Joba’s Celebrations

Earlier today I commented on the somewhat controversial celebration Joba produced after striking out Frank Thomas in the first game of the season. Thomas was not at all bothered by Joba’s antics and neither was his teammate, Vernon Wells, who felt that the fist pump was merely an emotional expression from the young fireballer.

Today, Joba defended his actions:

“I guess I’ve been giving people things to talk about for a while now,” Chamberlain said. “If I’m going to go out there and give you everything I’ve got, and don’t show you everything I am as a person, you’re not getting everything I am. And that’s unfair to my teammates.”

This is just one of those overblown bits that a few media outlets have decided to harp on. It’s nothing and as Michael Kay said during today’s game, if Joe Girardi finds the fist pump to be bothersome for the team, only then would he ask Joba to turn it down.

So, move along folks, there’s nothing to see here.

O’Brien Talks Yankee Blogs

Kat O’Brien has a nice read out on many of the popular Yankee blogs like WasWatching, RAB, NoMaas, and a few others. It’s pretty cool for those guys to be recognized for their ability to provide great commentary, the latest information, and a forum for discussions about our favorite team. As a blogger myself, it’s actually somewhat difficult to maintain a blog for an extended period of time, especially one about the Yankees when there are literally thousands of them out there. These  guys work hard at it and it’s nice to seem them gain some recognition.

The only thing O’Brien’s article was missing is this blog of course, but when she emailed me, I told her that I don’t do interviews

The Detroit Tigers

Although all three of the pitchers the Yankees received in the Sheffield-Detroit trade (Whelan, Sanchez, Claggett) have been injured and on the DL, two of the three (Whelan and Claggett) are expected to return from the DL shortly. Meanwhile, Sheffield could be headed back to the DL, as he tore a tendon in his finger today against Kansas while trying to stretch a single into a double. A lot of people were quick to declare the Tigers as a guaranteed lock to make it to the World Series and I would agree with that sentiment, but the start of their season isn’t going so well. Granderson, Zumaya, and now Miguel Cabrera have all been hampered by injuries. In fact, Detroit was swept by the Royals and and three great pitching performances by Gill Meche, Brian Bannister and Zack Greinke.

As Yankee fans know, it doesn’t matter how much money is pumped into a lineup or who is in that lineup if they can’t stay healthy.

Melky and Duncan Hearing Set for Monday

The title says it all. With the way Melky has been hitting to start off the season, hopefully that suspension will be cut down a game (or possibly tossed out). Duncan will probably end up serving the suspension in its entirety. Now, back to the game thread.

Game 3: Yanks VS. Jays

Here’s the lineup courtesy of PA and Sam Borden:

YANKEES
Johnny Damon DH
Derek Jeter SS
Bobby Abreu RF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Jason Giambi 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Hideki Matsui LF
Jose Molina C
Melky Cabrera CF
Phil Hughes RHP

Jorge Posada’s still out and Damon’s getting some time off from LF. I won’t be able to live-update today until an hour or so into the game. See you then. For now, I’ll predict that Hideki Matsui has a big game, even if he doesn’t hit well in April. Hell, I was right with Melky.

UPDATE (9:06)– The Yanks tied the game up (2-2) thanks to a wild pitch (and a couple of walks) by Dustin McGowan who, like the rest of the Blue Jay starters, was pitching a great game. Hughes also had a nice outing, getting a ND after giving up 2 ER in 6 innings. It’s the top of the 7th and Billy Traber just showed everyone why he made the team by striking out Lyle Overbay with a nasty breaking ball. Bruney is in now, so let’s hope that he throws some strikes (Scott Patterson is praying that he doesn’t).

Matsui Concerns

A few of my friends were discussing Hideki Matsui and asked me about him. Two of them in particular thought that Matsui looked lost at the plate (despite getting his first hit of the 2008 campaign yesterday) and were worried about his production. Granted, we’re only heading into just the third game of the year today, but, I guess his 1 for 6 start could be a cause for concern since Matsui had offseason surgery (I guess).

