Do People Really Still Think Eduardo Nunez Is A Thing?

('Cause I bet Robbie doesn't anymore)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

When the Yankees traded for Brendan Ryan earlier this week, the reaction was decidedly positive and it should have been.  Ryan gave the Yankees what they most lacked at the shortstop position and his weak offensive makeup was more easily covered by the rejuvenated middle of the order than it would have been months back.  But I still saw some people who thought Eduardo Nunez should still be the starter, as always citing his tools and "good hitting" as reasons to keep him as the primary shortstop while Jeter was out.  I don't want to make a big thing of this, so to those people I just to have to ask, what Eduardo Nunez are you watching?

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 9/13/13

Big series this weekend. HYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGE series.  Don't need any lead in other than that.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, el duque of It Is High... pointed out something else Dellin Betances was left out of besides the bullpen pecking order.

- On Tuesday, SJK of NoMaas turned everyone's attention back to the numbers to show how terrible an all-around baseball player Eduardo Nunez is and has been this and every season.  You know, in case you were still bummed that he lost his job to Brendan Ryan.

- Greg Corcoran of Bronx Baseball Daily released his end-of-season Top 50 Prospects list.  Props to Greg for going through the effort of ranking 50.  I have a hard enough time doing 30.

- On Wednesday, Hunter Farman of Yanks Go Yard campaigned for the Yankees to get active in the Japanese FA agent market again now that their rotation is looking light for 2014 and Masahiro Tanaka appears to be heading stateside.

- Andrew Mearns of Pinstriped Bible analyzed the Overbay/Reynolds first base platoon and how well that's worked out since the acquisition of Reynolds.

- Matt Warden of RAB broke down the Yankees' pursuit of Japanese FA to be Masahiro Tanaka and how he would fit into next year's plans.

- On Thursday, Daniel Burch of The Greedy Pinstripes looked ahead to 2014 and the free agents available to fill the gap expected to be left open at third base.

- Chad Jennings of LoHud had the video and highlights of Derek Jeter's press conference announcing his season-ending DL stint.

- Jason Rosenberg of IIATMS/TYA used a recent Jayson Stark article to show how the thinking is still ass backwards when it comes to PEDs and DUIs in baseball.

- On Friday, Tom Ley of Deadspin chimed in with another dose of proper perspective on the A-Rod situation.  Anybody still trying to argue that they don't want him on the field is an idiot.

Going back to another standby for this week's jam, "Street Carp" by Deftones.  Haven't had them in the mix since the new album last fall.  Today feels like a good day to dust off something from their peak years.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.  Be on the lookout for a live blog this Sunday.  I think Yanks-Sawx is the ESPN Sunday night game.

Gut Check Time For Sabathia & Nova This Weekend

(Can't have this again, Ivan.  Courtesy of the AP)

The Yankees have fought their way back to 4-4 on this 11-game meat grinder and they're heading back to Boston this weekend to finish it up.  They took a pretty bad beating in the 4 games at The Stadium last weekend, and need much better starting pitching to make this weekend's results different.  Hiroki Kuroda gets the ball tonight and he was pretty good last Sunday against the Red Sox.  The bigger concerns are with the two guys following him, CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova.

Gardner Out With A Strained Oblique

While the game was recorded as a win in the standings, the Yankees suffered yet ANOTHER big injury loss last night.  Brett Gardner left after his at-bat in the top of the 1st inning and was diagnosed by team doctors with a strained left oblique.  He apparently did it on a check swing during the at-bat and he is traveling back to New York today to get an MRI.  Regardless of the results, chances are good that Gardner's 2013 season is over.

Gardner has been the second most important position player after Robinson Cano this season.  His absence leaves a huge hole at the top of the lineup and weakens the outfield defensively.  The Yankees are ill-equipped to replace him in the leadoff spot, the most likely candidates being Ichiro (hell no) and Curtis Granderson (yes, please), and the replacement of Gardner in center field likely means more playing time for Vernon Wells (sweet Jesus, no) or Zoilo Almonote (meh) when the pitching matchups are favorable.

