The Orioles actually have some pitchers and aren’t going to be the pushovers that we’ve all become accustomed to. Rookie from Taiwan, Wei-Yin Chen, pitched a great game and then Buck Showalter showed off his setup-man and closer combo in Pedro Strop and Jim Johnson. Meanwhile, CC Sabathia just didn’t have his good stuff tonight. Here is the recap and graph.
Here is what the Yankees blogosphere was discussing today.
David Robertson did not pitch last night because of a sore ribcage. After the game he downplayed the injury, but it is worse than he let on as the Yankees have placed him on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left oblique, according to Marc Carig of the Newark Star-Ledger.
Cody Eppley was called up to take D-Rob’s spot on the roster.
Robertson strained the oblique on Friday against the Mariners. He pitched that night and said he experienced tightness afterward and the next day. This isn’t a major injury and might not keep him out for more than 15 days.
Rafael Soriano has taken over closer duties in his absense. Depending on how he does it could create an interesting situation when D-Rob returns. Soriano already has a decent amount of experience as a closer with the Rays and if he pitches well the 9th inning might not necessarily go back to Robertson.
The Yankees made a move during the offseason to sign former Mariners closer David Aardsma to a two-year deal with the catch that he’s recovering from Tommy John Surgery. It seemed like a minor move at the time, but with injuries to Mariano Rivera and Joba Chamberlain this signing seems bigger than ever.
On Monday, Aardsma took a big step forward in his recovery on Monday as he Tweeted that he threw a 35-pitch bullpen session that included sliders.
Just getting back on a mound is good for a pitcher recovering from TJS, but to be throwing sliders at this point means that he’s getting close. All along the expectation is that he comes back around the All-Star break and this seems to be in line with that thinking. He’ll probably throw for four to six more weeks before he starts getting into some rehab games. From that point it shouldn’t take too long since as a reliever he won’t need to get stretched out too far.
The Yankees will take it slow with him because the ..read more
Mark Teixeira got sick the night before the regular season started and has been dealing with it ever since. He had a big night on Monday, going 2-for-4 with a homer that put the Yankees over the top, but it seemed like throughout the game whenever he was shown on TV he was in the middle of a coughing fit.
He is clearly not over whatever has been bothering him, Teixeira thinks he can still be productive though.
“You’re always playing through something,” Teixeira told Chad Jennings of the Journal News. “So if you took a day off every time you didn’t feel right, you’d be taking a lot of days off. I’m trying to grind through it, because I know I can always help the team defensively, I can always put together a good at-bat, draw a walk, get a big hit. The numbers are not very good right now, but I’m still trying to help the team win every night.”
Teixeira had his customary bad April, hitting .244/.290/.395/.686 during the month, but has only gotten worse since the calendar turned to May. Entering ..read more
On Monday night when the Yankees turned to a reliever to close out the game in the 9th inning they turned to Rafael Soriano and not David Robertson. No, the Yankees haven’t changed their minds and decided to go with Soriano as the closer. Instead it was a ribcage injury that D-Rob sustained on Friday that kept him out of the game.
“It’s just in my left side,” Robertson told Chad Jennings of the Journal News. “I finished the game the other day, came in and it was a little sore. I didn’t really notice it, but the next day I came in and it was sore again. I said something about it. I got some ice after the game for it the first time, then the next day just tried to keep an eye on it. I was hoping it was one of those things that would go away real quick, but it just keeps hanging around. They’re trying to give me a few days.”
It doesn’t sound too serious, but D-Rob has become real important these days so the Yankees ..read more
The Yankees won yesterday, but that didn’t necessarily make it a good night as the talk after the game was all about injuries to Ivan Nova, Raul Ibanez, and Clay Rapada.
The most significant injury was to Nova, who left the game after he injured his ankle fielding a ground ball in the 6th. They are calling it a sprained ankle and while they don’t know if a trip to the DL will be necessary manager Joe Girardi admitted that he may miss a start.
“It feels really bad right now,” Nova told Chad Jennings of the Journal News. “That’s really how I feel. I hope tomorrow it feels better.”
