Quick 'Cap

The first four Red Sox hitters scored in the first inning capped by a three-run homer from Jason Bay.  After allowing a single to Mike Lowell, Chamberlain was lights out.  He struck out 12 of the next 20 batters he faced.  After striking out the first two hitters of the sixth, he was yanked because of his 108 pitch count.

From a press release:

Sanchez was re-signed by the Yankees on May 1, 2009 after being released by the Yankees April 25. He split the 2008 season between the New York Yankees, Trenton, Tampa, and the GCL Yankees.  He was 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA in two relief appearances for the Yankees. 

He made one start for the Thunder.  He also appeared in a game for the Thunder in the Eastern League Championship Series vs. Akron.  He made two starts for Tampa, and he was 0-1 with a 2.31 ERA in 12 games (nine starts) for the GCL Yankees. 

Following the season, he pitched for the Peoria Javelinas of the Arizona Fall League.  He was acquired from the Tigers along with RHP Kevin Whelan and RHP Anthony Claggett in exchange for OF Gary Sheffield 11/10/06.

  He was originally selected by the Tigers in the 31st round of the 2001 draft.

Sanchez was DFA’d by the Yankees on April 25 in order to make room for Mark Melancon on the 40-man roster. The move was a bit of a surprise at the time, but Sanchez has been injured this season and it turned out to be a good move as no teams claimed him off waivers.

Now Sanchez is back with the team and he is not on the 40-man roster anymore which gives the team the flexibility to take it slow with the oft-injured reliever.

It’s been a very long time since he’s pitched a full season and even if he has the skills he may need at least a full season of work in the minor leagues before he’s ready for the show.

This also means the Yankees can still salvage something out of the deal that sent Gary Sheffield to the Detroit Tigers. Sanchez came over with pitchers Anthony Claggett and Kevin Whelan.

Certainly, none the players they received in compensation have been busts, but they haven’t done anything either and Sanchez probably has the highest ceiling of the three.

Although to be fair, the Yankees were lucky to get anything out of the deal. Sheffield thought he was going to be a free agent that offseason and the Yankees picked up his option with no intention of keeping him during the up coming season.

Couple that with the fact that Sheffield pretty much made it known that he would not make things easy for a team that he did not want to be traded to, made it incredible that the Yankees got anything at all in a deal.

Joe Girardi was booed as he came out to take the 23-year-old pitcher in the top of the sixth after Joba struck out his 12th straight batter and eighth in a row.

He was pumped and the fans were into it and nobody knows how many strikeouts he could have had if he wasn’t being held to a strict pitch count.

The 12 strikeouts are impressive, but it is unfortunate that he left the game trailing 4-3 and cannot win this game and can only lose it.

Cervelli had the benefit of being the only minor league catcher on the 40-man roster and, with Kevin Cash on the DL, he beat out PJ Pilittere for the spot in the Bronx.

Cervelli has only played 37 games at the Double-A level and would probably be more ready for this situation, but he broke his wrist last year during spring training when some no-name Tampa Bay Rays player was trying to gain some attention by bowling him over in a meaningless game.

As a result, Cervelli lost nearly an entire year of his career and otherwise would probably be a more obvious choice for the callup.

 Yankees manager Joe Girardi said that it was possible Rodriguez could rejoin the club on Friday, when the Yankees open a three-game series against the Orioles in Baltimore.

“So much of it just depends on how he feels and when he believes he’s ready to go,” Girardi said. “I have not really put a date on it, because I want to see how he bounces back. It’s up to him. When he feels that he’s ready, we’re probably going to take him back.”

So far, A-Rod’s rehab has gone smoothly. He’s had plenty of at bats and has even played the field and ran the bases. Although, so far, he’s had no serious tests because he hasn’t had to slide or, from reported accounts, not had to make a play in the field.

With Jorge Posada’s bat possibly out of the lineup Friday can’t come soon enough. The Yankees are third in the majors in runs scored, but once they lose Posada that will drop off. So if A-Rod can come back to the Bronx and make an impression right away the Yankees won’t miss much of a beat.

