The LoHud Yankees Blog

To paraphrase Michael Corleone: every time he thinks he’s in, they pull him back out.

A day after Alex Rodriguez returned to the Yankee lineup from his long DL stint, he was a late scratch today because of a totally separate injury. Rodriguez jammed his left (non-throwing) thumb in Sunday’s win over the Twins. A Joe Mauer ground ball caught him the wrong way on a backhand.

“I just jammed my thumb a little bit on that play where Mauer hit it,” he said. “It kind of swelled up a little bit. Hopefully it’s just a day.”

The plan was to get it X-Rayed by Dr. Chris Ahmad after speaking to reporters. But Rodriguez said repeatedly that it felt like a one-day injury.

It was sore during yesterday’s off day, when he and a few other players attended a charity event. Today he was in the original lineup and took two rounds of early batting practice with Kevin Long. I saw him flexing his hand repeatedly toward the end of that BP. Apparently the pain was too much and he opted to come out.

“The good news is the knee feels great,” he said. “The knee feels great, body feels good, and hopefully it’s just a bump in the road here.”

Eric Chavez will play third base.

• A magnitude 5.9 earthquake hit the East Coast today at about 2 p.m. Though it was centered in Virginia, it could be felt in New York. By some people at least. Girardi was working out at the Stadium and said he didn’t feel anything, though some members of his coaching staff did.

Curtis Granderson doesn’t even know where he was when it hit.

“Once I was in the cab,” he said, “I got a text saying did I feel that. I said feel what? I didn’t feel anything.”

• With Rodriguez out of the lineup, Curtis Granderson was dropped into the 3-hole to provide power. Mark Teixiera was moved to cleanup. Derek Jeter takes Granderson’s usual 2-spot. Brett Gardner moves from ninth to leadoff.

• Girardi on Bartolo Colon’s second-half fade: “It just seems like he hasn’t been able to put people away. And he’s gotten into some deeper counts. They fouled more pitches off on him. And then eventually its kind of led to some mistakes that he’s made. So to me it’s the location, getting back to the location, and the movement, and the late movement, that’s worked for him.”

• Colon has thrown more innings this year than the last three years combined. Girardi said he might skip one of his starts after this turn through the rotation.

• Aaron Laffey and Gustavo Molina cleared waivers.

Alex Rodriguez felt soreness in the thumb in his non-throwing hand after batting practice and has been taken out of the lineup. He injured it on Sunday backhanding a ball hit by Minnesota’s Joe Mauer.

He’ll be looked at by Dr. Chris Ahmad shortly. He hopes it’s a one-day injury.

Eric Chavez will replace him at third base.

Jake Thomases here, filling in for Chad for the next two days.

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

Tonight
RHP Bartolo Colon (8-7, 3.54)
vs.
RHP Brandon McCarthy (6-6, 3.74)
7:05 p.m., MY9

Wednesday
LHP CC Sabathia (17-7, 2.96)
vs.
RHP Trevor Cahill (9-12. 4.17)
7:05 p.m., YES Network

Thursday
RHP Phil Hughes (4-4, 5.75)
vs.
RHP Rich Harden (4-2, 3.91)
1:05 p.m., YES Network / MLB Network

Before the Yankees can build a four-man rotation for the playoffs, they have to settle on a five-man rotation for the rest of the season. The six-man experiment was cause by injury, timing and circumstance (wanting to limit veteran workload while delaying decisions on younger pitchers), but that experiment ends this weekend.

“It seems like everyone wants to determine, if we get to the playoffs, what are we going to do?” Joe Girardi said. “Who’s going to be two, who’s going to be three, who’s going to be four? I don’t think we’ll go to a six-man rotation then. I’m not worried about that, and I’m not going to talk about that. I’m not going to talk about that because it doesn’t make any sense. A, we’re not to the playoffs, and B, the way a guy is throwing the ball now may be totally different from what it is at the end of September. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.

“We need to stay with the six-man rotation until we get through Baltimore, and then we’ll take a look at what we’re going to do.”

The lineup is more-or-less set now that Alex Rodriguez is healthy. The bullpen has weathered the injury storm and seems to be thriving. The bench has its pieces in place, minus a few September call-ups.

For now, cutting the rotation from six to five is the looming decision. Beginning tonight with Bartolo Colon, every starter gets one more turn. If the Yankees haven’t privately made their decision, their last pieces of evidence come in these next five days.

Bartolo Colon: Strong first half, seems to be fading under unfamiliar workload.

CC Sabathia: The ace, the only starter absolutely locked into place.

Phil Hughes: Back from injury, pitching like a legitimate No. 2 lately.

A.J. Burnett: The lighting rod for criticism, struggling as much as he did last season.

Ivan Nova: Emerging rookie, very much back in the mix after brief Triple-A demotion.

Freddy Garcia: Reliable all season, coming back from minor finger injury.

Associated Press photos

Occasionally, part of my off days are spent digging through leftovers. I’ll find some quote tucked away that makes me think of something, and I’ll use it for an off day post. This one isn’t so much a forgotten topic, just a forgotten upload.

