The Bronx Daily

Congratulation to Bobby Abreu

Congratulations to Bobby Abreu who stole the 300th base of his career. He became the 12th Major Leaguer since 1950 to reach 400 doubles, 200 home runs and 300 steals. The short list of players he joined includes Willie Mays, Rickey Henderson, Ryne Sandberg, Joe Morgan, Paul Molitor, Andre Dawson, Steve Finley, Craig Biggio, Vada Pinson and Roberto Alomar.

I don't know if his numbers are those of a hall of famer, but the debate for him will continue if he continues to play like he has of late.

Down on the Farm report

A look at the highlights (or for today lowlights) from Friday for our minor league players.

CLASS

PLAYER, POS

AB

R

H

BI

AVG

AA

Tabata, Jose RF

2

0

0

0

.235

pulled from game for disciplinary reasons

CLASS

PITCHER

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

ERA

AAA

McCutchen, Daniel

4.2

3

3

3

1

4

4.91

L (0-2); 2 HR

Yankees Find .500 AGAIN

It seems that the Yankees fight there way to playing .500 ball then fall off again. Hopefully this time will be different as the lineup is producing, an All Star catcher is returning, and a starter will make his debut on Tuesday.

The Yankees found there way to .500 tonight beating the Minnesota Twins 6-5 at the Metrodome. The New York faithful can again get their hopes up that their beloved Yankees are on the upswing and ready to get back into the AL East race. The team banged out 16 hits tonight in the win including 3 a piece by Abreu, Rodriguez, Matsui, and Cabrera. Abreu also scored 4 times. Mike Mussina pitched a solid 6 innings and earned his 8th win while Mr. Automatic Mariano Rivera got his 14th save of the season in as many chances.

Joba Chamberlain has been slated to make his first major league start on Tuesday while Jorge Posada eyes a return to the Yankees lineup. Wouldn't it be awesome for his first game back behind the plate to catch a Joba win.

The optimism is back and the Yankees hope to get above the .500 mark tomorrow. Let's go Yankees!

Pregame Quick Hits: Yankees vs. Twins 5/30, 5/31, 6/1, 6/2

The New York Yankees (26-27) are in Minnesota to take on the Twins (28-25) in a three game series. The Yankees will again try to reach the .500 mark after losing 2 out of 3 games to the Baltimore Orioles.

Pitching Match Ups:
5/30 at Min Mike Mussina (7-4 4.39) vs. Glen Perkins (2-1 2.77) 8:10pm My9
5/31 at Min Chien-Ming Wang (6-2 3.82) vs. Boof Bonser (2-6 6.16) 7:10pm YES
6/1 at Min Darrell Rasner (3-1 1.80) vs. Nick Blackburn (4-3 3.39) 2:10pm YES
6/2 at Min TBA vs. Livan Hernandez (6-2 4.60) 7:05pm YES/ ESPN

Other Quick Hits:

• Jason Giambi is batting .339 in May.
• Hideki Matsui leads the league with a .330 batting average.
• The Yankees are 311-236-1 all time against the Twins.
• They are 148-129 in Minnesota. 71-60 at the Metrodome.
• Alex Rodriguez has 38 career homeruns against the Twins.
• Bobby Abreu (.386), Melky Cabrera (.342), Robinson Cano (.351), Johnny Damon (.304), Derek Jeter (.323), Hideki Matsui (.340), Jose Molina (.319), and Alex Rodriguez (.327) all have batting averages over .300 against the Twins.
• Mike Mussina is 20-6 with a 3.18 ERA against Minnesota.

Coming Up:
The Yankees return home to take on the Toronto Blue Jays.

Upcoming Draft

The New York Yankees have 6 picks in the first 5 rounds of the draft which begins on June 5, 2008. Their first pick is number 28. The Yankees are used to being low in the process and realize they have to be smarter about their picks. The team would like to add some quality young fresh arms but will sign the best players available to refresh the farm system regardless of position.

Here are the Yankees draft picks:

#28 overall 1st round
#44 overall Sandwich Pick/ Luis Vizcaino
#75 overall 2nd round
#106 overall 3rd round
#140 unsigned draft pick compensation/ Brandon Workmen
#170 overall 4th round

The draft will be televised again on ESPN2 on June 5 from 2:00pm to 6:00pm.

Pettitte Give Yankees Win

Andy Pettitte, Joba Chamberlain, and Mariano Rivera reminded Yankees fans of what good pitching can do for a team. Pettitte pitched 6 2/3 innings giving up only 2 runs and Chamberlain and Rivera shut down the Orioles for a 4-2 win on Wednesday night. Jason Giambi, wearing his golden thong, continued his resurgence going 2-3 with his 11th homerun and 2 RBI's.

