Yankees have caught the injury bug

The New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles played to a 6-6 tie this afternoon. The big news of the day though was that Nick Johnson fouled a ball off of his knee in the first inning. He is day to day and stated to the media that he will be playing on Sunday night. It isn't so much that he got hurt but the last couple of days they have had guys coming down with injuries. Alfredo Aceves who has been battling back issues stated today that he will also be ready for Sunday. He pitched one inning today in minor league camp and came out of it in good shape. Damaso Marte has had a sore shoulder. He thinks it is from the strenthening exercises he has been doing on his shoulder. He said this injury is nothing like last year and that he is confident he will be fine. Andy Pettitte started the game today and pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings giving up 7 hits. He walked one and also struck out a batter. Andy was happy with his start saying "I felt like my command could of been a little bit better with my fastball. Other then that I felt really good." He stated that he got tired at the end which he knew would happen. He said even though he threw 100 pitches in his simulated game it isn't the same as the real game, that you can't duplicate the adrenaline. He said the biggest need from this game was to build his stamina up and he was glad to be out there and accomplish that. Mariano Rivera pitched an inning giving up 2 hits and 3 runs but none of them were earned. He also had a walk, strikeout and hit a batter. He hasn't been feeling well the last couple of days but I wouldn't worry about him. Boone Logan pitched a scoreless inning giving up a hit, he also had a strikeout. It looks like he will make the team as the second lefty if they go that way because there is no one else left on the roster. The Yankees sent Royce Ring down. Offensively Randy Winn was 2-5 with a rbi and Mark Teixeira continued his hot spring with a couple of hits. Nick Swisher hit a 2 run homerun and Robinson Cano had a hit and rbi. Alex Rodriguez had a hit and rbi also. The Yankees will take on minor league all stars tomorrow at 1:05PM at George M. Steinbrenner Field. A-rod confirmed a NY Daily News story that he did meet with the Feds on Thursday. He didn't offer any other details then to say read the story. I guess there is nothing else to worry about with that and he will start the season and hopefully have a great drama free season once again.

New York Mets First Day Of Camp

Jerry Manuel met with reporters this afternoon for the first time this season. He mentioned that he would like to bat Jose Reyes third. I don't know about anyone else but I don't think this is a good idea. He is a good leadoff hitter that sparks the lineup. I think if you hit him third he may change his approach and it wouldn't be for the better, he would try to hit more homeruns in my opinion plus you take away his stealing game. I think you have to keep him as the leadoff hitter. To Reyes credit he said it doesn't matter to him, he just wants to be playing and helping his team win games. He said that Jerry Manuel just mentioned it yesterday and even if he does it, it will only be until Carlos Beltran returns. He said he is the boss so whatever he decides he will go along with it. Jerry said that Jon Niese can be the fifth starter if he pitches the way he did last summer. He said Daniel Murphy is the starting first baseman, I assumed that but now it is confirmed. He wants a power bat off the bench like the Phillies had with Matt Stairs even if the player isn't able to play multiple positions like Mike Jacobs. Henry Blanco is the backup catcher and Alex Cora is the backup shortstop. You can see a video of Jerry Manuels press conference at http://metsblog.com/category/video Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News spoke with Kelvim Escobar who expressed little concern about being ready for opening day and the rigors of pitching everyday out of the bullpen.

Baseball Odds and Ends

The New York Mets made a couple of minor league signings today. They signed pitcher Josh Fogg and also utility man Frank Cattelanotto. He is a native of Long Island so he will be coming home. Josh Fogg pitched well as a longman for the Colorado Rockies last year. Cattelanotto hit 278 with one homerun and 9 rbi's with the Brewers last year. He had a 346 obp in 144 at bats. Adam Dunn through his agent is saying that Orlando Hudson prefers to sign with the Washington Nationals and Jon Heyman is tweeting he thinks he will end up there. The Yankees will be going on a 6 day tour of the Far East. We know the Yankees have had a relationship with Japan even though Matsui is gone now. The Yankees have a agreement with China and will be furthering their relations on this trip as well as showing off the World Series Trophy. Jim Edmonds signed a minor league deal with the Brewers with a invite to spring training. It looks like the Oakland A's are in serious discussions with Gabe Gross. If they do sign him Damon will have one less team. I still don't see where he will end up maybe it will be Toronto or Tampa.

