Down In the Minors

Soriano pitched for the first time last night since going on the DL and had a decent first outing.  Although it doesn’t mean much as he was only pitching for the Tampa Class-A Yankees, Soriano had a perfect 1^st inning retiring the side 1-2-3.  The second inning is where he ran into some issues though and allowed a home run, a hit and a sac bunt.  Ultimately, he finished the day with 21 pitches over 1.1 innings striking out 1 batter – Not an overwhelming performance from 2010’s save’s leader!

Before going on the DL Soriano had been inconsistent in the mere 15 innings he pitched.  He had a 5.40 ERA with 15 hits over those 15 innings, but also a problematic 11 walks.  Prior to yesterday’s outing, Girardi had told the press that Soriano was looking at a minimum of 3 rehab appearances before even being considered for a call-up to the Yanks.  There was some discussion as to whether Robertson would be kept in the 8^th inning slot, but Girardi wouldn’t confirm one way or another.  It’s Probably best for Girardi to keep tight-lipped about this as Soriano seems to be a bit sensitive.

Eric Chavez played in last night’s Class-A Game as well in his first rehab appearance.  Chavez, who was the DH, went 0-3 on the night with a walk.  He played again today in the afternoon game (DH again) and did much better.  Chavez went 4-5 this and scored 2 runs.  He is scheduled to play again tomorrow as the third baseman.  It is doubtful that Chavez will return to the Yankees terribly soon as he has been out since May 6, and should need a decent amount of at bats to get back in the groove but today’s game was a good start!

Although Ivan Nova isn’t playing in Class-A ball, he was sent down to Triple-A when Phil Hughes was called up.  He has done pretty well in the first two starts for the Scranton Yankees, but last night he left the game in the second inning with an ankle injury.  There has been a good amount of speculation regarding his injury but most reports indicate that it is not serious and probably only a ‘rolled’ ankle.  Assuming Nova isn’t seriously hurt, there is a good chance that he could make a spot start for the Yankees in one of the doubleheader games on July 30.

You Can Read More About Nova's performances down in Triple-A  HERE