Jeter Diagnosis: Quad Strain

After letting us twist in the wind for the majority of the day, Brian Cashman announced a little while ago that the MRI on Derek Jeter's right quad revealed a Grade I strain and that Jeter will remain out of the lineup through the ASB before being re-evaluated.  There are no plans to put Jeter on the DL right now and the team is hopeful that a few extra days' rest will be enough to heal the strain and get Jeter back in the lineup.

All things considered, it's not the worst news in the world.  In that it came in his first game and is a pretty sure sign that he's not 100% physically, it's still bad news.  This is likely what we're going to see for the rest of the year with Jeter after the team scrapped his original rehab plan and rushed him back.  Strains and tweaks and twinges and a lot of extra days off.  I wouldn't be surprised if he did nothing by DH for the rest of the season when he is healthy enough to play.

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 7/12/13

Going to a wedding tomorrow, my one and only wedding of this calendar year.  Already had it confirmed that the ceremony will include a full Catholic mass, which will be agony, and it has not been confirmed if the reception is open bar.  Full disclosure, I'm not planning on ever getting married or having kids, at least not any time in the foreseeable future.  But it just seems to me that if you're going through that whole wedding rigmarole and you don't have an open bar at the reception, you're an asshole.  Yes, that's a huge unfair blanket statement and it does not factor in a litany of legitimate reasons why some couples can't/wouldn't have an open bar.  I still stand by it.  If your wedding reception isn't open bar, your wedding sucks.  It's that simple.  I don't care if Mastodon is the wedding band.  It still sucks.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, Chris Mitchell and Derek Albin of Pinstripe Pundits scored an interview with fringe prospect Rob Segedin, who's out for year with a hip injury.

- On Tuesday, el duque of It Is High... ranted on the lack of consistent offense and lack of real action to improve on the part of the front office.

- SJK of NoMaas perfectly captured Hal Steinbrenner's approach to building and running this year's team in one Photoshop.

- SG of RLYW pointed out the Yankees' losing percentage in games where they give up 2 runs or fewer as more undeniable proof of the offense's shittiness.

- Rob Abruzzese of Bronx Baseball Daily discussed how this season's down year for the farm system could come back to hurt the Yankees in 2014.

- On Wednesday, Michael Eder of IIATMS/TYA mused on the idea of MiL rehab schedules and how the differing approaches to handling them have and could continue to burn the Yankees this season.

- On Thursday, Michael Brown of Pinstriped Bible examined Vernon Wells' recent turnaround and how real it actually is.

- Brian Heyman of LoHud had the details on Travis Hafner's pitching machine snafu and comments from Pronk on his struggles.

- Matt Warden of RAB came through with round 4 of his "Potential 2013 Trade Targets" series.  I suppose it's time for me to start hopping on that train now too, huh?

- On Friday, Alex Belth of Bronx Banter had a perfect visual comparison for the tension in Yankeeland surrounding Derek Jeter's quad situation.  "Watchmen" references will always get you on the Palooza.

- Daniel Burch of The Greedy Pinstripes laid out his plan for the trade deadline.  Some of the moves make sense in theory, but judge for yourself.

This Friday's jam is "The Key To Gramercy Park" by Deadsy.  I remember seeing these guys open for KoRn when I was 16 and thinking they were going to be a big deal, even though the lead singer tried wearing a stage mic similar to the one in the video and it didn't work at all.  A synth rock fronted by the son of Cher and Gregg Allman that sounded like a Double-A version of Orgy not making it?  Who could have seen that coming??  As you can probably guess, 16-year-old me was not a professional music critic.  I still stand by this song and Deadsy's second album though.  Pretty good stuff.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.  It'll probably be a slow one here for most of Saturday and Sunday.

Reassessing The Yankee Bullpen At The Break

(Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

While the lineup tries to keep its head above water and the rotation experiences its peaks and valleys, once again the Yankee bullpen is doing the job in 2013.  Their 3.33 ERA and 3.56 FIP are both top 10 MLB rankings, their K and BB numbers are both top 5, and they rank 4th in strand rate (80.7%) and fWAR (3.4).  It's almost par for the course at this point, and the formula they've followed for years - greatest closer of all time, dominant R/L setup men on the back end, hard-throwing middle relief, quality depth - is playing out perfectly.  While the performance may remain the same, there have been some shifts in role and recent trends that have shuffled the deck a bit in the hierarchy.  As the Yanks come to the ASB and approach the 2 week mark until the trade deadline, have these changes put them in the market for a reliever?

