YES footage of the injury.  That did not look good at all. **

** UPDATE- Friday, 6:17AM- It was confirmed late last night that Mo suffered a torn right ACL and meniscus.  It hasn't been officially stated, but it's almost certain that this will end Mo's 2012 season and possibly his career. Sad. **

The Rotation Is Killing Me, Smalls

For once, it looked like the Yankees were in a position to prove the old adage of "you can never have too much pitching" wrong. It was late in Spring Training and they had no less than 10 guys who could make a legitimate claim to being worthy of a spot in their 2012 starting rotation. Some were younger, some were old, some threw harder than others, and some were just plain better than others, but this season certainly appeared as though it was going to be one, the first one in a while, where the struggles and question marks in the rotation were not going to dominate the headlines in the local press. 4 weeks into the season and all of that depth and talent has been wiped away, replaced by the same concerns over guys not pitching up to the level they were expected to and the same questions surrounding the depth of the group moving forward. The Yankee rotation has a 5.89/4.65/3.74 slash line right now, the ERA ranking 2nd to last in Major League Baseball and the FIP ranking 26th, and have only 6 games where they've pitched 7 innings or more combined. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

CC Sabathia, outside of a few misplaced fastballs up in the zone in his first 2 starts, has been the CC Sabathia we've seen over the past 3 seasons, and a look at his peripherals makes one very confident that he could become even better than his usual self as the weather continues to warm up. But beyond him and his spot at the top, the rest of the rotation is once again a sea of unknowns.

Game 24 Wrap-Up: BAL 5 NYY 0

(Courtesy of The AP)

Ivan Nova's inconsistency in the strike zone finally came back to bite him last time out.  His stuff has been good since day 1 this season, but to truly take the next step towards being a legit #2-#3 starter he needs to tighten up his command.  Last night's start against Jake Arrieta could have been the next step towards that, but it ended up just being Nova running in place.

Game Notes:

- If Nova's bases-loaded K to end the top of the 1st was any indication, we were in for another one of his "load 'em up, shut 'em down"-type adventures.

- And great guy that he is, Ivan didn't let us down.  Through 6 innings he had allowed 7 hits and given up 3 walks, but only 2 ER.  He had thrown 99 pitches and missed up in the zone with regularity again, but he had held Baltimore to just 2-11 with RISP.  The only 1-2-3 inning he had was the 3rd, but he had his team in a winning position.  It was vintage Nova.

- The only problem was that the Yankee offense, as they did the night before, just plain forgot to show up.  Through 6 innings they managed only 4 base hits and no walks against Baltimore starter Jake Arrieta, who to his credit worked them brilliantly.  He pounded the strike zone with fastballs to get ahead in the count, and mixed sinkers, sliders, and curveballs down in the zone as out pitches.

- Nova really had to labor through his 6 innings of work.  That, combined with the fact that he had plenty of guys available in the bullpen, made it a bit odd to see Joe let Nova start the 7th inning.  After getting one out, it became very clear that Joe made the wrong call as Nova gave up a homer-HBP-double trio in 11 pitches to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 4-0 deficit.

- The fact that Nova was left in to face Matt Wieters, who had already homered off of him in the game and looked very comfortable against him at the plate night, after just giving up the homer and the HBP in the 7th, and at 107 pitches, is absolutely mind-numbing.

- Arrieta's dominance continued right through the 8th after he retired 6 in a row following a leadoff single in the 7th, 3 of them via strikeout.  He gave up just 5 hits, ZERO walks, and struck out a career-high 9 in what was probably his best career outing to date.

- Freddy Garcia made his first appearance since losing his rotation spot, pitching 2 scoreless innings in the 8th and 9th.  With 3 baserunners allowed, they were hardly clean, but with the game 5-0 Baltimore it hardly mattered.

Breaking Ties With Phil Hughes

(Ahh the good old days. Sigh)

No, this isn't another post about how the Yankees should trade Phil or move him to the bullpen or send him to Triple-A or any of that.  This is on a much deeper and more personal level than simple baseball strategy.  Over a year ago, when I was slightly less mature than I am today, some of you may recall this post introducing my list of official Yankee man crushes.  Since that day, the AB4AR Man Crush Hall of Fame has been a staple of the sidebar of this site, if you scroll down far enough to find it.  Phil Hughes was part of the first class elected into the Man Crush HOF, mainly because he was the first prospect I really followed closely through the system.  Inclusion the AB4AR Man Crush HOF is supposed to be a lifetime award, but after the last 1.5-2 years of subpar performances from Hughes, my feelings have changed.  I've been trying to fight it for a while now, but I just can't lie to myself anymore.  Phil, I think it would be for the best if I officially uncrushed you, removed you from the Man Crush HOF, and we both went our separate ways.

