13 Days And Counting Until The Opener

Spring training can't end soon enough. As much as I love it, I also hate it. The majority of the games aren't on TV or the radio. And the ones that are, are typically played during the day and I usually miss them, usually because I forget to check. I don't like blogging about the box scores so missing games kind of puts a crimp in my blogging duties. But whatever, it is what it is. In just under 2 weeks, the regular season begins and that problem goes away. At least I'll get to see tonight's Yankees/Sox game. It's on YES. A.J. Burnett gets the start. Jeter makes his return from the WBC. I know what I'll be watching tonight.

Here are some other random thoughts:

• Phil Hughes, despite pitching pretty well this spring (12.1 IP, 5 H, 7 BB, 8 K, 2.19 ERA), was assigned to the minor league camp. I'm not surprised by that. It doesn't make any sense to keep him as a long man. He also wasn't going to crack the top 5. He needs to get his innings in as a starter and the only place he can do that for now is in Scranton. So Phil, I'll see you in Buffalo on April 13-16.
• Kei Igawa, despite being almost perfect all spring (12.1 IP, 10 H, 8 BB, 13 K, 0.73 ERA), was sent to the minors. Igawa could have pitched a flawless spring and i still don't think he would have made the roster. Perhaps this increases his value a little bit but I don't see him ever pitching for the Yanks except in an absolute emergency. I kind of hope Cashman looks into dealing him. Igawa would do well out in the NL West. Not sure who is available out there but get rid of him while his stock is high. Correction, while his stock is higher. It was pretty low and I don't want to imply that Igawa's stock is high because it's not. It's still low, but it's better than it was. I wonder if they could deal Igawa and Melky anywhere?
• Joe Girardi has apparently said that Xavier Nady would be the starting RF if the season started today. To be honest, I'm not that high on Nady. I like him, but I think he played above his potential last year and he ended up doing so-so with he was with the Yankees. The problem is, Nick Swisher is the only other option, and he is just as undesirable. Sure he gets on base, but his average was in the toilet last year and he whiffs more than I care for. Neither is having a terribly impressive spring, but Nady is the obvious choice of the two.
• A-Rod apparently likes to spend time (and money) supporting the "world's oldest profession." WTF Alex? I don't even know what to say. I'm not surprised though. We've learned over the years that Alex likes to place his bat in many different bat racks. I vaguely remember hearing a story years ago that alleged that Alex and his wife Cynthia were swingers. I've always said that perhaps A-Rod and Cynthia had "an agreement" where he could do whatever (or whoever) he wanted to as long as it didn't become public. I actually wouldn't be surprised if a lot of ball players have that kind of agreement with their wives. I get that it's tough to be away from home for so long and needing that, well, you know. Who knows is A-Rod had the freedom to do that? That's only something that I'm sure he and Cynthia know. I can see that being a reason why Alex would go down this road. You'd think that paying for it would be one name to keep the indiscretion a secret since it's an illegal activity. Regardless, what the heck is he thinking? He's pretty much the biggest name in baseball and he keeps making one bad decision after another. It wouldn't surprise me if one day we learned that he killed somebody. Actually, it would, but I'm sure you see my point. Every time something comes out about A-Rod, it gets worse and worse. He needs to get his act together. He's ours for another 9 years.
• Congrats to Japan on winning their 2nd straight WBC.
• Curt Schilling, everyone's favorite blow-hard, is hanging up his spikes. Like him or not, you can't argue that he had a great career. I haven't really looked into whether or not he's a HOFer. My initial reaction is that he falls just short, and I mean just short. That opinion could change of course and it probably will as it's that close. It's like 50.1% of me says he's not and 49.9% of me says he is. I think he was one of the best pitchers in the past 20 years. I also think that of Mike Mussina, and by a lot of accounts, he just misses also. I'm pretty sure when it's all said and done, both will be enshrined in Cooperstown.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Joba Unimpressive In Spring Debut

Well, we finally got to see one of the Yankees starting 5 today. Too bad the outing was far from impressive. Joba, in my opinion, looked terrible. I wrote the other day that I don't really look at a pitcher's line when judging a spring outing. I look more at their control and their velocity. Joba threw 21 pitches, 11 for strikes, 10 for balls. Not a good strike-to-ball ratio. The Twins were on his pitches and that had a lot to do with Joba's velocity, or should I say lack thereof. His fastest pitch topped out at 90, which I think he hit only once. The majority of the pitches he threw were fastballs and most were in the mid-high 80s, ranging from 85-89, with most being at the lower end of that range. Joba, when in mid-season form, usually has his fastball hitting in the mid-to-upper 90s. He was about 10 mph below what he usually does. That velocity should increase throughout the spring as his arm strength builds up. By the time Opening Day rolls around, he'll have that pop back, and that should lead to better outings.

