Jeez. Could Robinson Cano be any hotter right now? In the Yankees 4-0 win over the Orioles tonight, Cano went 3-4 with 2 HRs and a double to continue his torrid hitting pace. He now leads the league in AVG batting .407, hits, (I’m assuming OPS after his 2 HR and double tonight, but he was second before the game), and runs. It’s just absurd. He has always been a hot starter, but this is definitely the hottest he’s been. Last season he started .366/.400/.581 with 5 HR and 16 RBI. This season, he’s off to a .407/.481/a good amount more than .704, which is where he was before today’s game, with 8 HRs. He is really swinging the bat well these days. Though I miss Melky a ton, it doesn’t seem like Cano does too much!

Let me preface this with: I love Melky Cabrera. Yeah, I thought the Vazquez trade was great, totally understood that Melky wasn’t as valuable as Javy (and the Melkman hasn’t really impressed in Atlanta yet), but I was understandably distraught about the Melky Way heading for different pastures.

So, I was hoping for big things from this Javy Vazquez guy. If we’re going to lose the guy who you can’t not love, then we better be seeing good things from the key guy that comes back in the trade. I didn’t expect Javy to pitch to a sub-3 era again, but I figured 7 innings a start, 8 K/9, 4.00 ERA, and a 1.30 WHIP were fair predictions. Javy though has done this:

V. TB 5.2 IP, 8 H, 8 ER, 3 BB, 5 K

V. LAA 5.1 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

V. OAK 5.1 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K

V. LAA 3.2 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K

He hasn’t reached 6 innings in a start yet, he’s letting up way too many runs, and he’s walked his fair share of hitters. Sure, 17 K’s in 20 innings is solid, but not if you’re letting everyone get on and score. 4 starts is a small sample size, and the Angels and Rays have good offenses, while the A’s are better than people think, but still. 20 innings is a big enough sample to say something is off with Javy Vazquez.

Is it the pressure of New York again? I hope not, and don’t think so. He seemed fine and confident in the spring, he’s had success here before (first half of ’05), so I doubt it’s just the New York bubble. His velocity has been down this year, so maybe that’s part of the problem. He didn’t play winter ball like he did last winter, which might mean his arm is weaker than it was a year ago. Maybe he’s pulling a Pavano and not reporting an injury. I really don’t know, but Javy needs to get it together. Javy isn’t going to be taken out of the rotation, at least I don’t think so (not that we don’t have the depth to handle that: Ivan Nova, Zach McAllister, Sergio Mitre, Alf Aceves), but he needs to start pitching at the very least like a number 4 starter. Right now he just hasn’t done anything right, and one more start like this and the press, the fans, the city are all going to be rather upset. Javy needs to prove he’s as good as he is, because New York fans get impatient. I still think Javy can get back to the level he was at back with the White Sox, but I’d like him to start reaffirming my thoughts.

Andy Pettitte has just been fantastic in the early goings this season, and he continued his stellar pitching yesterday against the Angels. In the 7-1 Yankee victory, Pettitte pitched 8 innings of 1-run ball. He gave up 6 hits, walked none, and struck out 8 on his way to another win. The Yankees have actually won every game Pettitte has started this season, though his record is 3-0 (he had a no-decision against the Red Sox). Check out his game by game stats:

Game 1- Red Sox- 6 innings, 1 run, 3 walks, 6 hits, 4 Ks

Game 2- Angels- 6 innings, 0 runs, 3 walks, 5 hits, 6 Ks

Game 3- 8 innings, 2 runs, 3 walks, 4 hits, 4 Ks

Game 4- 8 innings, 1 run, 0 walks, 6 hits, 8 Ks

Add that all up and Pettitte has a league leading 1.29 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP, a 7.1 K/9, a .269 BABIP, and a .251 FIP. The 38 year old is off to a tremendous start, and while he probably won’t keep this up for the rest of the season, it is great to see him pitching as dominantly as he is right now.

