CC Sabathia made his second spring training start today, this time facing the Pirates. The results were ... inconsistent. CC was a punching bag in the 1st, giving up 4 straight hits, a 3 run home run, and 4 runs in total. John Flaherty suggested that CC was struggling to locate his fastball, making his pitches easy targets for the Bucs. In the 2nd CC relied more on his change, and looked dominant, getting a quick 1-2-3 inning. Unfortunately, CC lost it again in the third, giving up two hits and a walk. That brought his pitch count over 50, and his day was finished.April was CC's worst month last season. Sabathia has always been known as a slow starter. If the Yankes are going to make a stronger showing in the start of the season than they have the past several years CC will need to play a major role. I know spring training games are meaningless. I also know that we know very little about a team from its April and May performance, but I just can't bring myself to ignore spring training this year. I don't care what the team does in March, but come April I want victories!
On the offensive side, Larry's man Nick Johnson crushed one in the bottom of the 1st and another in the bottom of the 3rd. Glad to see his back is feeling better. So far, his spring training has been a microcosm of his career. He's hitting like an absolute beast when he's in the lineup. Hopefully Joe Girardi can keep him healthy.
On a final note, Curtis Granderson showed some solid arm strength in Center. With respect to Granderson, I'm more concerned that he's yet to get a hit this spring (come on Curtis, gimme one, just a little single) but I was alarmed when he made a couple of short throws on Saturday. The last thing this team needs is Johnny Damon redux in Center. Fortunately, based on this exhaustive search of one instance that's not the case.
The Yankees are taking these games lightly, and so am I. At the end of the third I decided to move on.
it sure would be nice if the yankees could get off to a decent start this year. if they finish april under .500, all you're going to hear out of the folks at the Post and the News is how Girardi's about to be fired or something even crazier like they're not going to renew Jeter's contract.
ReplyDeletetake a look at the Yankees April schedule http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=nyy&m=4&y=2010
i count 22 games; I don't think 12-10 is too much to ask.
The Yankees have been notorious slow starters for many years now, both under Toree and Girardi. I have no idea why.
ReplyDeleteThe baseball media will be intolerable if they get off to a slow start, for sure, but in general I'd like to see the team perform to expectations in April for my own sake. Is it too much to ask for a little consistency? I say no.
I dont know what the deal is; even with the recent roster turn over, it seems like the last 10 years have seen a sub par April. maybe the Yankees are really good at putting together guys who love playing in the hot weather? The Red Sox seem to have had good Aprils for the last several years, then they fall off at some point in the dog days. I know they came out of the gate slowly last year, but then they went on an incredible run
ReplyDeletehttp://boston.redsox.mlb.com/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=bos&m=4&y=2009
So i'm trying not to set my April expectations too high; 12-10 is all I ask, because i have high confidence that they'll take care of business all summer long
CC, Cano, Teix... you remember that one year Jeter went 0-April? (thats a great line by Mike Mussina)
~jamie
I'll settle for a 12-10 April, but 15-7 would be better.
ReplyDeleteI do remember when Jeter went 0-April. That was 2004 and A-Rod got off to a crappy start as well that year.
For whatever reason, teams develop identities that transcend generations. The Red Sox have struggled late in the year for years, while the Yankees have struggled at the beginning of the season for years as well. This happens even with different players on the team. And it crosses sports. Look at the Knicks. Even when they were good they could never hold a lead. These kinds of trends have to do with factors other than the players, something to do with playing in Boston in August when all the students are gone, or acclimating to New York again in April when a player has been gone for months.
That's an interesting point about the Red Sox - the last several years, the place sells out all the time, yet perhaps its a different crowd at different points in the year, and the team feeds off the energy in a different way.
ReplyDeleteI really believe that Nick Johnson will stay healthy as the DH; how many games could he possibly play at 1B this year, 10? I look forward to a good year from him
isn't this point in spring training usually a mess on both sides of the ball and when the regular season rolls around, hitters are ahead of pitchers? i know you're not worried about CC, but anytime i see anyone do either great or terrible in spring training, just think back to that Jaret Wright spring training back in 05 when he sported that sub 1 ERA - that didn't work out so well!
~jamie
Couple a bunch of slow starters with a brutal April schedule and the Yankees will be very lucky to be over .500 on May 1st. That said, if they are--good luck to the rest of the league
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