He wasn't as hot this week as he was the week before, but Gardner is still head and shoulders better than those other guys and there's no way to overstate how big of a hit the team will take on both sides of the ball without him.  Maybe he gets lucky and today's MRI shows that it's not too and he can return in a few days.  The history and nature of oblique strains makes that very unlikely though, and now the Yankees have one more obstacle to overcome in a season filled to the brim with them.

Game 147 Wrap-Up: NYY 6 BAL 5

(Brendan Ryan, rally starter.  Courtesy of the AP)

I don't know how they keep doing it, but they keep doing it.  With 2 crummy starters pitching 3 innings each, a blown lead in the 8th by one of the most reliable relievers in the business, and a 9th inning rally created by the worst hitter in the lineup, the Yankees took their third straight from the rival Orioles to stay just 1 game back in the race for the second Wild Card spot.

Game Notes:

- The Yankees couldn't make anything out of 2 2-out hits in the 1st inning, so they decided to follow up with 2 hits to start the 2nd.  The second one of those was a Mark Reynolds HR and Phil Hughes had a 2-0 lead with which to work.

- That lead doubled in the top of the 3rd when they decided to slow play Wei-Yin Chen.  A pair of walks sandwiched around an Alfonso Soriano double loaded the bases with nobody out, and a Vernon Wells single brought 2 home to make it 4-0.

- Hughes actually did a decent job holding that lead through 3 innings.  He worked around a few hits, gave up a run in the bottom of the 3rd, and ended that inning by striking out Chris Davis.  That wasn't enough to stop Joe from yanking him after a leadoff error in the 4th to play matchups with David Huff.  That's not a short leash, that's a gimp suit.

- And when it works out the way it did, Joe looks like a genius.  Huff finished the 4th without further hazard and tossed in 2 more 1-run innings to boot.  Joe split the start up between his 2 half-starters and got 6 innings of 2-run ball.  That'll work.

- Curtis Granderson tacked on an insurance homer in the 7th and it was a good thing too because the bullpen broke down.  Huff's run came on a homer to Nick Markakis (can't happen), and David Robertson gave up 2 singles and a 3-run dagger to Danny Valencia in the 8th (definitely can't happen) to tie the game heading into the final inning.

- Despite the strange decision to sac bunt with C-Grand, the Yankees got the go-ahead run from an improbable Brendan Ryan leadoff hit thanks to another fortunate wild pitch in the top half of the 9th.  Mo went 1-2-3 in the bottom and the Yankees had a HYOOOOOOGE win.

Joe Goes Back To The Hughes Well For Tonight's Start

(Hope Joe's ready to make this walk again.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

Guess that bullpen demotion was just a temporary thing.  After only 1 missed start in the rotation - against the Red Sox this past Saturday - and a pair of meaningless relief appearances, Phil Hughes will re-replace David Huff in the rotation and make the start in tonight's series finale against the O's.

Joe' motivation for making the swap again is questionable at best.  This is the same Phil Hughes who was deemed no longer worthy of his rotation spot after a crappy appearance against the slap-hitting Toronto lineup and the same Phil Hughes who has given up 7 ER on 14 hits (5 of them home runs) in 9 total IP over 2 starts against Baltimore this season.  His weaknesses as a pitcher are what the Baltimore lineup thrives against and if he wasn't getting the job done against inferior competition why would be worthy of essentially getting a promotion against better competition?

What About Andy?

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

We know Mariano Rivera is retiring after this season.  We assume Derek Jeter is not after the announcement yesterday that his season is over, even if it might be the best idea.  But what about the third remaining active member of the Core Four?  What about Andy Pettitte?  What's his deal?  The 41-year-old lefty pitched another solid game last night, good enough to win against a stout opposing lineup.  It was the latest in what's been an underappreciated good month of starts from Andy, something this rotation desperately needed with its struggles at the top.  This late season rebound from Pettitte makes the question of whether he will retire for good after this season a little more difficult to answer than it may have been a few months ago.

Yankees Moving To WFAN In 2014

The first news of a potential deal came out on Tuesday and yesterday it was made official.  Starting next year, the Yankees radio broadcasts will move from 880 AM to the Fan, WFAN-AM 660 and WFAN-FM 101.9.  The Yankees and CBS Radio announced a 10-year deal worth anywhere from $15-20 million.

