If B-Jobber – bullpen + Joba, we could go one of two ways with Phil Hughes in the bullpen:
B-Phils
B-Hughesers
I pick the latter. We could also mutate that to B-Hosers, but that might be a bit of a stretch. In any case, the big news of the day was Chien-Ming Wang back to the rotation, Hughes to the bullpen. It’s going to cause some debate, but I’d like to point out RAB commenter mustang, who put it best:
Regardless what a nice problem to have too much quality starting pitching.
thank you Mr. Cashman.
We’ll see where the Yanks go with this, of course, but I wouldn’t expect Hughes in the bullpen too long. He’ll back up Wang tomorrow, who himself said he could probably only go 80 pitches. Apparently Brian Cashman was on the Michael Kay Show and said that it’s a two-week trial, and that if Wang pitches well it’s back to AAA for Hughes. (thanks to tsjc for the find)
Oh, what’s that you say? There’s a game tonight? Given the bleak forecast and the gray clouds which have covered the sky since mid-afternoon, I wouldn’t be too sure about that. If they do play, it will be Andy Pettitte against Scott Feldman.
Feldman, 26, has pitched well in his 48.1 innings this year, allowing 21 runs for a 3.91 ERA. He doesn’t have great strikeout numbers, and doesn’t have a 2:1 K/BB ratio. That usually doesn’t bode well against the Yankees lineup. Yet last year, when Feldman was pretty horrible, he had two good starts against the Yanks. The first was one run over 5.2 innings, and the other was two runs over 7.0 IP. He did walk five in those 12.2 innings, though. This year’s version of the Yanks will make you pay for those a lot more than they did last year.
Yet the last time Feldman pitched what you could call a bad start was on May 1, when he allowed three runs over 5.2 IP. Even then, it’s not too bad. He hasn’t allowed more than three runs in a start since the Rangers placed him in the rotation on April 25. So while the Yanks have improved since their last meeting with Feldman, so has he. He was also born in Hawaii, for whatever that’s worth.
Lineup:
1. Derek Jeter, SS
2. Johnny Damon, LF Nick Swisher, 1B
3. Mark Teixeira, 1B Johnny Damon, LF
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Robinson Cano, 2B
6. Jorge Posada, C
7. Hideki Matsui, DH
8. Nick Swisher, RF Melky Cabrera, RF
9. Brett Gardner, CF
And on the mound, number forty-six, Andy Pettitte.
Update by Mike (6:58pm): Tex scratch with a bruised ankle, x-rays negative. Lineup changes above.