Pregame notes: Yet another series of injury updates
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Notes on May 17, 2010 
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For the first time in a long time, Joe Girardi sounded annoyed this afternoon. He didn’t sound mad or upset, just seemed weary from the constant questions about injuries.
“It seems like we find a way to get another one some how,” he said. “When you look at it, Nick Johnson’s is probably the most serious, but what we’ve had to do here is we haven’t put guys on the DL because we didn’t feel that they were going to (be out) two weeks and you really have to manipulate your roster.”
As it stands, the Yankees basically have a two-man bench tonight. Jorge Posada is a game-time decision but not likely to be available, and Nick Swisher can only bat right-handed. Otherwise, the bench consists of Greg Golson and Juan Miranda.
Here’s the latest on four Yankees in question:
Nick Johnson
Headed for surgery, probably tomorrow. After that, it will be another four to six weeks before he can even pick up a bat. “Then you’re talking about substantial time after that,” Girardi said.
Cortisone shots did the trick last year, and Johnson was hopeful they would do the same this season. No such luck. “I thought the shot would do what it did last year,” Johnson said. “It was just stagnant. It didn’t do anything. It didn’t get worse or better.”
Nick Swisher
The slightly strained biceps feels significantly better today than it did over the weekend. Swisher swings just fine right-handed, and a long toss session was pain-free. He plans to take left-handed batting practice tomorrow afternoon and hopes to be in the lineup tomorrow night. “As much as I want to be in there, you’ve got to be smart about this,” he said. “We’ve got a couple of other guys that are banged up. You don’t want to be the next guy on the list.
Jorge Posada
Fouled a ball off his right foot last night. He went for x-rays, which came back negative, but he still has a large knot on his foot and Girardi doesn’t expect Posada to be available even as a pinch hitter tonight. “He can’t play so Cervelli has to catch,” Girardi said.
Curtis Granderson
The Yankees just finished batting practice, so I haven’t had a chance to talk to Granderson, but he looked pretty comfortable taking fly balls in center field. He ranged to his left and right, reacting to the ball off the bat and making throws to second base. It’s purely an outside opinion, but from where I was standing in foul territory, Granderson seemed to be moving better than I would have expected.
• After stretching, Joba Chamberlain stood in the Yankees dugout using a photographer’s camera to take some pictures. Not something you see every day.
• Girardi said he would rather not have ot use Javier Vazquez as a long man this week, but he’ll be available just in case.
• Chan Ho Park is active. Ivan Nova has been optioned back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
• I have to assume this is because Girardi doesn’t want to tip his hand against the Red Sox: “I’m not going to get into exactly who’s available in our bullpen,” he said.
• Girardi on the balance between winning a game right now and risking the long-term health of his players: “I would never want a manager to jeopardize my health,” he said. “It would hurt me deeply inside if I hurt someone or jeopardized their career. I won’t do that.”
• Boston’s lineup:
Marco Scutaro SS
Dustin Pedroia 2B
J.D. Drew RF
Kevin Youkilis 1B
Victor Martinez C
David Ortiz DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
Jeremy Hermida LF
Darnell McDonald CF
That’s an AP shot of Johnson with Jeter.
Now Nick can work on his ‘stache.
Something tells me that’s a fruitless cause.
These injuries are getting ridiculous.
Even Patrick is no longer buying the ideas he is selling. And I understand you guys are frustrated but this is one game in May.
—
Yes I am. Read my last post, I’m still arguing for it pretty strongly.
Did anyone whose face I would recognize say Derek and Alex are hurting or is this just blog banter?
—
SJ44 thinks they are injured and if you look at how they’ve been used it seems to make sense..
I also hope that Javy is not needed in long relief this series or the next.
I don’t have a problem that he is in the pen for now. Its just a back-up plan against one of our starters having a short outing.
Patrick -
he brought the closer in yesterday in the 8th to get out of a jam and no one liked that because Mo faltered.
I think you need stability; you think they need creativity. I just don’t know how really creative they can get given the realities of the situation.
And Tex has said he doesn’t want to play 3rd.
—
Going for the triple post.
I’ve given several examples of how you can be creative. It’s still possible, just more risk with some of my amazing ideas
And I don’t give a rat’s ass where Tex wants to play. How much money is he making? He’ll play wherever the manager tells him to play.