The deal makes sense for both sides.  The Yankees get the benefit of using the greater signal strength of WFAN to broadcast games to a wider audience at a higher quality.  WFAN gets the benefit of having the top baseball team in town on their station, the top sports talk radio station in town.  The Yankees were already affiliated with CBS radio and have been for some time.  It's only right that the 2 number 1s in their field team up.

As for what it means for everybody's favorite broadcast duo, that's not quite so clear.  While early indications are that John Sterling will absolutely be back as the play-by-play guy, Suzyn Waldman isn't a slam dunk to join him.  She's the obvious leader in the clubhouse based on her history with the team and current position, but C.J. Nitkowski got good reviews subbing for her last week and there are a couple guys in the YES stable who would be great as radio color commentators.  All those details will be worked out as things transition from 2013 to 2014.

Heel A-Rod Strikes Again

He didn't hit the loudest or most important home run last night, but Alex Rodriguez did club another one to the opposite field off righty pitcher Scott Feldman in the top of the 6th.  And as he's done before since returning, he celebrated it in style.

After ARod touched home, he turned to 2 guys behind home plate who were heckling him as well & did the "zip your lips" pose and blew a kiss.
— Kris Jones (@RavenManiac) September 12, 2013

Goddamn do I love Heel A-Rod.  Such a great character.  If his hips hold up, he should definitely consider a run in pro wrestling after he retires/gets suspended/whatever.  And while he's still playing he should seriously consider changing to this for his AB music.

Game 146 Wrap-Up: NYY 5 BAL 4

(Ka-ching!  Courtesy of the AP)

Even though it wasn't the least surprising, the announcement that Derek Jeter was out for the rest of the season was a bummer.  His up-and-down season with injuries was really a microcosm for how the team's season has played out- fighting so hard to reach an unattainable goal and suffering heartbreaking setbacks just when it seems like things are getting back to normal.  I know I didn't have the pep in my step for the rest of the night after I heard the news, so another win with the still-gettin'-it-done Andy Pettitte on the mound would have been a good way to get it back.

Game Notes:

- The Yankees had the fun advantage of leading after 2 innings despite not having a hit.  Brett Gardner walked to lead off the game, stole second, and scored on 2 sacrifice hits to make it 1-0, and Scott Feldman held the lineup at bay through the 4th.

- Andy was up to the task of matching him through almost 3 innings, albeit while allowing a few hits.  He got in trouble with 2 outs after giving up 2 straight singles, and a Chris Davis double to right made it 2-1 Baltimore.  A few more doubles the next inning stretched the lead.

- The Yankees didn't hit much early but when they started to, watch out.  Curtis Granderson led off the top of the 5th with a HR to make it 3-2.  Alex Rodriguez hit one with 2 outs in the 6th to tie things up.

- Pettitte settled down to work through the next few innings cleanly, and left with 1 out and a runner on in the 7th.  Shawn Kelley handled that, a returning Dave Robertson worked around 2 hits in the 8th, and we went to the 9th still tied.

- That didn't last long.  Robinson Cano hit the second pitch he saw from Tommy Hunter, a hanging change, for a solo shot to lead off the top of the 9th and the Yankees had the lead.  Lyle Overbay's insurance single later in the inning proved to be big.

- And that's because once again Mo was shaky in the 9th.  Joe's ridden him hard lately, so it's forgivable, but a pair of 2 out hits to plate a run and pull Baltimore within 1 made things a little uncomfortable.

Jeter Done For The Year

The Yankees held a press conference for Cash and Derek Jeter to address the media about an hour ago, and it didn't take a genius to see what was coming when it was announced.  At the press conference, it was confirmed that the team will put Jeter on the 15-day DL and Cash said there are no plans to activate him when he's available to come off.  Jeter's 2013 season is over.

This is hardly surprising considering the latest leg injury being to the surgically repaired ankle and that the Yankees made a move to trade for Brendan Ryan last night.  This last setback was the last straw and in what is surely an attempt to get him started on rehabbing and conditioning for 2014, the call was made to shut Jeter down.  Cash and Jeter both referred to The Captain coming back next season, with Cash stating that "no one" has seen Jeter's last game.  He only played 17 in 2013.  Now we're left to wonder what 2014 will be like.

