The LoHud Yankees Blog

The Yankees don’t build teams to win in the first half. It’s nice that the Pirates are still in the playoff hunt, but being in the hunt doesn’t mean much around here. The Yankees build teams to win in the postseason, and in that sense, Rafael Soriano might still be worth the money.

Dave Robertson has emerged as a dominant setup man, and guys like Cory Wade and Luis Ayala have been a real boost, but to make the Yankees bullpen nearly as good as it seemed to be in spring training, they’ll need someone like Soriano. He’s been out since May 17, but he’s closer to a return than any other injured Yankee.

“If I had to guess who would be first it would be Soriano,” Joe Girardi said. “He’s getting to a point where we could see him in a game fairly quickly.”

Sure, the Yankees could target a reliever at the trade deadline — bullpen arms are always available — but they’ve learned the hard way that relievers are an unreliable lot. They knew that before they signed Soriano, and they certainly know that now that they have him under contract. Soriano’s a sunk cost, and he’s at least as good as anyone the Yankees could acquire.

There’s risk involved with every reliever. The Yankees have already taken a risk on Soriano. The second half is the time to actually get something out of him, or consider him this season’s worst investment.

Associated Press photo

Truth be told, the Yankees haven’t had their real cleanup hitter in about three weeks. Sure, Alex Rodriguez has been in the lineup, but he was collecting singles, and that’s not what Rodriguez does. That’s why the Yankees decided today’s surgery was necessary. The team sent an email this afternoon saying the procedure went as planned and Rodriguez’s initial rehabilitation will take place in Miami with Dr. Lee Kaplan, who performed the surgery.

“It seems like he was battling that knee for a little while, so I don’t really look at it as losing him,” Russell Martin said. “I feel like we’re just going to gain him back healthy later on in the season when it really counts.”

The initial indication was the Rodriguez could have postponed the surgery until the offseason. He could have taken a chance on the knee staying healthy enough to play, and he could have tried to contribute with base hits instead of home runs. Is a shortened season with a full-strength A-Rod better than a full season with a lesser version? The Yankees have to trust that the answer is, yes. The tradeoff will be this next month or so without him.

“There are very few people that can put up the numbers that Alex does and play third base,” Joe Girardi said. “It’s difficult to replace. You just have to collectively find a way to get it done without him.”

It’s a tough pill to swallow, but the Yankees are trusting that they’ll be better because of it in the end.

Associated Press photo

Even if you don’t know the exact date off the top of your head, you know exactly which day I’m referring to. It was perhaps the most bizarre day of the season — the day Jorge Posada couldn’t take it any more — and it might have changed everything for the better.

“Going back to that day, I’m not proud of (what happened) and you guys know that,” Posada said. “The way the relationship with me and Girardi and me and Cashman (was affected), I feel a lot more comfortable where I’m at. It doesn’t really matter (where I hit), I’m happy.”

Of course he’s happy. Since backing out of the lineup on an otherwise random Saturday in the middle of May, Posada has hit .291/.361/.444. Until that day he was hitting .165/.272/.349, and his slugging percentage that was only that high because of an early April home run binge. Since venting his frustration, Posada has gone from an absolute drain on the lineup to a productive hitter.

Because of his contract and because of his history with the franchise, the Yankees had little choice but to stick with Posada this season. They’re in a similar boat with Derek Jeter. They needed something to turn Posada around, and hitting rock bottom might have done it.

“We still have to produce,” Posada said. “That’s the bottom line. Obviously we want to do better than what we’re doing. We keep looking forward to things. That’s what (Jeter) has taught me and that’s what Joe Torre has taught us and that’s what Joe Girardi has taught us. It’s just a matter of really putting everything behind and looking forward to the next day.”

Posada couldn’t do that on May 14, but he’s been able to do it ever since. Something changed that day, and the second half will determine whether it was lasting or simply a reprieve.

Associated Press photo

When he’s asked about his home run surge, Curtis Granderson keeps coming back to the same old response: He’s technically done this before. With 25 home runs at the break, Granderson has not exceeded anything he’s done in the past.

“They’ve just happened quicker,” he said. “That’s it.”