Hafner Might Be Cooked

• .318/.438/.667, 9.9% BB rate, 13.9% K rate
• .179/.286/.299, 13.0% BB rate, 31.2% K rate
• .174/.230/.348, 6.8% BB rate, 25.7% K rate
• .171/.275/.229, 10.0% BB rate, 27.5% K rate

Those are Travis Hafner's monthly splits for this season, starting with April at the top and ending with his present production in the first half of July.  They are not encouraging.  His physical size and reputation are still enough for pitchers to tip toe around him when there are runners on base, but if they throw good stuff close to the plate there's not much Pronk can do with it.  In the season's first month he was worth 1.0 fWAR.  He's registered as a negative WAR player in each of the last 3 and now sits at just a .316 wOBA and -0.1 fWAR for the year.

Pronk was out of the lineup last night after fouling a ball off his foot and if the Yankees want to try to get anything out of him in the next 2 and a half months they might want to consider keeping him out through the ASB.  He has very little speed in his swing and very little pop in his bat when he does make contact.  He was a huge injury risk when the Yankees first signed him.  Now it appears like too much playing time has sapped him of his strengths as a hitter.

Game 92 Wrap-Up: NYY 8 KC 4

(Courtesy of the AP)

The story of the day was obviously Derek Jeter.  All Derek Jeter all the time.  He made his return from the broken ankle that ended his 2012 season earlier this afternoon, batting 2nd as the DH.  After looking like he might fall behind Alex Rodriguez in the race to return, Jeter surprised almost everyone by returning today and he helped spark another good offensive game.  In typical Jeter fashion, he got a hit in his first at-bat (infield single) and it was on from there.  It wasn't powerful and it wasn't pretty, from Jeter or the team, but it was effective and it got them their 50th win of the season.

Game Notes:

- It was really a struggle for Andy Pettitte early.  He gave up 3 runs in the top of the 1st after getting beat on another bunt single and giving up a 2-run double to Salvador Perez.

- The bad bunt defense cost Andy again in the 2nd when he threw the ball away trying to make another play.    He could never really settle into anything in the first 2 innings because of the bunt issues and the Yanks found themselves down.

- Surprisingly, it was only 1 run down as they hung 3 on Ervin Santana in the first 2 innings on Vernon Wells sac fly and an Austin Romine RBI double.  Even a weak Yankee lineup can hit this guy.

- Pettitte did settle down after escaping the 2nd and was actually not bad from there.  He gave up 2 more hits and hit a batter, but his stuff looked much better and he kept runs off the board.

- The Yanks made their move in the bottom of the 5th.  Ichiro singled to lead off and stole second base with Jeter up.  Jeter moved him over and 2 walks loaded the bases for Lyle Overbay.  Santana threw him a 1-0 fastball that Overbay was right on the Yanks had a 5-4 lead.  A few tack-on singles by Zoilo and Eduardo gave them the cushion.

- Monster close out by the bullpen.  Shawn Kelley, David Robertson, and Boone Logan combined for 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing just 2 hits and striking out 5, including the top of the 8th by D-Rob.

That's So Eduardo!

(Courtesy of MLB Memes)

"Next time on 'That's So Eduardo!', Eduardo Nunez gets lost in the infield and accidentally wanders across to the second base side of the bag.  And when he does, he finds out he might have bitten off more than he can chew stepping into mean old Mr. Cano's neighborhood.  Tune in next Wednesday night at 8 for an all new episode of 'That's So Eduardo!"  Only on YES."

Seriously, all this clip needs is the old school 90s laugh track over it and it would be perfect.  Cano's reaction, from the moment he stops and crosses his arms to the little gesture at the infield dirt, is gold.  Gold, Jerry, gold!  No wonder he was so quick to hop on the Jay-Z Sports Management Express.  He's definitely got a career in show biz in his future.

Return Of Super Nova?

