Jane Heller

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author

This Is Ridiculous!

Let me get this straight. Hicks is not coming back this season and most likely having TJ surgery. And now, after the Yankees swept yesterday’s doubleheader in Detroit, we learn that Encarnaion (oblique), Sanchez (groin – again) and Happ (bicep – he’s had it for weeks) were sent back to New York for tests? And oh, by the way, Judge slammed into the wall (says he’s ok but who knows) and Kahnle (slammed his hand in frustration and needed his fingers examined) had problems too.

Do these players’s bodies not realize the Yankees are now in the home stretch? That’s we’re fighting tooth and nail for home field advantage? That we’d really, truly prefer not to be eliminated early in the playoffs and, in fact, would dearly love to win a championship?

Sanchez, Encarnacion and Happ are crucial to the Yankees’s success – crucial – as is Hicks, although we’ve managed to win without him. Sure, it’ll be great having a healthy Severino back if he’s able to pitch at the level of ace-dom – and Betances if he can return as the reliever who can bring heat and command. But jeez, I was really bummed after last night’s news.

Onto Toronto and God knows who goes down next.

Help is on the Way

I’m happy about this. As I commented to Leo yesterday, Judge isn’t coming back this season (my guess), and the Yankees knew it. So they acquired OF Andrew McCutchen from the Giants and while he isn’t 20 anymore, he’s still a three-time All Star with pop in his bat — and said to be one of the really good guys in baseball. If the trade (for minor leaguers) comes through by the end of the day, he’ll be eligible for the postseason roster.

After last night’s debacle against Detroit, it would be nice to get a new closer too, since Chapman may or may not be back. Betances is NOT a closer!

The Boys Are Back, and So Am I

I’ve been spending the winter in St. Petersburg, so it was only a short hop over to Tampa for today’s spring training opener against the Tigers. No matter how many years I’ve been a Yankee fan, it never ceases to make my heart race to see the new season’s players take the field in their pinstripes – even if I didn’t recognize half of them.

Stanton and Judge stood out, of course – literally – during the intro and National Anthem, even from my seat in the 200 section.

They’re so big that they dwarf the other players. But the kid who actually played multiple innings was Tyler Wade and he made a good impression. Stanton got a big hand but didn’t do anything Herculean. And Judge didn’t play at all. I guess the Yankees were saving him for tomorrow’s fans. Whatever. Luis Cessa started – it’s spring training, after all – and the hero was a kid named Jorge Saez. When he scored, there were chants of “Hip, Hip, Jorge,” which made me laugh and miss Posada at the same time.

The Yankees won 3-1 in a game without much action. I was thrilled. There I was at Steinbrenner Field feeling very Steinbrennerian in my need for the Yankees to win every single game, even the first one in February.

More to come now that there’s baseball for real!

Fight Club!

He who shoves first ends up at the bottom of the pile (that’s you, Cabrera).

What a game yesterday. There was bad blood between the Yanks and Tigers from their last series in the Bronx, but the finale in Detroit was a crazy, crazy game. The fastball that hit homer-happy Gary Sanchez should have foretold what was to come, but I was amazed that pitchers kept plunking batters inning after inning and batters reacted how batters react: by taking exception. The worst was Betances drilling the Tiger batter (can’t remember who) in the helmet. That one scared me. And, of course, there was little Gardy who came storming into the scrum wanting to take on the big guys.

I don’t know that I’ve ever seen Girardi so angry during a postgame interview. Did I mention that the Yankees lost the game – a game in which they’d shown their resilience yet again and by winning would have meant a sweep? Girardi was pissed off about the umpiring (no warnings issued before ejections, miserable strike zone, failure to realize how important the game was as the Yankees are desperately trying to contend). I anticipate suspensions all around and can only hope they’re not for long. Cabrera should get a big one for shoving Romine, but the pitchers bear responsibility too. What I fear most is losing Sanchez for a period of time. He’s been our mainstay lately. Did anybody see Judge in all these piles of players? I didn’t and wondered if he clocked anybody?

As for the other two games, they were both Janers and, therefore, a beautiful thing. I love those high-scoring contests/blowouts! Severino and Tanaka were great and our offense was stupendous. I found myself wishing we could play the Tigers every night for the rest of the season. The bullpen still worries me. This guy Kahnle has not been good – at all. I flinch every time I see him walk to the mound. Didn’t we get him in a trade?

Now the Yanks take on Seattle at the Stadium. Hopefully there will be Janers. Hopefully no one will get hurt.

