YANKEES WIN. THEEEE YANKEES WIN.

It's about time.

Things were not looking good when Karstens left the game with an injury in the first inning with two on, no outs.

Igawa came in and pitched an absolute gem. He velocity was great (92 MPH). His location was good, for the most part. He struggled with some walks but he was hitting his spots in some tough situations. He also had some wicked movement on his pitches today. An all around great performance. It is amazing to see a guy pitch an amazing game with no pre-game preparation. Igawa probably earned back his spot in the rotation today.

The offense, yet again, was a bit stagnant. Posada finished off a great at-bat with a very nice piece of hitting. Many hitters would have taken that pitch and lined it into 3rd base line stands.

Bruney came in and very nicely worked out of trouble. Farnsworth gave us cause for concern with wild location, but got some calls on the outside corner of the plate to work the final K in the 8th.

Rivera looked like his old self. He gave up one of those bloop hits he is prone to from time to time, which certainly is not a problem. His velocity was good, location was great and the ol' cutter was back.

Great game by the Yanks. Hopefully this starts a new, and more positive, streak!

Seven straight.

That's a sick number of losses in a row: seven. It feels like the Yankees don't have a chance of winning any game anymore.

A couple other nightmares from last night:

• Johnny Damon is obviously injured. He said he is in "excruciating" pain after the game and could land on the DL. Wonderful. He will DH today, Melky will start in center and Giambi will play first (ughhh).
• Jeter's speed is obviously a little hampered by the bruise he suffered the other night.
• Mariano Rivera. I am really starting to think he is injured. While he is, historically, a slow starter, his complete lack of control is very uncharacteristic. Whenever you see Mariano starting to struggle with his control a trip to the DL is not far behind.
• The rest of the bullpen. They are so gassed. Ever drive around with the orange light on in your car for a while? Nervous and worried about the car just dying? Now you might know how Joe Torre feels in every game. As my friend Brian told me, problems with overusing the bullpen are "exponential". The Yankees are going to need a string of QS (quality starts) in a row if they want any chance of returning this pen to normal.
• Torre. This guy struggles managing a HEALTHY bullpen. It frightens me to think about what he's going to do with the current bullpen. His in-game moves have been abysmal all year long. I still can't figure out what the hell he was doing with Doug M in the two hole. I'd hate to ask this question, but the current situation begs it: is it time for him to go?

There you have it. My prediction for Wang's line tomorrow: 6.2 IP, 2 ER, W

Karstens' line today: It hurts me to guess.

Yankees lose 6 straight.

Not sure where to start tonight.

I suppose we'll be positive about one thing: Hughes had a pretty good first MLB start. He seemed a bit nervous and got a little unlucky, but I'd say he pitched well. Yankee fans should be excited about this kid.

That's about the only positive part of tonight. The whole offense was stagnant. Probably a combination of fatigue, injuries and bad luck.

As for the Joe "what the hell are you thinking!?" Torre move of the night:

Doug Mientkiewicz was hitting 2nd in the lineup.

Huh?

Listen, when Joe Torre puts Cairo #2 in the lineup, I understand what motivates him. Cairo is a "contact hitter" and has "some peskiness on the base paths". Those are terrible reasons to put him in the two hole, but at least I understand why Joe thinks it is correct.

But Mientkiewicz... in the two hole?

I really, for the life of me, cannot deduce one reason why Joe would do this. Mientkiewicz is slow, his on-base percentage is abysmal and he strikes out somewhat frequently. Even in backwards Joe Torre land, there is no reason to put him there. Was Joe just randomly sorting the lineup tonight or something?

BaseballProspectus shows that lineup order doesn't matter THAT much, but by incorrectly placing hitters you are costing your team runs, even if the difference is small.

This bullpen is gassed. Their arms are dead. The Yankees better hope for a few quality starts in a row if they want to have any kind of bullpen going into next week.

Things are not getting much easier going into a weekend series against Boston. At least they will get starts from both Pettitte and Wang. Quality starts don't mean much, though, if your bullpen continually implodes.

