The LoHud Yankees Blog

Outside of wild speculation about who they might be interested in acquiring, the Yankees now have their first legitimate deadline trade rumor: Ubaldo Jimenez.

George King reported Friday that the Yankees were looking at the Rockies starter, and now everyone seems to have jumped into the story. Peter Gammons says the Rockies believe they have a 10 percent chance of trading their ace. The Rockies general manager says, “We would have to be absolutely overwhelmed” to make such a deal. Jon Heyman says the Rockies have asked the Yankees for arguably their four most valuable trade chips. Not one of those four. All four.

That’s the difficulty of obtaining Jimenez: The Rockies don’t have to trade him because he’s still just 27 years old and signed to a team-friendly deal through 2014. One great young player won’t do it because Jimenez himself is a great young player who’s already more proven than any prospect. Dumping salary isn’t an overwhelming factor because the contract makes sense.

Jesus Montero, Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos are the big three among Yankees trade chips. At least one would almost certainly have to be included in a deal for Jimenez, and the Rockies apparently want Ivan Nova too. Just making small talk today, I said that I’d be willing to include one of the big three, plus Nova, plus a next-level prospect or two (Austin Romine, Adam Warren, etc.). Anything more would be tough to lose. Anything less probably wouldn’t come close. And I’m not even sure I’d take that package if I were the Rockies.

Jimenez had a “bad” second half last year and still had a 2.2 strikeouts per walk, a .223 opponents batting average and almost 6.1 innings per start after the break. He’s good and he’s young and he’s fairly cheap, which means he’s going to be very expensive on the trade market.

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One other Yankees-Rockies connection comes from Heyman who says the two teams have also discussed Ty Wigginton as a trade candidate who might fill Alex Rodriguez’s shoes for a while and then fall into a utility role.

The mechanical difference in Phil Hughes’ curveball is very small. He used to spike his index finger, which forced him to “choke” the ball in order to grip it. By choking the ball, Hughes was able to generate movement but not velocity. Without velocity, Hughes had to release the pitch noticeably higher than his fastball in order to get it over the plate.

Essentially, all he’s done is remove the spike. That lets him hold the ball more loosely, which lets him throw it harder, which makes his breaking ball delivery more similar to his other pitches.

“I thought I made some improvements with it and gave guys less time to react, and that’s what you’re aiming for,” Hughes said. “You want to fool them, but at the same time you don’t want them to be able to readjust for a slower breaking ball. It wasn’t as big, but I felt like I fooled a couple more guys than I normally would with my other one, so that was a good thing as well.”

Take today’s second Blue Jays at-bat for example. Eric Thames went down looking at an 0-2 curveball. Hughes speculated that, in the past, Thames might have recognized the curveball in time to foul it off, letting the at-bat continue and forcing Hughes to find another way to get him out.

“My old one could be anywhere from 72 (mph) to 75-76 if I really threw it hard,” Hughes said. “This one I saw some 78s and mainly 75-76, which is mainly where I want it to be. I look more at the swings and not necessarily velocity, and just make sure there wasn’t a hump in it… I felt like I could throw it for a strike, too. Maybe a little bit easier just because I don’t have to really factor in as much break because it’s shorter and harder. I felt like I could probably throw it for a strike a little easier. When in doubt, I went to it, and it was pretty good for the most part.”

One knock on Hughes last season was his inability to put hitters away. He’d get ahead in the count, but an at-bat would continue. Best-case scenario was an increased pitch count. Worst-case was a hitter staying in the fight long enough to scratch out a hit. Hughes didn’t have the same problem today, and although his first five outs came on the curveball, his last three strikeouts came on the fastball.

Hughes said that, even with slightly diminished velocity later in the game, his fastball became better because of location, and because the Blue Jays had to respect the offspeed stuff.

“It just shows you he’s getting closer to what he was,” Joe Girardi said. “I don’t think you can quantify it, but I thought he took a big step today. That’s what we wanted to see from him. Next time, he’ll be on normal rest and his normal routine, so I hope that helps him as well.”

Here’s Hughes.

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• Hughes tried to plead his case to pitch the seventh, but the Yankees thought the heat at Rogers Centre had been too taxing and didn’t want Hughes back out there. It felt boiling in this building, with no breeze and the sun baking the turf. Hughes said he would have sworn it was over 100 degrees.

