Pregame notes: A setback for the setup man
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Notes on May 24, 2011 
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As you might have gathered, this Rafael Soriano situation doesn’t sound good. He was throwing on flat ground yesterday when he felt soreness in his right elbow. Joe Girardi was careful to note that it wasn’t “stiffness” it was “soreness.” Soriano went for a dye-contrast MRI today.
“I can’t tell you exactly why they did another MRI, but the doctor chose to do another,” Girardi said.
When Soriano went on the disabled list last week, he seemed to think this was a short-term issue. He said his elbow was feeling better. He seemed to think rest would do the trick, but so far, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
“I’m more concerned now,” Girardi said. “Because I really thought that we would have him getting ready to possibly go out on a rehab assignment shortly. That doesn’t seem to be the case now.”
The Yankees have been leaning heavily on Joba Chamberlain and Dave Robertson to fill the Soriano void, and Luis Ayala has stepped into the more prominent role as the setup guy who’s kind of a notch below those two.
Girardi said the Yankees are hoping to know more about Soriano after tonight’s game. For now, though, they’re going to be without him a while longer, and that puts more pressure on the perceived depth of this bullpen, which has to go beyond Chamberlain and Robertson.
“If they need a day off, they need a day off,” Girardi said. “That’s the bottom line, so you have to find a way to get it done without them.”
• Blue Jays starter Ricky Romero has unusual splits — probably because his changeup is such a key pitch — and left-handers actually hit him better than right-handers (.278/.345/.465 for lefties, .246/.330/.351 for righties). Girardi said that’s part of the reason both Brett Gardner and Curtis Granderson are in the lineup and Andruw Jones is not.
• Girardi said he also took into account the desire to give Eduardo Nunez at-bats when making tonight’s lineup. Half of Nunez’s starts have come against lefties, and Girardi said he likes that setup to give Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez a break.
• Is Girardi willing to give Nunez an outfield start? “I’m not quite ready to do that yet, but we’ll see,” Girardi said.
• Rodriguez has hit batting average up to .289 and has gotten hot in the past week. “He’s just swung the bat a lot better,” Girardi said. “You don’t see him out front like we did when I thought he was coming out of his legs. We haven’t seen that, and that’s been real important.”
• Girardi was asked if he’ll take Jeter’s 3,000-hit pursuit into account when deciding when and where to rest his shortstop (in an attempt to have him reach the milestone in New York). “I haven’t yet, just because our job is to win games,” Girardi said. “That’s our job. As we get closer I’ll look at things, but like I said, our No. 1 job is to win games and he’s a part of that.”
• Girardi said CC Sabathia’s career success against Jose Bautista (0-for-11) won’t necessarily change the way the Yankees approach the Blue Jays top hitter. “He’s the guy that you can’t let beat you in that lineup,” Girardi said. “There are situations where we’re going to pitch to him, and there are situations when we might pitch around him.”
• Speaking of Sabathia, the Yankees have their Sunday starter listed as TBA and Girardi said he’ll probably announce it tomorrow, after Sabathia starts tonight. Sounds like the Yankees are deciding between Sabathia and Bartolo Colon for that start (they can use Thursday’s off day to change things around).
• And of course, a very happy 70th birthday to Bob Dylan.
Associated Press photos
starting to look like a very bad signing….
Why not post a picture of Soriano smiling?
Oh, I know.
Soriano went for a dye-contrast MRI today.
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Dye was probably not injected into the joint last time. The MRI might still show no structural damage.
Oh wonderful. Now he can go get season ending surgery and NOT opt out after this year so he can come back next year and continue attitude and ineffectiveness.
Yankee Trader – There’s no place around here for that kind of talk. The sky is falling, and you better get out of the way.
lol
Does anyone know how Alex’s hip is doing? Last I heard he wanted to go get it checked out. Has it started to bother him again?
Is there any doubt towards whether Alex goes yard tonight? Nope, only question is how far.
