On the Yankees beat

Mankanthicz batting 2nd.Hmmm.

i guess torre wants to be fired byt he allstar break!!! DOUG M BATTING 2ND????????????

Why wouldn't you have Cano batting second with Jeter out? Maybe the Yanks dont want 3 LH batters in a row?

Head-scratcher, to be sure

Am I the only guy that thinks Posada looks like Balki from Perfect Strangers???

Torre figures let's make it easier for the opposition to turn a DP in a pressure situation w/ the heart of the order coming up.

Damon,Mankanthicz,Abreu are 3 lefties in a row .The wrong row.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/78/Perfectstrangers.jpg

Really, check it out, Balki or Jorge

Balki has a chin, Posada does not.

I wonder if they have a baseball team in Mypos?

That's right, eyechart bats lh....then there is no fathomable reason to be batting him second.

Maybe we could ask Gary Thorne...I'll bet he'll know the answer.

Here's a thought Doug M. canbe a patient hitter and can bunt. cano is neither of the those 2 attributes.

Directv not covering the game so its entertainment tonight as of now.

Maybe this will lift the presure off of Hughes, knowing that I'm not watching the game. What do you think?

pitch calling

a debate was going on earlier regarding this issue of who's calling the game.
i think that teams which have the luxury of great catchers let them do it.
examples:
i-rod, probably the best staff leader. he goes to florida & suddenly every broom there is on fire. pavano goes 18-8, beckett WS MVP... he goes to detroit and suddenly every young pitcher is a stud, including former failure bonderman. i-rod is brilliant with young pitchers especially, as he exudes confidence and is very smart. varitek is similar (look how well their young pitchers have done, papelbon, lester...)
and also lo duca.
jorge is a good catcher, obviously the best offensive catcher, but he doesn't have that mentality or dominance. his play calling is average and i don't think the youngsters look up to him like an i-rod or a varitek.
i really think that sometimes the amount of influence a catcher has on pitching is forgotten.

phil had a great 1st inning in my bbok. wells can hit anyone, thomas' hit was a fluke.
jorge's defense is declining at an alarming rate and he is costingus runs. couldn't make the throw to tag the runner + wild pitch and he doesn't even move his body.

Gil L; pitch calling by Jorge not up to par with I-Rod or Veritek. I can't agree or disagree but whatever pitch is called the pitcher still has to execute the pitch. Igawa got bombed at Tampa, Chase Wright gave up 4 homers in a row at Boston, two different catchers. I don't care what pitch is called if its not executed to location than its hit. Jorge has his moments defensively but pitch calling may not be his fault. Wang, Pettitte and Mussina surely will ask for another selection if they so want.

THIS UMPIRE IS AN A$$HOLE!!!!

HE STRUCK OUT THOMAS!!!!!!!

Pitch count not what I was hoping for.

KNOCKING ON WOOD FOR YOU PHIL!!!!!

Gil L,
I brought up who calls the pitches.I like Posada,but I would tend to agree he lacks the savvy of I-Rod.He just can't be given credit for making a pitcher better .Girardi did.Munson did.

THAT A BOY PHIL!!!

2nd inning...
wow...
now THIS is a prospect.
and remember he's got ZERO experience. and don't say that he has the advantage because hitters don't know him. they don't know igawa either... wow.
can you believe cashman spent 96M on pavano & igawa... what a waste...

Larry,
I'm not making excuses for Igawa.You're right he didn't execute pitches,but I tend to think Posada isn't intuiting Igawa' strengths.If he has any.Posada has never to my mind helped develop a young pitcher.All the pitchers he's inherited have been veterans.
El Duque decked him once for bad pitch calling and RJ initially wanted nothing to do w/him behind the plate.

If I understood correctly John Sterling just said on the radio that Torre never calls pitches ,he leaves it up to his catchers.

igawa

i'm pretty sure (or is it just wishful thinking) that we've seen the last of this horrendous 46M dollars mistake. i'm sure some in far-east scouting is losing his job.
cashman knows he's going to need to trade for a starter + keep hughes in the rotation.

