Yankees notes as they prepare for the first spring game this Saturday

Joe Girardi named David Phelps as his starter for Saturday and Adam Warren on Sunday. The Sunday game will be the first one televised on the YES network. Phil Hughes had back spasms today in his upper back which Girardi considers good. He said he will be shut down for a couple of days and then they will see from there. Girardi said he isn’t too worried because he was a little ahead of schedule. 
Eduardo Nunez is going to get a chance to play a lot right now. It is another chance for him to make a name for himself. Nunez is a very good offensive player, he is dynamic with speed and some power. It is his defense that gets him in trouble. Nunez will play a lot of shortstop though with Jeter not being ready to play games yet and definitely not in the field for a little while. Jeter may even be the regular DH against lefties during the season which would give Nunez that opportunity to be the regular shortstop against lefty starters. Girardi said he has to earn it and that they have to toy with some different options but they liked what they saw out of him at the end of last year. They said they plan on keeping him at short for the most part, I don’t see him anywhere else right now other then DH.

Girardi said it is possible they keep both Nunez and Jayson Nix but then they wouldn’t have a lefty pinch hitter and they would like to have that.

Austin Romine said he is more or less stopped thinking about his back. He doesn’t really notice it anymore. He is very optimistic that he has gotten past that problem and a week into spring training and he has had no problems at all.

According to Chad Jennings of the Journal News and Lohud Yankees blog there was some buzz today about Ichiro. He made a behind the back catch during outfield drills, Brett Gardner said it was his fault because he asked him for it. He apparently does this every so often, he seems like a really fun guy to be around and he loves being a Yankee. I really like this guy and hope he continues to succeed because he is a crowd favorite.

Mark Teixeira will have his last day in Yankees camp before heading to the WBC on March 2^nd and Cano on March 3^rd.

Yankees Friday night Postgame notes from Boston

Here are the postgame notes from Friday night courtesy of the Journal News Chad Jennings.  He also runs the Lohud Yankees Blog.  I also put my own thoughts into the mix as usual. 

Mark Teixeira said he wasn’t really paying attention to the bullpen. He was standing on deck watching Andrew Miller fire upper-90s fastballs at Robinson Cano.

“This guy’s a big lefty, throws 97, just struck out Cano,” Teixeira said. “So I wasn’t even thinking that they were going to bring in somebody else. I was getting into my right-handed mode to think about how I was going to hit against Miller. I was very surprised they brought in Padilla.”

When you see Robinson Cano hug David Ortiz pregame, you know that a lot of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is for the fans. It’s built for prime time. Stirs excitement. The Teixeira-Padilla rivalry has nothing to do with hats and t-shirts.  Tex and Padilla go back a long way since they were playing together and that is where it started because Tex would get thrown at because of him and then he started hitting Tex when he came to the Yankees. 

“The guy throws at people, fact of the matter,” Teixeira said. “I’m not saying anything that’s news. It is what it is. I’ve always been someone that wants to play the game the right way. You play hard, but you don’t’ play cheap. … No one else does (what Padilla does). That’s the thing that’s unbelievable to me. No one else in baseball does this. Whether he’s changed his ways, I hope he does. The guy’s a good pitcher. He’s got really good stuff. It would be nice to just talk to him as a baseball player, not someone who throws at people.”

Padilla is third among active pitchers in hit batters, and he’s hit Teixeira three times. Their head-to-head dislike for one another extends to when they were teammates in Texas. Teixeira doesn’t get heated very often, but he does when he talks about Padilla.

With two on in a one-run game, though, Teixeira knew Padilla wouldn’t try anything crazy. This was going to be a legitimate at-bat, hitter vs. pitcher, and Padilla threw nothing but fastballs. It was a 3-2 pitch that Teixeira drove to center field — very nearly out of the park — for a go-ahead triple.

“Almost every at-bat, he tries to throw at your head, does a throw behind you or something screwy,” Teixeira said. “With first and second and the game on the line, he’s not going to do it then, so I could actually dig in and look for a good pitch to hit. … Game-winning hits always feel good, but that one definitely felt real good.”

Hiroki Kuroda said the long wait in the top of the first had nothing to do with it. He simply didn’t have his stuff today. “Not just in the first inning, but the whole outing,” he said. “I didn’t have most of my pitches.”  I would think it had something to do with it but yeah he didn't have it in this game.  He has been so good for so long you just shake this one off. 

Girardi, though, thought the long wait might have played a part. After that first inning, Kuroda allowed two runs through 4.2 innings. It was actually huge that he was able to pitch fairly deep into the game, especially with a doubleheader tomorrow. “If you’re off tomorrow you might (use the bullpen) a little bit different,” Girardi said. “But for the most part, I did what I thought it was to win the game tonight. I wasn’t worried about tomorrow. We always talk about, worry about tomorrow tomorrow.”

