Chase did a workmanlike job. To compete with the Sox in Fenway though he will have to throw his fastball for early strikes much better than last night. It’s a great changeup but it needs to work off the fastball. I like his composure.
Mike Meyers shows much greater value with his ability to get righthanders out.

Anyone else catch Pettite’s talking to Wright after the first few innings? Just made me smile to see someone I watched break in now assuming the role of mentor.

IMO re-signing Andy will not only potentially give us 13-14 wins but provide a much more valuable bridge to the future. More so than Mussina or a Clemens, because Andy knows what it’s like to come up as a Yankee as well…

On a more worrisome note, it seems that the velocity for almost all of last year’s bullpen stalwarts are down about 4 mph across the board. Bruney’s throwing around 92-93, Proctor’s at about 92, and Farns is hitting about 93-94. I wonder if this is a function of weather, overuse, disparities in gun calibrations, or a combination of the three.
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I was shocked that Burney was even in the game last night with such a big lead. When the Yankees have that kind of lead, Torre should stick to using his lesser relievers — in this case Myers, Britton and Henn (who actually has been great). Burney has done some heavy lifting for this ‘pen this year, and they exhausted him to the point where he was throwing 90 in Oakland. Why send him right back out there? At one point, Vizcaino was warming up, too.

Torre never trusts the fact that anyone can hold a five-run lead. I just hope under no circumstances does Bruney pitch tonight.

Chase Wright wasn’t dominating last night, but to think that he’s only had two starts above High-A is amazing. The great thing about this is how much it legitimizes Wright as a prospect. Those numbers in High-A were great, but he was 23 years old, which makes them suspect. A big-league win on his resume means a lot.

~~~The reason I love WasWatching is because of things like “I think I saw a little Ed Figueroa…” ~~~

If only Chase was wearing 31 instead of 38, then I would have seen more of Figgy! {wink}

Adam – I assume that’s meant sarcastically?

As much as DJ might not be best friends with ARod, I can’t imagine anyone on the team isn’t thrilled with how well Alex is playing right now. The better he plays, the less crap everyone has to hear about it.

~~~it must hurt a little to see alex dominate so thouroughly after the winter of discontent.~~~

Hurt? Not to me. I’m a Yankees fan – and I love it when Yankees do well. It will only hurt if A-Rod tanks in May (now) – - like he did last June after he was Player of the Month in the AL the month before (in May ’06).

it must hurt a little to see alex dominate so thouroughly after the winter of discontent.

Garcia – Maybe so, I can’t say I remember exactly. Like I said, I’m nitpicking. At least he didn’t sail a throw into the stands like Josh Barfield did!

MJ – I think the 2nd single was hit a lot harder than the other, no?

First, a note to Steve: The reason I love WasWatching is because of things like “I think I saw a little Ed Figueroa…” My first baseball card was a Topps 1979 Ed Figueroa. At that age, I didn’t know who he was but I knew that my dad liked the team he played for so I figured I’d keep all the cards with “Yankees” on the bottom on the good side of the shoebox.

http://www.baseballcardproject.com/Topps/R/1979/35.jpg

Now a note on the game: Wright was decent and gave the team everything you could’ve asked of a kid just up from Double-A. Although I’m sure that part of all the swinging-and-missing on the part of the Indians was unfamiliarity with Wright’s stuff, I will say that he produced a good number of off-balance swings which is the mark of a good changeup.

I also found it amusing that Jeter made a great play in the 3rd inning on a ball far to his left but, two innings later, couldn’t make a play that was a lot closer to him that let a single trickle through for the Indians’ third run. I’m nitpicking but, gosh, Jeter’s defensive range isn’t so much deficient as it is inconsistent.