The Yankees got through April relatively unscathed, but hurtin’ time arrived this past week with Nick Johnson (stiff back), Jorge Posada (knee contusion/calf strain), Alex Rodriguez (sore knee/fatigue), and Mariano Rivera (side tightness) all missing games due to aches and pains of varying degrees. Amid all of that, Curtis Granderson suffered a major injury, a Grade 2 groin strain that will have him out until June, but thus far the injuries have only revealed the Yankees’ depth.
Joba Chamberlain saved Monday night’s game in Rivera’s stead. Brett Gardner and Randy Winn delivered unexpected home runs in Granderson’s absence, and Marcus Thames, who has been raking all season, actually made a nifty sliding play in left field with Gardner relocated to center. Francisco Cervelli has played well in Posada’s place, hitting .346 in his limited opportunities and even making his first regular season appearance at third base, adding to the team’s infield depth. Nick Swisher has flipped the switch in his home park, leading the Yankee charge of late by picking up eight hits, including two homers, in his last 12 at-bats, and Phil Hughes has been everything the Yankees had hoped Javy Vazquez would be and more, starting the season 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA.
That’s not to say that these aches and pains won’t start hurting the team as a whole if they keep piling up. Winn and Gardner aren’t likely to go deep again any time soon (after homering on Sunday, Gardner said “That’s my one for the year.”). Thames remains a butcher in left. Cervelli’s bat is cooling. Hughes is due for a big correction given his .158 opponents’ average on balls in play (though I think he’ll survive it). Not every starter is going to hand the ball directly to Joba the way CC Sabathia did last night. The good news is that Johnson and Rodriguez are back in the lineup, Rivera could be back as soon as tonight but more likely tomorrow, and Posada is merely day-to-day.
An encouraging sign regarding Posada, who is expected to return to the lineup for the opener of the Boston series on Friday and can pinch-hit in the meantime, is that outfielder Greg Golson, not a third catcher, is the minor leaguer being called up tonight to restore the “balance” on the roster to four men on the bench and seven in the bullpen. Sadly, Mark Melancon will once again board the Scranton shuttle to make room having made just one appearance in his time with the big club.
Golson is here because he’s on the 40-man roster, is a legitimate center fielder, and has good fifth-outfielder tools (speed and defense). Still, I’m a bit frustrated to see him because the 24-year-old wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire for Scranton (.253/.289/.430 with four steals in four tries), and it was my assumption that the Yankees claimed Golson off waivers as a high-upside fixer-upper. To be fair, his strikeout rate is way down (from one every 3.6 plate appearances in Double-A in 2008 to one every seven PA in the early going this year), which is a good sign, but I wouldn’t consider him ready for the big reveal just yet and there are other Scranton outfielders who are off to better starts and could have been added to the 40-man at the expense of perpetually injured righty Christian Garcia, who just underwent a second Tommy John surgery. David Winfree (.301/.344/.470) and Colin Curtis (.339/.435/.441) aren’t center fielders, but I’d be fine with Randy Winn as an emergency backup to Brett Gardner with Golson a game away should Gardner get hurt.
The other good news is that the Orioles are still in town for two more days. Tonight, O’s rookie Brian Matusz takes on A.J. Burnett. Twenty-three-year-old lefty Matusz, a first-round draft pick in 2008, is off to a solid start in his first full big-league campaign. His last three starts, including a game at Fenway and a loss to the Yankees in Baltimore, were quality starts, and he has struck out 29 men in 30 2/3 innings on the season while allowing just two home runs (one to Robinson Cano).
A.J. Burnett has been superficially better, but on closer examination has only been more dominant in his three quality starts, while posting inferior overall peripherals. Burnett flat-out dominated the O’s in his last start, holding them scoreless on three singles and a walk over eight innings, but he has struck out just seven men in his last 14 1/3 innings and struck out just one in seven frames in his second start of the season. Burnett hasn’t been walking as many men as he usually does either, and hasn’t had a real disaster start yet either, but his perfect 3-0 record and 2.43 ERA imply a consistent dominance that hasn’t really been there.
