Preview:

The New York Mets cross town to face off against the Yankees at The Stadium in the first of a three game set.

Starting for the Mets is the formidable lefty Johan Santana.  Recently, when the Yankees are facing a left-hander, Girardi has gone with right-handed-heavy lineups.  Not tonight though, with Shelley and Ensberg both remaining on the bench.  That combined with the absence of Rodriguez and Posada means that five of our first six batters will all be left-handed.

Derek Jeter will remain in the third spot in the order for the third game in a row, with Abreu once again batting in the second spot.  Jose Molina will get the game off, with Chad Moeller taking his place behind the plate.

It is raining in New York right now, so tonight’s game will be a soggy one, and will likely have a delayed start.

Update:

The game has officially been postponed due to rain.  No makeup date has been announced, but one could assume it will be a double-header tomorrow.

Update:

The game will not be made up during this series.  It could be made up any time both teams have a day off at home, or as Pete Abe speculates, it could be part of a two-stadium doubleheader the next time they meet, in June

• Yeah, he earned it - 13 votes (16%)
• No, he needed to prove himself over a longer period of time - 15 votes (19%)
• It’s not ideal, but it’s better than another Kei Igawa start - 53 votes (65%)

Well, the winner is pretty clear.  Only 16% believed that Kennedy’s one outstanding start had earned him the promotion.  The rest of you believed that he had not earned it, or that he could have used at least an extra start or two.  However, most of you agreed that after Kei Igawa’s disastrous start, the Yankees simply had no choice and had to call up Ian Kennedy whether he was ready or not.

Last night validated this opinion.  Ian Kennedy certainly did not shut down the Rays as he had the AAA hitters.  In fact he allowed a run in all but one of his five innings.  However, he did show improvement in terms of holding it together when things started to go badly. 

That was most clearly evident in the third inning when he allowed the first three batters to reach base, loading them up with nobody out.  Two of those batters had reached on free passes - a walk and a HBP - and it was starting to look like Kennedy was going to fall apart as he had so many times in the first month of the season.  However, after a visit to the mound, he really managed to clamp things down.  He allowed a sac fly to Carl Crawford before getting BJ Upton to ground out and striking out Carlos Pena swinging.

Perhaps most impressive though, was that the walk and HBP were the only ones he allowed in the game.  It is also notable that despite allowing a run in every inning but one, he didn’t allow the game to get away in any of them, with the two-run fourth being the only multi-run inning.

I think we all can agree now, that while Ian Kennedy probably could have used another start or two at AAA, he showed some signs of improvement and was certainly better than anything Kei Igawa would have offered.

Our next poll comes courtesy of Mets manager Willie Randolph who clearly has mixed feelings for Interleague play.

“I think interleague play has worn out its welcome for me,” Randolph said. “I think we should get back to playing in our division and playing in our league. But it’s a nice change. It’s six games, and it gets a little bit chaotic when it happens. But I think it’s good for the fans.”

So the question is, what do you think of Interleague baseball?

Alex Rodriguez is on track for a Tuesday return after running the bases yesterday at Tropicana Field, a key test.

“If everything comes out fine, (Tuesday) is very realistic,” manager Joe Girardi said.

Rodriguez, coming back from a strained right quadriceps, is scheduled to work out today at the Yankees’ facility in Tampa and then play in extended spring training tomorrow, Sunday and Monday. The goal is to get him four to five plate appearances each day and have him play third base tomorrow and Monday.

A-Rod also said the session went “better” than expected. This is great news. As most can see from the Yankees’ lack of offense the last few games, the Yankees are in dire need of some pop in the line-up. Who else could provide that than the reigning AL MVP? A-Rod should return in the first game of the three-game set against the Baltimore Orioles at home.

(more…)

What does this mean for the big league club? Well, Melancon and Cox were considered legitimate 8th inning type relievers when they were drafted. They both have had major injuries that derailed their development, but are still considered high end prospects. Neither is a AAAA type talent, and it seems that the Yankees may be positioning themselves to have those two available to the big club when they decide to move Joba from the bullpen to the rotation. In regard to McCutchen, Pete Abraham has been touting him all year as his choice to surprise people and play a big role in the Yankees bullpen down the stretch. The Yankees have plenty of options to try and fill the 8th inning role, and the bullpen looks to be slowly developing into a major strength for the Yankees organization.

Preview:

The New York Yankees are looking to split the series against the first-place Rays. Behind the support from almost 20,000 fans at Tropicana, the pan guy and the horn guy, the Rays have made their voices heard and are now reigning in first place. The Yankees will be leaning on the arm of Ian Kennedy, who only needed one great AAA start (and one terrible Kei Igawa start) to get back in the majors.

The Yankees will face reigning strikeout champion Scott Kasmir as they hope to build off the momentum of last night’s victory 2-1 over James Shields. Whatever the result, this may prove to be an important game as the Yankees will face Johan Santana at the Stadium on Friday.

