WHY ROTATION QUESTIONS LOOM AS YANKEES ROLL

It doesn’t matter if there’s a loss once in a while, the Yankees are doing everything right while people in Las Vegas are realizing their Red Sox / Phillies World Series picks from April were absolutely ridiculous. You want to believe it? Believe this… Josh Beckett is now out with an ankle injury for the Red Sox. He got hurt in the 4^th inning of a game against the Rangers 2 days ago. That’s their ace Ladies and Gentlemen. Look, athletes have a tough job, they need to play to the best of their ability and sometimes they get hurt. I never like to see a player get hurt because I know how much dedication they give to their ball club, but let’s face facts, the Red Sox fans would be quite pleased to see the Yankees players get hurt. While I’m not celebrating yet, I’m happy their ace was shut down. What’s bigger though is the evil Red Sox are dropping like a rock, now 2 ½ games out of first place.

Look, the Red Sox are not going away and you have to respect that they are always there, pests, never willing to let you go win it all. But the mighty New York Yankees are making a case, we’re playing hard and winning games any way possible and sending a message… we will win 28 this year, or we die trying.

CC Sabathia needs much more credit than he deserves, yes, while he can’t seem to solve the puzzle to beating the Red Sox consistently, he has literally carried the Yankees through 19 victories this year and on the days he doesn’t look good, he knows it and re-invents himself right in front of our eyes and wins anyway. He’s our ace and we love him there. So it was good to hear that at this point in the season when every player starts running out of gas, having a 6 man rotation for the Yankees can give CC an extra day of rest. On the flip side, you have to wonder is that’s a bad thing. Will the extra day break CC’s rhythm? Even CC doesn't like the extra rest. Read about it HERE. I guess we just have to see. Don’t forget, during the playoffs, CC was the 3 day rest man, adrenaline pumping and ready to go. Now he needs to wait another day. An interesting theory, I’ll get back to you on that one, it’s something to think about.

Ivan Nova, the kid who’s really proven he can pitch in high pressure situations is slated for this Thursday against the Orioles. It’s a makeup game at 1:05pm. This kid’s looking to get his 16^th win. Are you kidding me? This is the kid I was worried about, remember? This is the kid I was suggesting needed to get his head together with runners on base. What happened? Confidence happened. I have faith in this kid now, he’s having the season of his life and should be discussed in Rookie of the Year talk, he’s earned it.

My biggest concern is who can be the Yankees 3^rd and 4^th reliable starters? Do you know? I'll tell you what, the Yankees don’t have a clue, because if they did, they would have set their 5 man rotation weeks ago, but there are way too many question marks. Bartolo Colon has pitched OK as of late, but he can’t seem to snag a victory. Phil Hughes has good days and bad days. Freddy Garcia has been reliable, but his last outing wasn’t too good. You can suggest that he’s our guy and 1 bad outing isn’t a big deal, but what if that 1 bad outing is during the playoffs and we're eliminated? Then it IS a big deal.

AJ Burnett pitched well against the Red Sox and the spin was Yoda Rothschild tweaked something in his mechanics. If that is true, that will get AJ right and if in the next start, he’s just as dominant, believe it or not ladies and gentlemen, he’s our 3^rd starter. This is my opinion, the Yankees don’t like to admit mistakes, and they won’t with this guy either. If he has 1 more good start, he stays, meanwhile Colon and Phil Hughes have contributed here and there, they are too risky. I think it would be smarter to move someone like a Colon to the pen, he may be better in short spurts.

Besides, Freddy Garcia has always been my favorite anchor because he’s done well because of the way he mixes up his pitches and the fact that he’s a veteran. So yes, he’d be my 4^th guy. Don’t look at this and think I’m a moron, I just laid it out for you, this is what we have Ladies and Gentlemen, the Yankees pitching staff.

Do I have hope? Yes. Am I worried? Alittle. But one thing you have to do is give credit to Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman, it may not be a pen full of aces, but it’s a decent crew that have worked hard all year. The big question is, can they finish strong in our Quest for 28? We shall see.

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