Here’s what went down in camp today…
- The Yankees lost to the Pirates this afternoon, getting shutout 2-0. Phil Hughes and Steve Garrison each chipped in two scoreless innings, David Robertson one. A Curtis Granderson triple was the highlight of the offense. Jesus Montero went 2-for-2 in throwing out attempted basestealers and 0-for-3 at the plate. Brett Gardner had an outfield assist. Here’s the box score.
- Joe Girardi said he wants Hughes to work on his changeup and his overall consistency, then qualified it by saying “[this] kid won 18 games last year. Hard to complain about what he did.” Le sigh. Hughes said he threw just three changeups today, adding that his goal is to make a usable pitch, not necessarily a put-away offering. “If I can get a little better each year, hopefully it’ll be a good pitch by the time I’m 40,” joked the righty. (Peter Botte, Erik Boland & Jack Curry)
- It was raining in Tampa, so everyone took batting practice in the indoor cages. Derek Jeter was working with Kevin Long to get his new stride down, as he said he would do yesterday. (Yankees PR Dept. & Marc Carig)
- Andrew Brackman, who managed to grow an inch this winter (now 6-foot-11), threw 20 pitches from a indoor mound and really “[aired] it out” according to Girardi. Brackman said he’s fine following that groin/hip issue and will throw another bullpen on Thursday. Greg Golson is okay after getting hit in the head with a pitch over the weekend; he took batting practice today and could get into tomorrow’s game. Ronnie Belliard is still at least a week away from just testing out that calf strain. Thanks for coming, Ronnie. (Jack Curry, Eric Boland, Chad Jennings & Carig)
- The rotation the rest of the week: A.J. Burnett (Weds. vs. Astros), Freddy Garcia (Thurs. @ Rays), Bartolo Colon (Fri. vs. Red Sox), and CC Sabathia (Sat. vs. Nationals). I guess Ivan Nova’s going to come out of the bullpen one of those days. (Botte)
Here’s your open thread for the evening. The Rangers (huge game), Islanders, and Knicks are all in action, plus MLB Network will be showing a replay of today’s Tigers-Phillies game at 8pm ET. Talk about whatever, enjoy.