Morning Bits: Jeter’s shoulder, Sabathia back July 17th & other news.
Good morning all. With all the injuries to this team they still sit atop the AL East. All-Star break is here and this gives everyone a chance to rest and relax who are not in the game. C.C. should be back soon enough and the Yankees can make the push to extend this lead in the second half.
What is the biggest surprise in the first half?
Martin’s horrid start?
Jeter keeping his average above .300?
All the injuries?
Let’s start the morning off right with some links….
– Austin Laymance of mlb.com has an article about Jeter saying his muscle spasms in his shoulder aren’t “a big deal”. As a player gets older though you worry about things like this.
– The Yankees welcome the Angels to start off the second have of the season. The lineup which is stacked with rookie sensation Mike Trout will be a lot to handle for this pitching staff. Alex Angert of mlb.com has the preview.
– David Waldstein of The New York Times has the recap of last night’s game with some quotes.
– Yankees ace C.C. Sabathia will be off the disabled list July 17th writes Roger Rubin of The Daily News.
– The Philadelphia Inquirer has a story that the Yankees have some prospects that the Phillies would be interested in.
– Andrew Machand of ESPN NY looks at DJ3K one year later.
(Standings from ESPN.COM)
Posted on July 9, 2012, in Notes & Links and tagged CC Sabathia, Derek Jeter, New York Yankees. Bookmark the permalink. 13 Comments.
Brian D.
fishjam25
jimmytoucan
Matthew B
Delia E.
Dan H.
Matthew S.
Michael P.
Mike D.
Not many surprises for me honestly. I said even when this team was at .500 and struggling that they would win the division and they are in a great position to do so. BTW where are George Jetson and Barney saying we should be sellers? lol good times. I guess I would say the biggest surprise is not missing Rivera one iota, but at the same time I always had confidence in Soriano to get the job done so I am not even that surprised. Who could have thought we would have this kind of stability from a closer not named Mariano?
biggest surprise for me is how much Martin is struggling.
Matt, my biggest surprise would be the 7 game lead after all the injuries. As for players I am surprised by the pitching in general, starters, relief, and closer, total team effort.
Hey Doug long time no talk. Hope all is well. Yeah you have to figure when C.C. and Gardner come back maybe the Yankees can run away with this.
Looks like the parity in the East issue is moving in my direction, I forget who I was blogging with on this. I said, let’s wait another 30 games and we see things can change quickly. The Yanks need to play near .500 ball the rest of the way to win the East. This is huge this year with the double wild card.
My biggest surprise, well there’s 2 of them.
1. Andy Pettitte came out of a retirement. I thought it was an April Fool’s joke until I realized there were more details to it.
2. Brett Gardner only played in 9 games so far. Were in the All-Star break and that STILL shocks me.
Russell Martin struggling isn’t really a shocker to me. It’s more of an annoyance.
I have to say my biggest suprise has been Hughes. I never wanted him sent down or DFA’d and all the other stuff that was being proposed. I always thought he could fill the role of 5th starter, but since mid April hes been pitching like a top of the rotation guy. I didnt think he had that in him.
Fin – Hughes pitching well is no surprise……we knew he had it in him.
In 2009/2010 he was 26-11 with a 3.8 ERA, a 116era+, and a whip of 1.2.
Biggest surprise is the overall pitching. This is the best staff they have had, top to bottom, 1 through 12 in years. For the last 7-8 years yanks have been led by a dominating offense (1st or 2nd in MLB in Runs) and a slightly above average staff.
This year they are only 6th in Runs (3rd in the AL East) yet they have best record in MLB thanks to their pitching staff which is 8th in MLB and 3rd in the AL in ERA.
The pitching was poor for the first quarter of the season which led to the 21-21 record. But in the 2nd quarter the team is 31-12 and the pitching has been the best in baseball with a 3.27 ERA and only a 0.93 HR/9.
The other surprise is that no one in their lineup is having what can be considered a career year (Cano maybe) yet they have the top record. The team is doing well because of it’s depth. They have had big injuries but other teams have also been hit hard. The difference is the Yankees lose their first 2 closers and can insert an All-Star like Rafael Soriano into the role. Other teams have journeymen, Quadruple A types and rookies on their bench while the Yanks have veterans that could start on other teams. Eric Chavez, Andruw Jones & DeWayne Wise have made major contributions and when they lost 2 great pitchers they can insert a 13-game winner from last yr in Freddy Garcia and a promising young starter in David Phelps. Cashman deserves credit for building great depth. That comes from finding good bargains, building a solid minor-lg system and having money to pay for veteran bench players.
Fish – in a short series playoffs – right now I’d go. CC, Nova, Petitte. How about you?
Might put Pettitte 2nd depending on opponent but if all 3 are healthy and pitching the way they have been, I’d have to agree with those 3.
Biggest surprise of the season for TWASP is that ,oldyankee13 can spell egregious !
Second biggest surprise of the season : Doug not knowing Rickey Henderson was a HOFer.