Jorge can't be as bad as the pitchers have been throwing. Also, he knows the batters weaknesses and strenghs. I'm honestly not trying to defend him.

Our younger pitchers should be doing better than their present performances. Anybody know how Phil is doing?

how does hughes look tonight? indemand not showing the game tonight.

i really like this kid!

great attitude out there, focused, calm. he shook off posada! in his first ever start!!
and, in 3 innings he pitched more tightly inside than all yankee pitchers combined so far.

i've been writing all along how scared and pathetic igawa was looking out there. now compare to hughes. he's a bleeping rookie and he looks like he expects to get everyone out!

It looks like for the time being
Wang
Pettitte
Mussina
Hughes
Karstens
if Karstens and/or Hughes can't cut it then Rasner.
A trade is more than likely or Clemens.

for those not watching:

3 innings. good fastball both in and out, up and down. excellent curve thrown for strikes. change used sporadically but very effective.
but forget all that. it's the attitude. this kid is not going back to the minors. he belongs.

the offense is not being very supportive. jorge killed a rally with a DP. cairo's and doug m's at-bats actually do belong in the minors...

thanks for the updates, any score !

Impressions so far: I thought PH looked a bit spooked in the first, but regained his composure and has looked calm and ready ever since. Shook off Posada in the third. Nothing like the very unready facial expression and bodily posture of Igawa. Not as combative looking as Wright sometimes appeared.

if hughes stays with the big club. we can get him 30 starts at 6 innings which bring us to a modest increase over the 147 last year. this should not be taxing his arm anymore than at aaa level. joe can appreciate this plan just as he did with mariano not pitching the 8th.

end of 3.
2-0 toronto.
someone commented here about abreu's at bat a few days ago and i thought they were way off, but he's really making bad contact. hopefully he'll shake it off today and give phil some support!

Doesn't it seem that every game that MLB EXTRA INNINGS doesn't cover is a must see game... like PH first big league start?

The only way Hughes is sent back to Scranton is if he pitches his way back.
Like Gil said he has a great curveball,he was hitting 96 mph in the 1st inning.
Needs to work on his changeup.

Starting to look a little frayed towards the end of the fourth -- perhaps less comfortable with man on -- and has thrown 74 pitches already.

ruse,

i totally agree about hischange up, which just furthers the point on how well he's doing today, since he;s getting by on only 2 pitches twice through the line up.
obviously next inning is his last, and torre may not even give him that.

What's the score?
I can't look.

phil was just robbed of an out by a terrible call at first. torre might as well not come out an argue as he's so lethargic and lame.
posada seemed to try and throw out a base stealer, but his throws are just pathetic.
this run i attribute to a bad call and bad defense.

Would have liked to see Hughes eat up more innings,but the 1st inning cost him.
At least the bullpen is rested.Fingers crossed.3-0 1 out top of the 5th pitching change.

ok, i really REALLY like this kid.
he just had lind 1-2 down. shook jorge off 4 times! and struck him out on a fastball high and away.

he's now pulled out after 4.1 with runners on 1st and 3rd. i think he had a great start. couldn't get wells out (3-3), but the guy is a hell of a hitter.
got bad defense from posada and a bad call.
was confident, calm, smart. he's probably going to lose this game as the offense went asleep and the bullpen will give up its usual 3-4 runs, but let's say it like this - he is the anti igawa...

Back in the dugout he does not look crushed to have been pulled after 4 1/3. DJ comes 'casually'
down the dugout to sit beside him and talk to him.

jorge is a defensive coma. people are running at will on him. cecil fielder could steat on him today. the yanks could have easily been out of this inning twice if it weren't for jorge's throws and lack of awareness.

