Wrapping up Day 1 of camp
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Feb 14, 2009 
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Now that the workout is over, here are a few notes and impressions:
· Hideki Matsui took batting practice for the first time since his knee surgery and looked good. At one point he cracked three in a row into the right-field stands.
· Jorge Posada has been taking BP since December and said his swing his back. He is confident that he will be ready for Opening Day. For now, he is focusing on learning as much as he can about CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. So even if he doesn’t catch them in many games, he will catch their bullpens.
· Joe Girardi said as he makes up the rotation, he wants to keep the lefties apart and not use Burnett and Joba Chamberlain back-to-back because of their similarities. Therefore, the rotation will be:
Sabathia
Burnett
Wang
Pettitte
Chamberlain
or
Sabathia
Wang
Burnett
Pettitte
Chamberlain
If you want even more diversity, use Wang between the two power guys. Either way, it’s a strong rotation.
“Oh yeah,” said Sabathia when asked if that is the best rotation he has ever been a part of.
· Jose Molina dropped a few pounds, knowing that the Yankees could need him to catch 50 games or so.
· I have yet to see Andrew Brackman pitch. But he certainly passes the looks test. The kid is ripped. Phil Hughes also put on about 10 pounds of muscle. Jon Albaladejo dropped a few pounds.
· Remember that bet Hideki Matsui made with Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu last spring over who who would get married first? “Bobby left without paying,” Godzilla said. “Jeter has a month left.”
So that is good news for either Matsui or Minka Kelly.
· CC Sabathia said part of his success in Milwaukee came from developing a two-seam fastball at the behest of pitching coach Mike Maddux. “It’s a good pitch for him,” Posada said. “I thought he had one before because his four-seamer runs so much.”
Sabathia threw only fastballs and changeups in his bullpen today. He’ll throw all his pitches when he takes the mound on Monday.
· A reporter asked Girardi if he was “juiced up” after watching the first workout before realizing his mistake.
“Sorry, poor choice of words,” he said as everybody laughed. No, it wasn’t me.
Nobody asked Girardi about A-Rod. That was pleasant.
I cant believe I am first for a change. So does this mean Jetes is tying the knot?
Great work Pete
I think you could still swap Burnett and Wang, and stay within Giradi’s parameters.
I like Girardi’s approach to the rotation, but I would actually swap Wang and Burnett:
Sabathia
Wang
Burnett
Pettitte
Chamberlain
i agree, i wont complain if he doesnt it change it but i think it should be wang than burnett.
I want video throwing sessions from Melancon,Dunn and Brackman. I wonder if Delarosa will be at ST since he’s on the 40.
Burnett is the superior pitcher in my mind, and people are projecting him to have a much better season than Wang.
http://www.baseballprojection.com/wang-ch2324.htm
http://www.baseballprojection.com/burneaj2001.htm
Thank you pete for the constant updates! Congrats to jeter!
Wang forsure gets the #2 spot.
He has been our ace for the last 2 years.
I have missed a few days of Yankees news and came to check out the blog today hoping to catch up; turns out I beyond caught up! Pete, thanks so much for all this great info., it is top notch, no other Yankee news source comes close. I’ve been to ST a few times in the past and am sadly not able to go this year, but your updates make me feel almost like I am there.
I was already pretty excited to leave the winter drama behind and get back to baseball, now even more so. Even though I am mad that Burnett is no. 2 in the rotation when it should be Wang. Speaking of which, how did the Wanger look throwing his bullpen yesterday, Pete? We’ve heard a lot on Jorge’s recovery but a bit less on CMW’s.
AJ is going to be the # 2 SP, I keep saying this, his pitching chart projects him to be the Yankees Curt Schilling if he stays healthy. Thank Roy Halladay for that.
BTW to anyone that cares who wants to hear about awkward club moment last night
Zach,
Those projections are a bit ridiculous – look at how many innings they have wang pitching.When deciding who is the better pitcher, you have to go with who has the better track record and who is likely to pitch more innings over who has the better stuff. Otherwise, wouldnt joba be higher than number five with some of the best in the league? But he is not because he is not proven himself as a sarter yet and because he cant pitch 200 innings.
I think the same approach should be used when evaluating wang and AJ. We should we going by track record and wang wins it with his 19 wins lol. Wang is just more likely to pitch over 200 innings and more likely to have the lower era based on track record. Furthermore, AJ and CC are more similar to me than Wang and CC. Thus, a rotation of CC, Wang, AJ mixes it up a bit more in the mind of the opposing hitter each day.
