With
Chien Ming Wang's much ballyhooed struggles and Xavier Nady going down quicker than a
polo horse, not to mention the fact that Cody Ransom is playing third base, there are plenty of question marks surrounding the Yankees as we head in to the third week of this young regular season. Third. Week.
The good news is that Alex Rodriguez appears to be
ahead of schedule (though Joe
Girardi refuses to admit it), and that
Chien Ming Wang could not POSSIBLY be this bad all season. The Elias Sports Bureau says that he is the first pitcher in Major League history to allow 7 or more runs in three consecutive starts, so I am guess that a shaved ape would get decent odds to have some sort of rebound in their fourth start.
For now, the Yankees have the option to
skip Wang's turn in the rotation and maintain regular rest for the rest of the staff, but that won't last forever. Since starting pitchers in modern baseball throw complete games about as often as Lindsay
Lohan spends a day sober (ZING!) , the five man rotation is obviously a necessity. Luckily, the team has a capable stable of arms in Scranton-Wilkes Barre-Philadelphia-Pittsburgh-Intercourse tthat should be able to pick up slack. Perennial prospect Phil Hughes has been solid in AAA thus far, and Ian Kennedy is back to form as a dominant starter in the minor leagues. Throw in names like Alfredo
Aceves, Jason Johnson, and
Kei Igawa (God, it was painful to write that), and the Yankees have the ability to hold down the fort while Wang figures out what the hell is going on.
As for the offense, the return of Alex Rodriguez will obviously provide a large boost to the lineup, especially with the seeming inability of the New Yankee Stadium to keep the baseball within the confines of its walls. The level of
suckitude provided by Cody Ransom is almost astonishing. Nick Swisher will not ride this high all season, and the thought of seeing lineups that include both Brett Gardner
and Melky Cabrera has actually forced me to contemplate suicide. This is now a very thin team, and Brian
Cashman has his work cut out for him to find some depth (Oh, wait, it looks like
this guy is available!).
All of that being said, it
is the third week of the season, and despite the cloud of uncertainty, the team has managed to keep its record over .500 (7-6) and keep pace with a Boston team that will be around when the smoke clears and the Blue Jays start being the Blue Jays again. So, no, don't panic.
Posts
