Yankees baseball blog

No questions about Mariano

The question about Mariano Rivera is always the same: Will this be the year he finally falters? If spring training is any indication, the answer is no. Rivera tossed yet another scoreless inning yesterday and completed his spring training having allowed just one run and two hits in nine innings. Rivera was so effective that, at one point last week, he opted to throw a bullpen session instead of appearing in a game because he wanted to throw more pitches. "This is as good a spring as he's ever had," Joe Torre said. Continue

Selig fails to stir Sheff

Major League Baseball formally announced its investigation into steroid use yesterday, which meant another round of reporters' questions for Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield. The responses from the two stars were predictable: Giambi said he believes he's done all he can to explain his actions in the past and Sheffield seemed irritated with having to deal with the issue once more. Both players, however, indicated they likely would cooperate with an investigation, though Sheffield hardly seemed excited about the prospect. "If I have to, I will," Sheffield said. "I'll do whatever the law (requires) me to do, but other than that, it's a waste of my time." Continue

Backup plan for Big Unit?

Randy Johnson and Jorge Posada pledged to forge a stronger relationship this spring, and in the beginning, it seemed they were succeeding. Illness and injury (Posada got sick and then broke his nose) got in the way, and the Unit finished his spring training having thrown only seven of his 29-1/3 innings to the Yanks' starting catcher.

Considering that, it was no surprise that Joe Torre fielded questions yesterday about whether he's considering having backup Kelly Stinnett catch Johnson during Monday's opener in Oakland. Torre said he's sticking with Posada for the time being, but didn't rule out returning to last year's routine, in which Johnson pitched to the backup catcher (last year it was John Flaherty) instead. Continue

Pavano dives right in

The ball was trickling along the first base line and Carl Pavano - he of the balky back - lumbered after it. Pavano bent down, fielded the grounder and, in a move that could hardly be called graceful, tumbled to the ground and tagged the bag with his glove as he rolled. For just a moment, everyone feared the worst. Pavano was making his spring debut two days before the Yankees leave Florida because he's been nursing an injury and this couldn't have helped. But Pavano came up smiling, shot a goofy look at Joe Torre and pitching coach Ron Guidry - who was laughing hysterically - and then proceeded back to the mound to finish his lone inning of work.

He threw 11 more pitches after that - one of which Chase Utley hit over the right field fence - and exited having allowed one run and one hit in the Yankees' 3-0 loss to the Phillies. He spoke afterward about being pleased with his velocity (which reached 92 mph, according to YES Network radar) as well as his command, but conceded that his flop into first will almost surely be the lingering memory from his first appearance since last Aug. 3. Continue

Pavano set to throw one inning tonight

The Yankees have a great deal (Great deal? That remains to be seen) invested in the one inning Carl Pavano is scheduled to pitch in Tampa tonight against the Phillies in what will not only mark the 30-year-old's first appearance of the spring, but also his first in a game since he made a rehab start in the Florida State League last Aug. 3.

Pavano, who went on the DL on June 28 with what was finally diagnosed as rotator cuff tendinitis, and is entering the second year of a four-year, $40 million contract, reported to camp with back problems. Under the direction of athletic trainer Gene Monahan, the Yankees have taken an extremely cautious approach this spring. Continue

Randy's dandy

You didn't need to hear Randy Johnson's words to understand the Yankees' ace is ready for his second season in pinstripes. You didn't require catcher Kelly Stinnett to describe how well Johnson pitched yesterday against the Twins at Lee County Stadium. Joe Torre explained Johnson's outing very well, but it amounted to being told Jessica Alba is hot.

All you had to do was watch Johnson's fastball get clocked at 94-95 mph and notice the teeth his slider possessed. Then, as a final clue that the Yankees' Opening Day starter is ready for April 3 and the A's, you simply had to look at the feeble hacks the Twins took. Continue

Yankees, Sox turn up heat

It was only an exhibition game but there was still some typical Rivalry emotion between the Yankees and Red Sox last night after three players got hit by pitches during the Bombers' 5-4 victory. Sox manager Terry Francona was upset about Tanyon Sturtze hitting Mike Lowell in the ribs with a eighth-inning fastball.

Although Sturtze claimed innocence, the Sox felt it was in response to David Riske hitting Derek Jeter - with a breaking ball - an inning earlier. Mike Myers also hit J.T. Snow in the seventh. "Actually I wasn't too pleased about it," Francona said. "Derek got hit with a (split-finger fastball). We knew it, they knew it.... I'm not too happy about it but you have to ask the man who threw it." Continue

Wang shows a minor flaw

At least Mike Mussina was spanked by big league hitters Monday. Yesterday at a windy minor league complex Chien-Ming Wang, who could wind up being the Yankees' No. 3 starter, was paddled by Syracuse while pitching for Columbus (Triple-A).

Working 32/3 innings for Columbus because the Yankees were off, Wang gave up five runs, seven hits (two homers), walked two and fanned three. Wang was flying open with his left shoulder, so he left everything up in the strike zone and was hit hard in the first two innings. In his final two frames, Wang was able to get the ball down, and retired six of the last seven batters. Continue

After 22 seasons, Leiter says: I'm done

Only twice in Al Leiter's pitching career did he get tears in his eyes on the mound. One was when he was taken out of Game 5 of the 2000 World Series after 142 pitches, knowing he had given all he had. The other was the Yankees' exhibition game yesterday, when he knew pretty much the same thing.

Leiter retired yesterday and wanted to make one last appearance. So he walked in from the bullpen with Yankees spring training instructor Gil Patterson, who was his first pitching coach 22 years ago, warmed up to Springsteen music, retired the Indians' Eduardo Perez on a 3-and-2 grounder and walked off to the rest of his life. "Whatever," he said, "that will be." Continue

In arm's way

The pre-camp plan was to take a dozen pitchers. Now, with Carl Pavano definitely starting the season on the disabled list and Aaron Small a strong candidate to join Pavano, Joe Torre is thinking 11 arms might be enough. "Let's get to there and see what our needs are," Torre said yesterday when asked if Pavano and Small would be replaced by non-pitchers. "I think there is a possibility of starting the season with 11, but I don't think it's realistic to start with 10."

From the moment camp opened, Torre had an inkling Pavano wouldn't be ready by Opening Day. Though Pavano and Torre have been encouraged by the pitcher's progress from a back problem, everybody has resigned themselves to Pavano starting where he finished last season - on the DL. Continue