Positive Injury News Roundup

Joba and D-Rob's ailments put a little damper on things yesterday, and added to the already too long list of injured regulars.  As new guys continue to get acted to the DL, however, the group of players already there continue to work their way back to the playing field and the reports on almost all of them have been very positive in the last day or so.  In case you missed any of it, here's your quick update.

- Curtis Granderson has been taking BP at the team's complex in Tampa, and Joe confirmed during his pregame presser on Wednesday that Curtis actually got 2 at-bats in an ExST game.  He still needs a full ST's worth of ABs to get ready, but he's progressing nicely.

- Mark Teixeira has started taking BP as well.  It was first reported that he was still limited to dry swings on Wednesday, but Teix himself confirmed that he hit in the cage on Wednesday afternoon.  Good news.

- Michael Pineda pitched in an ExST game yesterday, and Cash told reporters on a conference call that Pineda was sitting mid-90s with his fastball and touched 95 at one point.  For as early as he is in his actual in-game rehab work, this is incredibly encouraging to hear.

- Last but not least, everybody's favorite scapegoat, Alex Rodriguez, was cleared to resume full baseball activities yesterday and he will travel to the team complex next Monday to begin said activities.  A-Rod had begun running full speed this week, so he appears to be right on track for his July return.

Nothing on Derek Jeter, which is probably a good thing given his setback.  With the recent round of DL additions, it's good to know that there aren't any problems with this group of walking wounded.

Joba To The 15-Day DL With An Oblique Strain

Throw another log on the injury fire, folks, 'cause this DL party ain't over yet!

The Yankees announced earlier today that Joba Chamberlain has been put on the DL with a strained right oblique.  According to Cash, he felt something when he was warming up on Tuesday night and got an MRI this morning that showed the strain.  No replacement for Joba has been announced yet, although Cash did name drop Mark Montgomery, Sam Demel, and Preston Claiborne as three possibilities.  The strain is reportedly just a "mild" one, but as we saw with D-Rob last year, even a mild oblique strain can take a while to fully heal.

Oh, and speaking of D-Rob, he's being called day-to-day right now with a left hamstring issue suffered when he caught a spike and landed awkwardly throwing his pitch last night.  No DL needed for him, but I doubt he'll be available for the next few games.  Gonna need some length out of the starters this weekend.

AB4AR "Best Of The Month" Awards: April 2013

There's no other way to describe the Yankees' opening month of the 2013 season than to call it a rousing success.  Despite missing almost the entirety of the middle of their batting order and their Hall of Fame starting shortstop, they finished with a 16-10 record and found themselves 2nd in what was supposed to be a very competitive AL East.  There were a bounty of big moments and great performances in April, but it wasn't all that hard to pick out the biggest and the best.  After the jump, check out the award winners for the April 2013 AB4AR "Best of the Month" awards.

Yanks Acquire IF Chris Nelson From Colorado

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

This story came out yesterday, but in case you missed it and AB4AR is your number one source of Yankee news, here's the deal.  The Yankees acquired utility infielder Chris Nelson from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for either cash or a PTBNL yesterday.  Nelson, 28, is a former top prospect who had been on the Yankees' radar before.  The present situation in the infield made another righty utility guy a necessity, and that's what Nelson will be brought in to be for at least the next couple weeks.

Mike Eder of IIATMS/TYA broke down Nelson's game in great detail on Monday, but the long and short of it is Nelson is an OK hitter at best (.279/.322/.416 career slash in 664 PA) and a below-average fielder at best.  As is the standard with most former Rockies, Nelson has a pretty big home/road split and defensive metrics have never rated him positively as a shortstop, second, or third baseman.  It is that positional versatility and right-handedness that made this trade happen more than anything Nelson has actually done.  With Youkilis on the DL and Nix and Nunez not doing much, the Yankees are painfully thin on the infield right now and even thinner at right-handed bench bats.  They called up Corban Joseph initially to replace Youkilis, but his lack of skill at third forced the Yanks to look elsewhere.

As far as roster moves go, Francisco Cervelli was put on the 60-day DL to open up a 40-man roster spot, and it would make sense for CoJo to get sent back down to SWB so he can continue to play every day and get ABs.  It's not a flashy move, or one that will return too many dividends.  It's simply the Yanks putting a bandage on their infield wound for the time being.

Game 27 Wrap-Up: NYY 5 HOU 4

(Courtesy of the AP)

I'll say one thing about this series, it was a lot more hard fought than I expected it to be.  After getting walloped on Monday and holding onto a relatively close win on Tuesday, the Yankees came into last night's series finale against Houston with a chance to salvage a series victory.  It looked like it was going to be a breeze out of the gate as they went up 4-0 early, but give Houston the credit it's due.  They fought back, made the game close again, and made the Yankees earn their victory.

Game Notes:

- Ichiro Suzuki, leading off for Brett Gardner again, hit a triple to start things in the bottom of the 1st and scored on Jayson Nix's follow-up RBI single.  Erik Bedard walked the bases loaded in the 2nd and the Yanks got another run out of that.

- After playing the "manufacturing" and "patience" cards in the first 2 innings, New York went back to the power in the 3rd.  Robinson Cano and Ben Francisco each hit solo HR to make it 4-0 and it was looking ugly.

- Yanks' starter David Phelps cruised through the first 3 innings with no runs and 7 outs on the ground, but damn near lost it in the top of the 4th after giving up 3 straight hits and 2 HBPs.  Phelps would get it together to get out of the frame, but not before Houston had tied the game at 4.

- Eduardo Nunez led off the bottom of the 6th with a double, and in another one of those weird, "scrappy" plays came around to score on an inning-ending DP thanks to Lyle Overbay's heads-up baserunning to get caught in a rundown long enough to allow Nunez to cross the plate.

- Once they had the lead, the bullpen didn't let it go.  Boone Logan closed out the 6th and handled the 7th, and D-Rob and Mo needed a combined 19 pitches to close the 8th and 9th out in order.

Who's To Blame For The Youkilis Screw-Up?

(Who did this you??  Who hurt you???  Courtesy of USATSI)

We're never going to find out, and I ask the question knowing full well that it really doesn't matter in the long run.  What matters is that Kevin Youkilis get 100% healthy and not come back to play until his back is 100% healthy.  But just out of sheer, morbid curiosity I'd like to know what went on behind the scenes on Friday/Saturday that led to Youkilis' name being put on the lineup card so he could go out there and hurt himself again.  Cash's statement on the matter yesterday was pretty damning, about as clear-cut an instance of people getting thrown under the bus as I've seen in some time, and I work at a company that specializes in that.  It's pretty out of character for Cash to be that blunt and sell his own people down the river like that, so I'd be very interested in knowing what happened to inspire his comments.

Close Game Success Helping Drive Yanks' Strong Start

After all the hand wringing many of us did prior to the start of the season, the Yankees came out and surprised us with a 16-10 start in the month of April.  They've gotten good starting pitching, equally good work from their late-inning bullpen core, an MVP-caliber performance from Robbie Cano, and a tremendous team offensive effort driven by the overachievement of many of the new scrap heap pick-ups.  A big part of what has made all of this add up to the 16-10 start is the team's outstanding performance in close games.  After being a thorn in the side of writers and fans alike for what seems like every year since the World Series of '09, this year's team has really gotten the job done in that department.

Game 26 Wrap-Up: NYY 7 HOU 4

(PRONK!!!  Courtesy of Getty Images)

As my fellow IIATMS/TYA writer Stacey Gotsulias said yesterday, there was no reason to panic after Monday night's no-show against the Astros.  It was one of those nights where everybody was off their game and it happened to be on a night where the Yanks faced an inferior opponent.  It's not like it's never happened before and it's not like it won't happen again this season.  You chalk it up as a bad night and move on to the next game, which is exactly what the Bombers did last night, waking up the bats and getting another strong pitching performance from Hiroki Kuroda to even this series at 1.