Hope there is a good reason Alex is at DH and not 3rd. For while it would not be THAT much better, I would rather have Miranda in there (as DH) and not Pena. But maybe I actually hope there is NOT a good reason Alex is not playing 3rd. Yeah, I guess that is right. Jeeez, the injuries have me disoriented. Bottom line, 6 through 9 is not very imposing tonight.
The more I read about Granderson, the more I want to believe he could return to the team as early as June 1.
That would help the team very, very much.
At the same time, nobody wants him to return early, only to re-injure himself and be forced
to miss even more games.
As long as the starting pitching continues to be solid, injuries won’t be a concern..johnson sucks, who cares. Granderson back in 2 weeks and Jorge and Swish a few days..no biggy.
OMG I just saw the lineup!
Girardi!
http://editdesk.files.wordpres.....ndfury.png
No offense, but Sj is no more credible on injury reports than jon heyman or ESPN.
Dice-K has only 6 walks this year in 17 innings. And he didn’t walk anyone in his last start.
Don’t expect him to walk the ballpark. He has good stuff and he is going to challenge the awful 6-10 hitters to hit his good stuff, which they won’t be able to, especially Winn/Pena.
Hope that Hughes pitches the game of his life and we can score a run off Okijima and win 1-0.
Sad to say, but this is part of having an older team.
It’s also part of having a Nick Johnson. In fact, raise your hand if you believe he was going to play more than 120 games.
what is specifically wrong with NJ’s wrist?
It would be a good example of irony if Nick then came back, only to end up back on the DL due to a ‘strained mustache’.
No offense, but Sj is no more credible on injury reports than jon heyman or ESPN.
—
Well either Rodriguez/Jeter have minor injuries or Girardi/Cashman planned on playing Pena this much all along. I’d say that just by looking at how Jeter/A-rod have been used seems to indicate that they are a bit injured.
If this was the plan all along then that doesn’t say too much about Cash/Girardi does it?
Thank you.
The I have to believe DH days are preventive medicine then.
lol rick pleease, you do know we still have guys like Teixera, Jeter, A-rod and Cano and Gardner..there alright I guess
Tex has not taken a ground ball over, fielded a line drive on that side of the diamond, or made the long throw in years. He is your $20 million number 3 hitter. He is a centerpiece of this team. You don’t risk that by putting him in an uncomfortable and rather unfamiliar position since he hasn’t done it in as long as he can remember and it is a whole different story when major league hitters are hitting the ball at you. He has flat out said he is no comfortable playing 3B.
It is not a creative solution. And Girardi is not a bad manager or a by the book manager for not trying it.
To be blunt. Girardi is not dumb enough to do it. Especially on May 17th against a team in 4th place in the division.
Patrick – that doesn’t say much about them that they want to keep their star players healthy and fresh?
yeah, you’re right… they should run laps between every inning and make sure they are both as exhausted as possible.
He has good stuff and he is going to challenge the awful 6-10
=======
With an aweful 6-9 lineup. It only makes sense theY give us an extra man. I wonder if we can get 4 out innings in our at bats?
Have a good night. GO YANKS!!
Good news on Graderson-and also good that Swish is feeling better.
These injuries unfortunately are coming during one of the toughest stretches of the year, schedule-wise. But if the Yanks get just play .500 or so ball through this stretch, the June schedule looks pretty easy by comparison. And hopefully they’ll be a lot closer to full strength by then.
CD May 17th, 2010 at 5:56 pm
what is specifically wrong with NJ’s wrist?
*******
He discovered that swinging a bat required moving his wrist and that made it hurt
Patrick -
What good does it do to play Tex at 3B if he’s not good at it? If it was just a matter of he doesn’t prefer it, sure, I’d say suck it up for a night or two. But since he admittedly is not good at it, then you have a sub-par first baseman in Miranda and a sub-par 3rd baseman. It’s not all about offense all the time. It’s just not.
We all want the opening day lineup. (Well, maybe minus Johnson.) But the situation is what it is and I am on board with Girardi’s mostly conservative approach. Plus I respect the heck out of him for not asking players to put their careers on the line for a game in mid-May.
Cash has had some pretty good off seasons, but then one really stunk.
