tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Panic Sets In: Yanks Lose 9-6

I can't remember an April where doom and gloom isn't the prevailing mood when the Yankees make their initial trip to Fenway Park.  Do you remember when the Yanks lost their first 8 games against the Red Sox only to come back and tie the season series?

Losing yesterday is one game.  The bigger concern is the state of the Yankee pitching staff.  The lack of velocity on Phil Hughes' fastball is a major problem.  Hughes cannot get by throwing 87-89 mph fastballs.  The Yankees are saying that its not mechanical, its not physical and its all about building up arm strength.  I'm beginning to wonder.  This kid is 24 years old.  How does he lose it all of a sudden?  If the Yankees can't figure this out, they now have a rotation with one sure thing: CC Sabathia.

Currently, the Yankees have Boone Logan as their designated lefty in the bullpen.  Logan has been getting hit since the Rangers playoff series last year.  Yesterday, once again he was not able to shut down lefty hitters following a disturbing pattern that we saw in the Twins series.  With Feliciano and Marte out, what other alternatives do they have??

The loss yesterday shouldn't be as upsetting as the signs of possible trouble throughout the season.  Trouble that the Yankee hierarchy knew about before the season started.  They knew that the rotation could be a problem when they struck out on Cliff Lee.  Their answer was bringing in Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon and Kevin Millwood.  That problem has now been magnified by the issues with Hughes.  Then they sign Feliciano as another lefty out of the pen and he's placed on the DL and Cashman says that the Mets over used him last year.  If that was a concern now why wasn't it a concern before they decided to sign him?

One loss does not a season make but the bigger issues in the pitching staff will make or break this season and it calls into question the performance of Brian Cashman.

Today it's Ivan Nova against Clay Buchholz at 1:10pm on Fox.