 Big, underrated play by Derek Jeter to get the out at third and keep the Red Sox from loading the bases. Jeter said, whenever there’s a runner at second, he gives the third baseman a heads up that he might throw over there. “I was basically thinking if he hit the ball that way I was going to go to third,” Jeter said. “I thought it was the only play I had. … We work on it. I don’t think it was that hard. You catch it and throw it to third. It can be difficult if you’re throwing on the run, but if you don’t get caught off guard, I don’t think it’s too difficult.”  Jeter is just a smart baseball player, always has been and that is what people love about him. 

 Jeter is hitting .385 in the first inning this season.

After blowing a few middle-of-the-inning, runners-on-base situations recently, Dave Robertson got a huge strikeout to end the seventh. He was pulled with an out to go in the eighth, but he didn’t disagree with the decision. His command wasn’t great today. “I was able to get a couple of outs and at least make it a little easier for Sori,” Robertson said.

Alex Rodriguez stole two bases tonight, giving him nine steals for the year. That’s his highest total since 2009. He’s 9-for-9 on stolen base attempts.  It seems odd that he can do that but not hit homeruns.  It just doesn't seem like he has the power anymore, maybe he will have a big second half though. 

 Russell Martin is now hitless in his past 30 at-bats. It’s the most consecutive at-bats without a hit by a Yankee since 2004 when both Jeter and Jason Giambi went hitless in 32 straight.

Darnell McDonald made his Yankees debut as a defensive replacement. His brother Donzell played in three games for the Yankees in 2001. They are the eighth set of brothers too play for the Yankees in franchise history.

 Final word goes to Teixeira: “I don’t hit a lot of triples. I had a triple and a stolen base today. I don’t know if that’s ever happened. We’ll have to look at the Elias Sports Bureau for that one. It was just a big hit. It doesn’t matter who it was off of. Long game, so when you have a chance to win the game, it’s always a good feeling.”

Yankees Wednesday night postgame notes

The Yankees got blown out in Toronto last night.  It was an ugly game all the way around.  Kuroda can't win on the road and has been too inconsistant this season but the offense is the real problem.  They have been up and down and mostly down lately.  They are having trouble hitting in the clutch.  Here are the postgame notes courtesy of Chad Jennings of the Journal News and my opinions mixed in. 

The Yankees have lost eight games this month. In those eight loses, they are 3-for-52 with runners in scoring position.

Yes, Hiroki Kuroda made some costly mistakes tonight, and Kyle Drabek was awfully good with his sinker, and a couple of questionable calls and bad plays certainly hurt. But the Yankees went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and it was impossible to ignore the growing trend that’s been hurting this team for more than two weeks.  It is very frustrating, to me you  have to look at the hitting coach and the philosophy.  I just think he doesn't work on situational hitting with them, they are a homerun hitting team and they rely on that way too much.  They don't cut down on their swings.  Ibanez is a guy they can all learn from, he is a clutch hitter and knows how to just get a single if that is what is needed or a sacrifice fly. 

“That’s what’s killing us,” Joe Girardi said. “Guys have got to find a way. You’ve got to find a way to get a hit in that situation and see if it can become contagious. You put some more pressure on them. But we just have not hit with runners in scoring position on a consistent basis. We have not.”  He is right, they have too much talent and the guys in the lineup have to find a way, they aren't going to have anyone else come in and do it. 

Drabek was so good that Mark Teixeira compared him to Roy Halladay, but as Alex Rodriguez said in Kansas City, the Yankees can only tip their cap for so long. And that period expired a long time ago. Obviously this team can hit — they have one of the highest scoring offenses in baseball with some of the best hitters in the game — but situational hitting is often the difference in winning and losing.  Drabek may be a good young pitcher but Arod is right enough is enough.  Roy Halladay is a bit of a stretch, at some point they got to start hitting these guys. 

Teixeira said he hasn’t sensed anyone pressing, but Russell Martin conceded that “it seemed like every hitter was trying to hit a three-run homer with nobody on.” It’s hard to pinpoint a reason for the Yankees inconsistency with runners in scoring position, and it’s hard to find a fool proof way to break out of it. There’s skill involved, but there’s also some luck and random fluctuations that play a role.

“I think it’s a little bit of both,” Girardi said. “I think the skill is being able to relax and get your pitch. I think the fluctuation is you’re going to hit balls hard and make outs sometimes, or they’re just going to make really good pitches pitch after pitch.”

If you’re looking for solutions, the clubhouse offered none tonight, only this hard-to-argue reality: “Guys have got to do it, that’s the bottom line,” Girardi said. “We’ve got to get it done.”

 Hiroki Kuroda allowed a season-high seven runs through five innings. He was coming off a strong start, but he’s battling his own inconsistencies in his first season in the American League. “I can’t make that as an excuse,” he said. “I’ve been studying a lot of these hitters on video and talking a lot with the coaches. I can’t really make that an excuse, but hopefully I’ll start winning.”  This was by far his worst outing but he has been really good or just mediocre too bad, he has been alternating those starts. 