The Incredible Righty-Mashing A-Rod

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

After he left last night's game in the bottom of the 8th inning, the story was Alex Rodriguez's hamstring and how much, if at all, it would prevent him from playing in the next game.  He's been one of the most consistent and productive bats in the Yankee lineup since coming back last month, and that was once again the story before the bottom of the 8th.  A-Rod went 2-4 last night with a pair of doubles, 1 R scored, and 1 RBI. He started the Yankee scoring in the top of the 3rd and the big rally to take the lead in the 8th, and he looked pretty damn good doing it.  For the season his batting line is up to .301/.388/.496 with a 10.9% BB Rate in 129 plate appearances, good for a .387 wOBA and 144 wRC+.  Even more shocking is the fact that it's a dramatic turnaround against right-handed pitching and a serious reverse platoon split that's fueling those numbers.

Why Randy Levine Should Never Talk

Via ESPN NY:

"Robinson Cano is a great player. We will sit down and talk to him.  Hopefully he's a Yankee. Nobody is a re-sign at all costs, but we want him back and we feel good about negotiating something with him. But nobody is a re-sign at any cost."

"Yeah, nobody.  Except for A-Rod in '07, Jeter when his last contract came up, Rafael Soriano, CC when we gave him an extension.  After all those guys, nobody is a re-sign at any cost.  Hell, look at Russell Martin.  Sometimes players aren't even a re-sign at a reasonable cost.  We've got luxury tax money to save and Ichiro t-shirts to sell here, people."

Yanks Cover Their Shortstop Bases By Acquiring Brendan Ryan

(Courtesy of the AP)

In a move that doesn't speak positively to Derek Jeter's physical status or Eduardo Nunez's general status as a quality Major League shortstop, the Yankees traded a PTBNL to Seattle for utility infielder Brendan Ryan last night.  Jeter has been in a "holding pattern" since leaving Saturday's game with pain in his surgically-repaired ankle and Nunez still can't figure out how to be an even remotely serviceable backup shortstop defensively, so once again the Yankees found themselves without a replacement option for The Captain.  The decision was made to find a defensive upgrade over Nunez and that's exactly what they're getting in Ryan.

Never Forget

12 years ago today our nation was rocked by the worst attack against it in history.  Work, social life, baseball rooting allegiances, and everything else took a back seat as we watched our friends, family members, and fellow Americans suffer as a result of the senseless hatred of others.  I don't need to go into the details of my personal connection to the 9/11 tragedy anymore.  Those who've been AB4AR readers for years know the story, and those who are new can find it here.  But I'd be remiss if I didn't write something today to commemorate the tragic events of that day and honor those who were lost.

They say time heals all wounds and there's been a lot of time to heal from the events of that day 12 years ago.  But some wounds never heal, some losses can never be forgotten, and many lives will never be the same.  The pain from that day still lingers, and it's remembering the heroes and the sacrifice of so many on that day that helps the healing continue and reminds us all what it means to be an American and live in this country.  There's plenty that people find wrong with this country these days and sometimes it's easy to forget about all that it gets right.  Use today to remember that.  Tell someone you love them, hug somebody you haven't hugged in a while, find a fire fighter or police officer and shake his or her hand, be thankful for all the freedoms you have as a citizen of the United States.  And never forget all those we lost.

Injury News Round-Up: 9/11/13

Another day, another fresh batch of injuries to sift through.  Here's the latest...

New Injuries:

- Ivan Nova- Left after 6 IP and 79 pitches due to tightness in his right triceps.  Didn't sound like he or Joe were concerned about him missing his next start, although this has been a lingering problem for him all year.

- Alex Rodriguez- Was taken out after the top of the 8th when he felt his left hamstring tighten up on him running the bases.  A-Rod himself said he expected to at least be able to DH today.  We'll see.

- Austin Romine- Left in the bottom of the 8th after taking a foul ball off the mask.  Joe said Romine "probably" had a concussion and he was going to get checked out at a local hospital after the game.  If he does have one, it could mean the end of his season.  Gotta be careful with head injuries these days.

Old Injuries:

- David Robertson- Threw a 10-pitch bullpen yesterday and felt no problems.  Assuming he doesn't feel anything when he wakes up today he should be back in the 'pen and available tonight.

