Yanks Pitching Woes Continue; Can CC Rebound?

AP Photo / Carlos Osorio

If the Yankees expect to make any noise in the AL East this year, the pitch staff  had better turn things around and quickly. Yes, I know we're only 5 games and one week into the season, and yes, their now 1-4 record was the same as last year when they went on to win 95 games. But it bears mentioning, again, that with as many power hitters as the Yankees have missing from this lineup until who-knows-when, pitching has to lead this team to wins. It's just that simple.

Yesterday's 8-4 loss to the Tigers came again on bad pitching. I won't put all of the blame on Phil Hughes though; he actually pitched well through the first 4 innings, limiting Detroit to just one run. But it all fell apart for Hughes in the top of the 5th. Detroit's Austin Jackson singled to left field; Torii Hunter followed with a double to center, scoring Jackson; Miguel Cabrera followed with a single to center scoring Hunter. The three were the only hitters Hughes would face in the iining, as Joe Girardi decided to pull him and bring in Boone Logan. The 2 runs would give Detroit a 3-1 lead.

Boone Logan, who has been awful in relief so far against Detroit, gave up a single to the very next batter Prince Fielder, moving Cabrera to 3rd. Victor Martinez followed with a sacfly scoring Cabrera, and a single to Andy Dirks prompted Girardi to make another pitch change for David Phelps. Phelps would then give up a single to Jhonny Peralta which scored Fielder.

The Yankees would go on to score 3 runs in the 6th inning on singles by Travis Hafner and Lyle Overbay, as Detroit starter Max Scherzer had walked several batters. Detroit lead 5-4 at this point, but Phelps gave up 2 more runs in the inning. Joba Chamberlain replaced Phelps for the top of the 8th and gave up a single, 2 walks and threw a wild pitch. He would provide Detroit's final run of the game giving up a sacfly to Dirks which scored Cabrera.

This afternoon, CC Sabathia makes his second start against Justin Verlander. Sabathia did not pitch

AP Photo / Matt Slocum

well in his first start against the Red Sox, and has shown to be a slow April starter in recent years. What the Yankees will need from CC today is for his four-seamer and slider to be dead on. In his first outing, his fastball sat in the mid to high 80's; he'll need to improve that to at least the low 90's to stand any chance against the top of Detroit's lineup. Both Cabrera and Fielder have a combined 15 RBIs and 3 home runs against CC.

The start of today's game is at 1:08 pm.

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Swish Secures Yankees Sweep of Orioles

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Nick Swisher saved what would have been a terrible loss for the Yankees, smashing a two-run home run in the top of the tenth inning of a 4-4 tie against Baltimore. The Yankees would go on to win 6-4, completing a sweep of the O's and bringing their record to 3-3. Last night's game was another nail-biter, as both teams went extra innings for the second night in a row. Swisher's home run followed a double by Mark Teixeira with two men out.

The Yankees were off to a great start in the first inning with Derek Jeter hitting a double and Curtis Granderson following with a monster two-run homer that made its way on to Baltimore's Eutaw Street. CC Sabathia pitched a stellar first, going 1-2-3 on just 12 pitches mixing his slider and sinker for strikes, and was able to get his four-seamer up to 92 mph.

But CC struggled afterward and alllowed Baltimore to come back and tie the game in the second inning at 2-2. It would take him 38 pitches just to get out of that inning. The Yankees needed CC to give them innings since most of their bullpen was unavailable, and he managed to stretch his outing to six. With 112 pitches, he gave up eight hits, two walks and struck out eight batters. Not a great night for the ace, but he was able to keep the Orioles at bay just enough for the bullpen to take over. Boone Logan, Rafael Soriano and Mariano Rivera all got the job done, giving up only two hits between them for the last three innings. Mo is now 2-for-3 in save opportunities.

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And although he wasn't the only batter to struggle in tonight's game, Alex Rodriguez had another poor night offensively, going 1-for-4 and striking out twice. A-Rod's batting average now sits below .150 on 4-for-23 hitting; not a huge deal at this point in the season, but not something that should be overlooked, either. Alex is not seeing the ball well as he's taken too many fastballs in the zone. He's also swinging "late" against pitches that he would normally tag. But what's most alarming is that he seems unable to make a full swing "through" balls pitched inside. This was a problem he had caused by his hip surgery, and it looked as if he had made progress with it during Spring Training. Hopefully with the off-day today, he'll be well rested and we'll see more production from him tomorrow.

