What’s Wrong With Wang?
Welcome to America’s favorite game show, What’s Goin’ Wrong with Chien-Ming Wang! First of all, I’ll tell all of you exactly what’s wrong with him. You have to understand that this is a guy that sells all of his stock on his pitches falling off the table and dropping. This is the primary reason for his success, he gets a lot of ground balls. Hitters usually can’t do much with that sinkerball of his, even his curve and changeup. He throws his pitches right down the middle and trusts them to drop. Now the problem is when one little thing is off in his windup and/or delivery. If there is one detail that’s off, those pitches aren’t going to drop properly and are chicken dinners for hitters to feast on. Brian Bruney, who experienced a similar foot injury to Wang’s last year, said that it was difficult for him to “trust his foot again”, and thus have the proper delivery, so his pitches can be effective for him. Wang just needs to polish his mechanics and regain his old flow. He also needs to get his mental game back, because he happens to be a very sensitive man, and boos are hard for him to take. Trust me Yankees fans, I know this guys pitching style, and that is exactly what’s wrong with the guy.
What About Brett?
Brett Gardner hit his third home run of the Grapefruit league season last night against the Blue Jays. Look, for a guy who is known to bat without much power, he’s hitting the ball out like it’s his business. This guy struggled to get his big-league average above .200 last year, and now he’s in the neighborhood of .333, and has three jacks to go with it. Looks like working with hitting coach Kevin Long has paid off…again.
Cabrera vs. Gardner
As you fans may know, there is a pretty heated battle going on down in Tampa for that coveted center field job. Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner are both young guns who have a lot of upside. Personally, I’m leaning toward Gardner. I know that the Melk Man was once considered the future of the Yankees, but his offensive production doesn’t quite match with his rocket arm. When Gardner was called up last year, I saw more fundamental baseball being played. He is focused on simply reaching first when he steps to the dish, and then he uses his speed(13 steals in 14 big-league attempts last year) in addition to his smart baserunning skills to get himself in scoring position. Couple those small-ball tactics to the Yankee’s big-time bats, and you have a machine that could score 1,000 runs. I like Melky though, and would love to have him rotate into the outfield. That’s my take, what’s yours?
A-Rod Latest
Looks like Alex Rodriguez is gonna be out 6-9 weeks after he elected to have surgery on his torn labrum in his hip. He probably made the right choice, better to take care of it now than have it bite him in the butt later.
Strong Showing for Sabathia
I think C.C. looked pretty strong out there against the Tigers, recording two strikeouts. I thought it was especially impressive with that patchwork defense that was behind him. True aces take control on the mound no matter what situation they face, and that’s what C.C. did last night.
’09 World Series Champs?
Personally, I think the bombers will have the most complete team in all of baseball next season. How all these stars will mesh, though, may be in question. Even with that said, They’re still my pick to win it all in ’09. What do you guys think? I’d love to hear from you.
Lineup Predictions for 2009
Here’s my prediction for how the Lineup will look for next season:
1. Johnny Damon-DH
2. Derek Jeter-SS
3. Mark Teixera-1B
4. Alex Rodriguez-3B
5. Xavier Nady-RF
6. Hideki Matsui-LF
7. Jorge Posada-C
8. Robinson Cano-2B
9. Melky Cabrera-CF
Reserve Candidates-
Cody Ransom-Infield
Nick Swisher-1B, LF, RF
Brett Gardner-CF
Shelley Duncan-1B, RF
Jose Molina-C
Impact of New Signees to the Yankees
As you all know, the Yankees have brought in some big-time players in C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Teixera. But what about the impact that they will make? Here are my predictions:
C.C. Sabathia- Almost certainly will end up as the opening-day starter. I see Sabathia having an excellent season, looking at what he did with the Brewers last year. Look for him to develop himself into the unquestioned ace of the staff.
A.J. Burnett- Will compete with Sabathia and Chien-Ming Wang for the number one starter spot. Is a strikeout machine, which will probably carry over with him to New York. Ace material on a loaded staff should spell success for Burnett.
Mark Teixera- Will unquestionably be the starter at first base. Look for him to bat out of the spot vacated by Bobby Abreu: The three-hole. This will protect Alex Rodriguez in the cleanup spot and will take pressure off of Teixera. This will likely be the recipe for his success. Look for him to have a lot of success.
Teixera signing
To all Yankee fans, and fans of baseball for that matter, the signing of Mark Teixera was a history-making deal for the bombers. Eight years? 180 million? Big-time money for a big-time player.
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