Brett Gardner’s return to the lineup this year has been a much needed support for the ailing Yankees, who have a number of superstar players on the bench. Losing Nick Swisher in the offseason left an opening in the outfield for Gardner, and he has taken full advantage of it, starting in all 32 games of the season.

Gardner is batting a .270 on the season, which can seem a little sub-par to some people, but with an OBP of .343 (5^th on the team), Gardner’s proving to be an essential and, at this point of the season, vital part of the roster.  He also leads the team in steals with five, ahead of Ichiro Suzuki and Vernon Wells.

Gardner’s true skill set has been on display in the last seven games, leading the team in multiple categories, including batting average (.353) and hits (six). He’s also shown his patience in the batter’s box, leading the team in number of pitches seen during his at-bats with 79.

If Gardner can stay healthy throughout the year, he can be a very useful tool on the base paths as well as in the batter’s box in a year that didn’t look to promising for the Yankees to begin with.

You know it’s a good game when CC Sabathia gives up two runs while tossing over 30 pitches in the first inning and he not only picks up the win but lasts until the eighth inning and hands the ball off to Mariano Rivera for the save.

But before we get to that, let’s review what happened.

Paul Goldschmidt put the Diamondbacks up 2-0 with a line drive home run to the short porch in right field in the first. They scored again in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by A.J. Pollock while the Yankees couldn’t get anything going against Wade Miley.

In the seventh, the Yankees scored three runs to tie the game and snatch a win from Miley’s grasp. The first run was scored on a bases loaded walk by Jayson Nix that scored Ben Francisco. Miley was replaced by Tony Sipp who was immediately greeted by a two-out, two-run single by Brett Gardner to tie the game.

Sabathia threw 108 pitches in eight innings of work. He gave up the three runs on six hits, walked three and struck out six.

In the bottom of the eighth, Joe Girardi pinch hit Travis Hafner for Ben Francisco when David Hernandez was brought for the Diamondbacks. Hafner made the most of his chance by driving a ball out of the park on Hernandez’s first offering to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead.

Rivera came in and pitched a scoreless 1-2-3 inning to collect his 612th career save and fourth save of the season.

The hapless Yankees, the team people were predicting doom and gloom for are now 8-5 on the year. And yes, I know it’s only April but they’re winning games they need to win while they’re missing key players and it’s nice to see the new guys like Hafner stepping up.

They will try to get the series sweep tomorrow with Patrick Corbin facing off against Phil Hughes tomorrow night.

(Syndicated from It’s About The Money)

The first full week of Spring Training – full as in the whole team was in camp – is nearly over and what have we learned?

Well, for one thing, we learned that the Yankees are open to switching the defensive alignment of the outfield by placing Curtis Granderson in left field and allowing Brett Gardner to patrol center field. This is all in the beginning stages and it may not even come to fruition but the fact that the Yankees are open to this idea makes me happy. I believe the stronger outfield would have Gardner in center.

Another thing we learned is that Ichiro Suzuki is pretty funny. From him showing up on the first day of training camp in a glittery Yankee cap – at least according to the beat writers who couldn’t take pictures in the clubhouse so there actually isn’t any proof that this hat exists. I guess we’ll have to take their word for it – to his quote in which he subtly made fun of the New York sports media for focusing on Derek Jeter’s weight which, surprise surprise, turned into a non issue to him tipping his cap or, in this case, helmet after he blasted a batting practice home run off fellow countryman Hiroki Kuroda. I like Ichiro. He can stay.

Next up, we have Mariano Rivera who seems to be healthy and ready to pitch in 2013. He threw his first live batting practice and said he felt good. He said that he was more worried about how his knee would respond to fielding practice than he was about pitching. You and me both, Mo. Let’s hope everything stays copacetic.

Jorge Posada returned to Tampa as a guest instructor this week. He already shot down the comeback idea. According to Posada there will be no repeat of what happened with Andy Pettitte last season although some Yankee fans wouldn’t mind it considering the team doesn’t actually have a starting catcher as of this moment.

Phil Hughes hurt his back earlier in the week and was diagnosed with a bulging disc. The Yankees conservatively estimated he’d be out two weeks. Hughes started getting ready for the season two weeks earlier than usual so these next weeks off, according to him, will put him right on schedule. Or something.  Frankly, I’m concerned because this is the third season in a row that Hughes has had a back issue. His 2012 ended when he left Game Three of the American League Championship Series with a back problem.

What else happened in Tampa?

• Joba Chamberlain grew this thing on his face. 
• New Yankee Kevin Youkilis arrived and hugged it out with Joba.
• Alex Rodriguez issued a statement about his rehab and the New York Daily News which seems to be obsessed with Alex, reported that he ate at the same seafood restaurant three nights in a row this week. He ordered oysters. No word on if this is all a part of his rehab.

Sigh.

We knew this was coming but it still is a bummer. Via Mark Feinsand on Twitter:

“Brett Gardner scheduled to have arthroscopic surgery next week.”

“Gardner will have inflamed tissue removed from his right elbow. Dr. Ahmad will do the surgery; most likely ends his season.”

[insert sad face]

Ugh.

NEW YORK – Brett Gardner has suffered yet another setback in his rehab from a strained right elbow, casting doubt about his return to the Yankees this season.

The speedy outfielder awoke Monday with soreness in the elbow. He had restarted his baseball rehab on Sunday with four at-bats in a simulated game.

“It’s a concern because it’s happened before,” manager Joe Girardi said on Monday afternoon. “But we’ll have to wait and see.”

Twice before, Gardner was forced to shut down minor league rehab stints. He initially hurt the elbow while making a diving catch on April 17 against Minnesota.

After his last rehab stint was halted, Gardner, 28, was given additional rest. He was also examined Dr. James Andrews a month ago.

“It is puzzling,” Girardi said. “We expected that he’d get through this and our hope is still that he’ll get through this.”

He is scheduled to have another MRI tomorrow.

And in other injury news, Alex Rodriguez will be the DH tonight after complaining of a stiff neck after batting practice. Eric Chavez who was to be the DH will play third base.

In the seven days spanning from May 15 to May 21, the New York Yankees won a single game. It their game against on May 18 against the Cincinnati Reds which was sandwiched between two three-game losing streaks. Entering their game on May 22, the Yankees were 21-21 on the season and five and half games out of first place. And even though the team was at .500, it seemed as if that week was rock bottom.

Since that awful stretch, the Yankees have gone 19-4. They’re now 40-25, sitting atop the American League East and are currently riding high on a nine-game winning streak after sweeping the New York Mets, Atlanta Braves and their first place counterparts Washington Nationals.

So what’s behind this resurgence? Starting pitching. So far in the month of June, the starters are 11-1 with a 1.97 ERA. Amazingly, the “worst” starter has been CC Sabathia. He is the owner of that one loss – a 7-3 loss against Tampa on June 7. Also amazing, if it weren’t for that loss, the Yankees could be on a 13-game winning streak with four sweeps in a row.

» Continue reading “Psst, Aren’t You Glad You Didn’t Give Up On The Yankees?”

Good news: It’s not a season ending injury

Bad news: He’s still having issues.

How about that?

The Yankees have put together a nice run as of late.  They’ve climbed out of the AL East basement and share first place in the division, as of this moment.  This year has had its share of major setbacks for the Yankees, but here they are.  Injuries have taken a bite out of the team and the lack of hitting with RISP is mind-boggling, but I’m a glass half full kind of guy, so I like to take notice that this team gets on base often.  That problem can’t last all year, could it?  If only we could have Nova’s hot bat in the lineup every night.

Kidding.

And there’s this: Pineda, Joba, Gardner, Robertson, Rivera.  These are huge pieces of the puzzle who have missed significant time, but other players are stepping up.  Raul Ibanez is batting .255 with 9 home runs and 30 RBI.  Who saw that coming?  Not me.  Andy “50 Shades of Grey” Pettitte is tying up batters, posting 40 K’s in 41.2 IP. (See what I did there?)  That’s a strikeout almost every inning.  Oh, and both of them have 34 years of MLB experience combined.   Pretty damn impressive.

So the fans I’ve talked to this year, who panicked and jumped overboard, patience would have been key.  Cat pictures are on the decline around here and that’s a great sign.  The Yankees are going through the NL East like a freight train and the schedule for the rest of June looks favorable.  Winning is a good look in the Bronx and the Yankees wear it the best.  Can they keep it up?  Maybe. Maybe not.  But my money is on them continuing the trend.

Jeter SS
Granderson CF
Rodriguez DH
Cano 2B
Teixeira 1B
Ibanez LF
Swisher RF
Chavez 3B
Martin C

Mariano Rivera is having surgery to repair his torn ACL on June 12. David Robertson will pitch a rehab game Sunday if everything goes well in the bullpen tomorrow. Brett Gardner should be well enough to play in a rehab game tomorrow in Tampa.

Oh, and the Yankee pitchers are getting ready for interleague and starting to take batting practice. Please let them all survive unscathed. Thanks.

It’s Monday, it’s an off day and it’s raining. But Yankee fans are in a good mood today after their team capped off a successful 6-3 road trip with a 5-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

The big news yesterday was Phil Hughes’s complete game one-run performance. Like I said in yesterday’s recap, in a matchup against the Tigers and Justin Verlander, you’d have expected Verlander to be the one to have a complete game, one run masterpiece.

Some links about Hughes’s great game:
NJ.com
ESPN
NY Daily News

And just in case you actually missed the game, here are some highlights of Hughes’s eight strikeout performance.

Here’s some good news for the Yankees, Brett Gardner is scheduled to play five innings of an extended Spring Training game in Tampa. Gardner has only played in nine games this season and is trying, once again, to come back from his elbow injury suffered on April 17.

David Robertson and Joba Chamberlain look to be on the way back as well. Yes, you read that correctly. Chamberlain, who was feared lost into the 2013 season, threw off a mound this weekend. Amazing, right? Robertson, who also threw a bullpen session this weekend, reported no issues and will hopefully return to the club by mid-June.

And in other Yankee news, the MLB draft begins today and the Yanks are selecting 30th. For a live blog of the draft check out Around The Horn.