Silent Bats End Detroit Series with a Whimper

The rain delay only made last night’s finale more annoying. But primarily, the annoyance was the lack of offense from a team that knows how to hit. Witness Game 1 of the series when the Yankees had hit after hit in beating the Tigers. Game 2, however, was a precursor to last night – i.e. a dispiriting showing. No longer in first place (sniff), the boys are off to Cleveland to begin a huge series against the big, bad Indians.

Tonight marks the debut of new and highly coveted starter Sonny Gray going up against Kluber. Will he deliver? There are bound to be nerves throwing his first game for us, but it’ll be a tremendous letdown if he gets thumped. So hear me, Yankees batters: Give this man lots of run support!

Sometimes the Yankees “play up” when they’re facing a real contender, outdoing themselves at the plate. I hope tonight is one of those times. I’d also like to see the defense cut down on errors. Seems like every box score lately shows at least one.

Anyway, I’m sort of nervous about this series after the last two games against Detroit. Now is not the time for the bats to go silent. We cannot slip too far below the Red Sox. Can. Not.

Rocky Mountain Low

Coors-Field-640x384

Wow, do the Yankees stink right now. First against the Tigers, then against the Rockies. Yes, the Rockies – the team they should have beaten and didn’t.

In the first game, they mounted a big comeback to no avail – a Janer that only resulted in a losing effort because the pitching (I’m looking at you, Evo, along with the pen) was so pathetic. I watched Girardi’s post-game chat with the beat writers and boy was he testy. There was an errant pick-off throw by Kirby Yates to Rob Refsnyder at first base and he wouldn’t talk about it. “I’m just not gonna talk about it,” he kept saying. “It has to do with strategy.” Or whatever. If you ask me, he’s sick of all the losing.

In last night’s finale of the two-game series, Nova couldn’t hold on and neither could Chapman. As for the offense, our only reliable hitter, Carlos Beltran, is out with a bum knee, and there’s no one else to pick up the slack – no one. That’s just sad. (What happened to McCann this year? Didn’t he used to have power?)

I started off the season in skeptic mode, wondering why we didn’t acquire one of the front-line pitchers for sale and what, exactly, the Yanks would do to improve the offense, given the age and declining power of A-Rod and Teixeira. Then I moved into hopeful mode after the more recent series when the Yankees played better, when Evo and Nova appeared to have turned a corner and CC had really made a nice comeback. Now I’m in grouchy-person mode. Why? Because this team is just not good enough to win on a consistent basis. Guys who showed promise have regressed. We don’t have any standouts in the minors to bring up and save the day.

So the question is: Does Cashman make some moves to help the team win? Does he think they have a shot and, if so, is it time to make a trade for Miller, Chapman or even Betances, our only real bargaining chips? Or does he go into a “sell” phase and decide to rebuild the team for the future? Because right now they’re limping along without much promise.

I hate being so negative, but I’m just telling it the way I see it. Sorry. If the Yanks have a decent series in Minnesota, maybe I’ll feel better.

 

Is Ike Davis the Answer at First Base?

Ike Davis mets

Days after declaring Rob Refsnyder the Yankees’ first baseman, despite his having never played the position before his recent tryouts there this season, the Yanks moved to acquire former Met, Ike Davis, who hasn’t played in a year. He doesn’t hit much, but I’m all for someone who can catch the ball and I wish him luck – i.e. knock on wood he doesn’t get hurt along with the others.

The series with Detroit ended up being a downer, as the Yanks only won the first game. Pineda pitched well in the finale yesterday, which was encouraging, but the bats went silent again.

Consistency is the toughest quality for a team to master over the course of a season, and the Yankees are in mid-June without having mastered it. Not a promising prospect for the future. Yes, they could get hot and go on a tear, but will they?

I’m trying to be optimistic, but my gut tells me the answer to the above question is “not this year.”

Taming the Tigers

Tiger_Zoo_Sriracha
No, the Yankees didn’t sweep Detroit at the Stadium but winning two out of three games against a perennial playoff contender was pretty good. It was Tanaka who, surprisingly, was the weak link in today’s loss. He can’t be spectacular every time out, so I’m with Girardi and chalking it up to a bad day for him rather than panicking about a possible re-injuring of his arm. The offense was sleeping too, not counting the home run hitting Stephen Drew. (I can’t believe I just wrote that sentence.)

