The Time Has Come Today!
Look who is coming up. With Matsui on the DL are they going to start him and DH Damon? We will find out.
The Yankees are finally going to try someone new in the pen, David Robertson. Just heard it on WFAN, though they don't know who is getting sent down. 33 innings, 48 K's and 16 walks at AAA this year with 0 HR's allowed. The guy has frequently been mentioned as a possible 8th inning solution and while I don't think the Yankees will try him out there right away, it's nice to see the Yankees trying something new.
Ian Kennedy is starting for Tampa today and you have to think he will get back to New York quickly if he is healthy and remotely effective.
UPDATE: Thankfully, it is Kei Igawa back to Scranton. Seeing him last night was enough for awhile.
Too say the Yankees stunk this afternoon is an understatement. Now they head to Shea to play another game with Sidney Ponson getting the call? Ugh, I feel somewhat sick right now.
One question, if Girardi doesn't trust Dan Giese to pitch out of a jam with the lead in the fifth, why is he in the rotation? I am not saying it was the wrong call by Joe, but I hope it means the Yankees look for a different answer next time around.
And, Ohlendorf really has to go back to Scranton and work some things out.
I draw three conclusions from this debacle
1- The Yankees have two very injured outfielders in Matsui and Damon. How else do you explain pinch hitting Molina? I mean stop and think about this for a sec, I know Rasner needed to be pulled, but what makes you think he has less of a chance of getting on base than Molina? I guess we know why Christian was called up and you can only hope that these injuries won't linger.
2- Edwar Ramirez is still a one-trick pitcher and that trick isn't going to cut it on the ML-level.
3- Rasner now has an ERA of 4.5 which is closer to where his ERA should be. He obviously overachieved when he first came up and now the law of averages is catching up with him. The Yankees can hope for better, but I think they would settle for something around a 4.75. If the bullpen does its job, the Yankees would probably win more of Rasner's starts than they would lose which is about all you can ask from a fifth starter. (Paging Ian Kennedy, your career can get back on track now, paging Ian Kennedy)
Other than that, turn the page, turn the page.
George King is reporting that the Yankees are recalling Justin Christian from Scranton for tonight's game. Christian had an .815 OPS in Scranton and 18 steals in 21 attempts. Christian started out at second base before moving to the outfield where he has played all three spots. He is a righty, though at 28, too old to be considered a true prospect.
What he can do is absolutely fly, 191 steals since he started in the minors and he has been rated as the fastest guy in the system a couple of times. With three lefties scheduled for Pittsburgh, I wonder if the Yankees have noticed that Melky can't hit lefties and are thinking about a platoon in center? It would certainly make sense and at the very least, Christian gives them a real speed threat off the bench.
I wonder who is getting sent down to make room? Could this be the end of the three catchers? Stay tuned and we will see what happens.
Check out this story from tonight's Scranton game via Chad Jenning's blog.
Brett Gardner just scored from second on a routine ground out. Seriously.
One out. Gardner at second, Basak at first. Both runners were running on the pitch and Duncan grounded weakly to short. Gardner trotted into third easily and when the shortstop threw to first, he turned on the speed and scored without a play. Earlier in the inning, JD Closser scored on a Basak single, and later in the inning, Basak scored on a single from Juan Miranda.
I really have to see this guy in action. Too bad I am too cheap to shell out $30 for the MILB package, hopefully YES will show one of the Scranton games soon.
The Yankees have been taking advantage of their soft schedule and racking up some wins (this weekend being an exception) but there are still some storm clouds on the horizon. Robinson Cano has an OPS under .600 and Melky Cabrera is hitting .227 in June with an OPS under .600.
You can't do much with Cano, he is signed to a big deal and he has enough of a track record to warrant patience. (Even if it is really hard to be patient as he hacks at every first pitch.) The same cannot be said of Melky. Cabrera is approaching 1300 AB's in the bigs and his career line of .271/.335/.384 is starting to look like his true value. Yes, he can play great defense and he can run, but the Yankees need more than that, especially with Wang on the DL. And, as luck would have it, the Yankees have someone at AAA who might be able to help out. Brett Gardner is currently producing at a clip of .292/.392/.432 in Scranton. He also has 29 steals and plays great defense. At what point do the Yankees bring him up, stick him in center and see what happens?
I am not sure Gardner or Melky is a long term answer. I think the Yankees long term solution in center is Austin Jackson, but we won't see Jackson until 2010 in the Bronx. So, the Yankees have a gap to bridge and I am not sure how much longer they will let Melky try and fill it. Melky is still only 23 and he is actually younger than Gardner, but the Yankees may realize that they are ultimately choosing between fourth outfielders here and go with the hotter hand. With almost half the season gone, you couldn't blame them.
Is this how bad things have gotten? The Yankees just signed Sidney Ponson! Seriously, the guy bombed here in 2006 and just got released by Texas for getting drunk in a bar among other things. I know the Yankees need some pitching depth right now and they need a starter for June 27th, but this is plain stupid. What's the point of this move? Why bother with this guy?
On a side note, what does this signing mean in terms of Kei Igawa? I don't want Igawa pitching for the Yankees either, but the fact that the Yankees would pull Ponson off the scrap heap can't be a good sign for his future prospects in New York.
And, to add to the comedy, Joe Girardi said tonight that LaTroy Hawkins is his new long reliever with Giese in the bullpen.
I have nothing much to say about the Yankees at this moment, other than are we really getting Billy Traber again? But, I do have something to say about a former Yankee, Willie Randolph, and his firing by the Mets this morning.
To force your manager to fly across the country, manage a game and then fire him when he returns to the hotel is probably (I am searching my memory here) worse than anything Steinbrenner did. It certainly seems like the kind of move he might have made in his prime 25 years or so ago and I simply can't believe that the Mets stooped to that level. To further try and hide it by sending out a fax at 3-something in the AM New York time is disgusting.
You can certainly make a compelling case that Willie deserved to be fired. The end of 2007 was hideous, 2008 hasn't been much better. But, he deserved to be fired and allowed to walk out the front door. Joel Sherman said it best in his blog post today:
"Mets ownership, Fred and Jeff Wilpon, completed the impossible: They have made Hank Steinbrenner appear the level-headed baseball owner in town."
Wow