Coke ready for action tonight
Apparently, Phil Coke’s balky back had been worse than we realized. While Coke first said he was unavailable to prior to this week’s series against the Blue Jays, not until today has the Yanks’ lone remaining lefty reliever felt well enough to pitch. Coke told Marc Carig of The Star Ledger that he expects to be available out of the pen tonight. Coke says he back was so tight on Tuesday that he couldn’t stand up straight. He had a catcher yesterday though and should be ready to go if he’s called upon to face Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau in a tight spot this weekend.
BA’s Mock Draft V1.0
Baseball America posted the first of several Mock Drafts yesterday, though it’s hidden behind the subscriber wall. I will tell you this much: with the 29th overall pick they have the Yanks taking Cal center fielder Brett Jackson, who’s a supreme athlete but has questions about his bat. Surprisingly, they have both Matt Davidson and Jiovanni Mier dropping out of the first round. I’d much prefer either of those two to Jackson.
Yanks still facing heat over DL use
Oh, to be Jayson Stark. To have unfettered discretion to reprint anonymous quotes from league officials without any repercussions. To use those anonymous quotes as a smoke screen for personal opinions about other teams.
Today’s Jayson Stark/anonymous column concerns questionable uses of the DL by certain teams throughout the Majors. It features “disgruntled American League execs” slamming the Yankees and Red Sox for their liberal uses of the DL.
“The day before he” — meaning Chien-Ming Wang — “went on the DL,” the said disgruntled American League exec told Stark, “he said, ‘I’m healthy. I want to start tomorrow.’ And the next day, he was placed on the disabled list. It’s a little strange, don’t you think?”
In response, Stark gets Brian Cashman on the record to explain the Yanks’ thoughts on Wang. The Yanks had A-Rod’s hip doctor look at Wang, and that hip doctor determined that Wang’s hip was not up to snuff. “I don’t really care what anybody on the outside thinks,” Cashman said. “If I have a doctor who tells me a player has to do physical therapy and it could take him up to six weeks to do it, that’s not ‘convenient.’ The fact is, we need our No. 2 starter, but we need to get him right.”
Stark questions the Mets’ placing Oliver Perez on the DL with a knee issue and the Tigers’ decision to put Dontrelle Willis on the DL with psychological problems. In each case, the critique is the same: What exactly is wrong with these players that warrants a trip to the DL?
Stark ends his piece by asking some other anonymous officials if this is actually cheating. The answer appears to be a resounding not. “What the hell are the Yankees supposed to with a guy like Wang?” a GM said to Stark. “He’s 0-3 and giving up 15 [runs] a game. What are the Tigers supposed to do with Dontrelle? They know he can’t make the team, so what are you gonna do? They’ve got millions of dollars invested in the guy. So you put him on the DL, and if the commissioner’s office doesn’t like it, they can call you a no-good liar.”
Another General Manager echoed those sentiments. “I know they’re not all legit,” one GM said. “But I’ll be honest. I don’t find that to be hard-core cheating — because the player’s got to be willing to do it. If the player’s willing to go on there, it means the player knows he’s not right. Whether it’s physical, mental or mechanical, something’s wrong — and there’s no other way around the rules.”
All in all, this has been one long much ado about nothing. Chien-Ming Wang is not right. Oliver Perez is not right. Dontrelle Willis is not right. These players have to go somewhere, and they have been, at various point this season, disabled. When they are right and healthy, they will be activated. That’s the bottom line.
The Captain returns as CC pitches Yanks to 3-2 win
Before Joe Girardi officially filled out his lineup card, there was uncertainty as to whether Derek Jeter would play in last night’s series finale against the Blue Jays. The Captain has been suffering what he calls a sore oblique, never an easy injury for a baseball player. It requires rest to heal. Unfortunately, rest does not fit Derek Jeter’s M.O. He returned to the lineup, though, and came through for the Yanks on more than one occasion.
His first act came in the bottom of the sixth. With Alex Rios on first and two men out, Jose Bautista worked a 2-2 count on CC Sabathia. The hefty lefty had unleashed a barrage of fastballs in the at bat, two hitting 94, one 96, and the latest one 97. On the fifth pitch he pulled the string, dropped to 85 mph. Bautista pulled it toward the hole, but there would be no Pasta Diving on this evening. Jeter laid out and snared the grounder, flipping to Cano to finish the inning.
Then, with the Yanks down 2-1 in the top of the seventh, Jeter was presented with one of those RISP situations in which the Yanks have generally failed this season. Brett Gardner had worked a four-pitch walk off Brian Tallet, his fifth of the night. Girardi called for a hit and run on a 2-1 count, and it couldn’t have gone any better. Frankie grounded one to short, which Marco Scutaro almost certainly would have turned into a double play if he weren’t out of position. He was, the ball squeaked through, and to the plate strolled Derek Jeter with two on and none out.
After taking a strike out the outside edge from new pitcher Jason Frasor, The Captain did what he does best. On a 94 mph fastball on the inside edge, Jeter did his inside-oot (as the Blue Jays broadcasters said) thing, lofting a ball over John McDonald’s head and into shallow right for a game-tying single. It was Jeterian in every sense of the term. Unfortunately, the 2-3-4 hitters couldn’t plate the RISP. The Yanks would have to save the comeback for another inning.
