The LoHud Yankees Blog

Two stories you should enjoy:

Tara Sullivan of The Record did a piece on Shelley Duncan. The Excitable Boy is crushing the ball in AAA but to no avail so far.

Tyler Kepner didn’t go to Cleveland (smart move), but he did go to Scranton and wrote a great feature on Austin Jackson. As a fan of Tyler’s writing and AJax’s game, it was terrific.

Ty also used the interwebs well and did a good blog post on Austin over on Bats.

One bonus of having the AA and AAA teams so close by is that fans get good coverage of the prospects. Plus Chad Jennings and Mike Ashmore do such good work on the day-to-day stuff.

According to the Yankees, Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi will be greeting fans in the Great Hall at 4 p.m. today.

I wonder if they would be doing had the Yankees lost 16 of 20? If you’re here early, stop over. They’re both good guys to talk to. I’m told this is something they plan to do once every homestand.

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Meanwhile, I arrived at the ballpark early today and as I was walking down 161st Street, it was hard not to notice what a construction site the old Stadium has become. There are temporary wooden walls ringing the building and mesh nets set up to keep debris from falling.

The old field is entirely dirt as cranes work and seats are removed. It doesn’t look like it will be too much longer before the walls start to come down. If a building can look sad, that place looks sad.

Chien-Ming Wang has pitched eight innings over the last 12 days, nearly all in low-leverage situations.

Eventually, if not already, the arm strength he built up while rehabbing is going to start to fade. Wang can’t really throw an extended bullpen session in case he is needed in relief that night. Meanwhile the Yankees don’t have a day off until June 15, so there is no window to get him the work he needs.

I asked Wang the other day how many pitches he could throw if he was named as a starter. He estimated about 80. Then in a second start, he said, he could get to 100.

Throwing 30 or 40 pitches in two innings of relief doesn’t do him much good. For him, that’s just getting into a game.

Eventually, the Yankees are going to need Wang to start. Then, because they have miscast him as a reliever, he won’t be able to give them much. Or maybe his control will be off due to a lack of use. As each day passes, the situation gets worse for him.

There is no obvious answer to this. The knee-jerk move the Yankees made when they activated Wang is slowly undoing all the progress he made. Phil Hughes has pitched well enough to stay in the rotation. But Wang is an established front-end starter. A six-man rotation isn’t the solution as you want to get all you can out of CC Sabathia, A.J.Burnett and Andy Pettitte. You don’t mess up the routines of three players to accommodate one.

But at some point soon, the Yankees need to figure something out. Leaving Wang in the bullpen is accomplishing nothing more than putting him back in the same hole he was in the first place.

The book Selena Roberts did on Alex Rodriguez has largely been discredited. But the tabloid-style book did raise questions when she alleged that A-Rod tipped pitches to opponents in lopsided games while a member of the Rangers.

The Inside Corner sports blog of D Magazine examined the issue and the research that Roberts did not. Evan Grant, a former Rangers beat writer, wrote the following:

Miguel Tejada, then with Oakland, hit .350 overall against the Rangers, but jumped to .472 when the margin was at least five runs either way. He had nine homers in 36 at-bats when the margin was at least five. Rodriguez, who hit .284 against Oakland overall, hit .333 when the score was five or greater.

Rangers manager Ron Washington, who was with Oakland at the time, was once called to a staff meeting because an A’s coach suspected Tejada was tipping pitches to opponents.

Washington did not believe it and still doesn’t. It’s a matter of personal interpretation whether those statistics are damning or not. But it is worth noting that Alex is one of those hitters who wants to know what is coming. He watches video endlessly to try and educate himself about what pitch a pitcher will throw him in certain situations.

Some hitting coaches have said it almost becomes a weakness because Alex can get frozen by a breaking pitch when he is looking for a fastball. Other hitters, such as Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano, focus more on themselves and their ability to react to whatever pitch is thrown.

There are two schools of thought. Some hitters like playing the guessing game, others just want to wait and react. Alex always has been an advocate of preparation and you certainly can’t question his accomplishments, at least in terms of the statistics he has amassed.

