We interrupt your coverage of the neverending Alex Rodriguez saga to bring you some actual baseball news. Via PeteAbe, A-Rod made his long awaited return to game action today, going 1 for 6 with a homer and a pair of walks in an Extended Spring Training intrasquad game down in Tampa. A-Rod did not run the bases at full speed, and didn’t go beyond first base on the homer. No word on if he played the field, but I’m guessing he didn’t. Can’t wait to have him back.
Kennedy has a vasospasm
I don’t know what it is either, but the good news is that it can be treated with with some good old fashioned drugs. PeteAbe has the news (3:50pm update). Kennedy left Monday’s start with numbess in one of his fingers on his pitching hand, and was sent to New York for tests. The wiki entry makes it sound really bad, but the Yanks say IPK will have a follow up appointment with the doctor on Monday and could resume throwing soon thereafter. Let’s all wish him a safe and speedy recovery.
On the matter of roster depth
As the first month of baseball nears its close, the Yankees have suffered through their fair share of injuries. The team has lost its Opening Day right fielder, its third baseman, its back-up third baseman, its second starter and its setup man.
The injuries don’t stop there though. The team’s DH is playing with balky knees and has already had fluid drained once this season, and the All Star catcher is suffering through a period of sore hamstrings. Johnny Damon, meanwhile, refuses to go for an MRI on his left shoulder because he’s afraid of what he might find. (That is, by the way, the reason why Damon was far less effective in 2007 than in 2006 or 2008. He should just get his injury diagnosed and get better.)
Moving deeper through the system, the Yankees are dealing with even more injuries. On a serious note, Ian Kennedy left his start on Monday with numbness in one of his fingers. He underwent tests on Tuesday and is having more done today. That’s certainly a cause for concern. Numbness in a pitcher’s hand could indicate anything from never damage to muscle and ligament damage to an aneurysm. It’s generally never just nothing.
Furthermore, Jason Johnson is out with a partially torn labrum. He will attempt to rehab the injury and doesn’t need surgery. He says his arm has been sore since Spring Training and probably hurt it after attempting a speedy comeback from his eye surgery.
For the most part, Kennedy and Johnson haven’t really been on Yankee fans’ collective radar. Kennedy is less than popular in the Bronx after displaying poor results and what many perceived as an undeservedly arrogant attitude last year. While some bloggers have noted his strong start this season, the Yanks clearly viewed Kennedy as 7th on the starting pitching depth chart.
Johnson, 35 and a veteran of eight Major League teams, was a pure and simple insurance policy. The Yanks signed him to hold down a rotation spot and be that eighth starter. With his injury, either Al Aceves would have to step up and step in or the unimaginable would happen: Kei Igawa would be called in to pitch in the Bronx if another starter goes down.
This medical report, then, is just my way of arriving a baseball truism: There is no such thing as too much depth. When everyone is healthy, the Yankees have a solid Major League bench, a stacked pitching rotation and some promising young kids and cagey veterans waiting in the wings. When people start to go down, the team looks thin indeed.
With Xavier Nady shelved, Ramiro Peña starting at third, with Phil Hughes thrust into the rotation by April’s end, with two empty rotation spots in Scranton, the back end of the Yankees’ depth chart is looking weak indeed. How the Yankees cope with these absences and how the team fills in holes at the bottom of the depth chart may actually speak louder to Brian Cashman’s ability as a GM than the obvious signings of A.J. Burnett, CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira.
Heyman: Yanks push up A-Rod’s target return date
While the Yankees won’t officially confirm it yet, Jon Heyman reports that A-Rod will be back a week earlier than expected. The Yanks’ slugger underwent hip surgery on March 9, and while the Yanks originally pegged May 15 as his return date, Rodriguez has responded very well to treatment and rehab. He could begin a rehab assignment by the end of the week and would see Major League game action by the end of next week. It can’t come soon enough for a team in need of a big bat in the middle of their lineup.
Doctor’s Note: Bruney, A-Rod, Wang
Lots of injuries; lots of recovery. Let’s jump in.
- Brian Bruney is currently on the 15-day DL with what the Yankees are calling a strained flexor muscle in or near his elbow. Marc Craig at The Star-Ledger spoke to the Yanks’ set-up man, and Bruney blamed his intense workload between games. Apparently, Bruney really dials it up during his pen sessions and may be putting too much pressure on his arm. He will probably be activated when the 15 days are up.
- Alex Rodriguez’s return is growing closer. The Yanks’ third baseman ran the bases again today and will soon take live batting practice. He could be in games by the end of this week and back with the Yanks sometime next week. I still think he’ll be back well before the May 15th day the Yanks continue to push. Marc Carig — a busy man apparently — wonders what happened to all the people who thought the Yanks were better off without A-Rod.
- Meanwhile, the Yanks’ Billy Connors says that Chien-Ming Wang is “doing great.” The Yankees say they’re trying to get Wang’s velocity and stamina back up to where it needs to be. I hope they’re focusing on his release point and mechanics as well.
A-Rod nearing game action
As the Yanks limp away from their 16-11 defeat to the Red Sox, how about some good news for a few hours? According to the AP, A-Rod is just days away from a rehab assignment. A-Rod ran the bases again on Saturday, and he reportedly increasing the intensity of his work outs. The Yankees have to tread carefully over the next few weeks with A-Rod though. With Cody Ransom out and Angel Berroa filling in at third, the Yanks are playing with less than a full deck, and the tendency would be to rush A-Rod. I still think he’ll be back before May 15th, but the team will proceed carefully.
Wang, Ransom hit the DL
We’ve got a couple of roster moves late tonight via the postgame. Chien-Ming Wang has been placed on the DL following an appointment with the team’s rehab specialist in Tampa, and has been replaced on the roster with David Robertson. Cody Ransom pulled his quad in the later innings of tonight’s game and has also been placed on the DL, but no word on his replacement yet. I’m guessing they’ll end up DFAing someone (coughHumbertoSanchezcough) so they can add Angel Berroa to the 40-man and have another infielder available.
Brian Bruney is also on the shelf, having been sent back to New York to have his elbow checked out tomorrow morning. That sucks.
Update (12:33am): The official word on Wang is “weakness in his hips,” which will require just physical rehabilitation. Phil Hughes is the far too obvious candidate to replace him in the rotation, and me thinks he’ll make at least four starts in Wang’s place.
Ransom has some sort of tear in his quad and that could be kinda serious, so he may end up missing a good chunk of time. Bruney wasn’t worried about his elbow and didn’t want to see a doctor, but the team ordered him too. There’s a chance he’ll be back with the team in time for tomorrow’s game.
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