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

Strong early, Unit fades out

For four innings yesterday, Randy Johnson's fastball looked great and his slider was tilting like a top. The Big Unit looked ready for Opening Day. Until the fifth inning came around. At that point, Johnson's stamina was exposed by the Cardinals.

His outing became a reminder that the regular season doesn't begin on March 14. The 42-year-old tossed four shutout frames of one-hit ball to begin his start. In the fifth, he was touched for two runs on four hits during the Yankees' 4-3 loss. "I really just kind of cruised along the first four innings," Johnson said. "I decided to go back out there for the fifth, and then I hit a wall, I guess." Continue

Wright all wrong

The 10th hit Jaret Wright gave up yesterday was definitely the hardest - although much of what Wright threw to Pittsburgh had been smashed like watermelons. And as Joe Randa crushed a 1-and-0 sinker in the third inning, Wright immediately looked down - which is where his starting chances are plummeting.

Randa's three-run bomb traveled over the left-field fence and past palm trees, one of 11 hits Wright surrendered over three innings during a 9-8 loss to the Pirates. He was charged with eight runs, and his Grapefruit League ERA is now a ghastly 12.91. Continue

Wang is silent, deadly

A group of players gathered around Mariano Rivera's locker yesterday, sitting in a circle and chatting. Chien-Ming Wang was at the adjacent locker, occasionally poking his head into the conversation and laughing along with the others, but mostly just watching. His eyes, which look even younger than his 25 years, kept moving slowly around the room. This was pretty standard for Wang, who may be the most inconspicuous 6-foot-3 pitcher ever. Jason Giambi recalled a road trip early last season, when several veterans - including Giambi and Rivera - had dinner with the Taiwanese righthander just after he was called up from the minors. "He's never going to talk your ear off," Giambi said. "But you could tell he understands a lot. He just listens."

Wang's personality is the same when it comes to his pitching. After getting knocked around in his first spring outing, pitching coach Ron Guidry told Wang he had been changing the arm angle in his delivery and was throwing his sinker from too low; he needed to get more on top of the ball and "throw downhill" to get the movement and velocity he was seeking. Continue

Mussina finding way around

When the Yankees' bus turned onto I-275 north instead of south yesterday, Mike Mussina very nearly didn't follow it. Mussina, as many starting pitchers do during the spring, was driving his own car from Legends Field to Ed Smith Stadium and couldn't figure out why the team wasn't taking the typical route. "We almost went the other way," said Mussina, who was riding with bullpen catcher Mike Borzello.

It's a good thing they didn't. The bus driver had already heard about the massive backup on the Sunshine Skyway that would have turned an hour-long trip into something closer to three, so he changed plans. If Mussina had gone the usual way, the righthander might not have gotten to the park until just before the game.

Instead, he arrived in plenty of time to prepare for a four-inning outing in the Yanks' 5-4 loss to the Reds. Mussina allowed three runs (two earned) and three hits, walking one and striking out one. He threw 57 pitches and retired nine of his first 10 hitters before giving up a double and two singles in the fourth. Continue

Randy roughed up

Randy Johnson thrust both of his arms skyward after retiring his final batter - a self-deprecating gesture, for sure, following a performance that reminded no one of his 2004 perfect game for Arizona. Facing a Tigers lineup mostly devoid of major-league talent - even for them - the Big Unit was knocked around for his second straight spring start in Detroit's 6-1 victory over the Yankees yesterday. Still, Johnson was taking nothing but positives out of his latest shaky performance, as only two of the five runs charged to him were earned due to a questionable official scoring decision.

"I got something out of today. I'm just looking for progress and I think it's been there," Johnson said. "When you cross the lines, that's what people pay to see, they want to see results, too."The fans, they probably think, 'My God.' But what I got out of today was: increased velocity, that I felt a little better with my mechanics, that I felt more comfortable out there. My next start I'll work on something else." Continue

Rivera serves up a blast

Marcus Thames of the Tigers has a thing for future Hall of Fame pitchers. Four years ago in a Yankees uniform at Yankee Stadium, Thames homered off Randy Johnson in his first major league at-bat. Yesterday at Legends Field, Thames took Mariano Rivera over the left-field wall. "It was a fastball up, I was trying to go away," said Rivera, who gave up two homers in 781/3 innings a year ago. "But I feel good. Let it happen here, that's why we are here. It doesn't mean anything."

After requiring only six pitches to navigate an inning in his last outing Tuesday, Rivera needed 20 chucks to record three outs yesterday. "I can't complain, it was a good outing," Rivera said. "I threw a lot of pitches." Rivera wavered on how good his command was. "Not the best," he initially said. But then he changed his mind by saying, "It was good. For this time of the year it was great. I consider it good." Continue

Shawn thriving in battle for starting job

Shawn Chacon knows the gig. Whenever Carl Pavano is ready, the Yankees will have six starters for five spots. And even with Pavano beginning the year on the DL while building arm strength, there isn't a need for a fifth chucker until the middle of April.