Jose Veras on the other hand did impress me. His fastball was consistently in the low 90s, hovering around 93. He struck out 2 and should have whiffed the side except the home plate ump called a ball on what was obviously strike 3 to Denard Span. Veras had a nasty hook working today.

Put Dan Giese in the unimpressive category. He didn't do too hot. It's early, he'll bounce back. I still like him for the swingman role.

Kei Igawa had a surprisingly nice outing. He still has no shot at heading north with the club, even he runs the table and pitches a scoreless spring.

The offense had a pretty solid day. Through the 1st two times through the lineup, everyone had reached base via a hit or walk except for Jose Molina, Nick Swisher and Johnny Damon. Swisher did reach on an error and Damon did have a successful sac bunt that eventually led to a run, so I won't hold that against him. They're getting on base. That's a good sign. You can't score runs if you're not on base.

Jorge Posada was scratched from today's game because of "soreness in his right shoulder." According to Bryan Hoch's article, Posada says, "I played yesterday with it, and I could play today. It doesn't hurt me to throw, and it doesn't hurt me to hit. It's just sore. "I knew there was going to be soreness. I was expecting it to be a little bit earlier than now. Since everything was going so well, we kept going. It's just a little bump in the road. I think it's going to be fine." I don't think it's anything to be overly concerned with but it's something to keep an eye on.

And I'm still lovin' Jose Molina's arm!

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Pettitte Cruises, Yanks Burn Rays 5-0

Andrew Eugene Pettitte. He was the man tonight baby. 8 stellar shutout innings. He threw strikes, kept runners of base, and pitched his way to his 10th win. Andy has been absolutely outstanding lately. 7-1 in his last 10 starts. He rebounded quite nicely from his last start against the Red Sox. The key today for me was that Andy didn't walk anyone. The Rays are a speedy team and the last thing the Yanks need is to let these guys have at the basepaths. Andy has always been a stronger pitcher in the 2nd half. I've said it before. I'll say it again. Looks like the 2nd half started early.

The Yankees need this from Pettitte. Joba, Moose, and Pettitte are a strong 1-2-3. If the Yanks can get solid outings from these 3, which they have been, we could be looking at a serious run if the offense gets going, and if the bottom 2 in the rotation can squeeze out a win here and there. Rasner and Ponson don't excite me too much. I think we're going to see some other guys get those starts real soon. I hate to say this but Kei Igawa is having a pretty solid year in Scranton. Igawa is currently 8-4 with an ERA of 3.82. Maybe he gets another shot? Igawa right now is too good for AAA but not good enough for MLB. He's been a colossal bust so far. But at the rate Sidney Ponson is going, he probably won't do any worse.

Still feeling a little underwhelmed with the offense, but not as much as I was yesterday. But not too many teams have great offensive explosions against Scott Kazmir, so I guess it's all good. Robbie Cano continues to impress. His 11 pitch at-bat against Jason Hammel was the at-bat of the game. That AB was a great indication that Cano has finally turned the corner. Robbie had another multi-hit game tonight. The 8th in his last 13 games. Robbie hitting is going to be clutch. He's a natural hitter and at the end of the year he'll be hitting about .300. Mark my words. 5 Yanks had 2 hits tonight. Abreu being one and boy did he need those. Bobby has been slumping, 0-15 in his last 4 games, and 4-30 in his last 8. Any night your 2, 3 and 5 hitters rack up 2 hits is a good night I suppose.

When Melky was down 0-2 in the 8th and was 1 strike away from a golden sombrero, I was sitting there thinking, man they got to trade for someone that can hit. I like his range and arm, but he's been horrible at the plate. And sure enough, he goes yard. Build on that Melk. Build on it.

I blogged a few days ago that the Yanks would be in trouble against the Sox and the Rays with Posada behind the plate. Girardi must have heeded my advice because Molina has been behind the dish the last 4 games. He's had an amazing arm all year. I had no idea coming into tonight's game he has gunned down 12 straight runners and how high his caught stealing percentage was. I don't remember the exact % of caught runners but it's a few percentage points under 50%, like 47 point something, one of the tops, if not the top in MLB. Jose Mo has been a blessing for the Yanks this year. His bat has certainly cooled but you can't put a price on valuable his arm has been. Definitely one of Cashman's better signings in my opinion.