Worry not though Yankee fans. In April, Matsui has hit at a .253/.348/.384 clip. That’s pretty poor but not terrible. A lot of players get progressively better as the weather warms up and his career numbers (per month) indicate that he actually hits for a higher average as the months pass. Actually, all of his numbers go up as the temperature rises (he hits a July peak with a .324/.381/.574 line, digresses in August a bit, but then he turns it up for September and October).

So, if you’re looking for Matsui to tear the cover off the ball early in the season, you may have to hold out for a few months. A slow start won’t hurt his consistent production (even if he’s hitting 8th in the lineup, which will soon change and I’m sure he’ll end up batting 5th).

Mussina’s Start a Start

Mike Mussina pitched yesterday and although he wasn’t popping the glove with crisp heaters, he still managed to be rather effective against a fairly strong lineup of hitters. AJ Burnett definitely looked like he outpitched the Moose, and he did with those biting darts and knee buckling curves, however, it’s not as bad as some folks might think.

Here are the pitching lines from yesterday:

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mussina (L, 0-1)	5.2	8	4	3	2	2	1	4.76

Toronto	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Burnett (W, 1-0)	6.0	5	2	2	1	3	1	3.00

This was an episode where our eyes truly lied. Watching the game, you felt as though Mussina was on the brink with every pitch, probably because his fastball was sitting in the mid-80’s and any pitcher who relies on “heat” like that could be in for a short night. But, in comparison to Burnett, who had dominating stuff and seemed overwhelming, Moose didn’t do poorly at all. Even with his fading fastball he pitched to just one less batter, gave up 3 more hits, 1 more ER, and walked one extra batter (while still striking out 2, one less than Burnett).

Put this in perspective (Mussina’s first start of the season) and you have to feel somewhat good about where he should be in his next start. Joe Girardi thinks his velocity will go up as the season progresses, nonetheless I wouldn’t expect a large jump. If he can throw 88 mph throughout the season, that should be enough for him to be an effective starter. My only problem with Moose last night was his location, which was great. He pitched to the very corners and was dipping in and out of the strike zone, however, he has to remember that his fastball isn’t that fast. For instance, he threw three fastballs on the outter edge of the plate to Eckstein and Hill, both of whom caught up to the pitches as they kept coming and then slapped them the other way (Eckstein’s “hit” was Girardi’s first inning error). Mussina is going to have to learn to use his fastball less and throw his junk in more. The guys at RAB have the right idea with this nice post and graph about Mussina.

Now, with that said, here are a few other quick notes about the game:

1) Jason Giambi had his first error in the first inning and let’s face it, he’s not Don Mattingly and he’s no defensive whiz. You have him in there for his power, that’s it (and because you pay him $22 million), and Mike Puma of the NY Post seems fairly preturbed with Giambi’s “gaffes” as he calls them. However, Big G’s error in the first was really not his fault. If you watched the game and saw the replays, you could see that Mussina was late in covering the bag. Mussina himself even said that he was late covering it, and it ultimately resulted in a run. Eckstein is a quick guy and, again, I’m not saying Giambi is even solid defensively, but you can’t really rail on him for that play.

2) Jorge Posada sat out yesterday with a sore shoulder and he may or may not play in today’s finale with the Jays. Posada’s shoulder was “stiff” and he’s not scheduled for any tests (e.g. MRI’s, X-Rays, etc.) as the injury is not considered to be serious. If he’s feeling anything at all today, expect the Yankees to sit him again. Jose Molina will do a fine job, especially with Phil Hughes, who is pitching in today’s game.

3) Last but not least, in the article I posted right there about Posada’s shoulder, there’s a nice bit at the end about Joba Chamberlain striking out Vernon Wells and Frank Thomas. Some people were a bit bothered by Joba’s emotional display after he struck out Thomas to end the inning but neither Thomas or Wells seem upset about it. I for one think that Frank Thomas is a great guy and has been that way for years. I hope he has a good season (Wells is also a good guy, and he’ll rebound after last year’s debacle).