Pregame notes: Bernier making an impression
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Notes on Mar 16, 2012 
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Derek Jeter has a sore calf, Eduardo Nunez has a bruise hand and Ramiro Pena has a sprained ankle. The top shortstop on the Yankees depth chart at the moment is minor league veteran Doug Bernier, a very nice defensive player who has a total of four big league at-bats with the Rockies. He’s spent two seasons with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and, despite unimpressive offensive numbers, he was brought back for a third turn.
“It’s like a different player than what I saw last spring,” Joe Girardi said. “And this is not a young kid, but he really went to work on shortening his swing. He’s always played great defense. He had a decent year in Triple-A. I know he fell off a little bit at the end, but he had a pretty decent year in Triple-A. He has impressed. If you hit it to him, you’re out. That’s the bottom line. He’s really consistent and he has range and he can do some things.”
Bernier gets the start at shortstop this afternoon. He’s started at short three times this spring. The only other Yankees with any shortstop starts are Jeter (7), Nunez (2) and Pena (3). Jayson Nix has played short off the bench a couple of times — and he’ll do so again today — but Bernier seems to be getting a legitimate look as a backup plan for the backup job.
“You never know when an injury is going to crop up and when it’s going to lead to an opportunity for someone,” Girardi said. “Sometimes it happens and you have to evaluate.”
• As you might expect, Derek Jeter downplayed his calf injury as the kind of thing that happens every year. He felt some soreness in Wednesday’s game against the Blue Jays but stayed in to finish the game. Yesterday, he got some ice after the workout. “There aren’t too many secrets around here,” Jeter said. “So it went up the chain of command and this is where we are.” Jeter said it’s a non-issue and he would absolutely play if this were the regular season.
• Similar words came from Nick Swisher, who said he was able to hit and run just fine today, but he’s going to take an extra day to get more treatment on his left groin, which bothered him a little bit as he ran out of the box during his second at-bat on Wednesday. “No big deal,” he said.
• David Phelps will start Thursday’s game against the Red Sox. CC Sabathia will pitch in a minor league game that day. Phil Hughes is scheduled to start on Wednesday, finally splitting Hughes and Sabathia’s spots in the rotation. Hughes will essentially stay on regular rest while Sabathia will get an extra day.
• After two batting practice sessions, George Kontos is 100 percent and ready to pitch in a game. He thinks that might happen Sunday, but he hasn’t been given a definite date. He’s happy with the way he’s pitched since coming back from the sore oblique.
• Today’s sides: D.J. Mitchell, Joba Chamberlain and Manny Banuelos. Tomorrow’s sides: Brett Marshall and Michael Pineda.
• Brad Meyers, the Rule 5 pick who’s been out with a shoulder injury, is scheduled to face hitters tomorrow. He’ll throw batting practice to Brandon Laird and Colin Curtis.
• Today’s available pitchers: CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes, Mariano Rivera, Rafael Soriano, Mike O’Connor, Adam Miller, Ryan Pope, Chase Whitley and Cesar Cabral
• Today’s second string: C Gustavo Molina, 1B Brandon Laird, 2B Corban Joseph, SS Jayson Nix, 3B J.R. Murphy, LF Cole Garner, CF Justin Maxwell, RF Colin Curtis, DH Eric Chavez
YANKEES
Curtis Granderson CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Andruw Jones RF
Raul Ibanez DH
Francisco Cervelli C
Bill Hall LF
Doug Bernier SS
LHP CC Sabathia
NATIONALS
Ian Desmond SS
Steve Lombardozzi 3B
Mark DeRosa 1B
Wilson Ramos DH
Jesus Flores C
Jason Michaels LF
Brett Carroll CF
Bryce Harper RF
Andres Blanco 2B
LHP Gio Gonzalez
Associated Press photos
Hoping this is accurate; would be good news on Wang.
Amanda Comak ? @acomak
No firm timetable right now. Because of off-day, #nats wouldn’t necessarily need a 5th starter until April 10 or 11 anyway.
Amanda Comak ? @acomak
Davey on Wang: “probably a couple weeks, minimum.” Still diagnosed as a strained left hamstring.