Girardi felt that Kuroda’s problem came down to a few pitches. He left a 3-2 slider up and J.P. Arencibia hit a two-run homer. He walked Jose Bautista on a close pitch, and Edwin Encarnacion followed with a three-run shot. “At times he threw the ball really well,” Girardi said. “But when he got a ball up, they didn’t miss it.”

 Martin has been catching Kuroda since their days in Los Angeles. “It’s not typical of Hiro to have this type of outing,” Martin said. “But it can happen to anyone. It’s a tough league, but he’s a quality pitcher. … I think today we just had an off day. He’s got the ability, and he’s got the arsenal, to get outs anywhere. I truly believe that.”

Kuroda gave up three of the Blue Jays four homers tonight. He was asked whether playing in more hitter friendly parks has hurt him since leaving Los Angeles. “The home runs that I gave up, I think they would be home runs in any park, American League or National League,” he said.

 Drabek got 13 groundball outs. “That sinker was really working,” Teixeira said. “You don’t want to say Halladay, because Halladay is a special pitcher, but getting the ground balls, it felt like Halladay was out there tonight. He just wasn’t getting the ball up in the zone at all.”

 Robinson Cano dropped the ball trying to turn a double play in the second inning. It didn’t go down as an error — the Yankees got one out on the play — but it probably hurt Kuroda, because it looked like Cano was going to get two. Kuroda struck out the next batter before allowing Arencibia’s two-run homer.

 This was the interaction with Girardi about the Jayson Nix being called out at second base in the seventh inning: What did they tell you about that play at second? “Said he was out.” Have you seen it? “Oh yeah.” He wasn’t. “I realize that.”  That was a bad call but it didn't cost the Yankees the game, they lost by seven runs so you can't go too crazy over that, even though that may have started a big inning. 

Cano hit his 300th career double, tying Roy White for 15th on the Yankees all-time list.

Teixeira’s single was the 1,500th hit of his career.

 By the way, Teixeira’s voice sounded terrible after the game. Worst I’ve heard him sound since this coughing thing started about a month ago. He was glad they closed the roof after batting practice. “Maybe they heard me hacking out there and they closed it for me,” he said.

 Even glass-half-full Girardi called this an “ugly” game. Some of the writers were discussing whether this might have been the Yankees ugliest loss of the year. They didn’t hit, didn’t pitch and didn’t play good defense. Just a bad night and a bad game.

Yankees Postgame Notes

The big topic was Derek Jeter and here are some quotes courtesy of Josh Thomson of the Journal News. Derek Jeter turned around and saw a swarm of reporters and had a bemused smile on his face. He couldn't understand it, it is just a cold after all. He said "It's really not a big deal." He was asked if he wanted to play today and answered with "What do you think." He was asked if he would play Tuesday in Oakland and said "Yes, I could have played today but you have 2 days, so that is pretty much it." Here is what Ramiro Pena said regarding his 2 run single. "I tried to get a good pitch. I didn't hit it that good exactly, but it is still a hit. It felt good, I got the oppurtunity to play and I just tried to do my job, that's it." There was nothing else going on postgame as it has been a serene year so far for the Yankees. It was like that all spring and has continued into the season. They just go out there and do their job everyday and come up with a win usually and move on to the next game. It is great to see and this game hasn't even hit their stride yet, it is pretty scary to think that they could get better.

Regular Season Game 8-Yankees Vs Angels

Here are the pregame notes. Some of these are from Chad Jennings who was in the clubhouse this morning. He works for the Journal News and also has the great Lohud Yankees Blog. I apologize that the game posts are backwards, the second one appears first and then the first one second. Robinson Cano has hit safely in all 7 games this season. Nick Johnson was the first Yankee to go at least 6 seasons in between homeruns yesterday since Ruben Sierra did it. He hit one in 1996 and then not again until 2003. Dave Robertson was his usual self in the clubhouse today. He has a short memory which is what you need as a reliever. He gave up a grand slam yesterday but said today is a new day. I didn't realize it yesterday but Nick Swisher was given a fake ring and was shocked to see it but wore it the whole time. Mariano Rivera gave him the real thing after the ceremony. Joe Girardi said that Vazquez was rushing in his first start which caused his arm slot to drop and "his fastball was running too much back across the middle of the plate." Joe Girardi said he is excited to see Phil Hughes on the mound tomorrow night. "I think he is much more physically and mentally prepared." He was talking about now as compared to 2008. Joe Girardi at the end of his press conference was asked how many rings he would like to win and said, Yogi has 10 and I am sure he would like to win another. He was basically saying as many as he can. It is the Yankee way to always want more and keep trying to win which is good to see that there is no complacency.

