NYCurve Yankees Blog

Pettitte Will Miss First Start

It was unsure whether or not Andy Pettitte would be able to play in his first start of the regular season due to recent back spasms. Today it was announced that he will miss his first scheduled start on April 2nd. Skipper Girardi said that they hope Pettitte will be able to start in the 3rd or 4th game of the season instead. In the mean time everyone else will just move up a slot in terms of scheduled starts. Pettitte is just going to take it day-to-day, which is smart since it would be better to go into a game healthy, than risk an injury, especially when it is so early in the season. Here is a quick quote from the pitcher:

“I’m planning on it. But again, like I’ve said, if I start playing catch and feel like I may not be able to do it and be comfortable with it, or I feel like I might aggravate it, I’ll wait one more day. It would be stupid to try to force something right now when I’ve got extra days to play with.”

Yankees Fly Past Phillies

Yesterday the Yankees beat the Phillies, 13 to 4. Phil Hughes, who started, looked great except for the home run he gave up to Pedro Feliz. Other than that he was fantastic, with six strikeouts and good command over the ball. He only allowed three hits as he improved his Grapefruit League record to 3-0. Girardi later said:

“I thought he was extremely sharp tonight, he had command of all his pitches. Everything was good.”

I’m telling you, Hughes is going to be great this season. I think most Yankee fans know that, but I know a lot of people (who aren’t Yankee fans), who don’t really know much about Hughes. I guess that’s because they haven’t been paying attention during the offseason. If he keeps playing the way he has, then they’ll definetely know him by the end of this season.

Ok, back to the game. After Hughes was taken out, a few relievers pitched an inning each. LaTroy Hawkins had a 1-2-3 eighth and Rivera struck out 3. Bruney struck out one and allowed no hits. The only reliever to allow hits was Traber, off whom the Phillies got 3.

On the offensive side of the ball the Yankees dominated with 19 hits. Derek Jeter and Shelley Duncan each had three hits and Melky and Giambi both homered. The game got canceled after the 8th, but looking at the offensive stats for the Yanks, no one would guess that.

Next game is against the Indians and is being played as I type this. The score is currently 4-4 in the sixth. Ian Kennedy started the game and had an ok day. I will post after the game goes final with more details and stats.

Booming Business

Some economy experts may argue that the United States is heading towards or is already in a recession, but the Yankees are in anything but a slowdown at the moment. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Today the Yankees announced that they have already sold a record-breaking 3.8 million tickets for the 2008 season! That is 400,000 more than they had sold at this time last season. And all this with the highest ticket prices in Yankee history (they are the highest whether or not you consider inflation as well.) It is crazy, but then again it is also history. It is the last year at the great Yankee Stadium and it is something which most Yankee fans, including me, would pay a lot to be a part of. No one is really happy with the price hikes, but when it comes to the facts the truth is that baseball is a business.

I think it is pretty obvious that this will be the eighth year in a row where home attendance grows for the Yanks. At current rates this will also be the most profitable season for any baseball team ever. This will also be good for the sport, as the Yankees get more press coverage. Other teams may also benefit due to the revenue sharing agreement, so that should make some owners happy (cough -Marlins owner- cough) This season will certainly be a memorable one for everyone including fans, team owners, and the MLB.

Loss vs. Pirates

The Yankees got shut out by the Pirates yesterday, 8-0. It’s not really a big deal though because first of all it is just a Grapefruit League game, and second we hardly had any starters out there. I’ll give the Pirates something though, Paul Maholm (the pitcher who started for them) looked good even though he was facing a bunch of minor leaguers. He pitched 6 shut out innings and allowed only two hits. After a couple of relievers, Byung-Hyun Kim came in to wrap it up. He must have felt big and bad when he pitched a hitless ninth. Basically the story of that game was that the Pirates played and we just didn’t care.

Next game for the Yankees is being played as I type this (vs. the Phillies). The score is currently tied, 3-3 and Phil Hughes is pitching. I will update after the game goes final.

Random News

Here are some of the latest Yankee stories:

• Andy Pettitte was not able to play catch today like he had hoped due to back spasms. He said that he was fine last night, but this morning his back tightened up and was bothering him. Due to the back spasms he won’t pitch until next Friday. Pettitte hopes that he can recover soon, so that he can prepare and pitch in his first regular season start on April 2 (against the Blue Jays.)
• Speaking of the Blue Jays, the game against them last night got canceled in the second due to rain. Toronto was up 6-0, after a horrible showing by Jonathan Albaladejo. He was taken out in the first and is probably going to be cut soon. Farnsworth came into the second and got out of it without allowing any runs. The game went into a rain delay and was eventually canceled after that.
• Currently the Yankees are taking on the Pirates. We are down 6-0 in the top of the seventh. Part of that is because most of our starters aren’t playing today. Stay tuned for post game results later.

Yankees Beat Rays, Ensberg Gets Spot

It was a pretty quiet game against the Rays today, with only 2 runs by the Yankees and only 1 by Tampa. Darrell Rasner started for the Yanks and aloud no runs and only two hits in four innings. He is looking for a long relief spot on the roster and today’s performance should give him a boost. Rivera pitched an inning today as well, giving up one hit. Jose Veras left with the save for the Yankees. Yea, there really isn’t much to say about the game.

In other news, Morgan Ensberg got a 40-man roster spot today. This doesn’t necessarily mean that he will make the team, but it gives him a better shot. It also means that he will get the $1.75 million. Ensberg is one of the options at first base that Cashman has added for this upcoming season and he certainly has the potential to be useful. He is a good hitter and he can play first base as well. Ensberg took Carl Pavano’s spot on the roster, after Pavano was added to the 60-day DL.