Tejada, like Rodriguez, is an admitted PED user. He lied to Congress about it and copped a plea when he was accused of perjury. Would players who cheat by using PEDs also be willing to cheat by telling each other what was coming?

That’s a question we will probably never get an answer to. But the research Grant did certainly is interesting.

Here’s some interesting news, the Yankees have decided to promote 20-year-old catcher Jesus Montero to Double-A Trenton.

Our pal Mike Ashmore has the news on Thunder Thoughts.

Montero had a monster start for Single-A Tampa, hitting .356 with a .406 OBP and a .989 slugging percentage. He had eight homers and 37 RBI over 48 games.

This move makes sense on assorted fronts. With Jose Molina unlikely to come back any time soon, Francisco Cervelli will remain in the big leagues. That leaves an opening in Trenton for Montero. Plus it gives Austin Romine a chance to catch every day in Tampa.

Montero is going to play in the big leagues because of his bat. The only question is whether he’s a catcher, a first baseman or a DH. He has what the scouts like to call light-tower power and the plate discipline of a much older player.

Do yourself a favor and get over to Waterfront Park to see the Thunder. In a few years, you’ll be able to say that you saw Montero before everybody knew who he was. Because everybody is going to know who this guy is eventually.

Mark Teixeira got fired up and the Rangers paid the price as the Yankees rolled to another victory. Kevin Devaney has the story.

A.J. Burnett had a rocky inning but survived. This notebook also has updates on Chien-Ming Wang, Derek Jeter, Xavier Nady, Jose Molina, Damaso Marte and Cody Ransom.

Runs scored (active players)
1. Ken Griffey Jr. 1,627
2. Alex Rodriguez 1,618
2. Gary Sheffield 1,618
4. Derek Jeter 1,500

Runs scored (all-time)
60. Wade Boggs 1,513
61. Eddie Mathews 1,509
62. Roberto Alomar 1508
63. Al Simmons 1,507
64. Mike Schmidt 1,506
65. Nap Lajoie 1,504
66. Derek Jeter 1,500

Runs scored by a Yankee
1. Babe Ruth 1,959
2. Lou Gehrig 1,888
3. Mickey Mantle 1,677
4. Derek Jeter 1,500

YANKEES (30-21)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Posada C
Matsui DH
Cabrera RF
Gardner CF

Pitching: RHP A.J. Burnett (3-2, 4.78).

RANGERS (30-20)
Kinsler 2B
Young 3B
Blalock DH
Cruz RF
Murphy LF
Byrd CF
Davis 1B
Saltalamacchia C
Andrus SS

Pitching: RHP Vicente Padilla (3-2, 4.71).

TIME/TV: 7:05 p.m., YES.

THEY MET AGAIN: The Yankees and Rangers played three games from May 25-27 on Texas. The Yankees won two of those three games. The Yankees have won 25 of the their last 36 games against Texas.

STREAKS: Derek Jeter has hit safely 15 straight games and Mark Teixeira in 14 straight.

MILESTONE TIME: Jeter has scored 1,499 runs in his career. He would be become the fourth active player with 1,500 runs and the fourth Yankee in history with 1,500.

START ME UP: Jeter is 14 of 41 (.341) in the first inning. He has hit safely while leading off the first inning in nine of his last 11 games with six singles and three doubles. He as reached base safely (via hit, walk or HBP) in 11 of his last 16 such plate appearances.

PERFECT STREAK: The Yankees have gone a MLB-record 18 straight games without making an error. Their last error came on May 13 in Toronto when Ramiro Pena misplayed a grounder.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM: The Rangers lead the majors with 83 homers, the Yankees are second with 80.

TRACKING JAX: Alex Rodriguez has 560 home runs. He needs three more to tie Reggie Jackson for 11th place in baseball history.

UPDATE, 4:36 p.m.: That’s it from me for now. Kevin Devaney is covering the game in the Bronx and he will take over the blogging once he gets back from the clubhouse and batting practice. Hope you enjoy the game.

I’m enjoying being in a city free of seagulls and insects.

UPDATE, 5:05 p.m.: Hey, Pete again. Just had to mention this. I’m getting a lot of “Why isn’t Swisher starting? Girardi is a idiot” e-mails from people.

