Cover your eyes.
BA on Hughes & Kennedy
Kary Booher at Baseball America checked in on Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy following their season debuts with Triple-A Scranton over the weekend. Hughes struggled early with the fastball, but overcame it later and also worked on his change. Kennedy outdueled Carlos Carrasco, the Phil’s top pitching prospect, and showcased the improvement he made on his curveball during his winter ball stint. Even with the Yanks’ greatly improved rotation, I’m willing to bet these two get at least fifteen big league starts between them.
Joba through the eyes of Pitch f/x
Before Joe Girardi managed to grab defeat from the jaws of victory with his bullpen moves, Joba Chamberlain pitched well in his first start of the year, allowing just one earned run in six innings. He threw only 88 pitches because he hadn’t gone beyond the 75 pitch plateau during Spring Training, and predictably worked off his fastball. Here’s the breakdown:
Fan Confidence Poll: April 13th, 2009
The season kicked off last week in inauspicious fashion, even though the Yankees lowered their Opening Day payroll from 2008. CC Sabathia and Chien-Ming Wang fired clunkers in the first two games of the season, and there was much concern over Sabathia’s use of a heading pad. Thankfully the march to 0-162 was halted by AJ Burnett and a scorching hot Nick Swisher in the third game of the year, and Andy Pettitte followed by dominating the Royals the next day. Sabathia rebounded in a big way in his second start, firing nearly eight innings of shutout ball. Down in the minors, some of the Yanks top young pitching prospects had strong season debuts, none better than Ian Kennedy.
Joe Girardi overmanaged the way out of a sweep of the Royals yesterday, and Mark Teixeira has missed two straight games with a sore wrist. Everyone is concerned, but I’m hopeful the Yanks are just playing it safe early in the season. Let’s not even mention Cody Ransom’s struggles. Poor guy. At least Alex Rodriguez is closer to returning.
Please take a second to answer the poll below and give us an idea of how confident you are in the team. Long time RABer Bob Stone was kind enough to put together a Fan Confidence Graph which you’ll be able to view anytime via the nav bar above, or by clicking here. Thanks to Bob and thanks in advance for voting.
Maybe Kevin Cash can play third?
Triple-A Scranton (14-4 in over Lehigh Valley) outscored Lehigh 39-13 in the four game sweep
Kevin Russo: 2 for 6, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 K, 1 E (fielding) – 7 for 21 (.333) on the young season
Angel Berroa: 1 for 5, 1 RBI, 2 K – picked off first … he’s still > Ransom, and that’s sad
Todd Linden & Justin Leone: combined 0 for 9, 1 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K – Linden drove in a pair of runs with a ground out & bases loaded walk
Juan Miranda: 3 for 6, 2 RBI – 9 for 19 (.474) with 11 RBI
Austin Jackson: 2 for 4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 SB – had at least one hit in every game so far
Eric Duncan: 2 for 4, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Doug Bernier: 2 for 3, 3 R, 2 BB
Kevin Cash: 3 for 3, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB – Kevin Cash on base five times & triple short of the cycle? … that’s usually a good month for him
Phil Hughes: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 4-8 GB/FB – 63 of 96 pitches were strikes (65.6%)
Steven Jackson: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
Mark Melancon: 1.2 IP, zeroes, 4 K, 0-1 GB/FB – 13 of 22 pitches were strikes (59.1%) … meanwhile, Joe Girardi just made another pitching change
Game Six Spillover Thread
I wonder how much longer they’ll let this one go.
Understanding why Hughes is Scranton’s fourth starter
During last week’s Radio Show Joe and I answered a question about why Phil Hughes wasn’t the Opening Day Starter for Triple-A Scranton. I said there was nothing to it, and it’s just how he lined up after starting some split squad games for a big league club late in Spring Training. But as I was enjoying the last few hours of the Extra Innings free preview last night, I remembered that Hughes had a start pushed back late in camp for reasons that were unclear to even him. Then it dawned on me: they lined him up Joba (both start today). Let the conspiracy theories begin, but I don’t take it as a sign that the Yanks are going to move Joba to pen or are afraid he’ll break down or anything like that. They’re just covering all their bases while expecting Joba to make all of his starts.