Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Joba dominant in final spring outing

The newspaper masses have assembled, and they’ve made their predictions for the 2009 AL East. Joy of Sox, one of the better Sox blogs, shares the Boston writers’ picks and the New York writers’ picks. You’ll never guess how each side picked.

Of the six writers from the Boston Globe, only two picked the Yankees to even make the playoffs, and none of them think the Yanks will take the division. Both of them, by the way, picked the Sox to win the World Series. On the New York end, we see that the Times loves the Yanks: both Jack Curry and Tyler Kepner picked them to win the division, though both had the Sox second and taking the Wild Card. Yet while every Red Sox writer had the Sox in the playoffs, one Yanks writer has excluded the hometown team. You can guess if you want, but I’m going to give it away: Bill Madden. He has the Rays winning 101 games. If there’s a 100-win team in the division, I certainly wouldn’t peg the Rays for the honor.

The lesson: don’t listen to the predictions. They mean nothing, and even that gives “nothing” a bad name. Just look at ESPN’s staff predictions. Ridiculous, right? Twins win the WC? Not that it can’t happen, but given what we know right now how could you possibly predict that?* Just stay away from what the “experts” say and enjoy the start of the season. It’s certainly one to get excited about.

* Answer: Matthew Berry knows that no one will remember his prediction when it doesn’t happen, but on the off-chance it does he’s going to reference it constantly in a reminder of just how smart he is.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Always optimism for the home team

As I said on Thursday, this is a move that doesn’t really matter, but it is marginally interesting that the Yanks went with Peña. Had they opted for Berroa, they would have just DFA’d him when A-Rod is activated, but Peña will stick on the 40-man and thus limit the Yanks’ roster flexibility. Peña will wear 19 on his jersey even though that number should have been retired in honor of Luis Sojo years ago.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Peña makes the cut

The New Stadium looked amazing last night, now we get to see how she looks during the day. As Ben mentioned this morning, the two of us will be there to soak it all in. Well, hopefully the weather cooperates and we won’t have to soak anything in, literally. I’ll be wandering around beforehand, but I’ll settle in to my seat (Section 420B, Row 5, Seat 9) about a half-hour before first pitch. Stop by and say hi.

AJ Burnett is starting and will be relieved by Andy Pettitte. I’m guessing we’ll see Phil Coke and Damaso Marte if any extra arms are needed since they didn’t throw yesterday. Head on over to LoHud for the lineup. Enjoy the game folks.

Photo Credit: Eric Thayer, Reuters

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Exhibition Game Thread: One Final Tune-Up

The star of the show will undoubtedly be the New Stadium, which will experience the tender lovin’ of a Major League game for the first time tonight, even though the game doesn’t count. The weatherman says to expect some showers throughout the evening, but the baseball gods have a way of taking care of these things. Remember, the final game at the Old Stadium was threatened by rain, but come first pitch there was nothing but blue skies and sunshine.

Lou Piniella and his Chicago Baby Bears will help christen the new place in what amounts to nothing more than a test run of all the services and neat little features. Between tonight and tomorrow the bigwigs will get an idea of what needs to be improved before the season starts, and then while the Yanks are on the road the next two weeks, that stuff will be taken care of. Beautiful, ain’t it?

Here’s the starting nine:

Jeter, SS
Damon, LF
Teixeira, 1B
Matsui, DH
Posada, C
Cano, 2B
Nady, RF
Ransom, 3B
Gardner, CF

On the mound is number forty, Chien-Ming Wang.

Both YES and the MLB Network will be carrying the game; first pitch is scheduled for 7:15. Enjoy folks.

Note: Long-time RAB reader and commentor Arman Tamzarian asked us to pass this along (no, that’s not his real name):

I’m a Program Manager with Larkin Street Youth Services in San Francisco. I’m running a half marathon to raise money for the program, and am looking for sponsorship help. Larkin Street has been working with homeless youth for the past 25 years in San Francisco. Larkin Street not only works with youth ages 12-25 around housing, but has a whole division teaching resume building, interview skills, job retention, and getting youth jobs. Larkin Street works to move youth out of the system and into independence.

You can find his sponsorship page here, and you can also find more info about Larkin St. here. Even if it’s just a couple bucks, please consider helping out.