In other news Ian Kennedy had an MRI in New York and was diagnosed with bursitis behind the scapular as well as a strained right lat muscle. This setback will delay him getting the experience he needs to develop into the pitcher everyone thought he would be when the team broke from Spring Training.

Chris Britton was recalled, again, to fill Kennedy's place on the roster. It is his fourth stint with the club this season although this time Joe Girardi wants to use the reliever more often.

Phil Hughes, on the DL with a  stress fracture in one of his ribs, had bone scan this week in Tampa which revealed a "hot spot," according to Joe Girardi. The rookie will now wait another week before undergoing another bone scan, hoping to be cleared to begin rehab activities. He is aiming for a July return.

As far as Kennedy's spot in the rotation, the Yankees are still not committing to anything. Speculation is that Pettitte will move up a day and pitch on regular rest and Joba could start Tuesday at Yankees Stadium. The Bronx Daily will provide updates as they become available.

Ian Kennedy to the DL

If the New York Yankees opened a hospital, they would be out of beds. Rookie right hander Ian Kennedy will join Phil Hughes on the disabled list as a mild strain to his right lat forced him out of the game last evening in The Yankees 10-9 loss in Baltimore.

He felt the injury in the third inning and tried to pitch through it. He wanted to go back out for the fourth but the pain was too bad. "I was just trying to take deep breaths, and after a couple of seconds, it went away," Kennedy said. "It allowed me to throw another pitch and I got two outs, so I just tried to get through that inning. I was trying whether to decide to say anything and it was just too painful to go through."

Now the speculation turns to moving Joba Chamberlain to the rotation now to replace Kennedy instead of moving him gradually as had been the original plan. All Joe Girardi would say on the subject is "We'll have to have discussions to see." As a Yankees fan, I do not see any other choice unless some sort of trade or signing happens.

Girardi also said he was not giving up on either Kennedy or Phil Hughes saying, "It's not what you like to see, but you know that injuries are part of the game. When you look at Phil's, it's a strange injury. He'll be back and Ian will be back. We'll get them going."

Good to hear. Both pitchers have huge upsides and the Yankees will need them to live up to expectations if they hope to compete.

Is it just me or is anyone wondering why we would not have traded one of these guys for Johan Santana?

Yankees Drop Another in Baltimore

Ian Kennedy was given a 4 run lead in the top of the second inning and looked like he was finally going to get his first major league win. Then came the bottom of the inning. Kennedy gave the runs right back and ended up only pitching 3 innings and his ERA is now 7.41. He was removed early because he was injured with a right lat strain. Joba may need to be ready sooner rather than later!

The Yankees scored 4 more to take the lead in the top of the fourth but Ohlendorf was no better in relief giving up 4 runs in 2 1/3 innings as the Orioles again tied the game in the bottom of the fifth.

The game saw 8 homeruns before the middle of the ninth when rain delayed the game tied 8-8. After the delay the game went into extra innings and Mariano Rivera pitched 2 scoreless innings. The Yankees took their third lead of the night in the top of the eleventh only to have Latroy Hawkins blow the save and the game in the bottom of the inning.

I do not want to belabor the point I made yesterday or harp on this, but had Joba still been in the pen, there is a good chance the Yankees would have won this game. Other than Mariano, this team has no back to the bullpen. So now we have a team with shoddy starting pitching, no real set up man, and we are in last place getting ready to go into June. This is not the Yankees I know and love.

Yankees Return to Cellar

Had the Joba experiment not been happening, the Yankees may not have lost last night. But agree or disagree, that is not the way the Yankees are going. A five run seventh inning sunk the Bombers as they lost to the Orioles 6-1 and dropped into last place again. The Yankees now have a hole in the set up man role that will need to be filled. It is my opinion that Joba belonged there, but again, the decision has been made.

In other news Jorge Posada played 5 innings in a rehab game and although he was 0-5, he felt good and got some time behind the plate. He is still on target to return to the team the first week in June.

Posada Prepares for Return

Jorge Posada is scheduled to leave for Tampa on Sunday. He will play in an extended spring game on Monday. The plan is for Posada to play in at least five games in Florida, and then return to New York in time to be activated off the disabled list when the team begins a homestand against Toronto on June 3.

Posada has been out since April 26th and it is the first time he has ever been on the DL. The team has certainly missed him and his return will not only help the lineup, but also the pitching staff he manages so well.

"We would hope to have him back within two weeks," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "If everything continues to progress, we feel that we'll have him back within two weeks. But that's saying there are no extra days off, because he needs it. But right now, every step of the process has gone the way we wanted it to go."

Posada has been throwing without pain and said he has been throwing good.