Friday, March 15, 2013

Opening Day is coming, so how's the team shaping up?

[caption id="attachment_15190" align="aligncenter" width="461"]Brett Gardner could be a valuable player in the Yankees lineup... Brett Gardner could be a valuable player in the Yankees lineup...[/caption]

In a little less than three weeks, the Yankees will begin their home-opener against the Boston Red Sox with CC Sabathia on the mound. However, this year's Opening Day lineup might be a little different than what we're used to due to all of the injuries the Yankees were plagued with during the 2013 season. The Yankees are missing Curtis Granderson (broken forearm), Mark Teixeira (strained forearm) and Alex Rodriguez (hip surgery) in their offense which is sure to look like the 'Robinson Cano Show' for the first month and a half. But with still some time to go, just how are the Yankees shaping up as they prepare for the season?


Lineup:


The Yankees lineup has many question marks after losing so many players to free agency and injuries. The bats of Nick Swisher, Russell Martin, Raul Ibanez and Eric Chavez will be with different ball clubs, while we will most likely have to wait for Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson to return to their post in early to mid-May. However, the lineup hasn't looked as puzzling as it did when Spring Training started. The Yankees proved that they can manufacture runs by using a key element that they possess: speed. Players like Brett Gardner, Ichiro Suzuki and Eduardo Nunez are capable of getting on base, going station to station on their own before a key teammate has to drive them in with an RBI. Speed will play an important part this season since the Yankees have lost over 100 home runs than in season's past. But just because the Yankees are relying on speed, it doesn't mean we should start calling them the 'Bronx Bunters'. They will still find a way to hit home runs with Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira making their way back into the starting lineup.


Starting Pitching:


Throughout the course of Spring Training, the starting pitching has been one early glimpse of how our starters will perform during the 2013 season. It looks as if they left off from last season. Hiroki Kuroda looks to be in mid-season form, David Phelps has a 0.63 ERA 14 Spring appearances  Ivan Nova has an ERA of 1. Andy Pettitte has still proven that his pitches are effective although he's the oldest starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. And as expected, there is no concern over CC Sabathia, whatsoever. The starting pitching looks to be one of the Yankees strong points like it was in season's past. Let's hope that the pitching can carry the Yanks this season.


Bullpen:




[caption id="attachment_15191" align="alignright" width="205"]...while Mariano Rivera could be a dynamic piece to the Yankees bullpen ...while Mariano Rivera could be a dynamic piece to the Yankees bullpen[/caption]

The Yankees bullpen was another one of their key pieces that helped define the Yankees last season. With pitchers such as David Robertson, Boone Logan, Clay Rapada and Joba Chamberlain, it seemed like an easy task to get the ball to the 9th inning before handing it off to the greatest closer of all time, Mariano Rivera. Last season's bullpen dynamic was different since there was no Mariano in the bullpen due to an ACL injury, giving the Yankees a glimpse of what it would look like if Mariano Rivera wasn't there. With Rafael Soriano, the Yankees were able to still close games with a dominant force but this year there is no Rafael Soriano. Mariano Rivera plans to retire after the 2013 season, which gives Yankees fans one last look of the greatest closer before he hangs up his cleats and says goodbye to the game. The bullpen is expected to be a strong part of the Yankees once again, and from Spring observations, I wouldn't be surprised if Shawn Kelley and David Phelps get spots in the bullpen. With both of their arms this spring, the Yankees bullpen could become an iron gate to prevent runs from scoring.


There's only 17 days until Opening Day so from now until Spring Training is over, it would be a good time to start watching the games to see who has a legitimate shot of making the team. And from what I've seen all Spring so far, there are quite a few who have a chance to go north.

10 comments:

  1. If given the choice of getting rid of some of the Yankees garbage who would go first? Girardi the incompetent manager? or Michael Kay the incompetent broadcaster?

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  2. Neither for me lol

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  3. BOTH!! And take Cash with them!!

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  4. I can't say to rid of Girardi because he does know how to manage a team that's injured. I'd say Michael Kay.

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  5. I said this before about Kay. I met him in New Orleans at a restaurant and could not have been a nicer guy. Great conversation.

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  6. Kay is a bad fit for the Yanks!

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  7. Matt I think Kay is a great guy, but I find his voice very annoying at times. I think that is what bothers most about him, not his knowledge or his personality.
    I wish Singleton had the lead spot and wish he did every game. He has a great voice, obviously has great knowledge of the game because he played it at the highest level, and is the only guy in the booth who has the guts to make predictions and those predictions have a high accuracy rate.

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  8. I met Kay years ago at the Atlantic City Tropicana. We played at the same Blackjack table for about an hour. I found him to be very nice too. He was with a hot blonde at the time so I didn't hammer him with Yankees talk but he wasn't too cool to talk some baseball with me. I don't hate him or love him in the booth. He's a LOT more opinionated on his ESPN radio show and that's to be expected because he's not going to be tough on the Yankees on YES who employ him. He's covered the Yankees for well over 20 years as a beat writer, radio announcer and TV announcer so he's tied in. The guys I like on YES are David Cone and on the journalist side - Jack Curry.

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)