I haven’t told Conor this, so he’s finding out as the rest of you do. I’m no longer of the Joba-in-the-rotation faith. I know, I based a good portion of my life on that philosophy, but as Martin Luther changed his religious views, so must I change mine. Don’t get me wrong, Joba is still our 6 Pound 8 Ounce Savior, but he has become more of a reliable “It’ll all be okay” part of my faith. When the Yankees are leading, I know think “Well, we’re set for innings 8 and 9″ instead of wishing that the J-man was toeing the rubber earlier.
Joba has a 2.35 ERA in 7.2 innings out of the ‘pen this year, and has pretty much cemented himself into the 8th inning role. Game’s most dominant setup man is a fair way to describe the Nebraskan. Harlan must be proud. Joba has effectively turned Yanks games into 7-inning contests, with he and Mariano always set to close it down. With starters like CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Javy Vazquez, and Andy Pettitte, it’s not hard to get 7 quality innings. And yes, if those guys can only give 5 or 6 innings, well David Robertson, Boone Logan, Damaso Marte, Alfredo Aceves, Sergio Mitre, and the currently injured Chan Ho Park can all hold down the fort for 3 to 6 outs.

There’s another factor to my conversion: Phil Phranchise. Hughes let up 2 runs (both earned) over 5 innings in his first outing of the year. Even if he walked 5 (he struck out 6), Hughes seems to have finally settled into the big league starter role. He’s currently 4 2/3 innings into a start in Oakland, sitting at 66 pitches and has yet to allow a hit. Make that 5 hitless innings. Just one walk so far, and 7 K’s. That’s a pretty damn good start, and he should be able to give two more innings at least. Joba could still be a starter, but with Phil pitching like this, and some veterans in the rotation that are pretty famous, talented, and well, everything a little kid dreams of being, Joba has to be the game’s best setup man. And, I still believe in him; now, though, he’s the lord that ensures victory, rather than proposing it early.

I talked to Goose Gossage today (shook his hand and chatted a little baseball when I met him through a mutual friend) and I explained my anger that he had suggested Joba not be a starter, but as the season stats attest, Joba has the “make-up” to  be be a reliever, and Hughes has the endurance and the repertoire to start games. I often times compare Joba to Roger Clemens, he’s a power pitching bulldog, but I see that his mentality can work just as well out of the ‘pen. So, I’m finally a convert: I can see the value in putting Joba in the ‘pen, given the circumstances. Still though, I don’t doubt that he could be a great starter, but right now certainty is key, and I’m certain that Joba will thrive for as long as he is New York’s #1 non-Mariano reliever.

We are having quite a good time with the Battle of Baby Joba so far. There have been tight weekly match-ups, a lot of deals, and just a ton of fun. We’ll be updating you on the league progress periodically, so here is where we stand now. Kevin and I are both 1-0-1, as we tied each other in week one and won our respective match-ups in week 2. We are in the same division, so we’re both tied for second. I’m actually kind of bummed we are in the same division because now we can’t meet in the finals like we did last year! Alas, it should be a good season, and hopefully a great division championship… Here are our two teams:

Kevin-

C- Matt Wieters

1B- Billy Butler

2B- Gordon Beckham

3B- Ian Stewart

SS- Hanley Ramirez

2B/SS- Kelly Johnson

1B/3B- Chipper Jones

OF- Matt Holliday, BJ Upton, Carlos Gonzalez, Chris Young, Jeff Francoeur

UTIL- Cameron Maybin

Bench- Shin-Soo Choo

DL- Jimmy Rollins

SP- Clayton Kershaw, Jorge De La Rosa, Ryan Dempster, Johan Santana, Barry Zito, Brad Penny

RP- Jonathan Broxton, Joakim Soria, Ryan Madson, Fernando Rodney

Bench- Cole Hamels

DL- Erik Bedard

Conor’s Team-

C- Ryan Doumit

1B- Joey Votto

2B- Brandon Phillips

3B- Pablo Sandoval

SS- Jose Reyes

2B/SS- Scott Sizemore

1B/3B- Adrian Gonzalez

OF- Justin Upton, Alfonso Soriano, Matt Kemp, Franklin Guttierez, Cody Ross

UTIL- Nolan Reimold

SP- Roy Halladay, Chris Carpenter, Jair Jurrjens, Chad Billingsley, Brian Matusz, Felix Hernandez

RP- Carlos Marmol, Neftali Feliz, Rafael Soriano, Jason Frasor

Bench- Jered Weaver, Stephen Strasburg

DL- Ted Lilly, Brad Lidge

So what do you think? Lets hear it in the comments!