Game Notes:

- Things didn't look so hot for Hirok early, as he struggled with his command and put 7 runners on base in the first 3 innings, 4 of them via walk.  He just didn't have the feel for his sinker and the Houston hitters weren't chasing it.

- His offense gave him some cushion to work with, plating 2 runs in the first 3 innings.  Brett Gardner led off the bottom of the 1st with a walk and came around to score on a Travis Hafner single, and Ichiro did the same after reaching base on a wild pitch to start the 3rd.

- Kuroda started to find it in the 4th and began working his slider more.  He allowed only 1 baserunner, who was caught stealing by THE Chris Stewart, through the next 4 innings, striking out 4 and recording all but 2 of the 12 outs in the infield.

- The lineup kept tacking on runs in the 5th and they would need them when D-Rob had a little hiccup in the 8th and gave up a 2-run HR to make it a 4-2 game.  Hate it when those cutters don't cut.

- Not to be denied, the offense came right back out in the bottom half and put up 3 more runs of their own.  Lyle Overbay hit a leadoff  HR, his 4th of the season, TCS singled home a run, and Travis Hafner drove in his third run of the game.

- Shawn Kelley made a mess of things in the 9th by giving up 2 more runs, and Joe had to go to Mo for the 1-out save.  Not a great night for the 'pen, but Mo is 10-10 on the year and he held down the victory.

Duh...

Brian Cashman says the decision to play Kevin Youkilis on Saturday was "a mistake by everyone involved."
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughSL) April 30, 2013

 Ya think???

Vidal Nuno, A Man Of Many (Potential) Roles

(Welcome to the show, guy.  Courtesy of the AP)

The lone bright spot in last night's absolute stink pot of a game was the Major League debut of Vidal Nuno.  After being released from the Cleveland Indians' A-ball affiliate following the 2010 season, Nuno has worked himself up through five levels of the Yankee MiL system in just a little over two seasons and put himself in a position to capitalize on an opportunity when Ivan Nova went on the DL.  While so many people focus on what Nuno isn't when labeling him an automatic non-prospect, I put more stock into what he is when I evaluated him and included him in this year's AB4AR Top 30 (30th spot).  He might not be big, he might not throw hard, and he might not have devastating offspeed stuff, but he's still before his prime at age 25, he throws strikes, he has outstanding command, and his offspeed stuff is just good enough to strike a fair amount of batters out.  As a lefty, that's not a bad skill set to possess.

Nuno's greatest quality, at least as it relates to the current Yankee roster, might be his flexibility.  That ability to pitch in multiple scenarios, paired with the aforementioned left-handedness, could make Nuno a very versatile bullpen piece for Joe to use as he sees fit.

Youkilis' MRI Comes Back Clean, DL Stint Still Likely (UPDATED)

The good news is that the MRI on Kevin Youkilis' back came back clean yesterday, so at least there's no serious damage to it that could cause it to be a definite lingering issue.  The bad news is that the team still elected to give him an epidural today, and chances are he's still going to end up on the 15-day DL.

I imagine the hope is that the DL stint and epidural will be enough to get Youkilis' back back to 100%, but if he's getting an epidural after the MRI didn't show anything, that's a big red flag for me and leads me to believe that his back WILL continue to be a lingering issue moving forward.  With his back clearly not good enough to play right now, it makes the decision to put Youkilis back in the lineup on Saturday look really bad.  Now instead of backdating his DL stint to last week when he first went out of the lineup, it will have to start from Saturday.  Don't know what Joe was thinking there.

