When Alan Horne left last night’s start against Portland after just three-plus innings, it looked like he was just suffering from a bout of suckiness. Instead, it turns out that a tight hammy is what delivered the knockout punch. “I threw a couple balls that were up to that last hitter and really tried to get through the next one, and just had kind of a twinge in my hamstring. It’s one that I’ve blown out before, four years ago, and it’s just something you don’t play with.” said Horne. If you read the quotes in the linked article, you’ll see that the injury doesn’t sound too serious, and there’s a decent chance Horne will make his next start. The important thing is to make sure the hammy is healthy enough that Horne doesn’t subconsiously change his mechanics to compensate, putting his surgically repaired shoulder in jeopardy.
Cashman hints at another rehab start for Wang
On the Brian Cashman Ambiguity Meter, this one rates just a 3. It’s pretty clear that Chien-Ming Wang will make at least one more rehab start in Scranton based on this quote (courtesy of the inimitable Chad Jennings):
“I think everybody should assume that we’ll keep going down here unless we decide otherwise,” Cashman said. “So if you want to look for an assumption, that’s the way to go.”
The way the Yanks are going right now, they could sure use a healthy Chien-Ming Wang as a stabilizing force in the rotation. The keyword is healthy, though, and it appears the Yanks are not convinced of that after Wang’s first start in Scranton.
The erstwhile Yanks ace pitched well by all accounts and statistics. As we learned in Down on the Farm, he tossed six innings, 82 pitches, of three-hit ball, striking out six and walking three, while providing a Wangian 7-4 GB/FB ratio. This is the kind of contest I wish I could have watched in condensed format. I wonder how many of those fly ball outs were dinky shots that Wang has induced since coming up with the Yanks in 2005. It’s the skill which separates him from most groundball pitchers: not only do guys beat the ball into the ground, but they generally make poor contact even when they get some lift on it.
Here’s Cashman on the outing:
“He got his work in and I don’t think he was challenged all that much,” Cashman said. “I think he feels real good about the direction he’s heading, and I was glad to be able to say that I do too… He’s definitely heading in the right direction. He’s much better. He had great mound presence, showed some great tempo. Threw strikes. I thought his slider was terrific. He did a great job. I was concerned when he got hit by that line drive on the meat of the calf. I know he took a pretty good shot there, but I was able to talk to our staff in-game. I came out of the stands and we just watched him inning-by-inning after that. As long as his mechanics were good and it wasn’t going to affect him we were going to keep going with him. He got his work in, which was great. Today was a good day.”
Yes, Wang did get drilled in the calf by a liner, but no one thought it a big deal afterward. That includes pitching coach Scott Aldred, who was also impressed by Wang’s slider. As the league has seen more and more of Chien-Ming, his slider has become an important part of his arsenal. Just imagine the damage he could do if he could pull the string once in a while. Mid-90s 4-seamer, low 90s sinker, slider, changeup? Nasty.
The Yanks will likely keep Wang on normal rest, therefore pitching him again on Sunday. Unfortunately, the Yankees do not have much room to maneuver right now. Their next off-day comes on May 28, so the starters will be going in turn until then. That creates an issue, because Wang and Phil Hughes, the man he’d likely replace, are two days apart. If Wang starts on Sunday he won’t be available again until Friday the 22nd. Hughes has starts lining up on the 15th, the 20th, and the 25th. So how would the Yanks work this?
It’s not easy to say, but they could go like this, if they were so inclined (and this is just a for-fun thing):
13th Tor: Pettitte
14th Tor: Sabathia
15th MIN: Hughes
16th MIN: Joba
17th MIN: Burnett (Wang’s AAA start)
18th MIN: Pettitte
19th BAL: Sabathia
20th BAL: Hughes
21st BAL: Joba
22nd PHI: Wang
23rd PHI: Burnett
24th PHI: Pettitte
25th Tex: Sabathia
26th Tex: Joba
27th Tex: Wang
28th Off day
29th Cle: Burnett
30th Cle: Pettitte
31st Cle: Sabathia
1st Cle: Wang
It’s not ideal, in that Burnett will be going on five days’ rest two starts in a row. Perhaps flipping Wang and Burnett on the 22nd and 23rd would alleviate that issue. Feel free to tinker. Any way they shake it out, this should allow the Yanks to put some more space between Joba’s starts, keeping his innings under more control the rest of the way.