Of course, I’m always down on Burnett, always expecting his next start to be a disaster. Still, I think if the Orioles are going to pull out a win in this series, tonight’s their best chance, with Matusz on the hill, Posada on the shelf, Rivera’s availability in question, and Burnett (who, according to the two alter kockers in my section last night, “has a lot of jailhouse tats”) taking the ball for the home nine.
Joe Girardi’s lineup against the lefty Matusz has Marcus Thames in left, Derek Jeter at DH, Ramiro Peña at shortstop, and Francisco Cervelli catching, with Nick Swisher batting second and a bottom four behind Robinson Cano of Thames, Brett Gardner, Cervelli, and Peña.
Greetings from section 233a row 10. Let's go Yanks.
Hi Diane!
(I'm jealous. :)
[1] Lucky dog!
[1] Is your seat in the Grandstand? Terrace level... Main level? RF? LF?
Wow, so Derek recommends "American History X."
Kim asked him for a movie recommendation and I was expecting him to blurt out some generic blockbuster.
So Derek does actually have personality beyond that unrevealing glib humor of his.
Diane!
Have fun. Please. We're all punning for you.
Yeah, Derek!
Boo! Unproductive out! Boo!
BUMMER!
Did everyone see this from River Ave.?
[9] Funny you should bring that up, RI. No, I didn't see that, but it makes perfect sense. I was just musing on Gardner's swing yesterday, thinking how much I love it, how incredibly short it is and how effective.
It's so old-school. I've found it a pleasure to watch him just slap the ball around like that.
Pirates - Cubs on tv here, so exciting!
3/4 empty (but beautiful!) PNC Park
awful Pirates team
old and boring Cubs team
hysterical but sad signboard behind home plate, now that the Pirates have Iwamura Akinori they are trying to cash in on some Japanese advertisements..but unsuccessful so far so the sign just says in Japanese "Ads Wanted!, signs@pirates.com...18th straight losing season seems unavoidable..
Go Yanks!
[10] Yeah, Mike Axisa has a very nice little entry explaining why Brett is doing so well this year. It's so simple: he's putting the ball in play, and on the ground. That plus his wheels = eye-popping Batting Average.
Ah, nice easy inning for AJ. He's locating well, that's so key for him.
[5] I'm still waiting for someone to mention Clue.
One of the most underrated movies of all time
That Mets team scored 706 runs
[9] Gardner is doing a better job putting the ball on the ground, but the sample is so small that I am not sure you can draw many conclusions from it. Gardner has had hot stretches before, so we'll see if he has really made the necessary adjustment.
Gameday has AJ Burnett throwing a sinker and a knucklecurve as well as a 92mph changeup. Since I've been following gameday more closely, I am really starting to doubt its accuracy.
[15] It's not a prediction, really, just an explanation of what he's been doing better.
I think the Pitch f/X is good with the speed and the break, but not good at telling you what kind of pitch it is. For some reason it's guessing that some of the sinkers are change-ups.
What's with Atkins? He hit CC, too.
"Wait a minute, time out, forget Michael..."
I fucking *love* Leiter.
Andy has 232 wins.
It's getting to the point where that's nearly HOF material, right?
Wtf?
Fucking sloppy defense.
Looks like another predicatable AJ implosion. Game could be lost right here.
Gah. Dammit AJ.
Stay calm, AJ.
One more, AJ.
[16] Gotcha...the explanation seemed obvious to me. What's more interesting is can he keep it up.
Yah! Delightful AJ!!!
Very impressive, AJ.
Very impressive.
Very impressive.
That inning was an AJ Burnett microcosm. Nutjob in a nutshell.
Excellent job by AJ...not only his performance, but his ability to regain his composure.
very nice recovery. i thought that inning was going to explode on him.
i wonder how many writers are going to get on frankie b for fist pumping behind the plate?
[26] Heheh. Indeed. Nutjob in a nutshell. Indeed.
What a stupid dive. Man, didn't their right fielder just do that the other day?
Wow, what an ill-advised dive.
nice rip - jones probably shouldn't have laid out for that one
Nice job, little guys.