Postgame Reaction from last nights Yankee Game

Joba Chamberlain met one of his childhood heroes before the game last night. John Smoltz was working for MLB network and he did offer Joba some advice. Smoltz remember started and relieved in his career and did both well. He told Joba to treat relieving as though it is a "one inning game." Joba said "It is just getting back in the routine, getting comfortable with what I do down there, when it is all clicking, it feels right." He was talking about being in the bullpen. He sure looked like his old self last night hitting 96 on the gun and showing that emotion that he needs to show. Chad Jennings of the Journal News had these postgame notes: Here is what A.J. Burnett said about Posada, he said that Posadas ability to block his curveball early in the game gave him the confidence to keep throwing it late. "My first couple of hooks aren't exactly 60 footers, they are more like 56 and a half." Nick Swisher said "I'm really just taking this, for the first time in my career, like a job. Show up, I do the work, make sure I am doing everything the right way and it's really working out. Maybe I am just a little more focused." Girardi said he didn't want to use Park because he felt a little sick yesterday. Girardi said it was possible that Robertson would of pitched the whole 8th inning had he not allowed that leadoff single. Girardi said this about Nick Johnson "That is why we went and got this guy." He was commenting on him getting on base 50 percent of the time even though he hasn't got a hit yet. The Yankees were pleased with the way Burnett pitched, Burnett said that he just made 2 mistakes to Victor Martinez. Here is what Girardi said about Cano in the 5 hole. "His approach has been outstanding."

Some Yankee notes from Today

Here are some notes from today via Chad Jennings of the Journal News and Lohud Yankees Blog. Chad Gaudin has reportedly signed with the Oakland A's. Sergio Mitre is starting the home game of the split squad games on Tuesday and the Yankees plan on him pitching more then 3 innings. They want to keep him stretched out in case of an injury, he will be the guy they go to early in the season. It could also be Alfredo Aceves but most likely it would be Mitre. CC Sabathia will pitch the road split squad game on Tuesday. Girardi said "That is where CC asked to go. I said great that works out good." Joe Girardi said that all of these missed games for Andy Pettitte may actually keep him stronger through the year. I guess you can always find a positive in any negative. The Pitchers scheduled for tomorrow night are Javier Vazquez, Joba Chamberlain, Chan Ho Park, Dave Robertson and Royce Ring. The whole regular infield will make the trip tomorrow. Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson and Nick Swisher will not along with Jorge Posada.

Some notes from today

Here are some notes today from Chad Jennings of the Journal News and Lohud Yankees Blog. Marcus Thames was 0-4 today and his spring average is now down to .094. That is terrible but he does have experience and he is basically the last guy standing. Here is what Joe Girardi said "The one thing we talk about Marcus is playing against a lot of left-handers possibly. He hasn't seen a lot of left-handers this spring." The Yankees are scheduled to play Jaime Moyer tomorrow and Joe Girardi said he will be in the lineup. They will see lefty Nate Robertson on Saturday. He does have very good career numbers against lefties. Here is what Phil Hughes said about winning the 5th starter competition: "It was what I set out in the spring to do. I grew up a starter in high school, minor leagues, even my first couple partial seasons in the big leagues. It was something that I really wanted and I feel like im ready for the challenge and ready for the season that lies ahead. Im just looking to go out and put together as many quality starts as I can and give our guys a chance to win everyday. That's really all I can ask for myself. Girardi says he sees Sergio Mitre as the long man out of the bullpen but he seems open to putting whoever is earning it in key spots late in the game. He said when your pitching well you are going to pitch. This is what I love about Joe Girardi, he rewards guys that deserve to be rewarded, Joe Torre always relied on certain guys and that was it no matter what. Girardi said he isn't sure if A-rod will be available on Saturday, remember he is meeting with the FEDS tomorrow. The beat writers are going out to play some paintball with Brian Cashman, Joe Girardi, Jason Zillo and other members of the Yankees PR staff. There probably won't be much news tomorrow morning but I will see if anything gets leaked about A-rods meeting. The game tomorrow is not until 7:00PM.

Yankees look ready for opening day

The New York Yankees had their starting lineup in the game today and Javier Vazquez started and went into the 7th inning. The Yankees won the game by the score of 3-1 and appear to be ready for opening day which is less then 2 weeks away. Vazquez went 6 innings giving up 4 hits and 1 run. He didn't walk anyone and struck out 6 batters. Damaso Marte came in to pitch a inning and allowed a hit with a strikeout. Mariano Rivera had another scoreless inning allowing a hit with 2 strikeouts. Mark Melancon got the save with a perfect ninth inning, he had 2 strikeouts. The Yankees didn't score a lot of runs but they did what they needed to do. Nick Johnson had a hit and a walk. A-rod was 2-3 with 2 rbi, I think his hip is good as he had a rbi triple in the game. Robinson Cano was 1-1 with a rbi and Francisco Cervelli was 1-1. Curtis Granderson was 1-2 with a walk and Nick Swisher was 1-3. Brett Gardner was also 1-3. The Yankees will play the Baltimore Orioles tomorrow afternoon at 1:00PM, the game is not on TV. Here are some of the pregame notes that came out of the media session with Joe Girardi. Chad Jennings had all the information at http://yankees.lhblogs.com

• Joe Girardi said that they haven't made a decision on the 5th starter yet. He said he isn't sure if they will announce it tomorrow either. He said he is meeting with the staff tonight. He said he thinks that everyone has a feeling but that he wants to listen to their opinions before he formulates a decision. He said it is the right thing to do. I agree with him but I think it will be pretty unanimous for Phil Hughes.