Is it just me, or or is J.R. Murphy getting a lot of burn for a relatively younger/inexperienced guy?
Here’s a thing on Banuelos from Goldstein. ESPN Insider, however.
I don’t have it, thought maybe someone did…
http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb.....eports-mlb
“. Was Granderson a dumb ass because he couldn’t hit lefties? Is he a genius now? or was he coached differently?”
I think granderson is an extreley bright guy who understands why he is being taught something.
I think that’s part of why he picked up longs teachings so fast
An on the other hand was pretty much uncoachable
No one really reached the guy
The question is where Pineda is on the learning curve.
We ll see pretty soon because the Yankees have signed him up for a serious aptitude test in early April
Somebody shoulda taught Wang how to run a long time ago. Step-and-throw No problem. Actually Putting his entire body into motion, turns him into a time bomb. If I’m the visiting Mgr, I bunt Wang till he literally blows up.
Ravel (Santana) is already at 98% as per Patrick Teale story just up. Newman says he’s had an “extraordinary” recovery.
Great news on Ravel!
Cool.
BD, yep, sounds like he may do some extended spring and start a little late, but in Charleston maybe. That would be great news as well.
Randy, your letting the actually results create your original conclusions; that doesn’t float. if Granderson was so smart why didn’t he figure it out before he came to the Yankees? In the reverse, how come AJ was doing better before he came to the Yankees?
The reason isn’t too much about intelligence it is about being able to physically do what is coached and of course be motivated to do so. With your logic, any one of us, who is extremely intelligent with at least some baseball skill, can be taught to hit or pitch well.
ok now its time for the hitters to start getting serious. they should all begin playing just about every day now and the next two weeks is the ‘meat’ of the ST schedule. the last week is just rest and final tune-up. time to put on the hitting shoes.
stuckey, the Insider article just quoted Manny’s stats, said he struggled with command/control last season and quote a scout. Goldstein quoted a NL scout who said Manny “looks strong and more poised,” throwing 93-96 mph with three above-average pitches. The scout said that after two ST looks at Manny and Pineda this year (didn’t include last start or take into account last season) he’d rather have Banuelos than Pineda…
sorry, delete first “and quote a scout.” Multi-tasking.
ok now i’m back to normal, i wasn’t quite feeling myself for a day there.
im the worst brackets guy in history, so i filled out 2 brackets and on one i did my normally crappy job but on the other i got 15/16 yesterday!
blind squirrel theory…
Good news on Kontos too.
yankeefeminista March 16th, 2012 at 12:08 pm
Ravel (Santana) is already at 98% as per Patrick Teale story just up. Newman says he’s had an “extraordinary” recovery.
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Yankeefem, good news. Your post promoted me to look further, and I see he may just go straight to Charleston.
Though I will get around to visiting Staten Island to see the GCL graduates, this kind of removes the urgency in doing so for what was probably going to be a very brief Ravel window.
Thanks for the heads up.
YF, I see you covered the Charleston part, too! I envy the locals there, seeing Mason Williams and Ravel in the OF.
Finally, some TV coverage of Phil Hughes.
Pruf, he still may be in SI, just depends on how he progresses. But Charleston acc to Teale is a real possibility, after a little Extended Spring.
I’ll be out.
Have to check back later for the Phil Hughes report.
Will Papa Rivera take Bryce to the woodshed and paddle his fanny?
Curry just tweeted that Pettitte has been signed to a $2.5M minor league deal.
GB-
Most likely he’ll wind up with a few splinters in his hands.
pettitte did what?
Did I just see that Andy Pettitte is making a comeback?
Jack Curry ? @JackCurryYES Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
The Yankees have signed Andy Pettitte to a 1-year minor league deal worth $2.5 million. The team is thrilled to have 240-game winner back.
Damn! Is this for real?!
now there’s some pitching depth!
dogface,
so did Carig
I knew he was coming back. Said it last year over and over. Didn’t believe he would stay retired. Damn. Why did we make the trade?
Is Curry the new host of the Yankees’ version of Punk’d?
