 The Bumpy Ride Continues
This Yankee season has been marred by injuries, inconsistent play, questionable managerial decisions, horrendous starting pitching and honestly, it hasn't exactly been a pleasure to watch.
Every time you start to feel good about the Yanks, and where they are, they lay an egg. Like tonight's 7-1 loss to the Rays. Tampa made the Yanks look old and slow, and you know what, that's exactly what they are. Matt Garza made the batters look weak, of course when you trot Giambi, Molina and Alberto Gonzalez out there, you are pretty weak (Although Gonzalez is far and away their best option at third right now, Joe finally got that right). They ran at will, they put the pressure on the Yanks from the first inning to the ninth, and they generally played like a second-place team, while the Yanks played like a middling, aged club. Which they just may be. Every other game I come away with this feeling of angst. Then the Yanks show up and pull themselves back to .500. Every other day I tell myself they're treading water, waiting for A-Rod to get back. Then I see a team bunt a one-hopper to Giambi at first and I see him not even look at second base because he's afraid to make the throw. Every other day I see Robinson Cano hit absolute bullets right at people. Of course, I also see Andy Pettitte throwing 85 MPH fastballs and I wonder how many big wins we can count on him for. Today was a down day, actually, a bad day. Tomorrow, it'll be the Wanger looking to knock off the first-place Tampa Bay Rays and pull the Yanks back to .500. Would I bet on it? Nope. Off the field, there's good news (Ian Kennedy will start on Thursday, meaning Kei Igawa's days in the Bronx should be over for the time being) and obviously bad news as well (A-Rod's MRI was bad, meaning he will not be back this week.) Player of The Game: Johnny Damon, purely because his buzzsaw batting style is the only thing that kept me watching the game after the 4th inning. Team Record: 19-20 Damon's Broken Bats: 1 confirmed, but I could've sworn he broke another. 
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I can understand the injuries to such key players as Posada and A-Rod having a negative affect on the team, but still, there shouldn't be this much drop off.
I was not a fan of Girardi as manager back in the fall. I was told, wait and see, he will do a lot of small ball as well as come in well prepared for every game. I am still waiting and still not seeing much of anything.
Girardi is playing around with the lineup, but a lot of it doesn't make much sense. While I understand wanting to give some guys a rest here and there, it almost seems as if certain pitchers will get the worst shuffle of the deck, and those are the pitchers who struggle the most.
Where are any attempts at stealing a base? Gonzalez on 1st, and he remains parked there. Double plays are becoming far to common against the Yankees.
I don't think Torre was the best manager in baseball, but seeing the lack of things going on with the Yankees, I think he was better than Girardi has been. Girardi has been a lot of fluff but no substance.
The Yanks were in about the same spot last year and ended up in the playoffs. Yeah, I know, the Rays are stronger, the O's are up there, but we all know that when all is said and done, the order will be restored. The Yanks definitely are playing like a .500 team that they are, but it'll change. Old Goat, give Girardi a chance, won't ya. It's May the 12th. Regardless of his moves, it's silly to make judgments this early. Actually, it'd be pointless to make judgments until it's clear whether the Yanks do or do not make the post season, which we won't know for a while. No, it's not fun watching the Yanks play right now, but just relax, whoever writes them off now will look as silly as those who did last year around this time.
As Waswatching.com pointed out, the Yanks were 18-21 this time last year, so how is it Torre was better than Girardi last year, Old Goat? And how is it that the team record means the manager sucks? There's just so many variables. Makes no sense writing Girardi off just like that.
I'm not writing him off, but I am unhappy with a lot of what I've seen so far. The constant lineup shuffling, and the station-to-station managing particularly.
It's early, the season isn't lost, nor is it fair to say Girardi is a horrible manager. They're still treading water, it'd just be nice to see a spark sometime soon.