** UPDATE 2:14 PM- The Yankees announced earlier that Youkilis will indeed take a trip to the 15-day DL to rest his ailing back.  Corban Joseph has been called up to take his place on the active roster. **

Game 25 Wrap-Up: HOU 9 NYY 1

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

You couldn't have scripted a better situation for the Yankees to continue their winning streak coming into last night.  Worst team in baseball as the opponent, playing at home, and Andy Pettitte and his giant bag of "crafty veteran" tricks on the mound to school the glorified Quad-A Houston Astros lineup.  You hate to get cocky, but that's a slam dunk.

Game Notes:

- Unless, of course, you just flat don't show up the way the Yankees didn't show up through 4 innings.  It started when Andy gave up 3 1st-inning runs after getting 2 outs and 6 pitches and it never stopped.

- The lineup managed just 1 hit and 2 GIDPs in the first 3 innings and barely made Houston starter Lucas Harrell work, as he needed just 37 pitches to groundball them to death.

- Pettitte just never found anything in the next few innings, continuing to miss up with cutters and sliders and giving up a lot of hard contact.  Mercifully, his night ended with 1 out in the 4th after 7 ER and 10 hits.  Strange to see him pitch that shitty against such an inferior opponent.

- It didn't get better for the offense.  They grounded into 2 more DPs in the 4th and 7th innings, but at least they managed to push a run across in the 6th on a Vernon Wells single to not get blanked.

- Adam Warren was pretty terrible in relief of Pettitte, and he gave way to the recently called up Vidal Nuno.  It was just mop-up duty, but Nuno looked pretty good in his 3 innings of work, allowing 0 runs on 4 hits and striking out 2.

- Just an awful night all around, the kind of game you have to wash off of yourself in the shower.

Cano Holding His Own Against Left-Handed Pitching

(Gone.  Courtesy of MLB.com)

In a situation where he was going to be more important than ever, Robinson Cano has done everything the Yankees have needed him to do so far this season.  He's hitting .316/.374/.612 (.417 wOBA) in 107 plate appearances, with a team-leading 7 HR, 17 R scored, 17 RBI, and 1.3 fWAR.  He hasn't made an error in the field, he hasn't missed a game or even an at-bat due to injury, sickness, or whatever, and he's looked every bit worth the 9-figure salary he's sure to get at some point.  There are plenty of other kudos to hand out to other players on the team for the job they've done, but it's more than fair to say that without Cano this team would not be off to the 15-9 start it is.

Before the season, I dissected Cano's poor 2012 performance against left-handed pitching, a statistical anomaly never seen before and a potential cause for concern about Cano's expected offensive productivity moving forward.  He hasn't completely put the issue to bed, but Cano has done enough early on to at least make me believe he's putting last year's issues in the rearview.

Thoughts On Nova's Injury

(Courtesy of Reuters)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Despite coming away with a 4-game sweep of the Blue Jays, this past weekend was another costly one for the Yankees.  In the span of just a few innings and probably less than an hour of real time, they lost both halves of their starting battery on Friday night, losing Francisco Cervelli to a fractured right hand and Ivan Nova to what was officially diagnosed as right triceps inflammation.  I already spent some time on Saturday discussing Cervelli's injury and its implications, and I do believe that will be the greater loss for the Yankees , but there's plenty to consider with respect to Nova's injury as well.  Now that we know exactly what the injury is and that he won't be spending any time under a knife to deal with it, this seems like a good time to discuss.

Yanks Reportedly Scrapping The 2014 Payroll Plan (Again)

By now, you've all probably heard this latest rumor about the Yankees doing away with their $189 million payroll plan for next season.  Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports released a story last Thursday, citing multiple sources, about the Yankee front office deciding that the plan for 2014 was "unlikely and impractical" and doing away with it to return to business as usual.  One quote from a "team official" was especially telling:

"It was a good idea to try, but deep down, we all pretty much knew it wasn't going to happen."

