Bring on the Bo Sox

I know that it is still early in the season but this 2 game mini series with the Red Sox is a big one for the Yanks. After the 3 game sweep at Fenway last week, the Yankees should be looking for a measure of revenge in this series. The Red Sox are reeling a bit after dropping 3 of 4 over the weekend against Tampa. It will certainly help to have Nick Swisher back in the lineup. He was sorely missed in Saturday’s loss against the Angels.

Series Pitching Matchups:
Phil “The Thrill” Hughes will take the ball for the Yankees. He will be countered by Jon Lester.
Game 2 on Tuesday will see Joba Chamberlain against Josh Beckett.

Alfredo Aceves was called up from Scranton-Wilkes Barre.

Burnett Dominant in Win

He did it again. Following another atrocious start by Chien Ming Wang, AJ Burnett once again delivered a much needed win. He took a no hitter into the 7th last night and was just plain filthy. He had it all working; four seamer, two seamer, slider, and curve. He ended up going 8 innings allowing only 2 runs on 3 hits while striking out 9.

Last night also saw the return of Mark Teixeira. Teixeira drove in the eventual game winning run with a sac-fly in the eighth. Our boy Nick Swisher homered yet again. He ducked out of the way from a pitch thrown up and in by Matt Garza (who is just plain nasty) and proceeded to homer two pitches later. Is this guy hot or what? The captain also delivered a 3-run homer in the game with his patented opposite field swing. Brett Gardner hit a couple balls over the shallow outfielders, showing he has the ability to put more than just a slaptastic swing on the ball at times.

Burnett is now 2-0 as a Yankee. Both of his wins prevented a 3 game losing streak. We all knew the guy could pitch, that has never been in question. If he stays healthy and continues to grow as a pitcher, we could see a special season out of this guy.

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Next up is Andy Pettitte, who is looking to build on his dominant performance in KC. He will be countered by Andy Sonnanstine, who the Yankees have handled in the past. If the Yanks can pull out a win in today's game, they would go home with a 5-4 record on this season opening road trip. Not bad considering the way they started out in Baltimore to open the season.

The Legend of The Swish Continues to Grow

Another big night for newcomer Nick Swisher, as he not only hit his third home run of the season, he also pitched a scoreless inning and recorded a strikeout. 

In other news the Yankees were bombarded by the Rays as Chien Ming Wang has suddenly forgotten how to pitch. He was rocked once again, this time to the tune of 8 earned runs while recording only three outs. The Yankees went on to lose the game 15-5. Wang's ERA has ballooned to 28.93 (15 ER in 4.2 IP). Wang's ineffectiveness is a major cause for concern. You have to think if he continues to fire blanks in this fashion, we may see the return of Phil Hughes or even Ian Kennedy real soon.

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Another return seems imminent as there was an Alex Rodriguez sighting before the game. It's time to jump for joy! I am not by any means the biggest A-Rod fan/supporter/apologist etc. But I think all Yankee fans have seen enough of Cody Ransom...(.083/.154/.125)

Observations From Today’s Game (11-2 Win)

The Yankees were finally able to get their first win of the season, defeating the O’s 11-2. AJ Burnett was good but not great as he went 5 1/3 innings while allowing 2 runs and striking out 6. The key was he kept the Yankees in the game and allowed the offense to wear down the opposing pitcher and get into their bullpen early. Burnett did have to labor but he did get into the 6th inning, something games 1 and 2 starters, Sabathia and Wang were not able to do.

Mark Teixeira hit his first Yankee home run as did Nick Swisher. Robinson Cano who also homered, looks very good so far at the plate showed power and patience throughout the three-game set. Robby could be primed for a big season. Back to Swisher, in limited duty he is showing why he is the clear choice to play everyday over Xavier Nady. And no, I’m not talking about his 3 hits and 5 RBI today. I’m talking about his ability to go deep into counts, take his walks, and wear down the opposing pitcher. This is something that Swisher can provide on a daily basis that Nady cannot. In his 5 Ab’s today, Swisher saw a whopping 29 pitches. Add that to his ability to hit for power and he should be your everyday starting right fielder.

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NYY Position Battles

It seems that Joe Girardi has selected Xavier Nady as the starting rightfielder to start the season instead of Nick Swisher. Much to our chagrin as the stats just show that Swisher is the more prudent choice as documented in this previous article.

Joe Girardi has not yet announced his choice for starting centerfielder but Brett Gardner has to be in the lead if you take in his performance this spring compared to Melky Cabrera’s. Whoever ends up starting will only be keeping the position warm for Austin Jackson, as the youngster looks primed for a shot at the bigs this year or next.

All things being equal, Brett Tomko looks like the frontrunner in the race to fill the long man role out of the bullpen. Tomko has out performed Dan Geise and Alfredo Aceves his spring and as a result deserves the shot.

