Injury Updates

Pedro Feliciano who signed a 2 year, 8 Million dollar contract with the Yankees this past offseason injured himself during spring training.  He is recovering from a torn shoulder capsule and yesterday the Yankees announced that he suffered another setback. He will be shut down for at least another week before he is even allowed to throw a ball again, and it’s doubtful that he will pitch at all for the rest of the season.  Great Signing!

Eric Chavez started out the season hot with the Yankees, but then fractured his foot in May.  He has been working on rehabbing the foot, but then a week or two ago suffered a setback with an unrelated back injury.  In the past week, the Yanks have announced that Chavez has suffered a new injury and is being sent to New York for tests on his abdomen.  Turns out it was a kidney stone and he was sent back to Tampa.  Looks like he has a case of Nick Johnson Syndrome.  Hopefully he can rejoin the Yanks this season, but I wouldn’t count on it.

Rafael Soriano has been working down in Tampa and has been throwing off a mound.  Although he hasn’t faced batters yet, he has been throwing bullpen sessions.  So far he has only thrown fastballs in these bullpen sessions, but has been making progress lately.  I think it’s very likely that he will return to the Yankees following the All Star Break.  He may be with the Yankees when the go up to Toronto next weekend if he continues his progress.  I suppose that drops Robertson back to the 7^th inning guy.

Mariano Rivera has not been placed on the DL but has a nagging elbow issue since blowing the save against the Mets this past Sunday.  Mo says it’s nothing serious and I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he is telling the truth.  Girardi said Mariano wasn’t available last night, but it’s very possible to see him play against the Rays this evening.  The injury seems to be nothing more than elbow soreness.

Damaso Marte who is recovering from a shoulder injury threw a bullpen session yesterday.  Last season he had shoulder surgery and was not expected to pitch this entire season.  It looks like there is a chance, albeit a very small chance, that Marte could rejoin the team later this season.  Don’t hold your breath though.

Joba Chamberlain was sidelined with Tommy John surgery and is light years away from pitching again. I think it’s doubtful he will return next year, and if he does I doubt he would be reliable.  Most pitchers need a full season of recovering before they are effective again.  Poor Joba.

New Joba Rules

Overall the bullpen has been doing it’s job this season and the 7^th, 8^th & 9^th innings are locked down for the most part.  Joba has taken over the 7^th inning since Soriano is now Mo’s setup man.  He has been doing a great job with a few exceptions.  Joba has now pitched in 10 games so far (out of 16) and only allowed a hit in 4 of those games.  His ERA is 3.63 but it’s only that high due to three problematic outings this season.  The first came against Detroit in that opening series on April 3.  Joba allowed three hits & one run.  I like to think this was just a bad start for Joba.  There really doesn’t seem to be much reason to it.

The next hit he allowed was not until April 10 against Boston.  Joba did not have a good outing that game when he allowed 2 Hits, 2 Walks and 2 Earned Runs.  What should be noted is Joba pitched the day before against the Red Sox and delivered a scoreless inning.  It seems the Yankees used him two days in a row and he had some problems on the second day.

The Yankees then used him three games in a row on April 14, April 16 & April 17.  The first of those games, April 14, Joba was lights out for 1.2 innings allowing no hits.  This was possibly his best appearance so far this season.  He then pitched again two days later on the 16^th and pitched a scoreless inning, allowing only 1 hit. 

The Yankees then pushed their luck and used him two days in a row and three times in four days, when he pitched on the 17^th.  Joba had a terrible outing on the 17^th allowing his only blown save of the season.  He didn’t last a full inning either after Girardi pulled him after allowing a run.

It’s a very small sample size but it seems like Joba shouldn’t be pitching two days in a row.  When he pitches two games in a row, he gets hit hard and is wild.  Joba is actually having quite an impressive season and I think he looks better than last year already.  His slider looks like Joba from 2007 and his fastball is averaging 93.6 mph.  The highest his fastball hit this season, so far, was slightly higher than 96 mph. Last season he averaged a 94.6 mph fastball, but I have a feeling Joba’s velocity will get higher as the weather gets warmer and he adjusts.

 Maybe it’s time for Girardi to impose some new Joba rules, and not allow him to pitch two days in a row, at least for the first couple months of the season.  Robertson is always a good option when there is more than a 1 run lead.

The State of the Yankees

The Yankees tied the series 1-1 after today's win against the Rangers and maintained their half game lead in the AL East.  The Yankees are now 8-5 on the season.

