Phil Phinally Starting To Phigure It Out?

(Courtesy of the AP)

Phil Hughes last night- 8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K

Phil Hughes last 4 starts- 28 IP, 23 H, 6 ER, 5 BB, 30 K

He's commanded his fastball, he's mixed his offspeed stuff well, and he's really starting to find the handle on The Slutter.  Hughes has lowered his ERA from 10.29 to 3.60 in those last 4 starts and he's been the best pitcher in the rotation in that time period.  Could this finally be Phil putting it all together and becoming the pitcher we all hoped he would be?

Game 28 Wrap-Up: OAK 2 NYY 0

(Courtesy of the AP)

If you're basing your assessment purely on W-L record, you could say the Yankees have gotten fat against inferior competition in the past week plus.  10 of their last 13 games were against the Blue Jays and Astros, both AL bottom feeders, and they won 8 of those 10 games.  They were set to face a bit stiffer challenge this weekend with the Oakland A's coming to town and they kicked off the series last night with CC Sabathia on the mound.  As he's done multiple times already this season, CC pitched good but not great and he got out-dueled by Oakland starter A.J. Griffin.

Game Notes:

- Trouble right from the start for CC, who gave up a leadoff HR on his first pitch of the game, an 89 MPH 4-seamer, to Adam Rosales.  He would limit the damage to just that 1 run, but it turned out to be all Oakland would need.

- Griffin didn't allow much through 5 innings.  He worked out of a second and third and 2 outs jam in the 2nd and basically cruised through the other innings, mixing his fastball, curveball, and change and generating a lot of weak contact.

- CC had to battle through his 6 innings, and wasn't nearly as efficient as he is when he's really on his game.  He gave up another run in the 6th on a leadoff walk and a pair of singles and finished the night with 10 baserunners allowed and 118 pitches thrown in just 6 innings.

- Kudos to Joe for making the right pinch hitting call this time, going with Brennan Boesch for Chris Stewart with a runner at second and 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th.  Boesch K'd, but it was the right move to make.

- Yanks went down quietly in the final 3 frames.  Adam Warren relieved CC and pitched 3 scoreless innings, so nice job by him.  Close game on the scoreboard, but never one the Yanks really got close to tying.

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 5/3/13

So my buddy turned 30 yesterday and he's having a big rager of a house party tomorrow to truly celebrate the milestone.  I'm still in my prime, got a few more years before I cross that threshold into oldness, but goddamn do I not want to turn 30.  I really should have planned things out better and worked a regular trip or two into Neverland every year to stay in that 24-26 range because 30 just seems like it's going to be a drag.  And no offense to any of you dear readers who may already be 30 and older.  I'm sure you're all wonderful people who live wonderful lives.  I, on the other hand, am not.  I fell asleep right at the start of the Warriors-Nuggets game last night, around 9:30 PM, and woke up right as the game ended.  That's terrible.  Who does that?  By the time I'm 30 I might be in bed before the "Seinfeld" re-runs come on.  That'll be a tragic day.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, Chris Mitchell of Pinstripe Pundits analyzed Vernon Wells' hot start to see how real it was and how likely it was to continue.

- On Tuesday, Mike Axisa of RAB searched for signs of an offensive breakout from Eduardo Nunez, who's been almost invisible with the bat thus far.

- William Juliano of The Captain's Blog pointed out the Yankees' weakness in hitting to the opposite field.  Not surprising considering the guys they signed and the lack of Jeter in the lineup, but something worth keeping an eye on.

- On Wednesday, Jack Moore of FanGraphs investigated the impact that hitting in the new Yankee Stadium is having on Travis Hafner's early-season resurgence.

- Daniel Burch of The Greedy Pinstripes mused on the idea of trading for Brian McCann, who's scheduled to  return from the DL soon.  He'd be an offensive upgrade at catcher, but I wouldn't want to give up much for him.

- Martin Riggs of NoMaas broke down the numbers from Phil Hughes' recent stretch of good starts to see what the causes were and if he can continue this trend of success.

- Greg Corcoran of Bronx Baseball Daily interviewed top prospect Slade Heathcott, and talked to him about a wide variety of topics.  Definite must-read if you're a Heathcott fan.

- On Thursday, Mason Stark of Pinstriped Bible examined the Yankees' April to see just how much luck and skill went into that 16-10 record.

- Hunter Farman of Yanks Go Yard offered up 3 predictions for the month of May.  I have to say, all 3 of them are pretty ballsy predictions.

- William Tasker of IIATMS/TYA looked back at some of Bobby Murcer's best WPA games in history, a fitting topic for Murcer since he's the all-time Yankee leader in 1-game WPA scores over .800.

- El duque of It Is High... confessed his baseball crush on Lyle Overbay, knowing that eventually he will have to say goodbye.  I feel ya, Duke, I feel ya.

- Chad Jennings of LoHud compiled some of Cash's thoughts on various players, both injured and healthy, from yesterday's conference call.

- SG of RLYW showed the team's offensive production by position, and where they rank in the AL, to give an idea of where they're hurting the most.

We're going acoustic for the Friday Jam today, and we're going with another cover.  Nirvana's version of "Plateau" from their "MTV Unplugged" performance is my personal favorite cover of theirs, and it's a good tune to relax to tonight in preparation for tomorrow's rager.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.  Don't be surprised if all you get is a game recap here tomorrow morning.

Lyle Overbay Is Doing A Pretty Good Mark Teixeira Impression

(Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

As was the case with most of the non-Hafner players the Yankees added late in spring camp, the feelings about Lyle Overbay were filled more with trepidation and worry than confidence and hope.  Overbay had been cut by Boston following a light-hitting Spring Training of his own, and he hadn't really hit with any kind of authority since 2009.  He was brought in almost solely because of his defensive skills, skills which he has showed off in his first month in pinstripes.  All defensive metrics rate him positively so far this season, and his .995 fielding percentage at first base has been right on par with what Mark Teixeira would have provided had he been healthy.

What Overbay was not expected to do was replicate Teix's offensive production, and it's what he's managed to do with the bat thus far that's made him another surprisingly smart and positive pick up by the Yanks.  That has a lot to do with the fact that Teix sucks in April, but if we're being honest here I think we can agree that, for at least the month of April, the Yankees really haven't lost much going from Teix to Overbay.

Preston Claiborne, Come On Down...

(Courtesy of the AP)

You're the next contestant on "Unheralded Yankee Minor League Relief Pitcher Breaks Into to The Show."  After Joba Chamberlain was put on the DL yesterday, the buzz was that Mark Montgomery would get the call up to take his place in the bullpen, buzz that only grew when Cash name dropped him among others yesterday afternoon.  One of those others was Preston Claiborne, and based on a round of tweets from teammates this morning it's all but confirmed that Claiborne is going to be the one to get that call.

Claiborne has been a steady fixture in the Yankee system since being drafted in 2010, but comes with none of the hype and fanfare of someone like Montgomery or Joba back in '07.  If you aren't familiar with Claiborne and his body of work, feel free to get brought up to speed after the jump.

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.