[15] It does make one hope that he can put up a .280/ .340 / .360 Line or better. With his speed, D and (at least a) .700 OPS, he's a nice 'Worst Starter' on the team.
So far in this series, our top six batters really suck, and our bottom three really rock.
his stuff is hard as hell to catch tonight
That slider is just killing people, though Leiter keeps calling it a curve.
Whoa!!
Look at little Frankie!
Ha hah!!
haha good for frankie b
FRANKIE BRAINS!!!
I wonder if AJ got a new shrink or something.
Frankie kinda look like a young Tom Sizemore to me ...
quote of the night, from Michael Kay, "I scare kids, because of my head ..."
Ooooh, did you see that hit?
Good old Frosty.
[42] I know, too funny.
Opposite field.
Damn, Thames got his pitch to hit, just missed it.
[41] yeah a little, maybe like in this pic
he was a good looking dude before all the shit.
[42] [43] mk has been extra weird lately.
ooh tims caught it
The "Atlanta Crackers?"
Seriously?
As in, "yeeehaw!"?
Oh, man, just what the doctor ordered.
Oh, Robbie!
What I love about those plays to the right
WAIT, there was a baseball team called the ATLANTA CRACKERS?!?!?!
ahem, continuing on, what I love about those plays to Robbie's right is the way he throws on the run, calculating the necessary amount of break that his throw will naturally have and still nails Teixeira in the chest with the ball.
Very, very impressive athletics!
[51] "Calculating."
Interesting theory.
How 'bout that Brett Gardner?
"You have to walk before you can run."
-Grit Brettner
[51] Amazing, no? But I guess if we can be the New York Yankees, they can be the Atlanta Crackers.
[52] one can calculate without being calculating!
=)
[51] And yes, of course, Robbie's amazing too, precisely for the reasons you say.
Here we go again: a utility guy who can't even bunt.
How?
That was an awful bunt attempt.
Oh, good, Joe is "making moves".
Wow!
They really, really suck at the defense.
[59] But I'll take #2!
[60] You'd have let Ramiro Pena swing away?
Nice of Matusz to return the favor.
[63] Hell yes.
Bottom of our order is OPSing something like .850 in this series. Top six, more like .300.
[65] Yeah, guess I don't have a problem with the bunt decision
That 2nd strike, however, stunk on ice.
Thanks, Blue.
It is always comes down to Arod
Alright Alex, time to drive the Score Truck.
Here's another entry in the ongoing series, who do Yankees remind you of ...
Mark Teixeira and Jon Seda (I've been watching The Pacific)
Hello All,
It's so nice to see the Yankees doing so much with so little. Lately on offense it seems that 10%of the salary is doing 90% of heavy lifting.
Dance, Frankie, DANCE!!!
So back in the day, did the Crackers play the Red Necks in the Southern League?
Nice call on the change, Al.
Very, very nice, Alex.
Very nice.
It's on you, Frosty!
Excellent. Great at bat.
Professional Hitter.
Meh.
Live by the RIPPER, die by the RIPPER.
86 pitches in the 5th. It just doesn't matter if it's a good starter. It takes middle relief to beat the yanks.
A little quick on the big swing big boy...
[71] No, actually, they began as the Red Necks but were forced to change their name to the Crackers when the Red Sox threatened to sue for infringement.
Oh, Rob.
Oh well. Lots of stress on Matusz, and a couple o' runs.
Go get 'em, AJ.
But it was a slow fastball in the strike zone... so I should just hush
Lucky stars for AJ today.
so far ole tims is using his one skill
Golson or Winn as a PR here.
Oh, so *now* Coffee Joe is asleep on the bench?
Well, I don't think *that* was in the strike zone ...
My, my, my ... Frankie Brains in da hizzy!
frankie b has the midas touch tonight
I CAN"T BELIEVE JOE DIDN"T CALL FOR PENA TO BUNT!
[68] cult i don't see the tex, jon seda comp
[86] He might as well have done it, given the results.
Something eating you?