Friday and Saturday were all about A-Rod, the #3000th hit, the way the fans embraced him, etc. And the Yankees actually acknowledged his milestone on the scoreboard and on Twitter. Pay him? I wonder if they’re starting to feel some pressure to do it. A-Rod is the biggest star they have at the moment and who would have guessed it. If I were the Steinbrenner boys I’d be grateful he was putting people in the seats, never mind RBIs in the box score.

What else…..let’s see. Old Timer’s Day happened. I thought the Stottlemyre tribute/plaque was the best part. I always loved him as a player and am so sorry he’s ill. He’s been the epitome of class, and I wish we had more pitchers like him.

It Really Is About A-Rod Now

Photo: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
Photo: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

The Yankees were down and now they’re up again, having won two at home against the same Marlins they lost ugly to in Miami. Why are they up again? Last night the big reason was Pineda, who was superb, and Betances, who held/saved the game in an impressive way. Tonight, A-Rod drew to within one hit of 3,000 and while others made big contributions to the win (CC, Gardner, Beltran, Tex), the story was about whether he would get to 3,000 and how everybody would react, including him.

Unfortunately, the suspense will have to continue. It’s unlikely he won’t reach the magic number this weekend against the Tigers. I think it’ll happen tomorrow night. It’ll be a spectacle of some sort – not the Jeter sort where everything stops and he gives a speech and the Stadium goes wild, but where there’s genuine excitement on the part of the crowd and at the very least a press conference by A-Rod after the game. The Yankees may not want to pay him his bonuses, but they’ll give him the podium. I expect him to say he’s humbled to be among the greats in the sport, that he’s having fun playing again, that he feels fortunate to be healthy, that he’s grateful to the fans and his teammates for their support…..What am I missing?

Well, That Went Better Than Expected

-detroit

I didn’t think the Yankees would win their first series of the season in Detroit. The Tigers were a red-hot team and we were not. They had David Price and we did not. They had “winner” stamped on them by all the sportswriters and we did not. And yet, we came out of D-Town with the series win. The pitching was great. The hitting was alternately powerful and just crafty enough to score a couple of runs. And the defense seemed to have come together. All of which was remarkable given the cold weather there. (I must mention that it snowed today in CT. I was not amused. It’s April 23rd after all.)

Will the winning streak be a fluke? Will the even-hotter Mets cool us off? Or is this team, weaknesses and all, just good enough to stay competitive?

No idea, but the Detroit series made things interesting enough for me to stay tuned.

 

The Yankees Are Making Me Feel Like This

yo-yo-

One minute they win and I’m up. The next they lose and I’m down. Right now I’m the latter thanks to today’s finale against the Tigers. Ugh. Tough loss. Tough series loss. They really need to win series, not lose them, especially against teams they’re trying to climb over for a Wild Card spot. Once again, the starting pitching was worthy of a win and yet….

Can the Yankees go on a real run – i.e. win more than a couple of games here and there? The offense has to do more damage than it’s been doing for that to happen. I keep wishing we had a monster power hitter who could come off the bench and muscle one out in big situations. We used to have guys like that. Instead we acquire relief pitchers, as in today’s signing of some lefty named Josh Outman. Ruben Sierra, where are you?

Bring on the division rivals, I guess, so we can know whether the Yanks are truly in this pennant race. The Blue Jays can hit and the Red Sox, while out of the race, are always dangerous. Thank God for the US Open. Watching tennis is fun without the stress.

Enjoy the Labor Day weekend!

Coming Back to Earth

Photo: Mike Agliolo/Corbis
Photo: Mike Agliolo/Corbis

That’s how today’s loss, combined with yesterday’s, to the Indians feels like: an astroid hitting the earth. I had such high hopes for the Yankees’ season after the series against the Tigers, and Friday night’s 10 runs against Cleveland gave me more hope. But – ugh – we seem to be in the dreaded dead zone again, offense wise, and the collective hitting slump couldn’t come at a more inopportune time. In other words, if the Yanks have a prayer of making the playoffs even as a lowly Second Wild Card team (as Audrey rightfully pointed out in the last post’s comments section, KC is the team with steam for that spot), they need to beat up on the Orioles over the next few days. And how are they going to do that if they can’t drive in runs? Never mind that there are still question marks about the starters – i.e. who’s starting on Wednesday, Pineda or Rogers?

But I digress. The pitching has been great for the most part, so let’s assume it stays great, as flukey as this may be, given the cast of characters. Where will the hits/runs come from if everybody’s gone cold? Great that Tex is back in the lineup, pinky and all. And how lovely that Ellsbury hit a solo shot in today’s game. They’ve got to stop stranding men on base. Just. Stop. Doing. That. It would be nice if they hit more homers too, of course.

