To say Hughes was dominate would be a huge understatement, he was blowing these hitters away with his fastball and only going to his secondary pitches when necessary. If it wasn’t for an Eric Chavez, yes he still plays, single to start the 8th I truly believe Hughes would have finally gotten a no-hitter. Finally? Yes Finally, remember? He left a game against the Rangers after 6.1 innings due to pulling his hamstring on the mound.

In all seriousness, Phil Hughes looked amazing last night and we may have finally seen what is potential is. In ’08, I can say with confidence that, all Yankee fans were disappointed in what we saw out of Hughes. It was finally his time to shine after all the hype and all the stories of how dominate he was, of course we saw flashes in ’07, but injuries kept him in the dugout, and he was flat-out awful. 

’08 Stats: 8 Starts, 0-4 record, 6.62 ERA with a 1.71 WHIP and a very unimpressive 23k’s in 34 Innings Pitched

It was evident that either he wasn’t ready for the big leagues or he was still tentative to go full force because of the injury the year prior. We could see that there was something there he just hadn’t completed the puzzle yet.

’09 was anticipatory, with a revamped rotation everyone figured the “young guns”, Joba and Hughes, would hit their stride and pitch lights out. Joba ended up winning the battle for the 5th, or 4th?, rotation spot, which sent Hughes to the ‘pen and a role as the “8th inning guy”. Early struggles led to talks of Hughes being sent to the minors again to work out the kinks, a move that may have hurt him more than helped, but eventually Hughes got through his troubles and became, possible, the most dominant set-up man in the game.

After an appearance in a game against Boston where Hughes pitched 3.2 innings and gave up 2 runs he was lights out, going on a run of 16 straight appearances where he didn’t give up a run, lowering his bloated ERA from 5.26 to 3.43. Hughes carried on his confidence and great pitching through the rest of the year where his ’09 stats looked like this:

8-3 record, 3.03 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and a dominate 96k’s over 86 innings pitched

Clearly a great turnaround from ’08, which threw Hughes back into the hunt for the 5th rotation spot this year. Hughes’ great spring training won him the job and sent Joba to the ‘pen, and in my opinion this is the way it should be. Hughes is off to a great start and is, again, looking like the phenom he was slated to be in the minors. He has great stuff that will carry him far and is economical with his pitches, because of this I can see 2010 being a career defining year for him and I am excited to see how it all unfolds.

The Yankees have a long-standing history of bringing in high value players for more than their market price and expecting them to perform well above their actual means, need I remind you of Jaret Wright? My point being that when these players come to play here they are expected to perform at their best immediately, and that means no ‘grace period’. We were reminded of this when Javier Vazquez took the mound yesterday.

Everyone cringed a little when the Yankee front office made a trade to the Braves for Javier Vazquez, chances are if you are reading this you already know what I am about to say next. Needless to say he still doesn’t have the fans on his side and will have to work very hard at gaining their trust back after the grand slam he served up in the 2004 championship series. Vazquez is a very interesting case, a guy coming off the best season of his career and landing back in New York, of all places, trying not to repeat history, and so far this year he hasn’t made that great of an impression.

We have seen this numerous times before and it is bound to happen many times more over in the future where players can just not handle New York scrutiny. Vazquez has joined an elite list of Yankees who have made comments about the way they are treated by New York fans. One instance comes to mind right off the bat, Jack McDowell and his famous one finger salute to the Yankee faithful.

Vazquez didn’t lash out the way McDowell did but his comments show that he clearly expected a bad welcome home and that’s just what happened. I am not going to say that the fear of being booed was the cause for his poor performance yesterday against the Angels, but I will say it had to be in the back of his mind. Performance anxiety may have been the reason for his shortcomings so far, but let’s not get too critical it’s only been two starts, both being against very strong lineups. I must also note, whether you believe it or not, new information has surfaced that Vazquez was battling a bad throwing shoulder in the 2nd half of the ’04 season that carried into the playoffs, I believe this was deliberately released as a way to release the pressure of pitching in New York again. I don’t think New Yorker’s will show much sympathy or forgive him because of that, just a thought.

Vazquez was disappointed by the way the Yankee fans treated him after he gave up 4 runs to the Angels before being taken out of the game. He wasn’t given a warm reception or a great effort cheer that the Yankee fans are known for, seriously?

Did Javier forget where he was playing?

