Ahh it’s opening week and baseball is FINALLY back. Home Runs are flying pitchers are throwing the heat and the Yankees are doing what they do best laying the ground work for yet another AL East Championship. So this week I figured I’d touch on a few thoughts about the games this week.Opening Week Games
It was great to see Cory Lidle’s Wife and Son kick off the season and throw the first pitch. Very classy thing of the Yankees do considering how much they have lost and are currently going threw. Pavano was not terrible although he was not that great either. He got into some trouble early but to be fair the fielding was sloppy behind him as well. Pitchers need to work threw those kinds of things if they are going to be successful, but to be fair it helps when they can trust the gloves playing behind them too. The bats definitely were there to pick this game up. A-Rod with the RBI singles to drive in the first Yankee run of the season. Thought that was rather fitting, and his 2 run HR was icing on the cake and put the game out of reach for the Rays. The BP was pretty solid as well.
Andy Pettitte's return to the Bronx was not a pretty sight. Andy and Posada just never seem to be able to get on the same page. The bitter cold did not help Andy either. Kind of, hard to grip a baseball, when you can’t feel your hands because it’s freezing out side. Jetter committed 2 errors, and Posada and the pitching staff decided that home plate should be back by the fans because many pitches seemed to go bouncing back there. Basically a really ugly game for the Yankees that included sloppy plays and not the best pitching. Mostly I think the weather played a major factor. It’s just too damn cold up there. Makes me glad I live down here in Florida when I see games like that. Moose def did not bring his A game but again the cold weather will effect how he can grip the ball, and that will result in the kind of pitching performance he gave us. Sean Hen came in to relieve him and was impressive I got a good feeling about him this year. He might just be this year Scot Proctor, and exactly what is it with these young Yankee Pitchers and their names?? Proctor, Hen, Wang?? Anyway the bats keep the game interesting but we fell short lucky for us the Sucks lost as well and funny thing is the D-Rays were leading the division by the end of the day. We all know that won’t last but still kind of funny to see that in the standings.
Iggy pitched Saturday, not exactly impressive in his first outing but honestly I don’t think he did all that bad a job. Had a few pitches that probably should have been called strikes that would have changed the outcome a bit, and there’s just not much you can do about bloop singles that fall in between the fielders. The pitcher’s worst nightmare because you did the job of jamming the batter and getting the week pop up but where it falls you have no control over. I think he will be fine if he can work on the little things like his control which was not great but not as bad as he was in spring training. My guess is he will struggle a bit but will show improvement along the way and should be quite solid for us come the end of the year. Of course I can’t talk about this game and not mention A-Rod’s walk off grand slam Home Run. It was amazing to listen to on the radio, and great to hear the crowd cheering for him like he deserves. He is seriously going to have a monster year and come the playoffs he is going to be unbelievable I think the man is on a mission.
Dice K
So he had his first start and as I predicted the Media is falling all over themselves calling him the chosen one, the next great Cy Young and Blahh Blahh Blahh. What I find funny is that he did pitch a great game I’ll give him that but it was the FRIGEN ROYALS that he did it too. This is a team that can’t field, hit or pitch their way out of a paper bag and the media is making a big deal about him beating them. Hell I could beat them with one hand tied behind my back and a broken leg. Also I found it funny that the one guy to hit a HR off him so far has a grand total of 25 for his whole career. Just wait for Dice k to face a real team like the Angels or the Rangers, or O Yea the YANKEES, teams with real offense that wear down pitchers and don’t waste base hits and opportunities to score are going to fair much differently. Next he will face the M’s so don’t be surprised when he throws a similar game but I’m willing to bet the M’s score a few more runs off him then the Royals did.
The Week Ahead
So We finish up the series with the O’s Rasner will be pitching for us today, then we head out to Minnesota to play in the Dome (Bet they can’t wait to get out of the Cold) then on to Oakland to play the A’s. So my predictions for the Week?? Rasner will pitch well enough to keep the Yankees in the game and we will take the series from the O’s. Then Pavano in his second start will pitch well but I’m betting the twins will get to him late and cost us the game. Andy will Rebound nicely and pitch a gem in his second outing giving us the series against the Twins and Moose will pitch a gem as well the next day giving us the series against the Twins. Iggy second start will go much better then his first but I think he may struggle with his control and the first game against the A’s will come down to the Bull Pens most likely. I figure we win that game as well though. So going into Next Saturday’s game the Yankees should be 6-3 for the season if I’m right. Anybody else want to make a prediction here? Please leave a comment and tell me what you think.
Till Next Week
Iggy pitched Saturday, not exactly impressive in his first outing but honestly I don’t think he did all that bad a job. Had a few pitches that probably should have been called strikes that would have changed the outcome a bit, and there’s just not much you can do about bloop singles that fall in between the fielders. The pitcher’s worst nightmare because you did the job of jamming the batter and getting the week pop up but where it falls you have no control over. I think he will be fine if he can work on the little things like his control which was not great but not as bad as he was in spring training. My guess is he will struggle a bit but will show improvement along the way and should be quite solid for us come the end of the year. Of course I can’t talk about this game and not mention A-Rod’s walk off grand slam Home Run. It was amazing to listen to on the radio, and great to hear the crowd cheering for him like he deserves. He is seriously going to have a monster year and come the playoffs he is going to be unbelievable I think the man is on a mission.Dice K
So he had his first start and as I predicted the Media is falling all over themselves calling him the chosen one, the next great Cy Young and Blahh Blahh Blahh. What I find funny is that he did pitch a great game I’ll give him that but it was the FRIGEN ROYALS that he did it too. This is a team that can’t field, hit or pitch their way out of a paper bag and the media is making a big deal about him beating them. Hell I could beat them with one hand tied behind my back and a broken leg. Also I found it funny that the one guy to hit a HR off him so far has a grand total of 25 for his whole career. Just wait for Dice k to face a real team like the Angels or the Rangers, or O Yea the YANKEES, teams with real offense that wear down pitchers and don’t waste base hits and opportunities to score are going to fair much differently. Next he will face the M’s so don’t be surprised when he throws a similar game but I’m willing to bet the M’s score a few more runs off him then the Royals did.The Week Ahead
So We finish up the series with the O’s Rasner will be pitching for us today, then we head out to Minnesota to play in the Dome (Bet they can’t wait to get out of the Cold) then on to Oakland to play the A’s. So my predictions for the Week?? Rasner will pitch well enough to keep the Yankees in the game and we will take the series from the O’s. Then Pavano in his second start will pitch well but I’m betting the twins will get to him late and cost us the game. Andy will Rebound nicely and pitch a gem in his second outing giving us the series against the Twins and Moose will pitch a gem as well the next day giving us the series against the Twins. Iggy second start will go much better then his first but I think he may struggle with his control and the first game against the A’s will come down to the Bull Pens most likely. I figure we win that game as well though. So going into Next Saturday’s game the Yankees should be 6-3 for the season if I’m right. Anybody else want to make a prediction here? Please leave a comment and tell me what you think.
Till Next Week
The Yankees Fan
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