While the reasoning and logic referenced by Passan in the article is all sound, and the Yankees' ability to toe both the "fiscally responsible" and "championship-caliber team" lines is greatly questioned, I'm taking the same approach I took when Wally Matthews posted a similar story months back and waiting until the Yankees act in a way that's consistent with these reports before accepting them as gospel.  As with Matthews' story, Passan's piece here seems to be nothing more than educated speculation and connecting dots that may or may not be there.

The bottom line is that everything the Yankees have done (well, almost everything) since announcing their plan to get below the luxury tax threshold in 2014 has been in line with that plan.  All parts of that plan, the logic, the execution, the benefits, etc., can be questioned and it's the job of the media to do that questioning and try to uncover something of substance.  Until they do, however, or until the Yanks take it upon themselves to act in a way that suggests what Passan and Matthews wrote is true, there's no reason to dive headfirst back into the pool of free spending.

Game 24 Wrap-Up: NYY 3 TOR 2

(Courtesy of the AP)

A 4-game sweep of the Blue Jays would have been a great statement for the Yankees to make early.  After the offseason ended, the Jays were generally praised for their aggressiveness in adding players to their team and talked up as the new favorites in the AL East while the Yankees were generally bashed for their inactivity and unwillingness to open their wallets for anything more than cheap plug-ins at every position.  The Yanks have gotten great production from almost all of their acquisitions so far as they've stayed in the hunt in the division while the Jays have not and find themselves firmly entrenched in the cellar.  Just goes to show that you can't predict baseball, Suzyn.

Game Notes:

- Strong start for Phil Hughes, who allowed just 1 hit and struck out 5 through the first 3 innings.  He was attacking with his fastball, mixing his offspeed stuff well, and working quickly from the windup.

- His lineup got him an early run in the bottom of the 2nd.  Only a few pitches after Travis Hafner just missed a HR to deep center, Brennan Boesch stepped in and got just enough of one to right for a solo HR.

- Hughes got burned on some bad luck in the top of the 4th after Jayson Nix let a ball go down the third baseline for a 2-out single and 2 more cheap singles plated a run to tie the game at 1.  He had to throw way more pitches than he should have to get out of the inning.

- The 6th was really the problem area for Hughes.  Despite striking out the side, a leadoff double by Jose Bautista came back to haunt him after a questionable call by Joe to intentionally walk Adam Lind and a poorly-placed fastball to Macier Izturis led to a 2-out RBI double to give Toronto the lead.

- R.A. Dickey, to his credit, shut the Yankees down with his knuckler after the 2nd inning.  He didn't give up another hit after that inning, retiring 12 of 13 through the 6th.

- A Travis Hafner leadoff single in the 7th seemed harmless enough, but then Dickey threw a 1-1 knuckler that didn't move to Lyle Overbay and Overbay parked it in the Yankee bullpen for a 3-2 lead.  They didn't do much against Dickey, but they made the most of the hits they did get.

- Boone Logan, David Robertson, and Mariano Rivera handled the 7th-9th and the sweep was completed.  Four in a row against a divisional rival in four close games.  That's good stuff.

Nova Injury/Roster Move Recap

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

Just a quick update on all the moving parts that resulted from Friday night's injury madness, in case anybody missed anything.

First, Ivan Nova has been put on the 15-day DL with what the team is officially calling "right triceps inflammation."  While sounding painful and causing concern about lingering issues moving forward, this is much better news than something in the elbow, and early indications are that Nova could be ready to pitch again by the end of his 15-day stint.  Whether he gets his rotation spot back when he's ready is a topic for another day.

In his place for now will be David Phelps, who pitched the 4 innings of relief after Nova left on Friday night and is as close to being fully stretched out as he can be.  Vidal Nuno, the crafty left-hander, was called up to take Nova's spot on the 25-man roster and will serve as a sort of lefty swingman in the bullpen.  Derek Jeter was moved to the 60-day DL to free up a 40-man spot for Nuno.  Austin Romine has also officially been added to the 25-man in place of the injured Francisco Cervelli, although there's been no word from the team on when they expect him to play in place of Chris Stewart.

