So with many members of the Yankees (and other teams) donning number 42 this weekend to honor Jackie Robinson, one player – Jeff Kent – will wear 42 to honor his favorite player, Mariano Rivera, according to America’s Finest Sports News Source.
The kid might have a future in the game
Just a disgusting outing by Felix Hernandez last night. I was much more caught up in that than the first few innings of the Yanks game. Grounders and strikeouts, grounders and strikeouts. The guy has let three balls leave the infield all year — and one of them was on the ground!
Yanks can’t finish the sweep
| Player | WPA | pLI | Pitcher | WPA | pLI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeter | .034 | 1.01 | Henn | .221 | 1.65 |
| Damon | .033 | 0.94 | Vizcaino | .092 | 1.18 |
| Alex | -.018 | 1.26 | Moose | .007 | 0.93 |
| Posada | -.032 | 0.68 | Myers | .005 | 0.09 |
| Melky | -.076 | 0.97 | Proctor | -.015 | 1.96 |
| Minky | -.080 | 1.03 | Farnsworth | -.375 | 1.40 |
| Cano | -.088 | 1.07 | |||
| Abreu | -.100 | 1.18 | |||
| Giambi | -.107 | 0.96 |
And the Yankees fail to complete the sweep. Winning two out of three obviously isn’t bad, but when you have a chance at a sweep, you’d like to see them come storming out of the gates. That goes doubly when Ramon Ortiz is on the mound, hef of the 5.57 ERA last year in Washington.
Focusing on the positive for one fleeting moment, Sean Henn has been stellar in this young season. He’s allowed just one run over eight innings, and his work in long relief has eased the burden on the rest of the pen. I could go on and note that his peripherals to this point don’t add up — just one strikeout to one walk and a 6/7 groundball to flyball ratio) — but I’ll stick with this positive while the positive is going.
As Ben noted, Moose may only miss one start, which could work under the current schedule. After the off day today, Igawa will start Friday at Oakland, followed by Pavano and Pettitte on Saturday and Sunday. Another off day on Monday helps, though it won’t keep Darrell Rasner from taking the ball Tuesday at the Stadium against Cleveland, Mussina’s scheduled start. So the Cleveland series will be Rasner, Igawa, and Pavano, lining up Pettitte to start Friday at Fenway. The hope from there would be to have Wang available for Saturday afternoon’s affair, and Moose ready to go on Sunday.
If Moose does end up hitting the DL, though, I’m going to come right out and advocate Phil Hughes for the job. I know many of you want to see him develop more in AAA, but I have to wonder how much that’s going to help. He looked more than solid in his first outing, and he pitches again tonight. If he’s dominating, I don’t see a reason not to challenge him at the big league level, especially since there’s now an excuse to do so. Give him the ball against Cleveland on Tuesday and then again against the Sox in Fenway on Sunday. That would also put him in line to start the following Friday night in the Stadium against Boston. Seriously, I cannot think of a better way to start off Phil Hughes.
Yanks lose game, Mussina
Someone really ought to teach the Yanks how to stretch. First, Wang, then Hideki and now Mussina all go down to a hamstring bug. Mussina claims he’ll only miss a start, but that’s what everyone said last year about Robbie Cano before he missed 35 games.
Meanwhile, as Peter Abraham points out, you’ll be hearing Marty Miller’s name a lot over the next few days. He’s the new director of performance enhancing, and as The Times noted over the weekend, his new strenuous routine may be responsible for this rash of injuries. Check yourself before you wreck yourself, Marty.
(In case you’re wondering, Moose was a participant in Marty’s program. That voluntary involvement may have ended in the third inning tonight.)
Meanwhile, A-Rod went 1 for 3 with an RBI and continued his hot hitting. But outside of a 2 for 4 night for Johnny Damon, the Yanks’ bats were silent. A few nice plays in the field concluded the Bombers’ part of the highlight real. Derek Jeter turned a nifty double play on an over-the-shoulder catch, and Doug Mientkiewiczi made a nifty dive on a shot down the line.
The story tonight though, which Joe and I were discussing during the game, was the Big V: Velocity. Proctor didn’t have it, and Krazy Kyle — he of the leadoff walk, loss and 4 ER in 0.1 IP tonight — didn’t have it either. The gun readings showed these two power pitchers reaching the low 90s instead of their usual upper 90s. Maybe it’s a dead arm period after Spring Training; maybe it’s Marty Miller’s fault; maybe we could find a way to blame A-Rod. But it’s a concern.
Anyway, as long as Ron Villone doesn’t show up in the Bronx, and Fransworth and Proctor rediscover their heat, we’ll be ok. Two out of three in Minnesota is the way to go.
Image of Mussina leaving the field with Gene Monahan from The New York Times.
Down on the Farm
Yo, Felix flat schooled the Sawx tonight, in the Fens no less. Whaddya think, Hughes-Clippard-Tabata for The King? I’d do it, but I dunno if the M’s brass would…
Triple-A Scranton (10-3 loss to Richmond)
Alberto Gonzalez: 2 for 5, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 E (fielding)
Bronson Sardinha: 0 for 4, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Andy Phillips: 2 for 5, 1 R, 1 3B, 2 K, 1 E (fielding)Â – played second…
Eric Duncan: 0 for 3, 1 RBI, 2 BB
Andrew Beattie: 2 for 3, 1 R, 1 BB – meet the new career minor leaguer on the block…
Tyler Clippard: 4 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K – 61 of 92 pitches were strikes (66.3%)
Colter Bean: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HB – lowered his ERA to 6.35
Damn you, Tyler Kepner
Mussina out with hamstring problem
Mike Mussina left the game with a strained left hamstring tonight. The left hamstring is his landing leg, and as John Flaherty just said, the Yanks will allow Mussina to fully heal. It could be three weeks or more for Mussina. Somewhere, Roger Clemens’ phone just rang, and somewhere else, a young pitcher who’s supposed to start tomorrow night may not take the mound for Scranton-Wilkes Barre.