• Hughes didn’t thrown any changeups, but he had a reason for staying away from the pitch today. “The couple of lefties that are in their lineup, our reports are that they stay on changeups pretty well, Snider and Lind,” he said. “Obviously if my changeup were my second pitch I’d go to it, but as a fourth option, I just felt like there was a couple of other pitches that I could go to for that.”

• Sweeny Murti brought up an interesting point. Would it make sense for Hughes to keep his old curveball as a slower alternative? “Not necessarily,” Hughes said, “because I can always slow the other one down if I need to, kind of roll it in for a strike. As long as I stay feeling comfortable with this one, I don’t really see the need for both because they both kind of do the same thing.” Oh well. I thought it was an interesting idea.

• This was really the first time Russell Martin caught Hughes when he was pitching well. “There’s some life behind the ball,” Martin said. “I don’t know what the radar gun was saying, but it was jumping out of his hand today. From what I’ve seen in the past, that’s what he’s used to doing. Elevating the ball when he has two strikes, doing different things. Just knowing he can throw it by guys has to feel good for him.”

• Speaking of Martin, he said the Yankees have a “system in place” to deal with potentially stolen signs, and he now considers it a non-issue. “We’re not going to worry about it anymore,” he said. Apparently fans were giving him a hard time all night about stolen signs.

• Brett Gardner had his third three-hit game of the series. He also stole two bases, and the Yankees only scored in innings when Gardner got on base. “After taking three or four days off, you worry about your timing and things like that,” Gardner said. “For me, the first game back after the break, I saw the ball well and managed to square up a couple balls. Things are going well so far for me.”

• Gardner’s big series has come with him hitting all over the lineup, including leading off today. “It’s all the same to me,” he said. “My job is to get on base no matter where I hit in the lineup. The last couple days, I’ve been able to do that and make a few things happen.”

• Two very nice plays by Ramiro Pena to help get out of the fifth. “The bunt play was good,” Hughes said. “And then I joked with him he was just trying to protect his face with the other one. That happens. I’m not very good on those balls back to the mound, so I have a lot of respect for guys when they can make those plays.”

• The Yankees run in the first inning snapped a stretch of 11 straight games without a first-inning run. That was their longest stretch since 13 straight games in 2006 (that’s according to Elias, of course).

• Nice work by the Yankees bullpen. Cory Wade, Dave Robertson and Boone Logan combined for three hitless innings. They walked none and struck out five. Logan struck out the side in the ninth.

• Jorge Posada played in his 1,790th game as a Yankee, passing Bill Dickey for sole possession of eight place on the franchise’s all-time games played list.

Associated Press photos

In easily his best start of the year, Phil Hughes needed only 80 pitches to throw six strong innings and beat the Blue Jays 7-2 this afternoon. Hughes’ new curveball was a legitimate weapon — he used it to get his first five outs — and he spotted his fastball better than in his previous start. Hughes’ velocity regularly touched 93 mph in the early innings, and he settled into 90-91 (touching 92) in the later innings. He labored a little bit early, and that might have cost him late, but he ultimately struck out five, walked two and allowed four hits. Brett Gardner had his third three-hit game of the series, helping the Yankees settle for a series split after losing the first two games.

Associated Press photo

YANKEES (54-37)
Brett Gardner LF
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Jorge Posada 1B
Russell Martin C
Eduardo Nunez SS
Ramiro Pena 3B

RHP Phil Hughes (0-2, 10.57)
Hughes vs. Blue Jays

BLUE JAYS (47-48)
Rajai Davis CF
Eric Thames DH
Yunel Escobar SS
Adam Lind 1B
Edwin Encarnacion 3B
Travis Snider LF
Aaron Hill 2B
J.P. Arencibia C
Corey Patterson RF

RHP Carlos Villanueva (5-1, 2.99)
Villanueva vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 1:07 p.m., YES Network

WEATHER: Roof just opened about 40 minutes ago. It’s pretty hot here, and apparently they wanted to keep the sun out of the stadium as long as possible.

UMPIRES: HP Gerry Davis, 1B Angel Hernandez, 2B Greg Gibson, 3B Todd Tichenor

LET THE SUNSHINE IN: The Yankees are 27-5 in day games this season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last Major League team to win at least 27 of their first 32 day games was the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955. They began the year 28-5 in day contests.

CLOSING REMARKS: The Yankees are 20-10 in series finales this season. They’ve won 12 of their past 17 series-ending games.

