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.
If these guys don't improve, GM Brian Cashman is going to take a lot of heat for refusing to part with them in exchange for Johan Santana. New York's strategy of building the team from youth sounds good on paper, but if these are the guys that kept you from getting one of best pitchers in baseball, expect to take some harsh criticism.
While it’s far too soon to write the pair off, the Yankees season depends on Hughes and Kennedy pitching well and taking the pressure off the rest of the pitching staff.
Not all is doom and gloom though. The relief duo of Mariano Rivera and Joba Chamberlain have been lights out, neither one of them giving up a run so far this season. Chien-Ming Wang has been the ace he’s supposed to be (3-0, 1.23 ERA), and Alex Rodriguez, Bobby Abreu, Andy Pettitte and Hideki Matsui have all played well.
The team has started slowly for the past two years and recovered, so it’s a little premature to be writing them off after 13 games. But unless the Yanks can rediscover their offense, get their lineup healthy, and get some productivity out of their young arms, renovations to the new stadium will be the least of their concerns.
