The LoHud Yankees Blog

I’m writing this post on my phone in the clubhouse so that I can get on the road quickly. A night game in Port Charlotte is no good. No good at all.

Turns out; the decision to bring Brett Gardner on this trip actually has more to do with Andruw Jones than anything to do with the lineup. The Yankees are facing lefties the next couple of days and Joe Girardi wants Jones in those lineups.

To get Jones in the outfield the next two days, Gardner will take the day off tomorrow and Curtis Granderson will be off on Wednesday.

A few more quick notes.

– Girardi said he’ll probably stick with this lineup whenever Gardner and Derek Jeter play together the next few days. That’s because the Yankees have a full season to inform their thoughts on Jeter in the leadoff spot. They’re using spring training to look at this version of the lineup.

– Pedro Feliciano threw a 25-pitch bullpen and said he felt good. Freddy Garcia also threw a side.

– Joba Chamberlain will pitch in tomorrow’s game in Sarasota. “You feel better (about Chamberlain) than you did a week ago,” Girardi said.

– Mariano Rivera pitched at the minor league complex today. Jones also played down there to get at bats.

– Greg Golson took regular batting practice this afternoon. He was a late addition to tomorrow’s travel roster and might play if he feels good tomorrow morning.

– Mark Teixeira is not making today’s trip, but he’s healthy and will be on the road tomorrow.

– Off the bench: C Austin Romine, 1B Brandon Laird, 2B Kevin Russo, SS Doug Bernier, 3B Jorge Vazquez, LF Jordan Parraz, CF Melky Mesa, no backup listed for RF.

– Out of the bullpen: Manny Banuelos, Romulo Sanchez, Steve Garrison, Eric Wordekemper, Ryan Pope, Cory Arbiso and Pat Venditte.

– Pretty sure Arbiso’s first name is Cory. Never met him and don’t have a media guide down here with me, but I think that’s right. I’m also quite sure it won’t matter. He’s making the trip as a backup.

As I remember it, the starting outfielders were not supposed to make this road trip, but Brett Gardner is in the lineup, once again batting leadoff.

Brett Gardner CF
Derek Jeter DH
Jorge Posada 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Russell Martin C
Ramiro Pena SS
Eduardo Nunez LF
Justin Maxwell RF

Bartolo Colon

Joe Girardi understands the intrigue at the top of the Yankees lineup. He understands that a fast young player is coming off a terrific season, and he understands that an iconic player is coming off a bad season.

“I think the fans are into everything we do,” Girardi said. “But you’re talking about Derek Jeter, and any time his name is mentioned, it’s going to be a big story.”

Tonight, the choice is easy — Jeter is making the road trip and Brett Gardner is not — but Girardi said he’ll continue to look at different orders through this final week and a half of spring training. Yesterday Gardner got another turn in the leadoff spot while Jeter batted second, and Girardi joked that it obviously worked because the Yankees won big.

“We’re going to continue to do it,” Girardi said. “It’s something that we’ll sit down and have a meeting about, probably pretty soon, within the next week and talk about what we all think about it and go from there. It’s an experiment that we’re willing to try right now.”

As for me: I’m starting to believe Girardi will make the change. I came into camp fully expecting Jeter to be the leadoff hitter, but frankly, moving back to No. 2 isn’t really a blow to Jeter’s ego, nor is it a knock on his abilities. Gardner’s shown his usual patience this spring, and the two-handed approach seems to be working when he swings the bat. As an added bonus, batting Gardner leadoff lets Nick Swisher hit in a run producing spot in the lineup.

“It doesn’t matter to me, one way or the other,” Gardner said.

Jeter was gone in a flash yesterday — probably trying to catch some of that near Michigan upset — so I didn’t talk to him after the game, but Girardi said he’s talked to the Yankees captain about the possibility of a change at the top of the order.

“He said he just wants to play,” Girardi said.

Associated Press photo of Jeter

The Yankees have announced most of their remaining spring training rotation, and it’s easy enough to speculate about most of the remaining starters.

These games are set.

3/21, Monday: Bartolo Colon
3/22, Tuesday: Sergio Mitre
3/23, Wednesday: A.J. Burnett & Phil Hughes
3/24, Thursday: Off day (Girardi incidated that Freddy Garcia will pitch in some capacity)
3/25, Friday: Ivan Nova
3/26, Saturday: CC Sabathia

For the final three spring games, it seems likely that the Yankees will give A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes one last turn before the regular season. Those two could pitch in the minor leagues — especially Burnett, who would line up against Tampa Bay — but it makes sense that they’ll pitch one way or another on Monday or Tuesday. Sergio Mitre would be on proper rest to make next Sunday’s start, but the Yankees might need/want that game for a different rotation candidate (Colon maybe?).