THREE’S ENOUGH: The Yankees are one of three teams that have not lost more than three straight road games this season. The White Sox and Dodgers also have yet to lose three straight on the road. The Yankees had lost three straight road games before yesterday’s win.

THE END: Today makes the 70th anniversary of Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak coming to an end. He went 0-for-3 with a walk on July 17, 1941, having hit .408 during the streak.

UPDATE, 1:23 p.m.: Could have been a huge first inning, but the Yankees have to settle for a 1-0 lead after stranding the bases loaded. Jorge Posada struck out and Russell Martin lined out to end it.

UPDATE, 1:32 p.m.: It’s only one inning, and he gave up a hit, but I thought Hughes’ stuff looked pretty good. He was keeping his fastball in the zone — at 93 mph — and that curveball looked legitimate. Got all three outs on the curve, including on a 3-2 pitch to Lind.

UPDATE, 1:49 p.m.: Two more curveball outs for Hughes in the second inning. Two hits let the Blue Jays tie the game, but he got through the bottom of the order to leave a runner stranded. He’s already approaching 40 pitches.

UPDATE, 2:05 p.m.: Well that’s one of the weirder plays I’ve ever seen. Posada’s off the bag, ump rules that Escobar also missed the bag, and Posada gets the tag for the out. I guess it worked. Hughes is through the third, still a 1-1 game.

UPDATE, 2:18 p.m.: RBI doubles by Martin and Granderson, sac fly by Pena. It’s now 5-1 Yankees in the middle of the fourth. Back-to-back two-out hits by Gardner and Granderson made the biggest difference.

UPDATE, 2:38 p.m.: There’s a six-pitch fifth for Hughes, who’s now at 71 pitches and looking like he could pitch through the seventh. It’s 5-2.

UPDATE, 2:56 p.m.: Hughes really settled in. He’s at 80 pitches through six innings. Meanwhile, Brett Gardner now has his third three-hit game of the series.

UPDATE, 3:04 p.m.: Well I thought we’d see Hughes for one more, but he’s out and Cory Wade is in to start the seventh.

Hope you weren’t counting on massive breaking news coming out the pregame clubhouse this morning. Aside from the arrival of Chris Dickerson — he flew in from Toledo last night — things were pretty routine. At this point, the story of the day will almost certainly be Phil Hughes.

“I’m anxious to see him get back out there and try to get him back to the form that we had him last year,” Joe Girardi said. “As you said, he’s had some time off, and that’s always a little bit of a concern about how strong he’ll be coming out of the gate, but he did do his share of bullpens.”

Trade talk is starting to heat up, but Girardi said a healthy and fully capable Hughes could be more significant than any sort of deadline addition. And Girardi thinks that Hughes knows just how important he can be in the second half.

“I think he does, and I think he relishes the responsibility,” Girardi said. “He’s excited to get back on track.”

• The Yankees swapped Dickerson for Greg Golson, who was optioned back to Triple-A. The Yankees wanted Golson for the past three games because they were facing two left-handed starters. With right-handers pitching four of the next five games against the Yankees, they preferred the lefty Dickerson.

• Derek Jeter was going to get one game off this road trip. Girardi decide today made the most sense.

• How did Girardi decide who started at short and who started at third? “We thought Nuney did a pretty good job at short while Jeet was gone, and we want him to continue some reps over there for when Alex does get back,” Girardi said. “If you play him a month at third and he never gets any reps at short, could that become an issue for a couple of days when you do put him over there?”

• Rafael Soriano is still on schedule to start Tuesday in Tampa. “Soriano’s going to have to have a few appearances,” Girardi said. “We’ll have to talk about, does he need to go back-to-back? To me the important thing is, let’s take it one day at a time and see how he feels after Tuesday.”

• Still not sure when Eric Chavez will begin a rehab assignment: “I’m not sure when Chavy is going to play. He’s obviously doing better. Hopefully it won’t be too long that we can get him going.” Marc Carig reports that Chavez could rehab as early as Tuesday.

• Alex Rodriguez has been riding a bike and doing upper-body workouts. He’ll stay in Miami for roughly two weeks total.

• Bartolo Colon is still on schedule to start Tuesday.

BLUE JAYS
Rajai Davis CF
Eric Thames DH
Yunel Escobar SS
Adam Lind 1B
Edwin Encarnacion 3B
Travis Snider LF
Aaron Hill 2B
J.P. Arencibia C
Corey Patterson RF

UPDATE, 10:05 a.m.: Chris Dickerson just walked in. No word on a move.

