Chad Gaudin however, seems to have removed himself from the #5 starter spot, and seeing how the team is shaking out, may have put himself in line to be traded. Granted not all balls tonight were hit hard, but 2 1/3 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 7 hits, 3 walks and 1 K really set him back.

I don’t know where Joba rates, since you have to take the flu into account for his first outing, but right now, the #5 leaders have to be Aceves, Hughes and Mitre. The question is, who do the Yanks feel translates better in the 5 hole, and who is best suited to come out of the bullpen? But it is the GOOD type of tough decision because you are choosing from strength—from pitchers who have done WELL this spring rather than taking the best from a group who didn’t perform well. An embarrassment of riches, if you will.

Granderson had two hits but was HBP and was removed for precautionary reasons. Colin Curtis had another hit in his impressive spring. Juan Miranda had two hits and an RBI (a HR), and I really wonder what the Yanks plan with him. From what I’ve seen of him, he does have a good stick but a mediocre glove. His biggest problem is that he has three guys ahead of him playing 1B—Teixeira, Nick Johnson, and Swisher. There just isn’t a place for him, except as trade bait.

Nice to see “my boy,” Jesus Montero, hit a double.

I wound up 14-2 for today’s NCAA games.

Jeter singled in two in a 3-run 2nd. CC gave up a hit in the 3rd, but had a scoreless inning.

Nice outing for CC. 4 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 0 walks and 6K. The CC we want to see on Opening Night.

Meanwhile, Alex went deep in the 3rd. 4-1 Yanks after 3 1/2.   

Well, for one day I am a genius. My upset special—Cornell over Temple—came through.

Another good inning for CC. 5 IP, 1 R, 4 H, no walks and 7 K.

5 1/3 for CC he gives up a run in the 6th. His final statline: 5 1/3, 2 R, 4 H, 2 walks and 8 K. Not bad at all.

Albaladejo finished the 6th, gave up a hit, got a K. 2/3 of an inning. By far his best showing of what has been a poor spring.

The maestro, Mariano, has a 1-2-3 seventh inning, 1 K. 4-2 Yanks after 6 1/2.

Jon Weber, who like Colin Curtis is having a good spring, doubled and scored in the 7th. SF by Kevin Russo. Weber and Curtis are making bids to be mid-season injury callups. 5-2 Yanks.

 A scoreless inning for Royce Ring, who is trying to make the team (along with Boone Logan) as a second lefty to Marte in the bullpen. The odds aren’t good for either, but Ring and Logan have done well this spring. A K and a walk, no hits from Ring.

Weber singled in a run in the 8th. Ryan Pope pitched a scoreless 9th to close out the Yanks’ 6-2 win.

Weber, 32, is a career minor leaguer who hit .302-14-69 for Durham (Tampa’s system, AAA) last year.

So far today, I am a perfect 7 for 7 in my NCAA picks.   :-)

Parker as Crockett.

Fads, like the hula hoops of that era, eventually pass on. As do the people associated with them. Fess Parker, who starred on TV as Davy Crockett in the 1950s and as Daniel Boone in the 1960s, passed away yesterday at the age of 85. I’m too young to remember him as Crockett, but do remember him as Boone.

Today the Yanks split up. Home game vs. the Tigers (A-Jax and Coke, but no JD; CC, and probably Mariano getting work in) this afternoon, road game vs. the Rays (Gaudin and Mitre) tonight. Big night for Gaudin and Mitre in their bids for the #5 slot.

A few friends are down in Tampa enjoying the games. One, of course, is working down there.

The Nationals released Elijah Dukes. The Post states the Yanks have no interest.

I went 10-6 yesterday on my NCAA picks. Not great, but only one of those six losses did I have in the Sweet 16. Hmmmm, as I write this, Cornell is up on Temple 19-11. Cornell is my upset special pick for today. Am I crazy, or crazy like a fox? Time will tell.

But Curtis is having a nice spring training for the Yankees this year. Although it would be a major shock to see him on the opening day roster, he may be opening some eyes and could be a midseason callup to the show. Tonight his 3-run PH HR was the difference in a 6-4 Yankees win.

Javy Vazquez went 3 innings, 1 R, 2 hits, 2 walks, 3 K. He made a mistake that Carlos Pena took deep. Romulo Sanchez went 2/3 of an inning and gave up 2 R, 1 ER. Boone Logan made a case for 2nd lefty in the bullpen (a longshot) by facing one batter (Crawford) and getting a K.

Chan Ho Park made his S.T. debut a good one. An inning, 1-2-3 with a K. David Robertson (whom I have been high on since 2007) had a 1-2-3 with 2 Ks. Mark Melancon gave up a run in 2 innings of work, and Dustin Moseley closed out the game.

Jeter had a 2-run double.    

Guys looking at midseason callups, besides Curtis, appear to be Melancon, Jon Weber, Kevin Russo  and Logan—should none be taken north for opening day.

If you don’t make the team, make an impression. It’s a long season.

As Verducci states,

Look at Boston’s rotation. After Josh Beckett and Jon Lester, who are reliable, the Red Sox have John Lackey, who has missed 15 starts the past two years, Daisuke Matsuzaka, whose innings have decreased two straight years and already came up with a stiff neck in spring training, and Clay Buchholz, who has yet to throw 100 innings in a big league season.

New York’s rotation is far more reliable. It features three of the nine most durable starters in baseball over the past five years as measured by innings: CC Sabathia (first), Javier Vazquez (eighth) and Andy Pettitte (ninth). A.J. Burnett ranks 24th after back-to-back 200-inning seasons. The fifth spot remains an open competition among Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Chad Gaudin, Sergio Mitre and Alfredo Aceves.

The Vazquez signing (sorry, those who miss the Melk-man) could turn out huge for the Yanks. Division-deciding huge. Vazquez has pitched 200 or more innings in nine of the last ten years, only missing in his Yankee year of 2004 when he still went 198 innings.

Alex Chilton of the Box Tops has passed on at age 59. 

“The Lineup: New York’s All-Time Best Baseball Players” will premiere on Tuesday, March 23 at 10:30 p.m. ET on MSG Network with “Catchers,” the first of ten weekly episodes. Each 30-minute episode of “The Lineup” will present a number of nominees for consideration at each position, from the Yankees, Mets, New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers, with one episode dedicated to the best New York manager of all-time. MSG’s Fran Healy will host a panel, consisting of Hall of Fame Mets catcher Gary Carter, former Yankee bullpen ace Sparky Lyle, New York Magazine contributing editor and baseball aficionado Will Leitch, and executive vice president of the Elias Sports Bureau Steve Hirdt. The panel will whittle down a larger list of players from each position and determine the top five from each spot on the diamond. By the end of each episode, they will crown the top player at each position and name him to the official “Lineup” card.With an interactive fantasy game launched in conjunction with the on-air program and hosted on MSG.com/lineup, viewers can see how they stack up against The Lineup’s experts. Fans will try to predict the five players who will be nominated each week and ultimately who will be selected as the starter in the final “Lineup.” Participants will receive points for each correct pick and will be eligible for weekly prizes such as signed memorabilia from baseball greats like Don Mattingly, Joe Torre, Reggie Jackson and Derek Jeter. At the end of the series, the participant with the most points will win a Grand Prize. The site will also feature chats for fans to interact and debate each position, quizzes about the nominated players, photo and video galleries, and player statistics for fans to comb through before making their picks.
 
The first episode of The Lineup airs on Tuesday, March 23rd at 10:30 p.m. ET on MSG Network, but you can already head over to MSG.com/lineup and make your picks for the best catcher in NY baseball history. Piazza? Posada? Yogi Berra?

 

My take? Interesting. For example, no team can compare with the Yanks’ quintet of Dickey/Berra/Howard/Munson and Posada, but would this group of reviewers put Campanella as #1? Would Mel Ott break into the OF? Would Seaver rank as the greatest NY pitcher ever, or would it be Mathewson?

It’s hard enough sometimes choosing the all-time team from within one team. Now you are choosing from four. You can picture Gehrig as the all-time first baseman from NYC. But in which order would you put Mattingly, Terry, Hernandez, Hodges—just to name a few?  Feel free to click on this link to participate.    

It’s put up or shut up time. Andy Pettitte starts against the Phils today, Damaso Marte gets an inning, but eyes will be on Joba. His first two outings were terrible, and you can excuse one because of a bout with the flu (of which I am fighting now, so I clearly empathize).

But Joba has to show something… and now. Back with the results later.  

In the first, Gardner singled, stole 2nd but was left stranded. Rollins doubled off Pettitte, stole third and scored on a Howard single. Andy K’d two. 1-0 Phils.  Cervelli had a two out single in the second but was stranded. Andy gave up singles to Ransom and Castro and a SF to Ruiz in the 2nd. 2-0 Phils after 2. Nick Johnson had a two-out hit in the third but was stranded. Andy has a scoreless 3rd, one hit.  

RBI double for Cervelli in the 4th. 2-1 Phils after 3 1/2.  

Pettitte’s day is done. A shaky beginning, then he settled in. 4 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 1 walk, 4 K.

Encouraging day for Gardner, who has his detractors. He triples (reminding us of that great speed, he just needs to hit enough to take advantage of it) and scores on a game-tying SF by Johnson.  

Thank goodness this wasn’t the Marte we saw in the WS. Both Pettitte and Marte are facing live batters for the first time. Pettitte? Decent. Marte, not so. 3-run HR by Werth. Marte gave up 4 hits and retired no one. According to Chad Jennings at LoHud, Marte was removed from the game after taking a Ryan Howard liner off his back. Amaury Sanit finished the inning. In the 6th, the Yanks got two hits off Contreras (including Cervelli’s third of the game) but no runs. Time for Joba to show something.

Joba gets two outs, gives up a bloop double then an RBI single. Good day for Cervelli who throws out a runner trying to steal. We’ll see how Joba bounces back.

He winds up going three, 1 R, 2 H, 1 walk, 3 K. A good outing, considering the run basically came on a bloop double. Is it enough to get him even with Hughes and Aceves? Probably not, but it puts him back in the picture.

The team was 0 for 9 with RISP today.    

Update: Chad Jennings at LoHud reports that Marte is fine. He also adds that (and I was just looking at the boxscore) Chamberlain pitched a “bottom of the 9th” even though the home team won. A 1-2-3 with 2 ks. So 4 IP in all, 1 R, 2 H, 1 walk and 5 Ks. The Joba we’d like to see….whether as a starter or a reliever. Nice bounceback.

Speaking of bouncebacks, time for yours truly to do so, after he has spent most of the past three days trying to get over the flu.