The other two injuries weren’t significant, but both players left the game. Ibanez was hit on the right elbow and was removed from the game, but nobody ruled out the possibility that he could be back in the lineup tomorrow. Rapada was fine when he was taken out of the game, but because of a lingering cold he needed to be helped from the dugout to the ..read more
Ivan Nova didn’t have good stuff tonight against the Orioles, but luckily for him the Yankees 3-4-5 hitters finally did. Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez, and Mark Teixeira combined to go 7-for-14 as they won 8-5. Here is the recap and graph.
Here is what the Yankees blogosphere has been discussing.
BBDP MVP: Matt Tracy – 5 IP, 0 ER, 3 K
Triple-A Empire State: L 1-0 vs Durham. L: Warren (2-2)
Eduardo Nunez: 1/5, CS (1) (.200) Kevin Russo: 0/3, 2 BB, K (.276) Ronnier Mustelier: 1/4, 2 K, SB (2) (.282) Brandon “Bash Brother” Laird: 2/3, 2B, BB, K (.234) Frankie Cervelli: 1/2, BB, K (.235) Ramiro Pena: 0/3, BB (.234) Adam “The Warden” Warren: 7 IP, 4 H, ER, 3 BB, 6 K, HR (4.58 ERA) This was a good outing for Warren, although the three walks is not encouraging. Manny Delcarmen: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 K (1.5 ERA) He’s been pretty dominant here. 13 K in 12 IP to go along with that nice looking ERA
High-A Tampa: L 3-7 vs Lakeland. L: Black (0-2)
Ramon “Ray-Flo” Flores: 2/4, BB (.239) JR Murphy: 0/4, BB (.207) Rob “Seggy” Segedin: 2/4, R, 2B, 2 K (.300) Kyle Roller: 1/4, R, 2B, RBI, K (.238) Kyle Higashioka: 2/4, R, 2B, RBI, K (.200) Eddy Sosa: 0/4, K (.245) Matt Tracy: 5 IP, 3 H, R, 0 ER, BB, 3 K (0.00 ERA) Nice to see him back in action. I was surprised to see him in High-A Tampa, but happy at the same time. Now that rotation looks even better. Kramer “Krame Dog” Sneed: ..read more
The Yankees won back-to-back series against the Rays and Mariners last week behind a rotational ERA of 1.99 which was the best in baseball. Mark Teixeira has still not come around, but Robinson Cano hit .500 last week and Alex Rodriguez .333.
The Yankees have an odd week coming up with two, two-game series on the road before facing the Reds in a three game weekend series. I’d like to see them keep their series-winning streak going, but that would mean they would have to go 6-1 this week, tough to do.
Check back here throughout the week for recaps and WPA charts.
Mon: Yankees 8, Baltimore 5. W: David Phelps (1-1, 2.96), L: Luis Ayala (1-1, 1.86), S: Rafael Soriano (2, 2.57). HR: Curtis Granderson (12, off Jason Hammel), Mark Teixeira (5, off Ayala), J.J. Hardy (9, off Ivan Nova).
It was not Ivan Nova‘s night ..read more
Andy Pettitte reportedly signed a one-year $2.5 million minor league deal during the offseason. Those deals are typically pro-rated meaning that since he didn’t start the season with the Yankees, Pettitte wouldn’t receive the full $2.5 mil. That isn’t the case those as the contract is worded in such a way that he’ll receive the full portion, according to an AP report.
Here’s what the report says:
Pettitte was put on the major league roster Sunday after missing the 2011 season. His contract calls for a $2 million base salary, and since he missed the first 39 days of the season the prorated share of his base pay is $1,573,770.
His contract calls for two roster bonuses: $500,000 for five days and $250,000 for 10 days. It also calls for performance bonuses of $500,000 for one start and $250,000 each for two and three starts.
However, the contract says his total of base salary and earned bonuses cannot exceed $2.5 million.
So Andy gets his full $2.5 million. Still one heck of a deal for a veteran left hander.