Listen, I love people who read my blog. Here’s to you. But stop thinking you know more about the Yankees than Girardi. Swisher is 1 for 15 against Padilla with five strikeouts. He’s 0 for his last 12 with four strikeouts and a GIDP.

Swisher finally seems to have his swing intact. Why screw him up against a pitcher he obviously can’t hit? Let Gardner start and when the Rangers go to the bullpen, you have Swisher ready and waiting for an at-bat or two.

The Yankees have won 15 of 19, let’s give the manager the benefit of the doubt, shall we?

UPDATE, 6:44 p.m.: Josh Hamilton on the DL with a sports hernia.

UPDATE, 7:23 p.m.: Hey, Kevin Devaney here taking over for Pete for the rest of the night. He’s pretty much gotten you up to speed on everything. Here’s a few more things as we settle into the first inning:

Girardi said the rotation will remain the same for now, which means Chien-Ming Wang is still a reliever.     “We had discussions and, at this point, nothing has changed,” Girardi said. “Everybody is still on schedule. We’re happy with the progress that (Wang’s) made. But, at this point, we’re staying on schedule.”

Pettitte threw and said he felt ready to pitch tomorrow night. That could have been Wang’s opening.

Xavier Nady (elbow) played catch today and said he felt better. He had to stop throwing yesterday after experiencing some pain. He’ll take tomorrow off and throw again on Thursday. Jose Molina had an MRI this afternoon, which will be examined by a team doctor tonight.

Swisher is fine. He’s just getting the day off against Padilla, who has struggled in his career against.

Damaso Marte (elbow) will throw a bullpen on Friday. Cody Ransom will report to Scranton on Thursday.

Other than that, enjoy the game. The first inning ends with the Yankees putting the first two on and not scoring a run. Like they say, it’s hard to put runs across the board here at the new Stadium.

UPDATE, 7:57 p.m.: This has A-Rod grand slam written all over it.

UPDATE, 7:59 p.m.: Guess not, although it should have been a bigger inning than that. The Yankees made their first error, except it was on the basepaths. Had Matsui not run up on Posada — or if Posada taken off for third the way he should have — this could have been a different inning. It’s 2-0 Yanks.

UPDATE, 8:26 p.m.: Posada’s miss-fire into center field ends the Yankees’ major league record for games without an error at 18. The more alarming part of that sequence was the fact Texas is willing to run all day on Posada. That’s three stolen bases in less than four innings.

UPDATE, 8:40 p.m.: I can understand Teixeira not being happy with being hit by a pitch twice. But why would Padilla hit him to load the bases with Rodriguez up?

UPDATE, 8:43 p.m.: That’s how a player gets his revenge for being hit — a hard slide into second to break up a double play and allow a run to score. The run was No. 1,500 career runs for Derek Jeter.

UPDATE, 9:06 p.m.: This isn’t your typical Yankee Stadium nine-run game. The Yankees have 10 hits, nine of which are singles. Jeter just hit his third and walked in his other AB. Matsui’s homer was the only extra-base hit.

UPDATE, 9:16 p.m.: It was pretty weird just now to look down and see Andruw Jones wearing a catchers mitt and warming up reliever Warner Madrigal between innings while Saltalamacchia got ready. Three years ago Jones was a potential Hall of Famer and the best defensive outfielder in baseball, and some believed among the best ever. Now he’s a spot starter in the outfield and is warming up a pitcher I’m sure he doesn’t know by name. How quickly baseball can change.

Tuesday: RHP A.J. Burnett (3-2, 4.78) vs. RHP Vicente Padilla (3-2, 4.71), 7:05 p.m., YES

Wednesday: LHP Andy Pettitte (5-1, 4.10) vs. RHP Scott Feldman (4-0, 3.91), 7:05 p.m., YES

Thursday: LHP CC Sabathia (5-3, 3.46) vs. RHP Brandon McCarthy (5-2, 4.35), 1:05 p.m., YES

The Angels-Yankees game that was rained out on May 3 will be played on Sept. 14 at 7:05 p.m.