Melky Cabrera has zero patience at the plate this year, so I'm glad to see Kevin Thompson come up and get a shot. He looked good in Spring Training. I realize Melky has sparkling defense, but he...umm...can't hit the ball. KT is at least a speedy baserunning who gets decent line hits and can be a nice utility player.
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Rasner solidifies the terrible first pass through the rotation of the 2007 season. I wouldn't be surprised if he's moved to the long-reliever role, or rule 5 drafted back to the Nats. He's not a viable option as the 5th starter. Karstens needs to come back as soon as possible. I've never been thrilled with loose change we pick up from other clubs via rule 5, but Rasner really looked bad.
Not that any of the Yankees pitchers looked really good, either...
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Pettitte pitched a relief appearance yesterday, which was nuts, imho. I realize they wanted to test him and his back, but his start is Tuesday...really shocked me that they'd risk pitching him so close to his start. He looked pretty good though. Let's hope that getting inside the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and its controlled climate temperatures will help get the Yankee pitching back on track.
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The H.H.H. Metrodome should also let us know what's happening with Mike Mussina. We all know he's a hypercontrol pitcher, and he can no longer rely on his "burning" 87-89 fastball to get the job done anymore (it was more like 84-86 the other night...). Was it just the cold, ruining his "feel" on the ball, that made his curve not break, his change not change, and his fastball act like a BP fastball? We'll soon know.
Moose could be fading fast. If his bad performance continues...I don't think he has much left in the tank. I hope Roger Clemens' number is on speed dial.
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Can Pavano actually pitch two decent outings in a row? They gave the Yankees rotation a hard time (deservedly) for the first week of the season, but Pavano wasn't (gasp) half bad. Uh-oh. I still can't believe he's the "ace" of our rotation right now. Oh, untimely death!
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A-Rod comes through in the clutch.
Shocking, isn't it?
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Who else thinks Abreu is hurt? He looks like he can't run as fast as he has in the past, and has a little gimp in his giddyup when he's chasing down balls in the outfield. I know I criticized him for taking plays off, particularly since he's had two balls well within his range drop for bloop RBI hits, and I know Phillies fans sometimes questioned his work ethic, but...I haven't seen anything since he came to the Yankees that indicates that is the case. I don't know. It's hard to say, because the first bloop the other night happened before he took a Chris Ray fastball of the shin two days ago, and the second in yesterday's game came after.
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Derek Jeter is hurt, but his range to his left had issues before that. Let's hope the Gold Glove defenseman can work through it, but he looks horrible trying to run. If the Yankees can get ahead in a game (I know, at this point, its tantamount to locating the holy grail), I hope they swap Miggy in at short (or, gasp, move A-Rod to short and play Cairo at third?)
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Godzirra is hurt (you frucking strupide Amelicans!), which is a bad deal, because he's been the Yankees most consistent AB this season (as usual). He says it's not that bad, but they found blood and swelling on the MRI, so its a nifty little strain, and will keep him out on the DL for 15 days. Crap.
He does say though that it will be more than enough time to come back healthy, and should come right back out the box (hit 'em, Luke) and hopefully the Yankee offense will do the same.
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Johnny Damon has a cold. I'd buy him some Cold FX, if that shit didn't cost $25.
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Josh Phelps can play defense? Holy shit. What a snare at first yesterday. Gold Glove type play.
Too bad that he's actually offensively behind Doug Alphabet.
I think he needs to show a little plate discipline. And no, that doesn't mean skipping seconds at KFC.
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Giambi is, as usual, feast or famine. When he strikes out, he looks horrid, but as seen two days ago, he can crush the ball.
I'd like to apologize...for something.
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Who else thinks that Tyler Clippard or Chase Wright could have pitched better than Darrell Rasner.
Hands?
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Things aren't greener on the other side. Super ace Johan Santana had a rough first outing, earning a 6.00 ERA. His last start was stellar, though, and now he's back in gear.
Let's hope the Yankees follow suit.
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Sidney "The Drunk Aruban Assault Fatty" Ponson is actually under weight, and working hard on ground balls this spring for the Twins.
What the fuck? Don't you know pinstripes are slimming?
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Let's hope for some good starts against the Twins. The Yankees really started to turn things upward offensively and defensively in the A-Rod "king of the world" game, now let's hope the pitching follows suit.
