The Hits Keep Coming

I know I promised to do some nitpicking, but apparently my list of disasters that have befallen the Yankees was not complete. Barely an hour after I finished that post, it was revealed that Phil Hughes had suffered a stress fracture to his ninth right rib. It will be at least four weeks until he's even allowed to throw a baseball again, meaning he probably won't be back with the team until July. However, there's more to this story than just the time Hughes will miss.

First, this sheds new light on Hughes' performance this season. Stress fractures develop gradually, and it can take anywhere from two to four weeks before you can see them on an X-ray. This means that he could very well have been pitching with this injury since the season began. It's impossible to say whether or not it hurt his performance, but it certainly would make sense.

More important than how this injury affected his past, however, is how it affects his future. A stress fracture of the rib isn't a common injury among pitchers, and one on the ninth rib is even more unusual. As far as I know, no explanation has been provided as to what might have caused it, and that makes me worry. The most obvious explanation, after all, is that it was his pitching motion that placed so much stress on the rib. If that's the case, then what's to stop it from happening again once he returns to the mound?

I have no idea if the Yankees will ever answer those questions in public, but I hope that they're at least asking them in private.

Tidbits

In one of the stranger stories I've heard lately, a hawk that has been nesting in Fenway Park for the past few years attacked a 13 year-old girl named, I kid you not, Alexa Rodriguez. Fortunately she's fine, only suffering a few minor scrapes, so I feel no guilt in finding the story so amusing.

In more hopeful portents of things to come, Peter Abraham of the Journal News took a peek inside Joe Girardi's office and noticed that, among other things, the new skipper has a copy of the Baseball Prospectus 2008 annual on his bookshelf. For those who don't know, Baseball Prospectus is a collection of some of the best baseball writing out there, and they're especially well known for their statistical analysis. It's good stuff, but for some reason there are a lot of people in baseball who absolutely hate it, and I'm glad to hear that Girardi isn't one of them.

Finally, I've added a new blog to the list on the right. As the Yankees continue to turn to players young enough to have grown up with the internet, it was inevitable that one would start a blog. That one is Phil Hughes, who has been blogging for a few months now. It's definitely a must read.

Spring Training - The Starters

40-Man Roster Players:

• Andrew Brackman (injured)
• Joba Chamberlain
• Phil Hughes
• Kei Igawa
• Jeff Karstens
• Ian Kennedy
• Jeffrey Marquez
• Mike Mussina
• Carl Pavano (injured)
• Andy Pettitte
• Humberto Sanchez (injured)
• Chien-Ming Wang

Non-Roster Invitees:

• Alan Horne
• Daniel McCutchen
• Darrell Rasner

As I said yesterday, there's a lot more going on with the pitchers than the catchers this spring. While the majority of the intrigue will be in the bullpen, there's still some questions to be answered in the rotation. The top three spots are, of course, set with Wang, Pettitte and Hughes. The fourth spot is ostensibly Mussina's, and he won't lose the job in Tampa, but considering how awful he was in the second half of the season, he'll be on a short leash come April.

The big question for now, however, is whether Joba Chamberlain is in the rotation or the bullpen. Hank Steinbrenner has said unequivically that Chamberlain is a starter, and I've got no doubt that that's where his future lies, but I don't think he's ready for a full season as a major league starter. Last year he threw 116 innings, most of them in the minor leagues, where he never had to struggle. If he starts all season for the Yankees, his workload will increase by at least half. That would be a terrible risk to take on the health of a very valuable player. Both Chamberlain and the Yankees would be much better served if he started the year in the bullpen and moved into the rotation a few months into the season. In the meantime, Ian Kennedy can take the final spot in the rotation.

While Chamberlain and Kennedy seem to be the only serious candidates for the fifth starter's job, that doesn't mean you should ignore the rest of the starters. If the Yankees learned anything in 2007, it's that there's no telling how many pitchers you're going to end up needing. Jeff Karstens figures to be the first one called upon in an emergency, but strong spring performances by Kei Igawa (who the Yankees have invested a lot of money in) or prospects Alan Horne and Jeffrey Marquez could put one of them at the front of the line.

Of course no matter who ends up taking the mound, I'm certain Carl Pavano will step up and pull his hamstring.