• He said that he hasn't decided on Granderson in center either although he was there tonight. Joel Sherman tweeted that this decision was made and I believe him but Girardi said this isn't the case. Maybe they didn't tell the players yet and that is why he is saying that. I would guess it will be Granderson though with Gardner in left. It is easier to move him out of left and get someone else if he doesn't perform.

• Girardi said the only other decisions are should they carry a second lefty in the pen? Who is going to be the right handed bat off of the bench? I don't see who else it would be other then Marcus Thames unless a wild card makes it but I doubt it. I don't think they will carry the second lefty with Mitre, Aceves going to the pen.

• This is what Girardi said about Doc Goodens arrest "Your heart goes out to him, I don't have any details, that is the first I have heard of it, but your heart goes out to him. He was a great teammate. Doc and I will always be linked because we played on a championship team and had a no-hitter together. If you didn't know it was the 1996 season. I loved playing with Doc, he was great to be around and a great teammate. You hope that everything is ok."

• Alfredo Aceves will start the game tomorrow with Amaury Sanit, Dave Robertson, Chan Ho Park, Sergio Mitre and Zack Segovia all scheduled to make the trip. Almost all position players are making the trip, the only ones who aren't going are Curtis Granderson, Jorge Posada, Mike Rivera and Brett Gardner.

Grapefruit League Game 20-Nationals at Yankees

The New York Yankees will take on the Washington Nationals tonight at 7:05PM at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Here is todays lineup via Chad Jennings of the Journal News, this is a second look at what most likely will be the Opening Day Lineup. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Johnson(DH) Teixeira(1B) Rodriguez(3B) Cano(2B) Posada(C) Granderson(CF) Swisher(RF) Gardner(LF) Javier Vazquez is making his fourth start of the spring. Mariano Rivera, Mark Melancon, Zack Segovia, Boone Logan and Damaso Marte are also available to pitch. Here are some of the pregame notes. Scheduled to come off the bench tonight are: P.J. Pilittere(C), Juan Miranda(1B), Kevin Russo(2B), Ramiro Pena(SS), Francisco Cervelli(3B), Jon Weber(LF), Greg Golson(CF), David Winfree(RF). Yes Cervelli is playing third, I know its strange. Cervelli played first base way back in 2003. He has never played third base before, not even in the minor leagues. He does take ground balls there routinely though as the Yankees like to have all of their catchers get reps at the corners. The Yankees brought up minor leaguers Luis Nunez(Infielder) and Ryan Baker(C) for the game as backups. Here is the Nationals lineup tonight and on the traveling roster are former Yankees Alberto Gonzalez(SS), Brian Bruney(P), Tyler Clippard(P), and Wil Nieves(C). Nationals Lineup: Roger Bernadina(LF) Christian Guzman(SS) Willie Harris(3B) Josh Whitesell(1B) Justin Maxwell(CF) Adam Kennedy(2B) Ian Desmond(DH) Wil Nieves(C) Willy Taveras(RF) Starting pitcher is Livan Hernandez. This is a pretty no name lineup, there are some names you should know but not much firepower. The game is not on radio or TV tonight so check back later tonight or tomorrow morning if you don't stay up late for the recap and postgame notes.