(From Ivan The Terrible back to Ivan The Great)

Don't look now, but Ivan Nova has been killing it since returning to the active roster.  While his spot start on June 23rd came with little fanfare and no expectations - understandable given how poorly he'd pitched since the start of last season - Nova has been the best starter in the rotation since then.

29.1 IP, 21 H, 8 ER, 5 BB, 28 K

That's Nova's line in the 4 appearances he's made since coming back and it's damn good.  He's allowing less than 1 baserunner per inning, striking out almost a batter per inning, and if it wasn't for a few HR given up in June he'd have a sparklingly low FIP to go with his neat little 2.45 ERA.  Most importantly, he's made a few more tweaks to his repertoire and approach that are paying huge early dividends.  Mike Eder has been tracking this for a few weeks now, and has pointed out both Nova's transition from slider to curveball for his out pitch and much improved use of his sinker as reasons for his recent success.

Quick Hits: Catching Up On Yankee News

A lot more happened yesterday evening than just the ending of a losing streak.  Being out at a charity fundraiser at a bar last night (drinking for the kids!!), I missed all of it.  If you're like me and need to catch up, here's a hot lap:

- Derek Jeter will be activated from the DL and in the lineup today according to Ken Rosenthal and Joel Sherman (more on that here).  No confirmation from the team or word of the potential roster move to clear a spot.

- David Phelps will be heading to the team's Tampa complex on Monday to start a rehab throwing program. He's on the DL with a forearm strain and had been scuffling before the injury.

- Alex Rodriguez went 1-3 with an RBI single in his latest High-A rehab game yesterday.  He was the starting DH and played 8 innings.

- The Yanks finally signed their last 1st round pick, agreeing to a $1.8 million bonus with OF Aaron Judge.  That's a little less than I expected given how long he held out, but he still comes in slightly over slot.

Game 91 Wrap-Up: NYY 8 KC 1

(Courtesy of the AP)

As JeterWatch 2013 heated up yesterday, the healthy Yankee players took the field attempting to break another embarrassing losing streak.  3 runs in 3 games is pathetic at every level of baseball, so to shake things up and try to get the offense going again Joe went with ... the exact same lineup as Tuesday night.  Hey, whatever.  He's the guy getting paid to make those calls.  Ivan Nova was back on the hill after his stellar complete game against Baltimore and he turned in another beauty.  Even better, Joe's lack of moves worked and he actually got some run support.

Game Notes:

- The lineup got its usual weak 1 run in the bottom of the first on a walk, a single, a groundout, and a wild pitch.  It was clear Wade Davis didn't have his A-game; what wasn't clear was if the Yankees could finally take advantage of that.

- Robinson Cano didn't wait long to answer that question in the bottom of the 3rd, crushing a 3-run HR to dead center field to put the Yanks up 4-0.  Davis left a 1-1 curveball up and it looked like Cano was looking offspeed all the way.

- Nova allowed a pair of 2-out singles in the 1st, then promptly retired 12 in a row into the 5th.  He was working his fastball again as his primary out pitch and located his 2-seamer well to get GB outs.

- It was surprising to see Davis left in after loading the bases to start the 6th, but he was allowed to pitch to Lyle Overbay and that was the nail in his coffin.  Overbay muscled a fastball over the fence in left field for a grand slam and a comfortable 8-0 lead.

- Nova escaped a bases loaded situation in the 5th and made the lead stand up strong through his innings.  He gave up a meaningless run in the 8th on a 2-out walk and double by Eric Hosmer.

- Joba came in to finish it up in the 9th and handle the only situation he appears capable of these days- blowouts.  That should build some trade value.  After scoring 3 in 3 games, the Yanks got at least that in 2 innings last night for a much-needed victory.

And So It Begins

AL exec: “Yanks aggressively pushing Joba, Hughes. Joba could happen soon to NL team.” Source says #Yankees talking on both, nothing close.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 10, 2013

#yankees r dangling phil hughes in hopes of acquiring a hitter. rival exec predicts they'll succeed. http://t.co/VRZIh5VzKE
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) July 10, 2013

In 2007-2008, the Yankees had a collection of 3 of the hottest pitching prospects in baseball, the future core of the rotation that would help usher in the next great Yankee dynasty.  By the end of this month, all 3 of those pitchers could be in other uniforms.  Not exactly what Cash had in mind when he had this big 3 together back then.