Andy coming back ??? per Jack Curry
F in A
blake, where are you? Pettitte is back.
chad will find out in about an hour when he hears somebody else ask girardi in front of someone else’s mike…
Not sure how it makes sense? What’s his role? 7th starter?
Joel Sherman confirming . . . .Andy is coming back … Kinda Cool !! . . .he can do it
Holy sh*t!
Pitching depth for a hitter. Pronto.
Can anyone confirm that it’s Christmas in March?
Andy is back?!?!?
Man the Yankees must think Kuroda, Pineda, Hughes, Nova, Phelps, Warren, Mitchell ALL suck….
his role is minor league starter till he gets it together and show’s he can still throw. then he’s in the rotation.
Pitching depth for a hitter. Pronto.
==========================
Makes you wonder. Can’t be Garcia, because he doesn’t get you a hitter. Hughes? Nova?
Now bring back Jorge and let all three of em retire at once with number 28.
Knew it. Last interview before he “retired” he did not want to retire. You could hear it in Pettitte’s voice.
his role is minor league starter till he gets it together and show’s he can still throw. then he’s in the rotation
===============================
In favor of who?
i dont think the yankees pushed andy to come back, but what are they gonna do, say no when he asks?
“Makes you wonder. Can’t be Garcia, because he doesn’t get you a hitter. Hughes? Nova?”
I still think they’d be trading low on Hughes now, so not him, imo.
Of course this means someone may be going to AAA? And Phelps starting on Thursday–showcase for a trade?
its gonna be at least a month maybe longer before you have to dedide who’s place he takes
Hopefully not Hughes. That would be an epic fail on so many levels.
YES Network ? @YESNetwork
More on Andy Pettitte’s return to the Yankees: http://bit.ly/FO80ZA
Can anyone confirm that it’s Christmas in March?
Andy is back?!?!?
==========================
Don’t know about X-mas. This doesn’t make them better. Makes them deeper, but they were deep already. Unless it’s a precursor to a move for a bat, this is much ado about no much.
Have to go dig out my Pettitte jersey. Wow.
Hmm…..very interesting. YF, I agree that Pettitte sounded unconvinced.
Welcome back, Andy
.
Stacked with veteran, nigh-ready elite prospect and young MLB, arms.
Why indeed, did they make that trade. I think the Yankees have to know that they need offensive help, even if some here think last year’s offense is going to suffice. There’s a big trade, with several pieces outbound, on the horizon somewhere.
If Andy’s healthy, he’s going to be back in short order, judging from where he left off.
Yanks have enough pitching to field two quality rotations.
#notcomplaining
makes the Montero trade look even worse. They have more quality pitchers than they know what to do with and none of them will bring back a bat like Montero
If this is fact, Pettitte may be the second lefty out of the pen.
aww c’mon dogface.
Andy back is more than “much ado about nothing”
“trade look even worse. They have more quality pitchers than they know what to do with”
—–
Oh, the horror!!!
Say goodbye to Hughes if there is a move coming.
dogface, doesn’t make them much better? Did you see Pettitte’s last start in the playoffs? He was awesome.
Yeah, he is older, but so what if he is healthy, he can still pitch. He is Andy. And a lefty.
dogface March 16th, 2012 at 12:41 pm
Can anyone confirm that it’s Christmas in March?
Andy is back?!?!?
==========================
Don’t know about X-mas. This doesn’t make them better. Makes them deeper, but they were deep already. Unless it’s a precursor to a move for a bat, this is much ado about no much.
————————————————————————————————————————-
As usual, you tend to make much doo-doo over anything.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P1HbzATyEM
Gotta be Hughes, all the other guys are younger—-If not, then they’re trading high on Nova.
Andy went out on a high note and I’ve no doubt he can still pitch as competitively as ever, but it’s going to take some time for him to get his arm in game shape.
If they deal Hughes, they’d have to wait for him to show he’s back to 2010 form to make it worthwhile for them.
If Hughes does get dealt, personally, this will just be a crushing offseason for me, all around. Losing Po to retirement (and with the way they treated him like a dog), dealing away Montero…. I sure hope Hughes stays put and becomes the rotation strength he can be.