In Yankee Land, this April could best be described as a rollercoaster ride. From one series to the next, the Yankees have been night and day.
The Bombers looked terrible in Boston last weekend, pretty sharp toward the tail end of the Detroit series middle of the week and down right terrific last night in the opener of their series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anheim.
Melky Cabrera has earned his stripes back, taking command of the center field job with his sensational hitting. Cabrera spoiled Angels manager Mike Scioscia’s strategy, smashing a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning that led the Yankees over Los Angeles 7-4 on Thursday night for their third straight win.
Joba Chamberlain disproved my point the game before – at least for now – earning his first win as a starter in 2009. He gave up only three hits as the Yankees escaped a bullpen meltdown in the ninth Wednesday.
Like their previous game in Detroit, the Yanks stung the Tigers with one big inning – this time, it was a seven-run fourth Wednesday night at Comerica Park. Nick Swisher homered in the fourth and fifth to start and cap the scoring for the Bombers in the finale for Joba’s first win.
Swisher is hot again, too. The Yankees could also have Alex Rodriguez back in the lineup by May 8, or at the latest May 15. A-Rod went 1-for-6 yesterday with a home run in a game down in Florida Thursday.
That’s great news for the Yankees.
Couple of quick points: I still think, especially with the 150 inning cap for this season, Chamberlain would better served coming out of the pen. Not going to change my mind on that front just yet. Again, the most important innings are the last ones. Just ask Mets ace Johan Santana, who could have easily won 25 games last season and watched again this week as JJ Putz blew a one-run lead in the eighth. That’s right, the same JJ Putz the Mets signed as a free agent to try and prevent bullpen meltdowns this year.
The last outs are always the toughest to get.
The Bombers looked terrible in Boston last weekend, pretty sharp toward the tail end of the Detroit series middle of the week and down right terrific last night in the opener of their series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anheim.
Melky Cabrera has earned his stripes back, taking command of the center field job with his sensational hitting. Cabrera spoiled Angels manager Mike Scioscia’s strategy, smashing a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning that led the Yankees over Los Angeles 7-4 on Thursday night for their third straight win.
Joba Chamberlain disproved my point the game before – at least for now – earning his first win as a starter in 2009. He gave up only three hits as the Yankees escaped a bullpen meltdown in the ninth Wednesday.
Like their previous game in Detroit, the Yanks stung the Tigers with one big inning – this time, it was a seven-run fourth Wednesday night at Comerica Park. Nick Swisher homered in the fourth and fifth to start and cap the scoring for the Bombers in the finale for Joba’s first win.
Swisher is hot again, too. The Yankees could also have Alex Rodriguez back in the lineup by May 8, or at the latest May 15. A-Rod went 1-for-6 yesterday with a home run in a game down in Florida Thursday.
That’s great news for the Yankees.
Couple of quick points: I still think, especially with the 150 inning cap for this season, Chamberlain would better served coming out of the pen. Not going to change my mind on that front just yet. Again, the most important innings are the last ones. Just ask Mets ace Johan Santana, who could have easily won 25 games last season and watched again this week as JJ Putz blew a one-run lead in the eighth. That’s right, the same JJ Putz the Mets signed as a free agent to try and prevent bullpen meltdowns this year.
The last outs are always the toughest to get.
The "Melk Man" delivers again. It's nice to see that the two kids on the team have shown some maturity this year. Melky and Cano are 23 and 25 repectivley. It's hard to believe that a team and thier fans would give up on players so young, but this is NY.
ReplyDeleteIt's tough in NY to allow young players to go through growing pains, it really is cut throat. The city is tough on players young and old. It's nice to see these two having bounce back years so far.
I don't believe that Melky will hit .327 all year, but it is nice to see him having accepted his new role. He has taken it as a challenge so far this year and has come up with some big hits in key situations. This has been tough for any Yankee to do over the last few years.
Even though the yanks are not off to the start eveyone expected, unfairly expected perhaps, it's nice to see them winning games in the 6th inning and later this year. This is a great sign for a team with starting pitching that is only going to get better and a young bullpen that I whole heartedly believe will be one of the better pens (keeping my fingers crossed on Bruney here) in the league come mid summer.
I wasn't sure if Robby Cano and Melky Cabrera could bounce back. I understand it's early, but their play so far this season has saved the Yankees. Cano seems to have finally put things together and Cabrera has risen to the challenge of having to fight for his spot in the regular lineup.
ReplyDeleteOnly time will tell how long the dynamic duo can stay focused. Make no mistake about it, the Yankees were actively shopping Cabrera the entire winter and all of spring training.
Hey, you need some homegrown talent to win it all. Just ask the last regime. Mo, Derek, Andy and Jorge.