AL East Sleepers: New York Yankees

For a team that won the 2009 league championship while standing atop the AL East leaderboards for much of the past decade, the team would seem, at first glance, bereft of sleepers.

Not so, however, even for these ’09 defending champions. A favorite even at this early juncture in Spring Training, the club could get even better by the time the season rolls around.

SP/RP Phil Hughes

Hughes is – and for quite some time has been – one of the best young pitchers in affiliated baseball. It was not so long ago – three years to be exact – that Phil Hughes was the best pitching prospect in the game, edging out Cincinnati’s Homer Bailey for that honor.

Though hamstring injuries and bouts of wildness slowed down his progress during the ’07 and ’08 campaigns, Hughes came back with a vengeance last season, reminding all bystanders why he was once such a highly touted prospect.

Still just 23 years old, the Yankees owe it to Hughes and to themselves to give the hurler another shot at a full-time rotation gig. Worth 2.2 wins last season, that number could easily swell to four or five if he pitches up to his potential…

Projecting the Yankees number five pitcher

Joba Chamberlain finally got his full season to start and things didn’t turn out as the Yankees had hoped. His splits crashed and he wasn’t the same pitcher. At the same time Phil Hughes established himself in the bullpen after being unable to stay healthy in the starting role.

In the minors Chamberlain had an elite strikeout rate and continued to show that in the majors as a reliever. Overall a pitcher will always have lower strikeout rate as a starter and you can see that in his career K/9 as a starter in the majors at 8.4, while 11.9 as a reliever. That number is still a great number, but something happened this year. His K/9 dropped to 7.61 and his walks rose as well.

This has to be partly due to his loss in velocity going from 97 in 2007 to 95 in 2008. He then dropped to 92.5 this year as a full time starter. There is obviously some velocity drop being a starter to preserve his arm. I have the feeling this amount has some to do with his shoulder problems in 2008.

BOS 6, NYY 4: Undefeated

New venue, same drama. The rivalry between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees will always be eventful.

5/4: Welcome to Yankee Stadium

The rain is looking to wash tonight’s much anticipated Yankee Stadium debut for the Red Sox. If it goes down, it could be a real swing game in the AL East for both teams and their starting pitchers. Is Phil Hughes for real? Can Jon Lester turn it around? Can the Red Sox continue to treat the Yankees the way the Rays have treated them so far this year?

TAM 5, BOS 3: Speed kills

Ex-NFL color commentator John Madden — not to be confused with Rays Manager Joe Maddon — always said speed kills. He wasn’t joking.

Lady Luck is a fickle mistress — just ask the Sox and Yankees

This decade has been the most monumental in the franchise’s history. Not only did new ownership arrive, but Fenway Park was revitalized, a Nation was born (in the media, that is), a new generation of stars (Nomar, Manny, Pedro, Big Papi, Papelbon, Pedroia) put their stamp on their team… oh, and there were those two World Championships as well.

All this was done thanks to the incredible work that Theo Epstein and the rest of the baseball operations put in to give us the players that we root for every day. They are, to be certain, the reasons why we have our first two rings since 1918.

But let’s not count out Lady Luck. Lady Luck is a fickle mistress; you never know when she’ll turn on you.

Know Thine Enemy 2009: New York Yankees

The other half of the best rivalry in sports, The New York Yankees. The Bronx Bombers “only” ended up with 89 victories last season. And the key players they inked this past off-season, have them looking incredibly strong on paper for this upcoming 2009 season.

The philosophy about building a strong farm was basically put on hold for a year. But Brian Cashman made some nice maneuvers, and the result–whether it was intentional or not–allowed the Yankees to lose their first three picks this year. And that is better than losing a first-round pick in three consecutive seasons, of course.

SOX ON DECK: Phil Hughes shuts down PawSox

As far as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre acting manager Butch Wynegar knows, Phil Hughes is scheduled to make at least one more rehab start, on Sunday at Lehigh Valley.
But Hughes, who
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Fireside Chats #3: Where we break down the series with the Yankees and look at the schedule ahead

Boston Red Sox podcast for MVN Radio Episode 3 where we break down the series with the Yankees and look at the schedule ahead with Frank Santorelli.
Episode #3
Hosts: Paul Testa, [...]

Dice-K stays perfect, Sox win 8-5

Jacoby Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis both drove in two RBIs and Daisuke Matsuzaka struggled but earned his third victory of the season in only five innings of work.
On 116 pitches, [...]