The Magic Carpet

By Matthew Storey

The last time we checked in on the Yankees, they had won the first three games of a 4-Game set against the Minnesota Twins and were at 20-17. They went on to sweep Minnesota, then sweep Baltimore in 3, then they lose 2 of 3 to the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies in a THRILLING early season contest between two teams playing at a very high level. That closed the Homestand out at 8-2.

Then they travelled to Texas to face the AL West leading Rangers, who had not lost a Home series since April 14 (KC Royals) and won 2 of 3 to win their 4th successive road series. After losing their Season Opening road series to the Baltimore Orioles, 1-2, behind dreadful starts from CC Sabathia and Chien-MIng Wang, the Yankees have now won 6 of 7 road series (Kansas City, Tampa Bay, Detroit, Baltimore, Toronto, Texas) with the one series loss coming to the Boston Red Sox, a series in which they held a 2 run lead with Mariano Rivera and a 6 run lead with AJ Burnett, and managed to lose both games.

Not likely to recur.

So the Yankees are playing good baseball now, that is clear. Let's look in-depth and take their temperature;

1.) Injury Report

Alex Rodriguez - Appears to be healthy.
Derek Jeter - Appears to be healthy.
Johnny Damon - Slammed his battered shoulder into a wall in the Twin series and his hot streak died immediately, ran into wall in Texas last night and is playing through, but obviously hampered (3 K's last night, just waving at balls he was driving all over the field before jamming shoulder).
Melky Cabrera - Another OF who slammed his shoulder into a Texas wall, MRI showed no structural damage but he is too sore to play, calling for 3-6 games at this point.
Jorge Posada - Caught 5 Innings in simulated game, pronounced Hamstring 100% and shoulder strength closer to 100% than it was before DL.
Xavier Nady - Playing simulated games, difficult to project how the elbow will respond. 2nd Half at BEST. Yankees desperately need OF help, but Nady is facing surgery and unlikely to play field.
Jose Molina - Not ready to play, another month? May have lost job to Cervelli.
Cody Ransom - Not ready, at least a month and no spot when he's healthy.
Hideki Matsui - Looks like he is about to collapse from the two bad knees, than, when you are resigned to losing him - hits two long HR's in Texas. May be bionic.
Damaso Marte - The new Brown, Igawa, Pavano - exists to provide meaningless health updates for the length of his 3 year deal, calls Brian Cashman at 3AM every night and says 'Sucka!'.

2.) Individual Capsules - Player by Player Updates

Players

Yankees finally have their entire Infield playing together, all healthy, and the results have been impressive. In the Outfield, injuries of varying severity to Nady, Damon and Cabrera have forced a lot off shifting and decreased productivity. Catcher Cervelli, filled in admirably for Posada and kept the line moving all through the recent hot streak. Defensively, Cervelli has been terrific, as is Melky Cabrera in CF, and Yankees have gone a franchise record 14 games without an error (MLB record is 17, by the Red Sox).

1B/Mark Teixeira - A BEAST. He was hitting .191 on May 12 in Toronto. Since then he has gone 26/61 for a cool .426, raising his anemic average all the way to .275 in an EYEBLINK, while bouncing 8 HR off every wall from both sides and driving in 22 runs. Since Alex returns, teams pitch to Mark, he's only had 6 walks in this stretch, or one less than he had in one GAME against the Red Sox (5) on 4/25, when Alex wasn't around. His Defense is extraordinary, everything he was advertised to be. .275/.382/.596

2B/Robinson Cano - Cano's curse is to be so talented that no progress feels like ENOUGH to accommodate that talent. However, even as he continues to waste periodic at-bats by determining to swing at the first pitch and grounding harmlessly to 2B (trying to pull instead of taking his natural stroke to LF), he is hitting .320/.351/.536, with 9 HR/28 RBI and has made only 2 errors at 2B in 47 Games while being 3rd in Total Chances at 231 (Aaron Hill, Ian Kinsler tied with 236).

SS/Derek Jeter - Derek bottomed out at .264 in Baltimore on May 8, since then he's gone 24/67 (.358) with 3 HR/9 RBI. He's stolen 10 of 11 bases, and is now at .297/.372/.464 for the season. Like Cano, he has committed only 2 Errors in 44 games at SS, making the absurd claims about his Defense go
P-O-O-F!

3B/Alex Rodriguez - Completing an Infield without peer, Alex has stormed back from Surgery with THUMP, smacking 7 HR/17 RBI in his 66 At-Bats, while compiling an overall of .258/.410/.636 and playing his typical sterling Defense. Yankee infield has combined for 40 HR and only F-I-V-E Errors.

CF/RF Melky Cabrera - He has been a revelation, coming into his own in his 4th MLB season with a
.323 AVG/.368 OBP.481 SLG, hitting over .300 in April and May. He has won three games with walkoff hits and tied the Extra Inning loss to the Phillies in the 9th the day after one walkoff, but hurt his shoulder in the first inning at Texas. Yankees need his Defense, his switch-hitting, reliable bat and his young legs.

CF/Brett Gardner - Seeming overmatched at the plate in April, after winning the CF job in Spring Training, Gardner took a cue from Melky and stayed focused, worked hard and took advantage of his playing opportunities to post an unlikely .357/.449/.619 over his last 30 days (22 games). He has twice come in to replace an injured OF and, in each case, had 3 hit games. His legs have never been the question, as his blistering speed leads to errors, forced decisions and 9 of 11 Stolen Bases. His Defense is consistently terrific, and he compensates for poor arm strength with a tremendous jump and fundamentally solidly positioning. He will be an essential contributor as the Yankees move through 2009, as Damon and Matsui both will require extensive downtime, and Nick Swisher's struggles are likely to force the Yankees to make a move, either through a trade or a callup of one of their Minor League OF Options. If Brett can continue at .277/.339/.416 and contribute 40 Stolen Bases, he will be an asset.

LF/Johnny Damon - Damon carried the Yankees through the worst stretch of their young season, when Teixeira and Cano were not hitting, and Rodriguez and Posada were both out of the lineup, winning AL Player of the Week in the process. But, as has happened seemingly every year of his MLB career, he sent his fragile shoulder into a wall and came out a reduced Offensive player. Johnny is such a terrific hitter, baserunner and leader, and his place on the team is secure, but he clearly needs to play LESS in order to be at top strength in August/September, his body is battered and too much could leave the Yankees without legitimate production from LF.

RF/Nick Swisher - Swisher is the weakest link in the Yankee lineup. A mistake hitter who is incapable of handling top pitching, Nick strikes out 40% of the time. He ran into some hangers and straight fastballs earlier this year, while he carried NY before Damon took over the role. But that is six weeks past and Nick has hit just .173/.343/.370 since assuming the everyday RF role in the wake of Xavier Nady's injury. No MLB team with championship aspirations can afford that sort of production from a corner OF slot, even the Yankees, who get production from their Infield and Catcher other teams cannot match, need more than that. If Melky is healthy and Brett continues to contribute, Yankees need to cut Swisher back to a part-time OF with occasional DH duties when Damon and/or Matsui need a blow.

UT/ Ramiro Pena - Pena proved his value with sterling Defense at 3B, SS and 2B and has cemented a hold on the Utility Infield position. His Switch-hitting, glove and fresh legs insure Girardi will be confident if any of his regulars need time off, Alex will need time off for his Hip, Cano for his wandering focus and Derek from the assortment of plunks, dinks and collisions he endures annually. Pena is ideal for his role.

UT/ Angel Berroa - With Alex back playing every day and Pena firm in the utility slot, Berroa might want to go week-to-week with his rent payments - his time is almost up - Yankees are likely to call up an OF and designate Angel any day now.

C/Francisco Cervelli - Cervelli is no Jorge Posada, he lacks thump and is a RH hitter. BUT, he also has provided the Yankees with a complete backup, who calls a great game, throws darts to all bases and avoids striking out while hitting .300. Yankees got almost NOTHING from Catcher in 2008, as Jorge was injured and backups Jose Molina, Ivan Rodriguez and Chad Moeller all failed to do ANYTHING.

C/Kevin Cash - Awful early, Cash is coming off a productive couple of games in Texas, but his situation mirrors that of Angel Berroa, Posada is on the way back and Cash will no longer be King, or a Catcher for the New York Yankees.

DH/Hideki Matsui - Hideki has his surgically repaired left knee drained earlier in the season, and immediately went on a serious roll...but then the leg stiffened back up and he went into a tailspin. His bat is incredible, but his health is day-to-day, even at the best of times. He hit 2 HR last night in Texas, and may be about to go off on one of his notorious hot streaks (hit 14 HR in July 2007 to be Player of the Month), or, he could take a bad step and retire. That is his reality in 2009.

Pitchers

CC, AJ and Andy are providing veteran outings every start, going deep into games and keeping them close enough for the Yankees to win every time they are on the hill. Joba, 23 and Hughes. 22 have been electric at times, with low-hit/big K games, and also been ineffective or wild at others. Both are waiting for their experience levels to catch up with big arms and composed demeanors, they are already effective MLB starters, sometimes dominant, as they learn. Chien-Ming Wang and Alfredo Alceves are starting insurance while providing reliable innings in the Pen. Mariano has been Mo. Coke, Albaladejo, Ramirez, Tomko and Veras have been erratic and unreliable, and Girardi has been shuffling them with David Robertson, Mark Melancon and Anthony Claggett in search of a better group performance.

