WHY HIROKI KURODA HAS TIME ON HIS SIDE

Okay so our 10-million dollar pitcher, Hiroki Kuroda, did not have his best stuff today in his debut with the Yankees. In two innings Kuroda gave up 3 runs to Tampa Bay and the Rays held on to post a 4-0 Grapefruit League victory today at George M. Steinbrenner Field. I think you could chalk up Kuroda's debut to a couple of possibilities:
1) Its so early in the Spring that I'm sure he was looking to really just stretch the arm out today as opposed to shutting out the Rays. After the game Kuroda said, "The most important thing I wanted to accomplish was the feeling for the real game."
2) Let's be honest, I'm sure the guy had some butterflies. He's human after all, not a machine.
I'm not making excuses for the guy, just saying, let's not go crazy about one early spring training game.

Although Kuroda did not impress this afternoon there were some bright spots for the Yankees...
*Yankee bullpen combined for seven innings of work and just gave up one run.
*Most impressive pitcher out there today for the Yankees was left hander Clay Rapada. Rapada looked strong in his 1 1/3 worth of work, striking out two of the four Ray batters he faced. Lets hope Rapada can keep it up.
*Swisher got the start at 1st base and looked sharp. He took a cut off throw in the 3rd inning and gunned out the Rays runner at third base. It was an impressive, heads up play. Swish also went 1-3 at the plate with a nice double.
*Russell Martin has looked impressive so far this Spring behind the plate and he stole two bases today.

The Yankees visit the Blue Jays tomorrow for another 1:05pm game. Ivan Nova makes his second appearance in the rotation and, David Robertson and Dellin Betances are also scheduled to pitch. We can also expect Arod, Teixeira and Raul Ibanez to be in the lineup.

--Mikey Blue, BYB Senior Writer
Email: DonnieBaseball2323@gmail.com
Twitter: @MikeyBlu23


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