Wrapping up Day 2 of camp
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- February
- 15
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It was a fairly uneventful day here at Big Stein Field. Let’s go to the highlights:
· Chien-Ming Wang threw in the bullpen and felt no pain in his right foot. CMW said his foot felt “tight” when he started throwing off the mound this year but that sensation has gone away. He rides a bike for his conditioning instead of running. He would prefer to run but that will be a few weeks away.
· Andrew Brackman threw in the bullpen as well. No, there was no radar gun. But Jose Molina (who caught him) and the Yankees people who watched were all quite impressed. “Outstanding,” third base coach Rob Thomson said.
I just did a little math. Counting college, Cape Cod League, Team USA and the Hawaii Winter League, Brackman has thrown a grand total of 193 innings since 2005. So don’t expect him in the Bronx any time soon. The good news is that he’s only 23. “I just need to pitch,” he said.
· Joe Girardi mentioned that he wants to carry a long reliever. But it would hurt the development of Phil Hughes or Ian Kennedy to use them in such a fashion. “Those guys need innings,” the manager said. Hughes and I had a little talk about it. “The paychecks would be great but that’s not what I need,” he said. “I’m good with pitching in AAA if that is what happens and being ready for when they need me.”
You watch, he’ll get 10-15 starts in the majors this season.
· Jorge Posada went through his throwing program today. Girardi watched part of it and said the ball came out his hands well and “sounded good in the air.”
· When CC Sabathia came into the clubhouse today, he had a parking pass in his back pocket. Apparently the security guards aren’t sure who he is.
· Girardi said he spoke to A-Rod. The third baseman is eager to get started playing baseball.
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on Sunday, February 15th, 2009 at 3:14 pm by Peter Abraham.
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Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Sabathia seems to be coming across like Hawkins, but with actual talent and less numerical controversy.
my nephew faced Brackman, Price amd Alex White from UNC (a possible Top 5 pick this year) in college and summer league play.
He said Brackman was by far the toughest pitcher he has ever faced.
He said his curveball (pre-surgery) is even better than his fastball.
It’s going to be fun watching him make his way through the system.
having Hughes become an extra reliable starter would be huge for this rotation; especially w/ the unexpected injury bug throughout the season
Good stuff Pete, I agree Hughes will essentially be the 6th starter and someone always gets hurt, and remember Joba will be skipped at times to keep his innings down, so Hughes will get a chance.
I don’t think Hughes will get nearly that many starts, Pete. I think that Aceves and Giese will pick up Joba’s extra starts, and Hughes will be monitored in AAA, which in the long run is best for him anyway. A full uninterrupted season is just what he needs. Of course, that will change if Hughes is pitching well and one of the Yankees’ starters are injured, or if Aceves & Giese cr@p out. It’ll be interesting to see how the Yankees respond if both Kennedy and Hughes are going ‘lights out’ in Scranton. To me, the biggest spring pitching roster decision involves Mark Melancon anyway.
Steve:
Why in the world would the Yankees pitch Dan Giese instead of Phil Hughes? I think between injuries and scheduled breaks for Joba, Hughes will get plenty of big-league action.
I think Hughes probably will get the ten or fifteen starts Pete is projecting. They’ll use him to spot Joba and the others. I’m not sure Giese will be on the 40 much longer, and Aceves, if he is the long man, might not be available for the starts if he’s been pitching.
Good stuff Pete. Thanks
“The only “bias” I ever have had against Girardi is that I don’t believe he should lie to reporters.
Brian Cashman feels the same way. So I guess he’s biased, too. I’ve never once said anything bad about Girardi’s personality.
Obviously, unless I am in lock step with you, I’m biased.”
Pete,
In your mind you believe that you are not biased against Girardi, so irrespective of how many examples I or others here give is not going to make any difference.
I don’t know if I’m more anxious or more excited about Wang. I can’t wait to see him on the mound. Does he look ready to go for the season?
Nothing on how Phil looked?
Have we established that Torre’s never lied to reporters?
So Hugh3s starts off the year in the minors?
And Joe G. is excused as far as the Mariano Rivera incident is concerned. Mo asked him to keep it to himself.
Dont worry Lara08, it’s not like Wang is an ace.
kidding, kidding.
SJ44
I hope randy dosen’t see that Hughes is the #6 starter. I think he had some old retread picked for that spot. Oops I forgot the Mets signed him.
The Teixeira Grand Slam game is staring on YES for anyone who wants to scout our new 1B, remember Darrel Rasner, Jason and Abreu, and recall that Xavier Nady did indeed help before going into the tank as a Yank.
In baseball speak “it sounded good in the air” means he didn’t pick off the pitcher with his throws to 2nd base. That’s good news that his throws a getting back to normal. I’ll settle “normal”…now, if the pitchers would just learn to hold the runners closer.
MaineYankee
February 15th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
SJ44
I hope randy dosen’t see that Hughes is the #6 starter. I think he had some old retread picked for that spot. Oops I forgot the Mets signed him.
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Careful, Maine. Randy’s a sensitive guy. He only allows my to rag him, because I’m the only guy on here older than he is.
Seeing Teixeira reminds me that we are also gonna see the return of the 3-6-3 and 3-5-3 double plays, as well as more defensive plays at first we haven’t seen in years.
He only allows ***me***
That, and I’m the only one that makes more typos.
GB7
I figure that’s good for some kinda jab soon. He puts up with it from me seeing that he was born here.
MaineYankee
February 15th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
GB7
I figure that’s good for some kinda jab soon. He puts up with it from me seeing that ***he was born here***
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Well, that’s another strike against Maine.
Pete:
The reason they would start Giese over Hughes is because Giese will probably be the long man on the ML roster while Hughes will be getting regular work in AAA… the miniscule advantage Hughes has over Giese for a game or two here and there is not worth potentially stunting Hughes’ development by bringing him up and having him get shelled, not to mention there’s no guarantee Hughes’ pitching schedule in AAA will line up accordingly with a big league start.
In the end, they may end up using Hughes in those situations, but there’s no need to go all “why in the world would they ever do that”…. it’s a pretty logical argument, whether you agree or not.
Thanks Peter.
I’m looking forward to watching some baseball.
Sounds like Wang isn’t 100% there yet.
IMO if Hughes stands to get 10-15 starts (starting is where he really belongs long-term) it would be bad to use him in the bullpen as a long man. Never mind whatever innings total he ends up with by season’s end, I think the inconsistent use & rest patterns could lead to problems. Let Geise or someone else have that role.
So if Brackman’s as bad @ssed as he’s repped to be but his innings are nearly nil, what kind of schedule to Da Bronx does that put him on? Assuming he’ll be a starter (and the ‘Joba in the pen’ debates transform into ‘Brackman in the pen’) Would that mean they’d target 2012 for his break, when he’s 26? Would that mean a few starts in 2011? Or is that still a year premature?
Being there, Mark Melancon, the aforementioned Brackman, and Wilkin DeLaRosa threw exceptionally well as did Wang.
Great news about Hughes getting 15-20 starts this year. Joba and Hughes as the future aces of the rotation, learning from the best collection of pitching arms and talent in baseball. The Yankee rotation is going to DOMINATE this year. Can’t wait for the fun to start.
SJ44 – Who is your nephew? I watch alot of college BB.
Wake up about Hughes. He doesn’t have high quality stuff. As Ken Singleton and John Flaherty said on separate occasions the Hughes’ fastball is very straight. On top of that is velocity is not as originally advertised and his fastball doesn’t have any late tail. His awful performance last year was no fluke.