Game 23 Wrap-Up (Abridged Version): NYY 5 TOR 4

- Another good but not great start from CC Sabathia, who gave up 9 hits and 3 ER in 8 innings.  He didn't walk a batter, but struck out only 4.  If you're curious, his fastball was sitting low-90s.

- Big day for Travis Hafner, who got a rare DH start against a LHP.  He hit a 3-run HR in the bottom of the 4th to tie the game at 3, then after a Brett Lawrie HR in the 6th to give the Jays a 1-run lead, Hafner came back with a 2-out RBI triple to score Vernon Wells and give New York the lead it would not surrender.

- First game back in over a week for Kevin Youkilis, who went 0-3 with a BB, R scored, and a K.

- D-Rob and Mo were unavailable after pitching in consecutive games, so Joba got the ball for the save and he pitched around 2 hits in the 9th to preserve the win and set the Yankees up for the sweep today.

Thoughts On Cervelli's Injury

(Looks like he knew almost immediately.  Courtesy of the AP)

Concerns about the Yankees' catching contingent were constant this offseason after the team surprisingly allowed Russell Martin to walk.  The crew left behind, headlined by Chris Stewart and Francisco Cervelli, wasn't particularly deep or especially talented, at least based on career numbers.  The focus was always on how the 2-headed monster of Stewvelli would be able to replace the lost production of Martin, and never what the Yankees might have to do if one of them got hurt, which is surprising given the physical beating a catchers take.  Last night the team and the entire Yankosphere got slapped in the face with that reality when Cervelli left the game with a broken right hand.  He's scheduled for surgery today and will miss at least 6 weeks, leaving Stewart as the lone Major League catcher still standing and the Yankees with another injury obstacle to overcome.  After the jump, some thoughts on the injury and its impact.

Game 22 Wrap-Up: NYY 6 TOR 4

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

The Yankees picked up another 5-3 win over the Blue Jays last night, but that story takes an obvious backseat to the damaging injury news to come out of the game.  Just 5 pitches into the first AB of the game, Francisco Cervelli took a foul ball right off his right hand, causing him to leave the game and get X-rays that eventually revealed a broken bone in the hand.  While the Twittersphere was still putting the pieces together on that story, Ivan Nova suffered an injury of his own in the top of the 3rd inning.  It first appeared to be a leg issue, but was later confirmed to be a problem with his right elbow/triceps area.  While it's always good to get the W, the injuries to last night's battery put a serious damper on the game.

Game Notes:

- Nova's performance was frustratingly familiar early.  He struck out the first 2 batters he faced, but was inconsistent with his command and gave up a solo HR to Edwin Encarnacion to lead off the 2nd inning.

- It got a lot worse the next inning without Nova even allowing a run.  He followed through funny on a pitch and was removed from the game almost immediately with an elbow injury.  Nova had been the weak rotation link, but the last thing the Yanks needed was more injuries.  And this was after Cervelli left in the 1st.

- Hit with another obstacle, the offense did their part to overcome the losses and patiently scrapped out 4 runs from the 2nd-4th innings, highlighted by a Lyle Overbay RBI triple in the 4th, to take a 4-3 lead.

- David Phelps got the call after Nova left and came in cold from the bullpen.  Given the circumstances, it would have been understandable if Phelps struggled again.  He pleasantly surprised by allowing just 1 run in 4 innings of work while striking out 9.

- When the Jays tried to chip away with runs in the 6th and 8th innings, the Yanks responded with big insurance runs.  Robinson Cano came around to score on a passed ball after leading off the 7th with a double, and Brett Gardner pumped a solo HR into the right-center field bleachers in the 8th.

- Just like the night before, Joe went Joba-D-Rob-Mo for the final 3 frames and they got it done.  Robertson gave up a solo HR to Jose Bautista and Mo loaded the bases, but overall it was more good work from these guys.