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Yankees Tender Contracts to Eligible Players

Today, the Yankees tendered contracts to all eligible players on their roster, including notables who were up for arbitration.

David Robertson, Joba Chamberlain, Russell Martin, Brett Gradner, Boone Logan and Phil Hughes, all arbitration eligible, were retained by the Yankees almost a week before next Monday's midnight deadline according to a report on yankees.com. No word yet on the amounts, which are most likely still being worked out.

Each of these players have been a huge part of the Yankees success in the past few years, and that is expected to continue for some time to come. There were rumors earlier this year of the Yankees considering trading Chamberlain in a package deal for a starting pitcher; that never happened as no starters were available for a trade, and Joba ended up missing most of the season following Tommy John surgery. Also, Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon came up big for the Yankees in their starting rotation, so a trade really wasn't necessary. Word is that Joba has recovered from surgery expeditiously and could possibly be ready for opening day. If the surgery was a success, Joba should be back to hurling fastballs at 95 mph.

Of all the players mentioned here, I'm expecting nice raises for Robertson, Gardner and Martin. Robertson has solidified himself as the heir-apparent to Mariano Rivera, who may be retiring after this season. Gardy finally worked out his issues at the plate and came up big in key situations this season, although his batting average, RBIs and runs were slightly down from last year. Martin was a huge offensive threat in the beginning of the season and started to wind down around May, but his defense behind the plate was stellar; he ranked 6th amongst all catchers with a caught stealing average at 30%.

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The Loss That Almost Wasn't

What a loss for the Yankees last night. Could you believe that game, fanatics? Talk about a nail-biter. By the time the 6th inning was over, I had convinced myself that a loss would be okay, as it would still keep us in first place in the AL East. But then the boys gave me reason to believe that last night would have been a good night for pie. It was too good to be true.

A. Causi / NY Post

So let's examine the loss. First, Bartolo Colon pitched another not-so-great game. I wouldn't call it a bad game, because he actually pitched pretty well; the fastball was on and he threw a decent slider, although he got tagged twice for homers on that pitch. He did manage to strike out five batters without any walks, but he also gave up five runs in his 6.1 innings (two of which had been left on base until Boone Logan gave up a costly double in relief in the 7th inning).

Watching Colon's past few starts, I'm beginning to wonder if my original fear is beginning to become a reality. As most of you already know, I was not a fan of the Yankees signing Colon during the offseason, and what's happening now is the reason why. Longevity. He is without a doubt a great pitcher, and I have completely conceded to his wizardry on the mound, but, having gone such a long time not pitching in the majors before this season, how long can he stay as fresh as he had been in the first half? Last night's game marked the most innings he's pitched in a season since his Cy Young year in 2005. That was six years ago, people!! It's no wonder that he is slowly winding down. We could point to the difference in his appearances after the calf strain and use the "he hasn't been the same since his injury" excuse, but I suspect something more obvious; Colon is tired. It's time to go back to a 5-man rotation for now, and give the big guy some more rest.

And let's face it, the offense had nothing clicking last night for the first seven innings. Oakland's RHP Brandon McCarthy, completely shut the lineup down with the exception of The Captain.

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But that 8th inning, boy was that an exciting inning. The Captain gets his 3rd hit of the night. Curtis Granderson walks on a full count. Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano fly out and line out, respectively, but Nick Swisher slugs a first-pitch, 3-run homer to center. It's a 6-3 game now.

Then in the 9th, Jorge Posada homers and it's a 6-4 game. Russell Martin doubles. Brett Gardner reaches on an error. At this point, everything in me is calling for pie. Then something crazy happened.

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Derek Jeter bunted over Martin and Gardner, putting them on 2nd and 3rd. He bunted! Normally I would have no problem with this, especially because there was no one out. But Jeter was 3-for-3 on the night; why bunt now? I can't understand at all why Joe Girardi would opt to give up an out there when, as hot as The Captain has been lately, probably could have driven in at least Martin who was in scoring position. Was I the only one who felt that the inning's momentum just died on that bunt? That out changed the whole dynamic of the Yankees chances to even tie the game, and it's another example of Girardi's tendency to over-manage in big-game situations. 

