May 7, 2012 -- 9:43AM, craner7 wrote:

Great day BG....and I'm not sure I would've known about the game change if not for you. So here's a kiss  LOL

Yuck.  I don't want your damn kiss.  Give it to Lauren, she posted a thread hoping you would see it, when I didn't see you post in it that's when I sent you the message.  lol   Too bad you're not going tonight too, Gardner and Banuelos.   Glad you guys had a great  time though.  Weather looked great and a huge crowd.  They said that was the biggest regular season crowd for that place. 

The Yankees and Rays start a three game series tomorrow, their second against each other this year and first since Opening Week when the Rays swept the Yankees out of the Trop. The Rays will be a bit lighter for this series, as Evan Longoria is out with a hamstring injury he got while sliding into second base on a steal attempt.

(Stats accurate as of Sunday at noon)

The Rays come into this game with a solid offensive attack, ranking no lower than 5th in the AL in home runs (4th), runs (5th), OBP (4th), SLG (5th), and OPS (4th). Losing Longoria, who was leading the team in AVG/OBP/OPS/OPS+/wOBA/wRC+, will obviously hurt, but the Rays still have a few weapons to turn to. Matt Joyce is hitting the ball well at .271/.367/.588 (.407 wOBA, 169 wRC+). Carlos Pena is riding a (typical) .200 Iso and a 16.3% walk rate to a wOBA/wRC+ of .379/149. Everyone’s least favorite player, Luke Scott, isn’t walking much (5.6%) or hitting for a high average (.256), but when he’s hitting the ball, he’s making it count with a .293 Iso, leading to a .549 SLG and a .355/132 wOBA/wRC+ mark. One thing these three all have in common is that they’re left-handed hitters. Lucky for them, they’ll be facing two righties (Ivan Nova and David Phelps) in this series.

On the pitching side of things, the Rays rank 5th in the AL in ERA, 6th in FIP (one spot ahead of the Yankees), third in strikeout percentage (one spot behind the Yankees), 11th in walk rate, and 9th in HR/FB%. The three pitchers the Yankees will face this week–James Shields, Jeff Niemann, and David Price–are all doing well in the early season. Among pitchers with at least 20 innings, the trio is 16-18th in strikeout percentage. Predictably, Price has been the best, notching the best ERA (2.35) and FIP (2.49) of the three.

Aside from Nova (G1 v. Shields) and Phelps (G2 vs. Neimann), the Yankees will send CC Sabathia to the mound to counter Price in the series finale. Considering what Shields normally does to the Yankees, and how Nova has been getting knocked around a bit, game two with Phelps v. Neimann will be the key to this series. With the two best starters on each team going Thursday, we could be in for a battle of the bullpens there.

May 7, 2012 -- 11:09AM, Lola wrote:

May 6, 2012 -- 7:03PM, BigGuy wrote:

May 6, 2012 -- 7:01PM, Lola wrote:

Any idea when Andy will make his 1st start?

That depends if they want to bring him up now, which I think they may do.  If that's the case figure in the next 5 or 6 days to keep him pretty much on the same schedule.

I really want to go to the stadium for Andy's return this week.... I'm thinking maybe Thurs or Friday? I'm sure they'll announce it this week sometime. Yes?

I think we'll know by tomorrow nights game, if not sometime today,  what their plans are for him, whether another AAA start or up to NY. Based on him pitching Sunday they'll probably want him to start again on Friday or Saturday, somewhere.

Yankees Notes: Soriano, Robertson, Rivera

Yankees closer Mariano Rivera is expected to miss the rest of the 2012 season after tearing his ACL last week. Here are some links explaining the long-term impact of Rivera’s injury on the Yankees’ bullpen:

• Joel Sherman of the New York Post suggests Rafael Soriano may contemplate hitting free agency in search of a long-term contract after the season if he takes over for Rivera and pitches well. Soriano has a $13MM player option for 2013.
• David Robertson will earn considerably more through arbitration next year if he becomes the closer. The right-hander, who is under team control through 2014, could become a candidate for a long-term deal if he can handle closing, Sherman writes. An extension would keep Robertson in place for years to come and help the Yankees keep their payroll under the upcoming luxury tax threshold of $189MM.
• Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports wonders how much of a pay cut the Yankees can expect Rivera to take if they re-sign him this offseason. He suggests a 10% reduction to $13.5MM could work for both sides in 2013.
• The majority of MLBTR readers believe Robertson should replace Rivera according to our weekend poll.