This is a place where you better grow up quick and get over the fact that you are owned by the fans and they expect nothing less of brilliance every time. This is a place where they have booed their own hometown hero in Derek Jeter. A place that has booed a Yankee legend in Don Mattlingly. A place that has a history of winning and expects nothing less, they don’t sugar coat their disappointment and they are a true barometer to how you are performing. If Vazquez doesn’t take his medicine and smile then it’s going to be a long year, and you will only have yourself to blame when the fans and media are critical of your performance here.

I will defend Javier to some degree however. It is a little ridiculous that after giving up 2 runs in the 3rd inning the boos started raining down, you have to give the guy a little leniency and time to adjust to the AL once again. Bottom line is the Javier is a talented pitcher who offers a lot to this Yankee rotation. He is probably the best #4 starter the MLB has to offer and fans have to remember that. Vazquez wasn’t brought here to be an ace, he was brought here to strikeout batters and eat up a ton of innings. If we get a performance from him like last year with the Braves it is a bonus, but the money the Yankees shelled out to him should have nothing to do with how loud you boo him when he underperforms.

That being said, Javier, and all other Yankee players, have to accept and embrace the fact that New Yorker’s don’t care about your track record. If you don’t perform well for them they will let you know it, and in case you haven’t noticed they aren’t very shy or nice about it either. You were brought here to be in the spotlight and join a winning club that is rich with that tradition and whether you like it or not, the fans expect nothing less.

Side Track: Today is Jackie Robinson day so please remember to think of the barriers he broke down and what he has provided to the game as we know it today.

Let’s Go Yankees!!!

I personally do not know what to make of the Vazquez situation. On one hand he pitched brilliantly for the Braves last year (2.87 ERA, 238 k’s, 219.1 IP, 1.03 WHIP), but on the other he hasn’t performed that well in the AL over his career. The real question to ask is: Was he dominate last year in the weaker hitting NL or did he find something that made him jump to elite status? Clearly this one start provides no implications on what this year will hold, Verlander, a proverbial Cy Young candidate, has been slammed in his first two starts this year, and I doubt anyone will be throwing him overboard any time soon. I truly believe that Vazquez is a great addition to the New York Yankees and will provide quality starts 90% of the time and if nothing else he will get wins and eat up a ton of innings in the process.

I do have to agree that Vazquez’s disappointing outing was definitely the low point of the series against the Rays, however the day after proved to be a high point that will be hard to reach in the coming months. CC Sabathia was flat-out dominate in his start, not giving up a hit until 2 outs into the 8th inning when Kelly Shoppach (really?) broke up the no-no with a single to left field. Sabathia, with the help of some defensive gems from A-Rod and Teixeira, took the Rays to task by only issuing the 1 hit, noted before, and 2 walks in his 7.2 innings of work. The Yankee bats weren’t too shabby either netting 10 runs in this Saturday afternoon victory. Another noteworthy accomplishment from this game was that Teixeira went 3-4 snapping a 0-19 to start the season, the longest hitless streak to start a season in his career. April woes have plagued Mark in the past and it seems that it will be a continuous trend for his entire career. New Yorker’s probably want to get on him for his slow starts however look at his 2nd half stats and the numbers he finishes with and I am positive you will stop complaining, and not for nothing he is a gold glove caliber 1st basemen to boot, so he does contribute somewhat in the early stages of the season.

Sunday proved to be a pitching duel, well at least until the 6th inning that is. Burnett and Shields both provided their teams with great pitching that had the Yankees and Rays trying to score in any fashion, for the Rays this effort came after a 2-run 1st inning. Despite allowing 9 runners on base A.J. pitched through choppy situations, with some defensive help and poor base running decisions by the Rays, and earned himself a win after a Posada 2-run homer opened up the flood gates for the Yankee bats on their way to a 7-3 victory. Shields was on fire and earned a no decision after Randy Choate came in and served up the Posada home run following a Cano double that drove the starter out of the game.

All in all a great weekend stretch for the Yankees who now own a 4-2 record and have a difficult opponent in the Angels this week followed by the offensively inept, more like dormant, Texas Rangers.

Home opener tomorrow, Pettitte faces off against Santana, preview will be up later today or early tomorrow morning.

Let’s Go Yankees!

1. Just have to let everyone know I bowled HORRIBLY last night, shooting a 450 series (I average 203 which means I should bowl around 600 every time) and if that wasn’t bad enough I threw a gutter ball to lose the game for my team, not a good night…still crying

2. After a huge public outpour, or 3 votes, I will keep the blog the same since I ultimately left it up to the readers. However I have decided in order to satisfy my creativity I will discuss more topics than just the games at hand…hope you enjoy, I am open to suggestions.