When the rotation starts to trend downward in the next year or 2, this will end up being one of, if not the biggest reason why.

The Yankees Are Rushing Jeter Back, Aren't They?

(Courtesy of Corey Sipkin/NY Daily News)

Mike Axisa touched on this yesterday at RAB, then Joe spoke to the media again about it before last night's game, and everything seems like it's coming together in the worst way possible.  Based on the changes that have already been made to his proposed rehab playing schedule, the aggressive initial approach to getting him back in game action and the heavy hints being dropped by Joe, all signs point to the Yankees trying to bring Derek Jeter back from the DL before the All Star break, possibly as early as Friday.

Game 90 Wrap-Up: KC 3 NYY 1

(Cue the sad Charlie Brown music.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

The losing streak is official.  And in the frustrating fashion that has become this team's defining characteristic in the last month.  Just an absolute, total, and complete no-show from the offense.  They had their customary 1 inning of hits, that led to the customary 1 run, and then disappeared for the rest of the night.  The good vibes from the Minnesota sweep are gone now that the boys have gone 3 straight games putting up just 1 run, and once again we're left to wonder how this team is going to hang around in the playoff race.  It has to be a crummy feeling going out to start a game for the Yankees these days.  You just know you aren't going to get run support and you basically have to throw a shutout to give them a fighting chance.  CC Sabathia didn't do that last night and he ended up the tough luck loser.

Game Notes:

- As I mentioned, there was the typical inning of consecutive hits that only leads to 1 run and it was in the bottom of the 1st.  3 straight singles scored Brett Gardner for the 1st run and things looked like they were off and running.

- And then Robbie Thomson got involved.  On Zoilo Almonte's 1-out groundball single to right he elected to hold up Ichiro rounding third.  Ichiro.  The guy whose entire game is built on speed.  Maybe the throw would have beaten him, but you have to take the chance for another run there if your Thomson.  No run scored, the inning stalled, and that was that for the Yankee scoring.

- CC looked really good through 5.  He had 4 1-2-3 innings, 4 strikeouts, and had his sinker and changeup working to generate a lot of groundball outs.  He was lined up to go the distance early.

- And then he started to tire a bit.  He gave up leadoff home runs in the 6th and 7th innings to give KC the lead.  Just a couple fastballs that missed and didn't get away with it because they were only going 90-91 MPH.

- The offense had 4 hits in the 1st inning.  They had 2 for the rest of the game.  I feel like Harry Doyle reading that.  "That's all we got, TWO goddamn hits?!?"  Sad but true.

Prospect Stock Up And Stock Down: July 2013

(Not a fun year so far for Mr. Williams.  USATSI)

It's been a while since I've done of these.  I said I was going to do a monthly MiL wrap-up this season back in May and then it didn't happen.  That one's on me, guys.  But I can't get too jazzed up talking about potential trade partners and targets just yet, so let's use this afternoon to catch up on who's been hot and who's been not in the last 2 months in the Minors.  It's going to be a rapid-fire round to make up for lost time.

Any Concern About D-Rob's Workload?

(Should the Yanks be worried about making it rain on The Fireman?)

With the Yankees standing to lose a few of their recent top homegrown players to free agency this offseason, Andrew Mearns of Pinstriped Bible looked ahead to the future free agency of 2 more players who fit that mold yesterday.  Both David Robertson and Brett Gardner are due to become free agents after the 2014 season and Mearns brought up the idea of re-signing them to team-friendly deals before they hit the open market, questioning how risky a move it would be on the Yankees' part to do so.

Gardner is a risk for obvious reasons, but D-Rob has never struck me as much of one.  He's still just 28 and will be at the start of next season.  He's never had much of a problem with arm injuries.  And he's been as reliable a reliever in front of Mo as there's been in the setup pool in baseball for the last few seasons.  But what about his workload? D-Rob was unavailable last night after pitching in 5 of the last 7 days, and he's on pace to reach new career highs in appearances and innings pitched.  Is there anything in D-Rob's seasonal workload totals to be concerned about moving forward?

