Thanks to the rain showers on Sunday, the Yankees will have to make one more trip to the lovely city of Detroit this season, and the two likely make-up dates are July 24th or Sept 1st.  Personally I rather see them make-up this game in July, since their schedule at the end of August is already tough enough, and I see no need to make a probable playoff push anymore difficult.  The Yankees were still able to get two games in this weekend, so now that the evil Joba fist-pumper talk seems to have subsided for the time being, we can talk about actual baseball games again.  So here again is my breakdown of the good and bad for this past weekend:

The Bad

- As hittable as Kei Igawa was on Friday, you can’t help but wonder if the game would have been any different if Alberto Gonzalez was at 3rd base.  Not only is Wilson Betemit handicapped by battling the same illnesses that most Elementary School students (pink eye) have, but now we know Betemit has the agility of a cinder block.  Granted you can’t expect Betemit to field every hard hit ball his way, but would it have been too much to ask for him to knock down at least one ball hit his way?  I always found it funny that he is described as a switch hitter, because if you ask any Yankee fan they will explain to you how helpless he looks from the right side, but now I will have to laugh whenever anyone calls him a utility man.  He can’t play 1B, 2B, SS or as we now know 3B.  He is quite simply a left-handed pinch hitter.  I honestly believe going into Friday’s game Morgan Ensberg was on the verge of being cut once A-Rod returned.  But after Friday’s display, there is no way I see Betemit outlasting Ensberg.  Of course that can’t be proven now, since Betemit has prolonged his yankee career  by joning the other 30 players on the DL.  Simply amazing.

- Igawa sucks, but we already knew this.  I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, since he was able to pitch 2, yes 2, effective games last season.  But the bottom line is this, his control is pitiful, his fastball is below average, and he has no breaking pitch.  The one thing Igawa was able to pride himself on, in Japan at least, was that he was a big strikeout pitcher.  Well that didn’t prove to be true on Friday, as he didn’t strikeout one Detroit hitter in his 3 innings of work.  I expect to see a spot start from either Ian Kennedy, Chase Wright or Daniel McCutchen on Thursday, as Kei should be riding JapanAir back to Scranton.  Also after seeing Friday’s start, my opinion of Japanese Baseball and Bobby Valentine fell even further down the crapper.

- If I had to guess I’d say Friday night was the last time we will see Jonathan Albaladejo for awhile.  He was placed on the DL with a sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament and a strain of the posterial capsule.  Alba said after the game it felt like a needle was going through his elbow.  No surgery is expected, but it’s a shame none the less because he was doing a nice job in the Yankee bullpen.  Especially since he was working as a long reliever most of the time, which is not the norm for him.

- Aside from not being able to do much against Kenny Rogers, I’m not going to call out the offense, as it finally showed some 9th inning life on Friday, and put together a nice assault on Saturday.  Still why are we the only team in the league making Kenny Rogers look good?  Is it not enough the Yankees had to sign his paychecks and got him a free World Series ring once?  Now we have to make sure he stays employeed?  I don’t get it.

The Good

- Darrell Rasner threw his second solid outing in a row.  He’s now 2-0 with an even 3.00 era and an ERA+ of 137.  Darrell, Aaron Small called, he wants his career back. 

- Derek Jeter hit his first homerun of the season which was nice to see.  Hopefully as the weather warms up, he’ll begin to hit for a little bit more power.  His slugging percentage now stands at .398. 

- Both Cano & Giambi went 3 for 7 over the weekend.  Cano’s line drives are finally falling in, and Giambi looks a lot more focused at the plate.  Even in at bats where he makes out, he is fouling off more pitches and taking better swings.  With A-Rod due back (contingent on MRI) later this week, the offense could finally begin to find some consistency.

- Rivera has been simply amazing this season.  In past season’s Yankee fans learned to expect that Rivera would be terrible in April, average in May, great in June & July, terrible in August and finish of the season strong.  However that formula appears to have been broken, as he is off to a start of 15 IP, 6 hits allowed, 0 walks!, 12 strikeouts and no earned runs allowed. 

Other Yankee Related News

- Not a whole lot going on in Yankeeland this weekend.  Keith Olberman reveiwed Yankee Stadim last week, and gave it a very glowing review.  Although its still early, it’s nice to hear people from outside of the organization giving the new stadium some high praise.  I for one am excited about the new ballpark, and while it will be sad to see them tear down the old stadium, truth is the “Real Yankee Stadium” was torn down in 1973. 

- If anyone was looking for my minor league player of the week review this past weekend, sorry I wasn’t able to get it up.  So allow me to highlight a player now who Yankee fans may have seen during Spring Training.  He is currently in Double A Trenton, where he is hitting .308/.387/.429 in 133 plate appearances, with 6 doubles, 2 triples, 2 homeruns and 20 RBI’s.  The player I am referring to is Colin Curtis, who many experts pegged as a 4th outfielder in years prior.  Curtis is 24 years old, which is about average for AA, so there is still room for improvement in his game.  He was selected by the Yankees in the 4th round of the 2006 First-Year player draft.  He has the potential to find his way to New York, but currently sits behind quite a few outfielders on the Yankees depth chart (Gardner, Christian, Jackson) and will have to continue to develop power to find his way to the Bronx.  Still he has progressed nicely since joining the organization in 2006, as he could find himself in AAA this year if he continues to hit well, which is obviously the final stop before New York.  Keep an eye on this former Arizona Wildcat. 

That’s it for today, the Yankees will begin a 4 game series in Tampa tonight, with Pettitte going up against Matt Garza.  On Friday the Yankees return home to face the Mets, but who will be starting for the Yankees on Friday?  My guess is Rasner, but we’ll have to wait and see.  Until then enjoy the Yankees doing battle against the red-hot Tampa Bay Rays.

Any questions or comments please contact me at jvg019@yahoo.com.  Enjoy your Monday!

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