That won’t be true for much longer. Granderson is five away from his career high, and this is already his second-highest single-season total. He’s clearly a different sort of hitter this season, and he may be having the same sort of breakout season that Robinson Cano had a year ago. Granderson seems to be taking the final step from good to great.

“There’s certain aspects I think that are (better this season),” he said. “But at the same time, it’s not like there are certain things that were terribly bad (before). I think there’s things I have improved on, I think there’s still things I need to improve on, I think there are things that I was better at before that I’ve kind of regained, and there’s things that I’ve lost. So it’s a mix. I’d say I’m probably still neutral.”

Granderson is disappointed in his increased strikeout total, and the fact some teams have been using a shift tells him he’s not using the whole field as well as he used to. But the numbers speak for themselves, and they suggest an MVP candidate. If you like new numbers, FanGraphs says Granderson’s WAR is the second highest in the American League. If you’re old school, he’s only 11 RBI from his total for 2007, the year he finished 10th in MVP voting.

“I kind of value MVP as a mix between who the best player is and who’s helping their team out the most,” Granderson said. “And I think there are a lot of other players who are well beyond where I’m at at this point.”

Associated Press photo

Freddy Garcia had that one start against Boston when he didn’t pitch out of the second inning, Bartolo Colon had that start last week against the Rays when he coughed up eight hits and four walks. Otherwise, the Yankees most unpredictable pitchers in spring training have become their most reliable starters in the regular season (other than CC Sabathia, of course).

“Everyone was saying that’s a big question for us coming into the year,” Sabathia said. “Freddy’s pitched awesome. Bartolo’s been unbelievable. Hopefully we can keep it going.”

Whether they can keep it going is the question. There’s no question Garcia and Colon have been outstanding. But Garcia is 34 years old, he’s had injury problems in the not-so-distant past and his ERA is a full run lower than it’s been since 2005. Colon is 38, has an injury history his of his own and hasn’t pitched nearly this well since he won the Cy Young award six years ago.

Have to be impressed with what they’ve done so far, but can’t help wondering whether they can do this the rest of the year.

“I don’t think you can say enough about our staff,” Joe Girardi said. “You can start with the starters and the job that they have done through all of this… This is a good time to have a break to let them re-energize a little bit, try to let them get a little bit of a rest before we start a tough road trip. They have done a wonderful job.”

Associated Press photo

It’s both a short-term and a long-term question, and in certain corners of the Yankees fan base, it is perhaps the most divisive question facing the Yankees at this point. Derek Jeter’s numbers this season are nearly identical to last year’s — a little worse, actually — and the question is whether his tremendous return from the disabled list is a sign of things to come.

“Is he hitting .320 like he did in 2009? No he’s not,” Joe Girardi said. “But are you convinced he can’t hit .320 in the second half? That would be my question to everyone in here.”

Is the second-half Jeter going to be the player we saw last season, the player we saw in April, or the player we saw this past week?

The guy who single-handedly won Saturday’s game obviously looked like he had something left in the tank. Jeter also doubled in the three games leading up to that iconic performance, but that’s not the Jeter the Yankees have seen most of the year.

“I would be careful on how quick you are to judge him and doubt that he can still do it because of the way he goes about his business,” Girardi said. “… He did not drive the ball in the month of April, but we saw it start to turn around in May and June and he was driving the wall. So I’m not surprised that he came back and was driving the ball again.”

Associated Press photo

On the day before the all-star break, a doctor in Florida confirmed what a doctor in New York had already discovered. Alex Rodriguez has a torn meniscus in his right knee. He needs surgery, and he’s likely to miss a month or more.

It’s not yet official, but Rodriguez is about to become the 15th Yankee to go on the disabled list this season, more than they had on the DL all of last year.

“There’s no doubt we’re going to miss him,” Joe Girardi said. “But we need to find a way.”

The Yankees kept finding ways through the first half of the season.

Their thin rotation lost Phil Hughes, then it lost Hughes’ replacement. Their deep bullpen lost one setup man, then lost another, and it has yet to see its new left-handed specialist. The lineup was without its shortstop for an extended period of time, and the team’s catcher, right fielder and third baseman have missed time with nagging injuries. Their top bench player has been on the DL since May 6.