Looks can be deceiving

The New York Yankees lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater by the score of 9-7. A.J. Burnett got the start and had a horrible first inning, he recovered after that. He ended up throwing 4 innings giving up 5 runs on 7 hits with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts. He gave up all of his runs in the first inning and then threw 3 scoreless after that. This is typical A.J., he can be soo good yet so bad at times and sometimes it is just one inning. Royce Ring faced one batter a lefty and got him out. Phil Hughes who probably could have locked up the 5th starter spot appeared to get roughed up. His line was 4 1/3 innings 5 hits, 4 runs, 0 walks and 6 strikeouts. He gave up a 2 run homerun that was legitimate but he also gave up 2 other solo homeruns that were wind aided. The good thing was 0 walks and 6 strikeouts. Mark Teixeira led the offense going 4-4 with a 2 run homerun. Brett Gardner had a rbi and Curtis Granderson was 2-3 with a walk and rbi. Nick Swisher had a hit and rbi and Ramiro Pena had 2 hits. Kevin Russo and Eduardo Nunez each had a hit and rbi. The Yankees are off tomorrow. Here are some notes from today via Chad Jennings of the Journal News. Joe Girardi said that they will be having serious discussions about the 5th starter on Wednesday and then see what their next move is and who will get more innings. Girardi said he isn't ruling anything out at this point. "We have five guys, we have in a sense one spot in the rotation and three in the bullpen. I can't tell you exactly what is going to happen, we have two weeks to go." There is a couple of audio of Girardi today on the Lohud Yankees Blog. A.J. Burnett said he threw some good changeups today, he said some got hit but but you keep throwing them. He said it is different, in the season you probably wouldn't keep throwing it but in the spring you can. Joba Chamberlain said his changeup is getting better and better. He said this is the best changeup he ever had today. He threw 5 innings giving up 6 hits and 2 runs in the intrasquad game today. He had 1 walk and 1 strikeout, he threw 75 pitches, 48 for strikes. Mariano Rivera got three outs, one of them a strikeout in the intrasquad game. He said "feeling good fellas, feeling good." He is scheduled to pitch again on Wednesday. Chan Ho Park was brilliant in the intrasquad game. He got 7 outs, 5 of them by strikeout. He only gave up one hit and threw 21 out of 29 pitches for strikes. Joe Girardi said "He did everything we wanted him to do." Damaso Marte got 4 outs, he got a double play and had 1 walk and 1 strikeout. Dave Robertson also got 4 outs. He struck out 3 and had 1 walk.

Grapefruit League Game 18-Yankees at Astros

Here is the lineup and the pitchers for this afternoons game. Brian Hoch the Yankees beat writer for mlb.com and Chad Jennings the beat writer for the Journal News have this information up on their websites. I have some notes also from the Yankees media notes. The Yankees are 8-9 on the spring. Yankees Lineup: Brett Gardner(CF) Nick Johnson(DH) Mark Teixeira(1B) Alex Rodriguez(3B) Robinson Cano(2B) Marcus Thames(LF) Jon Weber(RF) Ramiro Pena(SS) Mike Rivera(C) Alfredo Aceves is making the start and will be followed by Dustin Moseley, Boone Logan and Mark Melancon. John Van Benschoten, Jonathan Ortiz and Craig Heyer are minor leaguers to back them up.

• Nick Johnson leads the team with 3 homeruns and is tied for second in rbi with 6. Robinson Cano leads the team with a 393 batting average, that is for those with a minimum of 25 plate appearances.

• Sergio Mitre and CC Sabathia are tied for the lead in innings pitched with 14. Mitre also leads the team with 14 strikeouts. The Yankees lead the grapefruit league in attendance. Through 9 home games they have attracted 94,030 visitors.

• Nick Swisher has a 7 game hitting streak where he has gone 8-20 which is a 400 average. Jorge Posada has gone 9 for his last 16 which is a 563 batting average. He also has 4 rbi and 5 runs in his last 6 games.

• Robinson Cano has hit safely in 7 of his last 10 games and has mulitple hits in 4 of those games.

Yankees Off Day

The Yankees were off today so it was very quiet in Tampa. The Yankees did send 2 more pitchers down to minor league camp today. The pitchers were Hector Noesi and Ivan Nova. The total amount of players in major league camp is now 52. If you are looking for some good minor league stuff then check out the Lohud Yankees Blog. Chad Jennings is the main beat writer and he had spend the last 7 years in Scranton covering the AAA team there. It was the Phillies at first but then became the Yankees. He was at minor league camp today with the Big Club being off. He wrote some good notes on his blog which can be found at http://yankees.lhblogs.com. It will be interesting to see if there is any A-rod news tomorrow. I hope he met with the FEDS today on the off day and then that is put to rest. The Yankees are going to have their full lineup tomorrow and Mariano Rivera is expected to make his first appearance of the spring. If you just want to see him don't turn the game on late, he will be in there early to get his work in.

The Day in Tampa

There really wasn't a whole lot of news coming out of Yankees camp today. Brian Cashman did indicate that Marcus Thames have a opt out of his contract if he doesn't make the team so basically him and Jaime Hoffman are in the same position. If Hoffman doesn't make the team he has to be offered back to the Dodgers due to him being a Rule 5 pick. If thames doesn't make it he can become a free agent. Joe Girardi stated that he would have a team bonding exercise on Tuesday but wouldn't say what it was yet. He also said he knows who will start Wednesdays Grapefruit league opener and will announce that tomorrow. Joe Girardi said that he will put both Gardner and Granderson in left and center during the exhibition games. He said he knows they can both handle center but wants to see if they can handle left. Mariano Rivera and Damaso Marte will each throw a bullpen on Monday which will be their first one. Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain both threw batting practice today. Hughes threw 29 pitches getting 6 swings. Joba threw 30 pitches and got 7 swings. Chad Jennings of the Journal News said he probably would say Chamberlain had the better commnad. You really can't find out much from these sessions, during the games is when you find out a lot. Joba and Phil are both taking this competition as fun, they are friends and were joking about it today. If you want to hear some audio of them visit the http://yankees.lhblogs.com/ which is the Lohud Yankees Blog by Chad Jennings and Sam Borden. A.J. Burnett, Javier Vazquez and Wilken De La Rosa all threw bullpens today. The other pitchers who threw live batting practice other then Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes were Boone Logan, Dustin Mosely, Edwar Ramirez and Mark Melancon. The other group consisted of Kei Igawa, Zach McAllister, Ivan Nova, Kevin Whelan, Hector Noesi, Jeremy Bleich and D.J. Mitchell. There was still no sign of Chan Ho Park, maybe he will arrive tomorrow.