Patrick – that doesn’t say much about them that they want to keep their star players healthy and fresh?
—
No, it doesn’t say much about them that they thought Pena could handle this much playing time.
LGY,
blah blah blah, you’ve said all of that already.
TylerKepner Joba and Ortiz shared what seemed to be a heartfelt hug on the field. These teams sure hate each other, don’t they?
Will Johnson be able to lift a cheeseburger in the next 4-6 weeks..?
While the red sox are getting healthier and healthier, we are getting more and more injuries.
You see where the season is going right?
With Toronton on fire, I just hope we can hang on to the wild card spot.
Good to see Joba is considering a career Plan B — photography, just in case he has more meltdowns like the one from yesterday.
Doreen,
When you have a lineup with Cervelli, Thames, Winn and Pena then you kind of have to think about improving the offense. That bottom four is atrocious.
# Roger(The Dutch Yankees Fan) May 17th, 2010 at 6:05 pm
Will Johnson be able to lift a cheeseburger in the next 4-6 weeks..?
——————————————————————————————–
They have to inject that in his I.V.
Patrick
It’s easy for you to be creative with the lineup sitting at your computer.
It’s a totally different thing for Girardi to be creative when it could cost him his job.
“TylerKepner Joba and Ortiz shared what seemed to be a heartfelt hug on the field. These teams sure hate each other, don’t they?”
Wonder if Beckett got any hugs?
I have a question for anyone who is critical of today’s lineup (Believe me, I don’t bother taking names or memorizing who said what).
If the Yankees win tonight, does that mean Girardi actually got it right or does it mean it was a terrible lineup and the Yankees lucked into a win?
1. I have no fear about having Cervelli behind the plate at any time and neither should anybody else, based on what we have all seen. Phil and Cervelli have already combined to beat the Sux.
2. I absolutely expect the Yankees to take both games. I think they will easily get to DiceK, maybe not as easily get to Beckett but still take both games.
By the way, here’s a post I found on a Minny fan’s site.
The Yanks back down from fights. They’re like the neighborhood bully. Tampa got in a fight with them a couple years ago in spring training, and the Yanks never recovered as the Rays went to the Series. Boston threw at them, beat them, won two World Series. The Angels ran into their fielders, and for a few years had no problems beating them. If you got the talent, anger beats the Yanks.
YEOW!
********************
SJ, Michael Kay was saying yesterday that they’ve been having Cervelli working out in the outfield. To you he may seem to be just a back-up catcher and someone to dump in the lineup whenever. To others, and I would guess Joe Girardi included, he’s a lot more valuable than that.
I am arguing a couple of different things, they are semi-related so it can seem like I am asking for something crazy to happen but I’m not.
My points:
1. Rotating DH is dumb, get a bat in the DH spot that can hit
2. Pena is no good, if he is going to see significant play time they need to upgrade either in house or not
3. Getting crazy with positions/lineup should not be verboten , but it will never happen unless a player says they will do it
4. Tex could probably play a passable third base, but wont ever because of 3.
5. The current yankee lineup hamstrung by injuries is awful, and very very top heavy. Its more like a middle of the pack lineup. hopefully Tex stays a little heated up, a-rod gets hot, and cano gets his stroke back. Having those 3 guys clicking even a little bit at the same time would be great
It’s a totally different thing for Girardi to be creative when it could cost him his job.
—-
There is zero risk Girardi loses his job based on one lineup.
“Cash has had some pretty good off seasons, but then one really stunk.”
I’d say his worst offseason of his career. Even worse than 08 because most people acknowledged that 08 was a transition year. These are the moves he made coming off a WS?
I’d bet he’d like to go back in time.
Winn and Pena were both 2-4 yesterday. Thames was 1-2 with a walk.
Matsuzaka is not exactly a pitcher the Yankees are scared of where you need to be desperate and maximize your offense at all costs.
All these complaints are going to look rather silly if those guys perform again.
When Mr. Murphy comes callin’
Player’s start fallin’.
Nothing you can do.
Too true, Too true.
No point in ballin’ .
Enjoy the game. May the luck of the Irish smile upon them.
If anyone lives near the “Blarney Stone” please kiss it.
“There is zero risk Girardi loses his job based on one lineup.”
If it was up to you, he would have lost his job in March of 08.
Is Johnson single?I hope not
Being single and having a wrist injury for 4-6weeks..Good luck with that!
Girardi has lots of company, we’re quite annoyed, too.
SoS,
Dontcha know? Your cheap Ginsu knives can’t cut through Kobe beef.
CD
The injury is similiar to what vernon wells from the jays had last year.
lol @ Aaron Boone saying Hughes is an “elite pitcher”
ESPN can be so reactionary.
William Buckner May 17th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
“TylerKepner Joba and Ortiz shared what seemed to be a heartfelt hug on the field. These teams sure hate each other, don’t they?”
—————————————————————–
Sounds more like a Sumo match.
Nick,
These references are getting older and older. Please tell me you weren’t romping in Paris when Jim Morrison died.
Coincidentally, although I can’t claim a connection to the Dakota but I do have an in-law that worked as a doorman at the Chelsea Hotel. Dare I say NY’s 2nd most infamous rock n roll murder?
I have a question for anyone who is critical of today’s lineup (Believe me, I don’t bother taking names or memorizing who said what).
If the Yankees win tonight, does that mean Girardi actually got it right or does it mean it was a terrible lineup and the Yankees lucked into a win?
–
I doubt very much your first statement. As to answering your question:
1. Should this lineup win, it would be pleasant but not necessarily Girardi ‘getting it right’, because you don’t know what a better lineup would have done. Or its possible both managers got their lineup wrong, but one was more wrong than the other!
2. It really depends on the win if its luck. If the yankees get blanked and someone gets on base and thames hits a fly and the fielder drops it and we win 1 – 0, I’d say thats pretty lucky.
Honestly unless you’re tony larussa and you put the pitcher in the cleanup spot in extra innings, or jerry manuel double switching all your good players out, you can’t really say a manager got it right or wrong.
Though a better lineup would give us a better chance to win!
“Will Johnson be able to lift a cheeseburger in the next 4-6 weeks..?”
Of course. Anything involving food, he can do. Anything involve physically activity, not so much.
For those of you that want to put Tex at third, who are you going to put at first?
When you make that move you need to realize that you are now weaking two positions instead of just one.
If it was up to you, he would have lost his job in March of 08.
—-
False. I was in favor of the Yankees getting Girardi and I liked the way he managed in 2008. 2009 and 2010 on the other hand he’s been decidedly average.
trisha,
That’s pretty funny. If we’re so weak, what does that make them? Lame? They win one game in the non-Santana era and they think they’re all that. Too rich.
Looking forward to the ESPN broadcast team. Should be better than usual with Nomar and Aaron!
Hi all – So, just got in from work. What’s the topic being whined about now?
Trish – sounds like Minny just don’t have talent. (BTW – what are you doing looking at a Twins’ site? Sounds like you have way too much time on your hands
)
MaineYankee May 17th, 2010 at 6:13 pm
For those of you that want to put Tex at third, who are you going to put at first?
****************************
Alex.
“I Hate Jerry” um, First Place? hahaha
So if Girardi brings in Boone Logan to close a 1-run game tonight and he does, does that make it the right move?
We all first guessed this lineup and would be stunned, absolutely shocked, if we scored more than 2 runs.
It would have to take a bunch of Sox errors or Dice-K having a really bad night (he’ll need to be even worse than normal because he can get away with a ton of mistakes tonight with a bunch of AAAA players in 4 of the spots) for us to score a lot of runs.
This was not a good lineup Girardi put out there. You can’t get on him for Swisher/PO but Miranda needs to be in there over “Automatic out Winn”.
Erin – good one.
Literally, to add insult to injury, Daisuke Matsuzaka pitches either a perfect game, no-hitter, or shutout against the Yankees tonight.
# Erin May 17th, 2010 at 6:14 pm
MaineYankee May 17th, 2010 at 6:13 pm
For those of you that want to put Tex at third, who are you going to put at first?
****************************
Alex.
—————————————
Sheffield!!!
Hey, Roger – he can lift most cheeseburgers with his other hand.
Just not a Whopper [the 2-fisted burger....]
Miranda really isn’t a fielder, is he? He plays some first base, but you wouldn’t choose to play him there, would you, in a perfect world?