Girardi guaranteed that all roster decisions will be finalized on the 28th, so giving one of the rotation candidates a start after that date wouldn’t do much good. This is speculation, but the final spring starts could line up like this.

3/27, Sunday: Mitre/Colon
3/28, Monday: A.J. Burnett
3/29, Tuesday: Phil Hughes
3/30, Wednesday: workout at Yankee Stadium

If the Yankees pick Nova as their fourth starter and keep him on turn, it would make sense to have him pitch on Wednesday — either some sort of sim game in New York or in a minor league game in Florida — so that he stays on turn for the fourth game of the regular season. The regular season opens at home against the Tigers, and the Yankees have already announced their rotation for that series.

3/31, Thursday: CC Sabathia
4/1, Friday: off day
4/2, Saturday: A.J. Burnett
4/3, Sunday: Phil Hughes

Russell Martin told Joe Girardi that he wanted to catch today. He wanted at least one more spring game with the Yankees ace, and Martin was behind the plate for another strong CC Sabathia start: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

“Me and Russ, we’re pretty much locked in,” Sabathia said. “I didn’t have to shake at all and that’s good. At this point in the season, we’ve had a couple of starts, and for us to be on the same page, communication is pretty good.”

Sabathia said he was happy with everything today. His breaking ball was good, his changeup was good and he was able to locate his fastball. He knee felt good, his arm felt strong and Sabathia felt at ease with the new guy behind the plate.

“(Martin)’s going to be our guy and you want to have that relationship and not have any confusion and be shaking off a bunch,” he said. “I feel like we’re on the same page.”

• Sabathia will get an extra day of rest before making his final spring training start on Saturday. Joe Girardi said Sabathia will slightly dial back the number of pitches next time out.

• Mark Teixeira hit his first home run this afternoon, adding one more element to an already strong spring training. He’s batting .342 with a team-high eight doubles. “I see him in the cage all the time taking a ton of swings,” Girardi said. “I’ll walk by and it’ll be late, or it’ll be early, and you’ll hear bam, bam, bam. And it’s Tex. He’s put his mind to this.”

• Girardi said after the game that he’s still no certain when Joba Chamberlain or Pedro Feliciano will pitch again. Chamberlain seems closer to a game than Feliciano. Both expect to be ready for the regular season.

• Guess Boone Logan’s back and arm are feeling fine. He struck out the side in the ninth inning.

• Speaking of the bullpen, Dave Robertson struck out the only batter he faced and Rafael Soriano pitched a hitless eighth. Robertson, Soriano and Logan combined for this pitching line: 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K.

• Girardi said he’ll continue to experiment with the top of the order, getting looks at both Brett Gardner and Derek Jeter in the leadoff spot. “We won 8-1,” he said. “It worked pretty good.”

• Gardner wore a shin guard over his right shin but said he felt fine. “Feeling a lot better than I thought it would,” he said. He went 2-for-4 has his batting average back up .286.

• Another hit for Jeter. He’s batting .341. Also, another hit for Eric Chavez, who’s hitting .371 and got his third spring double today, this one off a left-hander.

• It’s been a little overlooked lately, lost in all of the A-Rod home runs and leadoff debate, but Curtis Granderson is still having a terrific spring. He had two more hits today and is batting .385 with three triples and a team-high 11 runs. His 15 hits are one less than Rodriguez.

• Jesus Montero had his second spring double today. In his past six games Montero is 4-for-11 (.364) with two doubles, three runs, one walk and three strikeouts. He was hitless in his 11 previous at-bats.

• Justin Maxwell and Ronnie Belliard also doubled today. It was Belliard’s second spring hit. He’s batting .143. He also made an error today.

• Nick Swisher had a base hit and two RBI today, but he’s bigger moment came when he threw out Ryan Howard at the plate in the sixth inning. Martin was blocking the plate, and when Howard knew he was out, he slowed down to avoid a collision. Teixeira went out of his way to high five Martin after the play.

• You could easily make the case that this was the Yankees best game of the spring: Their starter went deep, their everyday guys hit really well and they won 8-1. “You want to see that,” Girardi said. “You want to see it all start to come together. Today, that’s how you draw it up.”

Associated Press photos of Sabathia, Teixeira and Martin (with Howard)

The numbers are impossible to ignore: Alex Rodriguez has played in 13 games this spring, and he has a hit in every one. He has six doubles, five home runs and he leads the Yankees with 11 RBI.

