Wang Back in Rotation; Setback for Reyes

Interesting news coming from both the Yankees and Mets this afternoon.

For the Yankees, Chien Ming Wang is back in the rotation and will start tomorrow's game against the Rangers at Yankee Stadium. To compensate, Phil Hughes will take Wang's spot in the bullpen. Obviously, Hughes has to be disappointed. While he hasn't pitched amazing since joining the rotation (3-2, 5.45 ERA), he has shown flashes of great pitching. However, Wang has given up just 2 runs in 8 innings of relief, and it appears he has regained the velocity and sink on his pitches he was lacking earlier in the season.

I think the only way the Yanks will know whether or not Wang has his stuff back is if he starts again. He'll only throw 75-to-80 pitches, as per Joe Girardi, to build up some arm strength, so he won't give you much length. Give him a couple starts and see if he can pitch well again. Hughes could be as big of an asset in the bullpen as Alfredo Aceves has been lately. He can go multiple innings, and is much more valuable and reliable than Jose Veras or David Robertson.

As for the Mets, Jose Reyes was removed from an extended spring training game today after experiencing pain in his calf and will return to New York for further tests. This is terrible news for the Mets, as Reyes was on target for a possible return Friday. Now, the team will have to see just how severe the injury is and keep him out longer. The Mets are even thinner at short with Ramon Martinez likely going on the DL, but at least they have Alex Cora back, who will be starting and hitting lead-off tonight against the Pirates.

For the Mets, they need some good news about injuries, and need some fast. I guess you can consider Carlos Beltran returning to the line-up tonight a plus, after being out since Sunday with a stomach virus. However, will he be on his game? Cora's return is good too, but they still are losing players left and right. Pagan on Sunday, Martinez yesterday, it's just too much. The team has some depth, but not enough that will allow them to compete all season long.

I'll be back later to live-blog during the Yankee game once again. I will try and do a Mets live-blog soon. I've just been focusing a lot on the Yankees at work. Catch you all in a bit!

Yanks Take Homestand Opener; Mets Drop 2nd in a Row in Steel City

For the second night in a row, the Yankees were victorious while the Mets floundered. The Yanks returned to the Bronx to open a three-game set against the Rangers and flexed their muscles in a 12-3 victory.

AJ Burnett got the start and performed well aside from one rough inning. He gave up a 3-run homer in the 3rd to Nelson Cruz, and was very strong outside of that. His final line: 7.0 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 110 pitches. Another solid start from a Yankee pitcher, which has been the key to their success.

Key Highlights:
*The entire Yankees 4th inning, in which they scored 7 runs off Vicente Padilla and Derek Holland. The big play in the inning: Mark Teixeira sliding into second to break up a potential inning-ending double play with A-Rod at the plate. He slid hard into Elvis Andrus, kept the inning going, and the Yanks ended up plating five more runs. The final three came off the bat of Hideki Matsui, who launched a homer into the right field bullpen. Big offensive showcase for the Yanks.

*Jorge Posada launched a bomb of his own, drilling a Warner Madrigal pitch deep into the second deck in right for a 3-run dinger. This one put the game officially away and was a mammoth bomb.

Key Stats:
*1 walk for AJ Burnett. After winning his first two starts, in which he gave up just 1 walk in each, he has given up under 2 walks in a start just once in 8 starts since. His totals: 2 twice, 3, 4 twice, 6, and 7. He walked 4 against the Rangers last week, and only one tonight. He did a much better job challenging the hitters, and trusting the defense behind him, which was great.

*E2 in the Top of the 4th inning. That would be charged to Jorge Posada when he airmailed a throw to second, trying to catch Elvis Andrus stealing. That was the Yanks' first error in 18 games, ending their record streak.

*Jeter: 3-4 at the plate, extends his hitting streak to 16 games.

*Teixeira: 0-2 at the plate, ends his hitting streak at 14 games. He was hit twice by a pitch, and showed some anger after the 2nd one, yelling at Padilla on the mound, sliding hard into second, and being overly emotional in the dugout after Matsui's home run later that inning.

As for the Mets, they were stymied by Zach Duke, and the Pirates made 3 runs of Johan Santana stand up in a 3-1 win. The Mets were once again without the services of Carlos Beltran, who is still battling a stomach virus, and apparently, an SNY Producer may have the Swine Flu. Not good news for the Mets, neither was losing a second straight game to the Pirates.

Santana was solid again, pitching 6 innings. He gave up 7 hits, 3 runs, walked 1, and struck out 3. He threw just 85 pitches. All the Mets could muster was a sac fly off the bat of Luis Castillo in the 5th inning. In addition, Ramon Martinez was injured, hurting his finger, and left the game after just 2 at-bats.