Leave it to Godzilla. Exactly one week after he hit a solo home run to tie the game against the Rays, he did the exact same thing. Except this time it put the Yanks on top. On a 2-2 count, Matsui took a Jesse Carlson slider, the first he’d thrown in the at bat, over the right-center field wall, giving the Yankees a 3-2 lead. It was Matsui’s first hit since the series opener in Baltimore last Friday, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
CC Sabathia wasn’t quite as good as his last start, but eight innings, two runs is the mark of an ace, even if he didn’t get there in the most efficient fashion. Only one of his four walks came back to haunt him, but for a while that run loomed large, as it gave the Jays a 2-1 advantage. That inning, the bottom of the fifth, could have been a lot worse had Brett Gardner and Frankie Cervelli not hooked up to get Rod Barajas trying to score on a John McDonald single. We’ve seen Gardner try to uncork a throw or two this year, usually with disastrous results. On this one he took his time, throwing a strike in time to get Barajas and keep the Jays from extending the lead.
Sabathia took care of the rest, getting Marco Scutaro to ground out on the first pitch, ending the threat. True to form, CC powered through three more frames, laying his own bridge to Mo. Like Mo of old, he came in and mowed down the Jays, throwing six of his 11 pitches for strikes and retiring the Jays in order.
While the Yanks’ inability to capitalize on Tallet’s five walks was a bit frustrating, it’s tough to complain about this win. It was a close game wherein the Yankees scored a run in three separate innings. Whereas last week we talked about how the Yankees were finding ways to lose, today they found another way to win: by manufacturing a run or two and relying on some timely hitting. The win brought the Yanks back to .500, a mark they hopefully won’t see the rest of the season (though this isn’t the first time I’ve typed that).
The Yanks head back home tomorrow night for a four-game set against the Twinkies. It’s the disappointing Phil Hughes vs. the disappointing Francisco Liriano. I’m betting one of them won’t disappoint.
Phelps shines for Charleston
Mike’s out tonight. Thankfully, with two rainouts, it was an easy one.
Triple-A Scranton was postponed by rain. They’ll play two tomorrow starting at 5:30. Kei Igawa and George Kontos go for the good guys.
Double-A Trenton (8-7 loss to Binghamton, walk-off style)
Eduardo Nunez: 3 for 4, 1 BB, 1 HR
Seth Fortenberry: 1 for 4, 1 3B, 1 BB — 1 for 4 night brings his average UP to .137
Colin Curtis: 1 for 4, 1 2B, 1BB
Jorge Vazquez: 1 for 5, 1 K — surprisingly did not get in on the seven-run action
Marcos Vechionacci: 1 for 5, 1 K
Edwar Gonzalez: 1 for 4, 1 BB, 1 K — first game since April 24
Justin Snyder: 0 for 3, 1 K, 1 BB, 1 E — the error allowed the winning run to score
Wilkins De La Rosa: 5 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3ER, 3 BB, 7 K — not terrible, not great, but encouraging considering it’s his second AA start. He’s racked up 16 strikeouts in 11 innings so far.
Jason Stephens: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
Mike Dunn: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K — after a couple tough outings, again pitching like a guy who wants a promotion
Jon Hovis: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB — single and a homer to lead off the 9th tied it, a two-out double, walk, and error ended it
Yanks relax stadium access policies
If you’re looking for the game thread, you can find it here. Please refrain from discussing tonight’s game in this thread.
On Tuesday, Lonn Trost earned the ire of Yankee fans with some ill-conceived comments about stadium access. Talking about the Yanks’ decision to bar fans from watching batting practice from the field level, Trost laid bare the Yanks’ policies.
“There’s an area by the Legends Suite which is not an area that fans can get into,” he said. “If you purchase a suite, do you want somebody in your suite? If you purchase a home, do you want somebody in your home?”
While Trost rebuffed reporters who asked if the team was going to change policies, the Yankees are singing a different tune today. Beginning with their next homestand this weekend, the Yankees will allow fans into certain areas for batting practice. While the expensive Legends Suite seats will still be inaccessible to those without tickets, other field level and bleacher sections will be open. The new policies put the stadium in line with access during batting practice as it was across the street last year.
Bryan Hoch has more:
The Yankees have amended some of their Yankee Stadium operational policies, including permitting fans to access certain areas of the field level two hours before games.
Yankee Stadium gates on Babe Ruth Plaza, located between Gate 4 and Gate 6, will continue to open three hours to the start time of every home game.
Fans will be now permitted to watch batting practice and infield workouts during the first hour gates are open — for example, between 4-5 p.m. for a 7:05 p.m. game — from Sections 103-110 (right-field corner), 129-136 (left-field corner) and all of the Bleachers, provided the seat is vacant.
All seats between Sections 111-129, including areas near the dugouts, will remain off-limits unless fans hold a ticket for those sections.
The same Yankee spokesperson who earlier this week grew tired with reporters peppering her with questions explained the philosophy behind the new policies. “We liberalized the policy even more,” she told Ken Belson of The Times. “This is part of living in a new home and making adjustments. It’s only been a month.”
The new policies can be found here under the “Batting Practice” section. Fans can stay in those sections until the players leave the field or until one hour and 15 minutes before the game is scheduled to start.
I’ve harped on this for the last few weeks, and today we saw what can happen if enough people raise their voices to protest unfair arrangements. This is a victory for fans.