After two shabby Javy Vazquez starts, an impressive start to the season for Curtis Granderson, Derek Jeter’s usual dominance, Andy Pettitte having a sub-1 era in his first two starts, and Mark Teixeira’s typical April swoon we can’t determine who’ll be the MVP or the Cy Young or the World Series Champs, but we do know (or think we know) something. So here goes:

Bullpen Depth is Essential. Chan Ho Park hit the 15-day DL with some pain in his hammy, and the Yanks called up a lefty who would’ve made any other team on opening day with the spring training he had. Now the Yanks have two lefties, as Joe Girardi prefers, and even without Chan Ho they’ve still got two setup men in Joba and David Robertson. If someone else went down Mark Melancon is waiting in the wings (these metaphorical wings being Scranton) and if Marte or Logan goes down, Royce Ring is a left-handed option for promotion. Depth, Depth, Depth: it’s crucial for a 162 game season.

Nick Johnson’s eyes are really good. Seriously. Nick Johnson is hitting .176. That’s bad, even over a mere 11 games. His OBP, though, is .429. How do you hit .176 and still get on base over two-fifths of the time? That’s a sign of the patience and discipline that Johnson was signed for. He’ll start hitting at some point, but the key thing to remember is that even if Johnson ends up with a .230 average, he’ll still be an on-base machine. Putting people on base before Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez is always a good idea.

Andy Pettitte isn’t done. In his first 12 innings of the year, Andy struck out 10, walked 6, and and allowed 11 hits. Sure, the 1.42 WHIP isn’t great, but a 0.75 ERA is pretty damn good. If Pettitte can give 6 innings a start and allow 3 runs per start, he’d have done his job. Right now, he’s better than that, which is just icing on top.

If Brett Gardner were a superhero he’d be called “Captain Underrated.” Everyone  in the house can know that Gardner’s going to steal, and yet, he’ll still do it, and still be called safe. Even at the plate Brett’s impressed with a .296/.387/.296 line. Yes, that means Brett only hits singles, but hey, we’ve got enough sluggers to provide the pop. I wasn’t a fan of platooning Gardy and Marcus Thames originally, mostly because I think Brett can hit lefties just as well as he hits righties, but Thames is 5 for 10 with a walk and a double. His defense is similar to placing a kiddie pool in the outfield and calling any ball that lands in it an out, but I suppose everyone has their downside. Brett Gardner might be the best non-Carl Crawford defensive left fielder in the game, so there’s a pretty wide gap in our defense when we face a righty as opposed to a southpaw.

Robinson Cano is even better than we thought. He’s smacking everything; apparently loosing his best friend to the Braves has helped his game, rather than hurting it. (We miss you still though Melky). Robby has a .356/.362/.711 line with 4 homers and still is playing his typical gold glove defense. He was easily the best choice for the 5th spot in the lineup, and the whole “Can’t hit with runners in scoring position” argument is now invalid. MVP Candidate…perhaps.

I have to run to lunch, but enjoy the Yanks-Texas game (currently it’s 4-2 Yanks in the 4th and Teixeira launched his first homer of the year).