Weekend Notes from Yankees Camp

Javier Vazquez asked to throw on Sunday and was allowed to do so. I know you may ask why I am saying that well all the Yankees starters have been held back because of their workloads last season. He said though that he was throwing in Puerto Rico and hadn't thrown in about a week and a half and wanted to get back out there. There wasn't much excitement in camp on Sunday, it was expected that Johnny Damon would be a hot topic but there wasn't much said about him signing yesterday for 1 year and 8 million with the Detroit Tigers. The people that did speak about him like Joe Girardi wished him well. I still think that he overplayed his hand and should of come back to the Yankees for 2 years but that is his fault. Almost all of the pitchers have now thrown 2 bullpens and with the exception of Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes are up to 40 pitches. They have only been throwing fastballs and changeups but will now start throwing their breaking pitches. Chad Jennings heard a lot of good things about Andrew Brackman who was one of the Yankees top picks a couple of years ago. Nardi Contreras who is the roving pitching instructor had some good things to say. If you want to check out more on that you can visit http://yankees.lhblogs.com. Brett Gardner was in the clubhouse for a little while today and sat talking with relief pitcher Kevin Whelan. It is not known what they were discussing. The pitchers who threw today were in Group 1 Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Javier Vazquez and Edwar Ramirez. Group 2 was Mark Melancon, Boone Logan, Mosely and Christian Garcia. Group 3 was Kei Igawa, Zach McAllister, Ivan Nova and Kevin Whelan. The last group was Jeremy Bleich, Andrew Brackman, Mitchell and Noesi. The position players are reporting on Tuesday and then Wednesday is the first full squad workout. March 3rd is the first game so things will start heating up after tomorrow and there will be more news coming out of Tampa. It has been very quiet for the Yankees but that should be expected after a World Series Championship and not much else going on.

Fridays News and Notes from Tampa

Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes spoke to the media toay and you can hear about 3 minutes from each on the Lohud Yankees Blog. Here is the link http://yankees.lhblogs.com Andy Pettitte followed the lead of the other starting pitchers and stayed off the mound, he will wait a few days before he revs it up. Here is what he had to say "My bodys feeling good, everything feels good coming into the spring. I feel real good about that." Andy also said the workload of the playoffs shouldn't bother him because the Yankees did a good job at the end of the year of resting their pitchers for the playoffs. He also said he is happy they added another reliable arm and that they never had met before but have already played golf together. Joe Girardi said you would love to have 2 lefties in a perfect world but they feel their righties get lefties out well. He specifically mentioned Dave Robertson but did say that 2 lefties gives you so many more options. Yogi Berra was in the clubhouse this morning according to Chad Jennings of the Journal News. Greg Golson and David Winfree both stopped in the clubhouse today, they are both going to be fighting for a job. It will be interesting to see what happens with guys like this, do they serve as trade bait, the last spot on the bench or go to the minors and add depth. Joe Girardi said the thing that has jumped out at him this early in camp was a lot of quality arms. He said some of the pitchers are big and intimidating, that he needs a step stool to talk to them. Here are the pitchers who threw today Joba Chamberlain, Christian Garcia, Phil Hughes and Edwar Ramirez. The second group was Kei Igawa, Mark Melancon, Boone Logan and Mosely. The third group was Zach McAllister, Ivan Nova and Kevin Whelan. The last group was Jeremy Bleich, Hector Noesi, Wilken De La Rosa and Mitchell. There isn't too much going on but I am going to try and post some pictures over the weekend and the starters are going to start throwing bullpens and then on Wednesday the full squad reports so it will get more interesting.

Yanks add a couple of Leftfielders

We all knew about Randy Winn but today the signing became official. Jon Heyman of SI.com also reported today that the Yankees signed Marcus Thames to a minor league deal. Chad Jennings of the Journal News and also the Lohud Yankees blog confirmed this on his blog. He had spoken to GM Brian Cashman this afternoon. The deal is a minor league deal that if he makes the 25 man roster out of spring training he will make 900,000. Marcus Thames started his career with the Yankees and only appeared in 7 games with them. He made a name for himself in Detroit where he averaged 23 homeruns and 58 rbi's in 3 season with them. He will compete with Winn and Gardner in spring training for the leftfield job. I think this is a good risk to take especially since they wanted a right handed hitting outfielder.

