New York Yankees

From the AP:

Alex Rodriguez is back at Steinbrenner Field in the next step of his rehab.

He was taking grounders and hitting off a tee. Peter Abraham is reporting he was hitting mostly everything the other way. Rodriguez is expected to meet with the media after his session is over and then later on tonight before the game.

I think he won't say much and be just fine but you never know with Rodriguez—the bottom line is the Yankees need him. 

Up 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs, Damaso Marte gets pulled from the game for Jose Veras. He walks his batter only to be pulled for Phil Coke who gives up three runs and loses the game.

Why are managers so concerned with the lefty and righty match-ups? It makes absolutely no sense to continually do it. I know, I play baseball and I bat left-handed, and yes, it does make it harder to see the ball—but a big league hitter better be able to hit it!

The Yankees were essentially one out away from a huge come-from-behind victory in the eighth inning, but it just wasn’t meant to be. The Yankees three-game winning streak was snapped by the Royals on Sunday in an exciting back-and-forth game.

Quick ‘Cap

The Yankees got on the board early behind the wheels of Brett Gardner, as he singled, stole second, advanced to third on a groundout, and scored on a wild pitch.

Now we can say the Yankees are officially on a roll. Their 6-1 win over the Royals last night marked their third straight. Fans saw a completely different CC Sabathia compared to his opening day start.

And in my mind, I think fans saw the real CC last night. The Yankees were playing a perfect ballgame until the ninth inning when the Royals finally squeaked out their lone run, but let’s see how they built that lead.

By the time the Kansas City Royals got on the scoreboard it was too late to make a comeback. CC Sabathia had given the Yankees seven-and-two-thirds innings of shutout baseball and Jose Veras held the shutout until Tony Pena Jr. grounded in the Royals' first and only run of the night.

Once again, the Yankees jumped on the Royals' pitching. Johnny Damon singled, Nick Swisher walked, and Jorge Posada doubled in two first-inning runs for the second straight game. In the third, the Yanks' catcher doubled in another run after Swisher tripled in captain Derek Jeter.

Robinson Cano was born in San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic.

His father Jose Cano was signed by the Yankees in 1980, and played in six games for the Astros in 1989.

Robinson Cano started his major league career in 2005, taking over Second Base from Tony Womack.He was phenomenal batting .297 with 14 home runs, 62 RBI, along with 34 doubles. He also never one to take walks. So that year he finished third in lowest walk percentage with 3 percent.

Robinson Cano showed that he had presence at the plate and smoothness in his swing.

CC Sabathia makes his second start of the year today, trying to improve on his dreadful opening day performance. He worked on a mechanical issue with pitching coach Dave Eiland in his bullpen session and believes he corrected the flaw.

It was Sabathia's footwork, especially his front foot, that hindered his performance the first game of the year, so if he has his fastball command early, we will know it should be a much better game from him.

CC is 14-10 with a 3.40 ERA in his career against the Royals, a team he has started the most games against in his career.

Tyler Kepner, Yankees beat writer for the NY Times, wrote something in his game recap last night that completely coincides with what I’ve been saying all along about Robinson Cano.

Kepner and Joe Girardi hit the nail right on the head:

The Yankees’ pitching staff has racked up 22 strikeouts in their last two games, their only two wins on the season.

CC Sabathia and Chien-Ming Wang failed to strikeout a single batter in their first starts of the season, the Yankees’ only two losses on the season.

I have a hunch those facts will mean something for the Yankees in 2009.