The Growing DL

It's only about a month or so away from summer -- when the season really starts to heat up. So far, the Yankees have been doing well with a 22-12 record, 2 games behind the first place Rays and the best team in baseball. However, this record indicates how well the Yankees are doing with a sudden bunch of injuries hitting the team. Chan Ho Park has been out for weeks, and may return Sunday. Curtis Granderson went down with a groin injury and will be out for at least a month -- he has not done any activity yet, so we will see if he will be returning the first week or so of June. Jorge Posada was out for a few games with a calf injury. Thankfully, Cervelli has been a GREAT back-up catcher - he's definitely one of my favorite Yankees now that Matsui is an Angel. He has great energy and emotion. He's great defensively and has gotten a lot of key hits! Mariano Rivera hadn't pitched since April 30 until he came into last night's game that originally was going to be a save until the Yankees scored 6 runs in the top of the 9th inning. (I have no problem with Mo getting some extra rest and we haven't needed him that much). Nick Swisher was out of today's game with sore biceps. ARod had -- I think a leg injury? Andy Pettite's last start was skipped because of inflammation around the elbow, but should return on Saturday to pitch. Alfredo Aceves is on the DL with a back issue. Nick Johnson is on the DL with an arm issue. Cano missed a game after being hit by Josh Beckett. We've had Winn/Thames platooning in left field since Curtis Granderson has been out. Winn is at least a veteran with some speed, but he isn't the greatest offensively. Thames is very good at left-handed pitching, but not the greatest defensively. Golson, Nova, Sanchez, Miranda, & Russo have all been called up to fill missing spots in the bullpen and lineup. So yep, the injury bug has hit the Yankees hard and they should be fortunate to have such a good record.

Hughes has been great for the Yankees and looks like an ace ... in the 5th spot in the rotation! Vazquez appeared to get over his pitching woes last time out -- going 7 innings while only giving up 2 runs. Pettite has been doing great until his injury. The offense, however, has struggled the last few games. They need to snap out of this rut as they go on to face a tough schedule. They play the Twins (22-12) at home tomorrow, the Red Sox (18-17) a 2-game series, then the Rays (24-10) a 2-game series. Then they go on the road to face the Mets (18-16) and the Twins again. They end the month at home with a 4-game series against Cleveland (13-19).

The upcoming homestand and roadtrip will show how much character this Yankees team has, especially without Park, Johnson, Granderson, and Aceves and the addition of a mixture of Triple-A callups and bench players. Let's hope for the best! Go Yanks!

10-game homestand; 7-game road trip

That 10-game homestand was something special with 4 walk-off wins. Saturday afternoon, the Yankees scored 3 runs off of closer Brad Lidge to win 5-4 against the Phillies. ARod hit a game-tying 2 run homerun to right. Cano followed with a single and a stolen base and Melky's done what he has done for 2 other games this season: he won it for the team. In yesterday's game, Melky tied it in the 9th, but they couldn't get anything out of the rest of the inning. In the 10th, they had a great opportunity with runners on 1st and 2nd and no outs, but wasted that and it came back to haunt them. However, today was a great game for the Yankees. ARod went 5-for-5 with 4 rbis (none of his hits were homeruns). Tex was good as well and his average has risen to .273. But the highlight of the day was Phil Hughes' pitching performance. He went 8 innings, striking out 6, and only giving up 3 hits. He's been doing well (except for one performance) since he was called up to replace CMW. CMW is staying in the bullpen, and I think it's a good idea since our young pitchers have been doing well.

The Yanks went 8-2 on their homestand (2 losses to the Phillies) and now they begin a 7-game road trip (3 @ Texas & 4 @ Cleveland). Their offense is looking like it should be with the dangerous Jeter, Damon, Tex, ARod, and Cano all batting in a row. CC is continuing to heat up, Joba and Phil are doing well, Burnett's been struggling a little, and Andy's done pretty well.

We got a scare during Joba's last start when he left the game in the 1st after getting hit on the knee by a line drive. He starts tomorrow though, and hopefully will show no ill effects of the hit. Bruney's still experiencing pain and was put on the 15-day DL again, which sucks for the Yankees. Phil Coke has turned into the 8th-inning man. Nady, Molina, Posada, and Ransom are rehabbing in Tampa. Hopefully we will see Posada back in the lineup soon and he can provide more power to our lineup with his offensive abilities.

Thanks to the 8-2 homestand, the Yankees are in 2nd place in the AL East, 1 game behind the Boston Red Sox and a 1/2 game up on the Jays. Keep it up, Yanks!

Spring is Coming

I am excited for multiple reasons:

1) Phil Hughes is pitching in the Yankees Spring Training game today against the Twins and it's on TV. If you can't do the math, I get to see Phil Hughes pitch!!!! I think I saw him pitch a few times last year, but it's rare when you're stuck out here in MN. Oh, & I hate the Rays (minus garza and bartlett) because they ALREADY injured one of the Yankees' prospects! 22-year old catcher, Francisco Cerelli, has a fracture in his right wrist and is going to be out 8-10 weeks. Honestly, do the Rays have to play dirty ball already? It's SPRING TRAINING! You don't injure players during spring training ! Carl Crawford already slid in really hard in their game last Wednesday against Houston. Nobody's going to feel sorry for them anymore if they play dirty. I mean, I know they're trying hard and all, but it's just a spring training game. /end rant.
2) The Sharks play the Wild today! OK, technically that's probably really bad for the Wild who are struggling, and the Sharks who are not (8 wins in a row). But I'll get to see, in High-Definition, Devin, Torrey, Matt, and Marc-Edouard! Woohoo! P.S. Happy Birthday Brent Burns!
3) This Friday is SPRING BREAK & THE SWARM GAME!!!! 2 blissful weeks without school and warm(er) weather. We don't even have lacrosse practice on Friday, so Elise and I can get to the Swarm game early and get our free bobble-head. Excellent. Friday will be so much fun. But it still sucks that the Swarm have lost 3 in a row now. Bummer.


Well, that's my exciting news for the day. I bet you all got really excited about what's coming up today and the rest of the week, too. I should probably head out to get my lacrosse equipment because I have a busy day ahead -> 12 PM = Yankees game 3PM=Wild game. In between= english project (4-5 page creative paper).