3/29 Camp Notes: Nova, Soriano, Swisher

March 29, 2012 by Mike Axisa 29 Comments

New York Yankees pitcher Pettitte talks with manager Girardi during the a spring training baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays in Tampa — (REUTERS/Steve Nesius)

A little late, but here’s a recap of the day in Tampa…

Ivan Nova threw 7.1 IP and 94 pitches in minor league camp today, allowing three runs to the Blue Jays squad. It was good to see him get stretched out a bit, he’s had some long innings this spring and hasn’t thrown many innings. We overlook it, but the whole sitting down and warming up between innings thing is somewhat important. [Erik Boland]
Rafael Soriano also threw in a minor league game while Russell Martin did some work on the backfields. I assume everything went well since we haven’t heard otherwise. Same with Nick Swisher (groin). Bad news spreads fast, sadly. [Josh Norris & Chad Jennings]
D.J. Mitchell is scheduled to come out of the bullpen in tonight’s game as well as Saturday’s. game. The Yankees want to see how he does on a typical reliever schedule. His long-term future most likely lies in relief, but no harm in seeing how he takes to it now. [Jennings]

Havok9120

It appears Andy is already working on The Stare (TM).
Dino Velvet

Saw Bartlo Colon pitch today. He has a lot of movement with his
fastball.

Why didn’t the Yanks ask him to return? I mean, he only signed a $2 million contract with the A’s and you can never have too much pitching.
- DM
  
  I’m with you on Colon.
  - Manny’s BanWagon
    
    And which of the Yankees 7 starting pitchers would you replace with Colon?
    
    I recently read a report from a scout that said he was noticeably heavier than last year (as hard as that is to believe) and the ball wasn’t coming out of his hand too well.
    - DM
      
      I’m not saying adding him after all the moves. But I would’ve signed him early for that money — just like the Yankees did with Garcia. And I may have even considered him in long relief. He doesn’t have great secondary stuff, but he can be a shutdown pitcher — esp early in the season when his fastball is lively. You’re looking at the staff now. When Garcia signed there was no Pineda, no Kuroda, no Andy comeback and Hughes was a big question mark. It’s one start but it looked like a typical Colon outing from early last year. No walks, few hits, Ks — that’s Bart when has his gas and command.
    - Havok9120
      
      To be fair, he would have been #7 during most of the offseason with AP being #8, but the point stands.
      
      I was surprised he didn’t get the Freddy treatment and locked up early in preparation of possible other moves.
    - Sayid J.
      
      If you sign Bartolo instead of Garcia, you save a couple million. Doesn’t need to be in addition to Freddy.
      - Havok9120
        
        True, but which was more of a sure thing? Colon’s ceiling might have been higher, but the risk was far greater as well. He looked completely different after the injury.
        
        DM
        
        I thought he’d be the better transition guy if you could get him for a lower price than Garcia. Pitch Colon until he breaks or falters, then you have that opening for those AAA pitchers rather than the “blocked” scenario everyone is complaining about now.
        
        Havok9120
        
        I don’t think that the front office was looking at a transition scenario though. I think they were after a safety net in case all their other attempts at rotation improvement fell through. Even with Garcia as a safety net, you’d still have had a ? with Hughes and an open spot for the kids. I think they were after a #3 who could give them 180 innings if needed, not a guy who might burn out halfway through and leave them needing to incorporate a third question mark into the rotation late in the season.
        
        DM
        
        A safety net doesn’t preclude a transition guy. I just meant that for 2mil how long does he have to last? People were concerned about his 2nd half (which I feel was simple fatigue after not pitching that many innings in years rather than his leg). Also I didn’t think AJ would be able to be traded — and nor did I think a Pineda was coming. I saw a front 3 of CC, AJ, Nova – but no budget for a big time FA pitcher — then Hughes, Garcia, Colon, AAA guys would have an open competition for the last 2 spots. I think Colon is a bargain starter at 2mil — and at that money you can push him aside for a better veteran pitcher or a AAA prospect. Garcia is decent value too — but 2mil is a no brainer.
  - Rob
    
    Yeah I see your point. Maybe because he tanked toward the end of last year while Garcia made the playoff roster. I think it’s always been one or the other with them for the Yankee brass
- dean
  