Freddy Garcia pitched 6 scoreless innings and got the win.  Garcia pitched very well, especially for a guy who hasn't started since March 29, nearly three weeks ago.  He doesn't have the speed that he used to, but Garcia is a different pitcher these days.  His fastballs are only hitting 87-88 mph, but his command today was perfect.  Garcia mixed in breaking pitches and offspeed pitches, that kept the Rangers guessing all day.  He only allowed 2 hits, as the Rangers looked confused against him.

The bullpen came in and finished things off with Chamberlain in for the 7th, Soriano in the 8th and of course Mo finishing it off in the 9th getting his 6th save of the season.  The bullpen has looked dominant so far, and today was no exception although Soriano came close to giving up a homer to Beltre today.  The Yankees bullpen has only allowed 3 Earned Runs in the past 23 innings!

The last two games, the Rangers have used left handed starting pitching.  The Yankees bat Jeter leadoff against lefties due to his strong career numbers against lefty pitchers.  Since Gardner is having some trouble offensively, Andruw Jones has been starting in left field.  Without Gardner in the lineup, Nick Swisher gets moved up in the batter order to #2.  He seems to like batting in the 2-spot, as Swish has four hits over the last two games batting second.  This formula seems to be working so far.

Tomorrow night the Yankees will try to win this series before hitting the road to Toronto & Baltimore.  CC Sabathia will get the final start against Alexi Ogando.  Sabathia has yet to get a win despite strong starts and only a 1.45 ERA.  Ogando who is a converted relief pitcher, is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA.  He has pitched 13 scoreless innings over his previous two starts.  He has never started a game against the Yankees and has only pitched very limited innings in relief, so tomorrow may be a battle of starting pitchers.  Hopefully CC will get a win already!

Burnett will pitch Tuesday in Toronto but after him the starting rotation is a big question mark.  Hughes has been placed on the DL with a "dead arm" so Colon will likely take his spot, but it may be possible to see Nova get the start on Wednesday in order to allow Colon to try and stretch himself out a bit.  Right now, Colon can only pitch about 80 pitches.  Since the Yankees have Thursday off, that should give Freddy Garcia the chance to pitch Friday night in Baltimore, followed by Sabathia who would pitch Saturday giving him 5 days rest.  It's entirely possible that Sabathia may pitch Friday rather than Saturday and Garcia or Colon would start Saturday night. 

Girardi needs to make some big decisions with the starting rotation as the only reliable starters are CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett, although after last season, I don't think anybody likes using "reliable" as a adjective to describe Burnett. 

Things Going As Planned

The bullpen situation for the Yankees has gone pretty much as planned.  Plug Joba in to fill the 7th inning, then Soriano for the 8th and Mo to close it out.  Last night Joba looked sharp and didn't allow any hits in the 7th inning.  Soriano continued to prove himself as a great signing by Cashman and Mo continues to be.... Mo!  With three relievers to dominate the last three innings of a game, the Yankees have essentially created a game that lasts 6 innings.  As long as the Yankees can take a lead early in the game, there is little chance they will lose the game.


Side Notes

Ivan Nova looked sharp last night.  His fastball had movement and was always down in the zone.  He had no problems the first time through the order, and although he got himself in a little jam in the 4th inning (Jim Thome is still a threat!), he pitched himself out of trouble, causing Mauer to ground out on a curveball to end the inning.  If Nova continues to battle batters the second and third time through the lineup, he will have a great season.  We already know how dominant he is the first time through the batting order.

The Yankees have now won the last 18 of 20 games against the Twins.... poor Gardenhire!

Tonight they play again and it looks like Jeter will get the leadoff spot in the order as Andruw Jones will be starting in the outfield giving either Granderson or Gardner the day off.

Arod is continuing the hot streak from spring training, hitting another A-Bomb last night.  I think I speak for most fans when I say..... Save a little for October!!!

A Simulated Day

Not much to report from Yankees camp yesterday as the Yankees had an off-day. Only Sabathia and Colon were the only players doing any work yesterday when they pitched against one another in a simulated game. Both pitched a scoreless 12 simulated innings to a small group of minor league prospects.

The only thing noteworthy about this game was Russell Martin behind the plate. This was an opportunity for Martin to get behind the plate and do a little training with CC. Martin seems to be getting along well with all the pitchers in camp and really trying to understand their personalities, so when it’s crunch time, he can work with the pitchers rather than just agitating them. Not only is it important to have the personal connection with them, but yesterday they worked on the little things that happen during a game. Martin got a feel for Sabathia’s pitches and what types of pitches CC likes to use in different counts.