By the way: For those keeping count, after Pump-gate, Joba Chamberlain didn’t fist pump after getting what most would consider a big strikeout. However, Jose Molina provided the fist pump for Joba. Any comments from the peanut gallery, Mr. David Dellucci? And one big huzzah to Robinson Cano, who finally got over the Mendoza line last night. Taking notes, Jason Giambi?

Line-up (via Pete Abe):

Damon LF
Cabrera CF
Jeter SS
Giambi DH
Duncan RF
Ensberg 1B
Cano 2B
Gonzalez 3B
Molina C

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Recap:

“That was the main thing I was battling with (in New York). It goes back to trying to be too perfect. You’re giving them too much credit in the big leagues. These guys in Triple-A aren’t much different. They could be big leaguers tomorrow, and some of them have played in the big leagues. It’s not so much the hitters, it’s myself.” — Ian Kennedy after his one AAA start this year

Apparently, the Rays are a bit different than a AAA squad as they tattooed him for 5 runs in 5 innings. However, the bullpen did its job, going three innings without giving up a hit.

I couldn’t help but think about the massive line-up changes throughout the season so far. 37 different line-ups in 42 games. Yes, Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada are out of the line-up, but are the constant line-up changes necessary? It keeps the team on its toes, but Jose Molina catching again on a day game after a night game? Jason Giambi in the clean-up spot again? Yes, it shows that Girardi is trying to shake the team up, but how much shaking up is needed to “wake this team up” and start hitting?

Ah, no matter, the now last-place New York Yankees will face Johan Santana in less-than-pleasant conditions tomorrow (the forecast calls for rain throughout the entire day).

Does he really think the players are going to read the quotes and say, “You know what, I really have not been trying. Hank has  motivated me to improve.” If so , then he is quite delusional.

Well, I guess Hank is in fact that misguided and conceited. Last night, he told Bill Madden,

 I know we’re gonna come on at some point in this season, but right now, other than (Chien-Ming) Wang, (Mariano) Rivera, (Derek) Jeter, (Hideki) Matsui, (Johnny) Damon and (Mike) Mussina, after I got on him a little, we’re not doing jack (bleep).

That has to be a slap in the face to the Moose, an implicit suggestion that he was unable to motivate himself until the new Boss spoke up with his sage advice that Mussina be more like Jamie Moyer. Mooose is reportedly a sensitive guy, and I am sure that quote will rub him the wrong way. I can only imagine what is going through Hank’s mind. He probably sees Moose sitting in the clubhouse, reading his original quotes about Moyer, and saying, “Eureka!!! Jamie Moyer!!! That’s what I should be doing. Hank, you are a baseball genius.” I find that to be pretty unlikely. As I said yesterday, I like Hank, but I think it is unfair for him to take credit for the guys who are succeeding while laying the blame for the guys who are failing at the feet of his underlings. i really hope that the team gets on a roll, if only to avoid hearing from the Steinbrothers for a while.

Preview:

The Yankees have 2 wins in their last 7 games. Mike Mussina looks to avoid a third Yankee loss in a row. The offense needs to wake up. Hank is angry.

Review:

Mike Mussina pitched a gem, going 6 1/3 and only giving up 1 run on 5 hits. It’s weird, he and Wang have been the most consistant Yankees in the rotation this year.

Robinson Cano went 4 for 4 and picked his average up to .205.

Joba pitched the 8th and fanned all 3 hitters.

Not much offense yet again, but Moose pitched well enough to win them the game.

Barry Bonds.

True, Bonds did bat .276 last year with a .480 OBP and a .565 slugging percentage, but he also brewed in his own troubles. The Yankees have been known to deal with high profile, prima donna players, but Barry Bonds carries a little too much baggage.

 ”The bottom line is that the team is not playing the way it is capable of playing,” Steinbrenner said. “These players are being paid a lot of money and they had better decide for themselves to earn that money…..I’m not saying they are not giving the effort, but they need to be playing harder.”

Hank, you cannot have it both ways. Either they are playing hard enough and giving the requisite effort, or they are not. When you say they need to play harder, you are saying they are not giving the effort.That, in turn, is a major indictment of the manager that you hired a few short months ago. It is amazing that Hank is calling out his manager after 6 weeks of poor play, when the club has had plenty of injuries to key cogs as well as slow starts from important young players. It is hard to say what exactly the owner wanted to accomplish with his little rant. Does he really think the players are going to read the quotes and say, “You know what, I really have not been trying. Hank has  motivated me to improve.” If so , then he is quite delusional.

Hank then went on to say,

“This is going to get turned around,” Steinbrenner said. “If it’s not turned around this year, then it will be turned around next year, by force if we have too.”

Ooooh. Brian Cashman, if you had not already figured out that you are on a short leash, Hank is putting you on notice- watch your back. Seriously, I really liked Hank when he first started asserting himself, and I am glad that the owner cares so much about the team. But if he runs a perfectly good and competent general manager out of town, I will not be a happy camper.