Blue Jays-Yankees series preview

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The Blue Jays are back and that’s not great news for the Yankees. Toronto is sending the same three starters that took two out of three from the Yankees last week, and Jose Bautista is still crushing homers at a scary rate.

Containing Bautista will be the biggest key for the Yankees this series. He went deep twice in the first game last series, and has added three more to his major-league leading total (43) over his last seven games.

And let’s not forget about Vernon Wells either.

Head to Head:
The Blue Jays lead the season series 7-5, but the Yankees still have six chances to make up the deficit, starting today.

Pitching Matchups:

Date:	Blue Jays starters	Yankees starters
Fri., 1:05 p.m.	Brandon Morrow (10-6, 4.27)	Ivan Nova (1-0, 1.93)
Sat., 1:05 p.m.	M. Rzepczynski (1-3, 6.03)	J. Vazquez (10-9, 4.86)
Sun., 1:05 p.m.	Brett Cecil (11-7, 3.74)	Phil Hughes (16-6, 4.10)

Lineup Notes: Nick Swisher is out of the lineup today after leaving yesterday with stiffness in his left knee. Unexpectedly, Derek Jeter is getting a “routine” off-day.

Prediction:
The Blue Jays have played the Yankees tough this year, and they’ll be a much tougher task than the Athletics were. At least the Yankees are familiar with the pitchers they’ll face, a factor that usually bodes well for them. I’ll bet the Yankees take the first two of the series, but not the last.

Yankees news: CC & Grandy lead Yanks to sweep, A-Rod & Boras split, Aceves setback

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I wasn’t able to post yesterday after the game because I was in class from 3:30 to 9 p.m. and then I worked on a project deep into the night. If you were in a similar situation, here’s a quick recap of what you missed.

• CC Sabathia and Curtis Granderson had huge days in a 5-0 win to complete the sweep of the Athletics. See if the NY Times thinks CC will win the AL Cy Young. On a side note, Dallas Braden had to leave after five innings with cramps.
• Alex Rodriguez and Scott Boras have officially split ties. According to SI, this happened a month ago when A-Rod sent Boras a letter.
• Alfredo Aceves suffered another setback and did not rehab with the Trenton Thunder last night. He’s visiting doctors in New York. It doesn’t look like he’ll be ready for the postseason, folks.

Swish leaves after 1st inning with stiff knee

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Nick Swisher left today’s game after the first inning with stiffness in his left knee, according to the Yankees. Jack Curry first reported it, referencing the injury as a follow-up from when he fouled a ball off his knee in Toronto.

He’s day-to-day, and Curtis Granderson replaced him in the lineup.

I suspect Swish will sit out tomorrow and then maybe return Saturday. Today was the first of five day games in a row at Yankee Stadium.

I’ll update this post if more information becomes available.

Teixeira reminds me of my dorm room

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This is my first week back at Quinnipiac University for my junior year, and I’ve had to endure some of the harshest living conditions of my life due to the scorching sun and lack of air conditioning.

When I see Mark Teixeira having a monster series against the Athletics, his hot bat reminds me of my dorm room. Hot, hot, hot. En fuego. En feu. However you want to say it, he’s tearing the cover off the ball.

After last night’s 4-3 victory, he’s combined to go 8-for-12 with two homers, eight RBIs, five runs scored and two doubles against the A’s. He gets one more shot at the Athletics’ pitching staff today, led by Dallas Braden, who Teixeira is 4-for-13 against in his career with a homer.

Cam you remember when Tex was hitting in the .220s in June? Now he’s up to .268/.372/.514 with 30 dingers and 98 RBIs. That means he’s two RBIs short of his seventh straight 100-RBI season, all of which coupled with 30 or more homers.

Little known fact about Tex: He’s also the major league leader in runs scored with 100 on the nose.

Unbelievable. Robinson Cano still is this year’s breakout performer and top MVP candidate for the Yankees, but Teixeira is making quite a run at Cano in the past couple of months.

Vazquez back in the rotation, Moseley out

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Javier Vazquez’s hard work with Dave Eiland has paid off. Joe Girardi announced before today’s game Vazquez will take Dustin Moseley’s spot in the rotation starting Saturday.

“We might skip someone at some point or we might give a guy a shorter outing at some point,” Girardi said. “This is not permanent. I’m just saying this is what we’re going to do now.”

I have no problem with this move. He earned it with two very strong long relief appearances. Moseley did a decent job filling in for Andy Pettitte and Vazquez, but he wasn’t the long-term (playoff) solution.

Now the question is: Can A.J. Burnett hold his spot in the rotation?

Yankees news: Teixeira’s hot, Lilly, September call-ups

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A few Yankees stories broke last night. Let’s jump right in:

• Mark Teixeira cranked his 30th homer last night, a three-run bomb to right, to lead the Yankees to a 9-3 win and sole possession of first place. Tex is five for his last six with two homers, four RBIs and five runs scored.
• The Yankees won the claim on Ted Lilly last night, the final time for waiver trades to be completed, but the Dodgers pulled him back. This makes you wonder how confident Brian Cashman is in the staff. If I’m in his position, I’m looking to nab Lilly too. A.J. Burnett surely is feeling the pressure.
• Via The Journal News, the first three Yankees’ September call-ups are Greg Golson, Chad Moeller and Jonathan Albaladejo (unofficially).

And for your entertainment, go ahead and click through to the seventh slide in this top 30 nicknames in MLB history slideshow (h/t Hot Clicks).

John Blanchard Featured Card of the Week

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This week’s featured card of the week may bring back memories of Bill Mazeroski or the 1961 World Series. John Blanchard called the pitch Mazeroski hit his 1960 World Series-winning homer on, but he “made up for it” next year with two homers and a .400 average in a World Series victory over the Reds.

Yankees playoff roster projection

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I really hate counting out the Red Sox as early as I am, but I took the hint from their series loss to the Rays this past weekend. The Yankees and Rays remain tied with the best record in baseball and are heavy favorites to make the playoffs, so it’s time to start thinking about what their playoff rosters are going to look like.

Since I’m a Yankees blogger, I’m want to show you what I have in mind for them. By all means, make your case for players I reject. But please hear my cases for the fringe guys first!

The No-Doubters
Hitters (12)
Jorge Posada
Francisco Cervelli
Mark Teixeira
Lance Berkman
Robinson Cano
Derek Jeter
Alex Rodriguez
Brett Gardner
Curtis Granderson
Nick Swisher
Marcus Thames
Austin Kearns

Pitchers (8)
CC Sabathia
Andy Pettitte
Phil Hughes
Mariano Rivera
Joba Chamberlain
David Robertson
Boone Logan
Kerry Wood

I think it’s safe to say the Yankees will carry 14 hitters and 11 pitchers, so that leaves spots for two more hitters and three pitchers. Here we go:

The Fringe Guys
Ramiro Pena — I’ll take him over Eduardo Nunez as my backup infielder. Pena has far more major-league experience than Nunez and is better defensively at more positions. I think it’s a no-brainer right now, but this could change in September.

Greg Golson — This might come as a shock to you. He has five at-bats with the Yankees this year and I have him on their playoff roster. I think the Yankees would benefit more from a speedster off the bench than a third catcher because I see Marcus Thames and Lance Berkman sharing DH duties when Francisco Cervelli catches.

A.J. Burnett — I think he’ll make the roster, but I’m not sure if he’ll be in the rotation. Another poor start or two and I think Joe Girardi will kick him out to the bullpen (where I happen to think he could be great). He’s really the biggest question mark on the whole staff.

Javier Vazquez — Like Burnett, I don’t know whether he’ll be a starter or reliever, but I think he’ll make the roster. If he’s in the rotation, that means he’s back to mid-season form. If he’s still in the pen, then maybe Girardi doesn’t want to mess with what’s working. We’ll see. Ivan Nova is the guy I’m rejecting here.

Damaso Marte — Oh how much a big game in the World Series can mean for a player. Such is the case for Marte. There hasn’t been a lot of good news about his rehab, but if he can make a few appearances in late September I think that’s more than enough evidence for Girardi to choose him. Plus, Girardi loves left-handed relievers. Who doesn’t?

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There you have it. I’ll post an updated version when late September rolls around, but until then you can feast on this. And if you’re really hungry, take a look at another perspective from a fellow Yankees blogger.

The Marcus Thames praise thread

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With August injuries to Lance Berkman and Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees didn’t figure to have an offensive upgrade. But they have. In the six games Marcus Thames has started since those two injuries, the Bronx Bombers have averaged more than eight runs per game.

Thames is the only Yankee hitting over .300 in August, and he’s sitting at a cool .368 AVG with a .772 SLG.

However, with Berkman rehabbing in Trenton, Thames is likely to lose some playing time. Here’s what Joe Girardi had to say on the matter.

“He’s been big for us, there’s no doubt about it,” Girardi said (of Thames). “The key thing for us is getting people back healthy. That’s really important. I have some decisions to make, but the best thing would be for me to have to make some hard decisions.”

I think when Berkman returns you’ll see him starting strictly against righties while Thames will earn starts against southpaws.

Feel free to express your love for Thames in the comments.

Vazquez has Eiland to thank for recent success

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Last night Javier Vazquez picked up his first win for the Yankees since July 26. Ever since Vazquez lost his spot in the rotation, he’s turned in two dominant long relief appearances (9 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K combined). Mike Mazzeo of the Star-Ledger reports pitching coach Dave Eiland made a minor change to Vazquez’s windup.

Vazquez’s fastball was regularly registering on the radar gun at 90 to 91-mph (last night), instead of its usual 87 to 88.

All it took was Vazquez moving his leg kick backward and in, which, in turn, allows him to have more momentum going forward. And, as a result, according to the right-hander, his ball doesn’t tail inside as much, because he’s throwing more over the top instead of dropping his arm slot.

I expected Joe Girardi to comment on the idea of reinserting Vazquez into the rotation. Last night he didn’t have much to say.

“As of now, we’re going to stay in rotation,” Girardi said. “But that could change.”

I think it should happen. The Yankees will probably keep Phil Hughes in the rotation the rest of the year to build his innings, so that leaves A.J. Burnett, Dustin Moseley or Ivan Nova as candidates to lose their spot.

The way Nova is pitching, I don’t think he’s going anywhere, especially as Moseley and Burnett are the ones pitching under par.

I say if Burnett delivers another poor start Wednesday, he should be moved to the bullpen. He certainly has bullpen-type stuff, as he’s a two-pitch pitcher and throws mid-nineties heat.

When (if) Andy Pettitte returns Girardi can change the rotation again to prepare for the postseason.