So NOW Is It Time To Call Up An Outfielder?

Via Mark Feinsand:

"We’re going to see where he’s at after today. We’re starting to get to a point where Thursday might be a little doubtful just because he has to go play a game or two.”- Girardi on Brett Gardner

So to review:

• Swish- Out for at least a week
• Gardner- Probably not coming back this week
• Jones- .326 wOBA (.211 vs. LHP); 30.0% K rate
• Ibanez- .313 wOBA (.306 vs. RHP); almost to the point of not being able to catch the proverbial cold in the field
• Nunez- Yeah, about that...

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

Maybe it's time to bite the bullet and call up Dewayne Wise.  The schedule is getting a little easier, so the 13-man bullpen isn't as big a necessity, and this 2-man bench thing with multiple catchers in the lineup and guys with no business playing the outfield out there playing the outfield doesn't seem to be working.

Just a thought...

Game 23 Wrap-Up: BAL 7 NYY 1

(Derpity-derp!  Courtesy of The AP)

Phil Hughes' spot in the rotation seems safe for the time being.  The axe already fell on Freddy after his last poor outing, and with Andy still a week or so away, Phil was likely going to get at least one more start after this one.  But with David Phelps getting the chance to shine in Freddy's spot, Phil really needed a good start last night against Baltimore to attempt to secure his spot long term.

Game Notes:

- I damn near fell down dead in the middle of my apartment when Hughes struck out the first batter of the game swinging on a curveball and thought maybe Phil was going to man up tonight.  Boy, was I wrong.  A couple of poorly-placed fastballs up in the zone to Chris Davis in the 2nd and J.J. Hardy in the 3rd led to an early 3-1 lead for the O's.  No matter what happened from then on, Hughes' spot in the rotation was dead as soon as Hardy's shot landed.

- Outside of the latest C-Grand home run in the bottom of the 1st, the Yankee offense was relatively lifeless against Brian Matusz through 6 innings.  They made life easier for him by swinging early in the count way too often, no instance worse than Robinson Cano's 1st-pitch pop out to end the 3rd with runners on 2nd and 3rd, but Matusz was pretty good.

- Hughes recovered from his early struggles to make it through 5.2 without allowing any more runs, but Joe's lack of faith in him continued to be exhibited when he removed Hughes after a HBP with 2 outs and nobody on.  Hughes had been pitching well, but was given no leash, and his night ended in the 6th.

- It was a big pile of suck after Hughes hit the showers, thanks to a pair of hits off of Boone Logan and the abrupt and ugly end to the honeymoon phase of Eduardo Nunez's outfield career on a brutal error that led to 2 more runs and a 6-1 Baltimore lead.

- In consecutive at-bats in the 6th and 7th innings, Alex Rodriguez had a leadoff bunt single and a 1st-pitch pop out to the catcher with the bases loaded.  I've got nothing for that.

- Things got a bit hazy for me after the A-Rod out to end the 7th, but I distinctly remember D.J. Mitchell coming on in the 9th inning to make his Major League debut.  As a big D.J. Mitchell fan, I'm obligated to mention that and to point out that he worked a scoreless frame with 1 K.

- I certainly wasn't expecting a stinker like this from the Yankees last night.  They had no reason or excuse to lay an egg the way they did, so I really don't know what else to say.  Go get 'em today, I guess.

Why The Eff Is Swish Not On The DL?

I don't get it.  I really don't.  Forget for a second that not putting him on the DL leaves the team with a 24-man roster and a 2-man bench until Gardner comes off the DL, both of which are not exactly winning strategies.  Forget that the 2-man bench will be whoever from the Ibanez-Jones-Nunez isn't scheduled to start and Chris Stewart.  Forget that for the immediate future the Yankees can make things work in the outfield with the bodies they have and will be OK depth-wise when Gardner comes back (assuming he doesn't suffer any last-minute setbacks).  And forget that the MiL call-up options are a bit limited with C-Dick and Zoilo Almonte both on the DL and Dewayne Wise not having any options that would allow the Yankees to stash him back in Triple-A when the time came for him to be sent back down.

Focus solely on Swish and his health, and how well he's played to start this season and how important his offensive contributions have been with the big boppers in front of him in the order scuffling.  Then think about whether or not you would be willing to risk losing that by him coming back too early and re-injuring himself.

Joe has already said that Swish is going to be out for a week.  As early as it still is in the season, what's the harm in putting him on the 15-day, giving him more time to rest the hammy, and increasing the chances that you get a 100% healthy Swish back in the middle of the month?  He's already had some injury scares with his groin issues in Spring Training, and hamstring injuries can be tricky if they aren't allowed to fully heal.  I'd hate to lose Swish long term because a stupid decision was made in the short term.

