A Couple Of Questions After A Yankees Loss

Great game between the Yankees and Rays tonight. Unfortunately for us it didn't go the Yankees way. Lots of people on the hook for this one. Girardi, Mitre, the Yankees offense. Pick one. The one person not on the hook is CC Sabathia. What a performance. He deserved better.

1) Where oh where has the Yankees offense gone? Oh where oh where can it be? It's been a terrible last 2 games for the offense. Granted, they faced David Price and Cliff Lee but still: 1 run on 6 hits in 2 games. They're better than that.

2)Not sure who made this call but why in the world did Brett Gardner attempt to steal 3rd when he was already in scoring position and needs a base hit to score either way? If Joe Girardi and crew made that call then somebody needs to get canned because that was one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. If Gardner did it on his own than he needs a serious time-out (sorry, got 3 kids). Gardner is one of the fastest runners in the league. He likely scores from 2nd on a base hit. Stupid move.

3)What is up with using Chad Gaudin in these close situations? I couldn't believe that Giradri went to him again in a tie game when he had several other (and better) RPs available. Props to Gaudin for getting out of it by the skin of his teeth.

4)Sergio Mitre. See question 3. What's up with not using other RPs? Albaladejo? Robertson? Joba? Hughes? Four fairly decent choices and Girardi opts for his 2 worst choices in Gaudin and Mitre. WTF?

Is it time to panic? Not yet, but it's getting close. They didn't exactly roll out their top flight SPs in the Texas series. No Pettitte. No Hughes. No CC. You think Dustin Moseley or Javy Vazquez will be making postseason starts? Nope. Same goes for the bullpen. They've been pretty damn good of late. No way Gaudin or Mitre pitches in this game if it were the playoffs. CC was off the freaking hook tonight. The offense failed him. But again, David Price, like CC and Cliff Lee, is no joke.

The Yankees have now lost 4 in a row and are 1-7 over their last 8. They're lucky they have such a big lead for the wild card. What I thought would be an impossible collapse is starting to happen. Lucky for them both the Red Sox and White Sox aren't hot right now. If the Red Sox hold on and win tonight they'll be 7 back in the loss column with 18 to play. It's still a pretty comfortable lead. But as we all know, you can't predict baseball. The magic # to clinch a playoff spot sits at 12. Until it gets to zero you never know what will happen. Right, Mets fans?

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

The Yankees And Pirates Meet And A 2+ Hour Infomercial Breaks Out

I was really excited when I got an e-mail the other day letting me know that the blackout restrictions for today's Yankees/Pirates were lifted and the game was going to air on the MLB Network. What that e-mail failed to mention is that the whole game was going to be one giant infomercial for Pirates season tickets. As the late, great Phil Rizzuto would say, "Holy Cow."

Look, I get that the Pirates want to let people know what's available to them for tickets. But to spend an entire game talking about it is a little much. Tell me that tickets are on sale and where I can find the info and be done with it. No need to tell me who's buying tickets and how many plans they got. No need to show me the operators that were standing by. No need to go over each and every plan that's offered again and again and again. I turned the game off after the Yanks pulled CC Sabathia. I turned it back on in the 8th inning and they were still talking about the tickets. I can't believe I'm saying this but I would have rather listened to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver than the Pirates' announcers. It made the game unwatchable.

As I said above I watched the game until the Yankees pulled Sabathia. I liked what I saw from the big man even though he wasn't incredibly sharp, throwing only 29 of his 57 pitches for strikes. If I remember correctly, he issued two 4-pitch walks, 1 being to the 9 hitter. He only gave up 3 hits, 1 being the HR to Iwamura. I don't know what it is about CC and left-handed NL East second basemen. They like to take him deep. Thankfully he doesn't face them that often. Overall, a solid outing. I give it a B-, which is his highest mark of the season, and that means he's getting better, which is what I like to see. According to CC's post game comments (which you can read at the Lohud Yankees Blog), CC also feels the same, saying, "I felt more together. Fastball felt more crisp. Cutters were good, down in the dirt. Changeup was a lot better. I’m definitely pleased with the progress I made today.” Me too big man. Me too.

Before I flipped the game off for good I hung around to see Jonathan Albaladejo pitch, and I use the term pitch loosely. Talk about pitching your way off the major league roster. I don't put much stock into spring training performances, but Albaladejo has looked downright awful. He's pitched in 4 games, lasting only 2 innings. He's given up 15 hits, 10 ER and has an ERA of 45. His WHIP is 9 (15 hits+2 walks+1 HBP/2 IP). I didn't think it was possible to be that bad. I know it's still early, but have fun in Scranton.

