The Yankees are perfect in the Joe Girardi Era after a 3-2 win last night against Toronto at Yankee Stadium. The victory put the Yankees into first place, a position where they hope to stay for the duration of the season. The 1972 Dolphins cannot sip champagne just yet. The Yankees are perfect for the time being.
Chien-Ming Wang delivered a masterful start in his 2008 debut. The righty pitched 7 innings and allowed 2 runs on 6 hits while throwing an economical 92 pitches. The sinker was working as Wang recorded 13 of his 21 outs on the ground. That sinker will only become more effective as the weather gets warmer, and he gets a better feel for it. It was encouraging to see Wang come out so strong considering concerns of a hangover after his 2007 postseason meltdown. A team depending on such young pitching needs Chien-Ming to eat innings like this every fifth day. The team could not have asked for a better start.
Alex Rodriguez picked up right where he left off in 2007. The reigning MVP was 2 for 3 with an RBI double. While he may not ever again match the astronomical stats he put up last season, we have probably seen the last of A-Rod’s mental game bringing him down. The man has become comfortable with the pressure of New York, and the fans have embraced him. Unless he does something incredibly stupid off the field, he should receive nothing but warm receptions in his home park from this point.
Melky Cabrera hit a solo homer after a 10 pitch at bat in the 6th inning to tie the game. This could be the start of a breakout year for the centerfielder. A number of observers have looked solely at his raw numbers from last year and determined Melky is a borderline starter. People are quick to forget he is only 23 years old and likely to improve. They also fail to capture the full scope of his 2007 season. The numbers were skewed as Cabrera was awful as a part-time player early in the season. He tried to do too much to make an impact in limited at bats and ended up developing a nasty habit of flailing at lousy pitches. Once an injury to Jason Giambi made Melky a regular, he was able to relax and thrive. While he may never be an All-Star caliber player, Cabrera should put to bed any questions about whether he is a quality starter in 2008.
Joba Chamberlain did not have a perfect 8th inning preserving a 1 run lead as he walked a hitter. He did enough, though, registering a pair of strikeouts to end the inning. This game showed why his best role for the time being is as a reliever and why his future is probably best in the rotation. The Yankees have six quality starters including Joba. By using the other five in the rotation and Joba in the rotation, the team can avoid using Kyle Farnsworth to protect late leads, which will certainly result in more wins. In the future, the attributes Chamberlain displayed show why the Yanks will at least need to try him out as a starter. The fastball last night was not in the high 90’s. It was around 94. He was able to succeed depending on a less than optimal heater and secondary stuff. The best starters find ways to win without their best stuff. Joba has such an array of quality pitches that his C game is better than the A game of most pitchers. As the season progresses and the weather heats up, the jaw-dropping fastball will likely return. Until that happens, the Yankees should feel safe about their 8th inning. Mariano Rivera followed Joba and picked up the save.
The Yankees have to feel good about winning a start against one of the game’s best pitchers. Their recent October failures have been in no small part due to the offense’s inability to come through in big spots and their own pitching’s inability to deliver dominant starts. On another note, a fast start is important for this team. The Yankees have gotten into the habit of digging themselves a hole early and having to play catchup the rest of the way. Sooner or later, a team will run out of torrid finishes. This team essentially lost the AL East last season because they were unable to overcome a slow April start. This team treated Joe Torre terribly. There is still no better manager for this team. With that said, Joe Girardi brings different strengths to the table. One of them was his emphasis on conditioning in Spring Training. That could help lead to a big start. The Yankees just took the first step.
