Suprising No One, Hughes Bombs

Phil Hughes took the mound again last night against the Boston Red Sox and quickly reverted to 2008 form. Namely, he couldn't even get past the fourth inning. Hughes was either trying to paint the corners all night, or else just had no control over his pitches. The umpire had a narrow strike zone and made some erratic calls, but Phil was all over the place.

In his first outing this year, Hughes challenged batters right away, and had a small degree of luck on his side. This time, lady luck was nowhere to be seen and neither was Hughes' control.

Temporary roster addition Alfredo Aceves had a bit more success and managed to eat up a few more innings. It wasn't spectacular, but it got the job done. I'm sure Girardi will send Aceves back down soon but to anyone with a modicum of common sense, this team needs a long reliever.

Lester managed the bizzarre strike zone a bit better and took advantage, shutting down the Yankees when he needed a big out. Yankee hitters had limited success but they were haunted by a complete inability to hit with RISP.

Meanwhile, controversey was brewing outside the stadium. Several Yankee employees told fans the game had been rained out and was cancelled but come time for the first pitch, no one was allowed to get back in to watch the game. The Yankees have a strict no re-entry policy but the disaster created by employees incorrectly telling people the game was cancelled will go down as yet another PR disaster for the team that absolutely, positively doesn't give a hoot about it's fans.

Phil Hughes Lasts 4 Innings

Taking the mound at Yankee stadium again for the first time in a long while, Phil Hughes looked a little different than the struggling pitcher I'd seen before. He seemed to have a little better command of some of his pitches and was aggressive going after guys right out of the gate. This didn't last too long and White Sox hitters started working Hughes over a bit by going deep into counts. In the end, Hughes only allowed one earned run, but only pitched four innings. Four innings isn't good enough in the majors. It's his first game back but Phil needs to turn things around in a hurry. My opinion is that he's a bust and this is the best we'll ever see from him, but he'll get plenty of chances to prove me wrong.

Robbinson Cano went 3 for 3 last night and I'm hoping he can finish out the season in stellar fashion to give himself some trade value. Phil Coke looked strong in two innings of work but I continue to be amazed at Brian Bruney. Another shutout inning for the guy who was told he'd need season ending surgery on his foot. Hopefully he'll stay healthy and can come back to be a big time bullpen contributor next year.

With Tampa's win over Boston, the Yanks remain ten games back and are still tied with Toronto. Boston is now two games back and really looks to be struggling against the Rays. At this point I think that the Rays are actually going to pull it off and take home the AL East title. I'm not sure that Boston has enough grit to pull out a playoff win either so I'm thinking it will come down to Tampa and LA of the AL title.

Rained Out

The Yanks-Rays game was postponed yesterday due to rain, and will be played as part of a double-header today.

Hank Steinbrenner made the news recently by proclaiming he has going to have a lot more involvement with the team and with personnel decisions and that he would have a committee of advisors to help with the decisions. One of those people would be the GM of course. Brian Cashman fired back saying that he already has a committee that includes his scouts, his GM and others. This situation sounds like a disaster waiting to happen and at this point I think Cashman is going to leave NY. Nobody wants to get caught up in a job like that where your boss, who doesn't know much of anything about baseball, starts making more and more decisions, and brings in a bunch of other people to replace you, and will ultimately still blame you if things go sour.

Phil Hughes will be called back up to NY for some reason that eludes me at this time. If the Yankees actually needed him, it was a few weeks ago, when they were still in the hunt. At this point the Yankees have nothing to gain and a bad outing and some typical NY boos have the potential to do some damage to Hughes.

Lastly, it has been reported that Bernie Williams will be on hand for some of the closing celebrations at Yankee stadium. That's good to hear. It's a shame that the relationship between Bernie and the Yankees became strained. Williams was a critical part of the team for many years and will go down in the history books as one of the Yankee greats. It's nice to see him making an appearance and getting back into the Yankee family.

Solid Pitching Wins the Day

Rock solid pitching for 9 innings propelled the Yankees to a much needed win. Chien-Ming Wang continues to surpass expectations and has blossomed into a true ace. Wang's 6 inning, 1 run performance was a beauty, earning him his sixth win of the season.

Kyle Farnsworth entered the game to a chorus of boos but received a decent ovation on his exit after retiring the side in order. Chamberlain and Rivera were sharp as well with Joba allowing one hit and Mo knocking them out in order.

The Yankees offense put together some hits and drove in enough runs to maintain a comfortable lead, highlighted by Melky Cabrera's 2 run double. Matsui had an RBI single and was the only player in the lineup currently hitting over .300.

Jorge Posada's shoulder appears to be a case of rotator cuff tendonitis and might require surgery, but no until the off season. Team officials expect him to be out up to 5 weeks. The immediate plan is to give him 10 days off then try a 2 week rehab and see how things are.

Phil Hughes saw an eye doctor who told him he was nearsighted and needs glasses. Hopefully that will help with some of the vision complaints Hughesy has been having.

RHP Jose Veras was called up to the bullpen to fill an empty roster spot after Hughes went on the DL.