3 weeks until Opening Day. It can't get here soon enough.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Picking Up Where They Left Off, Yankees Win On A Walkoff

It's a little after 8:30pm and I'm finally getting the chance to watch today's spring training opener. I was able to hear two 1/2 innings of the game on the radio. Oddly enough, the 2 parts I heard were the two innings in which the Yankees scored their runs.

I'm not a huge Michael Kay fan but I'll admit that it was nice to hear him utter 2 certain phrases, "The YES Network presents New York Yankees baseball," and, "Lineups, first pitch, baseball, next on YES." And with that, the 2010 season is officially upon us. The march to #28 has begun.

Am I the only one who thinks Joe Girardi changing his uniform number to 28 is a little silly? Am I also the only one who has a little trouble taking him seriously when he gives an interview and you can see his braces? Look at me go. I haven't even seen the first pitch of the season yet and I've already cracked on Girardi. It should be a fun year. I do like Girardi for the most part. I do think he makes some stupid moves and when he does it's really aggravating because they're beyond dumb. But for the most part, I have his back. There's one thing I'm hoping to see from Girardi this year. I'm hoping he stops using his little book to aid him in making decisions. Go with your gut more Joe.

First pitch strike from Chad Gaudin. Nice start. The rest of the game, however, was pretty boring. I fast-forwarded through most of it. The pitchers pretty much dominated the hitters. The Pirates got a hit to leadoff the first and then were shut down for 6 full innings. Nice outings from Gaudin, Mitre, and Aceves. I don't put much stock in spring training stats, especially for pitchers, as they don't always pitch as they would in games. But it was definitely nice to see 6 innings of shutout ball from those 3. Jonathan Albaladejo on the other hand? Yikes. Not a good start for him. Have fun in Scranton.

Nice stroke by Nick Johnson on his RBI double in the 6th. I'm glad he didn't get hurt.

What? No pie? Either way, a walkoff is still a walkoff, with or without the pie. I'll take it.

And there we have it folks. The 1st game is in the books. Baseball is officially back. Next stop: Opening Day. A little less than 32 days to go. April 4th can't get here fast enough.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Another Win, Another Walk-off

Wow. Another Yankee walkoff win. That makes 3 in-a-row and that runs the winning streak up to 5. These games are certainly exciting and fun to watch. The only thing that worries me is that they're playing a lot of 1-run games. They won't always come out on the winning side. The law of averages suggests in the long run that it will balance out. So let's start blowing teams out. I have a feeling that's the direction were headed.

I thought A.J. Burnett pitched a decent game yesterday. I'm surprised by the number of walks he had (6) considering he threw about 60% of his pitches for strikes which is not good, not bad. The worst part of it is that he walked the Twins #9 hitter, Nick Punto and his .194 average, twice. You can't walk the #9 hitter, especially when he's a light hitting SS hitting below .200. That was the most frustrating part if A.J.'s performance. A.J.'s walks are up and his Ks are down which is puzzling, and slightly concerning. His career strikeout-to-walk ratio is about 2.23 to 1. This year he's well below that average at 1.72 to 1. He hasn't been that bad since he first started out. Since '04 his K/BB ratio is 2.7 to 1. It's definitely an off year for A.J. so far.

Props to Brett Tomko for saving the Yankees' bacon yesterday. That was huge right there. Albaladejo had a big whiif to end the 7th but promptly began suck again in the 8th. Tomko bailed him out. BT gets my game ball. Albaladejo on the other hand, ship him out already. He's way too inconsistent for my liking. Problem is that's he's better than some of the other scrubs they got back there. I'm talking about you Edwar, and Jose Veras while I'm at it. Hurry back Brian Bruney.

Memo to Brett Gardner: if you're going to try something like that (scoring from 2nd on a ball hit between home and the mound) you better score. That was a pretty stupid play considering there was only one out. I hope Brett doesn't start to suffer from the same problem that Melky does when it comes to his arm. Melky throws out a bunch of guys, gets a rep for having such a great arm, and now he a lot of throws he shouldn't. Brett is getting a rep for being a speed demon and I'd hate to start seeing him try to make things happen when the situation clearly calls for something else. He's lucky.

Finally, how 'bout that Johnny Damon? J-Dilla is having a monster year. Coincidentally, he's playing for a contract and that for some reason always brings out the best in guys. Whatever works, right? In his last 12 games, JD is 21 for 50 (.420) with 7 doubles, 1 triple, 5 jacks, 12 runs scored, and 15 RBI. Could JD make a run at the MVP? Me hopes so.

Andrew Euguene Pettitte looks to finish off the sweep tonight. I hope they win this one handily and not with another walkoff. Like I said, things like this always find a way to balance out in the end. So let's start crushing teams!

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yanks Win Is A Little Undeserved, But I'll Take It

I have mixed emotions right now. I am totally stoked that the Yankees pulled off a great come from behind victory tonight, battering the Angels bullpen for 6 runs on 7 hits over the final 2 innings. It was great to see them win that game, but had they played any other team, they probably would have lost. The Angels have the worst bullpen in all of baseball, entering tonight's game with a league worst bullpen ERA of 7.07. After tonight's debacle, it's up to 7.70. The Yanks definitely should have lost this game tonight. But they didn't, and that's all that matters. The winning streak is now at 4 games, which coincidentally is the exact # of days my newborn son Griffin has been home.

The offense came through again tonight. As a team they went 6-10 with RISP. That's 4 straight games where they've come through when they needed to. I love the fact that they're not doing it with the longball. The 8th inning saw a double, a walk, and 3 singles. The 9th inning saw a walk and 3 singles. I hope they're seeing what's happening out there. Keep the line moving with singles and doubles and the runs will pile up. I like what I'm seeing. I hope they keep it up.

The game tonight was definitely won by the bottom of the order. Hitters 1-4 went 2-for-16. Hitters 5-9 went 10-19 w/ 8 RBI. Robbie Cano is on absolute fire, going 3-5 tonight and raising that average to .378. Cano has really surprised me this year. He's locked in. I wish I could say the same for Mark Teixeira. Sorry Tex, but it's now May, the .189 average doesn't cut it. The game tonight was definitely won by the bottom of the order. Ramiro Pena has been a pleasant surprise. Since becoming the everyday third baseman, he's gone 8-for-17 with 4 RBI, 4 clutch RBI if you will. Suck on that Cody Ransom. Your days in pinstripes may be done.

I thought the Yankees' pitching staff was supposed to be leaps and bounds better than it has been in previous years. I thought the Yankees' pitching staff was supposed to be the team's biggest strength. They've shown brilliance at times but for the most part, they've been awful, especially the bullpen. It's absolutely atrocious. Unless your name is Brian Bruney, Mariano Rivera, and maybe Phil Coke, I don't trust you and I expect that you're going to tank more often than you won't. The pitching staff needs to be better. A lot better.

Andy Pettitte did not have it today. He pretty much struggled from the get go. I'm kind of surprised he only allowed runs in one inning. He allowed 2 baserunners to reach in the 1st, getting out of the inning on a classic Andy Pettitte pickoff. He allowed a baserunner in the 2nd and got out of the inning on a DP. He allowed 2 baserunners in the 3rd, another in the 4th, and another in the 5th. He pretty much grinded his way through the first 5 innings. He wasn't good but he got the job done. Then the wheels fell off and he imploded in the 6th. Overall, it wasn't a good day for AP. He struggled with his control, walking 4 and throwing only 61 of his 108 pitches for strikes. It was his first poor outing of the season and I'll let it slide. A pitcher isn't going to be lights out every time he starts. As long as it doesn't become a habit, I'm cool with it.

Today's relievers that crapped the bed were Jose Veras and Mark Melancon. Melancon came on in a big spot in the 6th. It was his 1st real test at the big league level and he failed miserably, allowing a 3-run triple. I like what I've seen from Melancon, but then again, every other reliever has looked good at one point. Jose Veras sucked tonight, but has looked good about half the time. This was his 10th appearance and for my money he's done alright in 5 of them. Thankfully for the Yanks, Edwar Ramirez and Jonathan Albaladejo didn't suck tonight. Albie pitched well, but is coming off 2 really bad outings. Same goes for Edwar. My point is you never know what you're going to get with these guys. The bullpen ERA is now 6.66, which is the 29th worst bullpen ERA in all of MLB. Like I said above, unless your last name is Rivera or Bruney, and maybe Coke, I don't trust you. I'm scared every time I see everyone else warming up, and that's not good.

The Yanks look to keep things rolling tomorrow afternoon when CC Sabathia makes start #6. CC, like the rest of the pitching staff, has been inconsistent this year as well. I really don't have any idea what to expect. Good things I hope. I'll make sure Griffin is around to try and keep the streak going.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Hitting With RISP Pays Off

See what happens when you hit with runners in scoring position? You win ball games! The Yanks went 5-for-11 with RISP tonight. They've been hitting pretty well with RISP over these last 3 games, going 12-for-27, scoring 25 runs and winning all 3 games. Prior to this little winning streak, the Yankees were dead last in average with RISP in the AL. Coming into tonight's game they were ranked 12th out of 14. Hopefully this is the start of something good and they keep climbing that ladder and winning ball games.