Game 89 Wrap-Up: KC 5 NYY 1

(Courtesy of the AP)

It was strange to think that the Yankee lineup would be worse with the newly acquired Travis Ishikawa included, but that was the case heading into last night's game.  With Joe deciding to give a handful of guys the night off, the lineup took on another strange, pathetic appearance with Zoilo Almonte batting 2nd, Vernon Wells 5th against a righty, and a 7-9 of Cruz, Gonzalez, and Romine.  There wasn't a lot of support on paper for Phil Hughes, and there wasn't much for him on the field for the short amount of time he spent on it.

Game Notes:

-Not a good 2nd inning for Hughes.  He grooved a fastball to Billy Butler for a solo HR to lead off the inning and served up 2 doubles to score another.  3 XBH in 1 inning is never a good thing.

- It ended up being a short night for him thanks to the weather.  An hour plus rain delay was too long to bring Phil back and Joe went to Adam Warren in the 5th.  Tough break too.  Phil looked like he was starting to find it in the 3rd and 4th.

- It wouldn't have helped him because the lineup did nothing at all.  Like just 3 singles from Vernon Wells and Robinson Cano through 6 innings type of nothing.  Jeremy Guthrie, and the hour plus he waited before returning to the mound in the bottom of the 4th, shut them the hell out.

- It was a tough night for Travis Ishikawa, who went 0-2 for 2 strikeouts in his first 2 Yankee plate appearances and then had to watch Lyle Overbay hit a pinch hit HR in his place in the 7th.  But hey, it got the Yanks on the board.

- They couldn't capitalize on another good scoring chance in the 8th, and then the game got out of hand for Preston Claiborne as the sacrificial bullpen lamb in the 9th.  The Yankees' bottom half rally was perfectly representative of their offensive strength all night: bases loaded, no outs, no runs.

Joe Brings The Old Sac Bunt Out Of His Bag Of Tricks

(Smart play or wasted opportunity?  Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

There's perhaps no play in baseball that further divides old school fans and analysts from the more sabermetrically-inclined new school crew than the sacrifice bunt.  What one calls a gritty, smart "baseball play," the other calls pointless and a waste of a perfectly good out.  Personally, I've always been on the new school side.  I just don't like the idea of giving up outs and killing chances for a potentially bigger inning by sacrificing one.  I can, however, see the value in a sac bunt in certain situations or at certain times in certain games, and that's why I'm not sure how I feel about Joe bringing it back this weekend.  Joe has used the sac bunt a time or 2 in the past, usually in situations that left more people scratching their heads than clapping their hands.  Against the Orioles, he damn near featured it as the focal part of the Yankee offense.

Yanks Bench Could Still Use Some Work

The Yankees addressed a serious need yesterday by claiming Travis Ishikawa off waivers from the Orioles.  Ishikawa should immediately assume the role as designated lefty bench bat, a role the Yankees haven't been able to fill for the past few weeks and one that they could have put to great use at least a handful of times last week.  They were back up to 4 available bench players again after Eduardo Nunez took David Phelps' spot on the active roster this weekend, but all 4 of those players were right-handed and severely below-average hitters.  The anticipated replacement of David Adams with Ishikawa does bring a little balance back to the bench lineup.  It's not the final move the Yanks should make if they're looking to add even more bench flexibility.

MiL Rehab Roundup: 7/8/13

(Dude looks good in every uni.  Courtesy of the AP)

Another day, another pair of Minor League rehab outings for Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez yesterday.

Jeter- Went 1-2 with a groundball single, 2 BB, and 1 strikeout playing the full game at DH.  The plan was originally for a rest day today, but Donnie Collins reported yesterday afternoon that Jeter will start at shortstop again tonight.

A-Rod- Went 0-3 in 8 innings as the DH for High-A Tampa.  No official word from the team on where and when he'll play again.  Given how long he's been out and the slow approach being taken with him so far, there's little reason to expect anything other than him continuing to play for Tampa for now.

In case you missed it, Michael Pineda was officially activated from the 60-day DL yesterday and assigned to Triple-A where he's scheduled to start again on Thursday.  He should be down there for a couple weeks to fully stretch out his pitch count and to "buy back" the year of free agency that was lost last season.

