Yanks Struggling Early

While those demons have been put to rest, the Yanks are now forced to focus on the problems at hand : injuries, lack of scoring, and the poor play from their young pitchers.

While it’s not uncommon for a veteran team like New York to suffer injuries, having captain Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada hurt has taken a lot of juice out of the ball club. Jeter and Posada are the leaders of the team, and while stand-ins Alberto Gonzalez (hitting .385) and Jose Molina (hitting .364 before going down with a hamstring injury of his own) have done an admirable job, the team doesn’t go without their starting shortstop and catcher.

While Jeter is making his return to the lineup tonight against the Devil Rays, the Yanks are forced to start little used Chad Moeller, who has batted .161 in 37 games last year. Not the solution they are looking for.

Even those who are healthy aren’t producing. Robby Cano (.170, 2 RBI’s), Johnny Damon (.190, 2 RBI’s), and Jason Giambi (.107, 3 hits in 28 at bats) are all struggling, and the highly touted offense is ranked 26th in the league, with a combined batting average of .253. A far cry from the team who ranked first in offense last year.

But what is probably the biggest disappointment so far has been how poorly young pitchers Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy have played. These highly touted kids were expected to help stabilize the rotation, but so far they’ve been a huge bust. As of now, Hughes has gone 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA, with Kennedy being even worse sporting an 0-2 record and an inflated 13.00 ERA.