I can't believe it took so long for me to see A.J. Burnett pitch a regular season game. While it wasn't the dominant outing I was hoping for, he definitely delivered. He battled tonight, keeping the team in the game and allowing them to pull it out when the game went to the pens. His strike-to-ball ratio was very much to my liking, 66 strikes to 42 balls. Anything close to a 2:1 ratio works for me. Typically when a guy can hit a 2:1 ratio they don't allow a lot of free passes. The Angels are a pretty fast team and the last thing you want to do is give them extra baserunners. A.J. did a great job keeping them off the basepaths. Overall, I think A.J. did a job well done.

It's hard to believe that there is a bullpen out there that is worse than the Yankees. The Angels rank dead last in all of MLB in reliever's ERA. The Yankees barely edge them out. Coming into tonight's game, the Yankees' bullpen ERA was 6.65. The Angels was 6.82. The Yankees definitely took advantage of that tonight, rocking the Angels' relievers for 4 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks. Thankfully for the Yankees, Burnett went a full 7 and the Yankees didn't have to run out more relievers. I almost threw up in my mouth when I saw Albaladejo warming up in the 8th. Phil Coke had a great inning and Mo was vintage Mo, getting 2 Ks and a comebacker. How many times have we seen that? Here's hoping the Yankee starters can keep throwing 7+ innings. They've thrown at least 7 in 3 of the last 4 games. The only one who didn't was Phil Hughes and that's only because the Yankees had a 10-run lead. The starting pitching is picking up.

So the first month of the season is in the books. The team is 12-10 and only 2 games back of first. A-Rod hasn't played yet. Chien-Ming Wang has been absolutely awful and is hurt. Brian Bruney, one of the more reliable relievers, is hurt. Mark Teixeira is hitting a whopping .200. CC hasn't exactly been lights out. Things could be a lot worse.

All things considered, there isn't much to complain about.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Joba-mania Is Running Wild, Bullpen Still Sucking

Joba Chamberlain picked up his 1st win this season pitching a gem of a ball game. They referred to his outing as "strong" on the YES broadcast. I agree with that, but at the same time I don't. His pitching line suggests a really strong outing. 7 innings, 3 hits, 3 walks, 6 Ks, and 1 earned run. His velocity was better and his strike-to-ball ratio was good, 50 strikes to 38 balls. The only reason I'm not overly sold on the outing was how he pitched before being staked to a 6-run lead. Having a lead like that allows the pitcher to be more aggressive. A pitcher with a lead like that should attack the strike zone and that's pretty much what Joba did. Thru the 1st 3 innings, before the lead, Joba threw 47 pitches, 21 for strikes and 26 for balls. Joba in his next 4 innings threw 41 pitches, 29 for strikes and 12 for balls. I can't help but wonder how he would have done had the lead not been as large. Either way, he still had to make pitches that would likely result in an out. If only A.J. Burnett could have done that last weekend in Boston. But overall, a strong outing by Joba. I just want to see him throw less balls and more strikes.

The offense had another great night, exploding for 7 runs in the 4th. That's 2 straight games where they've had a really big inning. Nick Swisher had a huge night at the plate, going yard twice and knocking in 4. How can you not love Nicky Swish? Xavier Nady can pretty much forget about playing when he comes back, eh? Mark Teixeira went oh-fer-3 and his average is now below .200. I know he starts slow but come on Mark, you need to start hitting the ball! You're the 3-hitter for the New York Yankees. Get with the program.

Thank God the Yankees had such a big inning. The bullpen certainly made things exciting there in the 9th inning. I kind of expect outings like that from Jonathan Albaladejo but not Mariano Rivera. Should we be worried about Mo? He's given up dingers now to 2 of the last 5 hitters he's faced. Mo typically doesn't give up a lot of longballs. He gave up 4 all of last year. Not counting the 1st year of his career, Mo has allowed more than 4 HRs only twice. I checked out some game logs and Mo last gave up HRs in back-to-back appearances in August of 2003. He finished that season with an ERA of 1.66. Mo is Mo. He'll be fine.

Winning 2 straight behind 2 solid outings by the SPs and a nice outburst by the offense is a pretty nice way to finish the road trip. A.J. Burnett opens up the series tomorrow night against the Angels. Hopefully, I'll get to watch the game. Believe it or not, I haven't gotten to see any of A.J.'s starts this year. I'm kind of looking forward to it.