I dont know when AJ and CC would ever be next to each other no matter whether it is one of the above or the other. The only way joba is bumped up is if andy is hurt and then, if girardi really wants he could switch Aj into second and wang into third. Plus, wang has been our ace for years now – dont you think he may be a little weird about being third in the rotation all of a sudden? I know he never wanted to be an ace but he certainly doesnt deserve to be third.
Rehearsals for a pinstriped production of “Chorus Line”?
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/.....11476.jpg/
I guess Pavano has an impersonator…He better make sure the ball doesn’t hit him..
http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090.....zpc108.jpg
“Oh yeah,” said Sabathia when asked if that is the best rotation he has ever been a part of.”
Wow is all I have to say.
Oh yeah, I adore all of the Yankees but I have very special feelings for Brian Cashman, Joe Girardi, and Jose Molina.
He’s clearly shocked he’s on the field
CaptainsCorner
I think he might have hurt a back muscle crouching like that.
Pete, will you be doing this type of recap every day of S.T.? It is much appreciated by the way.
Does the big guy need help stretching? lol
d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/f1/fullj.06f9413bdb8428883969ed4b418dcf42/06f9413bdb8428883969ed4b418dcf42-getty-84737870jm009_new_york_yank.jpg
He might get an eye infection like that
http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty.....k_yank.jpg
Why are you guys talking about Wang/Burnett?
Did you guys miss the blurb about Matsui looking good?!
That’s the best news yet.
Either/or on the Wang/Burnett deal. Wang’s personality is as long as he can pitch and as long as it helps the team, then whatever. I’m leaning towards Burnett over Wang, just because.
I’m loving the Burnett/Sabathia bromance thing. They seem to get along very well. I guess it’s easier being the new kid in school when there’s another one. Or 2 or 3!
Looking at CC next to Joba and I know he could have played OT for my Giants
i like bill james projections for them better
burnett: 224IP, 14-11, 3.62 era 1.28 whip
wang: 199IP 13-9, 3.70 era 1.33 whip
Always amazes me that there are still people that don’t consider Wang as a power pitcher. Really makes no difference because none of the first 4 are alike in styles.
Good God. CC is Huuuuuge
joba looks small compared to CC lol and thats saying something
the CHONE projectins are very low for pitchers. they only project 4 pitchers to win 14 or more games.
sabathia 16, santana 15, hammels and vazques 14.
they project tim lincicum to win 10 games, bill james projects 17.
Good stuff Pete.
“Bobby left without paying,” Godzilla said. “Jeter has a month left.”
So we got Bobby the welcher? Not to be confused with Bob Welch the pitcher.
Man, these guys are going to be fun to watch.
“Did you guys miss the blurb about Matsui looking good?!”
You will see a big difference in Arod with Matsui at his back as opposed to Giambi. There is nothing like having a guy who hits the ball where its pitched and consistently drives runners in. Some say that maintaining a high average with RISP is not a repeatable skill, but a casual perusal of Matsui’s stats since 2003 will tell a different story.
Damn CC has legs like a tree trunk.
I’ll bet it was pleasant Pete. Thanks for all the great stuff. Sorry for the recent crankiness.
here’s bill james’ projections so far for the yanks rotation:
sabatthia 16-10 3.48, 240IP, 34gs
burnett 14-11 3.62, 224IP, 32gs
wang 13-9 3.70, 200IP, 30gs
pettitte 12-10 3.90, 192IP,30 gs
hughes 9-5 3.35, 125IP 22 gs
the free site i got these off doesnt have joba’s #’s from james yet.
but id say ‘from bill james fingers to god’s ears’ that would be a killer staff right there and i suspect joba could handle the 14 starts these guys didnt and not mess them up too much.
Come on, Wang has been here for a little while now, he’s been basically one of the best pitchers in baseball for like the past 3 seasons. His win percentage is off the charts. The guy has been solid for us, he deserves to be the number 2 guy behind CC. Burnett should take his money and be happy and slide into the 3 spot.
Could you post the start and end times for the workuout today and any guess whether the same will hold true for tomorrow? Im in the area and planning to visit the Yanks one of the next few days. Thanks
I actually personally like the second rotation better, which of the two of these rotations do you like better,Pete,and why?