3. Tiger Woods. I am not going to take away from his abilities or how impressive his performance was yesterday, but does this guy really deserve the praise and recognition he is getting? Why is he being held on a pedestal now? Is everyone going to forget what he did? He may of overcome adversity but it was because of his own actions, PLEASE stop making celebrities seem invincible! It’s the exact reason why he did what he did, because he felt privileged and above everyone else. He is not a hero and no longer a role model, he is the best golfer in the world and I am not taking that away from him, but PLEASE don’t make him out to be a good person because of his golf game, he doesn’t deserve such admiration…I wonder if Elin thinks he does?

Yankee post will be up later

W: Aceves (1-0) L: Okajima (1-1) S: Rivera (1) 

HR: NYY: Cano (1), Bos: Martinez (1) 

As far as thrilling games go, last night’s was a nail biter with the end result and winning run being scored because of a uncharicteristic error by Marco Scutaro followed by an even more baffling walk by Okajima to Nick Johnson (with the bases loaded). Through all the excitement and multiple lead changes one would want an ending suited for the game, but Cano’s Home Run came too late for that fairy tale to come true.

Cano's blast in the 9th gives Mo some un-needed breathing room to close the door on the Yankees first win of the year

Last night’s game was an epic battle with the lead being changed 5 separate times, with the last coming in the top of the 8th on the bases loaded walk noted earlier. I was wrong with my prediction yesterday, however I was correct that the Yankees would win and in my opinion Burnett did not pitch all that bad last night. Giving up only 4 runs, 3 earned, to this Boston team is a feat of it’s own and if we compare AJ’s performance to those last year against the Yankees AL East foe it looks almost as good as a no-hitter, that is obviously a stretch. The starting matchup was not exactly what I had imagined, both pitchers have dominate stuff and can shut down any formidable lineup at any time, but they did what they had to do to keep their teams in the game. AJ made one big mistake on a pitch to V-Mart that landed in the Red Sox bullpen, otherwise he kept the Bo-Sox in check allowing only two other runs, one by way of a Youkilis sac fly and the other on a V-Mart double. The real story of the night, however, was the Yankee bullpen, which is a great sign considering Sunday night. 

Aceves came on in relief of Burnett in the 6th inning and shut down the Sox for 2 innings and earned himself a win in the process. A combination of 3 pitchers handled the 8th with Joba getting the final two outs and looking, somewhat, like his old self on the mound. Of course Aceves was great and I don’t want to take anything away from what he did, but the real talk of the bullpen should be Joba. Chamberlain came in with the tying run on 2nd and didn’t let either hitter he faced, Beltre & Drew, put the ball in play. His command was superb and he completely fooled Beltre and Drew, the latter being a very impressive feat, and struck both of them out to end the inning. Joba is finally throwing his curveball with authority and if he maintains his command he will be just as nasty as he was when he arrived in ’07, especially with that slider waiting for those two strike counts. I was extremely impressed with the entire bullpen last night, however I must say, as it should be obvious, that I was most impressed with Joba. His head seems to be in the right place and as he starts to let himself get into the 8th inning role again we should see shear dominance out of the ‘pen. 

Game 3: Pettitte vs Lackey 

A very interesting matchup that can really go either way. Lackey has the ability to pitch lights out, but has had problems at Fenway in the past and, if you remember from last year’s Championship series, has the propensity to be smacked around by this deep Yankee lineup. Pettitte is also apt to get smacked around and has to be crafty when dealing with the Red Sox. They have a deep lineup with tons of power and hitters who have had success against him in the past, and being a pitcher who has lost a couple MPH’s on his fastball we might see balls fly over the Green Monster if he isn’t careful. The Yankees have to strike early to win this game and can not let Lackey get into a groove. If they rattle him out of the gate he comes unraveled and the Yankees can walk all over him, if they are not aggressive enough they could easily lose this game 3-0. There is no doubt in my mind that the Sox will score on Pettitte so the Yankee lineup must provide support in the early going if they want to win this game and get out of Boston with a 2-1 record. 

Let’s Go Yankees!

Burnett: 13-9 – 195 k’s – 4.04 ERA – 1.40 WHIP

Lester: 15-8 – 225 k’s – 3.41 ERA – 1.23 WHIP

The numbers clearly favor Lester in this matchup and I think most would agree, as far as overall pitching numbers are concerned, that Lester inches out Burnett as the better of the two pitchers, and as far as facing eachothers teams, Lester outperformed Burnett in huge proportions. Unfortunately for most Yankee fans we remember the dreadful year Burnett had when he took the mound in Fenway when he posted a horrific 14.21 ERA along with an 0-2 record, hardly the pitcher of old where he was 3-0 from ’06-’08 posting an unbelievalbe .40 ERA. Lester is a work horse and if you give him an inch in this game he will take a mile so Burnett must be on top of his game against this formidable Red Sox lineup.

