Back To Baseball

T-minus 2 days. Aw yeah. Can you feel it? I can. With each passing second, my excitement level for Opening Day rises. Finally, baseball is back!
So, Yankee fan-favorite Carl Pavano is going to start the opener. I'm not sure why everyone is making such a big bruhaha over this. Sure not many of us are CP fans. Sure, he doesn't exactly have the best track record as a Yankee. But sometimes, circumstances change and you gotta do what you gotta do. Any the Yankees pretty much have no choice but to give the Pavano the ball. The setup for the rotation was setup long before Wang suffered his injury. I don't see the need to move Mussina or Pettitte into the role as it's senseless to take someone off their schedule just so they can wear the moniker "opening day starter." So CP, basically by default or for lack of a better option, will take the mound come Monday when the Yanks take on the D-Rays. As much as I don't like CP, he's not what I would classify as a horrible pitcher. Flashback to 2005 when he last pitched. In 17 games, CP posted a win-loss record of 4-6 with an ERA of 4.77. I know what you're thinking, 4-6 is a pretty crappy record, and you know what, I agree. What encourages me is the 4.77 ERA. Let's not forget that last year, Randy Johnson went 17-11 as a Yankee. His ERA was 5 on the money. Hey, Josh Beckett went 16-11 for the Red Sox and his ERA was 5.01. CP's record in 2005 was largely affected by the Yankees poor performance in the first half of the season. If CP had the 2007 Yankee lineup behind him in 2005, his record would have seen a dramatic improvement. Pitchers with high ERAs love run support. Just ask Johnson and Beckett. Again, Johnson won 17 games in 2006 with an ERA of 5. If you ask me, the 2007 Yankee lineup is much more potent than the 2006 lineup. If CP can keep his ERA in the 4-5 range, which I think he can, he will no doubt post a record similar to that of Johnson and Beckett. He'll have one of the best lineups ever assembled there to bail him out. What Yankee fan wouldn't love 15-17 wins from CP?
I'm extremely glad that the Yankee brass had the good sense to give Josh Phelps a much-deserved roster spot. Boy, he earned it. I've liked Phelps ever since he was in the Jays organization. Cashman made a nice move when he plucked Phelps away from the Orioles in the Rule 5 draft. If anyone out there can make for keeping Andy Phillips, I'd love to hear it. Just look at the spring numbers. At last look, Phelps was hitting .389 with an OPS of 1.056. Phillips hit .192 with an OPS of .384. I was never much of a Phillips fan. I only saw him as an inexpensive, low-quality back-up. Guys like that are a dime a dozen. Phelps has a much higher upside. It was the right move. No question. Lucky for the Yanks, Phillips passed through waivers, so technically, he's still a Yankee and can report to AAA Scranton. I'd honestly like to see Phelps become the regular starter over Dougie M. I know defense wins championships, and Doug is arguably one of, if not the best defensive first baseman in the game, but there is so much more to gain with Phelps bat in the lineup. My suggestions? For starters I'd play Mientkiewicz whenever Wang pitches and I'd play Phelps whenever Pavano pitches. Wang will benefit from the glove. Pavano will likely need the run support. Torre is no dummy, so I'm sure he'll manage it the right way. And would you look at that? Phelps just went yard against the Tigers. He's raised his average to .405. Can you dig it? Yes you can.
The Yankee bullpen is looking freaking phenomenal. Bruney, Henn, Vizcaino, Proctor, Myers, Farnsworth, and of course the anchor, the great-one, Mariano Rivera. This spring they've yielded 15 earned runs in 63 innings pitched. For the math-challenged out there, that's an ERA of 2.14. What makes that even more impressive is that Brian Bruney gave up 6 of the earned runs. Remove him from the equation and you've got a collective ERA of 1.47. Say it with my folks, and don't be shy, it's awesome. And Mariano has yet to give up a run this spring. The addition of a new change-up makes Mo so much more dangerous. He's shown so signs of slowing down. The greatest ever? I say so.
Despite Wang's injury, the Yankee rotation is looking sharp also. I've already talked about CP. Pettitte's spring ERA was 0.00. Moose has looked like typical Moose. And Igawa is looking better and better with each start. As I write this, he's shutting down the Tigers in the spring finale. It's going to be interesting to see how he does this season. I'm going on record right now, and stating that come season's end, Igawa will have had the better season than fellow Japanese import, the over-hyped Daisuke Matsuzaka. He'll definitely win more games than Matsuzaka. You can take that to the bank. And to those that think the Red Sox starting rotation is superior to the Yankees, I implore you to go check out Judas Priest's album "Screaming For Vengeance" and listen to track 8. It's the jam y'all.
As I stated up above, the 2007 Yankee lineup is much better than it was in 2006. I'll take Abreu over Sheffield any day of the week. I'm looking forward to a full year of Bobby Abreu in RF. He's having a monster spring, hitting over .400 and his bat seems to have a little of its pop back. Giambi will benefit from being a full-time DH. Melky can fill-in at any OF position if anyone needs a day off. And despite all the negativity surrounding A-Rod, I think this is the year he officially earns his stripes. He came into camp a lot leaner than he was in years past and that will no doubt help his defense as he'll be more agile and more flexible. He has a lot to prove, and if he really wants to stay in New York, he's going to put up some monster numbers. Hopefully, the boo-birds are absent from the Bronx.
The only thing that bums me out about this season is that as of right now, there is no Bernie Williams. Bernie has been a Yankee staple for pretty much my entire adult life. It's sad that after 16 seasons, Bernie's tenure with the Yankees has come to an end. I'm still holding out hope that we might see Bernie back in Pinstripes at some point this season, but I don't really see it happening. I am glad that he isn't suiting up in another uniform. That would be just weird. All the best Bernie.
The worst is over. The dark clouds have passed and what I like to refer to as "the void" (November through March) has been filled. Baseball is back, and if you're reading this blog I'm sure you'll agree with me when I say "LET'S PLAY BALL!!!"
Peace, love and Pinstripes.
J