Lots of people hate the Yankees. Too much money; too much talent; too much blah, blah, blah. Well, there’s something else the Yanks have too much of: class. When the Yanks want to have a ring ceremony and opening day; they do it right. Ovations for Gene Monahan as he fights cancer, Yogi and Whitey handing out the hardware, it was done perfectly. I almost teared up (I’m exaggerating, but sincere) when they kept the World Series MVP for last and called him out from the opposing dugout. Godzilla probably received the loudest cheers, and he deserved ‘em. Watch how A-Rod runs over to e the first to hug his former teammate, the whole team huddling around Matsui. It was about as good as a ceremony like that could be. Then, on top of that, everyone’s favorite Broadway star, Kristen Chenoweth, sang the National Anthem. Could there have possibly been a better way to open the season? Way to go Yanks. Oh, and they beat the Angels with Johnson and Jeter homers and lights-out pitching by Andy Pettitte. Pretty good day.

Hey All,

I was just posting to remind you about our raising money for Nick Swishers Charity, “Swish’s Wishes”. Its a really cool organization that raises money to lift the spirits of kids with fatal illnesses. I have teamed up with Jay from Baseball and the Boogie Down and Dan from Bronx Baseball Daily in an effort to donate to this great cause. If any of you are interested joining us and donating, shoot me an email! Remember, no amount is too little.

Heck of a weekend from the Yanks, huh? CC was just amazing on Saturday. I really thought he was going to get the no-no, but it was a heck of an effort either way. I was actually in a restaurant that didn’t have the game on when he was pitching, so I was absolutely glued to my phone getting updates. What kind of restaurant in NYC doesn’t show the Yankee game somewhere?!

The only real bummer about the weekend was Javy Vazquez’s start. 8 ER in 5.2 innings is never a good thing. Granted, it is only the first start of the season, so there is no need to get nervous or anything. Its simply a bummer!

I’m sure everyone has read the “10 questions facing the Yankees” articles that every single writer in the world has published (spoiler: they always have the same questions). Well, in every single one of those articles I see “Can the Yanks’ offense survive without Damon and Matsui?” Then I see “Age could provide problems for the Bombers.” Look, the Yankees got rid of Damon and Hideki (replacing them with Granderson and Johnson) to help solve the age problem, and everyone thinks that’ll kill the offense (logic I don’t understand). Then they complain that the team is too old (although the average age went way down when Damon and Matsui walked). I get it, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera aren’t twenty-five years old, but they all areming off career years and a World Series victory. If any of them had shown signs of decline, it’d be fair to question whether they’re getting too old, but right now, there’s no reason to doubt that the elder statesmen in the Bronx are going to be their usual better-than-everyone-else selves.

And no, Boston is not the first. Look Lester’s really good; Beckett and Lackey are extraordinarily overrated, but about as good as AJ Burnett. Clay Bucholz is really talented and Dice-K and Wake could maybe do something productive this year. Beantown’s defense is better, I guess, but then again they can’t throw baserunners out, so when a single by anyone with above-average speed can easily turn into a two-bagger, well, that changes the game. Okajima and Bard are good set-up men, and Jon Papelbon is an average closer (he’s really truly overrated. He’s better than Fuentes or Valverde, but Broxton, Mo, and Soria make him look miserable in comparison). Then the lineup: Pedroia, Youkilis, Ellsbury, and VMart are productive, but Marco Scutaro is a utilityman who had one good year, Big Papi isn’t as powerful as during his steroid years, and Mike Cameron is no Manny Ramirez. Sure, the Yanks and Rays have flaws too, but I just don’t think Boston holds up this year.

Anyways, title topic, Tampa Bay. Put it this way, they’re number three starter, Jeff Niemann, was hit in the shoulder yesterday, and will likely miss time on the DL. What’s Tampa going to do? Hmm, probably just bring up Wade Davis or Jeremy Hellickson, two of the best non-Strasburg pitching prospects in the game. They have two outfielder that are top-ten defenders, and will combine for at least 100 steals. Evan Longoria is an MVP-caliber player, Carlos Pena is playing for a contract, and Ben Zobrist is just flippin awesome. They finally have a closer in Rafael Soriano, and this team is ready to make a run for it. Crawford and Pena are gone after this year, so management knows that this is the best chance they’ll get to make it to October. Tampa Bay will win the wildcard. Hopefully, they just won’t win tonight.