Categories
New York Yankees

Yankees suck….at Spring Training

If you’re the Yankees, you shouldn’t have a horrible 7-10 record in Spring Training. With injuries aplenty marring March hope, we know that George and his merry men can’t wait to leave Disney for Yankee.

So how are the Yankees shaping up? We look at the pitching, batting and injury problems that Bronx Bombers are having. And no-one’s sacred: not even the Big Unit.

PITCHING

Although wins and losses aren’t important in March, ERA is. And boy, is the Big Unit bloated. Randy Johnson has a 5.40 ERA, which is only dwarfed by Kevin Brown’s 8.49 earned run record.  Mike Mussina (4.85), new acquisition Felix Rodriguez (5.68), and comeback kings Steve Karsay (14.40) and Paul Quantrill (12.46) haven’t exactly turned on the hope springs either.

Brown and Johnson have given up 11 and 6 runs respectively, on a total of 28 hits. Ouch. Oh, and the Big Unit hasn’t won in pinstripes yet.

On the upside Carl Pavano (1.29 ERA) and former starter Tanyon Sturtze (0.90 ERA) are the two players to catch the eye. Brown in the bullpen, Joe?

BATTING

As much as the bleacher creatures love him, Bernie Williams’ performance at the plate (3 hits in 33 AB) has been downright awful. Oh, and did I mention he’s got a sore back too?

Jason Giambi, though he’s hitting .355 at the plate, is showing his mental agility to stay in the game vis-à-vis his other worries, but how long will that last? Has he made a full recovery from cancer?

Second baseman Tony Womack is certainly the most surprising part of the Legends Field Spring Training package, batting .528 with 19 hits to his name, Hideki Matsui is not. We know that he can muscle the thing, but `Zilla’s 5 homers with 14 RBIs indicates that he’s seeing the ball like a boulder out there. A-Rod, Jeter, and Sheffield all hitting the ball well at the moment too. Gary Sheffield, despite his contract wrangles with George Steinbrunner, seems to be holding up well from the shoulder surgery.

INJURIES

We all know that the Yankees are old. But it’s March, and cracks really shouldn’t been appearing. But All-State are going to get one hell of a medical bill if February and March are anything to go by. Here is a list: Randy Johnson- calf strain; Mariano Rivera- bursitis in pitching elbow; Sheffield- shoulder, Bernie Williams-upper back strain. Oh, and even Captain Fantastic Derek Jeter hasn’t kept away from the doctor’s table, putting himself on the DL for a few games after fouling a ball onto his foot. On top of that, Kevin Brown’s got a sketchy back, Paul Quantrill’s less-than-healthy in the rib cage region, and Gary Sheffield’s ego’s still a bit sore after not getting a new deal during the off-season.

2 replies on “Yankees suck….at Spring Training”

Yanks are still the best — So what’s the big deal, the Yankees are a little rusty, it happens to every team. It’s better for them to get this all out of their systems now, and then later in the regular season, when winning actually matters, they’ll be as good as new and ready to play better than ever.
After all the Yankees are going to be the 2005 World Champions 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *