Monday Notes Pt.2: Posada, Betemit

Two quick items about some key players:

• Jorge Posada went 0-for-5 with a walk in today’s extended ST game in Tampa. He caught for 5 innings and threw the ball back to the pitcher but did not throw to the bases. He’ll reportedly throw to the bases later this week in order to build his arm/shoulder back up to where it needs to be.

• Wilson Betemit was activated from the DL today and the Yankees optioned Alberto Gonzalez back to AAA. With Jeter and A-Rod both back and playing, there really was no need for Gonzalez’s services. He did a fairly good job while with the team and should get some regular AB’s down in the minors.

The Wrong Move?

With the Yankees facing a lefty today (Garrett Olson), Joe Girardi decided to go with Shelley Duncan, who faced Olson before and had 1 hit against him in 2 ABs. While that makes some sense with Duncan and Olson having some history and with the splits, Duncan’s numbers have been terrible this season, whether he’s facing righties or lefties, he hasn’t been doing the job and has only driven in 6 with a .533 OPS as of yesterday (that number went down today as he was 0-for-4 with 2 K’s).

Girardi could have started Jason Giambi instead of Duncan today, although that can be debated. Jason Giambi’s numbers haven’t been amazing against lefties, but he has an .868 OPS against them with 2 HRs. Giambi has also been seeing the ball well as of late, so it may not have hurt to get him in there since it would have made the lineup deeper, essentially. It’s tougher to pitch to Giambi with his good eye, whereas with Duncan, he seems anxious and appears to be swinging for the fences with each AB.

Now, who Girardi could have started, again, could be debated. I think that Girardi should stick with one lineup for a while so that guys who are in grooves can continue to contribute. But, today, he had a decision to make that didn’t pertain to the starting lineup. In the final inning, the Orioles sent Jamie Walker out there to face Matsui, Duncan, and Cano. Now, although Walker is a lefty, lefty hitters are hitting .385 off of him so far this season. On the other side of the spectrum, righties are hitting .263. Now, Giambi’s numbers against Walker are terrible (1-for-14 with 7 K’s), but I would have felt better seeing Giambi up there. At least you know Giambi will give you a quality AB and judging from the way Walker pitched to Matsui, having a lefty face him isn’t a bad idea. Shelley Duncan ended up staying in there and had a miserable AB, popping up in foul territory while Matsui waited on second base thinking, “What is this guy doing up there?”

Right now, it seems hard to justify keeping Duncan in the lineup yet Joe Girardi keeps throwing him out there (maybe if we were in first place, I would understand that because we could take the hit). He’s getting AB’s but he’s not producing anything to really build on (and when you think he’s snapping out of it, it just doesn’t happen). Maybe Duncan is one of those guys who simply won’t excel as a platoon-type of player and maybe he needs to play everyday. In that case, when do you use him? Tough call for Joe Girardi?

Monday Morning Notes: Joba’s Next Move, Wang’s Calf, Jorge’s Return, Edwar’s Streak

Couple of notes to start off the day:

1) The Yanks are expecting to use Joba Chamberlain again on Wednesday against Baltimore. He’ll likely dig into Andy Pettitte’s start, which isn’t a bad thing by any means. Joba will reportedly throw around 55 pitches upon his appearance and after Wednesday’s outing, the club will stretch him out again, maybe shooting for 65 pitches (it seems like they’re working with increments of 10) in his third time out (on the Joba plan). Of course, practicality comes into play here, because once Joba gets into the larger pitch counts, it’ll be difficult for him to follow through with the current plan. The Yanks can send him down to the minors to get his work in if this is the case, but the team seems intent on not doing that (why waste the innings?). What will probably happen is that Joba will pitch during games and in order to continue upping his count (practically), he’ll probably finish his pitching with a side session in the bullpen. Once Joba gets to the 100 pitch mark, it seems as though it would be safe to assume that he’ll actually begin starting. Now, it’s up to either Ian Kennedy or Mike Mussina to lose their rotation spots (Darrell Rasner is in that group as well).

2) Although the notion of moving Joba Chamberlain from the bullpen to the rotation has scared quite a few fans who aren’t willing to deal with Kyle Farnsworth or an 8th inning committee serving as the gap to Mariano Rivera, that will probably end up being the route Joe Girardi takes (matchups, etc.). The Yankees will have some minor league options that they can call upon, however, Edwar Ramirez has quietly been building his case to be that bridge that we need from the 8th to the 9th inning. He hasn’t given up an ER this year (in AAA and with the Yanks) and he’s struck out 28 in 21.2 innings.

3) Next up, although I’ve reported this already, it’s important enough to repackage in the morning bits. Jorge Posada is aiming to make his return at the next Yankee home stand (2 weeks away). Jorge is in Tampa and will begin playing in extended ST games (today) in order to strengthen his shoulder/arm.

4) Speaking of injured Yanks, Chien-Ming Wang, while shaky in yesterday’s appearance against Seattle, is feeling good and states that his wildness wasn’t caused by an achy calf. Wang seems like a creature of habit and throwing on extra rest was likely the culprit for his forgettable performance.