Injuries Mounting

The Yankees are in trouble. PA (LoHud) informs us that Jorge Posada could be headed to the DL due to his shoulder issue. Meanwhile, Derek Jeter is still injured and there is no definitive timetable for his return (although he is expected to return to the lineup by the end of the week). If he is for some reason placed on the DL (15 day), that would leave the Yankees at a very vulnerable position (especially with the offense slumping and a tough schedule ahead).

Alberto Gonzalez was also pulled out of tonight’s Scranton game, so he could be headed up to the show (if Posada is placed on the DL) in order to serve as a backup to Wilson Betemit (who will play SS for now). A-Rod also says that he’s open to the idea of playing SS is Girardi wants him to.

This could get very ugly.

A Miserable Performance in KC

Today we witnessed a miserable display of baseball by the New York Yankees. Phil Hughes started the game but his command in the first inning was an immediate warning sign of a shortened performance, as he was only able to pitch 3 innings, allowing 3 runs while walking 4. Hughes was overthrowing and his mechanics appeared to be out of wack. At first I thought he would be able to tough it out especially with Brian Bannister struggling, but Bannister regrouped and Hughes simply didn’t have it today. We did see some strong pitching from our bullpen however, with Ross Ohlendorf pitching 3 innings that were entirely better than Phil Hughes’ 3 innings (4 H, 2 R, 3 K, 0 BB). Billy Traber and LaTroy Hawkins (away from the stadium) also pitched scoreless innings.

This is definitely a learning experience for Phil and I’m sure Dave Eiland will have a talk with him about the mechanical issues and his tendency to resort to overthrowing when he’s in a jam. I questioned Hughes’ throwing a few weeks ago, wondering if his mechanics would be problematic throughout the season. Hopefully, this will simply be a corrected abberration rather than a normality every other week.

In terms of the offense, I don’t really know where to begin. Here are some of the more negative highlights seen throughout the game:

• With the bases loaded, Robinson Cano strikes out against Brian Bannister, who was reeling after walking multiple batters (and walking in a run). It was Cano’s second strikeout in 2 innings.
• Alex Rodriguez struck out 4 times in today’s effort. Each time, you simply knew it was coming. A-Rod was frustrated after the first 2 strike outs and from there, he allowed himself to snowball. It was A-Rod’s first 4-K game since 2006.
• After 6.1 innings, the Yankees could not manage 1 hit for the final 2.2 innings. Instead, 3 Royal relievers worked 2.2 scoreless innings, striking out 3 and giving up no BB’s or hits.
• Wilson Betemit, Derek Jeter’s replacement, struck out 3 times.

And the list can go on (errors, RISP, etc.). The Yankees are pretty lucky with the Royals. After Gill Meche and Brian Bannister, the pitching depth for KC dwindles down tremendously (they do have the ace-in-training, Zack Greinke). I would assume that Kansas’ starting pitchers for the rest of the series should eventually waken the sleepy bats. You have to give KC some credit though, as their pitching totally handcuffed the club tonight. By the end of the week, when Jeter returns, maybe the team will be collectively swingin’ the bats and swingin’ them well, so he can hopefully jump right into the mix just as the team begins to click offensively.

Game 1: Yanks VS. Royals

The New York Yankees visit the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium today. Here’s the Yankee lineup, brought to you by PA and the LoHud Blog:

YANKEES
Damon LF
Cano 2B
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Giambi 1B
Betemit SS
Cabrera CF
Hughes RHP

Interesting lineup today. Cano in the 2 hole (obviously with Derek Jeter out) and Giambi’s back and batting 7th.

The Yanks will face Brian Bannister, who recently shut down the potent Tiger lineup in his first start of the season. Two of the tougher opponents Phil Hughes will have to neutralize in the relatively unknown Kansas lineup, include Billy Butler and Alex Gordon. Butler has some pop and he can hit everything (think Howie Kendrick but a big guy at DH) and Gordon, a talented third baseman, can possibly have a 20-20 season.

