ESPN reports: Joe Girardi said the Yankees’ newly-acquired No. 1 catcher had “a little stiffness” in his left hamstring. Girardi said Martin’s injury had nothing to do with his surgically-repaired right knee and that Martin would be able to catch again on Monday.
Well, the tardiness of this column finally caught up with me and I end up writing about the Yankees’ starting rotation AFTER they have announced what THEY expect their rotation to look like.
The Yankees beat Houston 6-4 in their Spring Training game. Andruw Jones went 0-for-2 to bring his average for the Spring down to .189. This tendency to persist with senior players shows their anxiety about the youthful tryouts. The front office is suddenly talking up Gustavo Molina as a meaningful candidate for the backup catcher – despite the fact he has batted only .071 during the Grapefruit League games. His advantage over the other candidates? He has major league experience. Also still around is utility infielder, Ronnie Belliard, who plays the corners well but is only batting .158. And yesterday the Yankees also completed the signing of veteran starting pitcher, Kevin Millwood, who led the American League in losses in 2010. He has been signed to a minor league contract but has insurance written all over him.
More on that starting rotation later……..
The Yankees have had something of an epidemic in Spring Training – of oblique strains. Perhaps this is a signing of some badly organised fitness regimes but it is causing a substantial difficulty as they approach opening day. Centrefield is Curtis Granderson’s, Leftfield is Brett Gardner’s, and rightfield belongs to Nick Swisher. But now Granderson may be unavailable for opening day because of that strain epidemic and Swisher is day-to-day having taken a batted ball off his foot.
On the face of it, the Yankees’ infield is the most settled area of their squad. But in reality, there still remains some questions to be answered with not long to go in Spring Training.
What is decided?
The 2011 season is an unusual one for the Yankees. They normally go into Spring Training as the best stocked team in professional baseball. And the emphasis is normally on depth of starting pitching.
So 1 first baseman, 1 second baseman, 1 third baseman, 2 shortstops, 2 catchers, 5 outfielders, 5 starters and 7 relievers make 24.
When the Yankees decided that Phil Hughes would be their fifth starter, they, by inference filled three of their relief positions also. Alfredo Aceves, Joba Chamberlain and Sergio Mitre had good enough seasons last year that they were always going to be on the Opening Day roster.
Going into Spring Training the Yankees had, barring some disaster or an unexpected loss of form, 4 of the starting positions firmly fixed. 3 of those were carry-overs from the 2009 World Champs – Sabathia, Burnett and Pettitte.
The Yankees have used an amazing 16 outfielders in Spring Training as they have sought to fill the hardest three spots on their roster. In the infield, we have merely been debating the bench spots. In the outfield, nothing is certain – an amazing situation for a team coming off a World Series win to find themselves in. In 2009, Melky Cabrera beat out Brett Gardner to fill the centrefield slot (despite opening the season as second choice). Leftfield went to Johnny Damon primarily because Hideki Matsui’s balky knees prevented him playing the outfield all year. Rightfield went to Nick Swisher who was the lightweight of the three but a good clubhouse presence. Now only Swisher remains.
twilightdawning 