I am still uncertain whether Colon is a serious candidate for the 5th spot in the rotation, but the Yankees seem to like him.  He has some great numbers this spring and has been pitching well, but as we have seen over the past fiver years, he can't stay healthy.  Coming into camp at 275 pounds doesn't give me much faith that he will be healthy for more than half a season either.  I suppose in the next two weeks we will find out whether the Yankees are ready to cut Mitre or send Nova to AAA to make room for Colon..... or we will find out today that Joba is more injured that previously though and nobody will have to be cut or send down.

Crossroads for Joba

From the weight issues to the trade rumors, Joba has been a hot topic of discussion this spring training.  He came into camp noticeably heavier but claimed it had to do with his offseason workouts.  He said he built a gym in his house and was working out more, so he gained somewhere between 20 - 25 pounds.  I find this to be somewhat unlikely, especially since he still looks like a fat guy, and refuses to discuss it further with the media.  Cashman has been conspicously tight lipped about this as well, most likely because there is a chance Joba can be worked into a trade deal.  

It seems like Joba may be at the crossroads of his career.  Reports from Tampa indicated during Monday's game, numerous scouts were keeping a close eye on Joba.  (More than usual for a spring training game)  Now that Joba has been replaced as the 8th inning set-up man for Mo, there is a good chance the Yankees bullpen may be strong enough without him.  They will have Mitre as the long man and Robertson made a great debut these last two seasons.  With Feliciano and Logan as the lefties, the bullpen looks solid.  Joba can make great trade bait, but the Yankees can't just give him up for nothing.  Bottom line is the Yankees need a strong starter for the #4 or #5 spot.... or even #3 if AJ has a season that looks like last year.

 

Joba's performance this spring has been OK.  He had a perfect inning this yesterday and this past Monday.  His fastball is in the 92-94 mph range right now, which is higher than where it's been during past spring trainings.  He changed his mechanics slightly by starting his hands at his waist, which makes it look as though he is starting from the stretch.  Working out of the stretch was a problem for him last year, but his new routine is being credited for improving his fastball.  If he has a good fastball, the rest of the pitches will improve as a result.  

He also pitched last Saturday and allowed 2 runs on 2 hits over 1 inning.  He was not as sharp as his previous appearance the previous week against the Astros when he had 2 scoreless innings which included a double play to end one inning, after allowing 2 singles.  Maybe it was from experience, or from the mechanics, or it just could be spring training numbers which mean nothing, but I personally think the double play was a good sign that indicates even when he gets into a little jam, he can pitch through it.  His numbers this spring are very limited and not indicative of his performance, but he has a 3.60 ERA, with 6 Hits, 2 Walks, and 2 strikeouts in 6 total innings.

Many rumors have been swirling about the Yankees looking to trade Joba for Liriano.  I don't think the team is planning on trading him anytime soon.  In fact, I think they really want to see how he begins the season and how the team begins the season before they make a move.  Spring training numbers are good, but ultimately they are not very indicative of results over the full season.  The Yankees also want to keep an eye on how Liriano develops this spring since he complained of shoulder tightness a week or two ago.  Reports from the Twins indicated Liriano didn't do the strength training exercises during the offseason, which most likely led to the shoulder tightness once he began throwing again.  If that is not a sign to hold off, I dont know what is. 

If the Twins were willing to deal Liriano, I would assume the Twins would want something more than Joba in this trade (likely one of the Killer B’s), so it would be a good deal for them.  Joba is getting paid nearly nothing (1.4 Mil), will be arbitration eligible again next season, and the Twins could benefit with having Joba as the set up man for Nathan.  Losing Liriano would hurt them, but they do have a good starting core:  Pavano (I know, I know), Baker, Duensing, Blackburn, & Slowey.  Adding somebody like Joba to take care of middle relief for them could really benefit them and they may actually be able to win a game against the Yankees in the playoffs.

To make this trade more enticing to the Twins, Joba needs to stay healthy.  By “Staying Healthy” I mean, losing some weight and not looking like such a sweaty drunk while on the hill.  Having David Wells in Yankees camp to help train some of the pitchers is a huge mistake since it seems like Joba is facing some of the same negative issues Wells faced…. Like being a drunk and off field distractions.  Although Wells goes down in Yankees lore as part of those legendary teams, realistically he caused many problems in the clubhouse and was not always loved the way he is now.   

Hopefully we will see more of the Joba we saw in 2007-2008, and even possibly losing a few pounds.  If other teams see improvement, we may have an opportunity to land a legitimate 4 or 5 starter.  One way or another, he must get a new photo of himself to use on the big screen  ----->