Phil Hughes 5th Starter,Joba to the Pen???

The New York Yankees haven't officially announced anything but it appears that Phil Hughes will be the 5th starter. If this is the case then Joba becomes the main setup man. Jon Heyman of si.com tweeted earlier today that the competition is down to Hughes and Mitre which basically means Hughes has the job. I don't know if this is true but he must of talked to someone within the Yankees who knows their plans. Chad Guadin was placed on waivers today. If no team claims him then he could accept a assignment to the minor leagues or be released outright. Joba and Mo will be in the backend of the bullpen, David Robertson will be the other setup man. Damaso Marte will be the lefty with Alfredo Aceves serving the same role as he did last season. Sergio Mitre will be the longman and Chan Ho Park will also be in the bullpen. Here is the rotation: CC Sabathia A.J. Burnett Andy Pettitte Javier Vazquez Phil Hughes The rest of the team is pretty much set also with Jaime Hoffman going back to the Ddogers. Marcus Thames and Randy Winn will be the extra outfielders and it looks like Ramiro Pena will be the utility man. I would keep an eye on Kevin Russo as he has played well and if he continues to do so at AAA who knows what could happen. I do think that the Yankees best team right now is with Hughes in the rotation and Joba in the pen. A lot of people will say well Hughes is on a innings limit but they don't need a 5th starter until the end of April and Mitre can be the extra guy if he needs to skip starts. I think we may have a official announcement tomorrow or Thursday but it appears to be Hughes.

Mets lose to Nats

The New York Mets lost to the Washington Nationals this afternoon by the score of 7-5. Mike Pelfrey started for the Mets and wasn't too good. He pitched 4 2/3 innings and gave up 7 hits, 6 runs, 5 of them were earned. He also had 1 walk and 3 strikeouts, he gave up 4 homeruns. Jenrry Mejia pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up 1 hit, 0 runs and 1 walk. Ryota Igarashi pitched 1 inning giving up 2 hits, 1 run and 2 walks. Bobby Parnell pitched 1 inning giving up 2 hits, 0 runs and 0 walks or strikeouts. Chris Carter led the offense again going 3-5, Ruben Tejada and Jeff Francouer each had a hit. Russ Adams had a hit and Henry Blanco had 2 hits and a rbi. The Mets will take on the Braves at Tradition Field tomorrow at 1:10PM, the game is on SNY and ESPN. The buzz today on talk radio here in NY was that Daniel Murphy has won the job at first base and Mike Jacobs feels he is the better player. Jacobs has better numbers in the spring and more experience but the Mets appear committed to having Murphy start.

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 19-Mets at Nationals

The New York Mets are taking on the Washington Nationals this afternoon at 1:00PM in Viera. Here are the pitchers for today and the starting lineup: Mets Lineup: Angel Pagan(CF) Ruben Tejada(SS) Chris Carter(1B) Jeff Francoeur(RF) Frank Catalanotto(LF) Fernando Tatis(3B) Russ Adams(2B) Henry Blanco(C) Mike Pelfrey(P) The starting pitcher today is Mike Pelfrey. The other pitchers who are scheduled today are Bobby Parnell, Sean Green, Ryota Igarashi and Jenrry Mejia.

Grapefruit League Game 19-Yankees at Phillies

The New York Yankees are playing the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater this afternoon. The game is starting at 1:00PM. The starting pitcher for the Yankees is A.J. Burnett followed by Phil Hughes. Here is the lineup for the game. Yankees Lineup: Brett Gardner(LF) Curtis Granderson(CF) Mark Teixiera(1B) Nick Swisher(RF) Francisco Cervelli(C) Ramiro Pena(SS) Kevin Russo(3B) Eduardo Nunez(2B) A.J. Burnett(P) I don't have any game notes from the media notes today because I didn't have time to get to it, but I will have some pre and postgame notes later on today.