— Twenty-four, Twenty-five, Twenty-six.... ?
Ouchie Report
The various Yankee notebooks in the paps today had a bunch of injury updates in them, so rather than play favorites, here’s a quick rundown.
Robinson Cano: He’s scheduled to play for the GCL Yankees today, his first rehab game. If things go well, he’ll shuttle up to Trenton for another and could rejoin the team in Chicago next week.
Carl “Remember Me” Pavano: I’ve been a bit puzzled at the YES dugout shots that show Pavano on the bench, yukking it up (and even more puzzled that he was wearing one of those short-sleeve windbreaker jacket things. Dude, its balls hot out there!). However, it appears it was with good reason. Pavano tossed 40 pitches in the bullpen yesterday and then threw 45 pitches to Bubba Crosby and Nick Green “without a screen in front of him,” according to the Daily News. Pavano and Torre differ on his progress – Carl says he wants to be back by the end of the month, Torre says rehab starts could begin then.
The curious thing to me is that Crosby and Green hit at Glass Carl without a screen to protect him. What does that say about the Yanks confidence in their hitting?
Hideki Matsui: Matsui sees the doc today who is expected to clear him for BP and tee work. Matsui has been work-ing out and says that he’s in game shape, minus the left wrist. He’s been doing tee work with a short bat using only the front hand, and says when he’s cleared he’s going to start slow with tee work and soft toss before taking a full BP. Godzilla still thinks he can make it back before September.
Octavio Dotel: Dotel threw a 10-pitch inning in the GCL Tuesday. Some reports have him up for the first time next week. I’m skeptical, but we’ll see.
Gary Sheffield: Who the heck knows. Maybe September? Maybe ’07? Maybe never? Honestly, I have no concept of when he might be back, but he was in the dugout for the last couple games, which may be a sign he’s close to return-ing.
What do all the potential comebacks mean? Well here’s the 25-man roster.
PITCHERS
Farnsworth, Kyle
Johnson, Randy
Lidle, Cory
Mussina, Mike
Myers, Mike
Ponson, Sidney
Proctor, Scott
Rivera, Mariano
Villone, Ron
Wang, Chien-Ming
Wright, Jaret
CATCHERS
Fasano, Sal
Posada, Jorge
INFIELDERS
Cairo, Miguel
Giambi, Jason
Green, Nick
Jeter, Derek
Phillips, Andy
Rodriguez, Alex
OUTFIELDERS
Abreu, Bobby
Cabrera, Melky
Crosby, Bubba
Damon, Johnny
Williams, Bernie
Wilson, Craig
So here’s the problem – where are the five active guys you get rid of for the five injured guys? Two jump out at you in Green and Crosby, but then it gets tricky. I suppose September returns likely for some of these guys, it makes things a bit easier. But knock on all sorts of wood between now and then that A) no one else gets hurt and B) they make the playoffs, the Yanks have some serious roster crunching to do.
How do you solve the puzzle?
Sean McNally
Posted: August 03, 2006 at 12:50 PM |
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But I think the only way Pavano makes the playoff roster, even if he is somehow healthy, is if Lidle or Wright or another starter either gets hurt or completely implodes (in RJ's case, more than he has already). Otherwise, presumably whichever of Lidle or Wright isn't the fourth starter becomes the long man, and the rest of the pen remains Mo-Farnsworth-Dotel (if he's back)-Villone-Myers-Proctor.
Barring unforeseen circumstance, then, Sheff's is the only comeback that would cause a real dilemma. Phillips seems the odd man out in that case, unless Wilson shows Torre nothing or doesn't earn enough true-Yankee stripes by then (this is possible; Torre loves Andy's defense, and Phillips could be the newest Bellinger). I think that with Bubba already bumped by Godzilla, they'll want to keep Melky around for defense, if nothing else, and Bernie will be on the playoff roster unless he breaks something.
is phillips's glove valuable enough to keep him around even if sheffield comes back and plays first? does anyone have any thoughts on how well he might do at 3rd , 2nd or short? if he could play any one of those nick green would be totally superfluous.
Don't worry, he's already told Bernie he'll start in center whenever Damon has a day off.
Cano trades places on the DL with Cairo, who ironically enough (in the actual, not Michael Kay sense) has suffered the same hamstring strain.
Pavano makes a rehab start in Tampa Thursday. It's the first in a series of rehab starts, but with rehab assignments typically lasting 20 days or so, he could be back by the end of the month. In a wildly optimistic reach, is it possible Pavano could be ready for the killer five-game Boston series? I doubt it, but I'd be happier with a rusty Pavano than a healthy Ponson in any of those games.
Torre and the Yanks expect Octavio Dotel back before Sept. 1
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