Photo Credit: Flickr user matt.hintsa

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Exhibition Game Thread: Test Runnin’

“I’ve got to be more efficient,” said Chamberlain (via Bryan Hoch). “I had some good short innings, but there were other times when I got extended with two outs. I’ve got to shorten pitches and when things get out of whack, I’ve got to slow things down.” Becoming more efficient with your pitches is standard stuff for young starters, nothing out of the ordinary here.

The Great Joba Velocity Scare should be over, as scouts had the young righty in the mid-90’s all day according to Tyler Kepner. Oh, and Jorge Posada isn’t a B-Jobber anymore, according PeteAbe’s 3:38 update. Thank Mo.

Brian Bruney bailed Joba out in the sixth, stranding both inherited base runners thanks to a strikeout and fly out. Edwar Ramirez allowed a hit and an unearned run in an inning of work, while Phil Coke and Dan Giese posted identical 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K lines to close out the game. Coke was absolutely phenomenal this spring, putting up a 15-1 K/BB ratio with a 1.42 ERA and 11 hits allowed in 12.2 IP. Hopefully he doesn’t pull a Sean Henn, who followed up a strong Spring Training in 2007 with an ERA over seven in the regular season.

The center fielder battlers accounted for pretty much all of the team’s offense, as Brett Gardner went 3-for-4 from the leadoff spot while Melky Cabrera went 1-for-2 with three RBI’s and a run scored from the six-hole. Mark Teixeira doubled and walked, while Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada combined to go 0-for-6 with two walks and three strikeouts. Angel Berroa went 2-for-5 and was picked off first, and his hitting .379-.390-.621 this spring. The 6-3 win is the team’s seventh straight, and sixteenth in their last eighteen games.

The Yanks finish up the Florida portion of their preseason schedule tomorrow afternoon against the Phillies, and then will head home to New York before taking on the Cubbies in a pair of exhibition games at the New Stadium on Friday and Saturday.

Mo matters: Mariano Rivera pitched in a minor league game today, and was so dominant that he recorded five outs in just one inning of work. After serving up a homer to MVP05 legend Rich Thompson, Mo sat down the next three batters with ease, so the team stretched him out a bit and had him face two more hitters. He’s just that good.

Photo Credit: Pete Caldera

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Joba Rules over Reds

Damaso Marte finished the seventh inning, giving up a hit before recording the final out. Marte’s been entering games this spring in the middle of the inning with runners on base almost exclusively, so I guess they’re just getting ready for the situations they plan on using him in during the season. Jose Veras allowed a hit in an inning of work, while Edwar Ramirez threw a flawless ninth.

The Yanks scored a run off David Purcey nice and early, setting the tone for the rest of the game. Derek Jeter led off the first inning with a double, Johnny Damon followed with a walk, and Mark Teixiera singled in the Captain for a quick 1-0 lead. Tex drove in another run in 7th when he doubled down the first base line. Brett Gardner went hitless in three at-bats, but he managed to throw Scott Rolen out at third with an assist from Cody Ransom’s leaping skills. Hideki Matsui and Nick Swisher went a combined 0-for-7, leaving a total of eight runners on base. Godzilla did reach base when Purcey plunked him.

It was just another day in the office, and the win is the Yanks fifteenth in their last seventeen games. Spring Training records actually mean less than Spring Training stats, but it is good to see the team on a nice little roll with the season just a week away. Joba Chamberlain will make his final start of the preseason tomorrow afternoon against the Reds, and is scheduled for at least six innings of work.

Minor Note: Phil Hughes was scheduled to start today, but was pushed back to Wednesday to give him some extra time off and get the Triple-A rotation all lined up.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Pettitte strong as Yanks win again

Damaso Marte relieved Burnett, allowing two of the three baserunners he inherited to score on a pair of hits before closing out the fifth inning. Mariano Rivera actually allowed a hit in the sixth inning, only the second baserunner he’s allowed this preseason. He struck out the side and threw 10 of his 16 pitches for strikes, pushing his Spring Training pitching line to 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K. Phil Coke was dominant in two innings of work, striking out four and inducing a pair of groundball outs against just one hit. He’s a lock for the big league bullpen at this point. Jose Veras allowed two hits in a scoreless ninth.

