CC Heats Up

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I don’t know where CC Sabathia buys his heating pads, because the one I use whenever my back hurts wouldn’t cover his forearm, let alone his abdomen.
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What I do know is that he must have worked out the kinks in his delivery. He was a different pitcher in Kansas City than the guy in Baltimore, throwing seven-plus scoreless innings against the Royals with six strikeouts and zero walks. It was Veras who gave up a run in the ninth in the Yankees’ 6-1 victory.
How good was CC?
Let me count the ways.
1) He threw hard, hitting 97 mph on the radar gun.
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2) He wasn’t afraid to come inside to Gordon and DeJesus, and looked intimidating.
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3) He rarely got into a jam and, instead, mowed everybody down.
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4) Instead of getting flustered by Ransom’s Knoblauchian throw to Cano in the fifth, he retired the next batter and picked up his teammate.
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But CC wasn’t the only hero on Saturday. Nick Swisher walked, tripled and homered, giving him nine RBIs in three starts and making me eat my words that he was a dumb acquisition.
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Swisher played first base in place of Teixeira, who had a sore left wrist and was a late scratch.
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Tex, who was later diagnosed with tendinitis, told the media: “I don’t know how I got it or when I got it.”
I wonder. Is it possible he’s suffering from a little carpal tunnel thing as a result of blogging under an assumed name here at MLBlogs?
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I just have one piece of advice for Girardi regarding Sunday’s contest: Sit Ransom and play Pena at third. Why not? It’s just a short-term scenario. Pretty soon he’ll be back.
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17 comments

  1. letsgoyankees

    Okay, time to eat my words about Swisher too. I was WRONG, smart move by Cashman. Even though we have a serviceable OF in Nady, Swisher gives us depth and a bench that we’ve never had before. He’s not another Giambi like I feared because he could play the OF.
    After another couple of starts like his last one, I may have to eat my words about Pettite too. Apparently he had a shoulder injury I didn’t know about, so perhaps he could bring his production back to say 15 wins, ERA under 4.

    Reply
  2. letsgoyankees

    Okay, time to eat my words about Swisher too. I was WRONG, smart move by Cashman. Even though we have a serviceable OF in Nady, Swisher gives us depth and a bench that we’ve never had before. He’s not another Giambi like I feared because he could play the OF.
    After another couple of starts like his last one, I may have to eat my words about Pettite too. Apparently he had a shoulder injury I didn’t know about, so perhaps he could bring his production back to say 15 wins, ERA under 4.

    Reply
  3. scofid

    It was great to see CC have such a commanding performance. The few times he got into trouble, he came up with the pitches that mattered. He showed why he is the team’s ace. Now, if we could just get Wang right. I’ve liked Swisher’s personality since the time we acquired him. I saw one blog that mentioned Swish could be to the Yankees what Kevin Millar was to the 2004 Red Sox. Could be…we’ll see. Have a Happy Easter!

    Scott
    http://fotr.mlblogs.com

    Reply
  8. Jane Heller

    Swisher is turning out to be a good move, Letsgoyankees. I’m not wild about him in the OF, but he made some really good plays at first yesterday and his offense has been insane. I always thought Pettitte would be a great signing, so that was a no-brainer for me.

    I’m a little worried about Wang too, Scott. He just doesn’t seem to have found his groove at all. Having him back in good form will really cement the rotation. Let’s hope Dave Eiland is working on this. Happy Easter to you too!

    That’s right, Jenn. If CC can get it together, so can Hamels. Have a great holiday today.

    I think I’ll hang on to Swisher for now, Gomets. 🙂 But if he reverts back to last year’s .211 average, you can have him.

    So far Joba looks nasty, V. We’re only in the third, but I hope he can keep it up.

    You’re exactly right, Jeff. Same result.

    Reply
  9. Elizabeth D

    Jane,
    That’s a gigantic heating pad for CC. And I knew that one start wasn’t representative of how CC is actually going to do this season. Nick Swisher has been looking great, and is this tendinitis threatening Tex’s season?
    Elizabeth
    http://redsoxgirl46.mlblogs.com

    Reply
  10. Elizabeth D

    Jane,
    That’s a gigantic heating pad for CC. And I knew that one start wasn’t representative of how CC is actually going to do this season. Nick Swisher has been looking great, and is this tendinitis threatening Tex’s season?
    Elizabeth
    http://redsoxgirl46.mlblogs.com

    Reply
  13. diamonddiva

    It was good to see CC pitch well. I knew that first start had to have been just a hiccup along the way. And I think I prefer Swisher to Nady…but of course…he’s not going to be hitting over .500 all season. I think the Yankees are lucky to have two such versatile players as Swisher and Nady.
    Shelley
    http://diamonddiva.mlblogs.com/

    Reply
  14. Jane Heller

    Elizabeth, Tex’s tendinitis seems to have come out of nowhere. He had a great spring, then a good few games and now this. Weird. I’m just glad we have Swisher to back him up at first, even though his defense isn’t exactly Gold Glove caliber.

    I like them both, Alex. Swisher is certainly on a roll now. And he’s versatile, able to play both the OF and first base. But Nady seems very steady out there in right field and I like his approach at the plate. The Yankees are stronger with both on the team.

    That must have been the problem, Orangebird – all those “sporned” lovers. lol.

    I couldn’t agree more, Shelley. The Yankees had no bench last year, so having both Swisher and Nady this year is really a plus.

    Reply

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