But it wasn't over yet. Again, Grandy walked on a full count, loading the bases. Tex would pop-out. Cano would walk and score Martin. With the game then at 5-6 with two outs, the hero of the 8th inning, Swisher, would step into the box and drill another deep drive to center. But that time it wouldn't carry, and Coco Crisp would secure the win for the A's. Oh, how I so wanted pie!

Speaking of Tex, what's with all the pop-ups? It just needs to stop along with his poor hitting. I said a few days ago that I might be able to overlook the lack of hitting because he's on target with his power. But last night, going 0-for-5 and leaving men on base in four of his five at-bats, was beyond disappointing to say the least, and that final pop-up magnified the poor judgment of the Jeter bunt by a thousand.

Tonight, CC Sabathia goes for his 18th win against Oakland's Trevor Cahill. CC has been shaky himself as of late; hopefully he'll be back to business as usual.

And...

Corey Sipkin / Daily News

Alex Rodriguez is expected to be back in tonight's lineup. X-rays on the jammed thumb that kept him out of last night's game, came up negative. He commented that putting on a glove gave him the most pain, so I would expect him to be the DH if he does play tonight.

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Bartolo, Cano Shine In Yankees Win

Before last night's 3-1 Yankee win over the White Sox, I tweeted to my fellow fanatics that we would see if Bartolo Colon was the real deal. I've given him much praise for what he's done so far, but there was still a part of me that was not ready to believe that he is as good as he looked in his start before last night. Bartolo proved me wrong, again.

His performance last night at the stadium was an even better showing than the start in Toronto. The biggest difference was that he pitched a brilliant 8 innings without any signs of fatigue or wear. He allowed only one run and struck out 6 batters. Again, he had all four of his pitches working last night--fastball, curveball, changeup and slider--and he dialed his fastball up to 96 mph. This is amazing when you consider that before this season, he hadn't pitched in the majors since '09.

But besides the performance, Colon is showing a cool confidence on the mound right now, that I believe is the reason why Joe Girardi opted to keep him in the game for 8 innings. We knew before the game that Rafael Soriano, who's clearly in a battle with himself right now, would probably not be available for the 8th inning, but I don't believe that to be the reason why Colon was stretched. David Robertson, Joba Chamberlain and Boone Logan were all available. I think Girardi saw what I did: a guy in a good pitch count that was in complete domination mode. Colon simply dominated the White Sox last night. He now sports an ERA of 2.77. Dare I say that Bartolo may be moving back to his 2005, Cy-Young form? It certainly looks that way right now.

And let's give it up for Robinson Cano, who is on his way to another standout season. With singles from Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, Robbie clubbed a sharp line drive to the right field seats for a 3-run home run that would prove to be all the Yankees needed last night. He now has 4 homers and 10 RBIs on the season.

Overall, the Yankees offense didn't do much, but the home run was just enough for Bartolo to keep them in line for the win. Tonight, the ace, CC Sabathia, gets the start against Edwin Jackson. Could be another good night for Robbie, as lefties are hitting .329 against Jackson so far.

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Nova's Lack of Adjustment Will Be Problem Down the Stretch

My dad believes that Joe Girardi has a "problem" with Ivan Nova.

"Until I see otherwise, no one can convince me that Girardi doesn't like this kid," my dad said last Saturday. "He pulls this kid out the moment he makes a mistake. Nova will never build confidence that way."

Kudos for me for being wise enough to write this down when my dad said it as we spoke over the phone. I "somewhat" agreed with his take on Nova, but I also defended Girardi's quick pull of the trigger on this kid, and I sensed that in a game that Nova would fall apart, I'd be able to use this quote of my dad's as part of my defense.

In last night's 5-3 loss to the Texas Rangers, Nova was terrible. He lacked location on his pitches, pitching low fastballs and sliders into the dirt. He also threw wild pitches and more balls than strikes. In 4.1 innings, he walked 5 batters and earned all 5 of the Rangers' runs. Just not a good start at all, and you have to wonder if this kid is going to be able to give the Yankees needed innings down the stretch.

Now, last night's meltdown was different from what my dad was referring to. His argument was that in Nova's starts where he pitches really well in the beginning and falls flat later, Girardi doesn't give him a chance to pull himself out like he would if say, AJ Burnett were struggling. Well, last night, Nova was terrible from beginning to end, and I'm sure that as my dad watched this game, he too probably cheered when Nova was pulled in the 5th.

