As we approach the last week of the regular season, the Yankees remain in a scratch and crawl affair with the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the American League East division. Playoff teams are still fighting for placement in who they will be facing in the first round of the Divisional Series. The Yankees and Rays have yet to make a strong push to grab the division title as well as home-field advantage throughout the playoffs which is important to both teams being that the world series will start in a National League ball park this year. It seems like the Orioles, BlueJays and Redsox plan to play spoiler in where they [yanks/rays] will finish. It has been a bizarre week as the Yankees are struggling towards the ending of this season which creates a tough decision on how manager Joe Girardi uses his players. The Yankees must have a good ending to their season and win their division to gain confidence heading towards October. It is more than certain that the Yankees will start 20-Game winner and CY Young candidate C.C. Sabathia in game 1 of the divisional series. After that Girardi has a big decision in who to pencil in as his number 2 starter. Last year’s number 2 starter A.J. Burnett has struggled all season long with his location and mecanics. This past Monday Burnett was “Burned” for seven runs and was pulled out of the game in the third inning. This has raised several questions about Burnett and his durability in a potential start in the playoffs. When Girardi was asked about his right-hander Girardi said “ He was big for us in the playoffs last year, but iam not going to talk a whole lot about the playoffs until we know were in. We’ve got to get their first, and we’re not in. Burnett spoke to reporters this past week and he said “ The way my season’s been, iam not going to let it affect me. it’s a matter of turning the page and getting over it”. Burnett is 10-15 with a 5.33 ERA. Burnett has 1 win along with 7 losses in his last 10 starts. After that the Yanks probably will hand the ball over to the crafty Left-Hander Andy Pettitte, who until he went on the disabled list has an 11-2 record. For an if- necessary game 4 the yanks should turn to 17-game winner Phil Hughes as the Yankees will most likely go with a rotation of 4 pitchers. Now as we get geared-up for the playoffs, there are a few scenarios leading to the Yankees potential first-round opponent. If the Yankees win the AL East, they will draw a date with the AL West champions, the Texas Rangers, who swept the Yanks in a recent 3-game series in Arlington Texas. The Rays will then win the wild card and play the Minnesota Twins. If the Rays win the east, the Yankees will have to play the Minnesota Twins. The Yankees have had recent success against previous Twins teams, but on to reality, the Twins have a 56-25 record at home which is the best in the American League. So with some many questions regarding the pitching rotation as well as the Yanks recent hitting woes, Girardi and company have 1 week to get his team together in preparation for the 2010 Post-Season. The season finale is this coming weekend and maybe the whispers of October baseball will help the Yankees into another possible championship run to a 28th-World Championship.
As we approach the last week of the regular season, the Yankees remain in a scratch and crawl affair with the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the American League East division. Playoff teams are still fighting for placement in who they will be facing in the first round of the Divisional Series. The Yankees and Rays have yet to make a strong push to grab the division title as well as home-field advantage throughout the playoffs which is important to both teams being that the world series will start in a National League ball park this year. It seems like the Orioles, Blue Jays and Redsox plan to play spoiler in where they [yanks/rays] will finish. It has been a bizarre week as the Yankees are struggling towards the ending of this season which creates a tough decision on how manager Joe Girardi uses his players. The Yankees must have a good ending to their season and win their division to gain confidence heading towards October.
It is more than certain that the Yankees will start 20-Game winner and CY Young candidate C.C. Sabathia in game 1 of the divisional series. After that Girardi has a big decision in who to pencil in as his number 2 starter. Last year’s number 2 starter A.J. Burnett has struggled all season long with his location and mecanics. This past Monday Burnett was “Burned” for seven runs and was pulled out of the game in the third inning. This has raised several questions about Burnett and his durability in a potential start in the playoffs. When Girardi was asked about his right-hander Girardi said “ He was big for us in the playoffs last year, but iam not going to talk a whole lot about the playoffs until we know were in. We’ve got to get their first, and we’re not in. Burnett spoke to reporters this past week and he said “ The way my season’s been, iam not going to let it affect me. it’s a matter of turning the page and getting over it”. Burnett is 10-15 with a 5.33 ERA. Burnett has 1 win along with 7 losses in his last 10 starts. After that the Yanks probably will hand the ball over to the crafty Left-Hander Andy Pettitte, who until he went on the disabled list has an 11-2 record. For an if- necessary game 4 the yanks should turn to 17-game winner Phil Hughes as the Yankees will most likely go with a rotation of 4 pitchers.
Now as we get geared-up for the playoffs, there are a few scenarios leading to the Yankees potential first-round opponent. If the Yankees win the AL East, they will draw a date with the AL West champions, the Texas Rangers, who swept the Yanks in a recent 3-game series in Arlington Texas. The Rays will then win the wild card and play the Minnesota Twins. If the Rays win the east, the Yankees will have to play the Minnesota Twins. The Yankees have had recent success against previous Twins teams, but on to reality, the Twins have a 56-25 record at home which is the best in the American League. So with some many questions regarding the pitching rotation as well as the Yanks recent hitting woes, Girardi and company have 1 week to get his team together in preparation for the 2010 Post-Season. The season finale is this coming weekend and maybe the whispers of October baseball will help the Yankees into another possible championship run to a 28th-World Championship.