If A-Rod gets off to a slow start and Mark Teixeira continues his poor hitting, although he reached base four times last night, the Yankees could be in for a bit of trouble. Their pitching has been very poor and it’s all their offense can do to keep them in games.

Angel Berroa, Cody Ransom, and Ramiro Pena haven’t exactly been a strong replacement. There have been multiple errors in the field and they are batting for a combined .217. The most recent replacement, Pena, has done better than the other two, but he is still a far cry from the numbers A-Rod brings.

Let’s hope that A-Rod’s difference over them makes up for the offense they lose when Jose Molina replaces Posada.

“He said he felt it grab,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “It’s not something that we need at this point. It’s something we’ll have more of an answer on after his MRI.”

Girardi said that he could not estimate the severity of Posada’s injury but that he would discuss with general manager Brian Cashman whether the Yankees needed to call up another catcher. Jose Molina is the only other backstop on New York’s roster.

“I’m not sure how bad it’s going to be, but he won’t be playing [Tuesday], I can tell you that,” Girardi said.

This doesn’t come as especially good news for the Yankees. Posada has been a big part of their offense this year and has a .293 batting average, a .382 OBP, a . 573 SLUG, .955 OPS with five home runs and 20 RBI’s through 22 games.

It is likely that Francisco Cervelli will get called up if Posada misses any significant time as he is the only other catcher the Yankees have on their 40-man roster. But his bat is about as good as Ramiro Pena’s who is replacing the injured Alex Rodriguez who, with good timing, could be back as early as Friday this week.

So far there is no word on exactly how long Posada will be out. Girardi said he is not available on Tuesday.

What? Did you think it had something to do with them pitching so poorly?

“Even though it’s loose, you can see it in people’s eyes,” lefty Phil Coke said. “As soon as that phone rings, it goes dead silent.”

“We’re getting used in such a different fashion every time we step on the field,” said Coke, who admits that in several instances this season, he and his colleagues may have been caught mentally unprepared. “We’ve got to be ready to go from the first inning.”

To me, this seems like it was caused by ineffectiveness and has been made worse by injuries. If Brian Bruney and Damaso Marte, who both were supposed to be setup-men, would have been healthy all season which role guys play would be much less of a question.

And since those injuries nobody has stepped up and it has become very hard for manager Joe Girardi to commit to using certain guys in certain situations. Sure he would like to use Jose Veras in the eighth inning role with Bruney out, but the guy can’t seem to get anybody out. So Girardi does what he can and uses who he thinks is hot that night.

Coke may have a point, that the uncertainty may be making things worse not better, but if one of the relievers did settle himself down and find some form of consistency things would straighten themselves out in a hurry.

But how is Girardi supposed to label certain guys as seventh or eighth inning guys when we’ve seen pretty much every pitcher out there get put into a big situation and blow it? At some point there has to be accountability if these guys are expecting certain responsibilities.

If he were going to handout roles right now, who would be the eighth inning guy? Not a single reliever has proved reliable enough yet. Really, the same could be said for the seventh inning.

Until somebody steps up or Bruney and Marte return from their injuries, this could be a situation that doesn’t make it self better.

Damon said the numbers game in the Yankees outfield does not bode well for him. Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner are in center, Nick Swisher and Xavier Nady — who will also be a free agent and is currently on the DL — in right and the team’s top prospect, Austin Jackson, lighting up Triple-A.

“I know where I want to be next year,” Damon told 1050 ESPN New York. “I want to be here in New York. I also know New York has a lot of young outfielders coming back. Austin Jackson is in the wings. At least, in this situation, I know my chances of coming back could be slim because of the young talent the Yankees do have.”

“I just go out and play,” Damon said. “What happened before, I think, everybody in the world thought I was going to re-sign with Boston. Everyone thought I was going back. Here, people don’t really know. Everyone is pretty much thinking this could be my last year here so I think that is a difference. I went out as a free agent in Boston and had a great year and I priced myself out of there market, at the time. Hopefully, I can go out and have a good year and they can see how important I am with the other players with doing the recruiting and doing whatever this team needs me to do. I’ve enjoyed playing here.”

“If I go out and play the game well and play the game right, there obviously will be some interest,” Damon said. “But I understand the business of this. I’ve been a free agent twice already.”