And I guess, congrats to Joe Girardi on win #100 as the Yankee skipper. Yay, you made it into your second year. Good for you little buddy.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yankees Choke Away Win And It's All Your Fault YES Network

Curse you YES Network! The brain trust at the network decided that 1 out in the bottom of the 9th was a good time to award the player of the game award to the Yankee bullpen. A few batters later Jason Bay takes Mo deep to tie the game. Can you say jinx? How do you give an award to the bullpen before the game is over? A little premature don't you think? As soon as I saw that I knew we were done. I hope they learned your lesson. Friggin' jerks. There goes my pre-season prediction that Mo would have a perfect season and not blow any save opportunities. Aargh. Up until that point the bullpen was having a great night. Phil Coke was awesome. Johnny Albaladejo was awesome. They both had great games. But then those a-holes had to open their yaps and award the pen the POGA and here we are, on the wrong side of a 5-4 score. This one hurts. Way to go YES. Stupid effers.

Now the real reason the Yankees didn't win tonight was because of the offense. The Yankees offense had a lot of chances tonight to blow the game wide open. They stranded 2 in the 2nd. They stranded 2 in the 3rd. Bases loaded one out in the 7th and they mustered one run. Bases loaded no outs in the 9th and they failed to score. They stranded guys on 2nd and 3rd in the 10th. They had 2 guys on in the 11th with 1 out and Melky grounded into a DP. Melky had an awful night at the plate when it counted. With guys on 1st and 2nd in the 7th, he grounded out to end the inning. With runners on 2nd and 3rd in the 9th, he fouled out to end the inning. With runners on 1st and 2nd in the 11th, he grounds into an inning-ending DP. That pretty much makes me forget all about that walk off HR.

I was really disappointed that the Yankees didn't score in the 9th. It would have been nice to have picked up an insurance run or two. Then Bay's HR is meaningless, Mariano probably gets the save, and I'm writing a totally different post. As a team the Yankees were 4 for 19 with RISP and they left 14 guys on base. The Yankees had 22 baserunners and only managed 4 runs. They've got to start knocking those guys in. Aarghhhhh.

Joba wasn't terribly impressive tonight. He was OK, not bad, not good, just OK. I can't believe he only gave up 2 runs. It could have been only 1 if not for that BS balk in the 1st. That was ridiculous. Joba's ball-to-strike ratio was horrible. He threw 91 pitches, 49 for strikes. I'm also disappointed with Joba's lack of velocity. I made mention of that in spring training and it still hasn't come around. I know he's not going to breaking off 98 mph heaters regularly, but he should be able to at least 95 consistently. I know building arm strength takes time but come on, shouldn't we be seeing some gains? I wonder if something is wrong? His night would have been a lot worse if not for getting 4 double plays. But credit to Joba for getting those when he needed to. That's what good pitchers do. Joba is a good pitcher but he needs to start pitching a little more efficiently. Maybe I'm being too critical. He did after all only give up 1 earned run.

It's always interesting when Joba Chamberlain faces the Red Sox. You just never know when he's going to bust somebody, namely Kevin Youkilis, up and in with some high heat. I was really interested to see if anything went down tonight considering David Ortiz made some comments the other day about Joba throwing inside. If you ask me that whole article was pretty stupid. I would normally link to it but I have no desire to. Just another stupid writer making a story out of nothing.

I'm a little puzzled by Girardi's management of the bullpen. Where was Brian Bruney? He's the 8th inning guy, right? Well where was he? Why did he let Albaladejo throw a pitch to Ellsbury? I seldom agree with Michael Kay, but why not just have him throw to 1st? I'm also a little surprised that after Albaladejo had Ellsbury down 0-1, Girardi went to Mo instead of Damaso Marte. Don't get me wrong, the last guy I wanted to see coming into the game was Marte, but I thought for sure Girardi was going to go with the lefty-lefty matchup. Had this not been game 1 of the series, he probably would have. Joe must have really wanted to win this one considering Joe went to Mo to try for the 4-out save. Too bad it didn't work out. Friggin' YES Network. Anyway, I hope there's nothing wrong with Brian Bruney. Even though I'm cursing the jerks at YES and want to turn the TV off, I'm definitely watching the post game show. update - Bruney has a sore elbow and was sent back to NY to get checked out. I hope all is good. The 8th inning needs him.

Am I the only one that thinks Jeter and Cano need to work on turning two and flipping balls to second? They totally botched one and a couple of the others looked a little questionable. I was nervous every time a grounder was hit to the middle infielders with a runner on 1st.