Yankees at A's

The New York Yankees begin a 3 game series with the Oakland A's tonight in Oakland at 10:05PM on the YES network. A.J. Burnett is on the mound against Brett Tomko who was released from the Yankees in June, he was pretty bitter at the time so I am sure he will be pumped up for tonight. He was pitching in AAA though and didn't have great numbers for Oakland but they are desperate for pitching right now. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via the Lohud Yankees Blog. The Yankees are 5-1 against Oakland this year and 10-2 over the last 2 years. Robinson Cano has a 14 game hitting streak. He has gone from batting 305 to 321. A.J. Burnett is 6-2 with a 2.50 era in his last 11 starts. He is 2-2 with a 4.14 lifetime against the A's. Burnett has thrown 17 wild pitches this season, the team record is 23 by Tim Leary in 1990. Those were the good old days LOL. Brian Bruney has thrown 5 straight scoreless innings and David Robertson has gone 6 straight. The Yankees are 12-3 this month. Nick Swisher has 20 homeruns and 17 have come on the road. 13 of them have come against righties. Derek Jeter is 8 of 16 on this trip. He has 5 rbi's and 3 xbh. He is now batting 323. Jerry Hairston Jr's. next game will be the 1,00th of his career. Alfredo Aceves has been struggling going 15 2/3 innings, 15 hits, 12 runs with 4 walks and 11 strikeouts in his last 9 appearances. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(DH) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(CF) Pena(SS) There is news about the draft picks who have to midnight tonight to come to terms, the Yankees have signed 13 of their top 14 picks and more, I will have more on this later on tonight.

Big Tex comes up Big

The New York Yankees defeated the Seattle Mariners last night 4-2. Andy Pettitte got the start and looked horrible early on giving up 2 runs in the first inning but with a runner on third and one out he got out of the inning with no further damage done. He went on to pitch 6 innings giving up only those 2 runs with 1 walk and 10 strikeouts. Brian Bruney pitched a scoreless seventh inning making it 5 scoreless appearances in a row for him. Brian Bruney pitching well is huge for this team because it will give the Yankees another reliable late inning arm. Phil Hughes pitched the 8th putting a couple of guys on base but not giving up any runs. The top of the ninth is when Big Tex stepped to the plate and blasted one to break the tie. Mariano Rivera dispatched of the Mariners on 9 pitches in the 9th and the Yankees won their 4th game in a row. There was no one in the Yankees lineup that had more then one hit, Mark Teixeira has recieved a lot of talk lately about MVP and this was a reason why. He really is having a great season all around, he has one error in the field and after having a terrible April he is hitting on all cylinders now. Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, Jerry Hairston Jr., Melky Cabrera, Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada all had a hit. The story of this game and the Yankees success since the All star break is the pitching which just keeps putting up good numbers. The Yankes are 22-6 since the break and the starters just continue to put the Yankees in position to win and the bullpen doesn't give up much. The Yankees will try and win their third in a row with Sergio Mitre taking the mound against Luke French.

Yankees come out fighting

It took the Yankees a while to get going tonight, they went 15 up and 15 down through the first 5 innings and then in the sixth it all changed. Brett Gardner led off the sixth inning with a walk and got picked off of first but he was safe and Joe Girardi ended up getting tossed from the game for arguing then Francisco Cervelli hit a homerun to tie the game and the Yankees added a couple of more runs on a Alex Rodriguez's 2 run single. Nick Swisher had a solo homerun and the Yankees started tacking on more from there. Joba Chamberlain pitched very well going 6 1/3 innings giving up 3 runs. He tired in the 7th and didn't help himself with a error but he really looked good tonight mixing in his breaking pitches with his fastball and controlling the Braves lineup. Phil Coke came in and got two outs. Brian Bruney struggled in the 8th getting two outs and giving up a run and then Mariano Rivera got the 4 out save by striking out all 4 guys he faced. Mo hasn't pitched in 8 days and he surely looked well rested, he even came up to bat in the ninth and lined out to centerfield, the bench was really going nuts over that. The Yankees will look to win the series tomorrow with Andy Pettitte facing Derek Lowe who they know well from his Boston days. Joe Girardi should get thrown out more often if this would happen but maybe this is what they needed and now they will relax and just play good baseball. I am realizing something though ,the Yankees pitchers are much different on the road then at Yankee Stadium especially Joba Chamberlain and Andy Pettitte.