So it looks like we’ll see good ol’ CMW against Philadelphia on Memorial Day weekend. Sounds like a plan to me. Hopefully the rotation can stabilize itself a bit by then, and Wang can become the last piece of the pitching puzzle. By that point the team should have a healthy Bruney and Marte, solidifying the bullpen. If Tex and A-Rod are hitting at that point…well, we could be forgetting about the team’s early-season woes.
Everybody hurts
When the Yankees faced Toronto ace Roy Halladay last night, they did so with a massively depleted lineup. Derek Jeter is battling an oblique pull; Jorge Posada and Jose Molina are both on the DL; Xavier Nady is attempting to rehab a severely strained elbow ligament; and Nick Swisher may or may not be recovering from a bruised elbow.
Halfway through the game, Hideki Matsui found himself out of the game. He had felt a cramp in his right hamstring, and the Yankees made the prudent move of protecting their DH. In came Swisher; out went Matsui. Yankee fans just sat back and shook their heads. While this team is, on average, not that old, their key pieces are mostly on the wrong side of 30, and it’s beginning to show.
Already, this year, in addition to Nady and the two catchers, the Yankees have played for an extended period of time without their All-Star third baseman, their left-handed set-up reliever, their right-handed set-up reliever, and their back-up infielder. Their other left-handed reliever — Phil Coke — is battling a sore back, and their number two starter wasn’t up to strength after suffering a freak accident last June.
For a $200 million team, it’s hard to make excuses. After all, if the Yankees are investing so much into their starters, shouldn’t they have a viable Plan B for when the starters go down? Last night, in the comments to Joe’s game recap, a few of us got into a discussion about the Yankees bench. Some fans claim Brian Cashman didn’t build enough depth into the team. Others — as I do — feel that the Yanks have suffered through more injuries than any GM would expect and that it is impossible to have a Plan B that replaces a third of your team.
This debate hinges on the bench and its proper place on the Yanks. When the season started, the Yankees’ bench was projected to include Melky Cabrera or Brett Gardner, Nick Swisher or Xavier Nady, Jose Molina and Cody Ransom. Swisher or Nady would provide the pinch-hitting pop. Gardner and Melky would be the late-inning defensive specialists or, in Gardner’s case, the speed off the bench. Molina would more than adequately back up Posada with stellar defense, and Ransom would ride the pine while spelling Jeter and A-Rod. The best laid plans, indeed.
Six weeks into the season, the bench now resembles a list of never-will-bes and has-beens. Francisco Cervelli and Kevin Cash are the team’s two catchers. Brett Gardner plays sparingly. Angel Berroa and Ramiro Peña are the go-to infielders of last resort. Injuries will decimate any team, and the Yankees are no exception.
Should Brian Cashman, then, be held responsible? He could have had Mark DeRosa for $5.5 million or Mark Grudzielanek, say the detractors. But the truth is that these players aren’t bench players. DeRosa starts for the Indians, and Grudzielanek wants a starting job. For all of their money, the Yankees can’t shell out $10 million or more for guys who will, in an ideal world, play once or twice a week.
A bench is a bench because these players aren’t starters. If they could play every day, they would be somewhere else, making more money and enjoying more playing time. That’s just a fact of baseball life.
But — and this is a significant but — the Yankees are not a young team, and it’s showing. Matsui, Damon, Jeter, A-Rod, Posada and Molina are all well past 30. So are Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and A.J. Burnett. While the Yanks have some young players, they are a team relying on age, and age breaks down.
Over the next few years, the Yanks will have some opportunities to shed age. Pettitte, Damon and Matsui are free to go this year, and Jeter faces a controversial free agency the year after. Posada is under contract through 2011, and Mo through next season.
With these potential departures, the Yankees have to find a way to get younger. They have A-Rod until he’s past 40, and Teixeira and Sabathia into their late 30’s. As long as these older players are still here and still getting paid $20 million, the Yankees will face the dangers of age-related injuries. Pulled hamstrings and sore obliques are here to stay, and maybe the Yankees should think about spending more to beef up Plan B and C in the coming seasons. Otherwise, age will make it difficult for the team to win.
