| Player | WPA | Pitcher | WPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cano | .136 | Hughes | .162 |
| Posada | .097 | Myers | .002 |
| Minky | .073 | VIzcaino | .000 |
| Giambi | .050 | ||
| Alex | .039 | ||
| Jeter | .009 | ||
| Phelps | .000 | ||
| Melky | -.007 | ||
| Matsui | -.011 | ||
| Abreu | -.049 |
It seems pointless to dwell on Hughes right now. Yes, it hurts. I was all worried about the injury, waiting to hear anything definitive last night. Once the word came down on four to six weeks, it was actually a relief. We have an idea of the extent of the injury, and we know he’ll be back soon enough.
Before recapping the game, please take this advice: don’t listen to Pete Abraham when it come to Hughes. His quote:
Sure, this absolutely could have happened tonight in Scranton. But Scranton played Toledo tonight in front of 4,528 fans. Their No. 3 hitter was Timo Perez. Do you think Hughes would have looked at Timo Perez in the seventh inning and felt the same way he did against Mark Teixeira? Do you think he would have tried so hard that his mechanics got all out of whack?
This is why he should stick to reporting and not analysis. Of course Hughes doesn’t try to bury that curveball to Timo — but that’s almost the point. He’d never have that kind of situation in the minors. He’d just cruise through, retiring batter after batter, nary facing a situation with a man in scoring position. Why waste those pitches at AAA?
Even if the Yanks had stuck with the plan, who’s to say he wouldn’t have tried the same thing against Manny Ramirez in August? If he pulls his hammy then, his season’s over. Right now, and aggressive timetable has him back in early June, and even if the injury is Cano-esque, he’ll be back around the All-Star break. And when he comes back, he’ll be smarter because he learned from this experience.
Injuries happen. If you’re going to blame this injury on the Yanks calling him up too early, I think you seriously need to reconsider your position. And please, for the love of poop, don’t listen to Pete Abraham’s crying of foul. It’s his job to sell papers — and draw traffic to his blog. He’s not going to get that by patting everyone on the back.
With little time left for a recap, let’s hit the bullets:
- The bullpen, for all intents and purposes, has had two full days off. However, that’s not exactly great for guys like Farnsworth and Mariano, who need to get some work in. It is good for Proctor and Burney, and to a lesser extent, Henn. Viz got a nice tune-up in the ninth, cruising to a 1-2-3 inning.
- The bats, once again, are alive. We’ll see if Johnny Damon can step back into the lineup and produce at that level. Even Mientkiewicz’s swings were looking better tonight. Melky’s, however, were not.
- It was pretty sweet that they scored 10 runs without putting one over the fence.
- I’ll stop with the bullets, since the game story is simple: Hughes was a gem, the Yanks hit the shit out of the ball, Hughes is hurt, bullpen got a rest.
Pettitte vs. Robinson Tejada tonight. If they win tonight, that’s two in a row. If they win tomorrow, that’s called a winning streak. It’s happened before.