A Beautiful Sight To See

How awesome was it to see the Pinstripes in action today? I love the 1st home spring training game of the year for that very reason. There's nothing like seeing those uniforms trot out of the dugout every February. It truly mean baseball has arrived, at least for me anyway. I love it and I get little goosebumps every year when this game happens.

I had to DVR the game today, as I do with most spring training games. I'm not interested in watching it from start to finish and much of the game is watched at the slowest fast forward speed. I never make it thru the whole game either. For the most part, I lose interest once the starters have left the game. I usually don't watch the offensive innings either. I'm more interested in watching the pitchers get their work in. I will watch some of the offensive innings, usually to see how certain guys look, especially if they're coming back from an injury.

Today I made it thru 7 innings and everything I wanted to see, I saw. On the offensive side of things, I was most interested in seeing Posada get a few swings in. I was extremely pleased with what I saw. He absolutely crushed the 1st pitch he saw this spring and that was great to see. The offense missed his production last year and if today is a sign of things to come, the Jorge of old is back. He probably would have gone yard in his 2nd AB had the wind not been blowing in. I know it's only 1 game, but Jorgie looked really good. Two thumbs up.

Mark Teixeira was another guy I was excited to see, more so because it was his debut in Pinstripes. 1 for 2 with a single and a K. Not the best debut, but it's early. At least he didn't got oh-for-2 with 2 Ks.

On the defensive side of things, was it me or did Robinson Cano show a lot of mobility today? I was impressed with his range, especially on the ball he ran down in short RF. I'm hoping his lazy days are behind him.

I was really excited to see the trio of Phil Hughes, Phil Coke, and Brian Bruney pitch today. All 3 will likely factor into the Yankees' plans this year, with Bruney being the only lock for the Opening Day roster. Hughes is ticketed for triple-A, and Coke is on the bubble. When it comes to a pitcher and spring training, I don't put a lot of stock in hits and runs allowed. I know a lot of times they focus on throwing certain pitches and they may get knocked around here and there. I try to focus on balls vs. strikes as well as velocity, amongst other things. Hughes hit 2 guys, but from what I read on Pete Abraham's blog, they've been working on throwing inside so I don't put too much stock in the 2 hit batsmen. His velocity looked good, steady rocking around 91-92 mph. He walked 1, whiffed 2, all in all, a solid debut.

I'm sure you'll read this many times throughout his career, but I am high on Coke. I'm sure I'm not the first person to say that, and I won't be the last. He pitched very well in his short stint last September and he pretty much picked up right where he left off. I'm glad the Yankees abandoned their plans to have Coke work as a starter, at least for now. On the depth chart, he's probably, what, the 9th or 10th starter maybe? I don't see him getting a shot at starting any time soon. He's got the make up to be a late inning guy, one that can be relied on to get the lead to Mariano Rivera. I hope he's in the team's plans and gets a lot of major league innings this year. Let's all get high on Coke together.

And right now, when I think of Brian Bruney, I think 8th inning set up guy. His velocity was up there today. I think he hit 95 on the gun. That was impressive. He pitched extremely well last year before he got hurt and when he came back late in the year. He was absolutely lights out last September, throwing 10 scoreless innings, allowing only 3 hits and 2 walks, whiffing 12. Right now, he's the guy I want to see pitching in the late innings when the team has the lead. Bruney in the 8th. Rivera in the 9th. Ball game over.

The Yanks are now 2-0 this spring and so far we're off to a good start. No major injuries (knock on wood), the pitching is doing very well and that's what I'm most encouraged about. The team travels tomorrow to face the Twins for a 1:05pm start. The game isn't on TV or the radio, unless you're like me, and have a subscription to XM Radio. The game is on channel 178. That should make the afternoon work day move a little faster. Can't go wrong there.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie