The LoHud Yankees Blog

There’s a obvious problem with basing spring training decisions on spring training results: The results don’t mean much.

Right now, Freddy Garcia seems to be the worst of the Yankees four back-of-the-rotation candidates. Two bad starts in a row have pushed his spring ERA to 5.93, almost double that of any of the other three candidates. Tonight he breezed through the Blue Jays lineup once, then struggled his second and third times through.

“I’m not going to make too much of one start,” Joe Girardi said. “But obviously you have to continue to make pitches in this league, there’s no doubt about it. Sometimes you have to change patterns and sometimes you don’t, but the quality of pitches have to always be there.”

So what to make of this start and this spring? Garcia has been a notoriously bad spring training pitcher. He was brutal last year, but still gave the White Sox a reliable back-end starter. Today Garcia allowed a sixth-inning home run to a left-handed hitter, and Girardi said he might have brought a lefty from the bullpen if this were a regular-season game. Earlier in that inning, Garcia allowed a double over the head of Eduardo Nunez, who was playing out of position in left field.

“If Gardy’s out there, that’s maybe three outs and he only gives up three runs and we’re not asking these questions,” Girardi said.

Fair enough, but there are still questions to answer, and the Yankees are running out of time to answer them. Before today’s game, Brian Cashman said that a decision will have to be made sooner rather than later, but Girardi wasn’t so sure. He said every candidate will get one more start before anything is finalized.

“Obviously you’d like to be able to set guys up as soon as you could, but if we feel like we still have evaluations to make, we’ll make them,” Girardi said.

• Garcia’s take on his outing: “I feel good, but I don’t want to give up five runs. Whatever happens after today, I don’t know. That (decision) is not on me.”

• As he’s said more than once this spring, Cashman once again said that he doesn’t expect to add a starter before Opening Day.

• Garcia’s outing would have looked a lot better without David Cooper’s two-out, two-run homer in the sixth (which was crushed, by the way). Garcia said the pitch was a slider. He wishes he’d thrown a changeup. “Last inning, two outs, 3-2, base is open, I should throw a better pitch,” he said.

• Mariano Rivera pitched another hitless inning, this one with two strikeouts. He’s pitched three innings this spring, allowing one hit and striking out five.

• Mark Prior also pitched a scoreless inning with two strikeouts, and Luis Ayala pitched a scoreless inning with no strikeouts. When the game went 10 innings, Ryan Pope got two outs and Steve Garrison got the third on a deep fly ball.

• Girardi said he’s not sure when Joba Chamberlain will get in a game. “We’ll see how he feels tomorrow,” Girardi said. However, it appears Boone Logan will pitch tomorrow. “His back spasms were much better,” Girardi said.

• Eduardo Nunez started in left field and made one great running catch at the warning track, but he misplayed another ball hit to deep left and it bounced off his glove for a double. Nunez said he had trouble dealing with the sun on the double. “Nuney made one great catch and he got turned around on the other,” Girardi said.

• Robinson Cano hit his first spring home run, while Alex Rodriguez extended his spring hitting streak to 12 games. Rodriguez has a hit in every one of his starts and he’s batting .412/.459/.912 with four home runs.

• Another good day for Derek Jeter, who went 3-for-4 with a double that was his second extra-base hit of the spring. The other was a kind of flukey triple. He’s batting .351 with two strikeouts and two walks. He also got his first stolen base today.

• Another hit for Eric Chavez. He’s now hitting .375 with a .412 on-base percentage.

• Girardi said he’s not worried about Brett Gardner’s calf. All three outfielders got the day off because they had played three games in a row.

• Girardi decided after yesterday’s game to keep Russell Martin out of today’s game. Martin wasn’t hurt and didn’t ask out, but Girardi said he “bounced around a lot” while blocking A.J. Burnett’s curveball, so Girardi wanted to give him a break. If not for all the balls in the dirt yesterday, Martin would have caught today. He’ll catch tomorrow.

• On a related note: Girardi makes every spring lineup several days in advance. Third-base coach Rob Thomson posts the lineup every day, and Thomson passed it along to the PR department before Girardi had a chance to tell him to change it. That’s why Martin was initially announced but later scratched. It wasn’t a late decision, only a late communication.

• Had Garcia not pitched six innings, Manny Banuelos would have pitched multiple innings out of the bullpen. Instead, he’ll pitch Monday behind Bartolo Colon.

• As of right now, Thursday’s off day will be a complete day off. Girardi said the Yankees have nothing planned for any of their players that day.

Associated Press photos of Cano, Rivera and Jeter with Kevin Long

Just 24 hours after a series of injuries left some mild concerns about the state of the Yankees bullpen, the Yankees relievers came through with flying colors today. And Freddy Garcia said he wouldn’t be opposed to joining them.

“If I can pitch in the bullpen, I pitch in the bullpen,” Garcia said. “The goal is to make the team, but that’s not in my hands. Try to do my best. I don’t pitch the way I want to pitch (today), but that’s the way it is.”

Whether the Yankees would be willing to put Garcia in the bullpen might be a different story. He’s made just one relief appearance in his career, and that was in 2000. If he’s not good enough to make the rotation, the Yankees might not want him in the pen.

While he’s not opposed to the bullpen, Garcia made it clear he will not go to Triple-A.

“If I don’t make the team, what am I supposed to do in Triple-A?” he said. “I’m 34 years old. I’ve been in the big leagues a long time. There’s nothing to go to Triple-A and prove. I make the team or not.”

In other bullpen news, three pitchers showed injury progress today.

Joba Chamberlain
Strained oblique
Threw a full bullpen this morning, giving maximum effort on the last few pitches. Chamberlain said the oblique never bothered him and he thinks he’ll be ready for a game in the next few days.

“I feel great, and I’d rather have this happen at this time instead of this time next week,” he said. “There would be no question (if it happened next week) that I wouldn’t be able to make the season. I want to head north with these guys.”

Pedro Feliciano
Sore left triceps
Threw a light bullpen this morning — 15 or so pitches at about 80 percent effort — and reported no problems. He said the injury is “normal spring training tightness” and he has no doubt he’ll be ready for Opening Day. Probably one more bullpen, this one at 100 percent effort, then he’ll be back in a game.

“I don’t want to rush it and take a step back,” he said. “I’ve been pitching good. I have to get back on my rhythm and be fine again.”

Boone Logan
Back spasms
Yesterday Joe Girardi said Logan could miss four or five days, but Logan said it won’t be nearly that long. In fact, he’s scheduled to make tomorrow’s trip to Clearwater and Logan think he’ll pitch in the game. He had some extra time off to let his arm regain some strength, and while that worked, it might have upset his upper back.

“It was the regular spot where I get sore,” Logan said. “It was just like a knot, really. I think it was from not being in a game for 10 days or however long it was. The intensity of the game kind of triggered a little spasm by my shoulder blade… I feel fine.”

Associated Press photo of Garcia, head shot of Chamberlain

Joe Girardi announced today that A.J. Burnett will be the Yankees No. 2 starter and Phil Hughes will be the No. 3.

“That’s what we brought A.J. here to do,” Girardi said. “He struggled last year, but we believe he’s going to be back.”

This was the Yankees plan all along, Girardi said. The two were swapped earlier this spring because of rest issues — Girardi didn’t go into detail, but Hughes was here well before camp opened, and it would make sense that he was slightly ahead — and the Yankees have always planned to have both Burnett and Hughes pitch on Wednesday the 23rd. One will throw in a minor league game, the other in the big league game. After that, Hughes will get an extra day of rest before making his regular-season debut.

• Russell Martin is fine, but Girardi wanted to give him a day off after taking a bit of a beating yesterday.

• Ivan Nova will throw a simulated game tomorrow. He’ll make his next start on the 25th. Girardi said Nova is still in the competition, but that would seem to line him up as the No. 4 starter.

• Dellin Betances has been optioned to Double-A Trenton, and Andrew Brackman cleared out his locker to officially report to minor league camp. “Their innings got kind of eaten up,” Girardi said.

• Speaking of which, Manny Banuelos did not get into today’s game and has been rescheduled to pitch behind Bartolo Colon on Monday.

YANKEES (9-12-2)
Derek Jeter SS
Eduardo Nunez LF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Andruw Jones RF
Austin Romine C
Melky Mesa CF

RHP Freddy Garcia (1-1, 4.70)
Garcia vs. Blue Jays

BLUE JAYS (11-9)
Corey Patterson CF
John McDonald SS
Jose Bautista 3B
Adam Lind 1B
Juan Rivera RF
Travis Snider LF
Jose Molina C
Eric Thames DH
Mike McCoy 2B

LHP Brett Cecil (0-1, 3.00)
Cecil vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 1:05 p.m., YES Network

WEATHER: Another beautiful day, almost no wind. We’ve been lucky this spring with pretty consistent weather.

UMPIRES: HP Mark Wegner, 1B Eric Cooper, 2B Marty Foster, 3B Dan Iassogna

ON THE LINE: Freddy Garcia was knocked around in his previous start. This is his chance to bounce back and make his case that he should still be a favorite for the Yankees rotation. Also, Eduardo Nunez and Ramiro Pena are getting time in left field, and Austin Romine is getting a start in his first day back in camp.

OUT OF THE BULLPEN FOR THE YANKEES: RHP Mariano Rivera, LHP Manny Banuelos, RHP Mark Prior and RHP Luis Ayala. By the way, not suggesting he’ll break camp with the big league club, but Ayala seems to have made a good impression. Could get a mid-season look if a spot opens.

OUT OF THE BULLPEN FOR THE BLUE JAYS: RHP Carlos Villanueva and RHP Casey Janssen

KEVIN LAWN AWARD: INF Eduardo Nunez and RHP David Phelps will receive their Kevin Lawn awards today. The award goes to the Yankees minor league Player and Pitcher of the Year. Nunez hit .289 with 25 doubles and 23 stolen bases last season in Triple-A, Phelps had a 2.50 ERA with 141 strikeouts between Double-A and Triple-A.

MAKE IT FOUR IN A ROW: Alex Rodriguez has homered in his past three games.

UPDATE, 1:12 p.m.: There’s a 1-2-3 first inning for Garcia.

UPDATE, 1:18 p.m.: Alex Rodriguez’s two-out RBI single has given the Yankees a 1-0 lead, and extended Rodriguez’s hitting streak to 12 games. He has a hit in every game this spring.

UPDATE, 1:22 p.m.: Robinson Cano follows with his first spring home run, and it’s now 3-0 Yankees.

UPDATE, 2:10 p.m.: The fourth inning fell apart a little bit for Garcia. He’d faced the minimum with only one ball hit in the air, but he started the fourth with four straight batters reaching base, including a leadoff double. The Blue Jays scored three runs to tie the game at 3 heading into the bottom of the fourth.

By the way, Melky Mesa can cover some ground in center. Just made a nice running catch on a sac fly to the left-center gap.

UPDATE, 2:24 p.m.: Guess Nunez is pretty comfortable in left. He just made a nice running catch at the warning track for the last out of the fifth inning. Waiting with a high five as soon as he jogged off the field was Derek Jeter.

UPDATE, 2:42 p.m.: An RBI single by Posada has the Yankees in the lead 4-3, but the inning ended with Andruw Jones grounding into a double play with the bases loaded. Jones has been pretty bad this spring, though I’m not sure it matters.

UPDATE, 2:45 p.m.: Nunez didn’t look so good on that one. A leadoff double got over his head in the sixth.

UPDATE, 2:51 p.m.: Had Nunez caught that first fly ball, Garcia would have gotten through a 1-2-3 sixth inning, retiring the first nine batters and the last nine batters he faced this afternoon. Instead, the Nunez ball dropped for a double and Garcia allowed a massive two-out, two-run home run by David Cooper. He positively crushed it to right field and tis’ 5-4 Blue Jays.

Boone Logan laughed when he was approached by reporters this morning.

“Yeah, I’m all better,” he said.

Logan said his back spasms were more like a knot near his shoulder blade, in a spot where he gets a knot from time to time.

“I think the intensity of the game kind of triggered a little spasm,” he said.

Logan went through normal drills today and hopes to pitch in tomorrow’s game. It seems the situation is not nearly as bad as Joe Girardi was worried it might be yesterday.

UPDATE, 11:40 a.m.: Just saw Russell Martin. He said he’s also healthy.

“I’m good, I’m going tomorrow,” he said.

Still no word on why Russell Martin was removed from today’s lineup, but Austin Romine has been away from the team to deal with a personal matter and he just got back to camp this morning. The change could be as simple as wanting to get Romine back on the field as soon as possible.

Might know more before the start of the game. For now, though, I can only say that Martin seems to be just fine. He seems to be going through drills like he normally would.

• While pitchers threw bullpens this morning, Tony Pena took Jesus Montero through some drills, flipping balls one after another and having Montero catch them barehanded. By the time Montero flipped the first ball back to Pena, the second ball was on its way.

• Speaking of that bullpen, Joba Chamberlain and Pedro Feliciano each threw bullpens this morning and came out saying they felt fine. Chamberlain threw pretty close to 100 percent and said he feels ready for a game. Feliciano threw close to 80 percent, only 15 or 20 pitches, and said he’ll probably throw a full bullpen before he’s ready for a game. Both said they expect to be ready for Opening Day.

• Boone Logan was a late addition to tomorrow’s travel roster. Could mean that his back is better than expected.

• Phil Hughes, Bartolo Colon and Dellin Betances also threw bullpens this morning.

• Eduardo Nunez is starting in left field, with Ramiro Pena playing left field off the bench. The Yankees want to get both utility candidates a few outfield reps so that they can be emergency fifth outfielders if necessary.

• Brett Gardner is not in the lineup, but he said his sore right calf is fine. “I’m good to play today,” he said. The outfielders seem to be getting a regular day off.

• A.J. Burnett has a massive bruise on his lower back after being hit by yesterday’s line drive, but he said he feels fine.

• The most recent cuts are still in camp, with Kevin Russo, Brandon Laird and Melky Mesa scheduled to make tomorrow’s road trip. Those cuts seem to have been paper moves, nothing more. Nothing about their daily routine has changed.

• Off the Bench: C Jesus Montero, 1B Eric Chavez, 2B Kevin Russo, SS Doug Bernier, 3B Ronnie Belliard, LF Ramiro Pena, CF Justin Maxwell, RF Jordan Parraz, DH Gustavo Molina

• Out of the Bullpen: Mariano Rivera, Manny Banuelos, Mark Prior, Luis Ayala, Steve Garrison, Eric Wordekemper, Ryan Pope, Wilkins Arias, Hernandez

• Tomorrow’s Travelers Today: The Yankees are taking almost all of their regulars on the road to Clearwater tomorrow.

Pitchers who will be making the trip: CC Sabathia, Steve Garrison, Boone Logan, Ryan Pope, Dave Robertson, Romulo Sanchez, Rafael Soriano, Eric Wordekemper, Josh Schmidt, Andy Sisco.

Players who will not be making the trip: Jorge Posada, Eduardo Nunez, Ramiro Pena, Greg Golson, Colin Curtis, Francisco Cervelli

• After the Wolverines’ lopsided win over Tennessee, Derek Jeter showed up this morning wearing a Michigan t-shirt.

Derek Jeter SS
Eduardo Nunez LF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Andruw Jones RF
Austin Romine C
Melky Mesa CF

Not sure what happened last night, but my hope is that the blog is back up and running with no problems. Here’s today’s lineup at home against the Blue Jays.

Derek Jeter SS
Russell Martin C
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Andruw Jones RF
Eduardo Nunez LF
Melky Mesa CF

Freddy Garcia RHP

According to the numbers, this was an awful day for Russell Martin. The new Yankees catcher allowed three stolen bases, he let a third strike get past him, he threw a ball into the outfield, and he was charged with a passed ball. Bad day, right?

“I actually thought he did a pretty good job,” Joe Girardi said. “He must have blocked 48 out of 49 balls.”

A.J. Burnett said the same thing. Burnett was actually impressed with his new catcher this afternoon. Burnett said the stolen bases were because he was slower to the plate than usual (Girardi confirmed this), and Burnett also had his curveball going this afternoon, which meant a lot of balls in the dirt. One of them got past Martin — that was the strike three that turned into a run — and the other pitch to the backstop was a fastball that Martin tried to frame to steal a strike. Martin said he tried to get “a little bit too cute” and let the pitch glance off his glove. Burnett joked with him that it didn’t matter because everyone in the stadium would assume it was Burnett’s fault.

“He’s done good,” Burnett said. “He’s learned what I like to do, what I want to do and he puts that four-finger pitch (the changeup) down. That’s going to help me out this year. He’s doing well.”

Martin seems to be building a strong reputation with the Yankees pitching staff. Today he told Girardi that he wants to catch Freddy Garcia and CC Sabathia this weekend, just to get a little more time with them. He also wants to catch Phil Hughes next week because he’s worked with Hughes only once this spring.

The Yankees are also breaking in a new backup behind the plate, but Martin said he has an advantage over the young guys because his big league experience makes it easier to adjust at this level.

“I have a bigger sample of past pitchers to kind of reflect on that are kind of similar,” Martin said. “A big part of it is knowing the hitters and how big league hitters approach the game, and knowing the different types of hitters. It’s a process. You never stop learning.”

Associated Press photo of Martin with Brett Gardner

Brett Gardner should have scored from second on Curtis Granderson’s third-inning single to right, but he was thrown out at the plate. And that’s when Joe Girardi knew something was wrong.

“I was going hard,” Gardner said. “But I couldn’t get out of third gear. The clutch was slipping.”

Gardner fouled a ball off his shin yesterday. It came on the second pitch he saw, and although he stayed in the game and felt good this morning, his calf was a little tight this afternoon. Girardi said he noticed Gardner “didn’t get the push off you would expect” on that single to right, and when Gardner got to the dugout, Girardi asked about it. Gardner said he could still play, but Girardi told him to sit.

“I’ll be fine,” Gardner said. “I’m fine now, but I just couldn’t run 100 percent and I guess when he saw that, he said he didn’t want to take any  chances… It’s just a little bruise, that’s all.”

On a related note but completely unimportant note, before today’s bus left Steinbrenner Field, Gardner asked Nick Swisher for a pair of grey road pants. Gardner knew he was going to wrap his calf for the game, and he wanted to go with long pants instead of the high socks. So he went with a pair of Swisher’s.

Associated Press photo