Whatever happens happens, I guess. Baltimore’s surging and we keep lapsing back. But it’s getting late early, as Yogi would say. Time to turn it on or go home.

 

 

Wow! I Didn't Expect to Be Laughing!

LaughingWomanI’m gobsmacked over today’s finishing off the Tigers, absolutely stunned that the Yankees pitchers in this whole series not only went toe-to-toe with the Cy Young winners plus Porcello, but surpassed them. If it weren’t for that 12-inning disappointment, we would have swept what is supposed to be a contending team for a World Championship. Pretty damn impressive.

I’ve read that the Tigers are streaky and they clearly didn’t have their hitting shoes on over these past four games (I’m especially talking about Cabrera, who didn’t look right), but what an accomplishment and confidence boost for this team. Teixeira got injured yet again and Ellsbury had a scare with his hand after sliding back to first base last night, but our pitching was just sensational. I have to hand it to Girardi for mixing and matching the way he did to get the most out of everybody.

My biggest fear is the players will have a letdown this weekend against the Indians and that they’ll struggle against a pitcher they haven’t faced before, but hopefully that fear is unfounded.

Bravo, Yankees. It was a fun series to watch!

applause-thumb-240x240-1498461

Wow! I Didn’t Expect to Be Laughing!

LaughingWomanI’m gobsmacked over today’s finishing off the Tigers, absolutely stunned that the Yankees pitchers in this whole series not only went toe-to-toe with the Cy Young winners plus Porcello, but surpassed them. If it weren’t for that 12-inning disappointment, we would have swept what is supposed to be a contending team for a World Championship. Pretty damn impressive.

I’ve read that the Tigers are streaky and they clearly didn’t have their hitting shoes on over these past four games (I’m especially talking about Cabrera, who didn’t look right), but what an accomplishment and confidence boost for this team. Teixeira got injured yet again and Ellsbury had a scare with his hand after sliding back to first base last night, but our pitching was just sensational. I have to hand it to Girardi for mixing and matching the way he did to get the most out of everybody.

My biggest fear is the players will have a letdown this weekend against the Indians and that they’ll struggle against a pitcher they haven’t faced before, but hopefully that fear is unfounded.

Bravo, Yankees. It was a fun series to watch!

applause-thumb-240x240-1498461

No Winter Meetings Deals But There's This

cano as mariner

The Mariners unveiled their new promo starring their prize second baseman – and he’s got something he didn’t have as a Yankee: facial hair. Makes me sad.

The fact that Joba is now a Tiger doesn’t; I’m glad for him and hope he does well there, just not against us.

Otherwise, no news in Yankeeville as Cashman heads home after Orlando………

No Winter Meetings Deals But There’s This

cano as mariner

The Mariners unveiled their new promo starring their prize second baseman – and he’s got something he didn’t have as a Yankee: facial hair. Makes me sad.

The fact that Joba is now a Tiger doesn’t; I’m glad for him and hope he does well there, just not against us.

Otherwise, no news in Yankeeville as Cashman heads home after Orlando………

Welcome Back, Jose Veras

Jose-Veras-Detroit-Tigers

After Mo coughed up the two homers in the ninth for his third-in-a-row blown save (!!!!!!!), I perked up when I saw it was our old buddy Veras coming in for the bottom of the inning after being traded to the Tigers from the Astros. He may be my new favorite person, having served up Gardner’s walk off homer and rescuing the Yankees from another disappointing loss. Gardner’s been quite clutch this season. Good for him.

But was this game ever a see-saw battle. A-Rod actually hit a homer (!!!!!!) as did Soriano, and I thought, OK, boys, you have a nice lead so hold onto it for a change.

Wrong. No lead is safe when the pitching turns sour. Not only was Pettitte unable to go deep into the game but Robertson was ineffective. And then there was Mo. John and Suzyn kept reassuring listeners that he always goes through his little patch of badness and it’s true. But it’s not fun when it happens. In fact, it feels as if the world is coming to an end. Maybe he should skip a few farewell ceremonies and meet-and-greets for awhile and rest up. Or maybe it doesn’t matter in the larger scheme of things given this team’s way-back position in the standings.

Still, it was nice to beat the Tigers since they’re bona fide contenders for a ring once again.

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About Jane Heller

Jane Heller is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Her fourteen breezy, witty novels of romantic comedy and suspense are now entertaining millions of readers around the world, along with her two books of nonfiction.