[88] Oh, that was a joke.
Oh, it gets better, there were the Atlanta Black Crackers too... IIRC they folded when the Braves moved to town. A quick search on Wiki notes that a "Georgia Cracker" (which I presume was the basis of the team's name), were pioneers that settled in Georgia.
So, how does Mo feel? I saw the afternoon report, that he was going to throw a little and see how he felt, but nothing since then.
[89] ah ... I need to get the detectors on my intertubes fixed
=)
Dammit, AJ, stay CLOSED.
[91] it was kind of burried in the lohud pregame notes:
UPDATE, 6:12 p.m.: Rivera said he felt good after a 10 or 15 pitch bullpen session. He thinks he could pitch if necessary, but he hasn’t been told whether he’ll be available. “It’s early in the season and we have to make smart decisions,” he said.
[90] The Atlanta Black Crackers.
Oh, the oxymoronity of it all ...
[94] Hm, that word has a nice look to it. I just tried to say it and I can't, but it just looks good.
Lester and Santana locked in a 1-1 duel going to the eighth.
[90] Wow, cool.
"Georgia cracker."
Loin something new everyday.
Garrett Freaking Atkins. What the hell is up with Garrett Atkins? Our pitchers are shutting the rest of the team down and Garrett Atkins is tearing the joint up.
Uh oh ... the spinning of the cylinder begins ... soon it'll be time for bullpen roulette ...
Good point, Michael. The reason it feels like we're winning by more is because we've threatened and failed a lot.
Now how come that time Teix flipped?
Who said A.J. Burnett has only been superficially better?
Now we're due for the heart of our order!
[100] yeah that was odd, i thought he could have gone to the bag if he wanted to.
yes, there was a baseball team called the atlanta crackers. i know an old guy here in town who has a hat and license plate. in fact, i see the license plate around every now and again on the road. there was also a team called the atlanta black crackers.
when i moved south for work, i heard a bunch of terms i've never heard before, but i think it has some negative connotation. does 'cracker' mean 'honky', or something? i'm real naive when it comes to this stuff...
AJ's kickin' some booty! how bout some geico runs?!
"Line drive, base hit! Caught out there!"
[102] You say that like it's a good thing.
[104] Hey, what's up?
Yes. Well, not exactly "honky". It's more like "white trash".
"... sporting a rather zaftig ERA..." Oh, Michael Kay.
tex needs a weeks worth of 6-6. it is May, after all...
[107] oh, okay. "white trash" were a great band from queens! : )
[108] I know, he's been saying that a lot lately. Where'd that word come from, all of a sudden?
RI - keep us apprised of Snoop's AB
chipper and heyward just singled off tyler clippard. melky's up now...
[111] Who the hell is Snoop?
from andrew marchand's article on Po at espn:
"Running is going to be tough," Posada said.
um, isn't it always, jorgie?! ; )
let's go boBBy!!!
[113] erick aybar. last year playoffs. dreadlocks. ms. october. ...
i think he walked...
Eric Aybar walks, bases jammed with Halos.
I assume Aybar is not Snoop. Is Abreu Snoop? He's stepping in.
Bringing in a lefty to face Cano?
This reminds me of the line from Blazing Saddles ... "Oh no, don't take that. If you shoot him, you'll just make him angry!"
Damn, BoBBy choked on a high tight heater. GIDP.
melky has stranded 7 runners tonight. he's hovering at the mendoza line...
crap. boBBy hit into a dp. feh.
Back on the Grid. Atta Boy, Cano!
[116] yes aybar is snoop - it is a reference from "the wire"
i assume frankie b's young legs can handle a day game after a night game.
[120] Hey! Cable now, right? (I didn't get that backward did I?)
[120] yeah, you starting to settle in a bit?
[121] The first time in front of the Yanks on tv with my laptop since Thurs. and there's Snoop talk. ha.
a greg golson sighting! then again, i can't see anything - following yanks online, listenin' to braves on radio. don sutton on the mic.
[121] Aybar as Snoop? Sheeeeeeeeeeet! Boy ain't nothin'.
