Robinson Cano finally gets it, and now he is assaulting opposing pitchers.
The immensely talented second baseman has been beset by immaturity and lackadaisical play at times in the past, but if his torrid start is any indication, those days are over.
Hitting a scalding .407 with eight homers and 17 RBI, Cano leads the AL batting race by a mile, ranks second in the league in home runs, and is tied for fifth in RBI. Although he receives acclaim for his potent bat, often overlooked is his defensive acumen.
Thursday night in ...
Robinson Cano posted his sixth career multi-homer game, and A.J. Burnett pitched eight scoreless innings as New York blanked Baltimore, 4-0, Thursday night at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
New York finished 5-4 on their nine-game road trip, while Baltimore missed an opportunity to win their first series of the season.After Cano grounded out to end the first inning, his next three at bats resulted in extra-base hits.
His one-out home run in the top of the fourth off Orioles starter Brian Matusz (2-1) gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead. In the ...
Oriole Park at Camden Yards opened up in 1992.
It was the resurrection of baseball in Baltimore as well as for the rest of the country.
Back then, other teams wanted their 'Taj Mahal' of a stadium. Fans can go see new ballparks in any place of the country.
In our town, we have couple of new ballparks, a new hockey arena, a new football stadium, and a new soccer stadium.
The thought was new stadium would mean new revenue. New revenue would mean winning championships.
That hasn't worked in sports. Losing teams continue to lose, ...
One of the biggest factors in bringing up young players from the minor leagues is when they have done all they can do down on the farm.
A young player who dominates his minor league-level over a couple-month period should be promoted to the next level. A player who dominates Triple A over a long period should also be promoted.
No matter who is in the major leagues in front of him.
No reason to keep a young pitcher in Triple-A "for more seasoning" when he has filled up every spice rack in ...
Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, who was hit in the knee with a pitch in the second inning yesterday, is not expected to go on the disabled list and would actually be the emergency backup if needed today, as the Yankees are not calling anyone up from the minors for insurance, according to Chad Jennings of the Journal News.
“No question there’s improvement since last night,” Posada said. “Still some swelling we need to get out, but if need be, in a pinch, I can play tonight.”
“He’s just black and ...
The 1980s is the only decade in the history of Major League Baseball with three relief pitchers in the Hall of Fame.
The 1980s was the decade that we started seeing prevalence with career relief pitching.
In fact, every relief pitcher in this top 10, except one, started in 0-10 percent of their career games.
That’s almost like today.
There are certainly some important differences in today’s relief pitching and the relief pitching of the 80s. One difference, relief pitchers of the 80s chewed up more innings.
Here’s an example. Not too long ago I published an ...
Early in the Yankees season the two biggest stories in the Bronx have been the April struggles of Mark Teixeira , again, and the hot start by the Yankees new number five hitter in the order, Robinson Cano .
Last season both players had similar starts to their seasons but what do these starts mean for them this year?
Mark Teixeira
April 2010
20 GP 10 hits 2 HR 9 RBI 15 BB 18 K .133 AVG
April 2009
19 GP 14 hits 3 HR 10 RBI 17 BBs 12 K .200 AVG
May 2009
28 GP ...
If you haven’t heard the news, Jorge Posada was hit in the knee with a pitch yesterday, and is unlikely to play today.
Since it was his knee and he is a catcher it is possible that he might not even play for the next couple of days. That’s not as big of a deal as it used to be thanks to Francisco Cervelli .
After a couple of cups of coffee in 2008 and 2009, Cervelli won the Yankees backup catcher job out of spring training with virtually no competition. So ...
When you think of recent Yankees teams, generally the first thing that comes to mind is the high-scoring offense.
With guys like Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, and Derek Jeter leading your offense, the Yankees are never out of any games where they are behind.
But when you get right down to what the major strength of the current Yankees really is, you will see that it is the starting pitching.
In 2009, it was three starters who carried the load for the Yankees in CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Andy Pettitte. ...
When at his best, AJ Burnett is one of the best pitchers in baseball.
When Burnett is at his best, he is dominant.
When he is at his best is the key.
Every other time, he seems downright terrible.
The last World Series was a prime example.
Burnett started Game Two. He was brilliant, giving up one lonely run and scattered four hits in seven innings of work. The victory jump-started the Yankees in the World Series who, at the time, had a one-game deficit to the Philadelphia Phillies.
In Game five however, the story was a bit different.
In ...