The Yankees and Rays split a four game weekend series at Yankee Stadium. Tampa Bay took contests on Friday and Saturday, while the Bronx Bombers salvaged the final two affairs on Sunday and Monday. Several developments emerged from the weekend.
Giambi’s injury: Jason Giambi left Saturday’s game with a groin injury. It kept him out of the lineup on Sunday and Monday. Joe Girardi seems insistent on making Jason the regular first baseman, which would be pure folly. Jason is an awful defender at the position. Although neither is a natural fit at first, Wilson Betemit and Morgan Ensberg are both superior defenders with experience playing a corner infield position. On a team with this much offensive firepower, Girardi should focus on infield defense, especially with pitchers like Andy Pettitte, Chien-Ming Wang, Ian Kennedy, and Mike Mussina in the rotation. All of these guys depend on their defense. Giambi’s body is also breaking down. He has been injury-prone since 2003.
His aging frame cannot take the physical demands of playing the field on a consistent basis. He is still a viable offensive threat so he should see limited action at first, a few games at DH, and use off the bench as the game’s preeminent lefty pinch hitter. To maximize his offensive effect, Girardi needs to keep the slugger healthy. That will not happen with 150 games at first.
Kennedy’s struggle: Ian Kennedy had a rough Friday night, giving up 6 runs in 2.1 innings. He walked 4 hitters. Strangely enough, this shows why Ian will be a valuable member of the 2008 rotation. His control will improve as the season moves along. It has typically been pinpoint in the past. When he misses, he misses the strike zone completely. He seldom leaves pitches over the middle of the plate to smash, meaning he needs to be as wild as he was on Friday, when less than half of his pitches were strikes, to have a truly awful outing. Teams cannot beat him into dust since he seldom leaves them pitches to hammer. Kennedy will not walk the ballpark like that again.
Molina’s value: The Yankees finally have an adequate backup catcher. Jose Molina had a .308 batting average at the end of the Rays series. He started three games as Jorge Posada battled a shoulder ailment. With the team off to an iffy start, the Yanks might feel pressed to rush Jorge back before he was completely healthy if Kelly Stinnett or Wil Nieves was Jorge’s backup to make up for the offensive black hole. Molina has been a steady presence both defensively and with the bat. He is obviously nowhere near the impact player Jorge is, but he is at least not a waste of space, which is more than many teams can say about their backup backstop. Posada can now recover at his own pace.
Matsui’s surge: Hideki Matsui did his best to put concerns over his knee to rest in the first week of the 2008 season. The lefty ended the Tampa series hitting .375 with 6 RBI’s. Although he hit eighth on Opening Night, Joe Girardi had him up at fifth protecting Alex Rodriguez by the Rays finale. Girardi has enough dynamic weapons that he should be this flexible with his batting orders, sending the hot hands closer to the top. The Yanks have six viable middle of the order hitters. Getting the hot ones into run producing situations.
