You know what's hard about blogging? Coming up with long thought provoking articles every week. I point to the fact I went through the whole month of March without writing a single word. Blogging ain't easy, folks. Kinda makes you appreciate the guys who write every day about the same general topic. Maybe that's why they get paid and I don't :)
Sure, I have thoughts about what's going on. Plenty! I just can't write 1,000 words about it. But I can bullet point with the best of them! So that's what I'm going to do every week in between articles about the draft, the farm system, and so-on. And I figured I should finally write about the Yankees in my Yankee fan blog. So here we go...
1 - 4 start - Well, this wasn't the ideal start. Surprising? A little, but not a lot. It goes without saying the line-up is depleted, (Jeter, Granderson, Teixeira...Rodriguez) so you would have thought going in that the team would struggle to score. But the pitching was supposed to be their saving grace and it's been anything but. They're giving up 6.6 runs per game, 7.75 in the four losses. I'd like to see the offense score more than 3.4 runs per game. It needs to get closer to 4.5 if they want to achieve their goals...and maybe even more if the pitching doesn't improve.
The injuries that were almost harmful - did anybody else squirm in their seats when Kuroda got pulled Wednesday? Anybody else see a third pitcher in our shoulda been starting rotation, (I'm speaking of Phil Hughes and even the long-injured Michael Pineda), going on the DL? Luckily, he'll make his next start, but only going 1.1 innings put New York in a bind it could not escape; another 1.1 innings from Cody Eppley sealed their fate. And while Eduardo Nunez will never be mistaken for a game-changing, line-up anchor at short stop, he's theoretically the best short-stop we have right now. So when Nun-E took a fastball off the bicep in Friday's game I thought "Here we go again." But the injury does not appear serious upon review and Eduardo should be in the line-up again soon.
Reliable Andy - I tweeted Thursday during New York's lone win (so far) this season that I'm never more confident about our chances then when Andy Pettitte is on the mound. He just gets it done. He'll show up on the mound with a razor focus and not let anything prevent him from giving his all. There was NO WAY he was going to let Boston sweep us at home to start the season. Derek Jeter will always be my favorite Yankee, but Andy Pettitte will hold a special place in my fan's heart for his reliable warrior mentality.
Forever Mo - I can't mention Thursday's win without tipping my cap to the Sandman...sorry, let me try that again. I can't mention the win without bowing at the feet of the Sandman. Even while giving up a run and allowing the tying run to come to the plate, I never doubted he will get it done. I'm going to go on record with a prediction: Rivera's last season will be his finest.
A Doofus says what? - After Mo and Andy's dandy (sorry, had to) performance, Greg Amsinger starts the MLB Tonight broadcast saying "The Yankees finally win..." Game three Greg, it was game three...
The New Yankees - Lyle Overbay. Travis Hafner. Vernon Wells. Kevin Youkilis. The masses would have cried out "Evil Empire! Evil Empire!!" if the Yankees had acquired these 4 players four years ago, (Ok, at least Hafner, Youkilis, and Wells). But this year their acquisitions were greeted with snickers and second guessing. I myself oscilated back and forth between supporting and scoffing the Wells trade. But this week they all stepped up and had their moments and I think proved they can still contribute something. Wells has homered twice and has 4 hits (how long did it take him to get 4 hits last year? Until June?). Youk has nuke'd (thanks John Sterling). Pronk has 5 hits (with a homer) and Lyle has 4. Whatever you say this week, you CANNOT say these four did not do what they could to contribute.
Cano's in an "Empire State of Mind" - my twitter feed has become my primary source of news now. It's true. Am I the only one? Doubt it. When I read Wednesday morning that Robinson Cano had fired Scott Boras, I did a (figurative) backflip! I've long held that Boras would undermine New York's attempts to negotiate a new contract and would be detrimental to Robbie re-signing with New York, (again, I know I'm not alone there.) But Robbie dumped Boras for notorious Yankee fan Jay-Z?!?! I'm suddenly feeling a lot better about the Yankees re-signing Cano, which I tweeted this week they must do. It's imperative. It is EMPIRE-tive. In an era where free agency pools have dried up because teams have been locking up their best players pre- free agency, the Yankees have to abandon their policy of letting their players go into free agency. With Cano in they Jay-Z camp, I feel a lot better about our chances.
No comments:
Post a Comment