It’s nice that Damon wants to return and it’s nice to see that he’s being realistic about it, but there are a few things that can happen between now and this offseason that are going to have a large impact on whether or not he returns.

First, there is a matter of how well he plays. So far this season he is putting together a pretty good year, but he has to keep that up offensively and probably has to pick it up a bit defensively for the Yankees to have interest at the end of the year.

Second, there is a matter of what role he would expect and how much he would like to be compensated for it. If he is willing to be part of a platoon and/or take a lower salary then it is more likely that something between him and the Yankees could be worked out. If he expects to play everyday and wants close to the $13 million he’s getting now then he probably prices himself out of New York.

And finally, there is a question of whether or not the need for him will be there. Right now Nick Swisher is the only guy I can see with a nearly guaranteed shot in the 2010 outfield, but that could easily change. If Xavier Nady has a big year they might want him back instead of Damon and there could be another body that we don’t anticipate that could be thrown into the mix.

When the Yankees were thinking about bringing back Gary Sheffield or sending him packing a trade for Bobby Abreu made the decision so much easier. Then when the same issue came up with Abreu a trade for Nady made the entire thing a no-brainer. It is possible that something could happen this July that would make keeping Damon or not a simpler move.

“We were trying to get through it and we were checking with him every day and he’s just not right,” Joe Girardi said. “He had an MRI on Friday and he’ll see the doctor tomorrow. We’ve got to get him 100 percent and he’s not 100 percent.”

Girardi said the injury was basically the same that Marte had after he returned to spring training from the World Baseball Classic. Marte had shoulder woes last year, too, but Girardi said “we don’t think it’s a surgery thing, we just think it’s more of a strengthening thing and knocking out the inflammation and staying on top of it.

“His shoulder got a little bit fatigued last year because there were a couple games we had to stretch him out and that wasn’t necessarily our plan with him. But because of the situation last year, we had to. It’s not necessarily our plans with him this year, also.”

Marte has struggled quite a bit this season after resigning with the team for three years and $12 million. The Yankees were expecting to get a steady setup-man for Mariano Rivera but instead they got a guy who in 5.1 innings has a 15.19 ERA, has given up three home runs, and has opponents hitting .360 off him.

Considering that those numbers are no where near his career numbers the feeling starts to set in that maybe his shoulder was a little worse off than he let on after returning from the World Baseball Classic. What the Yankees need to do now is to shut him down for a few weeks and hope his strength returns.

Otherwise it won’t be long until they call up Michael Dunn from the minor leagues to pick up some innings as a lefty specialist and Marte will just become another Steve Karsay, a talented reliever who spends his days in New York injured and ineffective.

“Casey Fossum will start Saturday’s Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees game. I don’t have contract details or a corresponding move, but I know Fossum is the guy.

The 31-year-old lefty opened the season with Triple-A Buffalo, had a 0.82 ERA through two starts and was called up to the New York Mets on April 19. He allowed one run in three outings out of the Mets bullpen before being designated for assignment on Monday. Fossum has pitched in 237 major league games, 120 of them as a starter.

I believe — though I could be wrong here — that Fossum would have cleared waivers Thursday, meaning the Yankees did not have to claim him and put him on the 40-man. This would explain why I kept hearing that the team was legitimately uncertain on who would start Saturday’s game.”

Fossum started yesterday in Scranton and threw 3.2 innings allowing one run on two hits, two walks, and four strike outs.

Fossum has made nice career for him self as a mediocre pitcher. In a nine year career Fossum has a 40-53 record with a 5.45 ERA. He is probably most famous for being involved in a deal that sent Curt Schilling from Arizona to Boston right before 2004. The deal ended up being very lopsided in Boston’s favor.

Don’t expect Fossum to make much of an impact in the Bronx this summer. It is likely he was only signed to provide the Scranton Yankees with a veteran starter since they are now missing Phil Hughes (called up), Jason Johnson (labrum tear), and Ian Kennedy (numbness in fingers).

It is unlikely he would even be called up in a lefty reliever roll since they would first have to lose Demaso Marte, Phil Coke, and Michael Dunn before Fossum would get a turn.