There's been no additional movement on the baby front. There's been a contraction here and there, but nothing serious. The latest the little one will arrive will be Saturday May 2, a week from tomorrow. We're hoping that's when it happens though I'm not so sure we're going to make it. Hopefully, he stays in there thru the weekend so I can fit in the whole Yankees/Sox series. Even though I think the rivalry isn't what it used to be, it's definitely something I want to be tuned in for. I was so happy tonight's game wasn't on MY9. Apparently, nobody in Buffalo has the channel that the MY9 games are on. Sucks to be us.

Hopefully the Yanks fare better tomorrow. It should be a good one. Josh Beckett vs. A.J. Burnett on Fox. Hopefully they have the good sense to wait until the final out before they give out a POGA.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Happy Opening Day!!

At long last the day is upon us. We wait all off-season and Spring Training for this day to arrive and it's finally here. Opening Day! It should be a national holiday. I'm at work now, but am cutting out at about 2pm EST to enjoy the day. It's raining here in Buffalo I think it's also raining in Baltimore. If today's game gets rained out I'm going to be really depressed.

Back at the end of February, I took a crack at predicting the Opening Day roster. Now that it's finalized, let's see how I did:

Predicted roster:
The offense: Jorge Posada, Jose Molina, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, A-Rod, Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Xavier Nady, Hideki Matsui, Nick Swisher, Brett Gardner, Cody Ransom, Angel Berroa

The pitching: CC Sabathia, Chien-Ming Wang, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Joba Chamberlain, Mariano Rivera, Brian Bruney, Damaso Marte, Dan Giese, Jose Veras, Phil Coke, Edwar Ramirez

Actual Roster:
The offense: Jorge Posada, Jose Molina, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Xavier Nady, Hideki Matsui, Nick Swisher, Brett Gardner, Cody Ransom, Ramiro Pena, Melky Cabrera

The pitching: CC Sabathia, Chien-Ming Wang, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Joba Chamberlain, Mariano Rivera, Brian Bruney, Damaso Marte, Jonathan Albaldejo, Jose Veras, Phil Coke, Edwar Ramirez

I was close. I had Angel Berroa on the roster as the extra infielder, saying that the job was his unless a "dark horse candidate came out of nowhere." I guess Ramiro Pena is that dark horse. I'm a little surprised because I thought Berroa had a great spring. Admittedly, I don't know much about Pena. Could he be the next Alberto Gonzalez? Here today and gone before the year is out? Regardless, I don't expect either to get much PT.

I had A-Rod on the roster. It was before his injury. I didn't have Melky on the roster. I didn't think they'd carry 5 OFs, and I was wrong. I'm a little surprised but understand they don't want to lose him by releasing. Melky had a great spring and I'm sure that saved his neck. I don't think he'll get much PT, but who knows? I think Cody Ransom will do just fine as a fill-in for Alex. Steve at Yankees: Minor To Majors doesn't think so.

I also had Dan Giese on the roster as the long man. Girardi and company decided a long man wasn't needed and I can see that. They've got some horses in the rotation. With the exception of Joba, they all should be able to pitch deep into the ball games. There really isn't a need for a long man. The days of blowing out the bullpen early in the season are behind us. Knock on wood. So Jonathan Albaladejo gets the nod and I am down with that. I was a fan of that trade when Cashman made it before last season. I hope he stays healthy.

So first pitch is hopefully about 5 hours away. I'm really hoping the rain stays away. I'll probably be live-blogging the game. So feel free to stop by and watch.

The road to #27 starts today! I think it'll be a tough year with tough competition. As I predicted yesterday, I think they'll finish tied with Boston for first, but finish 2nd because of head-to-head records. But I think they'll win it all. I feel better about their chances this year then I have in recent years. They have the pitching and that's the key. Get the Canyon of Heroes ready cuz the boys are on their way!

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Prediction For Opening Day Roster

In the comments of my last post, regular reader Dino offered up a sort-of prediction of who he expected/wanted in the Yankee bullpen. That got me to thinking about who'd comprise the Opening Day roster and I figured why not give a crack at predicting who will make the squad. So here's what I think/prefer, assuming of course that they all remain healthy.

The offensive givens: Jorge Posada, Jose Molina, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, A-Rod, Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Xavier Nady, Hideki Matsui, Nick Swisher

The pitching givens: CC Sabathia, Chien-Ming Wang, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Joba Chamberlain, Mariano Rivera, Brian Bruney, Damaso Marte

For those too lazy to count the names, it's 18 and that leaves 7 spots. One of those is the CF position, which is a battle between Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner. I honestly don't have a preference to one over the other. I think both are 4th OFs at best. Since it looks like one is definitely making the team, barring a trade, I'm going with Gardner as the winner. I don't think the Yankees are high on Melky anymore. His time has come and gone. Even though his OBP was horrible last season, I think the Yankees like what Gardner brings to the table, namely he's quick. His upside is also probably a little higher than Melky's. I think he has more potential to help the team. So I'm pegging Gardner to be our Opening Day center fielder.