I think we can all expect ESPN to $hit all over him but I think he did fine considering who he had to face, the magnitude of the situation, and the officiating(which sucked).

All in all-Encouraging.
It would've been nice to have gotten him some runs

What is wrong with Abreu and Cano!!!

I'll be very dissapointed if they send him back down.
His "stuff"-(Happy RAD)-pitches" though not entirely as on target as they should've been had real bite and authority.

Most just missed. Before the naysayers claim that this is more reason to leave him in the minors to sharpen those "near misses" I'd have to argue that being up here and having faced a quality squad of hitters may put him on the fast track to said sharpening. If he starts again and blows up and shows no improvement fine...Send him back down but if his make up is all it's reported to be than I say we take our chances nomsayin...

When we watch rasner/karstens/even Mussina now obviously in decline (Igawavano are dead to me) On their good days they don't include Phils better pitches.

Overall I'm optimistic I'll be furious if they don't give him another shot or 2 before making any decision to send him back down.

PS.

Can our offense get some runs please!!!! I'll admit the Hughes debut took precedent over the fact that our team is in the midst of a 5 game losing streak WAKE UP BOYS!!

Could Jorge be injured?

Jorge is headed to the DL w/Brain cramp

What is happening to the team? Are they getting old before our eyes or just a bad start to the season.

A team cannot compete w/out starting pitching.AROD has really been the difference maker offensively.Other guys need to pick it up.

honestly they look a little listless today. plus they have 2 automatic out spread around the lineup in mientky and cairo. this 1st base experience has got to end. doung has not shown any indication that he can hit above 200 and even the yanks can't afford that. the bench must be strengthened.

abreu is going to become this year's a-rod booing wise if he continues like this.
his at-bats are horrible; he's missing fat pitches and keeps grounding out.

Minky (.156) batting 2nd? WOW, why didn't I think of that. Great move you MORON Torre!!! I would never think of putting Cano there.

Here we go again 4 1/3 innings = 91 pitches. I just don't get it. It has to be because of the pitch calling from the dugout. There's no way EVERY pitcher we have runs up 100 pitch counts in 4 innings EVERY night. Let the catcher and pitchers call there own game. They know whats working best and it'll be easier to throw strikes, thereby keeping the pitch count lower and getting deeper into games.

Man, I wish I could have watched this game.

Larry

I've been fighting it for fear of being pummeled by all of our blogging brethren but I share your fear.

I'm just hoping I'm wrong and and that it's some sort of Age + 45degrees in April = subpar yankee team?? I don't know but you're not alone in atleast your specific concern. I don't know about you guys but I see disturbing performance or lack thereof in Abreu Cano Damon and worst of all Jeter. I don't know if its age I don't know what it is but this kind swing at bad pitches thing for our lineup which is notorious for eating pitch counts is heartbreaking APril or not a sweep is a sweep and a losing streak like this is just shocking. I don't even recognize these guys and that includes Alex!!(but the rare positive in a growing negative...nomsayin.

I really had hoped for Phil to kick some A and for the offense to be totally fired up in reaction to all this "LOSING" WHERE IS THE FIRE!! WHAT IS HAPPENING? I'm at a loss and Larry like you I'm at a loss at this point.

Rick,
Torre as stated by John Sterling on the radio side let's Posada call his own games.So blame Posada.

It sounds like this team is basically sleep walking through the season, just like their manager. I'm betting the players have had enough of JT's managing blunders and have basically lost the will to fight. They won't say that, but they all see the stuff he's doing and not doing. This team needs some new LEADERSHIP, someone to light a fire under them.

Torre just spent Sean Henn until Sat-Sun by letting him throw 30 pitches.

ruse

Fair enough, Posada is the idiot then. Someone above said Hughes shook him off 4 times and then struck someone out. That's what I'm talking about! The pitcher knows what's working and what's not. He knows what pitches he has confidence in and what he wants to throw. Let the pitcher decide and the pitch counts WILL COME DOWN.