[124] entirely appropriate since you got it started :}
[123] Very much so. Picking up a lawnmower tomorrow and a nice flat screen soon enough. My head is spining.
Wait, yesterday was only Joba's second-ever save?
How can that be?
All that eighth inning work and only once did he spell Mo?
At what point does Girardi learn his lesson with Marte?
looks like wilson ramos won't become the 1st major leaguer in history to have 3 hits in his first 3 games. he's 0-2 in the 6th...
i'm pretty positive I woulda achieved the feat, but no team gave me the chance...
[131] I would have set you down every time.
[130] when marte starts throwing with his rh.
i take it golson is a better defensive outfileder than gritner.
Kevin Jepsen: not good at pitching.
[115] I nominate Ms. O for supreme grand poobah of the Official BB Nickname Committee.
[127] fuck. i thought you started it! see [115]. i thought it was his dreads. i don't know 'the office'...
[128] glad you're settling in! your head is "spining". that's like when chyll caught my typo of calling myself a "dummer"...!
marte. ugh...
[130] Well, this won't help ...
Maybe Marte should be a specialist who is brought into face righties?
[132] in a Clemens kinda way? i'm real fragile... : ~
[134] fuck.
[130] Oh well, that just bought Damaso another fifteen sucky LOOGY appearances.
squeeze ... and?
click.
squeeze ... and?
You know what?
I don't want any part of Tejada.
Put down four fingers and move on.
[139] But Big Papi comes through! Grounds into a 4-2-3 DP!
[136] just fair started it - and then we both ran with it along with raging.
yes, it was the hair which he obviously doesn't have anymore - and no "the wire" is about as far away from "the office" as you get
[135] coincidentally enough grand puba was my nickname in high school :}
Now they've walked Beltre. Not smart. Bases loaded, two out for Hermida...
Sori has homered in 4 straight games. 5 total. 297 on his career.
That's it.
Walk him.
Don't fucking discuss shit.
Just put him on.
I knew that walk would bite them in the ass. Dammit. Hermida clears the bases with a double.
Now I'll worry about our game.
Yikes. Exhale AJ.
that was a little too close for comfort
I told you all.
There was no reason for that.
Fucking idiotic.
[147] THpppppphhhpppp!
squeeze and?
bang.
[144] doh! i can't even get the damn show right...
i'm NOT gonna ask why you had that nickname!!! huntsville...
[145] hermida came thru. dammit. : /
4-1 shit sox
[153] err, more like bangclick!
It's in Thailand!
[144] What??? You're kidding?
Wow, too hilarious!
how'd Ace get outta that?
[151] You can't put the tying run on base with a walk.
i don't know why miggy even bothered
[158] Yeah, but does Joe know that??? (Remember a few days ago he put the go-ahead on by IBB, also eighth inning. I'm sure you remember that!)
If Tejada let that roll, it could have been a double.
There he goes again.
And another ill-advised play by the Baltimore defense.
They really, really suck out there.
Put it on the ground and run, Slappy, on the ground and run!
jesus is trembley going to use every reliever tonight?
[151] Are you being facetious? You are, right?
I LOVE MINNY SODA!!!!!!
[160] Yes, I remember it well. He did it just so he could set up a Marte loogy matchup. Still, I'd like to think that not even Girardi would walk the tying run in the 8th inning (especially when the batter isn't the second coming of Barry Bonds).
[165] You're talking to yourself there, Weeping.
scot shields is not good at the pitching, either.
[169] For all the talk abot the Red Sox problems, the Angels have it worse (although at least they dont have to worry about the Yankees and Rays).
[167] Okay.
Unless he has a hunch.
Oh man, I hadn't seen Frankie Brain's triple, LOVE the helmet toss.
Gritner was out at 2nd, methinks.
It's really cool to have the Yanks winning with the likes of Gazoo Brains, Lil G', and Pena playing roles.
[168] And so I am!
[167] Yeah, I don't think that should be such a hard-and-fast rule. Tejada's not the second coming of Bonds, but he's really fucking good. He's the only guy on the team I'm afraid of and I just wouldn't let him beat us. He's just killed us so many times over the years.