But what was apparent in last night's game, and all of his other starts where he's fared better, is Nova's lack of adjustment. And by adjustment, I'm talking on 2 fronts: 1) the lack of adjustment in his pitches, and 2) the lack of adjustment in his attitude. Is it just me or does anyone else see that Nova completely shuts himself down mentally when he's struggling? You see it in his body language and it's pretty much written all over his face. This kid can pitch, and for me, there's no reason why he can't rebound when he struggles. But he fails to pull himself together and settle down enough to execute the pitch he wants. And this is why I defend Girardi, because I think he sees this and does what he has to do to minimize the damage. You, like my dad, can argue that Nova will never build confidence if he's not allowed to battle through his struggles. I'd argue that Nova's confidence is his problem to deal with, not Girardi's.

And not to blame last night's loss completely on Nova, because the Yankee batters were not much better. They hit into 6 double plays. Six double plays. Seriously? Last night was the night of ground balls for this lineup. It was really no fun to watch.

On a brighter note, the bullpen did a pretty good job. David Robertson pitched a decent 5th in relief of Nova, although two wild pitches allowed Texas' Elvus Andrus to score. Boon Logan finally made it through an inning without giving up a run. And Lance Pendleton, who was brought up from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to fill in the roster spot for Phil Hughes, pitched a spotless 7 through 9 with 2 strikeouts.

I like Ivan Nova. I said that he would be part of the starting rotation back in February. He's that good. But he has to learn to make adjustments when he's struggling. Freddy Garcia will pitch his first start today, weather permitting. He has yet to prove what he'll bring to the table in 2011. Bartolo Colon seems like a pitcher reinvented, and has now taken Hughes' slot in the rotation as he is on the DL with a "dead" arm. If Garcia bodes as well as Colon has, and if the two give the Yankees strong starts down the stretch, it will be Nova heading back to the minors if the Yankees do indeed make a trade for a starting pitcher.

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Girardi Slips, Yankees Lose

Last night's 5-4 loss to Minnesota never had to happen. Matter-of-fact, it never should have happened. The collapse in yesterday's game is a clear example of the how Joe Girardi over-manages his bullpen. I make no bones about touting Joe as one of the best managers in the game, who never gets any credit for managing a team of superstars which isn't as easy as most may think it is. But perhaps last night justifies the argument of many that Joe seems to have moved away from the brilliance of how he managed his bullpen in '08 and '09.

With the Yankees heading into the 8th inning leading the Twins 4-0, Girardi opted to bring in Rafael Soriano in relief of CC Sabathia. It was surprising on two fronts: 1) he had David Robertson warming up to come in and Robertson had only pitched one inning three days before against Detroit; 2) Soriano had pitched the day before. Now granted, before coming into last night's game, RaSo had only pitched twice, but looking ahead, you've got the Boston series coming up and, you've got Freddy Garcia facing Carl Pavano in tonight's game. As my blogging buddy J-Boogie pointed out, what if Garcia can only go 5-6 innings? You'll need Soriano to come in but now with 50+ pitches under his belt, he may not be available.

So Soriano comes in, walks Danny Valencia and Jim Thome, then gives up a single to Denard Span to load the bases. He strikes out Tsuyoshi Nishioka looking on a 92 mph fastball and it seems like he might be catching his stride, but he loses the zone again and gives up another walk to Joe Mauer which puts the Twins on the board for the first time at 4-1.

Girardi then decides to bring in Robertson, who gives up a double to Delmon Young thath cleared the bases and the game was tied at 4-4. You can say well, Robertson gave up the big hit that allowed the Twins to come back and win, but that double would have seemed a whole lot different had it been at the top of the 8th with no men on. Again, agreeing with J-Boogie, if Robertson could have gotten through at least 2/3 of the 8th but continued to struggle, that would have been the time to bring RaSo in for possible damage control. Hell, as good as Mo's been, and was, following Robertson in the 9th, I would have brought him in to finish out the 8th inning.

I can't really be mad at Girardi's next move, but it proved to support the classic phrase "hindsight is 20/20." With the game tied in extra innings, Boone Logan gets the call. He walks Span, then allows singles to Nishioka and Mauer and the Twins go up 5-4, which is all they would need. Had Girardi called in Luis Ayala instead, who pitched an excellent 10th inning relief of Boone, the game may have stayed tied and the Yankees would have had another chance in the 11th for a comeback.