One of the spots is going to a back-up infielder. There aren't many guys to choose from. I think it's a 3-horse race between Cody Ransom, Juan Miranda, and Angel Berroa. Berroa is a chump and lets face it, he ain't making the team. I think Miranda is one-dimensional, being best suited as a first-baseman. Ransom is versatile and can play pretty much anywhere in the infield. He logged time at each position last year. It helps to have a guy that can fill in anywhere. Cody Ransom will make the Opening Day Roster.

So that leaves 5 open spots, all of which are going to relief pitchers. One of those guys is going to be a swing-man, someone who can start or relieve. The options for that role as I see it are Phil Hughes, Alfredo Aceves, Brett Tomko, Ian Kennedy, Humberto Sanchez, Kei Igawa and Dan Giese. in my opinion, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, and Alfredo Aceves, need to start and that won't be happening in the majors. They're ticketed for Scranton. Sanchez is still a year or so away and is coming off an injury. I don't even know why Igawa is on the list as he blows. He's an option and not a good one. See you in Scranton. That leaves Tomko and Giese. Tomko was horrible last season and I don't see him performing well enough to earn that spot. Dan Giese had a pretty solid campaign in 2008 (3.53 ERA in 43.1 IPs, 1.22 WHIP, .232 average against) and I think he's the best man for the job. He can start (3 starts in 2008) and can relieve (17 relief appearances). And of all the names above, he's the last one I would think needs to get in a healthy amount of innings. Giese is my pick for the swing man. It's his job to lose.

And then their were 4. 4 spots for by my estimation 6 guys: Phil Coke, Edwar Ramirez, David Robertson, Jose Veras, Mark Melancon, and Jonathan Albaladejo. This is probably the most difficult of all the choices because all of them are more than capable of pitching at the major league level. There's only room at the inn for 4 so 2 have to go. A lot of this could come down to who shines this spring and who falters. I think Coke and Edwar are locks as they pitched well enough last year to earn the spots. Coke so far has been the man. He's in for sure. Edwar at times can be inconsistent, but for the most part, he gets the job done. Like Giese, it's their jobs to lose. Veras probably pitched well enough to earn a spot, which leaves one opening for Robertson, Melancon, and Albaladejo. I think Albaladejo goes to AAA. Like Humberto Sanchez, he's coming off an injury and he's probably best suited to start the season in Scranton. I think Robertson probably had the job heading into the spring but I don't think he's going to have a better spring than Melancon. It's a toss up and I can go either way. I think Melancon is going to have a better spring so he's my call for the last spot.

So after all of that, I realized that that would be 12 hitters and 13 pitchers which probably isn't the right balance. I don't see the Yanks carrying 13 pitchers. It's possible since they'll have a lot of versatility on the bench. Swisher can play 1B/OF/DH. Matsui can play OF/DH. Ransom can play anywhere in the infield. I can see the team wanting to maybe carry another middle infielder. I don't see anybody really filling that role except for Angel Berroa or a dark horse candidate that comes out of nowhere. For lack of a better option, I'm going with Berroa. Unfortunately, that means I'm sending Mark Melancon back to the minors. He has to absolutely blow everyone else away to pick up one of the spots, and that's certainly possible.

The offense: Jorge Posada, Jose Molina, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, A-Rod, Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Xavier Nady, Hideki Matsui, Nick Swisher, Brett Gardner, Cody Ransom, Angel Berroa

The pitching: CC Sabathia, Chien-Ming Wang, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Joba Chamberlain, Mariano Rivera, Brian Bruney, Damaso Marte, Dan Giese, Jose Veras, Phil Coke, Edwar Ramirez.

So there you have it. That's who I think will comprise the Yankees Opening Day roster, based on everyone making it through the spring without ending up on the DL. So what do you guys think? What do you disagree with and why? There are definitely some question marks and I'm curious what everyone else thinks.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Roster Changes And Tonight's Lineup

According to Pete Abraham's blog, the Yankees have made a few minor roster changes:

• The captain is back in the lineup. Question is how healthy is he? I'll take Jeter at 80%. Jeter at 80% is much better than a lot of other options.
• Wilson Betemit has been placed on the DL with pink eye. I wonder if someone farted on his pillow? Sounds like a bogus injury to make space for Alberto Gonzalez who is running circles around WB. Alberto is getting the start at 2B, something which I suggested yesterday. We really don't need Betemit. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets bounced before too long.
• Joba has been placed on the bereavement list while he's in Nebraska with his dad. Jonathan Albaladejo is being recalled from the minors to take Joba's place.

