The Bronx Block

3/07 Recap - Yanks vs Reds

By Tony Gicas | March 8th, 2007

* Andy Pettitte gave Yankeeland a collective heart attack last night. After sheering off Chris Denorfia’s bat with a nice cut-fastball, the remnants of the Louisville Slugger propelled itself toward the pitcher’s mound. Using cat-like reflexes, Pettitte avoided a Mortal Kombat-esqe impalement and continued pitching his way through 3 scoreless innings. It took him 49 pitches (27 strikes) to retire 9 batters, although a two out A-Rod throwing error prolonged the 3rd inning. His command faltered a bit at times - allowing 3 hits and two walks - but he seemed comfortable, frequently locating his pitches well. His slow curveballs were especially impressive.

* Mariano Rivera was his usual self. Cruising through the fourth inning without incident. In line with the annual conspiracy theorists and their contention that this will be the year Mo adds a changeup to his arsenal, Rivera may have appeased such rumor mills. With Josh Hamilton at the plate, Mariano threw a noticeably slower pitch to start him out. With two strikes he then tossed an 84 mph pitch with good downward sail to get Hamilton looking. As the ball was thrown around the horn (as is the customary strikeout routine) Rivera turned to Derek Jeter, shot a devilish grin, and held up two fingers. My take? Mariano was bragging that he had thrown two split-changeups in the atbat and celebrated the strikeout by sharing a laugh with the Captain. With the dominance Rivera’s cutter continues to command, there is little reason that such a pitch will exist in Mo’s regular season outings. He was probably just experimenting. But if he wasn’t . . . .

* Darrell Rasner joined Pettitte and Rivera as another impressive arm during last night’s ST game. When Rasner came out for a third inning of work, I was surprised. We must now assume the Yankees consider Rasner to be a serious candidate for long man out of the pen. Over his three shutout frames, Rasner used only 38 pitches (22 strikes), allowing 2 hits and zero walks. Stuff-wise, Rasner spotted a “sneaky” fastball around 88-89 mph and had a sharp breaking curve working well. He did throw a few changeups with decent sail to them, but the curveball was his best pitch. As is the case with Jeff Karstens, Darrell’s curve has come a long way since his small MLB stint of 2006.

* Roger Clemens watched the game from the stands. After hugging it out with Joe Torre, the Rocket joined Ken Singleton & Al Leiter in the YES broadcast booth for an inning. He continued giving vague responses to simple questions, as son Koby uncomfortably stood behind him.

* Bronson Sardinha is forcing Yankee management - and Yankee fans - to remember his name. He once again showed a flare for the dramatic, using his compact swing to rip a gametying RBI single in the bottom of the 9th inning.

* Josh Phelps tattooed a ground-rule double. It would have been a gamewinning hit had the ball not jumped the wall and keep Miguel Cairo from scoring.

* Luis Vizcaino threw a filthy splitter to strike out Chris Dickerson, and started Bubba Crosby off with the same pitch, before striking him out with a good curve. He also showed a strong slider, which looked more like a cut fastball to lefthanded hitters. He did allow the only run the Reds scored, Joey Votto’s moonshot popfly that made it out of the park for a solo homer.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 8th, 2007 at 12:14 am and is filed under Spring Training, Andy Pettitte, 4 - Coaching, Staff, Ownership, Front Office, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

13 Responses to “3/07 Recap - Yanks vs Reds”

Mo says:

March 8th, 2007 at 12:42 am

If Mo is adding pitches that are effective, I can only imagine how untouchable he can be. And in regard to the pen, id much rather see Rasner/Karstens/Bruney/Britton make it than Villone.
Mo says:

March 8th, 2007 at 1:02 am

My one question is, what kind of place is there on this team for a guy like Sardhina, who rips it up in spring training? Its strange when almost every offensive roster spot is decided before ST.

Also, ive started a sports blog, nysportsrant.blogspot.com. Come visit, comment, tell me what you think. Thanks!
Hector Deluna says:

March 8th, 2007 at 1:08 am

CNN Report: Did Archaeologist really find Jesus Tomb?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeRXRenlVYI…related&search=
Mike S. says:

March 8th, 2007 at 6:55 am

Good old Mariano. Sounds like he is in mid-season form already.