Yanks Add Ishikawa To The Bench Mix

He's not the right-handed platoon bat the Yankees could use for Lyle Overbay at first base, but Travis Ishikawa can and will be the lefty bench bat this team definitely needs right now after the Yankees claimed him off waivers from Baltimore yesterday.

Ishikawa had just 2 singles and 8 strikeouts in 18 PA for the O's this season, making him a very expendable piece for them.  His .316/.413/.525 line he was putting up in 208 Triple-A PA and career .260/.324/.399 Major League batting line are more telling about what he's capable of bringing to the Yankee bench.  Ishikawa is a useful left-handed hitter with just enough power and just enough patience to make him dangerous playing with a short porch in right.  He's also a plus defender at first base, so he can be used to rest Lyle Overbay without losing much defensively.  His primary duty will be as a left-handed pinch hitter - a role the Yankees really needed to fill with their surplus of light-hitting righty left infield bats - and his career .739 OPS and .322 wOBA against RHP makes him viable in that role.

Ishikawa is another in the long line of small, marginal upgrades the Yanks have tried to make to this roster as the season has gone on.  He likely won't be a world beater, but he will be a better late-game hitting option than Stewart or Cruz or Gonzalez if the Yankees need a run.  I'd expect David Adams to be sent down to clear a spot for Ishikawa and I expect that move will happen later today.

Game 88 Wrap-Up: BAL 2 NYY 1

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

The shoe was on the completely different foot from where it was 1 Sunday ago for the Yankees this afternoon.  They were in position to sweep the Baltimore Orioles out of town and put a little bit of distance between them in the AL Wild Card race, as well as keep their new season-high 6-game winning streak going.  They had a returning Hiroki Kuroda on the mound after he missed a few days due to a hip flexor strain.  He came through his last bullpen without issue and the call was made to put him right back to work.  How did he fare on a hot day against Baltimore's Jason Hammel?  Not too shabby actually.

Game Notes:

- Although they didn't have much to show for it (Eduardo Nunez sac fly), the Yanks definitely made Hammel work.  They fouled off a ton of pitches and made him throw 53 pitches just to get through the first 2 innings.

- Kuroda didn't look bothered by the hip and got off to an excellent start.  He located well down in the zone, was constantly working from ahead in the count, and got around a couple of doubles with no issue to keep the O's scoreless through 4.

- Hammel was out after 5 innings, but with the Yanks only pushing the 1 run across they still needed to tack on against the bullpen.  They didn't do it over the next 3 innings and it came back to bite them later.

- Kuroda, working much more efficiently than Hammel, stayed strong and scoreless through 7.  As he usually does when he's feeling good, he started working his splitter more the second and third time through the order.

- He didn't appear tired after the 7th, but Joe played it safe with Kuroda at 88 pitches and decided to go to his overworked bullpen horses again.  D-Rob did the job in the 8th, but Mo didn't have a lot of movement on his cutter in the 9th.  After just missing giving up a HR to Nick Markakis, he did to Adam Jones on a ball down the middle to make it 2-1 Baltimore.

Cano & Rivera The Unsurprising (And Only Deserving) Yankee All Star Selections

The All Star Game rosters were announced last night and the 2 Yankee representatives were Robinson Cano and Mariano Rivera.  2 reps is a low number for the Yankees, but in this season of offensive decline in their everyday lineup it was the right call.

MiL Rehab Roundup

There are now a trio of notable MiL rehab assignments taking place in Yankeeland with Derek Jeter starting his last night for Triple-A SWB.  All 3 guys were in action yesterday at their respective levels.  Here's how they did:

Jeter- Went 0-2 with a groundout and lineout and played 5 innings at shortstop, getting just one chance to field a groundball and doing it successfully.  He'll DH in today's game and then be re-evaluated Monday to determine next steps.

Michael Pineda- Started the game for Triple-A SWB last night and had a much better performance than his previous outing.  Pineda pitched 5 innings and allowed 2 ER on 4 H and 2 BB while striking out 7.  He threw  78 pitches in the outing.  His 30-day rehab window expires tomorrow and with his pitch count that low I expect he'll be assigned to Triple-A for another few weeks to fully stretch out.