- Boone Logan- Had an MRI on his left elbow and the results were sent to Dr. James Andrews for further evaluation.  That's never a good sign.

- Derek Jeter- No real update on his status other than the team saying he's in a "holding pattern." He hasn't done any baseball activities since leaving on Satuday, and last night's acquisition of Brendan Ryan doesn't make it sound like he's coming back anytime soon.

Game 145 Wrap-Up: NYY 7 BAL 5

(Courtesy of the AP)

It's almost getting comical at this point.  The Yankees and injuries.  They started last night's game by making another roster move to add an arm to their ailing bullpen.  They ended last night's game by making a trade for a defensive shortstop who won't even be eligible for the postseason if they make it because Eduardo Nunez is so terrible moonlighting as a starting shortstop.  And in between they lost 3 more players to injury, 2 that appear to be less serious (A-Rod and Ivan Nova) and 1 maybe not so lucky (Austin Romine).  There will be more roster moves coming today, and oh yeah, they scored another huge comeback win to keep those playoff hopes alive against Miguel Gonzalez and the O's.

Game Notes:

- Alex Rodriguez has been surprisingly good against right-handed pitching this season, and that continued in the top of the 3rd when he smoked a 2-out double to right center to score Chris Stewart and give the Yankees a 1-0 lead.

- This start for Nova was frighteningly similar to the last time he pitched against the Orioles.  He gave up a pair of singles through 3 scoreless innings and needed just 31 pitches to get it done.  He was cruising.

- The Orioles set themselves up with 2 groundball singles in the bottom of the 5th and got a gift when Eduardo Nunez's eternal shittiness struck again.  He bounced a throw to first for an error that allowed a run to score and put runners on second and third with nobody out.

- A questionable cutoff decision by A-Rod on a Nick Markakis sac fly a batter later gave Baltimore the lead, but it was Chris Davis who did the big damage with 2 outs.  Nova hung a first-pitch curveball and Davis crushed it to center for a 2-run home run and a 4-1 Orioles advantage.

- Alfonso Soriano and Mark Reynolds hit solo HRs in the top of the 6th to get the Yankees back in it, but they really opened things up in the 8th against the Baltimore bullpen.  A-Rod led off with another double, scored on Robinson Cano's single, and then Soriano came up again and hit a 2-run homer.  A pair of doubles from Reynolds and C-Grand made it 7-4 Yankees.

- Joe pulled Nova after just 79 pitches and 6 innings - due to tightness in Nova's triceps - and went to work again with his short bullpen.  Adam Warren gave him a solid inning, Shawn Kelley a not so much 0.2 and it was time for another multi-inning Mo save attempt.  He got it done and the Yanks got a big win.

2014 Schedule Released

Major League Baseball released the 2014 schedules for all teams today, without game times of course.  There's plenty to discuss with respect to the Yankee schedule for next year, but with the focus still being on their dwindling playoff chances in 2013, let's just hit the highlights for now.

- Season opens on the road on April 1st, 2014 against the Houston Astros.  It ends on September 28th on the road against Boston.

- Home opener is April 7th against the Orioles.

- Subway Series will be May 12th-15th with the first 2 games at The Stadium and the last 2 at Citi Field.

- Interleague play will take place against the NL Central, including 2 home series against Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, 2 road series against St. Louis and Milwaukee (!!!), and a 4-game split with the Cubs.

- As is usually the case, the start and end to the regular season will be primarily AL East opponents- 17 of the first 22 games and 26 of the final 29.

C-Grand Slump Comes At The Worst Time (For Everybody)

(Courtesy of the AP)

As bad as the weekend series against Boston went for the Yankees, there's something to be said for them putting up 29 runs in the 4 games.  It wasn't for lack of offense that they lost 3 of the 4 games, and guys like Robbie Cano, Brett Gardner, Alfonso Soriano, Lyle Overbay, and even Ichiro all had various levels of productive weekends at the dish.

One guy who didn't was Curtis Granderson, who's seen his production slow since first coming off the DL last month.  Joe sat him for Friday night's game and didn't even use him in a late pinch hitting role, and in the 3 games he did play C-Grand went 1-13 at the plate with a double and 5 strikeouts.

