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May 3, 2006


May 3 Notes
by SG

Due to the impromptu off-day, I don't have much to write about. I guess I should look at injury and roster issues.

First off, the rundown from rotoworld.com.

Shawn Chacon is having his start pushed back to Saturday as a result of Tuesday's rainout. Surprisingly, Jaret Wright will start Wednesday as scheduled. With Chacon pitching on Saturday, Chien-Ming Wang will follow Sunday on five days' rest.

Obviously, my first reaction was disgust. However, B-Man made some good points about it, in that the Yankees still have to play five games in five days, so Wright would have to pitch at some point. Torre's setting him up to pitch against Tampa, whom he had a few good games against last season (3-0, 5.68 ERA). The ERA is skewed by one bad start out of four. I also wonder if the Yankees think that Wright's sharpness is affected by the constant time off he has been getting between starts, and want to see what he can do on a normal rest schedule. I'd assume time is running out for Wright with Aaron Small back. Hopefully, anyway.

Octavio Dotel, who was shut down two weeks ago after a mild setback in his recovery from Tommy John surgery, threw 35 pitches off a bullpen mound on Tuesday.
Dotel is scheduled for another mound session late this week and could resume pitching in extended spring training games next week.

Hurry back Octavio. This team needs to be de-Sturtzed, and you're the best bet for it to happen.

Carl Pavano (back) allowed one unearned run and two hits over five innings in an extended spring training game on Tuesday.
Pavano threw 58 pitches and struck out three. "He was outstanding," catcher Ben Davis said. Pavano is probably about four weeks away from rejoining the Yankees.

Good to see Carl getting over his bruised ass.

The latest on Gary Sheffield from the ever-reliable New York Post:

Gary Sheffield's sore left hand/wrist isn't getting worse but it's not improving, either. "No change, it's the same," Sheffield said.

Asked if he expected Sheffield to be ready to play tonight against the Devil Rays, Torre said, "I wish I could tell you."

While it's not on the front burner, the disabled list remains an option.

The march to 1000 runs needs Sheffield back, but I'd kind of like to stick him on the DL, make sure he's healthy, and at the same time see the Yankees call up Melky Cabrera or Kevin Thompson, just to see if they can contribute. While the offense on a whole has been good, I expect the pitching staff to begin regressing soon so the Yankees need to upgrade wherever they can. After a little cooling off, Melky has been hitting well again(.373/.425/.529). If he can hit .275/.325/.400 or so and play capable defense, he'd be a pretty big upgrade over Bernie Williams(.217/.262/.283).

Carlos Peña's deadline has come and gone, but given his mediocre showing in the minors so far, the Yankees have not made a decision about calling him up, and Peña appears to be willing to wait. Let's hope the Cubs don't snatch him away.