The return of the Moose

One month ago Mike Mussina was falling apart, and people (myself included) were at a loss for what the solution might be. By pulling him from the rotation, though, it seems the Yankees have stumbled upon the answer; Moose just needed some rest. In retrospect, its actually kind of obvious that a 38 year old man might benefit from some time off.

Anyway, where his first start after rejoining the rotation was merely good, last night's was excellent. His fastball was up to a respectable 90mph with good life, and his curve had some excellent snap to it. Like his pitches, Moose seemed to have some extra life in him, making five plays in the field, including a great reaction play on a line drive at his head. Granted, neither the Orioles or the Blue Jays will ever be mistaken for Murderer's Row, so we should temper our excitement. That said, as long as he pitches well in his next start, I think he's locked up his spot in the postseason rotation.

That, of course, assumes that the Yankees are going to need a postseason rotation, and things are looking good on that front. Both Detroit and Boston have lost their last two games, putting the Yankees four and a half games up on the wild card and two and a half back for the division title. Even better, the magic number has shrunk to seven with only eleven games remaining. All the Yankees have to do now is not collapse and they're playoff bound. So, I don't think it's premature to start talking about the playoff roster, which I'll be doing on the off day tomorrow.