It seems just like how the weather appears nice for a few days, and then it’s horrible the next couple of days as the best analogy to describe how the Yankees season has gone so far. In last weeks story, the Yankees were in the midst of a crisis during their recent 6-game losing skid.
The Yankees weren’t getting any consistency from both their bats, and their pitching. Bring on the Orioles and Mets were the Yankees’ antidote. The “Bronx Bombers” were alive and well at Oriole Park at Camden Yards Stadium. The Yankees took 2 out of 3 from Baltimore, and then headed back to Yankees Stadium for a 3-game set with their cross-town rivals, the New York Mets. The Yankees took 2 out of 3 from the struggling Mets including a gracious comeback this past Sunday down 3-1 in the 7th inning to take the final game of the series from the Metropolitans. Since losing 6 straight games last week, the Yankees have responded winning 6 of their last 8 games.
Notable players that have been struggling are coming out their slumps a’la Derek Jeter, and Alex Rodriguez. “A-Rod” has been ripping the seams of the baseball of late, and with the health of his hip still in question, it appears the power of Rodriguez’s bat is slowly returning. As for “The Captain,” Jeter has raised his batting average to .268 and is now 25 hits shy of 3000 hits (2,975).
However, the most consistent Yankee all year round has been Curtis Granderson. Granderson has been hotter than a July day in Brooklyn batting .268 with 16 home runs (2nd in the league to Jose Bautista 19 HR) and 34 RBI (4th). Since changing his batting style last September with the help of hitting coach Kevin Long, The “Grandy Man” has been on a rampage offensively and has progressed sincethe beginning of this season.
The Yankees have hit 73 home runs so far this season, which leads the league. The Yankees have shown that they don’t necessarily need to rely on the “long ball” to produce runs. Coming into the series with the Mets, the Yankees scored 52.2 percent of their runs on the home run ball. After falling to third place in the American League East standings last week, with some help from the Rays, the Yankees once again sit atop first place at 26-21 with both the Rays and Red Sox a half-game behind tied for second.
If the Yankees’ starting pitching can be as productive as the Yankees’ bullpen has been, we could be seeing a big turnaround from the ball club. With Phil Hughes coming back, the Yankees may have a big question falling in their laps as Hughes’ replacement, 38- year old -Bartolo Colon, has turned the clock back on his career and pitching like he did in his Cleveland Indian days. Although Colon’s “mojo” took the night off in his last start, Colon has been nothing but stellar to the Yankees rotation giving them length in innings for most of his starts. At 38, he’s still pitching hard with his fastball hitting 97 mph in the late innings. Just a spring training invitation to the Yankees ball club, Colon is making the best of his time in pinstripes. It is obvious that the Yankees haven’t played their best baseball yet, according to manager Joe Girardi. With the weather gets hotter, the Yankees must stay just as hot in a division that appears you must win to make it to the playoffs.
Sports Notes : (Baseball) To add to the Mets mess, owner Fred Wilpon says that the team can lose up to $70 million dollars. Along side being affected by the Bernie Madoff scam, Wilpon is looking to sell a share of the Mets for $200 million dollars. The team is $427 million dollars in debt. Wilpon also made headlines again this past Monday taking shots at his top 3 players, Carlos Beltran, David Wright , and Jose Reyes; saying (Reyes) will not get “Carl Crawford money” (7 years, $142 million), (Beltran) “He is 65 to 70% of what he once was”. and (Wright) “He’s a good kid, good player, but not a superstar.” (NFL Football) Day 72 of the NFL lockout.
According to reports, the New York Jets have expressed interest in signing future Hall Of Famer Randy Moss. It appears that the Jets will not be able to resign both Santonio Holmes and Braylon Edwards to long-term deals. Moss, 34, had a tumultuous season last year with the Vikings, Patriots, and Titans.