Key Highlights:
*In the 5th, after the Mets took a 1-0 lead, Jason Jaramillo took Santana deep to left with one out to tie the score. Good way for the Pirates to respond and keep things close against a dominant pitcher like Johan Santana. It was his first dinger of the season.

*In the 6th, the Pirates took the lead for good. Nate McLouth and Adam LaRoche hit back-to-back, almost identical doubles to right, plating a run a piece, and giving their team a 3-1 lead. Santana was strong all night up until the 6th, and the Pirates made him pay.

Key Stats:
*0 strikeouts for Pirates pitching. Facing a tough task against Johan Santana, the Pirates pitchers needed to be just as good if not better. The combo of Duke, John Grabow, and Matt Capps threw 9 innings of 1-run ball, and didn't K one Met batter. That's impressive.

*Jeremy Reed: 3-for-3 at the plate. Reed was once again impressive at the dish. 3 hits for him after 2 hits and 2 runs scored last night. Good to see him starting to pick up on the offense, especially when the rest of his team went 5-for-27 at the plate.

That's all for tonight. Yanks and Rangers again tomorrow at 7. Andy Pettitte goes for win #6 against Scott Feldman. Mets at the Pirates also at 7. Mike Pelfrey tries for his 5th victory against former-Yankee Ross Ohlendorf, who is 5-5 for the Bucs.

Yanks Take Series from Cleveland, Mets Drop Opener to Pittsburgh

The Yankees capitalized on some wild pitching by the Indians and got great pitching from Joba Chamberlain in a 5-2 win. The win gave the Yanks 3 of the 4 games in the weekend wrap-around series with the Tribe and ended the road trip with a 5-2 record. Pretty good once again.

Highlights of the Game:
*Bottom 5: With runners at 1st and 2nd with no outs in the bottom of the 5th, Kelly Shoppach popped up a bunt along the 3rd base line. Joba came out of nowhere, made a full-out dive for the ball and caught it for the out. He then immediately popped back up and fired a strike to 2nd for the double play. It will be on highlight reels for a while and stifled a potentially big rally.

*Top 6: Jeremy Sowers walked the bases loaded, and then was relieved by Greg Aquino. He proceeded to A-Rod, Posada, and Cano without giving up a run. Great job by Aquino and poor hitting by the Yanks.

*Top 7: Yanks get revenge...Aquino then walks three straight, and this time, Nick Swisher doubles off the left field wall, just missing a grand slam, and scores two. After they intentionally walk Teixeira to face A-Rod, former Yankee Luis Vizcaino gives up a 2-run single to Rodriguez as the Yanks extended the lead to 5-1

Key Stats:
*#1 has to be the line of Joba Chamberlain: 8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 106 pitches, 66 strikes. For everyone who is still whining that Joba should be in the bullpen, tonight's start proves that he does have the stuff to go deep into a game and be economical. Yes, he was facing a weak Indians team without Grady Sizemore, but his stuff was nasty tonight and would've tamed any team. Fastball in the mid-90's, hard-breaking slider, and accuracy. Joba was economical, which was important, got off to a good start too, and really made just one bad pitch.

*#2 will be that Indians pitchers walked 11 batters. The Yankees showed patience at the plate and didn't bite when the Indians' pitchers were wild. Back-to-Back innings, the Yanks had the bases loaded on walks. However, the Yankees were also 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position. That's pretty bad, but they still found a way to win.

*The final key stat would be the #0. As in, 0 errors for the Yanks defense. That's the 18th straight errorless game for the Yankees, who broke the all-time record for consecutive errorless games, surpassing the 2006 Red Sox who went 17 games without an error. Nice team record to have and a big reason why the Yanks have won 15 of their last 19 games now.

Didn't catch much of the Mets game tonight, so this recap will be much shorter from what I did watch and could dictate. Either way, they blew a 5-0 lead and lost 8-5 at Pittsburgh to open their road trip. The story of this game was, once again, woeful pitching by J.J. Putz, after he struggled Sunday against the Marlins. Here's my highlights and stats:

Highlights:
*Big Met highlights would have to be the RBI Triple for Wilson Valdez in the 2nd and his 2-run double in the 4th. For a guy that isn't expected to do great things for the Mets, he plated 3 of the Mets' five runs out of the seventh-hole and ignited the Mets' offense tonight.

*For the Pirates, it would have to be their entire 8th inning. Adam LaRoche started it all with a lead-off double, trailing 5-3. After that, the Bucs put together four singles, a walk, a fielder's choice, and a sac fly to take an 8-5 lead. Great hitting by the Pirates to take advantage of bad pitching by the Mets' pen.

