Play Ball!
It has been an excruciatingly long 118 days since the Yankees played their last game on Nov, 4th of last year. The withdrawal from Yankees baseball was only overcome by glistening memories of the Yankees champagne showers to end the season. Today, all of that comes to an end as the Yankees play their first game (albeit an exhibition game) of the 2010 calendar year. The Yankees play host to the Pittsburgh Pirates today at George M. Steinbrenner Field. The game begins at 1:05 p.m. and MLB Network will begin its’ broadcast at 1:00 p.m.
Today’s game will offer Yankees fans plenty to watch. Three of the candidates for the 5th starter/ long reliever roles will begin the game for the Yankees in Chad Gaudin, Sergio Mitre, and Alfredo Aceves in that order. While Girardi has not specified how many innings each will pitch, he did indicate that he plans to put them into the game only at the beginning of an inning. As Chad Jenning’s noted on the LoHud Yankees blog on Sunday, Girardi does not plan on using any pitchers between Gaudin, Mitre, and Aceves, but he will use a reliever to record the final out of an inning (if necessary) in order to allow the three to start off an inning. It will be interesting to see how Gaudin, Mitre, and Aceves fare on Wednesday. It is hard to critique a performance based on outcome in spring training, but the Yankees will be taking a close look at the potential 5th starters’ control and mechanics.
Gaudin, Mitre, and Aceves will get the most focus of the Yankees pitchers today, but the Yankees have listed 6 other pitchers as available for today’s game. The available relievers are Jonathan Albaladejo, Wilkins Arias, Jason Hirsh, Royce Ring, Amaury Sanit, and Zach Segovia who seem to be listed in alphabetical order as opposed to the order they will be used. Out of the other six available pitchers, it is worth taking interest in a
t least three. Albaladejo is perhaps the most notable of the relievers as he is the only one to reach the major leagues with the Yankees. Albaladejo has made the opening day roster for the past two years and came into spring training looking much, much different. After losing 30 pounds in the offseason Alby said he feels like his arm has more life. We’ll see what he can do against the Pirates today. Another reliever worth taking note of is Royce Ring. Ring is a lefty specialist competing with Boone Logan and Wilkin De La Rosa for a bullpen spot as the Yankees second lefty. Ring has an incredibly funky arm angle which i touched upon briefly in a previous article, so it will be interesting for Yankees fans to see him in action.
The last reliever of the bunch that may be worth taking a closer look at today is Amaury Sanit. Sanit may not be a well-known name to Yankees fans, let alone baseball fans in general. At 30 years old Sanit has only played 2 seasons of professional baseball, but despite his inexperience in pro ball Sanit managed to work his way up to SWB last year. On Feb, 24th Chad Jennings provided a quote from Yankees pitching coordinator Nardi Contreras about Sanit. Contreras said “He’s got the pitches to pitch in the big leagues, it’s just command of the fastball (that he is lacking)”. That said, Yankees fans should keep an eye on Sanit today and throughout the spring to see if he can develop control and be consistent with his pitches.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have also released their pitchers for today’s game. Paul Maholm will start the game and go one inning; he will be followed by former Yankee Ross Ohlendorf for an inning. The rest of the Pirates bullpen is expected to be rounded out by Brian Bass, D.J. Carrasco, Chris Jakubauskas, Jack Taschner, and Jean Machi. Former Yankee Steven Jackson may also be available out of the bullpen today as indicated by an article on the Pirates’ website, however there have also been reports that Jackson is not one of the available relievers. Other Pirates’ players to watch today are offseason acquisitions Akinori Iwamura, Bobby Crosby, and Ryan Church along with young outfielders Andrew McCutchen and Lastings Milledge.
As for the Yankees lineup, it has not been announced by Joe Girardi. As with many spring training games you can look for some opening day starters to play, but certainly not all of them. I expect to see many of the players competing for a spot on the team to appear early in games so the Yankees staff can see what they are capable of against major-league caliber pitching. That said players to watch tomorrow will be Marcus Thames, Randy Winn, Brett Gardner, Jamie Hoffmann, and Ramiro Pena. Also, with the uncertainty of who will be starting the game, there is a possibility that Jesus Montero and/or Austin Romine get some innings behind the plate. If Cervelli starts the game there is almost a guarantee that we will see one of the two highly touted Yankees catching prospects. If Posada starts behind the plate, the possibility of seeing one of the top two Yankees catching prospects still remain but it is much less-likely as the Yankees would probably go with a lower-level prospect to finish out the game. It will be interesting to see how Girardi manages the situation early in spring training with so many catchers. My guess is that as the catchers filter themselves out, the Yankees will alternate starts between Posada and Cervelli. Montero will most likely be paired with one of the major leaguers with Romine being paired with the other to finish out the games.
Despite having virtually no importance, this game has been long awaited as it marks the beginning of the Yankees quest for number 28. The performances put up by the three 5th spot starters will be an afterthought at the end of spring training. However, this game will give us Yankees fans an idea of what to look for over the course of spring training. Check back later as I will have updates on the game and a recap after the game ends.
UPDATE: 10:17 a.m. The lineups for both the Yankees and the Pirates have been announced. For the lineups and some information on the game, check out the LoHud Yankees Blog. A few interesting points for today’s game are that Granderson will be staring in center and Gardner in left. It will be interesting to see how they communicate in their respective positions compared to when their roles are switched later in spring training. Hoffmann and Thames will also be in the starting lineup. The two outfielders are competing for the Yankees 25th roster spot. While the performance today will not dictate whether the Yankees take Thames or Hoffmann, it should give the Yankees a good idea about who fits the desired mold for the 25th spot. Things to look for today will be how comfortable each player is at the plate, their plate discipline, and how they communicate with the rest of the team in the field.
Photos courtesy of Zimbio.com
Related posts:
Great article Josh! So pumped that baseball season is FINALLY here! I thought the offseason was never going to end.