So Chacon understands every pitch he throws in the exhibition season is being watched and recorded by one of the many cameras located in Yankee camp. While some pitchers would feel threatened for being judged in games that don't count, Chacon embraces it, and believes it's good for the entire staff. "I get more out of competing," Chacon said after helping the Yankees blank the Twins, 5-0, at Legends Field. Continue

For Cano,second things first

Robinson Cano admittedly played "a lot of late innings" in spring training one year ago. "Now I am always in the beginning of the game," Cano said yesterday of his sudden rise with the Yankees. "That's a good place to be." Where Cano is, and where he will be, probably is up to him as long as he doesn't take his rapid ascension for granted. Following a May recall from Columbus, the 23-year-old second baseman batted .297 with 14 homers and 34 doubles. He finished second to Oakland closer Huston Street in the voting for AL Rookie of the Year. Continue

Big mystery

A year ago it was Chipper Jones spanking Randy Johnson in the lefty's initial exhibition start. That wasn't unexpected because switch-hitting Jones, who homered, owns Johnson. However, the sight of Edwin Encarnacion taking Johnson deep for a two-run homer and doubling in another run yesterday at Legends Field was surprising because Encarnacion never faced the Big Unit before. "Other than Encarnacion not showing up, it would have been a good game," Johnson said following a 4-1 Yankees loss to the Reds. "Who is that kid?" Continue

Payback pitch

For the second time in four years, the Phillies and Yankees were involved in what the Yanks believed was an incident of a player being intentionally hit by a pitch. The hard-to-look-at exhibition game started innocently at Bright House Field yesterday when Jaret Wright drilled Aaron Rowand on the hand in the first inning to load the bases with two outs.

Two innings later, former Yankee Jon Lieber hit Felix Escalona in the back with two outs and the bases empty. "I am sure it was an answer," Joe Torre said of Lieber hitting Escalona. "You protect your own. That's what it looked like to me." Continue

Torre's offense has a new tweak

It didn't take long for Joe Torre to send a message to his players that waiting for the home run to carry the Yankees isn't going to be a staple of the offense this season. Torre spent the winter preaching the Yankees needed to do the little things more, and in the second inning of yesterday's 6-3 loss to the Phillies at Legends Field, provided a glimpse of his thinking.

With Jason Giambi on first via a leadoff single and no outs, Torre put on the hit-and-run and watched Giambi reach third on Bernie Williams' single. Giambi scored on Jorge Posada's fly to center that advanced Williams to second. He scored on Derek Jeter's single to center. Continue

Shawn finds comfort, strike zone

Shawn Chacon wasn't used to pitching before 10,000-plus fans during spring training and he was a little surprised by the pomp and circumstance that always mark the Grapefruit League opener at Legends Field. Rockies spring training games in Tucson just aren't nearly as theatrical. One thing Chacon did find familiar yesterday, however, was the fighter plane flyover at the conclusion of the national anthem. "We were right next to an Air Force base out there," Chacon said with a smile. Continue

Moose stays loose

The setting was an intrasquad game witnessed by only a few thousand fans yesterday at Legends Field, but for a brief moment, Mike Mussina forgot the conditions. Robbed of an inning-ending called third-strike, he glared at the umpire. It was only his 17th pitch of spring training and Mussina was clearly in midseason form. The righthander was two steps off the mound and headed for the dugout, fully confident he had stranded runners on the corners, when his pitch was called a ball.

"I've been doing this for 16 years, so I know what's a strike and what isn't a strike," Mussina said. He then smiled, making it clear he was joking. His body language after the 2-and-2 pitch to Jorge Posada was called a ball was no laughing matter, but he was in good spirits after he kicked off his spring with a scoreless two-inning stint. Continue

Hughes opens eyes

Jorge Posada has caught a lot of pitchers but he didn't hold back yesterday when he was asked about 19-year-old righthander Phil Hughes. "He's a no-miss," the Yankee catcher said. "It wouldn't surprise me if I see him (in the Bronx) before the year is over." Hughes, the Bombers' top pitching prospect, started yesterday's intrasquad game and tossed two perfect innings, impressing Posada, who later compared him to Andy Pettitte when asked for the last time he felt as strongly about a young pitcher's potential. Continue

Call him all the way-Rod

George Steinbrenner has already predicted a World Series victory. Joe Torre's pre-camp speech focused on the World Series. Now, after less than one week of spring training workouts, Alex Rodriguez senses something grand about the club as he enters his third season here. "This is our year," A-Rod told The Post yesterday at Legends Field. "That's the feeling among the players." It's easy to see why the Yankees agree with Rodriguez, the reigning AL MVP, because when a Yankee looks to his left or right there are All-Stars within earshot. Continue

Keeping old ways at Bay

Sweaty clothes are rarely symbolic of anything more than the perpetual presence of perspiration in an athlete's life. But this was different. Johnny Damon had just finished a morning practice with the Yankees and peeled off his jersey, undershirt, pinstriped pants, socks and underwear. He tossed items to the floor as he removed them and a sloppy pile formed.

Damon quickly slipped into a pair of metallic gray shorts and pulled on a matching T-shirt. He searched his locker for a moment and found a brand new pair of quarter-length athletic socks, tore the cardboard off them and collapsed in his chair to put them on. Then he stuffed his feet into already-tied sneakers and, seeing a crowd of reporters lingering, stood up in preparation for a group interview. Continue

Gary rants are deja spew all over again

It wouldn't be spring, I suppose, if Gary Sheffield wasn't throwing a tantrum over something, usually his contract. Sheff's rants are the stuff of legend by now, which is partly the reason Yankees GM Brian Cashman sought to head off a new one the other day by calling him in before reporters could start asking him about getting his option for next year picked up. Cashman told him the Yankees loved him but did not want to act on the option until after the season. He thought everything was cool with Sheff, but should have known better, especially when Sheffield immediately told reporters that the Yankees would be picking up his option. Continue

Yankees' Sheff is boiling

It doesn't take much to stoke the engines of Gary Sheffield's temper, especially lately. The right fielder is stewing about having to wait for the Yankees to pick up his $13 million option for 2007, which is reason enough for those RPMs to run near the red line.Sheffield says the Yankees are making a mistake auditioning him. If they need a few months, or even weeks to see if his bat is still quick, the slugger is ready with a countermove. Actually, it's a thinly veiled threat: wait too long, and he's moving on. Continue

Damon's close shave

The joke was an obvious one, but everyone laughed anyway. Johnny Damon was facing Randy Johnson in the first live batting practice session of the spring, and the Big Unit's third pitch of the day came flying inside. Damon jumped back, but the ball still grazed his forearm. The Yanks' new center fielder hopped around for just a moment as the crowd at Legends Field yesterday collectively went "Oooh." "Guys were teasing (Johnson)," Damon said later with a smile, "saying he should have done that last year." Continue

Johnny didn't come lately here

Johnny Damon didn't have to report here until Wednesday, but the former Red Sox centerfielder couldn't wait that long for his first real taste of life in pinstripes.

Damon, the Yankees' prize offseason acquisition, made a surprise visit to Legends Field yesterday, stopping by for about an hour to greet his new teammates, try on his uniform, organize his locker, hit the weights and take a few swings in the batting cage.Damon couldn't stay long because he had to attend a high school friend's wedding, but by the end of his brief visit, he was visibly excited about returning later this week. Continue

Less of Mo this spring

If Mariano Rivera had to make the team on the first day pitchers and catchers took the field, he would be sent packing. While Rivera threw better than he did on the initial day last year, when he was extremely wild, Rivera was far from crisp.

"Judging me from that, I would be at the bottom," Rivera said of his 37-pitch workout yesterday that lasted eight minutes. "But spring training is to get ready." As they did a year ago after Rivera didn't throw all winter, the Yankees will take it slow with their premier closer. He likely won't work in an exhibition game until the second week. Continue

Rivera keeps rolling along

Mariano Rivera arrived at spring training yesterday, pronouncing himself rested, fit and raring to go, and if you were George Steinbrenner, Brian Cashman, Joe Torre or any card-carrying member of the Yankee legions, this was the only proclamation of spring that mattered. Because no one in the Yankee universe is prepared to think about life after Mo, even though, at age 36 and his place in the Hall of Fame assured, it's agreed these now are all gravy seasons.

Good as he feels, even Rivera concedes the inevitable could happen at any time. A pitcher's arm can withstand just so much toil and stress. In his case, his durability has been almost as remarkable as his dominance. "The last few years I've been feeling good," Rivera said after completing his physical. "Last year (in which he posted a 1.38 ERA with 43 saves and finished second in the Cy Young Award voting to Angels starter Bartolo Colon) I felt especially good. But only God knows where I'll be next year. I'll pitch as long as God lets me." Continue

Torre still has spring in step

Joe Torre is beginning his 11th season as manager of the Yankees and says arriving for spring training still feels fresh and new to him - even if some of the questions he faces are pretty familiar. Pitching has been a recurrent theme for Torre throughout his tenure, and it will be again over the next six weeks. Since the Bombers are currently optimistic about the status of Carl Pavano's balky back, a competition among starters is expected to ensue with six hurlers vying for five spots in the rotation.

Although Torre wouldn't get into specifics, the race is actually much smaller: Randy Johnson, Mike Mussina and Pavano - assuming he's healthy in time - are locks to be the starters come Opening Day, leaving Chien-Ming Wang, Jaret Wright and Shawn Chacon to battle it out for the final two places. Continue

Sturtze is off to slow start

Carl Pavano isn't the only Yankee pitcher taking it slow. When the pitching groups were posted in the clubhouse at Legends Field yesterday, right-handed reliever Tanyon Sturtze wasn't in the A or B groups that will work off mounds tomorrow and Saturday. Yet, he was at the minor-league complex throwing on flat ground.

"They are going slow with me," said Sturtze, who was bothered by a cranky shoulder last year but had a $1.5 million option picked up by the club during the winter. "It will probably be another week [before he will throw off a mound]. I hadn't thrown a lot before getting here, but I feel good." Continue