Brett Gardner LF
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Jorge Posada 1B
Russell Martin C
Eduardo Nunez SS
Ramiro Pena 3B

When Phil Hughes is on his regular routine, he throw two bullpens between starts. He takes a day off, throws a full bullpen, throws a light bullpen, takes another day off, then makes his next start.

This time he’s had a week and a half between starts, and Hughes has thrown four bullpens.

“I’m staying pretty even keel about it,” he said. “But inside I was a little excited because (the ball) was coming out really good in the bullpen. I don’t know if that’s because of the extra rest, but I guess tomorrow we’ll know the truth.”

Hughes said he and Larry Rothschild tinkered a little bit with mechanics — Hughes had been landing with his hips closed a little bit — but they also tweaked his curveball. Hughes used to throw a kind of loopy knucklecurve — he called a spike curve — but he’s changed to a more traditional grip, hoping to make it tighter with added velocity and bite.

“They said it’s been sharper in the bullpen,” Girardi said. “It’s one thing to do it out there. When you throw the emotions into it, that’s when the guys have to be able to make adjustments, and that’s why I don’t get too caught up with the bullpens and stuff like that.”

It’s been 10 days since Hughes returned from the disabled list and gave the Yankees an okay start in Cleveland. He gave up only two runs and didn’t allow an extra-base hit, but he also lasted only five innings and never really seemed to overwhelm hitters.

It wasn’t an overwhelming outing, but it was a significant step forward from the way Hughes was pitching in April.

“The stuff was okay,” he said. “I know it can be better. At the same time, I look back on how I actually pitched and it could have been a lot worse, results-wise. That part, you’re kind of happy and lucky to escape with two runs in five innings. I know I can be a lot better. My stuff can be better and my location can be better, so it’s just a matter of being out there and executing. I know my stuff is there. I don’t have to think about that any more. I can go out, work on executing every pitch and not try to grind it and satisfy people looking at the radar gun.”

Associated Press photo

I believe I’ve officially run out of things to say about CC Sabathia. He’s won seven starts in a row, and he hasn’t allowed more than one run in a start since mid-June. He was outstanding this afternoon, but then again, that’s nothing new. I’m out of things to say about him, so let’s try this:

What Joe Girardi said: “His slider was good today. I thought all his stuff was good. His velocity was great. His changeup was very good. He just knows how to pitch, and he gets outs, and he throws quality strikes… He doesn’t put too much pressure on himself and realizes it’s just one start, and he can only go out and do what he’s going to do. He can’t do anything for anyone else. And he’s just able to relax.”

What Mark Teixeira said: “When you expect a guy to throw a shutout every time out there, that’s pretty impressive. They scratched that one run across early, but after that, he was absolutely dominant. The last three months, there hasn’t been a guy better in baseball… There’s not many aces out there that can do that. Every good team needs one. We haven’t played well; the first two games after the break, we got our butts kicked. You need a guy like CC to step up and stop that momentum. This is a good team across the way and CC really stopped their momentum.”

What Brett Gardner said: “I’m in a good spot. I’ve got a good view of what’s going on. Watching him for eight innings and watching Mariano for one inning, it’s pretty special. He just hits his spots. Wherever Cervy is setup, he pretty much hits the glove every time. Doesn’t matter if it’s his fastball or slider or changeup, he does a good job of keeping guys off balance. He’s great. He is every time. You guys keep asking me how he is, and it seems like every time I tell you the same thing. He’s just dominant.”

What the numbers say: A first-inning run snapped his scoreless innings streak at 24, a career-long for Sabathia and the longest such streak for a Yankees starter since Tom Underwood in May of 1980… Has won seven straight starts, one shy of the longest such winning streak of his career… Beyond the seven straight wins, Sabathia has also won 11 of his past 12 starts. He leads the Majors with 14 wins, and his ERA is down to 2.64.

What Sabathia said: “The fastball command got better. I had runners on early because I didn’t have it, but I throw everything off of that. I stuck with it and it ended up being a good start… I always look forward to getting the ball, but things have been going pretty good. The guys have been scoring a lot of runs, Cervy and Russ have been catching great games, so I’m just looking forward to the next one.”