The Inaugural AB4AR "Best Of The Month" Awards: April 2012

AB4AR takes another step towards blog legitimacy with the first ever handing out of the AB4AR "Best of The Month" awards.  Of course baseball is a team sport, and it's rare that individual plays or players can be pointed to as the sole reason for a victory or a loss, but within that team concept there are always individual performances worth recognizing, and that's what this monthly feature will do.  For as consistently inconsistent as the Yankees were in April, and with as many problem areas as the team seemingly has right now, the best of the month was still very, very good.

And the winners are...

Where For Art Thou, Robinson?

The lack of production from the middle of the Yankee lineup this season is a theme that probably deserves more time and space to discuss than it's gotten so far.  There have been a few big games here and there, but in general the trio of Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, and Robinson Cano has been pretty mediocre, and lucky that the rotation has been even worse.  For guys like A-Rod and Teix, with injury histories, track records of slow starts, and swing/approach adjustments that they're focusing on, the slow start can be understood to a degree.  For Cano, however, his sluggish start comes as a surprise.  This is a guy who hit .320/.340/.639 last April and has a .294/.335/.480 slash in the season's first month in his career, and yet currently sits at .264/.323/.391 (.312 wOBA) 96 plate appearances into the season.  A glance at Cano's peripherals to try to explain this slow start makes the situation all the more confusing.

With Cano, the logical first place to start when investigating problems is his selectivity.  Cano has always been a free swinger with a low BB rate, and those things tend to manifest themselves as bigger problems in his game when he's slumping.  This has not been the case this year, as Cano's current BB rate of 8.3% is consistent with where it was in his banner year of 2010.  He's also sporting a minute 7.3% K rate, indicating that Cano isn't flailing away and missing at a lot of pitches.  His PITCHF/x Swing Rate of 46.0%, O-Swing Rate of 25.6%, and SwStr Rate of 6.2% are also lower than they usually are for Cano, significantly lower in the case of the Swing Rates, and support the theory that Cano has been more selective and less swing-happy at the plate this year.  In theory, a hitter of Cano's caliber should have much better numbers with across-the-board improvements in the swing/take department.  Something's not adding up here.

Game 22 Wrap-Up: NYY 2 BAL 1

(Out!  Courtesy of Getty Images)

The Yankees used the Orioles to end their season-opening losing streak with a 3-game sweep in Baltimore earlier in the month.  They were looking for the same thing this time around coming off a series win against Detroit, and had the type of pitcher in Hiroki Kuroda who could hold the free-swinging Baltimore lineup down if his command was on.

Game Notes:

- I don't know when Eric Chavez's power got moved out of the ICU and off the Witness Protection Program, but it's good to see it back.  Chavez cranked a 2-run HR off Baltimore starter Jason Hammel in the bottom of the 2nd, his 3rd of the season, to give the Yanks a 2-1 lead, and looked damn good doing it.

- Kuroda was nothing if not efficient in his start last night.  His stuff wasn't great, and his command wasn't perfect, but Kuroda still managed to mix pitches well and keep the Orioles off the bases.  A cheap run on a sac fly in the 2nd was all Baltimore had to their names through 5 innings, and Kuroda had thrown only 63 pitches.

- Give Baltimore starter Jason Hammel credit.  After the Chavez HR he managed to make it through 6 innings without allowing another run to score.  It took him 101 pitches to do it, and he did get bailed out by a first-pitch swinging double play to end the 6th, but it was still a solid job.

- Things got a little hairy for Kuroda in the 7th when a single, hit batter, and wild pitch put runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out.  But Kuroda got a big strikeout of Chris Davis and made a great play tagging out Nick Markakis trying to score on a wild pitch to keep the O's off the board and keep the lead intact.

- D-Rob was absolutely filthy striking out the side in the 8th.  Just dirty.  Kuroda was only at 87 pitches through 7, but Joe probably wanted to stay on the safe side after the tumble Kuroda took making the play at the plate aN. Robertson was available.  Not a bad call to make.

- The Yankee offense could do no more after Hammel left the game, but it didn't matter.  Mo came in for the 9th, exit light, enter night, 2-1 Yankee win.

** UPDATE- 3:50PM- Tonight's pitching matchup corrected after the jump.  Apparently keeping 5 guys in order is a tall task for me.**

#dumbass

This Probably Isn't Good...

Raul Ibanez.  Eduardo Nunez.  Together.  In the same outfield.

May whatever higher power he believes in have mercy on Curtis' soul tonight in center field tonight.  Because I certainly don't expect Raul or Eduardo's gloves to.