Derek Jeter Needs To Retire

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

I didn't mention Derek Jeter at all in my recap of my weekend at The Stadium.  That wasn't an accident.  There's plenty to say about Jeter after this past weekend and I felt it deserved its own post.  Jeter looked bad again in the field on TV on Thursday night while contributing to the eventual loss, and he looked even worse in the field and running the bases in person on Friday and Saturday.  He left Saturday's game early with more ankle-related issues, and once again he's taking some time off to rest, be re-evaluated, and attempt to get back on the field.

With the number of times that formula has played out unsuccessfully this season and with how bad Jeter has looked when he has been on the field, it's time to stop waiting around for things to improve and talk seriously about Jeter's future.  A lot of people aren't going to want to read this, but the truth is that Jeter doesn't appear to have a future in baseball anymore, at least not in the way he'd like to have as a productive everyday shortstop.  The truth is that Derek Jeter needs to retire after this season.

Game 144 Wrap-Up: BAL 4 NYY 2

("Come at me, bro!" Courtesy of the AP)

It was a strange start to say the last to the tough 11-game stretch that's going to make or break the Yankees' slim playoff chances.  They ended up going 1-3 against Boston in a series that could have easily seen them go 3-1 or lose all 4 games.  They were battered and bruised in the bullpen and working with an even shorter crew of useful arms after Joe used Mo for 2 innings on Sunday, and with the ever-shaky CC Sabathia on the mound that wasn't a good backup plan against a dangerous Baltimore offense.  Joe stacked his best bats in the top 5 spots of the batting order in hopes of getting some early runs against Chris Tillman.  It didn't work, as Tillman was on top of his game and the Yanks lost their 4th in 5 games.

Game Notes:

- Lotta fireworks in the 1st inning.  Alex Rodriguez hit a solo HR in the first half, Nick Markakis hit a leadoff double to set up the tying run in the second half, and when the inning was over Joe and Buck Showalter got into a shouting match at home plate over sign stealing.  Gotta love that added Wild Card pressure.

- After the 1st inning it was much smoother sailing for CC.  He gave up a few loud outs through 3 more scoreless innings but also got a few big strikeouts.

- Those loud outs turned into hits and runs in the bottom of the 5th.  Another leadoff double by J.J. Hardy got things started, and a couple of 2-out hits on badly located fastballs made it 3-1 Baltimore.

- The heavier workload in the 5th seemed to take its toll on CC.  He gave up 2 hits before striking out the side in the 6th and gave up another run in the 7th after his own throwing error before escaping with a K of Adam Jones.  If the bullpen was deeper, he probably would have been done after 6.

- A-Rod's homer in the 1st was all the lineup could muster against Tillman.  He mixed his fastball and changeup beautifully and threw enough good curveballs to keep the Yankee hitters off balance.  He gave up only 2 more hits through the 7th.

- Lyle Overbay finally broke through with a solo shot in the top of the 8th to chase Tillman from the game, but Buck had the option of going to his bullpen aces and he did that to shut it down and save the win.

Yanks-Sawx "Yankee Stadium Weekend" Thoughts & Afterthoughts

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

Well I don't think those 4 games went down quite the way anybody wanted them to.  The Yankees held late leads in each of the first 2 games of this series, only to watch the bullpen - the best and worst of it - blow them to put them in a 2-0 hole.  Saturday afternoon we were reminded that David Huff is who we thought he was, and Sunday almost turned into another blown lead disaster when Mo, called upon for 6 outs with the rest of the 'pen either unavailable or ineffective, gave up a Yankee Stadium cheapie HR to Will Middlebrooks that could have cost the team another much needed victory.

Somehow the Yanks are still in the playoff picture after this weekend, the same number of games out of the second Wild Card spot that they were before the first pitch was thrown on Thursday night.  They owe that to Tampa and the rest of the contenders forgetting how to win too, and even though they're no longer right behind the Rays in the race they still have a little glimmer of postseason hope with 19 games to go.

It was a fun experience to finally get to check out The Stadium, not so much fun watching how the 3 games I attended played out.  After the jump, my recap and random thoughts on the stadium, the games, and where the team stands with the 2013 regular season finish line in sight.