Miranda really isn’t a fielder, is he? He plays some first base, but you wouldn’t choose to play him there, would you, in a perfect world?
–
The same can be said for a lot of players in MLB. He is a guy most teams can have play f irst and be valuable. The Yankees have an all-world 1st baseman, so Miranda would look poor in comparison.
He can make more plays than Giambi. But I havent seem him enough to say any more.
Miranda is a pretty good fielder, not Tex-good, but probably as good Nick Johnson was.
Thanks, Jerkface and Dazz – quick responses!
Contrary to what Bronx Jeers might tell you, I was not in Mexico City when Trotsky became acquainted with the ice pick.
Jorge can play first. So can Hideki.
Again how did this start? Is it to get Pena out of the lineup or are some of you thinking there’s something serious with A-rod?
Chad where’s the update on Aceves?
You hope Swisher and Posada are ready to go on Wednesday against the rays. Those are the real important games. As long as Cervelli keeps hitting I would DH Posada more until Granderson returns. The yanks cant afford to lose Posada’s bat.
m -
I think there is conjecture that ARod and Jeter are a bit dinged up – thus the stints as DH – and there is a real objection to Pena in the lineup with so many regulars out (Swisher Posada Granderson Johnson).
To me, this is just one of those challenging times in a season. It will pass.
m,
Pena literately is one of the worst players in baseball. His swing is awful and he has no patience. Anytime he is in the lineup, he is a detriment.
We are trying to find ways to remove him from the lineup.
Cashman should be annoyed more than Girardi because he’s the one that took the gamble with NJ and knew his past injury history better than anyone. Oh well, it’s a gamble gone bad, but they can overcome it.
“Automatic out” Randy Winn had the biggest hit for the Yankees in yesterday’s game.
Cashman should be annoyed? No, he should have seen this coming and made some sort of contingency plan in AAA for this event. NJ isn’t exactly a bastion of health and never has been.
Since The Face pulled this one me earlier, I can’t pass up this opportunity.
Jerkface complaining about the lineup:
Me:
Cash is 0-3 this winter.
Granderson MIGHT MIGHT change that to 1-3, but with the way A-Jax and Damon are performing, maybe not
CRAWDADDY (Boycott ESPN-NY) May 17th, 2010 at 6:24 pm
Cashman should be annoyed more than Girardi because he?s the one that took the gamble with NJ and knew his past injury history better than anyone. Oh well, it?s a gamble gone bad, but they can overcome it.
——————————————————————————————
What I want to know is if Nick gave Cash the odds on this signing and he misled him.
Doreen – the Yanks have, what, the second best record in baseball. I think a lot of teams would like to be so challenged.
Um, then DH Miranda. Or DH Thames/OF Golson.
But goodness gracious, moving Tex to 3B?
Crawdaddy
That’s Nick in SF
Pena is one of the worst players in baseball, and yet when we needed a baserunner in the 9th inning yesterday, he put the bat on the ball with 2 strikes, and got on base to bring the tying run to the plate.
Worst players in baseball is quite harsh.
I dont understand the lineup complaints. All those players are hurt what do you want Girardi to do. I dont think Miranda has ever played the outfield even in scranton. His only decision was that he decided to give A-Rod a DH day instead of Miranda which is fine because A-rod is too important yanks got to keep him fresh.
Hi Trisha!!
Shulman/Nomar/Boone calling the game on ESP N
Weird but true:
The Rolling Stones based “Sympathy for the Devil” on Nick in SF.
It was Cuddyer who fouled the ball off Jorge’s foot in the 8th, just before the line drive that Tex couldn’t snag.
Not a good sequence there.
People shouldn’t be complaining about the lineup, but rather, what the injuries have done to our lineup. Dice-K has a very easy lineup to navigate towards. Why would he evr nibble?
ESPN sucks they need to be banned from the stadium!
Joe, actually I went there to compliment them on their team (I do believe Minny is a good team) and to give them some words of support with respect to teams owning other teams. (Obviously that was before Minny won the game.
) I gave them the example of the Angels, as well as Detroit and KC in the past when they were both losing teams, owning the Yankees. I posted there before Minny ended up winning the game. I found the post that I quoted when I was perusing their posts.
Nick in SF is old enough to be GB7′s father?
it this game on BSPN?
anyone?