One of the, if not the major, reasons the Yankees went after A.J. so feverishly is the fact that he dominated the AL East when he pitched inter-division games in the past. Last year we saw a little bit of a slide in these games, see below:

You can call this a decent year for A.J. against his divisional foes, mostly due to the winning record, but for most Yankee fans, and the front office, Boston is the main objective and bottom line the team the Yankees have to beat consistently in order to stay a top the AL East standings. Dismal performances came and went for A.J. last year, which has come to be his calling card, a pitcher with such nasty stuff that on nights where he can’t control it he gets hammered by putting too many men on base. But on nights where he has control and accuracy, he is down right un-hittable and comes at you with such ferocity that hitters almost stand no chance.

Despite the horrible performances against Boston in ’09, A.J. pitched very well in April last year and hopes to continue that trend tonight. There is no hiding the fact that both of these teams have deep lineups that can do damage from 1-9, we all saw that on Sunday night. Pitching deep into the games is the objective for both starting pitchers tonight, both bullpens showed some shakiness, but of course I am judging this on only one game being played. If A.J. can control his pitching he should leave this game partially unscathed, if he starts putting men on base it will be a long night for the bullpen. The Red Sox lineup is unforgiving and patient at the plate so A.J. must make them chase pitches, no matter how uncharacteristic it is with this lineup.

Bottom Line: A.J. must be in control all night, he can not walk many batters and must use his power to keep the ball in the park and on the ground. I honestly feel a good performance from Burnett tonight, he wants to rebuild his effectiveness against the Red Sox and be a dominate pitcher in Fenway once again. In order to beat Lester he has to keep the Yankees in the game and they have to show up like they did on Sunday. Lester is an effective pitcher who rarely shows a weakness, they must bring him deep into counts and look for mistakes. He has a tricky breaking ball that fools hitters and sets up his blazingly accurate fastball. If the Yankee bats score 3 runs for Burnett he has to cherish them and make sure he doesn’t give up the long ball he was prone to give up last year in Fenway.

My prediction: 3-2 Yankees. The bats will be hot tonight, but without the long ball they will have trouble scoring. Watch for big games from A-Rod and Cano, with Johnson getting on base tonight they will have the opportunity to bring him in. If the Yankees aren’t patient at the plate that score can easily be flipped the other way.

Let’s Go Yankees!!!

p.s. Look for my posts on www.newyorksportssource.com

1. I am a die-hard Yankee fan
2. I am NOT a doomsday advocate…let me eloborate…I do not EVER assume one loss or one bad outing is a sign of things to come, last night was merely a bad performance by the pitching staff, of both teams, and should not be seen as trend of the year to come.

I’m not sure if it was a culmination of multiple situations or what Joba was told before he got on the mound, but he looked extremely flat out there. The intensity of two years ago was gone, and his pitching seemed to lack all of what made him a lock down 8th inning set up man. The 99 m.p.h heater that he could pinpoint on the black was gone and the nastiest slider in the game seemed to hang waiting to be crushed. Is this a concern? For me it really isn’t yet, Joba has to get re-adjusted to this role after a whole spring training in which he was a starter. Could the fact that he lost the 5th rotation start affecting his pitching? I am going to say yes, it is a shot to a pitchers, or any players, ego when they are told they aren’t good enough to be something they want to be. I have said this in the past and will continue to, Joba has been tossed and turned so much that he is probably confused on what he should be. They are whispering in one ear that he might be able to earn a starting spot again, which means he has to save his arm, but now they want him to be that dominate 8th inning guy again. It must be very confusing for a young pitcher, especially one who is so emotional. In the long run I am finally ready to admit Joba should stay in the ‘pen, but only if he gets that intensity back. Mo is getting older and if he has to come in early because Joba is putting men on base with regularity than Robertson might have to step in and be their 8th inning guy. Please reference my points above, I know this all seems hypocritical but it’s more for a point of discussion than me believing we have something serious to be nervous about.