Let’s go with Teixeira’s audio for today. He talked about Sabathia’s hot streak and his own cold streak.

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• Big game from Gardner, who now has the second-highest batting average of all the players in the Yankees everyday lineup. He’s up to .279 after going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles this afternoon. He’s had three hits in two of his past three games, and both of those three-hit games came against left-handed starters. “Lefty, righty, it’s all the same to me,” Gardner said.

• Gardner almost single-handedly generated a run by hustling to second on that bloop to center field in the fourth inning. “Really out of the box I was running hard and probably halfway up first base once I figured the second baseman wasn’t going to catch it,” Gardner said. “With that turf, it’s going to take a big hop. You see it all throughout the game. Jeet made a great play in maybe the eighth inning on Rajai Davis. Even balls on the infield, ground balls take big hops and you try to take advantage of it.”

• Gardner is hot. Teixeira is cold. His batting average is down to .240 with four hits in his past seven games. “Before the break, I didn’t feel good at all,” he said. “I think a little fatigue set in, but those three days really helped. It’s just a matter of me getting my timing back,.”

• Of course, the low batting average comes with team-highs in home runs and RBIs. He’s second in walks and still has a .345 on-base percentage. “I feel like I’m hitting the ball hard a lot,” Teixeira said. “I’m hitting a lot of home runs — that’s what I do. I feel good when I hit those home runs, but those extra hits just aren’t coming. I’ve said it all year long, I’m really just hoping for those extra hits to come. They haven’t so far.”

• After that rocky first inning, Larry Rothschild told Sabathia to make sure he stayed over the rubber a little longer. He was rushing through the little pause in his mechanics. “It’s easier to do the older you get,” Sabathia said. “If I was a younger guy, sometimes it’s tough. But I’ve been there; this is my 11th or 12th year, so I’m able to go out and correct things as the game goes on.”

• Sabathia on precautions to keep the Blue Jays from stealing signs: “Me and Cervy talked about it before the game just used a different set than we normally use with a runner on second. I don’t think it’s something you can really do anything about. We don’t know what’s going on, if they are or if they aren’t, so just go out and try to pitch.”

• Girardi said Sabathia would have gone out for the eighth inning regardless of his bullpen situation. The fact the pen was used a lot the previous two days had no impact on his decision to keep Sabathia out there.

• Mariano Rivera got his 23rd save… Gardner stole his 24th base… Nick Swisher had his 18th double… Eduardo Nunez made his 12th error… Nunez also had his 16th RBI, half of which have either tied a game or given the Yankees a lead.

• Derek Jeter had two hits and moved into a tie with Al Kaline for 26th place on baseball’s all-time hits list with 3,007.

• Gardner in his career against Ricky Romero: 7-for-14 with three doubles, one home run, four RBI and four walks.

• For the third time this season, the Yankees have gone four straight games without allowing a home run. Their longest such stretch of the season is six games.

• Swisher got into a brief discussion with home plate umpire Todd Tichenor, and Girardi wound up coming out of the dugout to have a conversation of his own. Girardi said he came out to cool down the situation because guys on the bench were barking as well. “I wanted to make sure, let’s worry about the game and not throw anyone out,” Girardi said. “I’ll take care of it.”

• A final word goes to Girardi: “To not win for a week, that’s what it felt like because we didn’t play for three days. You need a win, so CC went out and got it for us.”

Associated Press photos

Rafael Soriano came through today’s live batting practice with no problems, and Joe Girardi said the plan is for him to make a rehab appearance on Tuesday in Tampa.

“It went well, and I think we expect him to pitch in a game on Tuesday,” Girardi said. “I can’t tell you how he’s going to feel tomorrow, but I think we expect him to pitch in a game tomorrow and I think it’s in Tampa.”

Soriano threw either 25 or 26 pitches today — Girardi wasn’t sure which — and the Yankees would like him to pitch in back-to-back games before activating him from the disabled list.

The Yankees needed a win this afternoon, and they turned to the man who seemingly can’t lose. CC Sabathia has won seven straight starts after today’s typically dominant 4-1 win against the Blue Jays. Sabathia allowed an RBI single in the first inning, but gave up just two hits the rest of the way. He struck out eight, walked three and came an inning shy of his second consecutive complete game. The Yankees quickly erased the early deficit by scoring in the second, third and fourth innings. Brett Gardner was 3-for-4 with two doubles and a stolen base.

Associated Press photo