I forgot I uploaded Alex Rodriguez’s audio last night. After playing his first Major League game in well over a month, Rodriguez was happy with the way he felt. He went hitless at the plate, but he made a terrific play on a bunt and said he felt no soreness afterward.

“I was anxious, but I was actually happy with the way that I felt,” he said. “The speed of the game is something you can’t simulate, and it was nice that I felt pretty comfortable out there – especially in the box. I saw the ball really well, fell into a couple 0-2 jams and fought out of them, but I just couldn’t finish the at-bat.

“For me, it’s just great getting this one under my belt. Having a day off tomorrow, then coming home with my second game versus my first, that’s a good thing.”

Rodriguez is expected to be back in there tomorrow when the Yankees open a short three-game home stand.

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• A nice read from George Vecsey, who writes that the reputation of Roger Maris has only improved in the years since his single-season home run record was broken.

• Rodriguez’s meeting with MLB investigators to talk about high-stakes poker allegations is supposed to happen this week.  Meawhile, Rodriguez denies claims that he played poker at the Wilkes-Barre casino while he was rehabbing with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

• Brian Cashman said the same thing Joe Girardi said this weekend: A.J. Burnett doesn’t necessarily have a lock on a rotation spot. The Yankees are planning to trip to five starters after the Saturday doubleheader.

• Is Russell Martin going to be added to Role Call tomorrow?

• The Swishers and Robertsons hosted a tornado relief charity event tonight. Martin played guest DJ.

• MLBTradeRumors has a running list of the players who have cleared trade waivers. Anyone you’re interested in?

• Apparently Mariano Rivera can affect the stock market. Thanks, Jon, for the link.

• Like really random Yankees memorabilia? You can own one of Joe DiMaggio’s shotguns, if you’d like. Thanks to Michael for the heads up.

• If you haven’t seen it already, be sure to check out the game-ending throw from by former Yankees prospect Austin Jackson. Regardless of whether you know or care about Jackson, it’s just a nice baseball play.

Associated Press photo

Freddy Garcia is finished in Scranton. As expected, he pitched four innings in his Triple-A rehab start, but the results weren’t especially good with eight hits and a walk. Then again, maybe Garcia was simply preparing himself to keep doing what he’s done all year, walking a tightrope and making it to the other side. Despite all the hits, he allowed just one earned run.

Garcia did throw a ton of strikes, and Donnie Collins reports that there were plenty of splitfingers mixed in.

Two other Triple-A notes of interest:

1. Jesus Montero has two home runs in tonight’s game. It’s always expected — though it doesn’t always happen — that a team will add a third catcher in September. With Gustavo Molina off the 40-man, there’s absolutely no reason to think Montero won’t be that third catcher.

2. Baseball America reports that Scranton/Wilkes-Barre will play its home games on the road next season. PNC Field is being renovated, and it seems the Yankees will share a stadium with some other team. My old friend Jim Mandelero writes that Rochester fits what the International League is looking for and could be the temporary home of the Triple-A Yankees.

Jorge Posada was benched on August. 7. That’s the day Joe Girardi committed to Eric Chavez* and told Posada he was no longer the Yankees regular designated hitter against right-handed pitchers.

Since that day, Chavez has hit .107/.194/.179. Posada has hit .462/.563/.692, with those numbers boosted by his three-hit return to the lineup a week after his benching.

Some of this is a problem of sample size. Those Chavez numbers are spread across 28 at-bats. The Posada numbers come from 13 at-bats. It’s hard to make broad judgments on such “evidence,” but it also speaks to the volatility of figuring out what to do with the DH spot down the stretch.

At the time that Chavez moved ahead of Posada, Chavez was hitting .344/.364/.438 since coming off the disabled list. He seemed to be picking up right where he left off, and Posada seemed to be regressing since his red-hot month of June. He’d hit .205/.259/.244 since July 1. At the time, Chavez over Posada

There aren’t a lot of huge sample sizes left unless the Yankees make a decision and stick with it.

* I guess he really committed to Chavez and Eduardo Nunez, but Chavez seems to be the guy in that role now that Alex Rodriguez is back.

Associated Press photo

The Yankees just sent a clarification about Aaron Laffey’s status.

Apparently he was not optioned to make room for Alex Rodriguez. He was actually designated for assignment. So he might not be an automatic September addition after all.

The name has been floating through trade rumors for months now, and today George King mentioned that Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez is on waivers and could be, in theory, a target for the Yankees. They haven’t made a move for Rodriguez yet, but as George notes:

At the trade deadline, Freddy Garcia hadn’t cut his index finger, Bartolo Colon had won two straight and A.J. Burnett hadn’t fallen deeper into the abyss.

Fair point.

The Yankees rotation remains six-deep, but some questions have emerged. Andrew Marchand says the Yankees have no interest in Rodriguez, but Brian Cashman is notorious for his “wide net.” He’s going to check on every option because, frankly, that’s his job.

Before the Yankees decide their top four starters for October, they have to choose their top five for September. And before they do that, they have to explore every possibility.