Cash Speaks On The Pineda Situation

I almost missed this late Friday, when ESPN ran a piece with some comments from Cash on the Michael Pineda trade and where everything sits now after the injury diagnosis.  Here are some of the highlights:

"Right now, our hopes and dreams for this player are in jeopardy.  Hopefully, someday, our fans will get to see what we expected to see from him for many years to come."

"This is a massive decision gone wrong right now.  So all scrutiny is fair."

"Our fans are right to be upset about this.  I'm devastated by it. I just hope everyone understands that every move I make is to improve this club, not hurt it."

Those are 3 very open, honest, telling quotes from Cash on how he feels about all of this, and I think they all point to something that's important to remember when discussing Cash's job performance.  He's not just some outside hired gun brought in to run the team, he's a lifer in the Yankee organization.  Cash built his professional career up to where it is within the Yankee family, so he's got a lot more invested in his job than just getting paid.  He cares about this team and its fans, and he WANTS to see the team win, as evidenced by this picture of him taking in yesterday's game with Bald Vinny and the rest of the Bleacher Creatures out in right field.  Can't imagine seeing too many other GMs out there doing that.

Every move Cash makes, whether it works out or not, is made with the goal of winning in mind.  When things go wrong, it probably hurts him personally as a lifetime member of the Yankee family just as much as it does professionally.  These quotes are a testament to that.  Cash is rooting for the team to do well just as hard as we fans are, and he's just as disappointed when things don't work out to that end as we are.  I'm sure this makes me come off as a Cash slurper, which maybe I am, and I'm sure it won't keep all the Cash haters from coming out of the woodwork and crucifying him for this trade.  But don't play this up like some kind of situation where Cash is Evil Vince McMahon intentionally trying to "screw" the Yankees out of their top prospects and into damaged goods.  He's a lifetime Yankee and this Pineda disaster is just as devastating to him as it is to us.

Game 21 Wrap-Up: NYY 6 DET 2

(Not quite parachute-y enough... Courtesy of The AP)

After Saturday's mid-day game after a night game, the Yanks and Tigers closed out the series yesterday with a day game after a mid-day game featuring CC Sabathia and Max Scherzer.  The Yankees had to make a roster move to provide enough bullpen depth for the game after a taxing 2 games covering for Phil Hughes and Freddy Garcia, and they were looking to their ace for length.

Game Notes:

- It seems weird to have the first point be about the offense and not the starting pitching, but the Yankee lineup made the first big plays of the day in the quietest way possible.  After stranding 2 walks in the 1st inning, the Yankees struck for 2 in the bottom of the 2nd after a walk, a GB single through the 1st base hole, an infield single, another walk, and another infield single.

- CC was cruising through 3 innings and continued to look more and more like the CC we're used to seeing.  His fastball was lively, he commanded it to both sides of the plate, and his slider was working as a swing-and-miss pitch.

- Wins and losses aside, the most important moment of the game was Nick Swisher leaving with a hamstring injury after drawing a walk and jogging to first in the bottom of the 3rd inning.  Joe confirmed after the that it was a low-grade strain and the plan is to rest Swish for a few days, but I can't remember the last time I saw somebody hurt themselves on a walk.

- CC's cruise continued into the 4th inning, right up to the point when Prince Fielder CRUSHED a HR into the 2nd deck in right field on a hanging slider to cut the lead to 2-1.  CC hung a slider and Fielder just murdered it.

- Curtis Granderson countered Fielder's shot with one of his own in the bottom half of the inning, though, and the lead stayed at 2 runs.  CC recovered and allowed only 1 more run for the rest of the game while pitching 8 strong innings.

- The offense gave CC some insurance with 2 more scratch runs in the 7th.  Rally starter Chris Stewart scored on an A-Rod FC and Jeter came home on a sac fly off the bat of Robbie Cano.  It was the most successful day of "nothing" offense I've ever seen.  If you called it anything, you would call it "relentlessly patient and locationally lucky" as 9 walks and some well-placed infield hits are really what got the job done.

- Laser HR from Swish's replacement, Andruw Jones, in the 8th and a 1-2-3 inning from D-Rob in the 9th and the 6-2 game win and 2-1 series win was complete.

Monthly Minor League Report: The Upper Levels

(I think he just walked another guy.  Courtesy of Jim McGregor/MiLB.com)

Yesterday we covered A-ball.  Today we focus on what the top 2 levels of the Yankee farm system have been up to this month.  There was a lot of hype surrounding the Triple-A rotation and a few of the players in Trenton, but so far the results have been disappointing for the biggest names at the top, almost completely across the board.