The offense just had an off night. The pitching has had a freaking off month.

Crawford and the Drays Top Yanks 6-4

Yet another blown lead.

Today, though, I am going to point the finger of blame squarely at one man.

Joe Torre.

You heard me. I have always supported Joe Torre and his decisions. I cannot anymore. Tonight was an absolute managing debacle.

Chien-Ming Wang made his first start since coming off the DL. He pitched very well the entire game and gave up one hard hit ball in the 7th inning. Joe Torre instantly pulls him.

Wang was at 81 pitches.

Now, it is completely possible that Wang is on some sort of pitch count limit. I, however, have not read that anywhere. He also made some rehab starts, so I find a pitch count limit of 81 unlikely. Joe, if his limit was 80, I apologize for what I am about to say.

What the heck are you thinking?

Joe goes ahead and pulls, quite possibly, one of the best double play pitchers in the league. He then brings up a guy who is overworked and has been atrocious this year... and has him IBB the next batter to load the bases... in order to set up the double play.

Wait, what?

Take out the double play pitcher... then set up the double play.

Ok, Joe.

The result? Cairo makes a great play to catch a line out. Torre then brings in the lefty specialist (a guy taking up a roster spot so he can "specialize" in getting lefties out) who promptly serves up a grand slam.

On top of that, he starts making defensive substitutions in the SEVENTH INNING with a ONE RUN LEAD. He already proved his idiocy with late game moves last week when he lifted Giambi for a pinch runner in the seventh. Now Joe lifts Damon and Phelps and replaces them with two terrible hitters while clinging to a one run lead?

Who do you think made the last two outs of the game? That's right, those two defensive substitutions.

Joe, I do not know why you continue to trust Vizcaino.

Bruney and Farnsworth are much better (and that's saying a lot).

Myers? If he continues to perform poorly he needs to be off this roster. Colter Bean or Jose Veras would be more valuable in that roster spot.

In another bout of good news (sarcasm), Derek Jeter is down and out in the first inning on a pitch taken to the leg. It seems like it missed the bone, but I have not heard any developments on that injury yet. I would not be surprised if he misses at least 1-3 games.

Expect Joe Torre to, moronically, put Cairo in the two hole if that happens. Great Joe, let's just throw all the low OBP guys at the top of the lineup while we are at it. (UPDATE - Jeter insists he'll play on Wednesday)

Pettitte needs to pitch a miracle tomorrow so the bullpen can get some rest. They will be called on Thursday to relieve what will, most likely, be a short first start by Hughes.

The Yankees are on their first 5-game losing streak since June of 2005.

Tough week to be a Yanks fan.

Tampa Bay Downs Yankees 10-8

The offense exploded for 8 runs, A-rod continued his (for lack of a better adjective) unconscious run, and the pitching was absolutely atrocious.

Another day for the 2007 New York Yankees.

What's the solution here? Are the Yankees done?

Well, first of all, anyone proclaiming that the Yankees are "digging too deep a hole" or "done" is a fool. It's April.

To be blindly optimistic would be injudicious. I know my last post was full of bold statements proclaiming the Yankees to be the top team in the AL East. I still stand by that.

The Yankees, however, need to develop some pitching consistency soon.

I think it's coming.

Tomorrow night, the ever-consistent Wang returns to the rotation. Many critics will, appropriately, point to his K/9 rates and say there is no way he can continue his success in the major leagues. I digress and will add more on that in a later post. The bottom line is this: the Yankees' ace (yes, ace) is back. Hopefully he can eat up some innings and give the tired bullpen a much needed rest.

Andy Pettitte, who is pitching very well this year, starts Wednesday. I think the Yankees should expect a quality start from him.

The real excitement, however, starts Thursday night:

Philip Hughes is here.

One of the top ten pitching prospects in all of baseball, and certainly the top prospect in the Yankee organization, makes his triumphant arrival against the Toronto Blue Jays. This is certainly no easy task. Is he 100 % ready? No, or he would have been on the opening day roster. Will he be better than Karstens or Wright? Absolutely. I expect Philip Hughes to post numbers consistent to those of a 3rd or 4th starter.

It is possible, however, that Hughes will make a Liriano type start and be absolutely dominating. Hopefully things end better this season for Hughes than they did Liriano. The Yankees MUST be delicate with him. His arm is NOT ready for a huge workload. I do not expect him to last longer than 5 or 6 innings unless he is being very efficient with his pitches. Extending him over 90-100 pitches could prove to be disastrous. I trust that Joe Torre and Ron Guidry understand this, but you never know.

This is why it's important that the Yankees get quality starts from both Wang and Pettitte.

I think that will happen.

As a side note, Mariano Rivera looked dominant tonight. He had good velocity, movement and location. There's nothing wrong with him.

Yankees Swept by the Red Sox

Doom, gloom, humiliation, depression. All understandable emotions of a Yankee fan following the first Fenway sweep of the Yankees since 1990 (coincidentally the last time the Red Sox won the AL East).

However, there is no reason to feel this way. None at all. In fact, most Yankee fans should be pleased by the way the team, overall, played this weekend.

Am I crazy? Maybe, but hear me out.

Shoddy middle relief aside, most of the team performed quite well. The bats broke three of the top starters in the AL East, Schilling, Beckett and Matsuzaka, to the tune of 5 ER, 4 ER and 6 ER, respectively. On top of that, one of the best Yankee starters, Andy Pettitte, pitched well.

The fill-ins did their job; they kept the Yankees in the game. Magical games and quality starts were not to be expected of Karstens or Wright. They were supposed to keep the games close enough for the offense to out-slug the Red Sox, as well as eat up innings. These grossly inexperienced pitchers, one of which probably is not even major league ready, were thrown into the middle of Fenway Park, facing one of the most fearsome lineups in the American League. They, really, did the best they could.

The Yankee offense, which performed extremely well in all three games, was missing three of its starters for a majority of the series. Lead-off batter Johnny Damon sat out with a nagging injury for most of game two. His decent on-base percentage was replaced with the meager offensive talent of Melky Cabrera in the leadoff spot. Why Joe Torre insists on putting players with a poor OBP in the front of the lineup, I will never understand.

Posada, part of the Yankees' on-base machine as well as a formidable slugger, was held out for the last two games, aside from one at-bat, with a bruised thumb on his catching hand. Not only did the Yankees lose his bat in the lineup, but they lost his game management experience behind the plate. While most metrics show catchers have little to no effect on pitchers over time, a calming voice may have had a significant impact on two young pitchers starting in a hostile environment.

Finally, Matsui, another OBP monster and slugger with a 133 OPS+ last year, missed the entire series. While the Yankees defense in left field almost certainly improved because of this, Melky Cabrera is no replacement at the plate for Matsui.

The Yankees really SHOULD have won game one. Rivera was, simply, a victim of bad luck: a bouncing ground ball down the first base line followed up by a jam shot that sneaks in just over a drawn-in infield. Joe Torre's poor decision making also reared its ugly head again when he decided to lift Giambi for a pinch runner in the 7^th inning.

Through all this, missing three key starters, Wang, Pavano and Mussina, as well as missing three hitters, the Yankees managed to only be outscored 21-17.

Simply put, this series could have gone either way. At full strength the Yankees almost certainly take two, if not three games. It was certainly possible, luck aside, that this depleted Yankee team could have also taken two out of three.

The lesson here is to not look at the results, in the form of Ws and Ls, as the indicator of success in this young season. It is only April, after all, and this Yankee team looks formidable and far superior to the Red Sox. While the Sox certainly have an edge with their rotation, a healthy Yankee rotation is not far behind. On top of that, I would take the depleted Yankee lineup over a full strength Red Sox lineup, any day.

So do not fear, Yankee fans. It is only April and things look, surprisingly, bright.