UPDATE (4:57) — It looks like the weather may be bothering Hughes as he struggles. The score is 2-2 right now after Alex Gordon scored on a sac fly (thanks to Abreu’s error). The Yankees should have knocked Bannister out of the game but Cano struck out with the bases loaded for the second time today. Wilson Betemit came through though, knocking in Jorge Posada and moving Giambi over.

Also, in case you were wondering, Derek Jeter will likely miss the entire series against KC (3 games). Jeter will probably be back by the end of the week. Girardi says that the team has Wilson Betemit to play the IF so he doesn’t seem willing, at least at this point in time, to move A-Rod to SS.

UPDATE (6:19) — Phil Hughes got knocked out early after a very poor performance. Granted, he did allow only 3 ER, but his command was off and his mechanics looked out of wack. Ohlendorf was doing a decent job but he gave up 2 ER in the 5th inning. It also looked almost like Johnny Damon hurt himself on a throw to home (he moved his arm strangely afterward) but hopefully it was nothing. The Yankees need to mount a rally before the Royals bring in their closer, Joakim Soria (he’s good).

Well Said Sir

From Howard Kussoy of the NY Post:

The Yankees are hopeful Hughes can finish his second start of the season, something he was unable to do last season, leaving in the seventh inning of a no-hitter against the Rangers after pulling his left hamstring.

If he can pitch somewhere in the vicinity of his hype, he eventually will slide into the No. 2 spot in the rotation, a stepping stone on his eventual rise to the top.

“Phil Hughes was ready when he got to camp, and he wanted to grab a hold of this role,” Girardi said of the youngster becoming a permanent fixture near the top of the rotation.

Don’t kid yourself. This kid is one of the few who can help make or break the season and he may be the most important pitcher when the new Yankee Stadium opens. As the youngest hurler in baseball, he could throw out the last pitch at the old cathedral and deliver 15 years worth of roller coaster curve balls at the new one.

“I expect great things from myself,” Hughes said.

That’s a lot of pressure for a 22-year old. Hughes shouldn’t complain though, Henry Rowengartner of the Chicago Cubs was only 12 and we all know what he was capable of… uh, yeah.

A-Rod Could Play SS

The Yankees have tossed around the idea of having A-Rod play SS while Derek Jeter sits on the bench and rehabs his strained quad muscle. The logic behind this is that Morgan Ensberg and Wilson Betemit, who will both recieve an uptick in their workload, are more suited for 3B (Ensberg has never even played SS before). I think this is a fairly creative and interesting idea, although, I wonder how it would ultimately effect A-Rod’s confidence on the field. I think he knows that he’s a better SS than Jeter so maybe it’ll drive him to show up his ailing teammate.

On another note, if A-Rod plays SS he could eventually gain position eligibility there in some fantasy baseball leagues. That would be huge.

Mussina Ties Gibson in Wins

Thanks to Mike Mussina’s win today, a win that was impressive to say the least as he pitched 6 innings of 2-hit baseball, his career took another step forward as he tied the great Bob Gibson for career wins. Mussina and Gibson are tied with 251 wins which is good for No. 42 on the career wins list. Mussina will (hopefully) surpass that number this season as he nears the end of his brilliant career. Moose also tied former Yankee David Cone on the all-time strikeout list (No. 21), notching 2,688 K’s with his 3-K performance today. I sincerely hope that Mussina can stick around this year and earn himself a World Series ring with the Yankees, and in order to do that he’ll have to keep performing at this level, while figuring out new ways to get batters out.

Also, another important note regarding today’s game, Derek Jeter strained his quad muscle (leg) and is listed as day-to-day, although Joe Girardi says that he’ll hopefully miss only a week’s worth of action (max). That would mean Wilson Betemit could see plenty of time at SS while Morgan Ensberg and Shelley Duncan split time at 1B. Betemit looked extremely weak at the plate today but his play at SS should be adequate for now (he looked decent out there).

So far, Jeter has looked terrible at the plate and his woes continued into today. However, a week off could definitely help him heal and regroup. I think he could also be battling a finger injury as well. In the final exhibition game of the spring, Jeter took a pitch off his pinky finger and said afterwards that everything was fine, but he might still be hurting.