“You just got to keep going,” Curtis Granderson said. “You can’t dwell on it too much.”

The Yankees have kept going because guys like Granderson and Freddy Garcia and Dave Robertson have helped to fill the holes, but on this first day of the all-star break, the Yankees remain incomplete. Their approach to the second half might depend on how many pieces fall back into place.

Can Rodriguez come back quickly and fully? Will Rafael Soriano keep moving forward? Is Hughes back to last year’s form?

If the answer to all three of those questions is yes, then the Yankees might not have much work to do at the trade deadline. If the answer to any of those questions is no, then they might have a significant issue — in the lineup, in the bullpen, or in the rotation — that will need to be addressed.

My hope is to spend this day on the blog looking at some of the questions that the Yankees have yet to answer. In some ways, each season’s first half is about figuring out the right questions to ask, and the second half is about answering them. To use Girardi’s phrase, it’s all about finding a way.

“We have a strong team,” Russell Martin said. “Obviously we’re going to miss (Rodriguez)’s bat in the lineup, but I think we’ll be able to keep pushing hard without him.”

Associated Press photos

Dave Robertson had plans. He was going to get out of Yankee Stadium as quickly as possible. He and his wife, Erin, were going drive up to Connecticut and check into a little bed and breakfast they’d been to in the past. Then Robertson was going to do a little bit of fishing, take Erin to dinner a few times and just relax for three days.

The plans changed in the first inning, when Joe Girardi told Robertson he’d been chosen as an injury replacement for the American League.

Robertson had time to call Erin before he went to the bullpen.

“She was screaming,” Robertson said. “Then she was like, ‘Really? What have I got to do?’ Worried about getting packed up and figuring out how to get there.”

Dave and Erin are now flying to Arizona. Fishing is going to have to wait, because Robertson is an all-star in a season that started with him as the No. 4 option in the Yankees bullpen.

“I’m just a little surprised,” he said. “It seems like this whole season has crept up on me. It came down to this point and now I’m one of the fortunate guys who gets to go to the all-star game and be a part of something special… I really don’t know (why this season has gone so well). I feel like I’m throwing a little harder, and I’m being even more competitive than I normally am. I just don’t want to lose games. I know we’ve had some key injuries that have really set us back, so everyone has been stepping up in the bullpen, and I’m just trying to hang with everybody else and keep going forward and keep helping us win ball games because we all have one goal here, and that’s to win 28.”

If there was one all-star candidate the Yankees were pulling for, it was Robertson. Off the top of my head I can remember Russell Martin, Nick Swisher and Alex Rodriguez campaigning for him by dropping not-so-subtle hints in the middle of interviews. Girardi was thrilled that he got to be the one to give Robertson the news. “Just to be able to see the smile on his face was really, really worth it for me,” he said.

“I’m excited for him,” CC Sabathia said. “Young guy, and he’s pitched unbelievable. He’s really been the best reliever in baseball this year if you look at his numbers. So he definitely deserves to go. We’re all excited for him.”

He’ll be one of the least-known pitchers in the American League bullpen, but Robertson has earned his place. He spends every day in a clubhouse full of all-stars, but even in that room he’s set himself apart. Someone asked today if it would feel strange to be in a bullpen without Mariano Rivera.

“A little bit,” he said. “I’m just happy to go. I get to see him every day.”

Here’s the Yankees all-star setup man. Congratulations, Dave.

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I’m not positive, but I’m pretty sure that’s an Associated Press photo of the moment Robertson found out he’d made the all-star team

The Big Man said he never saw it coming. He never heard A.J. Burnett sneaking up behind him. Never sensed the whipped cream pie coming toward him. Never suspected that such a celebration was in order.

“Why not?” Burnett said. “Did you see what he did?”

It was hard to miss it. CC Sabathia pitched his first complete game shutout since 2009. It was the 12th of his career, and it continued a streak of 23.2 consecutive innings without allowing a run. According to Elias, that’s a career-high.

“It’s CC,” Joe Girardi said. “He is that good.”

