Bad Luck for Phil Hughes

He was pitching great last night.  Absolutely great.  And then the rain came.  That’s just bad luck.  Hopefully he’ll use it as another stepping stone and that next time out he’ll pick up where he left off last night.  You really can’t second guess Girardi for taking him out.  There’s no logical reason to risk the long term health of Phil Hughes just to get a couple of innings out of him in April.

Turned out to be bad luck for the Yanks too.  I know anything can happen but my money is that if there’s no rain delay and Phil stayed in and pitched how he pitched in the first two innings, the Yanks win.  Just my humble opinion.

Yankees Weekly Review (4/14 – 4/20)

It felt like a worse week than it really was for the Yanks.  They went 4-3, but it didn’t feel like it.  After winning three in a row… 2 against the Rays and one against the Red Sox… they lost three straight to Baltimore before winning on Sunday night.  Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy struggled again, and Wang had his first hiccup of the season.  But we were still over .500 this week, which I think is a good sign… anyone need a reminder about where we were last year?  The team has played for 20 straight days and will head on the road again this week after a much needed off day on Monday.  I’m not exactly pleased with our position, but it could be worse.  Giambi isn’t doing much of anything.  Cano hasn’t come around yet.  Damon just isn’t himself anymore.  The young pitchers are struggling right now.  And yet we’re still at .500 overall.  To me, that bodes well for us.  When everything starts to click, and you have to believe it will at some point (at least offensively), we should be able to put together a pretty good record.

 

Weekly thoughts:

I’ve seen some chatter on various blogs about moves that need to be made.  These are a few that I wholeheartedly endorse and would make in a second if I were General Joe or Little Stein:

 

1. Bench Giambi, start Duncan at first.  I’m biased here because I’ve never liked Giambi, but he’s done literally nothing at the plate unless Mike Timlin is on the mound.  Let’s give the younger player with more upside a chance.  He couldn’t be any worse, and would likely be much better.  He’s mashed at the plate at AAA this year.

 

2. Get rid of Betemit and keep Gonzalez on the Major League bench.  Betemit can’t play short or second.  He can’t hit too well.  He’s does not have wheels.  So why keep him around?  We’ve got enough slowish third and first basemen who are better than he is (sadly I’d probably even take Giambi over him).  Gonzalez raked while he filled in for Jeter.  He is outstanding defensively and can play both short and second, providing cover for Jeter or Cano if they need a break or get hurt.  He’d also give us speed if we needed a late inning pinch runner.  Let’s give the younger player with more upside a chance.  (Hm… I’m sensing a theme developing…)

 

3. Replace Damon with Brett Gardner.  Damon came to camp “in great shape,” but hasn’t done much to start the year.  He’s older and doesn’t seem to be able to do what we’ve come to expect from him.  He hardly throw the ball in the air to the cut off man… and that’s something that even I can do… and that we expected Division 3 outfielders to be able to do.  Gardner has tremendous speed and has put up great numbers in the minors.  He’d be a valuable pinch runner, and given the chance I bet he could be an awesome leadoff hitter in front of Jeter, Abreu, and A-Rod.  Let’s give the younger player with more upside a chance.  (The theme has officially developed!)

 

4. Bring up the kids from the minors to fill out the bullpen.  We’ve got young arms stacked at all levels in the minors.  Bring a couple of them up to replace Hawkins and Farnsworth.  We’re going to need someone reliable to go along with Ohlendorf and Bruney once Joba moves to the starting rotation (which he must do at some point).  We’re bound to find a couple of gems from the group.

 

In short, the Yankees should stop playing their aging players who are only going to get worse and give their younger prospects a chance in the majors.  They won’t put up numbers that are any worse, and they’ll generate a TON of excitement.  Let’s hope they make these changes.  The Messman has spoken.

My Thoughts on Phil Hughes and the Yankees

He’ll be fine.  He looked much better last night than he did in his previous two starts.  He was able to locate his fastball really well – something he had trouble doing to this point.  I’ve read people complain that he didn’t use a third pitch, and some outright say that he doesn’t have a third pitch.  Look.  The kid is 21 years old.  What were you doing at that age?  I remember the butterflies and pressure I put on myself playing baseball at a D3 college at 21.  This kid is playing in the majors.  Lay off him.  He made significant progress last night.  So he didn’t use his third pitch.  He showed control and confidence with his fastball.  That’s the first step.

As for the Yankees, these growing pains are only the beginning, but I couldn’t be happier that we’re going through them.  This is a year of transitions.  Not only do we have a new manager, but we have a new way of developing the team.  I love the direction Cashman has been taking the team.  After his year we will get rid of Giambi (PLEASE PUT DUNCAN AT FIRST ASAP!!), Pavano, Mussina, etc.  We have some great young pitching prospects and outfielders, and with the new emphasis on player development and scouting the infield should follow suit soon.  This is how you run a baseball franchise my friends.  I’ve been saying it for years to anyone who would listen to me, and it’s great to see.  Unfortunately, during this transitional period we might miss the playoffs.  I don’t think we will, but we might.  And that’s ok.  The Red Sox missed the playoffs a few years back then came back to win the world series a couple of times.  We just need to purge ourselves of the past before we can move ahead with a new dynasty.  Patience, my fellow Yankees fans, patience.