Who are The 2008 New York Yankees?
May 9th 2008 22:57
Win two games, lose two games, win three in a row, lose three in a row. That’s the pattern of the Yankee season so far. They don’t go on awful losing streaks (see last year losing 9 and 10 games in a row) nor do they go on extended winning streaks. All that adds up to an 18-18 record. A possible indication of mediocrity or perhaps treading water with brighter days to come.
The Yankee offense will get better. A. Rod is due back within the week and Posada hopefully by the end of month. Right now the lineup is too left-handed and can easily be matched up against in later innings. Also, Robinson Cano is hitting .172 and Jason Giambi is hitting .163. No one expects Giambi to play on the MVP level from what seems like a thousand years ago, but he’s actually making solid contact and shows signs of life in his swing. Cano has looked more or less dreadful at the plate. He is guessing often and guessing wrong. However, he did hit an upper-deck homer on Thursday. So if the Yanks can get them going even a little bit, then add A. Rod and Posada, the offense will look to improve dramatically. The Yanks will hit, no doubt about it. It’s just a question of when.
The pitching staff looks to perhaps be coming together. When both Hughes and Kennedy failed to win one game in April, the naysayers came out in droves. However, the state of the rotation actually looks better than it has the past few seasons. Think back to the two April series sets against The Red Sox in 2007. Those rotations featured arms with names like: Chase Wright, Jeff Karstens, Kei Igawa, Darrell Rasner and Tyler Clippard. Remember the opening day starter was Carl Pavano? He went on to pitch a whopping total of 11 innings last year.
Two years ago the season opened with Pettitite, Wang, Mussina and Jaret Wright unhealthy. Three years ago, the team was saved by Aaron Small (10-0, 3.20) and Shawn Chacon (7-3, 2.85). So while everyone else is worried about the Yankee arms, I have a long memory, and recall when 4/5ths of the rotation was missing at a single time.
This weekend, The Yanks will be send Darrell Rasner (1-0, 3.00) and Kei Igawa to the mound in Detroit. Rasner pitched well in his first start last week and Igawa is said to be looking better in the minors. Detroit (15-21) is having their own problems but swept The Yanks last week in the Bronx.
The Yankees are very much in a sort of “wait and see” mode. The lineup is not producing, even figuring the absence of Posada and A. Rod. The Yankees top 3 starters are all providing quality type stars. The Yanks wasted two good starts this week by both Wang and Pettitite because they couldn’t score enough runs and Joba blew his first game at Yankee stadium.
The rest of the rotation will depend upon the performances of Rasner, Igawa and Kennedy. Perhaps there is another Aaron Small on the horizon or maybe even a minor league call up? The bullpen has been outstanding. The Yanks at this point last year were 14-16, so at the very least the team is better record wise.
Right now, The Red Sox are the class of the American League. The Yanks will most likely spend the better part of the summer chasing them. Hopefully, not from 14.5 games back like they were at one point in June of last year. How the team looks at the end of May will help determine what type of team the 2008 New York Yankees really are.
The Yankee offense will get better. A. Rod is due back within the week and Posada hopefully by the end of month. Right now the lineup is too left-handed and can easily be matched up against in later innings. Also, Robinson Cano is hitting .172 and Jason Giambi is hitting .163. No one expects Giambi to play on the MVP level from what seems like a thousand years ago, but he’s actually making solid contact and shows signs of life in his swing. Cano has looked more or less dreadful at the plate. He is guessing often and guessing wrong. However, he did hit an upper-deck homer on Thursday. So if the Yanks can get them going even a little bit, then add A. Rod and Posada, the offense will look to improve dramatically. The Yanks will hit, no doubt about it. It’s just a question of when.
Will A. Rod provide a spark to the Yankee offense anytime soon?
The pitching staff looks to perhaps be coming together. When both Hughes and Kennedy failed to win one game in April, the naysayers came out in droves. However, the state of the rotation actually looks better than it has the past few seasons. Think back to the two April series sets against The Red Sox in 2007. Those rotations featured arms with names like: Chase Wright, Jeff Karstens, Kei Igawa, Darrell Rasner and Tyler Clippard. Remember the opening day starter was Carl Pavano? He went on to pitch a whopping total of 11 innings last year.
Two years ago the season opened with Pettitite, Wang, Mussina and Jaret Wright unhealthy. Three years ago, the team was saved by Aaron Small (10-0, 3.20) and Shawn Chacon (7-3, 2.85). So while everyone else is worried about the Yankee arms, I have a long memory, and recall when 4/5ths of the rotation was missing at a single time.
This weekend, The Yanks will be send Darrell Rasner (1-0, 3.00) and Kei Igawa to the mound in Detroit. Rasner pitched well in his first start last week and Igawa is said to be looking better in the minors. Detroit (15-21) is having their own problems but swept The Yanks last week in the Bronx.
The Yankees are very much in a sort of “wait and see” mode. The lineup is not producing, even figuring the absence of Posada and A. Rod. The Yankees top 3 starters are all providing quality type stars. The Yanks wasted two good starts this week by both Wang and Pettitite because they couldn’t score enough runs and Joba blew his first game at Yankee stadium.
The rest of the rotation will depend upon the performances of Rasner, Igawa and Kennedy. Perhaps there is another Aaron Small on the horizon or maybe even a minor league call up? The bullpen has been outstanding. The Yanks at this point last year were 14-16, so at the very least the team is better record wise.
Right now, The Red Sox are the class of the American League. The Yanks will most likely spend the better part of the summer chasing them. Hopefully, not from 14.5 games back like they were at one point in June of last year. How the team looks at the end of May will help determine what type of team the 2008 New York Yankees really are.
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