Key Stats:
*Biggest has to be the line of J.J. Putz, who was not effective once again in a big eighth inning role: 0.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 12 pitches. That is awful, and something that will not bode well with his manager, especially against the Pirates, and especially after Jerry Manuel told reporters he still will go to Putz in the 8th inning.

*The combo of Daniel Murphy, Gary Sheffield, and David Wright (hitting 3-5 in the order with Beltran missing another game with a stomach virus): 0-10, 3 walks, 1 RBI, 1 R. With Beltran out, the middle part of the line-up needs to step up, and they didn't tonight against Ian Snell and the Pirates. If the Mets are going to be successful with all of their injuries, they need to get production from these spots.

The Return

After a long time away from the blog to finish up schoolwork and get settled back at home, I have returned to revive this blog. I want to get back up and running, giving you all the best I have to offer regarding NY-area sports. For my first post, I want to look at all the of current head coaches/managers and take a look at who has done the best job. Few have been around for a while (Coughlin) while many are just getting started (Manuel, Tortorella, Gordon). However, let's take a look at what they've done so far, see who's done the best and worst job, and who has potential for future success:

Joe Girardi

Team: New York Yankees

Arrived: October 30, 2007 (hired by Yankees)

Record: 116-93

Playoffs: None

Overall Consensus: Girardi had big shoes to fill after Joe Torre left, and has been okay so far. The Yanks didn't make the playoffs in his first season, missing out on October baseball for the first time since 1993. In '09, the Yanks have shown some signs of life and increasing chemistry. He continues to make questionable decisions but overall has done a decent job. I think he'll continue to have success, find his way back into the playoffs, and has a chance at a championship. However, he won't have the same success that Torre did.

Jerry Manuel
Team: New York Mets

Arrived: June 17, 2008 (replaced Willie Randolph)
Record: 72-52
Playoffs: None
Overall Consensus: Manuel took over for Randolph midseason in '08 and helped stabilize a struggling Mets team, only to watch them collapse in September for a 2nd year in a row. The team removed his interim tag, and he's started 2009 off okay despite the team being riddled with injuries. It still seems like he has some relationship issues with players in the clubhouse, namely Jose Reyes, but overall he has held down the fort. If he's going to be successful, he needs to find a way to get the team focusing on the fundamentals of baseball (baserunning especially) and prevent another choke job late in the season. I think it's possible.

Tom Coughlin

Team: New York Giants
Arrived: January 6, 2004 (hired by Giants)
Record: 47-33
Playoffs: 4 times (Super Bowl Champs in 2008, lost NFC divisional game to Eagles in '09, lost NFC wild card games to Panthers and Eagles in '06 and '07, respectively)
Overall Consensus: Tom Coughlin has been around the longest among the NY sports coaches and has done a fine job. The team has made the playoffs in four out to his five seasons at the helm and has won a Super Bowl as well. Not much to complain about here. As long as he keeps the team in the playoffs, he has the talent on the roster to keep them mentioned in Super Bowl talks year after year.

Rex Ryan
Team: New York Jets
Arrived: January 21, 2009 (hired after Eric Mangini was fired)
Record: None, was with Ravens who were 5-11 in 2008
Playoffs: None, won Super Bowl in 2000 with Ravens as Defensive Line Coach
Overall Consensus: Eric Mangini didn't fulfill the dreams of Jets fans, and now, Rex Ryan has the chance to do that. He stresses defense, a major issue for the Jets last season, and brings in a lock-down package that has been lacking in recent years. He still has to figure out who will be the starting QB in 2009 (Kellen Clemens or Mark Sanchez) and who his wide receivers will be, but he has the foundation for a playoff team. He has the potential to succeed but needs to build up his offense a little more.

Mike D'Antoni
Team: New York Knicks
Arrived: May 10, 2008 (hired by Knicks)
Record: 32-50
Playoffs: None, made playoffs previous 4 seasons as Head Coach of the Suns
Overall Consensus: D'Antoni has a major, major task to try and build this Knicks team into a winner. The organization is banking on a big free agent signing in 2010 (namely, Lebron), but as of now, the team is very weak. They have some bright spots in David Lee and Nate Robinson, and showed brief success in 08-09, but not enough to warrant a playoff berth. I don't think he finishes his time in NY with an NBA title, but I do think if he's around after 2010, he can lead the team back to the playoffs.

John Tortorella
Team: New York Rangers
Arrived: February 23, 2009 (hired by Rangers after firing Tom Renney)
Record: 12-7-2
Playoffs: Once in 2008-09, Rangers lost to Capitals in 1st Round
Overall Consensus: He was brought in after Tom Renney was let go to lead the Rangers into the playoffs, and he accomplished that. After blowing a 3-1 series lead, it is now his job to help restructure the team to his liking and use a full season to build a team that can go deep into the playoffs. He has a good style of play that's aggressive and stresses scoring, but lacks a big-time scorer. If he can nab someone like Ilya Kovalchuk, the Rangers have a great mix of young and old talent that can lead to success. He can have a temper though, and he needs to learn to keep his cool. No more squirting water on fans behind the bench! I say he brings the Rangers back to the playoffs, but won't win a Stanley Cup during his time at The Garden.

Scott Gordon
Team: New York Islanders
Arrived: August 12, 2008 (hired by Islanders after firing Ted Nolan)
Record: 26-45-9
Playoffs: None
Overall Consensus: Just like D'Antoni, he has a tall task to take this team of youngsters and bring them to the playoffs and beyond. The Islanders are the joke of the league and will not get any true, proven talent as long as they are playing at Nassau Coliseum. Until they get their new arena, IF they get a new arena, they will continue to struggle because simply, no one wants to play there and fans don't want to go and watch. I don't see a bright future for Gordon and the Islanders, and I think he's gone before the end of the upcoming season.

That does it for this debate. I left out Lawrence Frank (Nets) and Brent Sutter (Devils) since they're mostly NJ. However, Frank had some early success with the Nets but has struggled since, and Sutter has helped the Devils continue making the playoffs and will do so with the teams he keeps producing. Let me know your thoughts on all of the coaches.

In addition, since baseball is in high swing, I will try and do some liveblogging later on tonight with the Yanks at Cleveland and the Mets hosting the Marlins. I will especially be active with this when the Yanks and Mets play each other in June. Until then, I plan on being more active once again!

Around New York on a Wednesday in February

Hey Everyone. So today I figured I'd cover a whole mess of New York sports news considering there were so many teams in action and other news today. So, here we go:

Yankees:
Beat the Blue Jays 6-1 in their first spring training game of the season. A-Rod was booed and responded with a homer. Brett Gardner hit one as well. Very impressive to see the little guy show he has some power and on the second pitch of the game no less. I think this guy desperately wants to make the team and will have a monster spring to prove he deserves the center field spot. Pitchers threw fairly well so that's a good sign. Overall, solid start for the Yanks.

Mets:
Also started off the spring well with a 9-3 rout of the Orioles. Biggest surprises were four RBI's for Luis Castillo and three for Ryan Church. It would be huge for the Mets to have a good campaign from Castillo after a mediocre start with the team. It's also important that Church shows he can still play well after his concussion problems last year. Pitching was alright but no one very important threw. Again, good beginning.

Rangers:
In their first game under new Head Coach John Tortorella, the Rangers showed more of the same and lost in a shootout 2-1 in Toronto. The team is just incapable of scoring. They had a ton of opportunities and got more shots on net but failed to capitalize. Nice to see Wade Redden get in the goal column for the first time since the home opener on October 10th. The team looked a little more lively but continues to struggle scoring goals every game.

Knicks:
Another game that looked close at the end, but a lackluster effort at the beginning did them in. Mike D'Antoni was as irate as I've ever seen in the first half when his team failed to shoot well from the field and lacked communication on defense. It was like the Knicks just came out half asleep. The second half was much better, and I was impressed with Danilo Gallinari's shooting. However, Larry Hughes and Chris Wilcox failed to impress, and the team as a whole will need to play well for 48 minutes every night if they want to get in the playoffs.

Jets:
The long relationship with Laveranues Coles is over after the Jets and the receiver parted ways. Now, he can still come back as a free agent, but I think the Jets might go after a guy like Marvin Harrison or someone else to help boost a struggling Jets offense. Coles is a great receiver, but he was never part of the Jets' prime plans last year. It would be smarter for the Jets to get someone who can be more of a primary option.

Giants:
Brandon Jacobs was locked up for four years in a deal that was important to keep the Giants running game as superb as it's been. Jacobs has had to deal with injuries, but he provides a power running game that not too many have in the NFL. Not much to say about this, but the Giants made the right move by keeping him in a blue jersey.

Looking at the New York Rotations

So with today being a fairly slow news day among the New York sports teams, and with pitchers and catchers reporting this week, I figured I'd take a look at the Yankees and Mets in terms of their pitchers. I will try over the course of the next week or two to look at both teams and compare where they stand as a whole.


The Yankees Projected Rotation (in my projected order):
1. C.C. Sabathia
2. Chien Ming Wang
3. A.J. Burnett
4. Andy Pettitte
5. Joba Chamberlain


Analysis: The Yankees have one of the top rotations in baseball after spending an absolute fortune to get Sabathia and Burnett. With two power arms like that, I think it would be in the Yankees' best interest to split them up and stick Wang in between. Wang can throw the ball hard, but his heavy pitch is a sinker, not a fastball. Bringing Pettitte back (finally) was a good decision to slot him into your number four spot. He will give you a lot of innings, barring injury, and can still get you about as many wins as he will losses. Who knows what can happen with him? Mike Mussina won 20 games last year when many said he was washed up. The move also allows Joba to slide down to the number five spot. The Yankees can watch his innings by easily skipping over his turn if need be and throwing Sabathia out there on short rest. He certainly had enough experience with that in Milwaukee last year.

Big Key: AVOID THE INJURY BUG! The Yankee rotation spent last season without their ace for half the season when Wang was hurt running the bases. Joba went down toward the end of the season with a shoulder problem. Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy also suffered injuries early in the season and weren't really seen at all the rest of the year. If the Yankee rotation is going to be as dominant as it looks now, they are going to need to stay healthy.

The Mets Projected Rotation:
1. Johan Santana
2. John Maine
3. Mike Pelfrey
4. Oliver Perez
5. Freddy Garcia/Tim Redding/Livan Hernandez


Analysis: The Mets come in with another solid rotation, especially in the NL East for 2009. Santana is arguably the best pitcher in baseball and would have had 20 wins or more if not for his team scoring few runs or his bullpen blowing games. He'll be splendid again. John Maine and Mike Pelfrey both have shown flashes of great pitching but both are very inconsistent. Same can be said for Oliver Perez. They all have the ability to be very dominant at times. However, Maine has seemed to lose a lot of his brilliance after suffering through injuries last year. Pelfrey is still very young and inexperienced to be a number three starter in New York. Perez seems to do well in big situations but struggles against teams he should be able to beat. Garcia and Redding will compete for the number five spot. I think Garcia gets it unless he struggles coming back from shoulder surgery. Redding is just not that good. Overall, nothing amazing, but certainly solid enough in the NL East to compete with the Phillies.

Big Key: Develop consistency among starters. There is no question the Mets have the guys that can perform and have in the past. The problem is, aside from Santana, neither of the other starters have shown any consistency. For the Mets to be successful, they need to have John Maine pitch fairly well each start, keeping his team in the game or have Oliver Perez find more consistency after getting signed to a fairly large contract. If the Mets starters continue to pitch like they did last year, it will be another disappointing season for the "other" New York team.

DP Done...Again! And Yanks/Mets Signings

Sorry to share the news Islander fans, but goaltender Rick DiPietro, the face of the franchise, will miss the remainder of the 2008-09 season due to continuing problems with his left knee. DiPietro had surgery on the knee in June, but swelling has continued throughout the season.

According to the team, they felt it was the best decision for him considering the team is not in playoff contention. General Manager Garth Snow commented, "This will allow Rick ample time to make a full recovery for next year." With the problems he's had recovering from other injuries, the Islanders are smart to let him take all the time needed to get fully healthy.

DP was signed to a 15-year contract in 2006 and since that point has had to have four surgeries. His hip was repaired once, along with his right knee as well as left knee twice. With all these problems, even DiPietro himself knew this was the right move. "This has been one of the most frustrating situations I have ever had to deal with, but this is the right decision for me and the team," said the 27-year old goalie in a statement on Tuesday.

For the sake of Islander fans everywhere, DP and the team definitely made the right choice. The team is going nowhere higher than the bottom five teams in the league. Rather than risk further injury, let him rest and recover as best as he can and be ready for next season. Then again, who knows with DP?
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Briefly just wanted to note some contract signings the Yankees and Mets made today. The Bronx team agreed on a one year $6.65 million deal with Outfielder Xavier Nady, avoiding arbitration. This allows the Yanks to move him a bit easier now that he has a set salary. However, I wouldn't be shocked if both he and Swisher went to camp as Yankees. Melky Cabrera also signed late today. Not sure how much the deal was for. Report is that he asked for $1.7 million while the team offered $1.2 million. Shocking considering he made just $461,200 last year and was flat out awful. The other Yankee who went to arbitration was Brian Bruney. He apparently request $1.55 million while the team offered $1.1 million. No deal was done as of yet.

As for the Mets, they avoided arbitration with Ryan Church and Angel Pagan. Church got a one year $2.8 million deal while Pagan got $575,000 for a year. Both players suffered from injuries last year. Church played just 90 games due to a pair of concussions while Pagan appeared in only 31 before having surgery to fix a torn labrum in his left shoulder.