THE KEY TO THE YANKEES 2ND HALF? HEALTH

Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record, you know him... you love him, had a great piece a few days ago about the Yankees and their second half.  Instead of talking about all the guys the Yankees need and could use by the trade deadline to win down the stretch, Pete goes with the nugget that we’re all missing…a great Yankee team that only needs 1 thing to win it all... health. (Read HERE.)

Let’s face it, the Yankees are a damn good ball club.  They have good players, their bench is amazing, the pen is the best in baseball and their starting rotation, despite recent injury has been great! Plus, the lineup, besides a few like Russell Martin and Alex Rodriguez, have been wonderful.  To put it simply…the Yankees have gelled.

Caldera asked Joe Girardi on what he was thinking about for the second half as far as talent was concerned…. Girardi’s response? “I’d like us to stay healthy in the second half…how’s that?”  It’s true though, now is the time, the second half that many of the Yankee players are coming back from injury.   

Clearly if you’re going to get hurt, the first half of the season is where you need to do it because right now, the Yankees are about to sit pretty.  Many of their talent is coming back soon, all are ready to contribute and we’ll make that run for #28 that we’ve all been waiting for.

•   CC Sabathia: reports are he will come off the DL on July 17^th, read Bryan Hoch HERE.  That’s a good thing because we need our ace.  That being said, Hiroki Kuroda, Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova have don’t great in his absence.

• Joba Chamberlain: Joba is shooting for an August 1^st return.  That is just amazing to me.  He has been pitching rehabs and so far so good.  Having him there as an extra arm in the pen will be awesome. 

• David Aardsma: Aardsma has been filling everyone in on Twitter on his status and he only had 1 recent setback where Cashman had decribed it as his arm was moving faster than his body could handle.  Put it this way, he may need to move alittle slower but he’s on track.  Read about that Cashman statement HERE.

• Pedro Feliciano: The lefty that hasn’t pitched yet for the Yankees may just get to pitch in 2012.  Another amazing story because after his horror show with being overworked, he had enough determination to push himself back to the pros.  I hope we see him this season. Read more about Pedro HERE.

• Brett Gardner: his speed is crucial to this Yankees lineup down the stretch.  We need him and hopefully he will be back.  Don’t forget, the last thing we reported was Brett Gardner would be back in 2 to 3 weeks…that was about 2 weeks ago, read HERE. 

The Yankees are about to have the stretch of a lifetime…but as Caldera reported… health is the biggest issue according to Girairdi… and you know what? With the team we have…I believe him.

 

ORDER A BYB SHIRT NOW, DROB WEARS ONE! Also, Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.