- Japan nixes the idea of Igawa pitching for them in the WBC.
Not really a surprise here as Yankees fans and the front office reject the idea of him pitching in the majors as well. He is lights out in AAA, but can’t make the transition to MLB. A highly decorated pitcher in NPB, Igawa is being blacklisted for his lack of production overseas… and rightfully so. Stick him in the bullpen and get it over with. He can only hurt Japan in the WBC.
- ARod and Gardner each HR in their spring debut.
Second pitch of his first at-bat, Gardner goes deep. And it actually went over the fence! 2-3 and a stolen base is a good start. We’ll see how Melky does now. I hope Gardner wins the job; he’s more exciting to me and brings to lineup what the Yanks lack.
-Girardi has named his starting rotation.
Sabathia, Wang, Burnett, Pettitte, Joba….I know Girardi wanted to break up the lefties and Burnett and Joba because they are very similar. If everyone is healthy this should be enough to go deep in the playoffs, but that’s a big ‘ if ‘. And that brings me to the next note…
-Joba is expected to make 30 starts.
This would bring him to around 175 innings pitched on the year if can do so. So much for plan. He threw just over 100 innings last year and this dramatic increase is certainly a risk moving forward. 175 of Joba sounds very appealing to Yankee fans, but an increase of around 75 innings is not good news for any pitcher. But then again, I don’t work in the front office. If I did and worked in the ticket office, I would call all the season ticket holders and tell them Joba is moving into the bullpen. How fast would I get fired? The Dodgers ticket assistant and I could never find another job in baseball ever again.
