Notes from a shutout

Good outings from all the pitchers tonight as the Yanks shutout the Reds, 4-0. I was able to watch the game on FSN Ohio. The strange thing is that Joba has had far better command of his curve so far than his slider; he threw some nasty curves tonight, rivaling his best sliders. When he finally does get his slider command back, holy shit! The two hits he allowed were an infield single and a line-drive single on a decent looking changeup (in other words, a weak, lucky hit and a hit on his fourth best pitch). By the way, is YES the only network that uses a radar gun? I've watched several Fox Sports Net games and none have had a gun reading so unfortunately I can't comment on his velocity.

Ian Kennedy didn't have great control at first, but settled down after a few batters. I'm pretty sure both of his Ks were on changeups.

Cincy's Edinson Volquez was etxremely impressive. Using a Pedro-esque changeup, he K'ed 8 Yankees in just 4 innings. What would it have taken to get him from Texas? Tabata or Ajax would have been worth it.

Cervelli's injury

Finally saw what happened the other day. A very poor decision by Elliot Johnson to run over Cervelli. I understand that it was mostly instinct, but he clearly could have slid in there safely without hurting anyone. Now Cervelli is out 8-10 weeks... someone has to get a fastball in the back, either on Wednesday or during the regular season. If it happened during the regular season, fine, but it wasn't the regular season, it was a meaningless exhibition game.

Cervelli fractures wrist

I haven't yet seen today's game, but I know Cervelli was run over by a runner, breaking his wrist. Girardi was pissed and Tampa's manager Joe Maddon hid from the media in his office. Cervelli is the organization's best defensive catcher (who can also hit) - he could miss 6-8 weeks now. There better be some kind of retribution...


Elsewhere, Tom Coughlin's contract extension was officially announced. He'll receive $21 million for five years. Hard to argue with it, because although it was another mediocre regular season, Coughlin did something right because the team was clearly the best in the world for five weeks in the playoffs. Hopefully that continues in 2008.

Few highlights

What happened to the great pitching at the beginning of Spring Training? I don't know, as the Yanks have allowed 7, 16 and 9 runs. The only pitching highlight was Rivera, who blew through three hitters, fanning two. Every other pitcher allowed at least one baserunner.

Would it kill Posada to take a few pitches (or just one)? If memory serves me, he made outs on three consecutive pitches (including one GIDP). His eye is too damn good to be impatient at the plate.

Roster prediction v.1

After the bullpen's disappointing game, I'll make some early Spring Training roster predictions.

What we know:
Damon
Jeter
Abreu
Arod
Giambi
Posada
Cano
Shelley
Melky

Matsui
Molina
Open spot

Wang
Pettitte
Moose
Hughes
Kennedy

Rivera
Farnsworth
Hawkins
Joba
Open spot 1
Open spot 2
Open spot 3
Open spot 4

The five open spots are up for grabs. Girardi will probably take one more position player, probably a utility infielder (because they already have five outfielders: Damon, Melky, Abreu, Matsui, Shelley) such as Wilson Betemit, Morgan Ensberg, Nick Green, Bernie Castro or Chris Woodward. I'm giving it to Betemit because although he hasn't hit well so far, he broke out today with a long double, always has good patience, is a young switch-hitter and has enough experience (and ability) to play any infield position (450 innings at SS and 2b, and over 1500 innings at the corners). Don't count out Morgan Ensberg though, who has a 116 OPS+ and kills lefties.

The far more intriguing aspect is the bullpen. Four spots remain (assuming Joba begins there). Bruney, Edwar and Alby are quickly pitching themselves out of the equation - Igawa and Henn are southpaws but can't find the strike zone: those five are out. Karstens has done fine so I believe he'll be the long reliever which will help spell the rotation in April (when they have only one day off). Billy Traber will be the lefty, having done well so far (2 ip, 0 h, 3 Ks, 0 bb) and throws harder than the other lefty, Heath Phillips. Chris Britton will get the third spot: great minor league numbers (with solid ML numbers in limited time), good control and two quality pitches. One spot left... both have good stuff, but I'm giving it to Ross Ohlendorf over Jose Veras because of better control and better groundball rates.

However, as the season progresses, I expect a lot of changes to take place. Mark Melancon, Dan McCutchen, Scott Patterson, Alan Horne, Jeff Marquez and Humberto Sanchez could all move up to the Bronx pen. I really like what I've seen from the first two in ST, but they're farther away than Horne and Marquez. It's a good problem to have. What looks like a first half weakness could turn into a second half strength (like last year).

The members of RSN

I think 'Red Sox Nation' has enough assholes without Hank Steinbrenner. Example 1 and example 2.

(Thanks to Was Watching and Bronx Liaison.)

War of Words

Hank Steinbrenner called 'Red Sox Nation' bullshit, so naturally John Henry inducted him into it. Hank should respond as such:
"The Yankee organization appreciates the memorabilia given by Mr. Henry. It should fetch a fair price on ebay. Depending on how much money it's worth, we will give the first X number of fans to the April 7th game against Tampa Bay free 'Yankees Universe' shirts subsidized by Mr. Henry's generous gift."