The Yankees had to overcome a five run deficit last night to beat the Texas Rangers after Javier Vazquez’s poor start, a start he shouldn’t have even made.
Javy’s pitches topped out at about 85 mph last night, which is not good enough to get major league hitters out, let alone the heavy hitting Texas Rangers.
Apparently he has a case of dead arm, which is slowing his pitches down to nearly Tim Wakefied speeds. The only problem is Javy doesn’t throw a knuckle ball.
I give Javy a lot of credit for going out there and making his scheduled start, but I feel that a stint on the 15-day DL would do him and the team more good than having him out there every five days throwing a 68 mph curve or a 85 mph fastball.
But Javy is not the only concern right now for the Yankees. Surprisingly, it’s the offense that has let them down recently.
With Jorge Posada, Francisco Cervelli, Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher, Brett Gardner, and Lance Berkman all going through varying degrees of slumps right now, that mighty Yankee lineup isn’t looking so mighty anymore.
So what options do the Yankees have to help get them through the playoff push?
For the pitching, they have an excellent live arm in the minors by the name of Ivan Nova.
The ace of the staff for the Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees is putting up numbers that the Yankee front office can’t ignore.
Nova is 10-3 with an ERA of 3.02 in 21 games started this year. He also has struck out an even 100 batters, while walking 43 in 131 innings, and has only given up 10 home runs all year.
He’s got a flame thrower of an arm, even rumored to have thrown a 100 mph fastball earlier this year, which could prove to be just what the Yankees need to get them through September and into the playoffs.
Any way you look at it, Nova has got to be better than dead arm Javy.
As for the offense, it has to be Jesus Montero.
With both Posada and Cervelli struggling at the plate right now, I think it might be time to call upon the top prospect in the organization.
Montero got off to a very slow start this year, but has bounced back and is one of the hotter hitters in the minors now. He’s coming into today with a .287 average, and leads the team with 14 home runs, 53 RBI, and 52 runs scored.
The man can hit, plain and simple.
The Yankees carried three catchers last year, and might just do so again this year as they head down the stretch.
In my mind, Nova and Montero would be a shot in the arm that the Yankees desperately need to have with the Rays and the Red Sox nipping at their heels for the AL East crown.
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