Huh.
I think that was strategically incorrect, but on the other hand it was well executed.
Wow, that was much closer than I thought it would be.
That was an amazing throw.
haahahahahahhahahaahah.
Jesus, Gritner is recockulously fast.
that's 12 SB's for gritner. what's Rickey's team record for most in a season?
yes-mo shows some interesting interactions.
[176] Really?
That was a great throw ... and Gardner was still past the plate when Wieters went to catch it. Gardner is silly fast.
Gritner is the White Rickee Henderson ! (WRH)
[178] 92
[178] Looks like 93 in '88.
[174] In Tejada's prime, he might hit a HR every 25 PAs. You can't put the tying run on base in order to defense against a low probability play. Unless the batter is an extremely prolific HR hitter, it doesn't make sense to give the opposition a free baserunner.
[172] ooh, i'm gonna have to find the highlight of that!
[182] Hmmm, weird ... BR says 93.
i vote for Eirias to pitch the 9th! : )
see [132]
[186] that is weird
[182&3] thanks. i'll go with 92.5
[181] i guess white is the qualifier there, The Gritner is not The Ricky.
I like this Joba.
[184] I understand the logic, of course, of course. To which I can only explain, "Yeah, but Tejada spooks the fuck out of me the way Manny and Edgar Martinez spooked the fuck out of me."
I realize spookiness is not grounds to do the unorthodox thing, but still.
And he did *just* miss, after all.
[190] Nope.
Ricky was not at all gritty.
[192] Yes, but in a way, that's the point. Even when he does get a mistake pitch, and tags it... still, he'll turn it into an out at least some of the time.
In the eighth, the walk is almost as good, for the O's, as the homer.
[192] I guess my point is if Tejada scares you that much, then you are going to be giving out a lot of free passes.
As for just missing, that's kind of the point. It's hard to hit HRs. Even when you get the right pitch and hit it well, the ball doesn't always go over the wall.
[191] Well, I like him better than 2nd Half 2009 Joba and Spring Training 2010 Joba, but I sure do miss 2007 Joba and 1st Half 2008 Joba ... sigh.
Nice little win, boys.
too much speed between center and left
Golson and Gardner may be the two fastest outfielders in the game today.
But ... that'll do ... that'll do!
Ahhhh.
That was good -- it came close to being great. I liked the part when he kept missing bats.
joba joba joba.
there's another series in our back pocket. let's bust out the brooms manana!
Wow ... the Seattle v Tampa Bay game is currently stuck in 1/3rd speed mode ... Pinch me, I'm in a Pink Floyd video!
[194] [195] I know, I know, I know. What can I say? He spooks me. :)
frankie b is quite endearing
I have to say it, please excuse me.
JOBA, JOBA, DO!
He really is.
[203] Wow ... just wow ... this might be the greatest thing I've ever randomly seen!
Always a pleasure, folks. Check you out tomorrow.
And check out AJ's ERA. Damn.
did anybody catch girardi's word "unnormal"? i guess he "misremembers" that it's really "abnormal"!
just saw it on a LoHud post...
umm, gritner is 5th in the LA in batting average. woah!
G'night! I will be at the "Business Man's Special" tomorrow with my broom.
I guess AJ meltdown watch continues. At this point, when it happens, it'll be about as predictable as a sunset - single only Guidry and CC can be this good.
He'll have to stink it up about four times to get his ERA to where some of the doubters think it aught to be.
[211] the AL not the LA. lol
[211] OINK!
[215] Ok, I finally have to ask what's with all the oinking.
Just got home .... Yanks are now 2-0 this year when I show up :-)
Sidelight of the night was couple who brought their couldn't be older than 4 month old daughter to the game ("her first one!") ... and OF COURSE the little one couldn't fall asleep with all the racket. I felt awful for her.
I guess people watch sports for different reasons, or in different ways.
To me, what this piece amounts to re: Cervelli is "I love watching him but I don't want to watch him unless absolutely necessary."
Oops wrong thread