The main topic of Joe Girardi’s pregame press conference was Javy Vazquez and his bruised finger, as you can imagine. The news is basically all good: Javy feels better and is scheduled to make his next start. They did decide to push his regular side session back from Monday to Tuesday just to give the finger that extra day, but Girardi was adamant that Vazquez was his starter for Thursday. The only thing that could derail it right now is trouble during his bullpen session.
Here’s the rest of the good word…
- Girardi spoke to Curtis Granderson and said he felt good after playing in his first rehab game yesterday. He did not, however, speak to him after he went 1-for-2 with a walk while playing five innings in centerfield today. You’ll read more about that in DotF later on, of course.
- When asked if he was concerned about Mark Teixeira and the mother of all slumps, the Yanks’ manager said he was worried about him getting frustrated more than anything. He basically chalked it up “that’s baseball, and people go through slumps.”
- Chan Ho Park is still rusty after spending a month on the DL, so right now they’re just trying to get him back on track. Girardi did say David Robertson’s command has come together, “he’s pitching on the corners (of the plate) rather than the middle.” Who knew it was that simple?
- Someone asked Girardi about the whole interleague thing, and he gave a stock answer: it’s good for baseball, good for the city when he Yankees play the Mets, etc. He did say that he likes having the DH in one league and not the other, but he would like to see NL pitchers bat while they’re in the minors. All of minor league baseball uses a DH.
- Girardi said the best hitting pitcher he’s ever seen is Micah Owings, but he couldn’t remember his name. “The guy from Arizona that went to Cincinnati,” was his response. He also mentioned Don Robinson and Carlos Zambrano.
In case you missed it, I took some photos during batting practice and posted them on our Twitter feed. This one’s my favorite.
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