Busy day in Baseball

It has been a rather uneventful couple of weeks around the baseball world. We are drawing ever closer to spring training and the start of the baseball season and today the baseball world was very busy. Here are some of the transactions and rumors that took place today. Ben Sheets signed a 1 yr contract with the Oakland Athletics for 10 million plus incentives. Jim Thome signed a one year 1.5 million dollar deal with the Minnesota Twins. It also includes up to 750,000 in incentives. Xavier Nady is close to a deal with the Chicago Cubs. His deal is for 3.3 million with 2.05 million more in incentives for games played. The deal is pending a physical which isn't a foregone conclusion for him since he is coming off the second Tommy John surgery of his career. This affects the Yankees as they are looking for a right handed bat to play the outfield. Johan Santana of the New York Mets threw off a mound today for the first time since leaving a game last August and undergoing elbow surgery. He threw 35 pitches in 6 minutes and came through it fine. He said he feels good and will just be building up for opening day. Chad Jennings of the Journal News and the Lohud Yankees blog had some Yankee news tonight. Joe Girardi was in Times Square receiving the Bobby Murcer award from B.A.T which is the Baseball assistance team. He spoke about Johnny Damon and said he never believes something is completely shut until it is completely shut. He did say though with that said he doesn't see it happening. He can see Gardner in center and Granderson in left, he said he does see them as interchangeable. Joe Girardi also said that he feels good about Francisco Cervelli being the backup catcher. He said that he played at a very high level for them last year and learned a lot. He thinks he can handle the job. Joe Girardi said that Bernie Williams hasn't asked him about coming to spring training as a instructor but if he does he will consider it. I don't think there is any doubt that if he asks he will be there and he said on the radio the other day he would like to be in spring training. Joe Girardi brought the World Series trophy today to his daughter school. I can only imagine that being the show and tell, how cool is that. Brian Cashman via Brian Hoch said that Johnny Damon does not fit into his budget and he is not going to discuss Damon any further. It sure sounded like the door is slammed shut on Johnny but I still don't believe it until he signs somewhere else which I don't see happening. I think eventually they will work this out. I think it is both sides being bitter at the negotiating and using the media for leverage. The Yankees did add some outfield depth today when they traded minor league infielder Mitch Hilligos to the Texas Rangers for minor league outfielder Greg Golson. He has had 7 at bats in the major leagues without a hit. He is 24 years old and is considered a very toolsy player.

Yankees minor league signings

The New York Yankees have announced several minor league signings. They signed relief pitcher Royce Ring who pitched for the New York Mets for a couple of years. They also signed outfielders David Winfree and Reid Gorecki. I only know something about Royce Ring, I will have to go with what I have heard. Chad Jennings of the Journal News and Lohud Yankees Blog has a good grasp of minor leaguers considering he worked for Scranton for 7 years. Here are the stats that he provided and some insight. David Winfree had his first shot at AAA last year and hit 273 with 14 homeruns and 31 doubles. He did strike out 88 times with only 28 walks. Winfree is only 24 years old, he seems to have Shelly Duncan type power, similar type of player but Duncan has more experience. Baseball America ranked him as the Twins #28 prospect last year and only had one other prospect with better power. Royce Ring has 94 games of big league experience. He has pitched with the Mets, Padres and Braves. He had a 3.04 era in AAA with the St. Louis Cardinals last season. Lefties hit 208 against him last year and they have hit 229 against him in his career. He seems to be AAA filler but isn't a bad guy to have around. The Yankees now have Damaso Marte who they hope will be the guy they saw in the playoffs and not the guy they saw in the regular season. They also have Boone Logan and Wilkens De La Rosa.

Some Andy Pettitte quotes

Here is some of what Andy Pettitte had to say today courtesy of Chad Jennings of the Journal News and Lohud Yankees blog. It was Thanksgiving weekend that Pettitte informed the Yankees he was going to play this season. Andy said "It's great, it really is." " I wanted to get home, get this decision made and get it behind me. I didn't want to hold up the Yankees in any way." Andy said retirement definitely crossed his mind, " There is no doubt it did, for me I couldn't have written it up any better. I just couldn't have wrote up a script any better then last year ended. I was like what else is there to do? Why do you want to continue to play? But then you start talking to guys and your like I want to make sure I am done. I want to make sure I fully exhaust myself and I don't regret not playing. I want to come back and help this organization win another one, basically. That is what you play for." Andy also said he usually starts throwing right after the new year but may push that back a couple of weeks. He said he will talk to pitching coach Dave Eiland and come up with a offseason plan. He also said he is happy with what they team has now for pitching but would welcome another arm.