I believe Chad was the one that mentioned that the Soriano deal might be the one to hurt them, and boy was he right on the money. This has Pavano potential written all over him.
Jermaine Dye didn’t homer on his bobblehead day either, good point.
Remember Game Four of the 2001 ALDS, the day after the Jeter Flip Play?
El Duque pitching in the hazy sunshine, Jermaine Dye collapsing in a broken heap?
SoS – You heard that they wanted to check it, as part of routine checkups on homestands… not that he wanted it checked out.
SoS May 24th, 2011 at 5:31 pm
MG
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SoS, Jr is a friend of one of my best friends. I hosted him at my golf club in SF and he couldn’t have been nicer to our members-he signed a bunch of things, bought about a $500 driver from our pro, and was just a pleasure to play golf with-he hits the ball really well and has a terrific short game. The best part for me, though (outside of playing really, really well), was seeing him order matzoh ball soup as part of his lunch after the round lol
I never paid attention to the machinations around his departure from Seattle but he clearly wanted to play in Cincinnati-he’s a real family guy and wanted to watch his kids grow up.
The Sky isn’t falling-YET-where I’m at. I’m not worried about Sorian’s not exercising his opt out after this year. This blog will make him feel so miserable that he won’t hesitate to leave town!!! LOL.
“Why not post a picture of Soriano smiling?”
Found one!
http://www.bigfoothunting.com/images/bigfoot.jpg
Will it be for only 1 more year or a couple more(players option)?
Is Jeters 4th year a players option as well? Whats the buyout?
Nice, Tom.
That must’ve been after they gave him the second opt-out.
ESPN airing a segment right now – “More Likely to Win AL – Red Sox or Indians?”
*gag*
I.E.,
Ill take that as the hip is still good. It surprised me being that they said in spring training it was 100% healthy.
Irreverent Discourse May 24th, 2011 at 10:43 am
All of you people championing for Beltran better remember that in 2 months when his knees break down again.
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Catching up on the posts from today.
I thought you couldn’t predict injuries???
Cash was right, it cost us a Draft Pick. Levine should stick to picking his nose.
I like Nunez playing SS or 3rd base while Jeter or Arod DH as long as he can get the ball to 1st base. He can hit and gives them a spark at the bottom of the order and if he continues to hit then he should play more and more and make Posada and Jones earn playing time.
Also, is it blasphemy to prefer the version ‘No Direction Home/Bootleg Series” version of “Visions of Johanna” better than the orginial?
MG,
Sounds like you had a blast at that golf course. Im not a golf guy (still think its for old people) but I will tell my bro (huge fan of golf) all about your story. Im sure he’ll enjoy hearing about it.
Best Centerfielder ever?
“I believe Chad was the one that mentioned that the Soriano deal might be the one to hurt them, and boy was he right on the money.”
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I believe you’re right.
Though, giving a setup man a contract with two player option years for potentially $35M is awful risky and a more obvious choice for the most “disappointing or underperforming player”.
The biggest concern with the option years was the possibility of injury. Let’s hope that concern is not realized.
You know it was a bad deal when the GM of the team said so at the presser…
LGY – You can’t, but when a 34 year old outfielder has microfracture surgery you have to ask yourself why you think he would stay healthy. That is not a problem that goes away, he has no cartilage on his knees. That didn’t change with the surgery, they just tried to pad it with scar tissue.
Soriano had no precursor surgery and was healthy for 2 seasons.
If that’s how you base your predictions, don’t bet the house.
I think Cash should have Tampa Bay pitch in for some of Sorianos time at the dl. Its obvious they over used him knowing he would end up here. Call it temporary disability income.
SoS – He only pitched 62 innings for TB last year
BD (Boston Dave),
I honestly thought Chad was crazy at the time. I looked at his previous seasons and his numbers were stellar and it looked as if we finally have a legitimate set up man, not so much anymore.