LH/CC Sabathia - He has been dominant.

RH/AJ Burnett - He has struggled with control, either with walks or bad location, that has led to erratic performances, but he goes long in games and strikes out a ton of hitters, and when he gets the ball over the plate, casually dominates. Gives them a chance every outing.

LH/Andy Pettitte - Just battles, has average stuff, deep experience and incredible competitiveness. Seems to have critical mid-game lapses in each start, sometimes he overcomes them, other times he struggles through, but always provides length.

RH/Joba Chamberlain - Was rolling along, a la Melky, when BOOM, he took a wicked liner off his shin in the 1st inning of a start against the Orioles. He looked flustered and uncomfortable in his one start since being hit with that ball, going only 4 innings against the Rangers, but surrendering only 3 runs despite the struggle. He never gets beat up, but hasn't been consistently reliable with his control or his fastball, which can hit 97 at times, or languish at 91-92, seems to need a little time in starts to warm up his arm, which is odd since he was so effective in the Pen. Also has a lot on his mind, with his sick Dad and imprisoned Mom, and there really isn't any way to measure that sort of stress. Still, despite the questions, like Cano, his talent is vast and his ERA of 3.97 and 46 K's in 45.1 Innings are certainly more than acceptable.

RH/Phil Hughes - 22 year old Phil seems to have made his breakthrough to permanent MLB duty. He followed up a 5 Inning/9 K effort against Baltimore with 8 Shutout innings in Texas (3 Hits), and has now given up more than 3 runs in only one of 6 MLB starts in '09. His Fastball has been consistently at 94 and his curveball is the best on a staff that has wicked CB's from Joba, AJ, CC and Andy. Has only to do a better job with adversity to become a star. May still be moved to the Bullpen in '09, but there is little doubt he can dominate in either role and that he will be permanent rotation fixture from '10 forward.

RH/Alfredo Aceves - 26 year old Ace has been overused by Girardi, due to his excellence and the unreliable '09 contributions from Veras, Ramirez, Coke and Albaladejo. He managed to win 2 games in short relief, handles middle relief and filled in for Joba with 3.1 after throwing 2 the night before, all scoreless. Girardi finally went to the well one too many times in the second game at Texas and they got to him as he began his 3rd inning, a day after 2 innings. If the rest of the pen stabilizes, he can be a great asset all season - if not, he will blow out his arm and become too familiar to opponents.

LH/Phil Coke - 26 year old Phil is better than he realizes. He doesn't trust his 94 MPH fastball enough and constantly gets beaten by throwing multiple offspeed pitches in at-bats. He has great potential but the performance on the mound has been less than the sum of his ability, it remains to be seen how big a role he will play the rest of the year - he needs more consistency, better control and less big bombs.

RH/Jose Veras - Veras came into an 8-0 game last night, gave up a 2B, a 2 Run HR and a walk and was dismissed by Girardi. He is in need of a role with a team who have more time for him to find his control. Likely to be gone by the All-Star break.

RH/Chien-Ming Wang - I was deeply skeptical about Joe Girardi's approach to his young CF tandem, and watched in amazement as BOTH players got stronger from competition and seemed to grow up in Girardi's system that rewards good play with playing time and poor play with a reduction in role (D'uh!). I was originally skeptical, as well, about the plan to place Chien-Ming Wang in the bullpen, Wang, who has always been a starter since he was a teenage phenom leading the Taiwanese international team and was the Yankee 'Ace' the last four years, is seemingly the LAST guy who should/could/would go to the bullpen. But then, I thought about Girardi, and his approach, and realized that Wang hasn't EARNED his job back and his major problem has nothing to do with his arm, it has to do with his being tough enough to overcome some reduced capacity after the injury that can ONLY be repaired with consistent innings that can ONLY be provided if he proves he knows how to get hitters out, regardless of his 'comfort level'. Joe didn't insult him or coddle him, he is inviting him to take his place through his play. Last night, Wang came into a blowout and blew through the final six hitters. Maybe this will work?

RH/Mariano Rivera - Mo is dominant.

3.) Looking Forward

After an off-day on Thursday, Yankees begin a 4 Game Wraparound series in Cleveland (F-S-S-M) and will throw (Pettitte-CC-Phil-Joba), then come home for a 3 game set with Texas (T-W-TH) behind (AJ-Pettitte-CC) and then they begin a Gauntlet that will tell them exactly where they stand in the AL East race, with 4 at Home against the Tampa Bay Rays (F-S-S-M) and then a quickie trip to Boston for 3 games with the Red Sox (T-W-TH).

We'll check in with features as they go through this stretch and be back to recap in about ten days.