As bad as Burnett was, Bucs’ starter Zach Duke was even worse. The Yanks hung a seven spot off Duke (3.1 IP, 9 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 3 BB, 1 K) in the fourth thanks to a pair of bunt singles by Ramiro Pena and starting centerfielder Brett Gardner. Robbie Cano sent a ball into the people as did Nick Swisher, although Swish’s hit the field of play first. Swish is now hitting  .262-.463-.405 with a 7-12 K/BB ratio (54 PA) this spring while Nady’s put up .304-.323-.500 line with a 12-2 K/BB ratio (58 PA). Johnny Damon went 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored and an RBI out of the two-hole, while Cap’n Jetes went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored while leading off. Jorge Posada drew a walk and went hitless in two at-bats, also committing a throwing error. I have no idea the nature of the error, so don’t ask. Yankee baserunners reached base twenty times against Pirate pitching today, walking away with a 9-8 win thanks to a Carmen Angelini run scoring bloop single in the eighth.

The Yanks will be at Dunedin to take on the Blue Jays tomorrow afternoon, and I’m presuming Andy Pettitte will make the start (rather than throw in a minor league game) since the long reliever trio pitched yesterday. The Yankees only have three more games to play down in Florida, and will be back home for the two-game series with the Cubbies at the end of the week. They open the season in Baltimore a week from tomorrow.

Also, just following up on yesterday’s post – the Yanks officially took Rule 5 Draftee Ivan Nova back from the Padres today and assigned him to Double-A Trenton. Nove only worked one inning stints with the Pads, so he might not step directly into the Thunder rotation to start the year.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Burnett struggles, Yanks still beat Pirates

Damaso Marte relieved Sabathia, getting the only batter he faced to fly out. Mariano Rivera worked a flawless ninth, striking out one and inducing a pair of groundballs on the bare minimum of five pitches. The pitching staff was simply awesome tonight. You gotta love it, Spring Training or not.

The offense was led by El Capitan and Mark Teixeira, who each drove in a run. Jeter doubled and went 1-for-4 with a run scored out of the leadoff spot, while Tex went 2-for-3 out of his customary three-hole. Xavier Nady went 1-for-3 and picked up the Yanks’ only other hit, while Jorge Posada drew a walk and scored a run. Brett Gardner and Cody Ransom each swiped a bag, but otherwise went hitless. The 4-1 win was the Yanks twelfth in their last fourteen games.

The Yanks play the Braves in Orlando tomorrow afternoon, but the MLB Network broadcast has been blacked out at YES’ request. It’ll long reliever competition day, as Brett Tomko (starter), Al Aceves and Dan Giese are scheduled to throw three innings each.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Si Si!

The news isn’t that CC Sabathia will start on Opening Day, because we knew that pretty much from the moment he signed. What we’ve been wondering, though, is how the team will handle Joba Chamberlain in April. Girardi said that he’ll start the sixth game, meaning that the first pass through the rotation will go CC-Wang-Burnett-Pettitte-CC-Joba. This lines up CC to start the home opener against Cleveland on April 16. This won’t really allow Joba to skip a start, as the off-day on the 23rd comes one day after he’s scheduled to start against the A’s. If all goes well he’ll get four April starts to Sabathia’s five.

In fact, after staring at the schedule for 10 minutes, it appears that the only reason Joba would start the sixth game rather than the fifth is so Sabathia can start the home opener. Otherwise, if the Yankees went with a straight one through five, Joba would have that honor. Don’t get me wrong, I love CC and all, but I think it would be rather cool if they let Joba start the home opener.

Now for my favorite part. JOE GIRARDI READS RAB!!!!111!! Okay, so maybe not. You’ll know what I mean, though, after you read this post on the Yankees lineup and then look what Girardi has for today:

1. Derek Jeter, SS
2. Johnny Damon, LF
3. Mark Teixeira, 1B
4. Hideki Matsui, DH
5. Nick Swisher, RF
6. Robinson Cano, 2B
7. Cody Ransom, 3B
8. Jose Molina, C
9. Melky Cabrera, CF

Of course, flipping Jeter and Damon in the lineup could just be to get Jeter a couple more hypothetical at bats.

Side Note: MLB.TV is giving a free preview of it’s fancy new HD media player during the game today. So if you’re thinking about upgrading to the premium package, or are just going to be away from a TV during the game, make sure you check it out at MLB.com. (h/t Maury Brown)

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Spring Training Game Thread: Yanks vs. Phillies