Yankees News and Notes-Monday April 11th

The New York Yankees are getting ready to start their second homestand of the season tomorrow night.  They will take on the Baltimore Orioles who are currently in first place in the AL East and then the Texas Rangers who are off to a 9-1 start after winning again today.  They will play two three game series.  The Yankees will send A.J. Burnett, Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova to the mound against the Orioles. 

C.C. Sabathia will be greeting fans in the Great Hall before tomorrows game.  Nick Swisher was all around NYC today in different Bank Of America locations.  He was giving out tickets and merchandise.  Jorge Posada who hit three homeruns early on is now struggling going 0-15 with eight strikeouts in his last four games.  Brett Gardner is hitting only 167 and in four out of eight games started he is 0-16 with eight strikeouts and no walks.  In the other four games he has reached base nine times struck out only once and stolen three bases.  If you look at numbers too closely this time of year you will drive yourself nuts.  The point is that they change quickly, one bad game can make them look bad and one good game can make them look good. 

Derek Jeter is really struggling but it is something Joe Girardi doesn't want to deal with.  He will give him some time, preaching patience with him.  What if Jeter is still not hitting with authority come May or June though will he have the guts to drop him in the order.  It is a hard thing because he is a Yankees icon but he is getting older and could be on the decline.  He hit 270 last year by far his worst year but maybe that was the start of his decline instead of just a blip on the radar.  We will have to wait and see what happens. 

Josh Beckett looked like the old Josh Beckett last night so the Yankees can't be blamed for that.  A lot of the guys are struggling offensively but it is early and you go through strikes.  The one alarming thing about the Yankees is that they are scoring most of their runs by the homerun.  That isn't the best way to score runs if you are always waiting for a homerun.  I wouldn't worry too much overall because you know this team will score runs and the season will come down to their pitching especially their starters. 

The Yankees are hoping Alex Rodriguez will be back tomorrow night.  He had the flu bad and the Yankees weren't even going to use him as a pinch hitter last night.  Freddy Garcia being used in the eighth inning last night was to just get him some work.  Girardi said if it had been a closer game one of the late inning relievers would have pitched.  Sabathia didn't have his best stuff but he did what he could gutting through it and giving hte Yankees a chance. 

Robinson Cano has reached base safely in 16 straight games at Fenway Park.  This is the third time that Sabathia has carried an ERA below two for his first three starts it is a shame he doesn't have a win to show for it.  Mark Prior pitched the previous two days and had two scoreless innings.  He said he felt good and it is a significant step forward.  He could be up with the Yankees at some point this season.