jacksonianmarch

My take... Thought the offense did as well as they could vs Bedard, who had it today. ARod is hitting well, the lineup was working him, but the bottom of the order without Posada/Damon/Matsui was abysmal. The bullpen has been nearly untouchable. The only run scoring after a 2 base error on Cano. Rasner was pitching serviceably until his blister acted up. Thing is, the entire coaching staff was looking at his hand the inning before the Bako HR. If they thought it was even an issue, they shouldnt have kept him in. 3 in the dome against a team with a huge hole at the bottom should awaken the starters. I expect at least Pettitte and Mussina to pitch well this series. If they dont, I will start to worry a bit.

Schilling has it tonight ladies and gents.

Ortiz schmoked that one. That got out FAST.

I think that the yankees will pay a bit better in Minny than they had been as far as rotation. Our rotation has either oft injured guys, fringe guys or old guys and the weather cannot help.

Matsui downplayed it, but with Damon hurting and with the yankees only having one reserve OFer, they had to make the move. His MRI showed some blood behind the muscle, which is typical for some muscle pulls, but he should be fine for a return in 15 days.

If I see one more sentence about Ortiz struggling, I am gonna laugh at you. If all you are relying on is one player, then you will live or die by him. And when hgreat hitters fail 70% of the time, you dont need the math to see that this is a bad proposition. Ortiz and Manny will be fine. The distressing thing is, the rest of the team cannot pick them up. Lugo is back to being a slap hitter, something he started to improve on in TB (he drove the ball when he was going at his best). Drew is hitting well sans the power, he's like a powerless David Dellucci out there. Varitek had one hit last night, but his bat is about as slow as they come. Crisp looks awful at the plate. Youkilis is taking pitches and thus far has the sox only homer, which is amazingly poor. Lowell has looked like s*** too. If the offense is gutting out wins without Papi and Manny, then it is encouraging considering that they will post .280-.310 35-50HR 110-140RBI each when 2007 ends. Right now, the supporting cast look like lepers. As for the pitching, anyone with half a brain could see that Tavarez success last yr was an aberation due to his high WHIP. He proved it last night. You cannot allow a ton of baserunners and escape every time out. And with the way the sox offense has been, starting pitching is at a premium. Also, Romero was lit up like a christmas tree last night. That pen is a coin flip and up to this point they have been good. But his outing essentially put the finishing touches on the loss.

that blooper and subsequent mishap on the throw would have saved Igawa 3 runs. Even so, that is 4ER in 5IP. Nothing good. Like I have said before, finesse pitchers adapt the poorest to the cold weather and our rotation is full of finesse pitching. That likely changes come midseason with either Roger or Hughes or both entering the fray. Once it gets warmer, I expect our pitchers to start locating their offspeed stuff. Something that is the direct reason why they have been getting s*** bombed. Between Pettitte, Moose, and Igawa, they could not get their curves or changeups over the plate. With a better feel on the mound, it should start. But jeez, thus far they havent been encouraging.

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070407&content_id=1884725&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy sounds like it isnt too much to worry about, but Torre will be cautious and says that he will sit a minimum of 3-5 games. With Damon returning to the lineup today, Melky will shift to LF to replace Matsui. It needs to get warmer and it needs to do it fast.

what people do in the past shapes their future. Then again, you can undo your past if you change your ways. Philosophical, huh? Either way, I am a former ballplayer who just loves to watch the little things in baseball and I get very annoyed when a player gives up an at bat. ARod has done that in the clutch too often in the past. He didnt today and we won. HAPPY TIMES!

I listened to Kennedy and he didnt say anything assinine. He said that most teams will struggle against him early because he has a great arsenal and he pitches backwards. He said they will adjust eventually. He also said to not get too excited cause it was the royals. Cmon now. Tell me what he said that is wrong? EDIT: And by adjust he doesnt mean that Dice K will be toasted every game. Just that he wont be as dominant as he was in KC. Cmon now, do you really think all teams will have as little a chance as KC did?

You think Jeter is the jealous one here? What was the one thing ARod needed to get himself onto the pedestal of best player this generation. He had the stats, the power, the speed, etc etc etc. He did not have the rings nor the fan adulation. If he gets both in NY, he and Jeter would share the spotlight. There is no chance in hell that he can go higher than that.

there was a reason why the guy was one of the most dominant pitchers in Japan and when you watch his stuff, you see glimpses. But as with Mussina and Pettitte, when you cannot locate your secondary pitches, your mediocre fastball isnt enough to get by with. I saw maybe one called strike on an off speed pitch. In ST, when his curves were getting over, he was absolutely untouchable. Thus far, our offense has snagged 2 games that our pitchers were intent on blowing. One more game in the cold with hit or miss Rasner until we go to the dome. Yankee fans should feel real lucky right now that we arent 0-4.

example. For the past 3 seasons, his stats in the clutch and in the playoffs have been near useless. If he turns that around, then we will love him. And he is on the right foot. I dont expect him to turn it around on every occasion, but think of what he does in the clutch, or what he did previously. It isnt just that he hasnt hit the jack, he hasnt moved the runner, he has K'd with runners on 3rd and less than 2 outs, he has hit into crushing double plays. If he at least has solid ABs in the clutch, then he will be loved. And to be loved in NY, is something that no player (sans a fan crush in Boston) can experience anywhere else.

The rotation will come along as I said. One of the duo of Pavano and Igawa will not be in the rotation come July, potentially both.

WOW, so we go down 7-2, I have a long night ahead of me tonight, so I figure I'd watch the game as I doze off. I wake up and it is 7-3 with Giambi up. Needless to say, the rest is history. BTW, MVP of this game is shared by ARod and the bullpen. If their arms stay on, this should be one hell of a team. The rotation will come along once CMW gets back and the weather warms up. Wow.

his last 2 innings have been pretty solid. Um wait...

no

He used to be a 4 seamer/2 seamer with a curve and change. He used to throw mid 90s at times. Not sure what he's doing now.

might be an injury. BTW, why is Mientkiewicz hitting in that situation again?

which will be wasted by the worst pitching performance I have seen out of our pitchers since the dry days of the early 90s.

Posada misses a homer by a foot or two. Damn.

Miguel Cairo swings on 2-0??? You have to be f***ing kidding me.

Matsui out of the game for some reason. Implosion on all fronts.