BREAKING NEWS: Everybody And Their Mother Leaving Tonight's Game With Injuries

Well this hasn't been a very fun night for the Yankees, and the game isn't even 3 innings old yet.  After first losing Francisco Cervelli to an injury to his right hand on the 5th pitch of the game in the top of the 1st, they've also just lost Ivan Nova to an apparent leg injury after he pulled up awkwardly delivering a pitch.

No official word yet on either player, although Sweeny Murti is hearing whispers of a fracture for Cervelli's hand and Donnie Collins reported that Austin Romine left the Triple-A RailRiders game mid-inning quickly after Cervelli left the big league game.  Neither of those things are good signs, and chances are Cervelli is going to miss a significant chunk of time.  More on both of these stories as it becomes available.

** UPDATE 7:44 PM- Via Meredith Marakovits, Cervelli has a fractured right hand that will require surgery and Nova left with pain in his elbow.  Not good news for either guy. **

** UPDATE 7:47 PM- Via the whole beat writer contingent, Cervelli is expected to miss at least 6 weeks; MRI on Nova's right elbow scheduled for tonight. **

** UPDATE 8:12 AM 4/27- Cervelli's hand surgery is scheduled for today, Romine has been confirmed as the call up to replace him and should be on the roster and in the dugout today, and while Nova's MRI results still aren't known, it's been reported that he was complaining of tightness in his triceps area.  Should find out more today. **

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 4/26/13

Shorter than usual linkaround this week thanks to more than a few early nights in bed.  The kid's tired, people.  Burning the wick at both ends and trying to keep up with a regular season writing schedule can do that to ya.  But what this Palooza lacks in quantity, it definitely makes up for in quality.  Now onto the links!

- On Tuesday, William Juliano of The Captain's Blog looked at Joe's early lineup juggling and how it stacks up historically to some of the other instances of high lineup tinkering in team history.

- Dan Hickey of Bronx Pinstripes had a little fun with weird names and put together the all-time best name team in Yankee history.

- On Wednesday, Derek Albin of Pinstripe Pundits pointed out another trend in Phil Hughes' pitching breakdowns that could explain his recent turnaround.  Fastballs for strikes and offspeed for out pitches, who knew?!

- Greg Corcoran of Bronx Baseball Daily interviewed Low-A prospect Greg Bird, who's making the transition from catcher to full-time first baseman this season.  Bird was on the list of guys who just missed the cut for this year's AB4AR Top 30.

- Martin Riggs of NoMaas displayed some statistical trends in groovy chart form to attempt to further temper the growing concerns about CC Sabathia's fastball velocity.

- On Thursday, Mike Axisa of RAB found some troubling offensive trends in the team's recent 6-game road trip, trends that fit the original description of this "weak" lineup.

- El duque of It Is High... made an astute observation about Ichiro's unwillingness to take walks and the crippling effect it's having on his offensive value.

- Mike Eder of IIATMS/TYA looked at Ichiro's poor start another way, from the bat speed standpoint, to see if that was part of the problem.  A slow bat-no take combination would not be fun next season.

- On Friday, Jason Cohen of Pinstriped Bible examined Eduardo Nunez's dreadful start to the season.  Nunez needs to get it going now that Jeter is out 'til the ASB.

- Bryan Van Dusen of The Greedy Pinstripes commented on the latest rumors about the abandonment of the austerity plan and what the causes might be.

This week's Friday Jam is one of the better Metallica cover performances IMHO, "Stone Cold Crazy."  I was pretty close to losing it yesterday afternoon after an especially shitty week at the office, and after relaxing and cooling off at our weekly post-work basketball game this was the song playing on the radio when I got in my car.  Made me laugh.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.

What Was The Deal With That Jeter Press Conference Yesterday?