Is it me or has Jeter's range improved in the last few days? Granted Dioner Navarro isn't the fastest dude out there but he had to cover some serous ground to nab him at 2nd with his patented jump throw. That was awesome. He's also gotten to a few balls that I thought were surely destined for center field. Regardless, I'm liking what I'm seeing from the Captain. People think he's overrated and I'm inclined to disagree. And I'm not being biased when I say that. Here's what I find funny: Jeter won last year's Gold Glove, which is voted on by managers and coaches. Yet when players are surveyed about who they feel is overrated, Jeter tops the list. Seems odd to me that coaches/managers respect his defense but everybody bags on his defense and thinks he's overrated. I'm sorry, but I respect the opinion of coaches/managers more than pretty much anyone else. People need to stop hating.

Tomorrow is a day game which is good and bad. I can't watch it on TV because of work but I can listen to it on my radio, though I can never devote 100% attention to it. I'd miss it anyway if it were a night game due to softball. So I'll take what I can get. Sidney Ponson gets the ball tomorrow. Ugh. In his 2 starts as a Yankee he's allowed 14 hits and 7 walks in 11 innings. Surprisingly, he's 1-0 in those 2 starts, the beneficiary of some run support as the Yanks scored 27 runs in his 2 starts. I think they'll need all the runs they can tomorrow. It'll be tough because they always struggle with Edwin Jackson. In his 2 starts against them this year, Jackson is 1-0, giving up only 1 run in 13 innings. I'm not excited about their chances but they're definitely capable of running this winning streak to 4 and picking up another game on the first place Rays. Sorry, that's still weird to say.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

9th Inning Rally Falls Short, Yanks Lose 6-5

Shelley. Shelley. Shelley. I thought he tied the game up there for a split second but the ball hung up there longer than I thought it would. Crap. Props to Jim Leyland for issuing the intentional walk to Matsui. That call won the game. Brilliant. It's too bad they had no one else to go to. Shelley isn't exactly what I would call an offensive threat.

Did anybody really think that Kei Igawa was going to pitch well? He's turning out to be a huge bust. I know the plan is to have Igawa throw again on Wednesday but come on, they can't trot him out there again can they? God I hope not. With Kennedy at least I feel like there's a fighting chance. The Tigers hit Igawa hard and often. 11 hits to 20 batters. Not a good ratio. Not even an average ratio. Not even a poor ratio. What's worse than poor? Whatever it is, that pretty much sums up Igawa. Send him back to Scranton on a 1 way ticket.

The Yankee bullpen looked good tonight. Jonathan Albaladejo, LaTroy Hawkins and Edwar Ramirez combined for 5 shutout innings. They kept the Yanks in the ball game and gave the offense the opportunity to get the team back in the game. It's too bad that they waited until the 9th to try and claw they're way back in.

It wasn't a bad night at the plate. They had their chances but in typical Yankee fashion they couldn't get it done. They had 2 on with 1 out in the 3rd....nothing. They had 2 on and 1 out in the 5th....nothing. Two on in the 6th....nothing. Tying run at 2nd, go ahead run at 1st in the 9th and Duncan flies out to CF. The bottom of the order had a pretty good night. Multi-hit games from Betemit, Giambi and Cano. Giambi and Cano's averages are on the rise. The Yankees need that. If this team is going to get out of the lose 2, win 2, lose 3, win 3 funk that they're in, they're going to need consistent production from Robbie and Jason, especially with Jorge and A-Rod on the shelf.

I really don't like Wilson Betemit. Get well soon Alex.

My buddy and I are making the trip to Detroit (from Buffalo) for tomorrow's game. It'll be my first live game this season. I've been looking forward to it for a month now. I'm about .500 at Yankee games attended in person. One of the losses was game 7 of the 2004 ALCS. That still stings. I'm hoping to bring back a Yankee win. The post for tomorrow's game will likely be combined with Sunday's post. I've got to get up and leave at about 5am and I'll probably get back around 1-2am, and with Sunday being Mother's Day, I probably won't get to blog until after the game on Sunday. Enjoy the game and I might as well say this now for Sunday....Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. Enjoy your day.

Peace, Love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie