Sweeny: Random Yankee Thoughts On A Rainy August Night
By Sweeny Murti
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Random thoughts on a rainy August night:
*Has the season really gone by that fast?
*CC Sabathia's elbow issue isn't considered serious at the moment. And maybe it isn't. But I'm almost certain the Yankees won't even think about pitching CC on short rest in the postseason, not when he's two months removed from an elbow issue, no matter how minor.
So it will take four starters to get the Yankees to a World Championship this year, and we are all assuming one of them is Andy Pettitte, who hasn't pitched in almost two months now.
*I was wrong about Hiroki Kuroda. Didn't think he would adjust that well to the AL. And go back to the eight games in which the Yankees scored 2 runs or fewer for him, and he might actually be heading towards a 20-win season.
*After Melky Cabrera's 50-game suspension for PED's, I was posed this question in the Yankee Stadium dining room: Which Yankee would you be most surprised to hear was suspended for PED's? My answer: A-Rod. I mean, come on…he couldn't possibly be dumb enough to do it again, could he?
*Soccer games, concerts, college bowl games all at Yankee Stadium. When do we get to see the Giants and Colts, even if it was an exhibition game, in a nod to the Greatest Game Ever Played?
*A lot of talk recently about Derek Jeter possibly going after 4,000 hits and then Ty Cobb and Pete Rose. The one thing I think that will hold Jeter back is that he lacks Rose's sheer obsession with Cobb's then-record hit total. Rose devoured baseball stats and numbers, and I don't see Jeter being driven by the same thing.
*A scout texted me the other night after Derek Lowe's outing to remark about the Yankees good fortune. We both found it fascinating that the team with the highest payroll in baseball picked up a pitcher making $15 million this year and will actually pay him less than $200,000. The Braves traded Lowe to the Indians last winter, only after agreeing to pay $10 million, the Indians picking up most of the other $5 million.
*Comparing notes with some other folks in the media, and we seem to agree that David Phelps bears at least some sort of physical resemblance to a young Mike Mussina, in terms of build and mannerisms. Phelps is still 267 wins shy of Mussina.
*Sometimes it pays to wait until the season plays out a little bit. In April, for example, Yu Darvish was 4-0, 2.18 ERA while Phil Hughes was 1-3, 7.88 ERA and Freddy Garcia was 0-2, 12.51 ERA. Since May, however, Darvish is 8-8, 5.27 ERA while Hughes is 10-7, 3.99 ERA and Garcia is 7-3, 3.17 ERA.
162. That's a lot of games.
Sweeny Murti
Do you think Andy Pettitte will be ready for the stretch run? Let us know your thoughts below in the comments section.