In spring training, though, teams are conditioned to look beyond the statistics.

“The way he’s driving the baseball is what you’re used to seeing from Alex,” Joe Girardi said. “And that you can’t ignore.”

Rodriguez came into spring training talking a lot about his health and his body. He dropped a few pounds and said he felt more flexible. There was no injury that required rehabilitation this winter, and so he trained through the offseason.

“One way or the other really wouldn’t be very surprising,” he said. “If I was hitting .100 or hitting .400, it’s pretty much the same thing. I’ve always said, I keep saying all along, that for me, I don’t put a lot of stock into spring training stats one way or another. But what I do put stock in is what happens pre and post game.

“For the most part, (hitting coach Kevin Long) and I have been very happy with our work, and so has (infield coach Mick Kelleher). I feel more consistent, a little more energized, and my body feels healthier.”

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YANKEES (9-12-3)
Brett Gardner LF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Curtis Granderson CF
Eric Chavez 3B
Russell Martin C

LHP CC Sabathia (0-0, 4.66)
Sabathia vs. Phillies

PHILLIES (15-8)
Shane Victorino CF
Michael Martinez 2B
Jimmy Rollins SS
Ryan Howard 1B
Ben Francisco LF
John Mayberry Jr. RF
Carlos Ruiz C
Wilson Valdez 3B
Joe Blanton RHP

RHP Joe Blanton (1-0, 3.45)
Blanton vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 1:05 p.m., not on television

WEATHER: Can’t complain. Bright and sunny, as usual. Wind is blowing across the field from left to right.

UMPIRES: HP Andy Fletcher, 1B Tom Hallion, 2B Phil Cuzzi, 3B Manny Gonzalez

ON THE LINE: Another look at Brett Gardner in the leadoff spot, with Derek Jeter batting second. That’s probably the most significant thing happening today. Eric Chavez is in the lineup, but his spot seems locked up at this point. Also, Boone Logan will make another appearance after a brief back spasms setback (which, come to think of it, didn’t really set him back at all).

OUT OF THE BULLPEN FOR THE YANKEES: RHP Rafael Soriano, RHP David Robertson and LHP Boone Logan made the trip. RHP Romulo Sanchez seems to be the next in line.

OUT OF THE BULLPEN FOR THE PHILLIES: RHP Jose Contreras and LHP Antonio Bastardo.

FIT TO BE TIED: The last time the Yankees had three ties in spring training was 2007 when they went 14-13-3.

UPDATE, 1:15 p.m.: Another base hit for Jeter, who was thrown out trying to steal second.

UPDATE, 1:27 p.m.: A-Rod continues his strong spring with a leadoff double in the second inning. He advanced on a 4-3 and scored on Swisher’s sac fly to deep right-center. It’s 1-0 Yankees heading into the bottom of the second.

UPDATE, 1:51 p.m.: First spring home run by Mark Teixeira has the Yankees in front 2-0. Nice spring by Teixeira, though it’s not his March numbers that matter. The trick is carrying this success into April.

UPDATE, 1:52 p.m.: Make that back-to-back as Rodriguez goes deep for his team-high fifth home run of the spring. He has a hit in all 13 of his starts this season.

UPDATE, 1:56 p.m.: Eric Chavez very nearly gave the Yankees three home runs in the fourth inning, but his drive to right hooked just foul.

UPDATE, 2:31 p.m.: Sabathia had retired eight in a row before Jimmy Rollins took him deep with a two-out home run in the sixth inning. It’s 3-1 Yankees.

UPDATE, 2:58 p.m.: Sabathia is finished after 6.2 innings. He struck out five, walked one and allowed one hit. He threw 85 pitches, 62 for strikes. Here’s Dave Robertson.

When you’re job is to gather news in Yankees camp, it’s never good to hear the manager say this: “Nothing has happened since yesterday.”

Those were Joe Girardi’s first words this morning when the beat writers met with him before driving to Clearwater.

Girardi said he’s still not sure when Joba Chamberlain or Pedro Feliciano might pitch next, and he has no lineup or rotation announcements to make. For the most part, everything is the same as it was last night.

Phil Hughes joked that he could give us a story.

“I could throw a chair or something,” he said.

Truth is, Hughes had the same attitude as ever when asked about being named the No. 3 starter instead of the No. 2. He’s a pretty laid back guy, and his exact spot in the rotation didn’t seem to matter.

“It’s a lot better than last year,” he said. “When it comes down to it, in the middle of the year, it doesn’t matter.”

• Andruw Jones was scratched from today’s travel roster so that he could play in a minor league game and get several at-bats. When big league guys go down to minor league camp, they usually leadoff the first five or six innings, then call it a day. Girardi said he’ll be sending some more guys down to minor league camp in the coming days to get at-bats that way.

• Sounds like the Yankees won’t have a full off day on Thursday after all. Girardi said that Larry Rothschild mentioned the possibility of someone pitching that morning. Girardi wouldn’t say who, but I have to think it will be Freddy Garcia.

• What’s keeping Girardi from naming Ivan Nova his No. 4 starter? “We just want to let it play out,” he said. “I think it’s important to go out and earn things.”

• Jesus Montero will catch tomorrow night’s game on the road. Not sure this carries any real weight in the backup catcher competition, but… Girardi said Montero has closed the defensive gap between himself and Austin Romine, but Romine is still better defensively at this point. “Maybe a little bit,” Girardi said.

• Greg Golson has been cleared to hit in the cage.

• Ivan Nova has a one-inning sim game today against Eduardo Nunez and Ramiro Pena. A.J. Burnett and Sergio Mitre threw sides.

• Off the bench: C Jesus Montero, 1B Jorge Vazquez, 2B Ronnie Belliard, SS Doug Bernier, 3B Brandon Laird, LF Kevin Russo, CF Melky Mesa, RF Justin Maxwell. No backup DH listed.

• Out of the bullpen: Rafael Soriano, Boone Logan, Dave Robertson, Romulo Sanchez, Steve Garrison, Eric Wordekemper, Ryan Pope, Josh Schmidt and Andy Sisco.

• Tomorrow’s travelers today: Tomorrow the Yankees have a night game in Port Charlotte, roughly a two-hour drive.

Pitchers who will be making the trip: Bartolo Colon, Manny Banuelos, Steve Garrison, Ryan Pope, Romulo Sanchez and Eric Wordekemper

Players who will not be making the trip: Russell Martin, Jorge Posada, Ronnie Belliard, Eric Chavez, Brett Gardner, Greg Golson, Curtis Granderson and Nick Swisher.

• Finally, Derek Jeter is on today’s trip, despite the fact his beloved Michigan is playing Duke this afternoon in the NCAA Tournament. There was a lot of joking with Jeter about that this morning. Those third and fourth at-bats might be awfully quick from the Yankees captain (not really, but there was plenty of joking that he should finish those ABs as fast as possible so he can get home and watch).

Associated Press photos of Hughes and Jones

Brett Gardner LF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Curtis Granderson CF
Eric Chavez 3B
Russell Martin C

CC Sabathia LHP

First, let me point you toward the LoHud Knicks Blog, which was just relaunched by The Journal News. I know there are some Knicks fans out there, so give it a look and check in often.

Second, the Yankees passed along this announcement from CC Sabathia’s PitCCh In Foundation. If you’re in the Tampa area next weekend, this might be right up your alley.

See what I did there?

CC Sabathia’s “Five-Deuce” Bowling Tournament Set for March 26 in Tampa Event to Raise Funds for the PitCCh In Foundation to Help Kids in Need

TAMPA, FL (March 19, 2011) – CC Sabathia of the New York Yankees is looking to have a ball to cap off 2011 Spring Training. A bowling ball that is.

On Saturday, March 26, CC will gather his friends from the Yankees and the community for the first “Five Deuce” Bowling Tournament to benefit the PitCCh In Foundation and its ongoing commitment to improving the lives of inner-city youth. Open to participation and attendance by the general public, the event will take place beginning at 7:00 p.m. at Splitsville Lanes in Channelside Bay Plaza, located at 615 Channelside Drive in Tampa, Florida.

Tournament participants will bowl two (2) games during the course of the night, with the top four-person teams and individual scorers recognized at the conclusion of the event. Spots for lane sponsorships, which include availability for a four-person team to participate, are available for $5,000 and include food and beverage. Individual bowler spots are also available at $1,000 each, which also includes food and beverage. A VIP viewing area that allows front row seats for fans are available for $100 each.

“Amber and I enjoy bowling and thought it would be a great way to get our friends and my teammates together, have some fun and raise money to help kids in need. One thing I’m sure of is it will be a great night for all,” said Sabathia.

Sabathia’s PitCCh In Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit organization that supports inner-city youth through the funding and support of academic and athletic programs in the New York and Northern California areas.

For more information about the Five Deuce Bowling Tournament, please contact www.pitcchinfoundation.org.

Associated Press photo of Sabathia laughing at my “right up your alley” joke