Hughes Injury Worse Than Thought

Phil Hughes officially has a stress fracture of his right 9th rib. This explains the side pain which was earlier attributed to his right obliques. During his time off, Hughes will also see an eye specialist regarding his night vision and glare problems.

The stress fracture puts all of my conspiracy theories to rest regarding Joe Girardi's use of the DL. Yes, Phil has a real, honest to goodness injury and my suspicious were incorrect.

Unfortunately for Phil, he's going to be out about 4 weeks, possibly more. He'll have to let everything rest completely before he picks up a baseball again, and then he'll likely need some rehab starts.

Hughes' career has been plagued by injury and this is yet another setback in a long list. He may still turn out to be a star and the longer he has remained healthy at one time, the better he has looked.

For the Yankees, this means Darrel Rasner will get a few starts and if he can't get them through some innings the impatient Yanks will likely look to make a trade. There's always the slumping Barry Zito, aging Smolz, the oft-injured Rich Harden, Tampa's Kazmir or Boston's Bartolo Colon. (Actually the odds of any of these guys ending up in NY are very small, but the Yanks will be looking for a trade if Rasner struggles.)

I feel bad for Phil, this injury is something the struggling pitcher doesn't need to deal with. Despite my past criticism, I sincerely wish him a speedy recovery and hope for an all-star performance when he comes back.

Yankees Dejected in Second Loss

Injuries are the story of the day. Posada is getting second opinions, Bruney is getting second opinions, Rodriguez is on the 15 day DL and in a new startling development, Phil Hughes is injured.

No one really seems to have a good explanation but today Phil Hughes was placed on the 15 day DL with a strained oblique muscle. This means someone will have to get called up to fill in for Hughes' next start (my money is on Rasner). I'm not buying into this being any sort of actual injury, rather an attempt to bend the rules a bit by Girardi. Hughes can have a few days off to get his head screwed on straight, then can come back for a "rehab" start down in the minors.

Hopefully this will work out for the better, giving Phil a day or two off and giving Rasner a chance to strut his stuff.

The Yanks lost 6-2 tonight, and there weren't too many bright spots for the Bombers. Hitting was abysmal and the offense couldn't put enough runs on the board to bail out Andy Pettitte, who was roughed up a bit for 5 runs. Andy still has that magic pick off move, and got an easy out at first. That move is a thing of beauty.

LaTroy Hawkins gave up 1walk and no hits in a scoreless inning. Edwar Ramirez looked sharp, giving up 1 hit and 1 HBP in his inning. In between those two was Kyle Farnsworth who was typical Farnsworth - he threw hard and gave up a home run.

I don't want to dwell on the poor starting pitching and the anemic offense, and so I'll wrap things up.

In other roster news, Chad Moeller cleared waivers and was brought back up with Stewart being sent down. Wilson Betimit is better and is playing a few games in SWB before heading back to NY.

Yanks Fall With Poor Starting Pitching

Phil Hughes didn't have his stuff yet again, and only lasted 3.2 innings while giving up 8 hits, 6 runs, 3 BB, 2 SO, 2 HR, 82-50  PC-ST. Hughes didn't look in control of the mound at all and could have been pulled even sooner. Newly acquired catcher Chris Stewart didn't make things any easier, frequently getting signals crossed between himself and all 4 of the Yankee  pitchers used.

The good news pitching wise is that the bullpen was sharp once again. Joe Girardi called in Ohlendorf to be the de-facto long closer and Ross pitched 3.1 innings giving up only 1 hit while striking out 5. Edwar Ramirez and LaTroy Hawkins each came in to pitch one hit scoreless innings.

The Yankees offense was pretty anemic again with Matsui being the only hitter with multiple hits. Robinson Cano had a 2-run homer but couldn't deliver later in the game in a pressure situation. The Yankees blew a bases loaded 2 out situation without scoring any runs early on, and didn't show many signs of life.

Team LOB = 18. You're not going to win games leaving 18 men on base. I've been harping on this particular stat a bit lately and tonight was a prime example. Even with horrible starting pitching, the bullpen kept the club in the game but the offense fell flat, stranding runners without scoring.

Alex Rodriguez was placed on the 15-day DL with a strained quadriceps. With both Rodriguez and Posada out, the offense is taking a big hit. Posada is getting multiple opinions on his shoulder and the early word is that it will require extended rest but no surgery. Wilson Betemit is going to start a rehab stint in AAA. Brian Bruney is getting several opinions and is looking for an option other than surgery. Regardless of the outcome, he likely won't be back for a long time.

Once again we get to the same old story of starting pitchers not able to get out of the first few innings. This cannot and will not go on too much longer. I think the first thing for the Yankees to do will be to bring up Darrel Rasner to fill in either as long reliever or as a starter. Joba may end moving to the rotation sooner rather than later. If they move Joba up now, he might not be available to start in August and September due to his innings limit but if they don't they might be too far back in the fall to have any chance of making the post-season.

I'm sure the Yankees will jump on any halfway decent starter that becomes available for a reasonable price. The question is how many prospects will they have to give up. Rich Harden could be attractive if he can stay healthy. The Rays might be looking to move Kazmir although it's doubtful they'd let him go to another AL East team.

Stay tuned - more to come as the season continues!