Bleeding Yankee Blue: YANKEES STEP IT UP AT HOME

Sunday, April 16, 2017

YANKEES STEP IT UP AT HOME

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Despite injuries, despite starting pitching woes and despite day to day challenges for Greg Bird, the Yankees are stepping it up at home, winning six straight and heading into today's Easter Sunday game with a 7-4 record.

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"The Yankees started Saturday’s game against the Cardinals without their starting catcher, shortstop and designated hitter, all due to injuries, and with Aroldis Chapman unavailable because the closer had worked three days in a row," reported the NY Post after Saturday's game.

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Our injuries are real and concerning for fans and the clubhouse collectively. Watching Matt Holliday wince at the plate in Friday night's game, going 0-4 against his old team, was hard. There's been so much anticipation for Holliday as we entered the season, and now with lower back stiffness, Holliday was out of the line up on Saturday. His injury leads to a stat that we might not want to have this season, leading the league in MRIs.

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"Utility man Tyler Austin was put on the 60-day disabled list with a fractured right foot on Opening Day.

Shortstop Didi Gregorius won't be back until May with a strained right shoulder. Catcher Gary Sanchez likely won't return for a few weeks as he rehabs a strained right biceps", according to NJ.com.

One of our biggest concerns has to be Greg Bird. According to NJ.com, "Let’s get Bird’s two obvious issues out of the way: His ankle and his stomach. Bird has been playing with a bruised right ankle since fouling a ball off it in the last game of spring training. It’s been heavily wrapped after games and the bruise is in an area that Bird described as “weird” — when he puts pressure on it, he likely makes it worse. Oh, and Bird had the flu for a few days." Normally very patient at the plate, Bird is completely off, striking out half of his at bats this season.

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But, despite the injuries and set backs, we are stepping it up at home and that's huge. Our starters have stepped it up including CC Sabathia who has been finding his pitches and only giving up three hits in the outing on Saturday against the Cards.

Looking forward to a Yankee ESPN Sunday Night Baseball debut this evening as we look to sweep the Cards, our second consecutive sweep of the season. Happy Easter everyone!