Pitching matchups for the Braves Series

Tonight-Chien-Ming Wang vs Tommy Hansen Tomorrow-Joba Chamberlain vs Kenshin Kawakami Thursday-Andy Pettitte vs Derek Lowe This doesn't look good as the Yankees will face guys they have never seen before tonight and tomorrow. They are 2-4 in their last 6 games which were all guys they haven't seen before. They better end this trend tonight because we also have Wang going and who knows what to expect out of him. JOba has to get it going also and stop being so wild and using up all of his pitches in 4 or 5 innings. Tonights game is on MY9 then the other games on YES all 7:00PM starts.

Yanks defeat Rays and MO gets right back on the horse

The New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 today. Joba Chamberlain pitched 6 innings giving up 3 runs, he was ok but not great. He threw too many pitches in the last inning and that is when he got in trouble and gave away the lead. Alfredo Aceves came in for 2 innings and was brilliant giving up a single, 0 runs, 4 strikeouts. Mo came in for the save and got it 1-2-3 on 10 pitches. The offense looked dead for most of the day, Mark Teixeira had a big double in the eighth and Nick Swisher had a solo homerun. The Yankees scored 3 runs in the eighth but it was on a bases loaded walk, a error and a slow groundball that was beat out to avoid the double play by Hideki Matsui to give the Yanks the lead. The Yankees didn't exactly kill the ball that inning to take the lead but they did what they had to do. Johnny Damon was 2-4 and A-rod had a hit and a walk. Jorge Posada had a hit and a rbi. The Yankees will try to take the series and assure themselves that they will be walking into Fenway Park on Tuesday in first place. Andy Pettitte takes on Andy Sonastine who the Yankees should be able to hit.

Phil Hughes is Ready if called upon

Phil Hughes made the start for the AAA Scranton Yankees tonight and pitched well. If the Yankees are looking at bringing him up to take Chien-Ming Wangs spot in the rotation well he is trying to help make their decision. I honestly don't know what Wang has to show them tomorrow to make his next start which would be in Detroit on Tuesday but I am sure it would have to be something really fantastic. Here are Phil Hughes numbers so far this year including tonights start. He has pitched nineteen and a third innings giving up eleven hits with three walks and nineteen strikeouts. He is 3-0 with a 1.86 era, the most important thing for him is health and so far he has been healthy and pitching great. I really expect to see Phil Hughes up pitching in Detroit looking to redeem himself after a terrible year last year when he was trusted with a spot in the rotation. I would like to hear some thoughts on this topic, so please comment and let me know your opinions. The other question is if Phil Hughes comes up and pitches well you would think he would keep pitching but then what do the Yankees do with Chien-Ming Wang?? I would assume he would go to the bullpen and try and straighten himself out but if Phil Hughes grabs this oppurtunity then hey good for him. The bottom line is winning games and the Yankees have to do what they feel is best for the team so we will stay tuned.