Sabathia has been beyond good. In his past six starts he’s 6-0 with a 1.77 ERA. He has 51 strikeouts in those starts. If you want to extend the sample size to make it a little larger, he’s 10-1 with a 2.20 ERA in his past 11 starts. He’s 13-3 with a 2.76 ERA in his past 16 starts, that’s since going winless in his first four outings this year.

Girardi gave credit to Sabathia’s slider. Sabathia said it “definitely” starts with his fastball. Mariano Rivera was getting loose in the ninth inning, and Girardi said he was planning to go to his closer if an at-bat got long. Sabathia said it would have been interesting to see his manager pry the ball out of his fingers.

“Larry (Rothschild) came down and asked me, was I alright,” Sabathia said. “He said, ‘would you tell me if you weren’t,’ and I said ‘no.’ So he would have had to come get it from me.”

One day after Derek Jeter had five hits of his own, the Yankees had a total of just four hits today. They were all singles, and they scored their only run because of bad throws, bad baserunning and good luck. Sabathia was their only real bright spot, and he gave them a walk-off style performance.

“It just makes you feel really good about the first half,” Girardi said. “We had lost a series in Cleveland and we had been on a roll of late, and just to be able to win these type of games, we win one yesterday 5-4 and win on 1-0 on a brilliant performance by CC, it’s a lift and it makes you feel good going into the all-star break.”

Here’s Sabathia.

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• Dr. Lee Kaplan, who gave the second opinion today, will perform Alex Rodriguez’s arthroscopic knee surgery tomorrow. “As I’ve said several times already this year, some people are going to have to step up,” Girardi said. “Up to this point, this team has. We certainly look forward to getting a healthy Alex back into our lineup because we know what he adds to this team.”

• The Yankees will obviously make a move before Thursday’s game, but for now it seems that Eduardo Nunez will get the bulk of the playing time at third base. “I don’t want my teammates hurt,” Nunez said. “But if they need me, I can do it.”

• Speaking of Nunez, he thought the first baseman was going to tag him on that close play in the third inning. That’s why he slid, even though he was way too close to the bag and running way too fast. He hurt his knee, but said he felt fine the rest of the game. “Now it’s OK,” he said. “Nothing to worry about.”

• After the Nunez single, Derek Jeter hit No. 3,004 was a bunt single perfectly executed down the third-base line. “It’s a smart play,” Girardi said. “And Derek has always been a heads-up player.”

• After reaching on that third-inning single, Nunez was eventually thrown out at the plate one batter after all-star Curtis Granderson — tied for the team lead in home runs — laid down a sacrifice bunt. Girardi said that he’d already come to believe it was going to be a low-scoring game, and he thought one run might be enough, so he managed accordingly. “Just trying to scratch out a run,” he said.

• When the Yankees did scratch out a run, he came on bad base-running by Robinson Cano and even worse throwing by the Rays defense. “I thought he was never going to get that (fly ball to center) because the second baseman was like, he kind of got it, and then I was too far away, he throws it away,” Cano said. “Then, I almost got thrown at third, but sometimes you’re the one who’s got to make mistakes to win games. I mean, I don’t want to look to those kind of mistakes, but we won a game. It’s in the past and you just don’t let it happen again.”

• Feel lucky: “Of course, of course,” Cano said.

• As planned, Sabathia is going to skip the all-star game. Derek Jeter also once again confirmed that he won’t be going. Dave Robertson, though, is positively pumped about flying to Arizona. “I’d pretty much given up on it,” he said. “I thought if it hadn’t happened by now, it’s not going to happen. But I’m really excited to go.”

• Sabathia said it never crossed his mind that his not covering first base might lead to a run in the seventh inning. “I was just trying to make pitches,” he said. “Sean Rodriguez put a good swing on a 3-2 fastball and it just so happened B.J. (Upton) was running and not paying attention.”

• When the game ended, Girardi initially had no Rodriguez update. His reason was pretty funny. “CC pitched too quick,” he said.

Associated Press photos

The Yankees just announced their rotation for after the all-star break.

Thursday: Bartolo Colon
Friday: Freddy Garcia
Saturday: CC Sabathia
Sunday: Phil Hughes
Monday: A.J. Burnett