Let me preface this by reminding everyone that Derek Jeter is my hands down favorite baseball player of all time and the reason I started becoming a real Yankee fan.  But what the hell was up with that press conference before yesterday's game?  Did that not make any sense to anybody else?  It was like he felt he had to come out and clear the air about this whole ankle re-break setback, but I really haven't noticed any kind of media speculation about his current status.  We've known what we've known - that there's a crack in the bone, doctors say it doesn't need surgery and should completely heal, and Jeter should be back after the All-Star Break - since the story first broke and nothing has changed since then.  There was no air that needed clearing.

And of course Jeter was his typical self, promising the fans that he'd be back and saying he expected to play to his usual level when he did come back.  He was quick to dismiss any suggestion that the injury or his age would diminish his productivity and reiterated that he doesn't like to and won't be addressing his injuries when he returns.  So, if I understand this correctly, Derek Jeter, the player who hates talking to the media about his injuries, called a press conference to talk to the media about his injury to tell everybody what they already knew and/or assumed about his injury.  That's basically all yesterday was, right?

P.S.- No MLB TV package, Derek?  Come on, bro.  That's MY go-to excuse.

On Joe's Recent Lack Of Pinch Hitting Logic

(Come on, Joe.  You're better than that.  Courtesy of the AP)

As a blogger and a Yankee fan who's had to warm up to Joe Girardi and his management style over the years, I have to say that I think he's done a fantastic job through the first 21 games this season.  Put into an even tougher position with the lineup than the one he ended the 2012 postseason in, Joe has been proactive and creative in his approach to building the lineup each day, even if it hasn't always lead to positive results.  He's also been good about using his bullpen and not over/underworking any of his important pitchers.  The team's unexpected (in my eyes at least) 12-9 start is just as much a testament to the job Joe has done as it is to the performances of the players on the roster.  That's why I hate to have to pick nits and beat him up a little here, but there have been two recent decisions to not pinch hit late in games in situations that were screaming for it that left me wondering what Joe was thinking.

Game 21 Wrap-Up: NYY 5 TOR 3

(You won't like John Gibbons when he's angry.  Courtesy of the AP)

After a quick 3-3 AL East road trip, the Yankees returned home last night to host one of their recent road opponents, the Toronto Blue Jays.  And after getting schooled by a righty their last night in Tampa, they were once again facing a lefty and a familiar one in Mark Buehrle.  Life's never easy in the AL East and it wasn't easy last night with Hiroki Kuroda on the mound, who looked very shaky in his first few innings.  But surprise, surprise, the offense (surprisingly) woke up just enough against a lefty to get the job done.

Game Notes:

- Shaky might be an understatement for Kuroda early.  He was leaving a lot of pitches up and wasn't commanding his offspeed stuff.  He gave up 4 hits in the 1st, 2 in the 2nd, and 3 runs on HR by Edwin Encarnacion and Brett Lawrie.

- That deficit didn't last long, though, thanks to a return of the Yankee power bats.  Vernon Wells clubbed a solo HR to center in the bottom of the 2nd, Robinson Cano smashed a 2-out, 3-run homer to take the lead in the 3rd, and Francisco Cervelli hit a solo shot in the 4th to pad that lead to 5-3.

- As bad as Kuroda looked in the first 2 innings, he got it together quickly after that.  Kuroda got through the next 4 innings scoreless, retiring the last 7 batters he faced and 13 of the last 14.  It wasn't pretty, but 3 runs in 6 innings isn't bad at all.

- The offense was never able to add to that lead, however, leaving multiple runners on base in the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings.  Plenty of chances, just never got that one big insurance hit.

- Strange play in the bottom of the 7th, when the umps reversed an out call on a Ben Francisco bunt attempt, saying Encarnacion was bobbling the ball.  Francisco might have been safe anyway, but their was no bobble and that's never a call you see overturned.  John Gibbons came out to argue and predictably (and entertainingly) got run.

- Turns out those insurance runs weren't needed.  Joba and D-Rob handled the 8th without issue and the ageless Mariano Rivera locked down a 1-2-3 9th for the win.