WHY DAVID PHELPS IMPRESSED IN A YANKEES LOSS

It was originally Ivan Nova’s turn to pitch Thursday night against the Baltimore Orioles, but because it was against the Orioles, a team he could possibly face for his first start in 2012, the Yankees held him back. He went 7.1 innings allowing three runs in a minor league game. But he wasn’t the story on Thursday night, David Phelps was.

There have been stories floating around the Inter-webs that one of David Phelps, Adam Warren, or DJ Mitchell could make the team as a reliever out of camp, and while we don’t know if that’s true or not, Phelps certainly made his case. David went 5 innings, allowing three runs (two earned), on seven hits while striking out four and not allowing a walk. But what really impressed me, and I’m sure it impressed Joe Girardi and Larry Rothschild as well, was when after Phelps allowed runners to reach second and third to start the fifth he went on to strike out Nick Markakis, Adam Jones, and Matt Wieters to get out of the jam. It’s great to see a kid show some poise in a tough spot especially to three pretty good hitters.

Another possible candidate to make the team out of camp, as noted earlier, is DJ Mitchell. Girardi wants to see how he handles a relief role, so in the seventh with two out Mitchell came on and got the final out before pitching the eighth and ninth. Mitchell ended up allowing a run in those 2.1 innings, while striking out three and walking two on two hits. Mitchell is scheduled to make another relief appearance on Saturday. Mariano Rivera and Boone Logan each had scoreless outings as Phelps and Mitchell sandwiched them in this game.The majority of the offense came off Raul Ibanez’s bat, and while I never liked the Ibanez signing, it was nice to see his bat come alive. He absolutely mashed a solo home run in the second inning, and he also drove in a run on an RBI single in the sixth. Good for Raul.

Yankees lose 4-3 to the Orioles. Michael Pineda starts on Friday against the Phillies, so hopefully everyone has their radar guns ready.




--Jesse Schindler, BYB Lead Staff Writer
Follow me on Twitter @SchindlerJesse



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