I feel a bit bad for Andy Phillips. Not only is he away from camp for obviously legitimate reasons, but his competition is hitting. A tough break all around for him.
Steve says:

March 8th, 2007 at 7:39 am

Sardhina doesnt have a place but he could add to his trade value and Im not speculating who they would trade for
Tim K. says:

March 8th, 2007 at 9:31 am

great recap
C25 says:

March 8th, 2007 at 9:47 am

how does sardhina rate defensively?

…at this rate Phelps is locking up the platoon spot.
JB says:

March 8th, 2007 at 4:13 pm

Do you think Yankees will likely take Phelps north with them and leave Andy at extended Spring Training?

Phillips is out of options but there’s a chance if the team wanted to they could put him through waivers and sign him to a minor league deal and let him play at AAA for a while. Phelps has to stay on the roster or else he goes back to Baltimore. Thoughts?
Tony Gicas says:

March 8th, 2007 at 4:55 pm

The fact that we are even discussing Sardinha means he has had a successful Spring. There is no doubt that KT and Reese are first in line, but he’s raised his stock enough to have the Yankees (and potential trade partners) keep an eye on him. As far as his defense, I believe he came up as a SS and was unable to exhibit enough defensive range to remain in the infield, thus moving to the OF. His shortcomings were visible in today’s ST game, when what looked liked a well hit popfly turned into a homerun thanks to Sardinha’s defensive lapse. The ball MAY have gone out on its own, but it looked more like Jose Conseco’s patented “homerun header.”

As far as the firstbase battle, it’s hard not to feel for Andy Phillips. After his wife’s cancer-battle last year, his mother’s serious automobile crash may spell the end of his Yankee career. As JB says, there is always the possibility of waiving Phillips only to reacquire him and place him at Scranton Wilkes-Barre. From Andy’ perspective, this would be a heartbreaking move, and he may very well find a major league spot with another club. In my opinion, Phelps has shown far too much pop (during Andy’s absence) to be denied a roster spot. I believe he will make the trip North, unless Phillips generates a miraculous 3 week performance at the plate AND in the field.
JB says:

March 8th, 2007 at 9:31 pm

Rocket signals
Yankees eager to give Clemens $4 million per month

[URL=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/specials/spring_training/2007/03/08/clemens.yankees/]http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/base…lemens.yankees/[/URL]

[QUOTE]A source on another team said Clemens is believed to be seeking $4 million a month, which would represent a slight raise over the pro-rated $22 million he made in 2006. That figure probably won’t scare off the Yankees or Boston Red Sox but might give the Houston Astros pause. Those are the three teams in the Clemens derby.

It is believed Clemens is planning a June return, like last year when he returned for his third season after “retiring.” He is 38-18 with a 2.40 ERA since he announced his “retirement” following the 2003 season[/QUOTE].

I was hoping Yankees sign Roger, until Young guys like Hughes, Ohlendorf, Sanchez are ready and develop. The Yankees back end of rotation of Pavano and Igawa are still iffy and full of question mark. I don’t want Rocket going back and signing with Boston.
J.B says:

March 8th, 2007 at 10:02 pm

Great Article on Tabata by Kat. Obrien -Do the Yankees have the next Manny?

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-spyanks0309,0,4710848.story

So, Tabata and Hughes are both Redsox fans growing up?. I’m Glad, They sign with Yankees instead. Thank you Mr.Cashman.
C25 says:

March 8th, 2007 at 11:11 pm

unfortunately for phillips, he’d probably survive waivers and remain a yankee. i like him, he’s got a lot of heart, but there’s no impact out of him and he’s rather old for a prospect - he’ll be 30 in about a month.

the yanks will take phelps b/c if they dont, they lose him back to baltimore. They would not necessarily lose Phillips. Phelps’ righty power bat (considerably more than phillips) is something the yanks also need being so left-handed.

but with phelps hitting the way he is, he’s making the decision easy for the yanks and his rule 5 status isnt a factor.. for now. he’ll need to keep it up and be on the roster all year.

at this rate he’s heading up north w/ the team.
spitnfire says:

March 9th, 2007 at 12:48 am

JOSH PHELPS is the better offensive hitter with alot more pop, younger player, as well as being a bigger and more athletic player. Why should Phillips get a spot, he’s older, smaller, less athletic, and has less pop. Give Phelps a chance b/c he is the better choice hands down. We need Phelps to give offense. He’ll do a better job defensively than Giambi and from the way things are going Mikentiwitz, however u say his name has no offense, so to balance that out, Phelps should stay at 1st.