Cody Ransom has won the dubious honor of holding third base for Alex Rodriguez until the slugger returns from injury. Ransom didn’t really have to compete for the spot as the Yankees didn’t have many other options. As a result of Ransom being forced into a starting role Angel Berroa looks have won the utility role of the bench.

-Favad Ali

Others Must Step Up in A-Rod's Absence

Everything that could have gone last year for the Yankees did go wrong. And this resulted in them missing out on the postseason. This season, the Yankees will have to overcome the loss of Alex Rodriguez if they wish to stay in the AL East race and everything will have to go right in order for them do so. The lineup will have to step up in a big way to cover for the loss of A-Rod. Love him, or hate him; Alex Rodriguez has been an offensive force for the Yankees since his arrival. His production will surely be missed. But they can win without him; if, and only if the many question marks up and down their lineup are answered.

Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui both need to stay in the lineup and produce at their career levels. Whether this will happen or not is not a given by any stretch of the imagination. Posada is coming off of shoulder surgery which cost him most of the 2008 season. He has hit well thus far in the spring, although he has yet to catch this spring and has been a last minute scratch due to his shoulder once already. Hideki Matsui is trying to come back and play on two bad knees which will relegate him to playing exclusively as a DH this year. He also missed most of last year and will be counted on to come back healthy and productive this year.

Also, whoever emerges from the battle in CF between Brett Gardner and Melky Cabrera will have to step up their production significantly. Cabrera has been regressing the past two seasons while Gardner is still an unknown commodity at the Major League level. Robinson Cano also needs bounce back from a disappointing year last year. If his production after being benched late last year is any indication, expect him to bounce back close to his 2007 form.

The Yankees should get average to above average production from the remaining positions on the field (Teixeira at 1B, Jeter at SS, Swisher/Nady in RF, and Damon in LF). But this will not be enough; they need solid production from Posada (at the catcher position), Matsui, and Cano at the least. Anything they get out of the center field position would be a plus.

Things certainly did go terribly awry last year. Lightning may just strike twice again this year. Its up to everyone in the lineup to pick up the slack while A-Rod is gone. The one difference between this year and last is a vastly improved starting rotation. This should help the lineup cope with the loss of A-Rod, and keep them competetive until his return.

-Favad Ali

Nady & Swish to Battle it Out

In Jerry Crasnick's ESPN.com article looking at the top 9 position battles to wacth out for this spring training, coming in at #4 were the battles in center field between Brett Gardner and Melky Cabrera and right field between Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher.

I wanted to delve into the right field battle between Nady and Swisher a little deeper.

Let's go to the tale of the tape...

Nady is 30 years of age. He is a versatile player who can play both corner outfield positions as well as first base. He is also coming off of a career year split between the Pirates and Yankees last year.

He comes into this year with the following career totals:
BA: .280 OBP: .335 SLG: .458 OPS: .793

Swisher is 28 years of age. He is an even more versatile player, as he is able to play all three outfield positions as well as first base. He is also a better baserunner than Nady. He is coming off of an extremely disappointing year with the White Sox, in which he hit a putrid .219.

His career averages coming into this year are as follows:
BA: .244 OBP: .354 SLG: .451 OPS: .805

While both men should see playing time in the outfield and at DH at times, to the naked eye it may seem that Nady should get the bulk of playing time when looking at the numbers and how the two fared last season. However, in my opinion it should be Swisher who should be given the starting nod over Nady. Why, might you ask? Swisher is the younger and more athletic of the two and can contribute to the team in more ways than Nady can, whether it be taking walks, stealing a base, or superior play in the field.

More so, Swisher’s lack of production last year can be attributed by a few factors. While he did rack up 497 AB’s last year with the White Sox, it was at 5 different positions while batting in every position in the lineup except for the number three spot. If he is given some consistent playing time at the same position in the field and in the lineup, his numbers should improve. Also, Swisher just might have been the unluckiest hitter in the Major’s last season.

JJ Stankevitz of Examiner.com, who also does an excellent job of covering the White Sox has this take: "Swisher's 2008 line drive rate of .204 was the highest of his career, but his BABIP (Batting Average of Balls put In Play)—which, if a player is neither lucky nor unlucky, should be .120 higher than his LD rate—was .251, just 0.47 points higher than his LD rate. That's not just unlucky—that's ridiculously unlucky."

All of these factors including the fact that Swisher has shown more consistent power numbers compared to Nady throughout their careers should make the choice easy for manager Joe Girardi. However, how the two players fare during spring training will weigh heavily on Girardi’s decision, no doubt. Which, in my opinion, is not the best way to judge how a player will perform during a long season, but I digress.

-Favad Ali