BSPN,
Yes and Nomar is one of the commentators.
Thanks, Girardi, I haven’t seen a lineup this awful since the Swiss delegation to the Congress of Vienna!
So the Minny bloggers didn’t appreciate your perspicuousness?
Pena is a better player than you guys are giving him credit for but he is what he is on this team the 24th man on the roster.
Actually realizing how few guys are actually available tonight I think this was the lineup that Girardi had no choice but to put out.
His bench is Miranda and Golson the backup 1B and the backup outfielder who can play all 3 positions in the outfield. If he plays Miranda at DH and leaves Pena on the bench he has no backup 1B if tex were to get hurt because if he shifted the DH Miranda to 1B then he loses the DH and the pitcher now must hit. He seems to want to stay away from Swish for at least another day so he can’t use him as the backup 1B.
Golson on the bench gives you a pinch runner late in the game if need be plus Thames is a much better offensive player than Golson. Dice K is the kinda pitcher that although RH Thames can get a hold of and drive on out.
CR-9 –
LGY – the negativity is almost scary. You’d think that eventually people here would get that they’re not smarter than the manager (I better not say that too loud because the arm-chair managers here get very offended if you even suggest that) and that the Yankees are doing one hell of a job under the circumstances. People here are acting like the Yankees have no offense in their lineup and Dice-K is the Jesus of Cy Youngs.
With all of the injuries the Yankees still have the second best record in the majors (yes, that includes the NL where the living is easy). And the Yankees have the best rotation in the majors, bar none.
*************
I read through a lot of today’s posts and the thing that hits me the most is the seeming lack of perspective that some posters seem to possess. A place that should be joyful (team with the record it has despite the injuries) is extremely depressing.
“Cashman should be annoyed? No, he should have seen this coming and made some sort of contingency plan in AAA for this event. NJ isn’t exactly a bastion of health and never has been.”
No, he should be annoyed at himself as I’m sure he had doubts about NJ, but he went ahead anyway.
I hope you all realize that Joe G. had to get Hughes approval before he posted tonite’s lineup.
Joe said “Hughesy, we need you to come up big again for us tonite. I can’t provide you the usual firepower because a lot of our guys are banged up so you’ll just have to shut Boston down. Is that OK with you ? Can you do it ?”
Hughes just looked at Girardi as if to say “Are you kidding ?” , and proceeded to walk away to continue with his warmups.
champ809 -
Thank you, thank you, thank you for that perspective.
“So the Minny bloggers didn?t appreciate your perspicuousness”
They did! It’s one of those sites where people vote on the posts and my post got the most votes!!!
Tonight’s lineup is a few bricks short of a full load, but feel good that our hottest pitcher is going.
Go Phil!!
Any word on Aceves?
Aside from Johnson, there don’t seem to be many concerns, injury wise. Posada and Swish seem like they’ll be fine in 3-4 days, and Park has been activated. Granderson sounds like he is coming along well and is on schedule for a beginning of June return. Ace is our only real loss.
Nick J was a good OBP man, but there are plenty of DH types out there who are available, or will become available. Not to mention, we have one helluva lineup even with Miranda at DH
Game Post up
Did you just hear what francona said about hughes?
“unfortunately for us he’s developing into one of the most premiere right thanded pitchers in the league; at times he’s dominating, which isnt real good news for us.”
Sigh.
Is anyone really surprised that Nick, the not-so-quick Johnson, is injured? I hope Miranda makes me forget we actually brought Johnson back. Good luck to the kid, as I hope he seizes the opportunity.
Thank God the season is 162 games. Let’s get these injuries over with before the ASG.
DaSaint
remember when hank steinbrenner was whining about having a Josh Beckett type (ace) pitcher on the yankees? He has one, his name is Phil HUGHES!
I think, though this lineup is clearly lacking compared to the Sox lineup, we have the superior pitcher on the mound. I think odds are that we’re going to win this game.
It’s been my experience, or at least it’s what I’ve come to believe with the Yankees, that when we need certain guys to produce, they usually will.
That means we’re leaning on Jeter, Arod, Tex, and Cano tonight. They are arguably the best at their position in all of baseball. Let’s not discount their ability to do some damage and win us this game. Don’t be shocked if ARod hits one out in the first inning, either.