Alex Rodriguez- A-Rod went 1-2 w/ an HBP and a R scored for High-A Tampa last night and fielded all balls hit to him cleanly in 6 innings at third base.  No report on what the plan is for him today, but he needs ABs so maybe a DH day.

Game 87 Wrap-Up: NYY 5 BAL 4

(Welcome back, Eddie.  Courtesy of the AP)

It was a day of shortstop returns today.  Derek Jeter was returning to game action in his first MiL rehab game in Triple-A, and Eduardo Nunez made his return from the Major League DL when he started at shortstop and batted 8th today.  He was back in support of Andy Pettitte, who was looking to keep the team's 5-game winning streak going and looking to add some consistency to his performance now that the rotation lost another arm in David Phelps earlier today.  If he could get it, Joe would have also liked some length from Andy and a healthy cushion late to rest some of his key relievers.  Neither of those things happened, but the Yanks still came out on the winning side.

Game Notes:

- Tough start for Andy.  He gave up a 2-run HR to Chris Davis with 2 outs in the top of the 1st and then another on an Alex Casilla RBI double in the 2nd.  The fastball command wasn't there and Baltimore made him pay.

- The Yanks stayed in it thanks to 2 runs of their own in the 2nd.  Travis Hafner walked to lead the inning off and a string of singles and a sac fly made it a 3-2 game.

- The hit parade continued against Chris Tillman in the bottom of the 5th.  Another possibly ill-timed sac bunt (by Brett Gardner) was sandwiched between 4 singles to tie the game back up at 4.  But the rally stalled when Hafner went down looking and Zoilo Almonte grounded out.

- The Yanks had the chance to come back and tie the game, and then take the lead in the 6th on an Eduardo Nunez RBI single, because of how well Andy settled down after the 4th.  He gave up just 2 hits and no more runs into the 7th, and got a couple of big strikeouts of Davis and Markakis.

- Nunez's single was made possible by some effective smallball ahead of him.  Lyle Overbay singled and moved to second on a sac bunt by Luis Cruz.  I think they've been using the sac bunt way too much lately, but this time it worked.

- Tremendous job by the overworked bullpen to hold the lead and save the game. Shawn Kelly, David Robertson, and Mo combined for 2.1 IP of shutout ball with just 2 cheap hits and 4 strikeouts.

Remember To Take It Slow With Jeter

I've said this before.  I'm going to say it again now that Derek Jeter is returning to game action tonight for Triple-A SWB.  Don't get too excited about 1 game.  This needs to be a slow process in getting him all the way back and the Yankees have already been here before.  About 4 months ago, the Yankees and Jeter were in this same situation and all it took was 5 games - just the last 2 consecutively and only a few in the field - for Jeter to be shut down and eventually diagnosed with the re-break in his ankle.  That setback cost him 3 months of the season already and probably 4 when he finally is able to come back, and the Yankees can't afford to make that same mistake twice.

We know how the shortstop position has been one rotating cast of suck this season, and we know there wasn't any stability added to it by today's return of Eduardo Nunez because of another injury bug bite to Jayson Nix.  He's been placed on the DL with a Grade-2 hamstring strain, an injury that usually leaves guys out for at least a month.  But that can't be motivation enough to try to push Jeter back when that method has already failed once.

The Yankees need Derek Jeter back.  No question about that.  They also need a healthy Derek Jeter back, and the best way to ensure that is to take it slow with his MiL rehab and not over-do it trying to get him on the field ASAP.  It's great that he's back on a baseball field playing for real.  It'll be greater if he can stay on the field this time.

Give 'Em The Hook

That's just what Ivan Nova did to the Orioles last night.  He had his curveball working and he leaned on it big time on his way to a complete game victory that was arguably the best start of his career.  He threw 33 curveballs out of his 102 pitches, 15 of which were swung at and 9 that were swung at and missed.  As you can see above, Nova could locate it wherever he wanted.  He threw it down and away to righties to get them to chase and he threw it low and away and way down and way in to lefties, a sign that Nova was really feeling the command of the pitch last night.

Great fastball command (75.6% 4-seamer strikes) and a knockout swing-and-miss curveball.  Not a bad combo to have to shut down any lineup.  Nova had it last night and he might have forced his way back into the rotation discussion in the process.

(Pitch plots courtesy of Texas Leaguers)