What hurt most is that the win was blown for CC. He pitched an incredible game; throwing for strikes with his changeup, slider and fastball. This makes the second no-decision for the ace and you gotta believe that he must have felt really disappointed last night in the bullpen's performance, although you'll never hear him say that. After getting into trouble in the 2nd with singles to Jason Kubel and Valencia, CC was lights out, pitching 1-2-3 innings from the 3rd to the 7th. He gave up only the 2 singles, walked 1 and struck out 6.

And why couldn't CC pitch at least 2/3 into the 8th? If the argument is that you don't want to over-stretch him so early in the season, consider this: during CC's second start last year against the Rays, he pitched into the 8th in the now infamous "almost a no-hitter" game. In his second start. And last year, CC had more pitches going into the 8th of that game than he had last night, but Girardi had no problem stretching him. Hmmm.....

Fanatics, we know that Joe is a play-by-the-setup type of manager who obviously isn't comfortable with taking many chances. Last night was definitely an opportunity for him to take a chance on giving the 8th inning to Robertson, but, he made what he believed was the right call; the best we can hope for is that tonight's game is not more of the same.


And...

The Yankees 4 runs came on a 3-run homer by Mark Teixeira and a solo shot from Andruw Jones. Alex Rodriguez continued his hit streak with a single in the 6th to right field.

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Chamberlain , Hughes, Logan Agree to 1-Year Deals

Via Jon Heyman, on twitter, the Yankees signed starter Phil Hughes and relievers Joba Chamberlain and Boone Logan to 1-year deals in the millions, thus avoiding arbitration. Hughes was signed for $2.7 million while Joba and Logan both received $1.4 and $1.2 million, respectively.

This was the first time in their careers that Joba and Hughes were arbitration eligible. Both made under $500,000 in 2010, so each deal was a considerable raise. No surprise that Hughes walked away with the most "greenbacks," as the recent 18-game winning, All-Star season proved his capability as a top-of-the-rotation starter. He was lights out for the majority of last season, his first full year in the rotation. 

Joba's raise is likely to evoke many comments in the Yankees Universe. The Soriano signing has many people taking sides on what Joba's role should now be, as the Yankees insist on keeping him in the pen while many--myself included--think he should go back to the rotation. $1.4 million is a drop-in-the-bucket for the Yankees, but is significant a raise to at least assume that the Yankees still believe in his value. However, it's a typical amount for a bullpen reliever, so this could very well back up what the Yankees obviously think of Joba as a starter.

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Hot Stove: More Tidbits

Latest Hot Stove notes from the past 24 hours:

The Yankees are preparing to make an initial offer on a 3-year, $45 million deal to Derek Jeter, according to New York Post's Joel Sherman. He writes:

"The expectation is the Yankees will offer something in the three-year, $45 million range, which will create some negotiating room to climb toward $57 million to $60 million on a three-year deal or perhaps go to a fourth-year option or a straight fourth year as a way to reach a settlement. Of course, that is assuming Jeter finds that range acceptable."

According to major league sources, the Yankees are interested in free-agent relief pitcher J.C. Romero of the Philadelphia Phillies. Romero has suffered from the injury bug over the past two seasons, but still posts an admirable 3.28 ERA over that time. He's a lefty, which the Yankees are in need of as they have only one in Boone Logan. LHP Damaso Marte is not expected to pitch in 2011 due to injury.

Shernan also reports that the Yankees have dropped interest in D-Backs outfielder Justin Upton; they are satisfied enough with their present outfield that they see no reason to give up prospects in order to close a deal.

As per the Chicago Tribune, Hank Steinbrenner met with former Chicago Cubs manager and Yankee great Lou Piniella, to invite him to join the team again as an advisor. Piniella was part of the '77 and '78 championship teams and managed the team for two full seasons in '86 and '87; he took over as manager for Billy Martin in '88 for the second half of the season.

Nolan Ryan acknowledged that the Yankees will outbid the Texas Rangers for "The Assassin" aka Cliff Lee. According to Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal, the team plans on trying to sell playing in Texas to the south paw, but notes that Ryan "didn't sound confident."

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