Yankees should keep Hughes in rotation

Last Updated: 9:34 AM, May 7, 2012

Ken Davidoff

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Phil Hughes is Lucy. His stuff is the football. The Yankees are Charlie Brown.

How many times will the defending American League East champions try to kick that football, hoping not to fall on their backs once more?

One of baseball’s biggest teases, Hughes finally pitched a good game yesterday, leading the Yankees to a series-evening, 10-4 victory over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. And with Andy Pettitte saying he’s ready to come back to the major leagues, the Yankees face a logjam in their starting rotation.

The simple move would be to recognize Hughes’ overall 2012 ineptitude as a starter, remember his 2009 success as a reliever and execute the switch, making Hughes the seventh-inning guy in the post-Mariano Rivera bullpen.

GIVE HIM THE BALL: Phil Hughes, getting lifted by manager Joe Girardi in the seventh inning yesterday, was not great in a 10-4 Yankees win over the Royals, but he was good enough to remain in the team’s rotation, says The Post’s Ken Davidoff.

The simple move, in this instance, would be a mistake.

“Yeah, I liked the way he pitched today, a lot,” said Yankees catcher Russell Martin. “I want to see that from him every time.”

“It’s a process,” said Hughes, who allowed three runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings, walking one and striking out seven, to lower his ERA to 6.67. “If I can continue to pitch well and throw well, I’m sure I’ll continue to get more trust.”

The Yankees can’t give up on Hughes now because of what he can be. We got a taste of it in the first half of 2010. We have seen this season that, even when opponents knock him around, he misses a lot of bats. He now has 30 strikeouts and eight walks in 28 1/3 innings.

“I think the reason his name has been brought up so much is because of what he has done in the past and with the injury to Mo,” said manager Joe Girardi, conveniently omitting Hughes’ abominable first month. “But this is also a guy who has won 17 games in the rotation, too. He’s done some pretty good things in both places.’’

In addition to locating his fastball better — and still throwing it at 95 mph after passing the 100-pitch mark — Hughes also showed off an improved changeup, using it to strike out Kansas City’s lefty-hitting Mitch Maier in the fourth inning.

Simply, Hughes looked like a pitcher who had a clue of what he was doing, albeit on a day with strong run support and against a mediocre offense, and who could effectively use multiple weapons.

“I just tried to stick with a game plan,” Hughes said. “Stay really aggressive with my fastball, throw off-speed when I needed to.”

“It’s just his attitude on the mound. Much more aggressive,” Martin said. “That’s what we need from him. Go out there. If he’s going to get beat, give it all he has. [Don’t] be tentative.”

So what’s the move, then? Pettitte didn’t put up very good numbers in his start for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre yesterday. Perhaps the veteran lefty could benefit from another start in the minors.

As Girardi said before the game: “You’ve got to feel his pitches are where they need to be to compete. Anyone can go out and throw 100 pitches. But they have to be quality pitches.”

If the club deems Pettitte ready, then it should integrate Pettitte into the rotation, giving either him or Hughes an extra day’s rest, and demote David Phelps. It would make sense to send the promising Phelps, who will start Wednesday against the Rays, back to Triple-A so he can start every fifth day.

Regardless of how it happens, Hughes has to stay where he is. Because the bullpen, for now, seems capable of surviving Rivera’s season-ending right knee injury, whereas the starting rotation doesn’t overflow with such quality.

It wouldn’t shock us in the least if Hughes got bombed in his next start, even with the banjo-hitting Mariners the likely opponents. If that happens, then it would be time to reassess the situation once again. One start at a time.

“I’ll continue to put out the rotation as we go forward,” Girardi said. “But [Hughes] pitched a great game today.”

Probably not “great.” Good enough, though, to take another run at that football. Knowing the risks attached.

kdavidoff@nypost.com

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