Weekend Injury News Round-Up

It was a big weekend for injuries for the Bombers, especially in the bullpen.  With guys leaving or being unavailable for games seemingly every other hour, here's the latest on where the newest batch of walking wounded stands (or sits):

- Derek Jeter- Left Saturday afternoon's game early thanks to more problems with his surgically-repaired left ankle.  Joe said he didn't like the way he was moving, and even though a CT scan showed no structural damage, the plan is still to rest Jeter for a few days before re-evaluating him.

- David Robertson- Wasn't available after pitching Thursday night with what's being called tendinitis in his right shoulder.  Is expected to be out for a few more days before throwing a bullpen session to test the shoulder.

- Boone Logan- Left Friday night's game with pain in his left biceps.  An MRI on Saturday showed no structural damage and he was given a cortisone shot yesterday.  He could be back by the next Boston series.

- Chris Stewart- Left yesterday's game in the 6th after taking a pitch off the left foot.  No broken bones but Stewart said after the game that there are some strained ligaments.  No word on how long he'll be out, but I wouldn't expect to see him back behind the plate tonight or tomorrow.

I'm Back

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

4 games, 3 losses, 2 Mo blown saves, 2 bullpen injuries, a handful of terribly-timed bunts and questionable in-game calls, another Derek Jeter injury setback, and 1 walk-off win on a wild pitch.  Definitely a strange and frustrating weekend in Yankeeland, and a lot to talk about from my first live YS3 experience.  First and foremost, yes, I think all the talking I did about attending the games helped jinx a lot of what happened Thursday-Saturday.  The injuries to D-Rob and Logan, the blown lead on Friday night, and the beatdown on Saturday?  I'll take responsibility and say those are on me.  My bad, guys.

As for the rest of the weekend and where the Yankees now stand with less than 20 games to go, those are topics for a different post.  I'm slowly working myself back into blog mode, so we'll start breaking things down in greater detail later today.

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 9/6/13

Well the big day has finally come.  Today I make my inaugural visit to the new Yankee Stadium.  By the time this post goes up, I'll already be in some state of intoxication and as I explained before, I'm not sure how or how much I'm going to be blogging about this weekend's games/festivities.  We'll see how this first night goes.  In any case, go Yankees and onto the links!

- On Tuesday, William Juliano of The Captain's Blog compared the AL Wild Card contenders' remaining schedules to see who was in the best position and how difficult the Yankees' road will be.

- Brian D. of Yankees Fans Unite mused on what Andy Pettitte's future holds after this season.  Personally I think this will be the final retirement for him and he'll be done for good whenever this season ends.

- Mike Axisa of RAB looked back at a few recent examples of September call-ups who helped the team as the Yankees added a batch of those to the active roster this week.

- On Wednesday, el duque of It Is High... pondered the possibility of Mo or Jeter getting the new postgame Gatorade bath treatment.  I have to agree that it would be pretty cool to see Mo get it.

- Jesse Schindler of Pinstriped Bible looked at how Phil Hughes might fit into the bullpen hierarchy now that he's been removed from the rotation.  Don't expect anything high-leverage.

- Chad Jennings of LoHud had Phil and Joe's thoughts on the move to the bullpen.

- On Thursday, Mike Ashmore of Thunder Thoughts had Game 1 of the ELDS covered from all angles and game 2 was no different.  He's a must-follow for all the Thunder playoff coverage.

- Bryan Van Dusen of The Greedy Pinstripes tossed around the idea of bringing Hughes back as the setup man next year.  Not a bad idea given his relief history, I just don't see any way the team takes him back.

- Nathanial Stotlz of FanGraphs analyzed Jose Campos, his first season back after last year's elbow injury, and what kind of prospect he is now after that injury.

- William Tasker of IIATMS/TYA marveled at how great Mo has been in his final season.

- SJK of NoMaas commented on the team's organizational catching depth now that scouting reports on Gary Sanchez's defense continue to be negative.

- SG of RLYW projected the change in postseason percentages in the AL East based on all possible outcomes of this weekend's series.

For today's jam we're dusting off a classic that I haven't used in a while.  Only seems fitting to bring this one back out when I'm heading to the ballpark.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.