Back on Track
May 4th 2008 23:47
What a difference a few days make. On Thursday night, I had some concerns. May baseball concerns but concerns nonetheless. I’ve reveled over the past few years about how fast Yankee haters, fans alike and analysts had written the team off after horrid starts. However, even last year, when the team was a billion games under .500 and a million games out of first place to the Red Sox, there was still hope. We still had A. Rod. No matter the problems in the rotation, bullpen and lineup. No opponent’s lead was too insurmountable, the man was beast, inhuman, unreal. Each smooth swing was another RBI, another homer, another ninth inning comeback. I actually thought at times when he crushed the ball that cliché or no, the cover was literally going to come off.
This year I’ve been feeling a little panicky. The clutch, stalwart Posada went on the DL. Then news that A. Rod would follow. I began to wonder. How will the team react? Who is going to come up with clutch hits? Things looked rather bleak while Detroit came to NYC and brought the brooms. The Yanks inning after inning left runners in scoring position. I often ask aloud but to no one listening, “who wants to be the hero tonight?” The answer never came during the Detroit series.
In addition to the offensive struggles, the rotation appeared to be in disarray. The already labeled injury prone Phil Hughes went on the DL and most likely will not be back until July. Then the Yankees, unwilling to play the “wait and see” game of patience, demoted Ian Kennedy (0-2, 8.37) to Triple-A. Even Andy Pettitte’s last two starts have been mediocre. However, there is pitching life outside of Chien-Ming Wang.
Mike Mussina has been terrific. Saturday afternoon proved to be another quality outing as The Moose went 6 innings and gave up only one earned run and struck out five. Last year it seemed Mussina could not get out of the fifth inning, however, he struck out the side in the 6th and probably could have pitched all day.
With two spots to fill in the rotation the Yankees called up Darrell Rasner from Triple-A. He has had an outstanding start (4-0, 0.87) but pitching in the majors is not like pitching in Scranton. This became apparent in the first inning, after Adrian Beltre belted a two-run homer. However, Rasner did not become rattled. He continued to attack the strikezone, which is something neither Hughes nor Kennedy had the confidence to do. Rasner looked extremely comfortable on the mound giving up only 5 hits, striking out 4 and giving up 0 walks.
The fifth spot in the rotation will most likely be filled by Kei Igawa on Friday or Saturday against Detroit. If Igawa can just be average, that may be enough to bridge the gap until Hughes comes back, the Yankees can work a trade or Kennedy can figure it out in Triple-A.
It’s tough to say whether the opponent in the struggling Mariners had anything to do with the offensive Yankee turnaround. However, even though the Mariners have now lost 5 straight, The Yanks were hitting against a couple of the league’s toughest pitchers. They beat Erik Bedard on Friday night with a little help from the sloppy defensive play of the Mariners. Then on Saturday, they hit around phenom Felix Hernandez for 6 runs in 5 2/3 innings. On Sunday, they took care of Carlos Silva who was 3-0 this season and had won five straight starts dating back to last season.
So what’s the reason for the Yankee offensive outburst? It’s as simple as 1 –2 – 3 - 4. In the past two games: Johnny Damon is 5 for 10, Derek Jeter is 5 for 8, Bobby Abreu is 4 for 9 and Hideki Matsui is 4 – 9. Damon gets on, Jeter moves him over then Abreu or Matsui drive them in.
Timely hitting is everything and at least for three days, the Yanks have been doing plenty of it. This was especially apparent in Sunday afternoon’s 6 run bottom of the third. It was the first time all season the Yanks scored over 5 runs in an inning. The rally included homers by Melky Cabrera and the struggling Robinson Cano.
The Yanks are off on Monday. They start a three games series against Cleveland on Tuesday. We’ll see if the bats can continue to stay hot.
This year I’ve been feeling a little panicky. The clutch, stalwart Posada went on the DL. Then news that A. Rod would follow. I began to wonder. How will the team react? Who is going to come up with clutch hits? Things looked rather bleak while Detroit came to NYC and brought the brooms. The Yanks inning after inning left runners in scoring position. I often ask aloud but to no one listening, “who wants to be the hero tonight?” The answer never came during the Detroit series.
In addition to the offensive struggles, the rotation appeared to be in disarray. The already labeled injury prone Phil Hughes went on the DL and most likely will not be back until July. Then the Yankees, unwilling to play the “wait and see” game of patience, demoted Ian Kennedy (0-2, 8.37) to Triple-A. Even Andy Pettitte’s last two starts have been mediocre. However, there is pitching life outside of Chien-Ming Wang.
Mike Mussina has been terrific. Saturday afternoon proved to be another quality outing as The Moose went 6 innings and gave up only one earned run and struck out five. Last year it seemed Mussina could not get out of the fifth inning, however, he struck out the side in the 6th and probably could have pitched all day.
With two spots to fill in the rotation the Yankees called up Darrell Rasner from Triple-A. He has had an outstanding start (4-0, 0.87) but pitching in the majors is not like pitching in Scranton. This became apparent in the first inning, after Adrian Beltre belted a two-run homer. However, Rasner did not become rattled. He continued to attack the strikezone, which is something neither Hughes nor Kennedy had the confidence to do. Rasner looked extremely comfortable on the mound giving up only 5 hits, striking out 4 and giving up 0 walks.
The fifth spot in the rotation will most likely be filled by Kei Igawa on Friday or Saturday against Detroit. If Igawa can just be average, that may be enough to bridge the gap until Hughes comes back, the Yankees can work a trade or Kennedy can figure it out in Triple-A.
It’s tough to say whether the opponent in the struggling Mariners had anything to do with the offensive Yankee turnaround. However, even though the Mariners have now lost 5 straight, The Yanks were hitting against a couple of the league’s toughest pitchers. They beat Erik Bedard on Friday night with a little help from the sloppy defensive play of the Mariners. Then on Saturday, they hit around phenom Felix Hernandez for 6 runs in 5 2/3 innings. On Sunday, they took care of Carlos Silva who was 3-0 this season and had won five straight starts dating back to last season.
So what’s the reason for the Yankee offensive outburst? It’s as simple as 1 –2 – 3 - 4. In the past two games: Johnny Damon is 5 for 10, Derek Jeter is 5 for 8, Bobby Abreu is 4 for 9 and Hideki Matsui is 4 – 9. Damon gets on, Jeter moves him over then Abreu or Matsui drive them in.
Johnny is a key to the Yankee offense
Timely hitting is everything and at least for three days, the Yanks have been doing plenty of it. This was especially apparent in Sunday afternoon’s 6 run bottom of the third. It was the first time all season the Yanks scored over 5 runs in an inning. The rally included homers by Melky Cabrera and the struggling Robinson Cano.
The Yanks are off on Monday. They start a three games series against Cleveland on Tuesday. We’ll see if the bats can continue to stay hot.
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