  Perhaps a better question is why didn’t the Red Sox think Colon for 2 million dollars would have helped them?
  - Havok9120
    
    Indeed. Or fought us for Garcia for 4-5 million.
  - DM
    
    I thought the Mets might grab him.
    - Big will
      
      Colon didnt resign cuz he fell off a cliff, that was his first win since July 30. His velocity was down and the movement regressed. Yankees don’t need anymore April-July pitchers. Colon was rendered useless by September, and safe to say that will be the case again this year.
      - sangreal
        
        I don’t think that is a safe assumption at all. In addition to the midseason injury, he also played in winter ball before the season last year.
      - DM
        
        Well, they were talking to him. Cashman said as much. If I could have his April-July again this year for 2mil, I’d jump on it. And getting tired b/c he wasn’t used to the full season load doesn’t necessarily mean he’s done. The biggest difference between Colon early and Colon late was 94-95mph vs 91-92mph — but he wasn’t hurt. When/if he fades you could’ve fill in with the Warren-Phelps-Mitchell types everyone is so high on.
Sayid J.

Looks like girardi has quite the head of hair in that photo
- Monterowasdinero
  
  Funny-he looks better as a blonde. Now he needs to work on that posture.
  
  Colon did look good yesterday especially the 2 seamer and changeup getting the inside corner against lefties. The ball comes right at your hip and then just catches the inside corner. Impossible to hit and if the ump is “frameable”, Colon dominates.
Dicka24

I don’t think the Yankees trusted Colon to perform well the second time around, as much as they did Garcia. They probably see Garcia as the surer thing. Remember that Colon was no where to be found until he had that stem cell treatment, and then faded miserably as he wore down. With his history of weight problems, and the wear of all the innings he threw last year, I can’t really blaming them for moving on.
- DM
  
  I can understand questions about his age, weight, etc. But with a clean physical and MRI on his shoulder, he’s worth 2mil. I bet after an off-season of rest, his fastball is popping again. For 2mil I’d ride him until he breaks. I don’t know what the gun readings were on him last night, but his line seems like the Colon of the 1st half of last year.
Genghis

Gven the team’s track record, I think at this point the Yankees are more interested in optimizing for the playoffs than optimizing for the regular season. A pitcher who is great early on but almost sure to break down before the season ends doesn’t really fit this model. Garcia may just be a fifth starter but he is more likely to be useful in October than Colon.

One nice thing about Pettitte this year is that there is no need to start him in the big leagues in April. They can keep him in extended ST, bring him along slowly or even have him work it out in the minors so that there is plenty of gas left in October.
- jjyank
  
  This is true. I’m not usually one to put stock in to intangibles, but when if you have an opportunity to add the winningest post-season pitcher in history for your stretch run in the second half, that’s huge.
  
  I’m not saying Colon didn’t deserve a shot. But I certainly understand why the Yanks would pass on him (age, weight, the way he faded in the second half last year, how his arm/body would react to all the innings on his arm after such a long layoff)
Steve (different one)

Colon was probably my favorite story all of last year, but he essentially broke down in the second half. When theYankees signed Garcia, they were looking for INNINGS. A lot of the depth they have now was a little bit of a question mark. Nova finished the season hurt, even Phelps was coming off an injury.

Even with Jesus, the mariners still have a pathetic offense. I wish Colon well, but let’s see if he’s still effective in June-July.
- jsbrendog
  
  but that’s why a team like oakland signed him. they don’t need him to be still effective in august/sept cause they’ll be so far out of it they’ll prob bring up some guy we’ve never heard of. so it is the perfect fit.
  - Steve (different one)
    
    Yup. Also, I could put up an ERA under 4.50 in their stadium.
- DM
  
  How much would he have to produce to earn his 2mil? His line against Seattle seemed similar to early last year. He only needed 86 pitches to get thru 8 innings. With the Ks and lack of hits, I doubt the mph on the fastball was down like it was at the end of last year. I think the thing he needed most was rest.
sangreal

I’m pretty sure I did read news on Swisher. He played in a minor league game, and went 4-8 with a homer.