Here's the lineup for tonight's game. No Cano and no Gaimbi. I think a day off will do them good.

• Damon LF
• Jeter SS
• Abreu RF
• Rodriguez 3B
• Matsui DH
• Ensberg 1B
• Cabrera CF
• Moeller C
• Gonzalez 2B
• Kennedy RHP

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Accentuating The Positive

The Yankees just got finished getting their tails kicked by the Dev, err, Rays. Ken Singleton summed it up so nicely. It was a rotten game. I watched most of the game in fast forward, zipping ahead to each pitch. The wife is sick so I had to give our 7 month old son his bath, his bottle and then put him to bed. That process starts at about the same time as the first pitch is thrown. I joined the game about 48 minutes late and once I caught up, the wife and I watched this week's "Two And A Half Men." Hey, I've got to give her some TV time on Fridays. After I got done laughing pretty hard (it's a great show), I again zipped ahead through the game and once I was again caught up, it was time to watch "High School Reunion." Yawn. That took about 45 minutes and I got up to the live action just in time to watch them implode in the 8th. It wasn't fun to watch. The negatives definitely outweighed the positives. But there were a few bright spots which I want to make note of.

I mentioned in my recap post from yesterday that "we as Yankees fans should feel pretty comfortable with our bullpen." Tonight, that was half true. Jonathan Albaladejo was awesome. He came in and basically shut the rays down after he gave up a run-scoring double to his 1st batter. He gave the Yankees exactly what they needed. He ate up 2.2 IPs without giving up a run, striking out 4 Rays along the way. He looked pretty sharp throwing 23 of his 36 pitches for strikes. Most importantly he kept the game close. Too bad the bats didn't pick up the slack. It's also too bad he's likely on his way to Scranton. Pettitte comes back tomorrow and I'm pretty sure he's taking Abaladejo's roster spot. That's too bad. He has a lot of promise.

The performances of Ross Ohlendorf and Billy Traber should also be taken as signs of encouragement. Traber had an awesome spring and is showing that his spot on the roster is well-deserved. And I like Ohlie. He has a lot of upside and I hope that Girardi uses him in some tough spots because I think the kid will do a pretty good job when called upon.

Unfortunately, LaTroy Hawkins and everybody's favorite, Kyle Farnsworth, followed a great outing by the aforementioned three and promptly put the game well out of reach by giving up 7 runs between the two of them. It shouldn't have been as bad though because if Matsui caught that fly ball, who knows what would have happened. That ball should have been caught. No excuse for missing that. Thank God Damon is our regular everyday left-fielder because he catches that no problem. But he missed it and that's baseball. Hawkins still should have been able to shut the door and stop the bleeding. But he couldn't, and neither could Farnsworth. He's just as bad as he was last year. Right now, I can only hope that Girardi changes the depth chart of the bullpen and uses Traber and Ohlie more in trying to get the ball to Joba/Mo. Let Farnsworth and Hawkins do the mopping up.

The only other bright spot I noted was the double of the bat of Giambi. He took it the other way and that's not something we've seen much from Giambi in recent years. Hopefully he can keep that up.

The game couldn't have started any worse. You could tell right from the get go that Ian Kennedy didn't have it. Not a great start to the season. It seemed like everything he threw was landing in front of Molina. It kind of reminded me of my friend Don. He pitched on our high school baseball team and most of what he threw ended up going about 58 feet. It just seemed like Ike could never get it going. Just when you thought maybe he'd pull through, he digressed. I don't think it's anything to worry about. He'll bounce back. He's a control pitcher and i don't think the wildness will be an issue.

The offense was again for the most part non-existent. They had a nice little run there in the 4th. They were tagging Sonnanstine. 3 balls to the wall and one over. That's just a glimmer of what these guys are capable of doing. As the pen kept throwing goose eggs I thought for sure they would chip away at that lead. But like they've done all season, they just didn't get it going. It's early. Slow starts are common. No worries.

Pettitte makes his debut tomorrow. Should be interesting to see the crowd's reaction when he takes the hill. I imagine there will be a light smattering of boos amongst a lot of applause. If he can deliver a solid performance, all will be good in Andy's world. At least until he throws on the road.

Tomorrow is another day. Enjoy your night.

J-Boogie