Now it's 5-0 fans are growing impatient w/ the product on the field and are booing loudly.

Damn, I want tosee this game!!! Torre needs to go.

2 runs on no hits.6-0

larry et al

1) after the 0-5 road trip torre said every cliche possible (testing mettle, stick together...), but the team doesn't show it.

2) rick, the reason for the high pitch counts: yankee pitchers, especailly relievers don't throw strikes. henn just walked two and proctor walked the third to load the bases.

3) the yankess are in crisis. the stadium is dead, there's nothing going on, no buzz.
the bullpen is shot, i wrote one hour ago as phil left that they'll give up 3-4 runs and they're on pace.
how do you construct a 7 men pen without a single long reliever? this team was put together with many mistakes. the red sox are winning which means 5.5 games lead.
when are we going to understand that it's not just a gimpy start?

said:

call as it may but here is the reasons floating regarding Managerial changes, my sources may be good or be bad anyway....

1. Torre is playing strategy here, it is hard to fire him now almost impossible , why ? becasue it would be the biggest distraction and possibl;y affect the players. Torre knows this he plays the yankees well. If the team was to fire him it should have been last year.

2. coaches

Torre connection is too MAttingly and Guidry , reason : Becasue they are worthless and pose no threat to his legacy, OPena and Bowa is cool but at arms length , Torre was,nt to keen on their hiring felt that threat. plus organization is still caught in the middle on hiring a minority manager becasue if so Willie would have been Torre auctioned him for a Job as a friend and to further oush away WIllie's chances of becoming a Yankee Mgr.

This job made Torre who he is, He desires not to be outshined or to reveal the obvious. You see that is a reason Torre continues to hint at extending his contract he wants to leave when his core players are done and over the hill. i nno way does he want any one else to manage Jeter , Mo, Jorge, and even alex while they are in Pinstripes.
Lets say pena comes in this year and the team wins 3 ws in a row already torre championships would be then ok common . Torre wants to have Stengel like championships that would be unreachable in todays market.

I'm tired will continued when asked.

Like i said take it as you want , this is from sources mouths

Well, they've seen the light with Igawa and hopefully Pavano too. I was right on both of these guys during the winter. Two HUGE MISTAKES! What was Cashman thinking???? Now we're in a hole we'll never get out of needing TWO SP.

My rotation would have been Wang, Pettitte, Mussina, Lilly, and a rotation of youngsters auditioning for the 5th spot.

Like I said the other day " I wouldn't be surprised to see Torre gone by June 1st."

Gil L

Torre acts like it's no big deal, but we have already played over 10% of the season. I have had enough of his sleep walking show. We need some fire and some leadership!!!

ruse

June 1st????? We need May 1st!!!!

they just showed some long shots of the yankee dugout.
i've seen livelier morgues... it's a look of a team defeated.
the offense know that no matter how many runs they put up it won't be enough and they need at least 7-8 just to overcome the pitching, which is very draining.
the bullpen is overworked and disgusted, and includes some putrid players (you all know which 2...)
the rotation is broken up and includes a huge bust and a guy who's already retired in his head.
and the manager - well, he should have been gone in 2004.

Gil L

Excellent analysis on all points!!!

Rick
You may get your wish if the Yanks don't take at least 2 of 3 from Boston this weekend.

by the way, some of you mentioned that you can't watch the game.
i'm watching it via mlb.com and the quality is quite good! cost you 15$ a month or 90$ a year and you get every game minus blackouts.

I'm making a prediction right here and now...IF Torre is not fired immediately, the Yanks have no chance of making the post season this year! Mark it down on your calendar. I will eat my hat if I'm wrong.

Gil L

I can't afford MLB TV and Directv at the same time.

Doug Mankanthicz now 7-46 .152 along w/Nieves are wasted roster spots.Don't talk about his defensive prowess.Don't expect .270 out of him.Don't expect pinch hits from either of them.