My true opinion of last night is that we really have nothing to worry about, of course it is one game so there shouldn’t be anyway but people have the propensity to overreact to such loses, especially those against the Red Sox. The offense was hot and picked up where they left off, there are spark plugs all over this line up and with Matsui and Damon gone I don’t believe there will be a void which most think there will be. The only change I might make is taking Nick Johnson out of the #2 spot in the lineup, I truly feel that belongs to Granderson. Here is my reasoning:

Granderson can only benefit from having Tex and A Rod hitting behind him, Nick Johnson is a patient hitter with a keen eye, while Granderson has been known to swing somewhat wildly at the plate. With Teixiera hitting behind him Granderson will see more pitches to hit and learn more plate discipline, his main objective will be to get on base in front of the big 3-4 hitters so they can drive him in, yet he provides enough pop that if anyone gets on in front of him he can get a good share of RBIs. Granderson also provides enough speed that a ball in the gap scores him from first, unlike the lumbering Johnson who would likely end up at 3rd on a shot to the wall. Another reason for my petition to move Granderson up in the order again attributes to his speed and ability to steal bases. Nothing rattles a pitcher more than a speedster on the base paths, a pitcher loses his focus with a man on base and therefore makes careless mistakes which, with Tex and Arod in the lineup, could lead to long balls or at the very least a walk.  Granderson causes havoc on the base paths and is under utilized, in my opinion, in the 7 hole where pitchers aren’t afraid try wilder pitches because Swisher, who also swings at will, is hitting behind him. With Johnson in the 7 hole pitchers have to make good pitches in the strikezone and therefore have to worry about him getting on base because of his great eye at the plate, by the way he’s not too shabby of a hitter either. Johnson will get pitches to hit and so will Swisher if Nick keeps up his reputation as a high OBP machine, his career OBP is .402, which, in turn, makes the bottom of the line-up that more dangerous. Granderson will more than likely stay in the 7 hole for a while, unless his average starts to tank, then we might see them moving him around. For now we will see Johnson batting 2nd and Granderson 7th to complete a pretty formidable and dangerous line-up, but with Granderson batting 2nd I think we can see the deepest line-up in the majors.

Another observation from last night that I really liked is Cano batting 5th in the line-up. I personally love Cano and his style of play and think he is just a hair below Utley as being the best 2nd basemen in the majors. To make a long explanation short Cano is going to skyrocket and become a superstar this year, if he lets his talent take over he will hit .320-27hr-115rbi and be in the running for MVP.

Next Game: Burnett vs Lester, Tuesday 4/6 at 7:10 – preview tomorrow

Short Prediction Run Down:

AL MVP: Alex Rodriguez, I predict a .330-50hr-150rbi year from him

NL MVP: Hanley Ramirez, his numbers prove that all it takes is 1 good year by the Marlins, I think this is the year

AL Cy Young: Justin Verlander, great pitcher, decent enough team to shine on his 19 wins and 275 strikeouts

NL Cy Young: Johan Santana, the Mets are poised to have a good year if they ever get healthy, Johan’s sub 3.00 ERA and 250 strikeouts give him the crown

AL Rookie of the Year: Wade Davis, young starter on a offesnively dynamic team, look for a 13-15 win year with a slightly below 4 ERA to claim the oft-overrated award

NL Rookie of the Year: Either Jason Heyward or Stephen Strausberg…going Heyward, more of a daily player and will have more of an impact on a winning team, expect HUGE numbers from this kid considered to be the “pre-crack” Daryl Strawberry.

Thanks! Let’s Go Yankees!

Now to better things…after a one year absence (it felt like forever) the Yankees are back in the playoffs and have the potential to destroy all opposing teams and barge their way into the World Series. All signs point to the Yankees having the best record going into the playoffs so let’s stop panicking…bottom line is that the Yankees would have to basically go 0 and 9 (which of course is fesible) to finish out the season, and not only that but the Saux and the Angles can’t lose another game…really? I’m not worried…but I will tell you what I am a little unsure of…the Yankee rotation.

Sabathia has proved year in and year out that he is one of, if not the most, dominate second half pitcher in the Majors, however he has never shown up in the playoffs, let’s roll back to last year…how’d he do? Differnet circumstances, different setting blah, blah, blah but still the same pitcher. He needs to get us out to an early lead in the series…remember Burnett has never pitched in the playoffs before, he can’t carry all the burden, Sabathia must show up! And what if we need a 4th starter? Can we really rely on Joba?

Bottom line is that the bats will be there but will the pitching? The Yankees have to make a stance in the playoffs for the hungry New York fans, otherwise they will be fed to the wolves. The Steinbrenners didn’t spend all this money for nothing…Sorry to keep it short…but I gotta run…Full run down of the playoffs coming soon…plus check for my Football blog for the pats and buckeyes coming soon!!!