Halladay dominates weak lineup as Jays beat Yanks
The writing was on the wall before the first pitch. With Roy Halladay on the mound and with the Yanks featuring the equivalent of three pitchers in the lineup, A.J. Burnett would have to spin a gem to give his team a chance. He didn’t quite accomplish that. A couple of walks led to three runs in the fourth, and that’s all Roy Halladay would need. He cruised through the Yanks lineup on the way to a 5-1 Blue Jays victory.
Not that Halladay did it against an impressive lineup. With Swisher sitting and Jeter getting scratched, the Yanks lineup featured Ramiro Pena, Kevin Cash, and Brett Gardner, the latest hitting leadoff. He’s fast, therefore he hits leadoff. I think Dusty Baker said that. They were a collective 1 for 9, with the only hit coming in the ninth, a leadoff double from Ramiro Pena. He was one of just five Yankee baserunners last night, and like three others he didn’t come around to score.
While the Yanks offense certainly sucked, most of what you saw was Roy Halladay. He did what he does best, which is get groundball outs: 16 to be exact, to 5 fly outs and 5 strikeouts. After a league-leading nine complete games last year, this was just his first this year, but it certainly will not be his last. The only descriptor necessary, really, for Halladay’s start is dominance. At least the Yanks can take solace in not having to face him again until July 4th weekend.
On the mound, A.J. was pretty solid, consistently pumping 96 mph fastballs. Speed doesn’t always lead to results, and some wildness on the part of Burnett led to a big fourth inning for the Jays. They capitalized on A.J.’s two walks when Scott Rolen doubled in two. That extended to three when Kevin Cash couldn’t handle a money throw from Melky Cabrera on a sac fly. A.J. gave up a couple of runs in the eighth, but they were ultimately meaningless. Discouraging for sure, but ultimately meaningless.
While the Jays scored on a double, sac fly, homer, and single, the difference was in the walks. A.J. walked four, three of whom came around to score. Specifically, walking Wells and Lind back to back hurt coming on the heels of an Alex Rios leadoff double. That started the big inning, one the Yankees could not survive. That, folks, is all there really is to talk about. Burnett was good, dominating at times, but ultimately didn’t get the job done.
There won’t be many instances where a team will face Roy Halladay and then face someone tougher the next, but tomorrow’s matchup features the Yankees kryptonite: a middling starter they have yet to see. Scott Richmond, who signed with the Blue Jays after the 2007 season age 27, is having a fine season, but if the Yankees’ recent history is any indication he’ll look like Pedro Martinez circa 1999. It’s pessimistic, sure, but when the Yanks get dominated by the likes of Matt Palmer it’s tough to get excited.
Notes: Hideki Matsui left the game with a hamstring injury. John Sterling reported that it was a “strained hamstring,” but that seems like that’s a bit premature a diagnoses. We’ll update when we have more specific information. Hammies are never good, though. Also joining the crew in the infirmary is Phil Coke, who has back issues. So where’s the trainer the team can fire this year as a scapegoat?
Wang goes six strong in rehab start
Three years ago today on DotF, Jimmy Conroy & Rolando Japa combined for a near perfect game in game two of Low-A Charleston’s doubleheader with Rome, allowing just a single to the first batter of the game.
Meet the Stephen Strasburg of Division II, courtesy of longtime RABer Eric Sanlnocencio.
Triple-A Scranton (1-0 loss to Charlotte) they’ll get to face Jose Contreras tomorrow
Doug Bernier, Eric Duncan & Justin Leone: all 0 for 4 – Bernier K’ed once, Leone twice … Leone also committed a throwing error… E-Dunc is 1 for May and has a .051 OPS this month … yes, OPS
Todd Linden & Luis Nunez: both 1 for 3 – Linden drew a free pass & swiped a bag
Juan Miranda & Austin Jackson: both 1 for 4 – Ajax K’ed
Chris Malec: 0 for 3, 1 BB
Chris Stewart: 0 for 2, 2 BB
Chien-Ming Wang: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 7-4 GB/FB – 49 of 82 pitches were strikes (59.8%) … check out Chad Jennings’ site for a breakdown on how he looked
Anthony Claggett: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 3-3 GB/FB – 28 of 46 pitches were strikes (60.9%)
Game 32 Spillover Thread II
One last thread for the comeback win and postgame celebration.
Game 32 Spillover Thread
Three run deficit? They’ll be lucky to get that many hits the rest of the game.