Mets recap and notes

I am not trying to neglect the Mets but just have forgotten to write about them. The Mets defeated the Florida Marlins yesterday 5-4. After the game Jerry Manuel still wouldn't commit to anyone as the fifth starter even though we assume its Livan Hernandez, he said he likes the kid Gee. It appears Jose Reyes will be the leadoff hitter followed by Luis Castillo, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado. I think this is the right choice, if you hit Castillo 8th it would hurt him I believe. He has looked good this spring so maybe the Mets will actually get something out of him. Mike Pelfrey got the start for the Mets today against the Orioles but because of a long rain delay only threw 13 pitches and then they didn't bring him back out after the delay. He will pitch 90-95 pitches on Thursday. The Mets were defeated 5-1 on a rainy, muddy day. Brian Stokes pitched 2 2/3 innings giving up 2 hits and 2 walks with 0 runs. Sean Green pitched an inning giving up 1 hit, 1 run with 1 strikeout. Casey Fossum pitched 2 2/3 innings giving up 6 hits, 3 runs with 2 strikeouts. The offense didn't do much but was led by Ryan Church who was 2-4 with a rbi, Marlon Anderson was 1-4. Jeremy Reed was 1-2 with 2 walks, Nick Evans was 1-3 with a walk. Brian Schneider was 1-3. The Mets will play Baltimore again tomorrow night at home and it will be on SNY.

Notes from Mets Camp

This is for the Mets fans out there, yes there are actually some. I am going to try and put some notes at least every other day and don't worry during the season I expect to cover all of their games also pre and post to some degree. You can get a lot of Mets info over at http://metsblog.com Luis Castillo is looking pretty good so far, not limping at all which is a good sign. I am not so sure I like the idea of him leading off though and Reyes batting third, but we will see how this goes. Jerry Manuel has been impressing on the team a team first attitude and it seems to be working so far, camp seems to be fun and upbeat and everyone is just encouraging each other. The Mets are doing this drill where they face 80 breaking ball pitches in a row, the idea is that sometimes you have to hit when you are very tired but you just have to concentrate and not think of being tired. Tim Redding had surgery in November to repair a stress fracture in his foot. When he started throwing again he felt soreness in his shoulder and just recently started throwing again. It looks like he is about a week or so behind everyone else which may open up the 5th starter role to others. He looked like the leading candidate but they also have Freddy Garcia,Livan Hernandez and Jon Niese in the mix. John Maine and JJ Putz threw today and both felt good and looked good. Jerry Manuel said he is confident that Luis Castillo will bounce back and Daniel Murphy will be successful. He thinks Ryan Church will have a breakout year. Jerry seems pretty confident but they have to deal with the 2 straight years of failure and also do they have enough starting pitching?? They also have to stay healthy, no one is betting on Delgado to be as good as he was in the 2nd half and who knows what you will get out of Luis Castillo and LF with Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis.

Day 1 of Camp

I have some notes about the first day of camp thanks to the great beat writer and blog owner Peter Abraham. Hideki Matsui took batting practice for the first time since his knee surgery and looked good. Jorge Posada has been taking BP since December and said his swing is back. He is confident that he will be ready to go for opening day. His focus right now is on learning as much as he can about AJ Burnett and CC Sabathia. If he doesn't catch very many of their games he will be catching their bullpens. Joe Girardi said as he makes up his rotation he wants to seperate the lefties and keep Joba and AJ apart because of their similarities. Because of this the rotation should shape up this way: 1.CC I guess you could also switch AJ and wang. 2.AJ 3.Wang 4.Pettitte 5.Joba Someone asked CC if this is the best rotation he has ever been part of and his response was "Oh yeah." Jose Molina knows the Yanks may need him to catch roughly 50 games therefore he dropped a few pounds. Phil Hughes put on about 10 pounds of muscle. He did attend a athletes performance center in Arizona in the offseason to help avoid injuries this year. Sabathia said part of his success in Milwaukee came from throwing a two seam fastball at the behest of his pitching coach Mike Maddux. "It's a good pitch for him," Posada said. "I thought he had one before because his four seamer runs so much." CC only threw fastballs and changeups today in his bullpen session. He will throw all of his pitches on Monday. A reporter mistakingly asked Girardi if he was "juiced up" watching the first workout before he realized he made a poor choice of words. Everyone laughed when the reporter said sorry poor choice of words. There were no Arod questions for Girardi. The Yankees look to be in good spirits and have a formidable staff here, everyone seems to get along real well also, I really think this is going to be a team more like the late 90s teams.